Year-end Ramblings: Angels have to make their appearance at, of course, weddings too

Year-end Ramblings: And when weariness set in, angels refreshed us with a birthday song & soul food

Year-end Ramblings: Of Little Angels, Life and Energy

I am tremendously grateful to the two little angels that kept my mind and my soul from falling into the abyss of absolute chaos. People were driving me crazy left, right, centre during this intense period starting October and we have had to put out numerous fires, mostly started by irresponsible contractors with callous attitudes and lousy work ethics (OK, what's new?) I was worn out through and through.

But my little angels visited occasionally and that just made my day. Like a shot in the arm and a pick-me-up. Ash is currently rather excited about tea-making. So when she popped by recently, I always got good help from her in making us tea. Generally, she derives great satisfaction taking orders, counting the number of cups we need and checking if the water has boiled. She served well too, including asking if the guests would like honey in their tea or honey-plus-sugar. Tris shows his most cheeky self in our company. He gave us his version of 'smile-for-the-camera' on Dad's birthday. I was in stitches just watching his mischievious deviant act, knowing how his mommy has trained him to smile 'properly' for the camera. This little boy knows about 'testing his boundaries and being inventive'. Hee, cheeky!

Most times, we don't have them with us. So the next best thing for me is to browse their photographs. And that would bring out the smile on my face and let me forget my stress temporarily. Pictures of our dear ones and loved ones, particularly of children. They are images, which to me, have great therapeutic effects. Magical. When I see their beautiful faces, I vicariously hear their laughter and their chatter. (I even employ this special 'imagery' technique to help me calm my nerves on the dental chair! Ha!) Then I long to be with them. And the longing would somehow morphed into a sense of positive anticipation for the next meet up. Isn't this the essence of a tender bonding?

I am grateful I can feel this way towards my family and friends. It gives me life and energy.

Year-end Ramblings: Going through the grind to realise a dream

October came & passed. November brushed me by with equal haste and intensity. I went through one of the most hectic and frenzied period of this year. Today's mid Dec. I am telling myself to unwind from all the work that we have been putting in to make our new home a comfortable haven. Enough. Enough shopping. Enough running around. Enough discussions on home decor & furnishings. It's time to sit back, relax & enjoy the fruits of our labour. We ought to. I truly think there hasn't been a more disciplined, focused and deliberate couple like us.

I thought about why we persevered & finished what we set out to do. Despite the ardous tasks, the unforseen situations, unwelcome surprises, we soldiered on. Despite the fatigue that we felt, the temptation to settle for lower standards, our drive for excellence motivated us. To us, a home is an important project. A meaningful project. Our home speaks of our way of life and how we organise ourselves. The way we prefer to relate to each other. The way we show love and affection. Our home is an expression of ourselves.

I am glad for this we both share deep inside us. We value our living and recreational space so much that we were willing to put in huge amounts of time, effort and deliberation to create what we dream of as the perfect space.

And this is something we can't entrust totally into strangers' hands. Be they contractors or interior designers. Nope. Other people will never take ownership the way we do. Because to them, it is just a business. And that's how we learn to relate with these people. Business. That's an awesome load of hard-nosed negotiation, assertiveness and at times, unavoidable confrontations. In a way, the blessing in disguise was this - we learned to stay commited to our cause & we learned to finish well. We learned to take charge and take control over the final product. And why shouldn't we? It is our hard-earned money used in exchange. And we feel responsible for how we spend our money.

It's moments like these when we go through the grind that we rediscover who we are and the deeply-ingrained values that govern our choices and steer our life course.