My mother once said something to me after a long stretch of not hearing from one another, (for no particular reason, just busy). She said, "Don't worry, I know you're doing ok when I don't hear from you." I could think of so many things she could have said to me for not calling regularly, but instead she was sweet and never tried to toss any guilt my direction.
So I'm here today to tell you all we are doing fine, albeit missing everyone back home this time of year. We're happy to have some of our own personal Christmas decorations this year. For the first 2 years here in Singapore we have been living on rented furnishings and could only bring over a small fraction of our things. None of which were holiday decorations because things like toys, books, computers and my kitchen knives took priority. When Rob agreed to stay another 2 years, we were able to get into our storage this summer and ship about half of what we own over here. We did not bring everything because the remaining half is stuff that would be in our garage or our yard (shop tools, patio furniture). With condo living we have traded these things in for a swimming pool and a tennis court!
The first year in Singapore, I purchased a 3-ft plastic tree and a set of ornaments from Ikea. It was the year they did everything in red and heart shaped so our tree looked more like a valentine. Now we are reminded of the joy in small things and grateful for the decorations that were given as gifts over the years. It has been a delight to pull them out and think of those that gave them to us. And of course the handmade ornaments made at school by the girls. Those are precious. I love pulling those out of the box. There is even a decoration I made when I was a kid in the 80's. I've included a picture. You might wonder how is this a Christmas decoration?? Santa in his younger years? No, this is a stuffed image of my father mounted to the top of a jar. Who remembers porch people? I made this out of nylons and stuffing. Each year we would pull this out around the holidays and fill the jar with roasted peanuts (his favorite).
A tradition Rob and I started long ago before we were married, was to collect an ornament from places we've traveled. We quickly realized how hard it was to find ornaments in Asia, especially places like Vietnam and China. A big surprise was not being able to find a single ornament in Hong Kong Disneyland last year. Thank goodness for key chains that can be converted. However, we can find many things Western over here when it comes to Christmas. They even decorate their malls in ways I have never seen. You can even order a traditional turkey dinner from just about every grocery store. Now if I could just find some egg nog and real mistletoe.
We hope you are ringing in the season with the love of family and enjoying your own yuletide traditions.
So I'm here today to tell you all we are doing fine, albeit missing everyone back home this time of year. We're happy to have some of our own personal Christmas decorations this year. For the first 2 years here in Singapore we have been living on rented furnishings and could only bring over a small fraction of our things. None of which were holiday decorations because things like toys, books, computers and my kitchen knives took priority. When Rob agreed to stay another 2 years, we were able to get into our storage this summer and ship about half of what we own over here. We did not bring everything because the remaining half is stuff that would be in our garage or our yard (shop tools, patio furniture). With condo living we have traded these things in for a swimming pool and a tennis court!
The first year in Singapore, I purchased a 3-ft plastic tree and a set of ornaments from Ikea. It was the year they did everything in red and heart shaped so our tree looked more like a valentine. Now we are reminded of the joy in small things and grateful for the decorations that were given as gifts over the years. It has been a delight to pull them out and think of those that gave them to us. And of course the handmade ornaments made at school by the girls. Those are precious. I love pulling those out of the box. There is even a decoration I made when I was a kid in the 80's. I've included a picture. You might wonder how is this a Christmas decoration?? Santa in his younger years? No, this is a stuffed image of my father mounted to the top of a jar. Who remembers porch people? I made this out of nylons and stuffing. Each year we would pull this out around the holidays and fill the jar with roasted peanuts (his favorite).
A tradition Rob and I started long ago before we were married, was to collect an ornament from places we've traveled. We quickly realized how hard it was to find ornaments in Asia, especially places like Vietnam and China. A big surprise was not being able to find a single ornament in Hong Kong Disneyland last year. Thank goodness for key chains that can be converted. However, we can find many things Western over here when it comes to Christmas. They even decorate their malls in ways I have never seen. You can even order a traditional turkey dinner from just about every grocery store. Now if I could just find some egg nog and real mistletoe.
We hope you are ringing in the season with the love of family and enjoying your own yuletide traditions.
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