Well, I am late, as usual, in the obligatory year-end recap.
We are officially 16 minutes into 2012!
What a year it has been.
And I say this every year.
2011 in a nutshell:
1. We housed the 2 of us + my family of 6 in our little 4-room flat for three weeks.
Looking back, all I want to say is, “We did it!” 
I love my family.
2. I changed assignment and it was horrible I’m still learning a lot.
I am really happy with the performance rating I’ve gotten as a result of my last year in the expensive brand, but it just keeps getting harder from now on.
3. I became a frequent flyer, literally.
I was traveling once a week every week in August and September and boy, it was tough. I was jumping for joy on the night of Oct 9th (Sun) when I read an email about having to cancel my business trip on Monday. I told the hb it was the best thing that happened this year.
4. First holiday with the hb and my sis#3 and #4 in BKK.
Was involved in the bizarre “Lucky Buddha” episode but nothing really happened. Fun shopping with the sisters (and having the hb to carry all the shopping bags for us).
5. I pulled off first surprise birthday celebration for the hb.
It started off “normal”. Breakfast at the prive cafe, CCK for a bit, and then to Sentosa. I’d earlier conned him into believing we were going to Universal Studios for a day and hence packed some clothes because “we will be getting wet from all the rides”. We drove into Sentosa, and I gave him directions before we stopped the car at Amara Sanctuary where I finally told him, “We are staying here for the night”, much to his surprise. Mission accomplished.
6. I picked up running jogging.
In the beginning, I jogged with the hb in an attempt to make him exercise. We did it some weekends but it wasn’t anything serious.. until the instructor for the kickboxing class on Fridays resigned and I just couldn’t find the energy to make my way to Amore on Fridays. Hence, ironically, jogging happened because of my laziness. It was a hassle to get changed, walk 10 minutes to Amore in Tampines One, exercise for 60 minutes, shower and walk 10 minutes back home again. With jogging, all it takes is 5 minutes to get changed and off to the track I go.
So now, it is kickboxing once a week and jogging once or twice a week.
For someone with relatively short attention span and who really believes it’s faster to take a bus or the train (though SMRT has proven us wrong three times this year), I am pretty proud to have come this far.
3.5km at one go (special thanks to Tampines Town Council for entertaining my silly question). I’ve never run this much in my entire life. 2.4km was my maximum – and I typically walked more than I jogged.
I’ve also learned, through jogging, that sometimes, I need to look beyond the discomfort and just keep going. Most of the time, pain and discomfort is transient. They will pass and we will emerge stronger than before.
I look back at my failed running attempt with sis #3 years back. I was probably in JC then. Barely 5 minutes into the run, I had the worst stomachache. I told sis#3, “I can’t run anymore. I need to go home to shit.” Hahaha. I have now learned that the ‘stomachache’ can happen sometimes (I’m still not sure why) but if you keep running, the ‘ache’ actually goes away. Unless, of course, you really need to shit. 
Pretty much like life, isn’t it?
With the in-laws, I am happy to say that things have been pretty peaceful and cordial. Ah ma now allows me to fill water for her. She used to not let me do it for her, claiming that I do not know the proportion of hot and cold water to mix. His mom cooks my “favorite” dish every time we are there. I say “favorite” this way because I have merely mentioned once it was really good and it turns up on the table every time now. As for his dad, well, I just take it that he shows his concern in his unique way. I just try not to have an opinion in front of him.
I’ve pretty much settled into married life with the hb, and I’m enjoying it. We have our fair share of fights but after every fight, I think we’ve both walked away knowing each other better. As for the baby everyone is asking about, we have names!! Lots of weird names, hahaha, but no baby.
According to our agreement, we are supposed to start planning for one next this year. Yes, 2012.
I’m not sure if I am ready or if I am of “mother” calibre, because I still feel like a kid sometimes.
I’d be in a seemingly serious discussion with my boss and thinking, why is he wearing his pants so high??
It still freaks me out. Haha.
Anyway.
I hope 2012 would be a great year for everyone. Here’s to love, joy, happiness and good health.
Shen: How did you find peace? I took away your parents, everything, I scarred you for life…
Po: See that’s the thing, Shen. Scars heal.
Shen: No they don’t… *Wounds* heal.
Po: Oh, yeah… what do scars do? They fade, I guess…
Shen: I don’t care what scars do…!
Po: You should, Shen.
You got to let go of the stuff from past – because it just doesn’t matter!
The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now.
