Quiet end to 2008

After three weeks of long leave, I was back in the office on Monday, but off again on Tuesday before New Year's Eve.

My day off saw the kids (including Trin) parked at my SIL's place. The older kids had begged to stay over an extra night. So KH sent Trin over the next morning to play as well.

It was lovely and peaceful to have the whole house (and the silence!) to myself for half the morning. Then it was off to town for my facial at the Green Sanctuary. Gosh, I hadn't been there in ages and really looked forward to a rejuvenating session. And yes, what a great session I had. I took the Vit C facial and an eye treatment. It came with a head and back massage too which was bliss. I lay there in silent contentment from 11.45 to 2.20pm!! The only time I was tense and on high alert was during the zit extraction and the eyebrow shaping, wincing ever so often and bracing myself for the pain. What price beauty eh?

But the rest of the time, I just submitted to the lovely, soothing scrubs, compresses, masks and massages. Sheer decadence, but I think it was really money well-spent. I was in that half-state of utter relaxation and borderline consciousness, slipping in and out of short snoozes but awake enough to know that I emitted a gentle snore or two! I left with a nice spring to my step and my eyebrows nicely shaped! I must say that well-shaped and trim brows really DO make a difference to the face. But of course, never ask a man that. I asked KH at the end of the day if he noticed my lovely new brows and he just gave me a blank look!

The day ended with leisurely browsing at Tangs, Borders and KH, in one of his rare accomodatively obliging moods, came to have to dinner with me at Cedele at Wheelock, and patiently encouraged me to buy a blouse I was in two minds about. He even offered to pay for it!

Ah yes a lovely day indeed and a nice break between the madhouse of the past weeks and the work that is to come.

New Year's Eve was spent at ACM where we toured the galleries (found out that the Chinese believed in the 10 halls of 'hell' which is really not quite the brimstone-and-hellfire-eternal-condemnation sort, but more like purgatory! Interesting because I always thought purgatory was a Catholic concept!) had free ice-cream, and listened to great music.

The lawn outside the museum was full of people out to wait for the fireworks, getting free beers and ice-cream and of course, across the river, Boat Quay was teeming with people too. It was a nice night, not hot and quite balmy. We all sat on the green and ate ice-cream (mine was a sinful nod to the New Year and while it would not get me sloshed, the Baileys and Bourbon icecream from Udders was nice and 'alcoholish'. I fed Trin some and she liked it - far more than her sedately boring strawberry icecream. She kept coming back for more and when I gave her teensy servings, she demanded: "Big one please!" Later of course, as the 91.3FM DJs spun the latest R&B hits for the New Year countdown, Trin was happy to prance around and dance in her exuberant toddler fashion, stopping a couple of tourists in the tracks who grinned as they stood and watched.

We didn't last till midnight and came home by 11pm. I was so tired I crashed out while laying on the floor to 'relax' and didn't wake up until the countdown was over and it was officially 2009. The kids were, of course, widely awake and counting down enthusiastically! Ah gone are the days when I would be so alert at midnight and so enthusiastic about counting down the old year, thinking of resolutions etc!