Jacob Turned Seven!!!

Jacob turned seven this Friday. I think I am still in shock that I am the mother of a sever year-old. I cannot imagine how I will feel when he is seventeen. His birthday was very fun for us all. The first activity of the day involved the entire family going on a "hike". However, there are no mountains in Singapore...so really it was more like a walk through a nature reserve. It is basically an extremely large park because the majority of it is well maintained and manicured. We crossed the lake to start walking the trails, when up walks a monkey. Then another monkey. The boys were thrilled and Andrew eagerly walked up to it with his box to catch it. A few feet away, there was a group of monkeys, two of which had babies clinging to them. It was quite an amazing sight. And even more amazing that they are just out in the open and can walk right up to you.

After the hike, we came home to open presents. Jacob was very happy that every single toy he received was some type of Transformer. We had dinner at the American Club (I finally got to eat at their buffet) and then the boys went swimming for a while. That night we had cake and then went to bed. All in all, his birthday was a complete success! (His birthday party with friends will be held on March 1st - Jacob is not too thrilled about the delay).

For the update on the week, let's back track to Wednesday. I spent the morning

unpacking and getting organized. That afternoon I drove for the very first time in Singapore. For those of you who think I am a bad driver, you should see me on the left side of the road. I am such a better driver here...probably because the fastest you can go (and this is on the freeway) is about 50 mph. My only frustrations with driving here are that the blinkers and wipers are switched and the roads are all one way. So - I spent the first five minutes 

using my wipers to indicate I was turning, and fighting my way through the utterly confusing roads. It was exciting. I somehow was able to make my way to Jacob's school for his Chinese New Year party.

The big success for the day. WE FOUND A SHOWER CURTAIN!!!! There is another IKEA located at the Eastern end of the island and they had some. It was a thrilling discovery.

We got to bed so late on Wednesday, that most of Thursday is a blur. That night we decorated for Jacob's birthday and I made his cake. By nine o'clock I was completely drained. I loaded and turned on our new dishwasher, and then went into the family room to relax and watch General Hospital on YouTube. Around 11pm I hear Scott call out from the kitchen that I need to come in there. I walk in to find that the entire load of soap and water from the washer has emptied itself onto the kitchen floor. (I actually had been wanting to mop it for the past couple of days). I pull out the mop and started to maneuver the suds into the drains located in the kitchen floor. (Singapore is really big on having drains in places where there is an abundance of water: bathrooms, kitchens, balconies). The suds were so thick that it took me about 20 minutes to get the place cleaned up. After investigating for a while, we found that the contractor installed the drain pipe going straight up - hence there was not enough pressure to push the water out the correct way. Scott played around with it for a while and then we decided to hit the hay.

I woke up the next morning to find the boys arguing. I dragged myself up the the stairs to get them some breakfast, and came to discover that the dishwasher ran all night! I immediately shut the thing off . I then opened the door to find that all the dishes were still dirty and there was a huge pool of water sitting at the bottom. I spent the morning rewashing every single dish and pan that was in the machine. The rest of the day was already covered in Jacob's birthday recap.

Saturday morning involved more unpacking. I wasn't feeling too good, so that afternoon, Scott took the boys to the beach so I could rest for a while. It sounded so great to take a nice hot shower (with my curtain) and hop into bed. I turn on the water and get in to find the water is freezing. I splash some water on myself - then ran into bed to try to warm up. I woke up when the boys got home. I could hear Jacob and Andrew in their shower yelling to Scott that the water was cold. It was then that I realized the water heater had gone down. I kept hoping it would regenerate sometime during the day, but no luck. 

That afternoon the pest control guy from "Rentokil" (great name) showed up. I now feel safe and protected from the insect life living throughout the island. 

Last night I threw in a load of towels (I can fit about 3 into the washing machine) and went to watch TV. At some point I went into the kitchen to get an orange, and almost wiped out on the floor. WATER! We haven't used the dishwasher since Thursday, so it was coming from the washing machine. Again, out comes the mop and the maneuvering into the drains. Now I am just waiting for our oven to explode.

This morning I reluctantly took a shower to get ready for church. It was more like a bird bath. I could not bring myself to wash my hair or shave my legs. I went to church in pantyhose (in 85 degree weather), with my greasy hair pulled into a bun. So attractive.

Tonight we fired up the barbeque and treated ourselves to some steaks. After dinner we loaded into the car to head over to our temporary housing apartment (our bill is paid through the 13th) so we could all take a warm shower. I have never been so grateful for warm water before in my life. I would love to know what all the security guards were thinking when we show up after being gone for 4 days, then leave again in 30 minutes wearing PJs. What weirdos!