Daddy's back, and Gong Gong's here!

It hasn't been all play and no work for me. For quite the workaholic I am, and while the husband was away, I kept up my chores as much as I could. Sometimes with a little help from our two boys. And other times, more than a little help -- and that would be when something like a good DVD would work to buy me some time to finish up what I was doing.

It's never easy being half strength. Housework aside, it's sapping to try and be there at all times for both Jon and Ben, and they can be quite a font of boundless energy!

And like Jon striking off each day on the simple calendar I drew for him, when every day he and Ben would ask me when their daddy would be back, for the last 19 days, I too have been so looking forward to Vern coming back, and my father visiting us.

Yes, they've arrived, safe and sound!

To all of you there for our family especially during this period, I just want to say a big THANK YOU! Without your prayers for us, and encouragement for me to take it one day at a time, we wouldn't have done it. It always means so much to me to hear from you, whenever you drop me a note or leave a comment on this blog.

So sweet of our friends here and neighbours too, checking in on the boys and me (unannounced!), and extending invitations to us when they must know we needed the mirth and laughter.

Our two men are here. And to some extent, you could say, we're off to a frenzied flying start! The boys and I weren't going to pick them up at the airport, but at the last minute, we did. And what could I give my hungry Pa, or Gong Gong to the boys, when all the Chinese eateries were closed at that time, and hamburgers though Vern would have been OK with them, were the last thing I could offer anyone already feeling the jet lag after a long-haul flight? A quick stopover at the supermarket, and a simple stir-fry of chicken and vegetables, served with rice, eventually did the trick!

Then when the luggage was more than confirmed delayed, Vern stayed home to catch up on school stuff, while the boys helped me show Gong Gong around the usual places where we shop for our essentials, to get a change of clothes, a shaver, and the likes for him! And while we were at it, why not go to the Asian supermarket too, seeing we were out of our favourite Do Do fishballs and we might as well also stock up on other stuff?

I don't know how we managed it, but we packed in a lot more than we ordinarily would. And not a peep from Jon and Ben (not counting their private battles)! How wonderful! Only Ben wondering, "Mommy, we go so many places?"!

I know. All that lesser cooking and lesser laundry that I got away with in the last 2 1/2 weeks. They were bound to catch up with me. Sooner or later. But all in a good way.

It just feels so good to have the husband back! He bathed the boys and read them a bedtime story. And the grass -- it'd grown so long, he already started mowing some of it!

My Pa, it's really nice to see him again, and have him reconnect with the boys in his own special ways. It's been two years since the last time he visited us, and I wasn't even driving yet. But along the way, I guess that "spirit of adventure" that he always professed he lacked, and hence not in my genes, had crept into my life. Not in a bad way, not bad at all!

Our adventure's just begun! Catch y'all later!