Rain and Tears
It's the not-so-very-nice hay fever season.
Thankfully I have yet to run out of hankies as I did last year.
Apart from a constantly blocked nose which then occasionally runs like a tap -- but the congestion does not clear up -- this year's effect was felt more in the (teary) eyes and (itching) throat.
Basically it's horrid.
Worse, son seems to have developed symptoms. He's only seven. A friend said we must move to Spain to get rid of the hay fever symptoms. Truth is, the plan is to spend more holiday time in Singapore. Not so much for the weather (hot, humid, hotter, more humid), but for culture.
My son needs to learn more about the culture that his mum grew up in, or at best, some of what she remembers of it. The current Singapore is so different from the one she left 16 years ago.
The past two weeks have been horrendously busy. Last week we had a briefing meeting for parents whose sons are going into 'Middle School'. It's a totally new world from Junior School and it will be quite something to see how our sons aged seven-plus cope with this more grown-up world.
On Friday, we had Sports Day. The boys toughed it out under the occasional showers. Then after the teachers' race, there was a cloud burst and we all got thoroughly soaked.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the PTA had two events to organize. I say two, but they sort of ran into each other. In fact they ran into each other a lot and then continued for a bit. The annual summer fair followed by the fun cricket came and went. I was much more disorganized than at previous Fairs. (Well, we've only just finished our 1970s party a month ago, followed by the half-term break, so there was really no time to do very much. Is my excuse.)
The weather did not help. Part of the problem was deciding whether to hold the event outdoors or in. The committee members were all checking the forecasts studiously. But we were looking at different forecasts.
While I relied on my internet and the symbols indicate that it was going to be wet, wet, wet, others looked at teletext -- which is impossible to get on my tv system so we never ever use it. They were convinced that after that one shower, it would brighten up after three o'clock.
In the end we pitched up outdoors, the heavens opened and twenty minutes to four, which was when the Fair was supposed to begin, and there was a mad rush to bring everything indoors. Thankfully I had insisted that the bottle tombola stayed indoors.
In the end the weather did brighten up. The children were able to use the bouncy castle. The pizza oven and barbecue army set up and there was an unending queue, which of course meant we ran out of food!
Last year there were 41 people booked into our 'fun cricket' event. How was I to know that catering for 150 this time would not be enough?
Any way we made do. And long after the event was supposed to end at 8pm, people were still around. Well, it's nice to see people enjoying themselves.
But it would so much nicer if more would have stayed to help tidy up.
Must not complain, the main events over, I can now relax a bit.
There is still the cookbook to get done before Speech Day, in three weeks' time!
Sleep has not been easy, too. Often I'm up at 3am with a bunged up nose and can not get back to sleep till just before the alarm goes at 6am.
Bah!
Back to Organic-Ally.
Thankfully I have yet to run out of hankies as I did last year.
Apart from a constantly blocked nose which then occasionally runs like a tap -- but the congestion does not clear up -- this year's effect was felt more in the (teary) eyes and (itching) throat.
Basically it's horrid.
Worse, son seems to have developed symptoms. He's only seven. A friend said we must move to Spain to get rid of the hay fever symptoms. Truth is, the plan is to spend more holiday time in Singapore. Not so much for the weather (hot, humid, hotter, more humid), but for culture.
My son needs to learn more about the culture that his mum grew up in, or at best, some of what she remembers of it. The current Singapore is so different from the one she left 16 years ago.
The past two weeks have been horrendously busy. Last week we had a briefing meeting for parents whose sons are going into 'Middle School'. It's a totally new world from Junior School and it will be quite something to see how our sons aged seven-plus cope with this more grown-up world.
On Friday, we had Sports Day. The boys toughed it out under the occasional showers. Then after the teachers' race, there was a cloud burst and we all got thoroughly soaked.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the PTA had two events to organize. I say two, but they sort of ran into each other. In fact they ran into each other a lot and then continued for a bit. The annual summer fair followed by the fun cricket came and went. I was much more disorganized than at previous Fairs. (Well, we've only just finished our 1970s party a month ago, followed by the half-term break, so there was really no time to do very much. Is my excuse.)
The weather did not help. Part of the problem was deciding whether to hold the event outdoors or in. The committee members were all checking the forecasts studiously. But we were looking at different forecasts.
While I relied on my internet and the symbols indicate that it was going to be wet, wet, wet, others looked at teletext -- which is impossible to get on my tv system so we never ever use it. They were convinced that after that one shower, it would brighten up after three o'clock.
In the end we pitched up outdoors, the heavens opened and twenty minutes to four, which was when the Fair was supposed to begin, and there was a mad rush to bring everything indoors. Thankfully I had insisted that the bottle tombola stayed indoors.
In the end the weather did brighten up. The children were able to use the bouncy castle. The pizza oven and barbecue army set up and there was an unending queue, which of course meant we ran out of food!
Last year there were 41 people booked into our 'fun cricket' event. How was I to know that catering for 150 this time would not be enough?
Any way we made do. And long after the event was supposed to end at 8pm, people were still around. Well, it's nice to see people enjoying themselves.
But it would so much nicer if more would have stayed to help tidy up.
Must not complain, the main events over, I can now relax a bit.
There is still the cookbook to get done before Speech Day, in three weeks' time!
Sleep has not been easy, too. Often I'm up at 3am with a bunged up nose and can not get back to sleep till just before the alarm goes at 6am.
Bah!
Back to Organic-Ally.
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