So exciting - can't wait to move!

I was waiting at the traffic light this evening when I saw on Facebook that someone had received an email to make payment and collect key! I was so excited and wanted to read more but the green man appeared! I had to cross quickly, get past the MRT gantry coz my card is on my phone and slip into the train before I could read more - the suspense almost killed me!!!

As of now, two future neighbours have posted about getting key collection notification. I usually check my emails every day. Now I'm checking my emails many times a day! But I think, my notification is likely to come in the mail... Check every day instead of once a week!! :p

So on Friday, I read - on Facebook too - that Hillion got its TOP on Friday itself. I don't know man, my future neighbours so resourceful! But finally! We bought Hillion in March 2013. It's been four years and a half!

Don't get me wrong. We love our little place in Holland, which, btw, is no longer ours - we transferred it to Mum and Dad on in November 2013 in order to claim back the additional buyer stamp duty on Hillion. But this little place is really little. And it got more crowded every two years since we came back heavily pregnant from Evanston.

The sky from our bedroom floor

Dawn in April this year from the corridor

Just before a shower from the lift lobby

One morning at the carpark

And lovely flying flags this National Day 

Yes, I grew up in a three-room HDB flat too, with five in the house. At one point, there were seven and sometimes eight, coz we rented a room to a couple and my paternal grandmother stayed over sometimes. Since as young as 11, which was my earliest memory on this, I had wanted personal space, specifically my own room. That didn't happen until Oxford. And back in Singapore, that didn't happen until 2007.

Now, my biggest beef is about sharing toilet with our domestic helper. I really cannot stand sharing toilet with someone other than Sito even after four years of having a helper. Hate it when the toilet floor is always wet coz of handwashing even though I offered use of the washing machine. Hate it when the toilet seat is always wet coz - I don't want to know why!

Hate it that my sons are sharing the toilet with her too - I always have to make sure they don't touch the toilet unnecessarily coz they'll somehow end up touching me or worse, Yu. And hate it coz the ratio of one toilet to five users just sucks.

Toilet aside, we really need more space.

We took some 10 months to settle into current sleeping arrangements - kids and adults separate. For a long while, Yu was sleeping in our bed coz I tried and failed to keep him asleep in his bed in the kids' room.

We have too many bags hanging off the shoe cabinet, sitting on the sofa and the TV bench. Every bag gets a wipe-down weekly else it's just too gross when they always come in contact with the ground outside. Except my bag - I never put in down on the ground, and I always look before I put it down on any table or chair. Same treatment be it my current $50 backpack or Ms Chanel, which is sitting in a cabinet packed to the brim with stuff and more stuff, so much so that I have given up on rotating bags when going out on Saturdays - just use the same accessible red bag.

The kitchen and hence the toilet can be downright inaccessible at times, e.g. blanket needs to be air-dried on a rack, or N has to stop cooking or ironing to move aside so that someone can pass.

When it comes to dinner time, there is no space to accommodate the whole family. When we move, I'll organise a steamboat where everyone can gather around to eat together! :)

But it's also nerve-wrecking, this whole moving thing. I have been jotting down things like what kind of storage areas we need, type of furniture, how to arrange stuff, etc. But now that we're so near key collection, I realise there are lots to be done, e.g. shopping for beds - no bed how to move?! And all the kids' stuff....!

Still remember the time when we moved into Holland - seemed so easy back then. I found a record dated 3 Sep 2013, that said that I went to retrieve the lease duplicate lease of our flat on the Monday prior. It's a A3 or similar-sized document with the names of the first purchasers from HDB in 1979. We were only the third owners; the names of subsequent owners are listed at the back of the duplicate lease. The best part of the document is the price of the flat back then - $11,000 in 1979 dollars! *.*

Another exciting thing that happened this week - yesterday, in fact - was that my intended child care centre in BP called! I emailed them in August when we decided that Kai and Yang would change schools wef 1 Jan 2018 while Yu would finish up infant care at current place. So there are vacancies for Kai and Yu but (1) Yang's slot is pending withdrawal of current N1 kids or a new teacher, and (2) Yu can't go on 1 April but he also can't stay in infant care beyond 9 April. Will wait to hear from them again in October. I can still manage for Yu but am keeping my fingers crossed for Yang...

And, another exciting thing will be happening this week. Kai can't wait. Papa and Mama also can't wait :))))