Part of being a mommy is doing the same thing over and over. I'm kind of getting that down here in Singapore, too.

This morning, we took a cab to my new friend, Joy's apartment. I'm not quite sure where she lives, but west of us and not as centrally located as our apartment. I think there are more ex-pats in her area. As a reminder, Joy has an almost-three-year-old son Andrew and a 5-month-old daughter Alexis. Hudson was in hog heaven playing with all the boy toys. I think even Maisie was just happy to see other kids and enjoyed the cars and trucks, too. Joy is from San Angelo, another West Texas town about two hours from my hometown of Midland. Joy's an Aggie, too - though class of 2000. Ha! She's such a Texan - a full-spread of food for the three of us! Yum!

She schedules the weekly playdates of the AWA women with kids this age. All the others are on their holidays, taking advantage of kids being out of school so it was just the two of us which was really nice. I learn so much from other moms - like Joy brings HUGE toys from the US in her suitcase in parts since toys here are so expensive. Incredible. She also uses cloth diapers because diapers are so pricey. Of course, she laughs and says her helper has to do the laundry! 

They have a four bedroom apartment, one for each kid, a master and a playroom. Her husband's company insists that they keep their US home, leave it furnished, but not rent it out and rent furniture here. 

I'd planned to take the kids swimming this afternoon, but they were cutting the lawn and spraying for bugs - something they do twice a month. Instead, we went to the post office to mail presents to two of Maisie's friends. Oh my God - it was MOBBED by a traveling group of kids from I THINK China. Nobody spoke English so I couldn't actually confirm that. They were all smiling at Hudson and I thought, "Oh here we go again - the blond thing," but actually, they were watching him play with the iPhone! Kids and electronics... 

Then we did some errands like getting a battery for my watch. We had to go to Lucky Plaza which is where the Filippinos hang out. Other errands were in various stores along Orchard. I just noticed this TINY McDonald's on the street that sells only ice cream and drinks. What a hoot! 

The thing about shopping on Orchard - Singapore's much greener and prettier version of NY's Fifth Avenue - is that going in and out of stores can entail a few stairs which aren't much fun with a double-stroller. Finding the lift - as elevators are called - is often an impossible task. All this while dearling with incredible heat. I'm exhausted!

We ended the day at the little, crappy indoor playground at a nearby mall and the kids ate a ham and cheese sandwich with relish.

Tom is working some really long hours. Sometimes he comes home for dinner and then goes back to the office. Tonight, he got home at 10:30 after an incredibly bad day at work. Let's just say the Chinese aren't to be trusted. If they keep this up, we're coming home! 

Lucky for me, Cheryl hangs with me at night and we watch TV. In truth, she lives in this apartment by herself except for when guests are here. Usually, guests are here for a couple of days so we're really muscling in on her TV time and space. That's the way it's supposed to be, but it still must be a big change for her. Who knows? Maybe she really likes having somebody to eat with at night, too. :-)