catch up time

can't believe i'm back in singapore! kale and i were talking about it during the cab ride home from the airport last nite. the days literally flew by in charleston, and yet it's kinda odd, but it feels like it's been yonks since we left for charleston.

think it's about time i catch up on the happenings since my last blog. didn't have internet access the rest of the time that i was there (well, at least not decent-speed internet access). will do as much as i can right now, and will upload pics and more updates later.

the past week and a half went by in a jiffy... we went out on uncle mark's boat on friday.. was so so great... that, i think, was the best part of the vacation (eh, maybe except for the wedding!).

the parents showed up on sunday (kale's drove through the nite from buffalo to surprise us as we came back from church on sunday morning) and my parents flew in sunday night. we spent monday and tuesday hoping and praying that the weather would clear up. kale's parents's beach house was on the beach and we all stood on the deck to watch the fury of hurrican jeanne as it whipped up the waves. very wild, and very very pretty. it was a full moon, and with the wind and the high tide, there was some kind of untamed beauty that you never see in singapore.

monday was a whirlwind day, had my trial make-up appt (they screwed up the first time around), met with j.lo (as some of kale's friends have christened ellen, my wedding planner) and then headed out to the church to meet with the deacon. the deacon was really really nice.. far nicer than the gruff persona that he portrayed over the phone. had a bit of a let-down cos the church seemed really dinghy and dark... and i wasn't so sure i liked it. this was of course, after having seen the cathedral the day before during mass! (think cathedral - huge and awe-inspiring, stella maris- small and quaint). kale felt rather bad that i wasn't feeling the church, but at this point, as aunt meldie pointed out - it's a snowball, just get out of its way and let it roll.

tuesday we picked up celin and hugh from the airport and then met with kale's grandpa for dinner.. (complete with alice in wonderland-sized chairs and chandeliers).. was so, so pooped. spent the morning wrestling with trying to get money orders to pay people... didn't realise that you couldn't purchase money orders with a credit card, and seeing as how neither of us have U.S bank accts anymore, it resulted in a hectic, frazzled morning running around pulling out $1500 in $20 bills from atms to buy money orders from the post office.. lovely.

wednesday was crazy, crazy.. felt like we spent the day at the airport picking people up (first dave, lis and the kids and then dawn and selene)... had decided at this point that we'd both probably need a vacation from this vacation! picked up more people from the airport on thursday (julie and photo guy).. and this party was ready to roll...

by this time, both kale and i had about had it enough with people. think the saying that "company is like fish- it begins to stink after 3 days" is ABSOLUTELY correct! i know we're both probably more than a little self-centered, but man, after 3 days or so of making sure that everyone was in the right place, and that everyone knew where they were going, and that everyone was having a good time, i was ready to blow! i just honestly felt that i couldn't be in 3 places at one time, and i couldn't be responsible for everyone having a good time! kale of course, was far more centered and stable, and was great in making me realise that i didn't have to be everywhere at once and with everyone.. but damn, i was stressed! kale and i wanted as much as possible to spend time with people that we otherwise wouldn't have had a chance to see very much, but at the same point, i felt torn between doing that, and hanging out with the people who had flown out from singapore just for this (granted we will see them pretty often when we get back, but they DID still fly 28 hours to be with us! so anyhow, was pretty stressed and had frazzled nerves, and was just ready for some alone time.