a brand new year....

So, what's the difference? Not much really, except that I've to remember to write "2006" instead of "2005" on the cheques I issue... What else? Different schools for my children.

Children... they are changing right before my very eyes and yet they look the same.. they still behave the same way (almost!) and still do the same things...

I think a new year is a good way to "milestone" one's life though... It gives one the excuse to do something differently if we so choose to, simply by using the "excuse" that it is a new year!

I suppose I too will do the same if the situation/circumstance calls for it. Does that make me a hypocrite? hmmm.. don't think so...

I don't feel "new" though.. One of my major stresses now is my home.. Things are in need of repair like my roof which is leaking buckets and my store room which is getting damp from some mysterious underground water. These things worry me, as not only will it cost money to repair, it might impair the value of the house. Also, to get my trusty maintenance guy to come to see to the repairs is quite a task in itself!

Tony is a great guy... He is experienced, friendly, knowledgeable, a hands-on contractor who always does more than he is asked to and has always come to my rescue so-to-speak in emergencies! He is however, terribly "long winded" and when it isn't an emergency, he really, really takes his own sweet time!

Although we have, through the years become friends, we aren't good enough friends for me to actually be open to say to his face that he's cheong-hey! Thus, I will have to "endure" his rather long descriptions of how he has done renovations for this person or that VIP and how the place looked before and after, or what a terrible job the previous contractor had done.....

My roof has been in need of repair months before this new leakage occured like 3-4 days ago, but he had not deemed the repair as something in need of immediate attention until this new leakage.. so i guess i should thank the new hole in my roof cos now i can actually have it all done at once, i hope, i hope!

Been thinking of a new home and how I want it to look like... Think the need is greater now after my father in law's heart attack but I am still waiting on the LORD for this... Meanwhile, am day-dreaming of how my new home would be like... I want to design and build it!

Now, that would be a new beginning.... somewhere in the middle....