Marking A Year Gone By

With each year that passes, my birthday seems to hold less significance for me. Perhaps that's just my mind in denial, unwilling to acknowledge that I have aged another year. These days, the children's birthdays are what I get excited about. I think it's particularly telling that the only way I remember how old I am is by remembering that I am 30 years older than Noey!

So, yes, I'm 34 this year. It's my last year checking the "25-34 years"option on survey forms.  Maybe I'll feel it more when I turn 35 next year and move to the next category.

I didn't intend to do much for my birthday this year, but DD sweetly decided to make it a special day for me. So I got:

(1) This card from Noey

Don't you just love my funky hair and crazy eyebrows? This card is definitely for keeps. 

(2) An adult lunch with the husband and without the kids, at Au Petit Salut

It's been a while since I've been for set lunch at Au Petit Salut. The food is still great but lunch isn't as good value as it used to be. Lots of top-ups for better items like the beef cheeks. DD still went for them in the end.

(3) A new Macbook Pro for my birthday present (which I'm still learning to use)

(4) Time off in the afternoon to do my own thing. I decided to pop over to the hospital to visit C and her new bundle of joy, little Teanne. So lovely carry such a teeny-tiny newborn again!

Little Teanne. Hi-5, fellow May baby!

(5) Time to run some errands in peace, while knowing that the kids were being well-taken care of at home. And having fun.

Cheeky face!

And in the evening, DD and I braced ourselves and brought the kids out to a semi-posh dinner at Osia. It's the only nice restaurant that we'd attempt to bring both kids to because they are surprisingly family friendly. They even provide a kids' menu for dinner.

The good thing about eating with kids is that we tend to go for dinner early and this time, managed to get the 4-course set menu for $68++ per person, which I think was pretty good value. The food was great. Both kids ate A LOT of flat bread and Noey also walloped his entire Pasta dish. We've come to realise that this kid's got expensive tastebuds -- he eats really well in expensive restaurants!

All things considered, it was a successful dinner. We did have to take turns to go walk around with the kids during our main courses, but everyone enjoyed the food and had a good time. And there was some delicious cake to round off the evening with a candle to keep the kids happy.

It was a good way to mark another year gone by.