Little Lamb Rachel

Finally,the fate of my department is decided and announced and the best part is I got to know about it via FB cos of my colleagues posting their status online. My boss didn’t even call me and tell me until I called yesterday.

Due to outsourcing of jobs to cheaper places,many of lost their jobs, not just in my department (mine is the last to know and they are leaving end of the month already). The other departments long knew about their fate like a few months ago & yesterday was the last day for 90% of them who got retrenched.

My department is small to begin with (2 admin,1 analysis & 4 approvers) and imagine we handle the whole bank’s mortgage volume. No perm headcount even at the peak of properties and all they give are contract staff. My 2 admin took the package, 1 of my fellow approvers took the package too. The other 2 approvers are being re-deployed to other department.

Actually,I was seriously looking forward and hoping that they will offer me the package cos is a lot of $$$. I briefly calculated & it defintely exceed S$35K. Imagine what I can do with it – one whole year of reno loan repayment is taken care of, baby’s one whole year of babysitter’s fees is being covered and I still have quite a bit to dump into the baby bonus CDA account with some to invest and some to save. I can still go on a short holiday with dear dear. ALAS! I’m not given the package! HR has re-deployed me to another department to do credit documentation and I seriously don’t really like it. I guess HR cannot retrench me cos I’m still on maternity and they can’t just leave me without a job and maybe is against the law.

I think not many people look “forward” to being retrenched like me, especially in economic downturns like this. But I’m confident that I be able to find greener pasture and I really want to get out of that dreadful place.

The only good thing about this change is I will no longer be in consumer banking as I be handling SME & Wholesale banking stuff,which adds credential to my resume and it adds value to my experience (makes it easier in future to go into corporate banking). And it probably means that the chance of having a better pay is also slightly higher.

With the change,it means I need to adjust to a new environment, wonder how the new boss & colleagues are like,whether I be able to cope and handle the new job scope and whether can I leave on the dot (cos need to fetch baby home).

I’m still upset that the package is not offered to me

Swift has been serving us faithfully for the last 3 years and has been through the ups and downs in our life. Like an old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Due to the new addition (little Inez) in the family and the new schedule that all of us have to get used to from next year onwards, we have to “ren tong” and say Sayonara to our beloved Swift.

Swift is a good car but it can’t continue to serve us any longer. Though we found it a new owner, we really hope that the new owner will take good care of it, just like us. Though I really like the sound system in Swift but have no choice but to let the new owner have it too cos Dear Dear say bo bian.

Much as we are excited to see Rio and how it’s going to serve us, nothing will beat Swift for the moment (though Swift is not my dream car). In less than a week’s time, we have to bid farewell to the red little car that has brought us to countless “park toh” dates, late nights of sending us home, took us to Malacca and the endless fun, laughter & joy with our families and friends.

I have always like cars in red color but Rio is going to be “green with envy”. The good thing about Rio is it has a big boot space, which fits into our lifestyle and the price is within our budget. Dear Dear like the fact that is a manual car too (saves petrol as compared to auto cars). There goes my dream of having an auto car (though I learned driving using manual car but my license is 10 yrs old & I have driven < 5 times). Since is manual, we have agreed that Dear Dear will fetch me to work after we drop Inez at her babysitter place. In the meantime, I will start refreshing my driving with Rio (cos Swift's clutch is "harder" and Dear Dear says that Rio may be easier for me since clutch not so tight).

Will really missed the sweet little red car that everyone is so familiar with.. Surprisingly, I didn't miss our first car – white Mazda 121 as much (probably cos we only had it for 1 yr).

From now onwards, I think going back to Lavender (my parents place) for dinner is going to be a Sunday ritual cos Gong Gong and Po Po want to see little Inez.

Yesterday after dinner, we went to check out the latest shopping mall who claimed to be the first eco-friendly mall – City Square Shopping Mall. The mall is big and they have lots of restaurants (Soup Restaurant, Manhattan Fish, Swensen, Anderson Ice-cream, Pizza Hut, Breeks, Coffeebean, etc, etc) and almost all the fast food chain like Mac, KFC, BK, Long John are all there.

Metro is the anchor department store. How can Charles & Keith not be planted there? Oh, B2 sells all the baby stuff and we are happy to see Tom & Stefanie there too. According to Daniel & Janet, the baby stuff they sell there are slightly cheaper than Kiddy Palace or Mothercare. I think Tom & Stefanie will fall under my one of my fave shop soon. There are other shops but I simply can’t remember their names.

And how can NTUC not have a foothold in this latest shopping mall too? Fight with Mustafa.. hahaaa..

I guess sooner or later, this shopping mall will be one that we will go often after our weekly Sunday dinner (especially when they have NTUC).

Ever since baby Inez arrived, I find myself looking at those supermart ads more and more often when I flipped the papers.

Whenever there is sale or promotion in the different supermart, I will zoom in and see if there is any milk powder promotion. Although she’s breastfed in the day time, we do give her formula in the night time.

This zooming in on the supermart ads seem to really signify to me that I’m really stepping into a different season of my life – motherhood and being a good part-time homemaker too. The good thing is both dear dear and I love grocery shopping and we can shop in those big hypermart for 2 hrs.

Time flies!

One month of my maternity leave has gone by and I have not achieved anything that I planned to do during this break. The only thing I have done is finished thru my confinement period and taking care of baby (feeding her, bathing her, playing with her, entertain her, soothe her cries, pat her to sleep, change her diapers, etc).

And already my buddy has gone back to work today as she took 3 mths maternity leave with the last mth as part-time. Gosh!!!

After taking care of baby for slightly after one month, I wonder why only mummies can have 4 months maternity leave and daddies only 3 days paternity leave?

I think they should really consider giving daddies longer paternity leave, like maybe 2 months or so, it will really help all mummies and provide a means of support. It also helps to foster bonding between babies and daddies.

With longer paternity leave for daddies, it can also help mummies to take care of baby along. It relieves stress and some time off for mummies too.

Don’t know if is due to the recent rainy (and erratic) season, it seems that mosquitoes are on the “high alert”. I kena 5 “love bites” on the same leg within 2 days. Everyday, I seem to have new “love bites”. Argh!!! Hubby also gotten some “love bites” too.

We have start switching on the mosquito repellent at night. Just hoping that baby don’t kena these “love bites”.

After one month of confinement, Mummy’s hair has gone “hay-wire” as it has become pretty dry & not manageable. It looks like a bunch of dried up grass.

So, Mummy has a new hair-cut as she cannot stand her hair anymore. The last time that Mummy has such short hair was in her schooling days. And Mummy can’t even remember when she had fringe that dangle at the forehead.

But Mummy thinks that the new hairdo is not too bad. Daddy like it too. So when u see me this sun in church, don’t have a shock.