11: LASTMINUTE.COM

 

After some 9 months since arriving in Singapore, the time is fast approaching for Matt and I to sit the Singapore “Basic Theory Test” (BTT) – a compulsory requirement if we want to continue driving on the roads here after 12 months.  As Matt moved here before I did, his 12-months’ grace actually comes up this month!

Although he booked slots (for tomorrow!) a month or two ago, neither of us actually signed-up for any of the multitude of online BTT practice sites until yesterday afternoon! Don’t ask me why but talk about lastminute.com!  This kind of behavior though, is not uncommon for Matt who is so ridiculously easy going and sees no problem with leaving things to the VERY last minute.  I, on the other hand, being the control freak, am the polar opposite; suffering cold sweats and heart palpitations at the thought of leaving things to the last moment.

Being the practical Capricorn, I’ve never been one to keep journals for emotional scribbling – especially after an unfortunate incident where my deepest teenage angst were exposed and ridiculed.  Rather, for countless years, my diaries have always been filled with to-do lists, appointments, notes-to-self - all meticulously ticked and highlighted according to classification and importance. Christmas and birthday lists were (and still are!) planned and bought (on average) a month or two prior.  Mind you, this was BEFORE having children!  My diaries helped me marshal my life and jumbled thoughts in an order that avoided any sort of lastminute.com type of panic attacks.  Icing on the cake?  I almost always had a Plan B (and sometimes a C, D, E and F)!  Crazy, right?  I KNOW!

I realise right now, you may be torn between feeling a rush of pity that someone could be as geeky as me; and yet at the same time, filled with awe at my exceptional organisational skills.  Or maybe, you might be asking yourself how a lastminute.com-averse person could allow myself to be in a position where I’ve now spent the last 9 hours literally sitting mock tests after tests, incessantly clicking answer after answer, whereby I fear I may have lost all feeling in my right hand!  That is, of course, in-between waking the girls up, getting them breakfast, making their lunches for school, getting them to school, going for a 50-minute run (aka procrastination), having lunch with Matt, making lasagna for dinner, going back to pick up the girls from school (TWICE!), answering texts of Whatsapp, Facebook and my iPhone, chatting to my gorgeous BFF (remember the one who told me I looked emaciated-but-in-a-good-way after I caught the ‘man flu’ and couldn’t stomach food for a few days?), having dinner with the girls, taking Matt his dinner, putting the girls to bed AND working on this piece (ie MORE procrastination!). 

Okay, maybe 9 hours is a bit of an exaggeration.  But maybe this is a sign that after 16 years together, Matt’s easy going ways have finally rubbed off on me a little.  It is conceivable that I am learning that not everything can and should be planned military style, AND sometimes, doing things lastminute.com-style has its advantages..  For example, I won’t be able to spend as much time obsessing over every single detail. Another? Not over planning and letting things happen organically and staying open to new possibilities (which hopefully doesn’t include failing tomorrow!).

I am not saying I’m going to ditch my lists. I will ALWAYS keep and maintain daily, weekly and monthly lists filled with reminders, birthdays, important dates, to-do lists, etcetera, etcetera – with three increasingly busy daughters and a failing memory, I need these reminders more than ever and at the end of the day, its how I manage to stay on top of things (plus it enables me to also ‘gently’ remind Matt of HIS ‘to-do’ lists!).  The highlighting and classification have (thankfully) fallen by the wayside though, with entries now hurriedly scribbled on the run -- with whatever pen/pencil (regardless of color) is lying within arm's reach!

Meanwhile though, I really need to get back clicking on answers as I practise a few more hundred times before this test in 12 hours time.  Wish me luck!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞