Feast of the Holy Family

Every year, the liturgical calendar celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. It's a feast day that celebrates the family unit, using the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as our model. Usually the feast falls on a Sunday after Christmas. When a Sunday does not occur between Dec 25 and January 1, this feast is celebrated on December 30 with one reading before the Gospel.


I always find that this is a very meaningful celebration because they model for us a family life not beyond search but one that is very real and built on caring for each other. Jesus, Mary and Joseph have had a good share of problems even on the days before Jesus was born. To start off with, Mary was found pregnant before she was married. Despite that, she needed to travel quite a distance, running away from enemies to keep her child safe. Luckily Joseph was by her side, protecting them. To me, this would be a nightmare - what a way to start a family. When I was pregnant, I have the comfort of my home to rest more, and the baby got to listen to soothing music as a form of relaxation. But Jesus was constantly on the go, and I'm sure he could feel his mother's worries and anxieties. I was lucky to have the assistance of the nurses and doctor during labor, not to mention my whole family was by my side either physically or in prayers (hubby's the middle man exchanging sms with all of them, updating them on my progress), but what about Mary? She didn't even have a room to give birth in, and ended up sharing with the horses.

Well, despite all that, they survived and still able to live happily. Would I be able to do the same given the same situation? Even now, I couldn't stop myself from complaining about those little things that bother me. Every year this time, I look forward to the readings that reminded the wives to be respectful to the husbands, the husbands to love and cherish the wives, the children to be obedient to the parents and the parents to be protective and caring towards the children. But this year, I was especially enlightened by the sermon given by the new parish priest back in my dad's hometown. He happens to be the the same priest that solemnized my matrimonial service 6 years ago. Perhaps it's a wake up call for me.

Monsignor pointed out that in our modern family, the roles of family members have been replaced by schools, hospitals and nursing home. Sad but true, we send our children to daycare because we need to work. We push sick family members to the hospitals - the longer they stay the better it is, because they would get 'better' treatment from the professionals. And when our parents were old, we send them to nursing home (just because they send us to daycare when they have to work last time, so now it's our turn to work, right?).

He also highlighted the proposed 5P's to strengthen family life. I wouldn't touch on them here, except for the 2nd P's - Priority which got my special attention.

2) Priority: Our husband / wire relationship comes first before children/parents & in-laws. Family first before work, friends or leisure. We need to make a priority as a family not only to pray but eat and play together.

This actually consist of 3 main things: -

i. All this while, I've put too much focus on my children until I neglected my husband. To me, he's big (and old) enough to handle his own things, or sort out his problems. I already have my hands full with the kids, and hardly time for myself, so how can I afford to spend more time on him? Well, maybe that explains all the many miscommunication that we had all this while - because I just didn't care enough. Monsignor pointed out that when husband & wife are in sync, everything will fall in place naturally - the kids, parents, in-laws. Which I couldn't agree more with.

ii. The other thing that I wanted to comment here was on the 2nd sentence - priority between family, work, friends, leisure. Easily said and understood - many of us know that. Family first. But I couldn't help noticing that many people, especially the youngster nowadays would prefer to hang around with their friends on the eve of a special event - Christmas, New Year, etc... to count down and chill out. Doesn't this show who's our priority in life?

iii. The phrase that "The family that prays together, stays together" no longer work now, according to Monsignor. Instead, it has become, "The family that eats together, stays together". So he encouraged all of us to eat together with our family members at least once a month.

I hope this sharing will trigger new insight to you as it has to me. I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and may the dawn of 2011 brings you closer to your family, and lives the life that you've always dreamt of. Till then, I'll end this with a little prayer that was shared with us -

O God of goodness and mercy,
to your fatherly guidance
we commend our family,
our home and all our belongings.

You are where our heart is,
our treasure beyond compare
holding our family together
and answering our earnest prayer.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Outliers

Have you ever met anyone who always got a fair share of life? Someone whom you admire, or even envy, for the many great achievements that came their way? Or those who always get the better half of things? And, have you ever wondered, how did they do it? What makes them become what they're now?

These are the things that were being discussed in Outliers, which was written by Malcolm Gladwell. He pointed out that many successful people today, got where they are now, not really because they're smart or have that special capabilities, but rather they were given the opportunities. In other words, they happened to be at the right place at the right time.  

Of course, to qualify one has to have a certain level of intelligence or skill, but beyond that, what makes a successful person an outlier, depends mostly on the opportunities that were given to him, and how well he made use of it. For one, the environment where he came from plays a very important part. If he's from a rich family, his parents could afford to send him for extra classes to further polish up his skills, and thus trained him into a professional. Or, if he's poor, but were given the opportunities to spend at least 10,000 hours of practice on a certain task that he's interested in, he could master that skill and excel from the rest. That's how Mozart, or even Bill Gates got to where they were today. Another example would be if he's born at the right time, he would have the opportunity to participate in the more interesting things in life. The example given were those born at the beginning of the year were normally selected to be the team player (e.g hockey), because the cutoff date was in Dec, so naturally those born earlier in the year had the advantage of having a bigger built, and hence perform better. Naturally, they would be sent for more trainings (where the 10,000 hours rule came in), and further perfect their skills.

Indirectly, all these point to a fact that success could be attributed by many factors combined, and interestingly, it can be linked to our backgrounds, our environments, and how we decided to position ourselves in them. That's why, this gives us a new hope too, because we can be outliers too (or grow our children to be one), after we understand all the factors needed.

Source from http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/book-review-outliers-the-story-of-success

Well, I have not finished reading the book yet, but after reading the synopsis from here, I guess this basically summarized it all. It's also interesting to note that mostly successful people became what they were today because they have got help along the way. This reminds me about the story of the tortoise on the lamp post, from my parish priest during one of his sermons. The tortoise didn't get to the lamp post on its own, rather, it happened to be at the right place, at the right time, where someone picked it up and placed it there. So, we have to be grateful to the people in our lives, because without them, we'll not be where we're now. Not all those who has work extra hard made it after all. If we didn't get help along the way, would we still be here today? It's something for us to ponder...

Yes, indeed, as how Gladwell puts it: - No one, not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses - ever makes it alone.

How my girl nearly got me into trouble...

Yesterday after back from school, SY informed me that her school will have a party. She started asking me if I know how to make sandwiches. I told her I don't know. Then she said, "Then we buy lor!"
I was thinking - wah this girl thought everything can be bought!

Then she asked Hubby if he knows how to make sandwiches. To my surprise, hubby said yes. She was so happy and said, "Ok, so Daddy make sandwich".
The next question, "Daddy, do you know that sandwiches are triangle in shape?"
Daddy laughed out loud and said, "Yes".
Then she asked her Daddy what sandwiches is he going to make? Daddy answered Tuna.
Her next request, the sandwiches must be made in this order: - 1) peanut butter 2) tuna 3)butter
And she made Daddy repeat the sequences again to make sure he understood her (LOL!).

Will she start requesting for different designs if she know that all these are sandwiches too? 

I thot she was done with me, but she turned to ask, "Mommy, do you know how to make jelly?".
I said, "Yes".
She's very happy to hear that and said, "Good, Daddy made sandwiches, and Mommy made jellies".
Next came this, "Mommy, can you make jellies in pink color and heart shape?"
And SJ chipped in, "Mommy, I want blue color jellies".
I was stunned, and told her I'm not sure how to get blue color. Luckily she compromised and came out with green instead. I was relieved, and told them, should be no problem.
SY next ask SJ, "What shape you want your jellies to be?" Circle? Square?
SJ was angry and just said "No, I want green, green".
So I explained to SY that SJ might not understand yet, as she still haven't learn her shapes.

When I ask SY how much food to prepare, or when is it, she told me she didn't know but she'll find out. She mentioned something like Tuesday. I thot it would be next month or maybe a few weeks later.

Today, when I dropped them at school, SY's class teacher asked me if SY has told me about their class party next Tuesday. Then she went on to add that SY had volunteered her Mommy to make sandwiches! She asked me if I'm ok with that.

What else can I say? What would you do when you're in such a situation? Of couse I said yes, so as not to disappoint my girl. Luckily I asked if it's ok to prepare tuna sandwishes, or must it be vegetarian. As it turned out, her teacher replied that it's better not to be so obvious (as it's a vegetarian school), but egg and cheese are still acceptable.

There! Now I have to wake up earlier next Tuesday, unless I can figure out a way to keep them fresh if I make them the night before.

Uh... any volunteers?  Maybe I should educate my girl not to volunteer things for me in the future before asking me first. Now she's only 5, and it's only sandwiches. I hope she won't volunteer me for harder task when she grows bigger next time...

Happy 1010-10

Lost!

I've read about parents who lost their child, sympathized with them, but never thought that this could happen to me too. 

You see, I nearly lost SY last weekend. Hubby dropped both of us for her speech therapy class, while he took MIL and SJ for a joyride (you see, it was his chinese birthday that day, and his mom has a strong believe that one shouldn't step into a hospital on his own birthday). SJ was crying and insisting that I took her along, so Hubby asked if I could handle two. I told him NO, despite him not feeling happy having to deal with a crying toddler. 


I took SY for her registration. She was attracted to the Raya decoration at one corner, and I told her to wait for me there while I registered her. The deco corner was just beside me, you see, hence I never really bothered to keep turning my head to check on her. So you can guess how shocked I was when I turned to find her gone after I was done with the registration. In fact, I didn't even register her because I was told that she can go directly up to see her Speech Therapist! Imagine, in such a short second, she was gone!


Panicked, I scanned the whole area with my eyes, searching frantically for the familiar cheeky face, but met none. I then checked out the bakery because she used to ask me to buy bread for her. None. Then, I quickly ran to the lift which we normally took, because I thought she might have gone there when she couldn't see me. Halfway there, I turned back, as I realized that she wouldn't dare to take the lift on her own, so I went back to the registration counter area. I searched again, but couldn't find her. So I quickly make a phone call to Hubby to inform him, only to be scolded by him of my carelessness. He told me he'll come right away. 


I was contemplating whether to make a report to the security, asking them to help me make an announcement. Maybe SY would come to me when she heard it. But I didn't know how to go around that - I didn't see any security officer around. Just then I noticed the inquiry corner, which was just opposite the deco place. I asked the nurses there, if they had seen any small girl there. They gave me an equally lost look, after recovering from a stunned moment. So without waiting for an answer, I quickly dashed into the toilet nearby and shouted SY's name. At that time, I just did it as an impulse because I suddenly thought about stories from the forwarded emails that I received - where strangers kidnapped little girls and took them to the toilet, shaved their hair, etc, until no one could recognize them before transporting them out without causing any suspicion to the security. I shuddered at the thought of that (I was very sure that SY wouldn't go off by herself, because she never did while we're outside, the most was she would wander off a little bit, but be sure to stay around the area where I could see her). 


The cleaner looked up when she heard my shout, but suddenly I heard a very familiar voice, "Yes?" It came from outside, so I quickly dashed out, and I saw that girl sitting happily on the seat there, watching Mr. Bean! My, how relieved I was then, and I kept asking her why she didn't inform me when she went to sit there. She told me that she saw Mr. Bean so she waited for me there. That TV area was just besides the deco area, and I guess I didn't really scan the seating area in detail as I was in a panic. Furthermore, she's so short (her head just merely reached the top of the chair, so I won't be able to see her from behind). I tell you, I could never forget that 5min or so (or was it 10min?) ever. Every time I thought about that, even now, my heart felt like falling out, at the thought of  nearly losing my dear little girl. I quickly informed Hubby, and took her up for her class (I later learnt that it would be her last lesson too, as she completed her assessment with flying colors - she only mispronounced two cluster type words, but could be corrected immediately). 

Well, that's a near experience which I would never forget. Little did I expect it would happen to me because I've always prided myself for being very careful, especially when it comes to my kids. Now, I could really feel for those parents who lost their child for a few days. Mine was just 5-10minutes but that experience was harrowing enough for me. I'm so glad that I shouted her name, I should have done it the first thing but I felt silly because I could see the whole area very well, but not her. 


Indeed, we should never take our child for granted, even though they're big enough to understand things. 

Are you a quitter?

This just comes at the right time for me - and I hope this will also give you the inspiration to go on...



Have a blessed start to a great Monday!

The Perfect Husband

What's your idea of a perfect husband? To me, I just want someone who'd be there for me when I needed him most. And now that we're raising our own family, I'd want him to be equally involved with the kids and housework too, since I'm also working full time like him. Sometimes I'm not sure if I expected too much, because most guys would not like this kind of task. But surprisingly many of my mommy friends have such loving husband who even cook for the whole family!

My husband is the typical chinese 大男人，who normally leave all the domestic stuffs under my care. Sometimes when I couldn't manage them all, especially with the kids demanding all my attention, he'll help out here and there, but that also depends on his mood.

Now, I don't know what happens today, for I suddenly see the perfect husband that I've been wishing for! He offered to fetch the kids home from school, so that I could go home earlier to prepare dinner for them. However, something delayed me at work so when I finally reached home, he's already home with the kids. As usual, SJ was very clingy, and kept wanting Mommy's nen nen. That means I couldn't cook right away. After nursing her for awhile, she's still not in her good mood and wouldn't let me go. Even when Daddy offered to bring them down to the playground, she insisted that I went along too. Having no choice, I followed them all down. Dinner would have to wait, that's for sure. But before that, I quickly switched on the rice cooker so at least the rice would be ready. I've boiled the soup in the morning, still warm in the thermal pot.

After we had a fun time at the playground, we bribed them with lollipops to get them back home. So by then, SJ's in a good mood already, and she could play by herself or with her Jie Jie. I quickly prepared one vegetable dish, and then hubby voluntered to cook another dish - egg & bacon. He hardly cook ever since I married him, so I must thank my lucky star. I quickly took that opportunity to bathe the kids and had a shower myself. By the time we're ready, dinner's served. Again, surprisingly today, he served dinner :) On normal days, he'll expect me to serve everything and he'll just eat.

I wouldn't have called this perfect if he didn't clean the dishes for me (evil me!) And yes, he cleaned everything for me, including the wok and rice cooker too without me even asking him so. I really don't know what got into him, but I'm very very happy, that's for sure!

So, we managed to get the kids ready for bed earlier, after spending some quality time with them. Normally,  I'd just quickly finished the housework, sometimes hubby'll help with SY's revision (which is not very often), and by the time I'm done, we'll chase them to bed. So I hardly read with them anymore, not to say play. This time, we get to do a lot of things with them. I even get to practise the piano with SY while hubby entertained SJ.

I couldn't stop wondering why, but hubby's been really nice by helping me to dry the clothes and collect the dry ones in too. I wouldn't mind doing the folding myself, considering he's been really really helpful today. That's my idea of a perfect husband. I wanted to record this down so that when I'm mad at him next time for not helping, at least after reading this post, I'd be reminded that he had once been a perfect husband to me. So hopefully I won't be angry for long, haha.

Now, I silently thank God and quickly make a wish that this would continue on and on.... Life would be so much happier and less tiring....don't you think so too?

Is it possible to reverse the aging process?

I've always come across the terms anti aging, but don't really know how it works. Does it mean stopping the process of aging, or actually reversing it? If it's just merely stopping it, that means our age would be locked at that state (when we started the theraphy), but if we can reverse it, wouldn't that be wonderful? Mothers and daughters would look alike!



While I was still wondering on this possibility, Oxis has long patented this technology in counteracting the harmful effects of "oxidative stress". Using their super antioxidant, Ergothioneine, it could combat free radicals which were toxic to our body. How? One of the way is by conserving and maintaining the levels of other antioxidants such as Vitamin E, C and also glutathione. Not any penny stocks company can do this, want to know more? Check this out Oxis on facebook or follow this on Oxis on Twitter to learn more.

Which Type of Friends are You?

I've always treasured this thing called friendship, and I am very loyal to my friends. I'll go all out for them, and I won't hurt or use them for anything. It's a surprise that I could remember their birthdays without needing much effort on my part. Unfortunately, I didn't always get the same treatment in return, which made me think, is it because I'm a quiet person? Or someone that people used to take advantage of  - due to my weaker nature? Maybe when you give so much to someone, you'll expect something back in return. At least an acknowledgement that you're as important as that person is to you. I would be very hurt when my friends betray me, or didn't treat me as how I thought I deserved. Well, my perception on many of this slowly change, as I start to embrace reality...

My recent new venture into a field which I'm not familiar with woke me up. It's a dangerous game which I'm going into, and it involves a lot of people - something which I have never really get a good hands at, since I'm not really the sociable type. But I decided to give it a try, since I see a future with it. However, this game that I just ventured into, made me realised a lot of things. Here, I would only discuss one aspect of that, which is called friends.

First, I felt really blessed to know that I DO really have VERY GOOD and TRUE friends out there, who'll go all out for me. This, would be the friends that I'd keep with me because they actually went to check things out for me, and made sure that I won't get into any trap of any kind. Regardless whether they intend to join me or not, they actually put in extra effort to make sure that I'll be in good hands. You know who you are, girls and I'm truly blessed to have you as my friends.

Then, I'm also very fortunate to have friends who would give me 100% moral support, because they knew that I'm trying out something new for myself. Some made it clear that they didn't want to be involved, some just played along, but I do know that they're actually just giving me some moral support. And they even help me build the line! These friends are priceless, I couldn't thank them more.

Another category of friends are those that would not hurt me, they tend to beat around the bush by giving lots of excuses, but never dare to say no. They will continue to entertain, but I could sense that they do try to keep a distant if possible. Why? Because they're afraid that I'll drag them into this venture of mine as well. I would say, they're just sitting on the fence and watch the show from there.

And lastly, it's sad to note that most of the people whom I thought were my friends all this while, acted in ways that disappointed me a lot. These people tend to jump in when they see opportunities, but disappear right away when they thought the opportunities would benefit the other party more. There were also people who'd use their friend for their own interest. I'm thankful that I haven't come across unanswered phone calls, or people starting to walk away when they saw me approaching, but I do feel that if I'm persistant, I might get a cold shoulder from these category of people. But it doesn't hurt me an inch, because I'm well prepared for this. I knew what I'm plunging into, and I could accept this. It's just a matter of how I want to play this game further - and understand human nature along the way.

Well, I might not find my answer in this new venture, but I would not regret it at all because of all the priceless experience that I'd gained. I knew that it's a matter on how I see myself, my priorities, my family, and also about people around me. Also it's purely from the sharing perspective that I'm including my friends in this, not so much on my personal gain. It's really a win-win situation, depending on how you would like to look at it. To me, even though if I decided to quit one day, I'd know that I've done that, been that and I'm so much more wiser now :)

Oh Why Do I Procrastinate?

Sometimes, we knew we had to do 'something'
but always kept putting them off,
Either reschedule them to another time,
When we're not so busy, or not so tired,
With the hope of being able to continue
with what we've left off previously,
But little did we know,
if we continue to procrastinate,
we might end up not able to do that 'something' anymore!

Just last long weekend, my mom was asking me to drop her off at her sister and brother's house up north for a visit, but because she saw how busy my schedule was, and was afraid that it would burden me & my family (my kids were not feeling too well then), she told me that it's ok. She'll postpone the trip later. Furthermore, her legs were giving her problems so she thought of resting first before making that visit.

Well, just this morning, my mom got a call saying that my dear auntie has passed away. I felt a sharp knife just went thru my heart. Oh why did I procrastinate? Why didn't I insist to bring them over last time? Why do I gave in to my hectic schedule and priorities then?

Why, so many whys... and yet I couldn't turn the clock back. I felt really miserable now.... Ah, if only I didn't procrastinate. It's time for me to revisit my priorities in life - because time and tide wait for no man. I silently offered up my prayers and blessings for my eldest Aunty, may she find grace with God, and rest in peace always.

Life's Lesson from being a Mother

It's going to be my 4.5 years of being a mother, and a mother of 2 I'd be!


What have I learnt so far? Pricelss!

I learnt that being a mother,
I needed skills not only to handle the kids,
but also how to do the house chores at the same time,
regardless of whether I’m healthy or sick.

I also learnt, that being a mother,
I need a loaf of tactful skills,
and a bucketful of patience,
On how to handle the crowd,
that comes with the binding agreement called marriage,
without making things worse.

Being a mother does not necessarily mean
You'll have the kids all for yourself,
or you'd get to decide what's best for your child,
All the time.
Rather, you need to be prepared
to let go and let the other party handle it,
especially when someone's trying to take charge.

Being a mother also means,
You'll burn more midnight oil,
Worrying about tiny details,
That no one finds worth cracking the head for,
Or planning for things,
No one ever foresee coming.

And the painful moment will come,
When your child starts to shout at you
In their teenage rebellion
When they fail to see
The things that you could long foresee

But despite all that,
you'll know deep down inside,
that it's a price you're paying
for being a mother,
and yet, you wouldn't trade it away
with anything ever
just to catch those glimpse in their eyes
The eyes that you've watched to grow
ever since they were in your womb.

Ah, what would you know if you've never threaded that path

But it's a wonder why some mothers were so hard to please

They'd rather trade their child’s happiness out of jealousy

Or the tricks they did to get more $$ out of their child,

Not to mention teaching your child to go against you,

Lord, why is it

There’re such mothers out there?

Sigh, the world's not perfect,

Nor are mothers,

But what matters most,

Is when they're giving their best

regardless of what others think,

even if it goes unappreciated.

Then why am I so helpless

In trying to be the perfect mother?

In such an imperfect world?

When no one understands you,

But complains that

Nagging’s what you do all day!

God please grant me the strength and patience

to endure all this

so that I'll finally see

the silver linings behind the cloud!

Photo credits: billarnold.typepad.com

Magical Onions?

Photo courtesy of the2mortgageguys.com

It's the flu season again, and H1N1 is back! I remembered I read an article on how onion could ward off flu, which I've tucked safely into my "ToKeep" folder. So when both my kids and hubby were down with flu, cough and sore-throat, I quickly ran a hunt for it.

"In 1919. When the flu killed 40million people, there was this doctor that visited the farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died.
The doctor came upon this one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy.
When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home (probably only two rooms back then).
The doctor couldn't believe it, and asked if he could have one of the onions, and place it under the microscope.
She gave him one, and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion.
It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore keeping the family healthy."

Here's another version from a hairdresser in Arizona...
" She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year, she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work . ."

Well, I don't know how true this is, but when I ran a quick google search, there are many supporting facts on the use of onions (and also garlics) to ward off flu. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

So, what have I to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!

 

If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better.

If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case.

 

If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office, or under your desk, or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens.

Hmm... maybe I could try asking my girl's school to try this? Would they think I'm insane?

And after reading this testimonial from someone who contributes material on health issues:  

"I don't know about the farmer's story, but I do know that I contracted pneumonia, and needless to say I was very ill.

I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end on a fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar, placing the jar next to the sick patient at night.

It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs.

Sure enough, it happened just like that.

The onion was a mess, and I began to feel better."

Last night, I placed onions cut into two in two bowls, and placed them in the rooms. In the morning, I took a look at it, curious if they would turn black. They didn't. Maybe our germs are not that serious? Anyway, I did noticed that one of the onions place in hubby's room (he's more sick than the kids, so he's quarantined there) is slightly greyish than the one placed in the kids' room. I'm not sure if I'm bias, but I'll ask hubby for 2nd opinion tonight (since he's not aware that I placed onions in the rooms!). Or, can somebody lend me a miscroscope?

Anyway, the good news is, everyone is much better, though not completely cured yet, and I think I'm going to try this again tonight!

p/s: But then again, Hubby's already on antibiotics and he attributed his recovery is due to that...so I don't have concrete proof on this... I guess only time will tell, once they're fully recoverd and if I still practise this. Will see!

Chia, the Ancient-turned-New Superfood

I came to know about this superfood when my little SJ refused milk of any kind while I'm at work. Thanks to a breastfeeding mom who shared this with me, I could now get my hands on it and try it myself. The results are good, and I've been taking it since.

Chia seeds, which are also called the food of endurance (because messengers could run all day with these tiny seeds), were claimed to have:

- 2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,

- 5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones,

- 2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,

- 3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries

- 3 times more iron than spinach, which is needed to carry oxygen from the lungs into the muscle and organs

- copious amounts of omega-3 and omega-6, which are essential fatty acids

No wonder some even said we could live off it almost entirely! It's hard to imagine something so small, would have so much to offer. Due to its high amount of good fat, it manages to survive and thrive without any chemical interference. The bugs never touch it and so it needs absolutely no pesticides. Therefore, it's very safe for consumption.

Initially, I was looking for 'milk replacement', but then I found out that it's also rich in iron, which SJ is lacking too. She's just too pale! Wait, that's not all, chia seeds also has the highest content of omega-3, just above kiwi seeds, perilla and flax. Previously I turned to flax seed as an alternative source of omega-3, but now I realised that chia seed would be a better one instead. Why? Read here. 

What I like best is that it's so easy to prepare. Previously I need to blend the flax seed, store them in a dark container in the refrigerator so that it could last for about 2 weeks, and finished it in that timeframe. That's because flax seed need to be ground up to be digested properly. The shells of the chia seeds, on the the hand, are easily broken down, even when swallowed whole. Therefore, all I need to do is soak them in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes, so that it would expand and then we can eat it just like that. No refrigeration needed, and the seeds stay stable for much longer period without deterioration in flavour, odour or nutritional value, whereas flax, for example may turn rancid.

If I'm busy, I could just put a tablespoon of the chia seeds in my water bottle, shake it, and then bring it to work. I can drink it anytime, and the gel-like texture (which look like tiny dinasours' eggs) were so nice to chew on. Even my kids love them, as there's no additional smell. Basically it won't change the taste of the food, so they wouldn't even know if I didn't mention it to them. Unlike flax, when I sprinkle them on their porridge or rice, they could detect it's 'fishy' smell and push it away. The only way they could detect its presence is when I add them into their water bottle, because of its jelly-like texture.

Wanna know more about it? Read on in here and here.  

Oh yes, a word of caution though. This is not mentioned in the internet so far (or I haven't read about them yet) but it's better not to take it in hot condition. If you sprinkle them on the porridge, or your cereal, please do so when the food is not so hot or you wouldn't get 100% of its nutritional value.

And, one more thing. Due to the exceptional water-absorption quality of chia, it can help you prolong hydration and retain electrolytes, especially during exertion. However, I still think that we need to drink lots of water after taking them, because the seeds are so hydrophilic that if they do not find enough to absorb in the stomach, they will draw from the tissues instead. My personal experience? I do feel rather thirsty after taking it, so I'll naturally drink lots of water.

Well, you might think, this superfood would surely cost a hand and a leg, since it's so powerful. Surprisingly, it's not as expensive as I would have thought. Why? I just cost me ~RM60 for 300gm, which could last very long.

So Far and Yet So Close

The recent bombing incident in Russia on March 29 has jolted me back to reality. It happened on an early morning rush, out of expectation, by the least suspected people. It's yet another suicidal bombing, which took lots of lives, and injured many.

I would not have felt such a strong impact if my sister is not there. And I later learnt that there were rumours (because I did not know how true) that it was supposed to happen on the metro line that she normally rode. How another line got blasted instead was a pure coincidence. I shuddered at the mere thought of that. And I couldn't stop thanking God for protecting my sister and the Malaysian students studying there. It's a miracle how gut feelings could save lives, they were really very lucky.

Nonetheless, I was very sad to learn that things were not as mild as reported. Some things never got reported because not everyone was interviewed. And the actual situation was actually much worse than reported. Minor injury could mean with perforated ear drums. To me, that's not considered minor at all! But of course, I do understand that they were supposed to remain calm, so unnecessary alarm would make situation worse.

Are we approaching 2012 soon? Is it true that it would be the end of the world as prophesized by many? With so many natural disaster taking place (tsunami, flood, earth quake, etc), and man-made violence (snatch thief that no longer snatch and run, but snatch and kill, gang rape, terrorism, suicidal attack, etc) could that be signs that we should not ignore? A friend shared with me on a new age book that he read, which states that for human to survive past 2012 (assuming there is a disaster), is for everyone to be in harmony with nature, with the people. Only when everyone has the benefit of everyone in mind, not just their own, then only human can ascend to a more intelligent life form. That reminds me so much of Avatar. Everything is interconnected to each other, even the trees could connect with the people to create an equilibrium state.

If that is true, life would be much more beautiful and peaceful to live in. Don't you agree so? But till then, we would always live in fear and worry. Just as how I've spent sleepless nights worrying about my sister, whether there would be another bombing incident, or whether we should cancel our plans to attend her convocation, is it wise to bring the whole family along, etc. But then again, I guess I'll leave that to God, wouldn't life be much simpler so?

How Fairy Tales Really End

I've always wondered, do they really end with "...and they lived happily ever after." ?

What happened after the full stop? Then I got a forwarded mail from a friend, and I couldn't agree more! I think many mothers felt so much like a Snow White here.

What's her prince charming doing there? Watching soccer! Why are none of the kids tagging along with him, even though she has got both her hands full? Hmmm.....

I guess, that's life. Reality bites, don't you agree so? Our typical society expects the modern mom to assume full responsibility in caring for the family and managing the house chores, regardless of whether she's a full time housewife, or a full time working mom. Whether she wants to source it out (get a maid), or do it herself, that's up to her. The man of the house's role? A breadwinner. Full stop.

Of course I wouldn't deny that they are still many father out there who actually shared out the workload. If you are part of that family, I salute you. Congratulate yourself for being a lucky Snow White who married the right prince charming. For those of you who're still working towards that, don't give up. You're in the right direction!

Going Organic

When the word organic was mentioned, what springs to your mind? For me, it’s none other than food. Yes, foodstuffs grown or raised without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides or hormones, eg organic rice, organic vegetables, organic chicken, etc. And this term slowly expands to other categories, such as organic skin care and organic clothing. Well, to sum it up, we’re more concerned about leading an organic lifestyle, which means, simple and healthful, yet close to nature.

Do you know that I've been organic crazy at one point of time? No, it's not to the extent of having everything organic, but I've been adding more organic content into my kids' food directory gradually. I've also tried ordering organic vegetables directly from the farm (oh yes, they deliver right to our doorstep!).

Before the unpacking

After

Surprisingly, they didn't look as fresh as I expected, but you know what? They tasted good! More juicy, and the trick is you would only notice this after you soak the roots in cold icy water.

Have you ever wondered, how could we ensure a continuous supply of organic end product? Just like the egg and chicken cycle, the process would start and stop with non other than organic-friendly products itself. Imagine, we need organic fertilizer to grow organic vegetables. And the residue from this end product (or called organic waste) could be turned into compost, and used to grow more organic vegetables. And the cycle continues.

I was surprised when I found out that we could actually make our own compost. Composting is nature’s way of recycling organic material such as leaves, grass clippings, twigs, fruit and vegetable trimmings into a dark, crumbly, sweet smelling soil conditioner. If you have a garden, you might probably be interested. Why? Because you not only save money by not having to buy soil conditioners and fertilizer, but you could help keep kitchen wastes out of the landfill, besides improving the fertility and health of your soil and able to grow more healthy and beautiful plants.

Well, even though anyone can compost, and it can be practiced by any homes, it still requires a delicate balance between all feedstock’s needing a trained expert and constant monitoring to maintain that balance. Is there an easier alternative? Yes, that’s when N-Viro comes into the picture. It’s amazing how this N-Viro process could efficiently transform organic waste products into beneficial reuse products. And the best of all does not end just there. Besides organic waste, it could also generate alternative energy through their patented processes by converting waste to energy. Isn't that incredicle?

I'm sure many people are still not aware of this good idea, where renewable energy could be generated by none other than our daily bio-organic wastes, or even the waste water sludge! By just using lime and/or mineral-rich,combustion byproducts, we could get opportunity fuels. An opportunity fuel is any type of fuel that is not widely used, but has the potential to be an economically viable source of power generation. Typically, it's unconventional, and usually derived from some sort of waste or byproduct. Which is exactly how the N-Viro Fuel work.

N-Viro Fuel is manufactured from a variety of organic wastes by blending the waste material with one or more mineral by-products and drying the mixture. The resulting product, N-Viro Fuel, is blended with coal or petroleum coke and burned as a coal substitute in coal-fired power plants. The end-result? A similar, yet clean coal equivalent.

Well, with its technology venture into the soil and fuel area, N-Viro does not stop just there. Want to know more? Check it out!

I’m sure with this new technology, not only organic farming could be done in a larger scale where we could all continue to enjoy the longed-for organic lifestyle without much worries, our world would also be a better place to live in.



Go Organic!

What do you get when your car get knocked?

A brand new car? Nay, don't be so naive!

It happened just in front of my company's guard house, after Hubby picked me up. She was coming at top speed, still talking into her handphone. It all happened just like that. Bang!

I was anxious, but Hubby assured me it's ok. It's not our fault, and we'll get my car fixed. The lady (Miss C) was very nice, she apologized and promised to compensate for the damage. She told us that she'll give us her mechanics number and asked us to go there for evaluation.

We agreed, but prior to that, Hubby wanted to get some quotations from a few other mechanics first and get the car assessed. We shared the info with Miss C, but she still wanted us to go see her mechanics. Fine, we went there, got the car assessed and was given a quotation. The price was indeed much cheaper than what we got from the previous mechanics. However, she refused to pay the full amount, and told us that she could only afford ~50% of that. Hubby told her that he's willing to top up some, since she's an ex-colleague of him a few years back. But she insisted that Hubby negotiated with me so that I could accept her proposal of bumper re-alignment, painting and headlight polish (without replacing the scratched headlamps (big and small). Looking at the condition of the lamps, we didn't think that it would be 'acceptable' even after some polishing work, so we decided to go for police report.

She agreed, but later came back to us and told us that her insurance coverage would not allow her to claim that since our repair cost did not exceed RM500. So, she suggested the below instead:

- She would pay for the bumper re-alignment, painting and headlight polish
- If we're not satisfied with the results, we could request for the headlamps replacement but we'll have to top up some amount on our side. And she would collect the old headlamps for 2nd hand retail purpose.

Hubby agreed as we wanted to close this ASAP, it has been dragging on and we've spent too much time on this.

Finally, we went to the mechanics to get the car fixed, and the mechanics polished the car in front of us first thing so that we could decide if any lamps replacement was needed. After seeing the effect, we all agreed that only 1 of the lamps needed to be changed, the other one was still presentable. But when we went to collect the car the next day, guess what? None of the lamps were replaced, as the mechanics told us that Miss C refused to pay, and insisted him to polish them till they shine instead.

There, that's what I get after my car got knocked - not to mention those extra time taken for the trips to the mechanics, etc. And I've already closed one eye on my broken car plate number... If I ever decide to sell off my car, I doubt it would fetch a good price unless I top up some $$$ to fix it myself. Sigh...

Really, prevention is better than cure. No doubt about it.

What went wrong?

If I used to pride myself for being able to breastfeed SJ for nearly 22 months (breaking the record for SY by 7 months plus without any mix of formula at all), I'm not sure if I feel the same anymore now. Would you look at it as a success if your child ends up not drinking any milk at all as early as 2 years old when you decided to stop breastfeeding?

I'm devastated to bits. I've been struggling to decide if I could really stop when she reaches two in two months time. Now that she refused milk of any type (formula, chocolate flavour or even fresh milk) in any form factor (bottle, cup, straw, syringe) under any condition (hot or cold), I not only ran out of ideas but also patience and hope. Not to mention that everyone blames me now too, sigh. If I've not been so bull-headed in refusing to mix formula for her when she's still small, I might not have this problem. Look at SY. She has been given formula at 6 months (despite my consent, of course!), and she's been drinking milk like water now.

What went wrong? I've tried feeding her bottle before she reached 1 and she still drank from it. Maybe I should not be lazy when I was at home - pumped and feed consistently instead of nursing directly during the weekends. Actually, when we realised that only the babysitter could feed her bottle (not even Daddy or Amah or me), I should have done something. But I didn't know what to do. Tried all means to feed her with cup or bottle, all to no avail. I've even passed some formula samples to the babysitter to try, but SJ didn't want to drink. She just wanted EBM, and the only time I saw her drinking from the bottle was at the babysitter's house. Oh, what a cute sight - I tell you I've never felt so serene watching her drink her own milk after she turned 1 at home. And then, the babysitter left. So now, SJ didn't drink any milk during the day time.

Many people rationed that it's ok for a child not to drink milk, as long as she takes other food such as porridge/rice or any other solid. I could easily substitute the nutrients that she lacks from the other types of food. Furthermore, what's so great about milk? It's not as good as we were led to believe. Hmmm... but I still find it hard to accept.

So, how long more should I continue to breastfeed her? Many people was surprised that I'm still pumping now, and think that it's high time to stop. I've reduced my pumping frequency to 1 time yesterday, and I could still get the same amount as when I pumped twice. Over time, it would reduce, I'm sure. Luckily SY still drinks my EBM, else it would have gone to waste. I'm thinking to stop pumping entirely after SJ turns two, maybe will drag a month more since we're planning for a family trip and it's easier to breastfeed when traveling. Well, I hope by then she would want to drink milk...

Wish us luck!

What Happened Next

This post has become so backdated that I’m not sure if I should still write about it. Anyway, since I’ve started it, and I don’t like to leave things unfinished, I’d better go on with it before I abandon the idea altogether. But I’ll be as brief as could be, so if you need more details, feel free to ask me. The last post has generated many offline queries, and I’m glad that I decided to share that with the parents out there.

Ok, so we went to see the Speech Therapist (ST) in Island Hospital. We went thru the usual Q&A session and some historical background checks. I was a bit surprised that I could so easily forget some important milestones of my kid, but luckily I managed to trace back from my kids’ blog. Yeah, I guess age is catching up. When the ST has finished questioning us, she went on to assess our kid. I could see how SY warmed up to her instantly, doing as instructed and answering her questions very well. Then there’s the reading game, with stickers as rewards. At times, she got a bit out of control, but the ST gently steered her back to adhere to instructions either with more fun activitiy games or stern disapproval.

After close to ~2 hours, she concluded that it’s mostly related to phonological development. SY seemed to have problem with the “backsound”, such as words starting with ‘g’ or ‘k’. For instance, she pronounced ‘gate’ as ‘date’, or “cart” as “tart”. I found a more comprehensive list here (where SY's case was categorised as velar fronting). So she passed us some exercises that we need to do with SY everyday, mostly on practicing the correct pronunciation. I asked her if she also thought that my child has ADD symptom, but she brushed that aside and said that SY is just a bubbly and cheeky girl. That’s because ADD child would not progress much in learning due to the lack of attention, but since SY is picking things quite fast, so there’s really nothing to worry. Dyslexia is certainly out of the picture by now, as it’s still too early to judge.

Oh yes, this was later seconded by SY’s school principal. Right after we’ve met up with the psychologist, the principal called to inform that she’d talked to some experts while she was having conference outstation and they told her that it’s perfectly normal for a kid less than 5 year old to see things in mirror images. When I told her that the psychologist suspected that SY might have ADD instead, the principal voiced her disagreement right away, she really didn’t think so since SY was rather quiet in school, nothing like an ADD child.

Back to the speech therapies, we’re advised to come back for more sessions, but since her schedule was full till the end of year (yes, this happened last year, so you could imagine how outdated this post is), she recommended us to see her colleague instead. It was better too because we requested for weekends, while she didn’t work on weekends. As of now, we’ve gone thru 4 sessions with her colleague, covering:

i. “k” and “c” sound
ii. “sh” or quiet sound
iii. “s” or snake sound
iv. “ch” – train or ‘sneezy’ sound

So far, SY’s making great progress, and it’s also easier to correct her now. According to the Speech Therapist, it's a good thing to start her early, since she might feel embarassed to be corrrected when she grow older. I sure hope things would be better soon!

Why I like it LonGer

Coz it's been just too long...

and

I couldn't afford to wait any longer!

When my faithful Dopod left me last month, I have been handphoneless for nearly close to a month now, so when I chanced upon this, I just couldn't resist it!

Yes, that's why I like it longer - if only it would stay longer in my mouth without melting away - just like its name implies, the irresistible LG Chocolate BL40.

But of course, the most important thing of all is that it has to be able to stay longer by my side... all day, faithfully. I wouldn't want to be handphoneless again so soon! 

What really impressed me is that it's also a smart phone, which made it easier to replace my old PDA phone. But, it has more! A longer list of features - and with a twist too. Read on if you want to know more...

Features Of LG Chocolate (LG-BL40):

It's not only LONGER, but it's ultra-wide 4-inch touchscreen made it a great looker!

Tall and slender, that's why they called it a supermodel phone

You heard me right - its 21:9 HD LCD display (protected by tempered glass) with 800x345 pixel resolution not only eliminates unnecessary side-scrolling, but it's also able to maximize visual experience. The wide HD LCD “Real VGA” screen presents a vibrant range of natural colours, allowing photos to appear sharper, videos more true-to-life, games naturally vivid and documents more readable.

Sounds too good to be true? That's just the beginning. Here's more...

5 megapixel auto focus camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens
The camera is a cut above those found on the likes of the iPhone. It's got a 5-megapixel resolution, autofocus and an LED flash. Shots taken in good light look pretty impressive by smart-phone standards, and there's a very cool panoramic mode in which the phone tells you where to point the lens for each shot in the panorama before automatically stitching the pictures together. The camera can also shoot video (30 frames per second at VGA resolution), and there's a neat little video editor on-board that you can use to knock your clips into shape. The LED flash isn't really strong enough to overcome the camera's poor low-light performance, though, so night shots tend to suffer pretty badly from digital noise.

Still, it's good enough for me and just perfect for me to carry around and shoot spontaneous pictures of my 2 girls.


Dual Screen UI intelligently display 2 different types of content simultaneously

This reminds me of the Outlook features, where the email messages are displayed in a separate reading pane.

Theatre-like movie player, enriched image and document viewer delivering a panoramic multimedia experience

Not that I'm going to watch movie with it, but this is certainly another plus point! Full screen web browsing with minimal side-scrolling, just perfect if I'm going to blog with this phone.  

LG’s upgraded S-Class UI offers better 3D graphics, intuitive responsiveness and easier accessibility

There's a mixed review on this. No doubt LG has made some welcome improvements to the S-Class experience in terms of supporting multi-touch zooming in the Web browser and picture viewer - you can now also double tap on an picture or column of text in the impressive Web browser to automatically zoom in on it.

However, some said that the S-Class menu system is annoying and unresponsive at times, and generally feels over-engineered and too complicated. Hmm.... wait till I get my set and I'll tell you my side of the story!

One-touch copy and paste for transfering content even more quickly and effortlessly

One of Iphone-style feature!

Gesture Shortcut lets users access menus by drawing simple icons on a touch pad

Definitely another plus feature!


Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS!

The first 2 are rather common in a phone now, but a GPS! There's review stating that the onboard GPS is very quick to find the position, which is certainly a good to have - at least the roads will look longer on the map too, yeah! It can also fit more details on the screen.

High speed 7.2 HSDPA provides speedier internet and e-mail

Just what I wanted if I'm going to blog with my handphone!

Feel itchy by now? Tempted to own this LONG thing soon? It's easy! Nuffnang is having a contest for glitterati Nuffnangers to win an LG Chocolate phone. All you have to do is write a creative post about ‘Why I Like It Longer’ and place it on your blog, and you might just be one of the Top 3 winners who will win a brand new LG Chocolate BL40 phone worth RM2,199! It can be your personal experience, a story you came up with or relevant issues relating to the theme of this contest and at the end of your post please attach the image below.

So, what are you waiting for? The dateline is this Valentine's Day! I sure hope I don't need to wait any longer to own one soon!