Dear All
Bert's feeling blue about turning 44 this 29 Aug 08. I told him only yesterday that I happen to read an obituary of a 27 year old man who passed away leaving behind his parents. Feli told me it's most likely car accident. I shared with Bert that it's so much better to grow old than to die so early. That's even more sad.
Then co-incidentally, in today's papers (28 Aug), a read an article of a guy who was an friend of a good friend of mine, who I was introduced to many years ago when I was working in NUS. His name was Ooi Ban Leong. He was a postgraduate student when I first met him. He was recently a Associate Prof at NUS but he was killed in an accident when a truck hit him yesterday at 8:30pm when he was walking home from NUS. It seems he was the only child, and leaves behind both his parents and his 2 parents-in-law, his 38 year old stay-at-home wife and an 8 year old son. He was only 41.
It reminds me of the ME weekend on "If tomorrow never comes". It always brings tears and pangs of pain when I think that Bert will not be with me one day. Tonight, I told him how much I love him, wished him a happy birthday and reminded him to be very careful when on the roads.
The girls have each given him a little birthday present. As I didn't have time, I "tom-panged" Feli and shared a present with her. The girls bought their gifts from their school's bookshop. They are beautiful gifts and Bert was so touched by their gestures. I didn't have to remind them this year of daddy's birthday. Their daddy must be doing something right for them to remember his birthday this year. I told him so, and he seemed contented.
Love Theresa
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Funny thing Felicia said this morning
Dear All
This morning whilst waiting for the school bus with the girls, I was teasing Felicia on how dirty her hair was such that it made my comb black. And guess what she said? "No lah, no lah, my hair is not black!" I and Tiffany went "Huh?" So I asked her, if her hair wasn't black, then what colour is it? It was her turn to go "Opps!"
Ha ha. Hope this funny sharing makes your day a little bit more cheery.
Love Theresa
This morning whilst waiting for the school bus with the girls, I was teasing Felicia on how dirty her hair was such that it made my comb black. And guess what she said? "No lah, no lah, my hair is not black!" I and Tiffany went "Huh?" So I asked her, if her hair wasn't black, then what colour is it? It was her turn to go "Opps!"
Ha ha. Hope this funny sharing makes your day a little bit more cheery.
Love Theresa
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sharing from Father Timothy (23 Aug 08)
Dear All
We started to attend the novena service at Holy Trinity as we felt the girls, especially Tiffany, needs to be brought closer to the Church and Her ways. It was also timely to let them experience the novena, and this has brought solace and calm to Tiffany.
Last novena's sermon was about a fervent christian man who believed strongly that his church was the only true way. Members of his christian church had to evangelise every weekend. They go house-to-house and he saw how his fellow christian members force the gospel truth onto non-believers. This went on for about 5 years, and he soon began to see that they way of witnessing for Christ was UN-Christ-like in everyway. When non-believers do not take kindly to their witnessing, they are verbally abused and put into a defensive position. He soon turned to the Catholic church for direction. He found that to witness for Christ, it should never be intrusive, but a way of life. We witness for Christ in the way we live out our christian values in our daily lives, in very little daily insignificant actions. He soon converted to a catholic as he found our way of witnessing is what Christ would have done.
When I was working, I realised that being a Catholic among non-Catholics can be daunting. Your every action is scrutinised as whether it is a christian way or otherwise. Even non-believers remind me not to eat meat when it's a Friday. When I order fish, they would question me as they think no meat means vegetables. I then explained to them why we do such abstainance. When we are forced by such circumstances to explain our faith that I realise I know so little about the various rituals and whether my explanation is doctrinally correct. Anyway, I am comforted in the fact that I don't really need to understand everything in order to know that I am on the right faith and path. For which other faiths can show good fruits, like the numerous saints that we have. And these are people who do not see yet believed...and by their conviction and unfaltering faith in Christ and Mother Mary, plus the numerous thanksgiving letters from the novena, I can see that our Catholic church is very much alive and God's Spirit is moving.
Love Theresa
We started to attend the novena service at Holy Trinity as we felt the girls, especially Tiffany, needs to be brought closer to the Church and Her ways. It was also timely to let them experience the novena, and this has brought solace and calm to Tiffany.
Last novena's sermon was about a fervent christian man who believed strongly that his church was the only true way. Members of his christian church had to evangelise every weekend. They go house-to-house and he saw how his fellow christian members force the gospel truth onto non-believers. This went on for about 5 years, and he soon began to see that they way of witnessing for Christ was UN-Christ-like in everyway. When non-believers do not take kindly to their witnessing, they are verbally abused and put into a defensive position. He soon turned to the Catholic church for direction. He found that to witness for Christ, it should never be intrusive, but a way of life. We witness for Christ in the way we live out our christian values in our daily lives, in very little daily insignificant actions. He soon converted to a catholic as he found our way of witnessing is what Christ would have done.
When I was working, I realised that being a Catholic among non-Catholics can be daunting. Your every action is scrutinised as whether it is a christian way or otherwise. Even non-believers remind me not to eat meat when it's a Friday. When I order fish, they would question me as they think no meat means vegetables. I then explained to them why we do such abstainance. When we are forced by such circumstances to explain our faith that I realise I know so little about the various rituals and whether my explanation is doctrinally correct. Anyway, I am comforted in the fact that I don't really need to understand everything in order to know that I am on the right faith and path. For which other faiths can show good fruits, like the numerous saints that we have. And these are people who do not see yet believed...and by their conviction and unfaltering faith in Christ and Mother Mary, plus the numerous thanksgiving letters from the novena, I can see that our Catholic church is very much alive and God's Spirit is moving.
Love Theresa
Start of Tiffany's PSLE Prelims
Dear All
Tiffany's prelims started today. Please help pray for her. She found English paper tough today, and English is her best subject :( Tomorrow's Maths (Tue), followed by Chinese and Science.
Thanks for all your prayers
Love Theresa & Albert
Tiffany's prelims started today. Please help pray for her. She found English paper tough today, and English is her best subject :( Tomorrow's Maths (Tue), followed by Chinese and Science.
Thanks for all your prayers
Love Theresa & Albert
Friday, August 22, 2008
Some funny things that Feli said..
Dear All
Do you know that kids do say the darnest things, especially when they are young and are learning new words or things. Here's 2 hilarious things that Feli said yesterday whilst I was preparing her for her maths test (which is counted towards SA2 exam) today (Fri).
~ I was teaching her fractions and checking with her if her teacher had taught them to simplify to the simplest fraction. She was a bit stunned by my question as she didn't understand what is simplest fraction, so I take it they were not taught yet (fraction is a new topic for them). So I decided to teach her how to simplify. The question was 2 upon 10...so I told her since both numbers are even numbers, they can be divided by 2 both the numerator and denominator (those terms she has been taught). Now 2 divided by 2 got her a bit stumped for a while, and she blurted out - "1". Now what is 10 divided by 2, I asked her...and do you know what was the darling girl's answer..."a lot of number!" How I laughed out loud with her unexpected answer!
~ next funny words from Feli was...when she was practising some fraction sums, she asked me "mummy, must I simply FLY?" Boy oh boy, this goes to show what children hear when we speak to them!!
That's my sharing for today. Hope these words from a "babe's" mouth had made your day!
Love Theresa
Do you know that kids do say the darnest things, especially when they are young and are learning new words or things. Here's 2 hilarious things that Feli said yesterday whilst I was preparing her for her maths test (which is counted towards SA2 exam) today (Fri).
~ I was teaching her fractions and checking with her if her teacher had taught them to simplify to the simplest fraction. She was a bit stunned by my question as she didn't understand what is simplest fraction, so I take it they were not taught yet (fraction is a new topic for them). So I decided to teach her how to simplify. The question was 2 upon 10...so I told her since both numbers are even numbers, they can be divided by 2 both the numerator and denominator (those terms she has been taught). Now 2 divided by 2 got her a bit stumped for a while, and she blurted out - "1". Now what is 10 divided by 2, I asked her...and do you know what was the darling girl's answer..."a lot of number!" How I laughed out loud with her unexpected answer!
~ next funny words from Feli was...when she was practising some fraction sums, she asked me "mummy, must I simply FLY?" Boy oh boy, this goes to show what children hear when we speak to them!!
That's my sharing for today. Hope these words from a "babe's" mouth had made your day!
Love Theresa
Me and my 3G...
I am a fan of Gatsby "Moving Rubber" series....I dunno why somehow I think I have missed out a lot and a great deal of my child hood and so nowadays where things are a little more stable I would like and tend to relive those days I missed out on and also those days, even when one has money, one may not be able to buy certain things compared to today....so here I am, a proud owner of 3G...and here is what I meant by the 3G:
When I was still a school boy I used to apply Code 10 (You can only find this brand in Malaysia till today), Brylcream (Oh I love Brylcream those days!)...Here is my "Brylcream look" at the age of 8 years old...circa 1972:
When I was still a school boy I used to apply Code 10 (You can only find this brand in Malaysia till today), Brylcream (Oh I love Brylcream those days!)...Here is my "Brylcream look" at the age of 8 years old...circa 1972:but now at 44, I love Gatsby, moving rubber..
Now, Let me take you thru my collection of Moving Rubber:
Grey colour: Grunge Matt: Very little shine, Superb holding power and ideal for long hair
Green colour: Air Rise: Little to Medium shine, Medium holding power and ideal for those who have little hair but want boost their hair volume to make it look as though one has a lot of hair on your scalp. That is why it is called Air Rise.
Pink colour: Power Spikes: Shine is a little lesser than Air Rise but has the same holding power as Grunge Matt. Ideal for medium to long hair and ideal for people who do not wish to play POWER POLITICS at work place then POWER SPIKES is ideal (just kidding..)
I have a student who uses Air Rise as well and he loved it.....and I told him that I am also a fan of Moving Rubber
[BTW, the cost of each Gatsby Moving Rubber series is $9.60 normal price avilable in Watsons and NTUC and most grocery shop...]
Today is Friday, but will be having invigilation duty from 4pm to 6pm.....sigh!
You have a nice day and a blessed weekend! This sunday is will be my 10km Safra run...tell you more about on Monday...OK?
AlbertY
Thursday, August 21, 2008
We are a family living on the fringe and here is why....
Tell me what do you think that is common in all these photos of ours:
...starting with this photo of myself (taken by myself using my handphone)
follow by this:
and this:
Well, can't guess? Here is the answer: All of us keeps and retains our hair fringe...to start with and to tell the truth.... I have not been cutting my fringe since my mummy passes on (14 Jan 08) and my fringe now reaches all the way to my mouth if let down....i.e. I can taste my hair without pulling out of its roots...and so far whenever I goes to the barber to have a trim (2 time in the last 12 months)...and I give strict instructions to the barber don't he ever brings his scissors ever near to my fringe....and if ever, ever cuts my fringe, I will give him the sack! He will be fired!
The rest of the girls keeps their fringe for aesthetic reason and this is one thing that I cannot agree with their school teacher..in school, teachers usually remind students to do away with their fringe, cut it or tied it up....but then I disagree with that .....girls must be girls....and do you happen to know how much a nation spends per year just to make hair grow on their heads? How much clinical research is being done since the past century on hair growth and so far the human race has not been very successful on this despite of our technological advancement...by and large it is all pack of old wives tales and theories and none so far that can really acoount why does hair fall off our scalp and why some continue to flourish on our heads.... and here God is giving us a full head of black hair F.O.C. and the teachers in school is making so much fuss about hair on our heads, when comes to hair I tend to go easy coz hair is something very precious to us (myself included)...and when I was younger, I really hated going to the barber just like going to the dentist....so that explains why I now only chooses to go for a hair trim (mind you not hair cut, it is hair trim) the most 2 times a year and sometimes once a year..... but other things like discipline, moral issues, ah that is one thing I cannot compromise but hair is a different issue altogether...so we keep our fringe, but for me it is just more that aesthetic reason...it will be in memory of my mum...and that part of memory is on my head...now! So don't ask me to cut my fringe....!
Today is so quiet in the office...with not much activity...exams at the poly....!
You have a nice day!
AlbertY
Go forth and multiply....but not for us...
Wah there has been so many goodies to encourage Singaporeans to upsize thier families...just like MacDonalds Value Meal...Upsize or not? That is wat we are usually being greeted the minute we place our order at the Mac's...
Colleagues often ask me...why stop at 2 when there are so many goodies being handed out...Here is my standard reply:
For me I have always tell God and (now I am telling you) that I have participated in the God's Procreation of the Humankind...He (God) has the blueprint in front from Him, from the Alpha to the Omega and I have been in that one of the participants of this blueprint of the Creation...
so I have done my part...no matter how small is my contribution (only 2 cute souls of the entire human race) I believe I done my part good enough to allow me to focus on other things in life...
To tell you very frankly, I am an advocate of small familes....how small? ...ha!..ha! In fact I am OK with just having one child that is how small I am prepared to have...anyway all the goodies being announced does not apply to me anyway, maybe it does to a small extend but I am not too concern about it and did not bother to read on...
Just a thought...need to chiong to School of IT to do ISO14K internal audit and then this evening chiong YCK stadium...SAFRA run coming this weekend! Never mind about babies...this is more important!
You have a nice day!
AlbertY
Colleagues often ask me...why stop at 2 when there are so many goodies being handed out...Here is my standard reply:
For me I have always tell God and (now I am telling you) that I have participated in the God's Procreation of the Humankind...He (God) has the blueprint in front from Him, from the Alpha to the Omega and I have been in that one of the participants of this blueprint of the Creation...
so I have done my part...no matter how small is my contribution (only 2 cute souls of the entire human race) I believe I done my part good enough to allow me to focus on other things in life...
To tell you very frankly, I am an advocate of small familes....how small? ...ha!..ha! In fact I am OK with just having one child that is how small I am prepared to have...anyway all the goodies being announced does not apply to me anyway, maybe it does to a small extend but I am not too concern about it and did not bother to read on...
Just a thought...need to chiong to School of IT to do ISO14K internal audit and then this evening chiong YCK stadium...SAFRA run coming this weekend! Never mind about babies...this is more important!
You have a nice day!
AlbertY
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Assumption of Our Lady & Last day of Tiff's Aurals
Dear All
Thank you so much for your prayers for Tiffy. She found her chinese and english aurals easy. It seemed that she was lucky as she got the easily chinese and english aural sessions, that is according to her tuition teacher. I guess her chinese aurals on the bus-stop is easier than that at the entrance of the zoo. I believe its your prayers and our petition with our lady of perpetual help that is helping her. Please continue to pray for her, as like in the olympic games, she's only at the preliminary rounds, and still has the hits, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals to go through. She's had a very long day today, what with getting up at 6am for the english aurals followed by Assumption Mass at 1pm and then tuition at 4pm. She pleaded for a good break, knowing that she still has to complete at least 4 -5 assignments from school and work from tuition teacher and going for another tuition class tomorrow morning. She said she hates PSLE, but so do I :(
Today's sermon at the Assumption Mass by Fr Johnson Fernandez was touching. An editor working for a USA communist paper in the 1950s (that was when the Pope instituted the Feast Day of the Assumption) pored over numerous articles about the catholic faith for the main purpose of tearing it down in the newspaper. As he learned more about the catholic faith, he realised intellectually that this could be the truth. However, he could not profess his faith in his heart. Something was holding him back.
One day, when he took the train as usual and got off the usual station for work, he suddenly noticed the name of the station "the cathdedral" and somehow was led to enter the church. He sat at the last pew and didn't know what he was doing there when he saw a teenaged girl with a troubled face walk down the aisle all the way to the statue of Our Lady, knelt down and prayed. After some time, the teenager got up and left, and the editor noticed that the troubled look on her face was gone and was replaced with peace.
He wanted that peace, so he did what the girl did, went to the statue of Our Lady and knelt down, but he didn't know how to pray or what to say. He mumbled something that he thought was appropriate then, and after that left the church feeling at peace. He tried to recall what he mumbled and he realised it was lyrics from a popular song then something like "Oh sweet lady". From that day on, the editor became a great writer for the catholic faith. I can't recall his name but I think his surname sounded like "Welsh".
I found this story very moving. The point of the sermon is that anyone can go to our lady for help. It's not restricted to ladies or mothers. Everyone can go to her confident that she will help them. Fr Johnson also explained that the Assumption of Our Lady is not our assuming she has gone to heaven. It means she had died like Jesus Christ, but like Christ, her body is spared from corruption and taken to heaven. The Feast day is also a reminder to us that we also share in the resurrection of the body and to be with the Lord in heaven if we remain faithful to God like Mary did.
That's my sharing for today. Please, continue to pray for Tiffany's preparation for PSLE. She needs lots of prayers. Thank you for your prayers and may Mother Mary protect you and your family always.
Love Theresa
Thank you so much for your prayers for Tiffy. She found her chinese and english aurals easy. It seemed that she was lucky as she got the easily chinese and english aural sessions, that is according to her tuition teacher. I guess her chinese aurals on the bus-stop is easier than that at the entrance of the zoo. I believe its your prayers and our petition with our lady of perpetual help that is helping her. Please continue to pray for her, as like in the olympic games, she's only at the preliminary rounds, and still has the hits, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals to go through. She's had a very long day today, what with getting up at 6am for the english aurals followed by Assumption Mass at 1pm and then tuition at 4pm. She pleaded for a good break, knowing that she still has to complete at least 4 -5 assignments from school and work from tuition teacher and going for another tuition class tomorrow morning. She said she hates PSLE, but so do I :(
Today's sermon at the Assumption Mass by Fr Johnson Fernandez was touching. An editor working for a USA communist paper in the 1950s (that was when the Pope instituted the Feast Day of the Assumption) pored over numerous articles about the catholic faith for the main purpose of tearing it down in the newspaper. As he learned more about the catholic faith, he realised intellectually that this could be the truth. However, he could not profess his faith in his heart. Something was holding him back.
One day, when he took the train as usual and got off the usual station for work, he suddenly noticed the name of the station "the cathdedral" and somehow was led to enter the church. He sat at the last pew and didn't know what he was doing there when he saw a teenaged girl with a troubled face walk down the aisle all the way to the statue of Our Lady, knelt down and prayed. After some time, the teenager got up and left, and the editor noticed that the troubled look on her face was gone and was replaced with peace.
He wanted that peace, so he did what the girl did, went to the statue of Our Lady and knelt down, but he didn't know how to pray or what to say. He mumbled something that he thought was appropriate then, and after that left the church feeling at peace. He tried to recall what he mumbled and he realised it was lyrics from a popular song then something like "Oh sweet lady". From that day on, the editor became a great writer for the catholic faith. I can't recall his name but I think his surname sounded like "Welsh".
I found this story very moving. The point of the sermon is that anyone can go to our lady for help. It's not restricted to ladies or mothers. Everyone can go to her confident that she will help them. Fr Johnson also explained that the Assumption of Our Lady is not our assuming she has gone to heaven. It means she had died like Jesus Christ, but like Christ, her body is spared from corruption and taken to heaven. The Feast day is also a reminder to us that we also share in the resurrection of the body and to be with the Lord in heaven if we remain faithful to God like Mary did.
That's my sharing for today. Please, continue to pray for Tiffany's preparation for PSLE. She needs lots of prayers. Thank you for your prayers and may Mother Mary protect you and your family always.
Love Theresa
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A thought about Singapore
Dear All
In today's straits time (13 Aug 08), there was a very small article where a foreigner replied to a Singaporean's article on "Why do foreigners hate Singapore?"
One of his comments was interesting, at least to me. He said that Singapore is not run like other countries. Singapore is run like a company. We hire the best possible managers to give us the best ROI. We are the stakeholders, so we get the dividends. Everyone benefits and are paid. The managers are paid handsomely, the employees are paid and the stakeholders are paid. Interesting ya?
Anyway, to come back to the main cruz of the article, the foreigner said "outsiders" do not hate Singapore because hate is such a strong word, but more importantly, they are more concern about other more important issues like bread and butter issues of their own to "hate" Singapore. He asked the Singapore writer not to be so Singapore-centric and think the world looks to Singapore for solutions. Singapore also studies other countries successful systems and try to implement those solutions here. But anyway, that's the side point of this post. Just a new thought for me today I wished to share with you.
Love Theresa
In today's straits time (13 Aug 08), there was a very small article where a foreigner replied to a Singaporean's article on "Why do foreigners hate Singapore?"
One of his comments was interesting, at least to me. He said that Singapore is not run like other countries. Singapore is run like a company. We hire the best possible managers to give us the best ROI. We are the stakeholders, so we get the dividends. Everyone benefits and are paid. The managers are paid handsomely, the employees are paid and the stakeholders are paid. Interesting ya?
Anyway, to come back to the main cruz of the article, the foreigner said "outsiders" do not hate Singapore because hate is such a strong word, but more importantly, they are more concern about other more important issues like bread and butter issues of their own to "hate" Singapore. He asked the Singapore writer not to be so Singapore-centric and think the world looks to Singapore for solutions. Singapore also studies other countries successful systems and try to implement those solutions here. But anyway, that's the side point of this post. Just a new thought for me today I wished to share with you.
Love Theresa
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Do you know what your kids are doing on-line?
Dear All
There's an article in today's (13 Aug 08) straits times home page regarding the above. A mother was shocked to see her daughter's (15 years old) life story in an open (face) book. She had to resort to creating a fictitious character of herself (a 40 year old mother) posing as a 24 year old swinging single to show her 2 girls (the other is 14 years old) the danger of the net. She had quite a few netizens believing she's a 24 year old girl, with anonymous chats from around the world.
This is my greatest concern for my girls. Not just the internet, but any form of electronic communication e.g sms/handphones. According to a professor, communications and socialising in itself is not bad as a teenager needs to find acceptance from peers and learn how to appreciate themselves. We do that too in our time, except it was over the phone or face-to-face communication with our friends when we were teenagers. However, with the availability of electronic devices, communications are world-wide. That's where the danger lies. Our kids are more vunerable to unscrupulous strangers.
One SAHM told me she uses the handphone for just calling and receiving calls. She doesn't know how to sms or use the camera etc. She claims she's not tech-savvy. Her husband chided her that she has to learn otherwise she won't know what their children are doing in the technology world.
In the above article, luckily the mother discovered what her daughter was doing so innocently. She now screens their facebook, blogs and sits with them when they are on the internet. She also disallows them to reveal any personal details like address or phone numbers on-line.
I have discovered the girls looking at websites like imvc (it's a 3D avatar MSN) and ibeatyou (a social website where you invite total strangers to beat you in an activity). I have told the girls I do not approve of them entering or opening an account on these sites and trust them not to visit such sites. A few months back, Tiff told me that when we were out with Feli, she accidently opened a pornography website, but she quickly closed it. I am very pleased that she had told me that. We have to trust our kids to do the right thing and make the right decision, as we cannot protect them from everything. That's 1 of the rules (Trust our kids) on "The rules of parenting" book that Bert had given me for christmas last year (see earlier blog on that). They have to make some mistakes (the less serious ones, not ones that can endanger their lives - that, we HAVE to protect them e.g taking drugs etc, you know what I mean) on their own so that they can learn and grow and develop their thinking/decision-making skills. That's another rule of the same book (let them make mistakes).
Recently, I thought Tiff should not be visiting websites of pop groups. She was disappointed. So I told both girls they can listen to their music but be careful of the lyrics of the song and the dances (some have awful black painted faces). We have to listen to our kids too. Tiff also asked if she could go out with her friends on the last day of PSLE. I at first said no, as she's too young (only just turned 12). Then I asked her where to? She said to Tampine Mall, probably to get keychains and just hang-out. I was very concerned, so I said she may go provided 1 of the girls's parents chaperones them. Reason - they were young, so if there was any pickpockets or worse-case scenerio - a stranger shoplifts and puts things into their bags - an adult with them would probably pose a deterent or least "bail" them out. You must remember, these are a bunch of 11 - 12 year olds who have probably NEVER been out on their own. In a group, they would be unaware of what's going on around them, especially it being their last day of a national exam (the dreaded PSLE!!).
Tomorrow's Tiff REAL PSLE chinese orals. She refuses to mug last minute as her teacher told them doing so would not help. Crumping things last minute would make them nervous. That's true. But then, Tiff also told me that teacher said she has selective listening skills - so I guess she hears only the good stuff! ;P. Anyway, please pray for her.
Love Theresa
There's an article in today's (13 Aug 08) straits times home page regarding the above. A mother was shocked to see her daughter's (15 years old) life story in an open (face) book. She had to resort to creating a fictitious character of herself (a 40 year old mother) posing as a 24 year old swinging single to show her 2 girls (the other is 14 years old) the danger of the net. She had quite a few netizens believing she's a 24 year old girl, with anonymous chats from around the world.
This is my greatest concern for my girls. Not just the internet, but any form of electronic communication e.g sms/handphones. According to a professor, communications and socialising in itself is not bad as a teenager needs to find acceptance from peers and learn how to appreciate themselves. We do that too in our time, except it was over the phone or face-to-face communication with our friends when we were teenagers. However, with the availability of electronic devices, communications are world-wide. That's where the danger lies. Our kids are more vunerable to unscrupulous strangers.
One SAHM told me she uses the handphone for just calling and receiving calls. She doesn't know how to sms or use the camera etc. She claims she's not tech-savvy. Her husband chided her that she has to learn otherwise she won't know what their children are doing in the technology world.
In the above article, luckily the mother discovered what her daughter was doing so innocently. She now screens their facebook, blogs and sits with them when they are on the internet. She also disallows them to reveal any personal details like address or phone numbers on-line.
I have discovered the girls looking at websites like imvc (it's a 3D avatar MSN) and ibeatyou (a social website where you invite total strangers to beat you in an activity). I have told the girls I do not approve of them entering or opening an account on these sites and trust them not to visit such sites. A few months back, Tiff told me that when we were out with Feli, she accidently opened a pornography website, but she quickly closed it. I am very pleased that she had told me that. We have to trust our kids to do the right thing and make the right decision, as we cannot protect them from everything. That's 1 of the rules (Trust our kids) on "The rules of parenting" book that Bert had given me for christmas last year (see earlier blog on that). They have to make some mistakes (the less serious ones, not ones that can endanger their lives - that, we HAVE to protect them e.g taking drugs etc, you know what I mean) on their own so that they can learn and grow and develop their thinking/decision-making skills. That's another rule of the same book (let them make mistakes).
Recently, I thought Tiff should not be visiting websites of pop groups. She was disappointed. So I told both girls they can listen to their music but be careful of the lyrics of the song and the dances (some have awful black painted faces). We have to listen to our kids too. Tiff also asked if she could go out with her friends on the last day of PSLE. I at first said no, as she's too young (only just turned 12). Then I asked her where to? She said to Tampine Mall, probably to get keychains and just hang-out. I was very concerned, so I said she may go provided 1 of the girls's parents chaperones them. Reason - they were young, so if there was any pickpockets or worse-case scenerio - a stranger shoplifts and puts things into their bags - an adult with them would probably pose a deterent or least "bail" them out. You must remember, these are a bunch of 11 - 12 year olds who have probably NEVER been out on their own. In a group, they would be unaware of what's going on around them, especially it being their last day of a national exam (the dreaded PSLE!!).
Tomorrow's Tiff REAL PSLE chinese orals. She refuses to mug last minute as her teacher told them doing so would not help. Crumping things last minute would make them nervous. That's true. But then, Tiff also told me that teacher said she has selective listening skills - so I guess she hears only the good stuff! ;P. Anyway, please pray for her.
Love Theresa
7 months since mum has passed on...
Dear mummy,
It has been 7 months since you left us on 14 Jan 2008..It has not been a single day that goes by without me thinking of you...I hope that you are now well and fine in heaven, forever!
Bro has handled some aspect for your stuff while I too handled some....we work together in this and it has really brought us together like no other time before.....Everthing has now reached a closure; bank accounts, CPF, hospital bill, Safe deposit box, personal effects etc ...all OK...though I cannot say for sure that I have fully recover from the grief that I experience as a result from your departure..all I can say is that your death has set me closer to God for sure coz...I was motivated by the fact that I wanted to see you in heaven one day...and I do not want to do anything here on earth that will lessen my chance of entering heaven when my time is done here on earth.
Today is such a busy day for me with me having to make 3 presentations in a meeting...and day after tomorrow is Assumption Day...Hope you have a good time in heaven.
Eternal rest grant upon my mummy, O, Lord!
And may perpetual Light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.
AlbertY
It has been 7 months since you left us on 14 Jan 2008..It has not been a single day that goes by without me thinking of you...I hope that you are now well and fine in heaven, forever!
Bro has handled some aspect for your stuff while I too handled some....we work together in this and it has really brought us together like no other time before.....Everthing has now reached a closure; bank accounts, CPF, hospital bill, Safe deposit box, personal effects etc ...all OK...though I cannot say for sure that I have fully recover from the grief that I experience as a result from your departure..all I can say is that your death has set me closer to God for sure coz...I was motivated by the fact that I wanted to see you in heaven one day...and I do not want to do anything here on earth that will lessen my chance of entering heaven when my time is done here on earth.
Today is such a busy day for me with me having to make 3 presentations in a meeting...and day after tomorrow is Assumption Day...Hope you have a good time in heaven.
Eternal rest grant upon my mummy, O, Lord!
And may perpetual Light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.
AlbertY
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
LIFE AND HOW TO SURVIVE IT
Here is something to think about which you may not agree to every word being said here but it is just merely food for thought, I decide to put in a blog entry so that I can read over and over again from wherever I am.
[This is in one of the e-mail sent by E&C, Thanks v much!, E&C]
Life and How to Survive It
Below is a speech to the graduating class of 2008 at NTU convocation ceremony last week by Adrian Tan, a litigation lawyer and the author of The Teenage Textbook.
Read it! It's hilarious but very meaningful.
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.
You’ve probably been told the big lie that "Learning is a lifelong process" and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that they’re wrong.
The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan , and tied with San Marino . It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.
I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term "Karoshi", which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are "making a living". No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didn’t say "be loved". That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.
You’ve probably been told the big lie that "Learning is a lifelong process" and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that they’re wrong.
The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan , and tied with San Marino . It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.
I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term "Karoshi", which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are "making a living". No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didn’t say "be loved". That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.
=====END========
Holy Michael The Archangel, St Therese and Mother Mary,
Be with me this day!
You have a nice day!
AlbertY
Saturday, August 9, 2008
New Phase in Bringing Up Children
Dear All
Bert and I are now straggling between the "baby" stage and "Teen" stage - better known as "Tweens" as in between.
Besides supervising the academic aspect of our girls, we now have to closely monitor and guide them in their social aspect. We realised that this is a very delicate stage as they may appear to be more matured, but in terms of mental capacity in decision-making, they are very naive and "innocent".
As we live in a secular world, friends our children makes with will have very different values from us and very different beliefs and more importantly, very different moral standards. It's very hard to shield our children. It's because they know where we come from, there's this constant battle of what the kids like to do and knowing that we as parents frown on it. So, what do kids do? They sneak behind your backs.
That's where constant monitoring comes in followed with stern disciplining and yet keeping the doors open for communications. The next problem is, the doors of communcation is seen as a closed door by the kids. So how do we as parents balance between being a disciplinarian and being a confidante? It's a tough act indeed. That's one of the reasons why we would not be joining you all for LC tomorrow. We need to get our house in order, Plus with the looming PSLE, the stress level here is pretty high. I know the girls were looking forward to the LC meeting and were disappointed that we are not going to attend. We realised that they are still so young and immature in their thinking still, so we have to take back a lot of privileges from them until they have earned our trust again. This tough stance is a tough call for us, and we know that we are taking the risks that our children would not turn to us nor be truthful to us. But we think we need to have more control and as what Bert had said, we need to see them more. That means, not leaving any one kid alone to attend to the needs of the other, nor letting a kid come back by public bus by herself. It's not that they are not big enough to do so, nor are they not capable to do so, it's just to "shield" them as much as possible from the so-called "evils of the world" until they are matured enough to make the right decisions in life. We don't know how to gauge the time or the age, but we need lots of prayers to guide us and our children. I guess most parents with teen-aged or "tweens" would go through this stage in life. It's just that it's so new to us, and so scary to us, and such stuff are not taught in school.
When I think back, I really wonder how my mum did it. I don't remember being a problem to my mum. Maybe I was a problem to some extend, but I don't remember she ever mentioning it. Perhaps my problem was mainly my studies. ;)
Anyway, God never promised us a life like a bed of roses, but He did promise Graces on the way and that He's always with us. If He gave us such wonderful gifts of our children, we can be assured that He'll guide us to be good stewards to His gifts, for afterall, children do not belong to us for they belong to God.
Love Theresa
Bert and I are now straggling between the "baby" stage and "Teen" stage - better known as "Tweens" as in between.
Besides supervising the academic aspect of our girls, we now have to closely monitor and guide them in their social aspect. We realised that this is a very delicate stage as they may appear to be more matured, but in terms of mental capacity in decision-making, they are very naive and "innocent".
As we live in a secular world, friends our children makes with will have very different values from us and very different beliefs and more importantly, very different moral standards. It's very hard to shield our children. It's because they know where we come from, there's this constant battle of what the kids like to do and knowing that we as parents frown on it. So, what do kids do? They sneak behind your backs.
That's where constant monitoring comes in followed with stern disciplining and yet keeping the doors open for communications. The next problem is, the doors of communcation is seen as a closed door by the kids. So how do we as parents balance between being a disciplinarian and being a confidante? It's a tough act indeed. That's one of the reasons why we would not be joining you all for LC tomorrow. We need to get our house in order, Plus with the looming PSLE, the stress level here is pretty high. I know the girls were looking forward to the LC meeting and were disappointed that we are not going to attend. We realised that they are still so young and immature in their thinking still, so we have to take back a lot of privileges from them until they have earned our trust again. This tough stance is a tough call for us, and we know that we are taking the risks that our children would not turn to us nor be truthful to us. But we think we need to have more control and as what Bert had said, we need to see them more. That means, not leaving any one kid alone to attend to the needs of the other, nor letting a kid come back by public bus by herself. It's not that they are not big enough to do so, nor are they not capable to do so, it's just to "shield" them as much as possible from the so-called "evils of the world" until they are matured enough to make the right decisions in life. We don't know how to gauge the time or the age, but we need lots of prayers to guide us and our children. I guess most parents with teen-aged or "tweens" would go through this stage in life. It's just that it's so new to us, and so scary to us, and such stuff are not taught in school.
When I think back, I really wonder how my mum did it. I don't remember being a problem to my mum. Maybe I was a problem to some extend, but I don't remember she ever mentioning it. Perhaps my problem was mainly my studies. ;)
Anyway, God never promised us a life like a bed of roses, but He did promise Graces on the way and that He's always with us. If He gave us such wonderful gifts of our children, we can be assured that He'll guide us to be good stewards to His gifts, for afterall, children do not belong to us for they belong to God.
Love Theresa
Friday, August 8, 2008
The turbulent decade for me...
There is a couple of minutes before I close for the day to celebrate singapore's 43 birthday..and I ponder on the issue of the next 10 years of my life...I envisage that it will be the most difficult period of my life...difficult coz I will be constantly facing issues in guiding 2 typical teeange girl into the straight path and prevent them, at all cost from straying into the wrong and immoral path...some time back I met a co worker in my previous company and use to ask him how old is his children and at that time he told me that they are in their teens and I told him life must be easy for him (compare to ours at that time when our girls is still on milk bottles)...and he told me ...in fact on the contrary...when children are small you see them every day (no worries, no problem) but in their teens you don't see them and that is where problem starts...I see his point now...and upon reflecting on this it is really scary...scary because you do not know what they are up to next, what company they hang out with, what is their lifestyle...etc...couple with the present age of advance technology...the forces of evil out there is stronger than any given era in the history of mankind...that is why being a parent in this era is most challenging, most stressful....and I am not surprise that our birthrate here like any where else in the world is declining...I studied biochemistry in my uni days and in one topic I studied how bacteria multiply in a given substrate...the pattern of reproduction found in a typical strain of bacteria follows the sigmoid pattern (which is of S shape) and if try you happen to starve the substrate of the nutrients and when the bacteria has compete with nutrients and couple with the fact the substrate is more longer conducive, the bacteria will choose to stop reproduce and decline...very true in the human reace as well...we have reach that stage similar to that faced by the bacteria colonies found on the agar plate....I ask Mother Mary together with my spritual friend St Theres of Lisieux to constantly be with me in this so-called......Turbulent Decade.
Mother Mary, St Therese, Please be always with us!
A PRAYER TO SAINT THERESE DE LISIEUX FOR GUIDANCE
Govern by all Thy Wisdom, O Lord,so that my soul may always be serving Thee as Thou dost Will, and not as I may choose. Do not punish me, I beseech Thee, by granting that which I wish or ask if it offended Thy Love, which would always live in me. Let me die to myself, so that I may love Thee. Let me live to Thee, Who art in Thyself, the True Life.Dear St. Therese, guide me in your Little Way, so that I may ascend to the heights and happiness of Heaven.
Amen.
PRAYER TO HOLY MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Happy National Day to all!
Sorry, we are unable to join you all tmnr.
Have a blessed weekend!
AlbertY
Mother Mary, St Therese, Please be always with us!
A PRAYER TO SAINT THERESE DE LISIEUX FOR GUIDANCE
Govern by all Thy Wisdom, O Lord,so that my soul may always be serving Thee as Thou dost Will, and not as I may choose. Do not punish me, I beseech Thee, by granting that which I wish or ask if it offended Thy Love, which would always live in me. Let me die to myself, so that I may love Thee. Let me live to Thee, Who art in Thyself, the True Life.Dear St. Therese, guide me in your Little Way, so that I may ascend to the heights and happiness of Heaven.
Amen.
PRAYER TO HOLY MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Happy National Day to all!
Sorry, we are unable to join you all tmnr.
Have a blessed weekend!
AlbertY
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ways of keeping ants away from your home....
Although ants can be a nuisance to us in our home environment, but they are actually quite important to the nature as they help maintain the balance of the ecological system in the soil, they too help in soil aeration through their burrowing etc...but they should be in the right places for most of the time and not in our homes...
So, following are some of the ways to keep them at bay, remember we try not to kill them altogether but to keep them at bay and here is how, it works for us and would like to share them with you:
Method 1 - Black pepper powder (the darker the better..this one is from NTUC at $2.50)
Sprinkle this along the boundaries of your home like e.g. along the windows, crevices etc
Trust me, it works! It will not kill the ants but for sure they will not come and visit your home.
Method 2 - Cinnamon powder (if have difficulty finding powder, cinnamon sticks is also effective)
Method 3 - Cayenne powder (Personally I have not seen this, if you come across this, share it with us here in this blog)
Method 4 - Vinegar (chemical name is Acetic acid)
Word of caution: Like all other acids, it is rather corrosive
Method 5 - Sprinkle chilli powder along the strategic locations of your home
If you die, die, must use an ant bait, be sure you remove the ant bait and store it away after you notice that there is reduction in the number of ants (usually the first few days will attract a good number of ants to the bait and then after 1 week or so the number of ants will reduce...very effective..most of them will be killed) coz if you do not remove the ant bait, it will attract another colony of ants again and the whole cycle repeat itself again. Remember, keep away the ant bait from food as it is afterall a chemical.
I personally have tried Method 1 and until now lately there is not a single ant in our house....+ the smell of the black pepper makes you think of black pepper steak, black pepper chicken, black pepper pork rib like this one here below:.......mmmmmmmm...yum!yum!
It is such a nice day out there, sunny, blue skies and everything nice....I can't forgive myself having to work on this beautiful day that the Lord has created....will go for a run at YCK this evening!
You have a nice day!
AlbertY
Times when being a mum feels so rewarding
Dear All
Today, as I was coaching Tiffy in her revision, she suddenly hugged me and told me she loves me! I was so taken by surprise as she's never said that to me before. She said I never gave her a chance as I always asked her 1st if she loves me, and she sounded like St Peter, agitated that how could I think she doesn't love me?
Recently, Tiffy sent me an e-mail about Friendship. It's sent to me because I'm her best friend. It didn't occur to me till another SAHM to whom I had sent the e-mail to, lamented that she hopes her daughters would send her such sweet mails when they are older. I suddenly realise how much my Tiffy really loves me. She doesn't express her feelings much and doesn't say much. I realised that she expresses her love in other ways. Remember the topic we did during one of the LC meetings about how we express love for our spouse...some do it by actions like doing the housework, i.e. we tend to show our love to others by how we would like others to show their love to us. So for Bert, I would show my love for him by doing some errands for him. I guess for Tiffy, it must have been my trying to share and appreciate the type of music she is listening to. They may not be my kind of music, but I try not to pass judgement, and instead try to enjoy some of the songs that she likes.
It's quite a challenge to live with and bring up children who are very different from ourselves in character and taste of music or clothings etc. I guess I didn't have that much problem with Bert as we both are Helpers. I can now imagine how tough it was for my parents, especially my mum who is a housewife, to bring us 4 kids up...each of us with such different personalities from her and from each other!! Yet I guess in a parent-child relationship, my mum was always giving, so I didn't feel such a struggle. I suppose with my girls, as a parent, I am giving them as close as unconditional love - as "perfect" a love as God has for us. It's tough, but the rewards are great! At least, I've picked up a little gold nugget today ;)
Love Theresa
Today, as I was coaching Tiffy in her revision, she suddenly hugged me and told me she loves me! I was so taken by surprise as she's never said that to me before. She said I never gave her a chance as I always asked her 1st if she loves me, and she sounded like St Peter, agitated that how could I think she doesn't love me?
Recently, Tiffy sent me an e-mail about Friendship. It's sent to me because I'm her best friend. It didn't occur to me till another SAHM to whom I had sent the e-mail to, lamented that she hopes her daughters would send her such sweet mails when they are older. I suddenly realise how much my Tiffy really loves me. She doesn't express her feelings much and doesn't say much. I realised that she expresses her love in other ways. Remember the topic we did during one of the LC meetings about how we express love for our spouse...some do it by actions like doing the housework, i.e. we tend to show our love to others by how we would like others to show their love to us. So for Bert, I would show my love for him by doing some errands for him. I guess for Tiffy, it must have been my trying to share and appreciate the type of music she is listening to. They may not be my kind of music, but I try not to pass judgement, and instead try to enjoy some of the songs that she likes.
It's quite a challenge to live with and bring up children who are very different from ourselves in character and taste of music or clothings etc. I guess I didn't have that much problem with Bert as we both are Helpers. I can now imagine how tough it was for my parents, especially my mum who is a housewife, to bring us 4 kids up...each of us with such different personalities from her and from each other!! Yet I guess in a parent-child relationship, my mum was always giving, so I didn't feel such a struggle. I suppose with my girls, as a parent, I am giving them as close as unconditional love - as "perfect" a love as God has for us. It's tough, but the rewards are great! At least, I've picked up a little gold nugget today ;)
Love Theresa
Monday, August 4, 2008
Something about StTherese of Lisieux to share with you..
Dear all,
Before I proceed with this blog entry.. I would like to qualify by saying I do not wish or have any intention to sensationalise this incident but I just want you to know that if this incident is real, then how wonderful it would be...to know that St Therese is still very much in our midst in this struggling world today..she is just so wonderful and a beautiful saint...my spiritual friend and how I wish I could just like the visionaries in the following story that is able to see her....and here is the story:
Taken from the URL:
Title: N.Y. Woman Claims Apparitions Of St. Therese In Week Before WTC Attack
October 1st 2003 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. A Long Island woman says that St. Therese of Lisieux -- long a famous saint, but one rarely reported in mystical events -- began appearing to her just before the nearby World Trade Center bombing.
Sandy Mazzitelli, 45, of Green Lawn, New York, claims Therese, also known as "the Little Flower," came as a clear, distinct, and full-bodied apparition on the night of September 4 -- the beginning of five consecutive nights of apparitions in which the saint allegedly urged recitation of the Rosary and warned that "bad and terrible things" were about to happen.
Mrs. Mazzitelli claims the saint appeared in her classic garb of a brown habit with roses and on one occasion, the second night, September 5, was accompanied by a long appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She also says the appearances greatly relieved and may even have healed an untreatable cancer she had been suffering. She said lumps in her body began to disappear during or soon after the events.
As always, we urge great caution with all this. We urge no involvement before prayer and fasting. We submit this for your discernment. And we do so because it unfolded under the close watch of a respected parish priest, Father Gregory Yacyshyn of nearby St. Francis of Assisi Church, who was praying with Mrs. Mazzitelli before the experiences were initiated.
If true it marks a new aspect in current mystical claims. While Therese the Little Flower, who lived in the late 1800s, once vowed to spend her heaven helping on earth and is famous for intervening with miracles -- often in the way of roses -- her appearance with messages allegedly pertaining to the world may mark a new phase in her intercession. Most of her previous appearances have been fleeting. In the 1990s it was claimed that she was seen at grottos in Ireland and she has also appeared to famed Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza -- who likewise foresaw elements of September 11.
"I was sick and I wasn't getting better and I was in a lot of pain and Father Greg was helping me a lot, and one day he was telling me about this saint who was a man, that maybe I should pray to him, because the pain got really bad, and after he left I couldn't remember the saint's name," Sandy told Spirit Daily. "I was so desperate that day that I prayed for any saint to come and help me. It was like my last resort of a prayer. And then that night St. Therese came."
Significant is the fact that Mrs. Mazzitelli saw the saint not as a vision in her mind but with her eyes open, as what mystical theologians know as a "corporeal apparition." At first Sandy, a weekly Mass attendee, but not overly devout, didn't know it was Therese.
"It was late at night and everybody was in bed and I was getting ready to doze off," recounts Mrs. Mazzitelli. "I was just sitting on the couch and all of a sudden I smelled this pretty-like rose smell, and then I looked up a little bit and I could see her, and she was kind of glimmering, but then when I looked at her more, the more I looked at her, the more solid she became. At the beginning I was actually a bit frightened and amazed at the same time. I didn't ask her anything. She said she was here and she came to heal me."
The next night at around the same time Therese allegedly came again. This time Sandy knew who it was. She had looked at Mass cards and Therese had been one of the pictures. That night -- September 5, a Wednesday -- she told St. Therese she knew who she was. "And she told me that Jesus had a special purpose for me, that was the reason she was healing me, that I had special work," says Sandy. "She was like full-sized, but I could only see down to her ankles. She was telling me that bad things were going to happen. She stayed a while and was talking to me, that bad and terrible things were going to happen, and that for people to get through them they had to pray the Rosary more, that no matter what people tried to do, nothing was going to work unless everyone went back to the Rosary."
That such a warning would occur in a suburb of New York in the week leading up to September 11 is galvanizing. It was this very area that lost an especially high number of people who worked at the World Trade Center or surrounding buildings. Indeed, after September 11 this part of Long Island took on the bearing of a town in the midst of a war -- with some families knowing not one but several victims and attending more than one funeral in a single week.
Mrs. Mazzitelli, the wife of an engineer and the mother of a 13-year-old, said the visitations greatly relieved her cancer but said that is not supposed to be focused upon -- that it was only a sign to accompany a serious message and further warning of events that are still to happen. She said it was on the second visit that the Virgin also appeared. "And Mary was really sad. She had these tears coming out of her eyes, and she was sad because people weren't praying the Rosary, and she was telling me that so much more could be done if people prayed the Rosary, and that no matter what happens, there will never be peace until people start praying the Rosary."
The first apparition was short -- perhaps five minutes, says Mrs. Mazzitelli -- but the second one, which felt like just a few minutes, spanned more than two hours. "It was like the Virgin on the statue where she's the Virgin of grace. She had the blue robe and white and a blue sash, and then she had something over her head and over her were these stars, and as she was talking to me the stars moved. There were ten or 12 of them. The veil was light blue."
Mrs. Mazzitelli says Mary did most of the talking the second night, as St. Therese looked on. The woman was told she had to pray the 15-decade every day and help at the local church. It was then that Father Greg started a special Mass for Sunday afternoons, with an exposition of the Blessed sacrament and the Rosary. Every week more and more are coming, says Mrs. Mazzitelli, who believes many will be experiencing the Virgin as well as St. Therese in the days ahead -- bringing to mind a message from Medjugorje that the Virgin would appear in every home if necessary. She says it's the obligation of everyone to pray the Rosary and start a prayer group immediately. "I basically had to change my whole lifestyle," says Sandy. "The Virgin told me the friends I had weren't good friends for me, and after she came all these new friends came."
Mary also allegedly told the woman -- who was unfamiliar with other claims of apparition -- that she was "picking people and starting an army or something, that the future was going to be worse and she wanted me to pray the Rosary. She said if everyone prayed the Rosary -- they wouldn't realize all the power they had, that things could change."
According to Mrs. Mazzitelli, the Virgin especially indicated the Scriptural Rosary. "I didn't know what this was," says Sandy. "I had never done it."
This was all days before the events that would change America. Key among the warnings, says Sandy, is that things will get worse before they get better. "She wasn't talking like it being done in a month or a year, but over a period of time," claims Mrs. Mazzitelli. "I think it's going to go on for quite a while. And then she told me things for just me myself."
On one occasion she says that hundreds of rose petals materialized in the room and that after they were distributed, some claimed they had a healing effect. Mrs. Mazzitelli says she was told that St. Therese will be appearing to other people as will the Virgin, "and that I'm not the only one, and they have to do the same thing I'm doing. The point is, if you teach one person to say the Rosary, that person teaches another person and it will keep on going and that's what she wants."
The Long Island housewife adds that St. Therese appeared taller than she expected and with a wider face. "She wears the brown nun outfit, and the pictures I see of her have the Cross with roses, but she doesn't always bring the Cross. Sometimes she brings the Cross. In pictures her face is oval, but when you see her its wider. And her eyes were an unusual color. Some of the pictures showed them to be brown, but they were more like greenish blue or grayish blue, like a color you don't see often. "The only thing I had seen before she came was a Mass card, but now since she came a lot of people have shown me photographs, and not all the photographs look like her. Every now and then one does. There's a photograph at a shrine nearby in Happauge and there was a picture of her there in the middle of the altar that looked just like her."
"Every time I saw her, I felt better and better," adds Sandy. "When I went to talk to some people, they were shocked that I was healed and they were dwelling on that, but they're supposed to dwell on what can happen if they don't pray the Rosary. The Rosary is more important than my healing."
Mrs. Mazzitelli said she has not returned to a doctor for an official evaluation and that she is now just doing things on her own. She says when she was told there was nothing else they could do for her, the insurance no longer covered treatments. "I had these lumps on my arms and everything, and they went away. And I had this tumor on my hip, and it went away, and now I'm walking without pain. And I was on all these medicines, including morphine, and I'm not taking anything now. I went from using everything to not using anything except steroids, because you can't stop them suddenly. I'm weaning off of them."
The Long Island resident says that the night before the World Trade Center attack she woke up and "was crying for no reason at all. I was just so upset." She says she knew it was part of what she had been warned about.
The last apparition was October 2, the day after St. Therese's feast day. It was the next day that Sandy says she regained her vision, which had been badly blurred. Mrs. Mazzitelli says she was told she would receive one more apparition. In her last appearance, claims Mrs. Mazzitelli, the Little Flower was not as solid as she normally was. "I knew myself that I wasn't going to be seeing her much longer, and she finally said it," says Sandy, choking back tears. "She said she is leaving me for a long while but that I will see her one more time. I don't know if it's going to be weeks or years. It was such a beautiful feeling. Everything was perfect. I didn't think of anything else."
Sandy Mazzitelli, 45, of Green Lawn, New York, claims Therese, also known as "the Little Flower," came as a clear, distinct, and full-bodied apparition on the night of September 4 -- the beginning of five consecutive nights of apparitions in which the saint allegedly urged recitation of the Rosary and warned that "bad and terrible things" were about to happen.
Mrs. Mazzitelli claims the saint appeared in her classic garb of a brown habit with roses and on one occasion, the second night, September 5, was accompanied by a long appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She also says the appearances greatly relieved and may even have healed an untreatable cancer she had been suffering. She said lumps in her body began to disappear during or soon after the events.
As always, we urge great caution with all this. We urge no involvement before prayer and fasting. We submit this for your discernment. And we do so because it unfolded under the close watch of a respected parish priest, Father Gregory Yacyshyn of nearby St. Francis of Assisi Church, who was praying with Mrs. Mazzitelli before the experiences were initiated.
If true it marks a new aspect in current mystical claims. While Therese the Little Flower, who lived in the late 1800s, once vowed to spend her heaven helping on earth and is famous for intervening with miracles -- often in the way of roses -- her appearance with messages allegedly pertaining to the world may mark a new phase in her intercession. Most of her previous appearances have been fleeting. In the 1990s it was claimed that she was seen at grottos in Ireland and she has also appeared to famed Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza -- who likewise foresaw elements of September 11.
"I was sick and I wasn't getting better and I was in a lot of pain and Father Greg was helping me a lot, and one day he was telling me about this saint who was a man, that maybe I should pray to him, because the pain got really bad, and after he left I couldn't remember the saint's name," Sandy told Spirit Daily. "I was so desperate that day that I prayed for any saint to come and help me. It was like my last resort of a prayer. And then that night St. Therese came."
Significant is the fact that Mrs. Mazzitelli saw the saint not as a vision in her mind but with her eyes open, as what mystical theologians know as a "corporeal apparition." At first Sandy, a weekly Mass attendee, but not overly devout, didn't know it was Therese.
"It was late at night and everybody was in bed and I was getting ready to doze off," recounts Mrs. Mazzitelli. "I was just sitting on the couch and all of a sudden I smelled this pretty-like rose smell, and then I looked up a little bit and I could see her, and she was kind of glimmering, but then when I looked at her more, the more I looked at her, the more solid she became. At the beginning I was actually a bit frightened and amazed at the same time. I didn't ask her anything. She said she was here and she came to heal me."
The next night at around the same time Therese allegedly came again. This time Sandy knew who it was. She had looked at Mass cards and Therese had been one of the pictures. That night -- September 5, a Wednesday -- she told St. Therese she knew who she was. "And she told me that Jesus had a special purpose for me, that was the reason she was healing me, that I had special work," says Sandy. "She was like full-sized, but I could only see down to her ankles. She was telling me that bad things were going to happen. She stayed a while and was talking to me, that bad and terrible things were going to happen, and that for people to get through them they had to pray the Rosary more, that no matter what people tried to do, nothing was going to work unless everyone went back to the Rosary."
That such a warning would occur in a suburb of New York in the week leading up to September 11 is galvanizing. It was this very area that lost an especially high number of people who worked at the World Trade Center or surrounding buildings. Indeed, after September 11 this part of Long Island took on the bearing of a town in the midst of a war -- with some families knowing not one but several victims and attending more than one funeral in a single week.
Mrs. Mazzitelli, the wife of an engineer and the mother of a 13-year-old, said the visitations greatly relieved her cancer but said that is not supposed to be focused upon -- that it was only a sign to accompany a serious message and further warning of events that are still to happen. She said it was on the second visit that the Virgin also appeared. "And Mary was really sad. She had these tears coming out of her eyes, and she was sad because people weren't praying the Rosary, and she was telling me that so much more could be done if people prayed the Rosary, and that no matter what happens, there will never be peace until people start praying the Rosary."
The first apparition was short -- perhaps five minutes, says Mrs. Mazzitelli -- but the second one, which felt like just a few minutes, spanned more than two hours. "It was like the Virgin on the statue where she's the Virgin of grace. She had the blue robe and white and a blue sash, and then she had something over her head and over her were these stars, and as she was talking to me the stars moved. There were ten or 12 of them. The veil was light blue."
Mrs. Mazzitelli says Mary did most of the talking the second night, as St. Therese looked on. The woman was told she had to pray the 15-decade every day and help at the local church. It was then that Father Greg started a special Mass for Sunday afternoons, with an exposition of the Blessed sacrament and the Rosary. Every week more and more are coming, says Mrs. Mazzitelli, who believes many will be experiencing the Virgin as well as St. Therese in the days ahead -- bringing to mind a message from Medjugorje that the Virgin would appear in every home if necessary. She says it's the obligation of everyone to pray the Rosary and start a prayer group immediately. "I basically had to change my whole lifestyle," says Sandy. "The Virgin told me the friends I had weren't good friends for me, and after she came all these new friends came."
Mary also allegedly told the woman -- who was unfamiliar with other claims of apparition -- that she was "picking people and starting an army or something, that the future was going to be worse and she wanted me to pray the Rosary. She said if everyone prayed the Rosary -- they wouldn't realize all the power they had, that things could change."
According to Mrs. Mazzitelli, the Virgin especially indicated the Scriptural Rosary. "I didn't know what this was," says Sandy. "I had never done it."
This was all days before the events that would change America. Key among the warnings, says Sandy, is that things will get worse before they get better. "She wasn't talking like it being done in a month or a year, but over a period of time," claims Mrs. Mazzitelli. "I think it's going to go on for quite a while. And then she told me things for just me myself."
On one occasion she says that hundreds of rose petals materialized in the room and that after they were distributed, some claimed they had a healing effect. Mrs. Mazzitelli says she was told that St. Therese will be appearing to other people as will the Virgin, "and that I'm not the only one, and they have to do the same thing I'm doing. The point is, if you teach one person to say the Rosary, that person teaches another person and it will keep on going and that's what she wants."
The Long Island housewife adds that St. Therese appeared taller than she expected and with a wider face. "She wears the brown nun outfit, and the pictures I see of her have the Cross with roses, but she doesn't always bring the Cross. Sometimes she brings the Cross. In pictures her face is oval, but when you see her its wider. And her eyes were an unusual color. Some of the pictures showed them to be brown, but they were more like greenish blue or grayish blue, like a color you don't see often. "The only thing I had seen before she came was a Mass card, but now since she came a lot of people have shown me photographs, and not all the photographs look like her. Every now and then one does. There's a photograph at a shrine nearby in Happauge and there was a picture of her there in the middle of the altar that looked just like her."
"Every time I saw her, I felt better and better," adds Sandy. "When I went to talk to some people, they were shocked that I was healed and they were dwelling on that, but they're supposed to dwell on what can happen if they don't pray the Rosary. The Rosary is more important than my healing."
Mrs. Mazzitelli said she has not returned to a doctor for an official evaluation and that she is now just doing things on her own. She says when she was told there was nothing else they could do for her, the insurance no longer covered treatments. "I had these lumps on my arms and everything, and they went away. And I had this tumor on my hip, and it went away, and now I'm walking without pain. And I was on all these medicines, including morphine, and I'm not taking anything now. I went from using everything to not using anything except steroids, because you can't stop them suddenly. I'm weaning off of them."
The Long Island resident says that the night before the World Trade Center attack she woke up and "was crying for no reason at all. I was just so upset." She says she knew it was part of what she had been warned about.
The last apparition was October 2, the day after St. Therese's feast day. It was the next day that Sandy says she regained her vision, which had been badly blurred. Mrs. Mazzitelli says she was told she would receive one more apparition. In her last appearance, claims Mrs. Mazzitelli, the Little Flower was not as solid as she normally was. "I knew myself that I wasn't going to be seeing her much longer, and she finally said it," says Sandy, choking back tears. "She said she is leaving me for a long while but that I will see her one more time. I don't know if it's going to be weeks or years. It was such a beautiful feeling. Everything was perfect. I didn't think of anything else."
===End of Story====
Have a blessed and nice day!
AlbertY
Felicia's 1st Performance - at Children's Mass
Dear All
Today (Sunday, 3 Aug 08) was Felicia's 1st Choir Performance at the 11am children's Mass at Holy Trinity Church.
She was required to be in the chapel at 10am, so we decided to go for the 9.30am Mass instead of the usual 11am one. So EVERYONE had to wake up early on a beautiful, lazy Sunday morning because of Felicia. We normally fetch my mum to church as she's getting on with age and her legs are weak. So instead of fetching her at 10:30am, we went to fetch her at 9am. Bert of super efficient and fast taxi driver today. As I was not feeling well, he fetched the girls and my mum down. Then during mass, he brought Feli to the chapel at 10am. After mass, he fetched mum home, got our letters from her place, and ta-bao lunch and fetched Tiff home. He was off again at 11:30 (touch and go) to church. Mass ends at 12noon, so in between, he did my NTUC shopping for me. He waited for Feli since 12noon, and she came out at 12:10pm, bubbling with excitement.
She looked so angelic today, in a long white dress and hair tied at the sides in white. Even the nun sitting in the pew next to her at mass smiled at her. Tiff said it was not fair that the nun smiled at Feli and not her. I guess it's always the littlest one that seems the cutest, ya?
Her classmate saw her and waved at her, so she waved back. Kinda cute ya?
Makes Bert and I think about what can we do for our church. We prefer one-off, ad-hoc kind of service as we don't quite to like to "socialise" too much. It's kinda of nice that Feli wants to participate in the church's choir. She doesn't mind she's not chosen for cantering, as that means having to sing solo. So I'm glad everyone's happy.
Love Theresa
Today (Sunday, 3 Aug 08) was Felicia's 1st Choir Performance at the 11am children's Mass at Holy Trinity Church.
She was required to be in the chapel at 10am, so we decided to go for the 9.30am Mass instead of the usual 11am one. So EVERYONE had to wake up early on a beautiful, lazy Sunday morning because of Felicia. We normally fetch my mum to church as she's getting on with age and her legs are weak. So instead of fetching her at 10:30am, we went to fetch her at 9am. Bert of super efficient and fast taxi driver today. As I was not feeling well, he fetched the girls and my mum down. Then during mass, he brought Feli to the chapel at 10am. After mass, he fetched mum home, got our letters from her place, and ta-bao lunch and fetched Tiff home. He was off again at 11:30 (touch and go) to church. Mass ends at 12noon, so in between, he did my NTUC shopping for me. He waited for Feli since 12noon, and she came out at 12:10pm, bubbling with excitement.
She looked so angelic today, in a long white dress and hair tied at the sides in white. Even the nun sitting in the pew next to her at mass smiled at her. Tiff said it was not fair that the nun smiled at Feli and not her. I guess it's always the littlest one that seems the cutest, ya?
Her classmate saw her and waved at her, so she waved back. Kinda cute ya?
Makes Bert and I think about what can we do for our church. We prefer one-off, ad-hoc kind of service as we don't quite to like to "socialise" too much. It's kinda of nice that Feli wants to participate in the church's choir. She doesn't mind she's not chosen for cantering, as that means having to sing solo. So I'm glad everyone's happy.
Love Theresa
Friday, August 1, 2008
My portable hard disc..
Just to share some tips on travelling light....in Singapore. Since I am a frequent traveller on the bus and MRT, the weight of my bag is of utmost importance....i.e. the lightest possible at the same time able to see to my daily needs...so in my bag there is a PDA, handphone, HP calculator, MP3 player, an e-dictionary 
and of course my portable harddisk, which I bought in NYP at the cost $75 (120Gb) on offer.
Let me tell how useful is this little device. I used to carry this piece of heavy metal weighing about 2 kg on my back plus all other files and gadgets, my bag easily comes to about 3 to 3.5 kg.
Often I have to walk 2 bustops back home every day from the train station and that puts a strain on my back.....but now it has been better.
I have stopped bringing my laptop ever since I have configured my portable hard disc. First I copied the entire data files onto this protable hard disc (a total 25 Gb worth of data), sync daily it to my laptop using Synctoy software (downloadable from the MS web) and encrypt the data using TrueCrypt software (also a freeware) with password protection. Now even if I happen to lost this portable hard disc, I have no fear for the data is encrypted and password protected. All the entire working data of 25 Gb is on this piece of wonderful device weighing merely about 150 grammes.
Just back from stand-in invigilation duty....time to pack up and go home! Have a blessed weekend!
AlbertY
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