Learning to Learn Workshops

Dear All

Tiffy's school has engaged this vendor to teach the children how to learn. It's a once a week 55 minutes session that will last, I think, 6 or 8 weeks.

I don't know what they are teaching the girls, but Tiffy is really enjoying the lessons. She's been quite motivated to study. Don't know if it's due to so-so mid year exam results..that may be a contributing factor, or that her new bible sharing youth group are mainly made up of tertiary students from ITE, Poly, the U or young working adults, or perhaps it's this workshop.

Anyway, she's learned it's impt to prioritise work. Procastination is bad because the work has to be done anyway. Do things in small tasks and importance of taking little breaks.

Today, she told me that most humans make use of only 1 - 2% of our brains. Geniuses use 3 - 5% and that include Albert Einstein. They were told by the faciliators that if only people use their brains more, cures could be discovered for lots of diseases.

She also shared with me that we all have 3 brains (and I thought it was 2!). The left, right and BACK brain. She was dismayed she's pro right brain which means she's a procastinator and leaves things to the last minute. Geez, I thought most geniuses were like that ;)

That's what little nibblets of wisdom I've learned from Tiffy today.

Love Theresa

Austere Diet (Today's paper - ST27 Jul 09)

Dear All

Firstly, there's an error in my earlier post on brandname of the Ikea plastic sheet...it's Kolon. Post corrected. Yah...funny name, but don't laugh, it's true...maybe in means something else in Swiss..

Today's Straits Times had an article on aging. It seems if you cut down your calories intake by 30% (from your ideal weight) you'll most like live longer. That's because your internal organs age slower. (But sorry folks, it does not reduce hair fall!!!). Ailments like cancer, and old age associated ailments are reduced. You look younger too. (Some of the summary was taken from another website given by a docter friend).

Anyway this article's writer commented...why do anyone want to live longer if they are living in misery, especially if you live to eat.

My take is, enjoy your food, but in moderation. Have routine exercises. Have a hobby, have some good close friends and go for retail therapy once in a while. Live life, play with your kids, be a teen again with your spouse, and don't be a slave to your house (if you're a SAHM like me) or to your job. After all, life is short, so live it. Don't know what I'm rattling about...must be the late hour...just my rambling thoughts for today.

Love Theresa

Trying out a way to cut noise of dragging chairs

Dear All

The kids are generally "rough". They just don't know how to lift up the chair when they get up from their study tables. The end result....scratched parquet floors and irritating dragging furniture noise, particularly at night when you want to sleep! We tried putting carpets (too much friction), rubber mats (also too much friction and the joined pieces keep coming out or are squashed by the chair legs), felt leg tips (the glue just don't stick well), nailed leg tips (the nail also scratch the floor). The best so far are the tied on leg booties.

Today, we went to Ikea and found this plastic mat brand name "Kolon". We are currently trying it out. It definitely protects the parequet from scratches, but does not dampen the noise. So I remembered the show room had carpets UNDER the "Koton" so we placed a rug under ours. And guess what? The noise is significantly reduced! So now everyone, including the complaining neighbour below us, can now sleep in peace.

The cost is low..just $59 per plastic sheet. But be warned...it's pretty heavy (heavy duty I suppose) and needs some strength to bend it to fit into your car boot.

Just to share something that is useful to us.

Love Theresa & Bert

In GOD I trust and believe...

For all those who happen to stumble upon this blog and happen not to believe in the existence of the Almighty God.......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbg_dhI4XCs

Thanks Cynthia for the sharing!

AlbertY

Compassion & Teamwork - a sharing

Dear All

As all kids know, when they hit primary 4, they have to pass NAFA. It's a battery of tests. Our Tiffy didn't pass her 2.4km run, so she had to do a retest (her second re) yesterday.

I am soooo glad we had made the right decision to place her in a mission school. Although not all teachers are "angels" or "holy", her PE teacher was very wise. She asked those girls who had already passed the 2.4km to also run with those who failed so as to encourage them.

Tiffy is so blessed with very good friends.

One made her a banner that says roughly, "Tiffany you can make it" or something to that effect. Another pulled her arms to drag her on. Another told her a lie that there was only 30 sec left so she ran like mad to the finish line. But actually, it was 1 min left. So she passed with 30 sec to spare!!

I'm so happy that Tiffy has such wonderful friends around her, and such compassionate and wise teachers around.

Love Theresa

My 3 petitions to St Theresa of Calcutta

Mother Theresa has just been declared a saint, according to the e-mail I received... and here are my 3 petitions to St Theresa of Calcutta.

Petition 1

St Theresa of Calcutta, please intercede for me to take the soul of my beloved mum, Alice Elizabeth Mah Kwai Pheng to heaven. She passed away last year on 14 Jan 2008 and I hope the her soul can be in heaven.

Petition 2

St Theresa of Calcutta, please intercede for me to grant me a peaceful and painless death.


Petition 3

St Theresa of Calcutta, please take me to heaven when I die one day.

That's all.

AlbertY

Bro discharged today!

Dear All

My bro was discharged today (21 Jul) 3pm. To tell you the truth, though he's discharged, I still am worried for him. Dr says he needs to think of getting better and nothing else.

I believe in community of prayers...so please, continue to pray for my bro.

Thanks for your prayers.

Love Theresa

My crucifix..

This afternoon, I decided to talk little bit more about my little crucifix in which on that LC300 sharing nite, you may not have a good look at it. So here it is, here is a photo of what is in my bag. I bought this crucifix sometime back from Waterloo Street (Catholic centre) at a cost of SGD 15. It is an ideal one, not too big not too small. I carry it in my bag wherever I go..It is to remind me of my daily commitment to my Christian life, to my married life (in which the crucified Christ is the main focus) and lastly I wish that if I were to leave this world one day, I would like to die holding the crucifix (like St Therese did..) ..how beautiful it is to die in the grace of God.
But don’t be mistaken, I carry the crucifix is not out of superstition or neither having the belief that it has magical powers to ward of evils etc. The reason I carry it is to visually remind myself of my Christian life in this world and as main focal point of our marriage. But having said that, I did not abandon my wedding ring (in which I told you all I have stop wearing my wedding ring during our sharing). My ring is now constantly hanging in one of the those hooks in the kitchen. My fingers are cleaner now as bacteria tend to grows in places like underneath your watch, ring on your finger etc.
So I still keep my ring safely…in fact in one of the most prominent places in the houses.
It is a hot afternoon outside and the sun shining brightly…what a beautiful day the Lord has made!
You have nice day!
AlbertY

Today's (19 July 09) Sermon - Lord's Our Shepherd

Dear All

Today's sermon by a priest whose name escapes me (me old lah, so can't rem)... was very touching.

If you remember today's readings, it's about the good shepherd. There are also bad shepherds who let their flock scatter. God will deal with these bad shepherds, but He PROMISED to bring the lost sheep back to His fold.

I will hold God's Promise that He will bring my bro back again to FULL recovery. My mum and I may be called fools, but we hope for the best!

Before I digress, let's get back to the sermon. I was surprised it was about how a psychrist treat a patient...the logical advice is for the psychrist to be detached from the patient so as not to be too emotionally involved and hence not be emotionally drained. But according to the famous psychologist Carl Jung, for a patient to be healed, he needs to know that people care and show warmth and empathy to him.

He gave account by Mother Theresa during a visit to a well-oiled nursing home in Switzerland. This home houses only 40 old folks. The residents are well taken care of by the nurses. However, she noticed that NONE of them SMILED! She also noticed they kept looking at the doorway. She asked the nurses about it and they said, these old folks look forward to their sons or daughters to visit them, but none ever came. The priest said that the worst feeling anyone can have is that of being ABANDONED. They feel side-lined by society. He clarified he wasn't against putting old folks in either nursing or old folks home, as the circumstances of each family is different. What he wants to put across to us is that people should not be put away and forgotten. We need to visit them and to do so often and more regularly.

Don't know if it's a message to me for whatever the future holds for my bro. I just find the message today to coincidental to our current situation. We can only pray and hope for the best but prepare ourselves psychologically for the worst.

Sometimes, I feel people could be abandoned at homes for many various reasons. It could be that they are not easy people to live with. Not easy people to communicate with perhaps because they are so negative or domineering or even aggressive. Last weekend, there was this old lady in a wheelchair who came to church with a maid and no other family member with her. At first I thought the family members will come later, but there was no one else except the maid. During the mass, this old lady seemed to be a little senile...she followed the lector, reading very loudly the bible passage just after the lector, like a LOUD echo. I don't really know her family situation, but I guess there are reasons that she's alone...so we best don't judge others.

Just to share with you today's sermon.

Love Theresa

Felicia's 9th Birthday today!

Dear All

Today's (18 July) is Felicia's 9th birthday. We celebrated her birthday lunch at Sakae Sushi. We couldn't do it for dinner as Tiffy has youth Mass which she was so looking forward to attend.

The funny part I wanted to share with you is this....

This must be the MOST expensive 5 minutes of Albert's life (at least to date ;) )

Whilst Bert was chatting with an old acquaintance, I was bored. The girls were playing around so I went to see this little kiosk selling platimium costume jewellery. As Feli doesn't have a cross and I was like waiting forever for the price of gold to fall...and when it did, I didn't notice...anyway, since I had time to kill, I looked at the crosses. This lady was a good sales girl....the 2 girls and Bert came at the right time. Feli loved the cross, and Tiffy loved the other cross. So Bert ended up buying 2 crosses and 2 chains.....then, the sales girl asked if I wanted a ring. I wasn't interested in rings. As this platimum mixed with sterling silver is allergy free and comes with free cleaning and 1 free plating per year, I decided to also get an ear stud for Feli. Currently she's still using ear sticks as she can't take the white gold I bought her as the design was lying flat against her ear lobes and became allergic to it. As I said, she's a good sales lady, and soon we ended up with 2 pairs of earrings...1 for Feli and the other for me lah!

So in the end, Bert's 5 minutes of chatting costs him almost $400!!! Lesson learned....guys should NEVER stop to chat and leave their spouse/girlfriends alone...never!! Hehheh... :)

Love Theresa

Felicia's Talent Quest Audition

Dear All

Talk about bitchiness and showbiz....

Felicia went for her audition last week. I didn't know if she was singing or dancing for the talent quest competition...the teacher took the demo CD with vocals and didn't say anything, so she submitted it the day before the auditions, as requested. The poor girl had been rehearsing with the CD when the bomb came that it should be WITHOUT the vocals! Seemed like it was a SINGING competition!! Felicia only allowed me to see what she was doing for the performance the day before the auditions. She was singing AND "dancing" (read as some actions).

Now this is the bitchy part....when she asked her competitors/friends what they will be singing, they told her "Not telling, in case people take our music".

Wow...and this was only a school friendly competition....prize: to sing on stage.

Next, where did their mom buy music without vocals..."Not telling either"....

So Feli was practising with the vocals then since there's no time to get the song without the vocals (BTW it's "Hoedown Throwdown" from the Hannah Motana Movie) so she had to sing impromptu WITHOUT any music in front of 2 teachers and 1 staff manning the PC player.

Needless to say, she had stage fright...forgot the last part of the song and dare not "dance"...so it wasn't a surprise she was eliminated at the audition.

In true gungho spirit, she readily holds onto her dream to be a singer....but just in case, her backup plan is to be a teacher (which was her 1st ambition when she was smaller anyway).

Anyway, she got a foretaste of what the "glamour" world of showbiz is about.

Love

Theresa

LC Sharing Session @ Mel Park - 11 July 09

Dear All

The sharing question for this gathering was:

HOW DO YOU SEE THE CRUCIFIX IN YOUR MARRIAGE?

AND

HOW DOES YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION MAKE YOU FEEL?

E.G. HAPPY? GLAD? ETC

It was a very fruitful sharing. Most couples were going through problems arising from the economic situation. They were comforted to know that Christ is ever present in their lives, bringing to them peoples with worse situation or problems than them...that the cross Christ has given them is the right size.

Some shared that the sacrament of marriage extends to beyond just the couple and their children, but also to the spouses extended family members like their parents and even siblings.

Besides looking only on the "negativity" of the crucified Christ, couples also enjoy the joy of unconditional love found in married life, between husband and wife, and between parents and their children. This is a reflection of God's love for us living among us today.

That's our summary of Sat's session. Feel free to add in more.

Love Theresa & Albert

My Heart is Burdened

Dear All

I had visited my bro with my mum on Monday. My bro is not better yet. Both Bert and I are worriers. We tend to think alot and make lots of plans for what-ifs scenario. My bro becoming like this was NEVER in our plans nor mind.

The what-if he doesn't fully recover scenario is VERY REAL. He cannot work. He cannot function normally anymore. He doesn't have any insurance as he doesn't believe in them. He may not have much savings either. If he doesn't recover and be normal again, the reality is he will have to depend on us to take care of him. This was never in our plans. This very possible reality will be a constant burden on us, physically, financially, psychologically. My parents are old. They can only live a few more years. My parents are sick and weak with ailments. How can my mum recover?

1st blow this year - my mum was hospitalised. Next it was me. After that, my dad. Now my bro.

Thinking about the future is so very scary. I had already offered mum our home if anything happened to either dad or her. That was BEFORE my bro's case. I feel obliged to my parents and filial children, they have helped us so much, it's only natural and automatic for us to help them back in their hour of need. But my bro? He should have been independently taking care of himself, right? Sometimes when I think, I find that he still thinks like a child. He doesn't even buy his own home. He depends totally on my mum. Now that this has happened, I don't think I have the strength nor generosity to take care of him too, for he's only in his 40s, and the care would be for the very long haul. Do you think I'm selfish? I feel guilty thinking about it. Perhaps we 3 siblings could take turn taking care of him. But my other bro could be migrating in the future. Then what?

I cannot think too much otherwise I am afraid I would worry myself silly and go bong-kas too. Bert has also thought of these too. He is as worried as me. I need to share my burden with you. We really need your prayers. We don't have a solution. It all depends on how my bro fares. Bert says to just take one day at a time. I know he's right, but I can't help worrying.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Love Theresa

Thanks for your Sharing LC Couples!

Dear All

It's been quite some time since we have seen you all. This year had been quite bumpy and rough for us. When we share, we realise that the cross that we carry is bearable, and that it's so good to know that we have friends like you, to whom we can so freely share our burdens. It's through tonight's sharing that I believe some of us realise our problems are not so bad afterall, and that through each other's experiences of God's presence in their lives, we experience God's kingdom already with us.

I would like to thank God and Mother Mary for bringing you guys into our lives. There must be a reason we met, a reason for journeying together in LC. We draw strength from each other, especially when 1 part of the body is in distressed, the other parts would gather together to heal it. In this time of economic crisis, there's lots of stress be it financial, depression, sense of hopelessness...but with catholic friends like you, we will rise from our crisis a stronger and better person.

Love

Theresa and Albert

Another post...a thought of mine to share..

Dear All

It's so funny, these 2 girls of mine...Tiffy, who doesn't have much interest in studies, wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. Possible reason I gather is, people are so problematic! Animals are not so troublesome...hmm, food for thought for us humans, but she's actually quite right some times, don't you agree?

Feli, who at the moment, is the more academic one, wants to be a SINGER! Now when her chinese tuition teacher asked her what is her ambition and she told her that, she almost fell off her seat!! At one time, her ambition was to open a kindergarten or childcare where she's the boss but still works in the morning, and free in the afternoon to visit me to keep me accompany so that I won't feel sad or lonely! How sweet, isn't she? Now her ambition is to be a famous international singer, go to USA to sing and bring me along as her manager! Wow!

I love every minute I have with the girls. Their thoughts, emotions and sharings are really eye-opening, quite "cheem" sometimes and brings me laughter and joy. I take each day at a time and just savour their childhood and giving my best to them and as long an innocent childhood as possible as my parents had given me :)

Just my thoughts for today...

Love Theresa

Another joke for LC

Dear All

Bert cracked this other joke...

Q: What did robot A say to robot B?

A: I-Robot

This is a modified version of Felicia's...

Q: (Chinese version of about joke) What did the Chinese robot A say to robot B?

A : Wall-E ("Wo, Lee" meaning I'm Lee in either mandarin or dialect)

Feli's so cute isn't she?

Love Theresa