When age catches up!

Posted by a fellow blogger, the list of things that come with age!

My favourites are :
1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you. 
2. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
3. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.


Read the full article here : The Perks of Reaching 50, or Being Over 60 and Headed for 70

Sushi making!

Amazing sushi making! I love sushi and this just made gave it even more reason to have one soon!

Itadakimasu!

The Geek Alphabet

I'm not geeky, but this alphabet poem is rather cute and so true of the "Geekdom" as they call themselves!

Read them here.

Appreciating crafts and receiving them

Anyone who knows me well will know I'm quite a practical person. Sometimes, too practical. And will try to save money on better things, though when it comes to food, I'll succumb.

For as long as I can remember, I don't like chocolates, lollies, soft drinks, sweet drinks, flowers, decorative items, heels, make-up and dressing up.

The one thing I cannot understand is giving cards. Friends give cards for almost everything! Birthdays, festivals, thank you, get well soon, etc. Ever since migrating to Brisbane, I have struggled to accept cards from people. A lot of them were hand-made cards, which made it even more difficult to decide what to do with them. For the past few years, I have kept them in the drawer after reading them. I threw everything out at a recent major house clean-up.

Had this conversation with husband and he said that it's a form of affirmation and appreciation towards me and I should accept them with an open heart.

I have no problems with people making cards or sending cards. I do know of a handful of people who are great crafts people and make beautiful cards!

I have a problem when it's made for and sent to me. You see, everytime I receive a card, I'll read it and it either goes straight to the bin, or will sit in my drawer for a couple of years before being thrown out into the bin. Doesn't matter whether it's store bought or hand made. I don't know what to do with them. Recently, Miss 2 gets to cut them up after I have read them. I felt a little better that the card was put to good use in developing a child's fine motor skills.

The first thought that came to my mind was thoughtfulness on the sender which I greatly appreciate. The next few thoughts that flashed through usually include "a waste of time and money on me", "can save the postage and paper on others." etc.

I have come to ask friends not to give me any cards. A text, or email, or a word in person works better. Or, something practical, like a Coles gift card.

Until I can appreciate the receiving of cards, I'm going to stick to a no-cards policy.

What should I call it now?

I'm so going to change the name of this blog. Will think about it...

A new church

I don't really know how to upload this video here, but here's the link to watch it.

"Sunday's Coming" video.

May our hearts, soul and mind be filled by the Holy Spirit as we learn to worship Him in truth and in spirit.

Australia's Top 10 Child-Friendly Cafes

If you haven't been on Kidspot, you probably are not aware of the vast amount of information up there for parents, especially.

One of the articles claimed the top 10 kid-friendly cafes in Australia. Most of have some sort of play equipment or cordoned off safe play area for children. Some have children's food menu and Tulip's Cafe in ACT has a potting workshop that children can be booked in to have some potting fun. And for the busy mums who need their laundry done, TAS has a Machine Laundry Cafe for you to wash clothes, play chess and enjoy a meal.

NSW :
Bitton Gourmet on Copeland Street, Alexandria
Flying Fox on Mona Street, Mona Vale
Nosh @ Newport on Hall Street, Newport

QLD :
Breathing Space Cafe on Lambert Rd, Indooroopilly

SA :
Bugs Cafe on Norwood, Adelaide

ACT :
Tulip's Cafe on Beltana Rd, Pialligo

VIC:
Happy River Cafe on Moreland Street, Footscray

NT :
Blue Marlin Bistro on Atkins Drive, Fannie Bay

WA :
Stickybeaks Playground on Kings Park Road, West Perth

TAS :
Machine Laundry Cafe on Salamanca Square, Hobart

Dyslexia is a gift

Before you think I'm crazy for saying that, read on a little about dyslexics and this page that I came upon by accident explaining dyslexia and the type of help available in Australia.


All information taken from Shire Learning Strategies and no, I'm not paid to review the website. I found what the author wrote about dyslexia to be fascinating and interesting. Took an interest to dyslexia because my sister is a psychologist with the Dyslexic Association of Singapore. You can read her blog on special learning needs on Joys of Learning.


To be honest, I've never heard of dyslexia until very much later in life, after I was done with all my formal education. Don't even remember the first time I heard about it. But with increased awareness, more children are able to receive help earlier.


People with dyslexia are called dyslexics. They have difficulties in reading, writing and spelling, especially in languages that have "more complicated orthographic, phonological and / or grammatical systems".


However, they are very gifted in thinking in pictures. Shire Learning Strategies describes dyslexia as a gift : 
"Dyslexia is like a coin and as such, has two sides. On one side is the difficulties experienced with learning. The other side is the undoubted gift of enhanced picture thinking. 

This gift enables us to picture things with great speed and clarity. It allows us to experience our imagination as though it were real.

The gift of dyslexia is the gift of Mastery. Dyslexics learn best when we are using our creative talents. Through hands-on experiential learning we can master concepts that become part of us – we know it because we have created the concept in the real world. This is true mastery."

While dyslexia is a learning disability, it does not mean that there is no hope for dyslexics. Dyslexics face difficulties with reading and writing, but their visual spatial abilities and oral skills can be strong. For the teacher with a dyslexic student, try a multi-sensory approach to teaching. Instead of just writing and reading from texts, include some picture and tactile activities to stimulate and help the dyslexic child in learning.

See you later?

Just recently, I have come to notice myself saying, "See you later," to friends and people I meet. I have also found it a problem for myself when I say that without thinking.

Maybe I'm being picky here, but does anybody really mean it when they say, "See you later"?

Most of the time, I don't even see the person 'later', but whenever we meet again.

I think, for this month, I will work on my goodbyes. So, instead of "see you later", I'm going to put a specific time frame to it and work at catching up with the person at the said time.

A "see you tomorrow" or "see you next Sunday" won't take too much of an effort, I'm sure.

Ways to show your mother that you love her

Just a couple of weeks more and it'll be Mother's Day! Some may have already prepared a gift for mum, some may still be cracking their brains over what to give.

To be honest, birthdays and special occasions like these always give me a big headache because of the gift involved. Buying a gift for someone else is just as good as telling me to finish a Maths or Science paper. It eats the energy out of me. I'll do it because I have to, but will avoid it if possible.

Personally, I'm not a gift lover. No cards, no flowers, no chocolates, thank you. The cards just go straight into the bin the next day or my daughter gets to cut them up with scissors in the name of developing her hand-eye coordination skills. The flowers only get left in their packaging till they die and wither. The chocolates will most likely be sitting in our fridge or pantry (depending on whichever one has space) for a few more years before it goes out into the bin. So, yes, don't waste your money on me.

Anyway, when it comes to showing love to someone dear, gifts may not be the only answer. Here are some ways to show your mum that you love her.

1. Prepare a good dinner for her and the family, with enough to bring for lunch the next day. After all, mum had been cooking dinner and getting lunch the rest of the year, so, make this day an easy one for her and give her a little more time off.

2. Rent her favourite movies and have a movie marathon at home!

3. Get all the housework done before you have the movie marathon. Mothers fret about not getting housework done.

4. Have a topsy-turvy day and swap roles for the day.

5. Give her a hug if you haven't done so since you started primary school.

6. Let mum have an early night and do all the washing up for her.

7. Let mum and dad have a night out for themselves.

8. Make a donation to a children's support service in her name.

Hope you'll enjoy this Mother's Day with your mums!