Listing and Multitasking

I think I try to do too much at a time or at least give my brain too much to think. I'm such a perfectionist that it makes me unproductive at times. I multitask so much that sometimes it scares me. Just last Friday, after being down in the dumps mentally, I decided to get up from in front of the computer and do some house work. Imagine this, after all the dusting, vacuuming, mopping, laundry and organizing; I was refreshed and feeling on top of the world. That kind of freaked me. I LOVE HOUSE WORK, except for washing the bathrooms.

I know most people dread even the thought of it. Somehow, I've gotten in line with the flow of house work. As a matter of fact, I think I've almost perfected it; at least for my household. So that's just the cleaning part. For those of you who might be interested to know how to multitask on this. Here's a tip.

1. CONSIDER what you have to do. Maybe the basic chores. Laundry, Vacuum, Mop, Dusting or what your house needs.
2. ARRANGE the tasks in such a way that while you're at something, something else is being done.
   For instance, put in a LOAD TO WASH (takes about 45 minutes for a full load). While that is going on, give the house, shelves & whatever A QUICK WIPE. Should take about 10 – 15 minutes, depending on how much you have to wipe.
3. Once done, VACUUM. Before starting, CLEAR THE FLOOR. Put all that you can on top of tables, shelves or chairs. Stack as many chairs to avoid having too many things to move around while vacuuming. If you have a kid, you have to decide what to do with your kid. As for me, I leave her at her TV in the living room while I do the bedrooms first. (I've got a good kid so it's easy).
4. After vacuuming (the laundry's not done yet – considering that you are doing this as effectively, without stopping for a cup of coffee or watch your favourite soap opera), start the MOPPING. Make sure you know how to ‘flow' around your house while vacuuming and mopping. As usual, start where your kid is not at and end there or make your kid sit down with some toys. When you're done, leave the floor to dry. Personally, I always do another static-cloth ‘dry' mop to catch any left over dust or hair. Then replace everything back to its original place.
5. By now, your washing machine should have beeped. If not, have a breather, have a cup of water and see if there are any papers to be sorted, tables to be cleared, bottles to be washed, shopping list to be prepared or do some crunches, while waiting for the wash to complete. If it is, HANG OUT THE WASH and you're done with house work.
   
   Then of course, the preparation for cooking begins but that's another thing. My style is always squeezing in something here and there while waiting. Things do get done. For instance, like while I'm writing this now and when I wait for it to load up, I'm reading a book that helps me ‘Organize Myself'.
   
   So LEARN TO MULTITASK. Most importantly is MAKE A LIST of ALL the things that needs to be done, you'll like to get done, you'll like to do as a hobby and the list goes on; and arrange the tasks daily. I'm a ‘list' person. Grocery shopping list, Hubby's to-do list, my own to-do list, Things I'd like to do list, Prayer list, Book reading list and it goes on.
   
   However, I'm quite an environmentalist at heart, so save the trees. Try and make your lists in a notepad on your computer or download the sticky note software and paste your lists on your desktop or buy a chalkboard, magnetic white board to write your lists.
   
   Happy Listing and Multitasking.

Mount Sinai in Singapore

Going thru some pictures, I came across these that I forgot to put up. For those of you who know the Bible or maybe are somewhat familiar with it, you know what this place is.








For you people who don’t, Mount Sinai is the mountain that Moses went up and got the Ten Commandments from God. It was quite nice going around Singapore and seeing road signs like these. Another that I saw was Zion Road. Pretty cool.

Anyway, these signs were found in the housing estate, next to my aunt’s condominium. And according to my aunt, an invisible line that separates her area and this housing estate makes the houses on these roads much more expensive than her area. And Dan adds, ‘I think any houses found on Mount Sinai would be expensive.’ ** Biblical joke**

The King and I musical

The Musical, the King and I, is due here soon. I’m still contemplating of going for it. I love musicals, Broadway shows and stage performances. In a way, I was brought up exposed to these things; some by my parents, my relatives and in school. I remember being in the King and I play for the school concert when I was about 8 or 9 years of age. Now the play is here. I’ve missed many others and hubby knows that this is one of them that I would really appreciate watching. As I said, I am still thinking about it, mostly because I don’t see the need to be spending such an amount of money on such interest. I can go by just watching the CD at home; though not the same.

Then there’s My Fair Lady, brought in by courtesy of RHB Bank. So I think I’ll let this one fly. One thing about these performances is that I love the songs. Who can resist, “Shall We Dance’ or “Getting to Know You’ from the King and I. How about shows like Fiddler on the Roof, Cats and Phantom of the Opera or even ….. gosh…I’m so out of touch already. I can see them buzzing about in my mind and yet I can hardly remember them. I guess I have some how shelved them away in my mind… taking to the reality of life than just entertainment. Maybe I should get back to it. Rent or buy the CDs, learn the songs again and sing to my heart’s content.

Gosh, I’d better be going to do my research and list all of them out. And if hubby reads this, yes, I would LOVE to go for the musical if we have the time. You know that piece of newspaper cutting is still stuck on the door. :P

For those of you who are interested, you can book your tickets at http://www.axcess.com.my/

Orlando Bloom

Reading the papers today, there was a write up on Orlando Bloom. For those of you blur case people; who have no idea whatsoever who this person is… It’s Legolas of LOTR. Will Turner of Pirates of the Caribbean and of course a whole list more. And if you still don’t know, forget about reading this.

Uh… before I continue, is writing about another guy considered committing adultery, since I’m married? Heh Heh. However, allow me to continue. As I was reading the papers, I came to the end of it. As usual, they would write about the relationship tie-ups that these stars have. And guess what? He’s single!!! Whoop-de-doo. OK OK.. I’m not trying to point out that I’m lusting over this guy and I AM NOT!!

It happens that Bloom signed himself up at Facebook; something like those Friendster thing; but under a different name and using a friend’s photo. He wants to find true love… by disguising himself. Ooh the lucky gal who catches his heart. I’m thinking, hey I’m signed up with Facebook. I should check it out. NOT!!! ** I can hear the whoosh sound of all the girls out there rushing to a computer to sign up for Facebook now. **

The reason why I’m blogging about this is that sometimes most of us are so caught up in the fame and popularity of our favourite stars that somehow; we tend to forget that they are only human too. Ordinary people with extraordinary paychecks, that is. They’ve got their flaws, the spills, the falls, blah, blah… and trying to make a living in life just like the rest of us. These people are as ordinary as you or I am, hyped up by media to make a buck or two or millions. I think about how we, normal people love to pour our judgments upon them about every single one of them, paparazzi catching up on the latest gossip and yet, they are also God’s children living in a pretty screwed up world. I think most of us really need to change the way we see them and see them through God’s eyes. You might be amazed at what you might see.

And all I’m saying is, hey I’ll make my millions too, want my glossy now?

Worth Mentioning...

On Tuesday, I went to pick hubby up from work. Just as we were leaving the office premises, we were met by the hired Indian gardener at the gate. He looked up, gave us a genuinely sweet smile and saluted as we left. I was impressed by his smile. Even by a quick glance, I must admit, I was fascinated.

Then Daniel started telling me about him. This guy is actually an Accountant and he speaks fantastic English. We started making our assumptions about why he was working as a gardener. So the list started. Anyway to cut the blog shorter, I was impressed about his charisma. He spoke words with his smile. Even Dan agreed that his smile was probably one of the most inviting smiles he had ever seen. I totally agree. Dan also goes to mention that the gardener is ‘always’ in a cheery mood. He greets Daniel by the name every time they meet and I’m sure with a smile.
It’s amazing to meet people like that. I’m sure this guy gets the dirt at his job and yet, he comes here to do another work in a new aura.

He reminds of this story that I know; about this guy, who comes home from work and just before he enters the house, he pretentiously hangs (actions and all) his troubles and problems on a tree outside his house. He walks in to his family with a smile and a glad heart. His worries are put on hold for the day and in the morning, before he leaves, he looks at the tree to pick up his troubles where he left them and realizes that they aren’t there anymore.

Isn’t it great if we could all achieve that? I must say that I’m not perfect in doing that as often as I like but I’ve put a lot more control over any problems that I have. I have my own personal tree to hang them on. However, my tree is carved. It’s beautiful. It’s the CROSS.

Horror Movie Trailer in a U /G rated movie

I'm a person who doesn't watch horror / thriller movies.. ads included. I've had my fair share of it while younger and I think I've had enough.

So I went for a movie just the other day. A 'U' / 'G' rated movie. I wouldn't be expecting any nonsense from the cinema. Guess what? During the ads and previews, in comes a trailer of a Japanese horror show. Sheesh... don't the cinema personnel understand the ratings? I mean there are kids who would be in a movie with a U or G rate. If there are 'above 18' ads listing for U rated movies then I don't think that there should even be any ratings at all.

I suggest that the cinema personnel seriously look into this matter and review their ads listing for every movie and not just simply slip in any ads or trailers for the sake of advertisement and marketing.

** And for the sake of mentioning it, it was GSC or Golden Screen Cinemas. The movie was Pirates of the Caribbean. **

* sigh *.....

*sigh* ... What a two weeks. Honestly I’m down in the dumps. I know I never and shouldn’t write about being on the down side. Hey, I’m a positive, in control of my emotions (pretentiously), always happy kinda person. But things have been getting to me a lot lately. Yeah and you wonder what do I even have to be concern about. I’m a stay-at-home! Gosh! How problematic can that be?

I can only imagine what kinda stupid mental burdens creep up on me when I allow it. Sometimes it’s hard to hold it back. And yet… I keep my head up high. I ain’t gonna let no feelings or emotions overcome me for my stupidity. However, I feel crappy. And who do I turn to; my housework and my blog. Yes, if you’re thinking I have no help… I do speak to the Lord. *sigh* If only I can just bring myself to my knees and to the throne of grace, I’ll be alright. But here I am, blogging about it instead. *sigh*

But it’s ok; I know I will overcome it in a moment. I just need to drag myself out of it and start Praising the LORD!!! He’s waiting….

Parking Space for 'Female Only'

Going through the newspapers, I came across an article in the News Straits Times titled, ‘Parking it safe’. Usually I wouldn’t be interested in reading something like that; however the picture on the page caught my eyes.

We’ve seen common painted parking lots for ‘reserved’, ‘handicapped’ or ‘no parking’. When Ikano and Ikea came up, that was the first time I saw the ‘cars with children only’ painted bays. But this is different. The picture that caught my eyes was the parking bays at Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara. There are parking bays painted, ‘Female Single Driver Only’. I raised both eyebrows. Now that’s something really good. I’ve not been to Cineleisure myself but I would assume that these bays are at the most conspicuously safe place for a single woman to park.

The short review also mentions about asking the security personnel to escort you to your car. Kudos! to shopping malls like 1 Utama and Mid Valley Megamall for these considerations made to protect women from certain weird predators prowling around.

Now I’m wondering. I’m not single but I’m a female driver. I have a kid who follows me around 24 hours, literally. At times I do have my doubts about going grocery shopping or to any shopping mall alone with my 1 and half year old kid; being that when I park my car, I have to bring our the stroller, arrange the bags in it and then take my kid out. It’s the same thing when I leave. Put the kid in the car, put the bags in, fold the stroller and put it back in the car. During moments like these, I wished I had eyes behind my head. Someone could easily come up behind me, shove me in the car or something and drive off. I’m usually not paranoid about things like that but I consider myself a pretty particular person when it comes to safety and the consequences; more so now that I have a kid with me.

So, I’m thinking, if the ‘Female Single Driver Only’ also applies to me when I have my kid with me? Or should there be ‘Single parent with kids’ painted bays at the malls.

Tony Roma's Restaurant

Tony Roma’s Story - “It all started back in 1972 in North Miami when Tony opened his first place. One weekend Tony threw some Baby Back Ribs on the grill and the rest is history. Considered the pioneer of Baby Back Ribs, Tony Roma's can now be found all over the world. With more than 230 restaurants in 27 countries, the sensation that Tony started has become a worldwide success story. We have won countless awards over the years for our ribs and signature sauces. We are committed to providing you the best ribs anywhere. Using new rib styles and sauce flavors, our chefs are working hard to make Tony Roma's your only choice for ribs.”

** The picture is of Tony Roma's Restaurant, Sunway Pyramid **

My Story – It was a banner with the most succulent, juiciest picture of beef ribs I have ever seen; not that I remember many. Hubby and I made a mental note to try out the new place. We love steaks, ribs, and the whole western she-bang menu.

The day came for our new adventure. Tony Roma’s Restaurant. Was our stomachs geared for the good food? You bet!! As we came to the entrance, we were welcomed by this quaint, neat- table arrangement, and comfortably dimly lit place. There is a reception counter with two hosts ready to greet the guests and bring them to their table. We were taken to a nice cushioned alcove 6-seater table. It was ample space for 3 adults and an excited toddler.
The menus were presented to us. The bewilderment started. The indecisiveness kicked in. What should we eat? Now a smart thing to do is always ask for a recommendation; which we did. We took the recommendations and a few side orders.
The food came, we tried and now we’re hooked on it for life. We’ve been there a number of times now; though the price is a little on the high side, it’s worth every penny.

My Review - Some of the food we’ve tried:
Back Ribs – Beef Ribs basted with TR’s Original or your choice of sauce. There are three to pick from. You can also have your ribs boneless. This dish is awesome. I suggest sharing it and have more on the sides.

Onion Loaf - As a starter. Huge onions cut, breaded and deep fried and then served with BBQ dipping sauce. What’s cute about it is that it comes in a shape of a cylinder. You can choose to have half loaf; which is smaller or a full loaf. Don’t worry, this won’t stink your breath. It is absolutely delectable.

Caesar Salad – Generously covered in Caesar Dressing. Great for the vegetarian.

Grilled Mahi Mahi – Realize that this is one tough fish to cook; meat wise. It’s quite chewy but TR manages to char grill it to a delicious meal, served with rice and salad.

Grilled Chicken (Can’t remember the proper name) – Two grilled boneless chicken breasts in some sauce. I must say that the meat was a bit too dry for the liking. Nonetheless, it was still good. [no pic]

The Location – You can check out http://www.tonyromas.com/ to find the nearest location. I’m from Malaysia so I’ll tell you where to find it here. Sunway Pyramid shopping mall and Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara.

So if you’re planning for a romantic dinner, a hang out with friends or a celebration of some sort; I’d say give this place a try. A note to add, if you have kids, they’ll pass you the kids menu which also happens to be an activity paper and some crayons to keep the tyke happy. Enjoy!!!

For the Worshipping Heart

Of all my Fifty and One ideas to slog about, I suddenly felt inclined to write about this . I ain't no expert on this matter. In fact, I'm far from it. We can never be experts when it comes to doing a job for God. When you think you're there and you can't grow anymore, the Lord opens up another level of challenge for us. We might think we are pretty pro at the job at hand..be it pastoring, mentoring, ministering..the list continues.. and yet suddenly, the Lord brings us down on our knees, gives us grace and teaches us something new. And we begin again, our journey of that subject. It's amazing! Now why am I writing about this?..I'll tell you why.

It began just this past week when I started teaching Sarah the word 'Awesome'. Today while at my own work, I came upon a realization of that word. AWE. My simplest and quickest thesaurus check was with MS Word. And the meaning for the word 'awe' is fear & wonder. Similarly, the synonyms were dread, terror, fright and a few more. I began to wonder about the lyrics we sing at church or the way we express ourselves with the Lord. Some lyric lines are such, ' I stand in awe of you', 'How awesome is your presence', & many, many more. Hmm.. fear? dread? fright? Now those are scary words. But in essence, we ARE to feel fear / awe of such an AWEsome God. Personally I prefer to use reverence (sounds milder), admiration and wonder. Now that's more like it. Some of us, in our quiet times, think of nonsense while some of us, marvel at the wonders of creation...nature, space, human..etc..while there are some who think of God. We wonder what all this thing is about. But let's not get there. I might start a whole revolution talk here. Anyway, being in AWE is the essence of our worshipping hearts. When we bring ourselves to the AWEsome presence of an AWEsome God. We are to stand, bow, kneel, prostrate before the AWEsome glory of the Living God.

As I'm studying, learning and reading up on the subject of worship & praise. I am in awe / wonder of the works of the Lord in the works of these people - worship leaders. And at certain times, I'm pulled to the ground of my own inadequacy. I have nothing to offer. I can sing but not to save my life. I can play the piano which will bring Mozart to his death. And yet, I'm comforted to know that all these worship leaders or people called to the ministry are neither perfect nor average. While I'm 'condemning' my own scarcity, the Lord proves my life is of EXTRAordinary in Christ. That's grace. And what do I do? I'm in AWE!! It make you 'wonder' at the love of this amazing, AWEsome God. He never allows us to condemn ourselves or even to think lowly of ourselves. Not even in just one minute. He puts us next to His AWEsome heart and keeps us safe and loved. He deals with us in His own loving way, He keeps us in the shadow of His Mighty Wings and shelters us..like Noah...and gives us life eternal. SELAH!! How AWESOME is that!!