2010 handbook

Good one to share. I just realized I don't have any new year resolution yet.
I don't want to goal for something fancy or anything... and I got this email from a friend.... and I think it is very do able and great !!

Health:
1.Drink plenty of water
2.Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinne like a beggar
3.Live with the 3 E's: Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
4.Make time to pray
5. Play more games
6. Rea more books than you did in 2009
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
8.Sleep for 7 hours
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily , and while you walk , smile!!

Personality
10. Don't over do, keep your limit
11. Don;t take yourself so seriously, no one else does
12. Dream more when you are awake
13. Envy is a waste of time, you already have all you need
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his or her mistakes of the past that will ruin your happiness
15. Life is too short to waste time on hating anyone. Don't hate others
16. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil your present
17.No one is in charge of your happine expect you
18. Smile and laugh more
19. you don't have to win ever argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
20. Call your family often
21.Each day give something good to others
22.Forgive everyone for everything
23.Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under age of 6
24.Try to make at least 3 people smile each day
25. What other people think of you is none of your business

Life:
26. Do the right thing!
27.God heals everything
28. However good or bad situation is, it will change
29. No matter how you feel , get up, dress up and show up
30.The best is yet to come
31 When awake in the morning, thank God for it
32 Your inner most is always happy , so be happy

Devastated.......................

I am devastated.... so sad ..... and I can't believe that this is happening.

All I will share in this post is that something happened over the week end to one of my close friend 's daughter . She is almost like Indy's age, heatlhy and sweet. In a blink of one night all became the total opposite.
Now she is in the ICU, and hooked to  machines. No medical history No illness.

Is this fair? Is this right? We just spent one happy morning and went to Disney On Ice together less than 2 weeks ago.. and now.....

I can only pray.... I can only pray and keep believing in Him. He gots his plans.... but  we hope for miracles.

I am now maidless but Thank God that my aunty is here. I will support and help my friend no matter what.
I am here for them no matter what, my friends can always count on me in happy times and in bad times.


Please keep the girl in you prayer. Thanks!!!

Sandra .... the one who homeschooled her girl?

Yes.... so I am back to the " expat" socialisation here. We got to known by names , husband' names or nationality,  by our living area or face features ( X the one with glasses, L the one that lives in PPP compound, K that married to the Japanese and so on)... but I think... now I will be known by Sandra the one that homeshooled her girl. ^_^

I see it as a positive sign. I knew that sometimes I am known by : S the Indonesian lady, S that married to the chef or to the Italian, or S that lives in bla bla bla..... and I just add one more title to  my self. And I think I like it ! ;)

So far, the reactions I got is turning to be positive. Some will asked me what is the schedule  or where do I get the curriculum from, and some said that is great because we can have vacation any time we want, no need to be fixed by the school holidays.

Some will be concern about the socialisation. But I said, in general case, HS kids won't have social problem, as they are easily adapted  to any situation and pretty easy to mix with children from different background and school. And also most of the HS kids will be more mature in the socialization because they spent more time with adults .

Indy is still at the very early stage, but so far, I've got a lot of compliments from people about her. Mostly are for her manners and independence, but also for her friendlines towards other kids. Her Mandarin tutor mentioned that she is very friendly and fun to be with and is a fast learner too. And she can concentrate during lesson compared to other kids ( that need to be reprimand every now and then to sit on the table to finish the workbook)

Even Maya got some compliments too because she behave good during Church service and during lunch :P

Adios for now

Copy cat vs Inspired

What I'v been thinking recently is there any line that seperate inspired and copy cat?
What 's seperate them? Or is " inspired " is the new word for "copy cat?"  And where does our intregity, our individual uniqueness go to?

If someone said that they are inspired by someone or something and do exactly the same like the person he or she is inspired with? If  I said I am inspired by a mom who homeshooled 5 children, does it mean I need to have 5 kids of my own?

Inspire is to affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence..

Influence..... yes we will receive many of influence in our life. But that doesn't mean to copy 100 % ( erhm or 75%) of what other have done. If  one person sells bread in front of the school main gate and I am inspired by tha and also sell bread in front of  the side gate, would you consider that as inspired?

But when you are being copied , somehow you know that you have made IT! Meaning that you've done something impressing and make others people want to do the same too.

See all the FAKE designer bags? That means the designer has MADE it... it is  a form of "compliment"
"oooh I've been copied means my designs are cool."
Fake bags  or the "Replica" is  suppose to mean to look like the real one, but it doenst have the same quality like the Real Deal.
Have you spot the so called " desinger inspired bags" ? These kind of bag will not copy the real deal 100%. If you look at it carefully it might spelled "PLADA" instead of PRADA. Or GUSSI instead of GUCCI. Or maybe there stars on the logo got one less point?

Fake or not fake or real or not real , you decide!beside it is just a bag....!!!
But do you want to be a fake person too? Now that is  the real question....

oh I must go now.... with my LV bag,,,,, real or fake? You can be the judge... :)
but me as person? I am the real deal :)

Have a great week a head!!

The Homeschooling life

I just started for 2 weeks. So I am the bean sprout ( Tao Ge so  and not Tao Ke so) , so tiny, weak, blur, not sure where to go, what to do..... and yet I enjoy it ( at least until now  haha) . I think with HS my life and Indy's life will be more " interesting" and unusual. And I still want to have my social life going on. So I will need to work on that.
I m not the most social person here, but I would love to meet a friend or two at least once a week over coffee or lunch, or do my nails ( oh I think I saw one nail saloon in my neighborhood so yipee to that)

Yesterday was the first HS meeting for my area of the town . There are 3 HS supporting group here. 2 on the other side of the city ( one is for younger kids and one is for older one) and there is one on my side of the city.  They are mostly Americans with one or 2 British families and one from New Zealand and Canada too.

They've been very welcoming and supporting . And I am sure I will have tons of questions to them.  Some are " veteran" in HS. They homeschooled since forever. And one mom homeschooled 5 kids ! YUP 5!!...

So that is inspiring to me . Very inspiring indeed! I was like a lazy potatoes comparing to them. They are the true super moms. I need to send Maya to pre school, so I can concentrate to HS Indy peacefully. But the good thing is that , well, I think they don't judge me for that. There are other moms too with same situation with me, and need to send the youngest one to pre school. I've been very honest to them and told them that two kids at home is too much for me at the moment, with the changes of everything and HS thing. I just couldn't handle that much at the moment, so the best solution is to send  Maya to preschool. And they said if that best for me than I should do that.No preaching.

The group meeting is once a month.2 hours. The first our is the parents section while the children will enjoy an hour of sport with a coach. Then the next hour  is for the kids' activities. Mainly they will have some theme . Like this time was "show and tell" where the children show an item or two, can be anything. Some show a new digital camera, their lego, buggy board, t-shirt, Indy show her telescope. The next meeting will be for Chinese New Year theme I guess.

The group main purpose is to give encouragement and support to HS parents . And also to share about where to buy things like books, art supplies, and also do co op for buying bulk for books,  and find contact and information about where to find certain activities ( piano lesson, mandarin class, art n craft etc). They will arrange field trips in Spring , parties, and other activities. I think it is great, to not to feel left out of social life just because they are homeschooled.

Oh and don't think that the HS moms have no life, They are still active in bible study, going to gym , doing grocerries and looking great. I wonder how will I do that ? hmm.......

And for Indy's age group, soon there will organize a weekly meeting based, to do some science project as group, or just outdoor activities, or even art and craft sessions. And all are based on parents contributions and ideas. We still need to talk and plan for this one. And Im thinking if I can find on how to make  stimulation of Volcano's erruption from used paper over the internet, that would be fun !! :)

Right now , we are a bit too late to join any class . But in March Indy would love to join some sport's group ( she got Trampoline and Multisports or Gymastic in her mind) , I offered her to join ballet class but she refused. I also asked her if she 'd like to join  Fine Art class or Design and Technology class, to my surprise she choose the design and tech over fine art! This will also start in March ( due to the CNY holiday and we were late to register so better to wait) . The class sound very interesting , they will make 2 projects on each term ( 8 weeks) and they will make Plane( that can fly I think) and Castle ( with tiny details like lights,crane, well etc) so actually it is Science based but in a fun way ! Sounds pretty fun to me!

Right now im still finding our way to do HS that will work best for me and Indy. Balancing time for fun ( and blogging and facebooking too) .

wis me lak

Friendship

Happiness keep you sweet

Trials keep you strong

Sorrows keep you human

Failures keep you humble

Success keeps you glowing

But Only Friends will keep you GOING!!

I think this is  great reminder for us. No matter how great , how beautiful  , how great, how strong,  how popular, how successful and how rich we are... It means nothing without friendship. Share our life, our sorrow, our failures, our views, our success , our heart with friends.

Teach your children to be a good friend, let them explore , they might meet somebody that is not right or somebody that is not perfect sometimes. But from their experience to make friends ( either the failure or the success ) they will be a better friend in life. Let them see beyond the boundaries, don't let race, religion, social status be barriers.

We all been here, happy, sad, sorrow, failures,success.... but  when all of these happen to you, it will be more meaningful if you share it with friends. Share your success and happiness with friends will even make it sweeter, share your sorrows and failures with friends will make it lighter.

But friendship needs to be" nourished" , if you just let it alone, it might fade someday. Keep in touch personally is not that hard . Say hi with a chat over the internet, sms or email. It is just a click away ! :)

Have you contact or call one of your friend today? you might brighten up somebody's else day and it will make your day too!!

Cheers!

Just to share....

Enough with our updates for the moment . My blog will be more than our updates. :0) later you all will be bored with our updates :)

Well I also want to share about what I see in life and beyond who knows it might be useful for others.Right now I am in the middle of changes. I will not say it is a big change. But a medium one.When I first came to Shanghai back in 2001, it was much harder. I didn't speak or read or write and I didn't know a single soul.

This time, at least , I can speak, and read a bit. And it helps A LOT! I also know more or less about the city.And I still have friends here, and thanks to facebook and online chat we are still in a good contact with each other.

Some times we always try to fit in to the society. Try to be liked by most of the people. We create our " image" for others to see. Our ego is taking control.

I never try to fit in to any society. Since I was young I know what I want, and I never be the followers. I mean if I like it I willl follow, But I will not choose or doing something I was not sure about just to FIT IN.
In College years, almost all of my friends are smokers. I could be one too. But I know clearly what I want, and I did not try to be accepted in their group by being a smoker. Untill this day I never smoke and happy with it but I got no problem with those who does.

Since I was young , I know my limitation and expectation quite clearly. I know I can't work sit in the offfice from 9 to 5 or do "paper"job. I like job that allows me to meet people, interact with people and allows me to travel. That is why I choose to study in Hotel and Restaurant Management. I knew excatly what kind of man I would marry one day. I can't have a 'static" life, where my husband will just sit in front of TV during his off or holiday or just take me to malls and malls. I just couldn't. I know I want someone exciting, some one adventurous, spontanious,some one that can challange me, some one that can say no to me instead of yes all the time.And I also know, when I want to do something, I will do it if I have the passion for it.

Right now , most of people we know here are stunned with our decisions to home schooled Indy. And I got plenty of "blank faces" responds :). It is  less travelled road we've choosen, so the reactions are "normal". Just like when I started to Cloth Diapered Maya or breastfeed my girls until they were over 2 years old .But then again, I am not always a crowd follower, so I am used to this reaction.

Most of the time, I try to concentrate of what I am doing . Like when I run my online store, I know enough about other online stores, but I m not " obssesed" to the details or what they are up to,  or what is the latest " blog wars" etc.  I do what I need to do .And let others to comment what they like, it is their rights to do so.

" A thoroughbred horse never looks at the other horses. It just concentrates on running the fastest race it can"

I never think if I have more or less than others in life. I am content whith what I have.
And I never allow my self to have a big ego , because big ego never bring you any where but downhill. Never think you are a big fish in a small pond, because when you think like that, you will drown and lost once you move to the ocean and see the real big fish there. We will never learn anything positive if we keep thinking that we are better than other people.

Changes is not always easy but if we are sure about ourselves and know what we want in life , I am sure we can handle it gracefuly.Trying to fit in is not always needed. Love yourself, be your self and don't care too much with what other think.

Image is what people think we are  but Integriy is what we really are 

I choose Integrity over Image, how about you?

To learn is to change

We are finally in the new house, but our container is still in KK. The house is great, has plenty of storage and since this is a duplex unit, it has 2 floors, we are on the top floor of the building , the 11th floor, and the compound has about 25-30 towers.

It is not in the donwtown , can be considered as the suburb, some said to live in this are like not living in China at all, because we are in the new area. The house still feel " foreign " to me, as  I always need my old stuffs to make me feel at home. Right  now we are using new bedsheet, new plates, new glasses, new this and that. I will need my old bedsheet, old pillowcases, old plates, my old coffee cups ( that hosted many tea time in our home at KK and some of you drank many times from that cups!! :P )

Anyway... we are on "trial" day today, I started the first day of homeschooled Indy. I can't say It runs perfectly today. With new routine, new maid, new house, new place, plus Maya is home..
Everything is different.

But to learn is to change.. and I m willing to change my routine, and change my schedule. Maybe this is the opportunity for me to re discover something about my self that I didn't know before.I am not sure what I will achieve or when. But it is not only the mountain we will need to conquer but ourselves.

Part of that, I also found the school for Maya today. But will only start after Chinese New Year, it will be in Mandarin and no  English. :) I am not sure how she will cope, but I have faith in that wild spirited girl . :)

We have met some old friends, get in touch  by phone. And maybe we will meet one of the Shanghai homeschooler family this week . The girls had their first playdate here, and saw snow for the first time too.

Some how they still miss KK so very much , specially Maya, she still cry when she remember her Kakak Helen in KK. Poor girl and poor woman. They both cried so loud on the phone the other night. Their bonding is very tight and special, and I feel blessed to be able to witness such a great love from 2 strangers at the begining . It is great to know such a great love does exist!!And I will be forever grateful to my maid in KK for her amount of loves she give to my kids. And I will keep in touch with her no matter what.

In this foreign land some how people are more welcoming , at least in the beginning compare to the first time when we just arrived in KK.  No one cares, the company didn't even care or welcoming us. The only  family that made me feel welcome is Indy's best friend family from Burma. They helped and guide me from choosing school and hospital, where to buy some stuffs and all.But of course once I got to know more friends ( like you) I feel like at home and got some great tips about the city or where to shop!! :)

My husband  colleagues are nice enough to hosted a small but nice Christmas party to welcome us to Shanghai.
The thought it self is very heart warming.

That's it for today... I will try to upload photos for next update. Right now I am using my netbook and it is so slow....

Take care and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

LOVE from all of  us!!