Animals and lack of music practice

I grew up with many dogs thanks to my dad who also loves dogs and other animals. I was surrounded by dogs, fish, tortoises, turtles, birds, chick(en)s, geese,
duck(ling)s, a kid (the goat version!), a monkey...and a big fat python, at various times of my childhood. My father lived and worked in rubber/oil palm plantations and the houses we lived in in various parts of southern Peninsular Malaysia came with vast open gardens which allowed us hobbies of keeping pets, planting flowering and fruiting trees and plants (another of dad's interest).

So it could probably be 'in the genes' that Caitlin also loves animals, especially dogs, and flowers. She has been pestering for a dog for a long time and we've told her to be patient as condominium living in this country prohibits animals, especially dogs. She keeps asking when we are moving to our house so that we could get a dog. She's also asked if we could plant roses in the garden, so that it could attract caterpillars which can turn into butterflies....

She can talk till the cows come home (Ha! Pretty appropriate phrase to use!) and ask loads of questions about dogs or other animals which she has thought of, read about or seen on television.

I showed her some old photos of our dogs once and she had questions of their breed, names, age, what they were doing in the photo, etc.

A few of our dogs

with my younger bro



and the little kid

She says when she grows up she wants to be a veterinarian. And most times, when she plays with her toy animals, they end up being sick, needing plasters and bandages, and hospitalisation. Sometimes we have to be her (the vet) nurse to assist in medical examination or surgery while other times it's vice versa. She even created a contraption once on her own to give the patient an intravenous drip and the resemblance to the real thing was near perfect.

Sigh, I sometimes wish this kid of mine could have such deep focus on other interests of hers, for e.g., playing the piano and drums. She loves them (she had asked for them herself in the first place) and dreams of being a great performer and in her own words, a 'diva', when she grows up (besides being a vet). But...'practice' is not in her vocab.

Oh well, I guess I shouldn't expect or pressure her too much. She is still very young after all and still enjoys playing with her toys and reading her storybooks.

Now, I wonder what her teacher will say this evening when she is not able to play the piece she was to have practised the past week....

SocialSpark

My blogging journey the past year has been one of much fun, frustration, impatience, trial and error and interesting discoveries. I have been toying around with various sites and visiting other blogs to see how some people actually make a substantial amount of earnings online through blogging, internet marketing and the like.

I have joined several online communities related to blogging as well as a few blog advertising sites which offer opportunities for sponsored posts. Recently, I joined SocialSpark and I have found this site one of the most interactive, providing not just paid post opportunities but avenues to make friends with people all over the world. This allows me to view more sites and open my eyes to their creativity, as well as support each other by reviewing each other’s blogs, giving ‘thumbs up’ support, dropping comments and sending each other messages.

SocialSpark has opportunities for bloggers to take up sponsored posts (get paid to write about something), blog sponsorships (get paid to allow your blog to advertise for something) and Sparks (blog about other blogs and get blogged about in return). Apart from this, you can also be an advertiser yourself by offering sponsored post, blog sponsorship and Spark opportunities to the SocialSpark community.

SocialSpark abides by this code of ethics:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
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Registration is free and you have complete freedom to create your own blogger and advertiser profiles to allow others to learn more about you and your blog(s) and opportunities you offer. SocialSpark can help you increase traffic, build community and monetize your blog.

A thrilling weekend for Caitlin

Caitlin had been wondering what Genting Highlands is like for some time already. I don't remember how she came to know about this place but I remember telling her it is up in the mountains and cold. She asked once if it has snow. Coincidentally, I had some points from my credit card to redeem and had enough for a one-night stay in a hotel there.

I received the voucher last month and two weeks ago, I found some time to get online to make a reservation. For one week, after I mentioned that we were going, Caitlin had been eagerly anticipating her trip to Genting. So off we drove up the slightly windy-but-good road up to the highlands. I haven't been there for more than 10 years. And the last time Eugene was up there, it was for work in 2002. He had to rush down sometime after midnight after receiving a call that I was at the hospital going into labour!

As we were ascending higher, the cool mist was visible and getting thicker. Caitlin was thrilled at the sight of the tropical rainforest mountains covered in mist. "Wow, my breath is taken away. It's so exciting" were her exact words. I was surprised she knows the phrase "breath taken away"!

As we arrived too early for check-in, we headed straight to the indoor theme park to get our all-day, all-park tickets. Genting Highlands has two indoor theme parks and one outdoor park. Caitlin had a full-day of fun going on all the rides she qualified for i.e. the ones that she was not too short or too tall for. It rained a bit later in the afternoon after we managed to get on a few outdoor thrill rides, the most exhilarating for Caitlin being the Fire Dragon mini rollercoaster. We took the opportunity to head back to the hotel to check in and Caitlin recharged with a nap.


Caitlin feeding the carps at the outdoor park.




She woke just in time for us to get a few more rides indoors and visit the Snow House before getting dinner. Yes, she finally got a chance to experience snow (although it was in a simulated environment!) and was highly excited. I was freezing despite the winter wear they provided.

Genting Highlands has changed quite a bit since I last visited. There are a lot more rides, a few more hotels, complete with a big mall with lots of retail shops and eateries. Food wise, there are plenty of choices. Price wise however, they are exorbitant and nothing to shout about taste wise.











Eugene with a reluctant Caitlin (Let's not waste time with the camera... I want more rides....)

We also went on the cable car for a view of the tops of the rainforest canopy after checking out of the room. Caitlin was reluctant to leave as she wanted to ride the Pirate Train again. To make up for it, we allowed her to play a few arcade games before grabbing lunch and getting into the car to head home.

A blogging father

Many mothers have taken to blogging for various reasons. Some blog to earn a living from home, to keep friends and family updated about their family and life, or they just simply love to write and establish an online presence. What about fathers?

In my one year's exposure to the blogging world, I have come across fewer men compared to women who blog in much detail about their kids and family. I think it's generally a 'male' thing. Men prefer to talk about work, men's stuff like cars, DIY projects, golf, football or politics. So when I do come across a site by a guy who writes about stuff like what infant formula his newborn prefers, and shows beautiful pictures of his kids and what they are doing, I stop in my tracks for a moment.

Eaglehawk is one such guy. In his 'about' section, he says by day, he fights spammers and by night he is Eaglehawk! He is 27, married with two beautiful girls. He currently lives in Cypress, Texas and has a site that shares interesting trivia, stories about his life as a daddy, his family and kids.

Most of his posts are easy to read, just short enough for a quick read while providing you with some info to get you interested to find out more. Take for example one of his posts titled 'I Do Not Feel This Old', which lets you find out what generation you belong in. He provides the link to a short five-question survey.

I think it's great for men to share their take about parenting, stories about their little kids and daily things in their lives as fathers. Looking at things from the male's perspective could be quite refreshing at times.

STRESS!

Ever since becoming a SAHM, I find that my stress levels have been bordering on the high side more consistently and frequently compared to my days in the corporate world. As an employee, I've had my share of stress but they came in bursts and lasted maybe a week or two. As a wife and mother, stressful moments are almost a daily affair.

This article, 'An Overview of How Stress Kills and How to Develop Your StresSkills' by Cindie Leonard is quite informative. The author has a Master's degree in Psychology and specializes in research.

She gives an overview of stress and outlines the mind-body connection.

The Mind/Body Connection

One of the key principles in psychoneuroimmunology (mind/body medicine) is the interrelatedness of the mind and the body. It used to be believed that the mind and body were separate entities, but current research is proving otherwise. I need to keep emphasizing this fact, because when you allow stress to affect your life, you are allowing it to influence every organ, every cell of your body. That is a high price to pay.

"The mind steadfastly refuses to behave locally, as contemporary scientific evidence is beginning to show. We now know, for example, that brain-like tissue is found throughout the body... So, even from the conservative perspective of modern neurochemistry, it is difficult if not impossible to follow a strictly local view of the brain." - Larry Dossey, M.D.

The following experiment is phenomenal. In 1993, under the direction of the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), scientists conducted an experiment that demonstrated that our cells, even outside of our body, will still respond to our emotions. "White blood cells (leukocytes) scraped from the mouth of a volunteer were centrifuged and placed in a test tube. A probe from a recording polygraph –- a lie (or emotion) detector -– was then inserted into the tube. The donor of the cheek cells was seated in a room separate from his donated cells and shown a television program with many violent scenes. Then the volunteer watched scenes of fighting and killing. The probe from the polygraph detected extreme excitation in the mouth cells even though they were in a room down the hall. Subsequent repeats of this test experiment with donor and cells separated up to fifty miles and up to two days after donation of the cells showed the same results. The donated cells remained energetically and non-locally connected with their donor and seemed to 'remember' where they came from."

Paul Pearsall, Ph.D, author of The Heart's Code: The Findings About Cellular Memories and Their Role in the Mind/Body/Spirit Connection.

Dr. Pearsall's brilliant book explores and illuminates the fascinating and clinically documented stories of transplant patients. For example, one eight-year-old girl received the heart of a ten-year-old girl who was murdered. The girl who received the heart had dreams about the murderer, so vivid that she was able to describe the murderer to police. The time, weapon, clothes he wore, and place were so accurate, the man was convicted upon her testimony.

I site these studies because they demonstrate that our emotions are not just in our mind, they are in every cell of our bodies. Therefore, we must monitor the stress in our lives and honor our innate abilities to heal ourselves. If the heart thinks, the cells remember. The power of your thoughts on your health is profound.


It also says that research has shown that prolonged stress can produce actual tissue changes and organ dysfunction. With the new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) techniques, scientists are able to prove visibly that chronic stress can shrink an area in the brain called the hypothalamus. Researchers have found that the brains of war veterans, as well as women who have been victims of childhood sexual abuse, have a marked reduction in the size of their hypothalamus.

Stress also affects your brain by releasing powerful chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (also called adrenaline). The hypothalamic/pituitary-adrenal portion of your brain releases steroid hormones, including the primary stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol affects systems throughout your body, including an increased heart rate.
Your heart, lungs, and circulatory system are influenced by the increased heart rate. Blood flow may increase 300 to 400 percent. Blood pressure increases and breathing becomes rapid. Your mouth and throat may become dry. Skin may become cool and clammy because blood flow is diverted away so it can support the heart and muscle tissues. Even digestive activity shuts down.

Once again, occasional stress is normal. Once you've handled the situation, the stress goes away and you heal from the episode. But, if stressors accumulate over time, eventually the body becomes inefficient at handling even the least amount of stress. The brain, heart, lungs, vessels, and muscles become so chronically over or under activated that they become damaged. It is this sort of stress which may trigger or worsen heart disease, strokes, susceptibility to infection, sleep disturbances, sexual and reproductive dysfunction, memory and learning dysfunction, digestive problems, weight problems, diabetes, pain, and skin disorders.

"Extensive multidisciplinary studies have presented unequivocal evidence that our psychological responses to stress and our perceptions of stress to a considerable extent affect our susceptibility to disease. In active relationship, the immune, neuroendocrine, and nervous systems respond to the brain and psyche. Virtually all illnesses, from the flu to cancer, are influenced for good or bad by our thoughts and feelings." - R. Lloyd, 1990 Healing Brain: A Scientific Reader

Depression, fear, anger, hostility, and other negative emotions depress the immune system. The immune system is our first line of defense against infections, germs, and bacteria. The neurotransmitters that help to protect our immune system are inhibited by stress.

"Severe emotions impair the immune system, while release from panic or despair frequently increase interleukins, vital substances in the immune system that help activate cancer-killing immune cells." - Norman Cousins, 1990

I like the way the writer ended her article:
Last, but definitely not least, health is much more than the absence of illness. Live in an unselfish way that promotes a feeling of belonging, loving kindness, and forgiveness. Living like this promotes a state of spiritual bliss that truly helps to prevent illness. Wellness is trusting in the ability and desire of your bodymind to heal and improve itself given half a chance. Take responsibility for your own health -- and illness. Delete phrases like, "My doctor won't let me..." or, "My doctor says I have (name of condition), and there is really nothing I can do" from your speech and thought patterns. Avoid unscientific beliefs about your need for medications and operations."