Delineating Des

Small Talk Six: 6 children's books you love to read out loud Please scroll down for Weekend Funnies Back then my folks were oftentimes willing to free me from doing chores if I read. I didn't show them how much I enjoyed the arrangement. *wink* But the way the publishers introduce these books (#1,2,3) it appears my parents must have had their own motive as well for relaxing those domestic rules. Books 3, 4 & 5 contain fave chapters and stories I read to my son, and the last one, passages I read out loud to myself. 1. Children Around the World (A compilation) "written to inculcate true values to children without being preachy, this volume introduces a child to people in other lands." 2. Mga Kawiliwiling Kwento (My Storybook) "twenty character-building stories...." 3. My Bible Friends . Ten volumes, by Etta B. Degering "this is a reinforcement for value-teaching in a way children will love and enjoy." 4. Children's Treasury of Virtues by ...

Small Talk Six: 6 T-shirts I've read and loved Please scroll down for Weekend Funnies Once I got stuck in a shop reading shirts on display. Most were yahoo and google-related. Elsewhere these are some I love: 1. When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before righteous... 2. If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance I wonder how some skeleton would dance on two left feet :D 3. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake my search result says Napoleon Bonaparte uttered this. I think the general meant it to be a tactical secret for his men and these are not from the shop: 4. Don't wake me. I'll wake you. my son's; I used to worry about the pooch farting near the crib 5. My middle name is Trouble the kid wearing this was smiling sweetly next to his Dad; thought my own son should be a proud owner of this shirt too. During unlucky days he is Mr. Trouble Extraordinaire 6. a...

Small Talk Six: Red, white, blue Please scroll down for Weekend Funnies Today's STS topic is 6 things you love that are red, white or blue. These are some of my faves: 1 heliconia-bali.com 2 dreamstime.com 3 peopia.com 4 shibawi 5 Back Talk 6 babble.com Visit MomDot for more STS ************************* Weekend Funnies: Iron Man Please scroll up for Small Talk Six Ever wondered what Iron Man does for his living? v v v scroll down v v v (courtesy of OM2) Visit Shakira and Gattina for more funnies. Happy weekend, everyone!

Small Talk Six: “6 ways you indulge or spoil your children.” Join in here . Please scroll down for Weekend Funnies Here's a little case background: Growing up I was as disciplined by my mother as I was spoiled by my father. When I became a mom I chose to employ my mother's parenting style until divorce entered the scene. Full child custody has a price. With caregiving and developmental issues I ended up shuttling my son between 2 countries 5 times in less than 6 years. Through guilt and panic I struggle to make up for my sins >>> 1. There's this rule I set for myself to follow a certain budget each month for all his expenses and NOT to buy anything beyond the budget. But when he suddenly wants a new bike, I break my own rule. 2. It's usually during overseas trips that I indulge him the most. On a cruise in Hong Kong recently, I let him goof with my mini-tiara and play with my diamond ring eventhough I am aware of his penchant for throwing things when bore...

In this post: Thanks, Small Talk Six and Weekend Funnies To my dear, bloggy friends who dropped by when I was away: Thank you! After weeks and weeks of inactivity on this blog, well, I'm back and it's great to be back. I would like to thank Thom of Thom's Place 4 Well Whatever Ebie of Deranged Insanity Anya of Kareltje en ikki !! Nuts of Embrace life Chris of The Mommy Journey, Shakira of You Are Never Alone, Indrani of i Share Genejosh of Her and History for your kind thoughts and wishes. Seeing your presence on my More post kept my sense of connection to the blogging community alive, and I really appreciate that. I'll be dropping by at your places for some a'neighboring. **************************** Small Talk Six: What my Dad and I have in common Despite being acknowledged by family as a Papa's girl, I don't think there was that much interaction between us while I was growing up. Communication was routin-ish, but we did hav...

Small Talk Six: Exotic or Stange Foods Please scroll down for Weekend Funnies Today's Small Talk Six topic is “6 of the most exotic or the strangest things you’ve ever eaten.” Here are mine: 1. Dayok - a mixture of fermented fish intestines; eaten in tiny portions as appetizer or as dipping sauce for boiled banana 2. Bird's nest soup - expensive, I have it once in a blue moon 3. Pidan or alkalized egg - so-so. I'm not a fan 4. Shark fin soup - love it; and I vaguely remember being told that my ex-MIL had it included in my wedding reception 5. Ho Mok Gai Sai - chicken and bamboo shoot wrapped in banana leaves 6. __ ?__ - I could not for the life of me remember the name of this thing but I'll ask around as soon as I can. I took pictures so please have a look: a. some ingredients I recognize are coconut strips, peanuts, shallot, chilli, baby shrimp, ginger, and kaffir lime b. don't know what leaf is this; you shape it like a cup and mix the ingredients in. c. ...

Then Sings My Soul Satudays: The Love of God Please scroll down for Small Talk Six If I went home and looked for that old songbook I could still probably find it. My mother owns it, (a gift shipped in from the US) but unlike the rest of her music-related collection, a footnote in it got my attention. It's been many years since I read it but it amazes me every time I hear or play The Love of God. It was about the origin of the last paragraph - someone wrote it on the wall of an asylum: Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky. This is a piano version of the song. Here's wishing everyone love, in a way that's best for you. Amy Wyatt hosts There are more wonderful music at Signs, Miracles and Wonders *********************** Small Talk Six: Six Love So...

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: Lord You Are Good - Worship Dance Please scroll down for Small Talk Six Pink is up today for the ladies at Mom Dot. The concept got me thinking of "in the pink of health." After an illness last year, Thailand's monarch came out of the hospital in a pink suit. The royal tailor commented that pink is the color he chose His Majesty would wear to convey the assurance to the Thai people that their beloved king is back to good health; that he is in the pink of health. A more wonderful concept is that health is granted equally to everyone, royals or commoners alike, by the King of all kings. 'Your body is the temple of God' is usually followed by advice such as take care of it, honor it by keeping it healthy and clean not just physically but also spiritually. I questioned myself: what have I been doing to my health lately? Go to bed after midnight? Work my body to death? It's high time something better is done to this health, like e...

Then Sings My Soul Saturday: Great is Thy Faithfulness Please scroll down for Small Talk Six A quick google search leads me to a brief background of one of christianity's greatest hymns penned by Thomas Chisolm: Great is Thy Faithfulness lyrics are based on a text by Jeremiah, "... My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. '" (Lamentations 3:19-24). Isn't Jeremiah the weepy guy? I vaguely remember that. Well, I'm not the crying type but I know my issues and this hymn just makes me feel like everything's going to be all right. I love the optimism on " bright hope for tomorrow ." Amy hosts Head over to Signs, Miracles and Wonders for more music ******************************** Small Talk Six: 6 Ways Your Children Tested You This Week Please scroll up for Then S...

A Duet When I was about 8 years old, I sang Something's Happened to Daddy in church. My father was not a church-goer so the guy I sang with was my mother's friend's husband. Papa keeps coming to my mind these days. January is the month he was felled by a massive coronary. Next week on the 14th is the anniversary of his death. The only times he ever set foot in church were during weddings and funerals of family and friends. I remember him being present in church eagerly when I was a flower girl at an aunt's wedding. Finally he entered church one more time. At his own funeral. I made sure church was the very place he went to before the cemetery. I only wished he was the one I sang with. Amy hosts head over to Signs, Miracles and Wonders for more music or to join ************************************ Guns n' Roses and the Hunchback of Abella My childhood was what can most likely be called normal. There was a balance of happy and sad memories. Today's...

With just a handful of natural exceptions, i.e. an exotic wedding, a nasty divorce and a son to live for, my twelve-year stay in Thailand has been routinely work - home - work - home - repeat . I have had enough. That said I am making some changes. From a bachelor's degree in Education to a master's in Communication, I mull over a doctorate in Anthropology. Midlife crisis or a tap on the concept of self-reinvention: either way I'm still too keen on the holidays to determine it yet. Seriously I only want something that is NOT boring. A few years of it then I'm ready to get back to the grind. So... things I am looking forward to in 2010 -- I. Positive application result from a university of my choice II. Securing a plausible research methodology III. Systematic data-gathering, hopefully a painless process of analyzing finds IV. Fulfilling my Disneyland promise to my five-year old, and V. Getting him home to my mother for better care VI. Executing plans I, II, III, I...

This week's STS topic: 6 things you love or hate about spending time with your or your significant others relatives had me thinking of none others but my former in-laws. I still have the memories and I thought it would be healthy to breathe those feelings (in written form) out at last. But then since it's that time of year I'll go easy on the negative; balance them with what I love and don't like about spending time with them and my own significant others: I. We don't speak the same language :( When they're over at our place I feel like an outsider in my own home. Once the then hubster told me my piano playing was interrupting their conversation. Let's just say I must have been playing that badly, or I wasn't playing at all but making noise in my own living room. II. In fairness , ex-hubster's siblings and cousins are generally nice. They try to interact with me. I appreciate their effort. I enjoyed the education I got from observing their way of ...

Today's Small Talk Six topic is 6 reasons why you would be doomed if you were stranded on a deserted island all by yourself . There are things that will probably help me survive like going vegetarian, and those survival tips I learned from school camping. But if being deserted is long-term, even if it's a LOST type of island, I would die from: 1. Worry . Who would take care of my boys? Look at the state of them on my sidebar. 2. Fright . They say deserted islands are usually haunted. 3. Vanity . I would miss make-up, shoes, silk blouses, the swivel chair at work, jewelry, hats, purses. Girls will be girls :) 4. Boredom . If there's no internet when I wake up, I freak out. 5. Loneliness . Privacy is a good thing. The total absence of company and worse, longing for it when you know there isn't, is another thing. 6. Maladjustment . It's not just my habitat. I could try Tom Hanks's strategy, but ... I'll start thinking about it if, knock on wood, I ever get ship...

Hubster and I split up four years ago, so the woman I am talking about is history to me, although I don't want her to be so in my son's life; at least not totally until after she's gone. Mrs D is proud and fiercely supportive of her children. A rather premature widowhood must have brought out the best in her. She successfully raised six children single-handedly. So on to this week's Small Talk Six topic: six things (good or bad) that you credit your mother-in-law for: 1. Calling the shots at my wedding . My then fiance and I were not so keen on a ceremony and reception, but she was. I don't speak Thai and he's useless at organizing such events. We couldn't pull off that kind of wedding the way she did. Being married in a completely different culture from your own is quite an interesting experience. Those chanting monks, strange but lovely paraphernalia and hours of rituals were important reasons why when we divorced, I made sure I got all the wedding album...

Today I join Small Talk Six!, a Saturday meme on Mom Blogs at Momdot. KARENC , the host says, "since weekends are generally a little slower around the blogosphere, we thought this would be a great way to have a quick, fun, interactive meme.... You can respond to each topic with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, or 6 photos." STS topics really are very interesting. I relate with most. I've been wanting to join so join now I do. This Saturday's topic is 6 of your favorite sweet treats in the whole world . Blimey, I got lots but I'll stick to the rule of course, and here are my fave sweets: 1. leche flan (custard) * I love the brownish version 2. moist fruit cake * If it comes from Shangri-La, it's heaven 3. durian almond icecream * The smell of durian is controversial, but when it becomes icecream, especially when it's made by Bonito (Italian), it's addicting. (just a personal opinion) 4. macaroon *I like it a bit dark on top :)...