I was listening to the Happiness Project (I got the audiobook) Inspired to start my own mini happiness project, I started my two week break coming up with a super long list of things I want to do over the holidays. I didn't plan any trips because well, no one else was on holiday together with me.
There were days where I gave in to my guilty pleasures - waking up without alarm, lazing in bed, browsing the internet, reading and going back to sleep. I stayed in my cave all day. I had plenty of Me Time. But I like to be productive. That's why I like to keep track of what I have accomplished.
1. Nurturing my Creative Side
I'd just finished listening to "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink (also an audiobook) One of the right brain sense is creative design. My sister was learning watercolour and she taught me some basics and I watched some tutorials on youtube. I got the gist of it and just tried - after all there's no right or wrong. Creating something beautiful is so addictive. I just kept painting, losing track of time.
2. Reading
I finished two books which have been by my bed for a long time - Chicken Soup for the Soul Love Stories and Say You're One of Them. I've been a fan of chicken soups since a young girl and I always find the stories heartwarming. Say You're One of Them is a series of short stories set in different African countries by Uwem Akpan. Some of the stories were good, whereas some made me fall asleep.
I started reading Parent-Babble - How Parents Can Recover from Fifty Years of Bad Expert Advice. I couldn't stop complaining about the book and decided to just stop reading it. This book review reflects how I feel about the book.
He is saying that parents should "parent" the way they were parented in the 60s because back in those days, his own schoolmates didn't commit suicide, abuse alcohol or drugs or have emotional problems. Um, based on what research - his own memories??
In the book, he says that in those days, if a kid breaks a neighbour's window, he'd have to pay for it and be punished. Then, he'd never do it again. But these days, they will be wondering does the child have emotional conflict? Is it because the neighbour looks like the father who abandoned him? Send him for therapy. The child does not have to face any consequence.
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I believe that in order to solve the problem, it is important to understand the cause of the misbehaviour. Treat the disease, not the symptom. Having said that, it doesn't mean that the child doesn't have to face any consequences! Can't the child be sent to therapy (If necessary) AND do extra chores to earn money to pay the neighbour?
No doubt that some parents take "I want to give my child self esteem" too far and end up having arrogant children who think that they've accomplished much even though they haven't. I recommend a better book: Parents Who Love Too Much by Jane Nelsen and Cheryl Erwin.
But I digress. Back to books I'm reading - John C. Maxwell's Winning with People. I'm studying how to improve my people skills to become a better leader.
I also finished The Orchid House. Ah, the feeling of getting lost in a good book, hours passing by unnoticed, such guilty pleasure.
3. Household
Spring cleaning is my archenemy. It took me forever to clean up the house and I haven't even finished. I cleaned every room except one - the STOR-DY (store+study). I dumped everything that couldn't be de-cluttered into the stordy and I am ignoring the stacks of paper and documents in there. I think I'll deal with those the next break! At least my living space is clutter free-ish.
I made beef stew. My shopping experience: I'm at the supermarket, looking for bay leaves. Hmm, the labels are all in Malay, which one is bay leaves...Google translate bay leaves to Bahasa. Oh, it's daun salam. Same thing for the part of beef I wanted.
Yummylicious beef stew
I became super housewife and made chicken stock and froze a HUGE batch of it for future use. Then, I cooked a huge batch of my favourite spinach spaghetti sauce for dinner and also to freeze for the future when I'm super busy. I also cooked ratatouille for dinner. Like, a lot of it
I paid and organized and filed up ALL the bills, which I had been putting off for ages.
4. Friends
We hosted some guests and I met up with Tracy after yoga and Boon Chin to sort of help with her wedding. Then we had dinner together. Choir practice also took up some time and I kinda enjoy it. It's fun to sing.
7 more days till I go back to school! I want to live to the fullest and make the most of my days.
