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| Mike and the boys playing out on our building grounds. |
One interesting thing about being out here in BFE -- oh I mean Malaysia -- is the chance to start from a fresh slate.
I have learned a lot about myself during this process on how my brain works.
Case in point #1: LIGHT SWITCHES.
I cannot even begin to explain to you how many light switches we have on our walls here in Malaysia. This is our master bathroom light switch panel. This is for ONE BATHROOM. There is a switch for the following:
- light
- fan
- water heater (yes all water heaters in the house have to be turned on before you can use them)
- steam sauna in the shower (interested invention, but then we never use it)
- random switches that don't do anything (this panel has at least two of those)
So the moral of the switch story is that when we moved in I had no idea what switch to turn on. I was so lost and frustrated. So finally I pulled out the label maker. I walked slowly around the house with my label maker and type out a sticky label for every single switch. It probably took an hour. But now I feel much better knowing that we know what we are turning on. For example, I know NOT to turn off the switch labeled "refrigerator" to avoid a food rotting fiasco (even the refrigerator has a light switch).
CASE #2:
Room planning
We only brought our most essential belongings so we had no clutter weighing us down (thank heavens). We always try to get rid of things when we move (give give give to charity!), but this was the ultimate move so we tried to move light.
We were blessed to have a bit of $ from Mike's company to purchase some furniture here. So when we first moved here I did a lot of planning to know what we need. Yes that includes a lot of hard work drafting floor plans, and traveling with a measuring tape in my purse to measure everything. That in and of itself was a major learning process for me! I took an interior design class in SLC but now I actually had to apply all the principles. Plus I had to do all my drawing in METERS!
I made a lot of mistakes. After we bought the furniture some of the things I had planned just didn't work so we had to rearrange. Plus we still haven't hung anything on the walls so that is my next step.
I have made many mistakes. For example I had the wall painted steel grey blue (above) before our two chairs arrived. So once the blue chairs arrived, we put them next to the wall and surprise! they are the same color -- they virtually disappear. I didn't think that one through. I should have painted the wall a navy or something. So I tried putting the white coral pillows to break up the endless grey blue but I still think I am going to have to do something else to get it to work. Maybe once we get art up on the walls it will help.
I think I am going to try to do some artwork but that is when I can find the time.
After months of sleeping with our mattress on the floor we finally got our bed. They came last week to install it. It is very exciting although there is a footboard and it gets a bit tight since Malaysian beds are a few cms shorter than American beds. We may switch it out for a low footboard.
Once installed, Andrew found himself right at home on the bed, nestled in the pillows. This is his favorite place to sit. He sits down and then counts all the pillows around him.
Case #3:
I am a VISUAL LEARNER
I have always known I am a visual learner but nowhere has this manifest itself more than ever in setting up my bedroom office. There are three main things I am trying to keep track of:
1. Finances
2. Andrew's recovery
3. My spiritual side
The best way to keep these at the top of my mind is with visual reminders. You will see these very visibly if you walk into my room. The pic below is my desk. The top is glass (ordering tempered glass to protect the furniture was an idea I got from the last hotel we stayed at--).
Under the glass I have my financial reminders so I can see our financial status every day. The first is our Net Worth sheet that I created in excel and Mike updates on a monthly basis for me. I have asked him to presents it to me in our monthly financial discussion and he does a great job.
The second sheet (above) is an article I pulled out of Glamour (Singapore edition). I found it sitting at the doctor's office. It is my "financial health" inspiration with good reminders to start saving young, spend less than we make, stay healthy, etc. One of the points says "have dogs, not kids" but I ignore that one.
The second big thing I am working on is Andrew's progress. I have learned a lot about his little autism spectrum issues, both behavior and biological makeup. Now that we know about his gut dysbiosis, his cellular oxidative stress, and his yeast, I have been pouring through medical texts to understand how best to fix him. I think by now I am on my way to having a PhD in biomedicine.
I am a visual thinker so the poster below is up on my wall to see every day. And after I read a really important chapter, I sit Mike and Helen down to listen to my powerpoint presentations on the highlights that they need to know.
The process of methylation is one of the most important processes in our body -- it deals with how our body uses methionine to detoxify our systems (remove the "trash" like heavy metals, pollutants, etc) and activate molecular neurotransmitters (turning on light switches so we can react, think and communicate). In autistic kids, this process shuts down and my goal is to do my best to fix it, thus the goal is "recovering" Andrew from autism.
My favorite book -- Healing the New Childhood Epidemics. It connects autism, adhd, asthma and allergies and is the best at explaining biomedical causes (both genetic and environmental) and what you can to to help the body heal.
Now instead of Sophie Kinsella novels this is what I spend my time reading. The above is the cell membrane and how protein receptors work.
If you ever need to know about pyridoxal phosphate, just go ahead and give me a call.
#3. Spiritual side of my life
This post wouldn't be complete without posting what I have learned about staying grounded on a spiritual level.
Those who know me know that I am a spiritual person. I believe in God and Jesus Christ, I kneel and say my prayers every night and every morning (by the way each time I pray I thank Heavenly Father for the chance we have to be in Malaysia), and I read my scriptures every day (both the Bible--King James Version, and the book of Mormon--another testament of Christ).
But now more than ever I have learned of the importance of this spiritual grounding. There have been many times in the last few weeks that I have been "led" to certain things (a new diet for Andrew, a new way of dealing with a challenge with Joseph, a kind word to a friend who needed it). And I am gaining even stronger of a testimony of this phrase.
P R A Y E R C H A N G E S T H I N G S .
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Okay now enough with all the introspective stuff. Here is some fun stuff.
Today when I went to get Andrew up from his nap he was so excited to show me his "sea horse" (aka his blankie in the shape of a sea horse). The pic is taken with the sea horse upside down.
Next, these pictures are for Denise (she gave me these yellow rain boots). Andrew found them in my closet and said "Boots Andrew!" meaning he wanted to wear the boots. He tried to put them on himself but ended up frustrated and said "I eed ep!" (I need help!) So I helped him into the giant boots and he was so happy.
Joseph as he approaches the one year mark has become quite the little climber.
He loves the window handle. It is just tall enough for him to pull himself up on the ledge and hang one. Can you tell how happy this makes him!?
Then he cries because he can't get back down and we have to rescue him.
Then this past week we heard a strange noise coming from the toy room. I ran in to find Joseph on top of the little table! He was proud of himself but knew he shouldn't be up there so he was just standing oh so still.
Helen and I had a good laugh. She stood next to him to make sure he didn't fall while I snapped the photos.
And finally got tired of me taking pictures so he begged to get down (see below).
Alright that's it for today. Time for me to go shower then go to bed.
Mike gets back from Bangkok tomorrow so I probably should shower, what do you think?
Love to all.
