Couplehood

The Monday Faithful: Happy Year of the Ox!

We Went A-Visiting
We were out and about visiting the relatives, most of them very pleased to see David. I didn't manage to get as many pictures with the relatives - to my regret - but I managed to get pretty good shots of him lazing around their house. Lazing is good. The wife and I need to do some.

The Great Ang Pow Exchange
We gave out loads of ang pows over at the wife's, whose family's pretty large. David got himself a bunch too. It's weird thinking about it, but the wife and I were dizzy with excitement watching him mix with the rest of the family and grabbing at ang pows (and proceeding to stuff them into his itty bitty mouth). Ang Pow exchanges just got a whole load more fun.

Up In Rank
We've been upgraded to "ang pow giver" status. Over the ten plus years of celebrating CNY with with, I've love her family as much as my own. Uncomplicated, unpretentious, loving people. I'm very glad that our relatives have been absolutely wonderful at making us feel warm in their homes.

We All Had Reunion Dinner
Though this year, it was a lot more significant with my mum coming home for a rare dinner with us. We had a grill-steamboat thing going, with slices of meat and seafood in the spread that could have fed a battalion of men. I was stuffed. The boy too, but that's mostly because we got him eating some mashed grains of rice. You know, to be part of the whole event. Lovely.

A Better Picture

There're at least 40 people in the flat. This is what CNY is about, if not a little tiring.

Everyone finished the beehoon before we arrived. But we had fun :)

David at His Grandparents'

Having loads of fun with everyone :)

David In Da House

He's visiting the grandaunties now. Look at him watch some baseball movie!

Happy Chinese Lunisolar New Year!

Here we are going around the neighbourhood!

Happy Year of the Ox dear readers. Glad to know you're joining us :)

Spending Time With The Family

Yeah. That's what's today is going to be about. Spending time with the family, cleaning the house, taking care of (family) business, and bonding.

And nothing else. Okay, maybe an assignment or two. But nothing else.

Nice.

(Oh oh, follow me on twitter! Over here: http://twitter.com/adriankoh)

The Wednesday Oopsie: Keep on Swimming

Okay I Missed Monday... Again
I worked through the weekend, emerging rather blurry headed. Worse, the evil folks at Orchard Towers decided to supplement their grub with a particularly nasty microbe that disagreed with my gut, who proceeded to fling it out. I'm better now, thankfully. It was just a quick purge.

This Is The Wife And Boy At The Office
I was so utterly happy that the wife and boy came by the office last week for some Dim Sum nearby. I wanted to make sure I spent mucho time with them before I went for my retreat. In the end, we had lunch twice and even some tea. Most of all, I noted how high my spirits were just having them over. Nothing boosts me as much as my family.

The Retreat
I went on a training retreat over the weekend, and what an experience. This was the first time I went three days with no sleep - except for a couple of winks - so it was 72 hours of wide awake alertness. I never knew I could do it. To be awake for so long, to see day slip into night and vice versa, and still be alert to face a day's worth (maybe even moreso) of challenges. Is this what's in store for me the rest of the year?

Time Management
So the issue of time management and priorities came into our discussion space this week. This is something I'm terrifically schooled in, and here's where I get to strain my time management system in every way. I can share my experiences with you if you like, if you're into it. One thing I learnt over the last year about prioritising: You never prioritise tasks, you prioritise commitments. Work that out, and everything makes sense from there on.

Lord, I hope I get the right priorities this year. Don't let my focus fall. I'm counting on You.

I'm down and out

I'm absolutely gone for the past two days. Ridiculously tired.

I'll come back a little later, I hope.

I need an ice cream, if only I didn't have food poisoning.

I Love ScribeFire

Yes I do.

I didn't manage to mention it yesterday, but here's the link to it if you're interested. I know a couple of blogging ladies who I think will absolutely love the functions and ease of the editor.

You'll need to use Firefox though.

ScribeFire

Monday Faithful: The Time We Need (Plus, A Test Post From ScribeFire)

Okay, No Picture This Time
I'm out of new pictures to post at the moment! Actually, the most recent ones you have already seen (check out the previous posts!). I'll get a few over the week if I can.

The Time We Need
Leadership weekend is coming up, and it'll be taking me away from the family some time. I don't much like that, unless it's absolutely important. And I hope this will be that important. The wife assures me with her support, but I know she'll still need as much help as I can give her. Even though the little boy seems to be stabilising now, I don't want to take that respite for granted. Ever. So I told her - if this job takes up too much time, it will have to go. No compromise.

The Lesson We Learn
Is that quality time is quantity time, even when you're busy. As a rule, I'm making sure there's couple time at the end of each day, or even as often as we can afford it, just for the two of us. No other distraction except the space between. We thrash out issues, make decisions, get aligned in our directions, and pray. All so very important. It's not the easiest thing to do as I look at juggling 2 careers and one training course at the same time, but I can't afford to compromise. Something I learnt from David Bohl (whose site I frequent for research) who said, "when things get crazy, it's time to slow down - fast." It makes sense, really.

So, About That Training
I'm taking courses on coaching, and I'll cover that in my coaching blog, which you are welcome to visit when it's up. I'm seeing how amazing this is as a journey already: the coaching skills are some of the most excellent I've seen in personal development, and I can't wait to get proficient with it. I'm currently working on buddy level coaching, so it's pretty much rudimentary stuff. There are more technologies to learn as I head upward, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear: it's hard work. Maybe 10,000hrs worth of hard work.

I'm De-Cluttering
I'm not taking on anything new at the moment, and I'm shifting some of my commitments to later until I'm done with the training. I've got lots of ideas that I'm putting in cold storage, and I can only hope they remain fresh when I find them. I'm pruning the commitments too, and though it saddens me to hold off on some projects, this is the way it has to be for now.

2009 is going to be awesome. I'll be appreciative for your support through it all.