2009年9月28日 星期一

体能锻炼日

9月27日是星期日,但Winston要上课,为了讓十一长假变得更长的关系,很多人要补上班、上课,But Richy不用,他帮我安排了一日体能锻炼的课程,早上骑车逛金鸡湖,之后,逛平江街去看几次错过的古戏台,下午本来还安排了游泳,可我已两腿發软了,只好取消。好不容易Winston上课,这个好不容易只有我和Richy的周日,过得真是不浪漫。
 

為避免皮肤过敏,打扮成要去打工阿嫂,围巾是用来遮脸的,
为了照相才取下,没想到晚上还是复發了日光型皮肤疹。
 

路上看到一隻蟾蜍?癞蛤蟆?
 

这张像不像美女与野獸?
其实是女绑匪与癞蛤蟆啦!

沿着金鸡湖,到处可见China的国庆布置
 

出發前,我和Richy打赌这个布置是牛还是恐龙,
输的人要清洗浴室的落地窗和马桶。
到了现场我们还是各自坚持己见,至于清洁的工作,当然是Me了
 

拙政园正在展出菊花
其前方是平江街的起点
 

平江路的白墙黑瓦古建築
 

中张家巷裡昆曲博物馆門口
 

再走五十步,中张家巷裡古戲台門外的镂空石雕
 

古戲台門外的石狮子
 

大门後方展示着刀剑

终於看到保存完好的古戲台
不虚此行啊!
 
 
 
 
 

 

2009年9月22日 星期二

Think Positive

前几周,收到一封“凡事往好处想”的Email,上个周末,游完泳,在停车场,Richy倒车时刚好撞到前保险杆,他有点无法相信自己開车的技术竟会發生这种事,通常这事是June我才会有的,哈!他骂不到我了,不过怕他心情受到影响,连带会影响到我们接下来的午餐,我提议大家来练习“凡事往好处想”和“别讓事情影响情绪”。所以,好的一面就是,还好没撞到人,还有保险已保车损险。

既然车子要去昆山修,顺便看看有没有未缴的罚单,顺路去昆山的交通大队缴交,大陆的罚单不像台湾能在7-11交的,缴罚单就像二次惩罚,得到当地的交通大队“排队”缴交。昨晚Richy查了网路,發现我開的那辆车有一张¥100罚单,这次他没因损失¥100而难过,反而嘲笑我被開了罚单,真是充分应用“凡事往好处想”的生活哲学,不过我也不甘示弱,马上秀出日曆,罚单上的六月二十一日是星期日,通常星期日都是Richy開车载着我们趴趴走的,Ha,ha....

那日我们真的做到不被倒楣事影响的心情,中午去吃了不太好吃的羊肉面和饺子(那家羊肉店本来很不错的),下午更没受到车子和羊肉店的影响,还去搭Bus去逛了平江街,Richy练习他的单眼摄影技术,原来的旧相机就成了Winston出门的新配备,一路上Richy拍风景、我、和Winston,Wisnton则拍风景、Richy和我。Winston不耐走路、不爱当Richy的Model,也不爱我逛逛小店,无法想像一个七岁小孩一路上能碎碎念,直到我们逛到一家DVD店,他才稍停,买到他的新欢“喜羊羊与灰太狼”,我和Richy终於可以暫時摆脱海绵宝宝了。

 



苏州古城的特色-小桥流水、河道人家

 



谁是摄影师?

 



休息一下

 



这张是Winston的作品

 

 

Last week a friend sent me a mail about "Think positive when bad things happen".  Last weenkend we happened to have something unfortunate happened to our car.  Richy bumped the front bar of the car while pulling the car out of the parking lot.  He was quite shocked because things like that should always be done by me, not him.  This time he got no one to blame but himself.  I suggested we all practice "think positive" at that time and don't let things affect our mood.  So, the positive side was that our insurance might cover the damage, and this accident might remind Richy to always watch out while turning the car in the future. And the good thing was that we did not hurt any people but bump to the concrete with protecting coat without evening hurting the concrete.

 

Since I had to drive the car to Kun-Shan city sooner to have it fixed. I thought  I may also check if there is any unpaid tickets from the last few months. So I could by the way pay the ticket in Kun-shang.  Richy checked the internet and keyed in the car information last night. Bingo! We got one.  To my surprise, Richy was not sad about losing money for the tickets like the way he used to be. Instead, he teased me about getting one ticket on my car.  Maybe he was applying "positive thinking".  But I passed the calender to him and showed him the ticket was dated June 21 which was a "Sunday".  I never had to drive on Sunday.  Richy was the one who drove us around on Sundays.  Ha, Ha....

Maybe teasing each other about getting a traffic ticket is another way of Positive thinking.  Anyway, We did not panic much about getting the ticket. 

 

We took a bus to Ping-Jiang Street to take a walk on Sunday afternoon.  It was our second visit to Ping-Jiang Street.  Richy wanted to visited the traditional Ping-Tan stage museum, but it was closed when we arrived. Richy was practicing his Photo skill with the single-len Camera.  Our old digital camera became Winston's new kit for outing activities.  I was Winston's model and Winston and I were Richy's model.  We had a simple and light supper at the tea house on the sidewalk.

2009年9月15日 星期二

桑菊防感汤

流感真的满严重的,Winston的班上已有五人發烧,所以停课一周。
我是中药养身的支持者,敬佩珍惜古老中国人留传下来的药草智慧。
近日我煮了黄芪、枸杞和红枣养身茶,还放入金银草(消炎)和菊花(散热解毒),有时後会加些百合(润肺),做些防範。
看到网上有中药预防流感的药方-桑菊防感汤,转载于此,欢迎信眾请自取。
-------------------------------------------------------
以下为浙江省卫生厅近日组织中医、中药专家针对各地相继暴发的甲型H1N1流感,拟定出“预防”流感中药处方“桑菊防感汤”。

桑菊防感汤的成分:桑叶6克、菊花6克、白术6克、防风3克、生甘草2克。
作方法是:加水500毫升浸泡30分钟,煮沸15分钟后取汁,也可按比例增量,以大锅煎煮。
用法疗程为口服,每天2次,成人每次100毫升,小儿酌减,一般服用5天至7天。

---------------------
注意:是预防,不是治疗哦!個人认为不必连过于积极续服用,一周煮三天,平日用于预防保养即可,體質虛冷的不要喝多。
上次服用了归脾汤,改善失眠,非常有效。
平时添加金银草和菊花於黄芪、枸杞和红枣茶,很有预防感冒效果的。如果要此方,那要建议先煮好黄芪、枸杞和红枣茶,最後2分鐘再加入金银草和菊花,熄火闷10分钟即可,如果觉得太复杂,就去掉红枣吧!服用前加蜂蜜(中藥丸常有的配方),小朋友就愛喝啦!

 

2009年9月14日 星期一

手工肥皂初体验

八月從台湾回来,行李箱多了手工肥皂的材料,原因是小嬸送了我们二小块精心制作的手工肥皂,我试用一次就爱上了,受到影响,回程也带了一些材料,打算等Winston開学後,再動手实验。China好像也有人在做手工肥皂,但不像台湾那麽热门,上了网找到一些工具或模型,我买了到一个木盒、切皂刀、和有几个可爱的皂章。
为啥想做手工皂呢?一来爱尝新;二是它是天然的,使用上不伤皮肤,对我们家都是过敏的人(Richy& Winston皮肤过敏,June&Winston呼吸道过敏),有很大的帮助。既然是家庭主妇,也想不出有啥理由能不去做对健康有益的事情,如果有,那就是手工皂的“高成本”吧!,纯天然油脂如橄榄油、棕榈油、椰子油、箆麻油、荷荷巴油等制造的皂,真材实料,成本颇高;市面上的成皂都是用化学材料合成的,便宜、去污力强、泡沫多、味道香,但易残留、伤皮肤且致癌。所以,高”成本的那个,其实是後者。

 

花了二加一天做了两种皂:藣麻油洗髮皂(一日)、蜂蜜黑糖护肤皂(一加一日)

因为手上的原料不齐全,我用的配方无法和书上的一样,就东加西减的修改了配方,还好,书上和网络上都有配方的计算方式,不过一些小处还是得靠经验的累积,错误中学习,才能理解。

我的蜂蜜护肤皂因为加多了蜜腊(10g),成品太硬,只好再切碎融过,再次入模,不小心多学会了“再生皂”的做法。

皂化的过程其实就是一个化学工式,会因材料的不同,成熟(完全皂化)的时间也有差别,如果未完全皂化就使用,碱度太高会伤害皮肤。初次做皂就像上了一个化学实验课,小心翼翼,很怕氢氧化钠造成伤害,也怕失败。还好,只要小心,加上四处无人的空间,就能避开危险,也能专心制作,失败就做再生皂,花时间而已。

 

 



开工二日後,失败的成品(才脱模就坚硬易碎)



切碎小火融化

 



再次入模 (再生皂四小时即可脱模)

 



成功脱模且盖上皂印的成品

 乳橘色的沐浴皂要四周成熟,绿色是洗髪皂需八周才成熟可用

每天早晚都会給它们看一回,闻一闻,摸一摸

 

 

 

 

2009年9月13日 星期日

Pool Sunday

It is Fall and weather is cool, but we still could not stop swimming since we started it a two months ago.  Richy came home from his business trip Saturday evening.  Winston was very excited to go to the pool with his dad on Sunday.  We took some pictures in the pool ( Later we found it was not allowed to photo in the pool, but we already took some.) and some pictures on the lake side after swimming. I still could not believe I learned how to breathe during swimming, and that makes me enjoy swimming so much.  Winston learned free style and backstroke this summer.  He loves to swim and jump in the water, and dwell into the water to find his locker room's key.  Today we spent 2 hours including using the Jakuji beside the pool. The pool environment is very pleasant with outdoor green view through the surrounding windows. The pool is in a hotel which resides on the lakeside of Du-shu Lake.  We took a walk on the lake side and enjoyed the sunset in fall breeze.   

星期日的下午我们在建身中心的泳池玩了两个多小时,之后,走到户外逛逛独墅湖,拍了一些美美的相片,度过一个轻鬆的周末。

 

 



We can swim and breathe now!

 

 



Massaging Pool

 



Willows along the lake side

 



 Lake side Park

 



On the Lake side Deck

 


 

 


 

2009年9月10日 星期四

Depression Therapy

One of the books I read this summer is Feeling Good-the new mood therapy written by David D. Burns, M.D.
Here I like to share the notes I kept while reading the book. Why did I name this post a Depression Therapy? If you are someone who are sensitive to others' attitudes, critics or actions. Then from time to time, you may suffer from depression. And I hope these notes will help you deal with your problems to a certain degree.

The theme of Cognitive Therapy(認知治療的理論核心): Thoughts create feelings.
Cognition(認知): the way you are thinking about things at any moment. These thoughts will automatically have a huge impact on how you feel.想法影响感觉感受
Our cognitions may be affected by our childhood experiences, genes, and hormones, the controllalbes or the uncontrollables. Fortunately, as matured adults, we can change the way we think of things and change basic values and beliefs.或许是生活环境、成长背景、基因、贺尔蒙的分泌问题影响了我们对事情的看法,不论是先天後天造成的,身为一个成熟的人,是可以经由改变想法,進而改变心情、生活与健康。

Realize the Facts:
1.All moods are created by cognitions(thoughts).
2.When feeling depressed, thoughts are dominated by a pervasive negativity, then you perceive not only self but the entire world in dark, gloomy terms.
Bad things happened in the past may make you look into the future with emptiness.
3.Distorted thinking (mental slippage) is major cause of suffering.

Part of being human means getting upset from time to time.
What you think will affect how you feel, so Change the way you think of things will help control your mood. We must understand what is happening (look into the real meaning behind the scene, realize the real problem) before we feel it.

Cognitive Distortions((認知扭曲)include:
1.All-or-Nothing Thinking: See things as black or white
2.Overgeneralization
3.Mental filter: pick out a negative detail, dwell on it exclusively. When depressed, one tends to filter out anything positive and conclude that everything is negative. Also called selective abstraction.
4.Disqualifying the positive: throw cold water to the good things that happened; denying being loved, cared, and welcomed by others.
5.Jumping to conclusions: “Mind reading” without checking the facts, ex: non-returned phone calls. The fortune teller error: I’m going to …, I’ll never …., That is my fate to be… . Respond to the imagined negative reactions by withdrawal or counterattack.
Self defeating behavior pattern may act as a self-fulfilling prophecy and set up a negative interaction in a relationship when none actually exists.
6.Magnification and Minimization
Magnify errors and mistakes, while minimize strength
7.Emotional Reasoning : I feel …, therefore, I am following my mood to do things
8.Too Many Shoulds and shouldn’ts
They(you/she/he)should or shouldn’t…他应该…才对,不该…才对。太多的该与不该。
9.Labeling and Mislabeling
This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. When labeling others, you inevitably (invariably) generate hostility.
10.Personalization: Put the world on one’s shoulder; fill in the seat where you don’t have to take.

The solutions are summarized as follows (解決方法):
1.People do not live by our rules.不是每个人都照我们的规约生活的。人类会犯错的,对、错也没有绝对性的 Fewer shoulds and shoulden’ts will make our lives easier.
2.Why behave in ways that not in our best self-interest.
3.No one in this world has the power to put you down but yourself.
4.Don’t let others errors or mistakes upset you. 换句话说,不要因为别人的过错或失误而惩罚自己,如果因此而不悦,那你就赋予对方太大的影响力,来影响自己的情绪与健康了。
5.Don’t expect fair treatment from others or expect others to send expected feedback to us. Ex. Don’t be upset by unanswered phone calls. That doesn’t mean you are not welcome.
6.As we learn to expect less, we get more.
7.I am the one who decide whether I should be happy or not. My mood should not be controlled by others’ action or attitudes.

The basic law of physics (行为反作用力):
如果你和我一樣常常会收到一些不爱的意见建议,你和我一樣会为了反抗压力而反对,那读读此段吧。有时候会发现是跟自己做对。但该坚持的还是坚持吧!畢竟人生只有一次。
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction against it. You push harder, it bounces back harder.
Ex: When someone tries to push us or boss around, we will tighten up and resist, in order to maintain our equilibrium and self-esteem. The same applies to kids’ reaction to moms’ pushy hands.

By realizing this law, I suggest that:
1.If feeling pushed, you think of the essence of the facts first, if that is in your best interest, and that is in your plan, you should do it not because someone’s pushing you, but because you want to do it. If that is something you don’t like to do and not to your best interest, then don’t listen to others? You are the one who decide what to do. We all don’t like pushy hands.
2.Try not to be the "unwelcome" pushers. Respect others and others may learn to respect us.

Dealing with critics (comments):
Many times we feel bad when facing negative critics.
Here is the way to deal with them:
1.If Wrong Comments, Ignore it. Don’t waste time letting wrong comments upset you.
2.If right comment, we must know that we, as human beings, are not perfect in nature. Try to find ways to improve and correct it.

Dealing with fights (or arguments)
1.Ask the person to find out what he means ( avoid being judgmental or labeling or defensive while asking questions).
2.Attempt to see the world through the opponent’s eyes. Slip in his shoes.
3.Transform an attack-defense interaction into one of collaboration and mutual respect. Don’t fight back, as we know the law of physics, but find a way to agree with the critics (there must be some points he mentions are agreeable). This way you will defuse his anger.
4.Disarm the opponent, Admit that we make mistakes. You are not cheating. People do make mistakes sometimes or many times.
5.Feedback and negotiation. Find way to agree with critics. Being defensive does no good to the communication.

~Best Wishes to All~

2009年9月6日 星期日

失眠的中藥

八月回台失眠嚴重,吃了鎮定藥,效果有限,醒了就睡不著了。其實失眠的問題困擾我滿久了,只要有壓力或精神亢奮,就難睡,神經質的人除了過敏體質外,會失眠似乎也是必然。想想看,我連喝可樂都會睡不著,到現在連吃韓國泡菜也會無法入睡,現在稍有刺激,不論是精神上或是環境上的變化,就又犯失眠過敏。住到蘇州後,非常珍惜這裏優雅的環境及簡單的生活,但過敏卻因環境的改變,反而更嚴重,失眠本來改善了,可回臺灣又犯了。這個暑假Winston學習游泳,我在旁邊跟著練,八月中至今幾乎每天游泳,也愛上游泳運動了,Winston和我的鼻子過敏似乎有明顯改善,Richy看到這樣的效果,鼓勵我們持續游,所以我們辦了張健身中心的家庭會員,現在我每天去泳池,Richy和Winston則每週三次游泳,泳池的環境很好,不過常常還是會看到很多人,沒沖澡就下水、在浴間尿尿、隨手取走救生圈玩,最扯的是,救生員沒穿著泳衣,講手機、常常離開位置不見人影,毫無危機意識;感歎China貧富差距大之外,文明與經濟水準差距更大。当然,人与人之间的差异也很大,所以也不能以偏概全。



談到失眠,在網上查了中藥方,也給自己試了一方,還頗有效的,感謝提出药方和寫出藥方的良醫,連劑量都寫明,省下我排隊看診的時間。茲將藥方貼于下方,供同病者自取,我是服用歸脾湯,本來夜晚頻尿也一併改善了。




以下摘自臺灣郭醫師的網站 http://www.relativehumanity.com.tw/main01.htm 歡迎轉貼流傳




40歲左右的中年人,面臨家庭、工作雙方面的壓力,常出現失眠。久而久之,整體狀態失調,也會帶來全身其他系統的表現。湖北省中醫院神經內科譚子虎副教授介紹,中醫治療失眠以補虛瀉實、調整陰陽為原則,對於不同證型引起的失眠,中藥都有比較有效的傳統驗方。

這裏有幾個經典的方劑,需要者可以根據自己的症狀在家服用。

歸脾湯:對於入睡困難、多夢易醒、醒後不能再次入睡,以及伴有心悸健忘、面色萎黃、神疲食少、頭暈、肢體困乏、腹脹、大便不爽、舌淡苔薄白等症狀的失眠患者,可以服用《歸脾湯》進行治療。


其基本方為:太子參15克、白术15克、黃芪12克、當歸12克、遠志12克、茯苓15克、酸棗仁15克、生龍骨30克、生牡蠣30克、枳殼9克、生大黃3克、甘草3克。


交泰丸:由於經常飲酒、嗜食肥甘厚味之品,出現心煩焦慮、難於入眠、心悸多夢、煩渴欲飲、大便不爽或乾結、舌紅苔少或黃膩等症狀的失眠患者,可以用《交泰丸》治療。


其基本方為:黃連6克、肉桂3克、川芎6克、知母12克、生龍骨30克、生牡蠣30克、酸棗仁15克、柏子仁30克、生地15克、當歸12克、陳皮12克、生大黃3克、甘草6克。


丹梔逍遙散:因各種瑣事煩勞而引起的情志不遂、易怒、口乾口苦、大便乾、小便黃、舌紅苔黃、情緒不穩則失眠加重等症狀者,可用《丹梔逍遙散》治療。


其基本方為:丹皮12克、梔子12克、柴胡12克、白芍15克、白术12克、當歸12克、茯苓和茯神各15克、生龍骨30克、生牡蠣30克、夜交藤15克、合歡皮12克、鬱金12克、生大黃3克、甘草3克。
一般情況下,中藥治療失眠需要用藥1~2周,病情嚴重的要適當延長。一副藥煎1次,分早、中、晚3次服用,每次150毫升。食欲正常者在飯前半小時服用,食欲不佳者則宜在飯後半小時服用。

2009年9月3日 星期四

The 1st grader's 1st week in school


1st week, we were all so excited.  I kept telling Winston to think of the rest room the 1st minute of every break time.  But the 1st day, Winston did not use the rest room at all, because he said that he did not know where boy's room was. So, for 8 hours, he did not Pee...  This hurt his health and my heart.

 

1st day after school, I asked Winston whether he nap in afternoon break.  He said no.  He said the teacher asked them to cross their hands on the table and rest their heads on their hands, but did not tell them to close eyes.  So, even in the break time, Winston did not close his eyes and he came home with two panda eyes.

 

The 2nd day of school happened to be Wednesday.  The 1st graders finished school earlier at 2:45pm. But Winston's mom, I did not get the message sent by the school office. So Winston was abandoned in a classroom siting there doing nothing until I finally picked him up at 4:00pm.  Winston was not nervous, he told me he enjoyed siting there doing nothing. And after that, I ask the teacher and the phone company to check and fix the communicating problem.  I hope it works now.

 

Today is the 3rd day of school and I hope everything goes well.

 



Do as Teachers Say.