Christina's Journal

Did the personality test that many people are blogging about and it says that I'll do well as a nurse, social worker or teacher. I have enjoyed being a teacher (at the university level teaching undergrads) and I really love conducting trainings in my present job. Besides that this personality test is really spot on!

I'm an ESFJ.  The Caregiver

You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding.
You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner.

At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people.
You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.
    
How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/">What's Your Personality Type?</a></div>

Here is another Apple pie recipe which I made a few years ago. The pie crust takes much less time to make and also doesn't require as much kneading as the recipe I posted yesterday. Here it is:

Pie Crust

·            1.5 - 2 cups flour

·            2 tbsp sugar (optional)

·            1 tsp salt

·            ½ - ¾ cup oil or 4 tbsp oil

·            2 tbsp milk

·            ¼ - ½ cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

1)         Mix and knead.  Keep adding flour until mixture is crumbly and barely holds together in a ball.  (Can use more flour if desired)

2)        Put in pie pan.  Use your hand to make a circular pie crust in the pan (no need to use rolling pin).

3)        Double it for 2 crusted pies but very crumbly.

4)        This is a light crust for tarts and sweet pies.

Apple Pie Fillings:

·      Cinnamon

·      Nutmeg

·      1 tbsp Melted Butter

·      ½ cup white suger

·      1.5 tsp cornstarch

·      Brown sugar

·      Oat meal

·      Chopped apples (4 – 5 Apples)

1)         Spread pie crust on pie pan with hand.

2)        In a big bowl, combine chopped apples with ½ cup white sugar, 1.5 tsp cornstarch, nutmeg and cinnamon.

3)        (Optional)  Cook in pan if you want it softer.

4)        Pour the apple mix into the pie.

5)        In an empty bowl, mix oat meal with brown sugar and 1 tbsp melted butter.

6)        Pour the oat meal mix on top of the apples.

7)        Put into the oven for 15 mins at 350 F.

Makes 2 pies. Pie pan: 9 inch (1.5 inch tall)

Dough (for 2 pies)

·   4 cups flour

·   3 Tablespoons sugar

·   1 pinch salt

·   3 sticks butter

·   3/4 cup iced water (or less)

Mix with flour, sugar and salt first and then add butter (it’ll be crumbly) and then add in the iced water to make it doughy. Make into 2 big and 2 small balls (the big ball will roll out as the base and the small bag will roll out to make the top), wrap with cling wrap and put in fridge for 3 hours or longer.

Put flour on table and coat dough with flour first before rolling out with a rolling pin. Put in the pie tin and cut the excess dough.

 Apple pie filling

·   3 extra large eggs

·   3/4 cup white sugar (more if using brown sugar)

·   1 cup flour

·   ½ stick butter (melted)

·   5 big apples (green apples preferred) sliced big (as it falls apart after baking)

Mix all of the fillings in a bowl and add into the pie tin with the pie dough lined at the bottom. After that add the dough on top (roll it out with a rolling pin) and make sure that the top and bottom dough align. Use a fork to crimp the dough around the circumference of the top dough. Also poke holes on the top dough.

Bake at 300F for 1 hour.

chihinglim

Yesterday when I got into the car for the ride home from work, I turned onto NPR and heard about the shooting at Virginia Tech. I was totally horrified. This morning, the news were full of the incident. Here's a prayer for the Virginia Tech community as they come to grips with what has happened, and to heal from the pain and sadness of loss.

Only 2 more days to go and the agony will be over. Yesterday I worked on my powerpoint slides once again and all I did was work on it for the whole day and the whole night stopping only to heat leftovers up for meals (I had chicken ngor hiang frozen in the freezer which I had made during the summer) and picking Karu up from daycare and hanging out with him for a while. This must be one of the very few times that I was able to do work at night without doing mummy duty. Thankfully, hubs was able to handle Karu with my MIL around. Although he did keep coming up to me constantly and asking for me to be with him. I did call it quits at 10.30pm so that I can get a good night's sleep. 

The powerpoint presentation is far from being accetable (to me that is). I feel like I just can't seem to present my results in a very clear and succint manner as there is way too much data to present in a mere 30 - 40 mins worth of a presentation. I tried timing myself last night and came up to 40 mins. 

Then at one point, I got to thinking about what I had learnt through this dissertation process. Why it was actually worth spending 5 years just on the dissertation alone (and 2 years full time on coursework and comprehensive exams). I realized that I took a research project that was way too big to handle by a single sole person. Although one might think of it as a big mistake to undertake such a huge project, I learnt tons from it. I will go into that at a later post when I am not so stressed about my defense.

But I did realize that the 2 years it took for me to write up my dissertation was a huge learning process in being able to hone my skills at scientific writing. And with each revision that I do to different parts of the dissertation, I learn so much more about how to improve on my writing and my presentation of results and the discussion and the recommendations. I also learnt a ton about myself. That I work best when I plan and set my own datelines. And that I work best if I build in rewards to work towards to - e.g. buying a make-up item after I get done with one of my chapters. Unfortunately I am a materialistic Singaporean and need these worldly goods to spur me on to fnishing my dissertation. 

Now back to work.

It's 3 more days till it's over. I have waited for this for so many years and now it's going to be coming in 3 days. With each day approaching Dec 4, I feel more anxious and the more anxious I feel, the more I procrastinate by surfing the web (buying things from drugstore.com when they had their 20% sale), day dreaming and I also just walk around the house without any aim. I also realize that my mind is not thinking straight and my mind just kind of transports itself to some kind of a blank space. This is really not me at all and I feel very out of place.

But the other thing I keep thinking about are the things I want to do after the defense. Here's a partial list:

0) Format my dissertation, print copies and deliver to my committee members with some baked goodies
1) Start baking again - breads, cakes and cookies
2) Learn to cook South Indian food (I bought a cookbook when I was in Singapore)
3) Buy baking stuff that are worn out (e.g. cookie sheet, bread pan)
4) Clean the house
5) Clear out my closet and chuck out clothes I don't wear anymore
6) Go around the house and chuck clutter out
7) Select photos of Karu and bring them to be printed
8) Write christmas cards
9) Relax - lie in bed with a book

Was thinking that one of the gifts that I can present to myself for finishing the dissertation could be this book on bread making. Has anyone tried out any recipes from here or have suggestions for other books on bread making?

It's a wet and dreary day. Cold (8 C), with a light rain that has been coming down since last night. The skies are overcast and there are black clouds and the occasional gusty wind. Perfect day for a lie in on a Sunday morning. But my friend, chihinglim is braving it and running in a marathon in the outer banks of South Carolina as I type this in the comfort of my bed. I am just hoping that she will be alright as I can imagine how brave she is not only running the marathon but also braving the natural elements that are not in favor of such a strenuous feat of human endeavour. My heart goes out to her and I hope that she'll be alright.

A note about our jet lag. I am now able to sleep at night and wake up in the morning with multiple awakenings throughout the night. The afternoons are very hard on me as I am very sleepy. Karu on the other hand is yo-yo-ing with his sleep schedules. He vomited last night at 2am and was not able to go back to sleep after a bath (he went to bed at 8.30pm). He still has a mild temperature while I have a sorethorat.

Yesterday afternoon, Karu and I had a really nice time. We dropped hubs off at his English class and I was just driving around looking for this store that sells knicks knacks ganered from all round the world. I couldn't find it and then I passed by a fountain by a building (Erwin Square) and Karu got all excited about it. So I found a parking spot nearby and we went to enjoy the beauty of the fountain. Not long after, we saw dogs running around in the huge field next to it. So we walked across the field to hang out with the dogs and watch some college undergrads playing frisbee with their car stereo blasting out loud. It was a lovely day, sunny day, extremely warm for this time of the year. I think the high went up to about 25C and I was out in a T shirt and skirt. Karu chased the dogs around and they in turn chased him and jumped on him, scaring him till he cried. But he was still curious enough to play around with the dogs after that. I struck up conversations with the dog owners and many were really interesting people. I think this would be a good spot to hang out in the evenings on warm sunny days so that Karu can see the dogs and run around in the field.