This is Week 2 of my journey towards taking control of my time, money and life in general. How has it been? So far so good I guess.

Well, at least my horoscope says so. And you know how you’re more inclined to believe your horoscope when it says that nice things are in store for you, don’t you? LOL.

Anyway, I now officially cannot function without my To Do note book. I don’t know what I’m going to do if I misplace it!

For example this morning, I got a bit derailed — chatting too much and surfing the Internet when I should be working. And then I remembered to check my To Do list, or as Get Organised Now calls it “the Ta Da list” (because when you get a chore done, it vanishes like magic, you say Ta Da! Get it?). Just like that, I was doing all the things that I needed to do and managed to tick off a lot of things on the list. f I hadn’t done peeked at my Ta-da List, I think I would’ve forgotten to do many things.

What I like about my Ta Da list is that it also keeps me focused. I keep my phone on Vibrate mode when I’m at work. I let calls go into my Voice Mail. I check my emails and return calls between 11am and 12pm and 4pm and 5pm. And at night, I basically do whatever I want and they are not work-related. If I have a deadline and need to finish some work, I just make sure that I sleep early to wake up early the next day to get the job done.

Now, daytime for me is for work and evenings are strictly for me, family and friends.

I have also been using my Google Calendar religiously. I like that I can sync between my Google Calendar and my BB one. Doing this also keeps me focused because I know exactly what I need to do when.

On another note, I’m really happy with the Acne.org 2.5% benzoyl peroxide treatment that I bought over the Internet. It arrived in the mail about two weeks ago. And it took about two weeks for me to see a real difference to my skin.

The areas which are acne-free look very clear. The areas where I do have zits are getting very small. I used to get zits all over but for some reason, they are now almost exclusively on my neck area, just under my jaw.

But the number is really small, just one or two compared to four or five at once before. New zits still appear around that area and I find this really strange because I know the treatment really works, otherwise.

Although it annoys me that new zits still pop up, I am not about to write off this product just yet. After all, I’m not even a quarter way through the 8 oz tube that I bought. I think it can last me easily two months but I suspect that I’ll only finish it closer to Month 4. I think it’s really value for money. I spent about RM80 on it (plus postage).

It was recommended that I increase the amount of the product that I apply after Week 6. I have about a month more to go to do that.

I would not advise anyone to start too much, too soon. Just follow Dan’s recommendations on the website and you’ll see results. It took me 2 weeks, it might take less time for some and maybe more for others. It all depends on the severity of your acne, I guess.

I used to think that benzoyl peroxide doesn’t work for my kind of acne but Acne.org’s treatment proves otherwise. My skin has responded very well to the product and I’m really pleased with the results — despite still getting a zit or two on my jawline.

As I said before, it’s really annoying because it feels like I’m taking two steps backwards after making such great progress.

But I have to say that my skin looks better than ever now. The most noticeable improvement would be my nose. I do not have blackheads there, I kid you not! That and the fact that my skin is less oily now. And my skin looks fairer now.

However, I still can’t go without makeup. I still look dead tired without a trace of makeup and my skin still looks blotchy from old acne scars and my chicken pox scars that are still healing. But the skin surface is much smoother, that is for sure.

So if you’re interested to try the product, visit Acne.org. You don’t have to get the entire set of products offered there — which can be expensive especially when you are ordering outside of the US. I use the Acne.org treatment with Neutrogena’s pure mild facial cleanser and Olay moisturiser. It has worked great for me so far.

So that’s what’s happening with my life lately. Till next time!

I can’t remember exactly when it was. But I do remember how awful I felt.

I was working on a freelance assignment that required me to trawl the Internet for a list of websites. I was to look for certain features and take note of them.

It sounded easy enough when it was proposed to me, and that was the reason I agreed.

Soon, I discovered that the task was tedious, time consuming and no fun at all. I found myself slaving over it at any free time that I had — in the mornings before I went to work, after work and even on weekends. This was on top of the workload of my day job that I already had.

Thinking back, I don’t know how I managed.

But one day, the stress caught up with me. I was doing juggling my work and freelance job at a Starbucks near a college. I parked myself there hoping to get some unsuspecting college students to interview (for an assignment that I had). When there were no students in sight, I was back searching the Internet.

I remember suddenly stopping what I was doing and feeling absolutely depressed. I was on the verge of tears. I thought to myself, “Is the torture of doing something I totally hate really worth the money? I should really be doing what I want and enjoy. It’s the weekend for goodness’ sake!”

The payment I got for that job was honestly not worth the effort I had put into it. But funnily enough, that painful experience didn’t stop me from accepting more freelance jobs after that. No matter how much or little I got paid in return, regardless of how I enjoyed or hated the jobs.

It took me only a few months ago to realise that when I already had enough on my plate, I should just refuse any “extra” work. Things got so busy that I missed my freelance deadlines and I felt awful about it.

So in the end, I just told the people who hired me that I couldn’t commit anymore. I don’t think they were too happy about it. I haven’t heard from them since. And I also didn’t mention the payment for the amount of work that I had done.

I’m not about to ask for it because I feel that I don’t deserve it. I can’t take the money, I would feel really bad about it.

So it has been a couple of months since I am “free” of freelance jobs. And guess what? I’m so much more happier because of it.

Sure, I could use the extra money to support my online shopping addiction :P and I do have more free time now. I spend my nights reading books for pleasure or watching DVDs or my favourite TV shows (downloaded/on tv).

If I’m on the computer at night, I’m not working on an article (unless I WANT to) or a freelance job. I’m surfing the Internet for whatever topic that interests me.

My nights are purely ME and family time. If I NEED to meet a deadline, I’d rather turn in early and wake up at 4.30am to do it. Daytime is for work and night time is for rest, which is the way it should be. But don’t be surprised, I used to work day and night, whenever I felt like it. Very bad habit, really.

Now I’m training myself to be disciplined. To be as productive and efficient in the day and to enjoy myself at night. So far, so good. The fact that I’m blogging now (during my well-deserved down time) means I am doing something right, right?

I have to give credit where it is due. The 4-hour Work Week has inspired me to make changes to my re-balance my work/life. The book has a lot of useful tips but I have benefited most from the ones that suggest that I eliminate distractions, weed out the time-consuming and boring and delegate where possible.

I’ll talk about the book some other time — what I like and dislike about it — WHEN I am actually done with it.

I just purchased an 8 oz tube of benzoyl peroxide treatment (gel form) from Acne.org. When I had my chicken pox, I was reading up on tips to prevent permanent scars from cp and stumbled upon the website (again).

I used to go to the website to read about tips to cure acne. But it’s only just recently that I decided to try the Regimen “for real” as promoted by Acne.org’s founder Dan.

While I wait for my BP product to come in the mail within the next three weeks or so, I’m going to start the Regimen using Oxy’s 5% BP combined with a gentle cleanser and my trusted moisturiser.

I’m supposed to apply BP to acne prone areas on my face and body in a quantity that’s slightly more than what I’d usually put. From the youtube video as demonstrated by Dan himself, the amount of BP that I’m supposed to apply on my fave, at least eventually, is almost as much as, if not more, the amount of moisturiser I use on my face.

Traditionally, people would just dot BP on their zits and not slather it on like some moisturiser or sunscreen.

But Dan found 10 years ago — by accident — that applying more BP, in his case 2.5%, than normal was the secret to clearer skin. Dan was also an acne-sufferer who has since developed his own regimen as well as skin care line.

Since I’m just starting out, I’ve been advised to apply just a little more than I normally would — squeezing a straight line of BP about the length of my pinky.

There is a technique to applying the BP. My fingers are supposed to glide all over my face, hardly applying any pressure to my skin. It’s the same when I apply my moisturiser. Light fingers messaging the cream into my skin.

I don’t want to put a lot of hope on this regimen because some people have done it without success. Some people’s acne problem actually became worst. But I have to note that there are more success stories than there are failures.

When the Regimen works for you, your skin is so clear it’s like you’ve never battled with acne your whole life!

I honestly don’t have anything to lose except the chance to have clear skin if I don’t try this and discover that it works for me.

I’ll check back in a few weeks.

Getting ready for work in the morning is pretty stress-free for me and my husband. He takes about 5 minutes to shower and another 5 minutes to get dressed before he is ready to step out of the door.

I take slightly longer but I normally have everything prepared the night before to cut our morning routine shorter.

Because we have our breakfast at the office, I don’t need to cook or make a hot drink or anything like that before we leave.

But I’m sure my… our … routine will change once we have children. I have heard the daily drama that my colleagues have had to face to get their children ready for school etc.

So I salute the ladies featured in this article who have found the formula to make their mornings manageable. I actually like the idea of using timers to make sure everyone gets ready on time sans nagging. I think I’ll give it a try tomorrow :)

Morning madness can be avoided with a little strategy and discipline.

Try these quick tips from Real Simple readers. For the full article, click here.

If a bikini hanging on the door knob can get you off your butt, go for it!

Last year, a few days after my birthday — on Feb 29 to be precise — I blogged about Jennifer Love Hewitt and how unflattering photos of her were circulated around the Internet.

What baffled me was that Jen was a “size 2″ and called “fat”.

Jennifer from behind

I remember the picture vivildy. She was standing with the sea water around her thighs calf, and wearing a black bikini. She was photographed from behind. Her hip looked unnaturally wide against her tiny (probably 24-inch) waist.

IF she was a size 2 on top — which, on hindsight is ridiculous considering how busty she is. She should at least be a size 8 — she looked like a size 8 on the bottom.

Later, I saw another photograph from the same beach vacation. It appeared that Jennifer had the dreaded cellulite that, believe it or not, even perennially skinny Paris Hilton has — and the paps have pictures to prove it!

At the end of that post, I wrote that I won’t be surprised if the next time we see Jennifer on a magazine, she’d look shapelier than before.

It took almost two years for that to happen but lo and behold, Jennifer on the cover of Shape magazine looking as skinny as she was in Sister Act 2 — back when she was 14!!

A young Jennifer

You can call me jealous but I think she lost too much weight. I don’t know about you but I find it very disturbing that the 30-year-old Jen looks (and probably weighs the same when she was) 14.

Look at the cover! I think she looks emaciated — the face, the collar-bone right to the bony shoulders.

Jennifer's new bod

On the Internet, people are already commenting on her cover story. Some said that they felt cheated because Jen said she was happy with herself and then she went and lose the weight. Others were supportive of her decision and said that as long as she lost the weight the healthy way, it was find.

Me? Well, normally I’m supportive of anyone who aims to be healthier and fitter but I didn’t react positively to Jen “looking like that” on the cover of one of my favourite magazines.

Right now, I’m thinking she sold out. Well, I kinda-sorta predicted that she would do so almost 2 years ago.

I need to get my hands on that magazine to assess the situation fairly LOL. But I won’t lie. My initial reaction went from “She lost the weight?” and “Good for her she lost the weight” to “I think she lost too much weight. She looks sick”.

So right now, I’m not taking her weight loss so positively, especially since I think she didn’t really need to lose the weight. What she needed was only to tone up her arms and her thighs.

But now, it seems that she has lost even the meat on her cheeks and she looks (almost) beyond recognition. Ask me another day…

P/S: If you’re interested in the article, click here.

I thought you’d be interested to know that I am currently down with chicken pox. Yup, sick with chicken pox (CP) at 31 years old. But I guess it could be worse. I could be 45 or older and be ill with it.

Well, actually, I’m not “sick” sick. I had fever (at night) during the first two days. And as of yesterday, I was fine. But what was weird was that I had these scarily humongous pustular acnes on my face. Or at least I think they’re acne.

Well, they don’t look like the “liquid” in the CP blisters on my hands. Those are yellowish but clear. The ones on my face were/are yellow and thick – like your typical pustular acne. But what was different was the fact that they were bigger than usual. One was 0.5 cm wide. That’s pretty big for a zit, even by my standard, and I should know because I’ve had zits since puberty.

Well, whether or not they are acne, I don’t dare to pick them. Even my husband who loves to pop my pimples is discouraging me from picking on my skin. He said that they could be CP and if I pick them, they could leave permanent scars.

I have to admit that it’s hard to keep my hands off of my face or body. Malaysians believe that when you have CP, you’re not suppose to shower or have a bath. At the most, you can wet a towel and pat yourself with it.

I read on the Internet that Westerners recommend an oatmeal bath to calm the itching. No such luck if you live in Malaysia! I have a feeling that people around the Southeast Asian region, at least, subscribe to the “no bathing” rule.

For an acne-prone person like me, not bathing and washing my face are certainly a recipe for getting zits and what-have-yous. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to have all those zits, which, I have to add, are drying up and shrinking. That’s good news of course!

But I don’t think the blackheads on my nose are going anywhere unless I give my face a good scrub. But of course I’m not going to do that, lest I scrub a chicken pox or two and cause more damage. No thanks!

I have no issues about being quarantined in my room. I’m rather enjoying the chance to watch movies which I have downloaded and read books which I have been meaning to read.

What I can’t wait to do is take a bath and wash my hair!

I’m even thinking of going for a spa post-CP! Wouldn’t that be the best time? Enjoying a good body scrub, massage and having a delicious ginger tea drink after? Aaaaah…. that’s my idea of bliss!

Until then, I can dream.. or maybe I can plan from now on. I saw an advert for a local spa in H a r i a n M e t r o recently which offers affordable packages under RM150 for Syawal.

Well, I’m off to research now. Bye!

P/S: Because of my CP, I didn’t have much of a Raya celebration to speak of. But it’s okay. I’ll have plenty of open houses to go to soon, I’m sure.

Growing up, my sisters always talk about this movie. They say that it’s among the scariest films they ever saw.  And I have always been intrigued by it. But I guess I haven’t thought about it in a while, that I have never googled it before.

But I read an article about Katy Holmes wrapping up her latest film, the remake of the said movie, in Australia and I’m even more curious to see it.

I told one of my sisters just now about the film and she maintains that it’s the scariest film she had ever seen. You can barely see the creatures and that adds to the suspense.

With the benefit of technology and CGI, I don’t know how much better the remake will be but apparently they changed the characters and probably added new ones. The original plot involved a childless couple who moved into an old house and the wife had opened a locked room and redid the room and unleashed unknown creatures which inhabit it.

In the end, they dragged the wife and the husband never saw her again. Or so my sister said.

Well, I’ll just have to wait until 2011 to see the new version.

I thought sitting by the beach even shaded from the hot sun at Club Med Cherating was only good for a tan that I don’t even need.

What I didn’t realise that the fresh air, sun, sea and surf were good for my health until I got back home and to the office today since Monday.

I woke up this morning with a slightly blocked nose. At the office, the cold A/C was making me sleepy especially towards the afternoon. Mind you — I didn’t even eat anything that was heavy for lunch.

To wake me up, I actually went to the 6th floor (sports centre) to get some sun on my skin without looking like a fool. I sat in the shade with my hands out in the sun to warm me up. I closed my eyes just like I did during the two-minute meditation during the 9am and 6pm yoga at CMC.

I used to think that people were exaggerating when they said that the air in the office can make the sensitive-nosed prone to the sniffles. But after three days and nights of solid fresh air, I’m beginning to think that they are right.

My boss asked me if there were any H1N1 cases at CMC. Come to think of it, I could count with one hand (actually just two fingers) the time that I heard someone sneeze or cough. Since everyone was enjoying the sun, they got enough of Vitamin D to boost their immunity. And the ample supply of fruits and water at the club made it less likely for anyone to have digestive problems or be dehydrated even though they spend ridiculous number of hours out in the sun.

You would think that the kids would come down with something having spent that many hours out in the sun. But I didn’t see any sign of sickly children. Even the one boy who had Down’s Syndrome looked fit and healthy.

So what does this tell me? That getting out of the office to get some sun is good for me. Normally, during the fasting month, everyone avoids going out in the sun for fear of feeling thirsty/being dehydrated.

But now I realise that a little bit of sun is good for the body and soul. Next time I feel a little sleepy or even agitated, I’ll know to step outside and bask in the warmth of the sun.