Simple timing problem

I have a problem that I assume is very simple to solve and I might have just missed this tutorial, sorry in advance for the newbie question.

I have a function that I want to execute a delay in, but I don't want to freeze the entire application in the process.

example:
function blah()
do stuff
delay 5000
do stuff 5000 later
endfunction

Of course, the delay command freezes execution on the entire application. I want to create delays in the function execuation that keep the rest of the app moving along.

I've looked into timers, delay, and whatnot, but I don't think I'm doing it right.

Any help would be great!

Thanks!