Tuesday, March 29, 2005

OH YEAH!!!!

才 德 的 婦 人 、 是 丈 夫 的 冠 冕 . 貽 羞 的 婦 人 、 如 同 朽 爛 在 他 丈 夫 的 骨 中 。

箴 言 12:4

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Like watching my own son...

I'm so proud of Francisco. Like seeing my own son walking down the aisle on his wedding day.

Our Father is so awesome insomuch that Francisco is a walking miracle. From the time I inherited from Larry to yesterday night when he prayed before dinner. Teresa and I were dumbstruck at the maturity of his prayer. Completely dumbfounded us...it wasn't little stuttermouth talking. It was the Holy Spirit guiding his tongue.

Lord, continue to bless me and Francisco so that we can continue to assist each other in our ways and paths.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy BIRTH-day to meee-eeee,

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Like watching my own son...

I'm so proud of Francisco. Like seeing my own son walking down the aisle on his wedding day.

Our Father is so awesome insomuch that Francisco is a walking miracle. From the time I inherited from Larry to yesterday night when he prayed before dinner. Teresa and I were dumbstruck at the maturity of his prayer. Completely dumbfounded us...it wasn't little stuttermouth talking. It was the Holy Spirit guiding his tongue.

Lord, continue to bless me and Francisco so that we can continue to assist each other in our ways and paths.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Freaky...yet so amazingly Fascinating!!!

Ohhhhhhhhh Myyyyyyyyyyyyy Gooooooooooooooooooodnessssssssssssssss.....

It happened!!! I don't believe I heard someone speak in tongues!! The way ppl were putting it, it sounded very rarely does it happen. It must be a sign...it MUST be!!! Stupid me....typical engineer, I have to be all analytical. I tried to decipher which language it was instead of absorbing the essence of the prayer. Kinda like going to an opera. You have no idea what they're singing, yet you love every bit of it cuz the arias are beyond words, beyond definition, beyond comprehension.

Wonder what would've happened if Joycie didn't encourage me to go out?? Oh well...geez...gotta study the pamphlet now and hope Kwok-Wai doesn't fail me tomorrow. =\

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Trying to catch up....

The news of me being a traitor spread faster than SARS back in 2002. In about two weeks, I'm going to leave my home for the past 2.5 years and start over with a new program. Excited I am, but at the same time, I'm sad. How are the people going to treat me over there? Are there any young people over there? What's the work load going to be like? Will there be another Giants lover in the group that can share my joy and sorrows? Bah...I've been longing to get out of this group for a long time. Finally get my chance and it's right when we're behind schedule. Now, people think I'm dropping the ball and not meeting the challenge. WHATEVER!!!

Wayland just got the pink slip. He along with 787 other teachers/staff at their school district. What is the governator doing?? Cutting public spending by cutting educational funds?? Holy Schmoly!! Last year he increased CSU and UC fees, then he increased community college tuition. Now he's cutting teachers and public school funding? And we voted for this clown to reshape California? And he wants to run for President? C'mon....don't matter if you're Democrat or Republican, you don't touch education!! You don't put 60 students in one classroom.

Closing in on another hectic week. This week was suppose to be my spring break too. Still gotta do my taxes, still gotta take care of my stock options, still needa plan the wedding.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Great America

"Henry we're ready."

It's 10:25AM Saturday morning. I told Francisco I'll pick him up at 10:30 and take him to Great America. When was the last time he called me to tell me he's early?? Little rascal....he wouldn't stop bugging me about the rain.
"Why it stay open if it rains? Will the rides go faster if it's slippery?"
I never knew I had this much patience.

So we get there and decided to stay in a group. His fault for picking girls to come with him. We rode the Vortex, Demon, and Grizzly. I kept on mocking him for being scared of DropZone, even doing the "chicken" routine. He finally gave in. We lined up for DropZone while Joycie waited with the girls. Boy was he scared. Poor kid didn't say a word when we were strapped in. Had his eyes closed, his lips were pale. But man!! Once we got off, he woudln't stop bugging me to do it again!!! and again!! and again!!

The weather report said there was 100% of rain. Lucky for us, it rained for about 5 minutes and the rest of the time was sunny. Must've made a lot of kids happy.

I still remember back in the Sts. Peter and Paul days when Great America was the ultimate bomb. Every year, we'd look forward to that one day when we can skip school and go to this magical kingdom of fun. I'm much too jaded to appreciate that now. But while Joyce and I stood on the outskirts watching the kids go up on down on a stupid kiddie ride, laughing and giggling like there's no trouble, it made me realize how special that very moment was. For them, and for myself. 10-15 years from now, those kids probably won't even remember me or my name. But when it's their turn to take their kids to Great America, they may reminisct their child hood and vaguely picture a tall skinny Chinese guy offering them the time of their life....even if only a day.

Friday, March 18, 2005

AMEN!!!!

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 (NIV)

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

...am I awake??

Sometimes, blessings come and it happens so fast you don't realize it. I was late with my rent last month so when I wrote the check, I automatically included the $100 late fee. Several days later, the property calls me back and says the rent was postmarked on the 5th...so I didn't need to penalize myself. The 5th of March is a Sunday - no way the post office was open that day. I think she was just being nice cuz I've never been late in all 3+ years. $100!! WOOHOO!!!

Last week, I really need more time to work on my project for school. Out of the blue, Francisco is sick and stays home from tutoring. I tell Wayland that I'm going to skip out on tutoring that night. Got a few extra hours of work in. Made a big difference too...cuz Thursday night I made a huge breakthrough.

Didn't get home till 3AM that night though. Woke up at 6AM Friday morning for class. Stayed out late Friday night for the Deeper Life Conference. Woke up early Saturday morning for the Deeper Life Workshop. Dozed a little bit here and there...but stayed awake for the most part. Saturday night, I worked from 4PM to 4AM Sunday morning. Was so involved with the work I had to miss the third leg of the Conference. Finally, woke up at 7AM Sunday morning for the Morning Service. Sunday afternoon, I went back to finish the project. Worked from 3PM to about 9PM. Ate dinner, showered and started finishing up my project writeup. Decided to take a nap from 1130-1230. Woke up at 1230 and I literally couldn't think. I sat in front of the computer with a blank mind. "Where was I?" "What am I doing?" "Why am I awake?" I knew it was time to call it quits, throw in the towel and put in the finishing touches tomorrow morning. Finally was able to finish up the project, despite a lot of explainable bugs, and finish the write up to a certain degree. Given a few more weeks, I don't know where I could have gone with this project. That's the problem with a lot of engineers, knowing when to quit. But geez....the past 4-5 days I averaged about 3-4 hours of sleep.

Took last night off and went to the Warriors game with Jeff. Caught up with each other's pathetic lives and enjoyed a great game. We were about 15 rows from the court....there's no better way to watch a game than upclose. It's like watching an opera, musical or the symphony. Pay the extra $50-$100 and sit up close...it makes the world of a difference.

Finished all my dental work. Totalled up to about $700. Not too bad..just gotta remember to keep flossing at least once a day. Next trip will be in 6 months. Let's see how long I can keep this flossing thing going before I get lazy again.

After 2.5 years, I finally get to move into another group. But now is definitely the worst timing. My current manager needs me to get him through this crunch. And to be honest, I really want to step up to the challenge. It's the challenge of meeting the impossible schedule that's attractive to me and not the work itself. I lost interest in this line of business over a year ago. Still didn't give him my two week notice...wonder what his reaction will be. I'm trying to work my darndest to get this project to a good handoff point. But I have no drive to work....not since the day my manager said, "You got an exceptional rating this time, next year's evaluation, I'm gonna need to spread the wealth around." I thought that was a bunch of bull. If I work hard all I get is a pat on the back..then I'm not going to work hard.

How's this for an idea....instead of going to Australia/New Zealand or Southeast Asia for my honeymoon....maybe I can head up over to China for the short term mission I've been longing to go to and work at the orphanage for a few weeks. Wild and crazy idea...not sure how Joycie will react.

Still internally debating whether or not to get baptized again.....I better decide soon otherwise this round will pass me up. Be awesome if I can get baptized on Easter Sunday. But it doesn't feel right....not sure what it is. But it just doesn't feel right....ugh...... oh so depressing....

Monday, March 07, 2005

Wedding Counselling

First night of wedding counseling on Tuesday and already Alan is giving us an assignment. List 15-20 reasons why you want to marry the other person. Like all people in the Internet Era, I jumped right onto google to and typed in "Reasons to get married." All the hits that came back were "Reasons NOT to get married." Ironic huh?? Must be a sign...HAHAHAHHAHAHA

I hate Februarys. It's only 2 days shorter than the rest of the months, but it completely threw my bill-paying cycle off. I was late on rent, for the first time in over 3 years. I didn't even ask my property manager to excuse me. I just paid the penalty fee. Sigh.....older I get, the more absent-minded I get. Feel so occupied right now that it's suffocating. But if you ask me why I'm busy...I can only come up with, "y'know...the usual." Maybe I'm not really truly busy...I just like to occupy my time so I don't have free time to clean the house.

Weather was super duper nice this weekend....I sooooooooo wanted to go play golf. But I have just too much work to do...had to bypass the sun.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Tears of Joy? Sadness? Fear? Loneliness? Longing?

I tried to keep it in, but the harder I tried, the faster tears rolled down my face. The more I tried to hide it, the weaker I became.
Everytime our worship team sings that song, my manliness, my machismo, my testosterone all seem to fade away. The entire song, I was only able to utter the first few words of the first verse. I couldn't bring myself to sing the refrain...my voice was trembling too hard. The refrain must've struck a nerve inside me. This nerve that I protect with a false outer shell - pretending to be strong and indestructible. But the wall came tumbling down today when we cried, "I WANT TO SEE YOU! LIKE A CHILD LONGING FOR HIS FATHER!!" It also didn't help that the worship team kept and repeating and repeating the chorus.

Men love to hide their feelings cuz "feelings" is a sign of weakness and vulnerability. It's not so much we love it, but we're forced into it by the taboo of society. Women often complain that they're not treated with equality, that the world is against them and they're second class citizens. How little do they know what men have to go through day in and day out. At least women are able to voice their pains and sorrows. Men? We must hold up a front and pretend everything is fine. We must fortify ourselves and let people know everythign is under control. In combat, even if the battle is lost, the losing general can show no fear in front of his troops. The general knows that all his soldiers are depending on his leadership and guidance. If the general gives up, then the whole army has gives up.

I'll be first to admit that I put up this front all the time. If Joycie and I are vacationing somewhere, and we're lost, I'll keep my cool. Even if I'm scared stiff inside, I act as if I know exactly where we are and I pretend everything will be just fine. Women don't have to do that. If they panic and complain, then that's just women being women. If they're cool and try to compromise the situation, then they're heros and are taking charge. Either way, they win. For men? We only have one way to go.

Who are we trying to show off to? Why can't we admit that we're all weak inside? And the only fortification comes with our Father? If we put our trust in Him, then He'll grant us strength and bless us with real courage; not some false front we conjure up.

This morning, I shouted out for help. I longed for His presence. I submitted to Him. In doing so, I crumbled. But in crumbling, He rebuilt me - only now I'm stronger and better than before. Still got ways to go.....

Friday, March 04, 2005

Son of a gun...

Borrowed from Karen... I always had a feeling I'm borderline Metrosexual. But the results are rather disturbing...






Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male



Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female

You are both sensitive and savvy

Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed

But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve


Tuesday, March 01, 2005

...blah blah blah

You fight and fight. You gnaw and you bite. But in the end, I caught the mercurial cold. During the entire winter I was extra extra careful. Everytime I felt even a twinge of a cold I'll chug a gallon of orange juice. I'll even succumb to using Bath and Body works' hand sanitizer despite the unbearable scents. As the saying goes, "You can guard all day and all night. But it's your family member you can't guard against." The culprit responsible for the heinous act of spreading their disease on to me is my beloved Joyce. Her along with Andrew and PeterNorman. I was surrounded at lunch that day, sitting in the way of the wind. Every time the restaurant's door opened, their germs would bombard me like the Germans bombarded France. Trying to suppress this cold to a mere cough...but the battle is not swinging my way. Even resorted to good ol' Chinese Herbal Medicine. Probably need another dose or two, or three.

Did my Academic Projection for Masters Program. If I'm lucky and get all my classes, coupled with work being as laid back as it has the past year, on top of me finding the studiousness to take on what I ought to take on, I can get out by end of 2007. Oh Mylanta!! That's another 2.5-3 years at full load. Only saving grace in being a student is I can tell people I'm still in college - it makes me feel young. *wink* Plus I can use my Student Discount without feeling guilty. HA!

Went to the dentist for the first time in 2 years. Have over $700 worth of dental work coming up...boohoo.....=( $700 can get me a new clutch! $700 can get me back to HK! Chumps like me really oughta do my research. Who's to say this dental office isn't scewin' me over? After my little exam, this gorgeous lady comes over with a very warm smile to go over my costs. They show you two columns of numbers - What it'll cost you without insurance and What it'll cost you with insurance. Who's to say they don't jack up their prices? I didn't do any comparison shopping. Besides that, I want to see what the costs are if I have Delta as opposed to Cigna. Blah blah blah....I'm too lazy to actually do my research, but not too lazy to complain.

Headin' over to the Laser Eye Center today to get my LASIK evaluation. I wonder if I even qualify for LASIK with my heavy astigmatism. And what kind of dent will it do my wallet? Been a prisoner of my glasses since I was 6. Theory has it I may have needed it before that....my parents were just ignorant. But for the past 20 years I've learned to hate (yes, HATE) having to depend my entire life on two pieces of plastic. During Sunday School, Alan asked us, "What in life can you live without." I told my group, I can't live without my glasses. One time, I woke up and my glasses weren't on my bedstand. I must've knocked it on the floor during the night. But when I woke up, I was soooooooooooooooo lost!! Was on my hands and knees feeling around for my glasses. That feeling of being lost and desperateness was far too overbearing. Course...that wasn't what Alan was expecting, heh...but I could've easily transformed that into an analogy, "Being lost without the Light."

School and work is starting to get overwhelming. So why am I not doing either one, but instead updating my journal? Heh......shame on me.