Don't give up... I'm right beside you...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 45

She really didn't want to go... and I really didn't want to force her.  We eventually made it out the house... and started our mile run... hoping to best our 10 minute mark. 

Halfway through... she needed to stop and walk.  I slowed down to a walking-jog.  Then as we made our final turn... I heard her footsteps start to pickup.  My Nn was pushing herself. 

At the final stretch... she said, "Bah-B... I can't do this."  So I reached out and grabbed her hand... "We'll do this together."  I didn't pull her.  I simply squeezed her hand tight, hoping to pass some of my energy to her.  And as we were about 100 feet away from the finish line... I decided to let go and let her sprint her way to the end.

Put that into a life analogy.... do it.... I dare you not to. 😭

Nui-stones and SW-stones

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 44

Nui-stones and SW-stones in the past 2 days....

Yesterday... SW's friend wasn't able to have their Google Hangout session for whatever reason.  SW ended up typing "😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭."  To which his friend responded with "}:}:}:"  So pure.  So sweet. 

Last night... I accidentally read NN's chats with her friends.  Turns out she's asking them if she's bossy, jealous and hot-headed.  She asked all her girl friends.  To have the courage to ask that... and to take the answers straight on.  That showed a lot of guts and a lot of determination.  I was proud and heart broken at the same time.

This morning... I forced SW to try drinking some milk to go with his cinnamon toast crunch cereal.  Not only was he reluctant... he made every face and came up with every excuse to not drink it.  At the end... I got him to take two sips.  Immediately... he complained his lips were itching.  Placebo effect.  I thought.  I made him take two more sips... and he started to hack up phlegm.  Geez..... and then I said a few things I shouldn't have said and SW ends up crying.  Failed.

Later this mornin... Joyce goes into work cuz her laptop died.  I had meetings up the wazoo so SW didn't have a snack.  He finished all his work.  He finished his zoom session. He was bored and hungry.  He finally built up enough courage to come in and ask, "Are you done with your meetings? I'm hungry."  Geez... what kind of father am I?!?!???  

Later in the afternoon... SW's friends pinged him to hangout.  He was so happy.  He grabbed his iPad and ran into his room.  To him... this was the highlight of his day.  To him... this was making up for what didn't happen yesterday.  But to Joyce... Tuesday and Fridays are off-limits. Rules are rules.  I ended up explaining to Joyce that there could be exceptions to the rules - especially if the little guy's been going through a rough couple of days.  Lighten up...?

Early evening... I once again begged NN to run with me.  She's borderline rebelling but I'm still hanging on to our father/daughter relationship... albeit by the thinnest of threads.  And this time... SW didn't come with us.  I said... let's not run two laps.  Let's just run 10 minutes to see how far we go.  Well lo and behold.... in 10 minutes, we ran two full laps around our neighborhood - non-stop.  She can do it!!!

During dinner... SW pulls out his 7th tooth.  Why??? Cuz the wiggly tooth is bothering him.  And he wants to be able to eat his pizza and Modo Donut on his birthday.  I pack his tooth in a little sandwich bag.... wrote a note documenting the date and the tooth... put it in some drawer and by golly... I'm so organized... there lied his other 6 teeth.  All in bags.  All with a note.  All written the same way.  I'm so predictable.  He's so brave. 

Right before bed... I map out our route on google map.  Each lap was approximately 0.53 miles.  Which meant.... two laps is about 1.06 miles.  Which meant... NN did her 10 minute mile.  The best thing wasn't her meeting her goal... the best thing was... she wants to demolish her goal.   Project 21 goal - ACCOMPLISHED!!! 

Amazing Race - Parents Edition

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 43

Heh... the kids designed an Amazing Race for us tonight.  It was really good!!  They copied some of the challenges I came up with... but they also took some creative independence and spun things in an unexpected away.

One of the best part was... SW used his iPad to chase after the action.  I joined in the fun by taking some self-videos and pretending to be interviewed.  Ended up making an entire video with sound effects and everything.  

Half way through the race... you can easily see who wanted it more, who was relentless in pursue of victory.  And you can also see who was pouting and grumbling at the sure eventuality of losing.  To a point where... the judges were scared that one of the contestant will get mad.  

And there were a couple of times where SW and NN were obviously helping me and giving me hints.  Heh...Daddy-bias.  Doesn't happen often.  I'll take it!!  

TVB-ing

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 43

When Netflix... Hulu... Amazon Prime and even Disney+ fails you...and there's "nothing" to watch, I guess you fall back on old faithful.... good ol' TVB.  Well... kinda sorta.  A lot of TVB shows are junk (to me) but if all I'm going for is some background noise... why not?!  While working... while cooking...

The best part is... Joyce walks into the kitchen and mocked me.  Then she sat down and pretended not to care.  Then you can hear her stifle a laff or two.  Then she slowly comes over to the kitchen to get some water.  And before you know it... she's standing right behind me staring at the screen.  #BOOM

Awkward!!!!

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 42

It was Short and Stubby's Bday today... and I thought... what the hay... let's have a Zoom Session.  Then I thought... what the hay... let's get the rest of the Sons on.  Reached into my dormant Facebook account and dust ridden contact list to resurrect some long-severed connections.  Was only able to get a hold of 4 of them.  After the first 10 minutes of "Hey!!! How's it going?!?!" and "Man... last time I saw you was...."  there was awkward silence.  Like... "Uhhhh....someone say something."  Heh....

Such it is....  Will do it again, maybe.  And I do, I'll try to find the missing Sons.  And of course... OGB.... Davefffff (assuming he's still alive!)  

Braving the storm

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 41

Joyce says we haven't been documenting our SIP with pictures. 10-15 years from now... or even 10-15 weeks from now... we're going to forget what we went through. 

Not since the Saturday before SIP was officially in place have we gone shopping.  This time... we braved the storm and headed to Target with one goal in mind - finding a giant Squish-Mallow for SW's upcoming birthday.  Not only did we find it... we also found a bunch of snacks, junk food, TOILET PAPER!!!! Oh... and a case of beer.  Heh...  

Ended up not getting the TP... it was $1 / roll.  But how do you really value TP?? Thickness of roll? Overall length? Roughness? Softness?  Regardless... the main point is... if I am to brave Armageddon with anyone... I have that person right by my side. 

State Project - Colorado

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 40

Apparently... most 5th grade classes in California have a State Project (I don't remember doing one).  NN picked Colorado cuz Bah-B travels there a lot.  She wrote letters to politicians, national parks, sports franchises and a few of my co-workers.  Oh.... and she included the President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. 

Two months later... after all the stuff we've gone through with mails... email exchanges... winter and spring breaks... SIP.... we were finally able to get our hands on the package that headquarters sent out.

There were a bunch of things in there... including a handwritten note from John Stumbo, some historical facts of C&MA, some postcards, brochures.  An authentic projector slide made of glass that shows the boats our missionaries use to travel on.  

And lookie here... a book signed by the author made out to NN.  As Sandy would put it... "What a treat!!"  

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."  ~Hebrews 11:6

年年有今日？

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 39

又一年、又大一歲。原本今年結婚十五週年，可以去Cruise. 結果、生日竟然以食外賣為焦點。兩個寶貝都好識做、今日特別乖。囡囡整咗個蛋糕比媽媽、又有卡又有禮物，有得同外家Zoom, 之後仲同班靚媽Zoom.

其實大家都好忙，要佢哋抽一個鐘頭時間出嚟認真唔話得。誠心多謝咁多位好姊妹令到我老婆笑得咁開心。 

Growing pains

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 38

Went running again today... but poor NN complained about soreness citing growing pains. But she was a trooper... muscled through it even though there was a lot of mumbling and grumbling.  Will keep doing it until she breaks. Then we’ll do sprints instead.

Mold?!

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 37

Ah man!!! There’s mold in our tomato plants!!!

One month to go...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 36

School sent out an official notice saying we'll be going to remote schooling the rest of the school year and the last day of school is 5/22 with the week of Memorial Day being final cleanup and returning of material.  Which means... we have a little more than month to complete Project 21 before the end of the school year. 

Sigh... what started out as a great motivator has now dwindled down to helping NN run her 10 minute mile.  I think she can do it... but she needs some training.  The HIIT in the garage can only get her so far.  

I pulled her out of her Google Hangout session this afternoon...and she was miffed.  =(  But after a week off for Spring Break, it's time to get them back into the groove again.  The first lap around the neighborhood... she was prancing like an antelope.  I was having a hard time keeping up!!  Then ..as expected... she crashed by lap 2.  Ho ho ho....  

Including the walking and cooling down at the end... it ended up being about a 15 minute mile.  Shave off 5 minutes... no problem.  Will I accomplish at least one of the items on Project 21?????  The 1 item that's not even on there??? Sigh....

Floppin'

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 36

Futbol did not invent the flop.

Vlade Divac did not bring it to America.

Witnessed it with my own eyes today... as we were playing football on our front lawn... NN barely touches SW... and SW tumbles to the ground, loses his shoe and rolls for a full 720 before coming to a stop.  He bounces back up... screams, "Pass interference!!!"  then starts limping as he goes to pick up his shoe.

Who taught him that?!?!?!

"Will you accept this rose?"

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 35

Today during our daily stroll... we hung door hangers that we created the past few days.  Door hangers that bear a simple message of "Hi! I'm here for you.  Call me if you need anything."  A small gesture. A bit of creativity.  In the name of bringing His light into this neighborhood. 

Making the door hangers was challenging.  Didn't have a lot of materials at home.  And if I'm giving out something.. I don't want it to be half-@$$ed.

Hanging the door hangers were awkward.  Especially in this time of social distancing and minimizing sharing of anything... ANYTHING.  I didn't want to offend anyone.  

Later today.. as the kids and I were in the front yard planting our tomato plants... one of our neighbors came by with a smile on his face and thanked us for such a sweet gesture.  And in return... he gifted us with this....  (I'm actually kinda impressed with my own camera skills here)

Apparently this is called a "Rock-n-Rose."  Don't remember the last time (or the first time) I received a flower.  Hmmm....  But, 老實講， 掛幾個door hanger有幾難姐？

I need a new movie...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 34

Ok... enough is enough. This isn't phunny anymore. Starting in the second year of his life sentence, it took Andy Dufresne nearly 17 years to tunnel his way to freedom.  Digging with that little rock hammer bit by bit....

Well holy mother of Warden.... the broken pipe (it was a PVC pipe, heh) was so deep in the ground, I was only able to saw with 2 inches of clearance and not damage the adjacent pipe.  Would've been better off flossing with a metallic string. 

Under that stinken ginormous root was the other side of the broken pipe with just enough space for my knuckles to get in there so I can use sand paper to smooth out the pipe for the ultimate reattachment surgery.

As I was on my knees... almost in a prayer position...  I was just waiting for the voice of an opera singer to start blaring on Pandora. Instead... it was "Ooops! I did it again."  

Literally.... "Ah sh*t...."

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 33

Maybe I should've picked a different movie analogy... but dog-gone it... the prophecy has come true.

I found a broken pipe under ground!!! It wasn't me and my pickaxe... or a rock. It was the stupid root from that giant tree! It's coo... just a minor setback. As I always tell the kids... 小小苦楚等於激勵. We can get past this... and when we do... I'm gonna get me some firewood!!

Missing out...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 32

Not so often... but more than I can remember... during 家庭時間 prior to going to bed... SW and NN will say the best part of their day is Bah-B watching a movie with them.  I try... sometimes... but it's just so easy to hide in my room and "work" whenever I get 2 hours of silence.

Twice... I've sat through horrid movies with SW.  

The first time... we walked out of the theater and I felt like crap cuz I wasted two hours of our time.  I even apologized to him for such a horrible movie.  But he was as happy as a clam.  Such a positive attitude... he said, "This wasn't the best Pokemon movie, but I liked it!"  And he still brings up that day I picked him up from coding and had Pizza my Heart for dinner while 家姐 went camping. 

Another time... I picked a piece of garbage on Netflix.  I suggested we stop the movie and pick something else.  But he insisted we kept going.  "I want to watch the whole thing - Bah B is here."  

Tonight... I watched The Croods - a movie I wouldn't be caught dead watching if it wasn't recommended by {{someone}}.  I remember the kids watching this a while back...   It's an amazing movie.  Beautifully animated. Heart-wrenching storyline.  Loads of jokes and laughter.  And there I sat... all by myself... in the lonely darkness.  When I could have watched this movie with the fam and shared with them one more happy memory.  Instead... I only have regrets.

Forget regrets or life is yours to miss.  Forget life... and all you have left are regrets.  

The Shaws-HANK Redemption 2020

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 31

The rock hammer hidden in the book of Exodus led to Andy's redemption...

And today... as I sat in my yard.. "sat and drank [water] with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men."

I look on the ground and see my pickaxe.  Once again, I'm embarking on redoing my yard, this time the backyard - a war-torn travesty that has seen more abundant days. 

After an hour or two of backbreaking digging and toiling... doubt start drifting in my head again.  Why can't I just pay someone to do this????  And that's when I find this... 

The strikes of my axe broke it into 3 pieces... but it's the carcass of a carrot that SW planted years ago when we tried (and failed) to plant a supposedly undie-able tomato plant.  If a carrot can survive... grow... almost flourish... then there's hope in this future vegetable garden afterall.   

ShawHANK Redemption 2020.... here we go!!!  Gotta be careful and not hammer through any sewage pipes...

Blast from the Past

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 29

Following up on roller blading yesterday... the kids officially started Spring Break, so we've loosened up on the home restrictions and allowed them to turn the Wii on.  But the games we have are limited to Wii Sports, Super Smash Brothers and Cooking Mama.  And NN isn't at all interested in Lego Star Wars.  So I bust out with an old skool early 2000 game on the PS2 - Tak - the Great Juju Challenge!!

The graphics suck.  The game play is so-so.  The premise is really elementary.  But the kids love it.  They laugh so hard when it's time to laugh.  And of course, they get into squabbles and arguments when they run into roadblocks.

If they're good... I'll bust out with Dance Dance Revolution next week!! OH YEAH!!

風之刀

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 28

90年代、無綫出了一套由城城同少芬飾演的劇集「風之刀。」
同期、我跟著旱冰鞋熱潮買了一對on sale 的 Rollerblades -Spirit Blades. 我就幫它取中文名：風之刀。 這廿載期間、「刀」出鞘的機會不過於10次。適逢期時、在居家避疫、每天跟公主、太子到外散步。 風之刀、竟再現江湖！

只可惜多、年沒有悉心保養的「刀」、今天出鞘、竟然弄碎了。

Rate of Consumption

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 26

Just realized we've used up a third of our rice bucket which was filled about a week ago.  A stroke of panic immediately set in.  The only difference from prior to SIP is we'd eat out a few times a week.  Our grocery bills are amazingly expensive! Power and water bills are probably shooting up.  But with not eating out and eliminating gas...  is it a wash??

Amazing Race - Family Edition

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 25

For the past week... I've been running the Amazing Race at home.  Coming up with challenges for the kids to do in a race against each other.  The challenges range from mental challenges, facetiming friends and family, physical challenges like doing 50 pushups or bouncing a ping pong ball 50x using your left hand, scavenger hunts and any sort of weird stuff I can think of.

The first night... NN blew SW away.  I set the rules...win or lose, you don't boast and you don't cry.  Poor baby had to hold his tears in when he lost.  So I ended the night by saying "This is not an elimination round."  Immediately he was beaming with a smile... but that resulted in me coming up with 2nd night.   And I said SW can recruit Joyce to be on her team, but he had to incur a time penalty.  This time, I purposely chose challenges that SW should win and NN would have trouble with. But NN blew past all those challenges and came in first again.  Night three... I felt guilty for playing favoritism so I only allowed Joyce to join in on 1 challenge.  Surprisingly... one of the challenges was to draw a picture and for some reason, NN spent a lot of time on her masterpiece when all I needed were some chicken scratch allowing SW to catch up and win that leg of the race.   This set up a 4th and final night.

Was running out of ideas... but really... how can you run out of ideas when there's so many things you can do around the house.  Tie your thumbs to do something.  Walk around with a book on your head.  Hit 5 HR's in Wii Sports.   In the end... NN came in first.  SW didn't get to finish his challenges cuz he had a zoom call.

But what's amazing about all this is... how loving NN can really be.  She'll wait for SW.  She'll encourage him.  Figure stuff out with him.  Yes... she's competitive.  Yes... she hates losing.  Yes... she wants to win.  But deep down... she loves her little brother.  So who really wins in this amazing race???

So thankful for siblings.  So thankful I, too, had a sibling growing up.  Mmmm hmmmm...

Obsession

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 22

For the past week... I've been utterly obsessed and addicted to untangling a ball of yarn.  That's right... a friggin ball of yarn!!

There were times I thought about the bible verse, it's harder for a camel to go through a needle's eye, cuz that's definitely how it felt.  There were loops that were so small... so tight... I couldn't pull and yank.

There were times the pieces of yarn were stripped and all there was left were bare string!!!  And when the bare strings get tied together it's nearly impossible to untie.

There were times I wondered if I was pulling it to emancipate? or pulling to further incarcerate.

There were times I needed to stretch out the different arms and legs of the star... to which I used my knees, my feet. and even my toes to keep things straight.

My eyes were out of focus.  My neck was stiff.  My back was hurting. My finger nails were aching.

Tuesday night / Wednesday morning... I was up till 4AM.
Wednesday night... I was up till 12.
Thursday night... I was too tired and gave up around 11.
Friday night... I didn't sleep at all.  Even though I promised Joyce I wouldn't work on it.  I had Netflix on in the background and just kept tugging, unraveling, picking, pulling.  Before I knew it... the sky went from black to blue.  I started to hear birds chirping.  Friday came and went... it was Saturday.

I knew I was gonna get in trouble... so around 6:50AM, I snuck back into bed before the kids woke up.  I initially was gonna take a 45 minute nap.  Ended up waking up around 11:30.  Boy was I tired....

And what did I do when I woke up??? Made lunch.... and then went back at it.  Hahaha... I even hired NN to be a partner cuz my knees and toes just weren't enough to spread things out.  And then.... at around 2PM... this adventure that I set out on that unassuming Tuesday night... came to an end.  How dumb can I get????  HA!!

Well well well... look what we have here... 

It's real. This is real.

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 19

Went to get some gas yesterday (yes yes.. I don't have an EV) and wandered into the mini mart to grab a bottle of soda.  Been drinking water the past 2 weeks and really just wanted something different.  When it came down to it... there was really just one choice. 

1985 - We've Got a Taste for You
1985 - America's Real Choice
1986 - Red, White & You
1986 - Catch the Wave
1987 - When Coca-Cola is a Part of Your Life, You Can't Beat the Feeling
1988 - You Can't Beat the Feeling
1989 - Official Soft Drink of Summer
1990 - You Can't Beat the Real Thing
1993 - Always Coca-Cola
2000 - Coca-Cola. Enjoy
2001 - Life Tastes Good
2003 - Coca-Cola... Real
2005 - Make It Real
2006 - The Coke Side of Life
2009 - Open Happiness
2016 - Taste the Feeling

In other news... stayed up till 4AM last night trying to untangle a ball of yarn.  And I'm still not done!!