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。