渾身解數

That time of the year again... where I clear out all our outgrown clothes, unplayed toys and unused stuff and donate it to Goodwill.  

On top of that... I took all our bottles and cans to a local recycling company.  Maaaaan it felt good!!! We even got $28 dollars back from all that recycling.  I tipped the counter lady $3 - to which she was ever grateful.  I tipped the dude who saved me a parking spot and helped me with the bottles $5 - to which Joyce chastised me for overtipping =(.  And the remaining $20.... I lost!!!! HA!!!  Well... hopefully I dropped it somewhere... and someone in need picked it up and was able to get a good meal.  

We're such a luxurious, extravagant society... we simply have too much sh*t.  Plain and simple. Too. Much. Sh*t.  And boy... it feels nice to rid myself of some of that sh*t. 

What's the dream...?

One of my biggest dreams (and hopefully not biggest regrets), is to go on a vacation with mom and dad.  Correction, mom OR dad.  <sigh...>

In my recollection... I have never, ever, ever.... taken them on a trip. We may have taken one day road trips here and there... but that's it.  Never overnight.  The closest one was for Chun's wedding back in 2012... but Hurricane Sandy put a dent in that idea.  And many years later... I find out that I'm the black sheep of the family cuz I never made it to my cousin's wedding when they rescheduled it.  Heh... 

Out of the blue today... mom says, "I want to go on a 3 day 2 night vacation." Mom never says that... she doesn't like to travel.  In fact... when the folks were together and dad was working for Hyatt... he booked all these international trips to Japan... Thailand.... only for mom to cancel last minute. 真掃興! 

I improperly thought of sending mom on one of those Chinatown bus tours (Shame on me!!)  Then we start talking about Jerusalem... the Holy Land.  Ohhhhhh.... my bucket list.  How I would love to walk the paths that Jesus walked on.  And to do it with mom.  The questions are... do we do it with a Christian tour guide? A Catholic tour guide? If we do it in Chinese...will the kids understand? If we do it in English... will I serve as translator?  And the biggest question... will Big Bro come with us??  

Sigh.... to dream.

A new perspective

The past couple of summers... I've hired a teacher for the course of 8 weeks.  The idea is to bridge industry with academia so they can take things back to school and help bridge the real world with textbooks.  This summer... I specifically chose a non-STEAM teacher.  In fact... she's a librarian with a degree in English Lit?? Why would I do that??? I wanted to give her an opportunity, a chance. I wanted to challenge myself.  I wanted a new perspective on running a department in an engineering firm.  And my.... how much I've learned in the past 4 weeks.  

I don't think she's anywhere near the caliber of my previous hires... but I've learned so much in hiring her... that she's left a bigger, deeper, more everlasting footprint in me... than all the previous teachers combined. 

For better or worse....

For thousands and thousands of years... house wives (homemakers) have taken care of the home without a word of complaint. In many cultures and societies... homemakers weren't just homemakers... they held a full time job as well.  And what did the husband (spouse) do?? Nuthing.  Absolutely nothing!!!  What did the wife (spouse) do? Nothing, either.  They didn't complain.  Didn't grumble. Whatever it took to keep a family going.

Well... I'm not that spouse.  I am going to complain.  Ugh!!!!  It's not fair!!!  Ugh!!! Why can't she pitch in a little... for dinner.  For cleaning.  For spending time with the kids!!! Ugh!!! Why?!?!?!??! Oh..... she did.  She dumped a bunch of her extra shoe boxes.  Donated a bunch of extra clothes.  The past two days... she cooked lunch and dinner.  She cleaned up the kitchen.  And when she knew I got upset... she went out an quietly bought a bottle of my favorite wine.  Heh.... "For better or worse...."  Vows are not to be taken lightly... huh? 

What a waste

 Pet Peeve #12

Before the beginning of every school year... we're told to buy this and that for school supplies. At the end of every school year.... they come home with a bunch of unused junk.  Including, even, 100 page spiral notebooks that have 10 pages of stuff written on it.  Why buy the notebooks if you're not going to use them??

Yes... I tore away the 10 pages... and will reuse that notebook next year.  Wouldn't you?

Surreal

 I went into work today and went to take a piss... and found another man doing his business 2 urinals away.  Wow... 16 months later... I'm sharing a bathroom again.  Surreal. 

What's most important to you

 For her Bday... we bought NN a mini-printer the size of an iphone that prints photos.  It's kinda sorta like an inkjet crossed with a polaroid camera.  Today... I sat on her table and found these 4 pics.

1. a family pic of going rafting
2. a picture of her and SW posing
3. a picture of her and the cousins catching a fish
4. a group photo of her 5th grade friends

A lot can be said of what these photos meant to my NN

我嫁得好

 The other day... I was paid the ultimate compliment.  Not to me directly... but Joyce actually said to Dad, "我嫁得好." To which dad couldn't contain himself... and immediately turned to be to echo the sentiments.  He spilled some truths... he said, "It's very visible to see who does what."  But for dad to hear Joyce say that... I think he was the one that was extremely 安慰.  For me.... I get to wake up and stare at the love of my life. And to hear that person call me, "老公", that is my ultimate compliment. 

我今日…

 …好開心.

父親節快樂

 An unforgettable Father's Day weekend.  Hanging out with dad and PAL, C-mo, and Yammie.  Hanging out with 契媽, 契爺.  Spending an entire day together (ironic how that is special).  And to top it off... able to go worship with dad.  Never in my dreams... but dreams do come true.  My ultimate Father's Day gift. 

As the pandemic subsides...and life returns back to normal.. who knows where life will lead.  But by God's grace... may all our lives change for the better... for good. 

佩碧姨

There are certain people in our lives that are so intertwined with your family tree... that it's impossible to untie this Gordian Knot or 情義結.  

A month ago... mom found a way to meet up with 佩碧姨 and 德霖叔.  Dad got jealous so we had another rendezvous with them. The stories were fascinating. How they escaped from China as political refugees. How they struggled in HK... became friends from simply eating dinner together a few times.  How 德霖叔 was so poor... they didn't have any money to attend Big Bro's 滿月酒.  

Then when we arrived in San Francisco... how mom singlehandedly rescued their child from systemic child abuse.  How they bought us our first Christmas presents... drove us everywhere on weekends... bought us Castle Grayskull from Toys R Us.  There is no one in this world we or they...are more indebted to.  At my college graduation... I didn't invite any one, except for 佩碧姨.  When Alfred got married... we sat in the head family's 2nd table.  When 佩碧姨's friend wanted to visit Cal Poly... I dropped EVERYTHING to give them a self-guided tour of campus.  When dad was going through financial hardships... they didn't even ask and came out with an envelope of cash. 

In this day and age... when hardships are no more than "stress at work" or "traffic was horrible. Friendships like this don't happen anymore.  The ties with this family is intricate... extravagant... and legendary.