濕濕粹

COVID19 - School Closure - Day 157 School Reopens - Day 228

Being the 2nd child sucks sometimes... and being the 2nd child of a pair of cheap parents suck even more. After NN's 1st birthday... we vowed to not do another birthday party until they turned 10. For NN... she had her moment with her friends. An Escape Room... cake... song... presents. SW.... this was his year. And COVID is still lingering to a point... where we were gonna punt. Until Seth's mom asks, "Do you wanna do a joint birthday hang out?"

Birthday parties are still frowned upon. Parties with large groups of people from various bubbles are not allowed. Public places are still closed...sorta... and you won't be able to get a park or public venue without getting dirty looks.  Thank goodness Kristine thought of holding a birthday hangout after school on school grounds.

SW was so excited.... he was giddy the entire week when he found out.  We had a pinata... we had cake (individually wrapped cupcakes made by a caterer), we had candies, lots of it.  Toys. Games. Great friends. Great company.  SW... to say the least... finally had his day.  We had more people than we planned for... but Kristine.. in all her awesomeness... bought so much stuff, we coulda hosted a party for the entire school.  The way she spends for her son is jaw-dropping.  If it was us... we'd use the guest list and add 4-5 kids for margin.  She took the guest list... and multiplied it by 4-5 for margin.  

And I.... I got to organize another Amazing Race.  Heh.... and the kids were pissed.  A lot gave up.  One girl screamed, "Who does math at a party?!"  The parents loved it... "We have a new PE teacher!"  It was a little disheartening when only 2 teams played it through... and astoundingly... they were girls.  It broke my heart that no one tried to memorize 1 Cor 13 or the Preamble of the Constitution.  It was disappointing that no one got the math problem right.  But in the end... after we skipped all the "brain" competition and went with the "braun", the teams who gave up came back in. 

Couple of noteworthy moments.... when a dad said to me, "This is amazing... one of the first times we've done anything since COVID hit us a year ago."  And another moment... when SW was sitting with his friends counting their booties from the pinata.  

My baby. My little peanut.  My own flesh and blood.  I didn't think little dollar store toys and Oriental Trading junk would mean so much to a bunch of spoiled kids.  But amazingly it did.  The fact that the Heritage family can band together and form a day of joy and happiness... that was heart melting. 

The party ended.  We had a lot (A LOT) of leftover pizza...cupcakes...candy and food.  But it was allllllll good.  Cuz at the end of the day.... Siu Wah was sooooooooooooooo happy.  And when Siu Wah is happy.  Well... that makes mom and dad happy.

And tomorrow.... he will officially turn 10.  

Haiku

Once every decade

Decide to host a party

Best time of our lives

When the Impossible is Possible

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Buy one get one for $1.  You can't pass up a good deal... and I've been craving Burger King for a while.  Happened to be at work today.. so I pulled into the drive through to get my fix.  Hmmm... what is this Impossible Whopper? Is it a new promotion they're pushing? Whatever... I got my chicken sandwich and whopper.

Ohhhhh... chicken sandwich is amazing.  Best chicken sandwich in all of fast food restaurants.  The spiciness.  The tanginess of the sauce.  The fact that it's a long oval and not a circle.  Perfection.

Then I had the whopper.  Hmm... a little different.  A bit too tasty. Wonder why they piled on the lettuce and onions.  Alas... a whopper is a whopper.  Until... I find out.... from a friend.... that the impossible whopper is.... Beyond Beef!!!!!!!!!!!!! FAKE MEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haiku

It's not what it seems

Try and hide the real thing

It's impossible

Benchmarking

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Been putting the kids through a semi-structured regime lately, trying to build up their physical strength and stamina. There's something called the Presidential Test... that JFK or LBJ came up with once upon a time... that states how many pushups, sit-ups, pull ups and how fast a mile should be ran for boys and girls growing up. Both of the kids are pretty far off from the 85 percentile.  So they're not naturally gifted... nothing some nurturing won't fix.  It will take a lot of commitment though.... especially the strength building part.  Pre-puberty kids simply don't have the body to perform some of these exercises... I guess.

And then... at the end of every workout session... I have them sprint a neighborhood block.  It's a nice long strip of flat land without driveways or incoming cars.  When I measured it on google maps... it turns out the length is about 290 feet...or roughly 90 meters... just shy of the standard 100 meter dash.

SW's been averaging about 11 seconds... a couple seconds shy of his age group. NN on the other hand... is hovering around 9.5 seconds.  Putting her at the upper echelon of her group.  After a few days of them doing it.. I finally timed myself.  Geez!!! 100 meters is long.  And when you're put on the spot to run... it gets all awkward and clumsy.  You're hypersensitive about everything.  From the arm motion... to the breathing rhythm.  To the step... do you run on the balls of your feet? Take long strides? When do you burst? When do you pace?  I guess that's why they have a track coach to teach you these things.

My first run was about 10.4 seconds.  After my initial run... I turned on the jet engine and came in around 9.0 seconds.  9.0 for 90 meters.... extrapolate that out... I'm probably at 9.5 for 100 meters.  Still pretty darn good!!  What's more exciting is... NN is just half a second behind me.  

Super proud of both of them.  Let's see how long it takes for her to out-run me.  And more importantly... give her the confidence, give both of them the confidence, that if they set their mind to it and work on something... they can accomplish almost anything.  

Haiku

Tortoise and the hare

Slow and steady wins the race

Race against  yourself

FOMO

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In this day and age... when slang, euphemisms and trends go by faster than... well... the latest trend, euphemism and slang... it's easy to miss out on what the younger generation are saying. Worst yet... there's the fear of not understanding them... the fear of not communicating with them... and the fear of missing out (FOMO).

As I'm authoring the next issue of a company newsletter... I took it upon myself to get extra and on fleek.  I wanted this article to slay... and be straight fire. I highkey wait for the response I'll get... at the very least... I can stay mittens. 

Heh... I started talking like that during dinner and it made NN cringe.  Partially... cuz she says, "When a parent starts saying it, it's no longer lit." Partially... cuz she's jealous that her old man is snatched.  What bothers me the most... is the fact that the terms they think are trendy and all that... were terms we used in the 90's!! This generation... Gen Z, perhaps.. are nothing but a bunch of copy cats!! Big yikes!!

Haiku

Words are not just words

They take on a new meaning

I am old, but dope. 

Minority Church

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Today... Pastor Ted preached on the topic "Minority Church." And how historically... it was in the midst of persecution and when the Christianity became a "minority", that the church actually flourished. He cited the story of Daniel and the exile of Israel to Babylon. But he easily could have mentioned the Jews in Mosaic times. Or the invasion of the Assyrians and Chaldean empires. Or even the Romans in 60A.D. when they dashed Acts 1:8 into Acts 8:1.

Ironically... today... it was announced that our church will be undergoing some mighty change with our scheduling and ministry approach.  In some ways.. I feel like CS is on the short end of the stick.  We are now... at SJCAC... the minority.  And why is that? Well... Chinese in the Bay Area is primarily Mandarin.  So MS speaks with a much louder voice.  As much as the church is grounded in Cantonese, ES takes a strong foothold because our Children and Youth ministries are all in English.  Cantonese in modern times... is a side show.  An ornament.  A carryover from yester-year.  We are the minorities in our church.

Joyce summarized it best... part of this is our own doing.  For some reason... all the CS families are not able to retain Cantonese in our next generation.  We've all succumbed to have our kids speak English.  MS...or any of the other ethnic churches... have their kids retain their original language and identity. 

In a way... I love being the minority... the underdog.  It's times like this where I flourish. But man... to be in a position of powerlessness... that sucks!!

Haiku

Where are the Cantos

If we don't do something now

Will be left behind

Nuh-Uh-Uhhhh....

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Pet Peeve #15 - Not returning your shopping carts.

I mean... if you're a senior citizen or a mom with young children on a rainy day... fine... prop it up on those cement planters so they don't roll away.  And push it deep into the planter so you don't block a prime parking spot.  

Today at Costco... as I was turning the corner... I saw a lady joyfully push her cart and park it next to a cart that was next to a planter.  Not only was the cart a threat to roll away... it was now halfway into someone's parking spot.  I couldn't help myself.... I stared her down with my eagle eyes and shook my head.  I was wearing a cap... so the shaking was more prominent.  "Nuh-uh-uhhhh... C'mon lady!!! The parking stall is one row over!!!"  She must've seen me.... cuz she took a 180 degree turn, walked back to pick up the cart, and parked it in its rightful place of destination.  

In my parochial, legalistic, specious self... I did society some good today.  I will all asleep with a smile on my face.

Haiku
Go do what is right
Try being considerate
Walk those extra steps

Too long of a pause

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NN was oversharing today about her friend that's not doing so well in school. I asked if her friend told her parents. And she said, her dad has anger problems. I then asked... "Do I have anger problems?" She paused...

Later on... we were watching The Rookie on Disney+, a heart warming, real life story of a dad chasing his dream and also his son's dream because dad is his hero. I asked SW, "Who is your hero?"  Pause.... "Momma!"  

Hmm..... am I overthinking things? 

Haiku

The truth must be told

I have not been a good dad

Can I salvage this?

Lost and Found

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Peet Peeve #132 - Carelessly losing things.... and showing zero remorse! 

Why does it bother me so much when things are misplaced.  When the kids were younger... I would lose it and turn the house upside down (while scaring the bejeezus out of them) if they misplaced a library book.  How hard is it to keep track of your books??

Earlier tonight... NN owned up to losing the tip to her stylus. I was trying to keep my frustration in... but the fact that this stylus was bought to replace a previously lost stylus.  And it was a tiny, little tip that she unscrewed out of habit so she can play with it.  I was stunned that there was almost zero effort put into finding the tip... albeit, it's about the size of a booger.  I kept telling myself... it's only money.  Don't make a big deal out of it. I kept thinking... how would Ken and Hody handle this?  But the more I thought about it... the more frantically I searched in vain... the more worked up I got.  

Fine.  I'll buy replacement tips.  I'm sure it happens more often than not.  Only to find out... it's out of stock everywhere!! Might as well buy another stylus.  Geeeeeeez!!!  Keep your fidgety hands away from a teeny-tiny piece of thing-a-ma-bob and care about your stuff for once.  I bet if they had to pay for the replacement themselves... they'll learn that mom and dad won't always buy their way out of trouble.  

Ugggggghhhhh....

Haiku

Not about money

But it's about principle

How hard can it be?

Closure

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Back in 1996... when we first descended down Cuesta Ridge to San Luis Obispo... you'll see huge billboards of Kristin Smart, the college freshman that went missing after a college party. That sparked a Hardcopy, Unsolved Mystery, a True Crime Podcast just to name a few media venues that documented the murder case that has gone unsolved for nearly 25 years.  But today... the San Luis County sheriff held a press conference announcing the arrest of the prime suspect and his accessories.  25 years later... we might finally have closure.  This was just one year prior to my enrollment at Cal Poly... and eerily enough.. my freshman year... two more female students were mysteriously murdered, sparking a city wide alertness that continues to haunt me till today.  I really hope we can find Kristin (RIP) so the family can rest in peace. I really hope justice can be served and we can all have what we've sought after for over a quarter of a decade... closure.

Haiku

The fifth amendment

We can't simply go by feelings

Shadow of a doubt

Empty Nest

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Today officially marks the day that both kids returned to school in-person.  It was so sad to kiss them goodbye and see them off.  I knew I would miss the constant interruptions and the noise.  But I didn't realize it'll hit me this hard.... for the first time in forever... I had the house to myself since Joyce had to go into work today.  I was so despondent... I started cleaning the house... I even... dare I say... ironed my clothes.  Clothes that literally sat there for over a year since I haven't had a need to wear them.  Yes... ironing.  The chore above all chores.  I resorted to that to distract myself.  What will life be like when they go off to college?? 嗚.... 嗚.....

Haiku

Everyone is gone

House is empty and quiet

Empty Nest begins

道低一尺

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Out of anger, emotions, over-reaction... we changed NN's passcode on her iPad as part of her grounding.  But when it came time to use it for Youth or Chinese School... she didn't have a problem unlocking it.  I thought it was because we didn't lock the screen... or maybe Joyce gave her the new passcode.  Turns out... NN uses TouchID to unlock her iPad.  I'm so obsolete...geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.

Haiku
Try to outsmart them
They are way ahead of you
I'm a dinosaur