Hate

Hate is a strong word.  I tend to not use that word....and I tell my kids to not use that word unless the really mean it.  But when I hear the words, "I just made an appointment for a biopsy" or "又要做 biopsy", I have a visceral reaction. 

The waiting for the biopsy.

The actual biopsy.

The waiting for the results.

No...... no..... and NO!!!!!!!  I hate it!!! HATE!!!! With a passion.  Beyond the level of hate for the Seahawks or Dodgers (which is pretty high, already).  I hate it!!!!!!!!!!

Praying for you.

盤鼓初開

19 years after coming to SJCAC... I move into another ministry that's long alluded me.  Sure.. I had that one Christmas worship session when everyone was out of town.  

Too man coincidences to say this is a self fulfilling ambition.  Summer drumming class.  Jce having to quit drumming for personal reasons.  End of my stint as MA and time opening up. A worship leading couple who believes in me even when I don't believe in myself.  The free electronic drum set gifted to me out of the blue. And my wife... who isn't the most open person... openly supporting me and coaching me.  

Have a loooooong way to go to be considered a bonafide drummer.  

Apprehension

Every Wednesday night and Thursday morning... I get very apprehensive about teaching on Thursday night.  It's a constant struggle of finding the balance of teaching vs fun.  I try to research and think of fun ways to teach... and without missing it... it's always until the last minute that I finish with my lesson plan, curriculum, and power point charts.

And as most nights go... the lesson goes out with a BANG!!  

Tonight, especially, two students stayed behind and gave me accolades of being a good teacher (despite students yawning from a days long worth of work).

My hope still is... they all can feel the love from us... love from Jesus... and eventually come to Christ.

Trials and Tribulations

Why is Home Insurance so expensive!??!? Well...maybe it's cuz when things happen.. they're there to answer. My insurance company, which shall remain unnamed, but is a very famous alliterative letter, was teeter-totting on not covering this mess cuz I didn't pay enough attention to the leak.  How am I suppose to know that the back of the fridge is leaking?!?! "You shoulda looked."  Can't win... simply can't win.  But luckily... they decided on covering water damage but not mold mitigation. 

I got the refrigerator guy to come out and diagnose the problem after struggling with paying the $80 service fee.  $80 for you to come out and look?!?!?  What if I don't want to repair it.  Geeez.... Then I stepped into another negotiating battle with a slimy repairman.  This is a dog eat dog world... if you're not vicious.. you will be swallowed alive.  

The Disaster Restoration guys show up... and off we go.  Demolition.  Confine space.  Air drying.  Mold mitigation.  But we didn't want them to demo too much... only to the places where the fridge will cover up.  They HIGHLY recommend removing all the wood that has moisture underneath.  I crossed my fingers and hoped that the moisture will eventually dry up... so we don't have to bother finding the same wood... same stain... same craftmanship.  No luck. 

Hardwood floor guy came... and said... you just gotta do it.  Bite the bullet.  Rip off the bandaid.  If it doesn't match... it doesn't match.  It's better than living with mold and buckling floors.  Lo and behold... the wood we chose, happened to be discontinued and unpopular these days.  Even if we wanted to... we can't replace it.  So now we're stuck going to Floor Shops, Home Depot, Lowe's... trying to find engineered wood that remotely matches the color.

And then... I had to call our potential renter to break the news that this house might not be ready by the beginning of June.  Ohhhhhhhhh..... when did life get so complicated?  

One thing after another

As we were finishing the emptying and cleaning of the garage... I suddenly notice that the bottom of the garage wall that is shared with the kitchen is seeping water.  Something is leaking and leaking bad.  

We got our plumber out to the site... pull out the fridge... and notice that there is immense water damage and buckling of the hardwood floor.  All due to a bursted plastic tube.  

Now... we have to deal with insurance claim.. refrigerator repair... and the never ending contractor to replace the wall, baseboard, cabinetry and hardwood floor.  All the while... we're narrowing down our choice of who to rent to.  This could not have happened at a worse time.  Well... I guess it could've happened much closer to the their move in date.  Or worse... after they move in.

It's one thing after another... never ends.

Underestimated

We started showing our house to potential renters.  I'm a natural salesman. It's so easy to talk things up and hide things that are bad.  But what I didn't expect... is the people factor.  

Every applicant so far... has a story. They're all young families.  They're forced to end their lease.  They have a crazy commute.  They're looking for a home (not a house) for their kids to grow. 

I want to rent it out to everyone I meet.  But in the end... I can only choose one. 

我選中左啊！

我選中左啊！

NN saw us and ran towards us.  Turns out... she won her Class Officer election and will be 1 of 4 class officers in the 9th grade.   She wanted this sooooo bad.  Was stressing all week about it.  Kept telling everyone "I'm gonna lose." And in the end... she prevailed.  

I wonder... if the East Coast Trip helped swing the vote.  Her campaigning and politicking got her the extra sets of friends to vote for her.  

So proud of her.  So proud of my Nui Nui Ju.  

But in all things.... give glory and honor to Jesus.  

On this day…

On this day… I met {{{{{{{{{{{{{Angel}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}!!!

Gotta fight to get it back

Siu Wah got sick last week... to a point where he missed school and missed a volleyball game.  He returned the next day... but since that fateful day... he lost his starting spot in the rotation.  I look up and down the roster... and SW is clearly and easily the 5th best player.  I saw 5th... because the 4 other boys are either in club... hit puberty... or is naturally gifted.  They all stand a head above SW.... and yet, he hangs with them with his natural abilities and amazing volleyball prowess, coached by none other than, yours truly.  He stands out.  He truly does.  

He was on the bench the last game... came in during the 2nd set.  Today's game... he again started on the bench and came in during the 2nd set.  The skill level is night and day.  I don't know how the coach doesn't see it.  Then on the 3rd and final set... she dares start two other boys over SW?!?!?!?  What is she thinking?!?!?

Sure... they started winning cuz the other team can't return a pass.  But when it came to our turn to pass... SHAAAAANNNNKKKKK!!!!   We finally got up 14-9, game point.  When the ball wedged it's way under the bleachers.  One of the TKA parent was nice enough to retrieve it... and without looking... tossed the ball back on the court!!!  Little did she know, the game restarted with another ball and we were about to win the point, the set, the match!!! All she could say was, "Sorry."  And scurried away.  

They replayed the point... and of course, we lost.  Then the opposing team starting serving.  It's ok... we still have game point.  But point...after point.... they started rallying and catching up.  Suddenly, it was 14-12.  

"Substitution!!!" said the coach.  And she finally did the right thing and subbed SW back in.  Yes yes... the guy that's leaving stands around 5'7 or 5'9.  But he's clumsy.  No skill.  And is just added weight at this point.  In comes agile and nimble SW.  She should've done it a long time ago. 

They serve.  It comes soaring over the net.  SW can't get it... so he opens up.  The backrow player gets scared.... SHAAAAAAAANNNNNKKKKK!!!  Ugh... maybe SW should've been more aggressive and taken that pass even though he was out of position.  

14-13.  One more and they tie. 

They serve.  It goes to our "best player" who passes the ball, literally, with his shoulder.  The ball flails up to the lanky boy with little sense of direction.  He desperately puts up two hands and pushes the ball up (at least it's not down), but to nowhere but the center of the court.  How's the helpful????? Well.... it's exactly where SW has been positioned all this time.  The ball climbs up the sky... it reaches the pinnacle.... takes a 180 turn and nosedives back towards the ground.  SW watches... aims... puts his two hands together ready to collide with the spherical target.  His stance is wide.  His knees are bent.  His butt is low.  He's digging deep.  The arms start swing upwards.  The ball gloriously meets SW's arms in mid air and then it soars into the thick, warm air in the TKA gym.... sailing over the net.... and heads towards the line.  Only... the energy behind the ball seems to run out like air out of a balloon.  The ball suddenly collapses on it's trajectory and belly flops straight onto the hardwood floor. "PLAAANNNKKK!"  

It's in!!!

We win!!!

SW with the final kill!!!!

Shoulda subbed him in much earlier coach... c'mon!!!! 

And now... the fight begins to win back your starter position. 

Is it too late?

Over lunch today... NN told us a lot of graduating seniors did not get into the college of their choice.  This is TKA... $20k a year.  Service Trips.  Visual Performing Arts. Sports. Student leadership.  Probably multiple AP courses.  And yet.... 

NN started worrying.  What does she have to do? What can she possibly do to stand out? She started crying.  On our way home after lunch... she fell asleep in the car.  We got home.  She napped for 3 hours straight.  

Ohhhh... Nui Nui Ju........

Embarrassing

Was asked to record a video of my experience with Supermarket Evangelism - in Mandarin!!  I didn't think too much of it... was simply gonna jot down some notes and go free form. Only to realize... there are some key vocab that I can say in Cantonese, but not sure in Mandarin.  When I looked up the pinyin... I was soooooo off.  

The recording started at 11PM.  By the time I was done with the editting... it was almost 2AM.  3 hours to record a 2 minute testimony.  And in the end... it was oohhhhhh sooooo bad.  I'm Chinese... and I can't even speak my own language (albeit... my sister language).