Days of Our Lives

"Like sands through the hourglass...... so are the Days of our Lives" -The opening of every episode of Days of our Lives.  Sometimes when I aimlessly flip channels and come across this all too familiar TV series, I can't help but wonder who would love to watch these self-repeating episodes in which the story line is absolutely nothing new. Why is the background so fake? Even Keke's pop up children storybook looks more realistic than the set, to say the least.  Maybe something wrong with the lighting. What are the extras behind talking about? What are they laughing at? Although it's not my taste, there is obviously a fan base because apparently, it's been running since 1972. Older than me, with all due respect.

Time indeed passes by very fast.........like sands through the hourglass, ( In need to get this phrase un-implant from my head, it's getting annoying!)  Keke is 2 1/2 and Kylie is 6 months. They are exactly 2 years and 4 days apart born in September.  I find myself teaching Keke more as his understanding increases. But a lot of times he surprises me with his reasoning.  For instance, I teach him when I say "I love you", his response back is "I love you too." We communicate in Cantonese but I specifically teach him this phrase in English. I know, I know, all too rehearsed but I’d be better off brain washing him  when he is still young and volatile before he turns to an unpredictable creature in his teenage years.  Very quickly he got it and one day I said "I love you." He responded "I love you three." Soon enough it became a game for him; someday it's "I love you four." while others were "I love you eight."

There was another incident I found it intriguing.  Recently, I started to potty train Keke and he loved flushing toilet all day long that I scolded him sternly many times. Then one day, with his limited vocabulary, he pointed to the toilet and said, "Water goes M." I said "What?" " Water goes M, eats fries." says Keke in a louder voice. Ding! I got it-Water goes to Mac Donald to eat fries!! Eating fries at Mac Donald to Keke is heavenly. That's why he kneels down and looks at the water intently every time he flushes because he assume the water is going on a field trip to Mac Donald!

Although Keke's Days of his Life are certainly few, he grows so much in understanding that it's tough for me to imagine what he will become in 10 years, 20 years and so on. Children are simple, their reasoning is straightforward and direct. A reminder to myself: The heart of a child is so pure, inside and out.  It is imperative to guard my actions and words; how they may have influenced my children intentionally as well as unintentionally. After all, I reap what I sow.  



Summer's Footprint:

Talking about reaping, this plant has nothing to do with what I sow, it just pop out in my backyard from nowhere.  Its fern like leaves wave at me casually when the wind blows.  It's so beautiful that I dug it out and put it in a pot.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?                     Matthew 6:26-27

Wake Up Call

Today is my birthday and it's no different than any other day.  I did not feel an ounce lighter and my breath still stink when I woke up. My morning routine involves waking up 10 minutes before Keke to brush teeth, wash face and change clothes. Then my day officially starts by waking the sleepy head Keke, whispering "It's time to go to school." and changing diaper all the while he is still a knock out. As so I thought,  but today is indeed a little different.

Thanks to Vincent, my first birthday present was an iHome which was a docking station for my iPod and also an alarm clock. He set up my alarm as radio and surely and faithfully, the sound of radio has been playing at 7:45am in the past week. This morning when the radio came out, I instinctively hit the snooze button to sleep for another precious 5 minutes. When it came out again, I heard the radio host saying they were giving away various tickets at a Rite Aid and the cross streets were on my way to drop Keke off at school.  They said the guy will leave in half an hour.  I shook Vincent and said "Did you hear that?" Vincent looked at me very puzzled but I cared less. My motorized hand quickly put in action to brush teeth and I headed out the door within 5 minutes.  When I arrived to Rite Aid, nobody was there and I knew immediately something was wrong.  I asked the cashier if she knew about the tickets give away.  She had no idea but said there was another Rite Aid with the same cross streets about 10 minutes away.  I asked the direction and drove there.  This time I saw a booth and around 30 people gathered.  Turned out that it's a drawing and I was the last one to put my name in before they closed.  There were tickets to San Diego Zoo, Orchestra, movie screening tickets and Beauty and the Beast.  The host picked out the papers and called the names one by one.  Then I heard my name "Summer".  I went up and the best option was movie tickets.  I claimed 4 movie screening tickets which will open in theaters in a few days.

A pleasant surprise on a birthday morning. If you cannot reach me tomorrow at 7:30pm, you know where I am. :)



Summer's Footprint:

Soundtrack of Life

When I was around 10 years old,  I had a few years of piano training in Hong Kong, nothing fancy, but good enough to play a few simple songs.  I was not an eager piano learner at all.  I could still remember coming out crying from many piano lessons because I did not practice during the week.  Eventually, I quited and was very happy about my decision.

Then when I was in college I rented a piano and took some lessons for a few months. I played here and there all along until few weeks ago, I started browsing Craigslist to see if I can find a cheap pre-owned piano. Reason is that it's not easy to get out of the house taking two children at times, music will provide a convenient avenue for me to get my brain off the mundane routine of a full time mom. Also, it's my hope that Keke and Kylie will learn piano or any instrument as they grow up.  A few email exchanges took place and I was actually close to driving down to the seller's house to check out the condition of the piano.  But when Vincent saw the picture of it, he despised the look.  To be honest, it was a pretty ugly piano from the 60s, selling as an "antique". But hey, what do you expect for a $750 piano?  Vincent decided to get a pre-owned one from a reputable store.  Very quickly he browsed online to find a store and on the same day, we chose one and had it delivered the following week. To this moment, I am still scratching why Vincent would buy such an expensive gift for me so willingly.  This is very unusual of him. What did I do that day? Is it possible to repeat what I did? Hmmmm (engaging in deep thoughts).

Anyways, picking up playing was not easy after all these years.  My hands were inflexible and they were like foreign entities.  20 to 30 minutes a day of practice is max because of the two kids. I practiced right hand for a few days, then left hand. When both hands were combined, random notes from the left hand started to make sense and music came to life magically.

Marriage is like playing piano, the melody is not complete with either hand. But when both hands are in sync playing at the same rhythm, amazing songs can be heard. May I become a beautiful soundtrack of life to Vincent, playing the same chords in the years to come.


Summer Footprint:

This is the song I am practicing now, Loure by J.S Bach.   These are not my hands, I wish, ha ha.  I just search this music piece on youtube to learn how to play. I am barely half way through practicing this song. Happy listening.

Growing Old

The following is a post I wrote 2 weeks before Kylie was born in Sept 2012, don't have time to post it till now:

Now that I have a son and soon a daughter in two weeks, I found that my thinking has changed significantly.  Parenthood allows me to see in a new perspective with a different pair of lens. I used to listen to my parents' advice a lot. But in these years, I come to realized that my parents, like all others, inevitably have many flaws and their advice is affected by their own experience.  I am not disappointed in any ways, rather, I feel a sense of independence. Parental advices, even at their best interest, need to be filtered because ultimately I am responsible for the decisions I made, the joy as well as pain in the season of life.

Another interesting realization is when I get old, how will I take care of myself?  The other day I was searching for nursing homes around my neighborhood. I am just curious how much it costs and what's the living condition. Live with my children? Assisted living in senior housing? How about nursing home? Do we have enough money for retirement? All these questions suddenly become realistic to me.  I told Vincent that if he gets too old to a point that I can't take care of him, we can both admit ourselves to a nursing home and we can still live together.

My world is constantly evolving. I once heard a saying "growing old gracefully". Well, I can't imagine myself being graceful, but gaining some wisdom along the way? Not a bad idea.

Summer's Footprint:

  

Home Runs

My British passport will soon be expired and I have been dragging to engage in this renewal process.  A high tendency of filling out forms incorrectly in the past, fake smiling my passport pictures which will stuck with me for the next 10 years, oh, and lining up at the stale looking post office to certify the mail, bla bla bla-just countless reasons I don't want to start at all.

When I finally picked up the pen to fill out the form, there was an interesting section that required countersignature to verify that the passport photo I took was in fact my real person. Moreover, the person who could countersign this passport photo has to be someone who was "Professionally qualifying person, e.g. lawyer, school teacher, policeman, doctor, engineer" First, I didn't understand why all the fuss over just renewing a passport. Second, I wondered how many professionally qualifying people out there are really happy with what they are doing? Are these their dream jobs or they're simply indulging the prestige these jobs bring forth?

For those who are close to me, my dream job is to become a Starbuck Bearista.  I found that brewing coffee requires intricate knowledge and patience. As my years advancing, I come to accept that my interpersonal skill is not my strongest area. Per Vincent someone said, I am kind of slow in processing, non-responsive at times,  and somehow inappropriate things or blunt comments just burst out from my mouth, I thought maybe some kind of customer service oriented job will help improve my communication skill. However, due to my international student status as well as my work visa after I graduated, this dream was almost impossible for me to achieve. Before I was pregnant with my second child, I once logged into the Starbuck website trying to apply for a position. But because I filled out the online form incorrectly (not surprised, hah!), I was logged out of the system and restricted to reapply for 3 months. Well well, the time will come. One day I will bring a cup of warm hearted coffee to someone in the mist of a busy day, with pleasure.


Summer's Footprint

Keke is a big fan of Elmo and I become very familiar with some of the sesame music.  One of the song "Believe in Yourself" with Ray Charles is Keke and my favorite. Ray witnessed his brother's death when he was 4 years old. He started to lose eye sight at age 5. By age 7, his eyesight was completely gone. His father died when he was 10 years old, followed by his mother 5 years later. Although personal tragedies were never far, he strived to become one of the most recognizable musician of all time.  Life throws hard balls sometimes, but you just have to learn to swing and hit home runs with them.

Believe in Yourself

Oh you can be what you want to be,

See what you want to see,
Believe in yourself,
Believe in yourself.

Go where you want to go,
Do what you want to do
Believe in yourself,
Believe in yourself.

Some folks try to tell you there are things you shouldn't do
You're not strong enough or smart enough at all,
But what seems right to them quite often
Might be wrong for you,
So be sure you try to climb
Before you get too scared you fall.

Oh, you can be what you want to be,
Learn what you want to learn,
Believe in yourself,
Believe in yourself.

Try what you need to try,
No one should question why,
Believe in yourself,
Believe in yourself.

Folks may say you're different,
That you've gone and lost your senses,
But the world is yours to walk in,
Go ahead and leap the fences.

And you'll see,
Believe in yourself 
And the world belongs to you and me

This Time Around

Can't believe I will be almost half way of my pregnancy.  Time surely flies with my belly getting bigger and bigger each week. For those I cannot tell you in person, YES, I am pregnant and the due date is 10/3, but we'll try to schedule a c-section 1 week before, so probably around 9/27. (and the gender is............ at the end of this post)

Another baby, another trial. Don't want to think too much, I guess I can never be fully prepared. Who am I kidding? It's a miracle Keke survives with all my parental mistakes and mishap to be honest. This time the pregnancy seems a lot more easier compare to the first one.  So far, I am not all swollen up, not gaining as much weight as last time. Finger cross, please don't go back to the HELLP syndrome that I had last time. HELLP syndrome is a group of symptoms that occur in pregnant women who have H -- hemolysis, EL -- elevated liver enzyme, LP -- low platelet count. I was diagnosis with HELLP in my last OB check up at 37 weeks (everything was normal until the last week), was rushed to the hospital to perform an emergency c-section to get Keke out in order to prevent me from having seizure and liver failure which can be life threatening. The whole episode was still like yesterday to me.  The nurse counted 1,2, 3 and I'm out. Next thing I knew was Vincent telling me the baby was born, but I thought I was dreaming at that time so I kept asking him "Is this over?" incoherently. Then I slept more with nurses coming in and out to take blood pressure and seizure level every hour. The next day, I finally held Keke in my arms, while my head was still spinning "What had just happened?"

Because last time I was under general anesthesia to deliver Keke, I did not participate the entire delivery process. To me, it's more like Keke just suddenly pop out from nowhere. Albeit this is my second pregnancy, I am still an amateur in so many ways. My prayer is that I can make it to full term with no complications this time around.



Summer's Footprint

When you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you may have questions about environmental exposures such as paint fumes, over the counter and prescription medications and more. I know I am. I found OTIS ( organization of teratology information specialists) very helpful in answering all of my questions. Their number is 877) 311-8972 and the website is www.otispregnancy.org. Hope this little piece of information serves some moms well.

Finding this picture funny, poor mom.




Girl :)