grandma and grandpa

My other grandma, dad's mom, passed away few days ago. Now I don't have any grandparents. The grandma that I was closest to passed away few months ago. We went back to Hong Kong for a couple weeks to ger funeral and to visit the grandma's that's in mainland China. We knew that would be our last time seeing her. She hadn't been well since last year. There were couple times when my dad and her doctor thought she couldn't make it, but she pulled through. I'm so glad we got to see her one more time recently. She was almost completely blind. She had to put her hands on my face in order to "see" me. That was the closest we had ever been. She had always lived in mainland, and we hardly ever went back. Because she spoke mandarin, which I was not fluent in, there weren't many conversations between us. I'm sure if we had more chances to chat, I would find out many interesting and amazing things about her. Her husband died really early. I was told he passed away before my dad was even born. My dad has as little memory as I have. My grandma had to raise both of her sons on her own, and they both turned out to be wonderful men.

The only picture I have of my grandma.

My dad sent me this today. I had never seen any picture of my grandpa before. I didn't know he was so charming looking. 爺爺好有型.

time out

We started implementing time out yesterday. When I said we, I meant I did. P was supposed to help me, and he did okay. I seriously think that our little 18 months old was a devil lately. He threw a tantrum only our parents have seen before. They'd like to say how we were just as bad when we were little, but there's no way anyone could be that bad. Having never to raise a devil, sorry I mean child before, we were ready to pull our hair out. Yesterday morning was the worst morning. He was very whinny and inconsolable. I said to myself, this has to stop. So I took him to the corner and sat him down. He was crying hysterically. At first he tried to get up, and I put him right back. I sat in the chair with my back to him. I made sure not to make eye contact. Couple times he tried to scooch away, I took one look at him, and he would scooch back to the corner with fear. Fear is a good thing in parenting. After 5 minutes of screaming and crying, we finally calmed down. I took him out of time out and he was good as new.

We had to do time out one more time yesterday afternoon. This time was longer and louder, because dad was home. Eli is very attached to his dad, so it was harder with dad sitting nearby. All in all, I think we did fine.

spank or not to spank

• Prov 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently)."
• Prov 19:18: "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
• Prov 22:15: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
• Prov 23:13: "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."
• Prov 23:14: "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (Shoel)."
• Prov 29:15: "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
• Hebrews 12:6-7: "...the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"

The bible speaks for itself.

zoo but mostly just goats

We went to the zoo today. It's his second time, but it's his real first time. Last time he was here, he was only few months old. He didn't know the difference between a monkey and his dad. He was really excited, too excited. He didn't want to be sitting in the stroller or carried by his dad. He just wanted to explore everything himself. We paid $20 to get, but we couldn't get past the petting zoo. Eli went crazy over the goats. We were pretty much done after that.

justice

So we were on our way to a dinner thing with friends, there was this woman tailgating us. We were already driving five over the speed limit, but fine, whatever. When she finally had a chance to pass us, she flipped us off as she was passing by us. She got in front of us, and Peter waved to her. The best part was she got pulled over right after she passed us haha... I love it when justice is served. 

Nurse Jackie, don't think so

So finally there's a show about nurses. Showtime has a new series called "Nurse Jackie". I was excited to hear about the main character being an ER nurse. But wait, to make her more exciting, as if being a nurse isn't exciting enough, they have to make her a drug addict. You must be kidding me right? I don't want to go into details about the show because I'm not going to watch it. It's bad enough that the media always protray nurses are insignificant part of health care. When they finally think that maybe they can make a show out of a nurse's life, they have to make her a troubled one.

I don't watch any of the medical dramas anyway, because they are overdramatic and not entertaining. I like watching Scrubs because it's light hearted humor without being so full of it. You know most of the jokes on those medical shows are probably from nurses. They are the ones that spend majority of the time with the patients. Doctors usually come in and out, you think they will have time to crack jokes with you? If you want to hear funny stories, ask a  nurse. And I hate how they make hospital look like a sex pool of single gorgeous people. In real life, if anyone get caught doing half of the things they do on those shows, they will get their ass fired. That's all I have to say, from a nurse's prespective.  

baby bird

In our backyard

having one of those lazy days

what make me smile

it's hard to talk about money

I'm back at zero again. I have done a lot of good things but also plenty of bad things in my life. The one thing that has been holding me back was my spending habit. I may look like an adult, but I was acting like a child. That's what got us into the situation we are in right now. After out trip to Hong Kong, we were financially ruinned. I had tried to change many times before, but this time is for real. I pray that God will give me strength and wisdom to get us back to a financially comfortable state.  

bomb pop

we love the park

He didn't like the sand getting into his shoes. 

Wasn't sure about the swing at first. 

Wee~

We really like it now. 

Haha... I'm sorry baby, but this is too funny. 

speaking of funny

big boy

My little guy is growing up to be a big boy really fast, too fast. 

in the park

Like father like son. We are going to have a lot of closed eyes photos in this family. 

Eli is a little worried in his crazy dad's hands. 

He's my kung fu baby

He can chop your head off with the stick. 

So don't mess with him. 

an apple a day

missing home

It's weekend again. I'm still trying to adjust after the trip to Hong Kong. I always get depressed for a while after visiting Hong Kong. It is my home afterall. After this visit, I have a strong desire to move back there. The living condition may not be as comfortable as it is here, less space, pollution, hot and humid weather. I think I will be happier there. At least that's how I feel right now. When I was younger, I thought I loved living in Hong Kong because I loved big cities. That's the life style I knew. Now I'm older and have a family of my own, I realized that has little to do with being a city girl. I miss my family and friends. Sometimes I wish I was from here, at least I wouldn't know what I was missing. Peter had been telling me how much he wanted to move to Hong Kong. I didn't think that was possible. That was because I wasn't seriously considering it. So our plan now is to move back to Hong Kong in few years. There are so much to consider, but hopefully now we can start moving toward our goal. 

trip to mainland China

We just got back from a five days trip to mainland China this morning. It could have been shorter in my opinion. We took a 12 hours train to Longyan, Fujian (my parents' hometown). We visited my grandma and some extended families. I was glad to see my grandma. She's 88-year-old, and not in the best health. This may be our last time seeing her. Her vision has deterioated so much that I had to get up close for her to see me. Then we took a 2 hours bus to Xiamen to visit some more friends and families. Xiamen is right by the ocean and much more modern than Longyan. It seems like a nice place to live. Peter really likes it there. Then we took a 16 hours train with another 30 minutes connecting train ride back to Hong Kong. I'm so exhausted. I can't even think about the long flight coming up in a couple days. I wish we could have more time in Hong Kong. Although I'm not looking forward to the flight back, I'm so excited about my brother-in-law's wedding in a week. More family time and eating. Here are some photos I stole from my brother.

Train joy

No surprise

Peking duck is my favorite.

American superman vs. Japanese superman

Those are the typical halmet they use. I think they are plastic.

Five bucks per ride. We gave ours extra becase we were too heavy.

Eli's new toy.



This lucky chicken gets to wake up to this beautiful scene every morning

Typical feasts we had while we were in China. This one is extra special. My parents' friends took us deep into the mountain to have this meal. All of the ingredients are grown and raised locally.




I wonder if there are any hobbits down there.

Tips on traveling to China:

1. Most of the places in China don't have air-conditioning. Even if they have, the air isn't very cool. So if you can't stand the heat and humidity, go during fall or winter.

2. Bring plenty of toliet paper and kleenex. Almost all of the public bathrooms don't have any toliet paper. Of course you will have much better bathroom setting in a hotel.

3. Another thing about public bathroom, be prepare to squat. Most of the public bathroom in mainland China are just a hole in the ground. Oh, and try to hold your breath if you can when you are in a public bathroom.

4.Foot wear: don't wear any sandals or open toes shoes, espeically again, in a public bathroom. You don't want to get your toes or feet wet by yours or other people's body fluid.

5. Don't give any money to beggers unless you can stupid.

6. Don't be afraid to eat local dishes. They are probably better for you than McDonalds. Yes, there are McDonalds and KFC all over China, so you won't starve to death.