Pets' Blessing

$35,900,000,000! Yes, you read it correctly, it's close to 36 BILLION US dollars! That's the amount Americans spent on their pets in 2005, up from $17 billion a decade ago. (quoted from TIME Feb. 4 issue, 'Numbers' section) It's equivalent to over $100 per American including infants had spent. With no offense to pet lovers and owners, aren't we being little too luxurious on these animals? $100 can feed many hungry people in other parts of the world. To me, human is always more important than animals. You can love your pets, take care of them, but do you really need to spend this much? Just like for our kids, you can buy them $300 a pair of shoes or $30 a pair which can be in good quality too.
God told the Jews He would give His blessings to the gentiles when the Jews disobey Him. When did God pass on His blessings to pets in this disobedient era?

Cam Leung

Do-Do frequently checks out books from this 'Cam Jansen' series from her school. She can finish one book in less than 30 minutes. I eventually had a chance to read through one of them with her, and finally understood why she loves this 'Cam Jansen' so much. Cam Jansen, whose real name is Jennifer Jansen, is a 5th grader with an unbelievable gift of photographic memory. Thus, her friends named her Camera Jansen, aka Cam Jensen in short form. Because of her unique gift, she and her closest friend Eric were able to solve many mysteries together. As I was reading the book, I could see my Do in the pictures. She is just like Cam Jansen, except that she is not as brave and detail-oriented as the girl in the book. But Do is only a first grader. And fiction is always dramatic.
So, I substituted 'Cam Jansen' with 'Cam Leung' as I read. I could tell she was very appreciated. Since then, we sometimes like to call her 'Cam Leung'. If you want to get a smile from her, please try 'Cam Leung' next time.

都是電腦惹的禍

博客的中文題目本是‘七彩人生，我手寫我心‘。先生有高見，“既是電腦打字，應是‘我手打我心‘。“ 好好的標題給他改成‘錘心頓足‘。邏輯上雖講的通，但不能接授！
為了再進一步表現他的中國文化博學深遠，他又說：“白話文運動時提倡‘我手寫我口‘。你不知道吧！所以你這個是‘我手打我口‘。“ 這回可好，‘掌嘴‘不更直接了當嗎！不如把聖經上耶穌說的“有人打你左臉，把右邊也給他打。“ 寫上好了。(注：耶穌這句話的意思是教導我們要愛我們的敵人，不要以牙還牙。）
最後干脆把中文標題後半段刪去。每回先生見我寫博客，就說：“又在‘我手打我口‘了？“
如果沒有電腦，哪來的這些‘打‘，‘敲‘，‘錘‘，‘掌‘的問題。如果沒有電腦，就沒有網絡，就可能沒有‘作家罷工‘（Writers' Strike), 我心愛的奧思卡頒獎就照常播放了。
都是電腦惹的禍！

Home Is The Best

Vacation away from home is good, but I still love my 'home sweet home' more than anything. I shared with Do-Do on our way home last night about Mu-Lan's homesick feeling after years in the battlefield. (She remembers the story, but not the poetry (木蘭詞).
After 2 1/2 days' sun bathing in the Caribbean, now it's 3 loads of unwashed cloths, and several dirty suitcases and bags. We prayed for the weather and everyone's health before the trip. From our memory, John-John had never been exempted from illnesses before, during and after trips over 3 days. He is the fuse this time again. Started vomiting and diarrhea on our flight back. It was pretty awful. I felt like I would ever finish doing laundry with the cloths brought back vacation plus his dirty cloths and pants from vomiting and diarrhea. Then he passed it around the house. Many people, especially kids got sick from this trip. Either somebody brought virus onto the plane, or we caught something there, maybe from the food or the water. WH said I shouldn't give the kids tab water for brushing (We were told to drink bottle waters only.) Well, if so, we are all too spoiled in America. Think about the people who live there.

World's No.1 Daddy

Today is WH's 牛一 (birthday). Do-Do, John-John and mommy made a very special card for him. Mommy also made a clementine-orange pie --- just want to be healthier. Why clementine? Because this is the 4th box of clementine we are eating this winter. I want to consume them in a slightly different way :) Taste pretty good!
After birthday celebration, we went ice skating again. Today is Johnny boy's first lesson. He could walk freely on the ice. But he enjoys intentional falling. Do-Do had grasped couple new tricks too. Even the 'elders' (WH and me) showed progress.



搞笑爹爹 deserves a '搞笑 cake'

To Be Hopeful

I can't believe this is the very first photo I took in the new year --- my full month of brace brackets! It isn't a pleasant feeling to wear them, especially at meal time. I will have to live with them for the next 700 days too! It's the hope of better aligned teeth and the beautiful smile that keep me moving forward with the orthodontic process. How pathetic it would be to live a life without hope! To live out a life of hope is very important, I told myself when I could only swallow mushy food, and bit my lips numerous times since last Friday. Wearing braces also taught me patience. I can't eat at my 'normal' speed as I used to be, 15 minutes of meal time has turned into 30 or even longer. Please don't forget to pray for me sometimes. BTW, I will have 6 teeth extracted 2 weeks from today. I will be a good girl :)

My name is Coconut

John-John found his name on a dining menu! Can you imagine how excited he felt?! He pointed to the word "I see my name: start with a C and end with a T." We asked him back "So.....Is your name 'Coconut'?" He learned to spell his name from school. Then he gave a second look at the word, and realized it is a variation of 'Clement'. A little blush on his round cheek and an embarrassing smile... But, well done, my dear Mr. Coconut!