Cell Group meeting on Saturday

All set for tonight's cell group pot luck dinner.

I made this special fruit cake for Daniel's birthday celebration with the cell group. Isn't it beautiful?

Before cutting the fruit cake let's take a picture first.

Grace also made a special sugarfree birthday cake for Daniel. How very nice of her!

A lazy Monday and a busy Tuesday.

Monday I allowed myself to relax at home and enjoy reading all the Chinese newspaper.

We began Tuesday with teaching the English classes in Chinatown. After class, Daniel ran around here and there to take care of his business. First he went to Parkgreen to meet with a realtor agent. Next we headed for American Title Co. to do closing on another rental. Then it was time for lunch. It was pouring and thundering while we were taking our meal. Our friend George Chan had a minor heart attack. Daniel told him we will pay him a visit. Before going, we went to get him some fruits. We called to let him know we were coming over, but no one was home. So we first swang by the Evergreen Realtor Office to drop off a letter concering a lawsuit against one of Noeman's property. Daniel called a second time, but still no answer. He decided to drive over there any way. When we got to George's house, they weren't home yet. What a waste of my precious time! I did not want to complain because he was doing a good deed, but I sure hate sitting in the car waiting for him to finish all his business while there were tons of things waiting to be done at home.

Debrief Meeting on Shan Xi Mission after Sunday Service

Rev. Lam started a series about Mantoring in his sermon this morning. The Theology class after service seemed to be a little easier to comprehend now. After finishing our lunch at church, I showed Loretta how to mix music with her recorded program. At 1:00pm, we went to attend the meeting on the Shan Xi Mission. All participiant of this mission seemed fired up from this experience. They want to go back each year and they are eagar to offer help to the school. A fund-raising committee was formed. I am so grateful and excited to see God's hand in guidiance on this school project.

Banquet for Elder Chan's 80th birthday.

I spent the morning organizing pictures into their right album. We went with Kung Kung, Po Po for dim sum lunch in Chinatown. Amy also went for her haircut.

The afternoon went by fast as we continued watching the Korean DVD. Before long, it was time to pick up Kung Kung, Po Po for Elder Chan's 80th birthday dinner. A lot of people attended. Elder Chan's 4 children and 8 grandchildren were all presented. It was a wonderful party acknowledging God's grace and blessing on their family. The food was great but service was rather slow. My eyes kept bothering me. I was glad when dinner was finally over and Jean offered to take Mom and Ba Ba home, so I could go straightly home.

Elder Chan witnessing God's blessings on his life.

Waiting for the next dish to be served.

Time for cutting of the birthday cake.

Leading the Sisters' Fellowship

We tried a new format for our meeting today. I was asked to first show a video and then lead our group on discussion about the topic presented. The video I chose was a very touching real life story of a young women, bearing witness for God even though she was severely ill with cancer. The sisters all participated in discussing how deeply this woman and her husband love each other, how strong was their faith in the mist of their trial and how we could learn to trust God in face of difficult times. We ended the meeting with a nice lunch at sister Nancy's house. I returned home with a thankful heart that with God's help the meeting went very well.

Daniel and I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the Korean DVD he borrowed. We stopped unwillingly around 6:30pm to grab a quick dinner, because Thomas was coming over to put all the programs back into the new computer he ordered for us. I simply love this new computer, as it is compact and wireless, but I certainly hate to see the old computer and all the empty cardboard boxes lying around in the over-stuffed study.

Mom taking the CT scan as scheduled

After breakfast I went over to Mom's place ahead of time, so I could work on their yard a little bit without letting them know. Kung Kung was taking his sweet time getting ready. I practically had to force him out of the house, because before leaving I wanted to set off the bombing-insecticide in order to kill off all the mosquitoes inside their house.

As expected, we had to wait for a long, long time. First I had to fill out a bunch of forms for registration, then Mom had to take the big bottle of contrast for the CT scan. The procedure itself was not too long and the technician was nice and patient with us. She made me stay to translate for Mom. All Mom had to do was to lie still, breathed in and out as told while she was slided back and forth through the gigantic machcine.

We then enjoyed a quiet lunch of chow-mein and chow-fan at a nearby restaurant. After that, they wanted to go to the Chinese market to get some grocery. We finally got back to their place after 3:00pm. I helped them to open up all the windows to air out the smell of the insecticide. I was happy to return home after all that running around. The hot weather made me especially my eyes feel very tired.

Po Po getting ready for her CT scan.

Getting up early for Mom's CT Scan

I forced myself up this morning, because I had to wash my hair before going over to pick up Mom for her CT scan. As I was about ready to go, a nurse called to let me know they could not perform the CT scan as they hadn't received the approval from the inusrance company. I called to re-schedule it for Thursday.
I was a little upset for they got me up early and made me skipped teaching English for nothing.

Informing Mom about the cancellation, I suddenly remebered today was her birthday. I asked if she felt good enough to go out for dinner. She agreed. So in the evening, we went to the Jade garden for a nice Chinese meal in celebration of her birthday.

Feeling sick after too much hard work outside

It was pretty sunny today. I began working in the front on the side of the house which was still under the shade. Gradually the sun moved towards my back. I was getting hot and sweaty. Before long I was feeling a little sick. I stopped for a lunch break. Instead of staying inside to rest after lunch, I went out again to work on the ultra long-stretched grass crawling onto the flower beds. Weeds was everywhere grwoing around the bushes. Ah, there was so much to do, but the weather was just too hot for us to work outside. I was feeling worse, so finally I had to quit. I was too sick to take a shower and too dirty to get into bed, so I lied myself down on the sofa. The air condition and overhead fan were blowing hard on me. I did not think I could stay on the sofa too long, so I dragged myself up and took a quick shower so I could crawl in bed.

By the time I woke up it was around 6:00pm already. Daniel again offered to eat outside. My hair was in a mess and I had no appetite. So I started cooking dinner because I already defrost a fish and a big piece of chicken breast. Kung Kung, Po Po dropped by to let us know Dr Kwan had ordered a CT scan for Po Po for tomorrow. Since Po Po had to be on a liquid diet in preparation for the CT scan, they did not stay for dinner. I hurried to bed after eating my meal and quickily fell into deep sleep for a few hours. Unfortunately after I had to get up to take a couple of Tylenol for my headache, I could not go back to sleep for a long, long time.

A quiet Sunday

Mom still did not feel too good. She did not go to Church with us. Grace Tam wanted to go for dim sum lunch. My Sunday school class stayed too long. They went ahead without waiting for me, but they took Kung Kung along. Amy and I therefore went home for a simple lunch. Then she started putting up the new wireless computer Thomas ordered for us, while I went on to my favorite job working in the yard. Daniel wanted to eat out but I decided I rather cook and eat at home.

Cell group meeting at our house.

Even though I worried about Mom, but I did not want to call and wake them up. Amy had gone to Austin by the time I got up. Mom called later in the morning to let me know she was feeling better. Daniel and I went to pick up Kung Kung for lunch and check on her anyway.

After lunch we went to Walmart to exchange the fan. Then we dropped by Home Depot to pick up anti-mosquito chemical and ant killers for Kung Kung.

Cell group was held at our place this time. Topic of discussion was on Chapter 14 of Purpose Driven Life about when we feel God is so distant. Daniel led our discussion and everyone participate pretty well.

Attending Friday Senior Fellowship

In the morning Daniel and I again went to teach English in Chinatown. After class I had to follow him around as he took care his business with Orion and Evergreen Realty. I also had to wait for him while he had his haircut. Then we went for lunch at his favorite restaurant, to have his usual order - taco and a junior burger.

I worked in the yard a little bit in the afternoon. We had a simple early dinner. Then we went to pick Kung Kung, Po Po up for the Senior Fellowship. Kung Kung came out alone and told us Po Po did not want to go. We thought they probably had an arguement. In celebration for Elder Chan's 80th birthday, a lot of goodies were brought by different members of the group, besides the yummy birthday cake. I bought Ba Ba a plate of this and that, but he only liked the cake. In order not to waste food, I ended up finishing his plate too, so I was really, really full.

After we got home, we learned that Po Po was actually feeling sick. The area above her tummy felt bloated and painful. It got me kind of worried, because she could not tell whether it was her stomach or her heart that was bothering her. Ba Ba wanted me to e mail their family doctor. I waited and waited for him to find me the e mail address. It was 1:00 am already and I still heard from him. I called to check and he said he was still searching. He finally called as I was brushing my teeth. I hurried to get a pen and paper, but the e mail address was long and I couldn't figure out what he was telling me. So I ended up driving over to get that letter. First I had to register him. It took me sometime to get registration done because they won't accept the user name and password. It was close to 2:30 am before I finished sending out the e mail for Mom. Since tommorrow is Saturday, I doubt if I could get any answer after all this.

Daniel's Birthday

Two more rainy days in a roll. The lawn was really soaked. It rained on and off. I got out to work whenever I got the chance, getting all dirty and muddy. Otherwise I stayed inside reading Chinese newspaper, doing laundry and cleaning out shelves. Wednesday night we went to prayer meeting as usual.

Thursday afternoon Po Po called to let us know today was Daniel's birthday. Oops, Amy and I both overlooked. Well, at least she already bought three new fish for daddy just a few days ago. Kung Kung and Po Po asked for advice as to what to buy for Daniel. Amy suggested he actually needs a new fan. So I took Kung Kung, Po Po to Walmart. Kung Kung said he felt the one we bought him on Fathers' Day seems not strong enough, so I let him pick a more expensive one for Daniel, thinking it must be better. When we bought it home Amy said this one is ionized and it is not good for health. Ai-Ya now we would have to take it back and exchange it for the other one. Everyone knows how much I hate returning merchandises. Well, we would have to go out for dinner first and take care of that some other day. This time we went to China Bear for Chinese Buffet which we always enjoyed.

Once a month, Daniel and I helped Rev. Poon's wife packing and mailing out Christian paper to local churches and sipermarkets as well as churches outside Houston. The last time we went, we had to work in the pouring rain.Daniel did all the hard job of lifting those heavy boxes in and out of our truck, so we could mail them at the post office.

Barbarcue on Independence Day.

I got up early to start preparing for today's barbarcue party. I was resp0nsible for making the poptato salad, fruit plates and red bean soup for dessert. This was followed by cleaning up the house, getting the dinner tables set, putting out snacks, drinks, paper plates, forks and cups. Then I went outside to clean the barbarcue grill and table. The white garage side-door was molding ugly. So I climbed up and down to clean it real well with bleach. As I was wrapping the barbarcue rack with aluminum foil, the first of our guests arrived already.

We set up two Mah-jong tables. As soon as we found enough players, we set down to play. Jean arrived late with Kung Kung, Po Po. I let Ba Ba took my place after I won a big deal. I kept Lillian's Mom company while the others play. We had lots and lots of food. Lillian and Stanley prepared the steak and chicken wings. Roberta bought her famous lamb chops and Jean treated us with her baby ribs. Even though I already made potato salad, Rosana came with three bags of ready-made vegetable salad. Then we also had corn and my favorite sweet potato. Everything tasted wonderfully good and everyone had a good time.

Barbrcue dinner on Indepedence Day.

Besides the wonderful dinner, we had a good time playing Mah Jong too.

Amy's long waited day off from work

Tuesday would be July 4th holiday. Amy had a 4-day long break from work. She made use of the day to visit her family doctor and dentist. I intended to go with her to keep her company. However, by the time I woke up the house was very quiet. I looked around and found both Daniel and Amy had gone out already. While I was upstairs looking for amy, I couldn't stand the messy rooms any longer. So I ended up putting the guest room in order.

We had noodles for lunch. Amy went to see her dentist in the afternoon. I worked outside for a little while before the downpour forced me to stop. Originally Amy wanted to go to Austin after visiting the dentist. The weather did not look too good, I asked her to go the next day instead, so I did not have to worry about her driving in the rain.

Lunch and dinner engagement on Sunday

After church today Jean wong treat us to lunch in a new restaurant in Chinatown. The food was just so so. I took a short nap after we got home because I was too tired. It was about 5:00pm when I woke up to go outside to do some yard work.

I finished planting new shoots around the base of one of the trees in the front at around 7:00pm. Amy came out to let me know her friend Denise and husband Tom were coming over. Later, we treated them to dinner after picking up Kung Kung, Po Po. At the Jade Restaurant, we were surprised to find a lot of our church friends were eating there too.

Attending Melody's Baby shower

I did not really like to go to Melody's baby Shower, because I do not know her that well and I do not know anyone at her party except her mother who was in the same cell group with us before. It was good that their e mail indicated that this was a "come and go" party. So that meant I did not have to stay long. Melody's sister-in-law met me at the door. She shook hands with me. A young girl came towards me with stretched hands. I thought she wanted to shake my hand too. It turned out that she wanted to get the present from me. By the time I got to the living room where everybody was, Melody already had my box opened. They seemed to like the little outfit with matched sandals that I got for her. Josephine, her mother, was sitting on the other side. I sat myself down and watched Melody openning the other presents. When all the gifts were openned, they took a break so everybody could go to grab something to eat. All the food was arranged beautifully. I did not eat much because Daniel was coming to pick me up to lunch with Kung Kung and Po Po. I was much relieved when he showed at the door so I could get out of the party.

Melody at her baby shower.

Lunch with Kung Kung, Po Po at the Ocean Palace Restaurant.