Very considerate God....

Just want to make a note that God has been quite nice to me this week. I was expecting to teach 4 students both on Tue and today, but feeling very annoyed about it. (those two days' schedule happened because of the kids' end of school schedules...) However, both on Tue and today I had one student canceling so I only have to teach three per day. I guess it's really not that big of a difference but due to the combination of students each day I really feel much better teaching one less. Yeah...I can get home by 6 today...feeling great about that...:)

Freaked out....

I was totally worried about the car re-inspection this morning I didn't sleep much last night. I woke up around 7 and then Hades kept on trying to wake me up while I try to sleep again cuz I woke him up. I was expecting for the inspection guy to come around 8 like last time but he didn't show up until 10ish.

I even had a nightmare about the whole inspection process, which really amused me when I woke up. In the dream I passed the re-inspection in no time, but while I was trying to back the car out of garage I ran into the wall and totally destroyed the bumper. I was thinking (in the dream) "oh well...I will just tell Leo to put a new bumper on since the inspection is already done anyway...but it sucks cuz the bumper will cost another 500..."

I guess I was getting all anxious on returning the leased car it shows even in my dream. When I saw the inspection guy this morning I kinda freaked out even though I remained very calm on the surface. I was thinking....what the....cuz he is a black guy just like it was in my dream!!!!! I passed the re-inspection in like 2 min since I told him what was wrong before and showed him the report. I decided not to touch the car afterwards so no crashing would happen like what was in the dream....

I know...I kniw...this is quite entertaining....but my neck and shoulders are really tight now because of all the stress and lack of sleep. I really have weird reactions to some stupid things in life apparently. I ended up finishing my laundry cuz I had so much time left in the morning, and I even went to the lawyer to check up on stuff we need for the interview.

I didn't even know we will actually have an attorney going to the interview with us. I guess the interview preparation will be kinda interesting since we will have to sit down and get prepared by an attorney I never met before. The preparation appoitment is now set to be 22nd of June, about two weeks before our wedding....looks like everything will be happening in the months of June and July...sighs....need to think of some ways to relax myself....

What do you mean? I think ALL THE TIME!!!!

I was doing this test from a magazine the other day, and one of the question was "Do you think about weird things when you are half asleep at night?" (or something like that....can't remember the exact wording...) I just thought about that today before I opened up my blog....I am pretty sure I think about weird stuff all the time that is why I always end up writing stuff which are kinda scattered...

I have been watching two talk shows from TW recently. Both of them touch diff. topics everyday so I can stay in tact with whatever is going on with TW. (thanks to our cable service...) What I found interesting is how everyone tries to talk with English words inserted in their sentences. What amuses me even more is how the words they use are often not pronounced correctly. I guess Asian people just love the western world. Majority of the Asian countries are trying to copy Japan which even has a set of characters used for terms from foreign countries.

The talk show I am watching right now is hosted by 沈春華. It's quite amazing how she started as a news host when I was a kid and went on to do other programs till today. In the today they are teaching people how to save money when shopping. There are tips given for buying food and stuff at traditional markets, supermarkets, and other types of shops. I think Clement would really love these tips cuz he is such a stingy kid. I often wonder how we happened to have this kinda kid in the family...hahaha....but it's better than wasting money for sure.

Talking about families...Tiffany was telling me about her dad and family in lesson yesterday again. It was quite sad she even used the word "axx hole" to describe her dad even though later she tried to explain she didn't mean that in a super negative way. (come on...if you have to use that word, then you mean it no matter how serious or not serious you are....)

I guess no matter how sweet a kid is, he/she can still get hurt and turn bitter if they grow up being left out all the time. It's also interesting to see how kids interact with family very differently from how they interact with friends and others. What I notice from kids who have problematic families is that they try very hard to please and blend into crowds, just so they can feel accepted. All I can say is that there are always reasons behind everything.....

Ok...I just jumped through three diff. topics already...gonna take a hot bath and relax my muscle now. The cloudy weather is not helping my muscles... I wonder if it's gonna rain or it's because I am thinking about my students for today....:p

Happiness?

I was reading something and came across to this info...."As Abraham Lincoln once said, 'Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.' " I wonder how he made up his mind to be since rumor has it Lincoln had depression. I guess people who try to persuade others to be happy are not exactly persuasive sometimes. It is very interesting how everyone is talking about how to stay happy nowadays. I often doubt who is really able to define the term happiness anyway?

The article I was reading also said "One route to more happiness is called 'flow,' an engrossing state that comes during creative or playful activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has found. Athletes, musicians, writers, gamers, and religious adherents know the feeling. It comes less from what you're doing than from how you do it."

I wonder if that is why most musicians and those included above are usually addicted to work. Is it because they are happy doing what they do? or is it because they are addicted to the flow cuz it stops them from thinking or being unhappy? Is that why once the flow is interrupted (losing job or motivations sort to speak) they would feel doomed?

Just some weird thoughts to throw in since it's Mon. It's kinda weird the temperature is high while the sky feels a little cloudy. That almost reminds me of summer days in TW with the typhoons and all. I have one more hour before I have to start my teaching schedule for the week....better enjoy it now before the 1st three hours of teaching of this week starts. :p

Teaching on Sun...

Teaching on Sun is such a drag, and usually Tiff is the only person who makes me do that. (Or maybe I should say most of the time her mom makes me do that...) I totally over slept this morning so when I woke up it was 9:45 already. I washed up and drove to Tiff's house in 15 min. I was actually on time!!! I guess people who are usually prompt just tend to stay on time no matter what.

Billy went back to his church this morning. He said he wanted to check and confirm the names of people coming to our wedding, but I think he just wants to go back and visit. He finally found a chance to visit since we went to Faith last night. He said he would be done around 11:30 and I knew that was not gonna happen...so that is why I am sitting here writing my blog + drinking my coffee. Oh well...attachment issues which I have don't have a say about.

The flowers we got yesterday are all opening way to wide according to my preference now. I guess flowers are supposed to open up, but I just like the ones that don't go all the way. I think Roses look the best when they are only open slightly. I wonder if that means I do not want life to go all the way to the end....Ok...maybe I am just thinking too much....

We went to order our "square" wedding cake too. I took a very blurry pic of their sample photo so that I can show our flower shop how to decorate the cake. Here is the photo....
The cake will have to feed around 280 people, and we pay for the icing and the ribbon on the cake which was around 105? The cost of the cake is actually included in the banquet charge or else it would be 2 per person if we order by ourself. I think it's crazy to pay 560 for a cake if we do have to buy it ourself... Once again, I am in awe of how much people waste on weddings.

We bought a very cool vacuum cleaner at Fry's. The one I wanted to get before was no longer there so I ended up picking a Panasonic one which I think is a lot cooler. This machine has the "dust detction" function which would adjust the suction power according to how dirty your carpet is. The cleaner is also bagless so it would be easier to clean and won't cost anything for dust bags. I am kinda excited about this new toy we got....at least it's not a waste of money cuz we will be using it for a long time (hopefully).

Cake tasting before dinner was kinda interesting. We decided to have three diff. types of cake and fillings for the three tiers of cake we have. The 1st tier will be rum with cream, 2nd tier marble raspberry, third with mocha something. I can't remember the exact combination so I am just writing whatever I remember....I wonder if the guests will actualy notice they are eating diff. cakes...most likely not...:p

I think Billy is addicted to the vacuum cleaner cuz he has been stuck in the room cleaning for more than 10 min now. I told him we should just do an approx. cleaning for the 1st round and in the future go deeper so the light on the machine will stay green....but it seems like he wants it green right now. I guess I married a very persistent guy indeed. (Or maybe he just likes new toys like I do too? cuz now he is cleaning the nails he cut off with the vacuum too...hahaha)

Long Saturday....

I think we did a lot of things today. I got a call from the flower shop in the morning and went to pick up the center piece sample before we went to pick up my car. The flowers didn't exactly turn out to be how I would like it to be, but then I guess it's not that easy to get things perfect with our test tubes, vase, and arrangement. Anyway....it's not too bad if you look at it long enough, and I think it would still be special enough for each person to get their own flower and test tube after the dinner. Here is the photo....

Leo did a pretty good job repairing that scratch on my car door. The only problem is that he gave me a free car wash ..and because of that some minor things which were covered by dust became more obvious. I hope the inspection guy coming on Wed won't give me any trouble and find extra problems....really have to pray for the re-inspection to go smooth or else this repair at Leo's would not be worth it.

We went to Er-ge's place to go through wedding program and run down of the banquet. He seemed to be pretty satisfied with our preparation so far. I guess we will have to fine tune some details but at least we are close to being finished...one more month and I will be free from all of these troubles.....oh...but then there is the interview...sighs..

Ikea was our next stop. We got 28 vases (The ones you see in the photo) cuz by now we have more than 28 guests. It was a big task transporting all the vases cuz Ikea does not provide any packaging with the stuff you buy. We had to steal one of their half cut box on display to successfully get everything back home.

We had dinner around 5 cuz church service is at 6:30. This week we have to go to church Sat night due to my student's competition tomorrow morning. I think this is probably only my 1st or 2nd hamburger of the year. It's hard to imagine how I used to eat Burger king almost everyday while I was living close to USC...just because I was too lazy to cook and didn't want to think about where to go for food. I guess I just had too many hamburgers back then so I don't feel the need to eat those any more when I don't have to. (but then it does not bother me if I have to either...I guess I am really not that picky on food except the stuff I absolutely don't touch)

Pastor Jim was talking about how families and homes should be heaven on earth, and also a haven for everyone. He mentioned how his own family is always the 1st priority for him, even before ministry. He said nobody would be able to manage anything if he cannot even manage his own family. I could not amen with him more. I guess I was educated to think the same way, and I have seen the opposite and know the opposite does not work for me. I just don't think people who don't take care of their families are good testimonies.

I was lucky enough to grow up with parents who put us in the 1st place. I am sorry for those who did not get the same treatment in their families. (I know it's the majority of people nowadays...) I hope there are more people who will take their families seriously in the future, cuz that is probably the only way we can see heaven on earth indeed. I guess everything that we want it to work in life needs our efforts in it....

Leo the bodyshop guy

I dropped my car off at the body shop this morning and Leo was able to cut me a good deal again. Instead of the 210 I would have to pay Nissan for repairing that small scratch, Leo is gonna only charge me 100 cash. I hope this will satisfy the re-inspection guy next Wed.

Mexicans are indeed interesting....They are here in the states for a good reason if you are dealing with honest ones. It's easy to do business with them and usually much cheaper. Hopefully the car will really be ready by tomorrow so I won't have to trouble people to give me rides.

Annie is having her Fri off again so she is my driver for the day. She is very bored at home because of her ankle and gets very annoyed because of her mom. She is telling me this and that in her life while the TV is on. I just thought it's funny how I am not very good with listening to two things at one time.

I often wonder how people keep on talking on the phone when someone else next to them are talking loudly as well. I guess we are just trained in the family to shut up while someone is on the phone or in a conversation. I thought it's normal people would know to do that but then noticed not a lot of people pay attention to it.

Anyway...gonna go get some tix later. Hopefully traffic won't be too bad then....