Thoughts

RED SHEETS
I don't think I've ever slept in more expensive sheets ever in my life before. Since getting married, the only sheets to touch my skin are Calvin Klein or silk from China. As a boy from Montebello, I have to say I've come a long way.
But since we have two sets of Calvin Klein sheets, thanks to many of you as wedding gifts, we decided to change and put on the red set. The problem is that these red sheets are so red that the colors bleed on everything. Even though we pre-washed them (turned our washer and dryer all red inside), they still bled everywhere, including turning my white sleeping shirt pink. It is now the gayest looking shirt ever!
Since first putting it on, we have washing it two more times and have both started wearing black colored clothes to sleep.
Personally, if you ask me, I'd much rather chuck the expensive stuff and go back to my Montebello sheets. You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can never take the ghetto out of the boy.

WEEKEND WORK
The bad part about working the weekend is that every night is a work night. And between holding down family responsibilities at night and work duties during the day, I'm feeling pretty exhausted right now. But no time to rest. The floor needs to be cleaned. The family calls again.
Whew!

OUTSIDE THE LINES
When I was a young kid, I often did my coloring outside the lines. In fact, I rarely stayed within the lines, even if I tried hard to do it. Teachers took that to the extreme and told my parents things like, "Surely, he's artistic, creative, and ingenious. A true visionary. A future leader who is not defined by "in the box" thinking.
Turns out, I was just messy.

HMO FRUSTRATIONS
Now that I'm working for Kaiser, I'm forced to have Kaiser insurance. And for now while we're young, I think Karena and I are okay with that. But we're already having serious conversations about switching later on down the road when we're older because we've seen firsthand how bad it can be.
On a related topic, we both have been frustrated during our respective optometry appointments. Karena never got a phone call back from her doctor and had to literally walk into the clinic herself to speak to the doctor face to face (actually his nurse because face time with the doctor is virtually non-existent). And I have to go back to the clinic again this Tuesday before they'll even order my contacts, just so they can make sure they fit me properly ... even though I've been wearing contacts for 6 years now.
And having Kaiser means I'm also now part of a dental HMO. I went last week for the first time and they didn't even do a cleaning! All they did was take my X-rays, tell me I have some cavities, and that the fillings for them will be mega bucks! My appointment for the fillings is in one month and the one for a general cleaning (yes, they made me make two separate appointments) isn't for another two months!
HMOs suck.

FRUIT PICKING UPDATE
As some of you might recall, I blogged a week or two ago about a man who rang our doorbell and asked to pick some of our kumquats from our tree. I was caught off-guard and let him take as many as he liked, although I later regretted it. Karena was a little upset that a man would drive to our house just to pick this fruit from our tree.
But this past Tuesday, he again appeared at our doorstep. But this time, there was no bag in his hand and he wasn't asking to pick fruit. Instead, he had a jar of kumquat jelly he had made. He wanted to thank us for letting him pick from our tree by giving us a jar.
I felt a little embarassed about being so upset about his picking from our tree after he did such a kind thing for us in return.

PRINCE
I don't think many of you know this, but one of Karena's most favorite music artists of all time is Prince. She knows very few lyrics from any songs on the radio, but she knows almost every Prince lyric ever written. She was so excited that he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week and that his final concert is coming up. She was considering purchasing tickets for us, but didn't because it was too pricey.
Still, we usually end up listening to a Prince CD while we're pulling weeds (which is all the time). Personally, I don't know what women see in a guy who's 4 feet tall and always dressed in purple. But there's something about his music and "Purple Rain" that women seem to dig. As for me, I'll stick with U2.

HOME
It's more than just a place to lay your head or put your hat down. It's your castle. It's your place of sanctuary. It's as place of rest and restoration.
Gary once described home by saying, "You can't call a place home unless you're comfortable in the bathroom."
With all these thoughts on home, I have been exploring my own feelings about our home. I have to admit that when I think about the home I grew up in, it brings up many fond memories. From the days where I got my head stuck in between the banister until the very last night I slept there, it's been all those things mentioned above.
But now, my new home is all those things, but just a little less. When I think of home now, I think not just of those things, but also all the work that needs to get done: cleaning, fixing broken things, gardening, etc. Yes, our home is still a place of rest for me, but it's also laundry, mopping, pulling weeds, paying bills.
Maybe my parents were just too easy on me while I lived there.

BLOGS
I love moving the mouse over to the right and clinking on the links of my friend's blogs. It's fun to read about what they're thinking about or what's going on in their lives.
Of course, the bottom line is they probably can't be brutally honest. Since this is a public forum and they don't know who's going to read what and when, we bloggers all have to tone-down what we might actually want to be saying.
As for me, I haven't always treated this page almost as a journal or a diary. It's a way for me to write down events in my life and my thoughts about them. And for the most part, I usually just sit down and start writing without much thinking because I figure that is closest I can get to my true feelings. (That's why there's so many typos because I usually don't end up proof-reading for fear I might change a thought to make it more PC.) The truth is, I'm very concerned about being PC, in general, sometimes at the risk of my own belief system. That's one thing I really hate about myself. But on this page, I try to just speak my opinion and welcome all other comments, objections, or discussion points.
I'm just hoping my ability to stand up for what I think is right while I'm writing on this page will carry over into my real life.

MOVIE BEAT
Last week, we watched "Seabiscuit" and thought that movie was as much about American history as it was about the horse, jockey, and the owner's family. Even though it was slow at times, I have to say that it was enjoyable. But throughout the whole movie, I would periodically turn to Karena and say, "I can't believe we're sitting here watching a movie about a horse. This hasn't happened since I was a kid and my mom and I watchced 'Black Beauty'."
Last night, we watched "Lost In Translation." And although it had some really witty comedic scenes, we both fell asleep. That movie is slower than molasses! But who knows? Maybe that was part of the brillance of it.
Well, whatever the case may be, Sofia Copolla's genius got lost behind our eyelids.

MARCH 17
Today is St. Patrick's Day. I remember as a kid, I had to think way in advance about what I was going to wear because I didn't want to get pinched. I remember one year in high school, I tried to defy it by not wearing green, but they still got me.
The last few years, I again purposely haven't worn green. After all, I'm not Irish. But, this year, I succumbed. And good thing because somebody at work was going around pinching everybody today.

THE RESIDENTS
While I was working at UCLA, there was a camera crew following around various doctors and patients for a future television show on The Learning Channel. They were there for about a year. Sometimes, I ended up getting filmed. But I have to admit that it was rather difficult to do your job and stay professional about it when this huge camera is about one foot from your face.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't it was on already and has been on for a long time already. But since discovering it last week, I've been watching every Monday night. It's been exciting for me to see doctors and former PT co-workers that I know very well on TV. And not to mention patients that I worked with too!
Now, I'm just waiting to see me on TV. =)

GRANDMOTHER
It was with a heavy heart that I did the last bit of cleaning of our house before having people over Saturday night. The reason? My mom called to say my grandmother had another stroke yesterday morning and was back in the hospital.
We just came back from seeing her and she is still in a coma and appears to be unable to move her right side. (She already had weakness on her left side from her previous strokes). We don't know much yet since the scans do not show signs of new strokes yet. At this point, it's a waiting game.
She did manage to open her eyes ever so briefly, but it was obvious she was not alert at all. My prayer request is that God will be glorified through this difficult time as our family again juggles having her in the hospital.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
One of my co-workers was going around asking people what they would do if they won the lottery. Would you still work?
He thought there's no chance he would ever work again as a PT and instead would start up a business with some friends. So, even if it tanks, he would have at least had a good time doing it and would still be financially sound. As for me, I told him I'd probably work two days a week just to keep be sane and somewhat on a regular schedule. But it wouldn't be too much that I'd be over-burdened with it. (As I mentioned before, I'm a little disheartened about PT and the amount of time, effort, and money we've put into it and how surprisingly little respect and $$, albeit decent, we get back in return.)
But the biggest shocker was another co-worker who said he'd continue working 40 hours a week! He said he'd invest that money and keep his same schedule. The guy who originallyl asked the question was appalled. Why would anyone do that? Maybe he's not as disheartened about the job as we are.
Whatever the case may be, this begs the question, what would you do if you won the lottery.

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. KFC is trying to change its image away from "fried" and move toward healthier by calling it "Kitchen Fresh Chicken." Give me a break!
2. My parents and I went to visit Sandra's husband Gabe since he is in Southern California for 4 months on business. Although he gets to stay in a plush apartment and fly home every Thursday night for the weekends, it still must be difficult for him and Sandra. This reminded me of Steven and Jenn, who are on opposite sides of the country as she goes to school. I pray for them ... because I know that is something I would have a hard time doing in my own marriage.
3. Despite finally realizing just how much work goes into hosting parties, I still like to host them. Of course, maybe that's because Karena still does more than her share of the housework to prepare and to clean-up afterward.
4. Two things every man could use more of: white T-shirts and black socks. (I just bought some of both).

CEFC 40th ANNIVERSARY
This past Sunday, we had joint service to celebrate our church's 40th anniversary. I really wasn't excited about this at all because it seemed a little like a ploy to celebrate in the midst of some hardship. And after looking through the bulletin, I jokingly mentioned that the church's timeline had all this good stuff in the beginning and the last five years and almost none (except being debt-free).
But after I saw so many old faces (including Paul and Diana Lo and family and Rebekah Wan and family and others), I couldn't help but reminisce. Forty years is a long time for a church to exist. And it was amazing to see some of the ministries we've been involved with over the years.
And yes, the joint worship might have been long and boring at times, it was still good to gather as one family to celebrate. Somehow, just seeing people who shaped my life as an adolescent, a teenager, and now as a man gathered in one place truly made the day special.
God has generously blessed CEFC and I should just get over my cynicism.

REV. FRED CHEUNG
I was saddened to see the passing of Rev. Fred Cheung last week. Although there were some disagreements and hardships in our church's relationship with him (especially in the last few years), he was still the Senior Pastor during the majority of my formative years. To me, he will always be the man who preached God's Word to me and helped me further develop my relationship with God.
As a kid, I remember thinking he must have attended a lot of church services. I remember he used to always close his eyes and yet still blink while praying or sitting in deep thought. And how he would rarely ever sing the hymns, instead, opting to sit there closing his eyes and blinking again. I used to think that was odd or funny. But I took it more as a lesson of true worship and solitude with God, even in the midst of a crowded Sunday service.
One of the last memories I have of him is speaking in a Friday night Koinonia. He came in jeans and was very down-to-earth. That was shocking for me because to me, he was always the official face of the church and dressed and acted accordingly. He talked about his love for movies, many of them containing gun fights and violence. It was great to see him in that way, for me, because it showed that even great, big, strong Senior Pastors are still human with strengths/weaknesses, joys/sorrows, and are still in need of a Savior.

THE PASSION
There really isn't a feeling quite like joining 54 of your closest friends to watch a movie on a Friday night. Of course, this movie-going experience was very different from the norm.
Watching Jesus undergo such unbelieveable suffering and intense torture ensured was a poignant reminder of just what it meant for Him to pay for our sins. I've heard that it was Mel Gibson's hand you see putting the nail to Jesus' hand in the film. Shoot, it could have been mine.
Although there were definitely liberties I felt he took with what is actually written (a lot of Mary stuff, probably because of his Catholic upbringing), I was happy to see the film was indicative of the people's responses, Pilate's plight, and Jesus' strength and faith in the midst of what appeared to be weakness. And I was most glad about them showing that He did indeed rebuild the temple through His resurrection.
The problem is that this film seems to affect Christians deeply -- reminding them what Good Friday and Easter Sunday are all about. But it doens't seem to strike non-Christians with nearly the same magnitude. Many of our friends have seen it and only commmented on the gross and graphic nature of the film, but no realy life-changing or much thought-provoking discussion on spirtual matters.
That is a shame.
This is our opportunity. May we, as His witnesses and ambassadors, seize it.

BEAUTIFUL
Karena told me that while she was shopping at the Glendale Galleria today, she was stopped dead in her tracks by a stranger who came right up to her and stopped. This woman wouldn't let Karena pass and just stared at her.
"Can I ask you a question?," she asked.
"Okay," Karena replied suspiciously.
"How old are you?"
"29."
"Wow, you look so young. And you're sooooo beautiful!"
And with that, the woman walked off and was gone.

It's a good feeling to know that my wife's beauty can stop people dead in their tracks.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
While Karena and I were at home on our day off doing our taxes, the doorbell rang. We were pretty surprised since nobody ever visits us unannounced, especially on a Tuesday. When I opened the door, a middle-aged man with a plastic bag in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other asked me if he could pick some kumquats from our tree.
I was shocked that anybody would even ask that, but I relunctantly said yes since I didn't want to say no and have him just come back later and take some without looking. Or worse yet, do something bad to our house out of spite. Later, while he was leaving, we noticed that he drove away. This was not just a man who was walking by and noticed our tree. He purposely planned to get these kumquats. Well, at least he asked. But we think that he's been her many times before and has taken other fruit without asking because we notice fruit is taken from our trees all the time.
That's why we've since put "Private Property" signs up. But this left me feeling very "un-Christian." What would you have done?

WHOSE LINE?
I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the "ham" in me, but I just love playing Whose Line Is it Anyway?, especially with Jason. This past Saturday, I had the opportunity and had the best time playing with Ricky, Hubert, Jason, and a member of Ricky's church.
Afterwards, I was exhausted.

SORE
I played some football on Saturday and now my entire body is sore. I'm in so much pain! Even my patients have noticed and have repeatedly asked me if I need PT!