Saturday, December 31, 2005







HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!
As promised, here are some pictures from Palm Springs, Christmas Eve, etc.

Friday, December 30, 2005

PALM SPRINGS AND THE FLU
Sorry, I've been MIA for a few days.
After work on Monday, Karena and I did drive off to Palm Springs to join the rest of my family, who had been there since Christmas Eve. Although we were only able to stay one night, we were able to visit Palm Spring's world famous Marriott (beautiful) and play some forced fun games with our cousins and even make gingerbread houses (our White House won). I'll have to post pictures tomorrow (as I'm at work and haven't had a chance to upload my pics).
And while most people are off work or on vacation this time of year, I'm in the middle of working 13 of 17 days. It's been pretty miserable. And the lack of rest finally caught up with me. I woke up at 1am Thursday morning with a raging headache, body aches, and stomachache. After throwing up, I couldn't go back to sleep, but managed to get myself to work by 7am. I would have called out except that I had to open the department and was the only scheduled senior for that day. After throwing up a few more times (including into a bag once since I couldn't make it to the bathroom in time), I knew it was time to go home.
I left at 12:30pm and slept from 1pm until 7:30pm. After still not feeling well, I went back to sleep at 10pm and didn't get up until this morning. Thank God, I feel much better now. But it was apparent that I really needed the rest.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

GIFT GIVING
Karena shared this thought with me while we were driving out to Palm Springs on Monday after work:
Gift giving is hard.
You often want to give gifts to people that are meaningful, without having to go overboard by spending too much money. Plus, you want the gifts to be thoughtful. But usually the best gifts end up costing more. Still, you try to do what you can.
Then, as a Chinese person, you always try to make sure that you have a gift for everyone who gives one to you. But you often times have a person who surprises you and catches you off guard.
Another problem is when the amount they spend varies. For example, one year, somebody might spend only $5 on you, but the next year, they might spend $50. Then, you have a difficult time matching the gift giving amount.

Does anybody else agree?

Sunday, December 25, 2005

BREAKDOWN? BREAKTHROUGH
Merry Christmas everyone!
After having such a tough time over these last few months dealing with all the stresses of life and having to work near 10 hour days on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after, I've been feeling miserable and not in the Christmas spirit at all. Well, yesterday, while driving home after work. I finally had my breakdown while driving home.
Breakdown? No, breakthrough.
I'm privileged and blessed to not only know that Jesus is Savior and Lord, but I'm also privileged and blessed to know Him personally. He came to this world for me, and I should glorify Him, no matter what my current condition is. And so, with that in mind, as I sat in front of our Christmas tree alone in the dark, with only the tree lights on as I do every year, I said these lyrics as a prayer:


Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum
pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum
pum,
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.


Saturday, December 24, 2005

BELLS
This is an actual question Karena asked me Thursday night:

K: Do you want to wear a bell?
V:What?!? (looking confused)
K: You know, a Christmas bell to wear around your neck at work.
V: Um, NO! Can you imagine ME walking around work with a bell around my neck? That's so girly!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS? I DON'T THINK SO
Maybe it's the fact that I'll be working for the next six days straight, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Maybe it's because it's 80 degrees outside. Maybe it's also because all our nights are spent in the hospital looking after Karena's dad (and checking in on my grandfather and other family members as well).
Whatever the case may be, I see that the date is December 21st, but it doesn't look much like Christmas at all to me.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

CHRISTMAS CARDS
The hardest thing for me to do this time of year is write Christmas cards. We each have a short list of people we always mail cards to . . . except I always wait until the last minute. One year, I didn't get them out until after Christmas. That was pretty embarassing.
This year, Karena has hers all out and my stack is still sitting next to me right now. Hmm, maybe I should be writing them NOW instead of writing this blog.
I better go.

Monday, December 19, 2005













PICTURES FROM THE WEEKEND
Congratulations to my cousin Allison, who graduated from UC Davis yesterday. Despite the freezing temperatures and the pouring rain, all 13 of us had a great time celebrating with her.
You can also see a few pictures of my brother's house, which is undergoing major renovations. His wife Sandra is really giving his former bachelor pad a real woman's touch. And it looks great!
And we were also able to celebrate Gabe's birthday . . . with him cooking BBQ in the freezing cold. Thanks Gabe and Happy Birthday!

Saturday, December 17, 2005

WE'RE HERE
My parents said they'd pick me up at 8am on our way up north, but I got a call waking me up at 6:45 saying my parents were already on the freeway. I jumped out of bed and got ready to go. But after waking up fully, I was excited and before I knew it we were on our way.
I ended up driving the whole way, but I was happy to spend some quality time with my family and to follow our family tradition of stopping halfway in Kettleman City at their Carl's Jr.
Now, we're at Sandra and Gabe's place plaing Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Dance Dance Revolution at their PS2.
But we'll have to call the party off short since we have to get up early to attend Allison's graduation in Davis.
Party!
(Pictures to come later)

Friday, December 16, 2005

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. I'm headed up to Northern California this weekend (K will stay to care for her dad) to see my siblings and to celebrate my cousin Allison's graduation from UC Davis. Congrats to Allison!
This will mean that I'll be missing another Sunday service at church. In fact, in all of December, I'll have only gone to church once. On Dec 4th, I was working. On Dec. 25 (Christmas Day), I'll
be working again.
2. Yesterday morning, I was diverted off of La Cienaga Blvd on my way to work because of a horrific car accident where the car hit two trees, a newsstand, a fire hydrant, and a parked bus. It turned out that they were both former USC football players and one was an Pro Bowler with the Raiders. And today, the blocked off another street across from work because of a shooting. In fact, they brought the cop who got shot into our ER. It was crazy.
3. For two weeks in a row, my co-worker John and I ended up Carl's Jr. for dinner on Friday night. It gave us a chance to talk and share about our struggles at work and with life in general. It helped to ease my anger.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

GLAD TO SEE YOU
Because of everything going on, it has been a pretty rough few weeks. It's been really stressful at work and we haven't been getting much sleep. Plus, I find myself much more easily agitated and upset lately.
But today, it was nice to get a surprise visit from my wife during lunch time. She also came bearing gifts of a coffee and doughnuts from the nearby Yum Yum Donut Shop. They both hit the spot since neither one of us got very much sleep last night (since we stayed late at the hospital visiting her dad).
After I got to spend those 10 minutes with her, I felt refreshed and re-energized and ready for the afternoon.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

PRAISE GOD
So far, both Karena's dad and my grandfather are doing well. K'd dad had surgery last night and despite having a very hoarse voice and throat, he seems to be feeling okay. But he's still weak and walking is still difficult.
My grandfather was taken out of the ICU today and is breathing better, but not perfectly yet.
Thank you for your phone calls and prayers.

Monday, December 12, 2005

PRAYER REQUESTS
K's dad is scheduled to have neck surgery this afternoon to relieve compression of his spinal cord. Please pray for the surgeons and for a quick recovery. He's been getting weaker and weaker recently and has been practically unable to walk, even with a walker.
Also, my grandfather will be hospitalized today for pneumonia. His breathing sounded pretty bad when we went to visit him yesterday.
Finally, my grandmother fell a few weeks ago and even though the x-rays were negative, she's still in some pain while walking.
Thank you for your prayers!

Sunday, December 11, 2005



NARNIA
We woke up early to drive out to the Puente Hills AMC to see a special showing of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It was sponsored by our sister church Evangelical Free Church of Walnut. My aunt and cousins are members of that church. And let me tell you, they did a really good job sponsoring it! First, they asked members for donations so they could buy out one theater completely with the intent of inviting non-Christians. They also provided one free popcorn and soda to every attendee. Now granted, popcorn and soda at 9am isn't the breakfast of champions, but it was very thougthful and went above and beyond.
Prior to the start of the movie and immediately after it ended, one of their pastors Byron Chung (who spoke at the 1993 Alpha retreat) shared briefly about the Christian themes from the story. They also had a raffle where they gave out a few sets of the books, some stuffed Aslan toys, some Narnia kids activity/coloring books, and some cookies/chocolates (I guess to be like Edmund's Turkish delights). I was happy that my parents and my uncle went so they could hear about Jesus' life and death through the movie.
As for the movie itself, I felt it was really well done. Of course, the beginning started out slowly as they had to introduce all the characters and Narnia itself. But after all that intro stuff was done, the pacing improved, although that left little time for the war scene in the end. But, I felt they did a good job representing Aslan's sacrifice and Edmund's wayward ways.
It's a must-see . . . and I haven't said that about a movie in a long time.

Thursday, December 08, 2005



WHITE CHRISTMAS
I forgot to mention that we were treated to free tickets at the Pantages Theatre to see "White Christmas on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Since the tickets were given by Karena's patient, we got the best seats I've ever gotten for a musical -- 13th row right at the aisle! We got to walk up and see the orchestra and everything.
Although I thought it was well done, I have to admit that we just don't fit the musical scene. There were many gay people there, including a guy who sat right in front of us that was so excited that he clapped loudly for everything and kept yelling "Yeah!!!" after each scene. Plus, there were many elderly couples there.
And since Karena had put in many long hours of work prior to see the show, she slept through most of the first act.
We felt privileged to see the show and to check out Hollywood and to finally see the Metrolink station (where a homeless guy asked me repeatedly for money since I was all dressed up). Still, as Karena said that night, "I think we're done with the whole musical thing. We've both seen many of them and that's enough."

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

FREE HBO AND SHOWTIME
This past weekend, we were treated to a free preview of HBO and Showtime. Whenever this happens, I get very excited because I love having so many different movies at my fingertips. Since I like to watch the same movies over and over, it's easy for me to turn on the TV onto a movie I've seen and just start watching from there.
Karena, on the other hand, usually only likes to watch a movie once and thinks what I do is an absolute waste of time.
But for all the excitement that I had going into this weekend, I'd have to call this weekend's movie list a disappointment:
Spanglish (see Julie's Dec 3rd entry)
Sports Photographs (this was one of the best things I watched all weekend)
Collateral (solid)
In Good Company (so-so)
Heathers (less than so-so)
Top Gun (one of my all-time faves)

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

FUNNY, BUT GROSS
The following entry explains what my cousin Allison did for us (or "to" us, depending on how you look at it) after Thanksgiving dinner. It's funny, but a little gross. So, if you can handle it, read on. Otherwise, just wait until the next entry tomorrow.
Apparently, Allison has a knack for being good at getting out ear wax for other people. She has an instrument and has devised an entire system using a flashlight and/or lamp. My sister knew about this and asked for her services after Thanksgiving dinner last week. After she set up her station, she went to work. Slowly, one by one, people came up to her to get their ears cleaned or were coerced into doing it (like me). They would each leave the room being able to hear a little bit better . . . and with a napkin holding their collection.
It was pretty gross, but funny.

Monday, December 05, 2005

GATHERINGS
This is one of the most wonderful times of the year. After seeing the extended family over Thanksgiving, I was left feeling good. Many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family came together to shoot pool, play cards, and eat. And it was great to drive to my parents place in one car holding all the kids -- Karena and me and her sister Rani, Raymond & Sandra, and Sandra and Gabe.
And this Saturday, many current and former Bruins gathered in front of my TV to watch the game. And even though it wasn't much of a game, it was fun to have BBQ and to have a dunk contest with everyone. I love entertaining at our house!

Thursday, December 01, 2005



WALLET
My faith in the human race has been restored again.
After having dinner at Kabuki's to celebrate Aaron's birthday last weekend (here are some pics), I dropped my wallet on the floor when I walked out.
And I didn't notice it for about 15 minutes. After driving back to the restaurant, I was pleased to find out that they had found and put my wallet away for safe keeping with all the contents (and money) still inside.

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