The Pain of Physical Therapy

I now know why people complain about going to see the physical therapist. I like the heat lamp. I like the electric shock therapy. But I don't like the physical therapist. Even though it's only 15 minutes, and I'm trying to breathe through every movement,  and I know it's for my good, but boy -- it sure is painful!

This week, I'm going twice!

Then two more times... Now, should I go for another 'six sessions'??? I could as I still have a month before I go to the States for two weeks in October! But to pay for pain?

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Kids Sure Are Busy!

It's only the second day of school, but the kids are already so busy.

Isaiah has the upcoming practice test, which will be on Thursday and Friday.

Abby has so much to do with her club. She has meetings then meeting notes to type up and posters to make.

I had a busy day with meetings and teaching.

Of course, I also have to finish writing the test and preparing my ppt for the upcoming talks!

I have not had time to run! But I have tried to squeeze in an hour of biking at least three times a week!

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Not What I Expected

With the kids starting back to school, I thought I'd have 10 days (before Alan comes back) to sit at home and read! That's what I've been wanting to do all summer. But if you've read my previous entries, I got started with organizing files and teaching. So, most of my summer was spent on those things. I have put aside the files and will have a break in my teaching. AHHHH... it's reading time!

Unfortunately, it looks like this week is going to be absolutely packed.

For one thing, we are having problems with one of our bathrooms as our downstairs neighbor says that they see water gathering on their ceiling!

Another thing is that there are people visiting from different places. And this is the week before they go back, so I will be meeting up with them three days this week.

Then, I have a set of test to finish.

And, I need to go to PT twice this week.

I also have to teach and prepare for my upcoming messages at House of Praise and the New Beitou Baptist Church!

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... Don't get me wrong. I enjoy speaking. I enjoy meeting up with people. I enjoy teaching.

BUT I also LOVE reading at home! I can get so lost in a book and I have three books that I'm reading right now, all at the same time. I was hoping to finish all three in these next 10 days!

So, maybe next week, it won't be so crazy! MAYBE?!?!?!? That's a very big MAYBE!

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Loved the Weather Today

The weather today was like a perfect fall day!

How I wanted to go out to have a run in the rain. But Sunday is NO RUN DAY! Usaually when it rains, it's like a sauna outside. But not today -- It was so cool, so refreshing, as the rain cleaned the air and brought the nicest breeze! The temperature also dropped to the mid to low 20's.

We stayed home as Abby found out she had one more essay to write - The Dad in Me! She had a choice to write it in English or Chinese. So, she wrote it in Chinese as then Alan can read it. It was a beautiful essay. I helped her, of course, but Alan is going to enjoy reading this .

Isaiah had to go to cram school all day as they have started to give practice tests in preparation of the upcoming Joint College Entrance Exam. The school will give three full practice exams and the cram schools give practice tests per subject. The results of these practice tests can predict the students' outcome for the real test that the government gives in January. He didn't get to church until 5:30!

I hope that the weather tomorrow will be just as nice as today! The kids will be headed to school! Already, the start of another school year!

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Last Saturday Before the Start of School

The whole city was out today as this was the last Saturday before the start of school.

Freedom is soon to be gone -- until Chinese New Year!

Well, actually, people are already looking forward to the four-day weekend for Mid-Autumn Festival in the middle of September.

Isaiah went to see the 2:50 Jason Bourne movie with his teammate, Simon.

Abby went to see the 7:30 Jason Bourne movie with her classmate, Jill. They stayed at the house to make special scrapbooks for two of their ex-classmates who have transferred to another class. Jill came over at 1:30 and they worked on those scrapbooks until they had to leave at 7pm. They did such a fantastic job!

I cooked, baked, & worked the whole afternoon!

It rained in the afternoon, which unfortunately, made it all the more muggy!  So, sitting in front of my computer all afternoon, I felt quite 'soggy'! But it did make the evening feel so comfortable! 

September is just around the corner. So, my favorite season, Fall, is also around the corner!

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What A Morning!

Abby has been saying that she wants to get up early enough to beat the sun so that she can do some basketball drills.

For the past two mornings, I've attempted (unsuccessfully) to get her up at 5:30.

So, this morning, by the time we headed out, it was already blaring hot.

Trying to stay out in that sun and work on basketball drills was impossible.

Instead, we headed indoors to the Neihu Sports Center and the indoor gym.

I had tickets still. So, we got there at 10a.m. and it was relatively uncrowded.

We did the weight machines and the treadmill. I showed her the rowing machine and the stairmaster.

After two hours, we were ready to shower and bike back home.

I haven't gone to the gym there as from my past experiences, it had been extremely overly crowded. And the music was terrible! They didn't censor their songs! But today, it was actually quite nice. I have six more tickets. Perhaps once the kids are back in school, I might be able to go a few more times and finally use up all the tickets!

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Fun Day with Abby

Abby and I went for a short bike ride this morning. We were planning to go again tonight, but Abby bailed on me.

We then went and got a short massage and then afternoon tea!

It was much nicer to eat with Abby as she wasn't on her cell phone constantly. We were able to talk and enjoy each other's company as we feasted together. The place was quite packed!

We finally left at around 5:15 and went shopping for little containers to organize her desk. 

By the time we finished shopping, it was already past 6pm.  We had to scooter over to Costco to pick up pictures and buy milk. Then one more errand before we headed home.

We organized her desk and she didn't want to go for our evening bike ride. Terrible!

But it actually worked out as Isaiah was finished with his cram school by 8:45, so I went and picked him up.

The day sure went by way too fast!

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A New Printer

Yes, I splurged and bought a new printer from Costco.  I lugged it back on my scooter on Tuesday, but finally opened it up today.

Now, why did I wait?

I thought it would be easy -- just plug it in and use it. But Alan said, "No, you have to set it up."

He was going to have a skype call to walk me through it. But who has the time for that?

So, I waited until I had a block of time and I opened up the box today.

Hum? It looked easy enough.

But for someone like myself, it wasn't entirely a walk in the park.

I had to do things step by step and read everything very carefully.

And the good news is -- I got it to be connected via the wifi and print from the desktop and my lap top that's set up in the living room! Eureka! I did it! I won't mention the few glitches that I had to overcome...

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Another PT Session

I went straight to my PT appointment after dropping off Isaiah.

While trying to park my scooter, a nice gentleman helped me move a scooter so that I can fit mine in!

When I got up there, I couldn't believe it. There were already about 20 people hooked up on different machines!  I was able to get in right away. Now, I know -- go there by 8am or I'd be stuck waiting.  Twenty minutes of heat plus 20 minutes of electric shock. Then, it was time with the therapist. He worked on my shoulder for 20 minutes.  There were times that it was painful and he had to keep telling me to relax! So, this is going to be my routine every Tuesday morning and I will also have to add one Thursday in order to fit six times in one month! He said I should be going twice a week AT LEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

One thing he said which was very encouraging. He told me that there are three stages of this problem and I seem to have by-passed the first stage, which is the extremely painful stage. Usually people sought medical attention at stage one because the pain is unbearable. But I've already proceeded to stage two, the frozen stage! He wondered why I didn't come in sooner. He thought it was very unusual. I told him Jesus helped me!

Now, this stage can take another 4-6 months before I get to stage 3 which is the 'unfrozen' stage. I'm praying that God will work as I continue to go to these PT sessions so that by October 13, when I have to go to the States, my frozen shoulder would already be 'thawed'.

And yes, he told me that it's possible for people to get one shoulder 'unfrozen' only to have the other shoulder freeze up. Some people have both shoulders frozen at the same time! I can't imagine! How do they sleep at night???

When I finished, I came down to find that my scooter was really jammed and there was a car parked in front of it. I went to the Ford dealership and talked to one gentleman. He happened to be the owner of the car. He moved the car and then proceeded to help me get my scooter out. With my frozen shoulder problem, I don't have much strength in my right arm. So, this was such a praise!

I then scooter over to Costco and bought the printer. I got home just in time to make my daily phone call to my mom!

I had to teach in the afternoon and the heat has not subsided!

I am going to attempt hooking up the printer tomorrow! I hope I don't blow anything up!

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