Fast Day!

I had to tutor this morning and Mom went to the "Singing Old Songs" Program...

In the afternoon, I took her and Abby to Shihlin. Abby wanted to buy a few things and I bought Mom a bubble milk tea and dumplings. She enjoyed the outing tremendously.

After she went to bed, I watched the TV show, Elementary and our neighbors came over for a visit!

Since I couldn't go out for my run in the morning, I went this evening when it got cooler...

We heard from Alan. He went to a Padres Game. They won in the 13th inning!

Isaiah... yes, he was over at Vikki's the whole time! He was going to play tennis, but there weren't any courts that were available!

Seek Him First!

One Cruise Is Almost Booked!

I talked with Annie today and we are almost there...

She spent over an hour on the phone trying to firm up the cruise part of the trip for January. We wanted the cabins to be across from each other, but the agent said that the cruise is almost fully booked. The best we can have is one on C Deck and the other on D Deck. We are totally cool with an interior room... at the lowest cost! Annie and KR, since they are going to have Mom in their room, want a balcony suite! We don't care as we are not planning to be spending a lot of time in the room. The food and activities are the same, so why pay more for a nicer room!?!?! At least that's our way of looking at things.

Annie will let me know tomorrow and I will book the plane tickets. I found round trip tickets to Singapore for about 350US$! DIRECT! Scoot tickets are cheaper, but there is a layover in the Philippines and you have to pay for the meal and luggage, I think. Scoot was 270US$. Annie and KR will come to Taiwan for a couple of days and then we hope to go together to Singapore! YIPPY!

I also talked with Alan this morning as he is trying to firm up the cruise for July! I think we have decided on going to the East Coast and parts of Canada. After the cruise, we hope to spend a few days in New York and Washington DC.

It was another busy day... but God is moving and things are happening...

Seek Him First!

Mom's Back...

Yes, Mom is back in Taiwan... and she's enjoying going back to her old routine...

But her back is also not exactly feeling right.

So, I took her to the blind masseur and she had a TWO hour massage!

Then we went and had a chocolate ice cream cone and lunch. She really enjoyed that. She walked all around -- from the masseur to the store and back to the car! No problem!

I've changed up her routine so that she gets a shower in the morning, right after she gets up. That's when her back feels sore! I think it's the way she sleeps!

Of course, she watched TWO Little House this afternoon and got caught up with her journal!

I'm going to get her to the masseur once a week for two hours and see... I won't be able to get her the National Insurance card until the middle of September. I will take her to the doctors if she still complains about having back pain.

Oh... another thing that has really helped is the Stop Pain Spray that Mom Bea introduced me to. I'm going to put that on along with a salompas patch!

If you're reading this, remember to pray for my mom. She's slowing down... Actually, with her back not feeling exactly well, it's been easier to take care of her. She doesn't wander around as much and is more likely to stay put when I ask her not to move! She's not going off to look out the windows whenever we are out and about!

Seek Him First!

Cooler Days Are Coming -- Maybe?

I try to get out for my 30 minute run each morning before 7am. If I don't, it gets way too hot.

Today, I had to teach and tutor. I finished at 7pm and it was raining outside. I had a light jacket on and no rain coat, and it was quite chilly!

Maybe cooler days are just ahead...

Mom had a nice time back at her Tuesday morning Seniors' Worship activity.  In the afternoon, Mary, the helper, came. I gave her four simple jobs. She got two and a half done... I will have to wait until next Spring to find someone else. She is slow... Abby was home so she took care of mom. Starting in October, Abby will be at school... Mom now takes a nap in the afternoon, so I hope Mary will still be able to help with light housekeeping... We will see!

I took Alan's scooter to the repair shop. It should be finished by tonight... How much? About 200US$!

Isaiah's scooter needs a new battery... How much? About 50US$!

I asked Isaiah to ask Vikki about the hospital bill. I don't want Vikki's parents to pay. So we will see how much that is... We do have National Health Insurance, but I think it's still going to be about 1000US$ for the titanium pins and the self paid part of the operation.

Seek Him First!

Interesting Time...

Now that Isaiah and Abby both have their scooter license... it's quite interesting.

I can ask them to run errands for me.

They go to church on their own which gives them the freedom to come home early as I always stay to help with clean-up... which means I don't get home until 8pm or so.

When school starts, they will scooter to school.

The same with their part time tutoring jobs... they arrange the meeting place and time and off they go on their scooter. Sometimes, they will ask for direction... but we make sure they are not riding in unfamiliar places. If they have to go too far, we ask that they take the MRT.

They pay for their own gas... We pay for general maintenance and insurance.

It has really helped as I can focus on caring for my mom!

And yes, they also help out with that...

I do have to nail them down so that I can know their weekly schedule...

Today, I spoke at the New Beitou Baptist Church and Abby stayed home with Mom as Isaiah had tutoring. Then they each had different activities -- Abby had her college youth group and Isaiah went to visit Vikki.

This coming week -- Isaiah will have tennis practice and will also go and visit Vikki. Abby has several get-together with different groups of friends. But both of them have said yes to helping me out as I will teach/tutor this week... yes, I'm starting back... This week, only 7 hours! I don't want more...

Seek Him First!

Trying To Get Back To Blogging...

I wanted to write a longer post yesterday... but when Isaiah came home, I wanted to catch up with what's going on with Vikki's recovery and things...

Now, I have been busy... of course... I do want to clarify about my mom talking, talking and talking... It's more repetitive questions... And as for her "bad habit", yes, she is back at it, UNLESS you are standing right there... You can't leave her, not even for a minute!

One thing that I've been busy with is I've been on the computer A LOT... not because I am surfing on facebook or watching youtube videos... but I've been trying to book TWO CRUISES for 2019.

I think for our family picture in 2019, I'm going to name the theme as CRUISING!

In January, we're going on a cruise in Asia with my family. It's my mom's 88th birthday and my brother, Eddie and Sandy's, 25th wedding anniversary.

In July, we're going on a cruise with Alan's family. It's Mom Bea's 90th and Alden and Gina's 25th wedding anniversary.

Totally weird... What a coincidence! God is at work...

I know where we will go for January but I can't pinpoint where we will go for July. There are so many options!

Because we have to book flight and cruise, plus I want to stick to a budget, it's been very difficult to nail things down. I hope to have it all finished before the end of September!

I know God is at work... so I just want to join Him in what He is doing... He has this all planned out... Oh... so where are we going in January?  Asia, of course! How about July? Alaska? Canada and the East Coast? Germany and the Baltic Sea? Ireland and the UK? France? Italy? Greece? The options are endless... But I've narrowed it down by using these criteria... if in Europe, I don't want the total flight and layover to be over 14 hours. The cruise will be 7 days... And the total cost of cruise and flight to be under $1770! (That does not include excursions or souvenirs or gratuity!)

Oh... how many people are we talking about?
January -- About 10 people
July -- about 14 people

Seek Him First!

A Quiet Moment...

Mom is in bed... and the house is nice and quiet, except for the droning of the fans...

Isaiah is with his girlfriend as they were in a scooter accident and she had a total of six pins placed on her left tibia bone.

Abby is at a concert... a boy's band with the word WHY something...

Alan is still in the States.

So, I have these minutes to finally sit down to write... Of course, I could be putting away the suitcases that are in the living room... Or I could be doing a lot of other things... But I think I should get this out first...

Some very curious people were asking, How was my mom on the flight over?

Well... Mom was higher than a kite... not because she was drinking but she was just so excited.  She enjoyed all the meals... and when we landed in Korea, she wanted to walk around... again, and again, and again... When we landed in Taiwan, she wanted to talk and talk and talk some more... She didn't sleep much... but by Wednesday at 12:30, I think the jet lag hit... she slept for 14 hours... Of course, she got up several times... to have her meals, but she said she was feeling tired... On Thursday, we were back to our regular schedule -- Knee Strengthening Exercise, Acupressure Massage... and then I took her to get her hair trimmed.

(The silent minutes are gone... Isaiah just walked in...)

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The AC Is On...

Does that title tell you where I am at as I write this blog?

Yes, I'm back in Taipei... It's not as bad as when I left... and I was hoping to blog before taking off on Sunday... but I never got to sit down in front of a computer...

Those last few days were packed... not just in the literal sense of the word...

We had a family picnic...

The kids got to go to California Adventure with Emily and Isabella, my long time friend, Angel's, daughters.

We visited Aunt Mary.

I had friends who came over to hang out...

And yes, although I had started early on packing, there were still lots to do, trying to get 9 pieces weighed exactly at 23.3!

I won't write more as I'm exhausted...

Oh... how was Mom on the flight?

Hyped up... Super talkative (non stop!)... but because she was in the window seat and I was next to her, things went fairly well... Alan was right... that's the best seat for her...

Seek Him First!