It's been less than a week since I landed at the Taoyuan Airport and two people have asked me why I haven't blogged yet.
Like my last blog in which I summarized my first few days in the States, what have I been doing in these past few days since I got back to Taipei?
I landed on July 8th and Alan met me at the airport. We had 8 hours together, catching up and sharing a meal. Yes, we had lunch at the usual -- Burger King! He brought the computer so that I can see how he had set it up. My laptop was getting so slow. I am now using the church's old computer. It runs faster than what I had! I also went through the 800+ emails, deleting whatever was junk mail. Then I inserted the flash drive that contained my talks. YIKES... the files were corrupted! So, we had to ask Isaiah to email each talk. I'm not sure what happened. And the sad part was -- some of the things I worked on were not saved. I was using Isaiah's new Mac, which is a new system for me. I might not have saved things properly. At around 3:30, Alan went through custom and at the security check, he realized, HE HAD THE KEYS TO THE CAR, when he emptied his pockets. The people were nice enough to let him get out and run down to B1, where I was. From behind me, I heard this voice, "You're not going to find the keys as I had them." I turned around and there he was. We had one more quick kiss and he ran back up to catch his flight. I had to drive home. Thank God that in the middle of the drive, it started to rain. That helped me to stay awake. I was so exhausted.
It was fantastic to be back in Taipei. Abby had made me instant noodles and bought me stinky tofu! We worked together to put things away. I was in bed by 9:30 and of course, woke up three times. I finally got up at 5am. Abby and I went out for a walk in the morning before it got too hot. In fact, we decided that we would exercise every day until school starts back as she had gained 2 kilos while I was away!
So, what was the house like this time? I think I have extremely high standard when it comes to cleanliness... so there was a lot of cleaning to be done! They never dusted or mopped the floor! They never wiped down the frig doors (there was mold growing on the door handles). The kitchen counter and stove top were also never wiped down. They never took out the sink drainer to clean that or the inside of the drain. (Wow... I can't tell you how disgusting that was!) And the drawers were in a bit of disarray. I've been doing a bit of cleaning all week and still I have a few more places to clean but the house is getting back to what I consider to be clean and organized.
I have also been working on my sermons! Abby and I would work 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break. We would do that for about 5-7 hours each day! I had to go through the talks that I had finished just to see if things were saved. And now I'm moving forward to the talks that are not done. I'd like to finish 12 by July 23rd, when I start with my overview of the book of Luke. Then I will be speaking every Sunday until January 28th, 2018, just days before Abby's Joint College Entrance Exam! I want to get ahead because I need the time to make the ppt files, not to mention that by the middle of August, I'll be tutoring again. I'm not sure how much 'free' time I'll have!
Besides exercising, Abby and I have decided to eat mostly healthy things for these next 7 weeks. We have a fruit smoothie in the morning, a healthy and filling lunch and then a 3pm snack. For dinner we'd have a salad or veggie soup. We started on Sunday and so far, we both love it. It has been great also because of the hot weather in Taipei. We really don't feel like eating much.
A few more things to mention... When I got back, my brother James was in Taipei. It was so nice to see him. I hope he'll be back in August. My dear friend, Angel, is also here. She and her two daughters are here for a month. Before I left, I had already set up several appointments -- counseling others. Abby has been busy with her studies and going to cram school.
I think this has helped to let you know what I've been doing these past few days. I will be back to blogging... and yes, I'm hoping to blog every day...
Yes, I'm back!
Seek Him First!
