I DID IT (FALL SEMESTER COMPLETED)

December 10, 2013

I did it … all the assignments were submitted and all the Final Exams were taken – freedom !!!

How did I do?  I believe I did good - the grades are most likely in the mid-to-high 90s for all the classes.

It has been a long and winding road since I began the program in October 2012.  (Actually I started the journey after I was thrown off the bridge in June 2011).  There were so many times I thought I could not handle the coursework, especially this semester juggling work and school - at my old age, it was not easy.  (Just like climbing up to the top of the arch and wonder how you were going to get back down!)

Now I could sit back and relax – well, not really.  I already finished reading chapter 1 of Employment Law (Spring 2014 semester) – I can’t wait for school to start again!!!!

(Arches National Park, Utah – July 2013)

HAPPY PLACE (LIFE IN MINNESOTA'S 9TH LARGEST CITY)

Inspired by the "Happy Place" post from Eagan Daily Photo (www.eagandailyphoto.blogspot.com), I am sharing photos from last year Orchid's Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden.  For 2013, the show will run thru March 31st.  I may go to the show this weekend. 

It is very confusing this week with the temperature, it is sunny and in the upper 40s yet is rather cold without a heavy jacket.  At times, the wind makes it so much colder.  I heard we might have rain/snow showers on Friday/Saturday.  I would not be surprised if we had snow on Easter Sunday!

I spent the afternoon at an employment agency.  The process was very different compared to when I signed up with the agency for job placement when we moved to St. Louis in 1994.  This time, after being greeted by the receptionist, I was assigned to a computer and there I completed my employment application, filled out income tax withholding forms, I-9 Employment Eligibility form, took several assessment tests including computer skills, personality tests and aptitude tests.  Then an interview with the Placement Manager going over my work history and then the question, "Why did you leave ......?".  Well, I did not leave, I was "thrown off the bridge" after I "dared" to file a complaint about a 2nd incident of ..........  

I was emotionally exhausted after almost 4 hours of being at the agency, especially having to tell the "story" again.  It seemed like the wound was never completely healed.
Traffic was not too bad and I was able to make it to the evening Mass (during Lenten Season we have 5:30 p.m. Mass in addition to the morning Masses).  We already went to Confession so I tried not to wish ill on "a particularly individual" until after Easter!!!!! 
It has been a struggle since I began this journey.  I believe that things happened for a reason and something good will come out of this experience.  I have moved forward and am already in a Happy Place!

FRIDAY SKY - GRAFTON LIGHTHOUSE

From http://www.thetelegraph.com/, "To those who lived through the Great Flood of 1993, the Lighthouse is a symbol of hope, gratitude, community and perseverance. This symbolic lighthouse on the Grafton Riverfront was erected after Grafton, the town of 650 made national and international news in August of 1993 for being nearly washed away.”

"The lighthouse is not a functional guide for barges that travel the Mississippi River — it has no light on its roof, and the would-be doors are sealed with bricks. Its "purely symbolic” nature is a reminder to new and old Grafton residents that the flood nearly wiped out the town.
Floodwater saturated the town from March to October 1993, with the highest levels coming in late summer. More than 260 structures were damaged, and emergency roads had to be carved out of hills to gain access to the city.
Grafton has since become a tourism center during the spring through fall. On Saturday, the streets were again filled with a mix of out-of-town vehicles, motorcycles and regional tourists."

FRIDAY CARDINALS SKY (MY ACHING TOOTH, PART II)

I don’t know whether it was the wonderful pain pills or the “great” baseball game, that helped me feeling good all evening. It was comfortable but no breeze. We left at the end of the 6th inning when the Cardinals was down 1-5.

Actually on the way to the game, I told my husband that with my luck the manager or someone from my office would see me at the ballgame. My face would be on the jumbotron with cheese all over my face eating nachos. Or being on national television when I opened my mouth real big to chow down the jumbo hotdog while yelling “Kill the Umpire”!

I would be called into the boss’ office to explain how I could take a sick day earlier because of a root canal treatment and then chow down nachos and hotdog later that evening.

It did not look like the Cardinals would make it to the playoffs this year. Of course, I am happy that football started and could not wait for the hockey season to begin again. Life is good, even with a root canal!

HEY TOTA, WHAT'S HAPPENING LATELY? (MY ACHING TOOTH, PART I)

The last 2 weeks, there were some exciting activities in my otherwise boring life. I will try to recap what has happened from that day when “all hell broke loose”.

It started on Thursday, September 9th, late afternoon. The pains continued on Friday. I thought it was probably a minor toothache. (I don’t remember the last time I had a toothache.) I just had a 6-month check-up and Doc DW told me everything was fine. I thought perhaps I was a bit rough when I tried to give the back teeth a good flossing. By Saturday afternoon, the aching has gotten worse. I avoided chewing on the left (the aching side) and tried to chew slowly on the other side. The regular over-the-counter pills helped and I was able to go to the Run to Remember 5K Race (top photo) on Saturday morning. We went to the 36th Annual Polish Festival (below photo) in the afternoon. Of course the pains started again late Saturday evening.

On Sunday, I continued to tolerate the increasingly painful tooth. We went to the Classic Cars Show in Hermann, Missouri (photo below). My husband suggested that I should call DW for an emergency appointment. I thought a toothache was not life-threatening and I should not bother the good doctor on Sunday. The pains kept me up all night and I was never so happy seeing the sun came up on Monday morning.

I drove to DW office and walked right in when the door was opened at 9:30 a.m. DW reviewed the X-ray and informed me that I needed a root canal procedure. I was referred to an endodontic for a 10:45 appointment. After what seemed to be an “eternal hell” of the drilling, smell of flesh burning and the grinding noise while the good doctor removing the inflamed pulp tissue and “irrigating” the inside of tooth #18, the procedure was completed at 12:45 p.m. (At one point, I was panicked when I thought someone nearby was saying, "Is it safe?" - haa haa) I felt an instant relief, thanks in part to the good doses of local anesthesia. However when my cell phone rang, with half of my face frozen, I was not able to tell my husband that I was on my way to the drug store to fill the “prescriptions” or to pick up the “medication”. I used the word “pills” instead!

I got home around 1:40, completely exhausted after a sleepless night and the whole morning sitting in one dental chair to another, after taking the medication, I went straight to bed. I woke up at 4:30 p.m. when the cell phone rang. My husband asked if I felt good enough to go to a Cardinals v. Cubs game. His boss just gave him two tickets behind the home plate. Just to be sure, I took another pain pill and off we went to the baseball game. It sure was an exciting day :)

TOTA TURNS 4

Exactly 4 years ago, August 4, 2006, TOTA was born in the beautiful downtown Bath Beach (Bensonhurst) Brooklyn, the Great State of New York. Special thanks to Qaptain Qwerty, to the Lone Gunman, aka Sal, to the two loyal followers, unknown faithful readers and other visitors - your support is much appreciated; let's celebrate this important milestone of TOTA's 4th Birthday/Anniversary.

I read in a book about the Navajo that “The number four is very significant and is found throughout Navajo culture and religion. There are four directions, four seasons, four original clans, and four colors associated with the four sacred mountains. Most ceremonies consist of four songs or multiple of four songs.” (From our recent road trip to New Mexico and Arizona, I became interested and have been reading about the Yavapai, the Navajo, the Apache, the Hopi, and the Pueblo.)

I like to post TOTA's First Entry on Friday, August 4, 2006, just like parents looking at baby photos and see how their child has grown.
"Hello, world! It was a dark and stormy night... THANKS to my little brother, L. I finally created my very own blog. Not much to write yet. I am visiting my family in New York, enjoying my little nephew J. , spending time with my Mom. It is too warm for my thinking - I will write more when I have a chance to put on my writer hat." Thank you, Qaptain Qwerty, for your help from the beginning and continued support.

However, the Chinese, in both Mandarin and Cantonese dialects, do not care for number four because they believe the word for the number four sounds like the word for death. They avoid number 4 like some people avoid number 13.

Although I am Vietnamese-born of Chinese ethnic, having been in America more than 30 years, I chose to believe and prefer the Navajo’s positive meanings associated with the number four.

Please join me in the celebration of TOTA turning 4. I will keep blogging and I hope you will keep reading.

BUS STORIES IN ETERNAL CITY (ROME, ITALY)

We did not take the bus during our 3-day in Rome. Instead we became almost experts at using the Metro Line (or Linea Turistica - tourist line as it is called) and easily navigated our way around the city. These photos were taken on July 8, 2008. We had wonderful time in the Eternal City and would love to go back and spend a whole month there, at least! Visit www.bus-stories.blogspot.com, written by Busboy in Albuquerque, New Mexico for interesting real bus stories. Here is what Busboy wrote, "I started riding the city bus in May, 2006, when gas hit $2.99 a gallon. I started collecting bus stories from the first day I rode the bus."

MORE DEEP THOUGHTS - BE ANXIOUS OVER NOTHING

I see the above sign on my way to work, "To be Anxious over Nothing, Pray over Everything". This is not my parish and I could not tell you what this Taiwanese Presbyterian Church of Greater St. Louis looks inside. I am sure it is beautiful and anyone is welcome to worship there. I am not sure if the service is entirely in Taiwanese or with some English.

Early last year, my husband was among the workforce reduction (a nicer term for unemployed people who were laid-off by the company) for about six months. I tried to be encouraging and told my husband that I understood how hard it would be for someone who has over 25 years of experience in design and pre-production engineering quality controlled to find suitable employment. Potential employers would say that CP was over-qualified and that he would not stay long even if he was willing to accept cut-back on salary. We discussed and agreed that we did not wish to move, so re-location was not part of the game plan.

I also told CP not to worry even if I lost my job because so many people that were (are) in worse situation. We are not the only one suffering. Almost everyone in the country has been negatively impacted. I feel sorry for family with small children and only one parent working. With a few dollars saved, we should be able to weather the storm. I thought if we both were unemployed, even with limited budget, it would be an opportunity to enjoy our lives by travelling around the country. I tried to remember that when something bad happened, it might be a blessing because we never knew what would be waiting for us at the end of the road. If the Communists did not take over Sai Gon, if we did not get on that boat to escape from Viet Nam, we would never find freedom and liberty. If we did not live in the refugee camp, we would not appreciate all the blessings being in America. Whatever happens, nothing could compare to the boat journey, the refugee camp, the barriers we overcame the first few years in America.

After six months, CP went back to work on temporary assignments. It was anxious time because he was only informed each Thursday whether he would be working the following week. The company finally asked CP to work full time starting in mid-November. Fortunately, he would also have all his vacation and benefits back.

Whether you are a non-believer or a person of strong faith, I wish you peace and strength and I hope you will find a way to get over this difficult time.

A very strong wind came up on the lake. The waves came over the sides and into the boat so that is was already full of water. Jesus stood up and commanded the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind stopped and it became completely calm. Jesus said to his followers, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:37-40.

A FUNNY STORY AT THE HOLLAND MUSEUM

While re-organizing the CDs, I came across this photo of the Holland Museum, taken last year on our trip to Grand Haven-Holland, Michigan. It brought back fond memories when I was a docent for about a year, probably in 1992-3. I became interested in volunteering after learning that the museum needed extra docents during Tulip Time Festival, especially with a special exhibit of an original painting by Vincent van Gogh. You probably are thinking, "So why the title of this post, A Funny Story?". Well, it just happened that after the Festival was over, I stayed on because I really enjoyed being a docent. One Saturday afternoon, I was the only docent there and a group of European (probably Dutch) Americans walked in. They looked at me, an Asian American chubby woman, as I greeted them, "Welcome to the Holland Museum", then hesitated whether they were in the right place. Then they looked at "Eddie" standing in front of the gift shop. Here is why it is a funny story, Eddie was a student at Hope College but was born and raised in Laos and came to America when he was about five years old. I could tell that these visitors were confused since they did not expect to see two Asian faces in a museum that was supposed to be about Dutch culture. I introduced myself as their docent and began leading the tour. After the tour, the group spent time in the gift shop, talking to Eddie and purchasing souvenirs. I received compliments for being a knowledgeable docent and providing an interesting tour. (I received one hour of hand-on training and written materials of historical facts for each item in the exhibit. I did not let the compliments went to my head because I knew any dummy with good scripts/speech writers and a teleprompter could give an impressive speech filled with fancy words and empty analysis.)
Would you like to share a similar funny story that happened to you?

30TH ANNIVERSARY COMING TO AMERICA

(Above photo of Ms. Green M. Liberty was taken in December 2007 at the Hershey Store in Times Square, NYC.)
Today marks the 30th Anniversary of my family coming to America. It is a family tradition that I will call my Mom, sister and brothers to say "Happy Anniversary". My husband and I are trying to shed a few pounds, so there will be no fancy dinner to celebrate the occassion, instead we went to our favorite restaurant, the Mandarin House on Page Avenue and I-170, for Dim Sum (a southeastern Cantonese dialect, meaning "dot your heart"). Dim sum is collective dishes of beef, shrimp, chicken, pork, in assorted small portion, steamed, fried, broiled, and served as appetizers, snacks and sweet pastries, from approximately 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the weekends. (In NYC or other big cities, dim sum is served everyday.)

I have been thinking about what I would write for this post about our 30th Anniversary. One of the blogs I enjoy reading is from David Michael Bruno, http://www.guynameddave.com/, and he wrote, "these days when a person achieves something like the American Dream (let's just say that's moving solidly into the upper-middle class), his lifestyle changes. He becomes a cigar aficionado and also starts collecting fine wines. He starts driving a sports car or a luxury car, perhaps both. He buys a larger, flatter TV and pays for access to sports cable networks."

Well, I have not become a cigar aficionado or collecting fine wines (I don't consume alcohol) and though I love hockey and football, I would not pay extra for sports cable networks. We drive a sport car (well, the T-bird belongs to my husband) and recently purchase a 48" HD lcd tv with blue ray dvd player. With the current economy and the unknown future, I don't think we would ever move into the upper-middle class but I know we have achieved the American Dream.

Here is what I wrote on January 10, 2008, "28 years later, did we achieve the American Dream? Compared to some people, we did. We have achieved the level of comfortable living, earned college education, being homeowners, professional employment, and most of all, watching my nephew growing up in a country with plenty of opportunities to achieve more and become better than previous generations. Compared to others, we are not millionaires, nor owners of international companies, not well-known politicians or leaders, not movie stars or even contestant on American Idols!
We have achieved the American Dream in our own way. There are still other levels we could try to reach. I am thankful for all the people who have provided assistance, extended friendship and helping hands. I know my Dad is smiling and saying, "Good work", as our family celebrate our 28th Anniversary coming to America. To my Dad, the foundation and the guiding light, Happy Anniversary. I sure hope there is plenty of chocolate ice cream in heaven for you to enjoy, Dad."

I left Viet Nam when I was 18.5 years old, so I have actually lived in America longer. I am always proud to be an American and I appreciate all the blessings we have received living in America. Earlier this year, my sister and I planned to visit Viet Nam but it did not work out. It just occurred to me that it would not be so terrible or a disappointment if I never go back to visit my birthplace. I had many wonderful memories growing up but there were also many unpleasant incidents that I would not care to remember.

Yes, I believe we are living the American Dream, by our own definitions of hard work, paying taxes, owning our homes, taking care of our families, being active in our community, performing civic duties, making contributions for the good of society and never take freedom and liberty for granted.

(PS: My anniversary celebration was dampened when my Patriots failed badly to the Baltimore Ravens, final score 33-14 Ravens. On the good side, yesterday the NY Jets advanced beating the Bengals 24-14 and the Cowboys eliminated the Eagles 34-14. What is with all the losing teams only getting 14 points? Next game is the Packers v. Cardinals this evening. Whichever team wins is fine with me as I like both Rodgers and Warner.)

DAYS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR

10 . 9 . 8 . 7 . 6 . 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1. Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 31st - My husband still wished we were among the hundred of thousand of people (drunken fools) standing around in Times Square, for 10+ hours, being confined in tight space, waiting to watch the ball drop while counting down for the arrival of the New Year. The top and below photos were taken around 5:09 p.m. on December 30, 2007 in Times Square, yet the area was packed with people going in all directions. I could not image what it would be like to be in that area on New Year Eve! I am sure one of the many surveillance cameras (above photo) will be there, and NYC finest men and women in uniforms will be working hard keeping everyone safe. If I am able to stay up late, I will be watching the celebration from the comfort of my sofa. I will be thinking about ideas for the next posts, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of 2009", New Year Resolutions, and "What the next Decade will bring".

Wednesday, December 30th - It snowed in the morning but no accumulation and by the afternoon the temperature was in the upper 40s. At lunch time, I started to plan for our next Route 66 trip, making notes of attractions/towns we missed last October, charting the course of the next adventure, over nine days rotating between the interstates and Old 66 from El Reno, Oklahoma, crossing into Shamrock, Texas, continue on to Tucumcari, New Mexico and Rio Rancho, Arizona. Just thinking about our road trip helps lessen my sadness that 2009 will be over in less than 30 hours!
Tuesday, December 29th - Two more full days of work and then another 4-day weekend before the long stretch of having any holidays until Memorial Day. Where I work, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday and Presidents' Day are not considered paid holidays. Maybe I should demand a day off for Lunar/Chinese New Year or Tet-Vietnamese New Year. (I need to join the crowd using the race card or cry "racism" to get special treatment.) I wonder if I changed my name to Patricia O'Mara, would I get a day off on St. Patrick's Day? Not much going on at work due to the holidays. Besides I have made a promise not to talk/write about work or even mentioned the name of the head clown and his minions at the circus!

THANKSGIVING & THE DAYS AFTER

Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 26th, I woke up with a light headache, painful back, uncomfortable cramp and extremely moody. Not to worry, it was one of those "that-time-of-the-month" sufferings! I rotated between staying in bed and the lazy-boy recliner while my sweet husband busy making the turkey, baking apple and pumpkin pies, getting ready for our wonderful Thanksgiving meal. It was sunny but windy and cold, in the low 40, so we both stayed inside all day. A good day of rest and plenty of food for just two people. Above photo shows the rabbit tried not to look at the turkey "sort of" before and after its transformation from the oven!

Friday, November 27th - we got up around 8:30 a.m. while the crazy shoppers probably just finished up their 4:15 a.m. shopping spree! Unless Black Friday included hockey tickets to Original Six home games, I would never be among the people standing in line waiting. After lunch, more turkey and pies, we went to the mall mostly to walk around. There were plenty of parking spots, people carried packages of newly purchased items but not as crowded as we expected. My husband pointed out a few items at Sears and for me, a couples of sweaters that he could get me. We both try to be pratical with our gifts this year and still have that anticipation of not knowing which presents we would be getting. The rest of Friday found us again taking it easy and eating more turkey and pies!

Saturday, November 28th - By the time I came back from the library and took care of a few errands, my husband already put up the Christmas tree in the family room and the Nativity in front of our house. We spent time decorating the tree and the house before heading to 4:00 p.m. Mass. After church, we quickly changed into our jerseys and went downtown for the Wings v. Blues hockey game. (More about this later - you will not believe what happened and what I did at this game.)

Sunday, November 29th - My husband decided to play a round of golf so he left early this morning. I was a bit tired from getting home after 11:00 p.m. last night. You probably wonder what took us so long getting home when the game started at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 9:45 p.m. including overtime and shootout. (My beloved Red Wings won - thanks to Datsyuk and Bertuzzi for beating Mason in the shootout.) Sorry, for the details, you will have to wait for the next post - even I could not believe what I did!

We planned to go out for our Sunday drive but it was cloudy with a threat of rain - of course, no T-bird if it was going to rain. Another relaxing day for us, staying in, eating more turkey and pies. That was all we did at Thanksgiving and the days after. How was your Thanksgiving? Are you ready for Christmas?

CITYGARDEN - KINDLY GEPPETTO

Here are few more sculptures from Citygarden, above and below photos showing "Kindly Geppetto" by Tom Atterness, an American artist. In this piece, the carpenter Geppetto is about to hammer the poor Pinocchio as he was trying to prove that he was able to tell right from wrong. Otterness explores complicated relationship between the creator and his creation.

Above is "Femmes au Perroquet", an unpainted bronze version of a variety of media, including painting, printmaking and sculpture by Fernand Leger, a French artist. I wonder if Leger named this piece Women or Female and Parrots because he thinks women talk too much or only speak of things that men told them to say!

"Untitle", Stainless Steel, by Martin Puryear (above) and (below) "Aesope's Fables" Painted Steel, by Mark di Suvero. Both Puryear and di Suvero are American artists.

THIS WEEK RANTS & RAVES - IT IS NOT A WATERPROOF CAMERA!

Here is a true story and it happened to me so I need to let off the steam. It will be the beginning of my Weekly Rants & Raves, so I hope my adoring fans and faithful followers will be ready for this new weekly feature!

The last few years I have been a volunteer for a local charity golf tournament. My job is very easy and kind of fun. I am the un-official photographer, using my personal camera, for the organization at their fundraising events. My duty included taking photos of the golfers and managing the putting contest during the tournament and at the silent auction during the evening reception and awards presentation prior to the dinner.

This year I was also asked to help with setting up the auction items. So I handed my own camera to another volunteer, let's call her "Melinda", to take photos of the last five teams and I went into the dining room to work on arranging the items and the bidding sheets. Unexpectedly the tournament was terminated early due to lightning as the rain also began falling heavily. Everyone began to gather in the dining room when the golf course blew the emergency horn. When I saw Melinda, I asked her if I could have my camera. She responded that she put the camera on the podium together with the clipboard listing the names of all the golfers, the calculator and the tape measure. When Melinda looked at the items on the podium, she realized that she had left the camera outside in the rain! She then tried to explain, "I heard the siren so I quickly grabbed everything and ran to safety." I did not know what else to say except, "Don't worry about it." When the rain finally stopped, Melinda went outside and brought back the camera which already had the look of "soaking wet". (Two days later the camera no longer had the foggy screen but when I tried turning it on, you could hear the "click, click" sound from the shutter trying to open but could not. Someone suggested using the hairdryer blowing directly into the Battery/Memory Stick cover. I wanted but did not say to the person, "If that did not work, will put the camera in the microwave or the oven for 20 minutes or 300 degrees!" Luckily the memory stick was unharmed and I was able to upload all the photos into a CD.) Another volunteer also carried a camera and he was able to take photos of the auction and awards dinner.

I tried to remain calm, went on taking care of the auction and the awards presentation. Melinda mentioned the incident to the executive director of the charity organization. She offered to replace the camera but I told her I would not accept. As I drove home that night, I kept thinking about what Melinda said that the items she was able to grab before running to safety was a $5 tape measure and $10 calculator, but not my $200 camera!

This is the same woman who looked at my nametag and asked if my husband was Vietnamese. The name on my nametag was printed "Lydia Andrzejewski" (this is not my real name, I am just trying to make a point here). Even after I said, "Does Andrzejewski sound like Vietnamese to you?", the woman still said, "Well, I don't know your language or how Vietnamese is written."

This is not the first time someone asked me if my husband was Vietnamese. If I was a Caucasian woman with a name like "Mary Jones", would anyone ask me if my husband was a White man? If I was an African American woman with a name like "Tonya Washington", would anyone ask me if my husband was Black? So why do people ask me if my husband was Vietnamese because I am Vietnamese? Why is it so important for the person to know or why would it matter whether I married within or outside of my own race?

I think I have wasted enough time ranting and raving for this week. I am going to shop for a new camera that is waterproof!

HUMOR OF THE WEEK

When I saw the sign above while walking along Hamilton Parkway & 10th Avenue in Brooklyn during a recent trip to New York, I knew the photos would be great for a humor of the week post. First of all, would you trust your future to a psychic reading with an advertisement on a door between a corner restaurant and a convenience store? Also, why add the hand-written second sign? And if you dare to walk up the stairs, who would be there besides the psychic reader and who would know if you never came out alive?
Well, I was tempted to pay $5 just to ask the psychic person a question, "If you are really able to see into the future, why not walk over to the store next door and purchase a lottery ticket that would have all the winning numbers? Why waiting for $5 from a few desperate losers who wish to know what the future holds so they could avoid taking responsibility of creating their own success? At any rate, I hope this post brings a little humor to your week.