MOON OVER THE STADIUM

I took this photo as we were leaving the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game last Sunday. I just wanted to take a photo of the stadium at night. I also wanted to learn how to use the feature "twilight".

I wish the moon was right over the "i" of the word stadium - that would be neat. But I like the photo and thought the title "Moon over the Stadium" was appropriate as Sunday was the Cardinals' last home game. The mood was not joyous as the Cardinals did not make it to the playoffs this year. There will be no back-to-back as everyone in St. Louis wishes for a repeat from last year World Series Championship. The Cardinals won the Sunday game 4-3 over the Houston Astros.

For me, summer is finally over as 2007-2008 hockey season officially begins next week. I am so ready to see my beloved Red Wings when they come into town in November. October will be 13th anniversary since we moved from Michigan to St. Louis. I will live in St. Louis longer than New York and twice the years in Michigan. I was 19 years old when we came to America as a Vietnamese refugee trying to survive in the new land.

I was full of dreams and energy back then. I dreamed of going back to Viet Nam to fight the communist. I also wanted to work for World Visions, going back to the refugee camp to save my people, the same way I was saved. 27 years later, all I want to do is watching football and hockey on the weekends and listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN in the morning for the latest sports news.

THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT

I read in a book that F. Scott Fitzgerald made a remark, "The rich are different from you and me" to Ernest Hemingway, to which Hemingway replied, "Yes, they have more money." I would like to add my comment to that "The rich also get better service at ballgames."



Once a year, a member from my workplace (the Association) gave me two tickets to a Rams game. These are Club level seats at $100 each. You have to show your tickets to gain access into the Club. Notice the fancy pattern carpet covered floor and not the sticky hard concrete ground in the common level, less expensive tickets where poor people are. Notice how roomy the wakway is, not crowded, elbow to elbow with the masses, how the walls are tastefully decorated and how the servers are wearing real restaurant uniforms.

Look at this - real desserts, serving by people who dressed as if they were real bakers. All the pies and fancy pastries instead of typical ice-cream sticks or crummy chocolate cookies.

While the masses in regular areas had to chow down the hotdogs and hamburgers standing around a few wimpy narrow counters or trying to eat at your seats while others constantly trying to get to their seats, also with their trays of food and drinks. At the Club - photo above (Rams-football) and the Redbird - photo below (Cardinals-baseball) there are actual seats and tables where you could sit down and enjoy your meals like civilized people.

The chairs and counter and tables are provided so that the people could enjoy their food while watching the game in action, not from television screens. This area is air-conditioned and we don't want to sweat when it is too warm outside! I confessed that I was willing to pay much more for these Redbird Club tickets because I could not stand being among the masses in the regular area where the seats are tight and we had to stand up so often to let people in and out of their seats. I also had to keep an eye on the people behind us when they carry drinks and nachos filled with hot cheese and chilli because I was afraid that they would drop the trays on our heads!

Inside the Redbird Club (St. Louis Cardinals stadium) there are variety of food stations (photo above) serving real food ranging from typical ballpark hotdogs to pizza, chicken fingers, to pasta and even stir-fried noodles. Of course, there are plenty of pastries and $7.00 for two scoops of creamy Italian ice-cream. Again, notice the wide walkway, not the tight quarter and the shining floor that is constantly being cleaned by the crew, no sticky floor here! Photo below is showing more seating areas and pleasant decorations. Borrowing the words from a character named Rebecca Howe (no relation to Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings) from the TV show Cheers, "I hate rich people until I am one of them". For now, I just want to enjoy the luxury and pretend that I am one of those rich people when attending the ballgames.

CHEATING HEARTS

I have put up with my husband's teasing the last few weeks about my beloved New England Patriots got caught videotaping signals from the New York Jets defensive coaches onto the field. I wanted to call Coach (Bill) Belichick and ask him one question, "Of all the teams, why bother taping the Jets, to say the least, their defense?".

I saw a Patriots fan held up a sign during a game that read "In Bill We Trust" to show support. The League fined Coach $500K (that is half a million dollars) and the Team $250 (that is a quarter of a million dollars) and 1st round draft or 2nd/3rd round draft depending on where the Patriots would be in the playoffs/Superbowl. Someone commented that all the teams try to create an advantage over other teams. The public only found out when someone got caught doing the actual dirty work. I don't want to believe that the best football team such as the Patriots rely solely on winning by underhanded methods. But why the Jets, a team with defensive line depth problems.

I don't know why I thought of the time when I was accused of cheating and had to prove that I was actually the victim of a classmate who stole my term paper. It was a midterm essay for an Urban Study class at LaGuardia Community College (Queens, New York). The year was 1983. Back then, there were no personal laptops and we all had to go to computer lab to use the terminals and print out on dot matrix computer paper with tractors (holes) along both sides. The front page would list names of the students or the reports. There were two or three printers servicing 15 to 20 terminals. The work-study students would be in charge to separating the print-outs, place the print-outs in the bins labeled by alphabetical order of last names and many times people would take print-outs that belonged to someone else, whether on purpose or honest mistakes!

I wrote the term paper using the terminals but typed the references using my typewriter at home. I don't remember how it happened but either I rushed to another class or to my job and forgot to pick up the print-out. A classmate stole the print-out and submitted under her name. A few days after she did, I spent more time editing and revising, then confidently handed in my term paper with the reference page. The professor only read the first few sentences and decided that since my copy was exactly the same as the paper submitted earlier by my classmate that I must be the cheater.

I was horrified to see an "F", bright red "F" on the cover of my term paper. I never had a grade lower than a C+ in my life! (Yes, I admit that I received a C+ for Calculus. I admit that I was never good with math.) When I finally met with the professor, he explained the reason as mentioned above. I asked him why he did not give me a chance to prove my innocence. I showed him the records from the library of the books I listed in the reference page. I was able to prove that I was the author of the report with all the draft copies I generated. The classmate did not have anything to show except the term paper. I received a "B+" for that essay and an "A" for the class.

That professor had the nerve to call me at work after the semester was over. We met for lunch and I ordered the most expensive item on the menu (to get back at him for putting me thru that horrible experience). After lunch he walked me back to my office. We shook hands and he kissed me on the cheek but never called again.

D&#@ SQUIRREL

Last month we found some gnawings around the edges of our picnic table and on all of the four chairs (below). We did not know what kind of animals did such damage. The table and chairs are made of plastic. We wonder what animal would have strong teeth to gnaw thru the plastic and actual left big holes around the corners.

I wish I could take a better photo of this criminal. After I tried to bang on the kitchen window in an attempt to chase this squirrel away, he turned and gave me a look as if saying "What do you want? What are you going to go about it?"

It was as if the squirrel was trying to do the most damage by gnawing at all four corners of the table and all four chairs. The gnawings were most visible and intense along the arm rests.

I finally captured the criminal in the act. I could not believe what I saw. The squirrel laying flat on his stomach, gnawing away our picnic table, even ignoring the flash from my camera. Now I we have evidence, we are planning to file a small claim against this d%#& squirrel for property damage with an intention to cause mental anguish and emotional distress.

My husband found information on the internet from other people who wrote of similar problems with the d&%@ plastic eating squirrel! One person wrote that the squirrel ate away the gas control handle of his expensive grill. My husband then talked to other people at work and someone suggested mixing soap and ground red peper with water, then use a brush to spread the special "love potion" around the gnawings and all the edges. We have not seen the squirrel nor found any new chewing marks. Perhaps the d$#% squirrel left town to avoid paying us the settlement for the damage.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

God Bless America, Land that I Love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.


From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam

God Bless America, my Home sweet Home.

Remembrance September 11, 2001

HAPPY DAYS ARE ALMOST HERE!

We went to the 1st preseason game of the St. Louis Blues v. Atlanta Thrashers. I was disappointed that Slava Kozlov was not even in the line up for the Thrashers. The Blues loss 3-1. Earlier in the day, we attended the Rams v. the San Francisco 49ers game. The Rams loss 17-16 because Jeff Wilkins missed the field goal with less than 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. We were not at the St. Louis Cardinals game - the Cardinals loss - no one could blame us for bad luck there! It was not a good day for sport fans in St. Louis.

Saturday, we went to St. Louis Blues FANFest just because there was free hotdogs, popcorn and soda. I paid $4.50 for a bottle of water because I did not want to drink soda. We stood in line for almost a hour and 15 minutes to get autographs of Manny Legace and Keith Tkachuk. Then we rushed home to attend a fundraising dinner. What a busy weekend!

By the time I post this entry, football & hockey regular seasons probably already got started. I will be among the more than 220 millions Americans (3/4 of the populations, mostly men) watching college footballs on Saturdays and NFL on Sundays. (No, I will not discuss Notre Dame at this time.) Among the female viewers, I am one the 14% claim that hockey (NHL) as favorite sport, following by football (NFL) at 37%. I do question the young, slim and beautiful women who attend the games just to be seen, not for the love of the sport. I resent that very much :)

Two weeks ago, we went to a pre-season St. Louis Rams v. Kansas City Chiefs game. The Rams won the game (10-3), posted 2-2 for their exhibition season. The Rams took back the Governor's Cup (a friendly championship trophy) after being defeated the last four years by the Chiefs.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I found this t-shirt at a wine shop. I thought my brother, VL would like it as he is a punster. Turn out VL had an accentric high school teacher named Weinstein.

While visiting Williamsburg, Virginia in July, we went to a restaurant named Food for Thought - Eat - Drink - Think. It is a local favorite as well as tourists who appreciate different atmosphere. The walls were decorated with written famed words by famous people such as Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and of course, Albert Einstein. There are others but I did not think it was appropriate for me to walk around reading all of the words on the walls while standing next to the guests trying to cut his steak or putting dressing on her salad.

Here are a few items on the menu (just to wet your appetite) -

Da Vinci Dippers - Cheese filled ravioli, encrusted with Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, fried golden brown with a side of zesty marinars gravy for dipping.

Fowl Play - That Nutty Chicken, Light as a Feather, (here is my favorite) Thai One On - Thai Rice Noddles and tofu.

You have to Sea it to Believe it - The One that Didn't Get Away (Catch of the Day).

You could check out Food for Thought at http://www.foodforthoughtrestaurant.com/ to read other items on the menu.

I saw these ceiling fans (above & below) at a restaurant in Hermann, Missouri. The conveyor belts gave a false impression of a power-saving manual mechanical setting. My husband (with a mechanical engineering degree) explained that the fans are powered by electricity, the conveyor belts just provides an old fashion look. How gullible I was! Just like when I was willing to pay more for those labels, "100% organic", All Natural, No Artificial additive, No animals were tested or harmed, etc. on the products - so I could feel good about myself that I was not one of those people destroying the earth!

I thought of my brother, Qaptain Qwerty, when I saw the billboard, "What You Can Do" to save the earth, at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Ah, the wonderful world of blogging and having such an easy-to-use camera, even a caveman can take photos!

A SUNNY DAY IN THE PARK IN MY HOME TOWN, USA

Hello from St. Louis, Missouri.

It was a beautiful sunny day with temperature in the mid 80. I took a few photos to show case the park and the nice playground in my City. As anniversary present, my husband gave me a new camera that is so easy to take photos and all the hi-tech to upload photos, I am really enjoying this new found interest.

These scuptures are called "Wind Forest", (from left to right) Double Spinner, Oval Twister and Double Dancer. The scuptures are average 18 feet tall, and crafted of copper and stainless steel. The artist is Lyman Whitaker.

JL and I would have a great time here at this playground. The ground is covered with soft rubber materials, not hard concrete, and the surrounding area provides a clean and safe environment for kids to enjoy. There are picnic tables nearby and covered patios in case of rain. My brother would love the walking paths, bicycle trails, tennis courts and the displays of fun and creative art (below) around the park.

THE DARK AGES or IT'S STILL A MAN'S WORLD

There are situations no textbook or training programs that could prepare a woman on how to handle behaviors that are inappropriate in business settings. I take pride in being strong, assertive while maintain the highest level of professionalism. This week, an incident took place at a work-related function caused me to question my inner strength and my place in the industry that is still a man's world. Or perhaps some men in the construction industry are not yet evolved from its ape-form and the caveman mentality.

During our golf tournament where 99% of the golfers are men, I tried very hard to be courteous yet keeping the distance. One of my responsibilities was taking photos of the teams. As I checked off the list of the teams that was photographed, a man in the group put a golf club betwen his legs, moving it up and down in a sexual suggested manner, looking straight at me, saying "How do you like that?" I decided to ignore his comment and walked away. The other men (the witnesses) in the group told the "fool" to behave himself. I later reported the incident to the president and the executive director of the organization. They promised me that they would take appropriate action by banning the person ever participating in future activities sponsored by the organization.

This was not the first time I as a woman working in the construction industry endured such inappropriate behavior. In 2004, a guest came up to me after a meeting, making kissing sounds and commented, "How about some sugar, baby?". I took a few steps back, extended my right arm while giving the man a stern look, "This is a business function. Your behavior is inappropriate." I said it loud enough for others in the room to turn around. (Another employee from my workplace witnessed the whole incident and he complimented that I handled it very well.) I left the room and reported the incident to the president and the executive director. The man later called and apologized for his behavior. He was never invited to any of the functions.

A few months earlier also in 2004, at a baseball game sponsored by the organization as networking activity for its member, a drunken member accused me of messing up his schedule by assigning him to too many committees. When I tried to explain that it was the president of the organization who made the appointments, the drunken fool said loudly to me, "No, you are the one who F#$% up." There were at least three witnesses and I again walked away. I reported the incident to the executive director. Two days later, the "fool" called and apologized to me, promised that it would not happen again. He has not been to many functions since.

The question I have been asking myself, should I, as an Asian American woman working in the construction industry, have known that these incidents would happen? What do I expect as it is still a man's world, specially the construction industry where 99% of the work being done by men (because women don't have the physical strength to perform the work), the power still rests firmly in the good old boys' hands and everything from executive director position to sitting at the labor negotiation tables is controlled by men who refuse to consider women as business professionals. Women, no matter how well we present ourselves, are still considered less than capable and no more than "the gals in the office".

Should I just shut up and put up with inappropriate behaviors from these drunken fools? Should I insist (I have written once after an earlier incident) that the organization issue a written statement to all members and their guests that unprofessional conducts would not be tolerated? What about the next time that might involve physical touching or even assault? The organization should have zero tolerance policy regarding any kind of harrassment whether verbal or non-verbal thru body gestures. It is 2007, yet last week, I was forced to live in the dark ages, witnessing behavior of men in its ape-form before the evolution.

IT'S MY BLOG, I WRITE IF I WANT TO

The title of this entry are words borrowing from Lesley Gore, an American singer and songwriter who was best-known for her 1963 Pop hit, "It's My Party," which she recorded at the age of 16. (Disclaimer - unlike Ms. Gore who declared that she was a lesbian, I am a happily married heterosexual woman. I am not gay, not that's anything wrong with it :) - wise words from Mr. Seinfeld). I am not gay, I repeat, I was never gay!

While my brother, Qaptain Qwerty, who does not have the luxury to search the internet for the exact spelling of the "guy who said whatever", I write as if I was still in college. Old habits from writing all the weekly essays while completing graduate program in communication at Saint Louis University are still with me. (My undergraduate degree was also in communication from Hunter College in New York City.) It would be a disservice to my readers if I did not provide the source of information or footnotes. My blog entries are written as if they were term papers submitting to professors ABC who would not hesitate to give me a B- for not citing or including a few publications, proof that I have done extensive research.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to write. After I completed each entry, I again spent a lot of time editing, revising and reading over many times before hitting the button "Publish Post". Like my brother, and many other bloggers, I am passionate about what I write in my blog. I write for myself, things I care about, trying to put into words about events that took place in my life before my memories become too blurry, but I also know there are people out there reading what I write. (I only know for sure that my brother VL reads my blog regularly.) I don't respond to any comments as I am not comfortable having further contact. I appreciate those who read my blog and sending their comments. At this time, I could only say "Thank You".

I publish on the weekends when I have more time to go over what I want to write or review what I have written. I usually come up with clever titles but fail to write something interesting or worthy to be published. I try to check my facts, spelling and include reliable sources. I freelanced for the Grand Rapids Press (Lakeshore Edition) in Holland, Michigan for about a year. How did I get that job? I sat next to the newspaper editor at a chamber luncheon and when I asked her whether the newspaper planned to cover the upcoming Lunar New Year or the growing population of Asian Americans in the area, the editor responded that they did not have reporters who could make contacts. Then she commented, "Would you be special correspondent for us and cover the Asian American community?" For almost a year, I kept my full time job while covering, interviewing and reporting events such as Tet (Vietnamese New Year), festivals, grand opening of a donut shop by a Cambodian family or a Korean/Chinese restaurant that closed on Sunday because the owner is a devote Christian.

While Qaptain Qwerty writes about computer stuff/Mac computing (I don't think the subject is boring, just that it is way beyond my head), I write passionately about sports - hockey, NFL and college football (boring and insignificant to QQ). We both write about childhood memories in Viet Nam, our early days as refugees in New York, our current employment (office politics and idiots we have to put with), and about random events in the world. While QQ posts his cartoons, since I have no talents (drawing or anything has to do with art), I try to post meaningful photos and details descriptions.

I will try to write without spending too much time thinking, editing, and revising. Blogging should be fun and in some ways, therapeutic. I feel connected with my brother thru reading his blog and writing (sharing my thoughts) in my blog. The entries about my Dad's passing allowed me to mourn and grieve the loss and the pains that was still fresh after almost 7 years. According to a research conducted by the Psychology department at the University of Texas, writing is an exercise of the heart and simply writing about issues that bothering you could help you sleep better. Expressive writing is associated with maintaining emotional and physical well-being. There you have it, blogging is good for your health. Just make sure you don't mention real people with real names, especially if you are writing negatively about your employer!

As the saying goes, "Different folks, Different Strokes", let's keep writing, whatever style, topics and passion that moves each of us. For TOTA, it's my blog, however/whenever/whichever I write if I want to.

ALL THE BLOGS THAT FIT TO READ

Borrowing from the masthead logo (dated back to 1896) from the New York Times, "All The News That's Fit to Print," here are a few comments on the random blogs I have come across.

I found Patricia Winter's blog, http://www.gatherings100.blogspot.com/ after clicking "Next Blog" and her entry about sending handmade pocket-size dolls to a shelter for women in Holland, Michigan caught my eyes. That was a few weeks ago, since then I have added her blog to my daily reading. I appreciate what Pat and other ladies are doing with their Comfort Doll Project. According to her blog, this is a world wide effort, including people from oversea (Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, and England) sent their handmade dolls to Pat and when she gets a dozen, she would send the dolls to shelters in order of when she receives their requests for the comfort dolls. Each doll has a note tucked inside with a message of hope and encouragement, telling these women that someone cares about what they are going through. That they are unique, beautiful and worthy. The dolls are symbols of comfort when the women need the strength to rebuilt their lives and move forward from abusive situation or negative environment.

I don't read cooking, baking or vegetarian blogs. I am a woman with very little interest when it comes to home decorations, recipes, crafts and arts. It is because I have no talents and very domestically challenge.

I saw a few blogs for golf leagues, community blogs for golf courses, neighborhoods, school or family reunions, informational blogs for friends and family to keep in touch. I don't read political blogs as they are always one-sided. Just seeing the clock (in a prominent place on the sidebar) adding up the cost of the war in Iraq, I can tell what side (left or right), what political party and the agenda of the bloggers.

There are many blogs that are written by mothers with small children. I am surprised that people post photos and full names of their children. I am just too paranoid to do that and I don't even have children! I came across a blog from a lady who has 9 children and 12 grandkids. She mentioned in one entry that she was trying to learn how to upload photos to her blog so she could post photos of all her 12 grandkids. Maybe I could help her now that I know more and could do more with my new template (ha).

There are blogs written by individuals who suffer from mental illnesses, depressions, addictions and others who are unhappy with their lives and blogging provides somewhat a relief for their situation. Blogging gives people such as a lady who lives on a farm in Iowa, reaching out to others helps lessen the loneliness and isolation in her life.

I don't know why there are so many blogs in foreign languages come up whenever I click on Next Blog. There are a few blogs in Vietnamese. I have not found anyone from St. Louis or recognize who the blogger was someone I might know. There is an American blogger who lives in Paris. She has a new baby and lives in a house that is undergoing renovation. In one of the photos, there was no wall in their bathroom because her husband, who started a new job, did not have the time to purchase drywall and a new door.

Pastor Chad's blog, http://www.pastorchatter.blogspot.com/ is another blog I enjoy reading. I found out about this blog from being on the email list of weekly sermons sent by Pastor Chad. The Pastor is the youngest (and only) son of RJS, my former employer in Michigan. (Please read my entry "Happy Birthday RJS" on February 19, 2007 about RJS being a great boss, mentor and a kind person I am so blessed to work for.) Chad was a high school student when I first started working at his father's company. We met a few times when Chad came into the office. A well-built young man, already over 6 ft. tall, Chad was planning for a football career. An injury in his senior year prevented Chad from getting an athletic scholarship to attend college. Chad began his freshman year at Northwestern University with a plan for pre-med. There is a saying, "A person could plan, but only God knows what the future would be." When I left Michigan, Chad had transfered to Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

A few years later, RJS informed me in an email that Chad was ordained a minister. I could tell that RJS was very proud of Chad. For a few years, Chad was a pastor at a church in Upstate New York. The young man whom I met almost 17 years ago, just turned 33 earlier this month, is currently a senior pastor at a church in LaFayette, Indiana. Pastor Chad and his wife are proud parents of three blonde hair, blue eyes boys. RJS mentions in his email how much he enjoys being grandpa and spending time with the grandsons who are the pride and joy in his life.

I really enjoy writing my blog and reading others'. I will add to my list of iRead Blogs when I find blogs that are of interest to me and worth mentioning to my adoring fans. Blogging has provided a great way to connect with friends and family as well as strangers and I look forward to reading all the blogs that fit to read.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE NEPHEW

Photo taken when JL visited St. Louis in 2005. It was a nice sunny day for blowing bubbles. JL enjoyed seeing the rabbits running around in the backyard.

My nephew JL turned 7 years old this month. As I am unable to have children and my only sister and the other brother are not married (not that being married is a requirement to have children in this modern time), JL is the first and only American born in my immediate family. JL was born in the year of the dragon, and in the same month as my sister, CH. My Dad was able to enjoy being A Cung (paternal grandfather in Hakka, our regional Chinese dialect) for only about six months before he passed away in February 2001.

I often wonder whether my parents would be disappointed if their first grandchild was a girl. (My Dad was the eldest son in his family and I (a girl) was the first grandchild). And whether my brother and his wife would try to have another child, and another child until a son is born to carry on the family name. A friend of mine, SY, was one of the three girls born to her parents. One time when I visited SY, during dinner, her father jokingly (could be that he was not joking at all) said that he had to leave Hong Kong because he could not stand the constant laughing that he could not produce a son.

When I look at JL, I see my little brother, VL and remember the time I rode around the neighborhood (in Viet Nam) with VL sitting in the wagon seat of my bicycle. I thought of our walks to school (De Tham School) in the morning, when we stopped by the sidewalk stands for breakfast (com tam or banh mi) and in the afternoon we would get some cold sugarcane drinks. One time the vendor handed me the glass that was almost spilled over, before giving the drink to VL, I took a big gulp. I remembered VL looking up (now I am looking up at VL) at me wondering if I was going to share with him the sweet cold drink, but he never made a big stink, just patiently waiting for his turn. VL has always been a child with good nature and a person who does not like to make waves or creating commotions or being confrontational and drawing attention to himself (unlike his eldest sister who loves the limelight and thinks the whole world should revolve around her.)

When JL visited St. Louis in 2005, he noticed his name written in the center of a heart shape drawn on the calendar by the side of the refrigerator in the kitchen. JL commented in his sweet voice, "You must be very happy I am here." We spent a week together with a few days in St. Louis and a visit to my distance cousin and her family in Memphis, Tennessee. My cousin has a small dairy farm and JL enjoyed the country living, playing with the dogs, looking for the peacocks and chasing after the ducks and the chicken. It was one of the happiest times in my life.

One day I hope to show my nephew the notes my brother has written about how happy JL's birth brought to our family. I still remember the excitement in my father's voice when he called and left me a message that my sister-in-law just gave birth to a healthy baby boy. An email (October 2000) from VL wrote that while my Dad felt weak after the chemotherapy treatment and stayed in his room most of the time, the only joy my Dad had was whenever my Dad saw JL. VL wrote "It's amazing how much joy the little guy brings with him". How JL was such a good baby that he usually slept through the night and whenever he woke up, he would roll his big eyes all around, make some cute throaty sounds, looked adorable, and sending signals that he was ready for his milk bottle.

One day I hope to share with my nephew the story of our escape from Viet Nam as boat people, our ancestors who are Hakka people, nomads from Kwangtung, China and how we emigrated to Viet Nam and then to America as refugees. I hope to share stories about our struggle and how we overcame the difficulties in the new land and our accomplishments in America. We all have high hopes for JL's future and I must admit I place very high expections what JL would become, giving the opportunities and advancement.

Happy Birthday my favorite nephew. Here is to a peaceful world in your bright future.

ALASKA - WISH I WAS THERE!

All week, the temperature has been in the high 90 and reached over 100 midday. For several days, the extreme heat soared into the triple digits, bringing dangerous level of the hottest stretch thru the region, prompted warnings of excessive heat and heat-related illness. I saw in the newspapers records of the heat index on August 6, 1947 was 104; August 8, 1934 - 108; and August 9, 1934 - 110. The four-day forecast again calls for dangerous heat, isolated shower, hot and muggy temperature.

After almost 13 years of living in St. Louis, I am still not used to the hot and humid weather. In addition to following all the advice such as drinking lot of water, staying indoor (duh), and no unnecessary heavy activities (like jogging or running - ha), I thought looking at these photos taken during our Alaska cruise in 2002 would help.

We saw these sea otters at the Aquarium in Seatle, Washington. They were very active and playful. The zoo staff explained that sea otters love to float at the water's surface, and often sleep lying on their backs. In this photo, they looked so relaxing. I found another reason to love the sea otters not only because they are so cute, but also because they are meticulously clean. Using their bodies as serving tables, after finished eating, they wash themselves and clean their coat with their teeth and paws. Taking good care of their coats helps them to remain waterproof and insulated against the cold.

This would be a very nice "cooling centers" to be. Saturday, July 6, 2002, we were in Glacier Bay, I was wearing a fur hat, heavy coat with layers of clothing and gloves, trying to stand still for a photo, later I learned that it was over 100 degrees in St. Louis that day. We saw the massive glaciers but only saw a few brown bears, harbor seals and plenty of sea otters. Other people told me they saw whales and dolphins swimming along the ship, but I did not see either.

While at Glacier Bay, we heard the thunder-like loud noise, seconds later we witnessed the collapse of ice falling from the glacier (calving). I was a bit nervous but my husband explained that the Park Service would not permit ships to be close to the glaciers and particularly with passenger cruise ships must be at a safe distance.

This photo captured a beautiful waterfalls was taken at one of the stops along the way by motorcoach into Canada's Yukon. We passed thru Skagway, Alaska (known as the Gateway to the Gold Rush), boarded the White Pass train, enjoyed a BBQ lunch at a Trading Post and spent time in Skagway's downtown historical district where local residents maintained false-front buildings and boardwalks from the 1898 Gold Rush era.

My husband teases me about coming from a tropical country such as Viet Nam that I should have no problem with the heat in St. Louis. I reminded him that he once told me that I could no longer claim that I am Vietnamese as I live in America longer than all the years living in Viet Nam. In a perfect world, I would be in Alaska in August, then in Boston when football season started, alternate between Detroit and Canada for hockey and travel around the world the rest of the time.

ONE SMALL BLOG FOR A CHUBBY WOMAN

"I would like to thank my brother VL for his continued support and encouragement that enable me to overcome my technical shortcomings to start my blog a year ago and finally upgrading my template with many new & improved features. I accept this award, "Blog of the Year", with my utmost appreciation. I will try to write more often and add more features as not to disappoint my adoring fans everywhere. Thank you very much for this award. I am so happy."

I have been practicing my acceptance speech. I try to keep it short as not to get cut off right in the middle of my sentence by the music like they always do at the Academy Awards. Whether my unknown blog, Top-of-the-Arch (TOTA) would ever be recognized or not, I would like to invite all my adoring fans to join me in a celebration of an important milestone.

This month is the first anniversary of TOTA. One year ago, brother VL (aka Qaptain Qwerty) helped me create TOTA during my visit to New York. QQ showed me how easy it was to start my very own blog. The first entry had only one paragraph, "Hello World! It was a dark and stormy night......" It took some nudging from QQ, almost two weeks later, I started writing a "real" lengthy entry. I have been writing somewhat regularly, not as often as I would like. I also began to read VL blog daily, (and all the previous posted entries), http://www.qaptainqwerty.blogspot.com/, and appreciate the technical tool that keep us connected.

A commentary from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch once wrote that bloggers are people who hide from the real world, amused ourselves with our own opinions and that bloggers are "Sayers", not "Doers". The person wrote that bloggers write about the issues but don't actually do something productive in the community. A week later, I saw a response to that commentary for his self-appointed of "the village scold" berating bloggers without knowing how many people (myself include) actively participating in our community through various volunteer activities. The respondent also asked the other commentator not to paint all bloggers with a broad trivial brush as not all 70 million blogs are silly and a waste of time. I agreed with the writer that "Internet blogs are educational tools, allowing people to connect and share ideas with each other" as well as providing limitless discussions anytime, anywhere in the world wide town squares.

I have always enjoyed writing. It comes from my paternal grandfather (A Cung) who was a famous poet in his own circle and was a school teacher when he first emigrated to Viet Nam from China. I remembered when we visited, A Cung showed me porfolios of his published poems and displays of articles on the walls in his office. He told me he was proud of me when I published my first poem. I was 12 years old and was selected as editor for the class newsletter. I also was in debate teams and loved to participate in public speaking competitions.

Writing TOTA has been great for me as blogging has provided an outlet for my writing. I take the time to research about the subjects/topics. TOTA also helps me organize my memories about our journey from Viet Nam, our early years in America and about my personal experience. I don't discuss politics or my faith or my stands on many social issues in my blog. Previous experiences reminded me not getting into discussions that turned into major disagreements, heated exchange, thus personal attacks and physical threats.

I look forward to reading my brother's blog. It is an enjoyment for me. We still keep in touch thru phone calls and email (I enjoy instance messaging too). I feel as if the distance did not keep us apart. I also enjoy reading/searching for interesting random blogs, especially the hockey blogs. I understand that the technology should not be the be-all and definitely should not be the substitute for personal conversations and quality time with friends and family. With everything in life, it is up to the individuals to utilize the tools to serve their needs and for whatever purpose the information is to be used. For me, I enjoy blogging (thus writing) and learning how to use the Internet productively. In fact, I submitted one of my blog entries to a local newspaper and it was published last May. I was also selected as one of the guest columnists to write three more articles.

So that is what blogging is to me - Borrowing the phrase from Astronaut Neil Armstrong - One small blog for a chubby woman, one giant blog for mankind!

THE BRITISH ARE COMING!

The mature trees lined the roads, providing shade and calming present as we drove towards Williamsburg, Virginia. It was a pleasant July morning.

The Historic Area has been restored to show case Williamsburg's 18th century glory as the capital of Great Britain's largest and wealthiest colony. There are stores, taverns, trade shops (dressmakers, blacksmiths), and demonstrations of how wooden wheels and carts were assembled. Visitors have many options of either walk around the town at their own pace or ride a horse-drawn carriage or stage wagon while learning how Virginians lived from 1699-1780.

We visited the Governor's Palace, the home of seven royal governors and Virginia's first two state governors, Patrick Hentry and Thomas Jefferson.

The above was re-enactment of when Lord Dunmore arrives in the Capitol, unhappy with the House of Burgesses for their protesting the closing of Boston Harbor by the British government. Confrontations on the streets between the patriots and the loyalists as the citizens of Virginia experienced the turmoil and challenges of a new society and government after the collapse of British Royal government.

In front of the House of Burgesses at the Capitol, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Mason and other Virginia leaders debated the issues of freedom and liberties for Virginians. These events led to the declarations that the colonies were no longer under British rule and Virginians were citizens of a self-governing republic. The patriots were ready to break free from Great Britain and about to establish a free and independent United States of America. July 4, 2007 marks exactly 231 years since the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence.

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

A photo taken from the viewing deck of the CN Tower. I thought the shape of the two buildings on the right was interesting. Actually the tallest building could represent my youngest brother, VL, then the short rectangle is me, always have to be different and the other two buildings would be my sister, CH and other brother, TL. (What am I talking about? Blame it on the lack of oxygen for being in high altitude.)





The above Hippo (sightseeing bus) was a 90-minute tour around the City and then a splash into Lake Ontario. It is operated by the Toronto Hippo Tours. It is costly with $38 per ticket for adult and $25 for children (3-12 years old). It was different compared to the regular sightseeing bus or trolley tour as we were able to see the City both on land and from the waterways. The tour guide told us a way to remember all the surrounding lakes. She said to think of the word HOMES - Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior. If your budget permits, consider riding the Hippo as most of the children would enjoy the tour.

This photo was taken while the Hippo was on the Lake (you could see the rear view mirror of the bus). The decoration was part of the upcoming 2nd Annual Chinese Lantern Festival scheduled for July 19th to October 7th. I plan to talk to my brother and perhaps in the future we could attend the Festival together as a family vacation. The annual Festival is a showcase of over forty life-size illuminated lanterns, with nightly entertainment of dance, music and acrobats from China, food and crafts market and other Chinese traditional ceremonies such as Tea Ceremony and martial arts demonstrations. I thought my nephew, JL would enjoy such activity. For more information, please visit http://www.chineselanternfestival.ca/ or call 1-866-666-8996.

From the top-of-the Arch in St. Louis to the Top of CN Tower. A visit to Toronto would not be complete without a trip to the top of the CN Tower. We were told that the wait would be approximately 45 minutes from the time we purchased tickets, waiting to go thru security plus standing in line for the elevators. Turn out it was not too bad as the lines were moving quickly. Being an engineer, my husband enjoys visiting tall structures. We had visited a few structures such as Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Arch in St. Louis, and the Space Needle in Seatle. While living in New York, I never took the tour to the top of the World Trade Center. Sadly, I thought the buildings would always be there.

HAVE WHEELS, WILL TRAVEL

A great view of the waterfront and Lake Ontario from the CN Tower's observation deck.


I read somewhere that Americans love their automobiles and we are a country of mobility. How fortunate and blessed that we could pack up our cars, at any moment (forgetting about our stinking jobs and all the obligations), traveling from New York to California, enjoy the beauty of our country, stop when we need to rest with plenty of accomodations along the way.

Tracing the routes we took during our week-long vacation the first week of July, I found that the trip had a shape of a right triangle with the drive from St. Louis to Toronto thru Indiana/Michigan was the largest square (hypotenuse) and the other two legs were the drive from Toronto to Virginia thru Niaraga Falls/Buffalo, New York and the 15-hour driving from Virginia back home to St. Louis thru Indiana/Kentucky. This is the pythagorean theorem formula developed by the Greek mathematican named Pythagoras. (I have no idea what I wrote but it sounded so intellectual. Ha ha)


On Friday, June 30th, my husband and I took the afternoon off. We already packed the day before and were ready for our long trip. We went thru Illinois towards I-70, without normal rush hours traffic, with a couples of reststops, we crossed into Indiana at around 8:30 p.m.

We decided to spend a night at Country Inns, a brand new hotel near Indianapolis airport. The next morning, after a quick continental breakfast, we were on our way. We took I-69 towards Ft. Wayne, crossing into Michigan. At the Welcome Center, we picked up a map and learned of the 50th Anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge.


A little more than 7.5 hours later, with an hour stop for lunch in Flint, Michigan, we arrived at the border. After about 45 minutes at the border, we finally crossed into Canada. The lines were long with a bit of confusion because many 18-wheelers that took up two lanes. The border agent asked a few questions such as, “Where do you live? Where are you going? What's the purpose of your visit? How long are you going to be there? Do you have a valid U.S. passport?”.


We received our renewed passports the 2nd week of June. While so many people experiencing delays and problems with their applications, we were lucky that our renewals took only 8 weeks. We did not have to show our passports to get into Canada. I was not ready to show my chubby face photo anyway.



We took Provincial Route 402 East into Ontario. We stayed at the Crown Plaza. When I booked the hotel, the website listed that the hotel was only 10 minutes from downtown Toronto. (Travel tips - when booking over the internet, be sure to check whether the hotel is undergoing major renovations as parking became a big problem for us. The hotel offers valet parking only and the main entrance was closed due to construction.) We learned to take the bus and transfer to the trains. The train system in Toronto is so much simple compared to New York subway.

We visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower, rode the Happy Hippo, enjoyed dim sum in Chinatown on Sunday morning and celebrated Canada 140th Anniversay on July 1st. On Tuesday, July 3rd, we drove 1.5 hours from Ontario to Niagara Falls. We took a few photos before crossing the Rainbow Bridge, back home to America.

The drive from Niagara Falls to Pennsylvania was only about 2 hours. We continued on I-79 towards Pittsburgh, then reached Youngstown, Ohio three hours later. We briefly passed thru Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, then crossed into Maryland at around 5:30 p.m.

When we were about three hours from Williamsburg, Virginia, there was a back up due to an accident on the I-70. Both sides of the highway were closed and we were held up there for 1.5 hours. We got out and paced around our car. Most of the people did the same while a few walked towards the area to where the traffic began to back up. A man came back and told us that a front tire of a van carried a family of four blew off, causing the van to roll over several times. As he was telling us, we saw two helicopters landed on the highway to airlift the injured people to nearby hospital.


It was already late into the evening, so we decided to spend the night in Richmond, Virginia. The next morning, July 4th, we finally arrived at the home of CP's brother in Williamsburg, Virginia. We enjoyed the traditional July 4th BBQ and later went to watch the fireworks in Marketplace Square, near College of William and Mary. We enjoyed our visit to Colonial Williams, Jamestown, Yorktown and time with family.

Saturday, July 7th, we were back on the road, driving back to St. Louis from Virginia. We started early in the morning around 6:30 a.m., merged onto I-64 towards West Virginia. After 5 hours, we stopped for lunch and it was my turn to drive as we were to stay on I-64 for about 6.5 hours. As mentioned in previous entries, I only handled the driving when we stayed on a straight road for a few hours with no worry of getting off and getting on to another interstates.

From West Virginia, we crossed into Kentucky, then into Indiana, then Illinois, and finally into Missouri at around 9:30 p.m. We set our watches back one hour to adjust to the time zone. After 8.5 days, 2,418.97 miles, crossing a total of 10 states and two borders, we were so glad to be home.

OUR DEER GRANDDAUGHTER

Please read the entry on June 11th about the wonderful visit from our deer daughter June & the birth of our deer granddaughter, Heidi.

June & Heidi enjoying a beautiful sunny day in our backyard.

A heart warming moment when Heidi stumbles while learning how to run (instead of prancing), June whispers words of encouragement and expresses her motherly love.

Our deer daughter, June and her baby, Heidi.

A lovely photo of our deer granddaughter, Heidi.

THUNDERBIRD

Thanks to my brother VL for his continued support and encouragement, I finally overcame my technical shortcomings and learned to upload photos onto my blog.



In previous entries, I wrote about my husband's Thunderbird and how much he loves the car. I also mentioned strangers making comments such as "Beautiful car", "Good looking T-bird", and people, mostly men, stopping to discuss at length about the car while I waited patiently.



I don't mind that CP spending time regularly washing and keeping the T-bird in perfect and spotless condition. It is not another woman. It is only a car and I could always sell it.




Here is an excerpt from an entry entitled, "You can't take it with you" on August 19, 2006. It was from my early days as a "rookie blogger" -




"It is a 2004 Ford Thunderbird with the right color, burgundy. CP saved his money for 2 years, waiting for the right moment. He searched the internet but both times when he found the car of his dream, the sellers told him that the dream cars were already sold. The first seller was in Colorado and CP called immediately after he saw the posting in the Auto Trader website. The seller told CP that someone also called about five minutes ago and they agreed to the terms, no haggle or price negotiating. The second seller was in Buffalo, New York. Again the seller told CP that a buyer already called and was on his way to pick up the dream car.

The third seller was from Chicago, Illinois. CP called me at work around 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday (August 2005) and told me that he found the dream car and the seller agreed to sell the car to CP if he could get to Chicago the next day with a certified check. I said without hesitation knowing that CP has been waiting for this opportunity. I told him that I would go to the bank and transfer the money. I could hear CP excitement and relief that I did not question his decision. The next day, CP drove to Chicago (5 hours from St. Louis) in a rental car with a certified check over $20K."




There you have it, the story of how CP becomes the proud owner of the Thunderbird.