Journey to the Past

If I have my way, I would never ever have to go to the dentist. My tooth hurts at the thought of dentist. I fast-forwarded "The Little Shop of Horrors" on all dentist's scenes. That's all because of my first visit to the dentist when I was small. He worked on my tooth without anesthetic. I was in pain for a day or two. Ouch! Anyway, after running out of excuses not to go to the dentist, yesterday I finally mustered up the courage to visit one. It was a painful experience. My teeth and gum were very sensitive to touch and cold water, so they need to be frozen first. It turned out that I was hard to freeze. The hygienist must have injected my gums several times with little luck. So she only worked on 1/4 of my mouth's section. Yup, it means that I have to go back to the dentist at least 2 more times!! The good news, though, is that after I got it all cleaned, the gum will start healing itself, and hopefully next year's experience won't be as painful. But unt...

My day started as usual: driving to work, getting stuck in traffic, having coffee (water, actually), checking emails, coding. But today, I got pinged my a friend who told me that he would be leaving the country for good this weekend. I knew he had had problems staying here, but I thought he found a way to finish his study. So his news saddens me. I asked him the reason he suddenly was unable to stay anymore. And he said, "because... it's April Fools' Day!" He got me. I hope your day was full of more pleasant surprise from those around you. Today, a blog I am following, Free Money Finance posted several interesting April Fools' stories. Check them out if you have time. John Bogle Punks World, Admits Index Funds Aren’t Real How to Sell Your Home in Any Market? Be Aloof Government Steps Up Efforts To Assist “Stupid” Homeowners Planning for Retirement in a Post-Apocalyptic World And more April Fools' stuff from around the web: Google's gDay TM with MATE TM V...

I found an interesting tidbit on the net about the start of bridal bouquet. Apparently, the first wedding bouquets were not made with flowers, but instead were composed of herbs. It was thought that evil spirits would be repelled by their strong aroma. Dill would be included in the mix because it was thought to promote lust! Not only that, the brides will consume dill for these alleged properties. In the Tudor era, another substance thought to put brides in the mood for love was marigolds, which were gilded and dipped in rosewater. Huh! Who knew?!?

When you fill in the blank, what do you get? Try this one: I thought people are nice ______________________ advice ______________________ chicken and rice ______________________ at any price

When I was 2 or 3 years old, my big brother joined the Sunday School choir at church. He would be learning new songs and sang them proudly in front of my mom and my dad. Every Mother's Day and Father's Day, my bro would sing a song to our parents first. I looked up to my big bro and wanted to join choir. The teachers were firm when they refused to let me in. It made sense. I was too small and I couldn't read. I couldn't even pronounce the words right. I would need a private tutor to teach me a song. Luckily for me, my mom was patient enough to be my tutor. I might not be in the choir, but I sure learnt all the songs my bro was learning. I could sing (or mumble in trembling notes, anyway). Growing up, I was always in a church choir. But when I hit my teen years, I also joined a vocal group. In my church, every grade has its own vocal group. My grade had 3 good singers and additional 3 willing hearts (who were deaf-tone). I was one of the "more experienced" ones...

The more we care about something or someone, the harder it seems to let go of their betrayal. We hurt more when they do or say something careless in their moment of weaknesses. It helps if the relationship continues and then heals. In some cases, people cut ties, and all we are left with are the sense of bewilderment and lost. I knew relationships were not easy. I knew that I would part with most of my friends. But there were some that I thought would last for a long time. There were some friends who I thought would be my friends forever. But somewhere down the road, something went wrong, and no matter what I tried, I could not see or think about them without feeling hurt. My church is moving this Sunday to a new location. We used to rent from another church under the same denomination and had a very good relationship with them. But over the years, that other church was losing members and changing pastors. And now they want us to pay for their pastor's salary as well. I can't s...

I am so happy! Our wedding website is finally published earlier today. Chris and I went to Seattle in January for our photo shoot, and there were tons of good pictures that I was impatient to show the world. But since I want them to see it on our website, I dare not distribute it nor brag about it. But now I can! The above picture is one of my favorite one. But there are a lot more where it came from. Be sure to check the website on http://www.chrisolive.net/ and leave us a note! ^_^