The fish are biting today

Good luck symbol - "Fu"

Update on my parents

My Mom:

As you know, my mom fell in early December and broke a vertebrae. She had back surgery and returned home. About a week later the pain became so excruciating that she couldn't (and still can't) walk any further than about 50 feet.

Yesterday, an x-ray found out why. A piece of the L3 vertebra (the one that was repaired) has separated from the main body of the vertebra and is sticking out where it doesn't belong, and when my mom tries to stand and puts her spine in compression, this fragment presses on nerves and is causing the excruciating pain.

They can't surgically repair this problem, but are hoping the broken piece will re-attach itself and heal over time.

PLEASE SPECIFICALLY PRAY FOR GOD TO HEAL THIS VERTEBRAE IN MY MOM'S BACK. Pray that the bone will re-attach itself so my mom can walk pain free.

On a positive note, she sounds really good and chipper on the phone.

My Dad:

My mom can hardly walk, and certainly can't bend or do anything strenuous, so my dad is taking the lead on most projects around the house and in town. He does grocery shopping, cooking, etc. My mom feels bad that he is left doing so much of the work, but he reminded her of their 1955 wedding vows where they promised each other to stick it out "in sickness and in health," "in good times and bad," and such as that. 

My brother J and his wife and son live 3 miles down the road, and though they work (and attend school, in the case of my nephew), they pitch in quite a lot too. 

Thanks for those who asked about my parents' situation, and please keep them in your prayers as they deal with this challenge.

The grey skies of January

Back in the fall, I decided that no matter what, I wasn't going to let the gloomy weather of January and February get me down. I'm doing better than previous years, but there's just no getting around the gloom. Not even Mimi's and my shared birthdays were exciting enough to make January fun.

Below-freezing wind chill knifing me in the face as I travel by e-bike just takes the fun out of every little outing. Oh to have a car with windows that rolled up to prevent this!

My satellite TV is broken down too and has been for two months. I can't even watch TV for whatever little entertainment value it offers.

Because I had a lung infection back before Christmas, I was out of it for about a month. So I am still digging out from double the amount of work assignments that piled up during that time. Which means I am sick to death of looking at my computer. Which means I haven't updated my blog.

I did read a few books though, at night before I fell asleep and on Sunday afternoons. I love to read a good book in winter!

Anyway, now that I've explained myself ... I'm planning to get back in the swing of things, so keep checking back.

Showdown

I love the animal kingdom. I wonder what they really think.

Photo from http://catmacros.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/youre-not-my-real-mom/

The grocery conundrum

When I first moved to this country, they didn't even have grocery stores. At the rate of progress at the time, I figured it would be another 50 years before they would get any.

People bought food at the outdoor markets and/or butchers. The department stores sold crackers, Snickers bars, and Cokes. I would travel six hours away to a city where department stores sold Oreo cookies. There was no other processed food. Shopping was a nightmare.

My 50-year estimate turned out to be wrong when I saw my first grocery store open in Bedrock in the year 2000. (Can you imagine? All my life in America we had grocery stores, but they didn't come here until this century.)

People caught on to the grocery store concept rather quickly. The stores can sell produce cheaper than some markets, so they are popular. They are crowded too, and all manner of manners are thrown out the window when people are in these stores. Most of the stores are humongous, like Super Wal-Mart, but more crowded than any Super Wal-Mart you've ever been in, even if you've been on Christmas Eve.

I learned long ago not to go into one of these stores on a weekend. But when I went last Friday, it was almost just as bad. I thought I was going to hyperventilate or have a panic attack before I got out of there. 

And as Chinese New Year is approaching four weeks from now, it will only get worse. The only gifts given at Chinese New Year are food gifts, so the grocery stores will get the impact of this shopping. 

Grocery shopping looks different in the new century, but yes, it is still a nightmare.

View from my train window

On my train trip right after Christmas, I took photos from my window seat at a speed of 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour). The photos are not the greatest, but the views remind me of the simplicity and beauty of the Chinese countryside.