MIXED THOUGHTS

I love Sunday. It's a day that I do not have to get up early in the morning. I do not have to rush downstairs to prepare the lunch for work. I have the time to do a bit of stretching on the bed or turn some pages of magazine that I did not finish last night.

Then I can take my own sweet time to do facial treatment, pamper my body with relaxation shower, conditioning my hair....The feeling after all these is so good and pleasant.

Further more.... no cooking on Sunday!

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I am happy to hear that my eldest sister is out from the ICU to normal ward; and is doing well after her operation. I have been very worried for her a couple of days ago. I felt very bad for being unable to fly back to visit her in the Hospital. All I can do is to get update from my nieces and my daughter online as well as to chant for her speedy recovery. I hope she will soon be home and be healthy again.

My eldest sister and Mr Fong, my brother -in-law are blessed with 4 smart and successful adult children. They have 11 grandchildren. Whenever she complained about herself being the worse among us -3 sisters, I always rectified her statement because she overlooks this greatest

achievement that she accomplished in life.

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This afternoon, we went to Hyatt at Sarasota Bay for the concert featuring Papa Doo Run Run - Beach Boys tribute band. The concert was supposed to be held at the Hyatt at Siseta Key Beach; Unfortunately, it has to be changed to indoor activity due to expected bad weather and storm in the area.

It was a fun concert with songs of all the oldies in 50' 60' 70' and 80'. We brought out chair, snack and drinks like we were at the beach. We also joined the crowd to dance as crazy as they are.

Sometime, Sunday could be exciting !!

Not a good idea to have the party at the beach with this strong wind this morning!

Papa Doo Run Run

It's me !

Tomorrow is the Labor Day..... another good day to rest too !

FAY BYPASSED SARASOTA !!!

What a blessing when the morning news reported that "Fay" has changed its direction towards the central Florida. In other word, Sarasota is off the list from "Hurricane Watch" yesterday !!! In return, we have a very nice & cool day without sun & rain!

I was very worried of this tropical storm that I kept reminding Ah Don that we should put up the shutter protection to protect the glass sliding doors to the living room. Surely there is noway that we can defend from the attack but we could reduce the loss due to damage especially the 60" TV right in the living room.

Finally, we have the shutter fixed on Monday evening. This is how it looks:

We will leave the shutter on for few days just to ensure that "Fay" will not make its turn to visit here !


Thanks Gohonzon for the protection.

TROPICAL STORM FAY IS COMING !

SARASOTA IS UNSER HURRICANE WATCH: THAT MEANS IT CAN HAPPEN HERE WITHIN 36 HOURS!! ....... This is the news that keeps repeating over the radio and TV!!

What a "dreadful" news to me!!

I have no experience of bad storm in the past. This is why, I am very worried and concern how to handle if "Fay" is here !!!

I heard the news that from June to November is the rainy and stormy season in Florida some time ago, so, I started to read and listen to the weather reports. Before this, I was wondering why it is so important to have the weather report in almost all & Radio stations in USA . In my country, we only talk about rain, sun and haze.

I bought a NOAA weather Alert Radio last month since I learned that this is a "must " item during this period. And it is doing great to alert and update the storm condition in area around here. I have bought some other stuff for emergency use.

Now, I have got most of the items that we need. All important documents and dried stuff are gathered in one place, so when there is a alert to evaculate, we will put them in the car and run for our lives ....... :(:(:(:(

How I love Internet !

Thanks to the Internet.

Through Internet, I got to know Ah Don online, across the oceans and thousands mile away from Malaysia.

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Through Internet, I am able to communicate easily with my daughter Su-yee through email and google chat online even though I am now residing in Florida, USA. I can also read her blog at www.su-yee@blogspot.com for additional update and she can view our Blog too.

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This morning, while we were chatting as usual , Su-Yee asked me to check her blogs. She had just downloaded some photos on her blog. I thought it could be some pictures about her fitness activity.(by the way, she is in charge of Group Exercise and a personal trainer in True Fitness),so I told her I would take a look during my lunch time as I was busy with some work at that time.

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After a quick lunch - ( Quick ? because it was from my lunch bag - I cooked our lunch in the morning ---- to save money( need more money ), to save gas ( very expensive ), to save time ( no need to wait to be served ) and most importantly to avoid paying "Tips"..... I am not in favour of tipping ) I went to her blog. The moment I browsed her update , a baby photo came out .....Oh it was her when she was about 4 months old then it followed with some other outdoor photos.when she was much older. She looked so sweet and cute !! She was so adorable and chubby.

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I remembered whenever I carried her in my arms at the shopping mall, people liked to touch her, talk to her and tell me she was a cute little pretty baby. Yes. She is ! She still have that baby face . She is always my pride.

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These old pictures really brought me back to our good old days. Though it was difficult for her to grow up without fatherly love, I took all effort to ensure that she received the best and complete love from me. It was my prime determination when her father decided to leave the family to pursue his own way of life.

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Surely, life was not all smooth for me; there were times where I could not forgive her for the mistakes she made, her misbehaviour or her betraying against my decision or instruction. When I lost my control, I punished her badly. I believed there must be time where I could have hurt her feeling deeply. There had been a period, we were not close as before. She would shut herself in her room and I kept myself busy with housework. Anyway....... that was the past. We are Mom and daughter and we really don't keep bad feeling at heart.

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I am thankful that I have the chance to look at these old photos. Thanks to the Internet again for bringing us close even though we are now thousands of mile away.

DO I HAVE GREEN FINGERS ???

Beside going to Garage Sale which is our outdoor activity during weekends. I have this new found hobby >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

PLANTING HOUSE-PLANTS

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Since, we are not allowed to keep pet in this house hence I decided to keep some house-plants. First, I started to look around the nearby roadside for some plants. I planted them in small containers. When they started growing, looked healthy and used to the potted soil, I transferred them to bigger pots. After few months of caring effort, my house-plants are doing well.

( hmmm... most of the pots I got them cheap from the garage sale!)

I took home 3 tiny and dying plants ( due to hot weather) from a parking lot

2 months ago. They turned out to be the plants that I like the most!

I don't know the name of this plant, they may require a bigger pot soon !

This was the 1st Fern plant that I picked from the road side.

It looked so unique amongst the bushes.

It has the tendency to grow upwards, taller & taller!

so, I have to trim it from time to time to keep it low.

This is the No 2 plant that I like to look at every morning

This is the plant that I took from the office. Thought it can give some color to the green. See the small vine that grows by itself to enhance the look !

This is one that I plucked from a tree outside the office.

I am waiting for it to bloom and turn into a small tree in the pot.

These are Caladiums that I asked from a house owner who has a bed of colorful Caladiums in front of his house at Gulf Gate. We stopped by and told him that these plants gave me the home feeling. He was so touched and gave me 3 different colors when I only asked for 1 !!!!

They are doing very well at the patio. I have to move them from the hot sun. They are very precious to me!

The followings are plants in special care at the moment

I did not like gardening in the past. It was not a pleasant job when my mom asked me to water her plants when I was young. But, now I can feel the joy of seeing them blooming and growing day by day. I touch & water them every morning before I go to work.... they are my babies !!!

OUR PATIO

This is the Pic of our Patio. It's not cosy but simple for our purpose; Ah Don likes to sit here to do 3 things

(1 ) To Smoke

(2) To Drink

(3) To WAIT for me ( when he is ready to go and I'm NOT!)

Oooph.... there is one more thing >> He uses to talk on his cell phone here too.

( Avoiding me from listening to his conversation, I guess ! :):):)

To me, this is also the place where Ah Don is

" Killing himself slowly"

Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the following pic !!!

Honestly, I am not going to stop him from killing himself in this way. Reason ? Well, long long time ago,one fortune teller predicted that I would live up to my age of 67 !! The number is not too far away! And, I am fully prepared for that to happen ! The only thing that I dread of is to be summoned death by Terminal Illness. ( Can't bear to suffer with the pain and the look!)

See, since, I will be gone earlier than him there is no reason for me to concern too much about his issue! Right ! He won't live long too after I'm gone! Why ? Reason again ??? Well, let ask him whether he knows where I kept most of the food stuff rather than those visible in the fridge ??? He has no knowledge of them all; he has been"spoon-feed" since May 2005 !!! Ha ha...

Honestly, I like this patio very much. This is the place where I do my morning exercise. A bit of Yoga, a bit of Tai Chi 108 style , skipping, and some combination of other QuiGong that I learned before. It's also the place where I keep some plants

My philosophy is to keep healthy through regular exercise and home remedies for any minor health issues. I am glad that I am able to run and jump at this age. In this connection, I hope to be able to walk up and down the stairs without shortness of breath till my last day in this world ! Bless Me American and Malaysians ! ha ha ha hahahaha!