Inspiring

I just had to share this story with all of you. I am so lucky to meet people from all walks of life in my work. Today, I met a remarkable patient at work. He is from Africa and immigrated to Canada where he worked as a dentist for 20 years and flew planes as a hobby until he went blind 13 years ago. He then went to law school and continued to study, winning numerous scholarships and awards while doing it. Today, at the age of 60, he is completing his ph.d in constitutional and aboriginal law and self-government. He became a Fulbright scholar in 2003. He goes to school with his seeing eye dog. When I asked him why he did all this after he went blind, he responded, "Because life must go on no matter what... You must continue to aim high."

4$ pear

i've seen this several years in a row and it's seasonal, but the picture looked sooooo good i finally broke down at the mall yesterday and bought one. (damn my food fetish!) Harry & David is a gourmet shop, specializing in fancy foods, jams, fruit baskets...

i know it's expensive, but hey i've bought many pears in the past where it's too hard or too sour and just inedible i figured i've spent 4$ already on bad ones i've thrown out.

the pear was good, the best pear i've had in my life. not to say that i think it's worth 4 dollars, but certainly delish.

The Giving Tree

i've kinda picked up this christmas tradition in the past few years. The Giving Tree is an organization that works with underpriviledged kids year round, and for the holidays, they organized a gift tag system with the kid's first name, age, and a toy 20$ to 30$ dollars range they would like for Christmas. The tags are pinned up in most of our work buildings, and people who want to can take a tag and buy the gift, returning it into the pickup box and the gift will get to that kid for Christmas.

now i know, probably some of you think, well maybe instead of just toys, if they are underpriviledge, maybe they could USE something functional, clothes, diapers, whatever. but it's nice to be able to provide a toy to these kids who probably doesn't get to have the luxury of a toy any other times of the year - and certainly some of them may still believe in Santa Claus...

This year i picked up 3 tags: a CD walkman for a 14 year old name Omar, an NCAA football for an 8 year old girl (i think it's so cool that's what she wanted!), and 'anything Tinkerbell' for a 3 year old girl. at the Sharks game i went to the other night (yeah, they lost that game), there was a Toys-for-Tots toy drive which i also bought a gift for.

now i know i didn't cure cancer or wielded world peace, but it's nice to know that there's at least 4 more kids out there who will have a toy in their hands for Christmas...

last year was cool though. i got a gift tag for '49ers anything' so i got the kid a cap and a t-shirt.
the day after the deadline though, was my gym's Open House event with lots of activities to try to lure members' friends & family to the gym - one of the event was that they were going to have a 49ers player there for autograph and pictures. so i went and met one of the defensive players and had him sign the stuff for my gift tag kid. i hope the gift got to him.

the year before, the gift tag was for a girl who wanted a 'butterfly kite'. sounds simple right?
i had such a hard time finding places that even sells KITES at Christmas time, let alone anything close to being butterfly shaped. in the end i buckled and ordered online, had to have it expressed shipped to me to make the deadline!!!!

what toys did you wanted when you were a kid and did you ever get it? when did you discovered there was no Santa Claus (sorry if i just gave the ending away if you didn't know before)? what was your favorite Christmas gift?

Habitat

(sorry for the long posting, and i did not have time to go and highlight with colors or fancy fonts, but i wanted to post this before i forget or got too busy to...)

Habitat

Not to be confused with Les Habitants our Canadiens team...

a few months ago i'd signed up to volunteer a day with Habitat of Humanity with a group from my hockey rink. It's something i'd always wanted to do but never really made it a priority to be proactive and go and find out, so the opportunity arrived and sounded interesting.

on saturday, we had to arrive at Brisbane (about 45 minutes north of San Jose) at 8:30am - requires me to get up at 6:30am to get ready, thankfully the sky begins to lighten up as i step out into daylight. i used my survival instincts from our many annual Defiance of Winter BBQs (thanks Zibalatz!) and layered the heck out of the clothes - 5 top layers, 2 bottom layers and 2 layers of socks. Since we'd be outdoors and SF is known for foggy chilly weather, i was prepared.

after signing in and making name tags front & back on our hard hats, we congregated together in a group and waited for instructions. as luck would have it, instead of a typical full 8 hours, the Habitat was having a christmas party in the afternoon so we were only volunteering 4 hours.

I never knew this, but the people who will be living in these homes are families which are under bad circumstances but all of them having jobs. Each family (and their friends) are required to put in 500 hours of work into the housing projects. It's nice to know that the family who will live there are going to take pride because of the work they themselves put in, and that it isn't just a free gift and that they are really deserving.

the main Lead explained the 8 or so choices of tasks we can volunteer for, what they are, what type of skills it needs, and how many volunteers they need for each task.
Then the tasks gets divided as each task was called and volunteers raise their hands and the Lead would take the people they see first.

some types of carpentry project include getting on ladders and working upside down to put up some ceiling insulation, or following exact directions to put kitchen cabinets and put them up in the kitchen, or putting siding to deter termites around the houses, or making sure the new worksite has caution tapes of areas and grounds that are dangerous if people didn't know was there, to cleaning the almost finished units, to fence post painting/digging, and just regular digging

Being the most non-handy person i know, i was interested in either the cleaning or the painting tasks. Then i thought, how ironic it might be for me to clean when i have ignored all the cleaning tasks i do not do at home!!! So i figured i wanted to get the painting task.

when that task came around i put my hand up, but even though i was near the front, there were 4 women from the Muslim American Society who were all together and, well they needed 4 people so the Lead didn't want to seperate the friends.

now, we're all going to laugh at me, but the only task LEFT at that time was the digging one. WHAT? Amy? digging? no way you are shitting me!

the little group left followed our team lead Eric, who's pretty easy going guy, very chill.
i kinda felt bad for him, in our group of 7, 3 were girls and i know at least 1 of the girls is not handy! The other two were muslim women in their head gear, but probably a few years younger than me. they weren't thin waifs but the reality is most guys have way more muscle pure strength than women.

anyways, the manual labour we had to do, was continue digging this trench alongside the house for the gas pipe line to be put in. the ground wasn't easy to dig through unless you had a pick axe or a jackhammer.
and we had a jackhammer, so one person would use that to loosen the dirt, and some of us would shovel the dirt into the wheel barrel and then dump the dirt at the appropriate place (on the other end of the 5 house complex)

it's not easy! although it's certainly not like brain surgery. the narrow trench was about 15 inches deep already, and it's a lunge step to bend at the knees to scoop up the dirt from 15 inches below ground to above ground above wheel barrel height - the fencing task team were working behind us, so often the wheel barrel isn't even in a convienent place/angle.

i never thought i really could last 4 hours, but i did, it got easier and less painful. some of the guys 'escaped' to other tasks and wanted to blend in and join the less physical team. booo!

for the last hour, it was just me and the other 2 women taking turns, working the jackhammer and shovelling the dirt. amazingly we were all joking and having a good time, even though the jackhammer was darn heavy and we were all getting tired. we even worked out a good system to drill, scrap the dirt to the 3rd person who has the best angle to shovel the dirt into the barrel! i had to put all my body weight on one side of the jackhammer, then on the other, to loosen the dirt.

when we finally end for the day, i was sweaty and tired but had a lot of fun. I never thought i'd ever in my lifetime physically use a jackhammer! or work 4 hours doing digging and shovelling dirt, driving the full wheel barrel...!

when i was walking towards my hockey ground, some guy who was one of the other volunteers said "AMY!" and i looked at him and i think, i don't know you. he half turned from his group enthusiastically and said 'i just wanted to shake your hand, I saw the way you worked that jackhammer back there, GREAT JOB!' :) hahahaha

our hockey ground, tired and sweaty and muddy, decided to go to BJ's restaurant for a well earned lunch

i've experienced so much in that 4 hours. as a city girl, i never did construction or handy work; someone else was hired to do that. i've lived in many homes but all of them built well before my time and were finished by the time i arrived. i've hung pictures on the wall and put up coat hooks but never did i imagine i would be digging and using a jackhammer.
the feeling was so rewarding, the physical work where you can see your progress from when you got there and when you leave for the day. the pride in working with others for a common purpose bigger than yourself. the way we befriended each other and work together even though those muslim women and i probably had little in common.

not to say i wasn't sore from the day, or in pain when i lift my legs to get into the car, or my arms when i lift the fork of food into my mouth. (a nice hot bath did wonders though)

but it's such a fulfilling experience. i'm glad i didn't get the painting task i wanted (plus the girls who did get it, were covered head to toe in white paint). not only did i helped build something, but i did something totally i never thought i would or could do, and my stubborness actually worked out well (i did not let the heavy jackhammer control me!)

i definitely recommend doing this once in your life at least...

it finally feels like...

it feels like fall outside! some of the maple trees here have turned beautiful shades of orange-red-yellow and the leaves are slowly drifting to fall on the ground - that's California Christmas for you!

sorry i have been out of touch. i've become unusually antisocial the past few months. Have been sick for 2+ months now, most days all i want to do is run home after work, crawl onto my couch in my PJs and fall asleep to the tv - hoping i'd wake up tomorrow feeling much better.

i'm going to my 3rd Sharks game this season tonight. my NHL loyalties lie between Sharks and the Habs; i am more familiar with the Sharks team and news than i am with the Habs, thankfully the two don't play each other during the season this year, so i don't have to choose.

Sharks are doing extremely well this year, with lots of depth and young players on the team. However, avid fans always warn me 'the Sharks will break your heart every time' because we make the playoffs or get close, but never seem to get to win the Stanley Cup (YET). every time i go to a game i am so inspired to play my own game better! it's amazing to see the pros lean into their turns like they're skating on butter, or see how precise their shots are. (although it is their job, and they practice and train like crazy full time and have been playing this game for years - and i have not).

On my fantasy team i had picked Marleau to be one of my Centers; besides being the pretty boy, i really do think he does a good job as captain to motivate and inspire; he's even the leading scorer and points on the Sharks so far.

Thronton has really shown his colors though; no matter who they put with him on the line, he's able to assist almost anyone with the goals - it really demonstrate his versitility and his skills.

I also like the way Grier plays hockey; my friend S has followed his career from his days at Boston U. he's a fun player to watch, and i strive to play like his style out there. he gets in the way of the plays, and intercepts the puck, he's also physical enough to stand up to the players on the other team and use his size as advantage to protect the puck (right, like i can use my size to my advantage, not quite the same way). he also is so loyal to his teammates that if there was a missed penalty call he WILL go in there and teach the other person a lesson.

one of my work friends (who also referees some games at my rink, and plays there at a level much higher than mine) msg me this morning to let me know he has tickets (he is a season ticket holder). of course as usual i am sassy and sarcastic in my replies. i thought it'd be fun to share out conversation (edited to protect the innocent but without editing the actual wording)

DL: allo?
AC: oui monsieur? je peut vouz aider?
DL: interested in my sharks tix for tonights game?
AC: Ooooooooooo so last minute when do you need to know?
DL: this aft is fine
AC: ok i'll get back to you asap
DL: preferrably in the next few hours
AC: btw i know you have great seats, where are they around?
DL: section XYZ row 123
DL: its basically mid way up in the lower bowl on the goal line, sharks end
AC: i can drool at Marleau from that seat
DL: they are good seats
DL: and if you can't find someone to go with you, I would be happy to attend
AC: you'd go with me? i don't know if we're ready to date you or if your gf is ready for us to be dating...
i'm not putting out though.not unless you buy me a hotdog & beer first
DL: Jumbo or normal?
AC: footlong
DL: we are talking about the hotdog right?
AC: if the shoe fits
(few hours later)
AC: will u go with me?
DL: sure, I can do that
AC: do i have to pay for you too?
AC: i'm not paying the going rate - i don't care how much you're worth on the street corners
DL: haha, nah, I can pay for my own ticket of course
DL: I am going to walk to the game from my house, you are welcome to join if you want
DL: be at my place at 6:45pm If you want to make the pre-game skate, be there at 6:30
AC: i love watching them warm up
AC: maybe i'll flash them
DL: thats what I mean, the pre-game skate/warm up 30 mins before the game
DL: its a 20 min walk from my house ;p 22 minutes with your short legs
AC: i better have a few beers to warm up
AC: OMG no you didn't say that!
DL: haha
DL: I will even provide you a pre-game beer at my place in a plastic disposable cup to have on the way
AC: if the cops catch me i tell them it's ginger ale from Canada?
DL: more or elss
DL: I will walk you through dark parks and alleys
AC: you need my protection in dark parks and alleys, i understand
AC: do u take paypal?
AC: for 'services rendered'
AC: Payment Sent
DL: see you tonight
AC: aight i'll be the one in reindeer antlers ringing the doorbell

I'll let you guys know how the game is - gooo Sharks! should be a good game for the Sharks, the Avalanch was shut out by the Columbus Blue Jackets last game (who are not the best team in the league by a far stretch).

** update on my medical adventure - skip this if it bores you -
turns out i tested positive for a bacteria called 'H. Pylori' which is now known to be the main cause of ulcers. from my symptoms, all paths point to this being the reason i have been so miserable for the last 6 weeks. acid reflux, heart burn in the stomach, loss of energy after eating food due to indigestion, burping up air for 5-6 hours after meals constantly, and a slow burning feeling in the stomach almost the entire day. Urgent care did the test, and they called me friday night to let me know i had this bacteria - WTF, how am i supposed to get to a doctor's office on the weekend unless it's urgent?
anyhow, i went to see my coworker's doctor who's very gentle and i may be able to bully him for prescriptions in the future *wink*.
he was very very hesitant to give me antibiotics (when it's obvious if he was really listening to all the stuff i told him about drugs i've tried the past few weeks, how i've been feeling, what symptoms i've had - he really should see that i had ulcer).
his point was that if you go to the mall and test everyone for 'H. Pylori', half the people would test positive, but not have ulcers. (they probably didn't have my symptoms either, duh).
now, however, since i had positive test result for this bacteria, he's almost legally obligated to prescribe the antibiotics otherwise i might come back and sue him in the future.

so right now i'm downing my 2 different antibiotics (which i have to take with food, or else the drugs won't stay in my stomach), as well as taking my nexium(thanks Deviline for introducing me to it), for the next 14 days.
the upside is i feel that the antibiotics should be able to clear the bacteria, i am hopeful that this should solve my stomache issues.
i love to eat but now i fear eating because of indigestion and discomfort when i have anything in my tummy. however, the catch-22 is that if i don't eat on time, my tummy is especially sensitive for hunger and it hurts too. sigh **