Monthly Archives: February 2017

Second Wind

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JMU stadium

I have been running almost every night for almost two weeks now. I can now run 800 meters! Yay! I know it’s nothing to most people, but friends, both old and new, know that it was never easy for me to run. 

The first time I ran, I only finished 400 meters. Halfway through, I was already out of breath, but remembering what my best friend (number 2) used to say to me when I got tired during warm up for our taekwondo lesson, “Wait for the second wind! Wait for the second wind!” That was so twenty years ago, yet I can never forget the many times he reminded me of the “second wind.” 

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JMU stadium

I think no matter what we do, we always have to wait for the second wind and not just give up.  I have to remind myself of this when I get tired of working on something (which is what I’m going through right now.) 

As for running, I told my husband perhaps we should aim for joining a 5K race next year! He thinks it’s too ambitious of me, but hey, I can TRY, right? 

Here’s hoping you get your second wind, if you’re tired of doing something these days. 

T.

Weekly Photo Challenge: A Good Match 

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I don’t know what it looks like to you, but to me it looks like the tree’s wearing a trained skirt! A tree naturally dressed in authentic leaves designed by the leaves themselves!

Perhaps it’s not good for the tree to be “dressed” as such (some ivies can choke and kill trees they say), and the workers have probably taken them off after the Chinese New Year break, but at the time I saw it, I was just struck by the image and took a photo knowing, one day, I’d be able to use the photo.

This week’s photo challenge is to post pictures on the theme “A Good Match.” As I often have to spend several minutes thinking of what skirt to wear to go to work, when I saw this tree what came to mind was, “Wow! This tall and slim tree looks nicely dressed in a green trained skirt!” Lol.

Let me know what this tree looks like to you! 🙂
Have a lovely weekend.
T.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Against the Odds

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I’m back on WordPress after over a month of silence! 

The reason for the silence was I spent all my time and energy making sure my son had a fun birthday and a memorable holiday with us, his parents, in China — his home for 5 years. 

E. is on the spectrum and less than six months ago, his OT reported he has low muscle tone. Although the biggest problem is on his fine motor skills,  he still can’t throw a ball that far nor kick a ball hard. My husband bought him two bikes, one in the Philippines where E. goes to school now, and one for here when he is on vacation. He had not really learned to pedal before coming here in January, and when my husband saw him ride his bike for the first time, he thought it would take E. at least six months to really learn. 

But I took E. biking everyday while my husband was at work. And when weekend came and he saw E. riding his bike effortlessly, there was such a proud and  happy look on my husband’s face that made me wish I had taken a photo of it. It was just priceless. 

My husband has always been pessimistic and believes it will take our son forever to learn anything. In a way it is good because he works hard and always thinks of ways to help E. I am the exact opposite.  I always believe E. is capable of learning, and I get frustrated easily when he doesn’t learn things quickly. But whether slowly or quickly, what he does learn always makes us as happy as if we’ve won lottery. Lol. Yeah. We are that easy to please. 

E. learned how to ride a bike during this winter break. Against all odds. (Weekly Photo Challenge)