I've broken 400 points! / Babies in diapers going bye-bye!

Bingos for the day so far:

PRECIEUX (76 points) - against Michelle C.
BROWNIER (84 points) - against Lynne J.


I also got my highest game score ever: 401 points against Michelle C. Awesome feeling to break THAT barrier! :D


Awana today was pretty good... Henry picked me up, and Hillsongs was a great soundtrack! Talked to Tina about sleeping late / early (on computer till 3 AM?!), Andrew T. about how it was APRIL and not February, Auntie Vivian about coffee filters and onion-flavored instant noodles (first time using the church kitchen for "lunch"), and said hi to David's son Ian. He wanted to give everyone hugs - he's so cute! (he had fun, and gave me a high-five!) Andrew L. noted Amos and Jason weren't here, Mike said the kids were biting him, Ryan wanted a Ziploc bag for his Awana dollars, Danny did some last-second game planning, and I teased Golden about Margaret's jokingly pushing his head down in his hoodie.

Golden's sister Sylver told the Cubbies to "roll the shoes," which Margaret said was going into her Facebook quotes - I should flesh mine out too! (she meant "the bowling ball") Good thing I myself brought a hoodie, otherwise I'd be colder than I wanted! (Jessica had no socks on - it had to be a very cold floor!) The Cubbies found their shoes quickly in a game, and I met a Gr. 10 girl named Emily T. who was on the worship team recently! (she has a sister named Diana who doesn't go to this church anymore - I don't know her - and she knows who my siblings are) On the way home, Ian kept me entertained with revelations about "kicking your butt," butts in general, babies, diapers, long houses (not to be confused with longhouses :P), Hawaii's beaches and comfy beds, the airport, and sharing candy. Ada flies to New York tomorrow for work, but John and the boys will take me home - sounds good to me! Ian's brother Sean said that my new name was "bye-bye"... haha, how cute! :D

You'd threaten a call centre person with slitting their throat?!

Today's been crazy! Went to Pho for dinner, and met up with Jen and Karen there. We discussed hair in food, spring rolls, salad rolls, lychee / rambutan, ringtones, takeout orders, how you hate your own voice on tape, nicknames, Greg, Ivan, dating, squealing, certain items, and other such things. Korey and I then went downstairs, where I took attendance and said hi to Lucas, who was passing through the basement with a Papa John's pizza box. Greeted Karen Lew, Christon, Sam, Joe, Auntie Esther, Uncle Daniel, and Auntie Christina. Since K wanted to move up to the front, I went with him after the singing. (he wanted to hear me sing, haha) Moving to the front WAS better if you wanted to hear the panel discussion, and communicate using non-verbals, however. It was an interesting discussion about careers and such! (Call centre people get the weirdest threats ever! "I'll slit your throat since I know your last name and where you live!" Oh my.)

Talked to people about Scrabble, tea, surprises, arrangements, parents, water, cheese, crackers, holding / squeezing hands (interesting text messages, indeed), and other things. When Jon came downstairs, I wondered where Jeremy was since I hadn't seen him! Turns out he has a drumming jazz gig - "if you tried to call him, that's why he's not answering!" No, I haven't called him in a while - I just noticed he wasn't there! He's gotten my message about Steamworks (Korey's idea!), but said he and Nate were going to a Buttless Chaps concert later - next time, maybe! At first, I was surprised when K suggested it... mainly because he called Steamworks "Stout" and then "that place where you get drunk." Jon joked that I got drunk in multiple places - oh, do shut up, you ugfart! :P

Discussed stuff with the "different woman" Teresa, who feels Andrea judges and criticizes a lot - "the King and Queen don't know Jesus, and she thinks my boyfriend Michael doesn't know her! She thinks I'm not a Christian, but I've been one since Grade 6! People won't let me do my job!" Hmm. Andrea said something about how Chuck's birthday is April 25, but he's going away till the 20th - I'll see about the birthday thing later! Speaking of Teresa, she said she didn't want to meet Korey since she already has a boyfriend, and implied that she wasn't interested in going out with anyone else. "He's your boyfriend, and I have one!" Hahaha, oh dear. Gotta tell this to my siblings, though it isn't as funny as the time she took Jeremy's joke of "we drink at bars twice a day!" literally! Then I good-naturedly bugged Nai Chiu about not helping Benedict with a stack of Bibles - "I tell him where to put them!" Haha, okay!

After going upstairs and hanging with the Resonate people for a while (said hi to Sam's brother Jeremy / Joey / Vanessa / Melia / Angus / Mike / Jason L. / Stanley / Ivan), I said hi to Sabrina. I spotted Henry in the crowd upstairs, and confirmed plans for tomorrow - he has to tutor, but it's close to my place and I don't mind being a bit late! Yay for friendly claps on the shoulder! Clara was blocking the car, whoops. Met Auntie Rebecca at the gas station, which was interesting. Stopped by Dragon Ball; discussed anger, apologies, amusing suggestions, care, flavors, hanging up, ethnicity, church, stress, Erin, and other things. Not TOO bad a night on the whole...


I was also at London Drugs recently, and noticed two new Pringles flavors: Blazing Barbecue and Dill Pickle. Interesting stuff...

Testing audiences with night plugs!

Bingos of the day:

AUDINT (68 points) - against Ricia V.
KYANITES (80 points) - against Karla M.
PLUGOLAS (72 points) - against Michelle C.


Michelle C. (not the same as above) messaged me on MSN to ask whether I was getting married in 2008 - seems she'd misread "MERRY 2008?" as "MARRY 2008?" Hahaha, no... I don't plan on getting married this year, that's for sure!

I encountered a jabronie on the bus this afternoon who wanted to get out while the bus was stopped at an intersection. Um, it definitely isn't safe even if he guaranteed the bus driver that nothing would happen! Of course the driver wouldn't let him out because it would be the company's fault if something did transpire! *shakes head at stupid people*

Eric H. messaged me on MSN: of course I'd heard about the silly nicknames he gave us through Nathan, and I know Nate's going to Hong Kong in June! The weather is getting warmer in Hong Kong, and should continue to do so... he prefers colder temperatures since he's starting to sweat a bit now! (it's around 19-22 degrees these days, and feels like 23-25 in reality) At 7:35 PM here, it's 10:35 AM there - sounds about right, I guess. (15 hours, not 3!)

Which Degrassi character are you most like? at QuizGalaxy.com

You have an 90% chance of surviving a zombie attack.

'Would you survive a Zombie Attack?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Confusion

I am currently very confused because of a stupid idiot. :(

Steveston Library!

Am wearing my sweater, K's West 49th hoodie, and Eric's yellow Boulder Gear jacket - hey, I'm all for a mix! ;)

Mei Lin added me on Facebook - sweet! Her friend Oswald's name reminds me of Osmond, heh. (Dora's husband)

Spent time yesterday running errands: mailing stuff for Billie and Tara, for one thing. Fiery habanero chips and beef udon were cool! At least it was a nice day! Got home to do a lot of VOYAGER reading, and then talked to Karen later on the phone about Sheena / friends / life in general / Eric and Jeremy being skinny / fast metabolism / blood sugar / quietness / eating before or after Fellowship. Jon said that Harmony's birthday was last Friday, and also that she called me "ug" - she may soon be a member of the family, but I don't think she'd use THOSE nicknames! :P This morning, I found my way to the Steveston Library - I went through the playground, which brought back memories of Leah / Lael / Sean / Alex / others.

These times are precious, and I must remember that...

I got a 70-point bingo against Michelle C. with the word UNDOING!

Micah, Derek, and Connor

I've done this post just in time, yay!


Here is the baby announcement that Connie sent the Fellowship on the 12th, on her sister Winnie's behalf:


We would like to announce the birth of our second child, a baby boy - Born at BC Women's Hospital Sunday March 9th, 2008 at 4:55 PM. He is 8 pounds, 3 ounces. Final name has not been finalized.

As many of you know already, Baby has not been doing well. Unfortunately, immediately after birth, Baby experienced breathing problems and he was transferred to the Intermediate Care Nursery, then to the Neonatal ICU when his respiratory status deteriorated. He was diagnosed with sepsis - a bloodborne infection. He needed to undergo a lumbar puncture (aka: spinal tap) to rule out Meningitis - and thankfully, the result came back normal (negative) today! He is being treated now with oxygen and IV antibiotics. He'll likely need to stay in hospital for a total of 2 weeks. We have undoubtedly been really worried and stressed. Please pray for a rapid recovery and comfort for Baby as he has not been able to be with us.

For those of you who already know the recent news, thank you for all your prayers / calls / emails / messages..... all your care and support mean a ton to us.

Attached pictures were taken immediately after delivery and before all the complications.

Love
Winnie, Kenny and Megan


The baby's name is Christopher in these emails; it's since been changed to Connor.


A day later:

We want to thank everyone for their prayers because God is answering them – Baby Christopher is improving! He was transferred out of the Neonatal ICU yesterday as he doesn't need assistance with his breathing any longer. However, he is still on oxygen and is slowly being fed milk (finally!) via a tube (and the occasional bottle). He is still breathing quite rapidly, but definitely he is not as sick and laboured as he was one day ago. He is improving day to day. He will need to be on antibiotics for a total of 10 days and then if he can breathe on his own without any oxygen – he can come home with us!

Kenny and I have been overjoyed that we've been able to hold him the past day and cannot wait to share him with the rest of you. We truly want to praise our Lord and to thank our community of faith whom He has blessed us with.

Love in Him,
Winnie


A week after that:

Hi friends:

Just because we are such a tight schedule these days with hospital visits – can the recipients of this email circulate this to your respective groups / friends? Thanks!

THANK YOU for everyone's emails / calls / prayers. Praise the Lord indeed; God has been good. Baby will be home tomorrow! His oxygen was discontinued yesterday as he is breathing very well without it now. His feeding is also improving! Tomorrow, he will be 10 days old, and we are so happy to be able to bring him home instead of running to and from the hospital everyday.

I want to THANK everyone who has volunteered to help us with little things – meals, shopping, babysitting Megan. During this time, we have had time to reflect on the countless blessings God has given us... we realize that there are so many things we take for granted. For example, as a physician, I cannot help but think what would have happened if baby Christopher was born in a part of the world without the wealth, resources, knowledge, medical know-how. We are so blessed to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world with good access to quality medical care. It makes me sad to think of all the children in the world (the majority) who are born in underdeveloped countries, in poverty and born into families who do not even have the basics of life. It made me realize how blessed each of us are just to have our health, and how blessed we are to access help as needed. This experience has definitely given us a new perspective on life, and reminds us to be thankful for just being alive!

TO EVERYONE IN DAVID FELLOWSHIP:
THANK YOU also to David Fellowship for providing us a gift bag of groceries! It came at the best time as Kenny and I have not been able to do any grocery shopping for the past two weeks. Thank you for your generosity, your care, concern, love and prayer support. Thank you for feeding us all!

TO ALL OF MEGAN'S BABYSITTERS / FAMILIES WHO TOOK HER IN while mommy and daddy went to hospital:
THANK YOU for spending quality time with Megan.... she is blessed to have so many friends such as you! She does appreciate you all because when she was really sick with her pneumonia, she said to me one day, "I miss my friends." Thank you once again for showing her the love of Christ.

To all those who visited – thank you for your physical presence in encouraging us and praying for us.

To those who wanted to visit at the hospital, but were "denied" – we apologize for being unable to accommodate all those who wanted to visit. Visiting baby in the nursery / NICU was difficult as there was not a lot of room and / or time. We will welcome visitors when we all return home. Just call us / email us anytime.

We are so thankful that God has blessed us with this bundle of joy, and we cannot wait to share him with all of you.

Love in Him
Winnie, Kenny, Megan and Baby Christopher


Here's an email from Frances dated March 13:

Micah David M.
DOB: February 11, 2008, 7:32 AM
birth weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces


As some of you know, Mel and I welcomed our baby son Micah last month. I had a rough C-section followed by post-operative infection requiring further surgical intervention, but am recovering well now. We are pleased that Micah is healthy and doing very well. Thank you for those who have been praying for us. I feel very blessed and thank God for granting me strength over the last few weeks. Praise God for His faithfulness. Attached are a few pictures of Micah from his first week.

Five days later, she sent us a brief email: Mel and I want to thank you all for remembering us and Micah in your prayers. Thank you for the truly huge bag of fruit that Lesley brought yesterday. I sure hope we will be able to eat it all!


Emails about Derek's lung tomor; this one is dated March 10:

Hi ALL

I had a chance to talk to the lung specialist Dr. Lam, and I was told that the tumour is about 2cm in size (size of a marble) - and considered "large" for the lung. He told me that he needs to look at the pathology report in order to tell the nature of the cells (malignant or benign) - it is yet to be confirmed. Presently, Derek is having some fever. A scan is scheduled for this Wednesday morning (7 AM) at VGH, and Derek is to be seen by the surgeon on Thursday morning. We still don't know when the surgery will take place. Let's pray for a smooth open chest surgery without complications or any secondary infection.

Thank you all for your concern and prayer support. I am sending this email out again to my basic core group; kindly forward this original copy to the ones you forwarded to yesterday, so that it can be passed on the same way as before.


Eric and Brenda


Two days later:

Hi ALL

Many thanks to ALL of you for your concern and prayer support for Derek and our family since we sent out the very first email. We can feel the love of God bestowed upon us through so many of you.

Pathology report came back, and Derek is diagnosed for "Carcinoid tumour." The surgeon Dr. Evans explained to us that it is regarded as a form of malignant tumour that is very slow-growing, and very rarely it would spread to other sites of the body. He said that the tumour may have been there for a few years, causing some obstruction, and hence mimicking some asthmatic symptoms such as wheezing or running out of breath. Therefore, the "asthma" Derek complained of may be due to the obstruction in his lungs.

Surgery is booked for Friday, March 28; before the surgery date, he still needs to go in for a couple of appointments. It is going to be a two-hour-long
major surgery that involves a 6-7 inches incision on the side of his chest between the ribs. Depending on how extensive the tumour is, either a bronchosplasty (removal of a section of the bronchial tube and sewing the ends back together) will be performed, or a portion of the lung will be removed.

Derek will be hospitalized for about 7 days, and needs to be off work for about a month after the surgery. Presently, he is feeling positively and he is relying on God. We are thankful that this was not happening to him while he was studying in China.


Please continue to pray for us as we walk through this difficult time. Again, kindly circulate this original email to other recipients the way you did before.

Eric and Brenda


A couple of days ago:

Dear ALL

Just a brief update on Derek's surgery today. It started at around 1:30 PM, and he came out of the operating room slightly past 5 PM. It took a little longer than expected. We talked to the surgeon (Dr. Evans) afterwards, and he informed us that the middle and lower lobes of the right lung were removed. It was on the whole a successful surgery. For a young healthy man like Derek, the surgeon is anticipating a full recovery. A histology report is yet to be read in a couple of weeks to confirm the nature of the cells.

Derek will be staying in the Recovery Room at VgH for the night, and transferred to the "Step-Down" Unit Tomorrow for close minitoring. We ask you to kindly refrain from visiting until he is moved to the regular respiratory floor in a few days. Presently, he is feeling drowsy and tired due to effects of the general anesthetic. We will keep you posted on Derek's recovery progress.

Eric and Brenda


And since I am taking advantage of having a computer on which I can actually save pictures (they'll be deleted!), I present to you these baby pictures:

Newborn Micah:




Micah in his first week:




Micah in very cute pajamas:




Micah on Feb. 22:




Connor's birth weight:




Connor and Mommy:




Newborn Connor:




Winnie and Kenny with the new baby:

Baby name changes! / February-March 2008 BBT Tally / Major word points!

Mike T. has added me to Facebook - cool to have Kunzite1 on board!

On the way to church, my family and I discussed hockey ("here... you can have the lead too... we don't care...") / Vanessa / guys / girls / skating / regularity / work / Paris changing the accounting system / morale. I was calm when my grandma asked me about my boyfriend's whereabouts. "Where is your boyfriend?" "He's in Victoria." "By himself?!" "No... he's with White Kid. [Eric M.]" She did recognize him at dinner this past Monday, of course... I should have gotten him to say "How are you, Grandma?" in Chinese, haha. (that would have gone over pretty well, I think!) Then she noticed one of Jon's CDs, and wondered how much one of them usually cost - thank goodness it's from the library, and not his own personal collection! I'm not so sure she'd find a problem with that, haha. (waved to Joey and Emily on our way to park the car)

Said hi to Kevin and Raymond, and asked how skating had been. Raymond was pretty sore (discussed Scrabble / words / games / Earth Hour), but told me that Eric had come dressed in full hockey gear including helmet - you can definitely tell that Diven loves hockey! Greeted Christon / Martin / Dylan / Calla / Cindy / Danielle, but didn't have time to say hi to David and his son Ian. Sam told me that he'd received a longer official letter about Darfur and such from the prime minister's office too - that's good! The sermon was about sloth - Steph wished Jon were there to take it in, haha. (we learned later from Jeremy that he attended Ray's church this morning... an anti-Olympics sermon sounds interesting, especially if the senior pastor's recent sermon was PRO-Olympics!) Gave Steph a bunch of greeting cards - yeah, the pile's thick, but it does cover three months! Learned that baby Christopher's name has been changed officially to Connor Samuel - it's a good name! Jeremy hadn't gone skating yesterday as he'd had inventory - they'd finished counting the items with five minutes to spare, which sounds good.

Went out to the back parking lot, where I hailed Tony when I saw him with Ivan, Sam, his brother Jeremy, Mike, Jason, and others. Luckily, the "no sleep between work and church" days are behind him now! Jeremy said that he and Jon were meeting up with a few people to go to the Whip at 4 - even I know it's gotta be a Cask Night! This one involves mead, which Jeremy says is quite rare - hey, you might as well go for the honeyed wine then! Wish I could have gone just for the rarity, but my brother was NOT around... good to save money, too! Guess I'll have to ask the guys about it later. Looked in at baby Allison, who was awake - Mike made a jokingly disparaging comment about how she looked like her dad Jeff, so his wife Anita playfully punched him. Phil and Grace gave little Hannah a birthday present, and I followed suit with a birthday card - we all got hugs from her! Lily says most of the kids are sick, so it'll be an adults-only dim sum lunch for Hannah! Briefly talked to Tracy, who's back for a week - saw Eunice, Mike T., Emily, Brian, and others. Lucas, Nathan, and I talked about the LOUD guitar - way too loud for little Keenan's ears, for sure! (it drowned out practically everything else on the new song, DEVOTION!)

Went to Sunday School, where no kids were there yet! Auntie Fonda told me to go help Michelle L., which I did. (sat on a blue Awana box) The lesson was on love... Lawrence: "Do robbers love us?" Rachel was crying since her grandma wasn't there, Noah and Evelyn seemed to talk to me in an okay tone, and Johnny was a bit restless! Little Sean seemed okay, and liked flipping through his Cubbies book. He told me "goodnight," haha. Unfortunately, he also got stuck in a chair since he was trying to go through the hole the wrong way (up instead of down) - the thickness of his jacket didn't help matters, poor kid. :( When I went to grab Cindy - Michelle C. said that Auntie Bessy was in China - Evelyn's sister Gwyneth asked what I was doing at their classroom, haha. We extricated Sean from the chair, told him that things were okay and not to cry, tried keeping order with the other eight kids, and I asked Sean a few questions that he understood. ("Do you like the pictures?" "Yes." "Do you want to color?" "No." "Are you okay now?" "Yes.") His mom Ada came in and comforted him further - I told Jeremy about the whole episode later, and he said that kids will learn through experience; too true!

After that, I thanked Cindy for helping... then I asked Edward for a Sour Key. David's lollipop and the kids' Ritz Cheese minis made me hungry, haha. Saw Michelle's sister-in-law Venus, whom I haven't seen in YEARS! (I mistook her for Michelle's sister Jessie, whoops) She asked me where Vernon was - man, it's been THAT long?! Told her simply that a bunch of people had switched churches a few years ago, without giving her any specific reason - I'll definitely catch up with her some other time! Her nephews Ryan and Ethan were spinning walnuts with eyes (which they got from Children's Worship) on a table - Quan commented that Nathan's was SO COOL when I got outside!

Sean's brother Ian told me that they were going to iCafé for lunch when pressed for a more specific restaurant name - that's cool! He likes drinking milk there, he tells me; I had to call Sean's name a number of times to get him to stay in the basement! Hien was bugging Rich by trying to hit him on the head, and Stanley practically tackled him! (Me: "You're worse than my brother, man... what are you doing?!" Stanley: "No, I'm not!") On my way outside, I saw Henry and confirmed what Ada had told me yesterday - all things are a go, which is good. Friends help each other, for sure! (Jonathan Chan says that he showers twice a day, and terms himself "a parasite in the bathtub," hahaha - he says that Lawrence and other guys don't shower in the morning!)

Went outside and talked to Jeremy for a bit about cooking lunch, then I joined Steph / Mike / Sam / his brother Jeremy / Tony / Danielle / Vanessa in a conversation about hockey and skating. Later, Tony and I talked to Adam and Andrew about WARCRAFT / Facebook ("another kind of evil," Tony says) / Texas Hold 'Em poker / getting a quarter for folding in Absolute Poker / gaming. When the twins left, Tony and I rejoined the previous group - when Danielle, Steph, and Vanessa had a bit of a private conversation (barely six inches away) about guys / girls / boundaries / support, the guys decided to have their own "private" talk about how WEIRD Vanessa was! ("Who would wear a pink scarf with a brown bag and a ponytail?!") Tony and I were simply amused at what Mike and Sam were saying, haha. I talked to Eric T. about his grad recital: it's changed times to a Friday night, so he figures not as many people will be able to make it out to his NON-PAYING GIG! Continued discussion with the girls once the guys left, and Mike said that he couldn't say "dad" to his sisters since they weren't with our group - true! (Steph asked me where our dad was, before seeing him go to TD Bank with Katherine - apparently, that got robbed on Tuesday!) We went to Mui's for lunch, where we discussed marriage / the kids / skating / Noah falling a lot / support / challenge / listening / serving / Priscilla being competitive / other topics. Got my shoes and Cougar in a Can, too.

HA! I just played the word PUSHY for 59 points, hooking off FARE and utilizing a Triple-Word Score in the process! :D (and QUASI for 66 points, utilizing both a double-word score and a triple-letter score on the Q!) [against Lynne J. and Pat K. respectively]


MONTHLY BUBBLE TEA TALLY, FEBRUARY 2008 (2)

strawberry @ Big Orange (Monday, February 11)
green apple @ Big Orange (Tuesday, February 26)


MONTHLY BUBBLE TEA TALLY, MARCH 2008 (4)

strawberry-banana @ Big Orange (Saturday, March 22)
mango @ Peanuts (Sunday, March 23)
mocha @ Big Orange (Tuesday, March 25)
honeydew @ Big Orange (Wednesday, March 26)

I can't believe 300 coins fit into my wallet!

I have 69 spam messages right now. The immature person in me wants to laugh SO hard about it! (it's the same kind of humor as "Lickman Rd." being absolutely hilarious!)

Went to Awana this afternoon; Ian told his mother and me not to talk, but to let him sleep instead! We tried pointing out the pink blossoms on the trees to him as we were talking about the snow and hail, since he said something about "winter in March." Haha, he's a cute kid! (so is his brother Sean - who has apparently picked up some new vocab according to his dad - "hi / how are you?") Ada mentioned talking to Henry about driving me to Awana [which he agreed to later] since Sean's swimming time has been changed, but they can drive me back - one car instead of two will be easier on them, especially with gas prices at 123.3! There were two new kids today, named Stephanie and Cynthia. Amos, Andrew, Jason, Golden, Melia, and Auntie Vivian all seemed amazed at the amount of change I was carrying today - I'm surprised that nearly 300 coins fit into my wallet, to be QUITE honest! (talked to Mike and Joey about the skating event - barely any hockey or broomball?!)

We got change rolls and started counting the coins out... as I expected, I was able to consolidate all the change into something eminently more portable involving bills and fewer than 12 coins. Sean wanted some of my candy, so I gave him a couple of Mott's Fruitisations snacks. I also gave some candy and a Care Bears notebook to Hilary, while opening a snack package for Ian. Their dad John seemed surprised that I carried large sewing scissors: "Guess I'd better not make you angry!" he joked. I told Ada that I had a LOT of stuff with me: scissors, notebooks, pens, candy, calculator, felts, birthday cards (which I should really give my sibs tomorrow), aspirin, gum, stickers, etc. There were the days that I carried a hole punch and a stapler with me too, along with pencil crayons and such! (better prepared than Rich on some weekends, I was!)

Got home and checked MSN; I received a few offliners from Chinese Eric: "Yo, Leslie! I have to say a thousand sorry for NOT contacting you sooner...... just bug Nate! He knows, la... haha! I hope things are progressing WELL with Korey....... You can always drop me a line whenever you like, and I will try to reply as soon as I can. I have to say that I have learned a lot in the short time I've had in Hong Kong... I will continue to GROW in the meantime. I so, so wish I can share the experience with you and my other GOOD / COOL pals back home. I hope things are also going well with Jon and Harmony. I know Nate is coming to visit in June, and before he leaves Hong Kong, I will send off a MESSAGE to have him bring back to you guys back home, la! Have a good night! OUT!" Haha, always good to hear from him!

Discussed Drawball with Corey, as well as privacy / ink / Xenu / Scientology / monitors / keyboards / bubble tea. Also had a good conversation with Karen about friends, my vocab, my being smart (sister's said so!), Steph's love for me, my observations and patient explanations of humor, promises, lunch, personal stuff, my worthy reputation, greetings, and more. Apparently, my mom's got me a "Cougar in a Can" - along with candy and two or three pairs of shoes, to recall my childhood where I'd have a few pairs at a time. (I could wear one shoe from each pair, haha)