​Merry Christmas.  May today be a celebration of any measure.  Even in this pandemic, I’m grateful to be healthy and safe and that the people around me are healthy and safe.  I’m happy to be in love and be loved.  I’m happy that the people I care for are still alive, even in a weaker form.  There is plethora of reasons to be joyful; because it could be worse.  No one asked for this or even signed up to work with this but we mow through.  While the rest of the country stayed home, there are the selfless few who continue to work and serve. I thank you.  I thank you for getting up every day and going to work so I can get my groceries, gas, and toilet paper.  
January 2021 won’t change our current condition.  It’s just another day.  But it will give us hope for a brighter year as a symbolism of a new start.  Hope is what keeps us going.  The idea of seeing each other again and the thought of a reunion is happiness.   That is enough for now.  Have a great holiday season.  May you and yours stay safe and healthy throughout 2021. 

Am I the only one who's ready for 2021?  This weekend, we stayed home and ate Thanksgiving with our families via internet.  Well, we enjoyed after dinner time with families via FaceTime.  It was fun and we all caught up with each other.
Then I wanted to see my sister-in-law and her new fiancé in Marin County so we took off to see them on the weekend.  They were only an hour away so we decided to all go for a bike ride near the water.  Only yours truly fell and hurt herself.  It was the dang rock and that's my story.
Her fiancé was riding behind me so he stopped to help me up quickly.  The rest of the gang stopped and rushed back to help me.  But I had hurt my knee and head so I collapsed and nearby riders stopped to ask if we needed help.  Yes, I had a helmet on.  Luckily, my husband got there to catch me just in time.  Otherwise, another Harry Potter scar.  Also, did I mention my SIL is a plastic surgery resident at UCSF?   So she was taking my pulse and the worried look on her face was not good.  
She had sent her fiancé along with my boys to get water for us.  We were heading back and almost to her home.  Why is it that most accidents happen when you're close to home?   Anyhow, the fire truck came.  Who called them?  Then the ambulance came.  Then another van came.  Who called these people?  But they asked me the same questions I ask my patients when they don't look good. "Do you know where you're are?  Do you know what month and year this is?"  I got confused between November and December.  Is it only November still?  Ugh!
The fiancé came back with water, snicker candy bars and chips.  Apparently, my boys told him I like to eat Doritos chips.  Needless to say, my husband left with the fiancé to bring our cars so we don't have to bike the rest of the way.  I'm the party pooper.  We were heading towards her future wedding venue site.  Now, we were just heading back home. I felt bad the whole time but my kids reassured me it was okay.  The hills were too high to ride up anyhow.  Have you been up to Sausalito?  It's hilly.  My SIL and her fiancé were great.  They completely took care of everybody.
There's going to be a white guy in the family soon.  Luckily, he's a good guy.  I tease him a lot because he's so nice.  But he dishes it right back. He dared to call my 3 angels, "boogers".   I didn't come with a house warming gift but I did send a few right away when I got back home via Nordstrom.   I was hoping to buy them something when I was there.  There are a few things that I'm thankful for this year.  I'm thankful I didn't hurt anyone but myself on this ride.  I'm thankful 2020 is almost over.   A booger, I know.  

A patient asked if he can take a picture of my PPE so he can show it to his office.  He's an ophthalmologist and they're not as "dressed up" as dental professionals.  I think he liked my face shield.  I know...it's cool.  I can breathe better with this one and not hear a humming background when I talk.  The funny thing is he sent me the picture and I thought his picture turned out great.  The lighting was so nice and it looked like the operatory was glowing.  The portrait mode on the new iPhone is pretty neat.  The model... aging.
Have a happy Halloween.  I'm dressed up as a nice dentist...accommodating a patient's request for a picture.  You know I don't do that much.

All in September...crazy weather during crazy times...
One week we're looking at an apocalypse.  Then it was raining hard.  Then beautiful weather with temperature up in the 90's-100's.  Climate change is undeniable.  But this was from all the fires in CA.  We were surrounded by them, both in the north and south sides.  Some patients lost their homes.  Some had to evacuate.  We were on standby.  Our electricity did go out, but that was nearing the end of our day.  The building was shutdown from Thursday through Monday.  Rolling blackouts over the weekend was better than during a weekday. 
California has suffered much in such a short period of time: COVID-19 and fires.  We lost millions of acres of land.  Our air was polluted but the rain came and helped clear a lot for us in the valley.  This brought hope.  We will survive  and we will move forward, in any direction it takes us.  If you studied our past, we will know our bright future is inevitable.  

This Labor Day weekend, my family and I were supposed to go down to Mt. Zion for a hike.  But with temperatures in the 100's, we figured it was safer to stay home.  We wanted to hike closer to home but everything was either booked or needed advance RSVP.  So home, we stayed...after I went into work to finish a few things.  Those few things took me 2 half-days to achieve.  
As I was working, my husband found an old movie on Plex, "House of Flying Daggers".  It's a kung fu movie with a love triangle twist.  One of my childhood crush was in it.  I watched as I worked on my daughter.  It brought back so many memories of loving this guy, Andy Lau.  I had his face above my bed along with Prince and Michael Jackson.  Today's kids like K-Pop.  Back then in my neighborhood, it was Chinese movie stars and dramas.  I can't name you one Vietnamese movie star that I like.  I don't know any.
I watched his movies in Chinese, reading the English subtitles.  I listened to his songs, not understanding a single word but I like his voice.  I had a taste for a wide range of music varieties.   I love music.  It gives me the world that I cannot afford to be in.  I didn't have a genre that I gravitate towards.  It was whatever at the moment to make me sway. I even listened to ballroom music because my uncle was teaching me Tango and Cha-cha.  He was also teaching me algebra in 5th grade so I had to be obedient.  
Back to Andy, I googled him and found out his most popular song is one of my favorite Chinese songs.  I don't know any Chinese so I thank Google for the English translation.  My childhood days were relived through YouTube.  How he managed to stay about the same in over 30 years is beyond me.  I know they said Asians aged well but come on...30+ years.  Maybe it's my googling eyes for him.  His songs are ageless.  During my grocery trip to an Asian supermarket, I heard his song.  I sang along as much as I could down the aisles, only to realized the people around me were doing the same.  There was even a black lady who was singing along as well.  I told you, back in the days in my 'hood, he was all the rage.  Oh, "The Days We Spent Together"....he just doesn't know it yet.