Honoring our soldiers

We just arrived in St. Louis for our first layover enroute to Salt Lake City.  Onboard our flight was a young Sergeant carrying the remains of a deceased soldier.  The pilot asked us remain seated to allow these 2 soldiers off the plane first.  It was a touching moment, as the Sergeant walked up from the back of the plane, carefully holding a small wooden box and his travel bag.  The image of the box is ingrained in my memory… The packed plane sat quietly, patiently waiting and watching, in respect and in honor.  When he got to the front of the plane, about to get off the plane, he turned, faced us, and saluted us.  Saluting us, when we should have been saluting him.

Sad moment, but very touching.  It makes me proud to be an American, to be in a society where people respect each other (at least sometimes), where people honor our heroes, even though they may be complete strangers.  It also makes me proud to be a Southwest Airlines customer.  I’ve always enjoyed Southwest, but especially for the pilot’s sincere gratitude towards these two… and informing the passengers and allowing us strangers who happen to be on this flight to participate in honoring our soldiers.

Please get excited for Utah 2011

Another year, another trip to Utah! I am exhausted. We are somewhere between St. Louis and Albuquerque, and I am sandwiched between my two good friends who are getting in their zzz’s. I really want to succumb to the sleep but I MUST get some work done first.

Strangely, I’m still waiting for the excitement to kick-in. I think I’m just happy that I’m all packed and enroute, surrounded by good company, and ready to meet up with my ski / snowboard family. I guess I’m not as excited right now for a variety of reasons. Several times over the past few weeks, I’ve thought to myself whether I should go or not go, but in the end, this has become an annual tradition, and well, I guess it’s hard to let go of that. Gosh a couple years ago, I still made the trek and hit the slopes despite just having knee surgery 5 months earlier. And plus… our ski family…there’s a good handful of us who have gone together since ’06, and then every year some new friends come along and join us. So to not go, felt kind of like I’d be breaking an unwritten family contract. Ok, maybe I think too much…

But I guess this year there’s just a bit on my mind. 1) lift tix are expensive and I shouldn’t be spending that kind of money right now; and 2) I kind of hurt my leg a couple weeks ago playing soccer and I guess you could say I’m a little worried about it. I spoke to my ortho’s assistant yesterday, but I couldn’t really hear anything she was saying. All I heard was “sorry to be the bearer of bad news”… but I have not a clue what the bad news was… so… I guess I will try to be optimistic and blissfully ignorant. I think she was just saying that the doc is out of town?? I have no idea… In the back of my mind, I guess I’m bit pessimistic. I guess I’ve had a few too many injuries in the past and I just don’t have a great feeling. I guess I will try to be careful… have fun… and enjoy the times regardless. But because I keep thinking about those things, it’s kind of put a damper on my excitement… but I’m sure once I get on the snow, it will be different… I hope… I do not want to sit in the lodge and sip hot cocoa all day, and I hope and pray that does not happen.

Ok, back to work. Almost in Albuquerque… then on to the great Salt Lake.

shower now, gym tomorrow, shower later, no shower at all?

just got home from an exhausting day.. building mock political campaign strategies and talking up fundraising at a fellowship institute training i'm in... swinging by cu super saturday to say hi to some folks... meeting up with old friends who i haven't seen since... uh... well, one of them just a few months but the other since middle school summer school or something crazy like that.... and now that i'm finally home... what's going through my head is a debate on whether to shower now or in the morning... and whether perhaps I can get up early enough to hit the gym for a quick spin before my meeting starts in the am... and I know i'm not a morning person at all (I mean, my mgr used to make sure it was okay for us to have morning meetings because he knew i didn't do so well in the mornings)... but i could really use some physical activity... and so if i went in the morning, then there's no point in showering now (fyi, i'm not all that dirty but major hat head from constant drizzle and wearing my hat)... but most likely, i'd fail to wake up in time to go to the gym, and then fail to wake up in time to sneak in a shower before my meeting. ugh... what a silly dilemma, but apparently one that seems to recur in my life.

...reminiscing back to June 21, 1997... i recently resurrected my old prayer journal from hs.

June 21, 1997
...Lord it's really late, and I haven't taken a shower, so I pray that you give me the strength and will power to get up early tomorrow to take a shower...

I guess things don't really change all that much... but at least then, I brought everything to Him.  Perhaps I need to be doing that more today.

lunch break testimony

So I think I'm going to start a discipline of watching video clips, Ted talks, and the like over lunch.  Here's one that was truly inspiring that I watched today..  a young North Korean girl sharing her testimony.  I was touched... so well, I'm sharing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KEFbo2tJ_8&feature=related

family times... and happy chinese new year!

Once again... it's been awhile.  It's kind of sad that I didn't know that Chinese New Year is here... show's you how un-Asian I truly am.  Last year for Chinese New Year, I was in Vancouver with my brother and sister-in-law's family, hangin with the family, exploring Vancouver, cheering on the good 'ole USA in the Olympics, skiing Whistler near the Olympic course, and getting "hong bao" (red envelopes stuffed with money!!!).  My family is so Americanized we don't really get into the red envelopes - we feast, maybe do a small envelope exchange... but not a huge deal.  Although thinking about it now, I'm kind of sad that my family is all out of town for the holiday.  My dad just called from the lobby of a hotel in HK to catch up and wish me a Happy Chinese New Year - how festive (sarcastic).  My bro and mom and dad are all in HK, timing just kind of worked out.. and I know they aren't there to celebrate the New Year there together like a family vaca..., I kind of wish I were there with them.  Yeah... I got a little sad...

I also found out today, through email (i guess some communication is better than none), that my grandpa is in the hospital - combination of broken hip that was caused by something in the brain and blood sugar... I don't know.  Once again, I'm kind of sad... kind of disappointed in myself.  My grandpa is in the hospital, and I feel like I should be more concerned, but I feel like I'm more sad that I'm not sad.  Has it just not hit me?  So this is my mom's dad, who lived in Maryland for much of my life.  While they've only recently moved back to Taiwan, I'm amazed, and disappointed in myself... for allowing physical distance affect my relationship with them.  Wow.  For a moment, I was brought back to the memory of being next to my grandpa (on my dad's side) as he was passing, and the emotions of that night... I mean, I know this gramps is not at that stage, but just a passing thought.

What else... well, with the fam all in Asia I am officially the family mail(wo)man, bill payer, errand runner, and snow shoveler.  This, I must say, has taken quite a bit of my time and energy... running back and force b/w NJ, NYC, Philly... through treacherous snowstorms and everything.  Oh the things we do for family.