Hi 2013

The bad thing about coming back to La China is that I see my mom pictures and it makes me miss her terribly although I think of her every single day. I think I have been avoiding La China. I'll try and be better. :)

I picked this shamrock to snap when I saw it outside our front door in one of the flower beds I need to cultivate. It reminded me of Mom's shamrocks though her blooms were white. And always abundantly blooming.

Moody Monday & Mom Memories

It is a cloudy Monday and a little chilly. Nice to some people like me, but makes some people sort of moody I am noticing today. So that made me think I wanted to write. I love everyday! You never know if you'll have another one so you don't want to waste time being negative, right? I know it's hard to always look for the positive in things that happen because it's hard. I wonder why it is in our nature to the let negative things in life impact us so much more and sometimes so much longer. I don't have the answer to that. All I can say is that I am trying my best to embrace life and be as positive as possible for myself and those around me. It's not that I dwell on the thought of dying or losing others. I don't let it consume me. But I do recognize that it happens. And it happens real close. And then you don't have another chance to tell someone something. You don't have a chance to call them when you think about them even when you don't call as often as you should. You don't get to tell them again how awesome they are for knowing exactly what to cook you when you need a lift. You don't get to try and make them laugh when they are angry because they had a fight with someone. You don't get to talk about and thank them for doing the fun but naughty things in life when you were younger - like picking you up early from school because you were ahead in all your school work. And you certainly don't get to thank them for the incredible green thumb they have or for the lovely rose they leave next to your bed when you come home from college. Oh my gosh - those are just some of the things I am thinking about as I am missing my mom. And sometimes, she'd do something just when I needed a pick-me-up or some help and I'd ask her, "How did you know, mommy?" She'd look at me and turn her head to the side a little and she'd smile and say in her cute accented English, "I know." On several occasions, she'd say to me, "Con là con mẹ. Tất nhiên mẹ biết những gì con cần." You're my child; of course I know what you need. :) Sometimes I sit and allow myself to just hear those words and that voice. I miss it. Sometimes a lot if I just let myself be immersed in it. It's still weird to realize Mom is gone. It's been five months now and it still an odd realization.

I like this picture because I was always her sous chef once my older sisters went off to college. This was last December when we went home to visit them in Florida. I'm glad she still felt like doing a little cooking because I know it made her happy.



I like this shot of her hand because it makes me think of two things she often told me:
1. I needed to take better care of my hands because they look like field worker hands and no man wants to marry a girl with rough hands.
2. I need to also watch it with my tomboy ways (when I was young in NC). My bloody elbows and knees will NOT attract a husband. I liked tree climbing and biking and I always had a bloody knee or elbow. :)

Missing My Mom

Everyday I miss her. It's not that I used to call her everyday and now I can't. It's just that I used to be able to and now I'm not. Since I last wrote here, my mom passed away and I have a million things to write and yet I am all muddled. So much happened since the moment we found out we needed to go to Florida to be with the family. Maybe I will feel like writing more tomorrow. I thought I felt it now, but I don't.

And sometimes, when I think, oh I've done pretty well today. Only a few cries...along comes pictures or a card or a bouquet of flowers she would have loved. And then that feeling of missing her is so fresh.

Two Things I Don't Understand This Morning

I'm all for continuous improvement and I am an IT person by trade in my other life away from GBR, but I don't understand the constant changes applied to FB. I love FB but I sometimes just don't understand their updating schedule.

Secondly, who on Earth does not "get" the whole "666" connotation? We applied for a bee brand with the Texas Apiary Inspection Service out of A&M land and they gave us a number that ends with "666" and then they didn't understand why we wanted something different. Do you?? Would you want that on every single hive you have? In pictures? At trade shows if we take a hive for display?

On a happier note, happy Friday! Have had a great time with Tuan and family here. Wish it was for longer and that Tuan lived closer. Too much to do and say and see. Not enough time. I sure love him.

What I have

Lately there has been a lot of illness and death around me and while I'm deeply saddened when we lose a dear friend or when someone, like my mom, is seriously ill, I am reminded that I have to appreciate what I have right now. So here are just SOME of the things I take note of daily so that I don't take them for granted.

• I have good health.
• I have a great relationship with my best friend and soul mate.
• I have a lot of loving, caring people in my life.
• I have a job that provides what we need and more.
• I have eyes that allow me to see the sun rise and set each day.
• I have ears that heard beautiful drops of rain outside my home this morning.
• I have cameras that let me capture images of things that capture me.
• I have the freedom to share whatever I want.
• I have faith, love and peace.
• I have adventures daily.
• I have laughter that lifts my spirits even when things look kind of gray.
• I have THINGS but I don't let them rule me.

I'm pretty thankful. But now, hearing other people's concerns, fears, troubles...I try to be even more aware of the good things in my life and not take them for granted. My worst days are still many times better than some people's best day. My mom being ill is worrisome but I have a dear friend who has her mom recovering from surgery, her stepmom near death in hospice and her mother-in-law recently moved into a nursing home, and herself also recovering from surgery. The load on her shoulders is so heavy that my heart aches for them all. It's a hard time for many. But at least we are alive to experience it together and to learn from it all. We just have to take what we are learning and make it meaningful. <3

Reminds Me of Mom

Fresh off my visit to Florida to see the family, my parents have been on my mind a lot, especially my mom. She and my dad are getting up there in years so it meant a lot to me that we could go see them together. I have not done a lengthy Christmas visit since I've been out here in Texas. I think we did go a few years ago but it was a very, very short hi-bye trip as we were actually going to pick up bee supplies in Georgia. Took a slight detour overnight.

Mom often gives us cuttings of plants. She is amazing with food and plants. A natural. You give her a dead plant, she gives you blooms by the end of the first year. Love it. She gave us another Bong Mai for the new year coming up (Tet, that is). I shall keep this one inside to see how it fares as the climate in South Texas is not really for it. Besides, having it inside on the counter allows me to see it everyday and so it reminds me of mom several times a day. Not that I need a plant to remember mom. But when I see it, I have a nice, short, different memory of the past.

She once also gave us a lemongrass cutting from her gigantic bush in Florida. We planted it here and it also grew gigantic - even Smokey loved it, chewing on the blades daily it seemed. We lost it to a harsh freeze one year and I really wish I had dug it up to take it in. Anyway, the last time we went to Houston for the opera, I saw frozen stems of lemongrass and thought I'd see if I could root them - they rooted! YAY! In spring, I will plant them in a big container perhaps. I'm not sure yet. I'm just happy it rooted because it also reminds me of mom. When we felt under the weather, she'd cut some blades and make us a steam bath with it. Soooo incredibly soothing and smelled divine. I haven't cooked a lot with it as of late but I want to pick that back up when we have enough for me to do that. We did stuff some in a turkey one year and then had it fried. That was good eating.

Anyway, happy new year my friends. My one resolution for myself this year is to post more regularly on La China as well as on the Seguin blog. It's always amazing to me when I meet people and they tell me they still follow my poor, neglected blog that I can't bear to turn over to someone else or to turn off. Sigh. So...I shall endeavor to keep it up.

General Thoughts for the Holiday Season

These are random thoughts I'm having as I have been so busy with life that I can't even post regularly even though I think about it all the time. Gotta prioritize which blogs get updated regularly. I wish I had more hours each day! This is me stretching out my right leg during our 7-hour drive from Ft. Davis. I think it's my sciatic nerve giving me the pain. Good news is that it is feeling much better as I take every opportunity to stretch it. Even during work, when I am sure I must freak people out by propping my leg up on my desk while discussing things. hehe


YAY, got to spend time with Luke and see where he lives and work now. Awesome visit. Can't wait to go back out there. It's gorgeous.


I found this metal tree at Hallmark's. A part of me probably knew we wouldn't have time to get all our Christmas stuff down from the attic this year again. So at least we have a little bit o' festivity around. :)

Happy April

Hi everyone, time for an update! Sometimes I forget what I've posted, where I posted it and when. :-) I love technology and gadgets - do you? We have so many (too many perhaps) ways to stay in touch - text messages, chats and messengers, 4 or 5 blogs, Facebook, Twitter, work email, personal email and on and on. I've been trying to make more time for the more personal phone calls and in-person time. I'd rather have a real hug than a virtual one from family and friends!

Having said all that, La China and Ta-Ravel still should get updated so here we go. Work is going better. I still miss the team a lot but at least I have friends around me here in Seguin and I'm not traveling up to Irving much. When I do, I actually enjoy it b/c I love seeing Jess and reconnecting with her. I feel more in tune with the "new" work when we can do face-to-face sessions. I'm currently learning how to creat e-Learning, which is new and pretty neat to me. It just means rethinking how to teach some things I've always taught in person. Learning a lot so that's a good thing.

Home is super - nothing but great things going on there. Mark and I enjoy our time together whether we're tending bees or hanging out and talking about what we want to do in the near future. We're ready for adventures elsewhere so you never know when or where that'll take us. We'll keep you posted.

Time to end, folks. Mark's taking this China off to SA for some Vietnamese food. Woo hoo! Y'all have a great week. Mark's got the Tx Library Assoc. Annual Conference in town this week so very little to no beekeeping going on for a while. TTYL.

Depending on one another

This week started off really, really, really, really, really rough. I am normally a positive, upbeat person but sometimes even I need help. Sometimes I just want to rest quietly and let others help me. And I'm lucky, because I am surrounded by family and friends who love me and provide me with all the help I need. Near or far, it's a good feeling to know you can call on people just to talk if you need to do so.

I felt like this yellow fungus for some reason. You know, I'm resting on others. Relying on others to carry me when I am a little down and out. I pull from their strength. They lend me support; nurture me for a while. Melancholy. I felt melancholy. Usually I feel bubbly.

Anyway, I don't dwell on the bad or the negative for long usually. But I did want to say that I am a very lucky person to have a really good life filled with awesome people. And when I think I am having a hard time, reminders are sent my way that show me I'm not the only one going through difficult times. Hopefully I can be as great a support to them as others have been for me lately.

Grapefruit and a Green Thumb

Mom continues to grow the most amazingly large grapefruits. She has the greenest thumb I know and can bring plants back to life after others have given up on them! lol. She has the most amazing gardens usually, where everything's green and robust. Even BITTER MELON. If you haven't had this, you should try it and let me know what you think. I wish I liked it. It's just too bitter for me but other people in the family love it. I want to like it. I just can't do it. I tried it again last week and my face just puckered up. Still B-I-T-T-E-R. Was hoping I had changed but no. I have not. Oh well. At least I tried it.

I want to be like Nelma when I get older. She has the greatest attitude and she embraces everything she experiences. And she still has fun like a kid! I love her; she just cracks me up. By the way, Nelma is probably going to overtake me as the tech-pro of the family -- she's on Facebook, recently discovered Flickr and she's always eager to learn new tech things. Pretty cool lady.

Austin, SAP & the Garden

Yesterday we went to visit Mark's family up in Austin. Cynthia is back in Texas after many years of living in California so we had a nice family welcome for her. Mandy and Stuart brought Braden and Annie so I had a ton of fun playing with them, of course. They are pretty sweet kids and they're at ages where they're starting to really have a conversation with you, well, Annie anyway. Brady's great and definitely has his opinions, it's just a little harder to figure out his talk for now. :)

This is me and Annnie while we waited for dinner at Pappasito's -- that was yummy! I think Annie may be eyeing the tortillas, which were excellent. We don't normally get dips but that queso was delicious (bottom of the pic), filled with onions, jalapenos, tomatoes and cilantro. The food was good, company great...but the restaurant was so loud, it was really a challenge to have conversations. Still, we were able to have a nice visit at the house before and after and we're very happy to have Mark's sister nearby now.

This week will be a busy one again. I go back up to Irving for a few days for meetings. I'm much more at home up at Corporate now than the first several times I went up there. It's amazing how knowing a few people in a "foreign" place can really help you get used to things. I have learned a lot and am very excited with each day and week since it just means exposure to new things. Last week there was a huge reorganization in order to integrate the SAP teams back into the business; they'd been operating as a project team but now it's time to move the project into operational mode (post go-live). It's exciting for our team b/c it means we'll be able to really work together to deliver rollout AND operational training without reinventing the wheel. For me, it will mean managing more oeople. I'll keep you posted.

Garden note: Tomatoes are doing okay and we have several to gaze upon at this time. Ripen please!! And this evening, we just put in the rest of the garden...I know, we are behind but it's been busy. What can I say. We put in five rows with bell peppers, cucumbers, long beans, green bean, yellow squash and zucchini. I can't wait to see how they do.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Chillin' out on Friday Night

Tonight I am thinking of my parents and missing them. Sometimes you know you have to have your own space (state) in order to have your own life and identity but it doesn't mean you don't miss being near people who mean a lot to you.

Aren't they a handsome pair?? I have always loved these photographs of my parents. Why? Well for many reasons. But one that comes to mind is this...you think of and see your parents in one way. You know. They're your PARENTS. But then I see these glamorous shots of them and think, "Wow! They are so young and gorgeous! I wonder what they were like at the age [early 20s]."

What else is going on? Let's see...it was a CRAZY week at work. C-R-A-Z-Y. Meeting, meeting, meeting. Talks, emails, tracking info and people...on and on. But we did have a great Friday? Why? My trainers came home! They've been on the road for weeks and it was just fantastic to hear them in the office and to have a chance to just be together as a team. In their honor, I hosted Treat Friday. Food + friends = FUN!

And tonight I'm enjoying blogging, working with some photos (organizing) and watching TV. :) What Not to Wear, Unwrapped (The Secret Life of Pizza) and next up will be several episodes of CSI (original). No work tonight. I am giving myself that. Tomorrow? Bee check!

Visiting Tuan

I am feeling happy and sad at the same time. I am so grateful that I traveled last week close enough to Sunnyvale that I got to see Tuan, Lily and the girls. But now I am a little sad b/c I am looking through my pictures and those he gave me and I miss them. A lot. I wish I lived within driving distance to more family. As I am getting older, I miss being closer. I guess I also wish I could be closer to all my nieces and nephews while they are still young so I can know them better. We have nieces and nephews all over, California, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina and luckily 3 nephews and 1 niece here in Texas.

One of my favorite moments last week was getting out of the car and being clobbered by the girls for hugs. Oh my gosh, I nearly balled. It was so, so wonderful to see them that I can't even describe the feeling. I was surprised by the intensity. And Lily was so wonderful to me and cooked so that we didn't have to go out. After three weeks of travel, I'm getting tired of eating healthily and creatively at restaurants. It was great to eat at their house. The seafood feast was awesome! (The shrimp bowl may look low in supply as I had already munched quite a few before I thought to take pictures. LOL)

Ugly Dolls & Family

I'm on my way to check up on my rain soaked family in Florida since Fay is raging across their state. This doll made me think of them. Have you seen these "Ugly Dolls" before? There are many of them and each comes with a life story that is often pretty hilarious. I think they are really cute. Okay, off to call the girls.