Last night when I came out from my relaxing hot bath, my husband shared good news.

While I was in the bath tub, two appliance guys came to our house. Since they just showed up without letting us know in advance, my husband and daughter were surprised. It was a nice surprise though. I almost gave up about their coming to our house soon.

They checked the piping and electronic condition for a new gas stove. They said they would come back today’s afternoon to install the gas stove.

I could not fall asleep right away last night, because I was so excited about the new gas stove.

***

In the morning I cleaned up the kitchen area and prepared for the new stove.

The appliance guys came after 3 pm. Around 4 pm, the gas stove was finally installed. It is a brand new gas stove. It has 5 burners. The middle burner is a large oval one, which can be used for griddle cooking.

I am so excited for cooking every meal with using this fancy gas stove. Thank you to my realtor and owner for making this happen.

***

After the gas stove’s installment, we went to the local park. There, we joined the July 4th celebration sponsored by our local town.

We enjoyed the cerebration with our neighbor friends. Our day ended with a fire work show.

We all had a great July 4th day.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I am still in the process of the road to a gas stove. I started feeling irritated on taking such long days.

— Here is the review of the road to a gas stove so far. —

April 27th: I started cooking with fire by using a propane portable stove for camping.

May 5th: I requested the realtor to switch to a gas stove. She forwarded our request to the owner.

May 13th: I asked the realtor for the update of the situation. The owner had not replied back to the realtor yet. The realtor added this me though, “She was confident we could get it done.” She also asked me to stay being patient for a while.

June 1st: The owner approved the realtor for switching to a new gas stove.

June 4th: The realtor ordered a new gas stove, and it had already shipped to the local hardware store.

June 21st: The hardware store messed up her order, and the gas stove has not shipped yet. The store confirmed it would arrive to the local store in next week.

June 25th: The gas stove has arrived at the local warehouse store. The realtor asked the appliance guy to pick it up and call me to schedule for installment date and time.

July 1st: The appliance guy picked up the gas stove from the local store.

***

As of today July 3rd, I haven’t received a phone call from the appliance guy. I asked the realtor to allow me to call the guy and asked his plan. The realtor’s reply was shocking to me.

She rejected me to do so, because I am not the one who pays for the installment or the gas stove. Since this is not an emergency case, I should just wait for his call.

The above texts are not exactly the same as what she wrote. She always writes very short and straightforward. She never writes in a sentence with a proper grammar. Instead, she writes with some simple words, without any periods.

To say the least, reading her text made me drained. I needed to cleanse my energy field to restore true myself.

Recently I had some opportunities to communicate with Europeans. As far as my own experiences concerned, Europeans tend to write the similar way as my realtor. Their emails and texts somewhat sound cold-hearted.

I thought back about my job life while in Japan. While I was working for the German company, the majority of my coworkers were Europeans. I guessed from how they wrote that they might be coldhearted people. My guess was wrong. Every time I had an opportunity to talk to them in person, either via phone calls or face-to-face basis, I felt they were not coldhearted, rather, fun people to work with. They were well-organized and kept their words regarding the jobs.

In the end, I should not take any of texts or email messages from anybody in person. They might not have intended to hurt me. They might get used to write something in a certain way that they never intended to hurt or offend anybody.

My focus point should be that my realtor clearly confirmed I don’t need to pay for the installment or the gas stove. At least it was great to know. It must be a huge amount of money. I should stay being thankful to her for all her effort in this case.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Last month my daughter found a crack in my left upper front tooth. Since I didn’t have any pain, I didn’t notice it by myself. On the next morning I called the dental office. The dentist saw me in the morning on the same day.

He told me the old filling was broken in the tooth. He wanted to do a crown treatment. He also found a cavity on my lower bottom canine tooth. The receptionist gave me the quotation for the two teeth. Combined the crown treatment and the cavity treatment, I would have to pay more than $550 as my out-of-pocket cost.

I was not happy with his decision. I asked the dentist if he could do other options such as patching up the cracked part with a filling. He said no.

***

I really could not agree with having a crown treatment. In order to do so, the dentist needs to drill most of my good part of tooth. I want to preserve my original tooth as much as I can.

I had thought about having a second opinion from other dentist. I talked with the representative of the dental insurance company. She suggested me to have a dental cleaning. I can have one more cleaning in this year, which is covered by the insurance policy. The dental cleaning comes with the exam, so I will be able to ask for the advice from the dentist. I thought it a good idea. That way, I can naturally have a second opinion.

So today, I made a dental cleaning appointment with the different dentist. I had seen this dentist for the previous several years. He is an owner and a dentist of the dental clinic. I knew he values his patients’ feedback and opinions.

He assured me he could fix the filling without a crown treatment. On my next appointment he will treat my two teeth.

I am so glad that I had a second opinion.

I am against of blindly following the doctors’ orders. I want to follow my intuition. It is my body. I am the one who will need my physical body until my time has come. I want to cherish my physical body.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I have been thinking about the best option for my daughter regarding the school. She wanted to go to the new school from this upcoming school year.

The new school is located in the next town. It doesn’t have a school bus, so that all the parents are required to drop off and pick up their children. Their parking lot is small and the neighboring streets are not wide enough to accommodate all the parents and guardians. I can easily imagine the hectic traffic jam in both the school start time and dismissal time. It takes us a 20-minutes’ drive to get there from our house. I know it will be a huge pain for me to drive back and forth, twice a day every day.

The new school’s academic standard is higher than the local public school. That is what I like and what I wanted my daughter to have the higher and better education.

I have so many concerns that I wanted to discuss with the principal of the new school. I sent a request of a meeting with her at the end of May. I never received a reply from her for more than one month. My husband called the school and left a message to her too. He never received a reply from her neither.

I started thinking about this situation. This might be the answer for me. If the principal never replied back to the parents at this moment, it will be the same situation during the school year. It means whenever we need the principal’s guidance or support, we will never receive it.

As for the local public school, on the other hand, their academic standard is lower than the national average. The good thing about the local school is though, they have a school bus. It is located within the walking distance from our house. The school accommodates small amount of local kids. The people including the teachers and the faculty members are the local people. It makes us feels comfortable that we know each other by names.

The biggest reason that I didn’t like the local public school was their combination class. They combined the different graders in one class for the previous two years.

I had been asking for a clear guidance from my family spirits for our decision.

***

Today I had an opportunity to talk to the principal of the local public school.

He confirmed they will not have a combination class for my daughter’s grade. He assigned a nice and kind teacher for my daughter.

He told me he received an academic record request from the new private school. He wanted to know if my daughter will go to the new school or not.  

For his question, I, without thinking, instantly answered that my daughter will stay in the local public school. I myself was surprised that I answered that quickly.

After I gave the school principal a clear answer about our decision, I felt so relieved. I felt this was the right decision for us.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I received an email from my mom. Every time when I hear from her, I get scared. I pray first that the email will be good news, before I open her email.

My mom was not good at communicating through written words. Especially right now, her email contains lots of typos and wrong grammar in sentences. It is understandable. She must have suffered from being tired and affected by chemicals from medications. In order to fully understand, I need to focus on what she really wants to say through her words. Otherwise, I easily get confused.

It was an update of my parents’ health situations.

As for my mom, the doctor decided not to give a chemotherapy for my mom. She didn’t write in details, so I don’t know about the exact reason of the doctor’s decision. I think it will be good for her to recover without a chemotherapy.

As for my dad, the doctor decided to have my dad to be hospitalized on July 19th and to have a surgery on his stomach cancer on July 23rd.

My mom told me not to worry about them. She said, no matter what will happen to them, they will face to it. She also said, no matter what happens to them, do not blame myself.

Every time after I read her short email, I think of my mom and dad. I end up sobbing. My tears won’t stop until my eyes get fully puffy and swollen.

Her today’s email somewhat sounded like a good-bye letter. I need to get ready for the day when they depart.

Same as always, all I can do is to pray for them and send all the positive thoughts and firm belief. My parents deserve to receive necessary love and support whenever they need. They are very nice and kind people. They have generously supported family members and others all in their lives. They will be fine.

***

I think of one of the quotes of Zhuge Liang.

我が心、秤の如し。 人の為に低昂する能はず。

My boy-friend whom I had dated during my university years used to tell me all the quotes of Zhuge Liang. Since then I’ve always respect and admire his wisdom.

I want to follow my heard to decide everything in my life. I want to stand firmly about my belief and decision.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

This morning when I opened the entrance door to go for a walk, I was welcomed by a rainbow. It was beautiful. The colors of the rainbow were vivid and clear. It started from red, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and ended with violet.

The weather report has predicted that the monsoon in southern west area might start later than previous years due to lots of rain in last May.

The rainbow was surrounded by towering thunderclouds. It means we have entered in the monsoon this year. Their prediction didn’t turn to be right.

***

In the late morning we went to the local outdoor pool to swim. After we came back home and had lunch, it started raining in the afternoon.

Every year whenever we have a monsoon season started, I feel energized. We will have lots of rain and moisture in the air and the land.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Yesterday one of my daughter’s wishes came true. Technically speaking I made it happen.

I created an email account for her. It was her very first email account.

I announced her new email address to my husband and in-laws.

This morning my mother-in-law sent a very first email to my daughter. I let my daughter read it and reply back to her. She had so much fun to do so.

Another her wishes are to create an account of a blog page and to have her own cell phone. They are one of many upcoming steps for her to grow to be an adult.

It is great to witness her growth, but at the same time, I sometimes wish this “Now” time will stay forever. Spending time with young child is priceless.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Yesterday my mom sent me an email. According to her, my parents are having tough days.

My mom started having a chemotherapy. I totally forgot about the chemotherapy. Right after I heard that the surgery for my mom was a minor one, I was so relieved that I almost forgot about the real cause. As for my dad, his doctor has not decided the surgery date yet, but it is coming for sure.

I concern and worry about my parents. But I know my worrying about my parents is not going to support them. All I need to do is to keep thinking positive about them, so that my positive energy can support them spiritually.

***

This morning I woke up with the clear memory of my dream. I was driving a car, looking for a parking lot. It was a downtown area in Japan. Even though there were many parking buildings, all the parking lots were full. I was so exhausted and frustrated trying to find a vacant spot.

After I woke up, I thought of my dream.

It was not a type of dream with some messages. This morning’s dream simply reflects my subconscious minds’s state.

I need to work on my deep inside. I need to fully trust all the spirits who are related to my parents. Their related spirits are working hard to guide them to their best way for my parents. My parents should be fine no matter what. They are always protected and guided.   

I am taking a couple of nice deep relaxing breathes and visualizing my parents’ happy smiles. Everything is going well for them.  

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

After I witnessed my neighbor’s reaction to a snake, I have been thinking about our tree.

We have a big palm tree in the front yard. The palm tree seemed to never have had a trimming before we moved in. Last year we trimmed it very nicely. We hoped the tree would stay in the nice appearance. Regardless of our hope though, the nice appearance didn’t stay for long.

Our trimming became a trigger for the palm tree to grow tall. The palm tree quickly grew much taller than before, and it accompanied with the lower leaves dried and drooping down on the ground. It makes a good shade around the tree trunk. It is the same situation as that of the neighbor. It is a good shade for creatures to hide and live there.

This evening my husband and I worked on trimming the dead leaves. It took us many hours.

Now our palm tree looks very nice. I hope it will stay like that for long, but I know it won’t.

I like working the yard work. It is soothing and relaxing.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

The other day while I was walking in the neighborhood area, one neighbor started talking to me.

He had a huge cactus bush in his front yard. It was facing to the street where everybody walks beside of it.

He told me to be careful while walking the side of his cactus bush. He saw a huge snake entering into the cactus bush. The bottom of the bush was completely covered by the old dry leaves and making a good shade for creatures.

Although the neighbor is a tall build-up man, he kept on saying he hates snakes. It was a bit funny and cute to hear such a big strong guy for being scared of snakes.

I thanked him for the tip. Since then, I started walking the area with care.

***

On the next day I passed by his house. I saw a pickup truck parked at the side of the neighbor’s house. On the pickup truck bed, the entire cactus bush was loaded.  

The neighbor proudly told me that they got the snake.

According to him, he hired the professional handymen to cut off the cactus bush. During the process of cutting, they found the huge blue snake hiding there. I don’t know exactly what they did to the snake. I believe they called the animal control department to take care of the snake.

He said the snake was huge, spreading his both arms wide open horizontally. I believe him. I have seen that kind of long and huge snakes in our neighbor area.

I guess it was good that he cut off the bush. It prevents snakes from hiding there anyway.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪