My family and I went to the river trail in the evening. We usually go hiking in the morning of the weekends, but today was irregular. My daughter wanted to go there in the evening after my husband came back from work.

When we got there, it was past 5 pm. The sun was still up and blight, but the air started cooling down.

Toward the end of the trail, my daughter whispered us that she heard some low sound. We stopped walking and listened carefully. We heard some growling sounds.

Followed by the sound, we saw something swiftly crossed the trail in front of us. It was about 10 meter (30 feet) away from us.

It was a cub of mountain lion.

We quietly looked at each other’s face. Maybe the low growling sound came from the mom of the cub.

We turned back and went back the trail. Luckily we didn’t run into the mother mountain lion.

***

After I came back home, I looked up the information about a mountain lion in the hiking trail on the Internet.

According to many different websites, many hikers in America, especially in California, cross paths with a mountain lion during hiking. However, the death rate by being attacked by a mountain lion is very low.

They warn the readers not to run away or turn your back to it, because it might trigger a mountain lion to chase you.

Instead, make yourself look bigger and stronger than a mountain lion. Put your hands in the air and stand upright, so as to make yourself big and tall. If you have a small child with you, without bending over, hold the child up high so that the child also look tall and big. If you have trekking poles, raise them high. If you have a bear spray, get ready to let it loose in case a mountain lion approaches you.

I have met some hikers who have cross paths with a mountain lion. They all said the mountain lion didn’t approach them.

I think the important thing for us is to be aware of them and try to keep good distance from them. As long as we don’t do anything to them, they won’t harm us.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

My mom sent me a text message while I was sleeping last night.

I always feel scared to open her message. I always pray before I open it so that her message does not contain any bad news.

In today’s message, she said her doctor decided to give her the first chemotherapy treatment today, which was two days earlier than his previous plan. His original decision, that he made right after my mom’s surgery, was to see her health condition without a chemotherapy.

Since I didn’t talk with my mom directly over the phone, and she always does not write her text message with full sentences, I don’t know the process and the reason why the doctor keep changing his decision.

I replied back to her, that if I were in her situation, I would discuss with the doctor about other options for me to avoid a chemotherapy treatment.

As usual, my mom never replied back to my question or comment.

***

After I sent her my reply, I thought about a chemotherapy. I want to avoid a chemotherapy because I have read many medical articles about the side effects. And from my personal experience with the medical doctors and nurses, I have learned the importance of making a decision on my own. Therefore, I am willing to have a second opinion about the doctor’s diagnosis and an intense research on any kinds of medications that I will need to take to my body.

However, I also know I have to respect everybody is different.

I know my mom well. She is not a type of person who is willing to have a second opinion when it comes to a doctor’s diagnosis. She trusts her doctor and obeys any doctor’s orders.

Maybe I should stop saying anything about the chemotherapy. Once my mom decides to obey her doctor’s decision, any kind of my ideas or my opinions might torture her.

I should stay strong for continuously supporting my mom for her decisions.   

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

My family and I went to the river trail.

We have gone to this trail some years ago, but didn’t explore enough. Today we explored much more than last time. We found nice energy spots this time.

I felt very strong energy field at certain spots. The energy of the spots were different than other areas.

All of us could feel tingling and warm (rather, hot) energy coming from the ground.

I thought it as a healing energy. I should go there more often to receive more healing energy for my body.  

This trail is unique. The major areas of the trail are the same as that of typical Arizona deserts. The trees are all dry and hard. However, only on both sides of the river, the trees have fresh green leaves and everything looks soft.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Back in last April I purchased the allergy test from the British company. It took them more than one month to send the test result report, and the test report did not include all the test items. They put the only items my sample showed 85% and higher reaction. I communicated with the company representative via several emails back and forth. I didn’t have a good impression toward the company.

Today I found another allergy test. This time the company was different from the one I ordered for myself.

I read through the company’s website. This company seems to be much more honest and trustworthy than the one I purchased. Their sample test report includes all the test items.

I talked with my husband and daughter about this new company. They decided to try out this company’s allergy test. I sent out their hair samples on June 19th.

***

The test report arrived on July 2nd. It was much quicker than their description in their homepage. It took them only two weeks since I sent the test sample.

***

My daughter’s test result are as follows.

<Food High Reactivity>

• A-Lactalbumin

• Hot chocolate

• Sour cream

• Ice cream

• Yogurt

• Soft cheese

• Scarlet runner beans

• Peanuts

• Parmesan

• Evaporated milk

• Egg

• Edamame beans

• Cod liver oil

• Coconut

• Rooibos Tea

• Red Leicester

• Mozzerella

• Monosodium Glutamate

• Milk from cows

• Tequila

• Stilton

• Pork sausages

• Chinese horse radish

• Cheddar

• Buttermilk

• Butter

• B-Lactoglobulin

• Cream

• Condensed milk

 

<Non-food High Reactivity>

• Blackberry

• Apple tree

• Walnut

• Strawberry

• Meadow fox tail

• Elm

 

< Metal High Reactivity>

NA

 

<Mineral and other nutrient: the level falls below the normal range>

• Iodine

• Germanium

• Citrus bio-flavonoids

• Magnesium

 

***

My husband’s test result are as follows.

<Food High Reactivity>

• Pine nut

• Peanuts

• Noodles – wheat

• Hazel nuts

• Hare

• White wine

• Water chestnuts

• Sake

• Prawns

• Cauliflower

• Button mushrooms

• Bread – rye

• Tahini

• Chickpea

• Almond

 

<Non-food High Reactivity>

• Scotch heather

• Wormwood

• Wasp

• Penicilloyl

• Narcissus

• Misteltoe

<Metal High Reactivity>

NA

 

<Mineral and other nutrient: the level falls below the normal range>

• Copper

• Allium

***

Wrapping up, my daughter has high sensitivity to all the dairy and egg products. I will be cautious of these foods intake for my daughter’s diet. I will add the following ingredients for her.

– Fish (such as cod and tuna), seaweed, shrimp, and other seafood for iodine,

– Citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, and brussels sprouts for citrus bio-flavonoids

– Red peppers, carrots, dark leafy greens for Beta – Carotene

– Broccoli, celery, and onion for Germanium

– Whole wheat, black beans, and quinoa for Magnesium

For my husband, I will add more foods from Allium family includes onions, garlic, leeks, scallions, chives, and shallots. Also in order to gain copper, I will add foods of whole grains, beans, nuts, dark leafy greens, and dried fruits such as prunes in his diet.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I received a text message from my mom.

Her doctor was not planning to give my mom a chemotherapy treatment as of June 30th, but he changed his mind based on my mom’s health condition. I don’t know if this is a better decision for my mom or not.

My mom is going to have her first chemotherapy on July 10th. She was feeling scared about it.

I thought of her situation. If I were in her situation, what I would do. I talked with my husband and daughter about it.

I have read many articles about chemotherapy treatment. I also have heard from some of my relatives and acquaintances about their own experiences of chemotherapy treatment. They all talked about the strong side effects of chemotherapy. It kills even good cells of our body. It makes the patient feeling depressed.

Based on that, first thing I would do is to find a doctor whom I can fully trust. Then, I would discuss with the doctor about the alternative options to avoid a chemotherapy treatment.   

If that happens to me at my mom’s age, she will be 78 years old in this August, I would definitely ask my doctor to let me live my remainder life without chemotherapy.

In that high age, I would like to use my precious remainder life on every minute to fully live my life, instead of wasting my precious time for suffering from side effects of chemotherapy or staying/waiting at the hospital. But it is just my decision. I respect everybody has their own decision.

I mentioned my mom about her rights to say no to chemotherapy. She didn’t reply to me about that, so I don’t know what she thought about it.

It is her life, so she has to decide on her own. I will support her decision and pray for her.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

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? (^^♪