COVID-19: Day 1 Shelter in place Mar 17 2020

Well, I better write about what is going on in the world as my foggy memory will totally mess it up for me and ruin the stories I tell my future grandchildren!

The world in under a state of panic.  Several nations have closed their borders, cities have a shelter-in-place ordinances, people are canceling trips, people are panic buying hundreds and hundreds of rolls of toilet paper (more on this later) and storing food like we are facing the Apocalypse (maybe we are, it's day 1 of our lockdown after all!).  All this because of COVID-19 or Corona Virus, a virus similar to the flu but as this is a new disease, there is no known medicine or vaccine.  About 4% of people who get it, die from it, mostly the elderly.    

COVID-19 started in Wuhan, China when several employees of a market fell ill.  It is suspected that the virus was passed from bats to humans and while bats are immune to it, humans are not.  Conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, believe this disease was man-made, especially after a novel written in 1981 called, The Eyes of Darkness, described a flu-like disease that started in Wuhan, China.  You can read the excerpt below.  But experts say that is just coincidence, that we give too much credit for what man can do.   After all, the Simpsons predicted Donald Trump would be president and well, let's not get me started on the president.  That means we, we haven't developed a disease to kill each other yet, we have semi-automatic guns for that (wow, where did that come from?). 

So the elderly is at a high risk of not being able to fight this disease, so do those with chronic illness and have a compromised immune system (hello!).  Kids and healthy adult are the ones who are mostly asymptomatic and likely to be the ones spreading the virus because they don't know they have it.  Symptoms include dry cough, fever and body ache.  Every hour of every day since the last week, I ask myself, 'Do I have this virus???' I do have a dry cough, no fever and body ache though so I haven't switched on the panic button.  

Confession:  I have been, for the past 3 weeks, slowly accumulating food and supplies for my family.  I did not panic buy!  I did it very slowly.  I read the news a lot and when I read that the FBI is starting to stockpile surgical masks and hand sanitizers, I bought some of it for my family.  Then I bought groceries, and then 2 days later, more groceries.  I think have been to the supermarket twice a week with a semi-full shopping cart each time.  There's 7 of us here at home, so we need a lot of stuff.  But then, there are people that HOARD toilet paper, and canned goods, and rice and everything else you can possibly think of!  Lines outside the Costco start forming at 4 am!  Shelves at grocery stores sit empty!  If you want to buy toilet paper, good luck with that!  I have just another big package of toilet paper saved up, so I instructed people in the house to think that the toilet paper in the bathroom is the last one we have!  It's amazing how all of a sudden, 1 mega roll of toilet paper lasts 24 hours in our bathroom, it has now been 36 hours, and we are only half-way thru 1 roll.  

My husband and I are working form home.  I have been working 12 hour days for the past 9 days.  A lot of work, for little to no income. We have a travel agency and our industry has been severely affected by the coronavirus.  No one is traveling unless they absolutely have to.  I issue refunds to my customers based on the airline guidelines.  But every industry is hurting.  The whole world is hurting.  Many restaurants are closed or only open for take out or delivery.  The world is going to be a different place when this is all over.

But at the same time, the world needs this break.  Pollution in the air and waterways are at an all time low.  I read a news article that with China being on lockdown and factories being closed, clearing the air has spared more lives than those lost in China due to COVID-19.

I miss hanging out with friends, family and church family.   But we are blessed we have the technology to see each other through video chat.  Despite all that is going on, we have to learn to count our blessings

coping with grief

I have not posted in over a year.  Instagram has been my go-to for storing memories now but recent events have lead me back to this place where I can best express all my thoughts.


How does one cope with grief?  I lost my dad 2 months ago to what we initially thought was just a battle with pneumonia.  He was hospitalized twice, the second being worse than the first and that is when they discovered he had cancer.  Metastatic cancer of unknown origin, according to the oncologist.  Who knew there was such a thing?  Who knew that cancer can grow inside you, metastasize, and take your life without even giving you a chance to fight for your life?  Do they just say that when they don't have an answer?


I struggle with the thought of not praying hard enough so my dad's life could be spared.  I struggle with the image of him helpless on that hospital bed, tubes and IVs everywhere. Every day, I think, 'Maybe if I just prayed harder.  Maybe if I fasted along with my prayer.  Maybe if sang more songs to Him...'  There's also thinking about the decisions we made as a family.  Did we bring him to the right hospital?  What kind of medical examination would have caught the cancer earlier so he could have had a fighting chance?  Maybe the outcome would be different.  Or maybe it would all be the same.  It sucks that we will never know. 


No, I am not questioning my faith.  I am not questioning God's wisdom.  I know He gives and He takes away. But I wish I had more time with my dad.  Everyday, I wish I had more time.


I have a friend who lost her dad many years ago and to this day, it brings tears to her eyes when she talks about him.  I always wondered why that was the case.  I wondered, were they so close that she misses him everyday?  Or was their  relationship tense and she feels guilt that she was not able to reconcile with her dad?  Being in the same shoes now, it is the former.  I miss him every day and I don't know if I'll ever stop missing him.  He was an AWESOME dad.  He was an AMAZING grandfather.  He was kind, understanding and generous.  And no I'm not just saying these things because he is gone.  That was who he was.  He was not perfect but he was a GOOD MAN. 


I miss him so much. 

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

one of my favorite poems of all time is by Jessie B. Rittenhouse...

“I bargained with Life for a penny,

And Life would pay no more, 

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is just an employer,

He gives you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages,

Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,

Only to learn, dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life,

Life would have paid.”

today, I read Psalm 2 and it speaks about the same thing...asking what we want in life.  often times, I don't ask for BIG things.  I always ask for what i think i deserve, according to how 'good' i think i am.  But as a Child of God, I could ask for the world and God would give it to me, not because I deserve it but because the Father sees the Son in me, and that makes me worthy of the world!  It's not the size of my faith, because even faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains.  so everyday i will remind myself to ASK, ASK, ASK!

Making the ask is not for everyone, but reserved for God's children.  Not the naysayers, not the unbelievers, not for mockers, but for those who worship God in adoring embrace and celebrate in trembling awe!  Psalm 2:10-12

I ask for favor in this pending business.  I ask for favor in financing this business.  I ask for payment of all debts.  I ask for bigger giving.  I ask for good health and long life for myself and those who are near and dear to me.  I ask for my family's salvation.  I ask for lives changed, bondage and chains broken.  I ask for renewed lives that are dedicated to Christ.  I ask for wisdom and wealth to be shared with others.  I ask for ALL GOOD THINGS and ALL OF GOD'S PROMISES FULFILLED in me, through me, for Christ's glory!

how can u afford to travel so much?

i get that a lot.  even my daughter gets a lot of comments from her classmates (sometimes sarcastically) about how often we travel.  it does get annoying sometimes, but to each their own, right? 

i know i don't have to explain myself but here's some of the reasons why we are able to travel as much as we do:

we travel a lot because we like it.  it's as simple as that.  even before we got into the travel business, we saved up for our trips.  we have a savings account specifically for our travels and we put money in that account each paycheck to save up for our trip.  traveling is important to us so we set aside money for that.  

now that we have a business, we started earning points and miles using our credit card for business expenses.  we accumulate a lot so we are able to use a lot of it for our travels, sometimes we travel with almost no out of pocket cost for our airfare and hotel, sometimes we just pay the taxes.  on our recent trip to austria and czech republic, our out of pocket cost for air and hotel is about $2000, for 3 people.  an average of $667 per person for a 9 day trip to europe staying at 4 star hotels and flying business class.  our train tickets and food were extra but we don't splurge too much on food...we eat what we like but we are also mindful that we need to be wise about where to eat.  we have an upcoming trip to Tulum for spring break and we have zero out of pocket cost for the air and hotel.  all we will need to spend on is our food and attractions we want to see.  if you can travel for that cheap, wouldn't you do it often????

we hardly ever go shopping.  i know a lot of people who buy a lot of clothes for themselves and their families.  we have never been that kind of family.  i used to buy a lot of business attire when i worked in a corporate setting but now that i am focused on our businesses, i am dressed in jeans and a t shirt.  paul's work is really casual too so no need to splurge on fancy clothes.  i used to love buying moderately expensive purses, but i have slowly gotten rid of the desire to buy them.  i don't own any LV, Prada, Channel or Gucci purses.  I had a Gucci before but i sold it to my cousin after not using it for 3 years.  i have not bought a purse in two years and am perfectly happy with the purse that i use everyday.  

we only eat out occasionally. i love to cook and can cook most dishes that we crave for so instead of spending $100 for a meal when the 3 of us go out, i go to the supermarket, buy the ingredients and cook the same food for less money and more quantity.  even eating at the mall's food court sets you back at least $10 per person for low quality food...$5 for a small cup of boba.  i buy the ingredients for boba for $10 and we have a boba party at home (with 15 guests) and still have boba left over for another party.  

someone said we are wrong for getting michelle used to traveling...that we might be turning her into a spoiled brat.  michelle's not a spoiled brat.  far from it.  the kid works hard at school. she has a very entrepreneurial spirit, always thinking of ways to work and make and save money and give back...giving back is very important to her.  she does not always get what she wants...paul often talks to me about how strict i can be with her about her to dos and her wants.  michelle is so well rounded.  she can talk to anyone and feel comfortable.  

on our flight to/from europe, two flight attendants approached me and told me how well behaved and well mannered michelle was.  she always asked politely, always says thank you, and engages people in conversation.  as a parent, i love hearing compliments like that!  who doesn't?!  our travels is turning michelle into a well-rounded, global citizen.  

there are still a few things she needs to learn and she is learning through our travels.  like when we were in prague, all the streets and sidewalks in the first district were cobblestone.  it was hard on the feet to walk on these kinds of streets and when you're in europe, you did a lot of walking.  so she asked our tour guide, 'why don't they pave the streets and sidewalks so it's easier for people to walk on them and the cards to drive on them?'  the guide answered, 'it will be too expensive to do that now and the streets are perfectly fine as they are.  don't you think it looks pretty?'  

when we got back to our hotel, we told michelle that traveling allows us to see things from different perspectives and how we do things at home may be different from how things are done in another country, it does not make one wrong and the other right, it just shows us that there is more than one option to how things work.  like the streets are paved where we live, while in europe, many are cobblestone.  why in japan, australia and new zealand, they drive on the left side of the street while we drive on the right.  neither one is wrong, and both work fine because that's what people are used to.  

traveling broadens the mind.  we will continue to travel for as long as we are able because we like it!

trying out these writing prompts

i miss writing...so much!  this blog was never an outlet for my creative juices...i'm not really a creative writer...i just like to write.  i like essays and non-fiction.  i know i'm very rusty, but i plan on writing again, and writing better. 

so here's the first crack at this thing i downloaded, writing prompts:

Day 1
Breaking Up With Writer’s Block
It’s time for you and Writer’s Block to part ways. Write a letter breaking up with Writer’s
Block, starting out with, “Dear Writer’s Block, it’s not you, it’s me …”


Dear Writer's Block, it's not you, it's me.  I have been utterly lazy and spent too much time wallowing in misery. Yes, I have been miserable these last few years.  That's actually something I have not admitted to anyone but you.  Yes, I have been miserable.  Not to the point of depression but to the point of indifference, which, might be worse.  I felt like I gave up on many things and lost the will and the fire that I used to have inside me. 

I don't want to get too personal and bore you with my life's drama.  It has been a challenging 3 years but I have vowed to bounce back and get that spring in my step and that zest for life that I used to have.  It's coming back, slowly but surely. 

I told you I was rusty.  My sentences are short and ill-constructed.  By the time I get to the end of these writing prompts, I am optimistic that my writing will be fluid and my sentences well-constructed. 

I have to say goodbye, Writer's Block.  Don't take it personally, but I hope to never see you again. 

saw my rheummy today

I got scolded by my doctor today.  =(

My Rheumatoid Arthritis has progressed because I am not taking my medications correctly and I have not seen my doctor in a year.  It's really not what I wanted to hear but I'm tired to seeing doctors and getting poked for blood tests.

But unfortunately for me, what I have done (naturally) had a negative effect on my body.  =(  

I feel terrible physically and emotionally.  I have not cried about having RA for a long time but now is one of those moments when the realization of this disease hits hard.  

I'm exhausted.  I am tired of feeling tired. I know my doctor means well, but he doesn't have RA so he may have the wisdom to help me get better control of this disease but he does not feel what we feel- the pain, the brain fog, the exhaustion, the frustration...

*sigh*

things will get better.  it always does.  

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

Which means I will be on pie duty for the next several days while the dusting of flour and the smear of butter covers the kitchen.

I love making pies.  It really makes me happy. 

I also love helping people plan their trips.

I am blessed to be doing work that I love to do. 


After the baking madness, I'm leaving for a trip to the Philippines and Thailand for work. I would enjoy it more if my loves could come with me but they can't.  I miss them terribly when I am away, but time does fly so the 9 days will be over in no time.