#Bloganuary Prompt Day 17 – 20: Short Answers


Day 17

What is a superpower you’d love to have?

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#Bloganuary Prompt Day 16 – Passions


Day 16

What is a cause you’re passionate about and why?

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#Bloganuary Prompt Day 15 – Life Lessons


Day 15

What is a life lesson you feel everyone can benefit from learning?

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 30 years on Earth is you cannot count on anyone but yourself. This lesson was cemented into my core when I was young when my mom left for the U.S and I was left in China.

She recently revealed to me as we were scanning and digitizing old pictures that she didn’t know I was going to be treated so awful when she left.

I was 7-year-old when she left. She told me she was just going to tour America and that she was going to be back before I know it but she ended up staying and didn’t return until 3 years later, during which I was constantly lectured and punished for being a girl while my male cousins were being spoiled like little princes.

Less than a year after mom left, my aunt, uncle, cousin, and I went shopping in a department store. I was browsing when the ladies around me started screaming, one even fainted. At first I didn’t know what was going on but then one of them shrieked, “your hand.” That’s when I realized blood was spurting from my left hand.

Why I didn’t feel anything? I’m not sure.

Meanwhile, my tiny cousin was standing next to me, in his hand was a bloody cleaver, and my aunt and uncle were nowhere to be found. Who lets their 2-year-olds run around the store? Beats me. And what kind of department puts cleaver display on the lower shelf? Again beats me.

Anyway, it wasn’t long until the adults appeared and my bloody hand was wrapped in cloth and we were walking to the hospital, which, thankfully, was next to the department store. My uncle accompanied me to get my hand stitched while my aunt waited outside as she has a fear of blood.

It was during the stitching when my pain finally registered in my brain. “I’ll get you some ice cream when we’re done here, I promise.” My uncle said when I began sniffing, trying to hold back my tears.

He never fulfilled that promise. The moment we got home that afternoon was the moment they treated like the last few hours never happened. The ice cream never came up again and that’s when I realized, adults lie. They don’t keep their promises.

It was also that moment I promised to get myself whatever I want when I am grown up and have a job because the only person I can only ever trust is myself.

#WeekendCoffeeShare – 5 Days Long Weekend


Hello and welcome to another #weekendcoffeeshare! Please come and join me for a conversation.

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#Bloganuary Prompt Day 13 – Ideal Day


Day 13

What does your ideal day look like?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare – Firsts of 2022


Hello and welcome to my corner of the world wide web and the first #weekendcoffeeshare of 2022! Please come in, shrug off your coat and join me for our first conversation of 2022.

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One Last #WeekendCoffeeShare for 2021


Hello and welcome to my corner of winter wonderland. Please come in, shrug off your coat and join me for one last conversation in 2021.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: 3 Days after Surgery


Hello, and my oh my, it’s cold outside. Please join me for a virtual coffee.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: General Update on Life, Work, and Mounting Anxiety


Hello, come on in from the cold. Please sit and join me for a virtual coffee.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: 2 Surgeries in December


Hello, come on in from the cold. Please sit and join me for a virtual coffee.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Thanksgiving 2021 plus Garden and Life Update


Hello, come on in from the cold. Please sit and join me for a virtual coffee and sweets.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Fun-filled Friday Afternoon


Hello and welcome. Come on in from the cold. It’s chilly in my neck of the woods today, the high will only go up to 46-degree-Fahrenheit (around 8-degree-celsius). Would you like something hot to drink? I’m afraid the options are rather limited. I’m trying to limit my caffeine intake on weekends so I’m going with a nice extra-hot cup of chamomile tea.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I was thoroughly de-stressed and had fun yesterday. You see, every few months, my department would host a fun event – in May, we went golfing, we watched a baseball game in September, we were supposed to have the event in December but Thanksgiving and Christmas forced the event to get pushed up.

First, we bowled. It was my first-time ever to bowl, which surprised my coworkers. Don’t get me wrong, I have been to a bowling alley before, long ago, but I wasn’t allowed to bowl at the time. It was a social event for my mom and her former high school classmates and I was just there, being seen but not heard.

It was the first time and wouldn’t be the last time I watched mom have fun with her friends while I somehow faded in with the background. Well, I guess I finally got to have some real fun. I sucked at bowling though, probably half of my turns ended up gutter balls.

After bowling came axe throwing and I must admit, I wasn’t great at that either. I kept missing the target, hitting the wooden bar below instead but after several tries, my aim improved. Axe throwing was my favorite part as I got to relieve a lot of pent up stress and anger which had been bottled up for who knows how many years. I found the more I focused on my anger, the better my aim was.

After axe throwing, my co-workers and I entered the world of arcade gaming. Again, my co-workers were surprised I have never played at the arcade before. “Actually, I have been to the arcade,” I told them. I just wasn’t allowed to play. Same as bowling and other fun activities, I was always that person in the background, observing, watching other people have fun.

I remember my uncle and cousin used to go to the arcade all the time. They would play these shooting games and I would be watching them, mesmerized in the game and imagine myself playing the game.

I finally got to give it a try yesterday. It was definitely harder than it looked. I couldn’t even get through the first round.

Oh, and did I mention I sucked at skeeball, too?

Maybe I just at arcade games or any type of games in general because I never got to experience those things when I was a child and now that I’m an adult, I feel like I missed out on a lot of childhood things. I know mom would be rolling her eyes because she seemed to be under the impression I had the perfect childhood, that all the emotional trauma her family has cast upon me were figments of my imagination and that I should be grateful that her sister was willing to take me in.

She wasn’t there, how would she know?

The last activity of the day was bumper cars. This brought back wonderful memories of my stepdad and I maneuvering a bumper car at Knott’s Berry Farm long ago. Instead of maneuvering a crowd yesterday, I was maneuvering the bumper car between Mr. CFO and two of my co-workers. It was incredibly fun as we crashed into each other on purpose. I can’t remember when I last laughed so much.

Perhaps, I need to do this more often.

Thank you for joining me for this weekend’s #weekendcoffeeshare. I hope we’ll both return next week.

#WeekendCoffeeShare: Last of 2021 Gardening and Weird Numbers Nightmares


Hello and welcome. Come on in and let’s talk but first, we must have drinks. I’m in the mood for a mug of hot chocolate, how about you?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: So much for getting off work early


Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Hello and welcome. Come on in. What do you fancy today? Tea, coffee?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Front Yard Project Update


Hello and welcome. Come on in. Can you believe it’s the last weekend of October?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Update on Rose Propagation


Hello and welcome. Come on in. It’s once again a wet chilly October morning. There will be rain in my neck of the woods today and you know what it means? Hot drink!

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: The Million Stresses of Life


Hello and welcome. Come on in from the cold and have a hot drink with me.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Garden Update and Front Yard Transformation So far


Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee? Tea?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you the one word I would use to describe this week – unmotivated. Why? For so many reasons which I detailed in my Friday Thoughts post. Oh, and unfortunately, I’m working today. I can usually get things done with some overtime during the week but this is urgent matter, apparently, the boss wants all September invoices done ASAP and I’ll just work the weekend to get it all done.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you it looks like winter might be arriving early this year. There’s been heavy rain this week, rain we desperate need. Unfortunately, it’s accompanied by wind. It always is. Thankfully, there weren’t too much damage this time.

According to the weather forecast, first frost of 2021 might be arriving next week. I’m nervous about that and it’s got me ordering frost blankets for my plants and I even got one for my 7-tier planter, which, if I might say, is not doing too bad. I have some seedling that should be ready to transfer today or tomorrow, granted if it stops raining.

My 5-tier planter might be done for the year next week when the temperature dips below 32 degree-F (0 degree-C). The only thing left in there are marigolds, cosmos, tomatoes, and sunflower. I pulled out the cucumbers and overwintered my peppers this week. This 7-tier planter has my cool weather plants – lettuces and other leafy greens – which should survive a little longer with the assistance of a frost blanket.

If we were having coffee, I would show you the before and after of my front yard.

It’s been a ride with this front yard – full of hard work, anger, and frustration. This is definitely not what I had planned in the beginning. This is more of mom’s vision than mine. I had never envision so many red bricks nor did I imagine red bricks planters. Once again, mom took over but then it was the only way to get help as her family will only help her, not me. It’s never me.

Mom is feeling like a hero right now. She keeps saying, “If it weren’t for me, you’d never get it done. It’d never look so pretty.” The way she says that makes me not want to help anyone. It’s all one-sided anyway. I help them, they’d never help me in return, not unless mom’s present.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I know what you’re thinking. The yard is missing something – rocks. I’m waiting on it. The 17 tons (no joke) of rocks will be delivered on 20th of this month. So I’ll have an update on this soon.

I do hope it stops raining though so I can go out and plant some spring flower bulbs in the planters.

I would thank you for joining me in this edition of #weekendcoffeeshare and hope we’ll both return next week.

#WeekendCoffeeShare: Driven by Anxiety


Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee? Tea?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Party at the Zoo


Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee? Tea? I feel like I just want something quick today.

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Positivity Required


Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee? Tea? I am craving something cold right now, maybe something to pair with the bountiful harvest of raspberries this week. Any suggestions?

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Caution: Rough Seas Ahead


Photo by karl chor on Unsplash

Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee? Tea? It’s either or for me but I’m leaning toward coffee these days, so…

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#WeekendCoffeeShare: Hellish Week


Good morning or afternoon and welcome. Coffee?

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