Mother's Day Blessing

Today is the very first Mother's Day my Mr7 didn't give me a hand-made card from school. Instead he gave it to his biological mother. He is old enough to see who his mother is (I know this sounds weird). What did I get? I got the privilege of getting his early morning kiss and hug. I got the privilege of making his favorite pancakes. And you know what? I am cool with this. Happy Mother's Day to all.

Mother's Day

It's been more than a month since I've been here. 

Work has kept me too busy to blog. 

I want to wish everyone a happy happy mother's day. 

I'm very grateful my own mother, age 75, is still alive. She's been on chemotherapy off and on for almost 3 years now. She's looking forward to pausing the chemo

 for a summer break, 

and I'm looking forward to a 40-day trip to India. 

God bless everyone who nurtures

children and pets.

Tooth Fairy Business

pic by Nan

    The past three weeks my Mr7 has lost four teeth. Three of the four he might have swallowed. I told him the Tooth Fairy's motto: "No tooth, no money". 

     I slipped a $5 bill under his pillow because I had nothing smaller. When I was little, I clearly remember my amazement when I would find a bright and shiny quarter under my pillow. It was like magic. 

     Now I miss my father. I suspect he was my Tooth Fairy.

Who was YOUR Tooth Fairy?

     Oh and by the way, I'm saving Mr7's baby teeth...at least the ones he didn't swallow. Not sure what I want to do with them. 

Clear the Air and Clear the Mind

      When I was growing up, my mother used to burn incense everyday. She still does. She never used the artificial sweet-smelling incense; she always used the woody joss sticks. The scent of a single joss stick is just enough to clear the air, so to say. I love it. It's hard to explain how the smoke of a joss stick can actually clear the air inside a home.

       Speaking of clearing the air, I also like to clear the mind. No, I'm not talking about using incense. I'm talking about listening to Buddhist chants. On my iPhone, I have an app that allows me to hear a chant. Most mornings, I'll plug in my earbuds and clear my mind with a simple Buddhist chant. 

It's wonderfully effective.

The hour-long chant clears my mind of lingering clutter and annoying songs that get stuck in your ear. 

I have no idea what the chant is about. I think it's in Chinese. But it doesn't matter. All I know is that like incense, the chants clear the mind, and that's a good thing.

What do YOU do to clear your mind? 

Image source: Barnstable, Janet. 126.jpg. "May, 1999". Pics4Learning. 29 Mar 2013 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>