Love Promise

Yet another day at home recuperating from the surgery. I am so glad that the recuperation period is almost at its end and I can't wait to get back to work next Monday.

This morning, I was going through the wedding stuff which has been crowding out the basement since after the wedding, and I found Joe's Love Promise to me.

In the Chinese culture, it is customary to have the door-game challenges and the tea ceremony on the wedding day. At the end of the door-game challenges, it is also customary that the groom has to present his love promise to the bride (while she is waiting patiently in the bedroom) and her family prior to seeing the bride.

Here is the Love Promise that Joe gave me on our wedding day:

"I, Joe Vautour, promise to worship Louisa forever and ever. I promise that I will kiss on the ground she walks on. I promise to put Louisa first over anything and everything. I promise not to rush her when she is changing 10 outfits before heading out of the door every morning. I promise to keep my mouth shut when she is buying the 100th pair of shoes. I will wait patiently and smile at her and compliment her on her good taste on shoes. Everyday, I will make her a cup of Starbucks' coffee (only Starbucks and nothing else) when she wakes up. When she wants to talk a little before going to sleep, I will listen to her whole-heartedly and tell her what she says is music to my ears. Louisa, you mean the world to me and I cannot live without you."

... Today has marked our two-month wedding anniversary! :-)

Zen and the Wisdom in Life

Another week at home for recovery (long sigh....) Other than knitting a shrug, reading tons of fashion and home design magazines and reading "Eat, Pray, Love" and "Queen of Babble in the the Big City" simultaneously, I decided to find time to clean up all the old e-mails since 2006. I then came across the following e-mail from a friend... I figure we all need a little laugh on Monday.:-)

ZEN AND THE WISDOM OF LIFE

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbour's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

3. Sex is like air -- it's not important unless you aren't getting any.

4. No one is listening until you fart.

5. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

6. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away, and you have their shoes.

7. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

8. Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

9. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,it was worth it.

10. Don't worry--It only seems kinky the first time.

11. Good judgement comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.

12. There are two theories about arguing with women. Neither one works.

13. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

14. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Another day at home....

This morning when I woke up, I felt really crappy and agitated. I hate spending yet another a day at home, while others are working. The doctor prescribed strong pain killer (I took one the other day and it knocked me right out....) and I tried to stay away from them as I do not want to rely on them. Instead, I commanded my body to fight the pain.

Joe is a lovely husband. He took two days off to take care of me. He drove back and forth between the hospital and our home at least three times on Monday. On Tuesday, he woke up bright and early and came to the hospital at 6:30am to pick me up. For the last few days, I did not do much except eat, sleep and watch TV. Joe has been cooking comfort food (well... I wrote all the recipes last week. He made me Vietnamese rice roll for lunch, corn soup and tuna sandwich for dinner. The first night I got home from the hospital, I woke Joe up twice in the middle of the night to help me go to the bathroom.

Resting at Home...

I can't believe it has almost been a month since the last time I wrote something.

Went into surgery on Monday at Civic Hospital. It was an over-due operation which should have had happened at least 6 months ago. With the wedding planning and stuff, I gave myself a great excuse to postpone this surgery. This is the second surgery I went through in the last 6 years. Last surgery was a major one, and I was off work for 6 weeks. This time, the procedure was less evasive, and I will be returning to work in two weeks.

In an effort to stay positive, I tend to think of this two-week recovery time as my summer vacation. I begin to wonder... why was the last time I had taken time off in the summer? Hmm... Summer of 1998 when I graduated from UBC and I managed to swing two months off before starting my first job.