Updates

First, dad is recovering well and may be out of the hospital in a day or two! We are so happy and relieved! He still needs additional time to fully recover but he will be able to do it in the comfort of his home. He can walk now and eat more "normal" food. We're also happy to have found out that our family doctor will be able to assist him with a routine test for the time that they'll stay with us (and at a reasonable cost.) I was very nervous about all that as I know the health system is so different here in U.S. from what I know it to be back home, complicated that is, and incredibly expensive. Heavenly Father is wonderful and has watched and provided in amazing ways.

Ella is officially reading. She has been reading really for a while now but little sight word books. Now she can pick up a Level 2 reading book and read it by herself! One of the books she ordered through the School Book Fair came yesterday, "Teacher's Pets" and she read it all last night before going to bed. I was in awe! So proud of her. She loves to read and will read at least 20 mins every day (at home), plus the reading time they have in school. And she's done with her homework for the whole month. Since it was just writing capital and lower case letters and answering simple questions, we figured it wouldn't hurt to get it done.

She's over the moon for being cast in her classroom play as a bush deer. Can't wait to hear all about her dress rehearsal! Drama seems to be one of her favorite specials.

Things are getting back to normal. No sinus infection for me, just some weird allergies. The good news is that the nasal spray recommended by the doctor yesterday is already working! It feels so good to be less puffy and cloudy, lol! Yeay! My other antidote before going to the doctor was exercise! Boy, working out sure opens those sinuses! And speaking of exercise, I finally got to run yesterday (2.25 mi in 25 mins, not to shabby to start with.)

Looking forward to the weekend and I only pray for peace, health, and safety.

Recovering

Thanks so much everyone for your nice words, prayers, and thoughts for my dad. He is recovering well and I was able to talk to him for a little bit this morning. It was really wonderful to hear his voice! It gave me more confidence that he would recover completely so we can see each other soon. I feel like I'm getting my "spunk" back little by little and it feels good.

What else we've been up to?

1. Season opening at Dallas Children's Theater with "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

2. Still going strong with swimming. My heart swells up watching Ella do so well. Boy, she is competitive too. Last night it was just her and a little boy. She watched that little kiddo like a hawk (lol!) and always made sure she came in first. Ha-ha! She loves working hard and for that I'm so proud of her. Yesterday she learned the 'dolphin' kick using the kickboard and continued practising her backstroke.

(I have this urge to get back to swimming and exercising. I did work out three times last week in Omaha but need to get back on a training schedule. I want things to go back to normal and this is part of my normality.)
3. And we got her school picture back! It turned out great, I think. Sweet barely-there smile, she's got!

Tender mercies

This week our family was tried, and quite heavily. My dad, tataie, had a life-threatening gastro-intenstinal hemmorage and was on the brink of passing on the other side. I can't describe the unsettling feelings of anxiety and fear, and the many fervent prayers that went up in his behalf over the past couple of days. He is progressing well but still needs a lot of prayers and comfort. I can only imagine what my poor mom went through. She is so wonderful and strong and so is he. He truly fought for his life. It just feels like nothing will be the same having gone through this experience. Traveling plans have slightly changed now. We will have them with us in November instead of this next Wednesday when they were initially scheduled to fly in. Unfortunately they will miss Ella's birthday and Halloween and other fun things we had planned throughout the month. But we are grateful they will be with us and we'll plan more fun activities for when they're here. I am just grateful he is with us. This, coupled with my intermitent sinus issues from last week have thrown me for a loop. I am left to ponder on the fragility of life. I just want to say how grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who watches and doesn't forsake his children. He for sure has not forsaken my daddy. I am grateful for a Father who hears and listens to prayer, a Father who is forever patient and loving. (He showed so much love to Ella by allowing her to have an easy strepthroat episode in that she only had one day of fever and is almost back to her normal and chirpy self.) And I am grateful for His Son who made is all possible for us to be healed of physical and spiritual infirmities and get a second chance.

I am grateful for my wonderfully loving daughter and husband who have been so supportive through all this. Their sweet and sincere prayers have sure been heard. The few conference talks I tuned in were wonderful, and I thank thee, dear Father for such inspired and wonderful prophets. Now I just need to get well and back into my groove before life gets ahead of me.

This and that

I dont' want to forget about these in the midst of our busy life:

*Ella's most recent art:

*Apple Festival at Bluebonnet:



*Wonderful Hrishi who repaired, pressure washed, and painted with the help of a good friend, our backyard deck. Love that smile!!!!

*Lounging by the pool:

*Culture Parade at Primrose:

*I'm in Omaha until Friday and as much as look forward to having a lot of time to myself after work, I so miss my sweethearts!!!

Love

I am the most blessed person in the world to have so much love pouring my way. I've only been gone one day and one night but that's still hard on my sweetie pie. You see, she is in love with me. She told daddy she loves me so much because I'm fuzzy and cute and I have soft skin :)

(I really don't know if I'm fuzzy, cute, and have soft skin but I'm for sure flattered that she perceives me this way! :-))

And I am in love with her too and I miss her so. I'm glad though that our short separation is turning her into a more responsible little person: this morning she woke up, brushed teeth, got dressed, and ate breakfast all by herself, no cajoling from daddy.

Oh, the amazing heart of this child... , of all children.

Triathlon

Swim: Done!

Bike: Done!

Run: Done!

I ran my race. I met and beat my goals. But most importantly, I had a BLAST!!!  I felt good, focused, energized, pumped up, and luckily all things ran smoothly for me before, during, and after the race :-). I am so happy to have taken this opportunity, so happy to have "tri"-ed, so tired but so grateful for all the love and support I got from my biggest fans: Hrishi and Ellie, my trainer John, my parents, and friends! Words can't describe the joy. I am just grateful and humbled to have had this first tri experience, to have swum, biked, and run side by side ordinary folks just like me, not born with innate athletic abilities, but self-taught and willing. It was inspiring, to say the least.

It was fun and exciting to have my sweethearts there with my by the poolside, one timing my laps on his iphone, the other watching mommy go swim crazy :-) Haha! The thing is that they let people walk too, and not swim the whole time if the needed a break. So I did a few "laps" like that. LOL! [To date, I can swim about 7 or 8 clean laps.] Anyway, this lady from our ward who was just leaving the pool area right before my wave start, came back and cheered for me in the middle of the lane and handed me a dry towel when I came out. She was awesome! The funniest thing is though I didn't realize who she was although she looked familiar until Ella pointed out that she is from church!! (Well, all the time I spent in Nursery would explain that!! :-))

Having Hrishi and Ella there the whole entire time through transitions and at the beginning of each leg was amazing! I couldn't have done it without them: thumbs-up and big smiles from across the gym, along with my gatorade were all I needed to keep going.

Aren't they the sweetest??? I love them so so so very much! Thank you guys!!!

Before the swim

I've learned a lot about myself through these past few weeks for training. We are indeed capable of doing a lot more than we think we are. He is undoubtely always there to support and comfort in the middle of it all: swim breaths, kicks, bruised toes, aching calves and feet, through the calm and peace, as well through the stressful (a.k.a "freaking out") times. 

And a very nice surprise is that they were fast and furious with publishing the results, so here it is:
*I ranked 12th overall out of 43 participants (masters, over 40 yrs category + open, 12-39 yrs)
*5th open overall (men and women)
*3rd women open!! Yay! (Hrishi of course is the one who did this complicated math for me! ;-))

I really surprised myself with the biking distance and I am now dreaming of riding a racing bike outdoors sometime in the near future!! (Christmas is coming up, honey! Hint, hint!! ):-)
What's next? Well, I'm looking forward to it whatever it'll be. Run, run/bike, or adventure mud race???! The possibilities are endless. Going to bed very happy! Thank you all for the kind encouraging words all along. If I can do it, anyone can do it and that's a fact!

A cherub for a "Cherub"!!!

Drum roll!!!

Yes, Ella made the Nutcracker cast!!! Hurray! We are so happy for her! I can hardly wait to see her reaction tonight when we tell her. In fact, I'm planning on showing her the cast announcement, make her read the title and then find her name on it! :) All this while Hrishi will be on stand-by with the camera! :)

I love my cherub so much!!!

Congratulations, darling! You are the best!!! :)