Alright, I am going to admit it...being a Mom and trying to juggle the career sucks. There, I said it. My favorite blogger, James Lileks, writes of his Daddy experiences daily. His ability to juggle his writing time with his daughter's play-dates, school and shopping, amazes me now. Before, his blogs were merely entertaining events that happened...now, they have taken on new meaning.
Tai-tai left on Monday to be with her best friend...and I mean that in every sense of the word, best. Tai-tai loves the Vietnam tai-tai as much as she would a big sister...if she ever had one. I had documented here about their daughter's battle with cancer in the past year. Diagnosed with a fast growing and spreading brain tumor; they caught it early. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, it all worked...she is clean today. This weekend, we received a phone call that informed us that Vietnam tai-tai now had her own battle with cancer; breast cancer.
She discovered the lump in a routine exam in the shower (they work!!) and they immediately called their doctor. After traveling to Singapore and being examined, preparations were made for surgery to remove the lump. My immediate thought was...what in the world did Vietnam expat do to deserve this kind of suffering in his family?? If there is a God out there, and a merciful God at that, give them a little slack, eh (that would be street talk for, have mercy on them)? You gotta wonder what the master plan is here.
So, my first thought was, how do we get tai-tai down there for moral support to the family. Being expats, these times in which you are thrown away from your routine and family (Vietnam expat cancer survivor stayed behind with friends) can be lonely and frightening. A friendly face and a body to hug is sometimes everything that makes a difference in these tough times.
Tickets were hastily arranged, hotels booked online, and tai-tai was off on Monday afternoon for Singapore.
The visit was supposed to be a surprise but, the doctor blew it. Although it wasn't a massive surprise to the patient, it was still a big surprise and a comforting time for her. Like I said before; you gotta do what you gotta do to help in times like these.
Back at the homestead, the timing couldn't have been worse. I was scheduled to tour several factories with visitors from the USA, as well as have extended meetings with them. I cut short my first day but it was tough on the second day. Thank goodness expat-daughter knows how to cook! She's been pretty good at watching expat-son during this time. Even expat-son called me this morning in the office to ask me, 'when are you going to be home tonight' making sure that I understood he was waiting for me.
Like I said, I have a new found respect for those that juggle the demands of work and home. It is especially hard out here with these jobs, as the responsibility placed on you is ten times the amount I would ever have in a position in the USA. So, my sense of obligation to my responsibilities outweighs those to the family sometimes. Not a good thing. Time to start thinking about getting home at better times now.
News/Blog dump...
- Michelle Malkin provides a great list of links related to the Canadian government censorship of news surrounding a graft scandal being investigated right now. Captain Ed is providing all the details and the debate rages about American blogs providing information that is banned in Canada. Hmmm...same sort of thing I face here in Chiner, as I pluck stuff from all over the world to try and find out what is being banned here. Update: Instapundit has a bit more on this controversy.
- Michelle also has a look at the travesty of the Pulitzer prize for photography. Along with that, here is a link from Michelle that gives us photo’s that deserved to be winners. I know what my favorite is (see right). A little bit more from Roger Simon on this subject too.
- It's a damn shame that Tony Blair didn't check the calendar before calling elections!!! Too bad he didn’t coincide his announcement with a ribbon cutting at the opening of this show. Maybe more people would have showed up!
- Here are an interesting take on Chiner trying to politically take advantage of a new Pope, since JP2 couldn’t be fooled into anything a commie wants or does.
- Quick rundown of Chiner news for ya...
- Let's build something and move the population of Portland out of the way…
- Mine disaster of the week attracting attention of those in charge.
- Don't cheat on your taxes in GD!!
- Thanks for the race horse…err…sorry about the accident!
That's it for today. I am thinking of taking the kids out to dinner tonight. A sort of 'thanks' for being pretty decent while tai-tai has been away. They haven't been fighting too much, just little bits here and there. Not enough to ruin the household while tai-tai is away. Don't forget...LiveStrong
