I came home from work today to find a new addition to the family. My mom and my sister went out and bought a mixed-breed puppy, just shy of three months-old. It is a Chihuahua-Terrier mix. My sister wants to name it Van Gogh, but I say it should be named Chaim, after the writer Chaim Potok. Chaim Choi sounds better than Van Gogh Choi anyways. My dad, apparently, was interested in a much more expensive and pretty purebred puppy that was offered for sale as well. My guess is that he was overruled by the dominant females.
I cannot seem to forget my old Lhasa Apso, Shanny, who died of old age on Guam a few years back. She became a part of our family when I was in the fifth grade and lived to the ripe old age of 13. I grew up playing hide-and-seek with her in the house and taste-testing the different flavors of her 'Come 'n' Get It' dog food. Yeah, go ahead and make a face and call me gross, but at the time, I was simply conducting a quality assurance check on my fellow family member's meal.
Shanny had the prettiest eyes and the most beautiful white fur... that is, when we washed her. She had a keen understanding of the going-ons in my family and was bilingual in that she could understand key phrases, such as "Go to your room!" or "Let's go (outside)!" in both English and Korean.
It's strange how Shanny still stirs my memories and sometimes leaves me missing her very much. After all, I used to think she was just a dog. But she was the dog I shared my childhood with and I find that the adoption of a new puppy cannot take away my sense of missing Shanny. In a way, I resent this new puppy and the attention my mom and my sister lavished on him today. It felt like a betrayal of memory. Even as I write this, my feelings strike me as being quite absurd, and I suppose with time I, too, will grow fond of this Van Gogh-Chaim-Whateverhisnameshallbe Chihuahua-Terrier puppy.
But for now, I secretly harbor the hope that it will run away and leave me with my memories of Shanny.
05/12/04
Today I came across Proverbs 19:21:
"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand."
Reading this gave me a soothing assurance in the midst of my turbulent thoughts.
Somewhere along the journey, I'd forgotten to "cast all my cares upon Him."
05/07/04
I took a free online IQ test tonight out of curiosity and received an IQ score of 135. While taking the IQ test, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my dusty brain still remembered how to solve multiple fractions and how to find the length of a hypotenuse by using the Pythagorean Theorem. What a relief!
02/21/04
(With my cousin Jeanne and her three kids, Audrey Rie (10 months),
Christopher Keita (6 years, 9 months), & Lisa Ashley (9 years, 5 months)
at Yokosuka, Japan. May 12, 2002.)
I miss my cousin and her family. I left Japan for good on May 16, 2002, and although it's been almost two years since I last felt Christopher's arms wrapped around my neck, Lisa Ashley's insistent tug on my hand to get my attention, and laughter at Audrey's wide grin when given a tasty morsel to eat, I still feel the warmth of their love that they showered upon me in farewell. I remember thinking back then, with much gratitude, that children are INDEED blessings from God!
02/16/04
Happy Presidents' Day! This day holds no sentimental value for me, but I will celebrate any day and call it 'happy' if it means a day off from work. Hehe.
This past week, I hit the road and went to Las Vegas for the first time. I'm not much of a gambler so I can't comment too much on that end, but I will say that I truly enjoyed the water fountain shows of the Bellagio and the interior decor of the Venetian. I also had a chance to trek out to the Hoover dam, but I can't say it's someplace I'd go and visit twice.
I recently learned that my high school class (Class of '95) is planning our ten year reunion. Currently, the majority seems to be in favor of holding the reunion in Las Vegas because so many of us left the island of Guam since graduation and are now residing in the states.
