Our daycare business officially shut down on Wednesday, Oct. 9, instead of Thursday as planned. I guess the parents and kids couldn't wait to get away from us and our house. My wife worked incredibly hard on this project for more than eight months. She cleaned, cooked, redesigned our house, created pool time and helped with every activity the kids did. She gave every kid a bath and shampoo daily, and assisted with potty training when necessary. And believe me, it was necessary. The kids left us gifts -- I got a sore throat and mild cough from one of the girls. and a boy left our daughter Joanna a case of diarrhea. Joanna is a hearty soul and shook it off in a day. So far, nothing for Phuong other than grief for her choice of food, milk and water. There were complaints about the fact we served chicken twice a week, and used brands of milk and bottled water that allegedly contained chemicals. Despite some parents' focus on "organic" food, their kids seemed to have their fair share of illnesses. Perhaps these were "organic" illnesses, which are probably better for the kids than the generic brand. Who knows? Who cares? I'm sure we did a lot of things wrong regarding child care. I don't have the benefit of being an outside observer with the kids we watched or with our daughter Joanna. I'll let the experts criticize us. Regardless, Phuong and I thought every child who came to our house was wonderful, bright and a joy to be around. Behavior and English improved steadily while the kids were here. The hitting and toy throwing stopped. We got to watch them grow up and taught them how to clean up, and we loved it. Thanks to the kids and parents for letting us be a part of the children's lives. As for Joanna, she never quite jived with the group. For example, she loves sharp cheddar cheese while the other kids would spit out the small samples I gave them. She speaks English, not Vietnamese, and looks and acts differently than the other kids. Joanna is obsessed with books, letters and numbers. The other kids, not so much. The other kids didn't really play with Joanna. No big deal because Joanna does her own thing anyway, and seems extremely comfortable with herself. We love her just the way she is.
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I've noted before that Phuong's sister-in-law has a breakfast business, making Pho, Bun bo Hue, Bun Rieu, Hu tiu -- my wife gave me the spellings so don't correct me, correct her. The "soups" are all well-made but Bun bo Hue -- with or without blood pudding -- is my favorite. Pho is the national dish, sort of, and I've learned to like it. Hu tiu is dependably good and I'm beginning to appreciate Bun Rieu, which has some kind of crab base. A big bowl of any of the soups costs about $1 U.S., so it's a bargain to say the least. I don't eat soup for breakfast, but Phuong and I share a bowl for lunch nearly every day. It's economical, convenient and tasty. Dessert for me is almost always yogurt.. The point of all of this is to say that I'm learning to adjust to the food here. It's taken more than six years. But I really, really miss things that I enjoyed constantly in the U.S. like pretzels, good lunch meat, apple pie, good cheese and good beer. For now, Phuong's sister-in-law is doing her best to keep me fat and happy.
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I have a nomination for Time's Person of the Year, and it ain't Donald Trump. I'll nominate the lady who gives me acupuncture. No pain, no reason to complain. For the past three weeks, this low-keyed woman has stuck needles in my butt, back and down both legs -- and turned on the juice -- to produce remarkable results in the once-wobbly White Monkey. I've combined the acupuncture with some yoga stretches and nightly tai chi to gain the mobility and athleticism of a man in his, well, mid-60s. Don't be jealous. All these techniques are available to anyone who is persistent and has a desire to be pain-free. That would be me at the moment. Back pain helped ruin my brother's life -- and my heart truly goes out to anyone dealing with chronic pain. Persevere ... and good luck to you. I've gone from being in pain to being relatively pain free -- and a pain in everyone else's ass again. I love it.
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