We were suppose to go camping this weekend, but with the weather forecast and some of the minor issues with the trailer we opted not to go and we spent the time together as a family relaxing. Today we went to Sturgeon falls for some poutine, pick up some treats and strawberries. When I woke up this morning my youngest son gave me repeated hugs to Mel and I and told us he loved us. This is a bit unusual as I normally harass him a bit and try to give him lots of hugs. It was a bit reversed today as he initiated it. I appreciated the affection that he had show us. He has always been one to thank us for small things and he has deep appreciation for the kindness of others. There were no strawberries to purchase, so Mel and the kids went out to pick them. What I love about our kids is while picking their first thought is making sure that we had picked enough to share with grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as cousins. They eat a ridiculous amount so I am not sure if they will last enough to share, but they always think of something positive to share.
1.) I have regular meetings with my manager on a scheduled basis and he had remarked about the positivity through this journey. Over the last 5 months my workload has been sporadic and I have not necessarily been 100% focused on my work. To my work colleagues and everyone I work with this is not unexpected or a deal breaker. What I have gratitude for is frank discussions about how I can improve work. Looking back at some of the work I have done in the last couple of months it is remarkable the drop in quality. This was not necessarily due to my treatments or anything. Growing up I never received much positive reinforcement. It was always about how do you become better. The approach of my manager is in line with what I have grown up with.
The kids report cards are available now and I need Mel to tell me how to act with it. She will tell me their grades and foolish me has to ask whether that is good or not. They are good students, but for my sister and myself the only acceptable grade as A+. I have a hard time telling them a B is ok, let alone an A-. I keep my mouth shut and let Melanie deal with this.
2.) My best friend made some food for me and it reminded me of when we were young. He made a recipe from his mom of something that we use to eat all of the time. It was nostalgic and comforting. I have gratitude for the effort it took to make and it was something that I can eat. There are a lot of food and things I currently have an aversion to, but the food was nice to eat. There is easily enough food for several meals so we divided it up and froze some of it. An interesting thing with the kids is if one of them likes it, the other one generally does not. We need to make slight modifications to our food plans for this.
3.) I went to school at the same time as one of the neighbours on our street. He is a great guy and we get along well. When we were in graduate school together we did not have any classes together or interacted much for coursework as we were in different programs. I always had respect for him and enjoyed talking to him. Over the last couple of years with Covid he has been around more and we have had street talks. He will give me a call on occasion to check on how I am. It is appreciated. A lot of my friends will send me text messages or calls to see how I am.
Quoc Hao