As we headed into the elevator, I told the boys, “Let’s leave her here.” Đạo protested, “No. You’re being mean to mommy.” Đán chimed in, “You can’t leave the pretty girl here.”

Chín năm trước tổ chức một buổi sinh nhật mừng mẹ 71 tuổi. Thế mà bây giờ mẹ đã bước sang 80. Năm nay sẽ mừng tuổi mẹ cùng đại gia đình và một vài bạn thân của mẹ.

So với chín năm trước mẹ đã yếu đi nhiều. Tay chân bây giờ bị đau nên đi đứng khó khăn hơn xưa. Tuy yếu đi nhưng mẹ vẫn phấn đấu. Vẫn lo miếng ăn cho con cháu. Vẫn vui vẽ và vẫn giận hờn. Cái quan trọng là cố gắng đừng làm cho mẹ buồn. Bây giờ tôi đã thấu hiểu được tính tình của mẹ. 80 năm vẫn không thay đổi. Thôi thì chỉ mong mẹ được sống yên ổn nhẹ nhàng. Ngày nào còn có mẹ ngày đó còn hạnh phúc.

Tuy không kề cận bên mẹ mỗi ngày nhưng tôi vẫn luôn nghĩ đến mẹ. Trong tim tôi luôn có mẹ cho dù mẹ ở bất cứ nơi nào. Trần gian chỉ là nơi ở trọ còn trong lòng là nơi vĩnh cửu. Tuy nhiên tôi vẫn muốn mẹ được ở trọ trần gian càng lâu càng tốt.

Xin chúc mẹ thượng thọ 80.

I have been visiting George Mason Dental every six months for general cleaning in the past six years. Dr. Duy Q Võ runs a very organized schedule. I never had to wait long. In fact, if I come early he would squeeze me in as soon as he can instead of letting my wait until my appointment time.

The office is clean and comfortable and the staff members are friendly. Dr. Võ examined and performed the cleaning himself. The best part is that he doesn’t rope me into other services. In the past, I dreaded going to the dentist because they would find all the things wrong to get to to come back for more services. In six years, Dr. Võ only recommended two crowns. He always encouraged me to brush softly to prevent bone loss and gum recession.

In addition to being a caring and efficient dentist, Dr. Võ appears to be technological savvy. Making online appointment and getting text message reminder are an ease. I highly recommend George Mason Dental if you want great dental service without all the extra costs.

In late January, we enrolled our one-year-old son in Teddy Bear Day Care and Preschool. As with most infants his age, he still cries every morning when I drop him off. Fortunately, his teachers, Ms. Allison and Ms. Mary in particular, have been patience in helping him making the transition. They would pick him up from my arms and try to calm him down. As soon as I walk out the door, he would stop crying and get on with his day.

In the past four months at Teddy Bear, I have observed that the teachers and staff members are friendly and accommodating. They work with us to give our son the comfort and the care he needs during his time at the facility. For example, they would let us know what type of food he likes so we can pack him extra snacks if we want to.

I also appreciate the no-cellphone policy at Teddy Bear. At some daycares, I have noticed that allowing cellphone can be distracting. As much as I would love to see photos and activities of our son during his time at the daycare, I prefer the teachers to focus their attention on the kids.

It will take a bit of time for our son to make the adjustment in the morning drop off, but I have confidence in the teachers and staff members at Teddy Bear. I trust that our son is in loving and caring hands.

I have visited True Eyecare three times in the past six years. Although I can’t recall my first experience, my first impression of Dr. Mỹ-Hạnh Triệu was friendly and professional. My second visit was in 2014. She and her staff helped me pick out a pair of Polo (made in Italy) I still wear today. In my twenty years of experience of wearing glasses, I found that only glasses that are made in Italy last the longest. My previous pair, also made-in-Italy Polo, lasted over ten years. I had a handful of pairs made in China broke within a year.

A few days ago, my sons played with my glasses and misplaced it. I thought it was lost so I made an appointment to visit Dr. Triệu. Luckily I found it underneath the couch a day before my appointment, but I kept it anyway since it has already been three years. Yesterday I went in for an exam and browsed the collection to find a new pair with the help of her technician Hiếu, who is also nice and helpful. While trying out the glasses, a teenage girl walked in with some issues in her eye. Although the girl has insurance, her deductible would be extremely high. As a result, Dr. Triệu only charged her for a small fee—even less than my deductible. I found that to be very generous of her.

After I decided on a new pair of Versace with anti-scratch, anti-reflection, and transition lenses, the bill came quite high. She gave me some discounts, but I decided to take out the transition. Today I changed my mind and would like to switch to the transition lenses. Even though I thought it was too late, I gave her a call anyway. It didn’t hurt to ask. Fortunately she is willing to do it for me. I just have to pay the difference for the transitional feature.

True to its brand True Eyecare truly cares. I highly recommend Dr. Mỹ-Hạnh Triệu if you live in Falls Church and Arlington.

Theo nghiên cứu của những nhà khoa học cho biết: đàn làm tình thường xuyên sẽ giúp những chức năng telomeres sống dài lâu nên sẽ tăng thêm tuổi thọ. Nhà chuyên môn phát hiện khi người đàn bà giao cấu trong một tuần thì chức năng telomeres tăng 30 phần trăm. Sex cũng có lợi cho sức khoẻ vì nó giúp tăng hệ thống miễn dịch (immune system) và thả ra chất oxytocin.

Tôi không biết những bài nghiên cứu này có đúng hay không nhưng tôi sẵn sàng thử nghiệm. Tuy mệt nhọc nhưng nếu giúp vợ sống lâu thì tôi sẽ cố gắng hết sức mình. Không biết bà xã có muốn sống lâu hay không.

Hôm nay lại phải ra toà vì tháng trước bị cảnh sát thổi vì nói chuyện điện thoại qua earphone. Luật chỉ cho cài một bên mà tôi không biết. Rồi bị phạt luôn cái lỗi quá hạng inspection. Ngày mai sẽ không cãi mà chỉ nhận tội. Cái inspection sẽ bỏ qua. Chỉ trả cái tội dùng earphone.

Năm nay xui quá. Mới tháng sáu mà đã ra toà ba lần. Mấy anh cảnh sát làm ơn tha cho tôi. Đóng tiền phạt kiểu này chắc chắn là bỏ lái xe luôn.

Bốn giờ ba mươi đóng laptop lại. Khuấy ly cà phê đá latte. Lái xe đi đón Đán về. Cả nhà dùng bửa ăn tối thịnh soạn (leftovers) rồi cho ba thằng con đi tắm. Tắm xong hai đứa lớn chơi với nhau còn hai cha con thả bộ quanh nhà. Xuân đã biết đi nên rất thích nắm tay ba đi dạo buổi chiều.

Tám giờ mẹ cho Xuân đi ngủ. Đạo Đán xem Tivi ăn snack còn tôi đọc sách. Một tiếng đồng hồ sau đánh răng lên giường ngủ. Khi cả hai thằng điều ngủ tôi trốn qua phòng khác đọc sách tiếp cho đến khuya. Lâu lâu lucky được vợ cho sướng năm phút. Cuộc sống như thế là đủ rồi.

In her new book, Senator Warren is outspoken against Donald Trump, the Koch brothers, big banks, Wall Street, and the top one percent. To build a better future for our country, she urges the government to invest in education, infrastructure, and research. Despite the devastating lost of the 2016 presidential election, she is ready to fight bigotry, build opportunity, and demand democracy. Except for a few personal accounts, which had been told in her previous book, Warren’s writing is engaging and inspiring. I can’t wait to see her taking out the incompetent president in 2020.

In his engaging TED talk, Michael Bierut shares his passionate involvement with designing libraries that make kids want to read. He concludes:

The unintended consequence here, which I would like to take credit for and like to think I can think through the experience to that extent, but I can’t. I was just focused on a foot ahead of me, as far as I could reach with my own hands. Instead, way off in the distance was a librarian who was going to find the chain of consequences that we had set in motion, a source of inspiration so that she in this case could do her work really well. 40,000 kids a year are affected by these libraries. They’ve been happening for more than 10 years now, so those librarians have kind of turned on a generation of children to books and so it’s been a thrill to find out that sometimes unintended consequences are the best consequences.