I was half asleep, half awake. Then I was back to my hometown, at the old desolate, lonely adobe house. The time was at midnight, I did not go home to sleep but went to my neighbor’s house which was located directly behind our house with one flight of masonry stair connecting on the right side of the two houses. I could see from my neighbor’s yard that my brother was sleeping in the room where I had spent so many years of my boyhood. I was in the pitch dark, the atmosphere was suppressing, bleak and sorrowful. Then from the window of my parent’s room, came a flash light guiding my way to the big, heavy wooden door of my neighbor’s house, I could not distinguish by whom who was holding the flash torch, either my mom or my dad, but it did not matter, my heart was warmed and the bleakness was diffused by the light. Then I opened the door and tried to latch it, but the latch was broken, with some tethered digital gadget hanging, a couple of disconnected wires dangling, such a weird comparison between the ancient and the modern, then I tried to find a room to sleep, but every room was closed, there were people talking behind one door, and then I find a room with the door open, I looked inside, the house was as old as ours, as damaged as every house in the village, everything appeared broken and sorrowful. It was unbearably a sad atmosphere, dismal beyond measure, I wanted to shout, but I could not make a noise, I could not even breathe, every atom of the air was solidified and motionless, then I was startled to awake from the suffocation. I checked the time, it was 2:30 Am.

Such was a weird dream of mine occurred on not an unusual night but occurred in a place on a continent almost ten thousand kilometers away from my hometown. I tried to have a grasp of the meaning of it, the only warm element in the dream, the flash light stood out conspicuously among all of the dreariness. The care and concern from my parents have broken the spell that was ominously looming, the dream was short and seemed nothing of significance, but my mind was in turbulence. Among many mistakes I have made in my life, the greatest one must be the one that the time I have spent with my parents after marriage had been so little that I could count the days, and the time I did spend with my parents was so uneventful and unworthy that it was nothing compared to my parents increasing kindness and increasing helplessness. My father’s receding hairline, grizzled hair has been turning white, at last gathering, I observed that his once full-mouthed teeth had lost one of front teeth under his nether lip. There was bursting of air when he was speaking which somehow made his voice hollow and not articulate. The aging process of my father had been abrupt due to the interval of gathering had been wide. He had liver problem and stomach problem, the passing away of my great auntie and the recent diagnosis of cancer of my senior uncle affected him gravely and profoundly. There was worry and there was fear in his voice when he bore me of such bad tidings.

I was on the ferry boat, which was breaking and pounding waves, bore me to the international airport of Hongkong, from thence, the flight would take me to Ethiopia where I have been working. I called my father, he was at my brother’s home, taking care of my 11 years old niece, both of her father and mother are government officials, and both of them have been working far from the town. My mom was at the before mentioned old house in a mountain surrounded village where she was harvesting bamboo shoots, for it was the middle spring, the harvest has to be done quick before the bamboo shoots bursting into full length bamboo in no time. Over the phone, I told my father to take good care of himself and do physical check-up regularly to avoid certain diseases to become too advanced to be curable. He assured me of such should not be a concern of mine and no need of worry from my side. He then admonished me to be safe and act wise when working in Africa. I could feel the wistfulness and melancholy in his voice. The words were simple, but full of concern and care. I hung up the phone with an uncontrollable yearning to go to my parents momentarily. I wanted to quit whatever I was doing, whatever those were deemed necessary and important, I want to quit wholly and completely. From a certain perspective, they all seemed meaningless, iron cold and somehow brutal, was a career gained but at the sacrifice of a normal family life worthwhile? I keep wondering is life so hard as the family has to broke into pieces? These were tough questions which could not have a satisfactory answer at the moment. But the balance had been keep tilting towards the family.

And there were mean and selfish persons I had encountered, there were distressful and painful moments I had experienced, but the image of my parents and the old house have always been the surest way to give me comfort, courage, and a serenity of mind. The torch light from the window of my parent’s room, though appeared in my half awoken dream, is actually real physically in that they have been giving me light and direction, always a way out at some darkest moments. The emotional debt to my parents is getting heavier and becoming more and more imminent with each of the passing day, the dream is a sign for me to do something to make a change before it was too late. An peaceful night should be, was thus startled into a sleepless one by such a dashing and intruding dream,  a dream of no complex plot, but bit of weirdo, very thought provoking, bearing so much meaning, ominously, auspiciously, or promisingly, can’t tell for sure, but an enlightening moment for sure, a glaring light of warning was shed profoundly on the status quo of my family relations. A lot of heavy thinking to do, and a lot of meticulous planning for the future to be worked out, the remaining of night was thus ruined for sleep and to be spent in such an unexpected and meaningful way……….

Mostly we believe that we are gifted with good memory. At least, no one else admits he is dull. Therefore, we strongly hold the faith that we can remember almost everything and do not need to list things we are supposed to do. The fact is memory declines as aging. As a matter of fact, we just cannot clearly recall what exactly we have done before (particular something happened in a very long time ago), only the vague outline of the experience that we can mainly recount.

It is very easily to be distracted by many things from work and life. After going back home, it is normal to find there is still no clue about what exactly has been done in daytime. If there is no particular plan, it would be easy to squander away time without a sense of awareness. Every day there are so many things to deal with. How to balance between those trifles and assignments is a problem confused me very much. Now I definitely understand the importance of writing down what I should do. Because it makes me efficient to do things so long as I follow the list one step at a time. A specific and ordered schedule undoubtedly saves quite a bit time and improves efficiency.

Much of the time is wasted on the meaningless scheming. The best way is to set up the goal and then have them listed on the plan. Since most of us are average in wisdom, the record of daily check effectively favors self-management.

A goal does not mean to be ambitious. Thinking too much is not workable if there is no pragmatic action. Patiently spend some time to make that list and do it according to the plan. Self-discipline and high strong will are surely required. That is the best time to test if it is qualified to change the routine as small accumulation of steps always becomes enormous giant. Before that, do not dwarf the plan by making no list.

From Monday until Friday most people are busyworking or studying, but in the evenings and off weekends they are free to relax and enjoy themselves. Some watch television or go to the movies;others participate in sports.It depends on individual interests. There are many different ways to spend our spare time.

　　Almost everyone has some kind of hobby. It may be anything from collecting stamps to making model airplanes.Some hobbies are worth a lot of money; others are valuable only to their owners.

　　I know a man Who has a coin collection worth several thousand yuan. A short time ago he bought a rare ten-yuan piece worth 250 yuan. He was very happy about the purchase and thought the price was reasonable, on the other hand, my son collects match boxes. He has almost 600 of them but I doubt if they are wortfi any money. However, to my son they are extremely valuable. Nothing makes him happier than to find a new match-box for his collection.

　　That's what a hobby means, i guess. It is something we like to do in our spare time simply for the fun of. it. The value in money is not important, but the pleasure it gives us is.

From Delish
Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “Fairy Bread” in A Child’s Garden of Verses, this treat is popular at children’s parties in Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the world.

From: Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts ? 2013 by Jackie Alpers Buy the book

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Nutritional Information

Calories    --
Total Fat    --
Saturated Fat    --
Cholesterol    --
Sodium    --
Total Carbohydrate    --
Dietary Fiber    --
Sugars    --
Protein    --
Calcium    --
fairy bread sandwiches

Jackie Alpers

Serves: 4

Ingredients
    U.S.         Metric     Conversion chart

    2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, at room temperature (see Note)
    8 slice(s) bread
    1/2 cup(s) nonpareils, jimmies, confetti, or sparkling sugar

Directions

    Spread a thin layer of butter on one side of each slice of bread. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes from 4 of the buttered slices.
    Place the uncut slices, buttered side up, on a plate or over a bowl to catch excess sprinkles. Cover with sprinkles. Top with the cut-out slices, buttered side down.
 

From EatingWell.com
Delightful and refreshing, this chilled soup works as an appetizer, dessert or snack. If using frozen blueberries, cover the pan in Step 1 to bring the cold blueberry mixture to a boil more quickly.

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Nutritional Information

Calories    115
Total Fat    4g
Saturated Fat    3g
Cholesterol    14mg
Sodium    21mg
Total Carbohydrate    19g
Dietary Fiber    --
Sugars    --
Protein    2g
Calcium    0
spiced blueberry soup

Serves: 8

Total Time: 5 hr 20 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients
    U.S.         Metric     Conversion chart

    4 cup(s) fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries, plus more for garnish
    2 cup(s) water
    1 whole(s) cinnamon stick
    2 tablespoon(s) honey, or more to taste
    1 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh ginger
    2 cardamom pods, (optional)
    2 tablespoon(s) cornstarch
    1/3 cup(s) low-fat milk
    1 reduced-fat sour cream, divided

Directions

    Combine blueberries, water, cinnamon stick, honey, ginger and cardamom pods (if using) in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, until most of the blueberries have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Puree the soup in 2 batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Place a fine sieve over the pan and pour the soup through it back into the pan, straining out any solids. (Discard the solids.)
    Whisk cornstarch and milk in a measuring cup until smooth. Whisk into the blueberry mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over medium heat, stirring. Boil, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, loosely cover and chill until cold, at least 5 hours or up to 2 days.
    Just before serving, whisk 1 cup sour cream into the soup and ladle into bowls; top each serving with 1/2 teaspoon sour cream and swirl decoratively into the soup. Garnish with additional blueberries, if desired.