Spring Cleaning -- Week2 Summary

What have I done besides watching the baby robins during last week? First of all, I painted half of the kitchen/dining room before I ran out of painter's tape. Let me tell you, it was not easy at all. I am talking about moving that huge china cabinet by myself! I took everything out of there to lighted the load, but still, that thing must weight a ton. I have those moving pad things, but I couldn't even lift the legs to put it under. In the advertisements, they showed you how easy it is to move a armoire or a huge bookshelf with all the books in it, but they forgot to tell you that you need 2 more people to help you to put these pads in place. They were useless in my case. So, I ended up pushing it away from the wall, and hoping I didn't scratch the floor. Now I bought more painter's tape, I can resume tonight. It should be much easier, since half of the remaining space is kitchen cabinets.
Oh, I bought some over the door hangers for the closets, so now all my closets are well organized. Everything is in its own space, and neatly folded or hanging behind the door. I bought some plastic baskets before, so the small items won't fall through the wire shelves. They look so nice, I just kept opening the closet doors to admire my work. Silly, huh?
I made more baby gifts, you know, those matching bibs, burp clothes, nursing cover, ... I am so into it now, and actually already choose the fabrics for more.
Oh, almost forgot, one of my phalaenopsis started blooming. I have been waiting for a couple of month, and the first flower finally opened up last week. Let me tell you it's just beautiful! It's the warm white color, with purple/dark pink lip. It looks very much like this one I found online. I will post my own pictures later. (Update: here is mine, with only one flower opened)
Update on China earthquake from CNN.
- "The death toll in worst-hit Sichuan province, southwestern China, rose to at least 34,073 with another 245,109 people hurt, Chinese government officials said Monday. Authorities have estimated that the final death toll could reach 50,000, while millions more people have been left homeless by the disaster."
- "Traffic halted, work stopped and people bowed their heads across the country to observe three minutes of silence as air raid sirens, car, truck and train horns sounded a "wail of grief" at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT), exactly one week since the earthquake struck. Even rescue workers paused from the job of clearing debris and searching for survivors to mark the moment."
- "Meanwhile, at least 200 rescue workers have been buried by mud slides during the past three days, a transport ministry official told the official Xinhua state news agency."
- "On Sunday a 53-year-old man, was pulled out of the rubble in Yingxiu town in Sichuan's Wenchuan county -- near the epicenter -- 148 hours after the quake. The effort took 8 hours."
- "The landslide blocked the valley's Qingzhu river and a lake rising behind the wall of debris threatened Saturday to break its banks and send torrents cascading into villages downstream."

More Stories on China Earthquake

My eyes have been swollen since Monday, when the devastating earthquake happened. I cannot control myself. Reading the stories online, looking at those pictures, and watching it on TV, I cried every single time! Sad news came one after another, but there were some good news too. At one school site, 89 children were pulled from the rubble alive so far, while at least 201 students were killed when the building collapsed while many napped. Two pregnant women were rescued from their collapsed apartment building with only minor injuries after 50 hrs burried under the debris. And my parents told me another heartbreaking story when I called them this morning. A young couple went to work, and left their baby home with the grandma. And when the earthquake happened or afterwards, I don't know the exact timing, the injuried grandma gathered her last strength and pushed the baby out through some cracks. When the couple finally came back, their baby was safe and sound, but the grandma died. That was soooo sad!
In other news, some of the rescuers and nurses were talking about their own stories. When they found some burried children alive and still concious, the kids will beg for help, "Uncle/aunt, save me! Save me!". They were all saved. And this is the exact word from one of the rescuers, "If anything (bad) had happened to her, the voice could haunt me for the rest of my life." And another very important aspect is most families have ONLY ONE child! "Not only must thousands of parents suddenly cope with the loss of a child, but many must cope with the loss of their only child." You can clearly see the pain in some of the pictures, mothers screaming and crying on the ground, while fathers sat next to their children's bodies looking lost and tears quietly running down their face. I cannot even imagine how much pain they are experiencing.
Many Chinese people here will attend the Chinese Rally at Harvard Square/Cambridge Common Park to have a candle-lights prayer for the victims this weekend. If any of you are in Boston area, please attend it. It's from 2pm to 6pm, on both Saturday and Sunday (17-18th), at Cambridge Common. And those of you who cannot make it, please find other ways to help out. Thanks.

DEATH TOLL KEEPS RISING

Here is some news from CNN.com from this morning.

"Earlier it reported that the death toll had risen to 14,866. An unofficial tally of deaths in individual communities -- as reported by the news agency over several days -- puts the toll at 19,565. Xinhua also said nearly 26,000 people were still buried under debris and another 14,000 missing. More than 64,000 people sustained injuries." Some towns lost over 75% of their population!
"At one three-story school in Sichuan's Qingchuan county 178 students were confirmed dead after the building collapsed."

Good news is the rain is finally over, so the outside helps can get in. "in Sichuan province, where 20,000 Chinese soldiers have been mobilized for rescue and recovery, state media reported. Another 30,000 were en route to the region. Thousands of troops are traveling by train -- on rail lines that are also transporting supplies."

I heard from some friends here in US that their companies are matching their donations. That is very generous of them! DH is in China now, and people are donating money at where he's at too. The most touching thing is the survivors in those areas were lining up to donate blood! Lots of injuried people suffer from broken bones, bruises, and scrapes, and medical supplies are running low. The fact those survivors can give the only thing they can, their own blood, to help out other unfortunated before outside helps get in is the most amazing and unselfish thing to me!

DEADLY EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

A deadly 7.9-magnitude quake happened at about 2:28 p.m. Monday (6:28 a.m. GMT), May 12th, it was the largest the region has seen since 1976. And a string of nearly 30 seismic jolts hit the province in the first 24 hours following major quake. All of those quakes were magnitude 4.0 and above. The death toll is over 12,000 now, and still growing. Millions of homes destroyed, thousands of people still burried under the rubbles. Like that's not enough, the weather was just not cooperating, heavy rain slowed down the rescue teams, mud slide and destroyed road blocked outside relief, derailed and burning train cut the railway, strong wind grounded the helicopters and military paratroopers. This quake was so massive, the effects could be felt across the country and beyond. In Beijing, 1,500 km away from the epicenter, buildings swayed and office workers poured out onto the streets. Tremors were also reported in Bangkok, Hanoi and Taipei.

I have been following the news on TV and online, and let me tell you, I cannot stop my tears. Dead bodies lined up on the ground, kids burried in their school and discovered dead next to their teachers, people crying and searching for their family members, thousands of people injuried and covered in blood slept on the street without tent or any covering, ... It's just bloody everywhere. Yet in such chaos, you still can see hope. People are helping each other, holding strangers by hand, taking care of the injuried. In a hospital yard, women held their hands and stood in circle, trying to give the woman in labor a little bit privacy.

My family has been through this before. I lost several family members in 1976 TangShan quake, including my grandfather and a cousin. My sister was there with our family, me and my parents were in another city where the damages were not as bad. My dad got so worried, and since there were no train or bus available, he biked there on the debris covered roads. That was 4 HOUR train ride away! I don't know how he did it, but I can totally understand why he did it. So, to everyone here in US, even if you are not chinese, or you are a chinese but your family not from that area, please find a way to help out. Those poor people desperately need food, clean water, clothes, tents, and medical attention. Please find a way to donate something! THANK YOU!