Kung Hei Fat Choi everyone :)
We have officially welcomed the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar. Hope things are going well with you.

I was at my parents on Monday for a long overdue visit. It was supposed to be last week but after coming home from our road trips, I had fever and a nasty cough so I had to postpone it. I didn't want to bring any virus with me to their place considering that Mom is not well herself. So when I was cleared, I went to them while my husband was away.

Then we had to bring her to the doctor on Tuesday because when she woke up, her lips were swollen and she had big rashes all over her neck, arms and legs. I was combing her hair when I noticed she was sobbing while looking at herself in the mirror. She was like a teenager who found some nasty zits or breakouts on her face, lol!
I literally laughed out loud 'coz she reminded me of myself doing the exact same thing a few months back when I saw my lips swelling like I had a Botox injection that had gone wrong and one of my eyes looked like it had been hit hard by someone, lol!
So to make her feel better, I shared that experience and how the farmboy teased me so and still makes fun of me about it until this time. I don't know but for some reason, crying was my default reaction then and seeing my mother do the same was really amusing.

Anyway back to her check up, after undergoing some lab tests, it turned out she had some allergic reaction to the cold temperature. She's one who doesn't like to use thick comforters saying they're heavy so she uses some thin ones and prefers the heater to be on. There was a power outage the night before and electricity was not restored 2 days later. She must have been cold but didn't say any word until she felt her skin itchy that she moaned.
It dawned on me that she had passed on a lot (of her personality) to me - traits, mannerisms and also the oddities. People often say I'm her spitting image and it's fine with me, but do I really have to have everything of her including her allergies and pains of all things? Hmmm... that was just me making jokes on the way home from the clinic.

When we arrived at their house, there was a box of pizza (above) brought to us by my niece's boyfriend so while snacking, I continued teasing both mom and dad. "Come on Mom! Why do you have to give me your allergies and your leg cramps and all? Can't you give me better things?" Dad joined in, poking fun at both mother and I. "Hahaha! I don't know about you two." said he while pouring himself another cup of milk.
"Dad, I wonder what have you given me?" Let me think first, but I'm just glad it wasn't your height. I teased back. Mom's laughter was very full and non-pretentious and I loved hearing it. Probably the same reason why my old man always does his best to make her laugh now and then. And I do like it a lot!
We had some really fun moments during my visit but then I had to leave. The unstable electricity in their area plus the bad internet made me come back home earlier than I had planned. But I will be back again and there will be more to say and laugh about.
Until then, happy weekend!
Photos are my own. 22012023/09:15ph