Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception

I promised myself I would have a little grotto built at our corner garden in honor of Mama Mary once I finished my chemotherapy. It’s my own tribute to a loving mother who has been an inspiration to me throughout the years and more particularly in the last five months while I was having my treatments.

Today is the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. My doctor allowed me to choose the date and I thought it would be a great way to remember something significant in my life by choosing an important feast day in the Catholic calendar and it also coincided with the 21 days interval from my 5th chemo to the final one.  And I quote,

“The doctrine of the immaculate conception holds that Mary is the one fully human being preserved from original sin because she is the Mother of God. Grace intervened at the very instant in which her life began, preventing sin from touching her in any way, and so making her holy and immaculate from the moment of her conception. This made her worthy, and suggests that she was divinely chosen, to be the Mother of God. Christ preserved Mary from sin because she was his Mother; as Ambrose taught, ‘Christ chose this vessel into which He was about to descend, not of earth, but of heaven; and he consecrated it a temple of purity.”- Jane Shaw

I had my last chemotherapy session today, my “graduation” ,  as my medical oncologist terms it.  She was giving me the thumbs up sign this morning so I jokingly asked, “where’s my diploma Doc”, then she said, “join us, we’ll be having a party this afternoon”.  I will still have my follow-up checkup two weeks from now,once I am done with my chemo tablets. At least Christmas day would be spent without worrying about it. I am praying and hoping that my SGPT would go back to its normal level soon, it’s what I am worried about but I am happy to share that my CEA (cancer marker test) is normal.  It has even gone down to the comfortable level of .5ng/ml and considering that the normal level is in the range of 0-5ng/ml, the result is really something to be thankful for. I feel I am truly blessed, God gave me a second chance at life.

Another journey is about to begin, and wherever life takes me, I would be there and will wholeheartedly accept what God has in store.

Where Do I Go From Here?

I am quite elated, no, I am in seventh heaven.  When I think of the fact that it would be my last day of chemotherapy tomorrow, I feel this certain lightness of being.  Finally, another milestone in my life is about to end.  It has been a long five months of hospital visits, appointments with my  surgical and medical oncologists, endless laboratory tests and being confined at home while under chemo treatments. It has been a long journey but I am keeping my fingers crossed everything would be well.

Though I am still a little bit apprehensive on the outcome of my latest CEA  (carcinoembryonic antigen) test, I am affirming that I am doing fine and okay. I have mixed feelings actually, if you know what I mean.  The oncologists at UST-BCI usually call the last session of chemotherapy a “graduation”, so I am about to graduate, wish me luck please.

But where do I go from here? I am looking forward to the days when everything would be normal again – gardening, blogging, catching up on reading, visiting bookstores, tinkering with my digital camera, and having detox therapy to flush out the toxic chemicals accumulated in my body.  Taking things slow, living life day by day, enjoying every minute that I am alive and kicking.  I have this dream of visiting Batanes,  if not next year then someday soon.  Oh glorious Batanes, when will I see your shores? Simple joys that make life worth-living.

My sincerest thanks to all my friends and my family who were with me during this journey, egging me on when I sometimes falter in my steps, saying kind words to make me smile, teaching me the value of patience and most of all, thanks for the love and prayers which could never be replaced by any material thing in this world.

Remembering Dad

December 05, 2009

Today is my dad’s second death anniversary. Just when we thought we were getting a headway on his dialysis, his frail body gave up on us two years ago.   It is quite painful to recall how he fought  that debilitating disease that eats up one’s body, slowly sapping any strength left, leaving one so weak.  My dad was a fighter, at the age of 85, he consented to have three times a week dialysis because of his weakening condition due to ESRD (end-stage renal disease).  For mom and his children, it’s our last recourse for him to get healed.  One last chance, one last fight. The journey does not really end in death but it begins once you are with your Maker.  I am sure he is happy now.

The dream keeps coming back of course but they are happy ones.  I remember the days when we used to sit for a while and he will regale me with his stories about life fifty or sixty years ago, his struggles amidst life’s difficulties, growing up in the province and finding a way to finish his studies.  What he has to go through in order to fulfill a dream of his own, I can only listen in wonder.

Resilience and hard work are the keys to one’s success, he would say, never giving up despite the odds and fulfilling one’s wish in life, little by little, bit by bit.  My three brothers and I were richly blessed to have him in our lives, a loving father, a responsible husband to mom and a indulgent Tatay to his ten grandchildren.

As always, I miss you dad. I offered a special prayer for you today and you are remembered in more ways than one.

Why?

Just when you thought everything is right with the world, another blow comes into your life that makes you think and pause for a while. And your initial reaction is, “not again”.

It is always hard to accept something that you yourself wants to deny.  And sometimes, in your own little world of understanding how God works, you begin to ask “why?”

Yes Virginia, The Flowers Are Edible

Haven’t tasted this for quite sometime, and I mean the last time I had it was decades ago. Seldom do I see such flowers here in the city. I remember my lola , who used to have this as a regular fare in the family dishes that she used to cook. She was hypertensive and it was through her that I learned of the curative effect of this medicinal plant. This morning, I was surprised when Nissa and hubby brought home about half a kilo of these edible flowers which they bought at the wet market. We had it for dinner. Escabeche is a wonderful dish, everyone loved it. I used slices of slightly fried mackerel. The tangy, slightly sweet sauce compliments the taste of these flowers.   

Locally  known as katuray, it has white and pinkish red flowers and are usually grown from seed.  It is also called Sesbania grandiflora or hummingbird tree and West Indian Pea. The flowers are best used in salads and are excellent source of calcium, iron and Vitamin B.

Cooking With Sylvia, Ernest and Morella

Two summers ago,  I enrolled in some cooking lessons at Sylvia Reynoso Culinary Studio. I learned a lot from the Practical Chinese Cooking course taught by Sylvia, baking courses from Ernest(her son) and special lessons on Doughnuts from Morella(her daughter). It was fun and I enjoyed every minute of every lesson that they taught us.  The fun part of course was the taste test. We were given the chance to sample our own cooking and share it with the other students. They were so supportive and generous of their know-how in cooking. We got some practical tips on how to enhance, measure, where to source for ingredients, how to make product costings if you want to sell them in the future. Sylvia emphasized that cooking is an art and  you got to have a passion for it in order to learn.

 

Chinese cooking course include siopao dough making, siopao filling, cuapao, siomai, fish head soup, fried kikiam, radish salad, lumpiang hubad, camaron rellenado and many more. I was so impressed with the steamed lapu-lapu, it was so appetizing. Sylvia told us that not all types of lapu-lapu are suitable for steaming, some are for grilling.

Ernest taught us different kinds of cookies and bars and also some courses on money making for beginners like chocolate chip cookies, chocolate crinkles, yummies, date walnut cookies, polvoron, chewy mallow bars, Lebanese boat tart, Russian tea cookies etc. There were all kinds of special cookies and bars like Mississippi mud bars, chewy rocky road brownies, chunky oatmeal bars, peanut butter brownies, marsmallow cookies. If you want to put a small-scale business, these are quite easy to make but the thing is the ingredients are quite expensive.  Ernest knows if you are a newbie in baking or an expert by just looking at the way you handle  the spatula and the way you mix the dough. It was so exciting learning new crafts and meeting new friends too who have the same interest  as I have.

A charming lady, Morella is based in Baguio, she has her own culinary school there. I only got to learn Special Lessons on Doughnut  from Morella. So that was the way they do the different kinds of dips, fillings and frostings for doughnuts. I haven’t tried the recipe on Churros yet with a thick Spanish chocolate as dip.

Baking needs a precise way of measurement but you can experiment on other ingredients like substituting casuy instead of walnut.

That was an unforgettable summer for me.

Do Ants Kiss When They Meet

Nov. 16, 2008

It’s just one of those things you find when you least expect them. I’ve found my Learning Journal the other day. It was given by  BPI Training Development Center many, many years ago. Some old scribbles, no particular subject, nothing much really but just random thoughts from a restless mind. They were dated though.April 04, 1997
BPI

Somewhere in everyone of us
there lurks a child within
insecure, desiring for acceptance
and hungry for love.

Somewhere deep inside
there’s a child willing to get out
wanting to experiment
what life is all about.

April 07, 1997
BPI 1:25pm

Why do ants always stop everytime they meet one another?
I wonder…..

April 08, 1997
9:20 am BPI

Some things are better left unsaid, they are better felt with
the heart!

April 10, 1997
5:00pm BPI

Sometimes, touching the leaves of the past brings
a feeling of warmth inside.

It brings into focus what the present holds
and the anticipation of what the
future has in store.

April 23, 1997
10:50am

I really don’t know what makes me think often of the movie Dying Young. Sure thing I know is that I’ve always admired Campbell Scott when I watched the film thrice three years back. It was one of a kind movie that touches the heart.

Two weeks ago, I bought a CD of this film – played it more than ten times I guess.  the soundtrack is so beautiful – one feels nostalgic about things like these – remembering old friends and the best times shared with them.

Yesterday, while I was browsing at Booksale, I came across the book itself  and it was written by  Mari Liembach. Coincidence again? There were so many coincidences in my life lately that sometimes I feel as if there’s a hand guiding me to discover these things. I know GOD is here somewhere, watching and loving me despite and inspite of  “everything”.

And the question remains, do ants kiss when they meet or just say hello and say, how have you been?

Timepiece

Timepiece Category: Books Genre: Literature & Fiction Author: Richard Paul Evans I have always been fascinated by the works of Richard Paul Evans. My first book of him was The Locket, a hardbound, 333 pages, which I bought at NBS a few years ago. The book starts like this: “There are years of our lives that pass like strangers on a busy streetwalk – as quickly forgotten as encountered”. From then on, I was hooked, I even subscribed to his mailing list so I would be updated with his other books. And he does write every time he has a new book or even greets his readers during Christmas. When I became a member of Shelfari, I found out that my very first friend there, Oel also reads RPE and he even has more books of Evans than I have. Timepiece is the second book in The Christmas Box series (the first one was The Christmas Box and the third was The Letter, which I have yet to find). Evans always starts his books with a quote from a diary/journal of one of his lead characters. “Of all, clockmakers and morticians should bear the keenest sense of priority – their lives daily spent in observance of the unflagging procession of time…and the end thereof”. -David Parkin’s Diary, January 3,1901 So begins Timepiece. It’s an unforgettable story of hope shared by Mary Anne Parkin with the author, Richard. It’s about a magnificent grandfather clock which Mary Anne gave to Richard before her death. It’s also about a unique timepiece which Mary bestowed on him with the understanding that he pass it to his own daughter when she gets married. It’s the story of David and Mary Anne – David’s fascination for timepieces and her love for her and their child Andrea. It traces their lives as they discover love, loyalty and most of all, the power of forgiveness. There is more in this book than just being a tearjerker. This book makes one think long after one finishes it, that life, even at its darkest moment, enables us to reveal what is best in everyone of us.

Pieces of My Sister’s Life

Pieces of My Sister’s Life Category: Books Genre: Parenting & Families Author: Elizabeth Joy Arnold Genre: Fiction, Psychological In one of my jaunts at Ever-Booksale, I noticed this book (author unknown to me) which has a nice picture cover. I bought it without reading the summary at the back, one of those quirks of a bookworm some times. For a first novel, Elizabeth Joy Arnold is a winner. If you love Summer Sisters by Judy Blume and My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Pieces of My Sister’s Life is equally touching. I don’t have a sister in real life so I get fascinated by stories like these. Eve and Kerry Barnard – twins who grew up together, “one and the same”. Motherless at the age of seven, shares a common love for their best friend Justin, the central figure in their lives. They shared everything until the summer they turned seventeen and lost their father.Although they have no one else to turn to except each other, they quickly drifts apart, the introspective Kerry clinging to Justin and Eve, a competitive flirt, is out to win the man her sister loves. Thirteen years later, Kerry comes back and they are forced to face the consequences of what happened in their past. Eve is dying of cancer and struggles to find peace for both of them. There are lots of flashbacks in the novel but the complex interplay between past and present is never lost. Although there is a touch of melodrama in every page, it is still a fabulous story. Quite impossible to put down. Overall, this book is a great summer read.

French Women Don’t Get Fat

French Women Don’t Get Fat Sep 1, ‘08 9:52 AM Category: Books Genre: Nonfiction Author: Mireille Guiliano Last night, Nissa brought home a copy of this book from their Stress Management Office. As it has a deadline, I temporarily shelved Outlander and decided to read this book first. don’t diet eat chocolate drink wine take long walks enjoy life stay slim the French way Wow, if these words would not motivate you to know those slimming secrets, what would? I would not attempt to summarize the book here, it’s for you to find out. There are lots of menus and recipes included in the book. It’s perfect for building a healthy attitude towards work and exercise. And did you know that sleep deprivation (think thirty-five and up) is a major contribution to weight gain? I have copied some practical tips that would help us take control of our lives. - Increase your proportion of fruits and vegetables as compared to other food types. Practice “less is more” more aggressively avoiding meaningless calories and saving them for real pleasures - Try to pay more attention to the rhythms of your life, daily, weekly, monthly. awareness reduces stress and promotes well-being - Carry water everywhere you go and increase your intake to at least two quarts a day - Learn to say no, with an eye to saying yes to something else - Build small rest periods into your day. - Try to find new interests. life seems fuller with novelties. curiosity, no less than openness to pleasure, is not the exclusive property of the young - Everyday is a bonus. With acceptance of one’s age and time remaining come gifts: a wise reluctance to waste little moments of happiness, peace of mind that comes with tolerance and patience with and less resentment of the world.