The Birthday Girl

She took some photos on her birthday…for posterity I guess. Nate is quite excited to visit Legoland Malaysia in a few days. An advance birthday gift for his 7th birthday. 

At 37….

Nate is a little chubby nowadays but I love it.

 

I was surprised Nate loves Japanese food….haha!

 

Blowing her birthday candle at the office.

 

Another solo picture of the birthday girl.

She doesn’t look like she has undergone surgery at the start of the month. God is good and God is great. Radioactive therapy is scheduled when they get back from their trip abroad.

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September Blues And Musings

I make it a point to just relax every Sunday after attending the early mass at 6 am.

That means no gardening, no scheduled time with the washing machine, just reheating leftover meals  and yes a lot of reading in between. I am happy starting  Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield the other day.  I am challenged by the Wordscape  game Josef uploaded on my tab a few days ago. And in between reading, I tinker with Block Puzzle Jewel and Match 3 Jewel. I used to dislike playing online games before but as one grows older, you seek venues where you could spend relaxing time too. Since I seldom go out except attending weekly Sunday masses, twice a month trip to the market, grocery shopping almost every week, an occasional trip to visit my internist, another occasional lunch out with the family, you might think life is boring. I assure you, it is never dull. When you are given second chances at life, you always grasp every day and embrace it with hope for another tomorrow. Another chance to shine in your own little corner of the world. Never mind the bad news you always see on television (I don’t watch news anymore). Never mind the annoying happenings which your local politicians are wont to do (mind you, you’ll get stressed out just reading the news). Never mind the traffic even in your neighborhood.

Yes, our street is busy every day of the week. When our car leaves the garage, one has to wait for a few more minutes and let the other cars, e-bikes and motorcycles pass by first. It has become one of those alternative routes going to and from other towns in our province.

Oh what bliss just spending a little of your time waxing poetic about everyday lives, getting in touch with friends  through Messenger, being updated with news on their walls.

Happy Sunday all.

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Just Thankful

It’s another blessed Sunday!

I thank God each new day I wake up, whatever time that may be – 3 a.m. or a little later. Then I ask Him to “arm” me with grace for whatever lies ahead… the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. Taking the bitter with the sweet.

It might not be a bed of roses for us but we still dream.

How are you this Sunday morning my friends?

 

 

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Nissa’s 37th

I posted this greeting on Nissa’s wall today:

All the best for a happy and blessed birthday anak. It’s an event that we will always celebrate because when you were born, I’ve become a mother too. I wish you good health always and success in your career. Take care. I LOVE YOU!

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The Next Book On My TBR

Know why I haven’t been posting lately? I am trying to get done with my challenge at Goodreads for this year, a total of 120 books, much less compared to the years before.

I make it a point to include at least one or two classics in every reading challenge that I do every year. I reread Pride and Prejudice at the start of the challenge  and this would be my second book this year. I’m done with an eclectic mix of YA books, historical novels, fiction, a couple of  memoirs, another book by Nora Ephron called I  Remember Nothing, Michelle Obama’s Becoming, three books about Korea and two poetry books of my beloved author Mary Oliver, Upstream and Devotions. 

To think that the title David Copperfield was quite familiar to me since I was in high school but I never got the chance to read it.  This time it has pride of number  as my 118th read this year.

It was first published in 1849 and is quite long with 882 pages, an equivalent of  two books averaging more than 400 pages. I am giving myself the challenge to finish a well-known and a long classic story. According to some reviews, it has  autobiographical elements about Charles Dickens’ life.

The last two books would probably be Eve by William Paul Young and  Finishing Touches by Patricia Scanlan.  This would be my second book of Young, the first one being The Shack which I enjoyed a few years ago. After these, I’ll be free to choose those short fiction and other historical novels.

What have you been reading lately?

 

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Let’s Just Respect Each Other’s Belief

Wow, I am quite sad that a certain follower and who I have followed lately is attacking the Catholic religion. I’ve been blogging for more than ten years now and it is only now that there is this personal attack through his comments on a comment I made earlier. He claims to be a Christian but is full of hate about the Catholic church. He even said that we worship Mary  and the saints which is nowhere said in the Bible. I told him, we venerate Mary, not worship her.

I don’t want to argue when it comes to religion. We stay where we are comfortable and everyone should respect that. Personal attack is a no, no for me. Imagine, he is telling everyone to stay away from the Catholic church, what a shame.

I unfollowed him and removed  him from my list of followers.I blocked him for good. I don’t feel at ease having someone so opinionated like him.

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The Joy Of Seeing New Blooms

I planted Zinnia seeds in different shades of pink a few months ago. They did flower and are still flowering at the moment.

This morning, I was surprised to find a lone bloom in the pretty shade of yellow. What a thrill. It was a nice surprise.

And my Shanghai Beauty is showing beautiful pink blooms again. I would just trim it when the flowers have dried up.

The joys of gardening, they give that nice bit of heaven when you least expect them.

I  have harvested almost a kilo of kalamansi (Philippine lime), divided them into three small plastic bags for our neighbors. One of them gave me seeds from her pink Four O’Clock blooms. In a few months, I expect to have those pretty pink blooms which usually appear at four o’clock in the afternoon.

Don’t you just love gardening?

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An Unfortunate Happening

Last Saturday when I went home, Mom told me about our other dog Noki was under our dining room table. She is becoming so forgetful that when she opens the door to the dirty kitchen, she leaves it  open and Noki would sneak in and stay inside. His territory is the garage and the dirty kitchen, normally we don’t allow him to stay inside the house except when there is thunder  and those fireworks during every start of the year.

He quarrels with our other dog, quite jealous about him when he sees Oreo being carried by Josef or Jovy.  I was trying to get him into the kitchen and stay there but he bit me on my right thumb. I was shocked. Normally he is a gentle dog. This is the second time he did, the last time was two years ago when I tried adjusting his collar. I underwent three sessions of anti-rabies and anti-tetanu vaccinations then. Last Saturday, it was the same  anti-tetanu and was prescribed antibiotics to take for seven days.  I had my first anti-rabies injection this morning and the doctor at the Animal Bite Clinic  told me they will just give me booster shots,  one this morning and another one next Thursday. The tetanu and anti-rabies shots are free but they didn’t have the antibiotics they prescribed at their pharmacy so I bought it outside.

Such an unfortunate event, I am almost afraid now to touch him.  Oreo on the other hand is still as sweet and loyal as ever. Goodness, when I see our four cats and two doggies, I sometimes think  we have too many  pets.

 

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Just Memories

You appreciate a memory when it is carved on pixels and prints.

Long before the word “selfie” was coined. It was one of those times when we went on a road trip to avoid  fireworks and lots of noise in the city while waiting for the last year to shed it’s hoorah and looking forward to a new beginning, another year to celebrate life.

Was just really waiting for the peacock to spread its wings but it seemed it was also waiting for us to leave it in peace.

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

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When Does One Stop Blogging?

Where are they now?

Those long-ago bloggers who used to be so active in commenting then all of a sudden, they are gone. I miss their blog posts. From time to time, I see their comments in my old blog entries and when I click their site links, either the blog has become a private one or they have stopped posting altogether.

When does one stop blogging? I’ve been in the blogging world for ten years now and it did not even come to mind to stop sharing here. As I’ve always said before,  blogging has somehow become a way of life. You get to know people from all walks of life, you meet friends and it seems the geography becomes just a few minutes of visits and updates.  The places they visit become your world for a while too. You get to laugh and smile about their adventures and empathize with them in their misfortunes.

Of course, it is always  nice to meet new bloggers and old ones whose blogs you have just discovered. It is nice to get updates in places you have never been to but you see them vividly in pictures. It is always nice to share your thoughts and somewhere, somehow, someone is glad to hear from you.

Content still counts though. There is nothing like a good content that attracts fellow bloggers and writers to read your blog. Blogging is like going to school focusing on specific subjects one day at a time. I write, you read. You interact, I reply. And when we are happy with the interaction, we form a friendship. We look forward to the next post  sometimes with bated breath. What is in store for me today?

A blog entry isn’t just a long text, it is an opportunity to meet people, a chance to meet friends.

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