Happy New Year

WELCOME 2021🍇🍈🍊🍋🍎🍏🍓🍒🍑🍐

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I’m Lost

Gosh,my computer gave up on me, it suddenly shut down. I am not so good writing on this tab. I’veclearly forgotten how it’s done.

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Mom

This photo earned several “hearts” and “likes” emoticons on Facebook. This is how mom looks now, she is really getting old, hard of hearing, can’t see clearly and sometimes with bouts of forgetting. So glad though that she  still remembers our names, she still can sweep the yard in the morning and play with our four kitties.

Nissa gave that shawl to her as Christmas gift when they came over last December 24. The first one she gave her three years ago was a little darker but equally lovely as this. Those flower designs are embossed on the soft cloth. Mom loves it.

She’ll be turning 92 in a few months. My brother Noel was so happy to see her because they never get to talk anymore over the phone nowadays. Sometimes, she can’t even read those enlarged words I type on my notepad. She gets cranky when she insists that she wants to go home to the province and we say that it is not allowed. She no longer understands the gravity of this pandemic, that older people like her are more susceptible to catch it outside.

That’s mom, blessed to have reached this age still healthy and strong. She plays solitaire every day and watches television even if the sound is muted.

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Joy In Small Doses

Eating some left-over macaroni salad, a small bowl of reheated pancit bihon, two slices of Embutido and a hot mug of red berries tea infusion….heaven 🙂

Christmas day was a quiet celebration, a day of thanksgiving, a day of praying harder that we get to go back to pre-Covid days, not being afraid to go out, not being wary of kissing the hands of our elders, not too cautious about kissing and hugging our kids.

If there is one thing that this pandemic taught us, we learned to be closer to our family and to God.

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Seeing Nate Again

Yes, we haven’t seen each other for ten months except through Messenger video chats until today. Another milestone in our lives seeing each other again.

No kisses except tights hugs and “I love you Nate” and “I love you Nonna” in between. He has grown so tall for an eight-year old.

Through the short time that they were here, we had lunch together  and Nate enjoyed playing with my revolving computer chair and he said that he liked it.  Nissa didn’t buy him one at home because she knew he would play  with it.

I gave him a set of pajama and Word Factory. I told him to enjoy playing with her mom and dad. It is a good educational game from seven to adult.

Nissa  and I took lots of pictures of course (for prosperity and remembrance).  We will choose which one to upload later.

I guess I won’t need to cook later for Noche Buena, we still have untouched food inside the ref and I ordered two roasted chicken for later.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL.

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Kris Kringle

I told you about our Kris Kringle a few days ago at our Sambuhay Interaktib Online,  a program that we watch twice a week anchored by two  Pauline priest friends and a seminarian.  We have become one big family, those who are active at the site but we are scattered.  Some live in Australia, Canada, USA, Hongkong, Italy and even in the Middle East. 

Well, the app was downloaded by one of our members and friend Min helped him with e-mailing those who participated. Yes, there is an app called Secret Santa.  Fr. Pao suggested that everyone could join although it is not compulsory.  We’ll finally have the “reveal” tomorrow via Zoom. My goodness, I am only just learning how it works because I didn’t see the need of downloading the app before.  I wonder how the more than fifty of us would go about it. 

A few hours ago, I received the gift from my Secret Mommy  sent through MrSpeedy, another online delivery option for us here. We were allowed to have a wish list that our Secret Santa could see in the e-mail.  

Despite this pandemic, we could still laugh. I am glad I found this group. Last night, the topic was about previous and memorable times spent during  Christmas.  Everyone has their own story. I am really looking forward to tomorrow’s 115th episode.  Come to think of it, this program was conceptualized by the SSP ( Society of Saint Paul) brothers and priests to make lighter moments and share laughter despite the grave threat of this pandemic.  And we have music in between. Fr. Albert and Bro. AJ have lovely voices. We gained friends in the process. Wonderful 🙂

We are on the seventh day of Simbang Gabi, two more days to go and we’ll complete the novena masses. 

 

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Lapses

Oh my, I’ve been reading a book for almost a week now but I am only on chapter 12. How’s that again? Yes, it’s about the Spanish flu. I seem to be more excited updating our new Catholic group on Facebook and engaging with some members that by the time I’m done browsing, I feel so sleepy.

I attend  two, sometimes three Novena masses online every night.  It is so nice listening to the homilies about the Gospel readings every night. Four more to go and Simbang Gabi will be over. Looking forward to Christmas day.

The other night, Nissa created a “room” for our family. I have ignored that app since it was introduced on Facebook until yesterday when I caught my brother Noel and Nissa talking. It was a video chat, wonderful! We were updated on how Noel celebrated his birthday and I got to see what my sister-in-law prepared for their dinner. I also ignored that other app called “story” since most of my friends who post their stories there also post them at the same time on their news feed, a little redundant I think. I love Messenger though since I get to have long conversations with my friends here and abroad without opening Facebook. Nice, gone are the days when you have to spend so much on overseas calls.

Final delivery of Lazada orders today. It was a big help for us  with all those household needs and additional gifts for  the family.  Nice to have online shopping which is reliable for us shoppers. Even my gifts for our  online Kris Kringle was ordered from Lazada and there was a minimal fee of only P85 pesos for delivery expenses.  Lazada took charge of it, to think it was as far as Bicol. You order online, instruct them where it would go, and voila, problem solved.

So how is your Christmas preparation? Are you excited?

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Maligayang Kaarawan Kapatid

If you’re wondering about the title, it just means, “Happy Birthday Brother”.

This is my youngest brother Noel. BTW, there are three of them and I am the only girl. They live in Tulsa. We get by thru Messenger and Viber catching up on each other’s lives. Today is his 57th birthday.

I told him in jest if he could cook Tupig for me, a native delicacy in our province. When it comes to dessert, he is a better cook than I am and he knows how to prepare our native desserts. He is the most loving, thoughtful and responsible brother. He is very supportive of my writings, a memory keeper, he has all the pictures of the earlier years. He is a computer whiz, assembled our first PC back in the mid-nineties bit by bit. He would bring home materials for the CPU and assemble them at night. When Multiply closed shop, he saved all my published photos there.

Happy birthday bro. May you have the best of birthdays despite this pandemic. Keep safe always. We miss all of you.

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Busy Days Are Here Again

Reading was set aside for a while. I could not concentrate reading even at night aside from perusing a few poems by Mary Oliver….again!

There are deliveries almost every day for the three of us (Josef, Jovy  and me) brought about by the Lazada sale last December 12.  They have sales every month like 10-10-20, 11-11-20 etc. And since this is also their Christmas sale for the year, there seems to be many shoppers online. Lazada Philippines consists of several sellers of electronic accessories, appliances, toys, groceries, fashion accessories, home and living, health and beauty accessories too, You name it, they have it, all at a much lower price than in department stores with minimum charges for delivery. I have completed my gifts shopping at Lazada. There is one more item that I am waiting for, an electric kettle I ordered two days ago for our use. Lazada is a very popular online destination in Southeast Asia. “The online shopping group boasts one of the largest catalogues of items in the Philippines, with items from different  reliable brands, and are grouped into categories that are being sold in the website and the app”.

Yesterday, I prepared Embutido, a Pilipino meatloaf which  is also a regular fare for our Noche Buena.  Pair it with pancit or any pasta dish, some favorite sweets and  other desserts  and you’re good to go. I made 16 rolls in all. It can keep for long in the ref  without losing its flavor, just freeze it.

This afternoon, I wrapped all the gifts for the family. Jovy helped me with the bigger item for Nissa and Obet. Good thing SM East Ortigas gave me extra wrappers because half portions of the Christmas wrappers I have here got wet during the flood last month.

Last night was a very inspiring 2nd day celebration of  Simbang Gabi.  Fr. Paul, one of my favorite priests at St. Paul was the mass presider. Looking forward tonight for the 3rd celebration.

Take care guys, Covid is still enjoying its worldwide romping around.

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It’s Our First Simbang Gabi

Most Catholics here in our country waited last night with so much anticipation on the start of our celebration of Simbang Gabi (mass at night) and Misa de Gallo  (dawn or rooster mass) early this morning. Simbang Gabi as we usually call it is a nine-day novena before Christmas.  It is a lovely tradition we observe every year. I miss going out at night to attend it this time of pandemic.  Almost every church go online though. Attendance is still limited when you attend personally at the church, receive communion and participate in the prayers and participate in the singing. That is the limitation of attending masses online but you can choose which church and service you want to listen to.

I think, those in-charge of  tracking this Covid pandemic only allows 30% capacity of these celebrations in churches. There is even a directive now starting today that wearing face shields and face masks are mandatory. It used to be where face shields are only seen in malls because they are required by the establishments when you enter. Now, once you leave your house and go to a public place, you have to wear face shields as well with the face masks.

My goodness gracious, they are blind to the fact that most people wear both when they go out. And we’ve been doing it for almost ten months now. Some government officials break their own rules. The present chief of the Phil. National Police even had his mañanita birthday celebration at the height of ECQ some months ago. Are they doing anything? I bet…waiting for available vaccine which is even reported to have been purchased from china.

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