First Communion

I thought I posted the solo photo of Nate here before his First Communion last Friday. I already updated my other blog just for him and posted some pictures that Nissa took of the event. For a nine-year old, he is getting so tall. Obet and Nate’s grandpa and his uncles are all tall. Good thing he got the genes….😘😉🙂

He was the reader of the mass.

Time flies!

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Growing Old Gracefully

I promised I would write about my childhood a week ago. Some may not be as clear as what I am going through right now but I still remember.

I was born in a little town in Pangasinan in Northern part of Luzon 65 years ago. Come to think of it, I’ll be turning 66 in two months, October 27 to be exact. There are four of us kids in the family, I have three brothers, I lost one with cancer three months ago. Together with my two brothers, we spent four years of grade school in our barrio then transferred to the school in town during intermediate grades. Our youngest graduated grade school in Quezon City when the three us older siblings were already in high school.

You won’t probably believe this but in our barrio, we only had two school rooms and two teachers. Miss Rimando taught grades 1 and 2 while my uncle, mom’s cousin, taught grades 3 and 4. What I vividly remember were those nursery rhymes I learned back then. We didn’t have school uniforms and we went to class in slippers. Every morning before class started, we were assigned to water the plants then we had flag ceremony and Panatang Makabayan. There were always some kind of reminders from our teachers before going to the classroom. Imagine just learning your ABC in grade 1.

Dad decided that we spend high school at the University of Santo Tomas (the oldest university in the Far East) since he was working there. I was late in the entrance exams so I took it at the principal’s office late summer of 1969. I enjoyed high school life although the administrators were strict to us in wearing uniforms especially, all girls in each class and we were only allowed to mingle with our brother sections during school activities. We belonged to the morning session and we had separate exit at the end of the day while the boys had separate entrances.

It was there I learned to read books since we had high school reports back then. A classmate introduced me to Mills and Boon paperbacks. Dad borrowed those books from the high school librarian. I was a freshman in college when Dad suggested if I wanted to work as a student librarian. I took the exam and passed even if I didn’t understand what library catalogue was for. I was assigned at the Humanities Section of the UST Library where I learned serious reading. I took up BSC Economics and graduated in 1978. I was employed at Bank of the Philippine Islands and worked there for more than twenty one years before I availed of early retirement. It was those times when I armed myself with books, an eclectic mix of reading genre.

I taught Nissa and Josef to appreciate books when they were kids. It paid off. Both of them were smart and honors students. Josef earned medals every school year until high school while Nissa had hers until college, she graduated Magna Cum Laude. The three of us are alumni of the University of Santo Tomas. Josef is now working at JP Morgan Chase Bank while Nissa is a manager at Bank of PI. I was blessed to have smart, loving and thoughtful kids. Thank God.

I am getting old but I like to think I am growing old gracefully. I enjoy bonding with my only grandchild Nate although we don’t see much of each other nowadays.

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Those Days

Yesterday, I wrote about what life is like these days and some of you who are my faithful followers had those uplifting and inspiring comments, thank you.

You had glimpses and snapshots of the things I wrote since I started posting back in July 2009. That’s how long I’ve been writing here though not regularly now. I started with Friendster, blogged about a few posts and when it closed, I opened an account at Multiply and I tremendously enjoyed sharing with about a hundred close friends. I posted my collection of CDs, poems I wrote when I was in college, lots and lots of photos and blogs too. My youngest brother shouldered my premium account until it also closed years ago. A friend invited me to Facebook and I am still there, a co-admin of a Catholic page and two Catholic groups.

The reason why I opened an account here upon the recommendation of a friend was that I wanted to share my plight as a cancer patient and survivor. I had sigmoid surgery back in July 2009 and I painstakingly posted almost every day after I went back from the hospital. Had six cycles of chemotherapy after a month of my operation. Know what encouraged me to write further? It’s the people I met here who had the same ailment like me. They asked how the treatment was done, they asked about my oncologists and where they could find them. The thing was, they came back thanking me and shared their own experiences. What a beautiful journey! Some of them even wrote longer messages than my blog posts. Met two doctors who shared their plight as cancer survivors too.

Whew! I got lost here somewhere, I planned of blogging about my childhood in the province but I got diverted again, maybe on my next post.

I found a book about Tibet and East Timor. Want to know what life is like in those places. Excited! The weather has improved. The typhoon is out of the country now. No more heavy rains but public school classes and public offices are suspended today.🌦☔

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What Life Is

Good morning blogger friends!

I woke up around 3am and could no longer sleep so I just waited for Josef to leave the house at 5am. He still works from home Thursday and Friday, same with Nissa but on different days.

I know, I am neglecting blogging. It used to be when I miss it when I don ‘t blog at least twìce a week. I told you before that I joined posting a blog a day back in 2011. I lost my badge somewhere. And when you blog every day, even such mundane things like writing about what you had for breakfast, lunch or dinner is worth-sharing. I think I am really growing old, I’ll be turning 66 in a few months. Would that be worth-celebrating? I think so even if my body is beginning to give up on me. Pains, unexpected laboratory results that I worry about. I’ve been through so many things – two major operations, chemotherapy, kidney bypass and the like. Still and all, I am still here standing tall. My kids and I have gone through twenty years without the hubby by our side except for one month every two years for vacation. He worked in KSA. I acted as the tatay con nanay of my two kids. He came home ten years ago only to leave us again for good for another woman. I’d like to think that I was strong enough facing these life’s challenges.

Every day is quite different, sometimes I feel sad, at other times exceedingly happy. I was even more elated when Nate came into our lives. Nowadays though, their monthly visits were cut short because of Covid-19. Nissa and I thrive on daily conversations on Messenger and occassional hi and hellos from Nate and Obet. The last time we saw each other was when my brother Alden died three months ago.

I still enjoy gardening but I could no longer trim the carabao grass because I feel exhausted after a few minutes cutting the grass so Josef is always to the rescue. I am glad though that I was able to transfer some of my plants in new pots. It still rains here every day. I hope September won’t bring too much rain that would cause flooding.

My stash of e-books are filing up. Right now, I am reading some books by James Patterson. Hopefully, I’ll finish the Goodreads’ challenge well and good by December.

Dawn is beginning to show a bright morning. Daily chores are at hand. Bye bye for now.

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Sad Turn Out

I finally got all the results of my laboratory tests last Wednesday and was scheduled for clearance by the Hub’s doctor next week. That is quite too long a wait. I went back to my internist at Medical City yesterday to have the results read. He told me that surely, the doctor won’t give clearance for me to be operated on because I have a high glucose, elevated creatinine and UTI. He changed all my medications and they are more costly than before. I spent close to 10K for a duration of one month. I have to go back to the hospital after a week for lab tests – FBS and urinalysis.

I have a history of chronic UTI since I gave birth to Nissa almost forty years ago. Goodbye cataract operation for now. I have to change my diet too. Learned eating oats and my rice intake for the past week is quite nil. I nibble on nuts when I go hungry and eat whole wheat bread for lunch and dinner. Hopefully by next week, my blood sugar has gone down.

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Clearance Lab

Yesterday, I was able to get recommendations from Philheath on the different lab tests that I have to undergo. I went to the hospital again this morning and I am done with chest x-ray, sugar testing, urine, ECG and blood works.

The lab results would be released in different dates then I have to go back to the Hub again for them to schedule me for cataract operation. That would probably take another two weeks. Such a long preparation. I started seeing my optha last June. Took two months to complete the requirements. They don’t always call, you have to call them. I am praying and hoping that everything is normal.

I have to see another doctor so he can read the results.

How are you all doing?

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Good Morning!

What’s good in the morning? It’s the beauty of sunrise after the rain💛🌻🌞

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Rainy Tuesday

I went grocery shopping early today at a supermarket in our town. All I could manage were two heavy bags of groceries and they’re not complete. I’ll just buy the rest at the grocery store just outside the gate of our village.

The prices of basic commodities have definitely gone up and we could not do anything except close our eyes and buy them. Price of eggs goes up every week. I wonder why. Inflation rate has gone up again last month. It seems the present government is not doing anything, more than a month in office and we don’t see future plans for the economy. Where are we going Philippines?

It is raining again, that kind that takes so long to stop. My rain lilies are blooming. I am including a photo here.

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When August Starts

It’s cold and wet. It’s August afterall. The rain stopped early this morning and I was able to visit the garden for a while. I love the raindrops clinging to the leaves of some of my plants. They look like silver jewels. My Kamuning has that lovely scent which I could smell from the garage.

I am on my 105th book this year. 69% of what I promised myself to finish reading by December. I found so many lovely books at ReadEra, all e-books of course. As usual I still prefer historical books. I always love reading about what life was like in the 15th to 19th century. I am reminded of our very own kalesa more than 50 years ago. Kalesa is a two-wheel horse-drawn carriage used in the Philippines more than half a century ago. It was a primary mode of public and private transportation during the Spanish colonial era. Now, they largely only survive as tourists attraction. They are still used today in the commercial district of chinatown and in the province of Ilocos where historical landmarks abound.

How’s your day? Stay safe everyone.

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Hello August

Hello everyone! Here I am again, quite uninspired to do some blogging. I miss my previous month-ender blogs and blogs for a new month. Been reading some of my posts back in 2011.

It’s August….yehey! I hope we won’t have typhoons and floods in our neck of the woods. It rains though everyday. I could not garden because the grass is always wet. Sad to say, I haven’t been scheduled yet for my cataract operation, the hospital came short of new lenses because there are so many senior citizens scheduled for operations. Have to wait I don ‘t know how long. They haven’t called me yet.

Today is the 171st anniversary of Bank of the Philippine Islands where I used to work. There’s Nissa now and Obet too who are Manager and Senior Manager respectively. I miss BPI. I miss the daily walk during lunch break going to Makati Commercial Center. I miss the daily masses at Greenbelt Chapel which I attend every morning. A new building is now under construction at the old BPI HO.

By the way, that flower grows in my garden. It is called shrimp plant.

AUGUST❤🦚🌺🌴….

May this month keeps you healthy. May you remain happy always. HaPPY NeW MOnTh.

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