Thursday Blues

Just getting tired of this online aspect of supporting Nate of achieving Social Media Prince, it is a little stressful. The site is still closed so we don’t know how we fared yesterday.  Some of Nissa’s cousins helped promote the site with Nate in mind of course. Although he is leading by 800 votes, we couldn’t afford to be complacent. There will be another segment at the Coronation where tickets are counted on who will get the most attendance at the venue. That is based on people’s choice. Nissa is not counting  on that because there are only six of them who will attend but the whole class are required to support their candidate classmate. She mentioned in passing that one candidate has a very long list of attendees…haha! Bawi bawi lang.🤩 Voting will end today at 6pm.

Come to think of it, I  haven’t touched any book for the last three days although I have so many books on my TBR list. So far, I am done with 14 books from the start of the year. I am in a quandary if I have to continue reading memoirs or switch back to historical fiction. Both genre are just interesting. Finally I found another book of Rod McKuen I searched online but it is on a  PDF format. My eyes get tired of small prints.

It is another sunny morning and my Kamuning, Camia and Gardenia are in bloom. The garden smells great because the  flowers have that heady scent.

Have a happy and blessed Thursday morning everyone. Here’s something for all of you. Background flowers are my Ruellia.

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Updates

Nissa and I were surprised when Nate garnered more than 2,100 votes last night as against the other candidate who has now 1,200 votes. As for the other six, they are on the lower rung. Among the 16 final contestants (8 boys and 8 girls), the UST JHS Student Council will only get two, one Ambassador and an Ambassadress. The Social Media Prince and Princess are just special awards to be given to the finalists who have the highest votes until tomorrow afternoon. Just praying Nate would maintain his lead. They will be giving entrance tickets today and tomorrow  and the contestants have practice today from 12-6pm. Final interview will be held during the coronation night. Nissa showed me Nate’s attire for the coronation night. I told her it was so expensive, a 3-piece suit but Nate deserves all our support. I have stopped reading for a while because I am focused on inviting friends and fellow Thomasians to vote for him.

Our adopted  Siberian Husky was operated on yesterday. The vet found out that she has lump in her ovary. She is always asleep under the dining table. Will have to stay inside for a week.

Today is the start of the Lenten season, being Ash Wednesday. Seniors like me are no longer required to fast and abstain from eating meat. I still observe it though by fasting every Friday. Have a blessed Lenten season my friends.

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Social Media Prince

I just posted an update on the latest event of the Young Thomasian Ambassador and Ambassadress in which Nate is included as one of the  16 finalists.

You may visit it here at https://nonnaarlene.wordpress.com

Thank you so much. The photo is in high resolution so I posted it there.

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Being Patriotic

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?

My idea of patriotism maybe vastly different from what other people think of it. We each have our own ways of showing being patriotic.

For me, one thing that shows being patriotic is the deep love of the  country where you were born  and you feel loyal to it. You can manifest or show patriotism through simple daily actions in your life – respecting the flag, being aware and following its laws, being productive by paying taxes, voting, patronizing local products,  loving culture and history and speaking positively about the country.

When I think of the word and what it means, I think of our National hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. Many people specially the younger ones might not have heard of him. During my college days, we have 3 units of Rizal course studying  his life, his  works and his writings. I wonder if it is still taught today. We were made to memorize some stanzas of his poem Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). Some quotes that I still clearly remember are these: ‘The youth is the hope of our future’. ‘There can be no tyrants where there are no slaves.’

Are you patriotic?🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

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Trying Bancnet

First time to try Bancnet.

I was about to go out to withdraw my budget for this month at BPI when Josef suggested that I try  the Bancnet ATM machine located at 7-11 convenience store two blocks from our house.  I haven’t tried it yet but he assured me that it’s okay instead of going to the town proper where I  still  need to take special tricycle ride to reach the place while 7-11 is just several steps away.

Bancnet is a consortium  of several local banks that one can use but there is a minimal charge of P18 pesos for each transaction. The ATM machine at 7-11 is new. Yay, I saved on tricycle fare.

Really, this was the first time I tried it and I laughed at myself while going home because prior to making a withdrawal, I was a bit apprehensive. It was easy as 1,2, 3.

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Sunday Musings

Since I consumed my last teaspoon of instant coffee yesterday, I had to go to the grocery store to buy one. It has always been instant  for a number of years now.

Two years ago, I asked my endocrinologist  if I could still drink coffee, she told me I have to limit it once a day. I have always chosen Nescafe Decaf although it is more expensive than the ordinary one. And I like it black with a small pouch of Stevia.  It’s so hard now to find plain black coffee in supermarket shelves since most  of the coffee pouches lined up there are the three-in-one variety in different flavors and they are  full of sugar which is not good for diabetics like me, I told Josef to go easy on it, he loves the creamy variety.

I switch my food intake from Gardenia wheat bread to Shirataki rice or from the latter to the former. If the viand is filling enough, I refrain from eating wheat bread and shirataki rice. When you are not 100% fit, you are wary of the things you eat.

Nissa asked me if I want to attend the coronation day of the YTAA (Young Thomasian Ambassador and Ambassadress) at the UST Medicine Auditorium where my high school graduation was held back in 1973. I’ll think about it since UST is quite far from our place. From the initial forty slots who joined, Nate is included in the top fourteen now. I don’t know how many contestants they would eventually get. Several days ago, the finalists were made to show their unique talents. Nate of course did Poomsae In Taekwondo. Poomsae are structured choreographed Taekwondo patterns or forms that combine offensive and defensive techniques against an imaginary opponent. I enjoyed the videos uploaded by Obet showing Nate in four different outfits for the  show.

Have a blessed and happy Sunday to all!

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Scents, Clock,Tealight Candle and Drizzly Morning

I woke up to a steady drizzle outside, no wonder it’s cold and the sky is grey too. It is now 8am and the sun hasn’t shown its face yet. It is that kind of morning when you want to go back to bed and sleep more. I am a morning person though so it is not really practical for me.

Yay, what a blessing! I don’t  have to water the garden and my plants are happy. All our Aspins and our Husky are still sleeping  peacefully.

Yesterday while waiting for the result of my laboratory  tests, I went to SM department store to shop around for a wall clock. The one in my bedroom is getting defective. Although it has a new battery, it stops after a few hours after you set it. There are  so many wall clocks  to choose from ranging from as low as P600 pesos to as high as P2,000.  I chose the mid-range Lucent brand. Now, I won’t have to rely on my cellphone to see the time. I’ve always been conscious of time since I started working as a student librarian back in my college years.

I  also bought a 30ml peppermint scented oil. I still have the bamboo scent here but I wanted a different one.  Once a month I light up my tealight candles. I have several ceramic candle burners. I use them to make the room smelling fresh. I love the bamboo scent more than the peppermint. I light those burners for about thirty minutes  and it is enough.

When your home is free from clutter, clean and smells fresh, you feel stress-free.

Happy Hearts Day everyone!  Let’s celebrate the meaning of love every day of our lives. We don’t need to wait for Valentine’s day to say that we care.

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.” – Mother Teresa

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One Down, One More To Go

This morning, I thought of going to The Medical City Clinic tomorrow, on second thoughts, I suddenly remembered it’s Valentine’s day. So, off I went this afternoon for my laboratory tests as requested by my hematologist.

My scheduled check-up is on Friday. I got the results of my laboratory tests after an hour. My platelet count is normal (thank God) but my WBC  is a bit elevated and I have UTI again. The latter is a chronic ailment over the years. I’ve been to several urologists before and one of them measured my urine canal and it is smaller than the normal size. He suggested an operation but around that time I was so afraid of having one so I didn’t. Now and again, I have UTI.

I just smiled when I saw these vendors selling fake and plastic rose flowers, red hearts balloons and red teddy bear toys along the sidewalks.  For some Filipinos, Valentine’s day is as important as  Christmas. These are those times when flowers at Dangwa flower shops cost three times more than on regular days especially red roses.  I am not a lover of flower arrangements which fade after two or three days. Give me a pot of live plant anytime and I would gladly accept it. Anyway for those who celebrate hearts day, blessed and happy Valentine’s day to you all.🌹❣️⚘️

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Garden Update

I took photos of the plants and vegetables growing in our backyard garden. Success! Finally, our squash is showing off and so are our papayas.

You may visit my garden blog for the high res shots.   https://arlene1027.wordpress.com

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Life Is…

The sun is slowly showing its face making a scattered glow on my garden plants.  This is nice. I counted around forty fruits in different stages of growth of our five papaya trees. Can’t wait to see them big enough to harvest. And there are flowers at the tip of each plant.

It is so quiet here. It’s a  deafening quiet and my mind is filled with riotous thoughts  – the kind that have no beginning and have no end.

Have you ever experienced those moments when you really want to write about them but you don’t know how and they just keep floating in your head? There is something you want to voice out and put down on paper (or shall we say, write in a  draft in your tab) but it eludes you once you are staring at the blank screen.

Whoa, what happened to the rich and jumbled thoughts I had earlier? Life sometimes is funny. No, life is funny, make that three dots at the end.

The way you look at things probably depends on how you view life itself. As they always say, you could see the glass half-empty or  half-full. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 30 or 60. Maturity comes not in the number you add to your age but in the richness of experience you encounter making  you grow and learn a little more.

There is that one moment that stands out, so lovely, which makes you say, I need another moment like this.

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