Goodbye January, Hello February

We now say goodbye to January. It’s like a whirlwind that has come and gone in a flash. All I could remember about this month are my visits to my doctors, maybe around ten times if I were to count. Always, leaving the house around 6:30 am and coming home around 1 pm. Like clockwork, I had regular lab tests. It was also my first time to undergo CT Scan. In two weeks, I’ll be back again. This almost a month respite is truly a blessing for me. I walk in our village park early in the morning although it is not a regular routine. Once Josef has left, sometimes I go back to sleep.

Looking forward to the month of February. 2023 is not a leap year. We only have 28 days this coming month and before we know it, it’ll be gone. I no longer expect to be operated on for my cataract in the next few months. As long as my FBS does not remain normal, then it is not a go in the meantime. Dreading to go back to the Hub and repeat all the requirements again.

I pray that the month of February would bring us more blessings and greater opportunities in life ❤🙏🙏🙏❤.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

When June Comes To A Close

I wonder why for three straight nights now, I kept dreaming of our old house in the province, younger Josef and Nissa, mom and dad. In my dream, my dad was still very much alive. Sometimes, I could not remember the details. Don’t know what it means.

Got this lovely frame from a friend. I like the positive thoughts it brings.

July is rapidly inching its way in.  This is supposed to be my month-ender blog  but there is nothing much that happened during the month of June except celebrating Jovy’s and Josef’s  birthdays.  All I  did was to fix the garden and read. Yes, I found more books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón who died last June 19, 2020. Zafón’s follow-up, The Angel’s Game , is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind. His third in the series,The Prisoner of Heaven  is the sequel to The Shadow of the Wind. I have them both. I also found other books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  Just finished No One Writes to the Colonel, a novella.

I am delighted to find more authors to follow and more books to read. If there is one positive  thing that this COVID-19 brought us, it’s enough time to bond with the family.

Proud to tell you of my new harvest the other day. Jackfruit cooked in coconut cream with small slices of pork or shrimps, the best vegetable in this side of town. I still have three more which are already  large enough to ripen maybe in about a month.

 

Read Full Post »

April Ends, May Begins

I have this nagging pain on my right knee for almost two weeks now. It is not really that painful but I could not sleep at night trying to try a sleeping position that would keep me relaxed. The pain is more visible at night. I tried some liniments to no avail.  It keeps coming back.

Early this morning I went back to my doctor for that much-needed check up.  He prescribed Tramadol for a week once or twice a day or as needed. I took one when I reached home and I am feeling okay now. Hopefully, the pain goes away soon. I have to come back after a week though for uric acid test and for FBS (fasting blood sugar).  Sometimes I just hate going to the doctor. I hate the endless waiting.  You’ll wait for two hours  only to be seen by the doctor for less than fifteen minutes. I get bored waiting. Although there is a television in the waiting area, I don’t usually watch it.

Instead of using a headset when I am viewing a video, Josef lent me his BOSE sound link and connected it to the computer. This afternoon, I tried it listening to some 70’s and 80’s songs then surprise…I watched a movie called Irresistible, starring Susan Sarandon.  Was she going crazy suspecting her husband’s newest co-worker that the latter is trying to attract the former? When things started to disappear in their house, the more she believed that the stalker was her husband’s co-worker. She struggles to prove her sanity and trust on her intuition. It is a psychological thriller alright with an unexpected conclusion. I didn’t expect to enjoy it but I did.  And listening to a well-delivered and clear dialogue added to the attraction. Using the sound link is way, way better than relying on the computer’s speaker.

Time flies, don’t you think? April is coming to a close and May is just around the corner.

Read Full Post »

Welcome October

So it’s October finally.

Made this meme a few years ago via muzy.com. I used to make memes like this before but I’ve grown tired of it that is why I am using  this old photo to greet the October month.

Yes, I often blog about month endings and beginnings, a sort of summary for the last month and an anticipation of the following month.

Excited about October? I am of course though I’ll be getting a year older again before the month ends.

Started this morning gardening outside.  Our good neighbor planted snake plants alongside our perimeter wall and I have to weed and uproot unwanted grass and as usual  sweep it of candy wrappers and cigarette butts.  Our walkways in the subdivision are cemented but I made them leave a long planters box  on one side of our perimeter wall so I could fill it with  plants. I love ground covers but I could not find plants that would need minimum care, that is, even without watering them every day. Jom heard of it and he said they have plenty of snake plants in his parents’ house in Paranaque.  Our front garden outside is filled with Santan plants and they are presently in bloom at the moment. How lovely to see red flowers in the garden.

October!

Gone are those days when you were so busy taking care of your kids and working at the same time. Now that you are in your senior years, you just enjoy their company. You just enjoy wearing  comfy slippers and  mules when you go out of the house. No serious thought about the future anymore except perhaps how you could maintain your health  so you could stay longer with your kids.  Growing old has its advantages too, enjoying simple things in life that you used to ignore because you were always so busy earning a living for your family. Sunrises, sunsets, gardens, morning cups of coffee,  romping in the garden with your cats and dogs. Gone are those days too when you could still hire household helps that you could trust and leave the house in their care. Now, they’d rather work in fast food chains, grocery stores, factories and the like. If you are raising a family nowadays, your reliable help in the household would be your parents or in-laws.

Now that you’re getting old, you take things a little slowly too, sometimes more of rest than work but that’s okay, you are not at race with time.  Just enjoy the remaining years, make new memories with your kids and grandchildren.

Be happy, October is here!

And here’s from WordPress:

You’ve posted 12 days in a row on DREAMS AND ESCAPES! Keep up the good work.

Read Full Post »

A Thousand Mornings (Part 5)

You’re right, this is my month-ender blog.

So what’s great in a lovely morning? What’s so special about seeing the sun’s face and feeling the morning heat while you are drinking a half-cup of black coffee?  What’s s good about just relaxing and thinking about the thousand mornings in your life?

Yes, I am always inspired by  Mary Oliver’s poems. That lovely volume of A Thousand Mornings is a permanent fixture on my night table.  This is funny though, I read some lines at night when I need to get in touch with my inner psyche and think of what life is all about – its wonderful moments, its disappointing days in between and the little surprises that make one smile and shout to the world, you’re glad you are alive and kicking.

“And now you’ll be telling stories
of my coming back
and they won’t be false, and they won’t be true
but they’ll be real” 

I’ve blogged so many times about Mary Oliver’s thoughts and words since I discovered her a few years ago.  Her words are simple but sometimes they cut deep inside.

What did August bring? Too  much rain and many provinces and even Metro Manila got flooded.  The last week of  August though was like summer, hot and humid during the day, a little colder at night.  I do hope September would be better, not too many weather disturbances and typhoons that clearly affect most parts of the archipelago.

I am in the middle of reading these wonderful books by Lily Zante, The Billionaire’s Love Story. They come in three boxed sets with three books in each one.  I am on the first series of the third set.  Although I am not much into reading love stories, these series are just hard to put down.  Suspense, mystery, family relationship, they have it all and love of course tops it all. These nine installments  vary in length, they are shorter by far compared to other serialized books, more of novellas.  I guess this is the first time I’ve read a love story in nine series.  I remember back in high school when I was addicted to those Mills and Boons books, I loved those with boss-employee relationships, the rags to riches, the various twists and turns but in the end, it will always be love ‘s triumph over adversities in life.  If you are looking for some light but lovely read, I recommend these books.

August is ending and September comes  near.  A nice weekend to all. Happy September days.

Read Full Post »

Hello June

And may I say goodbye again to an old month and say hello to June?

Been doing this for quite sometime now,  remembering the days past and looking forward to the days ahead. Except for the wedding we attended during the first week of the month and a couple  of  times  going to the mall for shopping  and dinner, May was quite uneventful. But of course family day once a month is always something we all look  forward to. Never mind if  we just stay at home most of the time and catch up on family news.  There is always something we’ve missed during Viber calls and text messages.

I was thrilled seeing the short videos  and various photos which Nissa took of their three-day vacation in Baler the other week.  Nate is becoming adventurous. At an early age, he is learning to appreciate places and Nature.

Look at how excited he was to discover the place. Last Saturday he told me casually that they were going to Mall of Asia after their visit here and our conversation went this way:

“I haven’t been to Mall of Asia yet,” I said

He answered, “Come with us next time, I’ll tell Mommy about it”.

“I’ve seen the place but I’ve never been inside yet”.

“It’s a big, big place”,  he said.

I think I don’t need to go there just to see it because there are so many nearby malls in our place and they have the same stores that the Mall of Asia have.

Speaking of Baler, I rather like this serene look of the place.  Seeing the sea always makes me feel at peace.

Imagine yourself waking up to this lovely scenery  and  loving the fresh air. Imagine yourself transported to a beautiful place with not a care in the world. I do, sometimes.

I guess, we have to endure another month of humid weather but maybe not as hot as the month of May. It rains in the afternoon in some places but not in our area.  Sometimes it is cloudy.

I wish you all a very happy new month. May it bring you more blessings in life. Fill that blank page with lovely memories. Write that beautiful story. Fill it with love.

Hello June!

 

 

Read Full Post »

And May Is Here

I planned of going to the bank to update my accounts. Good thing I remembered it is holiday today, it’s Labor Day. Spent a couple of hours instead pruning my Fukien tea plants and Green dust plants. Much as I want to shape them  in perfect  round, I could not do it. Josef is more of the artist than I am.  Even the weeds around my flowering Vinca have to be removed too. 8 am is already hot so it is always better to start around 5:30 am. Nowadays, the days are longer than nights.

Aside from being a holiday, today is our village fiesta. It is the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker.  Except for a morning mass and a band playing  on our streets, there is not much to it. There are games I think at the gym this afternoon.

I was cleaning up my tab when I noticed that most of the photos saved on my gallery are of Nate and Oreo. I still have to transfer them on my hard disk for safety. Stress-free days are those spent with kids and pets – no deadline, no traffic, no particular time to do scheduled chores. It is always fun when they are around.  You learn something from them too. The value of time is not measured by the minutes or hours spent with them but by the joys and happiness you get out of it. Sometimes when I am in front of my PC like this, I just used my right  hand to type on the keyboard while holding Oreo on my lap. Sometimes, he would step on the keyboard and a long line of a letter appears…haha!

 

 

Read Full Post »

April Says Goodbye, May Says Hello

Saying goodbye to April and welcoming May again.

I used to blog about month-endings and beginnings  – something to remember and something to look forward to.

April.

Quite uneventful aside from my eye operation done last week, having our pet Oreo and visits from Nissa, Obet and Nate. Official summer here always begins in the month of April. Oh my gosh, and it is so hot. It is windy outside but it is humid.  Sometimes, rain threatens  but that is all there is to it except for those two instances where it rained in the afternoon but never enough to wet the ground thoroughly.  I have to water the garden twice a day because of this heat.

May.

Looking forward to the month of May. I hope the weather will be kind enough for us to experience occasional rain to combat this heat. Based on  previous years, May is the warmest month but we also have rains in the afternoon. This is the time where most families and company employees have their  outings in nearby beaches. Some travel all the way to famous places like Palawan, Cebu, Bohol etc.

Sometimes you dream of early morning walks in beaches, wait for the sun to come up  and take a dip later. You can never stay long under the heat of the sun though, your skin will burn.  Some prefer going to the malls which is the cheaper way to relax and cool off.  You may need just  a small amount set aside for snacks at Jollibee or McDonald’s. Or if you are on the look out for some items to buy, some malls hold sales at this time just before classes start again in June.

Again I am reminded of the song First of May. I just love playing it around this time of the year.

Read Full Post »