Saturday Notes

I ordered meat from Monterey for Christmas. They said orders are quite long. Good thing I ordered this early. I also contacted my suki vendor to buy me potato marbles and sugar beets. They’re some of the ingredients I need come Christmas eve or what we call Noche Buena.

I am plainly devastated looking at the photos as a result of typhoon Odette. Many towns and provinces in the Visayas and part of Mindanao are greatly affected. Many houses were destroyed. Our VP and the office of the VP have been ready even before the super typhoon entered the Philippine area of responsibility. But where is the government? Digong is sleeping on the job again. He said there is not enough or no money for the typhoon victims because of their expenses in the pandemic. What a big lie🤨😒🤮. He said a few days ago that he has sacks and sacks of money to spend during the campaign for the election 2022. Is that more important than the calamities visiting our country? I never hear of our Dept. Of Social Welfare and Development doing its job nowadays. What is visible are the volunteers from VP Leni’s camp and the numerous individuals helping through their donations.

WHERE is the president?

It’s my youngest brother’s birthday today. Since they live in the US, he will celebrate tonight. We are advanced by twelve hours. We got to talk via Messenger early this morning. It’s nice to catch up with each other again.

We are on the third day of SIMBANG GABI , a nine-day novena in honor of Mama Mary which will last on the 24th. I attend the nightly Simbang Gabi masses.

It’s seven days to go before Christmas🌲💒🎄☃️

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662,919 Views And 3,288 Posts Later

I have clearly forgotten those lovely thoughts that I wrote years ago when I was just beginning to write posts at WordPress during my journey as a cancer patient and survivor. If I were to add all my blog posts at my four other sites, it might reach 700, 000 views and maybe 4,000 posts. That year-long journey triggered and inspired me to blog at WordPress. I was so happy reaching out to those with similar journey like I did.

Blogging has become a way of life just as reading does. I used to blog almost every day but over the years, posting one once or twice a week is now enough for me. Over the past two years during this pandemic, everything seemed to be at a stand still. I’ve only gone out five times from our subdivision. No visitors came over except Nissa’s family. Food and groceries were delivered. Even the Christmas gifts were ordered online. Hopefully, this pandemic will end soon.

Finally done with trimming the carabao grass with Josef’s help. We still need though to have the garden outside our perimeter wall cleaned. Our tree dogs sleep in the garage while Nikki, who has just given birth to three male pups is in a cage in our dirty kitchen. She is so protective of her litters.

The past few nights, I compared all the books I had on my tab with Goodreads. Good thing I have a virtual library there. I have read some of them the past few years. It’s funny, I used to write a brief review of the books I read before. I got lazy though since I started this year’s reading challenge. I am looking for more authors and books to read.

I don’t get to visit my friends’ blogs every day because I don’t visit WordPress that often. So sorry about that, will catch up soon.

By the way, it’s CHRISTMAS in nine days.

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Just Counting

Cold nights started about a week ago. The fan now is always set in low. Jovy and Josef seldom switch the air con the past days. Days are sunny though and it’s windy in the afternoon.

We need to trim the carabao grass maybe before Christmas sets in. And I promised myself that I will wrap all those gifts as soon as the additional ones I ordered arrive. Yeay, Christmas is just fourteen days to go. I noticed that there are very few homes now in our street with lanterns and Christmas lights at night. I only have our little Christmas tree and the Christmas light at night for decor. Maybe, the pandemic has lessened the enthusiasm to celebrate the season. Let Christmas be in our hearts no matter how simple the celebration is.

I remember one of Obet’s nephews asking me a long time ago why I said “Happy Birthday Jesus” in my greetings on my wall so I just told him He is the reason that we celebrate Christmas. As I have always said, it’s the time the family gets together, enjoy those moments seeing each other and remembering Christmas past.

If I were to believe the latest reports, we’ll be quite safe to have a small gathering this coming Christmas. There are now very low cases of Covid-19 here in Metro Manila. How I wish I could visit my brother who is sick but the kids have work until the 24th. It is not safe to take a commute on your own. I miss those traditional sweets and recipes we usually cook in the province – binungey, puto bumbong, bibingka, suman, puto and dinuguan.

So many reasons to celebrate, giving thanks and welcoming the days with joy. MERRY CHRISTMAS🌲☃️🎄

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Let’s Not Be Complacent

If the reports of the Department of Health are true, we are now at the lower risk of Covid-19 averaging 500-600 positive cases for the past 4 or 5 days. One thing though, they still could not locate the passengers of an airline who came from Africa. I guess contact tracing is still nil. I wonder if they do administer tests upon arrival at the airport. Sure they have closed our borders to some countries because of fear of the Omicron. Sounds like Voltes 5 back in the 80s.

DOH says about 34M Filipinos are now fully vaccinated. And some frontliners are having their booster shots. I am still in a quandary if I need to have that booster shot come December 15, just six months after the effectivity of the vaccine. My question is, will everyone be vaccinated again after these six months? It would be a non-stop endevour as long as Covid-19 is still in our midst.

Some people are afraid if the government will declare lockdown again if someone is found positive of Omicron.

I ventured out again yesterday without Jovy and Josef, riding in a UV Express to go to the Ortigas Center to fix my problem with my change of PIN at Union Bank and to have my account updated at PNB. Killing two birds with one stone, that’s what.

I am planning to attend the 12th Sacerdotal Anniversary of a priest friend at EDSA Shrine on December 9. That would propably be the last trip on my own this month.

Oh, and it’s barely seventeen days to go before the much awaited event – CHRISTMAS ❤🌲🥂☃️🎄

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My Little Christmas Tree

🌲⛄Little Christmas tree,

No one to buy you,

Give yourself to me

My little Christmas tree🌲☃️

This is fun, decorating a 3 ft. Christmas tree. Our 7 ft. tree was relegated to the backseat. I bought this little tree last month so it would be easier for me to decorate it. I could not find the smaller star to put on top. There are so many decorations that we bought for the big tree two or three years back, some of them need replacement now. Josef only brought down the Christmas balls and flowers. I just added candy canes and cookie figures.

Last year at the height of the pandemic, we didn’t put up any decor. If Josef doesn’t get lazy, we’ll put up the porcelain nativity set given by a friend years ago. If I could buy pink ribbon and other pink decor, I will decorate the wreath too.

This is my dream of a little tree.

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Here Comes November

October is about to end and November is coming.

These are those days where we think of family gatherings, clan reunions, office parties and even Kris Kringle this early. It’s that kind of activity where we exchange names, give gifts to the name we got and every day there is a motif until the reveal. It is always a joyful activity in the office.

These are those days where we start buying gifts for family and close friends. I did mine two weeks ago except for a gift for a godchild who is now in her teens. Not sure what to buy yet for her. Department stores start decorating and playing Christmas carols non-stop.

These are those days where we start thinking of what to prepare for Noche Buena and Media Noche. We do the grocery shopping early to buy those ingredients that appear like magic during the Christmas season. Fruits imported from other countries abound.

I wonder though how Christmas celebration would be like in another pandemic year. Positive cases of Covid are slowly moving downwards according to reports. They even predict that there would just be around 1,000 positive cases in a day. Are we finally winning over the enemy? We must not be complacent. There is no 50% yet of the population who were vaccinated. Others don’t trust the vaccines while other places don’t have enough of it.

Here we go, we have exactly 57 days to go before Christmas. There is this Christmas decor permanently fixed at Josef’s bedroom door. It’s been there for years and we let it stay there all year round…haha. However and whatever we feel about the season, let the Christmas spirit be in our hearts.

Nice touch Josef.

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66 Days To Go

Allow me to count the days, yes, it’s 66 days to go before Christmas.

This is vastly different from the anticipated days of the season the previous years. Around this time every year you’ll hear Christmas carols in the air and malls have lovely Christmas decor all around. Or maybe I don’t listen to a radio anymore nor watch television. Since the pandemic last year, I have only gone out twice in a mall. We just buy basic necessities online and through the grocery store in our subdivision.

Although I have completed my Christmas gifts to family, I don’t even feel that Christmas is coming so close. Everyone on social media are busy with the coming election, me included. Duterte’s minions have troll farms posting fake news every day and those vulnerable enough, the D and E crowd who don’t have enough resources to research and know the truth believe everything they see on the news. Imagine a troll having hundreds of cellphones which he uses to post fake news. So frustrating. This was how duterte won last 2016.

I believe in the pink revolution. May we be delivered from this present ugly governance.

The first photo is my profile pic on Facebook. The second was sent by a friend.

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Finally….

Yeay, I’m done with my Christmas shopping for the whole family but some of them have not yet been delivered. It is really nice to shop online, either you have to pay in advance by depositing to your Lazada wallet or pay in cash when they are delivered. Did I tell you that I have received credits for my purchase? There are some items too where the delivery fees are waived. You can even earn coins while browsing at the site and they translate to one peso each. I have to review all my purchases so I could earn more.

As I have said before I always purchase kitchen gadgets for Nissa and Obet. One gift for them both. I told Nissa to use them in their new home. As for Nate, I always buy two gifts on his birthday and during Christmas, toys and books mostly. Found a nice book about the history of the dinosaurs and a set of dinosaur figures for his birthday next month. Kinda expensive but he always has the best. I bought some practical items for Josef, Jovy and mom, things that they could use daily.

Last year we didn’t put up Christmas decoration because of the pandemic. This year though, I ordered a smaller plastic Christmas tree which is easier to decorate than our 7-foot one. I also ordered some Christmas decor. Although senior citizens like me aren’t allowed to go out in malls, there are plainty to choose online.

Did I say it’s 73 days to go before CHRISTMAS?

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Gosh, It’s October

I have wanted to blog at the start of the month but laziness prevailed again. Haven’t been here the last four days I think. Don’t get me wrong, I was just too lazy to write. Sometimes, you lose your muse and and forget what is to write about.

I am mostly at the garden but every day, it rains at unexpected moments. I couldn’t seem to finish uprooting weeds and I have yet to start pruning the carabao grass. Gardening is a job of the hardworking🤣😅😂. And I am not one lately.

The weather here makes one lazy. I am looking forward to this month though because finally, it is my birth month. Can’t wait for the 27th. There is something about birthdays that makes one wishful, nostalgic and you remember the days of old, when you were so excited to face and dream of big dreams to happen. Then as the days go by, you finally realize that not all those big dreams come true. That one does not travel in a straight path but there are barriers you have to face. Birthdays also make us realize that we’re not just adding years to our lives but we are also growing. Hope should not be set aside because as long as we are alive, there is always hope.

It’s been two years now that we haven’t celebrated Nissa’s birthday together because of this pandemic. Good thing there is always the reliable Messenger to get us through and the ever ready Grab drivers to bring and deliver food and our gifts. We celebrated too even if there were just the four of us at home. Maybe, when Nate’s birthday and my birthday come, they’ll be most likely repeats.

The whole afternoon, I was looking for Christmas gifts for the family at Lazada. There is nothing yet except filling my cart with possible gifts and ordering gift tags and twenty five pieces of Christmas wrapper.

What did I say? It’s 83 days to go before Christmas🍀🌲☘

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One More Day

Tomorrow is the beginning of the BER months.

I know some of you will probably react and say, “it’s too early yet”. On Facebook, I saw several photos of our talented composer and singer Jose Mari Chan with captions like”lalabas na ba ako?”, “I’m coming”, “eto na”. All speak on the anticipation of Christmas. I’ve told you in my previous blog posts that we celebrate it the longest in this neck of the woods.

Jose Mari Chan is a Filipino pop singer, composer, TV host, endorser and a business man in the sugar industry. He is well known in those lovely Christmas carols that Filipinos love.

Pandemic? Yes it has changed our outlook in life, changed our priorities, changed how we view our health. We have become so conscious of it but still this virus is wrecking havoc in this world. Last year, I didn’t think of putting up Christmas decorations but I bought family gifts early braving one morning at the mall. This time though, although I am fully vaccinated and had Covid four months ago, I am afraid to go out. We could still celebrate Christmas quietly, attending evening masses online and buying small gifts to celebrate the season with the family.

Christmas is the season for rejoicing. Jesus is coming. It’s a birthday most of us don’t want to miss.

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