Quiet

Silence please, I’m taking a nap.

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Sari-sari

Finally, my two tabs and CP are now linked to our new server. Josef did it for me since I am not familiar on how to go about it. We’ll see if it is really faster than Globe.

I paid our realty tax this morning and it only took me five minutes to pay to the Treasurer’s office. The trip going there is longer….haha! Nissa told me that they paid theirs in advance so they were given a discount. Theirs is an exclusive Ayala Land subdivision.

Next in line is the fire insurance for the house which is due first week of May. I had the house enrolled since we had it constructed and it is due every year. I don’t want to give it up. We transferred here on my birthday in 1995. It is quite expensive to maintain a house, the roof and the whole house need repainting. The last time we had it repainted was seven years ago.

I am supposed to visit my ENT tomorrow but I want to have my lab tests done first in a week before consulting her. I have an appointment with my new doctor, an endocrinologist/internist on the 25th of this month. I hope with my new medicines, my blood sugar level would improve.

Such is the life of someone with DM2.

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It’s Done

Nissa sent me three photos of their home. I don’t know when they will move in. Maybe when the school year is finished. Nate has to transfer to another school closer to home. Time flies, he’ll be in Grade V next schoolyear.

This is their small garden planted with Bermuda grass.

The garage. It could accommodate two cars.

I love their pocket garden. Easy to maintain.

The whole house lit at night.

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Good Old Wednesday

I woke up around 3am to go to the comfort room then I went to bed thinking 4:30 am is more than an hour away. I always wake up early when Josef reports for work three times a week. He always leaves the house at 5 am.

I overslept. Woke up finally at almost 7am. I am supposed to do my morning walk every day except Saturdays and Sundays. These two days are for early morning masses that I watch online. I still could not hear well even through my tab if the sites’ audios are not so good. I don’t like walking at the park a little late since there are regular joggers. I love the silence and peace around on an early morning. Josef left me a message just to lock the front door.

They have our internet service provider changed to Converge, presently we are using Globe. Jovy said that Converge is faster, I wonder. For two years that they both worked from home during the pandemic, our internet subscription was shouldered by JP Morgan Chase bank. I wonder if the bank still pays for it since both of them work from home twice a week. I am still using Globe now. It wasn’t cut yet.

Good old Wednesday, I guess it is another time to garden later this afternoon.

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The Way To Go….Jetpack In Three Days!

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

And my answer is:

Being the head of the family for more than twenty years and still is until now. In short, isang tatay con nanay.

When responsibilities fall on your shoulder, you learn to carry them well.

I am proud of myself that despite all the setbacks, my kids grew up to be loving, lovable, kind, compassionate and above all responsible adults.

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My Last Difficult Goodbye

So I am trying another Jetpack app this morning. In a few days, WordPress would have another algorithm. Good thing I already installed it on my tab.

They were asking what was my last difficult goodbye. It was when I lost my younger brother Alden last May 15, 2022 due to colo-rectal cancer, the same ailment that my oldest brother had back in 2003 and mine was colon cancer last July 2009. My oldest brother and I had gone through chemotherapy sessions, me with oral chemo tablets too and my brother with radiation treatment. Both of us underwent sigmoid surgery before chemotherapy while Alden chose an alternative cure and he was given three more years after being diagnosed. He was worried about the additional financial burden to the whole family. We regularly sent them financial help back then.

It was one Friday afternoon May of last year that Nissa and I went home to visit him. The day before that, no hospital in our place would accept him. When he reached home, he could no longer stand and had to be fed by his wife. We reached Pangasinan around 9pm and their driver, a cousin of ours fetched us at the bus station. My heart bled for him when I saw how he was, no longer talking but just nodding his head as I whispered in his ears. Sunday morning, that was May 15, Almeda, his wife woke me up and told me that Alden felt so cold. They called an ambulance but we talked about it. I thought it was a useless exercise bringing him to the hospital again. Some of our relatives came over to visit him. Nissa spent the longest time talking to him that Sunday morning we were due to go back to Manila. We were somewhere in NLEX when I received a text from my oldest brother that Alden is gone. I felt that was the longest trip we had.

It is so sad to lose a family member. The sadness could not be quantified and the sense of emptiness is greatly felt. That Sunday morning when we left for Manila was the most difficult goodbye. Memories with Alden will always be treasured.

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Yeay, Jackfruit!

Just done watering the plants. It’s windy outside but the sun is shining bright. It makes the plants dry up fast. I used to water them twice a day but I have grown used visiting the garden around this time. I like the wind touching my face.

I trimmed some of the plants and removed a climbing vine on one of our jackfruit trees. Imagine my surprise when I saw these small fruits, there were eight in all plus two buds. If they grow big, that branch they have sprouted from might not be able to sustain their weight. We seldom let the fruits mature anymore, I pick them and cook them in coconut cream while they are still small.

The back of the house is still vacant and those teenage kids outside our subdivision are so fond of stealing what they can find. The last time they bore fruit, three were stolen. They even have the habit of throwing stones randomly. A few months ago, a glass of our French window at the back was broken. They do it at night where we could not see them. They even throw stones at the roof.

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Finally Home

I finally found the link of the article I submitted to Philippine Star (a national newspaper) when I joined their contest once almost thirteen years ago. It was posted by my mentor at a Catholic page on which he created a long time ago, Fr. Louie Coronel, OP. The title is Finally Home which you can read here: https://thefilipinocatholicpage.blogspot.com It’s labelled under ‘reflection’.

Come to think of it, it was the first and only writing contest I joined back then. Or you may google my name Arlene Ariston and the link will show. I submitted two more published articles in Philippine Star’s opinion page. Although I didn’t win in the contest, they sent me a check for P2,000.00 pesos for my effort. I received lots of congratulations on my newsfeed at Facebook. That was the time when my kids and I were all excited that for the first time in twenty years, we will be whole as a family again. But it was not to be because after Nissa got married, the hubby left for good and you know the rest. My life with my kids and the family is peaceful now. And I say, that when trust and respect are lost, love eventually follows on the wayside.

What was I thinking? I just googled my name just to know where I’m at at the moment. How many times it appeared on Google😉🥰😊

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Realizing A Dream

Nissa and I had a good chat last night. She sent me some photos of their future home in Gen. Trias, Cavite. Construction has been going on for so many months now. Both she and Obet are so meticulous, they made sure that the plans were followed to the letter. All it needs now are finishing touches. I am guessing they’ll probably move before another school year begins. It has a two-car garage, a pocket garden at the front and three bedrooms upstairs. It’s another Ayala group community which makes the subdivision secure. Fronting the house is the park of the place and on its side is a light post that keeps the area well-lighted. Nissa insisted on having a veranda on the three rooms upstairs. I love Nate’s room, it is painted light blue. Their counter top is granite with built-in gas stove with three burners.

She told me to visit the place when they’ll have their house blessing. Every Christmas I make it a point to give them simple kitchen gadgets that they can use initially when they move. I made sure that they have rice cooker, sandwich maker, air pot, set of utensils and glass bowls, can opener, knife and other small things that new homeowners would need. Next would probably be a whole set of dinner plates, cups and saucers. I am excited for them. They deserve this lovely house.

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I Love Sundays

The three are still asleep. I have been awake since 6am, attended an early morning online mass, cleaned the house, watered the plants and did a little grocery shopping at Alfamart just besides the subdivision gate. Sundays are relaxed days, supposedly, right?

My goodness, it’s almost the end of January and I only have thirty five pages of slow reading and reacting to the words written in the book called Ten Poems To Open Your Heart. I am no longer used to small prints since I could enlarge the font of the e-books on my tab. Easier to read and helpful to the eyes. I have two pending e-books since December, one is a thriller and the other is a historical novel. I read around five to ten pages at night then I would feel sleepy. I always wake up early though. Living the phrase early to rise and early to bed. Dull, you might say but I am getting used to it. The comfort of silence. Crowded places no longer work for me except at The Medical City Clinic I visit every week.

I love Sundays. Since it is impractical for me to attend Sunday masses (I truly could not understand since I find the confined space too noisy and loud ), I resort to attending masses online since they are clear to my abnormal sense of hearing. I don’t know how long it would take for me to get well.

I want to share with you a line from my favorite author Mary Oliver culled from her book, Devotions. I have a copy of this one, a lovely compilation of most of her poems. A friend gave it to me as a birthday gift a few years ago. I am always careful to turn the pages, it’s hardbound and thick with a pristine white cover.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Have a blessed and happy Sunday. May you always find joy in what life brings🥰❤💐

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