Mom at 87! Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my Mom's 87th birthday! We planned a simple celebration at home. We didn't have the fanfare we had last year. No backdrop and balloons because our house is currently a huge mess due to the renovation. We appropriately ended up in the craft room. The four of us squeezed in the tiny room to eat a sumptuous early dinner on my sewing table. 

Miggy had to convince Mom to come. She was, as usual, lazy to go out. Of course, the apo won her over and Sweetie went out to pick her up. She was in high spirits when she arrived and was excited to eat. We ordered food ahead of time, so we immediately started eating when she arrived. 

Mom has been telling stories of her youth lately. She mentioned Camp Capinpin again. She said she'd spend time there during summer vacation. I asked her how come she never brought us there. I told her maybe it looks so much different now. We tend started to watch some videos of Camp Capinpin and she said she probably just finished elementary school the last time she was there. 

We then shifted to watching some driving and walking tours of Naga City. Ahh, that was more familiar for her. When the video showed Bichara Mall, she said that when they were in HS one of their friends was the son of the owner. They got to watch movies for free even though they were a huge group, haha. She also remembered the area where they used to do bicycle races. I asked her how they were able to escape Mama Lola, haha. 

I'm so lucky to still have my Mom and I'm truly grateful that she's strong for her age (she's stronger than me!). Her memory isn't as good anymore, but I enjoy hearing about older memories she never shared before. She's the best Mom, despite my inconsistencies she understands me the most. 

Love you Mom! As you said, you outlived them all even though you were the most sickly among your siblings. Let's go for 100! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Scenes from the First Week

I always look back at the first week in the homes we've lived in. It's always chaotic, but what I appreciate about it is the thought of opening a new chapter. Last year when we moved to our new apartment in SG, we felt relief. The previous place we lived in was showing a lot of the pains of living in an old building. Sweetie experienced a waterfall in the bathroom. The water and electricity were turned off for more than a day. The unit also had other plumbing issues which got quite expensive to have fixed. We lived in fear for a few months until we could move out. We only relaxed when we were able to move*.

Our happiest move was probably our first home. It was an apartment a few minutes away from my childhood home. We loved that place and spent many nights playing Angry Birds in our "den/study room/work room". We left the place to move closer to my parents and well we had septic tank issues. I think this "hopefully final move" exceeds the happiness level. It's just really nice to have more space and breathing room. 

Here are the memorable scenes from our first week at our new home:

Delivery of our boxes from Singapore.

Hanging out in Miggy's room.

Our first welcome gift from Marja. 

Stormtrooper moving into his room (Mom's room actually).

Spent only one night sleeping on the floor. Beds got delivered the next day. Whew!

Our first visitors - Ate Maya and Ottie & Elmer.

Move-in cleaning by Gab's Squeaky PH team.

Most important event of the week, celebrating Mom's 86th birthday.

We capped our first week with a simple birthday bash for Mom. I really looked forward to this day. We didn't have everything we hoped for (i.e. a proper dining table), but we made do with what we had (and Mom I think didn't notice anyway haha). I was also hoping to hide our clutter in the kitchen, but the cabinets are still in progress. What's important though is we had a joyous day with Mom which we got to celebrate together with Kuya and his family via VC. 

We hope to settle in better during our second week. We also hope the kitchen would be fully functional already. We've started to plan the rest of the cabinets we need with Peter. Goal for the week would be to set-up our Christmas tree (the base is still missing zzz) and I hope to re-pot my plants. Still loads to do! I also pray my body cooperates coz I've had to take plenty of naps to rest! 

Happy weekend everyone! Stay happy!

#Home38 #NewG208 #Xmas16 #StayHome #BeKind  

*We couldn't leave earlier even though the premises wasn't safe for us anymore. Our landlord wasn't too nice and she had the most horrendous agent. 

Mom is 86!

"It's surprising I reached this age," Mom said after I greeted her a happy birthday. She peered at the candle on her birthday cake and told me she can't believe she outlived her siblings. She was a sickly child and had a heart condition. Our neighbors always tell me that they admire my Mom for being strong for her age. They still see her watering her plants every morning. 

One of the reasons I decided to come home is because of my Mom. All of us were abroad and it was the easiest for me to move back home. And today we got to celebrate her 86th birthday at our new home. We ate lunch together with my Kuya and his family via VC. It's really different when you're physically together. We were only able to send her flowers and food for almost two years. Now I can just go see her anytime, get hugs and bottomless kwento. 

Mom at 16.

My Mom is the strongest person I know in the whole wide universe. What powers her is her faith and garden. She always does something in her garden everyday. She waters it, prunes plants or gives instructions to a gardener to do heavy lift trimming. She never wants to part from it. Her garden loves her back because it's built on love. I've been trying out her daily workout of watering plants. I get so wiped out after, I normally have to rest after haha. Mom's lungs are probably stronger than mine. 

Whenever I feel down I think of my Mom and how she manages to pull through anything. I can't imagine how she was able to take care of all her siblings and Dad when they got sick. She also took care of me after my heart surgery (she was 78 at that time). All those years when she was sickly as a child and living through the war must have made her really resilient. 

So one of my goals is just to keep Mom happy. Sister Lirio told me to be good at taking care of her. I am drawing power from that and it's helping me improve everyday as well. Maybe in a week or two watering our pocket garden wouldn't be a heavy workout for me anymore, haha. 

As my Mom always tells me, "Life is just like that, it's a cycle. People would just come and go. Just live through it. " 

I love you Mom! I thank God everyday because you're my Mom. Happy birthday! 

#Home36 #NewG210 #Xmas18 #StayHome #BeKind   

10 Life Skills I Learned from My Mom

It's my Mom's birthday today! I super duper miss her already and wish I could hop on a plane to be with her today. I had a project I planned to do this year with my Mom since I wanted to learn more about her creative process. For now since we couldn't do it I've been sending her materials to keep her busy. 

1 - Praying 

The first thing I learned from Mom is how to pray. I still remember her teaching me how to pray before going to bed and she's the most prayerful person I know. Priority is to trust in Him for everything. 

2 - Diskarte 

One of the most important skills I learned from my Mom is diskarte. When I was growing up I witnessed my Mom working on one of the most important projects she worked on in her life -- helping get our parish church built. And Mom was in-charge of everything at home, so I saw her make things move. 

3 - Organization Skills

Ahh, I may not have picked up Mom's neatness (my home is permanently an organized chaos), but I could easily work out in my head how to deploy a project. Mom always had lists and she would tick things off when a task is completed. She's also great at anticipating things and would always be ready. 

4 - Keep Calm, Do Not Panic

Mom is the most calm person I know. I have never seen her panic. She'd always remind me there's no sense in panicking and it's just a waste of time. 

5 - Keeping Busy

Mom always complains that I never stop doing anything. Well, I got that from her. She's always doing something - sewing, gardening, reading, fixing the house etc. She's always up and about. So I never had issues being stuck at home.

6 -  Saving/Money Management!

Mom was a banker and of course I was one of those kids who had a Banco Filipino Happy Savers Club account! That's how I learned how to save. Originally I was planning to use my savings for my future wedding! I used it to pay for grad school. (More about money management here).

7 - Working for What You Want/Need

My Mom would always remind me that she won't be around forever. I had to learn to be independent. At the age of ten I was already selling things -- old clothes, my hand-made pincushions and homemade cards. If I wanted something, like a book, I'd have to save for it. 

8 - Can't Cook, No Problem!

See life skill number 2! And that's what the telephone is for according to my Mom. (It's my Dad who knew how to cook). 

9 - Girlfriends

Mom always told me to choose my friends carefully. Choose those you can trust and can count on. I have so many aunties who have always been there for Mom. 

10 - Be Yourself

You cannot please everyone, just be yourself and stay with people who have the same values as you.  

Happy birthday Mom! We miss you so much!

#CB//245 #StuckAtHomeDay/275 #WFH163 #StayHome #BeKind

Growing Up

Dad's been gone for almost two years now. I realized that today when Mom pointed it out during her lunch birthday celebration. I was a total mess two years ago when the doctor gave us the bad news. Dad was going to go whether we liked it or not and he was ready for it. I wasn't.

So many things have changed since that time. I moved to Singapore. Miguel's in university. Another uncle passed away. I didn't know that there would come a time you have to double up and be stronger, not only for yourself, but also for a parent.

I've always been the baby in the family (still am!), but my parents always had to get me out of trouble whenever I called for help. When Dad got sick I realized it was time to fully fend for myself and my own family. I didn't want to burden my Mom with trivial matters in my life since she had her hands full taking care of my Dad.

I'm home now for Christmas and will be focusing on my family only for the next few weeks. It feels like I've been away for such a long time and I was surprised to see our choir babies have grown up so fast. The little boys who we used to scold because they were too fidgety during mass are now all taller than me. The little girls have now become conscious about how they look and have been styling themselves whenever they hear mass. Me and my housemate (who's also my neighbor in Manila) can now look back at the crazy things we used to do when we were growing up.

Growing up ain't that bad... except for the bills that keep coming every month! I can say that I love my age now because I've gotten rid of being angst-y, emo whenever I face "disruptions". Of course there are days when I still get blue and mope-y, but life is such and must be lived with faith and love.

Happy birthday Mom! Things are turning out quite like what you've always wanted it to be. I love you.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I'm not sure about my Mom's real age because she never gave the same answer whenever I asked. I checked out her IDs before and it had different birth years! My Mom vaguely explained that she got her driver's license at a very young age and so they had to add a couple of years on the form so she could get one. Another time she said that she started working young and the bank had an age requirement. Oh well, so I never really asked how old she really is. My guesstimate is she's about 2 years younger than my Dad.

My Mom loves flowers. She's got this huge garden (plus backyard) filled with flowering plants, including orchids. A lot of our neighbors say that she's got a green thumb and is a very talented amateur florist. And because of her garden my Mom doesn't like taking long vacations because her garden only comes to life when she is around. She left the garden to my care several times before and even though I water the plants and talk to them they all just wilt and turn brown on me. Hmph.

So I got Mom this really pretty orchid from the Manila Flower Center. When I saw the orchid I knew I had to get it for my Mom even though it meant that I wouldn't have any money left for lunch, merienda and dinner (yes, it was expensive!). I got the plant and prayed that it wouldn't wilt while Sweetie and I were delivering wedding invitations. The sacrifice was worth it because Mom had this huge smile on her face when she saw my pasalubong and early birthday gift. It was the same smile she always had when I brought her home a rose I'd buy after school when I was in sixth grade (I did so for about a week by scrimping on my allowance).

Happy birthday Mom! I know I'll be moving out soon... don't be sad (she's been emo the past quarter), I'll just be around the corner :)

*Special thanks to our Ninang and my baptismal Ninang for feeding us lunch and dinner. Hehehe.