Mom

Saw Basel's (The Hungry Syrian Wanderer) vlog last night. It was where he picked up his father from the airport. They hadn't seen each other for 10 years. Basel was sent by his parents to the Philippines to be safe from the war. Later on in the video Basel shared that he cried when he realized that his father had aged without him seeing it. 

I know how it feels. I didn't see my Mom for almost 2 years. When I finally saw her last November I was super surprised with the changes. She had lost a lot of weight and she seemed frail. I cried when I got home and had sleepless nights over it. Sister Lirio told me to do the best for her since she's already 86. I cried even more. 

I always believed my parents would be around forever. I lost my Dad 11 years ago and I still pine for him everyday. It took me awhile to accept the reality that my Mom needs more care now compared to two years ago. The first thing I did was have her health checked. She only needed vitamin D3 supplements.

I've now taken over managing her household. Much as I want her to live with me, she's refused and doesn't even want to spend a night in the room we prepared for her. She still wants to live independently and doesn't want to leave her home. My friends said that's how elderly people are, they just want to stay in their own home. 

There are two more things I need to do. One is to ensure that Mom will be protected and two, make sure that her house is safe. I've briefed the architect and engineer what needs improvement. It's been a few weeks since they checked the house and I hope they'll soon finish the plan. 

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

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. 

Rad Changes Coming Up!

I've been trying to memorize the view from our apartment. We have a nice view of the park and it may be awhile before I get this kind of view again. Back home we could see the Skyway on one side and SM on the other. Save for the random planes that passes by there's really not much to see. Sometimes we try counting the number of new cars Toyota parks in the lot beside us. 

Things have been crazy busy for us the past few days. I have to finish packing today to make sure I fit everything in our luggage. I'm following the advise of my friends who have previously done quarantine -- bring your own snacks and bring your sewing machine! Yeah, I still have my sewing machine with me because I had to finish my gifts. I also didn't want my precious sewing machine to be crunched under tons of boxes.

We got swabbed yesterday and decided to do something radical -- get a haircut! Not just a trim, I had my hair shortened... really, really short! Here take a look --

I told myself since I'm transitioning to a new way of life I needed a new look. I think the hairdresser got really excited when I told him I wanted short hair. He seemed pretty pleased with his work. The last time I had my hair this short was 20 years ago. Ralph and Myra were so surprised yesterday when they came for dinner. 

I'll do the same for the hordes of stuff I've accumulated. I was so busy the past 15 years I just stuffed everything in plastic boxes. I might as well give things away so they can be used better, no use keeping stuff to be used "someday". I realized also I need to change the way I live. Ralph pointed out to me that having planned what to do until Christmas goes to show my A personality is still on overdrive. Yes, I really need to learn to relax and just chill. Being an incessant planner is what got me in huge trouble haha. 

I think the first thing I need to do is fix my body clock. It's been so messed up since it's been hard to fall asleep. I've been conking out faster after the movers shipped all our stuff. I managed to finally wake up at 8 in the morning today. With just 3 hours of sleep I'll try to stay up until a more appropriate bedtime. This is where I'll start for now (see, trying to be chill hahaha). 

xoxo

CB////*Yr2/204 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/225 #NewG246 #Home2 #Xmas54 #StayHome #BeKind 

Reinvention

I told Sweetie earlier that it must be so hard to be an artist. You have to continually make yourself relevant unless you reach superstardom levels. Sweetie said artists reinvent themselves all the time. Famous artists do it all the time, but those who are really lucky just sit on their laurels. 

One actress I've been following closely is Sandra Oh. I saw her first on Grey's Anatomy, then I watched her on Killing Eve. She has an upcoming show on Netflix, "The Chair". She's a really great actress and you could see a different side of her in each of her roles. She's one of those who catapulted to superstardom and will never be forgotten imho.

So how do ordinary citizens like us reinvent ourselves? I've been thinking about this because I feel I'm in transition. I very likely won't be able to go back to my old life. The good thing about being an ordinary citizen is I'm not pressured to stay relevant. I can just slink away and hibernate back into my old quiet life. 

There are things that come naturally for me -- monitoring crisis, building communities, working patiently on projects. I think my life will still revolve around those things, but scaled down. It's all just ideas for me right now since I need to focus on getting well. 

Much like moving houses, our needs change depending on where we are in our lives. When we were a new family we moved to a cozy apartment, then a bigger duplex. Then we got our condo unit which served us really well since we traveled a lot. Things have changed a lot and we're going to reinvent how we do things again. 

Day 22 Gratitude challenge, Something that made you laugh. You gotta hand it to comediennes, may it be a film, a series and their vlog, they make us laugh. I really appreciate the effort they make to entertain and make us happy. 

CB///*Yr2/105 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/128 #NewG341 #Home99 #StayHome #BeKind 

Moments That Changed My Life

Have you thought about events in your life that changed your life completely? I started thinking about this after reading the Didache reflection last night. I looked back and thought about events and decisions that changed my life completely. Here's a few I thought about -

That time I had Miggy - having Miggy early ignited the fire in me. I had that burning desire to succeed because I wanted to provide the best life for my son. It hasn't been easy, but my decisions have always been what I thought would be best for him. 

That time I decided to take graduate studies - I was already working at a telco when I realized what I really wanted to do with my career. My undergraduate degrees were far from the direction I wanted to take so I enrolled in grad school a year after graduation. This decision helped me gain important skills I still use.

That time I worked for my Mom - I had a hard time during my first year in grad school. I was still inexperienced. They usually accept students with at least 2 years work experience. I got in because I got a good recommendation. I tried to move departments in the company I was working for but they didn't allow it. I realized that I wasn't going to get the opportunity to grow there so I left. I joined my Mom's export business and that's where I really learned a lot. I was doing web marketing as early as 1998. This moment set my path to where I am today.

That time I bungled up an interview - unfortunately my Mom's business was affected by the crash of the economy. All export businesses were affected. I completed grad school at that time and had to find a job. I made a good impression on the HR manager and was immediately sent to the president for the interview. I got really nervous and failed the interview. I had another interview the next day with a start-up company. I over-prepared and got the job. The interview I failed pushed me to the right direction (who would've thought I'd end up in the tech industry?). 

OHSI days.

With my scout brothers.

That time I applied for a job at Google - I heard about the opening from my boss. She heard about it from a conference she attended in HK. I looked it up and the job description was overwhelming. I checked it again six months later and was surprised that the job description changed. It was less intimidating. I submitted an application without expecting anything. I was super surprised to receive an email the next day. I went through the eye of a needle and was eventually hired. This is probably one of the biggest life changing moments in my life. 

That time in the airplane I asked God to take over - after a series of disappointing relationships, on September 27, 2007 I begged God to navigate my life. During that year I told him that if by September 30, 2007 I didn't have a partner I would enroll in post-grad studies and live a life of single blessedness. I had no clue that He had already started writing my love story when I met Sweetie. On September 29, 2007, Sweetie asked me if he could court me. 

SG office when it was just tables and chairs.

That time I jumped at a role that brought me to Singapore - I never intended to leave the Philippines. My Dad would not have allowed it if he was still around. My old mission had ended and I was told to look for a new role. I really thought my journey had already ended. My managers though were keen to keep me and it was fate when my manager met my future manager in a trip to Indonesia. He set up a call with my future manager who was based in Zurich. That call eventually brought me to Singapore. 

That time I had open heart surgery - It was honestly the move to Singapore that eventually saved my life. The surgery changed my life completely. I had to change the way I lived my life. My family wasn't living in Singapore when I did my surgery. Sweetie stayed as long as he could (he had to go back to work). My Mom and Miggy stayed with me until I was well enough to fly back to Manila to recover more. I never went back to normal so the OHS effectively changed the course of my life. 

That time I had pulmonary embolism - post-OHS I was still able to do a lot of activities. I tried to cope after the first PE, but it really changes your body. The second one I had early this year has changed my life completely. A year ago today I was a very busy bee. My focus now is to get a bit better everyday. I'm still living this moment and I expect it will be what will completely change the course of my life. 

Life is beautiful. We go through a lot of moments. Some effectively change the direction of our lives. I believe though that we all have our individual missions from God. He nudges us to the right direction at the right time. I'm never scared whenever I feel I'm going through a life-changing moment. I embrace it because I know it's where God wants to take me next. 

What are your life changing moments?

CB///*Yr2/87 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/114 #NewG359 #Home133 #StayHome #BeKind