A Blessed New Year to Everyone!

A new year has finally come! I'm so glad the fireworks last night were less than usual. There were just pockets of it around our neighborhood. We didn't dare go out, plus we wanted to make sure our cats were alright. They all just hid somewhere and allowed us to stroke them more than usual. Well, by 10 in the evening I already had asthma, so I didn't dare go out of our family room.

I'm looking forward to starting new things this year and working on interesting projects. We will continue to work on our health and do things that would enrich our faith and our mind. I skipped writing down goals last year and that got me nowhere, LOL. I'll write some down for this year and maybe make big hairy goals. I think I can do more than what my body allows me (with caution). 

I plan to continue blogging everyday. It keeps my mind busy, plus it pushes me to be productive for the day. I made a promise to Dr. Koo and Dr. Shankar that I will continue to write. They said I have to so my mind doesn't go to waste. I hope, I'll be inspired to write everyday. 

Anyway, a Blessed New Year to you and your family. May you have a fruitful and great year ahead!

#BeKind #StaySafe

A Grateful Year-end

I'm writing this as I cringe since a neighbor just lit what sounds like a large size Judas belt. It ended with a loud bang. I never really liked firecrackers and I'd hide inside the house on new years eve. I'm just glad none of our immediate neighbors use it (well, so far). We've set up hiding places for our cats. Bailey had me stroke his back longer than usual earlier since firecrackers were going off as early as 4 in the afternoon. 

Anyway, I'm just grateful I have a nice hiding place in our basement. We turned on two air purifiers to make sure I don't have an asthma attack. We'll just have some pasta and barbecue for media noche. I also got a small basque burnt cheesecake from a neighbor, so we have something sweet. 

I'm happy I was able to complete another year of one second everyday (#1SE). I just make it a point to take a photo everyday to remember what I did for that day. Majority are probably photos of cats, my plants and us dining somewhere. Here's the video for December -

May you all have a blessed and safe new year! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

2025, New Year in Manila

We welcomed the new year ice again at home. We stayed in the family room to avoid the smoke. Good think the ones who used firecrackers were a bit far from us. I've always been nervous about it since I was a child.

I ordered some honking chicken horns, but it did not arrive on time. Our neighbors took care of providing the noise and I'm grateful for that. I didn't want to add to the noise since our cats were already anxious. 

For media noche, we just had leftovers from the get together. I cooked 3 kilos of chicken adobo, so we had a lot of that left. We also had some pancit canton, so I didn't have to make spaghetti. I'm also glad we had sansrival and apple pie. Yum-yum! 

I prepared a grand breakfast though - corned beef, cheese omelette and fried rice. My Dad said don't spend money on new years day, so you can save all year. It's been hard to do that, but I was finally able to do it today. Yay! 

We just chilled the whole day. Organized a bit of stuff. Wrote on my new planners and watered the plants. Also gave Meredith, Anakin and Bailey a dose of Frontline since I noticed they've been scratching again.

I had too much activity, so I elected to watch a movie on Netflix to rest. Dinner was leftovers. Tomorrow we can start fresh since I think we cleared out our leftovers. 

I have no new years resolution for now. I'd like to keep it simple and focus on health, wellness, family and family projects. 

Happy new year everyone! May God bless you and keep you.

#BeKind #StaySafe

2024: Full Year as an Orphan, Inner Child Healed

It's just 2 hours before the new year. I had been debating with myself whether I should blog today or just slack off. I could've just rested since we had a small party earlier, but my inner voice/muse would probably nag me to no end. Either write now on my laptop or blog on my phone. I chose my Chromebook so I could do it faster.

To be honest, I probably need to go through my photos to remember what happened this year. I was able to complete daily blogging and 1SE last year. This year I became erratic by mid-year. I now realize my energy fluctuated a lot more after I had COVID-19 in May. Still fighting and praying I won't need another heart surgery. 

It was a quiet year for me. It was the first full year I didn't have a Mom. If I was going to write some key words for the year it would include the following words:

sorting

cats

kittens

experiments

reunions

malling

healing

family

Sorting - going through my Mom's stuff. Oh boy, I've only probably finished 40% of it and we have a deadline by end of January.

Cats and kittens - from Grey, Brimsley, Kaley, Mando Grogu, Eevee and Pikachu, the cat distribution system added Meredith, Bailey and Anakin. It seems we lost Kaley and Grey the past 3 months. They have not come back and feel they're gone forever. 

Experiments - I like doing experiments and this year I was able to propagate calamansi and avocado from seed! I'm hoping they will grow and bear fruit!

Reunions - after having COVID-19, I threw caution to the wind and started inviting friends over. Having friends around help boost my immune system. We've just been taking precautions to take extra vitamins after meet-ups. 

Malling - we didn't get to go on vacation this year, mainly because no one would take care of our cats. We're still finding a solution for it. 

Healing - I think the most important breakthrough I had this year was healing my inner child. I always felt abandoned by my siblings when they left home when I was just 10/13 years old. I only realized it when I had counseling back in 2021. What helped me was Sr. Lirio and a video that said only you can heal your inner child. I realized that whatever I was holding onto when I was a child was never coming back. I was able to let it go and focus on who's with me and who's within reach. 

Family - I spent the entire year with my boys (minus 3 nights I was in the hospital and Miggy went home). We weren't able to travel. We made up for it by going out almost every week. It was a good thing SMB opened a new building and we've been re-discovering our old haunt. I hope we'll be able to travel next year. We'll see. 

Just an hour left before midnight. I'll just hang out with Sweetie and Miggy. We have a lot of leftovers from the get-together, so I skipped cooking media noche. I'll just cook something tomorrow if we need food. 

Thank you year 2024. Hoping for a better and more active new year!

May God bless all of you for the new year!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Goal Setting, Let's Do This

What are your dreams and plans for the year? I have been thinking about it since the end of December. To be honest it's still percolating in my mind. Yesterday's Didache reflection though had me thinking. It reminded me that it's easy to "lose focus when things get to high or too low". People tend to focus on oneself and forget that we are supposed to be "bringers of His light". 

The reflection threw out this question, "Ask why and for whom you are doing them. Are they all about you?" I couldn't sleep last night thinking about the question. I have to be honest, most of my goals have been about me. Things I want to do, memories I want to create with my family. 

I had a hard time thinking about what goals I can have that will be for others. What I can do physically is very limited. I can't really do things for others since it's risky for me to be out and about, plus I don't have the stamina. 

I finally drifted to sleep when I realized I shouldn't be measuring what I can do with what I used to do. I have to be creative and adjust to my capacity. That boils down to what I wrote on the header of this blog, "Home, Hobbies and Inspiration". 

As a light of Jesus, I have to craft goals that would be helpful and inspirational for others to deepen their faith. And that's what I'll be mindful of when I craft my goals for the year.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

2024, New Year in Manila

Happy New Year! 

Celebrated the new year at home contained in our family room. Had to do this to avoid the bad air quality. Didn't want to welcome the new year with asthma, haha. We also just prepared the ready to cook food Kuya and Ate Joy sent. I'll cook pink pasta today so we could have noodles.

I was so surprised so many neighbors had fireworks! There wasn't as many last year when we welcomed 2023. By 11:20 pm it was super noisy in our neighborhood. It wasn't the same though as the 80s/90s when it was non-stop. There were moments of silence in between. Of course, the loudest bangs came five minutes before midnight. 

I feel 2024 is going to be very different! I haven't crafted any goals yet, but I have some ideas in my head. I'll let it simmer for now and will write it out in the next few days.

Here's how my 2023 went as a one second everyday vlog!

Have a blessed year everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Grateful 2023

Thank you Lord for the gift of life, the blessings and the time with family and friends. I am grateful for everything and understand that trials come along the way to make one stronger. It's also a way to appreciate and be thankful for what you have. 

2023 was another difficult year. Losing Mom meant I really need to find my footing and be completely independent. I started to learn this when we lost Dad back in 2011. I remember Mom would always say, "What will you do when I'm gone" when I was just a child. She wanted me to learn to be independent at a young age. 

Now that I am an orphan, I'm grateful I had my parents growing up. They left me when I was good and ready. They were very strict when I was growing up. I would probably not have the discipline to have done well if not for that. So I am truly appreciative of the time I had with them. 

The new year will be a transition. We will be working on my childhood home. I haven't even made a dent in sorting the boxes. Mom left a lot of stuff. It took me the whole month of December just to sort through her bead collection. She had taught kids how to make rosaries, so she had a lot of supplies. I haven't even started with her sewing supplies. It will probably take me half a year to finish going through everything. 

And, I have completed the challenge to complete one second video everyday! Here's a summary of my December 2023!

Let's all have fun in 2024!

#BeKind #StaySafe

2023 New Year at Home in Manila

Celebrated our second new year in our still relatively new home. Media noche was home cooked bistek tagalog and tuna macaroni salad. Yup, we broke the bank to buy some onions (haha). More importantly, I was able to vacuum across the house (well, had Sweetie finish the living room and dining room since I got tired). Having a clean house to welcome the new year is something I aim for every year. 

I spent most of the day in the kitchen. Marinated the bistek tagalog and chicken adobo early. Then I got help from Sweetie to prepare the tuna macaroni salad. Since we got a basket of fruits we though it might be a good idea to mix in some apple to part of the tuna macaroni salad. That would be a nice twist. The nice thing about making your own macaroni salad is you can skip the ingredients you don't really eat (i.e. raisins and pineapple hehe). We decided to forego the fiesta ham for another time. We ended up with Pinoy themed meals. 

Bistek tagalog with gold (lol).

We're still cooking in my now 11-year old Philips induction one-burner stove. I'm really glad I kept it because it's saved me a couple of times. I almost gave it to Cathy when she was newly married since she needed some stuff (gave them our microwave instead). I got the stove when I lived with Jajah at our second apartment (or maybe it was the first). It's seen us through our journeys and I thought I won't have a need for it, haha. 

I marinated, Miggy cooked. That's how we roll now.

Cooking the chicken adobo right now. It's the biggest batch of adobo I've ever cooked. I made a lot so we can send some to Mommy and Dad (in Marikina). It's going to be an odd combination with tuna apple macaroni salad, but it will do, haha. I'm still finding my footing again in the kitchen and truly grateful I'm able to cook again (kitchen was closed for two months). 

I'm very glad the fireworks last night didn't last long. It was noticeably much, much less than usual. The heavy rampage only lasted 10 minutes. I guess everyone was excited for media noche, haha. I'm grateful though since it's overall safer not to use fireworks. I heard something fall on our roof last night. I hope it's just a stick from the kwitis. Will request Mang Rod to check when he's back since we previously found several bullets in my Mom's roof before. 

I checked out my 2022 new year post and realized I didn't make any resolutions last year. I think I'd rather write out my goals and dreams for 2023. I noticed I went haywire in 2022 probably because I didn't set any goals. Overall, I want 2023 to be a year for healing, develop more stamina and I hope to develop new skills for my passions. 

Hope you all had a great new year with family and friends. May you all have countless blessings this year. 

#BeKind #StaySafe