Attended a Coffee Class!

One of the bilins* of my doctors is to keep sharp. They are worried my mind might deteriorate while waiting to recover. So I thought it might be a good idea to join a short online class. I saw my friend, Ros, post about their Coffee University classes. 

I signed up for the Online Home Brewing Class with Ros Juan. I only started brewing at home last year. I did not have a need to brew at home before. I normally picked up freshly brewed coffee from the office barista. At home I had a stash of 3-in-1 coffee but it ran out by June last year. It was a good thing because it pushed me to explore.  

I looked forward to the class because I wanted to learn different ways to brew at home, what equipment you need and brewing tips. I started with drip bags and eventually got a V6 coffee drip set. Joined the class, fumbled a bit with Zoom. SOS'd Sweetie to help change my name and then settled to listen to the lesson. 

It was a great class especially for coffee noobs like me. I learned a lot and tried the tricks Ros taught this morning. My coffee was perfect! I was so happy! Haha. I learned a bit more about equipment and I think the V6 pour over is enough for me now. 

Thanks Ros for the great class!

*advice

CB///355  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/18 #StayHome #BeKind   

Accepting Reality

"The Nile is not just a river in Egypt."

The first time I heard that was from my allergologist. He meant to tell me that denial is something that won't help you when you have a medical condition. It's better to accept and adjust as needed. That was one of the best advise I've received from a doctor. This was over a decade ago when I had adult onset of asthma. 

Accepting your reality is not easy. I took my doctor's advise to heart. It helped me to learn to be flexible. I made major adjustments on my lifestyle. My doctors are always happy to see me because I stay cheerful. Acceptance, that's my secret. 

I went to see a new doctor today. My cardiologist sent me to see her to figure out how to help me get better. I was already expecting to hear what she told me. We'll see how things go. Please pray for me. 

Last night Sweetie surprised me with dinner! He got Ikea meatballs!!! Woohoo! I was so happy! Thank you Sweetie for the yummy dinner! <3 <3 <3

CB///354  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/17 #StayHome #BeKind   

Out of Whack

My body is teaching me a lesson. I got too excited when the brain fog lifted. I slowly piled on activities (at home) again. I backslid to my old ways. I had a red flag last week, but I did need heed it. I kept myself busy by keeping my hands busy. I finished a quilt project and did a lot of writing. That did not end up well. 

Breaking the habit of being yourself is really, really hard. 

 Sat down by the lawn to enjoy the breeze after PT last week.

One of the biggest concerns of my doctors is letting my mind deteriorate while I'm on break. I reassured them that it won't. I told them not to worry because I'm keeping busy. My physiotherapist also said it's good I have home projects. It's what's keeping my mind clear. 

I feel like I'm a Core i7 processor installed in a 20-year old machine. My 8-year old hand-me-down Chromebook is having a hard time keeping up with me now. That's the best way I can describe how I feel now. There's a mismatch between my mind and body and it's been a struggle. 

I'm out of whack today. I'm even having a hard time stringing words together. I think I'll chill for now and let my body rest. 

Hope you are doing well my friend. 

CB///353  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/16 #StayHome #BeKind   

Plans to Go Out Foiled

I've been wanting to go to Ikea for a few weeks now. Told Sweetie about it last Friday and he said we'd go on Saturday. Prepared to go after our auntie cleaner left. I was dressed up already and decided to change my bag. It was that moment my plan was ruined. 

I miss you Ikea meatballs!

I must've inhaled some dust because it promptly triggered an asthma attack. Ugh. Tried to see if it would go away immediately. It did, but I knew I was already compromised. I decided to stay home to rest. And that's how I am for now. I have to carefully think about my activities. 

But, oh boy, I've been dreaming of eating meatballs for so long now. I don't remember the last time I went there. We were supposed to try again this morning, but I overslept hehe. We decided to stay home and keep busy with our hobbies. I ended up planning my next quilt project and fixing my sewing kit. Guess what I discovered --

I have too many pairs of scissors! And these are just the ones I use for sewing! No wonder Sweetie pulls me away from the scissor section whenever we're at Daiso, Spotlight or a bookstore. LOL. 

Hope you had a peaceful Sunday! 

CB///352  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/15 #StayHome #BeKind  

I Just Can't Sit Still

It's hitting closer to home. Our building in Manila where our unit is has five active cases. Our village where my Mom lives is on calibrated containment because of the surge of cases. Thirteen percent of the total new COVID-19 cases today in the Philippines is from my home city.

The government has just announced a stricter ECQ to start on March 29, Monday at 12 midnight. I had a feeling this would happen when cases started to rise two weeks ago. I instructed my family to stock up on supplies. I kept reminding Miggy to make sure he was safe when he had to go out and wash his hands. Also kept reminding him to sanitize at home. He also kept updating me on the increase in cases in our compound. 

I've been super exhausted all week with the consultations and appointments I had to keep. And then I injured my hand from sewing too much. Without a fully functioning hand I couldn't do much. I knew i had to sit still. But I couldn't. I feel so anxious about what's happening back home. I helped the best way I could - by putting together vital information for my city. 

I put myself in the shoes of someone who has a loved one who is infected. What should I do first? Find the COVID-19 hotlines most relevant for my city and barangay. The information wasn't easy to find. I did a lot of Google searches and also searched on FB. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

I found the city-level information and now I'm compiling the barangay level information. I'm also researching more information about getting vaccinated in our city. I've even reached out to senior citizens on Twitter who tweeted about getting vaccinated to ask how their experience went. I'm reading through threads of neighbors to get pertinent information. You can check out our family blog Paranaque Life for the information I've been compiling. 

I just can't sit still. I know I should be resting. I'm sure my doctors will scold me, but this is me. I hope the info I'm compiling can help others.

Please take care everyone. Stay home and stay safe. 

CB///351  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/14 #StayHome #BeKind 

Made a Quilt Bag for My Cutting Mat

I super love the heart strips quilt template. I used it a few years ago to make throw pillow cases and wanted to use the design for another project. Thought it would be nice to use it for bag I wanted to make for my cutting mat and wool ironing pad. Here's how it turned out --

I ended up injuring my pointy finger though. My physiotherapist said it's due to the repetitive actions I did while sewing. So no sewing for me until my finger gets well. Finishing the project was so satisfying. It took me three weeks working on it on and off. 

And here's the other side of the bag --

Here's how I made it --

More information and the template is available here.

CB///350  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/13 #StayHome #BeKind 

How I Started on My Quest to Be Financially Free

It was my Ate who taught me to be organized. When we spent summers at her bunkhouse in Batangas she'd leave us a lot of things to do. She was big on making lists and that somehow rubbed off me. She's a chemical engineer and that meant she's very process oriented too. I remember peering in her notebook when she was still studying and it was full of process flow charts. 

I learned the adulthood ropes by myself. Ate and Kuya had their own families already before I became a teenager. I was in my late 20s when I read a quote that said something like "You're an adult if you pay your bills on time". I was still living with my parents, but I had monthly bills and Miggy bills. I also learned from a friend to always pay your credit card in full every month. 

Eventually I had to manage two households, my home in Manila and Singapore. That meant two sets of monthly bills. To stay on top of it I created a spreadsheet to track the bills. It's already a template that I copy monthly. This makes sure I pay all the bills. It also helps me stay on budget. Early this year I made a review of my basic monthly and annual expenses and that's how I developed my target to be financially free. 

Here's how I broke down my future expenses:

Ideally you should already be free from mortgages and any bank financing payments by the time you become financially free. After computing my basic expenses I now have an idea how much monthly passive income I should develop. As my favorite finance vloggers always say, develop a diversified portfolio. I've been working on it little by little for some time now.

I've had to adjust my initial target to cover health expenses. When I first started working on this quest I didn't have any maintenance meds. My doctor told me this morning she's appreciative that I have very good understanding of my condition. I told her it's important for me to know because I need to think about my future. 

Hope this post was helpful for you to start thinking about your future. It will probably take me time to write about investments since I'm still studying it for now. 

CB///349 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/12 #StayHome #BeKind