Wellness Wednesdays: Travelling for People with Invisible Disabilities

I thought I wouldn't make it to our trip. I had severe asthma the night before we were set to leave for our family vacation. I barely slept, so I was worried I won't have the energy to go through the flight. The last time we travelled we requested for a wheelchair and it helped immensely. We were not able to request for one for this trip. 

I was already awake when Sweetie woke up. I kept waking up throughout the night and was mulling whether I should use the oxygen concentrator. My oxygen saturation though was good so I did not push through and tried to sleep. 

The good news is I survived the trip! The adrenaline from being excited to go through our first family trip since 2019. I think what really helped me was managing stress and taking things slowly. Here are a few tips for those traveling with people who have invisible disabilities:

1. Be clear with your goals for the trip

People with invisible disabilities function very differently. Our energies cannot match that of healthy people. My 86 year old Mom actually lasts longer than I do and deals with stress better. Plan activities that are manageable for the physically challenged person. For our travel day we just ate and rested in between when we arrived.

2. Make sure to plan and bring more than enough medication

Days before our trip I already made a list of all the meds I needed. I brought 50% more meds in case we got stuck. Also brought a copy of my prescription in case of emergency and to show in case it was needed at the airport. Of course because I'm a girl scout, I also have scanned copies of it in my Google Drive.

3. The matter of clothing

I was drenched in sweat by the time we had lunch. Good thing I had a face towel in my bag.

Understand how your body reacts to different temperatures. I easily get cold and easily heat up. I basically have to stay within a certain temperature (bubble girl yan). So I brought a myriad of clothes so I could adjust as needed. I forgot to bring sleep socks (usually the one from the plane), so I just requested for an extra blanket.

4. Be mindful of what you eat

I have some annoying allergies and I stay within limits of my medication. I know I went beyond what I should eat when I have a sneezefest. I know my body quite well so I'm able to manage symptoms before it gets worse. Companions should also understand your limits so they can watch out for you also. My boys know my triggers, so they're able to flag things I  shouldn't eat.

5. Control movement and activities

My main issue is my lungs. They're scarred, so moving around a lot is hard for me. We planned activities that are probably more common for "seniors" haha. We still want to enjoy though, so we made a list of things we want to see and do. We shied away from the usual tourist activities and just did what was manageable. I just sat out things that would strain me. We were also very mindful about social distancing and avoided crowds.

6. Manage stress and triggers

I have PTSD and it doesn't feel good when it's triggered. For the trip I made sure to bring a Peace and Calming roller blend. It helps me be in a calmer space. My boys also know when I'm starting to get stressed. They already know "the look" and they take over as needed. Managing triggers is really helpful to keep your day running smoothly.

My days of heavy traveling and crazy travel activities is definitely over. My doctors keep reminding me I'm still young (though trapped in an 80 year old body) and so I still want to enjoy and make new happy memories with my family. We just need to adjust and tweak things here and there so we could still enjoy our family trips.

*And maybe you can use these tips when traveling with elderly.

#StaySafe #BeKind

Craft Tuesdays: The Baby Quilt Blanket I Made for Miggy

I mentioned a few posts ago about the baby quilt blanket I made for Miggy. I sewed it by hand and Mom took care of binding it (I didn't know how to do binding at that time). The fabric I used were cuttings from Tita Maming's export business. She always gave my Mom cuttings that they were just going to dispose. They had really nice fabric because their primary market was Japan. All the quilts I made during that time were from the stash she gave to my Mom. 

We used pink and blue checked fabric. The design was simple and I embroidered cute shapes on some of the pieces. I'm actually surprised that the thread has held up even after almost 30 years. The last square I embroidered Miggy's name, birth date and time. 

I was so happy when Sweetie found the blanket when he pulled out the rest of our stuff from the condo. Got it washed this week. There are some stains on it which I think I will need to hand wash. It still feels really sturdy and I'm thinking of framing. It will probably be nice to hang in my sewing room. 

Well, one assignment for me is to find Miggy's baby photo with it. For now I only have grown-up Miggy with it haha. This is one thing I will cherish forever :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Emergency Pest Control at Home

Following the discovery of coptotermes (the nastiest house termites) in our home, we SOS'd our suking pest control company. It was end of day Saturday when we pinged them. They immediately scheduled a crew to inspect the next business day. They came Monday afternoon and checked the whole property for pests.

Priority was given to the kitchen where we saw the termites. The crew confirmed it and mentioned it was the nastiest of all common house termites. Sweetie said they picked up one and showed it to him. The tiny critter immediately bit on Mark. Not physically painful for humans, but painful for the wallet to do pest control, lol. We also reported the extraordinary number of ants we've been encountering, mosquitoes and wrigglies. Luckily we've only seen very few roaches and no Mickeys. 

Kuya Glenn working in the magic potion.

They said it was a good thing we did not attempt to DIY controlling the pests. We said we didn't want to because we thought they might just run to another area in our home. They noted that the termites came from the pocket garden. Maybe came in through the abang that was made for the heater I was planning to install in the kitchen. They said the termites likely came from the dead tree across the street. When the termites run out of food they normally travel up to 50 meters to find a new area. 

Dealing with the ants. The ant baits we've been putting helped, but they kept coming back.
They later on fumigated also to take care of other insects.

The crew serviced our home the whole day yesterday. The first session usually takes longer because they also have to put baits to determine the level of infestation. Aside from the termites they also took care of the ants and the wrigglies. They reassured us that the birds and other wildlife in our area will not be affected (I hope pollinators too). They treated the perimeter first and then went inside after lunch. They explained it's best to treat the perimeter first so they die even before they get out of our property. 

Bait to determine extent of infestation. They'll come back in 2 weeks to check it.
They added a secret sauce in it to attract the termites. 

This was one thing we were not expecting to do this early in our new home. The contractor said this is the first time they have encountered this in any of their projects. Still good that we discovered it sooner than later and we've been working with a reliable pest control company. They have been serving our childhood homes. If you need to contact a pest control company we recommend Pixa Corporation. Thanks Ms. Myna for introducing us to Ms. Jojo!

Next week: Kitchen cabinets wishlist

#BeKind #StaySafe

Miracle Sundays: Serving

Writing this blog post today from our neighborhood Starbuclks. The place is busy so I'm keeping my mask on. I was forced to leave the house because of the ongoing fumigation of the premises. My doctor friend dropped by earlier with some goodies from Binan and told me I should evacuate. It was good advise because I already had a sneezefest this morning when they were just injecting pesticide in the soil. So Sweetie whisked me away.

Today's Gospel is about showing God you love Him through service. It was a really good reading for me because I was mulling over whether I did the right thing about sending the video of a possible crime we witnessed right in front of our house. Okay, let's backtrack a bit...

We're truly a strange lot because we normally peek out whenever the trash truck comes. When we hear the sound of their exhaust we usually check if they get all the trash we brought out. Yesterday, Sweetie peeked out as usual and saw one of the crew open up a trash bag. That wasn't unusual because they normally do some sorting already. He was surprised though when he saw two laptops and a bag full of accessories brought out from the bag. He immediately told me about it and our first thought was, "Wow, our neighbor is so rich they just threw out two laptops."

An hour later we were still talking about it and I remembered that there was an incident in my Mom's neighborhood where vendors were taking out stolen devices. Well, we don't really know the circumstances surrounding the laptops in trash. My initial thought tbh was "There's really money in trash!" Then I remembered about what happened in my Mom's area. I immediately sent some videos to our homeowners association so they could check if there was any reports in the neighborhood. 

I haven't received any response from our homeowners association. I guess it's because of the weekend and maybe there was nothing to it. I thought though maybe I was just overreacting? Or maybe it's PTSD from what happened at my childhood home. I also thought maybe I should have just ignored what we saw and let it be. Was I being too pakielamera? 

I've gotten in trouble many times for being pakielamera. Kuya said it's not a bad thing, I just care too much. Today's Gospel though comforted me. I did the right thing to report what we saw and it's up to them whether they want to check or not. There's always two sides to a story anyway and I hope it's the good side.

Now... do we tell our neighbor we discovered anay in our property?

Here we go again...

Happy Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Propagating Pothos from Cuttings

The pothos I brought home from Singapore didn't flourish. I had it in water since we got home and it slowly deteriorated. I suspect it's because of the water because I was using the same honey  I decided to plant it in a pot to save it. It's been two weeks and it so far looks happy. 

Ate Rose pinged me last weekend and said she was planning to give me some plants. I said I was happy to receive her overflow since a lot of my plants died from the higad infestation. I mentioned to her that I wanted some pothos if she had any extra. The next day she dropped off the plants and I was super surprised with the length of the pothos she cut for me. It was loooong!

Among the plants she gave me I prioritized the pothos since it was just a long vine. I thought it might dry out if I left it overnight so I immediately worked on it after lunch. I was surprised with how many cuttings I could make, so I decided to plant some in soil and put some in water. 

One week after planting in soil.

Out of the long vine I was able to plant two sets in soil. I used three jars for the cuttings with smaller leaves. I used rainwater for the jars. I was forced to bring the pots inside the house because several leaves were eaten by caterpillars. I put them on planters, but the critters still managed to reach them. Good thing pothos don't need too much sunlight so I put them indoors. They look quite happy. 

This leaf was still new when pests ate it.

It's really nice to have more greens inside the house. I hope the pothos in water will flourish the same way it did in Singapore. They'll have to survive though without a/c haha. I think they have adjusted well to the rainwater. Hope it rains again since my rainwater supply is pretty low now. 

I was happy tired after relocating the pothos cuttings. Fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! I had to save for another day re-potting the other plants since I ran out of energy already. It's been a really good exercise for me to putter around the garden. Plants really become more beautiful when you spend enough time with them. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Lakwatsera Fridays: Strange Moment at Gyeongbokgung Palace

2019 was a great year. I traveled a lot that year and Sweetie joined me in Seoul after my trip to Yeosu. Since it was his first time in Seoul we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. To make the visit complete we decided to dress up in hanbok. It was a great day to go around the palace and I was able to share info I picked up from my previous visit. 

We spent almost two hours going around the palace grounds. It's really huge, so we chose to explore the area of the Gyeonghoe-run Pavilion and spent a lot of time in the Geungjeong-jeon. It was fun going around at a snail's pace with Sweetie. Since our rental had a time limit we soon slowly walked back towards the entrance. 

We were taking photos in the courtyard when a guy approached us. He introduced himself and said he's from Vietnam. He was so interested in Sweetie and asked if he could take his photo. He set up his camera, took Sweetie's photo and then said he wanted a photo with him. He didn't even ask for my help and just put his cam on timer. He was gushing about meeting Sweetie the whole time and completely ignored me. 

It was really weird.

Well, that happened to me also back in 2017 when a Latino chased me to have a photo. He thought I was a local (I truly have a generic Asian face)! I was wearing a hanbok also at that time and maybe he liked the color of my dress. It felt like a random thing only and it didn't feel weird. He was also with a group of friends. The guy though who took Sweetie's photo was alone and didn't even acknowledge my presence. Weird.

Well, to this day we don't know who he is. Chalked it up to a random encounter. Nothing untoward happened after that and we never saw him again.  I still remember it because it was a strange experience haha. We just laugh at it now. Have you experienced something similar?

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Throwback Thursday: Ice Scramble Memories

I craved for chicken wings after watching a travel vlog. I randomly saw that the shop was also selling ice scramble. It's been decades since I last had ice scramble, so I added it to the order. Got busy while waiting for delivery and forgot I got it. Only remembered when I saw it on the fridge and Miggy said it was on the receipt, haha. Then I remembered what it was. 

I was surprised when I saw it had a lot of add ons. It had tiny marshmallows, chocolate chips, cream cheese, chocolate syrup and pearls. I used to buy ice scramble often from the street vendor outside the school gate. I think it was just one peso or two pesos back then. It was just pink juice with crushed ice. Manang usually added a teaspoon of powdered milk. 

I would normally put my bag in the school bus and then go down again to buy snacks. Ice scramble is a refreshing snack. I drank it while waiting for my busmates to arrive. Just saw many recipes on how to make ice scramble, maybe I'll try making some one of these days. I'll probably just make the drink and won't put the add ons. 

It was nice to try ice scramble again. I split the order with Sweetie and Miggy so they could try. Sweetie said he used to buy it with his classmates. Miggy can't remember if they had it in their school. Ice scramble brings back warm, fuzzy memories of hot afternoons waiting in the school bus. 

Did you have the same drink in your school? 

P.S. I stopped buying it from the vendor when I saw a coin drop in the styro box. She continued selling! Eeeeep! Well, I never had food poisoning from anything I bought from the street vendors, so I guess it was okay hehe. 

#BeSafe #StaySafe