Home on Mondays: Why We Bought a Renovated House

After living in 7 different homes in the past 12 years, we thought it was time to move to a permanent home. Our lifestyle also drastically changed from "always out" to "always home". We realized early on that we wanted to own our home. We took the plunge in 2012 when we invested in a condo unit. 

Watching house tours became our pasttime during the lockdown period. Being cooped up during the lockdown reconnected us to our home. We started new hobbies like gardening and baking. I was able to hone my sewing skills. 

When it became apparent that I needed to retire and go back home, we realized it would be safer for me if we lived in a house. Our condo property management office was really good at monitoring and helping those who got sick. I'm immuno-compromised, so we have to take more precaution. 

We discussed a lot about investing in a house as a family. We thought about finding a lot and building one from scratch. We considered buying an old house and renovating it. Building one or renovating requires a lot of energy. It would also put me under a lot of stress (something I have to avoid like the plague). That was when we considered buying a renovated house. 

In 2020, we saw a house that had a similar lay-out as my childhood house. I liked it a lot, but it was beyond our price range. We dropped the idea and just continued to view house tour videos. A year later I came across the house again. I researched more about it and found out the agent is a good friend. After a gazillion meetings, the house became ours after a few months. 

We moved in a few weeks after we got home. We're taking our time to fix it, but I think we really made the right decision to move. We were able to stay apart when the boys got sick (twice). After almost a year, we've just started having some proper cabinets installed. Hopefully we'll be done by Christmas. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Miracle Sundays: Stewardship

To be honest, I've been having more bad days than good days the past few months. I had a cardiac episode in mid-September and my PTSD was triggered. I rested in bed for almost a week before I could move around again. The PTSD episode took longer to alleviate since a lot of things was happening. 

While resting my back started to hurt again. I slowly started exercising based on routines my PT taught me. The strange thing is the pain would start an hour or two before I'd wake up. There were days it was so excruciating, Sweetie would help me get out of bed. The exercise helped, but I would still wake up in pain and sometime I'd cry. 

After the fire last week, I set an appointment with my pulmonologist. He said I looked like I gained weight. I probably gained 5 pounds since I last met him six months ago. We went on with the appointment, but he told me two more times to not gain any more weight, haha. He also referred me to a spine doctor since I haven't seen one in over a year.

The day after my consultation I looked back on what I've been eating. I don't eat a lot, but I indulged a lot since September. I would justify that since I wasn't feeling well I'd eat whatever I craved. I slowly went back to gardening and I'd sweat a lot from it. I also followed a bedtime exercise routine. It helped a bit, but I felt I needed to do better. 

I decided to follow again my favorite cardiologist's advise to losing weight. Count your calories. I immediately re-installed MyFitnessPal and connected my Fitbit to it. After 48 hours I noticed the back pain reduced a lot. I had to stop exercising though since I've been having slight fever and asthma on and off. Things will probably get better in the next few days. 

Today's Didache reflection asks, "How can you be a better steward of His gifts?" To me it's taking care of yourself. Make sure you are physically and mentally healthy. It's okay not to be okay, just take it slowly and focus on what will help you become better. 

"May the Lord Jesus Christ... encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word." - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Plants I've Accidentally Grown

I've been trying to grow veggies the past few months. The funny thing is I have other plants that grew by itself. The seed may have been in the soil or maybe dropped by birds or blown in by the wind. The seeds just grew and overpowered the plant I originally planted. Here's what grew so far --

Giant Moringa/Moringa Oleifera

I originally called this the "alien plant". It grew together with the mustasa seeds I planted. I transplanted the mustasa, but the alien plant kept growing. TBH I just let it grow since I had no idea what it was. I watered it sparingly. It's now about 3 feet tall. It was in a small grow plastic bag for 9 months. I finally transplanted it last month when I found out that it's probably moringa. I'll probably prune it often so it stays short. I read that I could use the leaves to make fertilizer for my green leafy veggies. 

Daisy? Or a Herb?

I planted a couple of fire tree seeds. I was happy when I saw it germinated. As it grew longer and longer I realized it wasn't fire tree, but something else. I let it grow longer, but results from Google Lens kept changing. It was about 18 inches already last week, but the typhoon uprooted it. Well, that means the pot is free again for something else. 

Typhonium blumei

A medicinal plant that's used often in Taiwan. This typhonium blumei just grew in the middle of the grass. It looked like a flowering plant that's why I transplanted it to a pot. It has several leaves now and hope it will flower soon. I'm really curious to see if it produce a maroon flower. Some sites though say it's poisonous, so I transferred it away from my veggies to be sure. 

Spurflower? Ivy? 

This nice looking plant grew with the caixin flowers I was trying to grow. I should have pulled it out as soon as it sprouted because it ate up all the nutrients of the soil. The caixin flowers soon died when it started to grow rapidly (argh!). I've been getting mixed results whenever I try to identify it. Since it's still alive I'll wait it out. 

I'm still not sure how I ended up with those plants. I treated the soil before I planted seeds, but nature has it's own way of surviving. I haven't been successful yet in my veggie project and just seeing plants grow make me happy. They have so far been low maintenance, so I'll let them grow.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Lakwatsera Friday: Kuala Lumpur

I've lost count on the number of times I've been to Kuala Lumpur. It became a routine route for me since it was just a very short flight from Singapore. I'd usually hop on a plane in the morning and I'd go straight to the office. It was an easy commute since from KLIA I just take the KLIA Express to KL Sentral. I normally also book a hotel within KL Sentral. Easy peasy. 

One of the most memorable visits was when our good friends, Marcus and Shirni, took me and Sweetie around. They surprised us with tickets to go to the skybridge of the Petronas Towers. Being 170 meters off the ground was a dizzying experience. We went in the evening so we got to see KL at night. We were already happy seeing the twin towers from the bottom, but getting to the skybridge was amazing! After that we had dinner at Madam Kwan's (busog lusog!). Thank you Marcus and Shirni!

I love the food in KL. They have the best Nando's in the region. The chicken is always perfectly cooked and best matched with their sauce. I remember eating their once with more than 15 people in tow. I arrived late for an event since I was tied up in another country. The whole community welcomed me and we had dinner at Nando's. I was so dazed* by then, but I remember feeling super happy that night with everyone.

Another visit with Miggy.

 

And that's what I like best in Malaysia (not just KL). I met so many people from many walks of life. Some have become life-long friends and I hope they'll come and visit the Philippines when this crazy pandemic is over. I haven't had the chance to explore more of KL though, so hope I'd be able to come back too someday. 

*Probably explains why I don't have any photo from that night!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursday: The Day After the Wedding

Sweetie and I went home the day after the wedding. It was just after Christmas and hotel fees were expensive. My Mom helped us get a place to rent. It was, of course, just five minutes away from her by car. That was important for us because we didn't have a car at that time (Sweetie's car was damaged by typhoon Ondoy).

Sweetie's parents picked us up at the hotel and brought us home. We had so much stuff! My parents took care of transporting the gifts, so we were surprised it was already in the apartment when we got home. The first thing we had to do was figure out dinner. Our cooking area wasn't set-up yet. I think we were saved that night because we ate dinner at my parents house, haha. 

The next day we worked on opening gifts. We found plates, some serving dishes, knives, a rice cooker and key items we could use to eat. Sweetie's Dad lent us their car and I remember we went to the supermarket to buy provisions and a can opener*. For that day we got some Binalot and maki. 

We didn't have to worry about food for a month since there were a lot of parties. Our parents also always sent food. Miggy soon moved in with us when we had things under control. Our first cooking attempt happened a week later. It was a failed attempt, haha. The first laundry attempt also ended up in disaster. It was followed by a smokin' sink.

I'm glad we were able to write about our first year. It was a roller coaster ride for us. I just thought to look back since we're finally getting some proper cabinets for our new home. Yay!

*Recently found the can opener and it still works! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Wellness Wednesdays: A Cat Adopted Us

There are a number of stray cats on our street. We normally encounter two cats prowling in our property, orange and gray cats. The gray cat used to just hang out in the garden or under my car. When I sold my car, it started to sleep in our laundry area. I used to see the orange one often, but I guess it found a new home. 

When we found out that the gray cat has been staying in our laundry area at night, we realized it has moved in permanently in our home, haha. We had 2 cans of cat food which I accidentally bought in Singapore. I was supposed to give it to a cat-parent friend, but his cat passed away. We decided to feed the cat. 

Grey the Cat. Photo by Sweetie.

Since we don't really have pet accessories, we learned new things from taking care of Grey. Apparently you're not supposed to use a deep bowl to feed cats. They don't like it when their whiskers hit stuff. We never had a pet cat, so I asked advise from a friend who rescues cats and dogs. 

I've not allowed to have pets, but Grey has provided us happiness as a family. We just figured out today that he's male. I think he was injured before because his tail looks like it was cut off (poor kitty). He still keeps his distance from us, but at least he doesn't run off anymore when he sees us. He just does a slow walk while staring at us, haha. 

One of his favorite places to hang out

The American Heart Association says that pets help with anxiety and stress. I was devastated when I couldn't accept the chihuahua JD was giving to me. My doctor said no and the boys said no too. It was the right decision since I need to focus on recovering. I wouldn't have been able to take care of it properly. 

Grey coming into our lives has been a good compromise. We've been able to provide it a safe place to stay and provide him some food (we're still figuring out how much food to give him). We're not able to pet him though, maybe that will come when the time is right (it will probably freak out my doctor). I'm happy already I'm able to say hello to him. I also feel safer that he's around because he'll be able to chase away rats and maybe even snakes. 

We'll see where this goes. Grey is welcome in our home as long as he wants to stay. Maybe in time he'll trust us and we can bring him to the vet to have his tail checked. <3

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: Craft Room New Look Coming Soon!

Cabinet installation has finally started! I've been dreaming of having a proper craft (maker) room for many years now. I've been working on my projects where there is available space. The past few months my craft room has seen many changes. I got two cabinets to hold my stuff, but clutter easily piles up. I want a space that where I could properly organize my stuff. It's also my safe room whenever air quality goes bad, so it has to be secure. 

Just before we emptied the room.

The space for my craft room is small. I originally wanted floor to ceiling cabinets, but realized that it would make the room feel stuffy. So I asked if the middle part can be made into a desk since I do other stuff too. I want my art materials and stickers accessible. 

Original plan was to keep it open, then I wanted it closed.

The architect suggested to have drawers at the bottom instead of plain cabinets. I agreed since it would be easier to organize knick-knacks in drawers. Originally also thought I'd keep the cabinets open or use glass, but after using glass steel cabinets for many months I grew tired of the busy background. I sold the steel cabinets to a friend. 

The final cabinet that will hold my craft stuff.

Aside from the cabinet I'm having a design wall installed. We're just going to DIY it with flannel and foam board. The design wall will help me look at the design while I'm piecing the quilt. I'm also considering putting a rod on top of the design wall to make it easier to take photos of my projects. 

I decided not to make a new sewing table since the one I got from Spotlight is still useful. I'll probably have one made in the future when the existing one becomes unusable. I'm so excited to have proper cabinets for my craft room! Yay!

#BeKind #StaySafe