Miracle Sundays: Be Steadfast

The new year feels wore off just after a few days. I busied myself in the kitchen because I wanted to see the floor which was still covered in boxes. 

If there's one thing I learned about managing a chronic illness, it's to take things one day at a time. A subset of that is to do at least one percent better from the previous day. 

There was probably around 20 boxes of kitchen items the angels packed before the renovation. It was the combination of two kitchens. Miggy helped me with the first ten boxes and then I worked on the rest. 

Tried to do as much as I could but it left me tired, unweyand grouchy. Changed tactics to just one box a day. That worked and I'm down to two boxes and a bag of stuff. It took up a lot of time because I had to handwash everything.

I'm truly grateful I could move around more because I haven't been able to do these things in the past three years. There is always hope and I'm thankful for all the prayers. 

Be steadfast in your faith.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: My Ambitious Gardening Bucket List!

I have more misses than hits in my gardening adventures last year. The only plants that I grew from seed that are still alive are the carrots, blue ternate and sili (dying though). The ornamental plants from my Mom and Ate Rose are still thriving. The ginger and tumeric I propagated from kitchen scraps are still growing (hopefully). The succulents I have are dying because of the cold (except the kalanchoe). 

Someday my garden will be as lush as this!

It was a challenging gardening year, but I think I have a better idea now of what grows well in my garden. I understand better where the sun is, what fertilizers and soil to use. The thing I have to curb is, over-watering! My Mom told me that she waters everything everyday. What I did not realize is her garden gets much more sun than mine and I should really check the soil before watering my plants. I also need to make sure I only have enough plants I could take care of.

Here's my plan this year for my garden:

1. Prepare the garden properly. Our garden is flanked with bamboo. They were the right size when we moved in, but didn't realize they'd grow so tall! Well, it killed the grass because it couldn't get enough sunlight. We'll have to tame the bamboo and do something about the grass coz it's gotten very muddy. 
2. Address drainage issue in the garden. 
3. Assign an area for growing veggies so they get enough sunlight. 
4. Assign an area for ornamental plants. 
5. Get some indoor plants that are low maintenance. 
6. Cultivate veggies and herbs that are useful for cooking (onions!). 
7. Don't get overly excited over acquiring seeds. 
8. Study first before planting anything so your effort is not wasted. 
9. Be consistent with fertilizers and pesticides. 
10. Be always well so you can take care of your plants!

Gardening has been challenging, but a good activity to calm one's mind. I hope to have a better 2023 in my garden!

#BeKind #StaySafe

2023 Bucket List

I had dedicated Fridays to write about my travels, lakwatsa and food. I have been taking photos wherever I go and told myself I'll write about it someday. It's more fun though to write about recent experiences since memories do fade away. I rarely get to go out nowadays, so I thought I'd make Fridays as a free flow day where I could write about anything I feel like writing about. It could still be about lakwatsas, maybe some tech or about the cats that adopted us. 

Well, I still want to make lakwatsa. Sweetie and I talked about traveling locally more when we were still in Singapore. Last year we were only about to go to Tagaytay once and Bohol. Picked up the virus on the flight back home from Bohol and that ended our adventures. Took a few months before I was well enough to do grocery runs. Really grateful to my boys and my doctors for helping me. 

Here's what I hope to do "outdoors" this year -

1. Monthly grocery run (or every 3 weeks is fine). 
2. Brunch date with my boys. 
3. Get to dine at my favorite YouTube chefs restaurant (i.e. Chef Tatung, Chef RV etc.) and try out other interesting food places. 
4. A domestic destination that requires a flight (we still need to use Sweetie's travel fund!).
5. The beach, maybe Batangas or Subic
6. Baguio!
7. Celebrate special occasions somewhere nice.
8. Visit my fave malls! Glorietta, SM and Landmark (haha, yes, I've been home since 2021 but have not visited even the nearest SM to me!).
9.  Explore my home city more.
10. Of course, visit nearby churches. 

From God Whispers

Huge dependency though on my health, but as Dr. Joe Dispenza advised, "Manifest it!" So let's see how 2023 goes!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursday: Do You Remember Ziggy

Found an old Ziggy toy while unboxing our kitchen stuff the other day. Ziggy is a comic strip character made by Tom Wilson. The character was very popular when I was a child and was used by different brands for their promos. 

We used to always have Tang orange juice at home and that's how I got to collect Ziggy toys. This one was a toy you can use as a puppet. I collected a handful of Ziggy toys, but I remember giving it to Fr. Henry Free, CP. He was one of our jolly priests in our parish. As a child I thought he looked a lot like Ziggy. Good thing he was so good natured he found it funny and accepted my gift of Ziggys.

I don't remember when Fr. Henry went back to the US. Only found out now after doing a quick Google search that he passed away in 2016. Found his photo posted on the Passionists' website. The photos is exactly as I remember him. Jolly, always smiling and always ready to give out hugs. He was also always the most playful among the priests we had back then. I'm sad he's already gone and I can just imagine him laughing now as I remember him. 

I'm going to keep the photo I found to  myself because I feel Fr. Henry will pinch me in my sleep if I post it. I shall put the little toy now on top of my craft room TV to always remind me of Fr. Henry Free, CP. Please give hugs for me to my loved ones up there in heaven Fr. Henry <3

#BeKind #StaySafe

Wellness Wednesdays: My Wellness Goals for 2023

My recovery has been long and very slow. I have honestly been very fragile. The key to staying well is listening to my body and keeping my well-being stable. My main kryptonite is bad air quality and when my PTSD is triggered. Those are two things that I have to avoid so I stay stable. 

I reached my wellness goal last year which was not to be hospitalized. I didn't! And my doctor told me to avoid hospitals because it's a huge risk for me to pick up COVID-19. Not getting hospitalized is part of my 2023 goal, but my main goal this year is to recover and gain more stamina. I want to be able to do the things I used to do for my boys and create more happy memories with them. 

Here's my plan to reach my goal:

1. Pray
2. Be grateful and be grateful for others
3. Eat well and eat more nutritious food
4. Lose more weight
5. Complete daily exercises and increase exercise capacity (and try to go out more)
6. Follow doctors orders and do the tests
7. Drink meds on time
8. Re-start meditation
9. Solidify coping mechanims
10. Less social media 

I'm still keeping my circle small for now, but I hope to spend some time to see my friends. I was only able to meet up with friends once last year and after that I couldn't plan anything because of my stability. And that is why my goal this year is to be stable and gain more stamina. :)

What are your wellness goals for the year?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: Craft the Year Away!

I had fun developing new skills last year as I went through my sewing projects. I learned how to make curtains, finished my tshirt quilt project, a cover for my oxygen concentrator, and a Christmas tree skirt. I also made a couple of potholders and a Christmas placemat.  The only "artwork" I made was the pink vinta project. I wasn't able to finish my other Christmas projects and gave up on the planned handmade gifts, haha. 

What I learned though is to aim for the moon. Aim high so if you don't finish, you still get good results. I took so long finishing the tshirt quilt and I normally rest between major projects*. My craft room was also inaccessible for more than a month during renovation (it's not done yet). My overall plan for this year is to make more useful smaller projects. 

I created a long list of projects I want to make back in 2021. Good thing I wrote it in a notebook. The list kept growing because I'd get inspired from my craft books and Pinterest. There's so many cute stuff in it and I know I always learn when I create something. 

Here's what I'll prioritize this year:

1. New covers for my kitchen appliances and O2 concentrator.
2. Cover/blanket for the benches.
3. Finish the dining room seat cover and make a non-Christmas one.
4. Throw pillow covers for our currently non-existent sofa (lol)
5. Make more pot holders.
6. New curtains 
7. Make essential oil holders (been meaning to do this since 2020!)
8. Key holders 
9. Oven gloves (I got this huge roll of heat resistant wadding which needs to be used!)
10. Experimental projects, a wall hanging and something that requires a zipper. 

And note to self, if giving away handmade gifts, start making them in Q2! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

*Gotta prevent trigger finger and arm pain

Home on Mondays: Make Our Home Beautiful, Safe and Organized

We've been in our still relatively new home for a year now. We thought everything would be organized by now. Our original target to finish cabinet installation was the second week of December. Uncovered a LOT of issues that involved our safety, so we had to prioritize making sure we don't get fried while asleep. I'm honestly still very antsy since the bedroom electricals haven't been fixed. The Megger test shows now that priority fixes are done, so at least that's keeping me less anxious. 

We decided to move to a house because we wanted more space to move around and do our passions. Also since our parents are super seniors we have to be ready for them. Mom though is insistent on staying in her house. Since I'm a bit better now, we've been able to resume having her once a week for mass and dinner. A lot of convincing required though to get her out of her house. 

Here are my home goals for this year:

1. Make it safe by getting all electrical, plumbing and structural issues fixed.
2. Declutter and just keep what we need. I was really happy we were able to donate 14 boxes of stuff especially our pre-loved books. 
3. Make the kitchen ready to cook and bake yummy stuff with Miggy. 
4. Have a proper living room where we can welcome friends and family. 
5. A "stable" dining room. We realized that the glass table isn't for us. We're selling it and hope to change it back to a smaller wooden table. 
6. Maybe get some art that would fit our personalities. We have collected a lot of toys though, so maybe we won't need art. 
7. Make our garden more manageable. We'll likely change to turf grass since most of the grass died anyway. I want to have a section for veggies and ornamental plants. It's a bit challenging though, but doable.
8. Make the basement our family hub where we can enjoy working on our hobbies. We've so far designed it to be our "playroom" and I'm excited to work on the display cabinet. 
9. Use the maker room to produce things I love to make. Hope to be more productive this year. 
10. Fill the house with happy memories so it could be our true home. 

#BeKind #StaySaffe