Wellness Wednesdays: Wellness Check!

I think I can honestly say I feel better now compared to the start of the year. That's true for both my physical and mental state. I've also just changed doctors and had my initial check-ups with them. I'm working on completing the tests. My new doctors said I'm stable and that's our goal. Be stable and gain more stamina. 

So, let's take a look on how I progressed with my wellness goals this year...

1. Pray 

Of course, everyday.

2. Be grateful and be grateful for others. 

Always. It's where I gain strength from.

3. Eat well and eat more nutritious food. 

I was doing well early this year, but I slipped when Mom passed away. I turned to food to cope. My cholesterol is now borderline high. Have gone back to just eating fish/chicken. I also need to eat food that would provide me with more vitamin D.

4. Lose more weight. 

The scale finally started to move down last summer. I've also been weighing myself everyday to make sure I'm not retaining fluid. 

5. Complete daily exercises and increase exercise capacity (and try to go out more). 

It's been touch and go for me, but I'm back to gardening several times a week and doing stretches every morning. I plan to see an orthopedic doctor to have my back checked. 

6. Follow doctors orders and do the tests 

Started seeing new doctors in June. It was quite hard to find good ones. Glad we found a good set connected to the ones recommended by friends. Thank you guardian angels!

7. Drink meds on time. 

To be able to do this I need to solve my sleep issues. I'm able to drink my meds at the same time everyday, but I hope to start the regime earlier.

8. Re-start meditation. 

Not started.

9. Solidify coping mechanims. 

I think I'm better now compared to the past few months. I have improved a lot, but I know I still need to work on me.

10. Less social media.

I've been able to lessen my time on social media. I've started reading books again. So much time is spent waiting at doctors offices, doing tests and PT. I'm putting that time to good use by reading a book. Saves phone batter and internet too, haha. 

Score: 7/10 (gave some goals 0.5 points only)

I was afraid I didn't do well with my wellness goals! I guess I prioritized this over my craft goals, which I appropriately should! I still need to work on me so I can create more happy memories with my boys :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: Goal Check!

Have you made progress with your craft projects? I am still on pause right now. Discovered I have vitamin D insufficiency and after experiencing arm pain I thought it would be prudent to rest. I can't stop thinking about creating though, so thought I'd review my crafting goals for the year. TBH, I don't think I've made much progress, but let's see.

1.New covers for my kitchen appliances and O2 concentrator. 

I have so far finished making a new cover for my KitchenAid stand mixer and Philips food processor. The blender cover is in progress. Learned how to make cat quilts because of this project. I have not started thinking about what cover to make for my O2 concentrator (it's ginormous!).

2. Cover/blanket for the benches. 

Nope, not yet started. I think I might make it Star Wars themed. Hmm...

3. Finish the dining room seat cover and make a non-Christmas one. 

Errrr, it's stuck.

4. Throw pillow covers for our currently non-existent sofa (lol).

Still no sofa, so no throw pillow covers.

5. Make more pot holders. 

None yet.

6. New curtains 

So far, only for the kitchen. I used oatmeal colored Swissdot fabric which I thought was very cute. I got another color for the living room, but haven't got around to making it. 

7. Make essential oil holders (been meaning to do this since 2020!) 

Finally, something I completed! I also made several and gave it to my friends.

8. Key holders 

Nope, I cheated and used a duplicate Yoda lego key chain (hehe).

9. Oven gloves (I got this huge roll of heat resistant wadding which needs to be used!) 

Not started.

10. Experimental projects, a wall hanging and something that requires a zipper.

I'm still figuring out where to place it, so I can think about what to do. 

Well, one thing I should have included in this checklist is the maker room renovation! We finally completed it in early April. I've been working a lot more though in the family room. We moved my sewing table so we could save on electricity (use one aircon only). I also have to finish sorting through the plastic boxes of materials. 

Score: 3/10! Ugh, need to get moving!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Time to Review Targets!

Last January, I spent an entire week listing down what I wanted to do this year. Since it's already the second half of the year, I thought I'll spend some time this week to review the goals I listed for the year. Here's what I listed for home life -

1. Make it safe by getting all electrical, plumbing and structural issues fixed.

Done! Thanks to Architect Wansi and his team. Updates are on my Monday posts. 

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. 

Halfway there. We can now actually see parts of the living room, haha. Scheduling part two of decluttering with our coach, Ally Canita, since we have set aside a number of boxes again for donation. 

3. Make the kitchen ready to cook and bake yummy stuff with Miggy. 

Just started cooking and baking again recently with Miggy! Made some cookies last week. I'm glad my oven is working properly and so far we've been able to experiment on other pasta recipes. 

Our now lived in kitchen. 

4. Have a proper living room where we can welcome friends and family. 

Far from it at the moment...

5. A "stable" dining table. 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. 

We were not able to sell the table. Instead we changed the base of the table. Used the leftover fluted panels and it's now stable. Glad we did that because we were able to use it to entertain family. 

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. 

Decided not to get any art. Not for now at least. We'll focus on what we have first. The only thing we have placed is the framed art card a friend sent. It was perfect for my craft room powder room.

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.

This is one major item we've crossed out from our list! We have planted some seeds and hope we'll be able to harvest some veggies soon.  

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. 

Yes, the basement has become our family room. The toys are now in the display cabinet. We just need to organize the room. One thing we still need to do is replace the flooring (huhu) since the tiles have been popping out (really bad work by the contractor who renovated the house). 

9. Use the maker room to produce things I love to make. Hope to be more productive this year. 

Yes! My maker (craft) room is more or less organized. I just need to finish sorting the rest of the stuff from the plastic boxes. I've also merged all my craft books together. It didn't fit my maker room anymore. It's just outside the door.

10. Fill the house with happy memories so it could be our true home.

This is what we've been focusing on since renovations finished. We've already gone on two family trips (Sipalay and Bohol!). And a big plus we've done is get our home blessed. 

Score: 7/10! 

Really made some headway on our home stuff because Sweetie and Miggy helped a lot to make things happen. Let's see if I get a good score for my other goals. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Miracle Sundays: Dreamt of Mom

Dreamt of my Mom last night. We were somewhere sorting through her Christmas decorations. I was selecting some items to keep and the rest were to be donated. She didn't want me to keep a lot, but she kept pointing to one item. She said it was still good, but the "mountain" was missing. I didn't exactly know what the "mountain" meant, but it looked like a small part of the decor. 

Mom's garden.

I'm the only child who's here, so clearing out her house has fallen on my shoulders. I have a game plan already, but I just can't seem to get to it. Leaving the house as it is now makes me feel like she's just there. Busy with her garden, sewing or working on her crafts. 

It's probably her way of telling me to get moving. I originally targeted to start things after her 40th day. The most I've done is continue to manage the house and drop by every so often. I remember when I was a child, I used to ransack her cabinet often. I got a scolding and since then I have stayed away from her cabinet. I only open it whenever she asks me to get something. 

It's time and I guess my deadline is to finish things before Christmas. One thing I look forward to is finding her Christmas decors. Some are older than Miggy, so we'll see if they are still good. I'm thinking if we do one room per month, complete with sorting through the stuff I should finish by early next year. 

Pray for me. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: They Like the Philodendron :(

The other night I noticed something different with the philodendron. It's only been a few weeks since I planted the stalks Ate Rose gave to me. It has just settled in and while checking the door I noticed something different with the large plant. 

The huge leaf I was admiring that afternoon when I watered it was halved in two. It was late already, but I headed out to check. A hungry caterpillar almost wiped out the huge leaf. My heart sank because the same thing happened last year when they almost wiped out all my plants. 

Since it's been a few days since I sprayed neem oil I decided to spray again to prevent further infestation. Noticed another smaller leaf being eaten the day after and I luckily caught the culprit. It had no chance of survival after I sprayed neem oil on it. 

They also like this variety :(

Sigh, really need to find time to hose down the area so I can sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around the pots. That way they won't get to the plant. Well, hopefully they didn't hatch eggs in the soil. I am hoping the neem oil spray will take care of it. Worse off I could probably water them with water with a bit of hydrogen peroxide. 

I hope I'll be able to control the infestation, so it won't be like what happened last year. Sigh.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Lakwatsa Fridays: Bohol, Why We Keep Coming Back

Bohol has become our go-to family vacation place. It is less crowded and easy to reach since the resorts are usually just 15 minutes away from the airport. We also found a place where it is convenient to go to restos and buy water. 

We recently went to Bohol again to celebrate the family birthdays. I have lost count on how many times we've visited. The past two times we focused on just relaxing and skipped the usual tourist spots. Also, I don't think I'll be able to go up the stairs to see the Chocolate Hills anymore. 

We spent most of our time in the resort. Our first full day was spent... sleeping! We needed a good rest and that's what we did. I figured out during our last visit that 3 nights and 4 days wasn't enough. We ended up extending another day. So this time I booked for 4 nights and 5 days. It was perfect because we were able to relax, eat good food and swim. 

Here's a short compilation on why we keep coming back to Bohol -

This time around we only we out once. We really wanted to eat at AA BBQ, a favorite from Cebu. After that we went to Our Lady of Assumption church to pray and give thanks. Dropped by South Farm to buy some baskets and then had some merienda at South Palms Resort. After half a day out we just spent the rest of our time in the resort. We love the beachfront of Modala Beach Resort. There's always a lot of space to enjoy the beach and the water is always clean. 

The struggle to take decent family photos in the water is real! 

Grateful that we were able to celebrate family birthdays in Bohol. We'll probably stay put for my birthday and do something different.  Visit Bohol soon! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursday: Bali with Mom

Mom loved to travel. We traveled a lot when I was growing up. We always went to the beach for family vacations. We used to go to Bicol a lot and spent summers by the beach. She particularly loved to go to the beach because that's where she grew up. 

We had a family vacation in Bali a few years ago. We got a villa since it was cheaper than booking several hotel rooms. Kuya, Ate Joy, Sweetie's Dad came too and Tita Rose decided to join us last minute. It was a fun, relaxing vacation. We enjoyed the private pool and spent most of our time in the villa. We were pampered since the villa came with helpers and they would prepare food for us when requested. 

Since we've been around Bali already, we just went out a few times. We went to Ubud and ate at a farm along the way. Skipped the monkey sanctuary since there were monkeys in the villa already. We just went to the market and walked around. It rained so we didn't stay too long. We luckily had a great driver to bring us around (a referral from a friend). 

It was surreal to eat by the beach again. We used to eat there a lot in 90s and only stopped going to Bali because of the tragedies that happened in the early 2000s. Also because the airplane we took crashed a week later. I remembered the family trips we used to do. The kids were all so small back then and it was always a riot making sure no one got lost. I felt sad that so much tragedy happened where we had so many happy family memories. 

Mom was so happy during that trip. It was our last big family vacation together. The year after we went to Tagaytay and then the pandemic happened after. We wanted to bring her with us to Bohol last year, but she didn't want to leave her house. It was a blessing because the boys were infected with the coronavirus from the plane ride home. 

Dinner by the beach.

We have good memories from Bali and I'm glad we were able to do it that time. I realize I never blogged about that trip since I was so busy at work and I faced a lot of health issues after that trip. I miss Mom and I know she's watching over us with Dad. 

#BeKind #StaySafe