Tried the Taco Bell Mix

We chanced upon a pack of Taco Bell taco mix at a grocery store and just had to try it. The nearest Taco Bell store is at least 45 minutes away, so this was a good opportunity to have it at home. 

It was very easy to make. Just saute some beef with minced onion and then add the Taco Bell mix. I let the boys do the slicing and grating of the other ingredients. To be honest, we found it easier to use the taco cups than the regular taco shells. Either way, you can just break it and eat it as a salad. 

Here's how we made it at home:

One thing we added to the taco is homemade pickled onions. My friend makes it, but she lives far from us and rarely delivers in our area, so we just made some. I even got some powdered red beets to complete the pickles. 

Now I want to have this again, soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursday: Mom's Last Birthday with Dad

We celebrated Mom's birthday the other day. We did her favorite things to do: go to the bank, eat comfort food and did groceries. I took a look back at how she celebrated it 15 years ago. I realized it was the last time she celebrated when Dad was still around. Little did we know, we'd lose him a month after. 

Mom always loved having friends around. She had a gazillion friends from our neighborhood. I was looking at our photos and realized we also lost some of her friends the past few years. It's sad to also lose the extended titos and titas you grew up with. 

It was also the last Christmas we were complete. Both Ate and Kuya came home to celebrate Christmas together. We were never complete after that and had fragmented Christmas celebrations. Kuya and I would even have Mom celebrate Christmas with me in Singapore and she'd do New Year in Jakarta. Mom always complained she didn't want to leave her plants alone, haha. 

Mom wouldn't want us to mope around especially for celebrations, so we made it a point to celebrate. Aside from eating a good meal, we also did her favorite things. We went to the bank and did groceries. Mom took care of the plants for the day and it rained enough to hydrate the plants properly. Ahh, she would have been pleased. 

Happy birthday Mom! We miss you! Today we'll also celebrate Sweetie's Mom's birthday! We have another excuse to celebrate!

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Leg is Healing

I had my seventh physiotherapy session yesterday. I can now really feel that my knee and ankle are healing faster.

Two-thirds of my PT time is spent on machines. The physiotherapist used electricity in my knee and ankle twice, then she does ultrasound therapy, and I'm not sure what the other machine is called. It compresses my whole leg with air.

A third of my time is allotted for exercise and icing. I was a bit cold yesterday and fell asleep while the physiotherapist was working on my leg. LOL! Next time I'll bring a jacket and not just a shawl. 

Anyway, I'm glad my leg is improving. I'm able to use my right foot now to lift the foot rest of my wheelchair. It used to be so painful before. Now, I'm able to do it. I also tried to walk around the grocery by holding onto my wheelchair. I had to take breaks in between, but I think the issue for that is now my stamina and my listless lung power. I'll go back to pulmo rehab once I'm done with physiotherapy.

Happy healing 🤗

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Making a Snowman

Moving in now to make a new cover for my food processor. I found a cute snowman design on Pinterest and after figuring out the measurements I thought it would be a perfect fit for my food processor.

I like the "autumn" colors used on the Pinterest. It took me awhile to find the perfect fabric for it. I hope I get it right. Gotta improve on my quilting skills!

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My Forever Iron

If I remember correctly, Sweetie and I received on our wedding day about 4 or 5 irons. I remember I gave Mom one and shared the others with relatives. We just kept two.

There's one I've been using since I moved to Singapore. I think I got it in late 2011 while I was still in the service apartment. It was heavily used from 2016 onwards when Sweetie and Miggy moved to Singapore. 

And, it moved back with us and I still use it for ironing. Sometimes I wonder if it's time to upgrade. The practical side of me says no since I haven't had any issues. I only had to change the foam on my ironing board when we moved back because it had degraded already.

What's your forever gadget?

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Happy Harvest Day

It's my fourth try at growing bell peppers at home. I planted the seeds from a salad I made a few months ago. My other trials failed due to pests. One batch grew big and was suddenly overcome by fungus. Another batch was overtaken by aphids. Ugh.

Since I got some plant stands from my childhood home, I decided to put the pots of bell peppers on it. I also surrounded it with companion plants that help ward off pests. 

It so far worked and a couple of bell peppers have been growing. They're small since the pots are small. I'll have to re-pot them and see if I can get bigger peppers. 

I'm happy this batch is so far successful. Let's see if I could grow more!

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Kalachuchi (Desert Rose) Seed Pods

Almost a month ago, I noticed my kalachuchi plant produce "antennas". I found it strange since I've never seen any other kalachuchi plant produce antennas.

After some research I found out it's a seed pod. The pod was very firm and it started to dry up after three weeks. I read you're supposed to cover it so you don't lose the seeds to the wind.

When the pod started opening I thought it was time to cover it. It wasn't fully opened yet, so I thought I had time to find a suitable cloth cover.

Nope, the next day the pod was fully open and all the seeds were gone! Whoopsies! I hope they sprout wherever the wind brings them. 

Now I know, next time I have to cover the pods early so I don't lose the seeds.

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Proof I've Moved on from My Favorite Boy Band

Last night I got curious when YouTube sent a notification about my annual recap. The recap showed my top interests, top channels I watched and favorite music I listened to.

My top interests truly show how much my life has changed in the past 5 years. It's mostly about cooking, home improvement, cats and the occasional travel videos to see what we can do if we can figure out how to care for our cats while away (we've been stuck at home for a couple of years now, LOL).

I honestly didn't spend much time listening to music. I only get to do that when I'm re-potting plants and remember to tell Google Nest to play me some music. However, this year I started to like SB19. I find their music fascinating and have made the effort to memorize their names! The last time I did that was for Menudo, hahaha. I did for Backstreet Boys when we watched their concert in Singapore, but I don't really watch their videos unless it's suggested.

Well, surprise-surprise! SB19 is my top artist watched for the year. This goes to show that I've truly moved on from Menudo being my favorite boy band. Hahaha. Don't ask me though who I like best among Pablo, Stell, Justin, Ken and Josh. It changes on a daily basis. 😂

Goodbye Menudo, hello SB19!

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Missing Taiwan

Ten years ago I started visiting Taiwan frequently for work. It somehow felt like home when I stepped out of the plane. I realized later on it must have been where my paternal grandmother came from. She had eloped with my grandfather, but passed away when my Dad was just a child. 

I showed her photo to some locals and they said she looked like someone from Taiwan. Her maiden last name was common they said. We could have done some more research, but since my grandma eloped we didn't know much about her family.

Anyway, what made it really feel like home was how the food tasted. I sampled a lot of food which was like how my Dad would cook. I can never forget that hole in the wall where I ate with some teachers. The food was heavenly. 

I never had a decent photo at Taipei 101, haha. I loved going to the office there since you get a great view of the city. I also got to experience it being enveloped by clouds. It was a different feeling. I'm just glad I never experienced an earthquake while in the building.

Ahh, someday when I'm better, I hope to visit Taiwan again.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Investing in Health

We've been working on our health the past few months. Since I was scheduled to do physiotherapy, we took the opportunity for the boys to be checked further since they've been taking maintenance meds.

Prevention is better, so the boys both saw an endocrinologist, nutritionist and dietician. It's an overhaul for our lifestyle since we're all not getting any younger. 

Miggy is enrolled in the exercise program and has been required to walk more daily. We decided to invest in a treadmill. It will be more economical than enrolling in a gym, plus both Miggy and Sweetie can use it everyday. The stationary bike is mine, but I'm not allowed to do heavy exercise for now. 

We canvassed across a couple of stores and found a suitable and cost effective one at Olympic Village. The staff was very knowledgeable. They also came the next day to unbox and install the treadmill. 

Cheers to healthier living!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made a Santa Yoda KitchenAid Stand Mixer Cover

I've been eyeing to use a Santa Yoda grid design I saw on Pinterest for awhile now. I originally planned to make it a throw pillow case, but decided to use it for a new cover for my KitchenAid stand mixer. I decided not to do it by square to save some time. 

I missed sewing by hand, so I prepared to sew it whenever we had waiting time during our appointments. Good thing I did it that way because I realized I couldn't sew by hand continuously. My hand and wrist would hurt. It took me a two weeks to finish Santa Yoda. Completing the rest of the project took a week more.

Here's how I made it:

I realized I should make my kitchen covers "season generic", so I made the other pocket plain. I can just switch it around after Christmas. I'm sure it will take me time to find my other covers to replace it again, haha. I hope to make a pink set for Valentine's. It'll be cute!

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Hosting an Impromptu Merienda Party

We were supposed to have a get together for my birthday. I had to postpone it because of my knee injury. My friend pinged me the other day and asked if we were free on Sunday. I said yes and then crammed the preparations.

I didn't worry about preparing since we planned to do potluck. It was just for merienda, so we didn't need to plan a heavy meal. Having home parties gives me the opportunity to get the food locally. Here's where I ordered:

Pasta, lumpia and leche flan from MCP Flavors

Private barista coffee by Love & Latte (ping me if you want to inquire)

Turon from our neighbor who sells everyday 

Other drinks from a small grocery

Also prepare:

Plates

Forks and spoons

Drink ware

Serving spoons

Extra chairs

Mom thought did it better than me. She always had something to offer even when she had surprise guests. In time I'll learn :)

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One

I am one with everyone in the call to end corruption and jail the evildoers.

Also praying to pass the anti-dynasty bill 🙏

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Ending November wit Beautiful Flowers

We don't have that many flowering plants in our garden. The only one I bought were my gumamela plants. They haven't produced any flowers since I moved them to another area and that's something I need to figure out why.

Most frequent to bloom are the desert rose (kalachuchi) which we rescued from Mom's garden. The new one I re-potted in mid-October has been producing blooms already.

Surprisingly, a set of torenias sprouted at the foot of the repotted kalachuchi. Good thing I didn't remove it because it's been producing pretty violet flowers. 

I asked Manong Henry to plant some flowers in the front garden and the Panama rose bushes he planted have been flowering too. They're a cute shade of pink.

And he also planted some pinwheel jasmine. They always have flowers whenever I see it and they're so far easy to maintain.

Oh, I just remembered, I also have two suntan plants. I think I need to re-pot them since there's so many weeds growing in their pot. I read, they also need regular trimming to encourage them to produce flowers. They also like to be fed with compost regularly.ni thought they'd be easy to manage.

I hope to produce some Gumamela flowers in time for Christmas!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Grogu's "You Haven't Fed Me Look"

Our cats are most probably overfed, but everytime we step out to check on them they give us a look like they're starving. Haha.

And here's Grogu today giving me that look when I stepped out to water the plants. He only moved when he heard his furdad step out with the container of food.

After having a quick bite, Grogu followed me in the garden and guarded me while I went around watering the plants. If he's not around, Bailey takes his place and waits for me to move to the garage. Then they all disappear and play outside, haha.

I really want imagine my life now without our cats. I'm very sensitive when I see them not their usual self or when they have a wound. Miggy is in-charge of applying wound spray, if needed, and contacting the vet. I'm just glad they've all been healthy <3

Happy Friday!

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Our Christmas Trees the past 15 Years

I was thinking about what throwback to do today and thought about looking at the past Christmas trees we've put up the past 15 Years. I previously shied away from having huge trees since Mom always had a tall one.

2010

Our first one was in our rented home. I had been collecting decors over the years. I also made framed photo decors which I used for a long time and then it got buried under a lot of other stuff. Maybe I should make a new set?

We eventually moved to smaller homes, so our trees also shrunk, haha. We honestly only made an effort to decorate when Mom would spend Christmas with us. I wanted to honor her by doing the same. So here's our tree the past three years.

2018

2020, pandemic tree

When we finally went home from Singapore, I got a taller tree since we had more space. It wasn't the tree of my dreams, but it worked out for a few years. 

2021

And the tree shirt I finished that year.

It was when we lost Mom in 2023 when I decided to get a proper tree. I saw her always make an effort to decorate. I wanted to honor her memory by doing the same. Here's our current tree.

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Completed 25% of Knee Physiotherapy

I'm proud of myself for completing 3 sessions of physiotherapy consistently. It's partly because Miggy is also schedule to do exercises at the hospital, so that helps motivate me.

First two sessions were spent mostly for machine therapy and a bit of exercy. We did more exercise for the third session which included the dreaded step-up. Acccck! 

I've been noticing the improvements though and that gives me hope. I still limp when I walk, but I noticed I don't wiggle as bad. PT said that the machine stuff helps with healing. The bruise on my lower leg is lightening up too. I hope it won't look as hideous by Christmas!

On the nutrition side, we're all trying to change our eating habits. The boys are following the advise of a nutritionist and that means I get to avoid bad too, haha. I also need to lose weight, so eating healthy food should help.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made Cat Toys Using Old Socks

Our cats love rubbing their heads on our feet which I read is quite common. While decluttering I set aside some pairs of socks that have seen better days. They were no longer useful since the garter was loose already. A lot of cat owners give their cats stuffed toys or small pillows, so I thought I'd make some for our  cats using some of my retired socks. 

It was fairly straight forward and easy to make. My cats won't judge me, lol. I also used leftover batting which were cuttings from other projects. Here's how I made them:

I sprayed the toy with catnip before giving it to our cats. Meredith (above) immediately inspected the toys. I eventually paced them in their beds/boxes and they've been cozying up to it eversince I placed them there. Woohoo! I'll make more for them once I have enough batting again. 

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Real Property Tax Season

Miggy has been accompanying me the past few years to pay for our real property tax (RPT). I'm involving him more in doing adulting stuff so he could learn. 

I've so far shied away from doing the online route since it's not well ironed out yet bases on the comments I read online. Anyway, we also get our cedula at the same time, so at least we got two birds with one stone when we go to city hall.

I was happy to see that our city hall made some improvements in the building. The process of paying was cut in three: 

Step 1 - get the confirmation paper for your property at the Assessment Office

Step 2 - get the assessment

Step 3 - pay for your real property tax

*It used to be just step 1 and 3

It took us an hour this year, since there were many people in steps 1 and 2. Surprisingly, it took us less than 10 minutes at the treasury. They had more windows open at the treasury than at the step 1.

Check out your city hall's page on the discount you can get for paying early.

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The Raffle that Changed How I Manage Money

Someone asked online if she should sell the hotel stay she won in a raffle. It reminded me of the time I won a raffle during an Ad Congress in Baguio. 

It was totally unexpected since I'm not one to win raffles. My Dad though always win and would always bring home door prizes. I haven't won any raffle since that rare moment at the Ad Congress.

With my Ninong Billy :)

It was a windfall for me. I was a single Mom back then and was drowning in tuition fee debt. My savings was just the minimum to keep my bank account. 

I won and it helped change how I manage my finances. I paid for all my debts and promised myself I'd never go in the red again. I also disciplined myself to pay all my credit card charges monthly. 

Since then I've been very mindful on where my earnings go. I'm quite thrifty and I funnily take a long time before I buy something I want (like years). I also learned how to budget properly (read more about it here). 

Sometimes you just really need a break to change how you do things. Just make sure you use that as a game changer. I did and never looked back.

Happy Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Avocado, One Year After Propagation from Seed

It's been over a year since I experimented on propagating avocado seeds. We got them from fruits we bought from a neighbor. I saved the seeds and let it dry for a few days and then rooted it in water. 

Rooting takes a few weeks and then I wanted for it to produce leaves. When it had enough leaves, I then planted it in a small pot. Waited a few more months and then re-potted it in a bigger pot. 

It took me awhile to transfer it to a bigger pot. We positioned it where it could get enough sunlight and I hope pests won't disturb it. I plan to leave it in this pot until it's transferred to soil. It will take a few more years before it hopefully bears fruit.

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