One Second Everyday | February 2025

Oh my! The first quarter of the year is almost over and I completely forgot to upload my one second everyday video for the  month of February! 

I spent most of the month at home sorting through my Mom's stuff (yup it isn't done yet). I did manage to go out at least once a week just to see the outside world. The highlight of the month for me was getting to watch a movie in an actual theater! We watched "Ex Ex Lovers". It was a rare treat! Hopefully I can persuade Sweetie to watch another movie before the month ends.

Here's the video :)

Note to self: don't buy any more books until you figure out how to fix your shelf! Haha. 

I still have so many things to do! I'm exhausted though and have to take things slow to make sure I don't get sick! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

16 Years Since the Proposal

 Sweetie told me when I woke up, "Happy 16th proposal year!" I looked at him in wonder and said, "Wasn't it March 14?" 

Hahaha!

I remember it was the 14th of March because it coincides with the birthday of Tita Pet. Sweetie said, "Oh yeah, I remember it's Pi day!" It's good to remember that day though. It's part of our core happy memories of that fateful day in Davao. 

I used to vlog back then and I managed to unearth the video from my channel. Here's the vid -

How I wish I could go on the zipline again. I'm no longer allowed, so will have to find other adventures my body can withstand (haha). 

Surprising Cats

Have you ever seen your cat drop its jaw and have eyes as big as saucers? Both Sweetie and I did today. 

I was seated on my desk when Sweetie said a cat was about to pass by behind me. I parted the curtain and saw Grogu beside the plant box. I immediately opened the door and said hello. He was so surprised to see me come out from a place where I usually don't appear. His eyes were so big and his jaw dropped. He was so surprised, hahaha. 

We surprised Pikachu and Grogu today, haha.

The same thing happened this morning when Sweetie saw Pikachu resting on the firewall. He opened the window to say hello and she was so shocked to see him. I guess our cats are so used to seeing us in specific areas, they get surprised when we suddenly appear in other areas of the house. 

I played with the cats and gave them some treats when I stepped out. It's been awhile since I played with them in that area. They were still kittens the last time I played with them in the side garden. We usually play in the garage or the pocket garden upstairs. I had been avoiding the area because of the ongoing construction beside us. Now that most of their work is done, it's safer for me to visit them again in the area. 

Thank God and the cat distribution system for sending us our babies.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Cotton's Birthday

I found an old note I probably wrote when I was 11 years old. I wrote a list of birthdays on the note and it included Cotton's birthday.

Cotton was my sister's Japanese spitz. It was a gift to her by Kuya Johnny and she left it with us when she moved to the US. Well, today would've been Cotton's birthday.

Cotton was essentially my first dog. She was with us for a few years and died of pneumonia. I was severely affected when she passed and it took many years before I could replace her. 

It was a good day to remember Cotton. It's one of my wishes to eventually have a dog again. It's a lot of work, but I have my cats and I love them to bits.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Last Stretch of the First Quarter

Oh wow! Did you notice that the first quarter of the year is almost over? I've been feeling exhausted the past few days, so I slowed down a bit.

I'm still working on clearing out my childhood home. It's truly exhausting, but I did get a surprise today when I found one of the Christmas decors I bought when I still lived with my parents. Cookie!

They're so cute! I wrapped it carefully and put it in a box. I labelled it so we can use it later this year. The heat though is making it hard to think about Christmas. 

That's it for today :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

When the World is Too Noisy

When the world is too noisy. When things seem too crazy.

Rest.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Double Cuteness

Pikachu and Grogu ❤️ 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Major Sign of Aging

Depleted from today's pulmo rehab and chores, so this is going to be a short post. I found a box of diskettes! Hahaha!

The contents are probably irrelevant now, but Sweetie has been checking all tech related stuff especially those that have private information. He got a reader since we have quite a lot of old data. What we just usually keep are photos :)

I'm sure today's generation won't even know what it is. They probably know it as the "save" button, haha. Well kids, this was how we saved data way back. It's what I used to complete my thesis! 

What about you? What mode of saving data did you use when you were still in high school/college/university?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Don't You Wish?

Don't you wish you could be like our cat, Grogu? He was sleeping so soundly with not a care in the world.

The world has been so noisy this year. It started with uncontrollable fires in LA, followed by aviation crashes almost every week, then the crazy things happening in the US and now, here. I have so many questions running through my head. I've been quieting it by focusing on the tasks I have to do. It doesn't mean I don't care about what's happening. I just cope differently.

I learned in the last few years that you can let the noise around fall in the background. It's not easy, but when you know how to cope, you can be like my cat and rest well. Pray and let God do the rest.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Goodbye D30

We were busy with errands yesterday and only got wind of what was happening at around 5 in the afternoon. The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte wasn't something I expected would happen. I always hoped justice would be given to the victims of tokhang.

We watched the early evening news to get updates. The late evening news gave more surprising updates. At 11:03pm, it was announced that the flight to bring D30 to The Hague was cleared and was taking off already. 

When the government really puts its mind to making things work, it really does. I was half expecting he'll be able to get out of it again. It was truly a big surprise that he was actually sent to the Netherlands on the same day of his arrest. 

According to former Senator Sonny Trillanes, it was in 2017 that the Magdalo partylist that filed the case*.  Senator Leila Delima also did investigations where she was eventually jailed for no reason. Eight+ years probably feels a lifetime waiting for justice for the families of the victims of EJK. I am grateful that there are still servants who are really there to help. 

As Pope John Paul II said, "No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness." May the victims finally get justice, and the families have peace.

Here's the statement from Malacañang today - https://youtu.be/iRnJkkXlOuI?si=2VfeD01_2AnlGjVQ

*https://x.com/TrillanesSonny/status/1899299908424786356?t=68NLE0bQmnR2RSoTHBa69w&s=19

What I Got from my Grandfather

The only I ever "saw" my Papa Lolo was when he said hello to me from a window. I was four years old and we were in Tito Mom's house in San Francisco. Kuya and I were fighting about the thermostat and I went to the window by the stairs to feel the cold glass. 

Papa Lolo suddenly appeared by the window and said hello. I responded out loud and said, "Hello Papa Lolo!" After that I was suddenly snatched up by someone (probably my Mom or Dad). And they nervously asked me who I talking to. I told them Papa Lolo was outside.

I still remember that day like it was yesterday and I still remember how cold it was in the house. The same "apparition" only happened once again. This time it was Gabby who saw him in Mama Lola's room in our home. Gabby ran back to where we were in the lanai and said he saw an old man in an all white military uniform. Yup, definitely Papa Lolo.

Anyway, I discovered something about my Papa Lolo. I found letters to Mama Lola and a planner. In 1969, my Papa Lolo wrote daily on the small planner what he did and who he met. In the planner was a raffle ticket, fund computations, and a photo of his brother.  His letters to Mama Lola and children were also very detailed (usually bilins and instructions). 

I also found my old planners from the 90s on the same day. I got curious and looked through the planners to see what kind of person I was back then. Oh boy, I was so OC!!! Aside from daily lists of what I did, I had birthdays of practically everyone I knew written on the planner. I used colored pens to represent where I know them from. 

Now I know where I got that "quirk" from. It wasn't my Mom since what she had is a gazillion address books (I filled a whole box of it!). I also write like Papa Lolo. Detailed and chronological.

*Long before I was born

How I wish I met my Papa Lolo. My Mom always told me happy stories about him. I know he wasn't perfect, but his letters and planners showed how much he cared for his family, especially his children. 

This tiny bit of information about my Papa Lolo makes me happy. I never met him in person since he passed away five years before I was born. Knowing I got my OC-ness from him makes me feel less odd about my quirk. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

My First Cookbook

I think I've just sorted the last box of books. I was so surprised to find my first cookbook! 

I recall going through it, but I don't remember cooking anything based on the recipes from the book. I learned how to bake first and it was only decades later before I learned how to cook, haha.

Ate taught me how to bake peanut butter cookies and I watched her bake apple pie. I didn't learn how to cook because I was traumatized when our stove malfunctioned. It was like a fire breathing dragon and that was so scary for me. 

I still bake peanut butter cookies and here's how I make it -

https://youtu.be/BPtt63o4CH4?si=WGqIGeJY6wlb5mtD

I eventually learned how to cook (to survive!). Nowadays, Miggy cooks more than me. I've been documenting our favorite home made dishes on "Recipes for My Son". It helps us whenever there's something we want to cook again.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Staycation...

We were forced to go on a staycation ... A literal one once it's just down our hallway 😄 

We were getting settled for bedtime the other night when the airconditioner started leaking! Ackkk! The water that dripped out was like a slightly open faucet.

I got nervous since it was really a lot, so Sweetie turned off the a/c. We tried to sleep with just the fan.  I barely slept and actually considered crashing in Miggy's room. 

The next night we decided to move to the guest room. We had to clear it first since we had a lot of linens on top of the bed. Finally had better sleep, but my mistake was not bringing my CPAP machine. I didn't feel up to par the next day. 

To cope with my medical conditions I have to stay in cooler places. I'm prone to heat exhaustion and I can become an immediately unstable, so I really have to be careful.

The "staycation" was still good nonetheless since we were able to clean up the other room, haha! We'll keep the bed available in case we need it again. 

And oh, the a/c was fixed and the technician found some debris they were not able to get when they cleaned the unit last January. I'm just grateful it was just dirt.

What Made Our Stress Go Away

We left home earlier than usual for our appointment. We wanted to eat a heavy breakfast because of our back to back appointment. The lifts in the building could take so long, so we wanted to avoid rushing to eat lunch.

We made good time from our home to the hospital. One of those lucky days when traffic wasn't horrid. Our well made plans though was messed up. It took us almost an hour to find parking space. The hospital sequestered customer parking space for their staff and additional space had reserve cones for "those who own it" said the guard.

Good thing Miggy came too, so we were able to split up. Sweetie continued to look for parking, while Miggy and I went to buy some food. But, guess what? Sweetie beat us to the cafe because the elevator that kept going to our floor was under maintenance. Gahhh. Of course, it took awhile to go up to the clinic because not all the lifts were working.

I was so stressed and tired by the time we got to the doctor's office. I was lucky I didn't wait long to be called. Ahh, but the wait for Miggy's turn for his doctor took longer and I basically just conked out on his arm. 

When we finished our hospital errands, I requested to eat somewhere else. I just wanted to forget the horrid time we had looking for parking. We headed to One Ayala and dined at Secret Recipe.

We try to visit it once a quarter (we're rarely in the area). We have fond memories of dining at Secret Recipe in Singapore/Malaysia and Indonesia, so it's a family favorite. The boys are following no meat Fridays and got seafood. I got carbonara.

We each tried interesting beverages. Sweetie got kiwi lime tea. I forgot what was mine called but it was berries with black tea and mint. Miggy got a shake.

We just got some cake for takeaway since we didn't want to get stuck in traffic going home. Traffic was heavy but moving past Magallanes Interchange. SLEX was moving so slow, so we used the Skyway. We were home right in time for my plant watering schedule. 

Take care of yourself, your pets and plants! The heat has been really bad. I just hope the hospital realizes they have a really bad parking problem. We heard a lot of people complaining the whole day. I took the initiative to send them a complaint through their website. Oh well.

#BeKins #StaySafe

Found More of My Childhood Toys

Progress this week has been slow since the heat has been affecting my stability. I managed to open a couple of boxes and found more of my old toys! 

Robocon Chogokin

I don't remember who gave this to me. It's a toy from Japan, but I remember being super fascinated with the tiny books on it's tummy. They were written in Japanese and now I can translate it to finally know what it is about.

Akurobanchi 

I was boyish when I was a child, so that's probably why I got so many robotol toys. I found this part, still in good condition, but for the life of me I don't remember playing with it. Miggy doesn't either. The toy was produced in the 80s and I was the only child in our home during that time, so it's probably mine, haha. Hope to find the other parts.

Vintage Lato-Lato

I laughed out loud when I found this toy, the lato lato. I think it's bigger than current ones and surprisingly less annoying. I definitely remember playing with this toy. I was good at it and still managed to do a round last night.

Cabbage Patch Kids and Shirt Tales Lite Catcher

This was sent to me from the US and I enjoyed painting it. I'm surprised it's still intact! I checked eBay and unused kits are selling at exorbitant prices! It's still cute. I might hang it in my maker room.