Grateful 2023

Thank you Lord for the gift of life, the blessings and the time with family and friends. I am grateful for everything and understand that trials come along the way to make one stronger. It's also a way to appreciate and be thankful for what you have. 

2023 was another difficult year. Losing Mom meant I really need to find my footing and be completely independent. I started to learn this when we lost Dad back in 2011. I remember Mom would always say, "What will you do when I'm gone" when I was just a child. She wanted me to learn to be independent at a young age. 

Now that I am an orphan, I'm grateful I had my parents growing up. They left me when I was good and ready. They were very strict when I was growing up. I would probably not have the discipline to have done well if not for that. So I am truly appreciative of the time I had with them. 

The new year will be a transition. We will be working on my childhood home. I haven't even made a dent in sorting the boxes. Mom left a lot of stuff. It took me the whole month of December just to sort through her bead collection. She had taught kids how to make rosaries, so she had a lot of supplies. I haven't even started with her sewing supplies. It will probably take me half a year to finish going through everything. 

And, I have completed the challenge to complete one second video everyday! Here's a summary of my December 2023!

Let's all have fun in 2024!

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Highs and Lows of 2023

The year has been one of the most devastating years of my life. I lost my Mom and I just had to cope with my grief through the rest of the year. The state of my health has also been challenging. Worse off, I was hospitalized for 3 weeks last month. 

Some of my friends said it hasn't been a good year for them too. I always remind myself that God only gives us trials that we can bear. The day before He took Mom home with Him, I had prayed in earnest for something I have been praying for over a decade now. God finally answered the prayer the day before my Dad's birthday. It helped ease the pain of losing my Mom. 

I wouldn't put 2023 as a bad year. We all go through highs and lows each year. I put goals for different aspects of my life so I could feel more productive and useful. Adjusting to retired but disabled life has been difficult for me, so having goals helped make me feel useful and needed. Here's how I broke it down:

Make Our Home Beautiful (https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/01/home-on-mondays-make-our-home-beautiful.html)

We made a lot of progress with fixing and organizing our home. We had the electrical and plumbing issues fixed. Kitchen was overhauled. Garden is not muddy anymore and plumbing has been improved. We're down to a handful of boxes which I'll finish sorting today. We've sent more than 50 boxes of items for donation. Also hope to clear the sala before 2024 comes knocking in 24 hours (haha)

Craft the Year Away (https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/01/creative-happy-tuesdays-craft-year-away.html)

I probably finished half of the projects I wanted to do. I take time whenever I work on my projects since I want to enjoy every stitch I make. I enjoyed making the cat series the most. I also enjoyed the challenge of turning scrap fabric into something useful. Will prioritize those I wasn't able to make next year. If you want to take a look, I documented what I created on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@aileenapolo/videos). 

Wellness, Stability and Stamina (https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/01/wellness-wednesdays-my-wellness-goals.html)

I set wellness goals for the year to ensure I took care of myself better. The most important thing I did was to change doctors and hospital. I felt I needed a change because they were forcing me to have surgery. My doctors in Singapore warned that it would be very risky for me to do any procedure. I knew I really needed to change when the medtech staff doing my CT scan freaked out over my results. Changing doctors helped a lot and despite being confined for 3 weeks I feel I'm becoming more stable and my stamina is increasing. Ahh, and I finally got my PWD card (hooray!).

Bucket List (https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/01/2023-bucket-list.html)

I made my 2023 bucket list attainable. I was able to do 70% of it, the others have to wait (more like pass the approval of my boys). We were able to enjoy traveling twice without any incident and I hope we can do that next year again. Just need to avoid the flu season and ensure I'm strong and stable when we get to travel again. I hope to resume though in-person grocery and dine at interesting food places. 

Ambitious Gardening Goals (https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/01/plantita-saturdays-my-ambitious.html)

I'm still not successful with my veggie garden. It's hard! It's been really challenging since one really needs to be consistent with it. Plus it didn't help when I got hospitalized since the watering and care had to be delegated to the boys. I've been more successful with ornamental plants. I bravely re-potted the plants Mom gave me and they're all thriving. I hope to do better with gardening next year. 

I'm still thinking about what I'll do next year. I haven't really thought about making goals yet since I'm a month behind everything (haha). I'll probably continue blogging everyday since it's part of my therapy, plus it helps me to keep active and productive. 

Let's all hope and pray for a better year next year!

#BeKind #StaySafe

October 2023 One Second a Everyday

October was a really good month for me. It was productive and we managed to do some lakwatsa. Miggy and I were able to cook quite a bit. Started the month off by making pancakes, special fried rice, arroz ala cubana, pork sisig and discovered how to make really good tomato cream pasta. 

I managed to do a lot of sewing and gardening. I worked on several scrap fabric projects and was able to make several items. I don't like throwing out scrap fabric so I was happy I was able to make a pot rug, coaster, pincushion and a tablet case. I also made two things that I recently shared, Daisy's baby quilt and the holiday potholder (which seems to be very popular on YouTube). 

For my garden, I re-potted all the orchids. Results came almost two months after when one of the orchids bloomed. I'm so happy about that! I also got a bunch of herbs and 4 gumamela plants from Mahogany Market in Tagaytay. Still no luck with trying to grow veggies. I think the issue is I don't get enough morning sun in the garden. 

Lakwatsa included a visit to Tagaytay. We had been meaning to do that for many months now. Luckily Taal Volcano quieted down and we were able to bring a friend visiting from Malaysia to see it. That's also when we bought several plants. We were also able to dine out a few times. That included trying out Sobra Cafe and a breakfast place in Nuvali. 

How I wish every month would be like October. We were aiming for that in November, but learned a hard lesson -- avoid going out by November since it's flu season. I realized I haven't posted my October 1SE, so better late than never!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Ready for Christmas?

It's been two and a half weeks since I was discharged from the hospital. I still felt woozy the first week I got home and rested a lot. Second week was a bit better. Finished all my post-discharge check-ups and luckily did not need any additional tests. My doctors said it's their Christmas gift for me! My energy is slowly coming back. No pulmo rehab for now since I still need to rest. 

Preparations for Christmas is going on. I haven't finished decorating! Haha. We got help from Squeaky.ph to help clean the house. It got so bad since we were away for 3 weeks in November. At least it's no longer dusty and all the bathrooms have been cleaned. Really helpful to get assistance from the Squeaky.ph team since we can't possibly do all the cleaning ourselves.

I haven't bought any gifts for family and friends! We prioritized the gifts for those who supported us throughout the year. That includes our medical team, the construction team, decluttering team, Squeaky.ph and our village security team, plus the delivery team. I had planned to quilt some stuff for friends, but that's going slowwwwwly (as usual). Well, it's okay, they understand (hopefully). 

What's important anyway is to be ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. I'm truly grateful for a lot of things this year even after losing Mom. It's going to be our first Christmas without her. I've accepted the fact that it's her time. She would want us to celebrate Christmas as happily as we could. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Sunday Miracles: Easter 2023

Writing a post this Easter is in itself a miracle for me. The cross of having a chronic illness is heavy, but I find comfort in the fact that I never going to be alone. Papa Jesus and my boys will always be with me through good days and bad days. Surrender all your pain and worries to Him and He'll lead you to the right path. 

Have a happy and blessed Easter everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Miracle Sundays: Palm Sunday

The last time I was able to attend Palm Sunday mass in person was in Singapore. We actually kept the palms we used previously and have been using it to make ash for Ash Wednesday. When I was young we always gathered outside of the church with our palms raised to wait for the arrival of Jesus (represented by the priest). It is a reenactment of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. 

This week we will experience again the passion and death of Christ. Have you welcomed Him into your heart today?

A blessed Palm Sunday to everyone. 

#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

2023 New Year at Home in Manila

Celebrated our second new year in our still relatively new home. Media noche was home cooked bistek tagalog and tuna macaroni salad. Yup, we broke the bank to buy some onions (haha). More importantly, I was able to vacuum across the house (well, had Sweetie finish the living room and dining room since I got tired). Having a clean house to welcome the new year is something I aim for every year. 

I spent most of the day in the kitchen. Marinated the bistek tagalog and chicken adobo early. Then I got help from Sweetie to prepare the tuna macaroni salad. Since we got a basket of fruits we though it might be a good idea to mix in some apple to part of the tuna macaroni salad. That would be a nice twist. The nice thing about making your own macaroni salad is you can skip the ingredients you don't really eat (i.e. raisins and pineapple hehe). We decided to forego the fiesta ham for another time. We ended up with Pinoy themed meals. 

Bistek tagalog with gold (lol).

We're still cooking in my now 11-year old Philips induction one-burner stove. I'm really glad I kept it because it's saved me a couple of times. I almost gave it to Cathy when she was newly married since she needed some stuff (gave them our microwave instead). I got the stove when I lived with Jajah at our second apartment (or maybe it was the first). It's seen us through our journeys and I thought I won't have a need for it, haha. 

I marinated, Miggy cooked. That's how we roll now.

Cooking the chicken adobo right now. It's the biggest batch of adobo I've ever cooked. I made a lot so we can send some to Mommy and Dad (in Marikina). It's going to be an odd combination with tuna apple macaroni salad, but it will do, haha. I'm still finding my footing again in the kitchen and truly grateful I'm able to cook again (kitchen was closed for two months). 

I'm very glad the fireworks last night didn't last long. It was noticeably much, much less than usual. The heavy rampage only lasted 10 minutes. I guess everyone was excited for media noche, haha. I'm grateful though since it's overall safer not to use fireworks. I heard something fall on our roof last night. I hope it's just a stick from the kwitis. Will request Mang Rod to check when he's back since we previously found several bullets in my Mom's roof before. 

I checked out my 2022 new year post and realized I didn't make any resolutions last year. I think I'd rather write out my goals and dreams for 2023. I noticed I went haywire in 2022 probably because I didn't set any goals. Overall, I want 2023 to be a year for healing, develop more stamina and I hope to develop new skills for my passions. 

Hope you all had a great new year with family and friends. May you all have countless blessings this year. 

#BeKind #StaySafe