Watched "My Future You"

Netflix just added a whole bunch of MMFF movies the past week. We were looking to watch something light yesterday and selected the FranSeth film. 

What made us curious about it is the time travel aspect of the film. We wondered how it would work out. I was also curious why the film got several awards. 

It was unpredictable. We couldn't really say what would happen next. They were able to intertwine the timelines perfectly. The story was also able to convey family values across the film subtly. I like how it wasn't over the top. 

I won't spoil the ending for you, just go watch it. We were so engrossed we ended up eating a lot of tacos made by our friend Nina. It was yummy! You can order through her IG at https://www.instagram.com/therapynitita?igsh=aGN2b2RwZ2hyamZs

Happy Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

2024: Full Year as an Orphan, Inner Child Healed

It's just 2 hours before the new year. I had been debating with myself whether I should blog today or just slack off. I could've just rested since we had a small party earlier, but my inner voice/muse would probably nag me to no end. Either write now on my laptop or blog on my phone. I chose my Chromebook so I could do it faster.

To be honest, I probably need to go through my photos to remember what happened this year. I was able to complete daily blogging and 1SE last year. This year I became erratic by mid-year. I now realize my energy fluctuated a lot more after I had COVID-19 in May. Still fighting and praying I won't need another heart surgery. 

It was a quiet year for me. It was the first full year I didn't have a Mom. If I was going to write some key words for the year it would include the following words:

sorting

cats

kittens

experiments

reunions

malling

healing

family

Sorting - going through my Mom's stuff. Oh boy, I've only probably finished 40% of it and we have a deadline by end of January.

Cats and kittens - from Grey, Brimsley, Kaley, Mando Grogu, Eevee and Pikachu, the cat distribution system added Meredith, Bailey and Anakin. It seems we lost Kaley and Grey the past 3 months. They have not come back and feel they're gone forever. 

Experiments - I like doing experiments and this year I was able to propagate calamansi and avocado from seed! I'm hoping they will grow and bear fruit!

Reunions - after having COVID-19, I threw caution to the wind and started inviting friends over. Having friends around help boost my immune system. We've just been taking precautions to take extra vitamins after meet-ups. 

Malling - we didn't get to go on vacation this year, mainly because no one would take care of our cats. We're still finding a solution for it. 

Healing - I think the most important breakthrough I had this year was healing my inner child. I always felt abandoned by my siblings when they left home when I was just 10/13 years old. I only realized it when I had counseling back in 2021. What helped me was Sr. Lirio and a video that said only you can heal your inner child. I realized that whatever I was holding onto when I was a child was never coming back. I was able to let it go and focus on who's with me and who's within reach. 

Family - I spent the entire year with my boys (minus 3 nights I was in the hospital and Miggy went home). We weren't able to travel. We made up for it by going out almost every week. It was a good thing SMB opened a new building and we've been re-discovering our old haunt. I hope we'll be able to travel next year. We'll see. 

Just an hour left before midnight. I'll just hang out with Sweetie and Miggy. We have a lot of leftovers from the get-together, so I skipped cooking media noche. I'll just cook something tomorrow if we need food. 

Thank you year 2024. Hoping for a better and more active new year!

May God bless all of you for the new year!

#BeKind #StaySafe

At the Super Manila Comic Con

Sweetie surprised us with tickets to the Super Manila Comic Con. What I enjoyed the most was seeing the work of local artists. It was our first time to attend a comic con here, so it was a delight to see unique artworks.

I was surprised to see an artwork that would fit my sewing room perfectly. The artwork is by Guada Ramos Funtilar. It's a child playing under a Singer sewing machine. It reminded me of the time I used to do that under my Mama Lola's sewing machine. The child even had my short hair with bangs, haha. I bought a copy and had Guada sign it too. 

I regret not buying Marius Black's cityscape. I really liked it. I was so excited with __ artwork, I wasn't able to go back anymore for the cityscape. I got their contact information, so I'll just try to purchase directly.

The event had a hodge podge of stuff. Lines were very long for those buying Gunpla toys. It snakes around the area where you can buy toys, so that made it hard to get around. The middle section had character figures. It would have been nicer if they made an effort to put proper lighting for it. There was a smattering of Star Wars figures, but I only saw one Yoda figure. It's the Royal Selangor one being sold for PhP18k. 

The other third of the room was dedicated for comic books and local artists. I would have wanted to spend more time looking through the different artworks and maybe have something comissioned. Unfortunately, a big chunk of my energy was wasted waiting in line. There was a lot of confusion where to line up. 

Anyway, Sweetie got a copy of the special edition Transformers comic book :)

The event is open until September 8, 2024, at One Ayala, Makati City.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Celebrated a Rainy Birthday

I'm grateful to everyone who sent their birthday greetings and well wishes. I'm going through each of the messages and will hopefully send my thanks to everyone (gimme a few days!).

Good thing we didn't plan to head out for my birthday. It rained the whole day! Classes and government work were suspended in most parts of Metro Manila. We planned to stay home since I have tonsilitis (ugh). I won't be able to eat my favorite food, plus the doctor told me to rest. 

Even though we were just home, I must say it's one of my best birthdays. I had my boys with me and we spent the day together. We spent some time with our cats. We kept checking on them since it's raining. They've been quite clingy too the past few days, so we gave each one of them extra scratches (well, those who allow us to). It also looks like Meredith is back and she's getting over what's been bothering her. Brimsley went through the same phase a few months ago and she's back to her usual, swiping self. 

We watched Andor while eating lunch. After that I did some sewing since I had been busy with other stuff the past few days. I finished a fourth of my project and I'm working on convincing myself that I could finish it. Joining 400 squares is both a physical and mental challenge, LOL. Just had a light dinner, watched our telenovelas and here I am now writing this blog post. 

I'm just really grateful for everyone who remembered this day. It's the first birthday I'm celebrating with nothing heavy in my heart. The past few years have been a huge struggle with health issues and losing my Mom. I was stable on my birthday (tonsils getting better), I was with my boys and I felt all the love from all over the world. There's also a belief that when it rains on your birthday, you will be blessed. 

I am blessed. I am grateful. I am loved. 

Thank you Papa God for everything. 

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Double Gold!

We got lucky and caught gymnast Carlos Yulo's turn in last night's artistic gymnastics vault competition in the Olympics. We were amazed with his performance and eagerly awaited the results. There were three more competitors that came after him, so there was a lot of heart stopping moments since the others were really good as well.

Caloy won his second gold! He worked hard for it and truly deserves the medals.

Congratulations Carlos Yulo! 🎉🎉🎉 

Pure Energy

Filipinos would know who is known as Mr. Pure Energy. It's none other than Gary Valenciano. My generation grew up with his songs and even until now you'd hear his songs everywhere. He just celebrated his 40th anniversary in the entertainment industry. He had a two day concert last weekend at the MOA Arena. He has one more day on the tenth of May. 

c2008 during a Nokia event 

How I wish I could watch the concert in person. I managed to watch through YouTube and I was super amazed with his stamina. He sang and danced all throughout the 3 hour show. Wow! From news clips he shared that he had several surgeries and has a chronic illness. It's a huge undertaking to be able to do what he did for the show. 

I personally huff and puff just going up a flight of stairs, so I'm amazed with how he managed. The message of his concert is simple. Just trust in God and He'll make sure you have the energy to do anything. I wanted to jump on my stationary bike while watching since I was so inspired with Gary V. Unfortunately, I've been under the weather so let's see how I fare during my scheduled pulmo rehab tomorrow. 

Watching the concert inspired me to do better with my health and wellness activities. We're now able to use our family room again, so I can shake out the stupor I've been on the past month. It's really hard when I'm unable to do my usual routines, plus the heat has been bad for me. I will add watching concerts to my bucket list. It requires a lot of stamina. I really need to get going and reach my biking goal. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Reached the End

I just realized it's the end of April today. I've been under the weather again the past two days. I haven't been able to do anything except water the plants in the evening. I managed to do some sewing last weekend. I'm working on a tote bag for a friend using the rainbow strip quilt I made a few weeks ago. Alas, I haven't been able to continue work on it since some of my stuff is in boxes. 

April was quite unproductive for me sewing wise. I put all my quilting materials in boxes because we changed the flooring in the basement. My sewing/maker room is still empty. The work isn't done yet. It's delayed by two weeks! I hope they finish everything by end of the week. Some of my boxes were moved to the family room yesterday. I can probably resume some sewing tomorrow if I'm able to find my iron, haha. 

Quilting has been an activity that's kept me sane. I felt incomplete the past month. It's not the same when I'm unable to create. Even my blog has taken a hit. I've been posting late and haven't been consistently sharing my posts too. The heat probably contributed to my sloth-like behavior. I also don't remember when the last time I stepped out of the house. 

Anyway, a new month is just around the corner. Hopefully, things will be better!

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Heat is Not Funny Anymore

The heat index in my area reached 46'C today. I felt dizzy and had to use an ice pack to cool down. I think maybe it was made worse because I took a diuretic. Even with hydrating more I felt off for a few hours. The ice pack helped. I put it on my armpit and nape. A friend said to also put it on your groin. I moved to the living room since it was cooler there. 

I think things would be worse if we didn't have plants around our house. Good thing I decided to delay having our front lawn landscaped. The bushy bamboo trees are helping keep our area cool. Good thing they are not water guzzlers and can survive with minimal watering. I moved my potted plants under the bamboo in our pocket garden to provide them some shade from the terrible heat of the sun. 

I have also been keeping an eye on my boys. I remind them to drink after they come back inside whenever they step out. We also starting making ice using ice bags. The ones in trays are not enough to cool drinks anymore. Maybe I should make some ice candy too? 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Black Saturday 2024

Observing ome quiet time this Holy Week.

Have a blessed day.

Good Friday 2024

Have a blessed day everyone!

Holy Thursday

Have a blessed Holy Thursday everyone.

Let's take this time to reflect on His sacrifice for us.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Goals for 2024

I've been busy enjoying my newfound stamina doing some gardening. It's become part of my exercise regime and I get a good workout watering plants and checking if they're healthy. The cats have also been extra sweet and have been a good distraction. This means though I've been inconsistent with my blogging duties. 

Anyway, I've been thinking about what creative projects I want to do this year. I have a tendency to procrastinate if I don't write things down. I've decided to include non-sewing projects since there's a few things I want to try. 

Here's what I plan to do this year:

1. Make covers for our benches and sofa set. I know this is a huge project, so I really need to plan this well. 

2. Seat covers for our dining chairs. I already have an idea what I want to do for this. 

3. Throw pillow covers for the sofa. 

4. New curtains. (I already have the fabric, just got busy last year!).

5. Experiment on using beads and loom bands as part of my quilting projects.

6. Work on Christmas projects earlier. 

7. Another retaso project season.

8. Covers for other kitchen appliances.

9. A t-shirt blanket.

10. A fun project, maybe a bag and wallet. 

Plus! Set-up my design wall! 

My list is ambitious, so let's see what I end up completing :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

2024, New Year in Manila

Happy New Year! 

Celebrated the new year at home contained in our family room. Had to do this to avoid the bad air quality. Didn't want to welcome the new year with asthma, haha. We also just prepared the ready to cook food Kuya and Ate Joy sent. I'll cook pink pasta today so we could have noodles.

I was so surprised so many neighbors had fireworks! There wasn't as many last year when we welcomed 2023. By 11:20 pm it was super noisy in our neighborhood. It wasn't the same though as the 80s/90s when it was non-stop. There were moments of silence in between. Of course, the loudest bangs came five minutes before midnight. 

I feel 2024 is going to be very different! I haven't crafted any goals yet, but I have some ideas in my head. I'll let it simmer for now and will write it out in the next few days.

Here's how my 2023 went as a one second everyday vlog!

Have a blessed year everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe