Moving On and Conquering Pain

I'm honestly thinking twice about getting another booster shot. The effects of the booster shot affected me physically and mentally. Whenever I get sick my spirit gets sick also and last week felt like six months worth of post-PE symptoms compressed into a week. Yes, it was that bad. My lungs were on fire for three days. Then it all stopped suddenly and I slowly got better over the weekend. The first two doses of the vaxx felt like a walk in the park. 

Anyway, what's important is I'm better now. I'm still experiencing odd asthma attacks, but I'm fighting it back. Last week felt like Geralt fighting the striga, the weekend felt like the sun finally rose again. That's how I deal with pain and stress. I look it in the eye and I tackle it. Whatever I went through last week seemed to have killed off the pain I've been feeling since I left my beloved job. 

Welcome to our messy fam room!

Leaving the job I spent 15 years of my life on was really painful. It felt like I was breaking up with someone. To be honest, I couldn't even wear my Google shirts. I would, but rarely, because it felt heavy. At some point I even told Sweetie to stop wearing them when we were still in Singapore. Well, last Saturday I purposely wore my favorite red "uniform" and it felt okay. Today I wore a the 2012 Android Dev Camp shirt and it feels okay. To me it means I have conquered the pain. 

Time is all I needed to move on. It's been a year since I decided to leave. They held onto me though until November, hoping I would change my mind. I'm still being recruited to do stuff for them, but my health wouldn't allow it. I like my life now and whatever energy I have I'd rather spend it with my family. It is a limited resource, so I have to prioritize. 

Live, love, learn, forgive, let go and be grateful. Life is fleeting, so accept what it is you have and pray hard for guidance. 

Happy Monday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

How the Pandemic Changed Me

“If you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable . . . then you will find your joy in the Lord.” – Isaiah 58:13-14

The pandemic has definitely changed how we live. I was already making arrangements to work from home twice a week when the mandate to WFH was made. It was a blessing in disguise for me, but things got busier and I ended up working longer hours. What I missed most though was our weekly trip to church and eating out with the boys. Malling was my cardio exercise haha. 

I like just staying at home. My friends at work once had to kidnap me to join them for dinner. They intercepted my ride home and made me ride their taxi. I'm an introvert so I thrived just being home. The pandemic changed me and re-aligned my priorities. Here's what I've so far done:

1. Learned to bake bread. 

2. Took up gardening again. 

3. Developed more quilting skills.

4. Blogged everyday (this is my third year of blogging everyday)

5. And most importantly, prayed more. 

And lessons I've learned:

1. Rest is important. 

2. Health is wealth.

3. Be with family. Being apart for two years was heart-breaking.

4. Remember that God loves you. 

5. Trust that everything will be alright. 

Now that I'm back home I'm adjusting again. You just need to be flexible and enjoy wherever you can. 

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

New Home Experiences and Discoveries

Living in a condo is honestly much easier than living in a house. We did condo living for ten years and got used to the convenience of living in one. Whenever we felt like going on vacation we'd just up and leave. We never worried about security since that's provided by the building. Living in a house requires you to have someone around all the time. 

It's almost a month now since we moved to our new home and here are things I've learned:

1. When you live in a house there are things you need that you don't need in a condo, i.e. garden hose, shears to cut grass and shears to prune tree branches, a rake and a Nimbus 2000 (walis tingting).

2. Inverter appliances is the way to go. Our electricity bill was so far lower in the past month compared to our condo. Well, I will have confirm if this is still true in the next three months. I thought it was due to zone pricing, but upon checking the kwh was actually the same. It must've been because we switched to inverter appliances. 

3. Condo association dues are much, much more expensive compared to a landed house, like >3x.

4. You're going to need to have a directory of people/companies who can help you to fix things or help with home management. Good thing I have friends who have businesses I can count on, i.e. Squeaky.ph for home cleaning, a neighbor who does landscape lends her gardener when needed. There are apps too, but I get wary using it because they tend to overcharge (I was trying to get help to fix my Mom's roof, but they were obviously overcharging us. What they don't know is my Mom and I used to export furniture so we know how to price stuff). 

5. Sourcing for groceries has become a sport for me. I've had to be  smart about it because online groceries don't sell everything online. Oftentimes you have to find the store of the brand on Shopee or Lazada and you're forced to buy stuff in bulk. Having to purchase from different brands means you have to pay for shipping multiple times. I know it's probably more profitable for them, but it's not good for me as a consumer. Unfortunately, I have to be more cautious since I'm high risk (and the boys too), so I can't just go out and buy groceries. Well, at least it's disciplining me for overbuying. 

6. It's been a bit harder finding homemade food where we are now. Our condo community had a classifieds page where home cooks and bakers would post food for sale. It was oftentimes cheaper than resto meals and the servings was good. This also allowed us to get to know our neighbors. 

7. I also miss our neighbors who sold fresh fruits and vegetables. They normally source them direct from farms and were much better than those sold in supermarkets. I'd buy from the fruit/veggie stores, but usually they sell by the kilo which is oftentimes too much for us. I don't want food to go to waste. Maybe I can think about splitting fruits and veggies with my Mom. 

8. More floor space to clean. I think the best decision we made this month is finally buying a cordless vacuum cleaner! It has really helped us keep the dust away and it's much easier than using a walis tambo (even though it's Scotch Brite one lol). Mopping is a pain, but at least I just need to do it once a week. I'm still thinking about how to manage our wood floors. My Mom trained me how to use a bunot when I was growing up. I could probably still do that by parts, but the waxing part will be a huge pain. 

9. Basura day is twice a week. We used to clear our trash every night and just had to go down to the basement to throw it when we were still at the condo. Now we have to carefully wrap everything since the trash collector only comes twice a week. Sweetie decided to buy two large trash cans to use as storage. Our neighbor told us to leave the trash outside the night before because the collection doesn't have a set pick up time. 

10. Every new sound still startles us. When we hear a kalabog somewhere everyone comes out of their bedroom to check, haha. We're still getting to know our new home. We're also trying to understand how things work. We've so far had to run to our contractor especially for things that require electricity, i.e. half of the garden lights aren't working again. Good thing the contractor promised they'll fix anything within six months of move-in. Whew!

And the last thing we had to go through the past few weeks is battle ants and mosquitoes! The mosquito issue was easily fixed when I got a bunch of citronella plants. They were gone immediately! The ant war is still ongoing and we tried several solutions to reduce the infestation. I think we're winning now. Will update in a few weeks. 

I have been fully focused on organizing our home the past month. The only thing I've been able to create is a 3.5 yard curtain for our crazy huge window. I haven't touched my sewing machine since I made it more than two weeks ago. Aside from being together with my boys 24/7, what's also important for me is I'm able to breathe better. I've had less asthma attacks and I'm more active now. I still take naps when I feel unwell, but it's not as often compared to before. Yay!

I'm super looking forward to progressing with organizing our home. Maybe next month I can finally fix my closet noh? Haha.

#Home56 #NewG190 #StayHome #BeKind  

Useful Home Budols

I'm not exactly sure where the term "budol" came from. As far as I remember it was a term used for a crime, mainly scamming. The first time I heard this term was in the 80s when the budol budol criminals were striking. When online purchasing became a norm during the pandemic, it became a term used for impulse buying. It progressed more because of the double digit date promos made by Lazada and Shopee. 

Since we're taking a lot of precaution by not going out, the things I need to purchase have been done online. It's not only SM that's "got it all for you", but you can practically buy anything online, even a house! To be honest, I was really wary about buying stuff online. I was forced into it when we had to purchase groceries during the circuit breaker in SG. 

Anyway, I've babbled long enough. Here are some of the budols from the past few weeks:

Walis tingting with bamboo holder

Magic hose and a hose organizer

Fabric to make a window curtain

Mail box, my neighbor said they'll stick it to the gate anyway.

Cordless vacuum, best buy ever.

Proper doorknobs, really hate those that nip you.

Birthday decor for Mom's birthday.

The air fryer (Sweetie's budol)

A nice faucet for the washing machine

Air freshener auto spray

Faucet extender

The cheese door stopper which was an indulgence

Sweetie was so surprised I only bought fabric to make a curtain. Told him I have a lot of fabric. Just need to unbox them. It's surprisingly hard to buy some home items like tabo and dustpan. I don't know why the shipping fees for basic home items are so expensive! I'm still hunting for a shop that doesn't charge so much to ship those. Or maybe it might be better for me to order through SM when I do my groceries. 

I'm still learning a lot about buying home & living items online. Any tips/recos will be welcome. 

#Home43 #NewG203 #Xmas9 #StayHome #BeKind  

Living Without Deadlines and a Functioning Kitchen

I haven't been using an alarm to wake me up for almost a year now. I have been struggling with falling asleep and staying asleep. There are nights I wake up out of breath. My lungs were damaged by the PE and it's very sensitive to bad air quality. For the first time in a long time, I slept like a baby last  night and woke up well rested! I'm really thankful to Squeaky PH for deep cleaning and disinfecting our bedrooms. I think that helped a lot. 

The angels of Squeaky PH with Gab :)

I'm also waking up earlier now because I'm better rested. This means I can drink my meds at a better time and I can be a better citizen at home haha. It got me thinking about deadlines. I honestly work better under pressure, so I've been slacking off on a lot of things. I was assigned to unpack the kitchen boxes, so when Gab said they'll unbox the stuff I did not resist. Good thing they did it for me because I ended up super exhausted even though I was just giving some directions while seated. Tita Pet kept reminding me not to over-exert. She knows me well. 

My kitchen is now functional thanks to the Squeaky PH team! They organized the groceries in the pantry and unboxed my pots and pans and baking stuff. I could just take my time now to re-organize as I see fit. Gab was right when he said one of his angels is really good at organizing cabinets. I don't need to hunt for things because they were able to categorize the items properly. 

For the next few days, I hope we could clear up more boxes, set up the Christmas tree and celebrate Mom's birthday. Things are slowly taking shape. Hopefully we can make our new home look more decent in time for Christmas!

Christmas! I'm seriously super behind on this. I'm delayed on everything including mailing Christmas cards and organizing gifts. The only thing I have for now is Fiesta ham hahaha. 

#Home34 #NewG212 #Xmas20 #StayHome #BeKind   

I'll Never Get Bored

When I was a child I didn't really like having birthday parties. I was always apprehensive about mingling. I remember peering through the window to see who arrived for my seventh birthday. My Mom had to push me out to welcome the arrival of my classmates. We continued to have those parties until I turned 13 and then they let me do what I wanted after that. 

I rarely had playdates because I was perfectly happy being alone. My favorite toys were Lego and Barbie. During summer my Mom would teach me different crafts. She taught me how to make Christmas cards which I sold during the parish fiesta. Then I learned how to make pincushions which I sold to my neighbor Titas. Then I learned how to quilt, make straw bags, and crochet. It was my Mama Lola who taught me how to use a sewing machine (on her vintage Singer sewing machine). 

Remnant from my pincushion production days (c.1987?). I still use it.

I just watched Janice de Belen's vlog featuring her craft room. I had one before in our old place. I couldn't help but laugh when she said she has this compulsion to buy everything she needs before she makes something. Yup, I think it's an addiction of crafter to buy so many materials. I used to have a shelf full of beads. It's now with my Mom and kept in Daddy's old tshirt cabinet. Now I have boxes of fabric and the collection is growing. And the other day I may have accidentally bought a boatload of buttons. Hahaha. 

I'll never get bored. Between chores, exercising, writing, reading and working on crafts there's just so much to do. I can't imagine now how I used to fit in work across all of that. 

Are you doing what makes you happy?

CB///*Yr2/47  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/74 #StayHome #BeKind

Virtual Walk Through My Childhood

Last night I chanced upon a vlog of someone who walked through our village. It was a one-hour video of her just walking through the streets. I was fascinated since it's been over a year since I've been home. It was like seeing my home with a fresh eyes. 

Photo by Kuya June <3

The video was long, but I ended up watching it. I bored Sweetie with my commentary haha. I pointed out memorable places, homes of my friends/Titos/Titas, areas where it usually floods, history of the houses, homes we visited for caroling etc. I was surprised to see many new houses and renovated houses. There were very few empty lots left. 

The most exciting part for me was when she walked through our street. She even stopped to take a close-up of my neighbors flowers. I immediately pinged my friend the link to the video. She's in the US now and I'm sure she misses her home too. I appreciate the effort of the vlogger who walked through our village because it reminded me of many happy childhood memories. 

I went to sleep dreaming of the day I can come back home. The video made me realize that everyday things will always be there and we take it for granted. If you ask me I'd still want to live in the village where I grew up. Perhaps I can find a smaller home where we can live. I hope it can just be a stones throw away from where my Mom lives. 

Thank you Kuya June for lending your photo for my blog post.

CB///362  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/25 #StayHome #BeKind   

Saturday Went Bonkers

We both had plans for our hobbies today. Told myself I'll just fix my medicine boxes and then work on my quilt project. Believe it or not it took me two hours fixing my meds haha. There's a lot! I had to throw away the expired meds and weed out those I don't drink anymore. I also lined up the medication by date of expiration so I don't waste any. That took two hours! 

Don't you wish your home was always brand new?

Throughout the week I have been decluttering our kitchen cabinets. We have a bad habit of ordering groceries without checking inventory. I wanted to know what we have and organize the goods by category. That took several days since organizing canned goods is like carrying weights for me haha. I wanted to move some items to the storage room and that's how our Saturday plans went bonkers. 

I had a list of things I needed Sweetie's help to look for. It started innocently when I asked him to help me get a box of fabric. After one box we started pulling out more things. Soon enough the hallway was full of items we want to send to Manila. We realized we just placed things inside the storage room randomly when we moved. Since we started to pull out stuff we ended up decluttering. 

Now we have a huge balikbayan box that needs to be sorted. We'll select things that would be useful in our Manila home and give away/throw items that have no use anymore. We'll do the sorting maybe tomorrow. Should we sort Marie Kondo style? 

CB///331 #StuckAtHomeDay/361 #StayHome #BeKind 

Thinking About My Future Home

I've lost count on the number of times we moved homes in the last ten years. Our first home was an apartment a few streets away from my parents home. It had 3 bedrooms and we used one as our computer room (desktops were still the norm at that time). We had so much fun in that home and we'd stay up playing Plants vs. Zombies. We moved out because there were issues with the bathroom and we wanted to be closer to my parents.

This was when we moved in to our first home. 

Our second home was just a hundred meters away from my parents home. It was a duplex and much more spacious than our first apartment. It had 4 bedrooms and a huge helper's room. I also had a craft room which I think was designed to be a walk-in closet, but I filled it up with craft materials. The house was too big for us and hard to manage. We eventually decided to invest in our first home. 

Christmas in our second home.

My Ate gave me valuable advise when I got married. She said that our first home need not be our home forever. She said that things will change and you can certainly buy and sell later on and move to another place. That advise was valuable to me because I lived in the same home since birth. 

I've learned a lot about moving and the most valuable advise I can give you is to hire professional movers to help you move homes. It is the best thing you can do for yourself. In Manila I always use Carepak Movers and in Singapore I always use Soon Seng Transport. I've moved four times in Singapore and cannot imagine moving without help. 

Home #9.

I have a new hobby now -- watching home tours. I've been thinking a lot about our future home. I finally learned how to properly take care of plants, so I want my future home to have some space for a proper garden. I want to have home that's just appropriately sized. Just maybe a bungalow with enough space for my craft materials, toys, kitchen stuff. I don't want a huge house because it'll be hard to clean. I'm actually glad I got to live in a smaller home because now I learned to limit my stuff. 

What about you? 

CB//185 #StuckAtHomeDay/215 #WFH127 #StayHome #BeKind

What are My Art Pieces?

 Last night we watched Bea Alonzo's house tour (part 1). Oh wow, she has a very beautiful house! I couldn't help but admire how well designed everything is, from her art pieces, furniture, cabinets and her well-organized pantry. While watching I asked Sweetie, "Do we have any art pieces?" 

I wildly looked around our tiny apartment while waiting for Sweetie to answer. He said, "You're Yoda collection!" Uhh, yes perhaps that and Sweetie's Transformers. I thought about our home in Manila and thought about whether we have any art pieces. I know my Mom has some paintings and sculptures, but her centerpiece is a family painting Tito Bert made for us. 

If I could have one art piece I'd like to have this please (only two in the world!).

My friend Anne pointed out to me, I'm a functional person. She has been helping me think about how to fix our home in Manila. She said all the pins I pinned on Pinterest are functional! Uhh, yes, guilty as charged. We moved to our home in Manila in December 2012 and we don't have anything hanging on the wall yet. In Manila though I have on display precious items - family photos, gifts from my communities across Asia and special birthday gifts. I may not have expensive art pieces, but I keep precious items on display.

My prized possession, a gift from Marcus and Shirni. 

Looking around our apartment here in Singapore, here are my "art pieces" --

Family photos.

Groot from a movie we watched as a family and Sweetie's forever white paper rose he made for me.

I've had these for awhile now, coin bank frog from my playmate Josh, an elephant from GBG Colombo and a Poke ball from Yoshi. 

I've been thinking a lot how my future home would look like, but honestly I'm still thinking more about how functional it can be rather than how pretty it should look. My home has always had that well lived in look and I think it will never change. Ralph said that everything is in it's proper place when he came to visit (he has a very nice home). I was happy with that comment because what that meant to me is, "It's not messy!" It does get very messy when we don't have visitors and everything is in order only when Mom comes to visit hehe. 

What about you? Do you collect art pieces? 

CB//174 #StuckAtHomeDay/204 #WFH118 #StayHome #BeKind