Author Archives: admin

Freshening up

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I finally got rid of my old rickety bed frame that is at least 12 years old. But before I assembled the new one, I freshened up the wall paint because I was going to switch the placement of my worktable and other appliances.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is where J’s table used to be. I guess the dark stain there was caused by his feet when he stretched. Just like my girls when they’re in their bunk beds.

Excuse the vacuum cleaner’s nozzle. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So now back to having very white walls again. My room now looks more spacious than when I had my tables pushed against the windows. The shelf there looks odd right now as I had it installed for J’s Gundams. His desk used to be underneath it. Now it looks out of place. Maybe I should move it to the other side where my desk is now placed.

My daughter invading my room. Her twin is still with grandma. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com

That bundle of fabric over there? That’s one curtain panel I have yet to finish. I should be inspired to work there tomorrow as a little change in the workspace could trick my brain.

I want to hang a huge painting on the wall above my bed. So when I do video calls, the focal point at the back wouldn’t be my bed but the painting. I want to scout for the perfect painting online or even in person.

As for the wall opposite it, above my computer screens, I want it to remain blank as I had been planning to buy a projector so I can watch movies on a huge screen while in bed. I also plan to upgrade my bluetooth speaker for calls and for video watching.

Movie theater in bed, why not? Photo by CallMeCreation.com

There. That entire blank wall is ideal for Netflix nights.

They’re growing up so fast

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This morning I had the white chrysanthemum tea I ordered from Lazada and it tasted like the essence of those old stuffy rebultos (statue) of saints that my grandma had in her altar.

White chrysanthemum tea. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I went to my dentist right after lunch because one of my crowns got loose (the curse of being a clencher and grinder). I parked in front of the old house because that’s the only legal place I can park my big car. I saw the forlorn state of the garage and how dusty everything was. Then one of the old lady neighbors saw me and asked where the girls’ dad was, how are the twins, and are we living now in the province. I really felt uncomfortable with her quizzing.

After that I went to SM to buy the girls underwear, pants, shorts, and T-shirts. They’re no longer little girls.

Pre-teen. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

When J left in December, they were still “whiny little kids.” Now that they’re finished with fourth grade, they’re now transformed into little ladies–I needed to buy them sando-bras now (not pictured). It was so fast.

It’s true what they say: the nights are long but the years are short. When I was sleepless when they were infants until toddler years, I thought the hardships would never end. I barely had time for myself to comb my hair. Now their aesthetics are almost like that of a teenager. Their thought process especially daughter I, is no longer childlike. They know what J and I were. They understood what happened and what I went/am going through. They’re smarter and more understanding than I gave them credit for.

They grow up so fast that soon I may no longer be able to catch up.

I’m growing old too and have yet to find my place in this world.

Slogging through the heat

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It’s so freaking hot today and there’s no incentive for me to go out of my airconditioned room.

Rose tea. For my mental health. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The flower teas I ordered online finally arrived this morning. They’re fragrant and calming to drink even though they needed to be consumed hot. So I started the day with a pot of rose tea and then I had back to back calls. And back to back stories.

Brunch? I no longer remember. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I can’t remember when I had my first meal because I was jumping from one task to another. Half cup of rice, some slivers of bacon, egg and sauteed kangkong. It’s kangkong all the way down because my digestive system needs fiber.

I had lunch at around 3 pm. I can’t remember if I had dinner. Did I? Was too busy messaging people all at the same time that I lost track of who am I talking to about what. Sometimes, I’m in danger of typing in the wrong chatbox about something another person shouldn’t know about. Like the chatboxes of my sources on WhatsApp are dangerously close to each other. This kind of mistake is fatal, which happened to me when I mixed up my brother with J a month ago or so on FB Messenger. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I was surprised that that the day was already gone when I finished uploading my story at past 5 pm. My brain was also shutting down so I gave up any pretense of sending emails and trying to network with people.

This curtain in progress is mine, hooman. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My obnoxious cat, Sushi, couldn’t care less about her human’s frenetic day. She would sit on anything that I am working on, including this curtain that I’m finishing. She slept on it, crumpling it further.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and parking at my dentist is next to zero. So Grab it is. But just the thought of waiting for my ride is enough to make me wilt. Climate change is real, people. I don’t remember being this hot when I was growing up. I never heard of anyone dying of heatstroke when I was a kid and we were always outside in the grassland with my friends everyday, all summer vacation. I was so brown for playing outside all day. These days, I couldn’t even stand being in my old room in my mom’s house because it was like burning in hell. It didn’t have AC because it has always been cool there. Not anymore. Everyone now convenes in my mom’s side of the house (in her self-contained unit/studio) where she has a 2.5 hp split-type AC. I never bothered to have my old room fitted with AC because I don’t live there anymore. I haven’t even slept in there the last two years.

My cats are now convening in my room because it’s cool here.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Fresh air and financial spring cleaning

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Tonight I finally was able to ride my bike for some exercise and fresh air. On my way to UP, I saw how Maginhawa is trying to keep itself afloat.

Uno Cinquenta with diners. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I did my usual routine: I bike, tie my bike at the guard house then walk for an hour or so around University Ave.

Another day has died. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I take short breaks to do stretching exercises and then resume walking.

It has been months since I last saw the Oblation up close. Sigh. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Water break before going home. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was out for almost two hours and enjoyed the soft, cool night breeze and the smell of grass. I also heard cicadas, the sound that reminded me much of provincial life. One day I will go back to the province and escape Manila.

Or I will be somewhere else. I don’t know.

This thought prompted me to check my investments. Well my UITF, ETF and VUL funds are tanking because they are all in equities. The PSEi last week touched the psychological barrier of 6,000 and 5,900 may not be far behind. My money market UITF is doing fine but it’s not even an investment at this point since I’m just letting my emergency funds sleep in that facility so it won’t be eaten away by inflation.

I’m debating whether I should top it up because unemployment emergency funds should be 6 months’ worth of my monthly salary.

I am more inclined to top up my VUL fund because this has been my habit whenever I get a windfall every year (i.e. bonus) but I’m thinking of opening a mutual fund with another fund management group. The reason why I got another VUL is that I want to have two life insurance policies since my kids don’t have anyone else but me to rely on financially. Their dad hasn’t given any tuition money since they started going to school at 3 yrs old. So anyway, one VUL plan is heavy in the life insurance part and not so much on the investment funds. The other VUL is heavy on the investment but not much on the (term) life insurance side but both have accidental and health riders. VULs would also protect my children from being taxed when receiving money upon my death.

So the alternative to topping up the VUL fund is I can have a mutual fund invested in a balanced fund since my investment horizon has already narrowed significantly as compared when I first bought my two VULs (I was 28).

But but but… I want to bottom-fish! If the market is tanking, I should be picking up bargains, right? I do cost averaging on my UITF and and ETF every month so a tanking market is immaterial at this point. But topping up my VUL or investing in a mutual fund now means something–buying really low.

Something to think about before I buy a new laptop.

Weekends are for chores

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If you’re a solo parent, weekends are made for chores and the thousand and one things that you should have done during the week but you were too busy to even have lunch on time.

Hotpot. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So I finally got a few moments to cook and was able to do hotpot with beef strips, fish cake, fish tofu, and the last of the veggies in my fridge. It was so good; I missed having hotpot on weekends.

I went back to my old way of shopping for groceries. When we were in the old house, I used to do a fortnightly big shop at Hi-Top because it takes me at least an hour to finish shopping and it’s so tedious to keep doing this every weekend. Then I just top up in between by shopping for fresh produce at the wet market nearby so I just took the tricycle.

But since we moved to this apartment, I did my shopping weekly because two supermarkets are just walking distance from me. Plus I was feeding an army. Now that J is no longer here, I don’t need to shop for 10 boxes of milk, at least 2 dozens of eggs, etc every week. So now I just started doing one big shop every two weeks and just supplement it by buying fresh veggies from the vendors near UP every week. I want to have a chest freezer so I can stock up on a lot of meat and fish and cut down my trip to the supermarket or meat shop. The small size of my freezer is the reason why I always need to shop frequently. However, my apartment is small and I don’t know where I could fit a 4 cu ft of chest freezer or even a 3 cu ft one.

I realized that my grocery bill is cheaper at Puregold compared to Save More and Robinsons for the same amount of stuff I buy in all three supermarkets. They also carry more brands. The parking area, however, is very limited that I have to go shopping during odd hours.

After shopping tonight, I had the bike of one of my girls fixed because daughter A had her wheel punctured by a nail when they were biking at grandma’s.

At the vulcanizing shop. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Since it’s already GCQ, I think I can bring the girls (this time only one girl since the twin is still at grandma’s) to bike around. We need more exercise and time away from screens.

My other children are back to their obnoxious selves. Their square shaved parts (where they had their surgery) are still hairless, though.

My kittykats. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Exhausted

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Waiting shed at the entrance of UP Diliman designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I haven’t ridden my bike at all this week as I have been working too much the past few days. On Wednesday I was still editing a dreadful analysis piece until 11:30 pm so until the next day I was so exhausted and brain-dead.

And tonight, I finished the only article I wrote for the week past 6 pm when editors from East and Southeast Asia have already retired for the weekend. The rest of the week I was wrestling with a lot of articles that required a lot of brain cells to fix. All my requests for interview were ignored. It is indeed soul-crushing.

The government has now declared Metro Manila and nearby provinces to be under general community quarantine (GCQ) albeit with heightened restrictions and I really lost track of what is allowed and not allowed in the new lockdown-not-lockdown classification. I want to go diving but the daily new cases are still high at almost 7,000 as of today. I don’t know where I can go to have a breath of fresh air and a different scenery.

I’m so tired.

I need to be away, I guess. For a week. To where, I don’t know. To do what, I don’t know. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I’m still not protected from Covid because of the low efficacy of Sinovac’s vaccine. This limits my options. Maybe I’ll just drive to nowhere.