As added security for my home, I bought a 25-watt solar-powered floor light to illuminate my stairway to discourage intruders and alert us if there are suspicious movements at night. I have a lot of outdoor lights on my eaves but they consume too much power so I can’t leave them on for more than 8 hours every night.

I will be returning to Handyman the dead bolt that I bought and have it exchanged for a barrel and chain lock instead. My contractor said my current lock system is already deadbolt so it’s better to have another system for redundancy. I also plan to install solar-powered torch lights for the garden and pathway.

Aaaaannndddd CCTV camera.

Well, we have a new word added to our lexicon: vog. It’s volcanic smog that is now smothering the provinces south of Metro Manila. It’s really gloomy here in our town and I wonder if it’s because the vog reached our side of the world.

But the heavy smog blanketing Metro Manila now is not related to Taal Volcano’s spewing ash this week. Phivolcs said it is just plain smog that didn’t rise up into the atmosphere due to thermal inversion.

Smog. Smog. Smog. Pollution basically.

I am soooooo glad I’m out of Metro Manila or else my kids and I would be having asthma attacks by now. The government cancelled classes due to the heavy smog hovering over the metro…just like what Jakarta experienced a month ago.

Meanwhile, I bought Kimchi these fluffy keychains after I couldn’t find her original one. We lost it when we moved. Now she happily tosses one of these when she’s in the mood to play by herself. She’s soooo cute when she does that. 😍

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There had been a spate of robberies in our town in the past few weeks or months. One of my BFFs had experienced one break-in their apartment when we were still in the hospital. The thief had the audacity to enter their apartment while the homeowners are still inside and took my friend’s husband’s cellphone in the living area. They caught the perpetrator on CCTV of their neighbor and had come out with a police blotter for the suspect.

Things turned for the worse when a former dean in one of the colleges in our uni was killed by a thief that broke in their home two days ago.

Criminals had taken over our town once again. I remember when this incumbent mayor won his seat the first time around, drug addicts were running around freely and the local police was in cahoots with the drug pushers and druglords. There was a series of killings of students and children…and my TV network sent me here for a week-long reporting of the incidents. I remember the showdown I had that with Mayor G’s administrator, who barred me from interviewing the mayor about the drug-fuelled student killings. I had the temerity to call my brother on my mobile so loudly so that everybody in the municipal hall can hear. I told my brother, “Kuya, bring me a pillow, mat, and a flat sheet. I will sleep here at the Office of the Mayor until Mayor G has the guts to show his face in this office!” I was very much prepared to do that and they know that a TV crew was just outside…they would be losing face if we broadcast that the mayor was never to be seen nor heard when the whole town is crying out for justice.

Why did those things happen? Mayor G was an absentee mayor. Because you see, he was not a native; he really resides in Makati and was seldom in office. He just satisfied the 6-month residency rule by building a house somewhere and so he became eligible to run for office. His father was a close associate of the husband of former President Gloria Arroyo. Mayor G’s father was recently found guilty by the Sandiganbayan of corruption when he was still the head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp—the milking cow of any Philippine president.

Before this Mayor G took a seat, we had a good mayor, the one who kept peace and order. Mayor P was the one who banned the use of plastic 20 years ago and cleaned up our own version of Smokey Mountain. He was a no-nonsense administrator who had the police by its neck. Some say he has some strange racket going on, like his brother is a drug lord, that’s why he has the criminal syndicates under his thumb. I’m not sure if it’s true. Haven’t tried investigating.

Mayor P was unbeatable every election but there was a time he had to run for vice governor because he already maximized the term of office—three terms—for mayor (or for any elected public official in the Philippines). That’s how Mayor G was able to have a chance to occupy the post. But because he was so bad at it, Mayor G only had one term and the old Mayor P was back.

But Duterte had Mayor P killed by a sniper in December 2020 at his office. Duterte never denied his involvement—on TV.

Now Mayor G is back because he ran under the Marcos banner. People are stupid. Same shit we went through more than a decade ago is happening again.

I think I may have to bring my mainstream media friends back here…

It’s the 51st anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, the one that allowed the Marcoses to stay in power, absolute power, for almost 20 years. Many have been imprisoned and killed. Social media, with the careful machinations of Cambridge Analytica, erased the atrocities the Marcoses have committed against the Filipino people.

That’s why they’re in power again, ransacking the country again with billions of “confidential funds” appropriated in the national budget. Those confidential funds could have gone to government hospitals, to the patients in charity wards of the Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and Philippine Heart Center.

But guess what? Their budgets were cut to make way for these so-called “confidential funds” that do not go under the scrutiny of the Commission on Audit.

GREATEST ROBBERY OF A GOVERNMENT.

Late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. received this distinction from the Guinness World Records after the Philippine government identified a total national loss worth $5 billion to $10 billion from November 1965. #NeverAgain #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/FOln147xss

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) September 21, 2023

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The last early breakfast for my 7th Grader for the week. Whopeee!

Sigh. It’s hard raising tweens/teenagers. The moodiness, the dramas…it’s hard to explain now. I am emotionally drained because I had a heart-to-heart talk with Twin I. I thought she was mature enough to understand things.

I have a bumpy road ahead. 😩

Today is much better. Twin A slept through the night and the pain is lesser today. She still feels bloated after every meal though, but the pain is no longer that intolerable.

After preparing breakfast, I went back to bed to sleep for two hours before working.

I was no longer the only editor today so I only did a few edits. However, procastination got the better of me and all my good intentions flew out the window. I was supposed to bring my daughter to our local pediatrician to check her uric acid but house work and a few edits bogged me down.

I must do it tomorrow.

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My younger sister went here to get muffins because I need to decongest my fridge. I have so much food that much of it go past the expiration date. So to avoid that, I’m giving away food

When she got here, she remarked, you haven’t gone out of your house, have you?

“Ah well, yes. Everything I need is here and besides, my work keeps me strapped to my desk,” I replied. Watching over Twin A is also a full-time job; I needed to administer medicines that she needs to take at different times throughout the day. I do periodic checks for tummy aches and other issues that may crop up. I also also supervise her temporary homeschooling.

While I surveyed my living/dining area after sweeping the floor tonight, I realized that we really don’t need that much space as long as we have ample storage. Our apartment in QC is bigger than my house but that one was inefficient in terms of storage and layout. We also don’t use the sala that much; it was only used when Ate C watched TV. My girls and I don’t watch TV.

My older sister lived here for three weeks to watch over Twin I while we were in the hospital. She told me that my house is like a condo in Metro Manila when it comes to size but it was cozy and it’s like living in a bubble. She had a world of her own here, far removed from the house next door. She had no idea what was going on in the other house if not for our chat group. And she also didn’t come out of the house because all she needed were here. It’s also peaceful.

What else would I need?

I woke up at 3 am because Twin A was suffering from tummy ache that bothered her the entire night. The most I can give her was paracetamol. Her doctors didn’t give me home instructions for her pain; her last pain relievers were Tramadol and mefanemic acid and were given to her for 24 hrs after her biopsy.

At 5 am she was up again and wanted to vomit because her tummy was unbearably painful. She mentioned something about sharp pain that comes and goes. Sounded like hyperacidity so I gave her Omeprazole, which is part of her cocktail of daily meds to take. I let her sleep upright, propped up by several pillows. Only then her tummy calmed down and she slept soundly after it.

I cooked cheese omelette with pan de sal for Twin I while her sister slept. Good that she is responsible enough that I didn’t have to worry about her that much after serving her breakfast. Lest I be accused of not giving importance to my firstborn, I asked Twin I if I could go back to sleep because my head was already pounding for the lack of sleep instead of seeing her off to school.

I slept for almost 2 hours, which wasn’t enough, then subjected myself to torture—editing all day until 8 pm today. I was the only editor on duty today. 😩

But this is nothing compared to what I experienced the last three weeks. I would rather take this any day than be back to that horrible three weeks.

Sleeppppp…

Anxiety is eating me alive right now. I constantly have to monitor Twin A for pain and signs of fever. I also have to measure her abdomen regulary to make sure it’s not getting bigger until our check up next week. I need to have her blood test done to monitor her uric acid level but they forgot to give me the doctor’s order for that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I haven’t fully stepped back into my regular rhythm. It’s kinda hard when you have had a big shock to your system. I don’t know how to function normally yet since my body just wants to shut down and rest.

Then there are the repairs. My contractor hasn’t sent his people back yet because it seems like the leak is not coming from the bidet spray but it’s from the pipe itself. Same thing with the lavatory, there might be some kind of leak seeping through the walls because my cabinet under the lavatory has grown mushrooms. Yes, literal mushrooms. It’s another cause for my anxiety. I mean, this is a new build so why am I having this kind of problems at this very early stage?!

I guess the culprit is our water booster. The pressure was just too much that my shower heater gave up and started leaking because one of the o-rings inside broke. Then my expensive bidet spray also broke, the head couldn’t contain the water so it started leaking as well while we were away. My sister bought a new one to replace my newish spray but that also broke despite adjusting the psi of the water pressure booster. When I got back, I bought another expensive spray but still the leak didn’t stop.

I want to shut down for a bit…

But I can’t.

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