The little things

Posted on by

Gather the little things that put a smile on your face and your day would be brighter. It’s like gathering flowers from a field to take with you home so you would be reminded that life is indeed worth living.

My cats are destructive but their antics make me laugh.

Look at that guilty face! Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Gotcha! Caught in the act! I banished my cats from my room after the bad deed. Kimchi looked so guilty while Sushi made her escape quickly. They know when they did something they shouldn’t have.

Meanwhile, my solar-powered fairy lights have arrived. But I wasn’t able to charge them enough because they arrived late in the afternoon when the sun was already weak. But at least I know they’re working and automatically turn on when it’s already dark.

The lights are weak and I should fix the hanging tomorrow; they’re not balanced. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I should order more solar-powered garden lights, like the starburst or flower lights so when we sit outside on a clear and cool night like tonight, we are properly illuminated.

I can’t believe it’s already October and I have nothing to show for it. In December-January, I didn’t know how I would survive the coming days when I was dying everyday. I was taking one step at a time: wake up, get out of bed, eat, push myself to work, and then try to sleep again even though sleep evaded me. Then it was one day at a time. Baby steps. Until I got past the first month of being able to survive a broken heart. Then two months…and now it’s October. At that time I couldn’t imagine how life would look like 6 months or 10 months from then.

Then I survived and lived. With the help of friends who pushed me to get well physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It’s still October and yet I’m already feeling festive. I will be buying more Christmas crap from Lazada and Shopee tonight. I’m ordering book shelves from Ikea online to hide the cat litter box (I was able to hide another cat litter box under a chair I added next to the sofa) and probably look for patio furniture.

It’s the little things.

Worst place to be

Posted on by

I don’t have to elaborate how and why. I mean, my household is very careful given that I have unvaccinated children with me and the three of us are asthmatic people and yet we still caught Covid from somewhere we couldn’t trace. My mom’s household is still quarantined because all of them got it. And my sisters rarely go out. I have a lot of my friends who are Covid-positive now. Many of my kids’ teachers are sick now, probably with Covid, and couldn’t hold online classes.

As I said a few months ago, it’s just a matter of time when we will get it.

Then we will have clowns running for president next year

There were too many news about Pacquiao yesterday that I dreamed about him last night. In my dream I was supposed to buy one of his cars and we were supposed to meet in a hotel lobby to do our transaction. However, his car fell from the hotel’s elevated parking space and it was already beyond repair.

That was weird.

It’s probably an omen.

I went out to withdraw some cash from my bank on Tuesday. Feeling too confident, I walked from my apartment to my bank and back. I didn’t realize that was already too taxing for me that I fell asleep that night with my lamp and PC on. Then yesterday I did nothing but sleep the whole day. Lingering Covid fatigue hits me hard. It’s sneaky like that.

So I had to order groceries again from Puregold to be delivered at home and my cat supplies via Viber to my suki vendor from Tiendesitas today. Tomorrow will be meat shopping from Monterey Community Market via Viber again. My problem are fruits and vegetables because the vendor on Facebook who has a stall in Nepa Qmart has duped me. A lot of items were missing and she sold me two small potatoes when I ordered 1/2 kg of those. Either I will brave it tomorrow and drive to UP or let my househelp buy from the nearby Robinsons (and veggies there are sometimes not that fresh, they cannot be stored that long in the fridge).

Now I’m back to buying random shit again online. Bought a new protective case for my phone because my old one was already falling apart.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

China’s Golden Week starts tomorrow so we will be out of three or four editors. It will be a week-long holiday for them so I guess I have to work twice as much in the coming days.

CCP will again will have a show-to-the-world-we’re-tough ceremonies in Beijing sometime next week.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to my own birthday holiday towards the end of October. Since I’m still weak, a biking or camping holiday is out of the question. Dining out is also a risky endeavor. I guess I would have to pull the trigger and buy that movie projector and just binge-watch Youtube videos and Netflix on my blank white wall during my vacation.

My girls are begging me to spend the Christmas here in the apartment instead of spending it with their grandma in my hometown. They don’t want to leave the cats.

Let’s see how the world will flow in the coming months.

Good vibes

Posted on by
Fairy lights. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The first batch of fairy lights I bought from Lazada arrived today and we installed it in our living room. It’s sending good vibes to all of us tonight. The led light bulbs are as small as rice grains and the wires are very delicate. I hope none overheats because my curtains may catch fire. So far my cats have not played with it…yet.

I love my cats to bits but they’re the reason why this is the second year I’m doing away with the Christmas tree. The tree may not survive my cats.

Gotcha, cat! Kimchi killing my toilet paper. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m waiting for the solar-powered fairy lights to arrive and will install those immediately in front of the house. Then some patio furniture so we can have barbecue outside. With lots of mosquito coils and anti-mosquito candles.

Thinking of alternative Christmas decor this year because I want the holidays to be as festive as I could make it because 2020 and this year have been challenging for everyone, especially me on a personal level. I’m still learning, I’m still growing. I’m still trying to heal. This is the first time in 21 years that I am making big and small decisions without having to consider the approval of another person. Or the welfare of another person (aside from my kids). It’s just me and it is somewhat liberating.

Other people have not been nice to me so I need to be extra nice to myself. Love myself more. Once the rate of infection is down and some businesses have opened up, I will see my chiropractor in Makati, check in I’M Hotel and book myself an overnight spa package. Onsen all I want, three hours of head to toe massage, buffet dinner and buffet breakfast. I did that before for my mom’s and my birthday a couple of years ago.

I’m nearing the one-year mark. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m going to train myself to be physically stronger so I can go hiking and camping again. Then on to Mt. Pulag. In between I will go to Moalboal in Cebu or Coron in Palawan to freedrive there. I don’t think travel abroad will be possible next year. Let’s say the chance is 50%. After experiencing Covid, I don’t want to be that sick again.

Let’s see what will happen…I need to post a job opening for correspondents in Bangkok and Singapore tomorrow. At some point next year I might need to fly to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, and Singapore because of the said requirement. I’m not looking forward to it. This is the same feeling I had after coming home from Shanghai-Xi’an-Shanghai with bronchopneumonia in 2014.

Drats, I need to renew my passport now! It’s expiring in March 2022.

Until then, I’ll just savor the time at home. Will soon be planting creeping roses that I will let grow on a trellis that I will construct between me and my neighbor so I don’t have to see their mess and I will just have the beautiful view of my roses, cosmos, petunias, and vegetables.

Letting go

Posted on by
My cats are fond of laying on things I am working on, like my daily diary because I’m scheduling my life in the next 3 months. Photo by CalleMeCreation.

I sent J yesterday the last batch of his stuff he left behind. I saw on Grab it was delivered but there was no word from him, no thanks, no acknowledgment. Nothing.

I was miffed. Like what did I do wrong to this person to earn this kind of treatment??? I was just being nice!

But then a friend reminded me, this is not about me. “It’s not you. Nothing is wrong with you,” K said.

Then I reminded myself, yeah, he has a problem. He could not be nice to me, until the end. He’s not really a nice person 😔

I just had to vent out to my friend and then move on. I slept on it. I’m ok now. As I told K, I am loved by my family and friends and a lot of people appreciate me. They sent their help and love to me when I was really sick with Covid. Then that means nothing is wrong with me as a person.

My girls kept on making me cards, sending their love. Reminding me of the most important thing in this world: my children.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Choose people who choose you.

That’s the lesson I learned from this experience with J. I should love myself as much as I loved him. If I had more self-confidence and self-love, and didn’t think that I had to do more and become a doormat to earn his love, I wouldn’t have gone through the ugly last six months of our relationship that crushed my self-esteem.

I think I have finally let him go, in the truest sense. Like whatever he does that is not connected to me will no longer affect me. He no longer has the power to hurt me. I have taken that power back.

Happiness is a choice. I choose to be happy. I will love myself more and enjoy my life as I ought to.

The audacity of this family

Posted on by

This is what you call dynasty graft and corruption.

I don’t want to dwell on this today because it’s my day-off and I’m not supposed to stress myself.

Oh Lord, let me have the strength to last the 2022 elections. Or survive the Philippines. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Last night, it’s my other daughter’s turn to cook. Taught her how to make meatballs

She mixed ground pork, salt, pepper, egg, soy sauce, and bread crumbs. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Formed them into balls and rolled onto a floured board. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
And then fried. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Made gravy from an instant mix. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

It’s their dinner. Since I no longer eat heavy dinners, I just had a small sandwich.

Then I continued with sewing masks to give to friends who sent their love when I was sick.

Look at how fine my hand stitches had become. A lot of practice, I can soon emulate the Victorian seamstresses who are rather particular about their hand stitches.

Homely activities

Posted on by

I feel stronger today, like my old energy is back so I tackled home cooking today. Or rather I taught my daughter, Twin I, how to make omurice and miso soup.

First she cooked leftover rice that was in the fridge overnight with some leftover tocino and leeks. Normally you put dollops of ketchup in the rice but my kids don’t like ketchup. Photo by CallMeCreation.com.
Then I taught her how to make a plain and thin omelette. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We assembled the rice first then covered it with the omelette and shaped it like this. Topped with slivers of leeks. Photo by CallMeCreation.com.

I also taught her how to make miso soup using soybean paste and kombu or dried kelp. Omurice and and miso soup for brunch today.

Then I felt more energetic than I expected so I tackled my container garden that was already so neglected that it looked like a forest full of detritus and detritus feeders.

First, I tried to save my birds of paradise plant from falling over because it was being pushed down by the neighbor’s trash. Then I’m teaching it to lean the other way. This is already the daughter plant (that grew from a sucker). The mother plant that I bought from my hometown in December died as it was not able to acclimatize in the city. Good thing the daughter survived and is growing another leaf. Tonight I transferred it to a more shady part of the courtyard so the leaves won’t be burned by the noon sun. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Then I tackled the dried leaves that kept falling from the old mango tree and the soil that was dug up by neighborhood stray cats. I took out the neighbor’s trash that they stuffed between their motorbike and my pots. Annoying really, because there was a lot. I pulled out the dead plants that I neglected and some weeds. The big one at the back is a taro plant. I tried pulling it out to check if there’s already taro but that damned thing was stubborn. The bigger plants at the back are fruit trees that I learned to be lanzones, kaimito and rambutan. And they will all go to my cousin who has a garden. I don’t have a place to transfer my fruit trees from my pot. The wire shelving was pulled out from my laundry area and it was just languishing there. It used to hold my pots and pans in the cooking area. Some survivors are my birdseye chilis. I will be sowing some vegetable seeds in the empty pots tomorrow. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Here are some of the surviving birdseye chilis that I quarantined as some of the other surviving siblings are being attacked by some kind of pest, maybe aphids. At the back planted in some old upside down plastic Coke bottles are some Sansivieria bacularis that I started to propagate. The ones in the water are the other bacularis that I separated from the mother plant that will be transferred to other pots when I have the chance to buy potting soil.
These are the mother Sansivieria bacularis. They started as small plants in small Japanese cups that we bought from Quezon City Circle gardens for PHP 35 each in 2018. They were dying indoors probably because of lack of light so I took them out and transferred them to bigger pots. Look at how they have thrived outdoors. I think this unruly mother plant would have to be thinned out and I propagate the daughters.
I planted seeds of ornamental flowers in these recycled mineral water bottles. These are next to my front windows so when they start to flower, I will be looking at my flowers through my window every morning when I have my breakfast.
Since everyone is stuck at home, my neighbors in the apartment compound also started growing plants in pots and plant boxes. Yup, that’s my bike that I haven’t folded yet. I’ll probably clean and oil that tomorrow.
My neighbors also are growing papaya trees, some Malabar spinach (that vine) and moringa tree. They said I can freely gather the leaves if I want to use them for cooking.

Tomorrow I will be composting some rotten guyabano fruits and cantaloupe that I wasn’t able to eat. I will gather the seeds first and let’s see if I can grow them. My squash died during the non-stop monsoon rains in July and August. Also some neighborhood stray cats started digging into my pots. Next time I will make some trellises so my squash would have somewhere to crawl or attach to.

Later tonight I will be ordering 20 meters of solar-powered fairy lights from Lazada that I will twirl around the mango tree then hang across the container garden towards my apartment’s overhang and hang it loosely there. It would be very pretty every night so my girls and I can sit outside while we grill or just hang out since the heavy rains have already stopped. Plus Christmas is coming soon. I will be ordering more curtain fairy lights to hang against my curtains in my living room window.

Self-love. I’m almost there.