Better

Feeling much better today so I managed to write and publish another story. I keep posting job ads, too. I must fill up these vacant positions soon.

Cats are really therapeutic. Bad day at work? Squish your cat like you do stress balls. Play with them and they will make you laugh.

Sushi and Kimchi ready to ambush the laser pointer. Photo by Twin A for CallMeCreation.com

I talked to my best friend yesterday and told her I would be going home soon with my girls to settle down there. I told her, I think I’m already ok growing old solo and this flat I’m going to build is just the start. I will save up money also for a condo unit in Makati and/or a small cottage by the sea.

She said my decision is sound; we are at this stage that we don’t want to be harassed financially anymore. She assured me that it’s ok to stay put even if all the others are saying, “Don’t let go of this opportunity!” Because we should be doubling down on our savings now for retirement and children’s education.

Because I feel guilty that I’m depriving my children a chance to live abroad and be exposed to foreign cultures in exchange for comfort and peace. BFF told me our other BFF was also thinking of moving back to Vietnam, to her old post with an MNC. She did the numbers as well but she realized it wouldn’t work without the expat package. She is a single parent to two kids under the age of six (another case of having an irresponsible father). So instead, she stayed put and pursued her sandwich program in Belgium and here while she keeps her job with an international institution. She said there’s no point of living like a pauper abroad when we can be very comfortable here. Stability is important for solo parents.

Such is the fate of parents…especially single parents. Without a good support system, it would be really hard to spread our wings.

I hope I’m making the right decision.

Back after two years

Waiting for my food at 3F Lasema. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Since it’s Bonifacio Day today = no school, the girls asked me if we can go to Lasema. I was thinking of having a massage so, why not?

The staff recognized the girls and were happy to see that they have grown up, pimples and all. They also said I lost weight; I replied Covid is a good weight loss program.

We spent more than four hours there. The girls went back and forth the hot tubs and the dining area three times while I had my massage after spending an hour in the hot tubs. Then I went back again just to remove the oil in my body. It was an expensive Bonifacio Day outing so that’s why we made sure we got our money’s worth. If only the girls didn’t have to wake up early tomorrow, we could have napped there and gone back to the hot tubs for a final soak before calling it a night.

My back aches didn’t go away but at least my muscles have relaxed.

Meanwhile, my cats have gone crazy.

Been driving my cats bonkers with our new laser pointer. They have been chasing up and down that little red dot. It’s a good physical exercise for them, especially chunky Kimchi.

The trip to the onsen is now making me sleepy. G’night.

Confronting trauma

Exactly a year ago today.

I have to confront these feelings again that I try to bury because whenever I get triggered, I go through the cycle again of being at the bottom and then struggle climbing my way up from that dark hole.

As a reply to all the things I wrote on this same date last year: NO, he does not miss me, he does not regret it and I just disappeared (no fading away). That’s it. That day I was writing about has never come and it will never come.

Confront these feelings. Don’t run away from it, don’t hide. It’s for my own good. There will come a time that I won’t get triggered anymore. That it won’t hurt anymore. That it’s not my fault and he wasn’t just a nice person. He was a coward for not telling it to my face and resorted to just breaking up with me on the phone, didn’t even give me that dignity after all the things I’ve done for him.

I have to confront these feelings head on.

I have to admit that writing yesterday’s entry got me triggered again. I stayed in bed the entire morning and I finally pushed my butt to get on my seat to work after lunch. My shrink was right, my trigger is anything connected to my feelings about him. It bogs me down. It’s not stress about work that keeps me from writing–it’s this trauma.

I have to fight this trauma.

man in black shirt and pants standing on the floor
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

My kids are preteens now. They’re starting to get pimples and their bodies have started to change. They have grown so much that the top of their heads would soon reach mine. And yet, a part of them are still children. Like how they jumped up and down my bed, damaging a part of my new bed frame.

At the welding shop. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So I had that part of the frame welded and reinforced at a shop near our old house. Now my bed no longer creaks, thank goodness.

I have a towel hanger that has collapsed already. I’ll bring it to this shop for reinforcement.

Meanwhile, Kimchi is begging for some petting.

So fluffy! Photo by CallMeCreation.com

She’s so squishy! She’s a stress reliever.

Escape to crafts

Kimchi ruining whatever I am working on. Such a petulant child. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I got stressed yesterday with all the drama that’s happening in national news that I was able to finish one curtain panel that I sewed by hand. Right after the 8 yards of fabric I ordered from Shopee arrived, I sewed like mad to relieve me of stress and forget that the Philippines will soon be doomed.

If only Singapore is not that expensive, I would be willing to move and forget about the idiots that will be voting for the equally idiotic people running for office.

Kinda proud of my dainty stitches. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Nearly finished. It has a satiny texture to this. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Et voila! My first granny curtain panel. I intentionally made it short so the curtain wouldn’t cover the modem and the aircon unit. I need to finish the masks that I need to ship out this week so I can proceed with sewing the two panels of 3-yard curtains that I must immediately hang in this room so this 1.5 yard panel would not look out of place. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’ll get rid of the stuffed toys on the shelf because they look so juvenile. I just put them there because the shelves were empty and looked forlorn when I sent the Gundam figures to J and I had to have something there in the interim. Now I can put books there as they started to overflow from my closet.

My daughter, Twin A, started choosing fabrics on Shopee and said I should start sewing the curtains for our future flat. I said, darling, we still don’t know how big the windows will be. That’s the reason why I’m not cutting this curtain rod because I’ll be taking this and the other the curtain rods with us.

I needed a creative outlet to escape reality for a while. So I resorted to sewing. I’m not yet brave enough to pick up the brush or charcoal. I need to watch more Domestika courses on sketching and watercolor paintings before I venture into those again.

I think I will be sewing a lot of things before I can get back into the groove and start traveling again. When I assume my new role probably by next year, I need to fly to all the cities we are covering, starting with Ho Chi Minh (I have already lined up my meetings). But Covid is coming back with a vengeance as cases start to rise again in Europe.

I think I will be making a lot of curtains.

Snippets

I had back-to-back-to-back conferences and calls today and it will be like this for the rest of the week. The most hectic will be on Thursday when I will have 4 press conferences on top of big regional conferences. I wonder how I will stretch myself.

I have two interviews tomorrow and three regional conferences. I’m tempted to add another screen to my dual monitor setup. Hmm… Maybe I could use the laptop’s screen as a third screen. Crazy week.

We already made peace. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Kimchi has somehow forgiven me and has started hanging out with me again. But I still need to continue giving her the antibiotic and antacid. The vomiting has stopped ofter 24 hrs of giving her the oral meds last week.

Florals. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I still sew masks to help me relax at night while watching YouTube videos of crafting, interior design, or whatever creative things that help me calm down. I’m going to give this batch to my cousin who just arrived from Ireland. It’s her birthday today. I think she still has my drunken video about Chris Hemsworth from 2018 when she and another cousin came to my old house to celebrate my singlehood. The next day I was so hungover while packing my bags and was almost late for my flight to Singapore.

Prior to this, I gave the last batch of masks as an appreciation gift to one of my friends from the industry who sent groceries when I was half-dead with Covid. They posted my gifts on Facebook; it seemed like they were really happy with them.

Next projects would be curtains again but with crochet laces at the hem. All handmade by me. Good luck to me.

First time in a long time

Somewhere in UP Diliman. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The government loosened the mobility restrictions to Alert Level 2 in Metro Manila starting yesterday so children can finally go out of homes and visit parks. We went out this afternoon so the girls can ride their bikes here in UPD for the first time in so many months. I still didn’t bike; I’m still gauging my strength so I just walked, did laps, and stretches.

This morning I pulled my lazy butt out of bed to cook brunch. I had been very spoiled by Grab Food for a couple of weekends now so now I must flex my muscles in the kitchen.

I made baked ham with cheese, which I learned from Imamu Room’s cooking vlog on Youtube. Then the usual tamagoyaki, rice with furikake, zucchini tempura, and miso soup.

Brunch today. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Fire engine red. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is the first time I also used the new microwave oven to defrost the ham. It’s cute but smaller than my old Whirlpool. Oh well, I’m shallow like that.

And yes, Kimchi still hates me. She runs away and hides from me. I still have to endure her grumpiness for a few more days because she needs to complete her antibiotic round, anti-hairball/antacid and the supplements.

Still grumpy cat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Weekends are too short.