What's up Bea? It's been months, and I only update now, and the year is about to end

Hello everyone, how have you all been? In my last post, I mentioned that my daughter started schooling and there would be changes in my work environment. Then I never posted an update, apologies for that.

Eventful. That is how I would describe the previous months since my last update. I mean this most positively and negatively.

Quick summary of the past months:

• There is visible progress in my daughter's education, but there are still tantrums and frustrating days.
• My daughter has a better understanding of my work and my schedule. (This made me teary-eyed; I feel she is growing up fast.)
• I can bring my daughter to work once in a while.
• There are additions to my tasks in terms of the workload.
• Four helpers were employed and eventually were let go due to different reasons by my employer. My temperament was truly tested by the last helper that left.
• I chopped my long hair, and I plan to donate it. (More about this in the future.)
• Volunteer time was reduced, but I still make time when needed.

How am I so far?

I am content and satisfied with where I am right now. This is a far cry from the anxiety and uncertainty I was feeling in the previous two years. I am still learning and figuring out the intricacies of working as a caregiver. But, I have confidence and certainty in what I am doing.

In April 2020, I decided to return to blogging and attempt to save my sanity. It took two years, but I am proud to say I have made progress. Of course, there are still struggles along the way, but I feel more capable of handling them.

What does the future hold?

Uncertainty. Change is definitely around the corner, and I pray I am prepared to handle it.

In about twenty-four days, 2022 will end, but my gut feeling tells me more surprises are yet to come in the next 24 days.

What were my goals at the start of this year?

At the start of this year, I wrote only three goals. As the year progressed, I added more goals. The three goals I wrote are:

• be employed
• paying off my credit card debt (remnants of the height of the pandemic)
• lose weight

And here is the update

• be employed 
• I started work on the 21 of June. 

• paying off my credit card debt (remnants of the height of the pandemic)
• I am not yet halfway through paying my credit card, but it has more "buying power" now.

• lose weight
• I actually gained more weight this year because of stress. 😂😂😂 this one is a struggle for me as I LOVE FOOD. We will see where this will take me next year. 😏😏😏

Not bad, right? Other goals I accomplished this year that I am proud of:

• There is now progress in my daughter's schooling.
• I became a Certified First Aider under the guidance of the Philippine Red Cross Quezon City Chapter.

These two stood out the most because these two added goals gave me peace of mind and a sense of accomplishment. I cannot describe how the two added goals were great pivot points in my life.

Overall, 2022 was a great year of progress. It is not my golden year, but it was definitely one for the books.

 Hope everyone has a blessed, content, and fulfilling holiday season.

Happy holidays everyone! 🎊🎄🌠🎆

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone! 🌟

A little trivia about the photo.

This is actually the first time we were all together in one photo since... 5 years ago?

I am the eldest and the shortest between my siblings and me. Yes, the tallest is our youngest - and only brother.

This Christmas was different from our previous holidays. I won't delve into many details but definitely, this is one for the books - both the joy and the pain behind it.

Remember, a photo will not always say the whole picture. 📷

A few winks away

Christmas is a few winks away. 🛌

I am feeling agitated and nervous because of the preparations.

I'm looking forward to seeing the faces of the kids and my sister when they open their gifts. 😀

The preparations for Christmas and New Year are different from the previous years. I guess because of certain relationships, that definitely changed the family dynamics.

But at the end of the day, we are doing this for the kids, because like what I said last year, Christmas is for kids and probably those who are still kids at heart. 😉

Before I end my post, I would also like to ask for prayers for my fellow countrymen who were affected by Typhoon Odette and could not prepare for this coming holiday. 📿🙏 We pray for continued help and safety in their own towns and provinces this coming holiday season.

My family and I are aware that we are blessed for being able to prepare for the holidays and we would like to give forward in our own way. Not sure if I will post it here or not, but surely we will give it forward. 🤝

Seasons greeting everyone. 🎄

Christmas is for the Kids, and Food are for Adults

At the start of December, my sister and I unboxed the Christmas tree and other decors. We never had themes for our Christmas decorations, simply put them all together and, voila! It's done.

For this year, my sister and I decided to print our kid's favorite cartoon characters, let them color them, and hang them on them in the tree as decors. I then bought some Christmas balls and garlands to add to the tree. We didn't have a star, so I made one out of paper origami. It wasn't the best Christmas star, but the kids liked it.

As for my sister and me, we decided to print pictures of our favorite Jpop groups and hang them on a line. After I displayed the prints, my sister commented that it looked like the white paper hanging in front of a shrine. She jokingly clapped her hands together and said a "prayer" under the prints.

Next were the gifts for the kids. We already bought some of the books, toys, shoes, and clothes more than a month before December because most were already on sale. Our dilemma was hiding them in plain sight. It was tricky, but we made it.

The last-minute preparation was a Jollibee plush toy that we bought a week before Christmas. We know the three kids love Jollibee, and I saw an ad where the plush toy was featured. I immediately searched if it was being sold and how to get it. Luckily it was available at the nearest Jollibee store near our house, and we bought three Jollibee plush toys, one for each of them.

I knew the kids would just rip through the packaging, so I decided to wrap all the gifts in brown paper that I have accumulated this year from grocery shopping. I then decorated it with cut-outs from magazines, and I even put their initials on their gifts, so they know whose is whose.

Christmas is definitely for the kids.

For the adults? The feast.

For this year, instead of having our usual spaghetti, we decided to have baked macaroni. The reason behind this was because we bought 5kilos of macaroni noodles for a low price. We are glad that the baked macaroni was a success considering this was the first time we made it. Though it was generally easy to make, I get nervous when I do something for the first time.

It was also my first time to successfully bake lime muffins. This was not my first attempt baking lime muffins. Previous attempts were a fail, and this is the first time that I perfected it. My daughter even liked it.

Christmas is truly for the kids. For adults, it is a chance to prepare something new and noteworthy for our family. Especially since we are amid a pandemic.

Christmas 2020

Maligayang Pasko!

Merry Christmas!

Naragsak Nga Paskua!

Feliz Navidad!

This year has been difficult, but we are all still grateful to be able to celebrate Christmas with our family.

We pray for families who are struggling to have a simple celebration of the holiday due to distance or lack of resources. We pray that we all can have a better holiday celebration in the next coming years. This is just now, we claim that there are better plans for us in the future.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Jingle Bells in Minor Key

This is how Christmas 2020 feels to me right now.

Dark, dreary, reverberating, and cold.

happy holidays everyone!

greetings from the siblings to the world!

love, peace and serenity!

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree~

update

hi everyone! been a very loooooonng time since i last updated. though, mind you, a lot of events has happened that i can be sure of. (^_^) the pictures are all stacking up in my laptop. unfortunately, i do not have the internet connection to upload them all. maybe i'll pust a post and a link for all my pics since i last updated. (^_^) anyways, right now i am using the desktop of my dad. let me remember what i have been doing since my last update... hmmm.

/looks at facebook, twitter and her mobile phone.

well... it's been a year since i offcially became a member of Singles for Christ. (^_^) me and my batchmates sponsored the food for our Christian Life program. it was our way of giving forward or giving back, however way you look at it. i would say a lot has changed since last year and i hope the change still continues for the better. (^_^)

i have attended a wedding for a cute couple who are also our fellow SFC members. we were the ones who sang for the wedding. i would admit that it was a bit of a disaster but we were all just very happy for them. (^_^) we will be singing in another wedding this monday for another couple from SFC. i hope our singing is better this time around. (^_~)

a bunch of us also performed at the Saterdotal anniversary of our parish priest. aiza and i were the ones who chose the music. bjoy and i did the choreography and i also did the editing for the songs. it was fun but there were a few misunderstandings and bad blood bad the way. thankfully, we were able to overcome this and we were all in good terms after the performance. (^_^)

oh! i went to hong kong last weekend with my officemates. it was an all-expense paid trip by our boss. we went to disneyland and had dinner at the Peak. it was my first time to go to hong kong so i was very excited. i had fun but i wish i had more time to walk around though. (^_^) as i said earlier, pictures will be uploaded as soon as i have enough time and the right internet connection. sorry! m(_ _)m

oh by the way, the first few things i looked for when i was in hk? FANTA! hahahaha! and yes, i did find it. unfortunately, i could not bring it here in the philippines because it was not allowed on the plane. (^_^)

christmas is just around the corner. (^_^) been taking pictures of "christmassy" thingies these past weeks. i hope i get the chance to post them in the near future. and i mean NEAR! (^_^)

i'm very sure i'm missing other details of what i have been doing recently but i really hope i could share them here. (^_^)

chiao~

sherry

livingstone sheffield cellars: very dry sherry of california.

our drink from last night's christmas eve celeb. (^_^)

christmas (part 1 of 2)*

maligayang pasko (filipino)! merry christmas!

feliz navidad (spanish)! naragsak a paskua (ilokano)!

(^_~)

blessed in life.

my family was able to celebrate christmas with a simple yet sumptuous meal.

we were complete, all are safe and healthy.

we have received great blessings and we are very thankful for it all.

thank you lord for this christmas day.

amen.
__________
*the next entry will be on january 2012.

ideas and productivity

"too many things on my mind. i wonder how i could make them into reality?"

this was from my twitter account yesterday.

now that i have a short vacation from med school classes,

a number of ideas are rushing in my head.

unfortunately, i lack the skill to translate all these ideas to action.

i could only make into reality less than a handful. (TwT)

anyways, i have quite preparing, cleaning and the fixing the house for christmas. (^_^)

really tiring but i feel accomplished.

add to that,

i don't think my vacation is a waste because i seem to be productive at some point.

productivity is not 100%-

like what i said earlier,

i have ideas that i have or cannot immediately put into action-

but at least it's not zero and i'm already fine with that. (^_^)

christmas tree and belen

yesterday, we assembled the christmas tree and the belen. (^_^)

i don't want to brag but our output was amazing!

(^_^)

please see for yourself.

christmas tree

belen

christmas in july

actually we just saw it in our living room. (^_^)

rei and i were surprised to see it.

we suddenly remembered the famous line "christmas in july" (^_^)

pack-up

last monday, we packed up all our christmas decorations. (^_^)

though it's true that most Filipinos celebrate the christmas longest, that is not followed in our house. (^_^)

it took me and rei the whole day to pack it all up.

after that, our hands were so dry and sore because of the christmas lights and certain decorations that needed more effort in packing. (>_<)

fun around day

yesterday...

playing around with rei's wig? (^_^)

part 1 and part 2

like taito in kamen rider ooo?

nah~ (^_^)

just fooling around! (^_^) V

our aunt brought us to duty free yesterday.

we had no plans of buying anything bet we ended up buying a watch, a bag and

FANTA!

yes!

its the real thing!

1 box = 12 cans (^_^) V

but we decided to start drinking it on jan 1, 2011.

(^_^)

thats all for now minna-san!

(~_~)

oh, before i forget, someone also bought me a car. (^_^)

hehehehe!

just kidding! (>_<)

i just happened to see it with rei when we were waiting for our aunt and uncle at the parking lot. (^_^) V

ja ne~

merry christmas everyone!

maligayang pasko!

feliz navidad!

happy holidays!

joyeux noel!

feliz natal!

(^_^)

christmas dinner (^_^)

the cariño siblings (me, ryo and rei)

(^_^)

painful

yesterday,

it started out as a happy, singing, guitar playing, dancing, gift giving christmas party for the seigaku.

but it all ended in tears.

it is just too painful for me to talk about it.

for my fuji-senpai, i am very sorry for everything that happened.

i know it hurts especially that fact that this might (but i hope not) be your last christmas here in the philippines and this happens.

your concern for them, your preparations, i fully understand.

they made their mistakes and i knew very well, being with them almost everyday for four years, that they have a tendency to be like that.

they are very much easily persuaded by anybody and they really change their plans on the very last minute.

i am not defending them, it's just that i had been used to it.

i know that you are the type who likes things organized and planned,

you had a sense of discipline in you,

which is why i understood your disappointment about the accommodations and preparations last night since they said that only a few of them will stay but at the very last minute,

more of them were planning to stay.

it's hard to say this, but rei is right, our "seigaku" is not a "seigaku", i doubt that it even was "seigaku" from the very beginning.

to the rest of seigaku, it is very hard for me to be unbiased about it because i am very close with fuji-senpai.

i'm very sorry.

i know your point that we are already old enough to take care of ourselves.

we are responsible for our own decisions.

you guys want to be together during the overnight thing, i understand that.

our host really wanted you all to stay but there are really limitations.

i know that i already sound biased, but please understand that you already told fuji-senpai that you will be staying overnight.

i myself was surprised when i found out that there were more people who will be staying over without the consent of our host.

i understand your concern that they live quite far and it was already very late at night.

i know that you were merely taking your chances and we know that you are responsible enough not to venture into "such acts" while at the house of other people.

but the dilemma there was there was no consent of our host.

please understand, even in my point of view, it looked as though the respect was lost and there was a lack in staying with decisions made.

there were mistakes.

the guests not asking the permission of the host before hand

and the painful words of our host, fuji-senpai.

it was just too much for all of us.

hospital day

rei and i spent the day once more at the hospital.

ryo's condition seems to be improving and hopefully it continues. (^_^)

hopefully, we would be out of the hospital before christmas eve (^_^)

mostly, we just watched the television with ryo when we stay at the hospital.

here is a pic of ryo and rei watching the television together (^_^)

it was raining so hard this afternoon.

we saw that the window of ryo's room can be opened so we opened it for a while (^_^)

here is a pic of the view from his window (^_^)

we then played around the room (can you see that we were kind of bored? XD)

there is this cabinet that that is very narrow so we decided to play with it.

here are our videos.

yes, the door of the cabinet is narrow but the inside of it extends to another meter or two sideways.

it was kind of odd actually because it looked likes an error in the planning of the room. (-_-")

anyways, we came home around 10:30pm because we still watched the AFF Suzuki Cup.

the Philippine team lost again to Indonesia (Indonesia 1; Phillipines 0) but the Philippine team played very well till the very end.

despite the loss i still think that the team did pretty well considering that the Indonesian team was expecting a 4-0 score in their favor.

though it is still very sad that the team lost, i just hope that the team in the next years would bring us to the finals. (^_^)

good night minna-san. (~_~)

fireworks!

i can't wait to see the fireworks display for Christmas and New Year! (^_^)

this is from Araneta Center Cubao, it's not that grand when you look at it from my phone but i hope i would have a better picture on Christmas day and New Year's day. (^_^)

from the sunday mass

when the priest was doing the homily earlier, i did not really like the way he was doing it.

he made it sound that going to mass nowadays is becoming a habit rather than a devotion or a preparation for the celebration for the birth of christ.

the homily was revolving around this idea.

maybe for me, it sounded as though he was generalizing that is why i did not like it.

but despite my annoyance for this priest's way of homily, i was able to get and understand a part of his homily that would really define christmas for me.

these were not his exact words but merely the gist of it.

"christmas is swallowing my pride, knowing the people who are eating with me on the table, repenting for my sins and renewing my way of living"

simple but it hit me because i admit, it was "close to home"