Lessons from My Dearest Mother - Part 1

  My Mom was diagnosed with colon cancer sometime in May 2005. Life was never the same for us since then. 

   Being the eldest I felt I was the closest to both of my parents, years later I realized how mistaken I was. I might be the closest to my Dad, but with my Mom, I realized that the three of us (I have a brother, of whom I am four years older and a sister who is seven years younger than me) have our own special relationship with her.  Reminds me of this anecdote I read years ago about some curious neighbor asking another neighbor blessed with so many children: How on earth do you divide your love among your children? And the couple's reply: "We don't divide, we multiply!" This is, in a nutshell, how I would describe my Mom.  She multiplied her love among us her children and her husband.

  My Mom, with her tremendous faith, prayed hard to her Lord and Savior, to be given enough strength to fight her cancer cells.  And to much extent she did.  Having also lost her older sister (our favorite spinster aunt, Andrea) a few years before her diagnosis, to breast cancer,  she didn't want to go through her doctor's chemotherapy program.  Instead she opted to take the path of the alternative medicine.  It must have been an effective medicine and coupled with her tremendous faith, she was spared any cancer pains.  In fact she was able to resume most of her activities prior to her diagnosis.  But deep down, we also knew she was on borrowed time.  One of Mommy's passion was visiting the sick and the dying. This she continued to do as soon as she was well enough to do visitations.  She would tirelessly share her faith, the story of Jesus Christ and would not renege until the sickly makes their peace with their Maker.  

  Last 24 Jul, my Mom would turned 76, she joined her Maker on 7 Jan 2009, she was 72 years old. I've been wanting to write a fitting tribute for her last January on the occasion of her 3rd death anniversary, but I was pleasantly distracted by how the Lord compensated my loneliness through the addition of another member of our family.  My sister-in-law gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on that special day.  Then came July, but I couldn't get myself to start as I found myself crying. How I missed her terribly!

  Today, more than three years of her death, I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say that I think of her each day.  Two months after she passed away, a very close friend of mine (who also lost her mother years ahead of me) told me that the pain doesn't go away, you just learn to live with it.  Sad but so true. 

  I miss her when I have good days and when I have bad days.  

  She has so much wisdom in her to have the right words during my good days and my bad days. 

  But I have absolutely no bitterness about the timing of her demise.  I'm so sure that she lived a full life and that when the Lord took her, it was His perfect time.  I'm sure she also wanted to be reunited with her own parents, siblings and all those friends who have gone ahead of her.    

  I'm sorry, but I have to stop now as tears are streaming down my cheeks.  I haven't even really started on the actual meat of my story, i.e., the lessons I have learned from her. Yet, I must stop, writing about her makes me miss her more.

  

  

  

Whirlwind

It was unintentional on my part to be this quiet these past weeks.

It's just that recent changes in my environs have kept my waking hours pretty much occupied.  And I mean that in a good way.  Of course including the usual daily concerns of being a wife and a mother.

That being said, I've actually taken photos of one of these homemade sandwich fillings that is becoming a staple in our family.  We've had it in our lunch boxes since last week.  I am in fact making another batch tomorrow morning.  Hopefully my weekend won't be as full as last week's, which means that I'd have the time to post those photos.

Let me say goodbye for now. It's been pretty much a long Wednesday for me.  From house chores during the mornings, then work from mid-afternoon, and a power stretch class, to cap the day, I'm so dead beat.

Hope everything's going well from your end!

Loving Surprises and Hating Democracy

Did a friend of a friend a favor and yesterday, as generous and thoughtful act of returning that favor, this friend of a friend surprised me with this

'

Overjoyed that it's a pack of purely dark chocolate! Dark chocolate is everyone's favorite at home (I've been a dark chocolate fan for the longest time).  
This is the "loving surprises" part.

Hubby and I have two grown children at home (ages 19 and 14).  Almost everything about them is "adult."  Well, maybe because even when they were kids, we treated them like adults in every possible way, foremost of which was valuing their inputs.  Mind you though, we believe in the Biblical principles (read: using the rod then was part of our disciplining process, now they're too old for that).  Anyway, the "adult" that I mean here is that we divide food, in this case, this pack of Hershey's miniatures into equal parts.  After opening the pack, the first thing to do was to count how many pieces are inside.  Can you guess?  ... 

So this

Became this

And that is what I mean when I said "hating democracy"!

Parenting is certainly the most challenging of 'em all (once a parent, always a parent).   As a Mom, I try my best to teach my kids life lessons every chance I get.  This one's about sharing.

How's your week coming along?   

Two Pigs and a Monkey

Promised my son that we will get him a pair of futsal (indoor football) shoes after we're quite settled with school expenses.  That day turned out to be yesterday.  

 For the majority of their young lives, my kids were both into Wushu.  When my daughter turned 18, we asked her to shift to strength training, while my son opted to try-out in their school's futsal team.  Not much of a change for my daughter, she just needed new sets of jogging pants and shirts, but for my son, he requested for a new pair specialized shoes. Buying futsal shoes turned out to be more difficult than anyone of us thought.  We literally went to all the sports stores at SM North EDSA and Trinoma.  If you're familiar with these two shopping malls, they are easily a mile apart.  

After a short lunch, we had to do divide ourselves to save time in accomplishing our "missions." Hubby went with daughter as she needed to have her cellular phone's lcd repaired.  Off I went with my son.  Walked, walked, and walked, putting my endurance to wearing plat form sandals to the next level.  It was a full two hours of walking before we finally found the right pair (*triple sigh here*).

Next in our list was shopping for our grocery supplies, which is really hubby's domain (he does the cooking).  This time I asked my son to go with him, while daughter  and I headed off to the ladies' section.  Got myself  three hankies and saw these three cute pairs of socks!  Yes, two pigs and a monkey!  Don't you just love a cute pair of socks to match your rubber shoes? I do!

Wishin' you all a most productive week!!

Second Breakfast

First time I came across "second breakfast" was from one of the well-loved hobbits, Pippin (Remember that scene from The Fellowship of the Ring, when the 4 hobbits and Aragorn were on their way to Rivendell). 

And I thought then that he was being silly. 

I was wrong! 

A few years later, "second breakfast" became a staple at home.

Breakfast (operative meaning being "the first meal of the day") is a pretty predictable fare in our household--Mondays to Fridays are fresh fruits (purely fruits--no sugar, no salt please), Saturdays are native banana crepe while Sundays' heavy plates of rice (always referring to brown/red kind), sunny side-up eggs and sardines. 

Brewed coffee is always part of second breakfast, today we're having it with slices of toasted wheat bread.  I've been trying to skimp on dairy products, so it's a "no butter please" for me. 

Why the need for a second breakfast? Because fresh fruits stay are easily digestible, staying only for a very short time in our stomach, easily absorbed by our body.  Half an hour after your final bite and you're hungry!

This is just today's second breakfast we're talking about. 

Lunch in a bit is steamed rice, grilled tanigue and baked beans. 

Pleasant day to y'all!

Two Dads on Father's Day - Part 2

After those heavy lunch dishes at last Sunday's Father's Day celebration, here are what we had for dessert.  Not being defensive here, but let me say that this is one of those rare times that we ordered a slice for each of us, it was a real sugar overload!

This is my son's Apple Caramel Slice.

Banoffee Slice for my daughter.

Hubby's cake and coffee combination -- Pecan Pie Slice and a cup of cappuccino

Tiramisu Slice for me, always a dark chocolate fan.

My Dad opted to just have a cup of cafe mocha, but he also had a bite from each of our cake slices. 

The next day, a Monday,  I had to endure a whole day of sugar withdrawals after my sugar overload.  It was sheer willpower to carry on with that day's schedule.

The most important for me was having my Dad and hubby and our kids together at this year's Father's Day.

A Gift to an Endearing Friend

With my brother from Iloilo City (in town for a short visit) and a friend's birthday earlier this month were enough reasons for me to visit one of my favorite gift shops, Papemelroti.  Blessed to have their main branch so near our place.

So what you see above are the two items that I got for this endearing friend of mine.  It's a card that says, "Let your light shine"  and a "Mother" coaster.  If I thought picking a gift for her was hard, I realized that the harder part is writing the dedication.  Got 'em gifts 2 nights ago and I still haven't come around to wrapping it because I found myself at a loss about the dedication part.  This friend and I have shared tons and tons of life's experiences.  We have been friends for the past twenty-five years (25) and our kids are in the same age bracket  and are also friends.  One of the greatest things when you reach my age is that when you talk about a friend that goes a long way back, you can mean it literally.

I'm writing about this in the hope that I'd get some inspiration.  Sounds like too much of a big deal?  Maybe, but hey, I cannot bring myself to take relationships like this for granted.  So here I am wracking my brains.  

In the mean time, let me share the three quotes on the "Mother" coaster:

*A mother is a forever friend.*

*A mother's love is the heart of the home.*

*A garden of love blooms in a mother's heart.*

And here I am back to the drawing board, as they say. 

This Sunday's Lunch

Going to Frutti FroYo is always a treat for the four of us! 

And one of the perks of having your abode within the vicinity of Tomas Morato Avenue, is that so many of my favorite restaurants and coffee shops are just a stone's throw away! 

But it must have been the shortest lunch, as you can see it's just a cup each.  

What's in Our Sandwiches?

Tuna is not something new in our family, it being a staple in our viands and sandwich fillings. Let me share with you my sandwich filling recipe.  

In opting for a healthier alternative, instead of the usual mayonnaise, it's Nestle Creamy Yogurt (and thankfully, well-received by hubby and kids) for us.  For a crunchy feel, I add chopped onions (nutritious too!). I would have also added minced pickles, except that we didn't have a bottle available in our home kitchen.

Drain the tuna, add the chopped onions and the yogurt.  Then mix, mix, mix! Btw, it has been my practice not to add salt if one of the ingredients is a processed food. In this case, since it's canned tuna, that means salt's been added already.  So I see no need to add more.  Add black pepper to taste.

 This is the finished product. 

 Tuna filling between 2 slices of wheat bread.  

Based on my experience, a 15-oz can of canned tuna yields 16-18 sandwiches.

Only Two Cups

With our two kids back to school, it's just hubby and I mostly during school days (too early to say that we're experiencing the empty nest syndrome, but sometimes it feels that).  Morning rushes start at home from the moment they wake up till they're out the front door with their hot lunches and healthy sandwiches.  

They gotta be off first then onto those everyday morning chores at home and then chill a bit with a cup of brewed coffee with hubby. 

Big Breakfast Platter

Heavy breakfast on a Wednesday morning. 
So what's in my plate? Romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrots, red cabbage, kiwi, native banana, seedless grapes, papaya and black chia seeds.  It usually takes me about 30 minutes to finish the whole dish.  I let it stay alone in my tummy for another 30 minutes, then it's time for my mug of brewed black coffee. 
A pleasant day to y'all!

Eve of My Parents' "Would Have Been" 48th Wedding Anniversary

My Mom, a June bride! 

Tomorrow, 20 June 2012, would have been my parents' 48th wedding anniversary. 

Combining two different people makes an imperfect marriage, but hey, my folks made it work from 20 June 1964 till the 7 January 2009 (when my Mom succumbed to colon cancer), 44 years total.

We saw them in their best and in their worst. And we love them but we know that they love us more.

Gotta stop as tears are flowing down my cheeks.

Just wanna write a short tribute to my parents. 

Missing my Mom every single day.  

Loving my Dad every single day.

Coffee's Ready!

Four cups of brewed coffee, black please. 

A few years back hubby and I decided to go for a healthier lifestyle. 

Am saying healthier because earlier on in our marriage (we celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary this November) we resolved some issues when it comes to what to put on our dinner table.  We have said "no" to patis (fish sauce), so much so, that my children grew up not knowing what patis is, what it's for and how it even looks like (one time we were watching an investigative reporting about a patis factory somewhere in the Metro, when my daughter just had to ask, "Mom, what's patis?").   Same with those packed instant noodles. My children have never seen those in our grocery bags and in our cupboard. The only time I remember buying one was when I was pregnant with my daughter (one of those pregnancy cravings that for the life of me, I just had to eat one!).  I was so excited to cook and savor the noodles and soup. Piping hot, and a few spoonfuls later, I ended up throwing the rest!

The story of how we shifted to a healthier diet deserves is perhaps worthy of another piece. For now let me focus on how I conquered a sugarless and cream-less coffee.

Growing up with a sweet tooth (one of those pregnancy cravings was eating a whole cake, much to my poor mother's chagrin!), over time, thank goodness, I've learned to put a "quota" on eating sweets, I taught myself to be choosy, e.g., I wouldn't touch a bar of chocolate unless it's dark chocolate. So I thought I was doing a great job at it, until I heard about the book, Sugar Shock  (I must admit I haven't read it yet) that details how we, adults, have been programmed (in Psychology, this is called  "conditioned") since birth to develop a preference for anything sweet. 

So I made a mental list of the usual food and drinks I consume daily.  By this time, we've totally given up on white rice, white bread, instead opting for brown rice and wheat bread.  Coffee. Whoops, I sure like it strong and sweet! I knew I had to do something about it. Rain or shine, coffee's a staple in my diet. So I tried removing the sugar, just coffee and cream.  Then a friend told me that cream's sweet too! IKR! The good girl that I am, tried it without cream. It was just plain and simple coffee.  Good thing we always keep a bottle of cinnamon powder at home (for those cinnamon toast we love to make!)... hmmm... So I sprinkled cinnamon powder and that was the beginning of how I learned to love black coffee. Pretty soon hubby was following my formula.  By the time we allowed both kids to have brewed coffee, they were quite used to seeing us enjoy them black. They take theirs black too, my daughter adds lots of cinnamon powder while my son enjoys his plain (sometimes he puts it in the refrigerator, preferring a cold cup, especially during the hot summer months).


The photo above is a staple at home, especially during Sunday morning.


There's still a lot to share about how I try to keep myself sugar free, but for now, let's enjoy a cup of brewed coffee, black please. 

Two Dads on Father's Day

After attending the Sunday morning service, off to lunch at Banapple Tomas Morato. Today being Father's Day, we were blessed to have my Dad with us (Mom passed away 3 years ago). We all ordered from their Entree menu, hmm, everyone was in favor of having a heavy lunch. 

Just a few minutes of waiting and one by one our orders started to arrive.

This is my daughter's Banapple Beef & Sausage Stew. Asked how her lunch was, her reply "it was okay," that being her standard answer to almost everything and anything that we ask her about. Be it about faring in her exams, Wushu training (she was into that for some years), workout, school activities. Based on experience though, it always means a positive thing.

This is my Chicken Breast Parmigiano. This was served with a bottle of hot sauce and liquid seasoning, which was not used by me (or by anyone of us). I just think the red sauce was a bit too much, I had to scrape some of them off. Other than that, I was very satisfied with the whole dish.

This is hubby's Garlic Beef Tapa with Creamed Parsley Egg. He just found the dish a bit too salty, but he did finish the whole thing so that's a good sign!

Hearty Heavenly Breakfast for my growing boy.  We actually had sunny-side up eggs and fried brown rice for breakfast earlier, so you can easily guess that he likes eggs.

My Dad chose to have Herbed Chicken Rolls with Basil Chicken Sauce.  He noticed that they have big servings, but like the rest of us, also finished the whole thing.

With a big meal like that you'd think we don't have room for dessert, right? Wrong! As they say, there's always room for dessert! 


Will post the rest next time!  In the meantime, I continue to be thankful for the chance to celebrate Father's Day with my own Dad and the father of my two children. 


Happy Fathers Day to you great Dads out there!!

Read, Read, Read

How can I not be a reader when growing up meant seeing my 
parents, uncles, aunts, older cousins (practically everyone who has 
the same last names as mine) reading at every opportunity given them?

Growing up during the 70′s (yes, Martial Law era) meant those trustworthy, precious, The Book of Knowledge for an encyclopedia (we had Britannica Encyclopaedia during the 80′s), shelves of novels and infinite editions of Reader’s Digest (Word Power and Laughter, the Best Medicine were top favorites) at my uncles’ houses and of course, our fabulous school library. Mom told me that even in grade school I’d read the newspaper (later on realizing that only meant Bulletin Today). I was just surrounded by reading materials and by people who were simply into reading, like it was the most natural thing for them. So I’m guessing, the “gaya-gaya” child that I was, had to also be reading like the rest of ‘em! With only a black & white TV competing with a Nancy Drew mystery novel, which one’s the better companion?

I think I got hooked into the habit when I was in grade 2 or grade 3, 8 or 9 years old then. Was in grade 5 when I finished the all the mystery books of Nancy Drew, then read Hardy Boys, bits of Bobsey Twins–though I didn’t stay much with them, found them too childish. Grade 7 meant Mills & Boon. By high school, I was devouring Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon.  I was too much into reading to the point that I was skipping home works. And yes, my Mom wasn’t very keen on that!

Am still very much into the habit, more so now that the internet offers the widest variety of reading materials.

When I became a mother myself, I knew that reading, as a habit, must also be imparted to my kids. And boy, did I had a hard time. My kids are both products of the internet age. For example, when my son was 3 years old, he still couldn’t read then but he was able to play Sims Theme Park. All that was needed were his eyes, ears (clearly he had comprehension) and his right hand to navigate the mouse. Having the internet at home means a myriad of options, the TV (no cable subscription at home), their smart phones and yes, books at the shelves. Endless possibilities and choices! Which is why I have to continually encourage them to read.

My daughter came into the realization of how precious reading is after she watched her first Harry Potter movie (please don’t ask me what it was as I wasn’t into any of the HP novels).  Having read the novel first then saw it in film was quite frustrating for her.  She was telling me just how different the movie was and I couldn’t be happier. “So you see just how important and satisfying reading is!” That was just the perfect learning experience for her.  I also had that learning experience after watching the TV mini-series version of Sidney Sheldon’s Rage of Angels. Jaclyn Smith played lead character, Jennifer Parker. Can’t remember the details anymore, only the strong frustration after watching it.

Imparting this habit is one of the most challenging tasks for parents living in this day and age.  I’ve shared my views to friends, who are also parents with teenagers and we have almost similar past and present experiences, agreeing that our own parents breezed through this one.

In the meantime, let’s keep reading!