A morning commune with the birds is a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I'm more at home with owl hoots. When I normally hear sweet tweets and chirps, I'm just going to bed not getting up from it.
Showing posts with label 365 Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 365 Journal. Show all posts
33/365: Central Florida Small Town Sunrise
I'm not a morning person so sights like this are very, very rare. When I come across one, I record it for posterity's sake.
A morning commune with the birds is a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I'm more at home with owl hoots. When I normally hear sweet tweets and chirps, I'm just going to bed not getting up from it.
A morning commune with the birds is a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I'm more at home with owl hoots. When I normally hear sweet tweets and chirps, I'm just going to bed not getting up from it.
32/365: Afternoon Repast
This post should be called "Li'l Prince and My Laptop"...because that's my machine he's commandeered.
He's watching his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on YouTube and well, he's having his mid-afternoon snack -- loaf bread with raisins and cinnamon. His favorite, actually. Before he started making inroads into that bag of bread, it was 3/4 full. By the time he stopped, there were only the two loaves left. For all that, he's a picky eater.
He's watching his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on YouTube and well, he's having his mid-afternoon snack -- loaf bread with raisins and cinnamon. His favorite, actually. Before he started making inroads into that bag of bread, it was 3/4 full. By the time he stopped, there were only the two loaves left. For all that, he's a picky eater.
31/365: Boys, Trains & Lego
If there's one thing that I feel sorry for my nephew, that's missing the joys of a childhood in the Philippines. Yes, he has his nifty toys -- his favorite choo choo train, the Lego blocks given by godparents, and countless other toys that he's adding to weekly. (His room is shaping up to be a mini Toys 'R' Us outlet.)
But he doesn't have the run of the neighborhood that we had as kids and which my other nephews and nieces in the Philippines are enjoying right now.
Back home, especially in subdivisions and barrios, a kid is literally raised by a community. There's the formal day care school where you bring your Pre-K...and then there's the informal day care center -- the neighbors. You can leave your kid with your neighbor -- who're usually your immediate relatives -- and be certain that they're well cared for.
It's not a perfect society but predators are rare. Everybody knows anybody who sneezes immediately. Your reputation will precede you so the adults know who to leave their kids to and who not to.
But he doesn't have the run of the neighborhood that we had as kids and which my other nephews and nieces in the Philippines are enjoying right now.
Back home, especially in subdivisions and barrios, a kid is literally raised by a community. There's the formal day care school where you bring your Pre-K...and then there's the informal day care center -- the neighbors. You can leave your kid with your neighbor -- who're usually your immediate relatives -- and be certain that they're well cared for.
It's not a perfect society but predators are rare. Everybody knows anybody who sneezes immediately. Your reputation will precede you so the adults know who to leave their kids to and who not to.
21/365: Boys Will Be Boys
We went to New Smyrna Beach today though the weather was in the high 60s and low 70s. Brrrr! We Manila tropicals were shivering in our light hoodies but wth, the beach is always a fun place to be. For a picnic, that is.
Then we accompanied Z & S to the mall in Sanford where the ever intrepid father and daughter duo hunted for bargains. Our wallets had fun at the Cotton On store, where we made a beeline for the $5 and under (plus a 30% discount).
And obviously, one li'l boy had fun playing hide and seek and catch me if you can in the store. (His Mamu Doogs - that's me - also went to town with the point-and-shoot.)
One thing you know by now when taking care of the Terrible Twos: though there's never a dull moment, you also lose all the energy you've stored immediately after storing them.
Then we accompanied Z & S to the mall in Sanford where the ever intrepid father and daughter duo hunted for bargains. Our wallets had fun at the Cotton On store, where we made a beeline for the $5 and under (plus a 30% discount).
And obviously, one li'l boy had fun playing hide and seek and catch me if you can in the store. (His Mamu Doogs - that's me - also went to town with the point-and-shoot.)
One thing you know by now when taking care of the Terrible Twos: though there's never a dull moment, you also lose all the energy you've stored immediately after storing them.
19/365: Bella Cucina
So, we're now on our second week playing host to BIL and S and this time, our cousin A hosted us to a pizza lunch. She brought us to an entirely new place in DeLand. (Not Tony's, as we were expecting.)
Turns out our lunch was at Bella Cucina, a new pasta & pizza place at the corner of Orance Camp Road and Victoria Commons in DeLand. Except for King A (our eldest brother who was hard at work at John Knox) and Tita R (A's mom), every one in the family was all present and accounted for.
Although it's a relatively new place, it's had some mixed reviews already - anywhere from awesome to awful, delicious to disgusting. This charming little place tucked a few hundred yards off the golf courses didn't disappoint us today though.
I loved the food, and that's not saying it lightly. I may be a gourmand but with my hotel and restaurant baccalaureate, I know good food when I taste it, heh.
I recommend the Bella Cucina Special - a 16" pizza with a thin crust and bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, and onions - it's as close to gourmet pizza as can be. Since I'm not a fan of cheese pizza, I wouldn't vote for it though the dough was tasty, better than what I've had at Tony's in downtown DeLand or at 2 Guys Pizza here in Orange City.
I can't say the service was extraordinary, but it was acceptable for a full service restaurant: not too fast, not too slow. A happy middle, I'd say.
Then again, we ordered pizza. When you want your pizza to get to you awesomely yummy, you'll have to be willing to wait at least 15 minutes because it's prepared fresh for every order. (I should know, I worked at a Pizza Hut joint in Manila for a few months, and you can't hurry an oven.)
The one image that stuck to my mind from our family lunch date is this one - where Li'l Prince was trying to hurry his Mum along. She was changing for work in the woman's bathroom and our lovable tyke wasn't having any of it, heh.
About
Name: Bella Cucina Italian Ristorante
Cuisine: Italian, pizza, pasta
Address: 1431 Orange Camp Rd, Deland, FL 32724
Tel: (386) 738-1930
Seating: 76
Turns out our lunch was at Bella Cucina, a new pasta & pizza place at the corner of Orance Camp Road and Victoria Commons in DeLand. Except for King A (our eldest brother who was hard at work at John Knox) and Tita R (A's mom), every one in the family was all present and accounted for.
Although it's a relatively new place, it's had some mixed reviews already - anywhere from awesome to awful, delicious to disgusting. This charming little place tucked a few hundred yards off the golf courses didn't disappoint us today though.
I loved the food, and that's not saying it lightly. I may be a gourmand but with my hotel and restaurant baccalaureate, I know good food when I taste it, heh.
I recommend the Bella Cucina Special - a 16" pizza with a thin crust and bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, and onions - it's as close to gourmet pizza as can be. Since I'm not a fan of cheese pizza, I wouldn't vote for it though the dough was tasty, better than what I've had at Tony's in downtown DeLand or at 2 Guys Pizza here in Orange City.
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| Garlic bread, no cheese. |
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| Still another garlic bread, this time with cheese and salsa |
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| Cheese pizza, 16". |
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| Bella Cucina Special pizza, 16" |
Then again, we ordered pizza. When you want your pizza to get to you awesomely yummy, you'll have to be willing to wait at least 15 minutes because it's prepared fresh for every order. (I should know, I worked at a Pizza Hut joint in Manila for a few months, and you can't hurry an oven.)
The one image that stuck to my mind from our family lunch date is this one - where Li'l Prince was trying to hurry his Mum along. She was changing for work in the woman's bathroom and our lovable tyke wasn't having any of it, heh.
About
Name: Bella Cucina Italian Ristorante
Cuisine: Italian, pizza, pasta
Address: 1431 Orange Camp Rd, Deland, FL 32724
Tel: (386) 738-1930
Seating: 76
18/365: Pinoy Bistek Recipe
I swear, a housewife's work is never done! And since I've always maintained that I'm clueless when it comes to the mysteries of domesticity, today was a very looooong day. Felt like chores was on a continuous loop, sometimes overlapping each other.
Our guests, together with Li'l Prince, Queenie and Charming, trooped to Sea World this morning. Hubby and I were left alone and we had some much needed quiet time together, doing some light housework and some errands.
Then it got really intense in the afternoon. I realized our sightseers won't have any dinner tonight. There weren't enough leftovers to tide them over - and us - so I guess it fell on me to make it.
Oh, woe is me!
Our guests, together with Li'l Prince, Queenie and Charming, trooped to Sea World this morning. Hubby and I were left alone and we had some much needed quiet time together, doing some light housework and some errands.
Then it got really intense in the afternoon. I realized our sightseers won't have any dinner tonight. There weren't enough leftovers to tide them over - and us - so I guess it fell on me to make it.
Oh, woe is me!
17/365: Secret Stash of Forbidden Delights
I had acid reflux disease when I worked as Special Assistant to a Cabinet Secretary eons ago. In the Philippines, that is. That was a stressful time, magnified to the n-to-the-thousandth degree.
It was a high pressure, high profile job that required me walking the wire between efficient public service and effective secrecy. Everything that I did required diplomacy and tact - be it dealing with internal constituencies or external ones. An imprudent word here, an unguarded letter there, and someone somewhere has to do damage control quickly, literally. I must've been so high strung my tummy developed all sorts of problems.
One of my secret pleasures at that time was Lipton's milk tea. In the midst of a panic situation, you'd catch me taking a break, drinking my sweet milk tea in my Boss's rarely used private room. Never mind that my impatient heart doctor - one of Manila's finest - had emphasized staying off the brew for a very long while.
Milk tea calmed me, if not my stomach, so to hell with dire medical warnings. I was willing to pay the price...and pay it I did, frequently, with hyperacidity and mild anxiety attacks, heh.
In America though, there's no ready-to-drink milk tea. So I make it from scratch. With Z's visit to Florida, he brought with him a stash of milk tea, courtesy of his ever thoughtful wifey P. Praise God for sweet sisters-in-law!
I reckon I have about a month before I return to making my milk tea from scratch again.
It was a high pressure, high profile job that required me walking the wire between efficient public service and effective secrecy. Everything that I did required diplomacy and tact - be it dealing with internal constituencies or external ones. An imprudent word here, an unguarded letter there, and someone somewhere has to do damage control quickly, literally. I must've been so high strung my tummy developed all sorts of problems.
One of my secret pleasures at that time was Lipton's milk tea. In the midst of a panic situation, you'd catch me taking a break, drinking my sweet milk tea in my Boss's rarely used private room. Never mind that my impatient heart doctor - one of Manila's finest - had emphasized staying off the brew for a very long while.
Milk tea calmed me, if not my stomach, so to hell with dire medical warnings. I was willing to pay the price...and pay it I did, frequently, with hyperacidity and mild anxiety attacks, heh.
In America though, there's no ready-to-drink milk tea. So I make it from scratch. With Z's visit to Florida, he brought with him a stash of milk tea, courtesy of his ever thoughtful wifey P. Praise God for sweet sisters-in-law!
I reckon I have about a month before I return to making my milk tea from scratch again.
16/365: Dinky Dock Park
So C, his niece S and I picked up my BIL at Disney's Yacht Club Resort at noon today. Since we were already in the area Z said might as well see some sights so the trip - and the gas! - wasn't a waste, we moseyed over to Rollins College.
On I-4, we took the Fairbanks exit and drove towards 17/92. You could say we were driving blind - all we knew was that somewhere past this busy avenue was Rollins College. We were ready to make a U-turn when we saw the gate to the school. Eureka!
We drove in and oohed and aahed over the cobblestone streets, the quaint Spanish-Mediterranean beauty of the buildings, the pretty little cottages on the peripheries of the campus...then we got a glimpse of Lake Virginia between the trees and the houses. We wanted to see it!
So we drove around until we got to the end of the road we were on, heading towards the Sutton Place Apartments - student housing I think - and we came upon Dinky Dock Park.
Dinky Dock. Had a nice, kooky ring to the name...which appealed to me. And yes, the park was postage-stamp-sized but in keeping with the quaint character of the College, it was pretty, charming and restful.
On I-4, we took the Fairbanks exit and drove towards 17/92. You could say we were driving blind - all we knew was that somewhere past this busy avenue was Rollins College. We were ready to make a U-turn when we saw the gate to the school. Eureka!
We drove in and oohed and aahed over the cobblestone streets, the quaint Spanish-Mediterranean beauty of the buildings, the pretty little cottages on the peripheries of the campus...then we got a glimpse of Lake Virginia between the trees and the houses. We wanted to see it!
So we drove around until we got to the end of the road we were on, heading towards the Sutton Place Apartments - student housing I think - and we came upon Dinky Dock Park.
Dinky Dock. Had a nice, kooky ring to the name...which appealed to me. And yes, the park was postage-stamp-sized but in keeping with the quaint character of the College, it was pretty, charming and restful.
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| A cute little sign post for a cute little dock. That building on the background is Sutton Place Apartments. I think that's the student housing for upperclassmen. |
15/365: Look, 'Ma, Really Short Hair!
Some maggoty bit of dissatisfaction and restlessness got me diving under the shower right after breakfast. It was so uncharacteristic of me (I usually shower late in the evening) that my hubby, who was on sick leave for the flu, was taken aback.
After the refreshing body wash, hubby said my hair was growing bushy again. So I decided to snip off an inch of overgrown tail. One thing led to another and my shoulder length hair was shorn off some substantial inches and now, I'm sporting a short 'do. With my riot of curly hair, you'd never know there were layers to it, heh.
By the by, I've never had a chance to grow my hair long since 2002, when I discovered that extended locks = migraine.
Of course, maybe because Manila was so hoooooot! Or, Spymeister just loved running us, his minions, rugged when he wanted things done that the tension headaches have become part and parcel of working with him.
Whatever it was, 'til this day, short hair = freedom from Tylenol...and ease of movement.
After the refreshing body wash, hubby said my hair was growing bushy again. So I decided to snip off an inch of overgrown tail. One thing led to another and my shoulder length hair was shorn off some substantial inches and now, I'm sporting a short 'do. With my riot of curly hair, you'd never know there were layers to it, heh.
By the by, I've never had a chance to grow my hair long since 2002, when I discovered that extended locks = migraine.
Of course, maybe because Manila was so hoooooot! Or, Spymeister just loved running us, his minions, rugged when he wanted things done that the tension headaches have become part and parcel of working with him.
Whatever it was, 'til this day, short hair = freedom from Tylenol...and ease of movement.
14/365: Doctor, Doctor, I Am Sick!
There was this rhyme I learned before pre-school:
The rhyme ran through my head while I was waiting in the doctor's lounge at high noon with hubby dearest. He was in to ask why he was being lightheaded and why he was having sudden bouts of exhaustion. I said he was just a hypochondriac, but he said something was really wrong.
Argh!
Then I noticed something amazing while we were waiting for our turn.
Mother, Mother, I am sick!It was Mum's favorite whenever the absentisitis bug - the compulsion to play hooky for the day when I was finally of school age - hit me. It was fun and a gentle way to remind me that I'm not sick, that I have no excuse to be away from class for the day.
Call the Doctor very quick!
Doctor, Doctor, will I die?
No, my darling, do not cry!
The rhyme ran through my head while I was waiting in the doctor's lounge at high noon with hubby dearest. He was in to ask why he was being lightheaded and why he was having sudden bouts of exhaustion. I said he was just a hypochondriac, but he said something was really wrong.
Argh!
Then I noticed something amazing while we were waiting for our turn.
10/365: To Catch a Whirlwind
My two-year-old nephew is a constantly moving mass of energy. Very difficult to pin him down when you're a-wanting a hug. Hubby tried, but he just got a 2-second embrace after he caught him, heh.
Blessed be!
Blessed be!
7/365: My Favorite Jam
Bought a homemade blackberry jam from the sweetest lady at the farmer's market. I really don't go for sandwiches for snack time but when I tasted this one...
Yummmm!
Blackberry jam sandwich is now one of my favorite(est) merienda ever.
Blessed be!
Yummmm!
Blackberry jam sandwich is now one of my favorite(est) merienda ever.
Blessed be!
6/365: Lining 'Em Up
Li'l Prince has this habit of lining up anything that he thinks are of similar make. Hot Wheels toy cars. Alphabets. Numbers. Blocks. Lego. Puzzle pieces. Books from my shelves.
Today, he found my ponytail bands and proceeded to arrange them in rows. I think he got it from his Mum, who I often tease as an obsessive compulsive. Isn't he cute? I lurv this little guy!
Blessed be!
Today, he found my ponytail bands and proceeded to arrange them in rows. I think he got it from his Mum, who I often tease as an obsessive compulsive. Isn't he cute? I lurv this little guy!
Blessed be!
5/365 Shooting Work
Just a random shot of my work station when I'm in the kitchen. Our cooking area is a clean, well-lighted place, eh?
That bulky, heats-up-so-quick laptop is about five years old, but I lurv it. Why? Because it has earned me dollars already, from my online gigs.
And that digital camera? It's a Sony, which reminds me of my Spymeister. ;)
Blessed be!
That bulky, heats-up-so-quick laptop is about five years old, but I lurv it. Why? Because it has earned me dollars already, from my online gigs.
And that digital camera? It's a Sony, which reminds me of my Spymeister. ;)
Blessed be!
4/365: This is Central Florida?
Woke up very early this morning - 8:00 is dawn for this night owl - shivering. Turns out the weather dropped to the low 40s during the night and the morning brought in the rains. I woke up to this:
Blessed be!
Blessed be!
Stuff to be Grateful for in 2012
Be that as it may, it was still a blessed year…mainly because our faith in God kept buoying us up. And truth be told, the alternative - thinking that God is deaf and blind to our trials - is unthinkable and unacceptable. God is. The problem is in our lack of trust sometimes, heh.
Despite the many trials and frustrations and disappointments, there were many to be grateful for:
1. My father's successful bypass operation.
If there's one thing I constantly, constantly worry about, it's my 60something parents in the Philippines. I'm the eldest and like most Pinoy panganays, set apart at birth to take care and provide for the elders in their old age. Until I left Manila to be with Hubby C in the US, I fulfilled that role nicely and satisfactorily.Coming to America…I had to relinquish that role temporarily to my younger brother who's also in Dubai. But I never forget to pray for Dad and Mum's health every single day. My prayers always focused on me seeing them again hale & hearty.
Well, in late February last year, Mom called to tell me Dad was at the Heart Center all grayish and gasping for breath. To say that I was sobbing, gasping for breath and battling a full on panic attack is saying it lightly. I was terrified I'd lose my father.
Both Mum and Dad had hypertension and heart problems. Hearing the infinitely-less-than-stellar news got me panicking, mumbling prayers and calling on all the saints to intercede every now and then throughout the days that followed.
3 / 365 - Stir Crazy
I love vegetables, thanks to Dad who force fed us bitter gourd (ampalaya) when we were growing up. Nobody left the dining table until every last scrap of the green little things were in our tummies.
Now, I can't live without my veggie fibers. Turns out, too, I cook a mean stir fry.
Blessed be!
Now, I can't live without my veggie fibers. Turns out, too, I cook a mean stir fry.
Blessed be!
2/365: A Self Portrait
If ever there's a clueless housewife, that's me. I learned sometime ago though that I can cook...or at least, follow a recipe.
The rare times you see me in my kitchen, I'm usually cooking to survive - no one has seen fit to make lunch or dinner so I'm forced to rack up a meal, heh.
And yeah, excuse the nest-like bedhead. I assure you, I clean up good. And the front perspective is much more respectable than the back. Take my word for it, heh.
Blessed be!
The rare times you see me in my kitchen, I'm usually cooking to survive - no one has seen fit to make lunch or dinner so I'm forced to rack up a meal, heh.
And yeah, excuse the nest-like bedhead. I assure you, I clean up good. And the front perspective is much more respectable than the back. Take my word for it, heh.
Blessed be!
Happy Holidays Hangover
Whew, the second day of the New Year and everything's beginning to settle down here, at home. Everyone's back to work, and I'm home alone again--relatively speaking--with my laptop, trying to make money on the Internet. (I'm a work-at-home warrior, if you must know.)
I still have some holidays hangover though so I'm posting some of the images from the family's Christmas and New Year celebrations. For when remembering gets difficult. I'm right handy at forgetting stuff, even ones I just did or had a few minutes ago. (Sheesh!)
The holidays weren't as chaotic as the ones I'm used to back home. For one, there's none of the deafening, colorful, and crazy fireworks display that always accompanies Christmas and New Year's eves. Back in Manila, at the strike of 12--and even hours before that--the streets turn into a bedlam of exploding (and dangerous) firecrackers, suffocating smoke, and noisy revelers. You walk the streets at your own risk.
My first Christmas and New Year's celebrations here were, well, quite ho-hum having been used to the loud holiday parties back home. Oh well, one of these days, I'll be visiting and I'll be enjoying the exuberance once again. One of these days...
And for 2013, here's my prayer for you:
Blessed be!
I still have some holidays hangover though so I'm posting some of the images from the family's Christmas and New Year celebrations. For when remembering gets difficult. I'm right handy at forgetting stuff, even ones I just did or had a few minutes ago. (Sheesh!)
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| My personal Christmas tree ornament. L for my first name. ;) |
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| The reason for the season--Christ the King of kings! |
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| Christmas welcome mat out front. |
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| Christmas booties which Hubby C insisted on hanging on the porch rails. |
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| Hubby C cooking the arroz caldo, the best partner to the chill, for the Christmas noche buena--the traditional midnight dinner for every Filipino table. It's rice gruel with chicken meat and broth, ginger, garlic and saffron. Hits the chilled spot every single time! (Also one of my comfort foods.) |
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| The arroz caldo. I think I had 4 servings of it! |
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| Tokwa't baboy (fried tofu and boiled pork in a sweet-and-sour, soy-sauce-and-vinegar mix). The ubiquitous partner of the Pinoy arroz caldo. |
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| Two kids who don't know the word "Wait.", gaily wrapped Christmas gifts, and you have Mommy trying her darnedest to keep them from opening their presents before the noche buena. |
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| The opening of the Christmas presents. It isn't any wonder that the kids got all the presents, and the adults were relegated to just watching. Nephew VM here totally enjoyed this gift. |
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| But of course, his favorite, dream-come-true Christmas present is this number puzzle that his Dada A (an uncle) gave him. A week after receiving his gift, he's still nuts over it. Definitely his favest toy ever! |
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| Christmas bokeh! |
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| Pork barbecue for the media noche--this time, the New Year's midnight dinner that's another Pinoy tradition. |
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| Sister-in-law C's yummy, sumptuous, creamy, and absolutely sinful lasagna...but who cares? This is one mighty delicious dish that I'll never say no to, ever! Had 3 servings of it, heh. |
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| Our concession to a healthy media noche, the garden fresh salad I prepped to wash off the excesses of the other dinner fare. You'll rarely find this on any noche buena or media noche table back home! |
The holidays weren't as chaotic as the ones I'm used to back home. For one, there's none of the deafening, colorful, and crazy fireworks display that always accompanies Christmas and New Year's eves. Back in Manila, at the strike of 12--and even hours before that--the streets turn into a bedlam of exploding (and dangerous) firecrackers, suffocating smoke, and noisy revelers. You walk the streets at your own risk.
My first Christmas and New Year's celebrations here were, well, quite ho-hum having been used to the loud holiday parties back home. Oh well, one of these days, I'll be visiting and I'll be enjoying the exuberance once again. One of these days...
And for 2013, here's my prayer for you:
May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
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