a family and home living blog

Partly, I blame myself for the pain arthritis inflicted to my mother last week. I cooked chili cor carne as part of our Media Noche and all the leftover food served as my parents’ viands for the following days.

Mom started complaining of pains around her neck and both shoulders and she knew right then and there it was her arthritis on attack. (She has rheumatoid arthritis.) She was also certain the culprit was the beans in the chili con carne, among other food she feasted on. Okay, next time I’ll be more careful with what I cook. Definitely no more legumes of any kind.

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New Year celebrations in our family are always a simple but happy affair. We try to make the most of what we have and it shows on our humble dining table and the bonding that happens before, during and after all the fireworks have been lighted. (We didn’t have any fireworks this time, though.) I’m just happy that over the years, we have never failed to celebrate New Year with a bang (no pun intended).

As usual, I was the one in charge of the kitchen. I cooked several dishes and set up the table once I was done. And then we took pictures of the food, ourselves and ourselves with the food (in no particular order). Haha. It’s always fun to do this, I tell you, especially with my mom who is the craziest among us when it comes to posing in front of the camera. She’s a natural camwhore!

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As the year comes to a close, I am starting to feel sentimental and mushy. I guess my forthcoming wedding is also getting in my system. Suddenly, I think about my family, my relationship with them and the love they have so unconditionally given me through the years.

Right now, all I want is to treasure the moments I’ve had with them and keep the happy memories in my heart. I know I don’t come from a perfect family (who does, anyway?) but the family I have is something I wouldn’t trade for any other. The family I have is the best in the sense that they complete me and inspire me to be a better person every single day.

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I so enjoyed our family bonding last Christmas, which was just yesterday! We celebrated Christmas in our humble home in Cavite and spent quality time with one another. We were six in the family so you can imagine how fun it has been! We ate together, walked around the village, played games, watched TV, kissed and cuddled, and talked about random stuff.

I’m happy that I get to spend Christmas with my family. I’m thankful that we get to celebrate Christmas together. I know of other families who don’t get to experience the same because they’re not complete. It’s either the parents are working abroad or they’re not around anymore.

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My sister O suffered from flu for three days starting Sunday last week. She got well yesterday and I’m just so glad to hear about it. I can be a worry freak, you know, especially when it comes to the health of my loved ones. You can say I take any kind of sickness seriously.

When O told me about her headache last week, I asked her to take some medicine immediately. When I got home that same day, I saw her lying in bed nursing a fever that would eventually develop into flu. I tried not to panic and took care of her the entire night and the following day.

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Another killer typhoon has recently hit the Philippines. Typhoon Sendong (international name Washi) attacked Northern Philippines specifically Cagayan de Oro City last Saturday claiming hundreds of lives and destroying several millions worth of properties. Today, thousands of families in that place are suffering from the aftermath of the typhoon (i.e. continuous flood, food and water shortage, physical losses, emotional pain, etc.).

I feel for my fellow countrymen at this turbulent time in their lives. It’s sad that Christmas is just around the corner and yet, they can no longer celebrate as much as they want because of the tragedy that befell them. I can only hope and pray that the much-needed help from the national government and all those charitable organizations reach them fast. I am certain, though, that God will provide for all their needs. All they need to do is to call on Him and keep their faith as strong as ever.

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This coming Christmas will be our second time to celebrate Jesus’s birthday together as a family. That is, if you start counting at 2010 as our first. Technically, that’s true. I’m happy it’s gonna be like this in the years ahead!

Would you believe that for nine years my family and I had lived apart? I was in Manila then getting college education while they were in a faraway province called Negros Oriental. One by one, I was able to get them back here in Manila, for us to live together again (yes, that’s the breadwinner in me speaking). It’s a long story, so I’ll just keep it as short as that.

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My three siblings had a sort of general cleaning of our Manila house yesterday. I was suffering from a mild case of LBM and so I wasn’t able to help them. First, my sister O swept the floor and scrubbed the kitchen sink. My sister N, on the ther hand, washed last night’s dishes and sent our trash bin outside for the garbage truck to pick up. After that, they worked together to keep the dust off our dresser and beauty shelves.

My brother D joined in only after he had finished the reviewer for the tutorial work he’s doing part-time. He cleaned up our bathroom, mopped the floor and changed our bed sheets.

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That is the question hanging in my head at present. You see, Christmas is fast approaching and yet I’m still undecided on what Christmas presents to give my parents and three siblings. As much as possible, I want to give them something useful.

These are the things I’m thinking of wrapping up for them just in time for Jesus’s birthday: a gold necklace for my mom (she loves everything that’s shining-shimmering-splendid!), a new pair of shoes for my dad (I think he needs a leather pair for formal occasions), a new backpack for my teacher brother (the one he’s using right now is worn-out already!), and for my two sisters: cute undergarments (just because they’re girls and love fancy stuff, haha).

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Last Sunday, we were finally able to get a new desktop for our home. We sourced everything from Gilmore, a popular IT hub here in Manila. We got the package for P20,880. The PC was assembled right before our eyes, carrying the following specifications: Asus motherboard, Core I3 2G processor, 320 GB hard disk, 2GB memory, output device with dvd/cd writer, 18.5″ LED TV monitor, speaker set, black keyboard, mouse and AVR.

the fiancee installing OS and MS Office to our new desktop

Specs wise, I think we got a great deal. We were actually accompanied by the fiancee (an IT expert) as we went from one store to another checking out and comparing prices. In the end, we settled for the one from PC City because they had all that we wanted for our desktop.

my brother after assembling the computer table

the computer table that yours truly bought

the fiancee’s sister tinkering with our new PC

My teacher brother is paying for the new PC thru credit card installment and I can’t be more grateful to him for his generosity. I also admire him for his willingness to take the big responsibility of paying for the device. After all, it is never easy to allot a big part of your salary for debt-servicing. I’m glad to have sent to college a responsible brother like him. Now, all we need is internet subscription to make things more complete. Well see in the coming days…