The Roommate
Give or Take?
One of the topics I and my husband talk about everytime we have our video call is his roommate. Last night we talked about his roommate from a few years ago who once offered to pay for their snack saying it's his treat. Who doesn't want free right? So he gladly accepted thinking that was nice of his roommie. Then the very next day after their shift, the roommate said : " It's your turn to treat me today cause I paid for our snack yesterday". (demanding?) They went to eat on the nearest fastfood then paid for their food. Since then, he never accepted his roommate's offer of a treat. When they go out to eat together he always paid for his food.
We give because we feel good and happy doing it. We give generously without expecting something in return.
I just finished watching What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (a korean series). One of the characters is workaholic guy who turns down his colleagues'invitations of dining out and after-work drinking together. One day a girl who likes the workaholic guy invited him to dine with her. The workaholic guy refused and told the girl the reason why he declines their invitations, saying that if he accepts their offer he would then be obliged to treat them back the next time they go out. He does not want to take because he does not want to give. There is deeper reason on to why he is like that. It's not that he does not want to give, it's because he cannot afford to give- but that is a different story.🙂
I told my husband the story of this workaholic guy and he compared it to his current roommate who was kind of a prideful selfish person. It hurts his pride to ask for any help from others or to ask questions on things he is not familiar with.
Due to the lockdowns last year, it was a five-month "No work No pay" for them. The company just gave them 300 Riyals per month as food allowance which isn't much. It' s only good for a week or two. There was a time when this roommate has used up all his food resources, but he is too proud to ask. My husband, thankfully blessed with generous clients who gave him food supplies at that time gladly shared it to this roommate. He put it out in the open so the roommate can easily get if he wants. He doesn't like to take it at first but eventually had to because he has no choice.
There was a time when they went back to work, had their salary and food allowance, they both were able to buy their needs. One day, my husband ran out of sugar and milk so he asked his roommate if he could borrow some. The roommate gave him what he needed at that time. They were just on top of the table they both use to put their things. But on the next day he noticed that they were already kept inside his personal cabinet. My husband, embarassed to ask just went on his way to the store which is a bit far to buy what he needs.
A colleague from the room next door gave this roommate some food that he was not able to eat because he is on a strict diet. He didn't notice that the food is way past its expiry date. The roommate saw it and went bananas saying that the guy next door knew that its already out of date and intentionally gave it to him just to make fun of him.
There were countless times even in their conversation where this roommate have told and showed his act of selfishness. He speaks only of " I don't care, as long as I'm okay". This roommate does not like to accept any help from others as much possible because it seems like it's burdensome for him to return the favor. He thinks that if someone shows him kindness, that someone needs something from him. And he doesn't like that. What is wrong with him?
This roommate has a big problem with trust issues. He is full of negativity and bitterness. He complains a lot about almost all things big or small. They had been roommates for two years and his behavior is almost taking its toll on my husband as he had been having panic and anxiety attack lately. He felt like dying and his heart is about to stop beating .
Thankfully, the guy next door moved to another apartment so my husband moved in to the vacated room. Being away and not listening to his roommate's every day ramblings and toxicity has been a great help to my husband's overcoming his panic attack.
He doesn't hate his roommate. He has figured him out and knows how to deal with him. But he needs to distance himself from him for his own peace of mind.
"Cut negative people out of your life. The people you spend time with influence your attitude and thoughts more than you think." https://livelifehappy.com/
My Septembers
September…my second much awaited month of the year where I have a whole week of vacation. I call it September break.. I get to rest from work, go to places, movie marathon at night then sleep all day and I am paid.😊
I work in a company where I have to work on holidays except all saints day, Christmas day, and new year’s day. But of course, I get a double pay if I report to work on a holiday.
Before my second much awaited month of the year, my first would be March or April- the holy week. There are times it falls on the last days of March on to the first days of April. It is a whole week off of work and is also paid. Since it's a holy week I don't go out that much. I stay at home with my family, do some cleaning or rearranging in the house.
What I look forward to is my September break. I and my colleagues make a plan to go somewhere out of town. Go to the beach, island hopping,go to a hot spring, hiking to the top of a mountain or under the mountain, or go for a long walk to a water fall. That was before the covid pandemic. We haven’t planned anything special this time because of the travel protocols.
Since I have no travel plans on my September break this year, might as well look back on my Septembers of the past years.
This was a 3 hour walk passing by a small community and descending a thickly forested mountains.
I hesitated many times if I could do this or not. It took all of my courage that day. Eventually, I did it and it was fun. I might want to do it again.😁
A cousin passed away of ovarian cancer so I and some cousins went to comfort and share their grief.
A dip in the pool and fun on the slides with my family this time😊.
One my workmates invited us on this remote island somewhere in Pangasinan. The sunrise and sunset view here is spectacular.
It was tedious but an enjoyable and rewarding eight hours of hiking. The views from above are really breath taking.
We had to walk for 5-6 hours under the scorching sun and muddy road just to see this wonder. And the walk was worthwhile😊.
This is as far as I can go. After my blood extraction at the laboratory, I went to Mc Donald's to eat breakfast as I had been on a ten-hour fasting. I spent my first two days of vacation for my Annual Physical Exam. Had my laboratory tests on Monday and a neck ultrasound on Tuesday due to suspected cervical lymphadenopathy. Thankfully, the result is negative. Yay! my throat is healthy.
I may not have a memorable September break this year, but I'm still thankful that I have those memories to look back to that brings a smile to my face.
Might as well spend the rest of my remaining days off of work to stay at home, sleep late at night watching k novelas while drinking coffee. Wake up late in the morning and a little bit of cleaning the house, if I'm up to it.😁
Monday of next week please don't come so fast.😉
@photos: all mine/ others from my fb account
Meowments
My son was five years old when he first asked if he could have a puppy. I said no because having a dog inside the house would mean additional work for me. I told him he could have one if he is old enough to take care of it. The next year he asked if he could have a rabbit, and the year after he asked for cat. I still declined. I bought an aquarium and some betta fish instead. Thinking it’s easier to take care of. He got excited at first but got bored with it after sometime. He said he wants a pet that he could play and cuddle with.
He finally got his request when he was eleven years old, my sister gifted him a cat on his elementary graduation.
Her name is Penny. She was so tiny and fragile but adorably cute. She was just three months old when she was brought home. She was so playful jumping and running around the house. Climbing my curtains and hiding inside the box. She likes to catch and play with moths and cockroaches then ditch them when they’re not moving anymore.
She loves to sleep on my blanket, or squeeze her fluffy little body on my arms like a baby. When I call her name she lies down and roll her body on the floor like a puppy. She is so adorable.😍
Penny, aside from being our happy pill, has been of great help to us, specially to my son, who had asthma. He easily catches cough and colds. I noticed that ever since Penny was brought into our home, he seldom had those which saved us from our monthly visit to the doctor for check- ups and medications.
Penny is also a good company to my son, as he is always left alone in the house when I go to work. He learned how to take care of others as he was used to be the one being taken care of. He feeds and grooms Penny, cleans her litter box too.
If we are going out, he checks and make sure that Penny have enough food and water and that his furry friend is happy and comfortable. -The very reason why I gave in to his pleading for a pet was to teach him how to be responsible. Taking care of Penny taught him also how to be thoughtful of her needs.
Penny likes attention. She would follow you around, sit and purr in front of you waiting for a tickle to her chin, a gentle pat on her head, a belly rub, and better yet a yummy treat.😋
Cuddling and playing with Penny is my stress- reliever. She gives me joy when I had a difficult day. She is my avid listener to my everyday rambles. She loves my singing too even if it’s out of tune.😁
#meowments with penny
My Tales of Christofine
So the english term is vegetable pear, mirliton or pear squash. I’ve been eating this vegetable since a year or two after birth (I think), I just found out now how it’s called in english.(thanks google)
Chayote or commonly known as sayote is an all-around vegetable here in the Philippines, most specially in the Cordillera region. It is a vegetable that you can eat almost all of its parts. From its fruits, stems, shoots and leaves. It is packed with vitamin C and Amino Acids.
There’s a lot of recipes you can do with sayote but I like it best when added to Chiken Tinola, or “pinikpikan”.
One morning as I was hanging my clothes to dry on the porch, I saw a vine creeping on the fence. My mom said “Look at my sayote, aren’t they pretty? Leave them be, just let them grow so we wont need to buy in the market.” Now a days sayote became a bit pricey. A kilo of it is ranging from ten to twenty pesos, but now it's thirty to forty pesos and can even reach up to 60 pesos.
Remembering my childhood days, sayote was free. Almost every house has a sayote plant as it is not that hard to grow them. Just throw them out on the ground and it will grow by itself specially on rainy days.
There’s always sayote on our everyday meal. Be it breafast- sayote with egg, lunch- sayote with sardines and dinner- sayote with noodles. There was a joke about sayote as “mangi pa highblood”(it makes the blood pressure up). When I first heard it I wondered how can it make the blood pressure high when it is a vegetable that’s suppose to keep us healthy. Then my uncle explained that it is not the sayote but eating it everyday will cause the blood pressure to rise. Isn’t there any other food aside from sayote?🙃 When I go to my cousin’s house, their food is also a recipe of sayote.😉 Even my husband doesn’t like sayote anymore. He jokes on being allergic to it as he has been eating it since childhood too.
When relatives from the lowlands come to visit, they bring their home-grown fruits and vegetables as “pasalubong” and in exchange we give them a sack of sayote fruit and sayote tops to bring back to their homes.
There was a time after a strong rain, some of its fruits fell to the ground. Passing by it, we played kick ball with it, used it as dodge balls then smashed it on the wall. We were just kids then and didn’t know how valuable it is to some people have less food to eat.
There was one summer, we were playing under the sayote vines. Out of curiousity, we took some of its dried leaves and rolled it on a news paper about six inches long. We tried to smoke on it and oh my lungs hurt! It made me cough so hard. Lesson learned: that’s not what they use to make cigarettes.😁
If we need money to buy candies, we’ll just gather some of its fruits and sell it to our neighbors who does not have sayote plants. Though they can ask it for free from our parents, they are still happy to spare us some coins for it.
Sayote was and is our survival food and I’m thankful for these sayotes that just grow on our yard even without proper care and yet provides for us abundantly.
In the Chambers of Aran
I've been passing by these mountains (Twin Peaks as they call it) whenever I go to the lowlands via Kennon Road. All I see on the outside are its trees and rocks, and a veil-like water falls ( and so it's called bridal falls). Looks typical to me so I never thought that there is a beauty inside of it. It was formerly known as Tukang cave now called Aran Cave. According to our guide , Aran is an Ibaloi word which means "giant". The story: When the Americans were constructing Kennon Road, each day a person goes missing. The residents believed that there were giants who lived behind the mountain and they made the cave to keep their captives, and they named it Aran.
This is my first time on a spelunking adventure. I prefer mostly climbing up mountains or going on a long or short hike(as long as it's an open space). I'm not claustrophopic, it' s just that I have a lot of what ifs when it comes to caves. Like what if it collapses? then I will be buried alive. What if it rains?then I will drown inside. What if we're trapped inside? But I told my self I wont know until I try. I want to challenge the dauntless in me.
We started the day early meeting with the organizer, comrades and tour guides. They gave us waivers to sign just in case something bad happens on the way, the organizer will not be responsible for it. ( is it dangerous?)
We rode a jeep going down Kennon Road. In less than thirty minutes we reached our first stop, the registration area. From there, we started to walk for about 500 meters to get to the entrance of the cave. We crossed a hanging bridge, and walked by the rocky riverside.
The entrance is so small that we had to crawl, slither and squeeze our way in. One of us has a bigger body built that she got stucked and has to be pushed and pulled to get in.
I thought the cave would be just like an endless dark tunnel, but inside was a world of rock formations, pools and water falls.
I was amazed when I saw these uniquely shaped rock formations. I thought it was bats. But when the light shone on it, it was "Wow!"
We waded our way through the waters, holding on to a rope for support just in case we get pulled by the waterflow. The water level in some areas are about 3 ft high. My excitement turned to worry because I'm not a good swimmer. But I was glad to see that our tour guide was behind me. He will surely save me.😁
We climbed our way up through the side of the waterfalls like crawling spiders. Going up was really arduous. There was nothing to hold on to except for the nooks and crevices on the wall. This took most of our time as we have to wait for the others to climb up. I looked down and the jagged rock surface made me cringe.
We passed through small gaps in between rocks..finding ways how to maneuver to get through. I was wondering why one of the important things to bring was a head flashlight and not just any flashlight- I will need both of my hands for gripping when climbing.
The passageway was really narrow. Some had scraped their backs and the others had their shirts and pants torn by the spiky rocks. I had to walk side ways to get through and my shoe got stucked. I pulled it hard, but then the sole came off. I wont be able to walk on those edgy rocks without my shoe. So I tied the sole to the shoe with its shoelace and tada! It worked.😁
At the end of the cave were small compartments surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites I was not able to take some photos as my camera battery was already drained. But it was astoundingly wonderful. We rested and ate our snack, then turned off our lights for a few seconds. It was scary pitch- dark and eerily quiet. It felt like creepy creatures will come at any moment and swallow me whole.
Going back was still exciting as we have to rappel our way down. It was a six- hour action -packed walk going in and out of the cave. When we finally got out, I had a mixed emotion of relief and joy to finally see the light. I had an indescribable feeling of accomplishment. Hunger- stricken, I shouted " Yay! I made it out alive!"
All the Small Things
Time check: 5 AM. I wake up everyday to the sound of my alarm. It’s another challenging day and I am thankful that I woke up today. I start my day with a simple prayer of thanking our heavenly father for the breath of life. Grateful for my loving family- my two wonderful boys and my dear hubby. I have a lot of things to be thankful for.
Health is wealth as they say, so whenever I get the chance to do some physical activities and exercise, I do so. Before this pandemic, I used to do morning walks around Burnham Lake with my sister-in -law. I go up and down the Cathedral stairs for about 10 rounds after bringing my son to school. Doing this helped me with my weight and blood pressure control. It’s also my mood setter which helped me deal with my stressful days at work.
Working as an office assistant requires a lot of patience and understanding, as I deal with the complaints and quibbles of my workmates. At times I go home feeling drained and stressed. Penny, our fur baby entertains me with her overloading cuteness. Petting her and playing with her helps in calming my anxiety.
Brewed coffee, instant coffee, capuccino, cafe mocha, cafe latte…as long as there’s coffee in it, it’s all good to me. I drink 3-4 cups of coffee in a day. I feel like my day is incomplete if I didn’t reach my quota for the day. It is my first and my last drink for everyday. My coffee is most special when shared with people who cares and listens at my concerns and ramblings-my best friend who is also my husband, my four sisters and my food-loving friends.
Cakes, pizza, and pasta for cheat days and low- carb food for most of the days. It’s a constant battle with food for me. Counting on my carbs intake everyday, a way to maintain my weight and physique. Thanks to a friend who shared this regime to me and my husband, a fitness trainer who keeps reminding me to eat cautiously.
Depending on my mood of the day, I like listening to my favorite music. From pop, to folk, country and alternative rock to set a relaxed and happy mood. When I feel down, disappointed and discouraged, I listen to Christian songs as it’s messages are full of encouragement and promises that everything is gonna be alright. One of my favourite songs is entitled “Goodness of God”. I love this part of the song,
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
He has always been good to me and my family. This is my testimony for all times.
@kapeholic
