Sunday, January 2

Day two, how did you do?

Good morning. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Anyone who would like to share the happenings from yesterday? It was quite a challenging day for me since I had a hard time with communications- everything seemed to be down. I thought we are getting advanced with the innovative technology revolving around us specially in a modern world like the North America. Did that ever occur to you? You'd think that with smart phones, landlines, Ipads, latest computer software, the message you are trying to send across would just take a blink of an eye and boom! It's there! Well think again... I've always had this challenge every holiday season. Pick up the phone and hope to get some familiar voices on the line but all you get is a long ring tone and once it gets picked up, you get so excited just to hear a recorded message saying that the phone is not in service. Try again with all your mighty patience that's about to scream because of other fights you've been having with the website you tried to work earlier. This time you get a busy signal. A few times later, you'd think texting will solve it but you can't even tell if the message was received. Lesson 1: I guess I was a lot smarter on Christmas day to pick up the best time to phone with no sweat at all! In fact, I even went to my new IPad's app for Facebook and kept giving me this error message. Oh no! But, as I said I had a little patience left so I was able to make everything worked by 10pm. You should have seen me acting like a little girl with almost tears in her eyes in the middle of all these..... Lesson 2: every problem has a solution. Call it a challenge, if that makes everything easier -and worth your patience.

 
I talked about resolutions and I don't even have any. I guess what I would like to call them is things that I would like to do more in twenty eleven. Here's my list in random order:

1. Take better pictures & share it with you. I actually took this one first and the rest of them had reflections on the glass
frames during our visit to the museum in Nanaimo just this week. I was a bit confused on my work schedule that Wednesday and after an hour of preparation on my desk, my reliever was standing in the door, stunned! She thought she made a mistake but we were working so hard to even check. So off I went and since it was just a day, my honey and I decided to spend it more productively in Nanaimo.


2. Discover new things. The same day, my honey pointed out to me this signature with the music note on the far end and the floor on the other side was actually made of bricks that look like piano keys. I didn't know that this even existed after so many times we walked along this road by the museum. It was windy and cold that day so I couldn't really take better pictures outside. Brrr....



3. Visit the museum more often, or anything that involves history and artifacts big or small. We even discovered that my honey's long time friend, Randy M.'s photo is displayed among other players! There are other rooms in this museum where you can pay a donation and discover more things about Nanaimo, BC and Canada in general. Have you seen those artifacts displayed over the Olympics downtown Vancouver? Wood carvings made by the natives called "Totem Poles"? They sell a few here as well and they have lots of books about history too. Now you know where we are going to take you for a tourist visit next time.... 




4. Take better pictures at night. I have been having challenges with lights and couldn't take exact colors that I see in person. I am so happy that I took this one with perfection! Since my honey had my camera repaired, I've been reading & experimenting a lot with the manual settings. My goal is to get a better camera more like what professionals use and to motivate me, I would like to improve my shots every time I hit the click button.


5. Speaking of light, enjoy it. I would love to enjoy more THE moment and not just the picture. Have you had that feeling? Here you are like a busy bee, writing a list, taking down notes, taking photos, whatever you are doing. Not noticing that there is that very moment that you just missed! You can't take it back because it just happened and you were busy with something else. As soon as you look back, it's gone. This is the picture of that moment- enjoy while it's there....

6. Fly like a bird. I may not have wings but there are other sources to make this happen. I talked about my family being miles away but my goal is to visit them. I was able to do that and have a brief visit with my cousin in Florida last year which I thought was impossible. Take note, for a first visit in the States ever, I'm sure you can relate. I also want to fly to other places or even feel how it's like to be on top. It could mean a lot of things.... it could mean a visit to you at your own place very soon. It could mean excel to what I already do.


7. Walk more. The two photos above with this one are taken yesterday during our walk to the beach. For you who have been here, you know how close we are. But yesterday, as soon as we headed back home, that familiar feeling of itchiness all over my legs stroke back again. I knew right then that I needed more physical activities. So help me get back to the routine. I don't want to be in a wheelchair at an early age.



8. To go with number seven, eat more fruits. We made a big bowl of salad yesterday. Since I haven't been in the kitchen doing the deeds, it just stroke on me on how much therapy you can get out of a good cutting knife and board. And the smell of the fresh fruits are just like a cold shower and candles. With a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top (just the way my honey likes it) and a little bit of ice-cream, I can eat more of these than reaching for my good ol' fave Ms. Vickies Salt and Vinegar chips. And I know that I'm on the right track to a healthy living. Strange, I haven't really been paying attention. Last time I was a real health buff was way back when I was in Argentina, 1997-2003, which I did for a good cause....


9. You should know by now that we love sushi. And I personally love seafood so to go with my healthy living, eat more fish. Be more creative. Remember how you love cooking fr scratch? Open those recipe books and remember why you purchased them aside from the attraction you have with hard covers. I have been thinking of doing paella this new year's day and so far, the thought keeps lingering in my head still. So to add to that, go get groceries. Remember how much you enjoy shopping for healthy ingredients? Are you like me? I read the labels and it doesn't matter how long it takes me. I look for sodium, nitrate, carbo, sugar contents as poison in my food. The long process of doing it all is what takes me so long to start doing it.



10. Indulge. When I say healthy living, it doesn't mean I am a saint. On New Year's eve we ordered sushi from Nobu,  to keep the kitchen clean for New Year's. Yesterday, we had this platter and loved it. The bread is rye so that's healthy. And I love anything liver. We just went to a Natupath before Christmas and brought home bottles of healthy meds and learned a few things that we already knew about food. Tomorrow, we'll start with them :). My honey just told me that he will make us a schedule and stick with it. Besides, they are quite pricey but getting sick is more expensive, right?


11. Keep in touch. What do you do first thing in the morning? If you read your messages, do you respond to them right away? Or do you keep them in your Inbox for long till they accidentally get thrown on your trash? Is it a waste of time to write a quick note to say you got the message and will get back to you later? Or do you grab the phone in an instant? I wish I am the latter. I still have a hard time getting back to you because I still think that each time is precious and to set that aside with you would require a lot of my serious attention. Unfortunately, that attention hardly gets by. I don't have kids, I have a loving and understanding honey but I have a job that tires me out. As soon as I get home from work, I could hardly do anything else. And I know that all that I have written about healthy living plays a big role on my energy level. So since I got an Ipad now (thanks to my generous Santa, honey ko....), and that all means of communication are within my reach, I would love to keep in touch with you more than ever.

Are we cool? So what's on your list? Care to share?
******PEACE******

Saturday, January 1

Hello TWENTY ELEVEN

It's been a long, long time. How have you been? How was your holiday? I hope you had a good  Christmas; a graceful goodbye to TwentyTen; and that you are having a good start to the first day of this New Year. Does anyone here still believe in Resolutions? I bet a lot of you still do. And of course, who doesn't want a good year? So does anyone make a list of these resolutions and follow through to the finish line? Don't sweat it if the list didn't work out. I think part of growing up is we learn to be more forgiving to ourselves. Oh my! The drama is kicking in and I'm not making it up. Can you tell why I haven't been blogging? This whole holiday season is always an emotional journey for me because of the following:          
                                          
1. I miss my family in the Philippines;
2. I love how we celebrate this Season at home;
3. I know that my homecoming would mean a lot to my family-- and that my absence is sadness.  

I still can't convince myself that everything will be alright. If you had a member in the family that you've been waiting for, preparing for and hoping that this time you will finally see them and spend a moment with them, I'm sure you'd understand these emotions I'm going thru. I feel like the Military man fighting the battle for his men with the hope to see his family light up when that day finally arrives for him to land in his own country. Meanwhile, this soldier has to keep on fighting and praying that when that most awaited moment arrives, his family is still whole and waiting for him.

I don't need any pity or I don't mean to ruin your day. I guess I am writing in such a way because it is how I feel. If it's any comfort, all I ask is understanding which I am sure is easy for you to give. And hope to inspire you and take this in a positive way. HOLD ON to your loved ones who are there for you and with you right now. Make each time worth the visit. If you are not miles away like I am, TAKE the time to spend with them. Once they are gone, if you had at least done one good short but sweet visit, it's yours to cherish forever. And for those who get the visits, be grateful for the time, the effort, the hassle, the sweetness, the presence.

EMBRACE what is now and what/who's there. 2010 doesn't come twice. Each time is different.

Welcome 2011. Here I come.....