Extreme Makeover Home Edition

This is one TV show that never fails to make me close to crying and often times cry. I love how they help other people with doing makeovers of their homes but ultimately changing their lives. I'm always at awe of how the houses turn out. They are always beautiful and I end up dreaming of owning a house like those they build too. What's amazing is they finish the house in one week! Building a house in a week is no joke so you can only imagine the sacrifice the workers go through just to finish the project for the week. I love how they carefully plan every detail of the house from the living room, bedrooms, backyards and bathrooms. I can't wait to furnish our own home soon and I have been looking at Grohe faucets already for the bathroom to use. Just a few more months to wait!

Bacolod

After 4 long years of not being able to go to Bacolod, Im finally going this weekend! It would only be a 3 day visit but still something to look forward too. Im already dreaming of inasal! It was a good thing we were able to buy cheap tickets about 3 months ago from cebu pacific. Roundtrip ticket was for only a little over Php800.
I will be packing my things tomorrow and will do a few errands in the morning. I totally forgot about my cousins request that I buy him a digital frame so I have to go to the mall tomorrow and buy that plus my dad's medicine. Im so looking forward to seeing my relatives and visiting my aunt who's sick. Im pretty sure she's excited to see us too.
Pictures and stories next week!

Mental

Is a new store with branches at Trinoma, MarketMarket and SM Annex. The clothes are really cute and funky. This store caught my attention because of how their window looked...

I liked a few of their tops and would have wanted to try them on but my friends were already waiting for me so I just ended up with buying an orange headband. I do want to go back to purchase some cute bag tags that they've got which is a perfect gift idea this Christmas.

I was thinking of buying 3 of the POS systems for my shopaholic friends.

Cooking

I have been doing some cooking for the past few days and I'm running out of reciepe's. My dad being hypertensive is currently under a strict low fat low salt diet. With him being restrained to eat only such, we too would also have to follow the diet. I'm totally for it as it could answer my needs of losing weight without having to use any weight loss product but it gives me a major headache to actually come up with a dish that would still be yummy. Cooking is totally hard! I know I should get used to this set up as I would be doing a lot more cooking in the future but any suggestions on easy to do meal that are low fat and low on salt?

Help!

I need to buy a steam cleaner but I don't know where. Anyone who could help? I'm thinking of going to the mall next week, probably on monday to look for one but to whoever is hitting the mall this weekend and finds one please message me so as I'ld know where to go already by next week. I totally forgot about the need for this not until my cousin texted me checking if I was able to buy one already. argh! major memory lapse on my part.

Bacolod

In a few weeks, we are off to Bacolod for 3 days! It's been years since I went to visit relatives so I'm pretty excited with this trip. It'll be a little different as the main reason for this trip is to visit my mom's sister who had a stroke a couple of months back. The stroke has caused the left side of her body to be paralyzed. We are not sure if she'll still be able to fully recover as we are given little hope by the doctors but atleast she is doing good right now other than her being paralyzed. I need to look for bed wedges as that is something that she really needs. Hopefully I get to find one before our trip.
Can't wait to spend time with my relatives and eat authentic Inasal!

Glee!

I love Glee!

I actually love it that September has come (and gone) and that means new season for my favorite US TV shows. I usually follow Grey's Anatomy, House, Private Practice and Gossip Girl. Add to this are Hell's kitchen, Top Chef and Project Runway. Two new shows has been added to the list and that's FlashForward (will blog about this show next time) and Glee.

Glee is like High School Musical but way better. It's something I look forward too every week. I was lucky to squeeze in time to watch the new episode while I was waiting for the industrial safety supplies my Uncle ordered that i had to pick up from the warehouse.

I have to admit it that I'm a GLEEK!

Busy

And bored. That's me. I have things to do every day and have even skipped on studying for the past days but it seems like my days have always been full. Im doing more house chores right now while we look for another helper. We do have one right now but we need another one. It might take a few more days before my Aunt finds one or before our current house help finds one that could help her around. I've been looking at the free directories for agencies but then again we are not really too keen on getting one from an agency. till we find one, I would have my hands full of doing things around the house.

So yeah, its chores and errands that take up the most of my time. Oh and not to forget is making sure my dad is drinking his meds, BP is ok, and visits to the hospital for his check-up. Im hoping things go back to "normal" soon. That I find time to study again and finally take the NCLEX. I had to reschedule my exam as I don't think I have had enough preparation to take the exam. I know I have been studying for months but I have planned a last week hard core review that Im not able to do because of my dad's hospitalization. Atleast my dad's doing ok now and I guess that's all that matters.

After The Typhoon

After Ondoy and Pepeng, obviously a lot of work is to be done. It's not the time to point to our government officials on what to do and on what they didn't do. It's not the time to be lazy and just wait for relief goods or help to come our way. It's not the time for self-pity.

It's the time to get our acts together and to work and to make sure we recover from what hit us. It's the time to think and contemplate on the lesson we need to learn from all of this. It's the time to work together and help each other.

A lot more has to be done. A lot of people would need to build their homes again, A lot lost family members and they would need all the support to recover from the tragedy. Schools has been damaged and one I saw on the newspaper would need new preschool furniture as they lost everything.

I just pray and hope that people would not take advantage of the situation. Help could only be given up to a certain extent. After all the help, they'ld need to work too. You can't just go depending on other people for your food and shelter. The community and the government could only help but you could not expect for them to give you everything.

Thank God

Im blogging from Rm1113 of Manila Doctors Hospital. We are set to go home later, before lunch I hope. My dad just needs to do an ultrasound and then we can start working on settling our hospital bill. He was confined due to high blood pressure and was diagnosed to have bell's palsy. Bell's palsu is easy to manage but the reason for his confinement was his BP which was at 230/130 when we first got here. Im sending love and thanks to all our relatives and friends who prayed for my dad. We are thanking and praising God that it was not stroke. Bell's palsy was a blessing in disguise as the doctors were able to diagnose my dad's BP which if left unmanaged could end up to stroke. His doctors are all wonderful! Dra Lara my dad's cousin who is a resident at PGH has managed to hook us up with good doctors here at MADOKS. Now other than knowing the importance of good diet and exercise, we have come to realize the importance also of health insurance. My dad does not have one right now but im already checking for insurance online. You'll never know on when you'll be needing it. Thank God really for all the people He used to help us and assist us and for making my dad well.

More hospital kwento later.

Happy Monday

We all have to start the week with a smile. It has been a hard one last week for a lot of us. Lots of depressing news and not so good things on TV. The typhoon scare over the weekend was not a good way to end the week as well. So let us all look forward to this week with a smile and a prayer that all things will go well and that life is to continue and move forward. Let's all try to be optimistic and hopeful that one by one, little by little everything is going to be ok.

Im hopeful too that things will go well for us with regards to some papers we are having processed. I pray to get that email we have been waiting for more than a week now to just get everything started and hopefully put an end to all this waiting we have been enduring for the past months. God is good and I know he answers prayers so I trust and believe that he will grant the desires of our hearts. I will try to get access to a live chat later to check on the status of things and keeping my fingers and toes crossed that all is well.

Everyone let's start the week right!

Sunday Thoughts

Last week classes were suspended because of "Ondoy" but tomorrow most of the students go back to school. I have a feeling that traffic is going to be really bad too. My mom's cousin who had to cancel her implant dentist Plano is glad that she'ld be able to finally go and visit her dentist. I only have barely 3 weeks of studying to go so I really have to be concentrate and give more time to studying. I have to sacrifice and then after this I can just look forward to going to Bacolod by the end of the month.

Count Your Blessings

I for one would have to admit that I most of the time ignore the blessings I receive. I always tend to want more and I guess this is human nature. But with what happened last week and seeing how many people suffered, I just woke up from deep slumber and realized how much blessed I am and how God is so good not only to me but to my family as well.

We stayed safe and dry. My sister was stranded at SM North but thinking about it, it's the best place to get stranded in. At least she had access to food and was still able to go home after the flood has subsided. We also opened our home to a few of my mom's officemates who were stranded and were not able to go home. They were all trapped a block away from our home and had been there for close to 5 hours already when they finally decided to go to our house.

I remember complaining that we didn't have electricity for close to 24 hours but after seeing on TV what has happened around me, I have realized that I should be thankful that we only lost electricity because others have lost their homes and some even their loved ones. I feel ashamed for complaining and whining the whole day about when our electricity was to be restored.

The past week God has reminded us that He is good and the storm was a tragedy but is bringing out the best among the Filipinos. We can see how everyone is working together to help those who were affected by the storm. I pray that we can always be united even after the tragedy. May we not forget the lessons we had to learn from typhoon Ondoy be forever be remembered.

My heart is full of Praise and Thanks to our God who is good. Let us always remember that "In Christ there is no crisis!"