Scorching Sun fun

I was out today and the scorching sun was licking at my dark skin heheheh.It really is summer time now here in the Philippines. Whenever I go to the department stores I see a lot of inflatable balls and pools being displayed as well as all sorts of swimming attire. The suits some in different colors and they would really dazzle you. I like looking at children's swimming wear specially the ones for little girls because they are just so cute. Some have raffles around and some are like little grown up get ups. Brings back memories of the first time I learned to swim.

I believe I was 6 years old when I learned how to swim. I mean I can swim a little but always at the shallow end of the pool. My cousins on my dad's side of the family has a swimming pool in their home so whenever we come and visit we would always take a dip in that oh so cool and sparkling blue pool. I am always envious of my cousins and uncles because they would just swim and swim to and fro. Here we are my sister and I at the shallow end of the pool. I would always ask one of my uncles to give me a piggy back ride when they swim to the deeper end of the pool because I really really like to go there. When I get there I would just happily cling to the sides even though it was hell on my arms heheheh but it was worth it at that time.

Then one day my dad called me and so I got out of the pool and went to him and so he hoisted me up into his arms and then suddenly he tossed me in the middle of the pool. I was there sputtering and shrieking like a banshee and splashing like a dolphin and then suddenly I touched the sides of the pool. I was so mad at my dad but then all of a sudden my eyes became wide with wonder.... I swam , I really really swam. Katching that was the sound I heard in my brain. My survival instinct kicked the hell off my fear of drowning. Beat that fear. hahahahah I was delirious with happiness and forgave my dad for tossing me.

After that incident I was like a brave soldier going to battle everytime I swam to the deeper end. I remember my dad did the same thing to my sister but she didn't even try and so I asked her years and years later why she didn't try to swim to the side and this is what she told me " I know they would save me" Hahahahahah that really cracks me up every time I recall that. Shsss don't tell her I said so but I think until now she still is afraid of going to the deeper end of the pool. Let's just keep this between us shall we?

Baked Cheesy Eggplant layer

Last night mom cooked eggplant in a different way. Usually when we prepare eggplant dishes it would be just steamed then dipped in egg and fried or it could be grilled,peeled and combined with tomatoes, vinegar and other stuff you know like a salad. Or it could also be just sliced and then fried with soy sauce and chilies. I know a lot of people have already made this dish but I just want to say that mom made a delicious cheesy eggplant layer last night. It was layered with pre cooked ground meat, sliced tomato and onion then top with quickmelt cheese. All that yumminess layer by layer is really divine. Even though I couldn't taste as much as when I'm not sick and yet the taste really registered big time in my delicious scale. Our family does love our food so we eat and eat and eat to our heart's content.

The new Place

We just transferred to a new place recently here in alumnos (cebu). It is just an apartment but now that everything has been fixed, I kinda like the place now. My mom made it a nice place to live. She placed all the plants outside on the walls in a certain design that it looked like it was landscaped. It really is prettier now. Even though we don't have a garden like the old house but the plants are still there to make the place beautiful.We now get a lot of oxygen heheheh as I remember from my old science lessons. Since the old house was bigger, we had a lot of big things but we were able to cramm most of the things here in the new apartment. Although it is sad because we couln't bring any pets here but we had our pets housed in my stepdad's aunt's house in minglanilla. They are quite happy there because they are free to roam around and be animals. I thought it would be hard to adjust but I'm finding that it's easy for me to adapt to my new environment so I guess I'm a very flexible person. Right now though I am sick as a dog. I think I got this from our arranging the plants outside while it was drizzling stint. Our drizzle here is more dangerous than the pouring rain. I don't know why though but it always almost makes us sick all the time. That is why it is good to be prepared with an umbrella all the time.

It is summer time here and it's starting to get very hot. I went to the store recently and saw that all the summer things that people would want are already on display like inflatable pools, swim suits, inflatable balls and inflatable arm bands for kids. It kinda sucks that we are in an apartment because we cannot inflate our 10 ft. pool. Mom and I do so enjoy frolicking in that shallow pool. We enjoy just soaking there, you know it is kinda like soaking in a tub minus the bubbles. In my 31 years I have yet to try soaking in a bubble bath. I wonder if I will be able to experience that hmmmm. But it is cool though at least I got to soak in the pool so it's kinda the same thing I think. So the new place is A OK. Below are the before and after pics of the apartment. Well the downstairs and outside area

Death of a loved one!

It was just recently that I went to the province to attend my grandmother's funeral. She is the sister of my maternal grandmother. Her name was Dolores or better known to us as "LOLA LOLING". She was the older sister of my grandmother. Our families have always been close to their family that is why her death has made a large impact on all of us.

She was the grandma who was a beauty queen in her younger years, a teacher, a good dancer and a wonderful sister. She devoted her life in taking care of her children and grandchildren. She was the grandmother who rose after any adversity thrown her way.

When they talk about their times together as sisters my grandmother and lola Loling it had always fascinated me specially when they talk about the past-- during the second world war. Yes you heard me right they were a product of that war. My grandma would always remember the times when they had to hide behind the coconut tree when the jets or whatever those planes were called in those days would let off rapid firing. Each of them would hide behind coconut tree praying that they would not be hit. Since my grandmother was the youngest she would often take refuge together with the other siblings and she would hide with the oldest sister but she would send her away then here comes Lola Loling who would take her in her arms and shield her from harm. This story would always enter my mind everytime I looked at lola loling inside the casket. It breaks my heart so to see my uncle and cousins in such pain moreso when I look at my own grandmother and see how painful it was for her to deal with.

Those two have always played jokes with each other and it makes me laugh remembering some of them. At every party the other is always present to celebrate so it is indeed a great loss for all of us to have lost such a wonderful grandmother. Right now I shudder everytime my mind would wander to the what if my own grandma goes..... Even now my mind can't wrap around the image of her going.

But I know that lola Loling is already at peace with lolo Tobal as what her husband was known.He past away a long while ago due to cancer but I'd like to think that he was there waiting for her as they would enter heaven.

Loveless!

Here we go again. Welcome to the firing squad as what we all say when you don't have a special someone on Valentines day. At the rate I'm going I'm bound to be in the firing squad for a long long long time. As much as I hope that I have someone somehow love has been eluding me. I think cupid has forgotten about me. What do you think? Hey Cupidddddddd...... throw some arrows my way just make sure that you hit someone I would like. But then again beggars can't be choosers as what they all say.

I wonder what I will do on this day of hearts which will be in a few days. Sure I have a lot of loved ones but I don't think they really count because they will always be special to me and close to my heart. Please please please God let someone fall for me and I don't mind it literally as long as it will be for keeps.

A miracle.

My mom and I have been going to church daily at 6 pm and in one of those masses a visiting congregation came over to ask for the help of the parishioners. Their church burned down and this was in Oslob. After the mass, their parish priest talked about the history of the church. He told the people that the church burned down 3 times already ever since it was constructed before the 2nd world war so you can just imagine how old that church is then the image of the Immaculate Conception which is made of wood had been stolen , retrieved and now was in the burning church but it was a miracle that it didn't burn at all. They found it under a pile of ruble...I took a pic of the tarpolene where they placed outside the church.




This is the image of the Immaculate conception after the fire.


It is just so amazing why it didnt burn when it was made of wood and everything around it was burned down. A simple reminder that there are miracles out there.

Scrapbooking craze

I just got hooked to scrapbooking so that's where I was these past days plus my stepdad had an operation too so I was really busy.I'm trying to let my artistic side come out as it has been hiding forever. I'm not very good with color combinations so I am trying to look at nature because that is what my mom said. Consult nature as it has all the colors available and Ma nature is very good in combining them. I just remembered the snow white happily ever after movie I saw. Ma Nature or Mother Nature was very skinny and it was a musical cartoon. Anyhow I took some pics of the pages I did so far. I always watch free videos online and it really helps a lot. I'm crazy about scrapbooking lounge, they have all sorts of techniques and how to make stuff. It's like wow. If I had a lot of resources to buy all the materials my room would be full of them.I still have a lot of photos to put up so I'm still thinking of the layout. It's a good thing that Anton brought me some scrapbook embellishments from England so that came handy. Here are the pic of my scrapbook.