Some days I just want to be a housewife

We finally have a living room ♥ 

You know what, ever since we moved in to a bigger unit, I got lazier at work. Actually, ever since Koomi came into our lives I found myself getting lazier at work. It used to be that my priority in life is just my husband, my work, and the house. And so far I've been able to live happily around maintaining that status quo. I love our marriage, I'm doing okay at work, and the house is functional and clean most of the time.

But everything changed when Koomi arrived. A dog is a different kind of priority which doesn't fall into any of those three. It's major work keeping a dog alive and happy, while on the other hand it just keeps us happy. Weeeell, just 80% of the time he's up; the 20% that gets me frustrated is getting waken up in the middle of our sleep when he growls for absolutely no reason. So it's not all rainbows and butterflies having a cute dog around, it's compromise that moves us along. Damn, Adam was right.

So you see because of Koomi our house became dirtier. In our previous unit, we potty trained him in the balcony so we have to keep going in an out of the house, dirtying our slippers. And you know frenchies salivate soooo much, Koomi's mouth leaves a wet mark on the floor every time he sprawls down. Then he gets up and walks over it, and we walk over it, and the floor gets grubbier each day. Which means I have to clean more often. And because Koomi has taken over what little space we have left in the house, we decided it's time for us to upgrade.

It's been a dream of ours to move into a bigger unit ever since we started working from home more frequently. But if it hadn't been for Koomi, if he hadn't burdened us so much in our small home, we wouldn't have felt the urgency to move out. So uhh, thanks dog?

So now in a bigger, better, more beautiful home I find myself wanting to just forget about work and just take care of the household full time. Why? Because it's so satisfying seeing the house clean, the dog full, and my husband happy. So much so that I'm forgetting about work. Seems like I can only properly devote myself to three things, and work is getting pushed out of the equation.

Some days I just want to be a housewife.

I'm still tired

Again. I'm so tired. I'm never at a good place at work. I'm always stuck with my projects. I'm out of smaller tasks to gain confidence from. Like I'd get over them quickly that I have to deal with the major ones too soon. Huhu. It's dreadful, this feeling. I don't like it.

I have a big one that's already sitting in prod but I have to fix some errors first. And it's annoying because we don't have access to prod so I will have to keep on requesting for the prod people to update it, which is embarrassing for me. It was working in UAT so I don't know what gives.

Besides this big one, I have two other big ones that are completely overwhelming me. I don't know what to do. I want to give up. Oh Lord. How do people work for decades??? I'm just so tired of it all I just want to become a housewife and take care of my husband, and Koomi, and the house. I'll just enable Jeckie to earn as much as he can to maintain our current lifestyle. Yeah, like what traditional women used to do haha.

I thought it gets easier but I guess I haven't even started.

[Recovery Logs] ACL reconstruction surgery with meniscus repair

See I knew something was wrong when it's been 10 weeks since my knee injury (from playing badminton) and I haven't fully recovered yet. For reference, here's my previous recovery logs where I didn't recover at all lol: https://www.theblahger.com/2023/01/recovery-logs.html

For context, I got injured playing badminton on January, let myself rest for a couple of weeks, but then felt too excited that I walked an hour on a treadmill on an 11% incline and then swam the next day. That's how I re-injured myself, prompting a knee reconstruction surgery. That's also proves how mind isn't over matter when the matter is out of hand lol.

Sometime in April I got an MRI which confirmed a chronic ACL tear on my left knee plus some serious meniscal tear. Doctor advised to get knee surgery, which went well on June 24.

In my understanding, they're gonna replace the torn ligament in my knees with a graft from my hamstring and screw it (literally), then shave off my torn meniscus so the edges are smooth and not sharp and damning to my bones. The technique they used (knee arthroscopy) is a vey minimally invasive procedure so there's not a lot of incisions made, making it easier to heal from the surgery.

It was my first time to undergo surgery so I didn't know what to expect. I was mostly worried about coordinating the LOA from my HMO provider and the hospital but turns out I didn't need to do that myself since I will be admitted pre-op which means the hospital will take care of calling our HMO for approval. I think the bill ran up to ₱180k, which included everything from the surgery, two nights admission, professional fees, and everything else I perused during my stay. Only thing not covered are the implants - and I opted for a bioabsorbable screw and button type so that set me back ₱85k. 

I was mostly excited to get over this major part of my life because I badly want to workout already. Now with a renewed sense of my mortal limits I promise to be more careful and more mindful of what I do with my ageing joints.

June 24 - day of my surgery. I was scheduled 6pm and was told to shower using a pre-operative bath kit they gave me consisting of two sponges and a bottle of some kind of antimicrobial bath gel that smells like alcohol and betadine or something. I was wheeled in the operating room by 5pm. The most painful part of the surgery was getting injected with anesthesia through the spine. After that I was sedated and would wake up from time to time feeling woozy. I just let myself fall back to sleep. Two hours later the surgery was completed and I was brought to the recovery room where they took an x-ray of my knee. Moments later I was brought back to our room where I immediately ate cos I felt so hungry. Surgery required me to fast for 10 hours so I haven't eaten anything in almost 12 hours at that point. Unfortunately I didn't know food and anesthesia don't go well together that as soon as I ate I just puked it all out. I felt sleepy afterwards and didn't fight it.

Here's my recovery logs so far...

Week 1

Jun 25 - it was a struggle to go home in this state. My leg was braced, I couldn't put any weight on it so I had to rely on crutches. It was also very painful and super swollen. Hard to go to the bathroom to pee. Had to put a chair in the shower so I could take a bath. Thank God my husband helps me with everything, I love him. I'm taking a bunch of meds for swelling, pain, and GI tract. Also antibiotics.

That's how my leg looks like on the first week. Everything swollen from the thigh down. I dress it every two days as instructed. Every day I'm able to put more and more weight on my left foot which is nice 😀.

Week 2

Jul 5 - it's been more than a week since my surgery and I can now walk without crutches but not too long because it gets tiring. I've finished all my meds too and is just taking it slow, wearing braces as much as I can to keep my leg straight. I do feel some kind of shooting pain when I'm pivoting though which is concerning because I thought I'd have brand new knees and I just have to wait for the swelling to subside. Will ask my doctor when I follow up.

Note to self: https://www.stoneclinic.com/ACL-reconstruction-meniscus-repair-post-operative-physical-therapy-protocol

Jul 7 - Barely used my crutches today. Still wearing braces the whole time. Can shower standing up now. Can wash the dishes as well. Felt a sharp shooting pain once; I think I accidentally pivoted. Otherwise, good progress. 😊

Jul 8 - followed up with my surgeon. Suture removed. Doctor mentioned the shape of my meniscus was adiscoid instead of crescent shape; which made the tear more painful as it goes in contact with the joint. Was advised to start rehab next week.

Week 3

Jul 12 - can walk better now. Can sleep without braces. Still wearing knee support. Can shower standing up for the most part but still gets tired so I still need the chair hehe. Can work the kitchen now, albeit slowly. Have been able to go out to the mall as long as I only walk short distances. Didn't use crutches the whole day. Can sit with my let bent slightly. Can ride the front seat of the car now, but have to scoot forward so my thighs don't get too pressed on the seat if you know what I mean. There is still some swelling on my calf. Still can't see my ankles. 

Jul 13 - Consulted with a rehab doctor as well as scheduled by rehab sessions. Poor flexion - straightest I can go is 30°. Closest I can bend my knees is 60°. Stopped wearing braces. Can walk faster. Still need crutches for aid. 

Week 4

July 18 - Day 1 of rehab. Got super tired with all the exercises I was taught. My leg is still swollen. Was advised to do warm and hot compress and continue the exercise at home. I also learned how to use my crutches properly. All this time I was putting my weight on the armpits, turns out it has to be on the hand support. No wonder I was slouching and feeling more tired when I use them, half the time I give up and just use it as a cane. Hay.

TBC

Get a Frenchie they said, it will be fun they said

I feel like I'm in a state of paralysis at work. I have loads to do but don't know where to start. I have a bunch of open items that aren't moving and I feel like if I could just close at least one project I would gain some momentum with doing the others. But here we are.... hayy.

To be honest I've been pretty damned preoccupied recently. We got a French Bulldog and ever since it came life has never been the same. 

Meet Koomi! Born January 15, 2023, we took him in on April 18 when he was three months old. He's five months in this photo.

His first few weeks with us were a nightmare. He came in sick, was in an out of confinement; apparently has coronavirus. He was pitiful but all I can think of was that he's being a pain in the ass. He would poop and pee everywhere. Diarrhea levels that at one point was charcoal black. He would chew on everything he could get his teething mouth on, to the point where we'll be awaken with him choking on chips of wood he's munched from our bed post. We couldn't focus on work because we have to watch him all the time. I was so tiring. And for the most part I was angry at the dog. He was just a puppy, I know. We wanted to give up but was never decided on it. Every day we try again. Every day I get bursts of anger. Every day I lose my sanity. I asked my friends for support and the consensus was IT GETS EASIER.

And damn they were right.

Eventually we got past the point of buyer's remorse and entered the point of no return lol. Weeks passed and we see him recover, slowly regaining his energy, slowly warming up to us. We were getting to know each other, and we were slowly getting our sleep back. It was just a few weeks ago that we would dart up every fucking hour in the middle of the night at the sound of his gargling (which is really just him chewing his paws), or his heaving (which is usually followed by his puking), or his abnormally loud hiccups. The slightest off in scent would send us upright, waving a flashlight in search of a puddle or a mound. It was beyond exhausting. I've had several breakdowns.

What made it more frustrating was because he was sick, we couldn't complete his vaccines and therefore couldn't take him out, in turn locking us all in the house with nothing to do but to tolerate each other. It made me very anxious. 

But that was two months ago. As soon as he recovered and completed his shots, we were slowly able to take our lives back, more importantly our sleep. That's when they say it will get better. I didn't believe my friends, thought they were brainwashed lolol but here we are, two months later proving them right. I used to hate the term furmom or furparent but I'm mothering the heck out of our dog and would gladly take the label now. I'm a freaking furmom to this stubborn bundle of joy and I'm loving it.

I'll make another post about what I'm learning raising a Frenchie, things I wish I knew before we got a dog. I'll call it Frenchie Tips cos it's punny haha stay tuned!

The week that was

Late upload for my Weekly Monotony (click here!), probably the latest ever. I got really sick for a while, but for the most part I just got lazy hehe. So here's a recount!

Slowly transforming the house, yet again, according to my aesthetic preference haha. I bought a new office chair, a new shelf (which I already had before but gave away), a new kitchen rack, and a cute pour-over. I also bought a slow juicer for my uhm, health needs? Hahaha

In terms of decluttering I sold a lot of things. I have this huge bag of old clothes... gowns, dresses, blouses that I never got to use a lot because they're special occasion type of clothes I really have no closet space for. That and business casual blouses I have no use for ever since I left my previous company. So yeah, listed them all for cheap at our community marketplace, sold around half of them, gave away some, and kept those I think has potential or as Marie Kondo says before she gave up on her own method (why: kids), "sparks joy". A week of decluttering, selling, delivering, picking up parcels, and assembling stuff has gotten me really really exhausted last week. Couple that with my STILL painful knee and everything became 1.5x harder to do haha. Would've used 2 as a multiplier but I got my husband so yeyy 💕

But hey, it's all coming together. 💖

My knee is still painful. It clicks a lot these days, painful clicks that last a second that somehow make it easier for me to bend my knee. For some reason, yeah. After it clicks, ouch, then when I try to fold it it folds better. Beats me. Only an MRI can tell. Which I already have scheduled so hopefully I get some clarity on this. Haaaay. 

Mama turned 69 😏 this year and we decided to celebrate simply. I booked an airbnb in our condo, pressured them to arrive on time so we can still go malling and have dinner together hahaha. In the end they still arrived late (as usual) and I only got Terai to drag with me to the mall while my parents rest at home. I'm not really surprised haha. I know my parents well enough, they're past the age of malling, and everything they do have to be nestled between rests. I don't wanna push them. I should've known better though hahaha. We would've gone to Tagaytay but my mom hates long drives especially in a wonky car haha. I hope to be able to go to more out-of-towns with them but I really need a good car for that! 

We were able to go malling the next day, had lunch at Kaya Korean Restaurant, bought my dad new shoes, and spent the rest of the day at the airbnb. Watched The Glory with my sister (who claims to have watched only clips of the drama and yet knows everything about it lol), ordered GrabFood, showed off my juicer which my mom loves haha. Made them bring a bunch of vegetables so I can demo haha. She's proud that all her nagging and force feeding us fruit and vegetable juices when we were young has finally paid off. I call it trauma hahaha. It was really fun, all we really needed is some quality time together in the same house. 

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I hate my face I'm too pimply and they're all cystic and I keep on popping them cos it's satisfying so now half my face is all dark and wounded. Argh

That's it, happy weekend! 🎉

Heya

What's up lately... 

✱ Joined Anytime Fitness

Since Fitness First Megamall closed down, we've moved to Anytime Fitness Pioneer which is nearer, a bit cheaper, and has free parking, so not bad. I miss FF though cos it has better amenities. AF doesn't even have a lounge where I can wait for my husband when I'm done working out. Also no coffee haha. And their bathrooms and lockers stink. Really not much to do except work out. I even got "scammed" with their group exercises cos they posted they have something everyday at 12nn, which excited me cos that's when we usually go to the gym, turns out if no one registers in their app (which doesn't work), then the class will be cancelled. So guess what, ever since we started there I've never seen a group class in action. 

✱ Surrendered our 10yr+ old VUL policy with Philam

We've been paying for a life insurance with VUL policy with Philam for over 10yrs so you'd think we can stop paying already and just let it grow no? Nope. Because the economy has been on a downward trend for so long, the VUL aspect of our policy is losing, and because every month they charge an admin fee, when we stop topping up it will get the fees from our investment returns instead. And so we're losing even more. Based on my records we've paid over 200k++ on one policy and when we surrendered it we only got ~145k. Huge loss but at least we've cut it. 

So now we just bought a new product, that is...

✱ ACP100 (AIA Critical Protect 100)

... one without investment features, purely protection (life and critical illness) which is more practical for us cos we're already saving and investing in stocks elsewhere. I've never really looked into insurance policies before, I usually just let my mom buy stuff for me and reap off of it. But now that we've actually incurred losses from our policies, I gathered I didn't want to just get insurance for the sake of it. I need to freaking look at the product I'm buying. Good thing my sister seconded getting ACP100 cos she got one for herself and knowing her she studies everything she buys so I'm in! 😊

Also a good thing my parents are our own insurance agents so processing claims is so easy we just need to supply everything they required. ♥

✱ Celebrated my husband's birthday at Angeles

Two weeks ago we drove to Pampanga for Jeckie's birthday, and also to celebrate our regularizationss hahaha. Super adventure cos it's our first time driving up north for vacation and sakto naman we ran a flat tire along NLEX haha stresss! Good thing my husband knows how to change a tire and I uhm just helped with the flashlight and hauling things from the trunk haha. I couldn't even carry a tire for my own sake so that's probably my new fitness goal right now hahaha I wanna be strong enough to be able to handle changing a flat tire alone. You may watch my vlog here! https://youtu.be/RLDao5otlXk

I loved our staycation cos our airbnb is super pretty and it's been on my wishlist for sooo long. We ate a lot and really enjoyed our beautiful bungalow. They're on airbnb but I booked them on facebook para cheaper.

Tip: if you can find the facebook page of the airbnb you can book direct cos it's usually cheaper. BUT you have to legit-check. I do that by chatting them up on airbnb and messaging them on facebook asking to screenshot our convo on airbnb. That's usually enough proof they actually handle the airbnb account. Don't ever mention booking directly with them on airbnb cos they can be penalized for that. 

✱ I'm regular now!

The feeling is overwhelming. It's only been 6 months and I already received my performance appraisal, and my corresponding performance bonus and annual increase, plus an additional bonus! This company is pretty generous. For a Meets Expectations rating I didn't expect to get a significant raise. My bonus is even prorated but I'm already so grateful. I'm so eager to continuing meeting expectations next year HAHA. I mean, this is it. Who would've thought just meeting expectations could be this rewarding. I love it. I worked hard to really up my base pay because I know every increase, every bonus, even my next job... will base on that. And it's finally paying off. I'm not even working that hard. I haven't even deployed a single project. Which reminds me lol. I really have to work now hahaha.

Watcher duties

Currently watching: True Beauty

 
It's day 4 in the hospital with my sister. She had total thyroidectomy on Thursday and I've been here since Wednesday evening watching over her. I'm her designated watcher but to be honest I'm not really watching haha, more like hanging around watching KDramas and bonding with her when she has the energy to hahaha. It's my first time to watch over someone in the hospital and I damn well prepared for it. I knew my parents were gonna prepare for Terai so I focused on preparing for myself hahaha treat it like a little staycation lol. I don't like the part where I get to be away from my husband for days but I also don't like my sister left alone in the hospital. My parents are too old to be apart and there's only one companion bed and I know none of their backs would survive this tiny cot. So it's gotta be me, and I'm happy to. 😊

First thing I made sure before coming in is to check the network signal. I have to WFH so a strong signal is a must. Thankfully Smart 5G signal is super strong here at FEU Hospital so I'm able to hotspot from my phone and get things done, careful not to set any meetings cos I'm not really in a good place to engage in a call haha. My parents brought me a blanket, I brought Hedgy my flattest stuffed toy, I also bought change of clothes good for 4 days, toiletries, my V&M skin care, coffee, tea, my bigass tumbler, speakers, extension cord, my Kindle, and other gadget stuff. I'm all set hahaha.

I don't really know what to do as a watcher besides alalayan sya generally but I've come to itemize some basic things I found myself doing the past few days:

• Wheel the IV stand whenever she needs to pee. Easy enough cos the night leading to her operation she's on a fast so she didn't pee much, and after the operation she couldn't eat properly so yeah, not much as far as her bladder is concerned. Oh wait it actually became concerning that she couldn't drink anything and kept on choking post-op but it eased up on the following days as her throat muscles start to heal (she was intubated with anesthesia). By the time she can eat and drink properly she's off the suero so she can handle herself hehehe
• Assist in changing clothes. Easy too cos di naman sya naliligo wahahahaha
• Bring stuff upstairs. Easy enough except that the elevator here is programmed to stop at every freaking level so that's a bummer. And my parents like to bring stuff over lol like soup and fruit juices and water, anything we request actually since they just live nearby. So convenient! They brought us comforters cos the AC here in so freaking cold. Grabe ang sarap matulog with comforter very hayahay hahaha. Anyway. I had to go downstairs a lot. I hate walking cos my left knee still isn't a-ok but it's fine hehe.
• Be present when the doctor needs me. Which never really happened because Terai is a grown ass ahjumma and the operation didn't really damage her comprehension haha so she can take the grown up talk by herself hahaha. Howeverrrr, during her operation I was summoned to the operating room because the doctor wants to talk to the companion daw. I was so groggy and alarmed at the same time because isn't this the part where they say something went wrong and shit?! So I came down to the OR and asked for my sister. They told me they already talked to someone and I was like huhh but I'm the only companion, so they made me repeat the patient's surname, they had it checked, and as it turns out they called the wrong number and the patient in question has a similar sounding surname, and that my sister is still on the table and I should go back to sleep. What the fuck right? Way to traumatize me on my first stint? (Not that I want more)
• Assist in discharging procedures? I'm guessing I have to do some paperwork to get us out tomorrow so yeah.
• Pack up and carry everything. They have a trolley we can request for and our parents are picking us up so no biggie.

All of those things I kinda expected but I didn't realize that the brunt of being a watcher goes to not getting enough sleep from all the doctors and nurses coming in an out every few hours to check on the patient. It's easy enough to drag the IV stand whenever Terai needs to pee but to be awaken ever so often when her vitals need checking, it's become annoying. Thank God they told us we can request for vitals to get checked during waking hours only so that's a relief! The visits lessened. Hope they suggested it earlier though haha. But still, I think we're still being visited at least 5x throughout the day lol

Anyway. Post-op was the worst. She was wheeled out 8am and came back around 5pm? She couldn't eat nor drink. Her neck, shoulders, and throat hurt. She chokes on anything she tries to ingest, and she's been coughing incessantly, spitting out saliva and phlegm that's been building up in her swollen throat. She had trouble breathing so she was nebulized a few rounds. She also got a fever which is why we extended for a day. It's day 2 post-op and she's feeling a lot better now, she's eaten normal food and junk food hehe so hopefully we're out tomorrow!

Please pray for my sister's speedy recovery! 🙏

Filed under Keep Dreaming

Just a random photo in the house

I've been dreaming of a Honda CR-V a lot lately. Specifically the 7-seater Diesel Turbo version.

Source

I want a CR-V mostly because I want something bigger that would fit my entire family comfortably. And I love how it looks, specially before I came to the price haha. I mean we're just five people (me, Jeckie, mommy, daddy, and Terai) but I want to give my mom a lot of room for her things and my sister a whole backseat row whenever we go out of town (which is the dream) haha. Thing is, we can't really afford it. Uhh maybe we can but it would come at the cost of slashing our allowance in half, and selling our current car. I actually prefer the 2018 model but I don't think I can still get it brand new these days. 

It's nice to dream. Jeckie and I told ourselves that if we have to get a bigger car might as well get one with more capacity, otherwise our trusty Vios is more than good enough. Anyway, when it all comes down to it we can't possibly maintain a CR-V lol. Comprehensive insurance costs 3x what we pay for our sedan, not to mention other costs of maintenance like PMS, tires, and other expensive parts.

Source

It's not just a car I'm dreaming of lately. I also want our own home. A 2-3 bedroom pet friendly east facing condo with a spacious balcony and accessible parking in a central area like where we live now or somewhere less dusty, equally urban, quiet, with lots of green spaces and hole in the walls. Hahahaha how specific.

It just came to mind when I was looking at Fitness First Greenhills on Google street view (by the way, our home gym is closing down so we're transferring our membership to Greenhills branch). It's located at the commercial area of The Viridian and I thought how nice would it be to have the gym so near? Hahaha So I checked the rental rates at Viridian, got dreamy for a while, but then immediately filed it under "Keep dreaming". Just like with the CR-V.

Still, a girl can dream!

Recovery logs

In light of my recent injury, here's how I've been coping so far...

✱ Week 1

• Jan 15 - Date of injury (left knee). Took Advil, applied ice pack. Pain level 7/10. Couldn't walk properly. I can drive though. Was able to shower alone too. Can't bend nor straighten. Slept with a knee support and a pillow underneath.

• Jan 16 - I'm taking pain relievers 3x a day. Icing it too at least 3x a day. Can shower alone but cautious of steps. Can't stand for long. Knee support all day; pillow when I sleep.

• Jan 17-20 - Getting better every day. Pretty much the same routine.

• Jan 21 - Was able to go to the mall. Can walk faster now but not for long. Can't sit for long too because my leg feels ngalay wen it's not elevated. In the car I'm using a cardboard box as a foot rest. Elsewhere I look for extra chairs or just step on the feet of the table, anything elevated really. Stopped taking pain relievers.

✱ Week 2

• Jan 22 - Went to the mall. Can walk faster now, as well as cross my legs! Still using a foot rest in the car. Still icing as much as I can.

• Jan 23 - Continuously recovering. Still icing. Can walk better now.

• Jan 24 - Braved the gym. Told my coach I can't do leg or knee exercises so we just focused on upper and thighs. Faced a couple of hurdles earlier: one was getting up from floor after stretching and the other was getting to the shower area where there's a huge step. I survived both! ♥

• Jan 25 - I'm able to walk faster now but my knees still feel very ngalay when sitting down for long. Went to the gym and did chest workouts. There's really not much I can do with a bad knee but we're slowly adding mobility exercises so it would recover faster.

• Jan 26 - Did shoulders today at the gym. Wore knee support on both knees. Drove to the office. Been sitting at my desk for over an hour now and my leg feels super ngalay. I need to find something to rest my feet on. Even the lowest chair setting is too high for my short legs. And our tables aren't height adjustable so it's pretty uncomfy.

✱ Week 3

• Jan 31 - Stopped icing. Can walk without knee support now, but with extreme caution, cos every time I build confidence in walking straight, eventually it's gonna click and hurt and I don't want that to happen. Went to the gym earlier and did back exercises.

• Feb 3 - RTO day today. Also went to the gym earlier. Still can't do full body workouts but we were able to do some leg exercise using resistance bands. Still can't fold my knees completely, and there's like a popping pain evert time I try to squat a little. 

✱ Week 4

• Feb 6 - it's week 4 in recovery. This is really taking a long time. Well I don't remember my previous injuries to be quick anyway. It usually takes me months to recover. Which sucks cos I'm already itching to workout and play properly. Hay.

• Feb 9 - I'm able to do planks now! As well as squats but not too low hehe

✱ Week 5

• Feb 14 - Hey happy valentine's day! We're on week 5 and I'm still not a-ok. Still can't bend my leg fully and walk for too long. :)

• Feb 18 - Currently in the hospital watching over my sister. There's pain in my knee whenever it bends the wrong way. I can indian sit now but without bending my left leg too much. Can walk more lengths, still cautious about stairs, but there are times I can push my leg up without feeling pain so maybe I can build on that confidence.

✱ Week 6

• Feb 23 - Went to the gym today! Recently I've been able to do a bit of cardio. Can do vipers and side planks now! 

✱ Week 7

• I have not much updates for this week except that I know my knee is still very far from healing completely. I remember Feb 28 as our last day in Fitness First. The next days we started with Anytime Fitness where I had 2 free PT sessions. I did leg presses, where I slowly learned to fold my knee, my coach knows about my injury so he made me do more on rehabilitation exercises. On day 2 e performed myofascial release therapy on me which is basically an hour of pain haha. We're working on slowly stretching my leg muscles so my knees would fold better. I'm feeling hopeful but at this point I'm worrying at the pace of my recovery. :(

✱ Week 8

• Mar 7 - I went to the gym and walked on a treadmill for an hour on 11% incline. I thought I'd do that to strengthen my knees but the following day I feel very sore.

• Mar 8 - So I thought I'd be able to walk on the treadmill again, but my left knee was so sore right so I just swam. It's pretty low impact but I'm still feeling a bit of pain whenever I kick. And feet started hurting as well from compensating from my lack of kicking power. You know what, it's week 8, I should be a lot better now but I feel very far from that. I should probably go to the doctor.

✱ Week 9

• Mar 17 - wow, I'm still recovering. No notable improvement. Can workout but I avoid the knee. I've been following Caroline Girvan's 1hr abs and upper body workout, but eventually I have to let my upper body recover so during those days I don't know what to do? haha Promised myself I'll go check with the doctor but I haven't really scheduled anything. Please pray for my healing 🙏.

✱ Week 10

• Mar 24 - BACK TO SQUARE ONE. I may have overworked my knees too much as soon as I can walk straight. It's because I walked an hour on the treadmill two weeks ago. My fault. Went to the doctor to get checked, was advised to get an MRI, so that's what I'm waiting for next. I have a schedule in a few weeks at VRP. Hope it's nothing serious. Hay.

To my future injured self

Goddamit,

So, you got injured. Again. Bet it's one of your knees. Playing badminton I presume? Chased a long shot? Tripped on uneven surface? Not enough warm-up? Wrong series of footwork? Did you forget to wear knee support? Whatever the reason may be, I hope it's not as painful as the last. I know you don't enjoy getting injured but being that it's becoming an annual thing for you, maybe it's time to put up a guide on how to deal with it. Hopefully you won't need this but you know, just in case...

Remember to RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate)

Rest your knees, apply cold compress to reduce swelling, wear knee support for compression, and elevate your knee to improve blood circulation.

Additionally, take NSAIDs 3x a day for 3-4 days to reduce inflammation. Advil or Alaxan (Ibuprofen) works. Based on your medical records they used to prescribe Celecoxib for pain but I'm not sure if you can get that over the counter.

It may take 2-6 weeks before you can walk properly again, but you can slowly incorporate mobility exercises to strengthen your knee. Like this seated knee extension with resistance.

Source: https://blog.fitbit.com/osteoarthritis/

Take your glucosamine and chondroitin supplements religiously and don't forget to stay active and keep moving. Also, learn proper footwork for God's sake. Maybe you can try cycling on a stationary bike to strengthen your knees. Girl, you really need to step up your fitness regimen. Your weight is probably bringing you down too, like literally.

It's frustrating, this pain. Can't walk, can't run, can't workout, can't play badminton. But hey, in the meantime while you're recovering, take things slow. Finish that goddamned book and start a new one. Pray. Read the Bible properly. Eat healthy. Quit slumping your back.

Frustratingly yours,
Your currently injured self who can't wait to play again

Wrapping up 2022

Heya! Here's my last Weekly Monotony for 2022, a lengthy 20 minute vlog about how the past week went by! I kinda forgot to split this into two vlogs but whatever haha you may watch it here below ⬇️

Weekly Monotony (Dec 26 - Jan 1 2023 Vlog) • click here to watch

This one's a pretty long one cos a lot went down this week (ie. eating out haha). 

✱ I don't recall going to the gym cos my head still feels heavy from ubo sipon.
✱ We ate at Alba, tried the newly opened spa at Estancia (Blue Water Day Spa), and dined at High Grounds. 

✱ Cooked sinigang, RTOed, and discovered Black Dragon milk tea.
✱ We also claimed our Once in a Lifetime voucher at Victoria Court before it expired. Luckily, there was an available room on the day itself. They gave us the Chinese Room and it's amazing! There's a big jacuzzi and a swiveling media wall so we can watch TV while on a bubble bath. There's Disney+ installed too so we finally got a taste of Avengers Endgame in 4k!
✱ Dined at Watami which serves ridiculously packed sushi rice it's so frkn heavy haha. Their matcha cheesecake is a great discovery though, I think I have to try making it!
✱ Shang transitioned into a cardless parking system where they take a snapshot of your plate upon entry and you pay for it before going out, by entering your plate number on one of their kiosks. Pretty cool, though I wonder how it works for those with similar plates like 8 and 16 for senators and congressmen?
✱ Anyway. Spent Thursday evening preparing for our New Year trip the next day. We drove to Amadeo to spend the final days of the year at The Farm Shack Villas.
✱ I so love the place it trumps a lot of our "finer" accommodations this year. Nevermind that we got sick from dipping in the cold pool and showering in patak patak cos the water pressure is too weak haha. We still had a blast.
✱ On our first night we prepared truffle cream pasta and lemon butter chicken.
✱ And for New Year's Eve dinner we had Magic Potatoes and US Ribeye Steak w/ Guga Rub (thanks Guga Foods for the recipes).
✱ Went to Acienda Outlet Mall too to eat and look around. I gathered it's not really cheaper at outlet malls, but you do have a lot of options I guess.
✱ Caught the last sunset of 2022, a beautiful raging one, and drove to it heading back to the villa. Sunday was bittersweet as we pack up and leave this hidden paradise. The drive home was smooth, absolutely no traffic, and we were home in 2 hours. ♥
✱ Had dinner with my in-laws at Mama Lou's

My 2022 Lists (Twitter Thread Wrap-up)

I don't know how to call this but when 2022 started I made a list of all the films, series, and books I've consumed. I also made a thread for stuff I'm thankful for. And here's how it went...

Oh my Twitter is private so here's a snapshot I guess haha

By the way, this is the second year I'm doing this and I'm proud to say I've automated the part where I have to scrape all of the images (posters and covers) in the thread. The layout I did on Canva and IG.

2022 in Films (23)

I'm not really a movie person. Everything I watched this year I watched with my husband (except Encanto), he's the one who loves movies. Of all those films I particularly enjoyed Last Night in Soho, Multiverse of Madness, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Ricky Gervais Supernature, Werewolf by Night, Wakanda Forever, and Good Will Hunting. 

2022 in Series (17 seasons)

Ahh. My attention span for k-dramas have declined horribly I can't get myself to finish Extraordinary Attorney Woo and It's Okay to Not Be Okay. On 2022 I was only able to complete two romcom type k-dramas. My brain is leaning more towards consuming short and easy to watch series like Selling Sunset and Never Have I Ever haha. She Hulk was an abomination. 

Jeckie and I also started with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and we're now on Season 6. It's a different kind of sitcom for me. The leads are a bunch of egotistic assholes who have absolutely no love for each other, much more to the people around them. That unique premise opens up a lot of possibilities and unbelievably ridiculous situations that never fail to crack us up. I highly recommend it! The social commentary is also on point hahaha

2022 in Books (8)

Oh I'm not proud of this. I completely blew my 2022 GoodReads Challenge because I was stuck on Surrounded by Idiots for months and I couldn't abandon it because of my OCD. Sigh.

In this list I enjoyed People We Meet on Vacation, Atomic Habits, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

I also just discovered Anna's Archive recently which has a pretty promising library, a good substitute for Z-Lib after it went down. :)

2022 in Thanks

Oh I have a lot of things to be thankful for this year and the thread made it easier for me to recall them. Big and small I jot them down as long as I'm thankful for it it goes on the list ♥ For this one though I'm just gonna cover what I consider my personal highlights hehe

✱ I got two credit cards on No Annual Fee For Life promo ♥

✱ Caught Covid and recovered. Probably got Omicron which was the prevalent variant at that time. Perks of isolation: daily trash collection and deliveries taken to our doorstep; serviced apartment feels haha. Except we're stuck at home for two weeks haha. Had to give up (sell) our Spider-Man No Way Home tickets because of this but it's all good :)

✱ As far as staycations go we had 9 of them this year, not including the accommodations we had with our families, and the multiple "short staycations" we spent at Victoria Court HAHAHA. In fairness to VC you can really spend some quality time and entertainment over there. All the suites are thematic and come with jacuzzi tubs, the TVs have been all updated to ginormous smart TVs, there's also karaoke, and last but not the least - their restaurant is really good. I recommend getting their Legendary crispy pata, pork belly, and shanghai!

I love featuring the places we stay at because I get to practice my shooting and editing skills hahaha.

✱ Worth mentioning in my highlights are the best steak experiences we've had this year. Manila Pen's Beef Wellington, Ruth's Chris' Steakhouse's Porterhouse for two, and finally my own cooking: US Angus Ribeye Steak w/ Guga Rub. Guga Food's Guga Rub is one of our best gastronomic discoveries of the year, that and truffle oil!

✱  I worked with True Value for my first ever sponsored video content. I was ecstatic when someone reached out for a video content that's gonna be published on my channel. They paid me a talent fee, and also gave me the items I needed to feature on the vlog for free (I got a butane stove and a lifetime table hehe). They may not like the numbers this video earned but this was an enriching experience for me!

https://youtu.be/6W2NAv1HibA

✱  I voted for the first time in my largely apathetic life. I had hope for a while then it died in a matter of hours. I knew it was better minding your own business. And that's where we at. Still a highlight, but could be a lowlight too you know? For the country, definitely.

✱  I earned $372.81 on YouTube this year. I know it's not much but it's the most I've earned in a 12 month period ever since getting monetized last year! 

✱  Had my longest solo drive when I fetched Jeckie at San Pablo. 84km at night!

✱  I left my cozy five year old job at White & Case for the sake of career growth. Now that's a heavy highlight for me. Writing about it now, four months into my new company, and I still feel terribly nostalgic. I miss my friends, my boss, our beautiful office, my large and motorized personal desk, the benefits haha. I miss everything. And while I'm feeling very stressed right now at work due to, uhmm, the knowledge gap that I have yet to bridge, it's still a bit to early too regret this decision! Hopefully I power through. By God's grace!

✱ My Kindle Review reached 100k views ♥ Which reminds me, I have to work on my backlogs!

✱  My channel reached 2k subs this year! That means 1k legit subscribers cos you know I had to work for my first 1k subs through ~enrichment activities~ and support groups!

✱  I joined Fitness First to put my fitness first charot. We got an 11.11 deal on it which gave us two free months, then we also purchased a PT package which gave us another free month. Good deal, and also, I love it here! Lots of group classes and the coaches are very professional.

✱  I learned a bunch of handy skills this year like replacing a faucet and changing the exterior lights of our car haha.

---

I guess that's it for the roundup! This must be the lengthiest blog post I've ever written this year. Actually I haven't written much this year and I miss it. Hope to get back to just random babbling cos I miss writing spontaneous nonsense.

Have a blessed year ahead and if you reached this point please drop a comment let me give you psycho a little virtual hug for caring enough to read a long-winded account of how this stranger's year went! ♥

Not feeling it

✱ I don't know if I like it here. It's only been 3 months though. There's not much going on besides working and getting paid on time, which is great in itself. But the lack of things, events, or people to look forward to makes the experience pretty dull for me. I can't help compare but during this time of the year at White & Case we have something to look forward to almost every week starting November until January next year. 13th month, Christmas Basket, leave conversions, Holiday Ball, the suspenseful Thank You bonus message, salary increase and performance bonus discussion, and the tons of foods, events and eat-outs. It's super duper festive at White & Case and I miss it. I terribly miss it.

Here, the "big" Christmas party where over a thousand participants attended was held online, and the raffle prizes are so small like the grand prize was a 32 inch Android TV. I sound so ungrateful but I just wasn't excited about the prizes lol. But I did get picked in a raffle and won 1k GCash so not bad. Definitely not bad considering I think it's the first time ever that I got picked in a company raffle haha.

Yun lang, it just feels... sad. Our office looks drab, I don't like the seat sharing idea, I have no friends (yet), and my WTAX for the past two months has totaled to 130k already because of the tax annualization shit so besides not feeling the festivities I also feel so fucking poor right now. Fucking taxes eating my holiday spirit. That's it. I feel poor so I feel bad.

If anything, I thank God that despite the alarming tax deduction which I was not prepared for, what's left of my salary is enough to pay all our monthly liabilities.

✱ Last week one of our tail lights got busted so we had it replaced, was even stressing about it cos I thought it was gonna cost a fortune, turns out it's an easy thing to do by yourself. Then the following week one of our head lights got busted so we had that replaced too, thank God for YouTube lol. So apparently, our bulbs are all nearing their lifespan so we're gonna have to replace everything in one go so they all die at the same time and not hassle us. It's been 6 years so might as well!

✱ I was also sick the entire week. Started feeling bad on Sunday then it developed into a fever. Three days in and my temp peaked at 38.5C so I went to the ER to get checked. Tested negative on antigen so I'm just taking meds for the symptoms. I have sore throat, cough, and allergies. Sucks but I hope it's my annual Christmas fever so I'll be over it before the important weekends start... which is tomorrow! 

✱ I promised myself to read all day so how about getting into that right? Surrounded by Idiots making me me feel like an idiot. What a drag.

✱ Hope you're feeling better than I am!

Frkn migraine

I've been having frequent headaches recently. Normally it comes a week before my period, I'll have it for one whole day and it's hell, but now I have one almost everyday, at random times, and I'm still on my period. I notice I get headaches when I get up too late, or when I'm hungry, or thirsty. So I'll eat alright, have some coffee, and it'll be gone for a while, then it'll be back. Then I'll take some mefenamic, then wait for it to take effect, but I don't think it really works. I actually have a headache right now at this moment while typing this. And it sucks. Maybe it also happens when I eat too much? Is it my glasses? Hay Lord. The location of the pain is telling of a migraine; the first one in this photo:

Besides this fucking migraine I'm also battling some work induced anxiety lol. I'm feeling overwhelmed with my first task, everything here looks super advanced like I'm not properly equipped with anything they're expecting me to do. There's a freaking huuuuuge knowledge gap I need to fill in because huhuhu everything is so advanced nga. Makes me wonder how the heck I got this job when they're looking for an expert. I was very honest with my interviews naman where I said I've never done unattended robots and have never used orchestrator, all my UiPath experience are UI based and manually triggered and now I'm realizing how so freaking basic that is.

Haaay. I wanna say this too shall pass but I know it will not pass me by idly, I have to really work on this which is freaking scary because I don't know where to start??? I do feel like I know who to go to but I don't know what to tell them or ask them or what specifically do I need from them. I feel like I need a lot of hand-holding in order to do this one job but I also feel hopeful that once I get over this first task I will be in a much better mental state hahaha. For now I've started working on the documentation, trying to piece together the actual scope of the project and the manual steps for the as-is process, just to put something out there. I wanna blame myself for being so freaking shy and procrastinating on a lot of things that require talking to people. Half the stress I'm facing right now could've been eliminated if I went ahead and talked to people to get help. But no, I'm too scared to reach out! Oh well.

Life Lately

✱ Reading 

I've been stuck on Surrounded by Idiots for months but I don't want to quit it because it feels wrong lol. You know when you get a really boring books it takes ages for you to finish and it's frustrating because you can't skip to the next one without feeling weird that you abandoned a book 46% into it? But man, I'm three books behind my goal for 2022 Goodreads Challenge and I can't lose traction just because of a boring book. There has to be a way to overcome this. Yeah, I'm skimming it. That's it. 

✱ Watching

Nothing, at last! We finally finished She-Hulk: Attorney At Law this afternoon which was a relief hahaha. To be honest I didn't like the show. I can't say anything good about it. Oh wait I think I have one, it's *spoiler alert* Hulk's son.

Ever since episode one I've prepared myself for the worst and to be fair, episode after episode it keeps getting worse. Oh my God.

So what's wrong exactly?

• The script. It's so badly written, full of preachy woke agenda that doesn't add to the plot, if there's even one.
• The comedy is so forced it's so cringe.
• Wasted characters. Tatiana for one, I had a lot of expectations. She was the antagonist I was waiting for, or Mallory even, or better yet -- Nikki. I'll find that more convincing, women encounter more bitches than sons of bitches in real life, believe me.
• Ruined characters, most of them men, of course. They reduced every male character in the show to either wimps, incels, or idiots just to elevate the women in the show. To be honest, I would give it a pass because some are new characters I'm not familiar with so you can introduce them however you want.
• But to reduce already established characters like The Hulk, Wong, and Daredevil? They were made so uncharacteristic just to prevent them from stealing the spotlight.
• Very shallow plot. Which is kinda reflective of the whole modern-day feminist movement and the real weight of their agenda. Oops.
• No character development. I think the writers wanted to show how Jen struggled between her two identities and eventually learned to embrace them both. I was waiting for that to unfold. But it wasn't shown anywhere. She just said she can be both at the end, but again, there was no proof. Much like everything she complained about being a woman on episode 1, all but an echo. She has no arc.
• As a law comedy it already failed on a legal front, and it's not funny too. Now I don't know what to call it.
• Jen kept breaking the fourth wall to remind us it's her show, which was cute at first, but eventually became pathetic. Up to the last episode she's been trying to claim the show. Which is weird because it's already named after her. It's such a weirdly insecure act for someone who is so self-assured.

I guess, in true woke fashion, the series is trying to show who the real antagonists are, which is everyone who didn't like She-Hulk haha. Wow. I must admit, they've really mastered the art of victimhood. Congrats! They made it required watching, baited everyone into the anticipated cameos, and yet they couldn't just make it into a good show? They just really want to push the agenda so they can make sexists of everyone who disagree. They knew it sucked and thought it was a gotchu moment lol.

✱ Listening

To BP Valenzuela on YouTube music. 

✱ Thinking

About what day of the week to come to work.

I'm in the office right now and I kinda like the spot where I'm in; row's end beside the window. I haven't been able to sit where I used to (which is beside my teammate) ever since I started coming in at 3pm and even though there's no shortage of seats around here, I don't like the fact that I have to worry about not knowing where to sit as soon as I get to the floor. It gives me anxiety, you know. The same dread an outcast feels coming in to a cafeteria full of people. Which is why I'm considering coming in on Mondays or Fridays instead. I'm still not sure.

Generally, I want to avoid days where I have meetings because I prefer to take them at home. And the only days I have no regular meetings are Wednesdays and Fridays. The good thing about Wednesday is that I get to see one of my teammates cos he comes in Tues-Thurs. We have a short overlap where I can ask questions and stuff and kinda just show myself, and that's good. My husband also comes to his office on Wednesdays, so we get to leave the house together. It's pretty practical for us. On the day we both work in the office I don't have to prepare dinner so we can both eat out. The only downside to coming in on Wednesdays is that a lot of people also come to work on Wednesdays, as I have observed, and obviously I want to avoid them haha. 

Let's take a look at Friday. I haven't tried coming in on a Friday. I think less people come to the office on this day so I wouldn't have to worry about looking for a seat. But also, I have no teammate to personally bother lol, aaaand I think traffic is generally bad on this day. Especially when it falls on a payday. 

So yeah, I guess Wednesday is really the obvious choice. 

✱ Smelling

My breath pollute my face mask.

✱ Wishing

For some clarity at work. I have a task now, and I don't know what to do. I'm currently in the information gathering phase, which isn't looking so good because I don't have a clear plan. What I know is that I need to make an as-is process documentation to really understand what they do, get the right access to relevant sites so I can emulate what they do, learn how automations are developed and deployed here (what I'm currently stressing about), and finally develop and deploy everything properly. I think I know what to do but I don't have a template for it.

What I want to do properly though is maintain a Confluence site for all of the details of this project. I really wanna learn how to do things here properly, but I'm not even teammates with the people who can help me from a development standpoint. And in order to move forward I have to really reach out, and I suck at reaching out because I'm not really the proactive type huhu. This stresses me out so much.

Part of me wants to delay this until my new teammate comes in so we can tread together. I blame myself for asking for work too early lol I could have just enjoyed the months until my new teammate comes haha.

✱ Wearing

Blouse, denim leggings, and sneakers.

✱ Loving

♥ That I got to roam around High Street earlier. I reached the almost far end of the strip, where Fully Booked is.
♥ Got 50 off on my coffee at CBTL too. It's not as good though, their cafe latte, I don't recommend CBTL anymore. Muji's is better, and cheaper too.
♥ Had dinner at Salad Stop, ordered Oh Crab Lah wrap. Love it!

✱ Wanting

To get our house cleaned. I have "general cleaning" scheduled every month on my calendar but sometimes I forget until it comes to a point where I couldn't walk barefoot at home anymore because it's too dusty. We've always had a dust problem at home. With the amount of construction happening around our condo, it's a must to vacuum every single day otherwise we'd be dead of allergies.

There are five parts to getting the house really clean: CR cleaning, surface cleaning, floor cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. I cannot do everything in just one session. Good thing I scheduled for a deep cleaning tomorrow, they'll take care of the first three parts. Looking forward to having the house clean again! 

✱ Needing

Uhm, to really make some good progress at work. Please pray for me! 

✱ Feeling

My head hurt. I need to go home now.

Everything material is immaterial

I wanted to share a lot of things that happened in the past couple of weeks but it feels too late now like all of the emotions I have at the time have gone already so I couldn't write about it blow by blow. But let me try...

On October 1, on the way to IKEA we got into a traffic accident involving an SUV. I was merging lanes, thought it gave way, then BAAAM!! Apparently not. We were already halfway into the lane when the car behind us slowly moved forward. It scraped our car from the driver's door and went on until our sidemirror folded. Ironically, it all happened so slowly. Yep. Slowly. It looked very intentional. Only a sad asshole would assert its way in that manner. But because it happened slowly we thought maybe the driver wasn't looking, was preoccupied with other things and didn't notice the car in front has already moved forward significantly. And us on the other hand, saw it as an opportunity to merge, one that the car behind generously provided us. But nope.

I spent the week after that gathering info from our insurance provider and demanding payment from the driver. We exchanged fb's and I asked for a very conservative 2.5k to cover the participation fee from our insurance provider. In which she responded, "what about my damage?". Wow, she clearly has one on the head. Lol at the audacity of this kid. I told her her damage is her fault. And it is. I shouldn't even care that she's wearing a mourning pin, is on the way to a funeral, when she carelessly inflicted damage on our vehicle. But that glaring black square on her white shirt was the first thing I noticed and admittedly when I saw that I didn't know what to do next. I offered my condolences but that's not really why my mind blanked out. I don't know. I was just shocked. And in my state of shock and confusion I forgot to get her number, the offending vehicle's plate, and its OR/CR. The only essential thing I got is a copy of her driver's license. The plate number we recovered through our dashcam. Damn.

Thankfully she was responsive on fb, but not at the rate I prefer considering the urgency at which I want to get over this with. She paid up, eventually, and all is good. But not after threatening her that it's either 2.5k or the insurance company will run after her for the full cost of repairs, and we'll have to put this on blotter so it will show up in her records. Considering her age which I got from her driver's license, if she starts looking for a job she won't get a police clearance. That should make for an easy choice.

Only God knows how the hell she didn't notice a car halfway merged in front of her. We weren't even cutting, if we were then the impact would be fast. She had all the time to slow down and pull to a stop and she didn't. Seems like she wasn't looking at all. Hay. I could only hope she learns from this. I mean, if you're not in the right headspace, being in mourning and shit, you shouldn't be driving. Don't be a danger to the people around you right?? Urgh.

After the incident we tried to salvage whatever good is left of our day by still going to IKEA to do what I had planned to do: buy some home decor and eat meatballs. I was only able to do the former because the line at the Swedish Restaurant was ridiculously long. I was happy with my purchase though. I got three Knoppangs and a Fejka. Still doesn't compensate for getting into a traffic accident. Urgh. Plus IKEA on a payday weekend is such a bad idea. It was so crowded and chaotic.

I still drove on the way home despite my trauma from the incident. I've always hated the route going to and from MOA. It always gets crazy the moment you enter EDSA extension. All types of vehicles are in one crazy riot: trucks, jeeps, buses, motorcycles, trykes, private cars, even pedicabs can you believe it argh.

On the way home we stopped by Poco Deli to get a late lunch when I realized my wedding ring is missing. Wow. That is strike two for the fucking first of October. Obviously I felt even more down. Could the other driver have taken it? Was there some hocus focus that happened earlier? Is her mourning pin fake? Lol

When we got home I just cried at my husband complaining about how bad this day was. He hugged me and comforted me all night. We were together the whole day but he wasn't as fazed as I was. He says today was a very interesting day and brought up very convincing points as he was consoling me:

1. Don't worry about the car because we've been meaning to have our bumper fixed anyway so let's just consider this incident as a final reminder to get the bumper fixed haha
2. Don't worry about the ring because we could have his melted and turned into two rings, we've been meaning to have his resized anyway cos it's gone loose now
3. You got your IKEA haul and we had a good lunch at Poco Deli, and we got to buy legit Vienna sausage lol

That was very enlightening for me. You know, that whole night I was just so disheartened all I did was come to my husband to cry and get a hug. It is very comforting getting a warm hug from someone you love. He made me realize that everything I worry about is material, and ultimately immaterial. Every dejected thing about this day shall pass. 

And it did.

It's been three weeks since the incident and everything's been sorted out. Actually, the next few days already felt like retribution. Like I mentioned above, the driver paid up. And aside from that, when I called insurance turns out we didn't have to pay for anything. It's our first claim for the policy period so participation fee is waived. The entire claiming process was also a breeze. We just had to bring the car to the auto shop for assessment and pay for notary of affidavit. We didn't even have to write the affidavit, they took care of everything. Yeah, including making up a story, if you get what I mean. Since we're not going after the offending driver anymore we had to file for self-damage claim. The owner and one of his guys was bouncing off ideas on what to put on the details of the affidavit, and in end we settled for a story which they assured us would get past through insurance. They told us not to worry, cos they know them all too well. This story works so let's stick with it. 

Guys. That experience was interesting, to say the least. We just met a Saul Goodman. And despite putting our integrity in question, we felt super relieved after. So this is how this works huh? This is how the world works?

Two weeks later we brought the car back so they can start with repairs. Here's to hoping they do a good job with it!

Finally, to put an end to all the stress I sustained from that unfortunate first of October, miraculously, my wedding ring turned up. Turns out I dropped it at Poco Deli! I never considered looking there because it was where I realized I lost it so naturally I would retrace my steps, Poco Deli not being in that trail. And by God, I wouldn't have asked there if the guard at Unimart hadn't told me to try checking with Poco Deli first while the admin officer is on break. I didn't really have any hope left in me that day, so whatever, even though I was convinced it isn't the place to look for, I have nothing to lose anyway so might as well. And then can you believe it, when I approached the counter and asked the crew if they found a ring when we dined here last Saturday, they heaved a confirmative "aaah", and lo and beaaahld, they actually have my ring! Oh my God! I was in such a good mood we had celebratory sushi at Dough and Grocer. Their assorted Aburi Oshi oshi is delicious!

I can't believe it. Everything was solved within the week. First we learned we didn't have to pay anything for participation and repairs, then the driver who hit us paid up, and finally I found my ring. I'm still reeling from how things turned around that quick, putting all my worries and tears in vain.

Thank God for my husband, he's been a great refuge in that trying week. He kept me sane. Even though we already both know what to do, which is to get the car fixed and accept that I lost my wedding ring, I was too focused on the process, anticipating the worst, that I lose sight of the goal. My husband, on the other hand knows that what we want to happen will eventually happen so why worry? 

Yeah I get his point, I just don't know if I'm capable of that haha.

Ahh, thank you Lord. ♥

If you've reached the end of this post, wow, thank you for enduring my rambling!!!

This week

Starting the weekend on a thankful note!

✱ It's our fifth year anniversary yesterday!

Welcomed it with buffalo wings and cheese tart! Will celebrate more (expensively lol) over the weekend hehe ♥

✱ I got my backpay this week! 💸

And it took less than a month wow. Usually backpays take three months minimum and an enraged follow up with HR lol. But yeah, thanks White & Case! You the best!

So where did my money go?

✓ Most of it went to replenishing our emergency funds and paying our insurance policies

✓ I was also able to fully pay my iphone omg can you imagine the bragging rights haha 

✓ Booked a staycation for our anniv ♥

✓ Bought new bed sheets (long overdue) and a taller shoe cabinet

✓ The rest I spent on Shopee on random stuff like a karaoke mic hihi, a tripod, collagen drink, an ipad case, some stickers, leather tape, etc. You know, stuff that's been sitting in my cart for ages. Then I went ahead and added some more bwahaha. We just can't leave our carts empty right?

✓ Oh yeah I saved some too haha. That's me pretending to be a responsible adult. 

I'm so excited to receive the items I checked out but I'm also worried they'll arrive over the weekend when we're not here! Our reception doesn't hold items anymore and charges 50/day for items unclaimed within 24 hours so that sucks.

✱ Completed mandatory trainings

I've completed all the mandatory trainings assigned to me during onboarding, so now I'm left with nothing to do. Again. Still don't have my admin account, let alone admin rights so I can at least begin installing stuff. Oh well. Every time I raise it to my teammates they're pretty lax about it and tell me it's fine, enjoy it while you can haha. Guess I'll do just that. 

✱ Decluttered a bunch of stuff

Feels great to free the house of clutter every once in a while. I gave away a lot of things, and it felt so good cos I get to reclaim a little bit of space in the house, you know so I could put in more things bwahaha.

✱ My knees are recovering yey

Same old injury that keeps plaguing me every now and then. I thought I've overcome the fear of straining my knees during badminton but seems like I need to condition myself more. I wear knee support on both of my knees now lol. This one doesn't seem so bad though, unlike before where I had to use crutches. The moment my knee clicked in pain, I sat down, put ointment, and did a couple of knee circles. Thank God it's not too bad and I'm still able to walk properly though I had to sleep with my leg raised on a pillow because the swelling is painful. I wasn't able to come to work Tuesday as scheduled because I couldn't walk around with a painful knee, much more ride an angkas. Thankfully, the following days are much better.

Hoping for a great weekend! ♥

What sucks

✱ Sucks that Kindle Cloud Reader doesn't permit reading of sideloaded books. Though who am I to complain haha. Maybe when I get super rich I wouldn't mind buying books directly from Amazon because what's wasting ~500 pesos on a potentially bad book right? I can just earn it lol. But right now, despite the little bit of hassle and the risk of getting badly digitized copies, I still prefer downloading through Z-lib. If Kinde Unlimited was truly unlimited I would have subscribed to it instead of downloading books one by one, but I know KU doesn't carry the same variety Kindle has so nevermind, plus at the rate at which I'm reading, I feel like paying $10 a month would be a waste. Although wait, if I average at least one book a month that would make the subscription fee worth it right? Considering a book is also around $10. Hmmm. Nope.

✱ I checked my Adsense earnings and found that my web and channel earnings have been segregated already which sucks cos it's gonna take longer to reach the withdrawal threshold now that they're split into separate accounts with separate thresholds. My web earnings is only around $10 and my Youtube is at $110, I wish I could combine them so I could reach threshold faster but oh well. My web earnings is probably gonna take another decade to reach threshold and youtube, uhm, if I get a steady amount of views despite my lack of new review content lately, maybe two years hahahuhu. Totally not looking forward to this anymore lol.

✱ Last week we went to Megamall to look for a monitor cos I just returned the ones I'm using back to White & Case. Thought I could buy them out, turns out they're not yet for lease return. And here I am excitedly looking for something exactly like what the office had provided me only to realize they were hella expensive lol. I thought monitors are cheap, like 3k cheap. Anyway. The one I used to work on is a Dell U2419H which is super great it's got like 5 USB ports, HDMI, DP, and can be mounted with a VESA plate. It's been the perfect monitor for my current setup where I alternate between my work laptop and personal computer everyday. Work laptop to HDMI, and my personal laptop to the DP. Which is why it's extremely important for me to get HDMI and DP, not HDMI and VGA like what most monitors have.

I tried to look for something similar online but couldn't find anything brand new. Added a bunch of models to my Shopee and Lazada cart hoping SM Cyberzone would have something on-hand that doesn't cost too much, unfortunately there were none that fit my specs requirements moreso my budget lol. I thought I'd get a good deal since it's 9.9 haha in the end I checked-out a BenQ (bengk? ben-q? hahaha) monitor from Lazada for a little over 6k (after promos and discounts) that checked all the boxes except for having USB ports for charging. So now I'm patiently waiting for it to get delivered. Last I checked it's been picked up already. I can't wait argh.

✱ My stomach has been hurting for two days now I don't know why. Last thing I ate before this was Behrouz' Chicken Biryani, and that was really good so if I may have caught something from that, well, no regrets lol. It's weird cos my tummy hurts but I don't feel like pooping haha it's uncomfortable but it doesn't hurt so much, maybe a 5/10. It sucks cos the pain level doesn't merit a sick leave, but the discomfort makes me want to just lie down the whole day. Hay.

✱ I smell like siomai

✱ Looks like my manager isn't coming in to the office today. Maybe I can squeeze in some reading time to get back on track with Surrounded by Idiots. I'm so close to not finishing it as it's not as interesting as I thought it would be. It's merely an elaboration of the four temperaments; sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, color coded into red, yellow, blue, and green respectively so it's easier to remember and attribute to people. So far it's been okay. Nothing mind-blowing. All I know is I'm most likely a combination of green and blue. Usually quiet, reserved, agreeable to a fault, with lots of inner turmoil lol. That's me pretty much. Still, I wanna get over this quickly so I can jump in to a novel. I need a story. This book is boring.

✱ My other blog, www.surfandperf.com is blocked in this machine (my work laptop) for being "suspicious" and I don't know why. I've already enabled https but it's still the same so I have no idea what's wrong. I may have to look at the add-ons and the bunch of js gibberish and remove anything remotely suspicious. Usually it's the outdated link references, but I wonder why even my empty blogs are restricted argh. I'm bummed because that's where all of my work notes are, in article format so it would suck big time to be denied access to it. Would be awkward to request for my own blog to be unblocked here haha. On the plus side, this one is accessible so I'm okay. At least I have an outlet.

✱ Hope I don't forget to bring home the samosas I kept in the ref earlier. Got them from Assad Mini Mart, just right behind the office. I would love to look around more inside but I couldn't risk smelling like masala when I get back to the office. The store smells very strongly of Indian spices and while that's heavenly for me, it may not be the case to the people around me haha. Sucks.

✱ I wonder when they'll credit my first paycheck. Is it on the day itself or a bit advanced? lol. Been refreshing the banking app ad nauseum and it's only the 13th hahaha. Well, it's already the 13th! Super spoiled at White & Case where they'd credit our paychecks at least two days early, sometimes even a week before, for unknown reasons. And on the rare times it falls on the dot, we all lose our minds haha.