01 January 2016... A slippery start

I intended to write on a regular basis this 2016, but fate has its way of redirecting/delaying some of our plans. Right after new year, which is the first day of 2016, my 7 year old super sporty daughter, broke her shinbone.

We were supposed to sleep earlier than usual, we were done brushing our teeth and I am just waiting for my husband, Kathrin, as usual, jumping around, that time jumped from the sofa, made an aerial twist and landed badly, that we all heard a snap.

My initial reaction was putting both of my hands over my mouth and was in total shock. My husband who had his first aid seminar a few months back, responded quickly, Kathrin started to panic and wanted motherly comfort and care kept calling my name. After hearing her, I snapped out of my shock, and rushed to her side.

As a mom, you will always know, when there is something wrong. So when Kathrin's acted strangely and and for some reasons, wanted to suddenly sleep and kept apologizing, you know, there is something really wrong. I went to get the ice packs, put them on her leg and told my husband to call for an ambulance immediately. Truly being a mom changed me completly.  I snapped out of my shock zone, (I react so slow in most situations), checked my daughter, looked for signals and just function.

The paramedics came, who are very calm and funny, made it easier for Kathrin to calm down. They put some bandages on a penguin stuff toy and asked Kathrin to give it a name, to which she responded...Pee-pee for penguin. They stay with her until Michael and K are settled inside the ER. I patiently waited her at home, since we have Rieki.

Taken inside the ER
01.01.2016

Kathrin was released the next day and the recovery begins. The 1st 3 weeks was exhausting, we all have to be careful placing her leg in a position she wanted. More challenging was telling Rieki not to sit on her Ate's lap (*Ate -- tagalog for sister with respect ). That was not easy!

K's classroom is located on the 1st floor, and toilet is on the basement. I have to check on Kathrin during breaktimes, to ask, if she needs to go to the toilet. And in order for me to be able to do that, I have to perfectly time everything, so I can leave my younger daughter, who takes short naps, to check on Kathrin. Although the kids in school are super helpful, we decided to take no risk, not letting other kids bring/accompany her down the basement in case she needs to pee.

She is allowed to choose one classmate to stay with her during breaktimes, learning her lesson this time, she opted to stay in her classroom, to avoid futher accidents. I guess, she is secretly enjoying having a friend all by herself. 

It is the same thing with picking her up after school, our house is just a 3-minute walk to her school, nevertheless I have to take the wheelchair, wait before their classroom door, carry her bag and assist her going down the stairs and push her home. Of course, you can imagine.

I gained empathy, better yet  great respect to parents who have physically-impaired children. It is no joke, the exhaustion, the adjustment, the time-management with 2 kids.

Despite the exhaustion,  I am grateful for the gift of life--(yes it is just the shinbone, not her life threatening, or someone being paralyzed), astounished to see the kids at school, being to so helpful, opening doors for us, paving way to give us more space while walking aling the corridors,  asking Kathrin--what happened, how is she doing, encouraging words, self made cards or note cards etc.  I am definitely a richer person after this experience. (Thanks Kuya Melvin and Em-em for the emotional boost)

Tomorrow is her big day. The cast would be removed and we are keeping out fingers crossed, that after her reha-therapy, we can finally leave this chapter behind us.

2015....2016 Better late than never...

This is so late but here it is anyways....

Hello!!! It has been a busy 2015 for me and for those who have been patiently been waiting or lost patience already... I am glad to say I am back writing. I have so my reasons why I made a pause writing but let me share you the highlights of the past year.

I made resolutions and did a quite few...

1. I only bought things that I needed throughout the year and it was so liberating. The experience made me realized that less is more and we don't need too much material things to make us happy. It was tough at first but in the long run, I got used to it. It is nothing to do being so frugal but setting priorities and one of my main reasons why is to decrease my buying consumption on...

Books

Since I love to read and love the resolution I made...I started to borrow books from the library, it saves me alot of money and SPACE too. The city library in my town is a heaven for me and my kids, we borrow now on a regular basis books, board games, Blu-ray films and dvds.

Online Shopping
Whenever I have the urge to buy something online, I put in first in a wish list and just leave it there, after a few times, checking it and weighing if the those things are my 'wants' vs. my 'needs'...I end up buying just the things that I need and not the impulse stuff. The less stuff the better. It totally worked out for me.

Sewing Materials
I am a fabric hoarder! I bought fabrics to hoard, with the challenge I placed upon myself, I needed to be consistent. So avoided my favorite fabric online shop and use the fabrics I still have. I sewed and upcycled scraps and even gave it as gifts. I am so proud of myself that I was able to minimize my costs by using my available fabrics and the best part I started sewing fabrics that I love and made me happy and other people too.

I stopped collecting stuff
This is something personal but it is  the same way as liberating as other resolutions. I used to collect momiji dolls, these tiny dolls could make one addictive. Oh I am so guilty! But when my uncle died last 2014, I realized that when we leave people behind, the memories and the love remain. Simple as that. So instead of collecting more, I stopped buying,  sold some of them and concentrated on collecting memories. Which saves me money and makes me more than a happy person.

Make and collect memories, from loved ones, from friends, from people. Relationsips make us richer not material stuff.

2. I started another new hobby. Aside from sewing, I started to paint mid- 2015 and I am enjoying every single time I paint or draw. This made me realized that we are never too old to try something new.  Being a perfectionist, I have been very afraid to paint, simply because, I wanted it to be perfect....hello Merril!! Painting or drawing takes a lot of practice and patience unless you are a prodigy! And so I started doing it. A hawaiian artist, Rebecca Snow would give me tips on how to do it. She is such an angel! You can also visit her blogspot, here is her link. * I love her artworks, I have a few of her originals and prints. To make my story short, I love every single time I paint, it is like jogging, the releases the stress away and keeps your mind free and flowing.

Lesson of the story...Fear is just a mindset. Fear cripples us. So why fear...life is too short to be afraid.

3. I finally made time to learn few basic Spanish phrases, so whenever I order in a restaurant or buy something, I can speak Spanish and try to speak and chat with the locals. We go on vacation twice a year on a spanish island and so I was so happy speaking in Spanish to a lady telling her to cut off the head of the fish and please clean it too. Hahaha! Dos Lubinas sin Cabeza y entera por favor! Gracias!

Again we are never too old to learn and feed our minds with new stuff.

4. I took time to make gifts to friends, acquaintances. Like I wrote, I only bought things I needed. When some of my friends' birthday is coming up, I would take and make time to sew or paint something personal as a gift. I now go by the motto, if I have a gift that can make people happy by giving hand-made or hand-painted, then I should do it. I used scrap textiles and made Christmas ornaments, so my daughter can give it to her classmates. I painted personal gifts for birthdays, for a birth of a child, sewed bags as a birthday gift. Don't you just love it, when you receive a personal gift that was made personally and was not commercially bought?

The most beautiful gift we can give to our friends is our time.  Make time to make things more personal.

5. I finally  enrolled to a course again, to let me mind stay on track and keep focused on the things I started. Being a mom to a 7 year old and a 1 year daughters , I am constantly  interrupted,  ( I am being interrupted right now for the 4th time) although I learned the art of being flexible, enrolling myself in a course makes me just focus on the lessons to be read, to written and to be submitted.

Life is an unending learning process. Keep learning.

6. I started this year to personally call friends to say hello and ask how  they were. With all the internet platforms we have, a viber or  WhatsApp message makes all easier but also unpersonal. I made sure that this year, I would call a friend, a sister, an aunt...just to say hello. Writing and sending snail mails are what I have been doing too. But I still have a list of people I need to write or call often.

Relationships keep us all grounded. Invest on it wisely.

7. I joined a Choir and gave me an opportunity to meet  and gain a few new acquaintances. I have always love to sing but hates to sing alone, so being in a choir totally works out for me.  The choir practices allows me to bring my 1 year old, who behaves well in front of people and such a mischief at home so I am loving it. I always look forward to sings every Thursdays since Rieki transforms into an angel and on special occasions we sing before audiences. My 7 year old daughter is my biggest fan, who is also sings in a school choir.

He who sings well praise twice -- St. Augustine

8. Learn an instrument. Never too old to learn new things. I started to play ......tada....the Ukelele.... I tried to play a guitar when I was in highschool, but since my hands are quite small and my fingers are...oh well...short....I gave up trying.... Hihihi.😊 Ukelele is actually fun, and perfect for my quite short fingers, most of all it makes me happy that I just simply did it. My father who can play the guitar and sing too, with my mom's ever loving encouragement inspired me to try playing an instrument. Tada...hoping to play more songs this year.

Music always warms the heart.

9.  I faced my fear of skating on ice. Either I was always looking for excuses not to do this to myself or I am so scared to fall on my bum. Kathrin, my daughter, who loves to skate on ice, compelled me to do it, showing her that I will make time and the effort, so we both can have fun on ice. So I asked my husband to buy me a pair of ice skates and we hit the ice the next day. I just for a start, I did great.

Again, fear is just a mindset.

10.  Lastly despite loss, bitterness, exhaustion and negativity, I continue to and will continue to stay positive and happy. Happiness not coming from material things is something people cannot take away from me. Thanking God, my husband, my daugters, my family, relatives and friend for good 2015.

So there...Indeed 2015 was a blast for me. Looking forward to a wonderful 2016. I am grateful.