A Sad Yet Happy Day

"The only competition is with yourself.
Everything else is motivation."
~ A friend's Facebook status

Day 128
06 February 2012

I welcomed the day with a heavy heart. Before I went to bed last night, my mom dropped the bomb: I won't be traveling later this month. For the past three years, it has been an annual tradition for me to travel to Baguio City every last Friday of February to take part of the Panagbenga Festival grand street parade happening every last Saturday morning of February. After a whole day of staying in the said city, I'd travel for two to three hours to La Union to stay at our house there in time for dad's death anniversary on March 05. However, none of that will happen this year, because my brother is scheduled to fly to Cagayan de Oro on 29 February to be with his girlfriend and will stay there for one full week. Since we don't have any household help and my sister is scheduled to go back to work anytime this week, nobody will be left at home to watch over the house and the cats. I made an appeal - that if I don't go, nobody in our family will light a candle on dad's grave and mom's response made me sadder: that we should only light a candle on his grave every All Saints/Souls Day. Personally, I always believe it's much better to visit a dead loved one during the death anniversary because it's like their "birthday," but mom already made a decision and I have to respect that. I will just send my aunt (dad's younger sister) to light a candle for us. I just hope the relatives will not think that he have already forgotten dad in the short span of 5 years.



Even with a heavy heart, I set out to do my morning walk. Today's the Day 1 of Belle Today's 7x7 Challenge and I am quite excited to see if I can actually do this challenge. In case you didn't read my previous post, the challenge is to do at least 7000 steps everyday for 7 days. This is a much tougher challenge compared to the "No Sweets Challenge" because unlike the other challenge, there is a physical effort to pass this new challenge.

First order of business: get a pedometer.

My sister came home early today (5-ish in the morning) and placed the pedometer I asked her to buy on my desk. When I was about to go out, I tried to get it to work, but sadly, the plastic flap that covers the battery couldn't be closed. I was already wasting precious time, so even without the pedometer, I went out to walk, just to make the day count.

It would be crazy to count my steps by mind, so I just did what I always do - brisk walk at a steady pace and longer strides. It was a chilly day - there would be "smoke" whenever I breathe using my mouth, but thanks to the jacket I was wearing, I was still perspiring.


I walked much longer today - I walked past the clubhouse and when I reached the gate (signaling the end of my route), I decided to make a U-Turn and walk for another 1/4 of the way before going back to the gate and take the jeepney ride home. I was happy to see a Fire Tree Flower somewhere - now I know why the trees turn fiery red: the flowers are huge!

Anyway, walking for a little more than 2 hours, plus the many steps I made around the house as I did my chores and exercises... I sure hope I was able to achieve the 7000+ steps I needed, but if not, I guess I will just add one day to my challenge.

My exercise log:

• 6:20 to 8:35 am - Walk to and around Colinas Verdes; walk from market to home.
• 11:05 am - Hip Hop Abs (Cardio)
• 1:47 pm - 8 Minute Arms (using a pair 4lb dumbbells)
• 4:33 pm - Hip Hop Abs (Ab Sculpt - using a pair 4lb dumbbells)

The dumbbells were so heavy, but it sure felt great to able to carry the dumbbells and finish the workouts.
Recalling an incident last Friday... I was jogging lightly that morning, and a group of men were walking behind me. One of them is a pastor, and since they talk loudly, I could hear their conversations. Some topics were about church, but one topic that stuck in my mind was the pastor's comment about walking / exercising at Colinas Verdes, either alone or with friends. He said - all of us have personal struggles everyday, may it be personal, with family, relationships or work... or a combination or some or all. Sometimes, people resort to the usual remedies - sex, drugs, alcohol - which makes us forget the problem, but we all know problems will always be there, unless we solve them. Instead of going to the usual remedies, why not walk or jog? Walking along the usually vacant roads of Colinas Verdes will not only make you forget your problems, clear your head for a while... it will also make you better. Of course, the problem is still there, but at least you didn't ruin yourself by adding more problems.
Walking alone today made me contemplate about that... and I am thankful that despite a blow that made me sad, I didn't just stay in bed and wallow about it.
I don't know if you notice it... but I changed my blog's header today. Valentine's Day is coming and the picture I used for the first header was taken from way, way back, so I think it's time to change it. I love scrapbooking, but I am not blessed with enough creativity (especially in doing digital scrapbooking), so I used a ready made template. I used the February Desktop template by Trixie Scraps for the header, and if you want to download the template, just click on the image above. It will redirect you to Trixie Scraps blog.


There are three picture slots for the template, and I sure want to use present day pictures, so I set the camera for a quick photo shoot. The blouse I was wearing was something I owned from way back, and I only got to use it once in 2007 - when the family went to the Salcedo Village Weekend Market (click the link to view the album), and when I started gaining weight, I placed it in my "to dispose" bag, but now that I lost weight, I took it out and wore it again. Tummy bulges still show, but I think I can certainly wear this again.

I love setting my camera's timer to take about 7 images after about three seconds by the time it takes the first shot...it felt like posing for the photo booth!


My food intake today:

• 8:49 am - 1 corn on a cob
• 12:04 pm - 1/2 cup rice; leftover Salmon Sinigang (salmon head cooked in sour broth with yard long beans and sweet potato tops)
• 6:40 pm - 1/2 cup rice; Fried Chicken (60g chicken thigh seasoned with salt and pepper); a few boiled eggplants and yard long beans seasoned with fermented shrimp paste; 1 slice ripe papaya

Total Cups of Water: 13
Brother cooked a pork dish for tonight's dinner, and since I can't eat pork anymore, I just went to fry the chicken. :)
Other things that made me happy today:

• Seeing this Zumba invitation through my online friend's Facebook wall. Mingky is one of my food blog's follower who became a friend on Facebook - she's a college student of San Sebastian College, and she shared this upcoming event... which I really want to take part of. If any of you want to go to San Sebastian College on 17 February, please do tell me, so I can come as well.
• An e-mail from Thei. I just received an e-mail from Thei of Nuffnang Philippines about the Best Food Forward 2 event, and when I sent my RSVP (I always attend Nuffnang events), she sent another e-mail asking if I want to tag my brother along (I have attended 2 Nuffnang events with my brother). When I said yes, she just told me she just entered brother's name to the attendees. Thanks so much Thei!
• Another food event invitation. This time for Seattle's Best Coffee.

From sad to happy... it sure was a good turnaround, but I will close this post on a sad note. Around noon time, parts of the Visayas region (middle part of the country) was hit with a magnitude 6.9 earthquake and there has been lots of aftershocks following the big shake... people died, structures damaged, a lot of people affected. I am asking you to please say a prayer for the people affected by the quake. Thanks.