Maundy Thursday

My brother is currently in the province of Laguna doing Visita Iglesia (church hopping) with his friends at the church org we both belong to. I do feel sad that I wasn't able to join them (brother didn't actually ask them if I can tag along), but there are still many things to be thankful for today.

1. We participated in the Way of the Cross here in the neighborhood. Our house was the 11th Station, and although I don't understand why it had to start very early (5am), the family is thankful for such honor, as the last time our house was chosen to be part of the Way of the Cross was more than a decade ago.


2. I was able to download an e-book reader through the Google Play. Using my phablet, I couldn't search the Google Play site to find an e-book reader, and when I was online yesterday using my netbook, I searched the site and found Aldiko Library. I clicked install on my netbook (yesterday), and this morning while I was cleaning outside the house tidying up the table and cloth we used for the Stations of the Cross, I noticed that the Aldiko Library has been installed on my phablet (grasping the free WiFi from one of our neighbors). I quickly transferred four of the seven e-books I have in my netbook (White Fang was already there upon installation) and I was very impressed with it. The "Fifty Shades" trilogy has been in my netbook since August or September last year (given by my friend), but I haven't read it yet because I truly don't like the way it was presented using Acrobat PDF Reader. I still prefer having the feeling of reading a real book (and not like reading a school project or a document), so now that I have the Aldiko Library, I can now start reading the series. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" I downloaded the day I learned about the movie version (a friend told me I have to read it first before I watch it).

Anyway, Booking Through Thursday asks,

Movies have a rating system to help guide the consumer weed out adult/violent/inappropriate kinds of films. Video games do, too. Do you think BOOKS should have a ratings system? 

I really do think Books should have a ratings system, too. I remember, when I bought "The Nature of Air and Water" by Regina McBride, reading the synopsis at the back cover of the book made me buy it because I thought it was about the relationship of a mother to her daughter... and although that was indeed the case, I was quite surprised at the dark, sexual tones the book had towards the middle of it. Judging by its cover - a lady wearing a cape - it really seemed wholesome and child-friendly, so it was really surprising to read certain anecdotes in the book that teenagers may not understand. Having a ratings system would not only help the parents keep track of what their children place in the cart, but it also helps stores selling books appropriate for certain ages.

3. Organizing my Nail Polish Stash. I don't know why, but we just had the urge to clean the house today. I tidied my closet, and I found an old scrapbook container, which was a great way to organize my growing number of nail polish bottles. I just took of its lid and started arranging the bottles. 15 of those I have already swatched and blogged... the rest I have yet to use.

4. Going out to walk. After lunch, it started to rain, but thankfully, it stopped around 3pm, so sister and I were able to go out. We were just thinking of checking the nearby market if there will be business (as some establishments are closed from today until Black Saturday), but because it was still early, we decided to walk all the way to Tungko (possibly 4 to 5 kilometers away).

5. Sharing a small glass of Halo-Halo with my sister. She and I got tired from walking (mainly because of the heat), so we decided to cool down a bit... but instead of buying a glass each, we decided to share a glass. Just the regular size, for we just want to cool down.

6. Saying my prayers. Near the Tungko Market is their church, and Maundy Thursday is the day in the Holy Week when Catholics go out and hop to different churches - some say we have to visit 13, others say we just have to visit 7. My sister and I weren't able to plan for this day, but entering a church, saying my prayers made me feel much better.

7. 4th day of Salad Days Project, a success! I still had the usual ingredients - lettuce, carrots, cucumbers - but thankful to a small feature on last Tuesday's news, I was able to learn a new salad recipe. Aside from the usual ingredients, I added three types of mangoes - unripe, ripe, and dried, and added onions, bell peppers, and cashew nuts as well. The vinaigrette was amazing (even if I only used 2 tablespoons of it for all these), and sharing this with my mom and sister, the three of us had a great dinner. Also, this is the 4th of day of no-meat week... and even if I am very much tempted to taste the chicken sister brought home from work, my control and discipline surprised me. By the way, I was able to buy some curly lettuce at the Tungko Market for only 25 pesos. Not bad at all!

My brother sent a text message saying my camera won't zoom, which worried me terribly because as much as I accepted the fact that my camera is slowly retiring, I still am not ready to let it go. Yes, I am eyeing on a new camera now - a Nikon camera with 21x optical zoom - but I still haven't saved enough money for it. Thankfully, I received another message that all is well already. What a sigh of relief! Since brother has my camera, I am also thankful I have my phablet to capture images from today.



PS - I just read from Lyn of "Escape From Obesity" that blogger Lorrie of "The Token Fat Girl" just passed away. My deepest condolences. The Token Fat Girl is one of the blogs I read (I even added the blog on my blogroll).