Scavenger Hunt Sunday 101313

I wasn't able to continue with FatMumSlim's October Photo a Day, but I was able to take a picture of some of the prompts this week.


1) M is for...
Moe-Moe Furballs, our baby cat. Again, he was trying to convince me that it's time for bed, so after hopping on me and disturbing my tv watching, he started playing stints by cleaning himself on the desk, directly across me.


2) What you saw today
A typhoon just left, and when I checked the garden to assess the damage, I was surprised to actually see a plant blooming.


3) Corner
An image of the Rocky Road Brownies, taken near the corner of the pan before I pop it in the oven toaster.


4) Pink
The only pinkish picture I took this week - another one from the garden. It's just cute to see how green turns to pink and pink to red.


5) Hands
When my nail polish starts to chip, I either take it out (chipped nail polish often results to chipped nails so I had to do something about it asap) or I experiment with nail art. Not a good outcome of the ombre sponging technique, but it's always great to try... at least I know now that this combination doesn't work. :)

This weekend, the girls and I...

• Cleaned the house. I don't know how and why, but last Friday night when the rain poured real hard, I saw about two or three cockroaches near the stove, so yesterday morning, we cleaned the entire house and sprayed a tin of insect repellent. It's so icky to see cockroaches, we had to eliminate it right Baway.
• I baked Rocky Road Brownies using the oven toaster. It wasn't a very successful one, but not a failure either.
• We went to the mall - eating lunch together, bought shoes, and did the grocery shopping.
• Listed the things needed to do for the coming week. For me, it's all about diet and exercise. 

It's a great thing that the rain has stopped and the sun shone today, and we are all looking forward to a great week ahead.

* Jenn *

September Photo a Day Recap

This post may be a little too late as it is already the 8th of October, but really, finishing a month of FatMumSlim's Photo a Day makes me happy because I always attempt to do this but I always fall short, like what happened to me this month. I know this can be a little bit shallow for me to say, but now that I have finished one month, I know next year I can do all 365 days.

Photo descriptions:

10 - 16 May 2013

Time for yet another weekly recap here on the blog.

Last week, I had problems with my eating because I didn't seem to eat enough. Well, mom being at home and celebrating two occasions last weekend, I actually ate a lot. I gained 4lbs. this week, but I wasn't alarmed. I am actually a bit thankful for that, because my eating pattern became better this week. I am now eating full meals - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I surely didn't want to have any sort of eating disorder, and I was happy that my mom enforced me to eat last weekend, and that my sister's work schedule this week also allowed me to cook and eat lunch with her. If not for the two of them I would probably continue skipping meals. Problems this week, though, was my excessive craving for softdrinks, but again, thankful for some circumstances, I was able to not fully give in to it.

My exercise was okay, though I wasn't able to do that much because I injured my right pointer finger. I was cleaning the sink when something punctured my skin near the joint and come next morning it was swelling and there was this ripe-looking pimple. By Wednesday, my whole pointer finger already looked like a sausage, but I actually didn't go to the doctor. I took matters into my own hands, and I was just glad it wasn't swelling as much anymore. I still can't bend my pointer finger and I still use my middle finger to type out these words, but I am fine now.

Five more things I am thankful for this week:


>>> The ampalaya seedling we found in the garden and replanted near the macopa tree is now bearing fruits! Judging by the look of this little one, I think this one's the small almond-shaped ones and not the ones that look like cucumbers. Well, I do love the long ones compared to this one (this one's more bitter for my taste), but I am very much looking forward to harvesting the fruits and make it part of our meals.


>>> We celebrated Mothers Day with a simple dinner at Chowking. Well, we didn't go to the mall this time (we went to the nearest branch instead), and although we had a few complaints about the food served to us, being together... eating together... was already something to be thankful about.


>>> I have had my phone for many months now, but I still am discovering new things every now and then. At first, I sort of complained that the camera of the phone doesn't take pictures in black and white and sepia, the way my old phone did, but I found out this week that I can actually edit each image to suit my liking. I don't really store images in my phone's memory card, so I just played with the existing "old" pictures. Another plus point for this phone... making me happy and grateful that I chose to buy this.


>>> I trimmed my nails again and decided to go for the short nail instead of growing it long. This is the shortest my nails can go (I trimmed it just along the nail bed), and even if it looks like a child's hand because I do have small nails, I am actually liking it. Thankful, too, that this week I sported a dark wine colored nail polish. I've always wanted to own a wine colored nail polish; this one's darker than the actual shade I want, but this was the only one I had.


 >>> This week, I got to read three books! Among the three, it was "The Catcher in the Rye" that I had the most difficulty with, because it was my first time to go for the audiobook. At first I thought it would be as easy as listening to music, or listen to a friend sharing a story... but it was indeed difficult for me to focus on the story being told. I have one more book to read to complete this week's TBR (to be read) list, but I am quite certain I can finish it by Sunday.

Happy Friday, everyone!

How I Spend 30 Minutes in 10 Ways

It's Monday again... a new week full of promises ahead.

If there's one common thing all of us have, it would be time. Regardless of our social status, all of us are given 24 hours to spend, but of course the difference is that we spend it differently. That's the thing that makes us unique to each and everyone, don't you think? This week on Monday Listicles, we are asked to list down 10 Ways to Spend 30 Minutes, and of course, we do have our ways of spending it, and here are just 10 of the possible many more ways I spend 30 Minutes.

i am thankful i have a long zoom camera to capture bird pictures without disturbing it.

1) Tend the Garden.
My mom loves having lots of plants, but because she doesn't have enough time (during the weekdays) to check on her plants, it is my responsibility to take care of the plants and make sure the summer heat won't kill them. It is a responsibility I love to do, because whenever I see some flowers, or see some of the plants / trees bear fruits, or see butterflies (which is very rare) or moths or any kind of insects - crawling or flying... it gives me happiness. Of course, photographing the critters, fruits, and flowers ups the happiness level.

2) E-Mail Family and Friends.
We still don't have a router in the house, so us three siblings share the Internet cable, giving me less time to go to Yahoo! Messenger to chat with my friends. The only sure way of communicating with the people dear to me is through E-Mails, and surely, 30 minutes is more than enough to read and reply to several E-Mails.

as odd at it seems, i own two mary higgins clark book of the same title.

3) Read a Book.
Even then, I have longed to own an Android phone (I didn't really dreamt of owning an iPhone as I would rather use the money buying any Android phone plus a laptop or another camera than buy an iPhone) so I can start reading eBooks. Since I purchased my Android phone, I downloaded and installed an eBook reader and since then, I used my time to read books. I still do read the real books, but because the ones I borrowed from my uncle were all hardcovers, which can be difficult to carry because of its size and weight, having an eBook reader surely comes in handy. 30 minutes isn't enough to read one book (unless it's really short or unless you're Dr. Spencer Reid), but 30 minutes is enough for me to read a few chapters.

4) Tidy the Room.
I really, really hate to clean the room, and I am such a lazy person to do that... so the best way to ensure I won't spend the whole day cleaning the room because it already looks a freakin' jungle, I have to tidy up every now and then (though not everyday, haha). A little sweeping here, a little dusting and organizing there... and I'm done! :)


5) Exercise.
Yes, I do several exercises during the day, but most were video workouts under 30 minutes. I personally think it doesn't matter how long or how hard you exercise, as long as you do it. Just like how some people say, "It's better than doing nothing." Which reminds me... today I have to pick myself up again as I wasn't able to exercise last week. I already did one of the video workouts, I only have to do just one more.

6) Scribble Thoughts.
Despite having numerous blogs and other ways to share thoughts (twitter, instagram, facebook), I still have the good old fashioned notebook where I scribble thoughts and some things I am thankful for. These scribbles also include some quotable quotes I heard from a TV Show or Movie I just watched, or a book I am currently reading. Sure is nice to look back to the things I've written... seeing my own handwriting - no matter how horrible it was. :)

seaside burger with mayo-caper sauce

7) Prepare a Meal.
I can't whip up a feast in 30 minutes, but sometimes, it is enough for me to prepare something. I guess maximizing the time is the key to it - like for this meal, I had the fish fillet frying while I prepare the vegetables and the mayo-caper sauce, then frying the fries while assembling the sandwich. Let's eat!

8) Play Games.
On my phone, I have the "Fruit Ninja" and on Facebook I play "Candy Crush Saga." Both games don't require a lot of time to be played, as after a few minutes of playing "Fruit Ninja" can be enough, and "Candy Crush Saga" can only go for 5 lives, and since I am stuck at this level for a month now, I can use up the lives in just 5 minutes. :( Anyway, playing games can be a nice distraction, provided it doesn't eat your entire time.

picture from the archives - circa 2011

9) Paint the Nails.
I still am not a full-blown addict, but I admit having a mild case of nail polish addiction. I simply just love painting my nails! I guess painting my nails for more than a year has allowed me to learn how to do one full manicure in 30 minutes. Doing nail art requires more time than that, though... but because I am not that skillful yet, most I can do is to paint my nails in single color. Sometimes, I also paint my mom's and my sister's nails - giving me a time to talk to them, share thoughts, share some hearty laughs.

10) Have a "Me" Time.
We play several roles - a woman can be: a grandmother, a mother, an aunt, a cousin, a niece, a child, a worker, a friend.... the list goes on. It can overwhelm us, so we truly do need to have a time for ourselves - contemplate about things, even if it means sitting in the toilet and stare at the tiles (I have a friend in college who does that - she calls the bathroom her haven), or okay, under the shower or in the tub. As for me, my usual "me" time is upon waking up or while I eat my breakfast. It doesn't mean we should do something lavish to spend our own time, sometimes we just have to have that time to sit and relax, as what I heard in the movie "Eat, Pray, Love"... we can go for Dolce far Niente - delicious idleness, or the sweetness of doing nothing.

30 Minutes... 1800 Seconds. A lot can be done is such a short amount of time, and if you're good in multitasking, you can actually do more - like, while painting the nails you can have the TV on and watch something (while waiting for a coat of polish to dry)... or read a few pages off a book while you're simmering your dinner... or walk around the neighborhood listening to some tunes in your iPod or your cell phone.

This Weekend, I...

Emotions start to pick up this weekend, but there were still moments I felt quite low, which wasn't so bad. I am ready to face another full week of helping myself get fit, and I need to help myself recover from this low feeling. I think watching a few episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (season 8) helped. :)

This weekend, I...


Enjoyed reading a few pages off "Double Cross" while eating breakfast. What's so sweet was that my ever cutesy cat jumped on the table to sniff on my cereal bowl, try to act silly by distracting me and scratching a bit on the book to grab my attention, but after a while he just stayed there, allowing me to do what I wanted to do.


I signed up on Goodreads to keep a list of the books I have read and currently reading. I know, I told bookish topics will be shared every Thursdays, but I am pretty sure I'd finish a book (or two) by Thursday, so I am showing this now.

I also know that I said I'll read the books I borrowed from my uncle (the James Patterson books), but when I go to bed, lights off... I still want to read until my eyes get tired, and I don't want to go re-read Fifty Shades for I already read "Fifty Shades of Grey" and "Fifty Shades Darker" two times and if I read "Fifty Shades Freed," that would mean using precious time I could spend reading a new book, so I decided to start reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I was able to finish 96 pages before I dozed off... and I think I am liking this book a lot.


I received and used a sample product. Many, many months ago (maybe even a year ago), I remembered seeing a post from HHN asking people to give their details if they want to be a part of the sampling team for new products. I actually have forgotten about that, until last Friday, when I received a call and an e-mail to ask if I still want to sample this particular product. I received the sample yesterday (Saturday) and I loved the product. Of course, I can't tell what the product is, but I am all raves and I am excited for this to come out in the market.


It rained today (very heavy rain), but yesterday was a very hot summer day, and I got to see the little yellow bird again! It was tricky to photograph the pretty critter because it moves after a few seconds, but even if I am not super duper satisfied with the pictures I've taken, it gives me hope and anticipation to see the bird again and attempt to get a pretty photograph.

This weekend, too, I did the laundry and updated my Aldiko Library. Lotsa books to read... making mom happy to know that I am enjoying using my phablet as an eBook reader. Speaking of mom, at the dinnertable while watching the replay of "American Idol," she suddenly said, "Oh, the curly hair guy from the previous American Idol is having a concert." That gave me a puzzled look because I didn't hear any of the previous contestants coming over for a concert (last one I heard was Jessica Sanchez with Colton Dixon concert last Valentine's Day), and after a few minutes of thinking, she blurted out, "Oh, Aerosmith! I know you like that guy... you gonna watch?" Wow, my mom knows I like Steven Tyler? Amazing! :) Well, I am not a very big fan of Aerosmith, but yes, I do like the band (their "Get a Grip" album was the very first cassette tape I bought with my own money in 1994), but because the ticket is way too expensive, I won't be watching the concert.

Yesterday, I ate two oranges - one after lunch, one after dinner, and my sister was so surprised about it. I don't eat that much fruits, but they bought quite a lot of oranges and apples... least I could do was help them eat the fruits. :) Well, the oranges tasted really good, maybe I'd put some on my salad tomorrow.