Christmas Must Go On.

This is the first for our family. Every year we always have Noche Buena. But this year I don't feel like celebrating Christmas at all. No gifts  for my son to open. No new clothes to wear. No extra special things. I am sad actually. Last Friday, 4 days before Christmas, my tita who lived three doors away from us died. Unexpectedly. She was still alive when we went to market that afternoon. Then in the evening, she was rushed to the hospital because she suffered a stroke and was in comatose. The next day she was pronounced dead. Just like that.

When Paul Walker died, I don't feel sad. I was shocked after all he was just 40? But when someone I know personally died, that's a different story. The death is too real. One day they are here with us, and the next day they are gone. Forever. Sorry is not the hardest word to say. It's Goodbye. The memories are even harder to forget. It's easy to say that life goes on but if anyone from my family dies, I can't even describe the grief I will be feeling.

But that's the way it is. God will take what God has given. When or how only He knows. I was telling my mother when I die I don't want a long wake. Just two days and bury me. I also told her I want to be buried in a memorial park and not in Tawiran Cemetery. Haha. Morbid. But that's reality. I don't want a sudden death. I want time to say goodbye. I want to prepare myself. Sorry. It's not the proper way to write on a Christmas eve. But this is what I'm feeling right now. Maybe tomorrow, I'll feel a bit happier.

But no matter what, Christmas must go on. And please don't post your greetings and I love yous in Facebook. If you can tell them yourself face-to-face tell them! Life is too short.

How to Fix Tshirts That Are Too Tight

Do you have tshirts that are too tight or too small to you? It's either you got bigger or your shirts shrink. Either way, it's a disaster specially if you love that shirt! Well no worries there are plenty of ways to fix that!

Here is a tshirt of mine that gathers around my belly. Not flattering so I decided to give it a make over.

You need an old tshirt or any shirt for that matter. 

Unstitch the side seams like so

Then cut two triangle strips from your another tshirt.

Lastly stitch the triangles you cut to the side of your tshirt!

You can also put pockets to make it a little fun! 

5K Run Now, 10K Soon (or Later)!

Yesterday, I joined Milo marathon and ran with thousands of participants at the SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Blvd. What I love about Milo is that a portion of the money we pay in the registration will proceed to underprivileged Filipino children. Milo will give them shoes. Plus, Riley and I love jogging. When we are in the mood to go to our favorite park, we always jog our way there. To be on the safe side, I initially intended to run 3K but I found out that only 7 to 12 years old are accepted in that category. Dyahe naman tatakbo ako puro bata kasabay ko! So I chose the next category which is 5K.

Riley loves the free Milo drink!

My mother asked me why I wanted to run? Why would I want to subject myself to an exhausting 5 kilometer run when I can just exercise at the comfort of our home. I am not obsess with being fit, in fact I'm too lazy to exercise. But running is different. There is a different kind of high when you finished it. I won't lie that during the race, I wanted to give up! 5 kilometer is not a joke. I keep thinking, ayan malapit na ko matapos, only to find out nakaka 1 kilometer pa lang pala ako! haha. I will also admit that I ran maybe less than half of the race and walk the rest of it. But still, I kept going on, one step at a time. I want to finish it even if I'm the last one to cross the finish line. I wanted to prove that I can do this. When I saw the FINISH sign, my self esteem boosts. My spirit was lifted and my energy was revived. Konti na lang!

Nothing motivates a runner than seeing the word FINISH!

It's unfortunate I left my camera with my friend Nanang. That's why you won't see any photos of me running. Or photos of the surrounding while I'm running. Or fellow runners who took countless "selfies" every opportunity they had. Nanang, Riley's godmother, was the one who took care of him. So while mama is busy running and trying to stay motivated, Riley is having fun with his Ninang Nanang! 

If you remember my bucket list here, one of my to do list is to finish a 10K run. What the eff! Can I do it if 5K is already a challenge? Honestly, I don't know. That's why I have the utmost respect to those who finish 42K run! Seriously, how do you do that? SO now I have a problem. I wrote 10K in my list, so 10K I must do. But please don't judge me if I change my mind later. Hey, I am a woman, I have the right to change my mind! ;)

Can you tell by my smile how happy I am to finish the race?

I am not just happy! I feel a winner too!

Refashioning

Ever since I stumble upon Refashionista.net, I look at my clothes in a different way. Visit her site and I am 100% sure you'll never look at your wardrobe the same again. She bought her clothes from $1 store and turn them into something wearable and fun! Well, when we cleaned up our closets few weeks ago, I saw some clothes that have potential to be refashions or to be repair. I love this new hobby of mine because it makes me improve my sewing skills more! But what I love about this is it makes me save more. Who needs to buy new clothes when you you can sew it yourself! I encourage everyone to give sewing a try.

My first refashioning with the help of my mother!

More sewing project to come!

How to Tie Dye

This is my first time to dye anything! It is so easy and fun to do! If I had known it would be that easy, I would have done it sooner because Riley has a lot of white boring tshirts. Here's how the transformation began:

First, boil water. The direction on the back of the Venus dye that I use is not clear on how much water is needed. So I just fill the kettle. While you're waiting for the water to boil, lay your tshirt flat in a surface.

There are a lot of pattern you can make but I decided on a very basic design - spiral. Put your thumb and index finger in the center of the shirt. Hold it and begin moving them in a circular motion, spiraling the shirt around the center point. 

Put rubber bands to tie it to create the spiral design on the center. You can put more rubber bands for more intricate pattern.

Dissolve one sachet of Venus Dye in the hot water. Then soak the tshirt in. Here, I dyed another piece of fabric (another project in the making!) so you can do that as long as it is not overcrowded. When the water cools down, rinse your clothing with cold water without soap or detergent. 

Lastly, hang it to dry completely. I read in some tutorial that it should be iron before to wear it so the color won't fade easily. But Riley I was so excited to see how it looks on him so no ironing happened on his shirt!

Riley's happy with it! He didn't want to take the tshirt off. 

Next time I'll try horizontal lines tie-dying. :)

Big or Small, We All Can Help!

Have you watched Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho last Saturday? Their first story features people who are affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda. Yung mga tao nagsasabi kung ligtas sila o ilan sa kamag anak nila ang namatay. May isa na nagsabi na namatay yung 2 anak nya tapos ung isa yata nawawala pa. Their story made me cry. I wept with them. I feel their grief. I was silently wiping my tears away while watching that. More than the houses demolished, and fallen trees, and properties destroyed, what's really devastating about this sad catastrophe are the lives lost along the way. :(

After watching that, I felt helpless. Gusto ko tumulong pero pano? Hindi naman ako mayaman pra mgdonate ng malaki. I can't also volunteer since my son is too small to be left without my care. You know, I always tell myself, pag ako yumaman, tutulong ako sa nangangailangan. Pero kailan pa yun kung ngaun nila kailangan ng tulong? At paano kung hindi ako yumaman? Ibig sabihin hindi na rin ako tutulong sa kapwa ko? This made me think. And made me sadder. I know prayers can help too. So that's just what I did even now - PRAY for them. Then while watching 24 Oras last Monday, Mike Enriquez mentioned "Walang tulong na maliit!" Kahit ano, kahit 10 piso lng na donation basta taos sa puso ay pagtulong pa din. I also saw those kids selling lemonade to help Yolanda's victim. It made me realize na ang dami ko pwede gawin para tumulong. At nagsimula ako sa paglilinis ng aming cabinet...

We've already donated my son's clothes and milk bottles at Bethany last September

but I still managed to rummaged few of his clothes.

After cleaning up, we (janice, ina, at eddie-boy) came up with all these usable and good conditioned clothes.

Where to Donate?

We dropped it off at Basilica Minore o sa Malolos Cathedral this afternoon. They accept all sorts of donation - water, canned goods, whatever it is that you can contribute to help. Or you can also go to the nearest LBC. They'll ship it for free:

For monetary donations, you can send it thru Red Cross. Just text the following:

REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

Or thru G-Cash
Text DONATEAMOUNT4-digit M-PINREDCROSS to 2882

You can donate the following denominations:
Globe: 5, 25, 100, 300, 500 or 1000
Smart: 10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 or 1000

Or you can deposits thru bank accounts. I think GMA Kapuso Foundation really steps up in their relief operations so here is the link on how to deposit money in their account.

It doesn't matter how small or how big your help is as long as you help from the bottom of your heart. I know our donation is not enough. So I'm still thinking of other ways to raise money. Helping them didn't make me feel better. What will make me feel better is that knowing one day, the victims of this super typhoon, will have peace and serenity in their hearts, to stand up again and to continue living. And I pray that the anguish and despair that they feel right now will make them even stronger. I know it won't be easy to rise up from this calamity. But one day, we will all get there.

Life goes on. 

Jollibee Halloween Fun!

Eto na nga! Halloween na naman! And just like last year (and last last year) we celebrated it with Jollibee.

There's my son patiently waiting

This year, my son Riley is a Dracula. I only spent 25 Pesos for his cape since his white polo, black slacks and shoes were from his second year birthday. And may I just add that lollipops are better in making that blood effect on his lips. He is so adorable! But that's not how Halloween is supposed to be. He's supposed to be scary! I'll wait until he's older before I make costumes that is super scary for him. Yung tipong mga pugot ulo na puro dugo tpos my hawak na butcher's knife. Gnun! Para winner ka sa best in costume anak!

See how bitin his slacks are? Riley is getting taller and taller! :)

Nothing new to the programme. Kids and parents play games and kids showcasing their costume for a prize. Riley didn't participate in all of that. But that's fine! Because he only went for one person and one person only. Hulaan nyo kung sino.......

Siyempre si Jollibee!

Until next year Jollibee ^__^