We Beat the Odds!

The struggle started early morning realizing that Daylight Saving Time has started. Meaning, we lost an hour of sleep. It was so tempting to just stay on bed and sleep in but we reminded ourselves that we missed church for three weeks and it would not be a good idea to miss it again today. So, off we scrambled out of bed trying to wake up.

While at the shower, I heard my husband and I knew something was wrong. The truck’s tire was flat and he forgot his air pump at work! The car was not a choice since he just found a leak on it. Needless to say, we had more reasons to stay home.

Somehow, David found a way and we made it in church on time. Our experience however reminded us that life would always be full of vicissitudes. It’s easy to take the easy way out by simply staying at home and taking care of the problems of the cars but I’m glad that we were able to figure out a solution without getting overly stressed. We feel immensely blessed by the church service and seeing family and friends.

We beat the odds and ended our day with this yummy treat!

At night, David cooked the best steak ever as if we didn’t just go through something nerve-wracking this morning!

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Saturday Mess

There’s nothing worse than going on a vacation during the previous weekend and getting sick at the middle of the week. It would not be surprising at all for the house to end up such a disaster that I needed to spend almost my whole morning cleaning up the mess. My husband is pretty good in helping but since he needed to work, I dealt with all the clutter. It did not help that I am such an OC that every little nook and corner, including drawers, appliances and furniture must be thoroughly clean. This is the American life. No helper at all to do all the household stuff.

While having dinner before our movie date, David reminded me to take my antibiotic. Though without fever anymore, I still need to finish my dosage. Of course, I would do anything silly to get away with it since I hate taking medicine.

Me: Beb, you said you’ll take a bullet for me, right?
David: Of course!
Me: So, can you take the medicine for me?

The rest of the time we were preparing to leave the house was spent laughing because of what I said. Yeah, I ended up taking the antibiotic. The trick did not work with my husband.

The movie, Wrinkle in Time, was beautiful and a review is coming soon.

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The Power of Love (Speech for Kids)

(This is a speech that I wrote for a primary student in Jakarta, Indonesia that he used for a competition.)

Te amo, Mahal Kita, Wo le ni, Saya Cinta Kamu, I love you. 

Friends and fellow citizens, I stand here before you definitely honored and privileged to share my dreams empowered with love. As a young dreamer, I invite you to join me and together let’s dream of a beautiful world to live in for the Generation Z.

I have a dream. I dream that when a child goes to school, he would not go home bullied and beaten by negative behaviors.

I have a dream. I dream that families would put down their phones during meals and have a meaningful conversation instead. A family that look happy in real life not just in uploaded pictures on Facebook and Instagram.

I have a dream. I dream that friends would talk and do something together instead of just liking or clicking hearts and emoticons on their Facebook statuses.

I have a dream. I dream that young children would go out of their house and play, get wet under the rain, chase animals and smell plants, run with the sun until all the energy has worn off instead of just spending time in the corner playing on an Ipad or a tablet.

I have a dream. I dream that people would not just share photos of suffering or extreme poverty around the world, instead they would go out and do something to less fortunate people out there. There is nothing more powerful than taking a proactive role in the world where millions of people are deprived of the basic needs in life.

I have a dream. I dream that one day, there would be no single child who would die because of hunger. I dream that every child would have the same opportunity like me to live, to learn, to enjoy life, and to have a decent life.

I have a dream. A dream where the only language that exists, is the language of love.

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Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Red Lobster

I finally went back to work after missing two days. One of the kids asked me to lift him up then he cupped my face with his hands, kissed my right cheek, turned the other side and kissed it, too. I thought that was it, but, he took my hand and kissed it also, hugged me and said, “I love you, Ms. Nina. I missed you.” Fourteen years of teaching and I never had a welcome similar to this. Although the day was a bit crazy, I was definitely happy to see the kids. 

My husband picked me up in the afternoon and we decided to have a late anniversary dinner at Red Lobster. Normally, my husband would say no to anything seafood but I assured him they also offer steak. Lo and behold! We were both satisfied with our meals.

Red Lobster's Seaside Shrimp Trio. 

I got the Seaside Shrimp Trio which includes Walt’s favorite shrimp, hand-crafted garlic shrimp scampi, and shrimp linguini Alfredo.

Red Lobster's NY Strip Steak. 

My husband of course favored the 12 OZ NY strip seasoned with peppercorns, grilled on a wood fire, and served with mashed potato and fries.

We ended our Friday night shopping for his work materials and buying chocolates for my niece.

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Not So Gentle Bug

Being sick is no fun. My husband spent the previous night trying to lower my temperature since the medicines didn’t seem to work. I would take fever medicines and after an hour or two, my temperature’s high again.

When he woke me up this morning, my ear was extremely painful but my temperature was finally down. I hate taking medicines and I remember that the only time I got scolded when my father was still alive was because I would not take any medicines. I would force myself to throw up after taking it or secretly kept it in my pocket. Nothing really changed much. I still hate it. Having a very patient and caring husband makes things easier. He makes sure that I take them on time.

After sleeping about six hours today, I woke up feeling a lot better. It’s definitely not a gentle bug but I am blessed and grateful that my husband’s here to take care of me.

Thank you to all the family and friends who greeted us on our anniversary.

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