Puzzled

A photo summarizing my evening.

And, three quotes to affirm as the day ends:

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don`t over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness.
Leo Buscaglia  

When you begin to act on your creativity, what you find inside may be more valuable than what you produce for the external world.
 Eileen M. Clegg

When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep; yes, and when I walk alone in a beautiful orchard, if my thoughts drift to far-off matters for some part of the time for some other part I lead them back again to the walk, the orchard, to the sweetness of this solitude, to myself.
Montaigne

I did not want to mention how my health is in details but just a short update: I am wishing deep heartedly, that I will be much improved next week.

Reflections, Introspections

Know thyself.
Plato

Due to the blogger being still in recuperation, there will be a part two to this blog, expounding more on the subject of reflections & introspections.  For now, I hope you enjoy this photoblog.   Thank you for your continued support!

The Simple Pleasure of Soup

To enjoy  this delish dish vicariously, please click the image

An "early" post today.

The first day of the week, and the first day of the girls being back to school.  I was up early even though I wanted to sleep in since I did not sleep much last night.  P brought the girls to school, and Omi B will bring them home today.  I had to give in and admit that as much as I would like to do it myself today, I was afraid I will only worsen my condition.  It always seems simple enough biking to and fro, but the weather outside is cold and wet.  Plus, having awoken with a piercing ear ache, made me summon the courage to ask for help.

It is rather silly this, of not finding it easy to ask for help when it has always been willingly and generously given to me by many love ones.  But there it is, I am still constantly practicing.

P bought broth and veggies yesterday and I cooked it for breakfast a couple of hours ago.  It made a lot of difference, that he gave me a paracetamol and peppermint tea before I got up today. I am usually not so big with taking pills even as simple as aspirin.  But there it is again, I am constantly practicing.

When you have kids to care for, who are dependent on your well being, you simply need to over come all the things you feel you can't.  They make it simple.

It was very soothing the heating of the broth, adding the pre-cut veggies, writing emails while waiting for it to cook.  The act of "taking care of one-self", hopefully sends the body it's needed message to heal.

As the aroma wafted the air, the stress already lifted from my shoulder.  The first taste was like a mom's embrace: warm, reassuring.

I think, I will get another portion.  It should be what doctor's prescribes: soup the whole day.

Have a healthy week, y'all!

Back to the Future (the littlest bounces back to health!)

Today, we picked up the girls in Germany, where they spent their Spring school break.

I almost had to stay behind because of my stomach flu.  P assisted me with preparing myself, and did all he can to make the trip to and fro, as smooth as possible.

The littlest was very excited with the journey and most of all to be reunited with her sisters, whom she both adore.

I slept off the nausea I felt, and before I knew it we were already at the train station.  Shortly before we left home, P gave me tea to drink on the way, and while I was drinking it to calm my abdominal pains, I saw an opportunity for today's image while looking at the littlest from the viewing mirror.

As I mentioned last Tuesday in the post entitled, Health is Wealth (the littlest is not her Tiggery bouncy self), she was only the shadow of her self, that today was such a joy to see and hear her bouncing in her car seat.

Tomorrow, school begins again, and it will be 8 weeks until the next school break (Easter).


Positive quotes to affirm at the end of the day:

All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being…that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth.
Abraham Maslow 

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.
Lao Tzu  

I promise myself…to be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind; to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet; to make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them; to look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true; to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own; to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future; to wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet; to give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble; to think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds; to live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.
Christian D. Larson  


May your weekend ends peacefully and begin wonderfully! 

Health is Wealth (the littlest is not her Tiggery bouncy self)

Quotes for positive affirmation, to end the day:

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
Mahatma Gandhi

Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it.
Henry Ward Beecher

 Most of my major disappointments have turned out to be blessings in disguise. So whenever anything bad does happen to me, I kind of sit back and feel, well, if I give this enough time, it’ll turn out that this was good, so I shan’t worry about it too much.
William Gaines

 The day went by without a single chore done at home.  Littlest has been feeling poorly since middle of last week, and the last couple of days, she's only been a shadow of her Tiggery bouncy self.

There are simply many things on the to do list, which were planned to be done during the Spring school break while the older girls are vacationing away from home.  Three days have passed, and mostly it has been resting and clearing up what were "the day's rubbles".

I feel much better than last week but still not energetic enough to tackle all the things  I would like to do.

What did I do to make myself better about the piling chores and the stress building up in me?  Nothing.

Well, I did not do it alone, I shared the "nothing day" with the littlest.

P had to go to work this week because of a mishap with the dates for what was suppose to be a week of holiday in February.  It turned out, that he mistakenly applied for a week of holiday in March!

And so today, as he left early for work, the littlest and I slept in.  It was great to wake up to the bright happy face of the littlest as she greeted me, "Good morning, Mommy!" with a cheery but hoarse voice.

Normally she will be all over the flat energetically asking for her breakfast, afterwards she would ask if we will ride the bike to do some groceries.  But it seems that took all her energy just to ask for milk to drink.  She did not eat anything the whole day, but drank a lot of juices.

We spent the day relaxing on the couch, and she laid mostly on me for comfort, while she watched  Pingu, later on a lot of Mickey Mouse from the mid-30's, and Winnie the Pooh.

Although it breaks my heart everytime she coughed, and saw how weak she was, I was happy that I could comfort her in the simplest possible way.  It was also a new experience since I almost never experience her keeping still for such a long period of time!  She always sings, dances, talk almost the whole day.  Well, except when she is behind me when we are on the bike.  Even wen she is confined in her seat, she still sings, and chats the whole way-  her energy is omnipotent.

In the past, with the older girls, I will have anxiety attacks when they were ill. On the outside I am calm of course, and can attend to their needs, but inside I am in turmoil.  I thank P for this renewed strengthened attitude towards the girls health.

Today, I simply let everything be, and enjoyed "the nothing day" with my recovering Tigger.  Inwardly, I call it a fulfilling day because I was filled with happiness as I heard the littlest crackling laugh as Donald Duck's behind got stuck with toilet plunger in one of the classic cartoon episode.

I am looking forward to seeing her bounce all over the place again!  As much as I enjoyed the quiet of the day, I missed the energy she beams from within her.  Health is wealth, and is a heart's delight.

Please click on the image for a better view

How is the transition of Winter to Spring been treating you?


*postscript to this blog*


I forgot to write that the littlest got two McDonald's hamburger as a treat from P, which he brought home after work (I got a salad with crispy chicken), but only managed to eat half of the first one she opened.  She asked P to eat the rest.  The second one she kept, and said, "Mine." :)

Swan Sightings

Please click on image for better view

Due to author feeling poorly tonight, text to this blog to follow  at some time in the future.