Jandrea...so far

There is a question whether “physical distancing” should be used instead of “social distancing” to describe the measures we need to undertake to help curb the spread of the Corona virus. While this teacher of Psychology of Language prefers the former because using it makes it clearer to people the specific behavior that this concept entails, I also cannot discard the usefulness of the latter term when trying to understand what being away and apart from others can do to our inner emotional world.  My family was attending the 6 PM online mass last Sunday. We were projecting the Mass on our living room wall so that the large image of the celebration helped us imagine that we were inside the church! Suddenly, we heard a loud voice from outside our house saying, "Pow, laksan mo ang volume"!  We were surprised to see my sister and her assistant looking in through our windows but behind the wall separating our houses. Apparently, they had realized that the online mass was better s...

For Fr. Ron Mariano Roberto on his 10th Sacerdotal Ordination Anniversary The past few weeks have been filled with a lot of challenges brought about the COVID-19 situation. What started as seemingly just a minor health concern that could be easily handled by taking heed of prescribed measures has progressed into battling an enemy with unknown and fearful powers that have already resulted in death for many. Two Sundays ago, while serving mass as commentator, I regretted at not staying home even if I felt weak because midway through the mass I got dizzy and nauseous. I threw up in an adjoining room soon before I could go home. Thoughts of the virus filled my head but because it was an unusually warm day, I attributed my condition to heat exhaustion. But alarm levels were ringing in my head! The following day, I dealt with what felt like a throat infection by using my full arsenal of essential oils for boosting my immunity, salabat, and Pei Pa Koa. Battle won after 4 days! So even if ...

It’s Day 3 of my writing break and I have not gone beyond 1 page of what I said I would complete! So, instead of using my daily ration of working brain cells to continue writing my paper, I’m using them up now to find reasonable excuses! Reason #1: Arrived on the afternoon of Day 1with my work space in a mess! Can’t believe I left it in that state when I was here last (not working as it was during the holidays!). Also, my Christmas decorations are still up and it’s Feb. 2! So, I’ll have to put things away and get the room in order so it will be conducive to learning. So I spent pretty much of what was left of Day 1 and most of Day 2 doing that! Reason #2: I think the forces of nature are out to get me! While my workspace was a mess, my kitchen and bathroom were left in immaculately clean (well, Marie Kondo and Martha Stewart might not agree) conditions. So it was a shock when I moved my induction stove to clean the counter, an army of baby critters tried to escape from a small cre...

Holy Week 2014 meditation For almost 30 years, I have spent Holy Week serving either as a Lector or a Commentator. In the last few years in our paish, I have been assigned to be the coordinator for the Easter Vigil mass. All these tasks I have taken to heart and have accepted all the challenges accomanying these responsibilities as a Lenten sacrifice for the Lord. So after the doctor told me that I had to have a procedure done to fix my gallbladder, I even bargained for a postponement. I asked whether I could have it after Holy Week. The doctor said I was in a serious state and he could not guarantee that my Holy Week would be pain-free! And so, reluctantly I agreed to have my procedure done over the Holy days.  Holy Thursday and Good Fridays were spent recuperating at home and by Black Saturday, my foggy brain managed to remind me that the Easter Vigil was going on and it happened without me! My children who attended with their Yaya reported that in general, it went well! ...

What do you do when you want to share a piece of news with someone who is no longer there? You just say it aloud (with feelings pa!) as if she is just beside you. Then you tear up a bit (ok, not just a little bit) when you realize that she already knows and might even be instrumental in making it happen from where she is! I miss you terribly, Letty!

Was raining cats & dogs, and mice, & chickens, & pigs, & goats, & sheep and what have you in our area! I felt like singing "Old McDonald had a farm" but then again, no. Baka kasi lalong lumakas pa ang ulan!!!

Got a new induction cooker two weeks ago after the old one got busted due to a power surge! Hard to let the old one go because it cost a pretty penny and I had not milked its worth just yet. I also really enjoyed cooking on it with its super fast heating feature which allowed me to cook stuff in half the time it usually took in a conventional stove. But that's the way it is! While trying to cook on it for the first time, I was very careful not to cause an overload again like the last time. But the size and design of its plug made sure that this would not happen as it hogged the two outlets so that no other appliance's plug could be used there. That created a problem because I had to use a range hood when I was cooking so that my place wouldn't be filled with the smell of whatever was in the pot or pan! I also had to cook rice at the same time if I wanted our hot meal to be ready all at the same time. But it was not to be with the gigantic plug lording it over two electric...