Children of Substance

Check this picture out! I’m sure you all know that it’s Inigo on the last frame. But can you guess who are on the first two pics? That’s me and my wife! You can see from our son the traits that he got from us. Life is such a miracle!

Vacation at Last!

Today is the start of my 3-week holiday! I am so happy coz I badly needed this break to unwind after all that’s happening in my work area. I need to chill out a bit, to get my concentration back. Nurses who work in a very stressful work environment like mine should really get long breaks once in a while to keep their sanity intact. I think I deserve one at this point in time.

Before, I usually fly home to the Philippines to spend a long vacation there. But since my wife and baby are here already, I am not doing that anymore and instead I am taking a local leave. There are not much plans to go around the place, but just to probably visit a couple of malls and shops. It is still too hot to spend the time outdoors and we’ll probably wait until the end of summer before we start visiting zoos, and parks.

Here’s my plan for the next three weeks:

1.  Spend more time at home just chillin’ out, relaxing, and sleeping This is also an opportunity for me to be with my family more. I’ll also try to do a lot of cleaning and probably housekeeping of my paperworks.

2.  Arrange some stuff related to my family’s stay here e.g. opening  files in the clinic for my wife and baby, obtaining their insurance cards, applying for their local recreation IDs, and the national UAE ID system.

3. Visit the malls which  I like my wife and baby to see e.g. Bawadi Mall, Deira City Center, IKEA, Festival Mall etc.

4.  Check out flats we could rent so we could transfer soon.

5.  Go back to the gym! I have been saying this for the last two months, but because I was always too tired from work, I didn’t get the extra energy to continue working out.

So it’s recharging time now! If you need an on-call… I am not here! Hehe!

PUTO (Steamed White Cake)

This is my first try in baking a puto! It was made easy by White King Puto Mix which was also available here in the UAE.

I just followed the cooking directions written on the box, and used our rice cooker to steam the mold. I used cheese instead of butter as topping. And presto! a delicious classic puto! My wife and baby loved it!

Take Hold of Every Moment

A friend of mine opened his wife’s  underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:  

“This, – he said – isn’t any ordinary package.”  

He  unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.  

“She got this the first time we went to  New York , 8 or  9 years ago. She has never put it on. Was saving it for a special  occasion. Well, I guess this is it.” He got near the bed and placed  the gift box next to the other clothings he was taking to the funeral  house, his wife had just died. He turned to me and  said:

“Never  save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a  special occasion”.

I still think those words  changed my life.

Now I read  more and clean less.

I  sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time  with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life  should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived  through. I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day..  I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if i feel like  it.

I don’t save my special  perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to. The words  ”Someday…” and “One Day…” are fading away from my dictionary. If  it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it  now. I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she  wouldn’t be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she  might have called her relatives and closest friends.

She might call  old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I’d like to think she  would go out for Chinese, her favorite food. It’s these small things  that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had  come I would  regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would meet,  letters… that I wanted to write “One of this  days”.

I would regret  and feel sad, because I didn’t say to my brother and sisters,son and  daughters , not times enough at least, how much I love them.  

Now, I  try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter  and joy into our lives..
And, on each morning, I say to myself that  this could be a special day.

Each day,  each hour, each minute, is special.

(forwarded email)

Inigo with Daddy

Some bonding moments with Inigo. Mommy is behind the camera.