Weight Loss Challenge and Blog Challenge

My face and arms have grown so big after our wedding last December.  Today I decided to check my weight and the reading was just so unbelievable I had to weigh myself four times!  However, the scale read 117 lbs. each time.

I can't understand how I could have possibly gained more than 20 lbs. since December but I did.  I guess it was because I have been eating too much and I haven't exercised since our wedding last December.  

Just last weekend, we went out twice.

My goodness! Look at my arms!!!

And my face is now bigger than my husband's!!!

Look at my thighs!!!

I'm getting bigger each day!  I can't help it though. I love to eat and everyone in our family loves to eat out.  

It doesn't help that the month of August is just a day away. My son will celebrate his birthday on the 4th. My mom will celebrate hers on the 7th and I will celebrate mine on the 26th.

I promise I will eat less and start exercising again.  I don't like the way I look anymore.

So, this is going to be a challenge I will set for myself.  I will try to lose 10 pounds from now to September.

Anyway, I have set another challenge for myself this August -- to blog every day.  You are all welcome to join if you want.  It would be much more fun that way.

There are no rules for this challenge. All you have to do is to link up.  I will put a linky in each of my posts so anyone can link up.  You can go to http://teachlovewrite.blogspot.com/2013/07/august-blog-day-challenge.html  to check out the prompts for each day.

I'm sure I will enjoy the blog challenge. I'm not so sure about the weight loss challenge though.

Good luck to me!

Missing my Lola while cooking....

It's funny how simple things like removing moringa leaves from stalks  can give one a feeling of nostalgia.

Today, it brought me back to my childhood, a time when my grandma and I prepared moringa leaves for tinola.

I remembered how I would always be by her side, whether she was cooking, doing the laundry, listening to a radio program, watching TV dramas.  I remembered how I would always do what she did.  I helped her cook, I helped her do the laundry, I listened to the radio, I cried with her whenever she cried with TV drama heroines.  

I miss her and I miss doing things with her.  It makes me sad to think how lonely she and my grandpa must have been all those years we were away from them.  There was no  land phone in the province to connect us, no internet, no cellphones.  We just had letters, Christmas breaks, and summer vacations.  But there were long months in between and they must have been unbearable for ageing people like them who lived a simple life in a simple quiet town.

Anyway, here's what I did with the moringa.

My grandma would have been proud. I cooked her tinola recipe. It's a soup-based traditional Filipino dish usually served in Filipino homes as the main entree.

I miss you, Lola.

On another note, I've just finished  making a crystal bracelet for my mother-in-law.  Here's it is.

I hope it fits her wrist.

Things I learned today

Things I learned today....

When it's that time of the month, I don't have the right to wear light colored pants.

It's hard to teach without moving around.

Some students are sensitive and sympathetic enough to tell me discreetly what I need to know.

I should always keep a scarf or  jacket in the faculty room. 

A red stain on my pants, no matter how small, would make some students stare.

Staring is rude.



What have you learned today?

August Blog a Day Challenge

I have been very poor at posting something lately but I would like to change that.

I think what I need is another blog challenge.  Since August is the month of my birthday, I've decided to host one in August.

Here are the prompts I've thought of:

Day 1:  Write a letter to the 9-year old you
Day 2: The most important lesson you learned from a teacher
Day 3: A scary moment in your life
Day 4: Share a recipe
Day 5: First
Day 6: Something from your childhood
Day 7: Your favorite place
Day 8: Who are you most like (your mom or your dad)?
Day 9: Which part of your body do you like least?
Day 10: Your usual Sunday
Day 11: Things you're looking forward to this year
Day 12: Your idea of a great day
Day 13: What color suits you best?
Day 14:  If your life was a book, how would the blurb read?
Day 15: Twenty simple pleasures
Day 16: What makes you cry?
Day 17: Write about a piece of jewelry you own
Day 18: Your favorite time of the day
Day 19: What makes you angry?
Day 20: A grade school memory
Day 21:  If  I were not a ___________, I would probably be a ____________.
Day 22:  Name three of your favorite books.
Day 23: Your favorite month
Day 24: When do you feel proud?
Day 25: Share something weird (may be a tangible thing you saw or own, may be a weird thing that
                                                  happened to you, etc.)
Day 26:  What do you like most in the place where you live?
Day 27: Talk about Facebook.
Day 28: What's the biggest challenge you've ever had to face?
Day 29: Best
Day 30:  Ten things you will never do
Day 31: Five bad habits you need to break.

I can't wait to post something every day again and I hope you join me in this challenge. There are no rules. All you have to do is to type your name in the linky which you will find in each of my blog posts during the challenge, then find time to visit other participating bloggers.

Birthday Thoughts for a Friend

I haven't blogged for so many days and I hate it.  The truth is, I'm buried in school work and house chores.  I don't really have extra time or energy left to post something.  I'm hoping things will change soon though.

I'm writing this post for one of my favorite readers, my former colleague, and one of my closest friends, my "partner-in-crime"  who is celebrating her birthday today.  Nikki,  I wish you everything your heart desires.  May God bless you with many more happy birthdays.  I miss you and I can't wait to see you again in December.

 Nikki, I miss being naughty with you!!! Hurry home!