Every woman needs a pair of high heels. It was been a long time since I wore high heeled footwear I think it was been ages, I favor sneakers and flats because they are more comfortable and easy to wear. My mother and sister brought home this beautiful and stylish sandals for me after finding that there is an available item in the shop where my mother was affiliated as a dealer. I have told them a few months ago after seeing this sandals in a brochure that it is beautiful and I would like to have a pair but since I can’t afford it I didn’t order and I can’t think of a place or occasion where to wear them.

This sandals is a month to pay and it has dealer discount so I keep it instead of asking them to return it. I don’t know yet where to wear them but there’s only one place I know I could wear them, in the church. What’s funny I lost my balance while trying them at home so I wonder if I will fall in embarrassment if I wore them outside someday.

Jihoo our dog is on leash since she was a puppy, we did it for her own safety because our house is near the busy road where there are a lot of vehicles going in and out from our barangay, we are scared that she might get hit since most of the neighborhood dogs stays in the street. Even she is on leash she isn’t safe from ticks and fleas since when I let her loose during her nature call she will immediately run to the neighborhood dogs.  Lately she is feeling irritated and scratched her skin a lot and loses a bit of hair, at first we thought she is changing her hair like what happened when she is growing up but little did we know it was worse than just losing hair.

I bathed our dog regularly and removed her fleas and tick but when I used a new shampoo that I didn’t use to her before she started losing more hair and she started scratching even more, her skin became drier, it was like she is suffering from dry scalp and dandruff. So when we went to a drug store and we found out that they are selling soap and shampoo for dogs I didn’t think twice and bought Permethrin Shieldgard dog soap, the soap is cheaper than the shampoos.

Permethrin Shieldgard dog soap is anti-parasitic it kills and controls fleas, ticks and lice. It also washes away dirt and grime and it is cheap for ₱77 for two pieces as they were on buy one take one sale.  Since I use the soap when bathing Jihoo she don’t scratch anymore and no more ticks and fleas on her skin, she smells clean and fresh too although her hair isn’t back to normal yet but the good thing it wasn’t dry like before,  there isn’t dandruff anymore.

Directions for Use:

Place dog on elevated surface during bathing to prevent unnecessary movements

1. Wet dog thoroughly. Avoid water in ears.
2. Soap dog all over. Especially in-between toes and armpits. Avoid eyes.
3. Let lather stay 5-10 minutes (depending) on severity of infestation.
4. Rinse thoroughly. Avoid eyes.
5. Quickly dry dog with towel.

According to the caution indicated in the box Permethrin Shieldgard dog soap is for dogs only and not to be used to food, other pets or humans and should be avoided to be use on convalescing dogs, nursing bitches or puppies less than 12 weeks old.

Aging is a natural part of life for both men and women, but that doesn’t mean it’s always pleasant. That’s why today there are a lot of anti-aging creams and supplements in the market. Yes, age is just a number but there are times I am thinking what would my life will be when my age is already out of the calendar. Anyway, one of the young sales lady who’s maybe in her 20’s asked what’s my eye grade when we went to town not a long ago, I was wearing an eye glasses that time and then it came to the age thingy. She mistaken me younger than my age and she genuinely thought my younger sister was my older sister which made everyone laughed, my sister blurted how old is she going to be if I was mistaken to be in my early 20’s when I am almost 30’s. My sister felt slighted because it wasn’t the first time she is mistaken to be older than me, the worst once she was mistaken to be a married woman with a child when she is still single and five years younger than me. My mother told her many times to lose weight and put her hair back to black but it looks like losing weight is very hard for her since she ate a lot.

To be mistaken younger than my sister once is a mistake but to be mistaken younger many times  I guess that’s already a fact (lol). Yes, it isn’t the first time that I was mistaken younger than my age and to my sister and what happened today gives me hope that I am not too old yet and age is just a number.

Honestly, I have been looking in the mirror sometimes looking how I age and trying to figure out how I am going to look younger because I already felt very old. Besides from being mistaken younger on my age, some people will always take notice my simplicity especially my older cousins. They sometimes wondered why I don’t dress so well and why I am not so vain like other women especially they know that other women who were married to power ranger dressed well and adorned their selves with jewelries from head to foot and paint their face with colorful makeups. Well, I told them it isn’t me and  I am different but lately I am considering a change while I am still younger rather than do a change when I am already in my 50’s, right?

These past few days I wasn’t able to journal my dreams because of procrastination. My dream last night happened somewhere uphill, my classmates came to me and fetch me or invited me to go with them downhill, I have agreed because it feels like I was being held inside the house for a long time and it will be my first time to descend the place and while we are getting ready, there is a not so old woman who came by and the first thing I have noticed was her new black backpack in her back.  I was told she will give it to me if I like the bag so I feel so excited receiving it for free since it was new.

[Image source: ridingintexashillcountry.blogspot.com]

Then we board something it isn’t clear if it is a board, wagon or cart, it was a lot of fun going down the slope, the older woman came down with us in a different board with someone, on the way I am able to take a glance at the backpack on her back thinking it is going to be mine for free. When we reached the foot of the hill I have seen an older cousin standing in front of the food cart, she bought some food and included a piece for me but I decided to buy more food and my dream ended.

Last night while I am feeding our pets, I have heard someone shouting in the street I didn’t give much attention because I didn’t see my cousins and his friends move on their chair, they were sitting near the street where their store was but then my mother went to check what’s happening I followed since I was curious too. It turns out two brothers are fighting in the street, one is drunk and the other was not and then we don’t know what happened one of the brothers started to have heated argument with their father and then the two brothers fought again and walked towards our street. A lot of people were already out and curious what’s going on and then suddenly the younger brother aimed a weapon to his older brother, it was a long knife a dagger of sorts. I was so scared, especially when the older brother runs for refuge in the dark and all we heard is noises, it sounds like they were hitting each other.  A lot of people shout in fear, especially when one of them started throwing stones towards the street, a relative called frantically for their son who followed the two men fighting in the dark. Meanwhile, I run at home out of fear because I can’t imagine seeing blood, especially I saw how the weapon shine in the dark when the light illuminated in it. I closed the doors and stayed in our home until I can’t hear the noises, my family stays outside together with the neighbors and relatives, an older cousin run to one of our cousins who has a contact with the police since one of the brothers was harmed with a long knife.

To cut the story short, the police arrived, but one of the brothers can’t be found because he already runs somewhere. All they took with them was the drunken one which is bleeding after being hit by a stone in the face and hit by post, gladly the post didn’t hurt him when his brother aimed it to his chest. He was too drunk that he wants to sleep in the street, his parents went with the police mobile.

Oh well, fighting in the streets is a normal occurrence when people are drunk over here. This is actually second live shooting in two nights because we are told there is also a drama uphill the previous night, but unfortunately we are already asleep when it happened so all we heard are stories, like how a someone was hit by a wood with nails after trying to pacify the two persons fighting. Lol

This Sunday is different from other Sundays that had passed because Pastor E wasn’t around, he is on vacation leave, as what I have heard it is for one month they visited her wife’s family in Northern Philippines.

Today is Valentine’s Day and the church was decorated by young people with heart cut outs. The speaker this Sunday was one of the members of the church, it wasn’t energetic like Pastor E but surely it has a message within a message but it feels like I was in a classroom and listening to my high school teacher.

The scripture verse was from the book of Jude 21 with scripture topic of Remain in God’s love since it is Valentine’s Day. The speaker shared three challenges to be considered which are:

1. What does it mean to love God?
2. How can we remain in God’s love?
3. How will God reward those who remain in His love?

The speaker says God doesn’t abandon us and He doesn’t leave us alone in our struggles (Psalms 91:2). We show our love to God when we observe His commandments and apply His principles which are written in the bible.

This song has been sung for the whole month of January in the church and when February came another song was used for worship song.

Jesus, you’re the sweetest name of all
Jesus, you always hear me when I call
Oh! Jesus, you lift me up each time I fall
You’re the sweetest, the sweetest name of all.

Jesus, how I love to praise your name
Jesus, you’re the first, the last the same
Oh! Jesus you died and took away my sins
You’re the sweetest,
The sweetest, name of all.

Jesus, you’re the son and coming king
Jesus, we need the love
That you can bring
Oh! Jesus, he lift our voice to you and mine
You’re the greatest, the greatest name of all

Jesus, you the sweetest name of all
Jesus, you always hear me when I call
Oh! Jesus you lift me up each time I fall
You’re the greatest, the sweetest name of all

On my dream the other night I have found myself digging in front of my relatives store, I didn’t even dig deeper but I already found potatoes, I was so excited finding a haul so I keep digging because it seems like someone already tried digging but didn’t find something.

[Image source: love2learnallotmenting.co.uk]

I put my haul on a little pail and continue digging even more but I didn’t only find potatoes but tiny carrots and other root crops as well, they were so many that I decided to share some to my uncle who own the store since I am digging in their area, I put them on a white pail then my dream ended.

It was been a long time since I have no update with my food blog, maybe because I don’t cook anymore.  I was asking my younger sister to look after this blog but she is not interested, I was giving it to her since she was the one who does the cooking which mean she can write better about the food.

When they went to town a week ago they bought cassava for ₱20.00 per pile, it was cheap since it is cassava season. We are initially planning to just boil the cassava in coconut milk but since my father had a few heads of coconut we made a “suman” out of the cassava.  Suman is a native Filipino rice cake (kakanin) that consists of grated cassava, brown sugar, and coconut cream. The mixture is wrapped and sealed individually using banana leaves.

Ingredients

• grated cassava
• 1/2 kg brown sugar
• wilted banana leaves for wrapping the suman

Cooking Procedure

1. By using a cheesecloth, squeeze the grated cassava to remove the juice from it and after combine the grated cassava, brown sugar and grated coconut in large mixing bowl.
2. Get a portion and put over the wilted banana leaves then roll and wrap properly.
3. Arrange them in a  pot, and boil them with water or coconut milk until done.

The other day we made sumang kamoteng kahoy (cassava wrapped in banana leaves) since the suman we made more than a week ago was a hit. Some of our relatives who dropped by enjoyed it and since cassava are plenty and sold cheaply in the market because they were in season, we decided to make cassava suman again for snacks.

My sister peels the cassava and grated them while I manually grated the coconut and our mother was the one who mixed the grated cassava, sugar and coconut.  Unlike the previous one we boiled the suman using grated coconut milk since there’s plenty of grated coconut left.

Ingredients

• grated cassava
• 1/2 kg brown sugar
• wilted banana leaves for wrapping the suman

Cooking Procedure

1. By using a cheesecloth, squeeze the grated cassava to remove the juice from it and after combine the grated cassava, brown sugar and grated coconut in large mixing bowl.
2. Get a portion and put over the wilted banana leaves then roll and wrap properly.
3. Arrange them in a  pot, and boil them with water or coconut milk until done.