Missus Bounty Basket

   30 November 2010 The alarm was set at exactly 5am. I got up to turn it off as not to wake up anybody. The snow has melted, but I feel the crispy temperature. 21 August 2026 I can easily wake up at 5 in the morning if I want to but these days there's no need for that. It's usually my husband who wakes up early and I let him have his quiet morning: coffee on the terrace. Then, before 7h, it is my turn to have that moment and we'll have another coffee together and briefly talk.    Mornings are precious moments. Coffee, conversation, and then off to the garden to check on the plants.  A little conversation with everything that is growing. There's usually some ahhs and ohhs. This visit to the garden makes me light hearted and it brings smile to my face. I remember how they started from seeds.Some will flourish, others will not. I used to be so upset about how things didn't work out or when plants died. But I became more self forgiving and just enjoyed the pr...

17 November 2010 According to Forbes.com , Geneva is the 5th most expensive city. As a stay-at-home Nanay, living here means finding ways to get inexpensive necessities for our girls. Of course, there are times when I tell myself not to be too stingy, but I guess I want more for my family, so I spend less. I mentioned here my ways of finding bargains and saving. 17 August 2026 Looking at the date, my eldest just turned three. During this time, I have already discovered the Bourse aux vêtements and the vide grenier/la rue est à vous.   Along with discovering the joy of thrifting , there's a sense of liberation in not succumbing to fast fashion, and I do value simplicity. As I learned about the hazards of plastic present in the clothes we wear and what it do to our health and environment, my choices became more obvious.  I organized my wardrobe and opted for cotton and wool gradually eliminating polyester,nylon and acrylic fabrics. I thrifted most of them and reminded my girl...

05 November 2010 I adore the book sale in this library , and every year I look forward to it. I mean, where can you get a book that recently came out in Payot and buy it for only chf 5.-?  As I have become an expert on this matter, I have listed some practical help on book sale. Here goes...   Be on time- or better yet, be ridiculously early; remember, the early bird catches the worm. Don't take a child with you--granted that I want my girls to learn to read and experience the world, taking one to a book sale is just not for me. I want to quietly enjoy my finds while having tea and some cakes.  Pen and paper- arm yourself with these to down the books' prices. You would save a ton of time. 16 August 2026 Having moved to Grand-Lancy , I have stopped going to the book sale. Instead, I scour   La ville est à vous  for English books. Though, it's very rare to find the ones I'd like to have.  But because our library has its English corner, I sometim...

02 July 2010 Going back home is just one of those things that make me really excited. From the moment I booked the flight to the time when the ticket was paid for. There was the giddiness that accompanied each little action. Baggage was filled to the max. Unfortunately, hand-carry bags could not exceed 7 kilos, but it's funny how we all manage to bring so much and still can put small items here and there. At first, my husband could not understand this because he is a light traveler. I remember the first time he came for a visit. He had this blue backpack which contained his stuff, some pasalubong, and that was it. Where was his "hand carry"? That was not in his vocabulary. But all that would soon change, thanks to a Filipina wife;-)  Now, he knows and understands the importance of hand carry and filling the baggage up to the required weight. 16 August 2026 After years of traveling with my husband and two children, I have learned the importance of traveling light. And when...

02 May 2010  15.08.2026 Just pictures of us somewhere I cannot recall. It seemed cold given the way my sister and I dressed. The other two probably didn't mind the weather or the night breeze. But for as long as I can remember, I get cold easily.  My siblings...We all looked like babies here. I mean, so young. We are an OFW 's children. If there's an abbreviation like OPOL , ours would be TPOA- TWO PARENTS, ONE ABROAD, or FHMA - FATHER AT HOME, MOTHER ABROAD. Ours is not the situation I would have liked growing up, but it happened, and fortunately we grew up not without any challenges and pain, but well. Though belonging to an OFW family left a mark that is still healing, nonetheless, healing. It affected every decision we made and are still making.  This beautiful understanding of our family's generational shadow is the one thing that propels me to create another path of love and healing without forgetting the reason behind the goal.   We are getting there, hea...

I wasn't really a morning person. One could call me Ms. Grouchy or Ms. Moody; I wouldn't mind. 14.08.2026 This was written on the 20th of April 2010. Imagine, 16 years ago, I had this one paragraph that somehow didn't make it into my post. Did I run out of words to say? Was I too busy to continue expressing my thoughts and then just decided to keep them for 15 years? Why did I bury my thoughts and not let the idea flourish into something that was supposed to be shared?  I have so many of these thoughts that I am slowly unlocking and letting the universe see the seeds it has planted within me. It's just the right thing to do. Going back to being called Ms. Grouchy. Well, I have somewhat changed over the years. I realized that Carlo has to know that I prefer to have my coffee first before any morning conversation. I would like to have mine in silence, contemplate my morning, and not have any noise or chit-chat; that's why I like Stephan Eicher's song. It somehow s...