Missus Bounty Basket

Just when I thought that an important aspect of my life has been sorted out, my body has gone berserk.  Fatigue, body pain, and swollen joints became a part of my daily life along with pain and inflammation pills. Weight loss worried me.  Then 2022 came and what I am experiencing finally has a name. Rheumatoid arthritis or RA . Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder   and an autoimmune disease  which means that the immune system  attacks healthy cells in the body causing inflammation (painful swelling) in the affected areas of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis attacks the joints. There's no cure for RA. However, physiotherapy and medication can help slow the disease progression. The latter is called anti-rheumatic drugs. Reading thru the link my doctor gave me, RA could be caused by many factors such as stress and is hereditary. I am not good at handling stress. It seems that I wallow in it. Coupled with over/nonsense thinking my body gave up an...

Dear Ellen, It was very late last night when you suddenly appeared in my thoughts. I stopped with editing my video and greeted you in my head then said a prayer. Later, images of us during our university days flashed before me and I smiled. Do you remember when we use to go to HP and were mistaken to be SM sales clerk because of our school uniform? The Graduates of 1991                             This morning, which I am sure is your bday, I realized that you were in my dream. There were  3 girls on a hill and one was pointing where Pantabangan was. You have mentioned that your family was displaced a long time ago and I know that the girl was showing   your family's village . It might have been so hard for everyone to leave their birth place and  start in a new one. Before finally getting up, I greeted you again,saying how I miss you and that I love and admire you, my dear friend.  My de...

  In December 2019, I decided that the following year would be a better one for me. So I listed things to do and projects to complete. My goal was that everything in that list should be crossed-out, accomplished. Then my body pain got worse,Taal Volcano erupted, Covid19 entered and my father got sick.  By March 2020, Switzerland went into semi-lockdown. Everything I wanted to do has taken a backseat. As if the lockdown was my excuse to carry the pain and fear in my  body and mind, to not do anything. I was anxious, my body was in pain and I cried not only because of what seems like helplessness but it felt that I am not going anywhere. Goodness, gracious, I am 50. What am I doing with my life? In my head, I started to create a more positive scenario. My day as a Nanay in a pandemic went on. As the semi-lockdown started to ease up, my therapy restarted and slowly my body received the re-education, love and care it needed. I remember during one of my sessions, my physi...

  Had my coffee.Did our bed. Prepared the girls' packed lunch. They had breakfast. He went to work and then I accompanied the girls to their 1-day retreat. Migros ( grocery store) then cycled my way back home.  Next, there's breakfast. I fought the urge to  check my phone. The lull of some minutes to be filled by something..anything. However, I opted to be quiet and just be.  It is so easy to  be distracted. There are my to-do list, the messages to be sent, the agenda to be filled and hundred other things to do. Instead, I savor my coffee, enjoying the scent of the bread coming from the toaster. Now, spreading the honey and putting the slices of cheddar cheese on top of it and it was heaven! That few minutes to just sit and enjoy the breakfast, to just look outside and contemplate about how the cheese reminded me of my childhood. Of how bizarre my breakfast is. Still, I love cheese . And it's autumn . Cold and most of the time overcast and raining. But the na...

in front of Three Rondavels  Our travel album is now almost a year in the making. Maybe even 2 years. I have been keeping it off. Too many pictures to sort out. But it's a long overdue project like my duck house, passing my driver's permit,language lesson,writing and art class to name a few (more of those next time) and I do not want to carry them till 2021. There's a need for me to off load these unfinished projects because my shoulder is really bothering me--literally.  roaming free in India

 It took me forever to watch Crash landing on You . My sister has been bugging me to watch it. Every time we talked in Messenger our conversation would mysteriously gear to #CLOY . Her voice would change and there was this excitement, that kilig about someone.  But I was trying to avoid it like a plague. Knowing for sure that it will invade my whole being, my household, and my entire day, just like the  one where a woman cooks in the palace . So, what's the fuss about  this series , I asked myself. This didn't take long to answer, because one sunny afternoon while waiting for my laundry, I gave in. Few minutes after starting the first episode, I almost fell asleep.   Some of this Kdrama's locations were set here in Switzerland . 📷: Norilyn Mendoza Iseltwald Charmilles' Seri & Capt. Ri  📷: Norilyn M.                                           ...

my schanafouilles  Monday was the first day of school. My eldest is in secondary or Cycle d'orientation while my youngest is in the primary school.  T he girls were anxious and I tried not to show mine.  However, compared to previous years, this time, it feels like we're ready. I am not talking about being on time, having satisfying breakfast, and all but rather the changes and the possibilities ahead. As their mother, I lovingly embrace it now, not without the first day anxiety :) and welcome the fact that my babies are growing up and becoming more independent. No more brushing their hair into pigtails and braids. School snacks are not prepared anymore. Though this time, one wore my t-shirt and the other one my light jacket. Some years ago, when my youngest did not feel like going to school, I drew a heart on a piece of paper with a little note that says: I love you forever. I told her that though, Nanay cannot go to school with her, my heart is with her and hopefully, s...