Happy Valentine's Day to you All

This morning before I went to work, I reminded my husband that tomorrow is Valentine's Day. "Oohh, okay," he said. As always, I was running late. I quickly grabbed my purse, took a couple of bottled water, some fruits for lunch, and hopped in the car. I was driving a little over the speed limit. I made it to work just in the nick of time. I am always the last one to arrive. It has become my signature being a late comer, and my postmaster has accepted it.

As I was doing my morning routine, I thought about the old woman in my route. Yesterday, she approached me and asked me if I had a card for her. I told her to wait a few minutes until I was done sorting the mail. I didn't have anything for her. So, I went to where she was seated and told her that she didn't recieve any mail today. Out of curiosity, I asked her if she was expecting a letter from someone. "Yes, a Valentine card from my grandson" the old woman replied. I said, "it might arrive tomorrow or next day." Of course, nothing came for her today.

This particular woman lives in the retirement center. Letter from a loved one like her grandson is what she looks forward to everyday, but the sad thing is, she seldom gets letter. What ever happened to her son and daughter? Are they too busy with their lives? Have they forgotten her completely? Why is the grandson the only one who cares to send her a card on special day? It surely not easy getting old in this country. When they are no longer able to care for themselves, without a choice, they are sent to a facility and leave their house, pets, family, and garden behind...the things that mean so much to them. This way, they will not be nuisance to their sons and daughter. Such a sad life!

Today, I bought three roses with her in mind. If I see her today, I plan to hand her a rose to hopefully cheer her up. I didn't cost me much.

The red roses, by the way, was a surprise gift for me from my hubby. The reminder I gave him this morning surely paid off. So ladies, it doesn't hurt to cue your husband once in a while. They need it.

Custom-Made is, by far, The Best

About 5 years ago, we built our dream house..the first house we've ever built. We wanted a house that was just the right size for us. Our old house was rather big, with a pool and huge back lawns that required a lot of maintenance. Every time, we went out of town, it was absolutely necessary that we locked all the gates to prevent people from using the pool. Per Arizona law, it is my responsibility if anything happens to any one of them so I had to take a necessary safeguard.

So, when we finally decided to build our house, we made sure we eliminated the pool for that reason. Next, I wanted my house simpler and had ample storage. We also liked the idea of open floor plan where my living room, dinning room, and kitchen room were all in one room. We liked the living room to be bright and cheery and to face the view of the golf course. To do that, we put all three bedrooms over at one side of the house so we could take advantage of the view from our living room. We had to have a three-car garage since my husband longed for one. Sometimes, we need to make compromises to get the important ones. We installed many large windows in the living room. We also liked the idea of recess lighting in our kitchen so we had about 12 bulbs put in. The ample lighting and the spaciousness of the kitchen make the daily cooking activity worthwhile and fun. From the kitchen, we get to watch hummingbirds feeding in our backporch and view of our vegetable garden. Such a sight to watch!

I got the idea of the chandelier design when I was looking for our chandelier in Phoenix. I saw one similar to that only only smaller but was not available for sale until three months later. I couldn't wait that long. So, I went to our local metalsmith and showed him our design and specifications. It wasn't easy to make. It took him a month or so to finish it. I paid $800 for it. I didn't realize it was a bargain until one day when I had a visitor in our house from California who sold metal art. He took notice of my chandelier. He said, if he was to make it, he would sell it for $2,600 to $3,000. Wow! I got the chandelier for a bargain. It looks beautiful at night when lit. In fact, it is the main attraction of the living room. In the future, should I decide to move again, for some reason, I will make sure I take that chandelier with me.

Arizona Monsoon

Since I don't have photos of Arizona monsoon in Payson, I lifted this picture from Yahoo!Photos of himanshur-tyagis photo.

I conceived the poem below while delivering mail on a rainy summer morning.

The much Anticipated Rain

It was a gloomy morning
way cooler than usual,
comfortable,
breezy
nice for a change

Then,
came a lightning
followed by a big roar
it went on for a while
while I hurried
to get my job done.

Until at last
it slipped into rain
gentle at first
light as a mist.

Gradually a little heavier
and heavier
pouring down
lots of it
soothing the parched lips
of the barren land.

It went on
until I could work no more
all vehicles doors shut
and watched in awe
the much anticipated rain.

It kept pouring,
lightning,
thunder reverberating in my ears
scary
its robustious noice
had left me
idled
and silenced.

Trees seemed happy,
contented
grounds soaking deep
water gushing,
gutters racing
creeks busy once again
filling up
our reservoirs.

I couldn't wait no more
to work, I must resume
the rain had let up a bit,
grabbed my raincoat,
torn and old,
good enough
to protect the mail,
your mail
from getting all drenched.

My Comfort Food

I don't have that much of a free time today to write a longer post so I will be as brief as possible. My friend is meeting me in half an hour for a walk in the mountains. Of course, I will take my camera along in case I find interesting scenes that strike my fancy.

The pictures above are the kind of food that I crave for and look forward eating when I get a day off like today. I spent a few hours cooking these dishes this morning. I love fish. I can eat fish practically everyday and never get tired of it. I usually cook it in sour broth with plenty of veggies. This time, I tried the different approach...steaming inspired by Chateau. Boy, it is delicious. Steamed fresh pompano is awesome. You should try it.

First, I washed the fish and patted it dry. Then I sliced some ginger and spread it on top of the fish. I added about a tablespoon of soy sauce and steamed it for half an hour or until it is done. Of course, I checked the fish every now and then to make sure I didn't overcook the fish. When the steaming was over, I shredded some green onions and placed it on top of the fish. I then heated up some olive oil to a sizzle and poured it on the fish. You know when the oil is hot enough because it makes a hissing sound when poured on the steamed fish. Then I added another tablespoon of soy sauce.

Before I eat my meal, I usually eat fresh fruits. Many of you may wonder. Simply because it helps me avoid overeating since I am usually half way full after eating the whole mango or banana. Also, I discover that when I eat my meal in this particular order, I feel much better. I don't feel gassy and stuffed.

I also cooked togi today(stir-fry mong sprouts, tofu, and slices of pork). For some reason, I can't seem to eat a meal without vegetables. I can get by eating veggies and rice only even without fish and meat but not the other way around. I have to have those greens on my plate, whether it is salad or steamed veggies.

At work, I try to eat as little as possible because I tend to get sleepy when I eat huge meal. My kind of job requires me to be alert on the road at all times. Besides, it is difficult to work when stomach is full. Therefore, I usually go for veggie tuna salad or avocado sandwich, which is not only light but also healthy. Notice the salad is placed on top of a tray of letters. I took during my lunch break in my vehicle. You see, I do carry my camera to work but not often as it can be a nuisance.

Ooops, I have five minutes to drive to our meeting place.

My husband's a Fashion Critique

This is me without the head. I kindly asked my hubby to take a shot of me so I can blog about my recent shopping spree. I purposely left out the head as my face didn't look decent enough for posting.

Anyway, last weekend, I went shopping for my clothes to wear in the Philippines anytime soon. My wardrobes are getting outdated and, therefore, need a little makeover. I usually take shorts, tank tops, camisoles, cotton skirts, and one formal outfit in case I get invited to a wedding, baptism, or go out on a formal dinner. The shorts, tank tops, I can re-wear but definitely not the dresses, sandals, and shoes.


I like this particular dress because it looks comfortable, simple, and the price was reasonable. One problem though, my husband thinks that the necklace doesn't complement the dress well. He said the necklace camouflages the dress, which makes it hard to notice. Huh? How well does he know about fashion? Was he right?I would have been perfectly happy with my choice had my husband not said those words. Now, I am contemplating on exchanging it to maybe yellow necklace with just a few touch of green. That means another long trip to the valley. What do you think?

At The Edge

Hello friends,

I thought I would share with you the very first recording of my daughter, Stephanie.
She expects to release few more songs this summer when she has all the time to concentrate on music. Mom and dad always remind her that academics come first.

At The Edge, music and words by Stephanie Hilliard. Please click "Tepsie" on the top of my "Link list" to listen. Music plays automatically after a few seconds.

She sang "At The Edge" at a fundraising concert held in our local cafe along with 8 of her original songs for the benefit of the typhoon Reming victims in my village. For a small town with a population of roughly 14,000, we had a good turn out. The house was packed! She did excellently, people said.

Donations for Education

I might as well get blogging about my family over before I move on to a more interesting and non-family related topics. I know most or some of you will probably get tired of reading posting about my two precious daughters but I will go ahead anyway. After all, this is a free country.

The article below was written by my daughter S 3 years ago during her junior year in high school. She was supposed to be posing with the Marilima kids from Virac, Catanduanes in the photo but for some reason, her second trip to the Philippines didn't happen as planned despite of the preparations she had done. I took her place instead, though I felt the disppointment from each of the children. They were very much looking forward to meeting my daughter for the first time. They made all kinds of preparations for her coming. They brought all kinds of goodies, delicious native food, native gifts, and even showcased the beautiful artworks that they created from the art supplies that they received. Only they didn't get to present it to her personally.

Additionally, from the article you will be able to learn and depict my humble beginnings. Please read on...

A project that holds much meaning to me is the one that I created called "Donations for Education." The inspiration came when I visited the Philippines last summer and saw the elementary school in my mother's village. The children were very poor and the school was very simple and stark. The school's walls were bare, the chairs were broken, and the children barely had any pencils or pens to write with. Also, they had few art supplies and books to read. When I walked back to my mother's old house, I noticed that my cousin was studying for her final exam. She had managed to crowd all of her notes onto a single sheet of paper. When I asked my mother why she did not use more than one piece of paper, she informed me that paper was hard to come by, and it was important that my cousin saved every single piece.

I found this surprising since I remembered that I had reams of paper lying around my house. I also had many old boxes of crayons and markers that could be better utilized by the Filipino children. I had several old backpacks, binders, and folders that I did not need anymore. I realized that if every person in my community could donate a few extra school supplies that were available in their homes, even the simplest items such as a few sheets of paper, it would be enough to support several elementary school classes in the Philippines. I decided that the easiest way to plan out this endeavor would be to create a school supply drive in which community members could easily donate any items relative to education.

To accomplish this goal, I asked my Key Club for their help. I proposed my idea during a club meeting, asking if they could help with the project advertisement, and other related tasks. I was the head chaiperson and called several committee meeting throughout the duration of the project to organize and plan the school supply drive. Together, we decided to hold both a community-wide and a school-wide drive.

Through the project "Donations for Education", more than thirty four hundred school supplies were collected. These included pens, pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, backpacks, children books, paper, colored construction paper, scissors, glue, etc. Large shipping boxes were filled to the brim with the supplies (in fact, we were not able to fit all the supplies into the three boxes...which will be carried over into the next year's drive.) The Filipino children received many essential school supplies that would help them with their schooling. Additionally, the students now had backpacks to help them carry their belongings during their long walking trips to and from the school. The teachers were very enthusiastic receiving art supplies, teacher's manual to several textbooks, and children books in english.

Not only did the project affect the lives of many children, it also taught me to believe in myself. Before, I did not expect a project of this much planning and organization to follow through, but I discovered that I do have strength within myself. I learned to set my mind on my goal and understand that obstacles will certainly get in the way, but I just have to overcome them with confidence. The closer friendship that I gained with the rest of the Key Club members were invaluable. Additionally, I gained a connection with my Filipino heritage. Even though the Philippines is halfway around the world, it felt like the distance didn't matter since I was able to help them no matter how many miles away they were. When I received thank you letters and pictures from the students, I was truly amazed to see them holding up school supplies in the pictures that had been previously held by my own hands. I never imagined that I would be receiving letters with personal signatures from the students and creating new friendships. I am truly thankful for this project, not only for the result that it has accomplished, but also for the joy and gratitude that it has instilled within me.

My daughter A has been spearheading the drive for the last two years now.