Day 01 (Sunday Slowdown)

A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Okay, Day 1. Where do I start?

I posted this picture almost a week ago, after my doctor ordered me to take a week-long sick leave. As I mentioned in that blog entry, I've been on bed rest since last Tuesday because the cough and colds I ignored the previous week worsened into respiratory infection and bronchitis. Yep, it's a bad case of asthma, thanks to the workaholic in me kicking in and refusing to miss even a day at work. I keep telling my kiddies (a.k.a my students) to take care of their health and rest when they're sick. I should start following my own advice.

At least I'm feeling better now but I'm still having occasional coughing and sneezing fits. Am I ready to go to work tomorrow? We'll see. I might have to take things easy and hope nothing stresses me out (yes, I'm looking at you my dear students).

I woke up this cold and rainy Sunday morning to the sounds of my parents and sisters in the kitchen and Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise" blasting from the neighbor's radio. My dad cooked Spicy Kaldereta (a request from me and my sister), I ate a lot, drank meds, wrote a review for Bento-Ya, worked on a couple of grading sheets, and took naps. It's your typical bed weather routine - eat, sleep, surf teh Internetz. The rain is making me want to curl up in a bed with a sea of comforters and uber soft pillows, and read a book or watch a movie or TV series (Game of Thrones?) while drinking hot chocolate. I think I'm gonna be in trouble if the rain doesn't let up and the weather is still like this tomorrow morning.

In other words, today is a lazy, lazy Sunday, and I hope I'm well enough to go to work tomorrow. I miss my desk. 

The 30-Day Blog Challenge

There was a time when I couldn't let a day go by without writing on at least two of my blogs. Even if nothing particularly exciting happened that day, I'd still post a random picture with some silly caption just so I can put something new in there. Now I update only whenever I feel like it (a.k.a "once or twice a month"), and when I do it usually takes me a while to finish because I keep running out of words. I guess I got so used to "micro-blogging", I can't write a decent, full-length entry anymore.

I've tried different things to get me back into writing shape. I boldly went head on with The 365 Project (it's a photography thing but instead of taking one picture a day, I tried doing one post a day) but failed miserably (I think I stopped at 45). I tried it again and did even worse. I made a food blog, but the same thing happens. You'd think I'd be able to write regularly since it's about one of my favorite things in the world, but noooooo. I had to find something to jump-start my writing, and I had to find one fast before I completely lost interest.

This morning, I saw a friend post Day 03 of her 30-Day Blog Challenge and it got me interested. I checked it out, and apparently it's supposed to get you back in the writing habit by giving you a list of topics you need to write about for 30 straight days. The list could be pre-determined, or you could come up with your own. I think I'm going with the pre-determined topics because I tend to run out of ideas, but I might change it up a bit since I don't think some of the things in there can apply to me, like "What's in your makeup bag?"

Here's the list I'm planning to do:


Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding. Your plans for today.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of youself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days


I really hope I pull through with this one. That'd be a huge accomplishment for me. And who knows, I might even try to do this on my food blog so you all can watch me gain weight.

Random Update

Waw, a month? That long? Hmm.

I think I know why God made me sick - so I could update my blogs and try to relax and recharge, even with a clogged nose and a sore throat. So, here I am.

The earth shook about an hour ago. I was on my way to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I suddenly felt dizzy. I thought it was because of the meds, but when I got back to my computer, I saw about a dozen or so status updates that there was an earthquake. For someone who can't really feel earthquakes, I didn't know what to think. Should I be happy that I FINALLY got to feel an earthquake after so long, or should I be scared that the quake was strong enough for me to feel it? Or am I just being weird?

Speaking of status updates, I noticed that some of my friends posted in present tense. "Lumilindol!" or "Earthquake!" were the most common posts I saw. It's amusing to see how social networking has changed our priorities - FB first, then duck for cover. A friend of mine gave those people plus points for having no typographical errors in the middle of the shakiness. LOL.

And I think that's about all my brain can muster. Gotta go back to sleep and recuperate. I'm taking the day off tomorrow - hopefully a day's rest and a visit to the doctor will do the trick.