Rainbow Bridge

ILY Brandon to the moon and back. I will miss you...

Hello. Let me greet everyone first a belated Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. One more day to go before we bid 2015 adieu. 

It would have been a merry christmas for me though hadn’t for Brandon, our family dog's untimely demise. I somehow saw it coming although at the back of my mind there was at least a little glimmer of hope that he’ll last for at least few more years.

I wrote about Brandon’s ordeal on my previous blogs such as how he survived liver and kidney failure. It’s only been a couple of months since we moved to our new house and it’s such a sad, sad thing that he only lived here for that long. He was ok a week after he finished taking all his meds and all. He was walking although his legs were not as strong anymore due to his old age perhaps, he’s 10 years old. The vet advised to have his vaccines updated, to have him dewormed etc. I was apprehensive and the first to object because he’s ten and that he just got his strength back. My siblings decided to go ahead probably thinking that would help. I understand their point although my doubt remained. We all want what's best for him.

He was ok after his 5in1 shot with anti-rabies for a week. After five days, as per the vets advise, we had him dewormed and that’s when the dilemma started. We noticed his lack of appetite again and in just few days he was back to the way he was so we rushed him to a different veterinary clinic because we totally lost our trust to the previous vet clinic who treated him initially. When we took him to the new vet he wasn’t feeding anymore, unable to stand and all. He seemed to have lost all his strength. We were disheartened with what we saw because the symptoms points to kidney and liver failure all over.

The new vet clinic we took him to said that tests should’ve been done first prior to the shot/vaccine to make sure he’s all well. That, the dog’s good appetite is not an indication that he’s well as there might be underlying problems since he  just got back from treatment. We were so aghast that we trusted an expert not knowing that would cause Brandon’s life. We kept him at the vet a day before Christmas hoping that he’ll still make it no matter how our hearts were bleeding to see him in such poor state. We kept asking for updates from the vet the whole time he was confined yet the most daunting news came three days ago, he passed away Sunday morning around 8 a.m. We were all devastated to hear the news. We lost him a couple of days after Christmas. I remember one time my sisters and I asked our Mom in heaven to at least let Brandon live until Christmas if not longer. She did grant our wish but eventually that’s all God could possibly spare, only until Christmas. We thanked our Mom and of course the Almighty for those wonderful ten years we spent with Brandon. His service was truly honorary, his loyalty and all out protection we will never forget. My sister said Brandon will now head off to his destination, the Rainbow Bridge, this is what they call animal’s version of ‘heaven.’ 

I thought (to console myself), Brandon’s mission might’ve been finished. He might’ve thought that we’re better now and that he can finally rest. But then, I will miss him badly. He’s got the loudest and deepest bark in the neighbourhood. The neighbours even stare at him in awe because he’s the biggest one round here. This is also the reason why I prefer smaller animals, ‘cuz you feel the loss big time the bigger they are. I don’t wanna be sad but I am, I can’t help it. I just think that animals entrust their lives to humans, they can’t complain, they can’t talk, they only wail if they are in pain. I just hope that those people you call ‘experts’ when it comes to animal care should be far more careful with their what they say because it may cause an animals life as in the case or Brandon. An obvious malpractice.

I think my Mom finally walked him down the rainbow bridge. To a world where he's now free from suffering and his weary body finally came to rest if such realm ever exist. This gives me a reason to believe that somewhere out there, there's a place for them.

Nevertheless, I am wishing you guys a Happy New Year. Be safe and keep your pets somewhere safe as well, away from the noise for as much as possible because they get totally stressed out during NYE due to the thundering sound made by fireworks. Our dogs do and so as our cat. The noise is like world war for them. 

I’ve seen a lot of pets being rushed to vet clinics by the way due to digestive problems over the holidays. Please, let’s be careful with what we feed them. Like I said, they can’t talk when they're in pain so let’s not subject them to health constraints amidst all the merriment ok?

It’s the year of the Monkey this coming 2016, my birth year. I hope the new year will be good to me and my kins, to everyone, to the world. 

related posts:

http://musingsofabatgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/keep-going.html

http://musingsofabatgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/go-brandon.html

Etsy Bitsy

my master pieces...

My jute twines been keeping me busy. I made tons of things made with jute twines already and I want to make some more because it's such an enjoyable pass time. I realised that a 100 meter roll of twine could go a long way that I already made crafty projects from pen holders, vanity kit, ribbons for labels etcetera etcetera. Pinterest is just so effin useful when it comes to DIY ideas that I haven't even consumed the entire roll yet.

I just wanna share what I have done so far so y'all folks could make use of your time productively Oh by the way also enjoyed making labels for just about everything. You could just google 'spice labels' and you'll see a lot of downloadable and editable templates from the web to choose from which you could just simply cut out and you'll have automatic labels for just about every thing. Isn't jute twines and spice labels look good together ? Teehee.

Anything for Mom

i think she's done finally...

I recast my message board and totally made a new one from scratch because I finally found this etsy shop close to where I live that sells handmade crafts ranging from colourful feathers, jute twines, burlaps, papier-mâché boxes to scrap book decors and many more. It felt like finding treasure at the end of the rainbow. I’m saying this ‘cuz I shop online because of limited access to stuff like those and finding one that sells them is just happiness. 

my bedroom photo wall made from 
recycled message board materials.
I'm trying to channel Boho lol.

So, I bought this chalk board paper, some colourful dyed feathers, pieces of cute colourful sunflowers made from (I think) dried coconut husk’s skin, and last but not least, buttons with pretty intricate designs. I still retained the original materials such as the braided jute twines and sea shells. I’m finally happy with the outcome and I think I could finally leave it for now and move on to my new project, to decorate my Mom’s columbary.

I kind of noticed every time I visit the columbarium that more and more families  are already decorating their loved one’s columbary. Some adorn them with paper made flowers and I thought what a good way to beautify them since we cannot repaint them unlike catacombs in cemeteries. I measured the length and width so I could start my project at home then bring them in once finished. I thought, the place where our dearly departed ones lie maybe sacred and solemn but that does not mean they should look melancholic as well. I think my mom would be happy to see me decorating her urns home because she’s a lover of aesthetics like I do. Anything for Mom.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Finally done with my online shopping marathon. I purposely ordered stuff ahead of Christmas time to avoid delivery traffic and all. I got my macbook air case this afternoon and alas I can breath. I don’t know what’s with this week that all my orders came in not that I’m complaining. Ok, so my macbook is not gonna get cold this Christmas anymore because she’s now all dressed up yay! Pretty in purp, my fave.

I ordered my macbook air case from another online shop on Instagram. Yes, I am more of an IG, Pinterest and Twitter person and not so much on Facebook. Going back, the case came with free keyboard and dust plugs (my choice of colors) plus shipping is free. What a good deal right? Other shops charge extra for the Keyboard protector and other add ons other than the case so it cost more. With the shop I bought mine from it’s already a package for P880 all in. I love it! I’ll just collect some more macbook cases after Christmas because people clamour this time of the year regardless if your shopping online or not. I’ll just let the Christmas rush subside first. 

Busy December

my eco friendly message board ...

I’m 80% finished with my DIY plywood message board! I gathered some sea shells we have at home and created my own paper made purple sun flowers to decorate the edges and camouflage the tacks. I was even able to use my washi tapes for this project. It may not be as pretty but it’s hand crafted with love. I’m still gathering few more recyclable materials and sooner or later it may be done in no time (I hope). I’m proud about my work because I only consumed few of earth’s resources and was even able to recycle an old picture which used to hang in the wall but now kept in our storage room. 

I love recycling things. One Christmas many years back, I asked my exchange gift partner one thing, tons of Papelmeroti notebooks because they’re made from recycled materials. it’s my way to support re-use and recycle, an advocacy I truly believe in since childhood. Our mom taught us to make use of recycled water (the ones we drain from washing machines after laundry) instead of using the toilet bowl’s flush. This way you already hit two birds in one stone, help mother earth through conserving water in general and lower your water consumption/bill at the same time. My family and I may not adhere to this habit like we used to but surely we still do whenever we can. 

Moving on, I just received the package I ordered from LAZADA last November 21st this afternoon. A couple of Plantronics headset I’d be using for Skype. My mistake whilst ordering was I accidentally placed two separate orders instead of just one which made my life complex because I had two separate tracking numbers. Anyways, Ordering from LAZADA was a breeze because you will be notified online right away once your order was placed including the estimated time of arrival, item type etc. which is similar with eBay. My only concern was, LAZADA is not for rush orders because it took almost 3 weeks before my orders reached my doorstep. The advantage was it’s CASH ON DELIVERY basis (only on selected items though) so you feel at ease that you have not shell out any money for it yet as opposed to eBay or other online shopping sites. Shipping is also free if you order items P1000 and up. 

cat cord winder not included 

The only hassle part in my experience was when my order was already in the hands of LBC express (local courier). My items weren’t delivered on time as per their online tracking tool because according to them it wasn’t accommodated due to high delivery volume for the day. I was of annoyed with LBC since I wasted time waiting for my items. I wished they could’ve notified me at least that the delivery would be put off at a later schedule. I wrote a letter of complaint so it was escalated and was eventually delivered today after a couple of failed deliveries. I hope they have better communication channels and let me just state that their Twitter account isn’t very helpful this time. The ones responding on Twitter are like robots copying and pasting automated responses sorry to say. I called LBC’s customer service hotline, sent a letter of complaint, sent messages via Twitter. Yes I was that concerned that my package would be returned back to LAZADA because that would be a total inconvenience.

Nevertheless, I am happy with my orders although I still prefer ordering from online shops found on Instagram etc. because it only take less than a week for you to get your items. It’s still best to order directly from the seller and not have people liaise between the seller and the customer like what LAZADA does. I think I might order from them again if I have no choice since there are items found in LAZADA that are not found in other shops locally.

diy from scraps

I Finally got the jute twine rolls and chalk pen I ordered last week from this shop on Instagram that sells mason jars, jute twines, label stickers etc.  I was so excited that I started decorating my spice canisters right away. I'm thinking of ordering some burlaps as well because I saw a lot of really cool ideas from Pinterest and who knows I might even think of selling them one day.

my diy message board, still
halfway through...

Today, I made a small message board from an old hang-in-the-wall decor. I used the back of it, braided few string of jute twines, thumb tacks, label stickers, my chalk pen and it's partly done. I'm thinking of few more addition to it but I'm still collecting some more materials. I'm not happy wit it yet because it feels empty to me.

posted from Bloggeroid

Ice Ice Baby

my new workspace at home..

I got my new baby yesterday, my Macbook Air 11. I love that it is so lightweight, perfect for travellers like me. I remember my sister and I's trip to Hong Kong months ago, we carried our laptop so we could upload photos directly online and blog at the same time. It was kinda heavy though that we have to take turns in carrying it. We usually have heavy carry on bags because of our gadgets and of course our make up kits. I am a Windows user but I am good at understanding apple products because I used to have an iPhone which I traded for Samsung because of wifi access issue but that's a whole different story which you can scour my blog for if you want to know why. 

Going back, this is the first time I will be using a Macbook in my lifetime although it's not new to me since all apple products are pretty much the same interface wise. I can say that it's also pretty straightforward as well, not as difficult to navigate compared to Windows 8 or 10. Apple is so excellent packaging wise as usual. I love the box, free stickers as usual and the two different types of charger, one 3 pin and one regular 2 pin. Macbook Air 11 is also very basic, yet absolutely sleek--no memory card reader and couple of USB ports but what the heck I will just be using it for work anyways. I'm also glad that my six year old Canon Pixma 1800 series worked with my Macbook after I downloaded the installer/driver from Apple's website which I never thought still would since I had a hard time finding a cartridge for it after my printer ran out of ink. I thought Canon is already trying to phase out my printer's model because there's tons of them already out. Some of them already have scanner and photocopier capability. I was only able to purchase one from Canon of course. I was so excited for my new baby that I already purchased a purple case for it with free keyboard and dust plugs. I bought one from an online seller I follow on Instagram. That's what I love about Macbook, they have rubber keyboards which you can just place on top of the original ones to prevent them from smearing due to frequent use whilst other laptops don't.

Moving on, took Brandon the german shepherd to the vet today to have his vaccines updated. We thought, right now is the perfect time since he's already fully recovered from his liver and kidney infection. We asked for the 5in1 shot with anti-rabies and deworming tablets (3 tablets for him because the number of tablets vary depending on the dog's weight). He's not allowed to take a bath for a week and we can only administer his deworming tabs after five days. Brandon's next visit to the vet would be in a couple of weeks time for his anti-pneumonia booster. Better safe than sorry, we promised to take extra good care of him because he's old and we love him.

Holiday

Every time I think of Christmas this romantic comedy flick called The Holiday crosses my mind. I've seen this movie so many times but it just never get old and as a matter of fact I watched it again just recently. I love to travel so the thought of travelling last minute excites me. So, here goes my own synopsis.

The Holiday (2006)

Cast:

• Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) – rich movie trailer producer
• Iris Simpkin (Kate Winslet) – society column editor from London
• Graham (Jude Law) -Iris' brother
• Miles (Jack Black) – does musical scores for movies
• Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach)– renowned scriptwriter during Hollywood's golden age.

Plot:

Amanda Woods kicked her lived in partner Ethan out of her L.A home because he slept with his young Secretary. Amanda lives in a humongous house in L.A, a workaholic and a movie trailer producer thus she makes a lot of money but less time for Ethan.

On the other side of the world, Iris Simpkin, a column editor from London, is busy with her column (amidst the company Christmas party) happened to be still madly in love with her ex-boyfriend/co-worker Jasper Bloom. Iris caught Jasper cheating but remained friends with the bloke and as a matter of fact gifted him this first edition book he's so yearning to have for Christmas. On that same fateful night Jasper's engagement was announced (with a girl from the circulation department) leaving Iris an emotional wreck.

Amanda asked for a break from work to get over her heartbreak over Ethan whilst Iris thought of going somewhere to mend her broken heart. Amanda saw an ad posted online about 'house exchange' and eventually picked Cotswold, 40mins. from London. Iris posted the ad online a long time ago and the two over chat eventually agreed to do the 'house exchange' ASAP. With Iris, she aimed to go somewhere far to fall out of love from Jasper which she pathetically told him via email.

Iris live at an old country house faraway from the city, it was winter which was different from where Amanda hailed from, windy but no snow. Iris was flabergasted as soon as she set foot at Amanda's house because it was humongous which is quite the opposite with Amanda's reaction once she reached Iris' little country home. It was a small country house with fire place and a dog. Amanda thought of heading home the next day thinking she never felt more alone until a sot Graham knocked the door, Iris' big brother. Graham just would like to sleep for a night to get over his hang over from drunkeness and was surprised to see Amanda, a stranger inside his sister's crib. Amanda thought Graham was gorgeous and t'was mutual. The two made out although told each other not to make a big deal out of what happened. Graham told Amanda in case she changes her mind to drop by at the Pub. Amanda did and the rest was 'it's complicated.'

Going back to Iris in L.A, she met Miles, he was supposed to pick up Ethan's stuff from Amanda's house. Miles introduced Maggie to Iris, his girlfriend. Iris still head over heels with Jasper received a phone call from the later about something his writing about. Jasper asked for Iris' addy to 'send' her the manuscripts yadda yadda which is perhaps just an excuse for him to know Iris' whereabouts and probably hoping they could patch things up despite Jasper's being engaged already. Iris met this old neighbor Athur Abbott, lost in the neighborhood, offered to drive him back to his house. The two became friends and Arthur learned that Iris is in L.A getting over a guy.

Back to UK, Amanda visited Graham's house and found that he already have two lovely daughters and thought at first he's married. Graham confessed his a widower and his two daughters loved Amanda since there hasn't been any female in the house other than their Aunt Iris since their mom passed away.

Iris on the other hand confessed to Miles (after Miles got heartbroken and saw Maggie with another guy whilst him and Iris were at the video store) that she's in L.A to get over Jasper. Miles realized he's luckier compared to Iris so he made her pasta, wrote a musical score for both Iris and Arthur. Arthur was invited btw to an event to honor his contribution to the hollywood movie world. Iris helped him to be fit for the event and discard his cane.

Amanda and Graham went out on a date. She told Graham she hasn't shed a tear since her parents broke up. Graham found it really peculiar but nevertheless accepted Amanda as she is. Miles little by little fell in love with Iris after seing how lovely she is as a person.

Fast forward, Arthur successfully attended the event in his honor, Amanda and Graham agreed to make things work despite the distance. Amanda finally cried a river the day she was supposed to go back home to L.A. Miles asked Iris if he could spend New Year's eve at Iris' place in the UK and it was a happy ending.

FIN

I love this movie because it didn't just focus on one story. There's Amanda's story, Iris, Miles and Arthur. Plus, I love the setting especially Iris' old country home. It's like the best of both worlds. This is a movie that will never bore you because there's a lot of things going on.

Foodie...

Ok, 'nuff of the movie stuff i'm engrossed about, let me just share this chocolate cake recipe I'm raving about. This is the only steamed cake that I made which never failed me measurements wise haha! So let me share it with you guys. I'm looking to make a special chocolate cake this coming Christmas.

my home made chocolate cake, steamed
for roughly 30 mins.

Chocolate Cake

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

12 Tbsp. All purpose flour

½ tsp. Baking soda

¾ tsp. Baking powder (0.05 oz.)

¼ tsp. Salt

2 large eggs (room temperature)

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil/coconut oil

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk (room temperature)

2016 AlDub calendar...

In the absence of buttermilk, I use evaporated milk with white vinegar as substitute. It always come out just fine.

Etc.

Before I end this bloggie, my sissies bought a couple of AlDub calendars which came free if you order McDonald's chicken meals. We made sure we get ours as souvenirs for this years phenomenal love team. Hey they set the twitter world on fire and made tons of TV commercials. What's not to love about them right?

Here Comes December

Oh hello December. It's 24 days to go indeed before Christmas and time flew by so fast. Finally done with our black and white photo wall project. My stiff neck already healed after four weeks thanks to my ortho prescribed Arcoxia. I was back to drilling after three days of taking it but I made sure not to push my muscles to the limit anymore otherwise I'm gonna be a walking robot, muscle spasms everywhere.

Now that I'm back to normal, I busied myself with more diy projects. I chose to innovate my spice jars and replace them with little plastic containers. I use glass jars before but rust corroded the lids so no other solution but use plastic ones to avoid 'em from getting all rusty. I thought of handwriting the labels myself but I figured it's a whole lot easier to use downloadable ones instead so the font is similar for all my jars.

spice spice baby

For a start I googled everything and found tons of really pretty label templates. These are blank labels with text boxes and its very own font. I used an A4 paper, printed them all and there you go. I also used this big scotch tape to coat my labels to prevent them from smudging since I used an inkjet printer, a double sided tape, then cut them all out and it's an automatic label sticker. I just didn't like the 11 character limit on the template's text box that I have to cut the words short to fit the label gadh. Anyways, I only spent P66 for the tiny spice containers from Japan Home whilst the rest of the materials came handy at home.

Ok, I pretty much put labels on everything so what to do next? I say a lot when you're bored. 

posted from Bloggeroid

Time Bled By Itself

Yumi the patient..

Twigs for that rustic feel..

Our move to the new house really made things easier for us because it is located fairly close to the Vet clinic which is awesome especially now. Most of our pets are getting old thus are more susceptible to sickness. Aside from our german shepherd who was recently afflicted by liver and kidney infection, we also have our 4 year old Yumi, a mix of shih tzu and japanese spitz, currently being treated for blood parasite infection for about a month now. She's the lone survivor after all her relatives died from canine distemper because she, luckily, have vaccinations.

How did Yumi get infected? An infected tick unfortunately bit her and took a while before the symptoms manifested. She started having bad breath, body odor, weight loss, turned surprisingly jumpy and little by little lost her appetite.

snow...snow...more snow spray lol..

Our merry little Christmas
tree..

We decided to take her to the vet because she started becoming jittery which was unusual for her. So, we asked the vet to have her blood tested because that's the only way to confirm if there's any problem and the vet confirmed she's positive for blood parasite infection which is similar to typhoid fever in humans.

The vet said it's a long term medication which may last for up to half a year and may be life threatening if not treated. Her medication started last month and today's follow up check up still says she's still infected although the drastic improvement due to the medication was impeccable. Yumi took Doxyvet (antibiotic), multivitamins, antiprotozoal and PAPI liv-well. She gained weight, got her appetite back and no longer smells. Hopefully she'll be normal in less than 6 months because it's quite costly but like I always say they're family too.

Moving on, to really feel the spirit of Christmas we already decorated our home and of course the spirit of the season won't be complete without the traditional Christmas tree. We already have our Christmas tree up, decors are all set when I saw this snow spray being sold at this home depot. I decided to buy one to add a little winter feel to the whole ensemble and also for a dramatic touch hoping to be able to channel it well.

let it snow..let it snow..snow spray..

The artificial snow blended well actually making it look freezing cold due to frost like we need a friggin' heater lol. It looked cute on the Christmas tree as well, as if it's already been snowing for hours and time bled on its own. Ok, now I feel like writing a winter inspired novel, naah, too cliche.

But, seriously, I did write a fictional short story about one winter in New York. I even mentioned the Rockefeller Center's ice skating rink in the prologue. That was during summer break when I was still in college to kill boredom. I honestly don't know where it went but I'm still hoping to find it, probably encode it as it was typewritten. If I won't be able to find it then it's gone with the wind (whimper).

posted from Bloggeroid

Keep Going

Brandon is finally able to walk again and we were all surprised to know after I came home from my Ortho last Monday due to my aching stiff neck. We anticipated his recovery might take longer than usual as it is with dogs on renal failure. It was just his 5^th day after he was released from the vet clinic. We religiously made him take his medications and thank God he responded quite well. It was a miracle actually and I don't know if Brandon is aware that my Dad will be home to see how he's doing. Brandon is my Dad's dog and because he's been busy, my sisters and I do all the taking care of things for Brandon. We're hoping that Brandon will be back in shape real soon and somehow we'll be able to at least prolong his life for the time being. We're praying if we could max it out to twelve years which is the longest life span for German Shepherds.

2 Tbsp. for a glass of water  

His stance is not as sturdy so we still keep him at his makeshift confinement room at home until he's really better. Brandon's been eating well although still finicky at times, not drinking much water though so we have to make him drink this water soluble powdered glucose (in lieu of his dextrose) using a syringe every after his meals. We still keep track of his medicine intake, how many times he drank water, stool, urine time etc. My Dad was happy to see him able to walk again because his spirit might've dampened when we told him that Brandon has been very weak (that wast last week though). At least we set his expectations just in case because you'll never know with senior dogs like ours. Nevertheless, we're still hoping for the best.

Going back to my neck, my Ortho said my neck pain is not really alarming. He just asked how high is my bed, pillows etc. I told him of course I had this drilling project at home which might've caused the stiff neck. I told him about the muscle relaxant meds that I took and how they temporarily relieved the pain yadda yadda. In the end he prescribed Arcoxia 90mg (Etoricoxib) which I think is quite good. Today's the 3^rd day since I took Arcoxia and I think the aching stiff neck is gradually decreasing. My Ortho said he'll figure something else if it will not heal after a week, I hope not. I really hate hospitals and clinics because they sound like a cashier's till to me (ting! ting!) every time I go there.

OC In Me

multi tasking: baking whilst scanning through Brandon's check list.

I always want to keep things organized because my memory no longer serves me right most of the time probably caused by tons of medicines I took during the previous years as well.

I think I may be a little obsessive compulsive because there are times wherein I want my clothes to be color coded especially If I have all the time in the world keeping them in a spic and span order. But, when I'm busy my stuff are a perfect mess. I also love to put labels on things such as cabinets and drawers because of my being forgetful. I love check lists that's why I took this opportunity to make this check list of medicines that our nursing senior dog Brandon is taking to keep tabs of everything he eats, drink, time he took them etc. because there's no room for errors when it comes to taking medicines, I wouldn't like that to happen to me neither. 

I was also able to con the people at home to make use of the checklist I made for Brandon's sake and so far they're doing a great job. I even asked my sissy to buy this clip board for me to hold my check list like what you see in hospitals lol. I feel like a child again role playing as a Doctor or Nurse. I seriously dreamt of becoming a Doctor someday because I thought their job is easy when I was still a kiddo.

Just an update on Brandon's condition: he's eating now although not as greedy as before yet but at least he's no longer refusing food. He's however unable to stand on his own yet since we took his dextrose off because he has not eaten much. Food is fuel so not enough food, not enough energy. I'm glad he seems to be regaining his appetite for food gradually. He's whimpering at times probably feeling miserable for his condition so we often talk to him (yes we do no matter how loony it sounds) to comfort him and tell him to not force himself. Brandon often make his rounds at night so he might've thought he's neglecting his duties for being bed ridden. He's a police dog so what can we do right? It runs in his breed :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Go Brandon!

It's only been two days since Brandon, our ten year old senior dog was released from the veterinary clinic due to loss of appetite and diarrhea resulting to weight loss. He was confined last Monday and stayed at the Vet clinic for couple of days. He was dextrosed but refused to eat the whole time he was confined. We learned that his kidney and liver were affected which is common with German Shepherds his age. We thought it might've been due to the antibiotics he took because of his infected callous/hygroma before since antibiotics are known to affect the liver and kidney if they're weak which is usually the case with senior dogs. He took liver supplements back then as prescribed but he still got sick probably due to old age.

Brandon's makeshift hospital room at home.

We got worried after we received an sms from the Vet to let us know that he hasn't been feeding and it's been 48 hours so we rushed to the Vet Clinic the next day to see how he's doing. Our hopes went up after seeing him ok, a little weak though since he's been refusing food. My sisters and I decided to bring him home hoping to be able to make him eat. We thought, what's the point of keeping him at the Vet if he isn't eating? Brandon might've felt a sense of abandonment that's why he refused to feed. The Vet prescribed this Vitamin C to be taken intravenously, additional bag of D-Glucose for his catheter and off we go.

When we got home he urinated a lot and as per the Veterinarian it would take roughly a week before he poop so it's absolutely normal. We made a space for him at our house's drying area where we set up his bed and everything. We even made a makeshift sleeping area at the dining room (because there's a glass sliding door there where we could peer through to see the drying area) to closely monitor brandon since he's still on a catheter. Boy it wasn't an easy task because he's a huge dog and since he's still groggy we have to prevent him from falling every time he walks around. We watched over him for 24 hours. It felt like one of those days at the hospital except there weren't any doctors and nurses doing their rounds. It was a little tough on my end because I am still enduring this darn stiff neck and I can't do any lifting. Brandon ate a cup of boiled chicken liver, no salt or any spices as per the Vet's instruction.

Yesterday, my sisters went back to the Vet to let her know that he's been eating although not more than a cup. I was in charge of cooking his meals and man it's not easy peasy feeding a sick dog because he still will not devour any sort of food like he used to, he was finicky like a cat. The good thing was, Brandon at least ate about a cup of this canned beef flavoured liver yesterday. He just will not eat the same food over and over. He was prescribed tons of meds: Antiprotozoa, Antibiotic, Immunol and Papi Liv-well for his liver supplement. We already removed his catheter because he's already eating , again as per the Vet.

This morning, we got all panicky because he was shivering so we decided to feed him this Cream Dory fish which I marinated in lemon, honey and very little salt. He might've been just starving that's why because he refused all foods I made for him last night. After eating about half a cup his shivering stopped. We were surprised that he devoured it. He loved it so I made him another cup full come lunch time. Beforehand, we applied this gum paste to boost his appetite by the way which I think worked somehow.

So far so good and we're rooting for his fast recovery through prayers and additional TLC. I once read Armi's (Up DHARMA DOWN) post on Instagram when her 9 year old cat got sick. I was touched when she said that with pets they consider US humans as their only family because they don't have any brothers, sisters or parents to look after them when they get sick. We are their ONLY family. This almost set me to tears because it's true.

As an end note, let's love our pets unconditionally especially during the time they need us the most. For some they're just a pet but for your pet you mean the whole world to them.

posted from Bloggeroid

Mus-kels

Been enduring a quite severe neck pain for almost a week now which made me scurry to my endocrinologist a couple of days ago thinking it is related to my being hypothyroid. If you haven't read my previous blogs, welcome. But if you have been reading thanks!

broken mirror? design them. we opted
for a wooden theme to remedy the crack.

I often associate my muscle pains to my hypothyroidism because there's no other culprit 80% of the time. When I was still hyperthyroid my muscles were so weak, when I turned hypothyroid my muscles are so stiff most of the time and if I stop taking hormone replacement drug I will feel excruciating muscle pains definitely. I have been doing a lot of lifting and drilling since we moved to our new home and a week after, that's when my neck pain kicked in. I know the difference between a normal muscle spasm over something chronic and this time around the pain won't subside for days. I took Alaxan FR, both warm and cold compress, even took use of this muscle relaxant ointment my Ortho prescribed years ago.The ointment partially relieved the pain but the discomfort continued on so I decided to go ahead and have my thyroid checked. My last check up with my endoc was March this year prior to me leaving for Hong Kong and I was told that my TSH level was ok. I was supposed to come back last month but got too busy so I failed to show up and just decided to have another check up after my prolonged neck pain. I know, I know, always go back when you're told by you're doctor to do so for your own peace of mind. So, I attributed my muscle pains to my thyroid and decided to have my blood tested again (TSH, FT4 level). I went back the next day for the result and thank God the pain is not in any way related to my thyroid. It was ruled out since my TSH level (my endoc said hormone level connecting the brain and heart) is fine, not normal though because you're never normal after RAI. I was told that I wasn't hypothyroid which means that my neck pain was due to my heavy lifting or drilling. That, the lifting might've already damaged my muscles and the constant physical activities aggravated it. Problem solved. I was advised to go for a massage and continue taking my Levothyroxine.

my new read...

latest project: Black and White photo
wall. Yes, I drilled all the wall hangers.
Six more photos to go..still far from
 completion.

I'll be resting for the time being and avoid any lifting. I also had a neck massage this afternoon and hopefully I'll be back on track in a few days. I hate not to hover. My sisters and I still got a project to finish which is our Black and White Photography Wall, an idea we got from Pinterest. Well, most of our projects here at home came from Pinterest. It's like the Instagram for DIY home ideas.

What else? I'm back to reading. I am currently reading Claire Zorn's The Sky So Heavy. It is interesting actually. I thought it was boring at first but never judge an e-book just by it's first few pages. It's about nuclear testing gone bad in Australia which resulted to extreme temperature drop. Imagine snow in Australia? I'll share it with you guys once finished. I haven't finished reading Vina Jackson's Eighty Days Amber because I've gotten tired reading all the sexual content and I want something that would make me travel some place else since I miss travelling all the time.

In God's Time

First of, let me welcome the month of November feeling thankful and blessed.

I can say its been a lucky year so far because we sold our house to its now rightful owner before the year come to a close. No one said it would be easy of course 'cuz it took five grueling years before someone finally took notice, was interested and eventually bought it. A lot of changes happened along the way and mostly painstakingly difficult. But then, God listened to our woes and prayers, he granted what we've been yearning for, a move to a new house eventually, to start anew. It was bittersweet but life goes on. Life is a constant change. I thanked my dearly departed Mom of course because this wouldn't have happened without her guidance, and above all, God, he made all things possible. As an adage goes “Patience comes to those who wait” and things will eventually fall into place at the right time or the most apt thing to say is in God's perfect time.

my ever reliable drilling equipment

Moving on, I got so busy decorating the house and all, bought new fixtures etc, etc. My sissies and I found this furniture shop that sells really affordable fixtures. Buying furniture is such a good de-stressing activity. I just love beautifying our new house. I actually love decorating because it brings out the creativity in me and when you have tons of ideas there's no stopping! I was so squeamish to hang our decors on the wall so we bought this impact drilling equipment at the nearest handyman store. At first, it was kind of difficult to wrap my head around the thought of operating that darn drilling equipment but after reading through the not so comprehensive instruction manual, I was able to successfully drill over fifteen holes (mostly by trial and error) which now holds roughly that many wall decors, mirrors, a wall clock, and the most difficult of them all, a towel holder. Drilling on really thick tiled bathroom walls is such a pain. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Nevertheless, I now seriously enjoy drilling the walls no matter how heavy the drilling equipment is after seeing the finished products. The effort and exhaustion is just all worth it. Who says drilling is a man's job? I don't think so. All you have to have is patience for it, an eye shield for the cement particles, an apron with pocket for screws/hooks and a surgical mask so you won't inhale the dust. Last but not least, clean up your own mess if you don't wanna get scolded!

he's better off asleep actually because
he does a lot of crazy things awake :D

I love our new home, it's peaceful and just minutes away from the central district. Let me also share that my cat now sleeps in my room more often because I think he's still scared to get lost in the woods nearby so he'd rather be a homebody kitty. I can't wait to venture into working from home as well because I already got tired of working in the confides of the office and endure the ever worsening traffic jams. I want to have time for lot of other things right now, especially travelling, blogging, baking, and my list goes on.

I'm off to visit my Mom's Columbarium tomorrow. I miss her and I wanna talk to her in silence, bring her flowers. Just early today, I heard the door bell rang twice and there's no one outside. I can't say it's grounded because I fixed our door bell myself and it's working perfectly. I guess she's just paying our new home a visit, trying to test the door bell perhaps since I always have doubts that I indeed fixed it LOL. Well, it's the 1^st of November what to expect? A lot of wandering souls yonder. Let's just offer them prayers. Nothing to be scared of. I am more scared of Burglars than ghosts. Just saying.

It's 54 days to go before Christmas. Have you decorated your Christmas tree yet? I did. My cat hasn't played with a single Christmas balls yet, I am crossing my fingers.

Songbird

I don't stick to any perfume brand because I'm quite lavish. If there's one thing i can't live without, that's perfume secondary to make up. I will melt in shame if I stink. Smelling good is always a must. Call me vain but looking good should mean smelling good as well. It's like you can't be wearing make up with your hair messed up If you know what I mean. 

Moving on, I happened to pass by Bench the other day and checked out their perfume variants, those ones with names of celebrities attached to them (Anne Curtis, Lovi Poe etc). I, of course smelled all the testers to see If I'd be interested on any of them. They actually smell all effin good for a considerably reasonable price of a little less than Php 400. I bought Regine Velasquez's 'Songbird' perfume because it smelled classy and flower-ish, not so sweet not so pungent. I was awed by the packaging as it looked classy in and out although I could care less about the packaging and more on the scent.

I tried it on just today by the way and I've been wearing it almost the whole day long now. The scent lingers really. If this perfume last for a month with me then I'm gonna stick to it (",)

posted from Bloggeroid

I Feel Infinite

Moving is such a tedious process. Boxing all your stuff seemed endless! I never thought we have so much clutter than useful things at home.

National Bookstore's Balikbayan box

So far, I have already packed nine huge boxes myself and I'm already getting sick inhaling all the dust, going back and forth, upstairs, downstairs, pacing around wishing I could teleport to make things a whole lot easier.

I suggested that we get those huge 'Balikbayan boxes' which are perfect for people who are moving because it sort of organize your things allowing you to put labels on them and save you time looking for your stuff once you've reached your new crib. We bought the boxes from National Bookstore and they knew it outright if you ask for Balikbayan boxes as it comes in standard size and only cost P 94.00 a piece which is not so bad considering the quality of the boxes. You can also purchase them online if you're ok paying hefty shipping fees. The boxes are flat and individually wrapped which means you have to assemble them yourself of course. They're pretty durable I think and I'm crossing my fingers lol. I'm just wondering how come we have sooo much stuff and mostly are junk? They're like Gremlins, they grow in numbers.

I feel infinite, literally (from The Perks of Being a Wallflower) because I don't know how long it would take before I finish boxing everything.

Nuninooo.

posted from Bloggeroid

Christmas Air

Hello October! I can't believe it, it's only couple of months more to go before we display our Christmas decors again after they collect dust for a year. We're also moving to a new home after waiting for so long yey!

I remember last year, my family and I have been wishing for a new home. My siblings and I fervently asked help from our Mom since she's already in heaven, hoping she could relay our message to God. I must admit we almost lost hope so we thought of moving back down south, even considered working abroad until this miracle happened, our house finally found its new owner. God is really good. We also give credits to our Mom who might've worked double time asking God to grant our wish (knowing how persistent she is when she was still around) no matter how busy his trunkline is.

As an end note, always thank God for all the blessings that come your way no matter how big or small. Talk to your loved ones who's already in heaven because I always believe that they look after those they left behind no matter what. This may sound quite odd but I think our dearly departed ones have the capacity to escalate our concerns to the highest ranking person in heaven.

I can smell Christmas.

posted from Bloggeroid

Snap On

Fresh Dalandan Juice.

My very own chocolate crepe sprinkled with
powdered sugar, dash with evap.

My fave, Ube Mooncake! 
It's cheaper if bought 
from Binondo though! 

I love food photography because you don't have be all dolled up for a photo shoot. All you have to have is a point and shoot camera, a photo editor with good filters (i use vsco cam), whatever food you have on your plate that looks delectable, your artistic side and you could shoot instantaneously.

However, it is also hard at the same time to pull off a good food shot (in my opinion) because you also have to make it look classy otherwise it won't look convincing.

Food is just one of the many subjects that interest me other than nature and places.

posted from Bloggeroid