One Year Ago...

I traversed the Skyway from Alabang to Bicutan and back. Ran strong and was confident to finish at less than 2 hrs and a half but cramped out at the 18th kilometer mark and painfully limped my way to the finished line. I think I hurt my ego more than my body by being so careless and mindless of how my race strategy should be. And yet I got this to prove a tiny woman like me born with no athletic bone or muscle in her body can finish a half-marathon armed with mostly just guts and determination (because I was too laid back and honestly, lazy to train hard then):

In 4 days, I'm coming back to run on that same Skyway. But this time I am aiming to conquer the entire length of it (and a couple loops more on some parts of it) and get this in return:

PHOTO SOURCE

I am not as anxious as I was last year. I would say I did put more work this time around. I did clock in more training mileage than I'd actually expected (so yes, dun pa lang I'm giving myself a big pat on the back already). I am hoping to step into that Skyway this time armed with a more mature heart and a more sensitive spirit to know how far I can stretch my body's capability. 

I am about to cross out another one off my life list (which I have yet to pen down in here to make it official, I will find time soon) so this is rather an exciting time for me. Forgive the exaggerated tone. Please say a little prayer for me if you have a few seconds to spare when midnight strikes on February 3rd. I am about to change my life for the better. I have a feeling this marathon dream is just about to start. 

Slowly Easing Back To Reality

But I can't get this sight off my mind:

Since we had Maia, this was the longest time (almost a year, whew!) that we haven't gone out of Luzon and that trip we took over the weekend definitely provided us with the breather that we needed. We left with no yaya but this was the first trip we took when the kid was itching to prove that she can do A LOT of things on her own now so it was a welcomed break for me. I had the chance to just lie on the sand and soak in blank thoughts. I didn't have margaritas or mojitos for company but still that felt really good, I'm telling 'ya. Just to close your eyes and think of nothing. Good, good, good! Especially for a chronic worrier like me.

Today, I came back to work. And to a huge pile of paper. But of course, I'm still hungover. And I can almost still smell the salty breeze.

I should probably fix myself a cup of coffee to shake this off. Have a great week everyone!

I was able to take a photo of the family feet but had to fight tooth and nail to get the kid to stay still for 5 seconds. She was just so enamored by the sight of the beach she was dancing and running like crazy the entire time we are at the beach. not beach-loving mom + dad = CRAZY BEACH LOVING KID (just doesn't add up, don't you think?)

Throwback Thursday: Sun and Sand

We are going to be beach bound  soon with a couple friend to an island somewhere down south. The last time we were in that island was for our belated 'honeymoon' in December 2007. I was never the beach-loving type (and truthfully I do feel the island is rather overrated)  but I don't know why I am suddenly giddy about this trip.

Maybe because we haven't done much travelling in 2012? We were never really big on trips but we've always liked exploring different places (albeit on a budget) and I guess, I do miss doing that. And yes, I do need a break. From work. From the hustle and bustle of being a working mom. But yes, we are bringing the kid along so it's really not yet a total break from motherhood. Just from the chaos of the city is more like it.

Meanwhile, putting these old photos up in here to remind me that I once had that youthful glow in me. Where did that go? Haha. Most days I still feel young though and maybe that's a lot more important than merely looking it. I just have to find out how to let that 'inner glow' out so to speak.

what's this crepe place again? 

have yet to take my best sunset photo. maybe this time it won't be that elusive anymore.
keeping my fingers crossed.

gotta remember to take photos of 3 pairs of feet this time. 

I fervently hope and pray for good weather not so much for me and the husband but for the kid who is just as excited to take this trip. 

25 Days To My Marathon Dream

I only have 25 days left to prepare for my first marathon finish. Today I learned that I can actually raise pledges to help several causes apart from the mangrove seedlings that will help preserve the Mangrove forests here in our country (which automatically came with our registration by the way). I'm still trying to make up my mind on which one to choose but what tops my list would be the I CAN SERVE FOUNDATION, of course. I will discuss with the husband tonight. And hopefully I could campaign among friends next week. At least knowing that I am raising funds to help a good cause can help motivate me more to reach the finish line. 

I am aiming for 6 hours or less. I hope I will have enough strength to make that target. Last Sunday, we finally made our first 30 kilometers (but it took us 4 hours to do it, mind you) and we almost crawled. While I was cooling down and stretching, I wasn't able to stop myself from letting out a shout --- "Ahhhhhhhh 12 kilometers more!!!" -- instead of just a deep exhale. I am seriously doubting if I can make that finish but maybe, just maybe, committing myself to raise pledges will give me the extra boost to cover 12 more kilometers.

On February 3, can you please offer a short prayer for me? A friend tells me that reaching that finish line will forever change my life. And I absolutely have no doubt it will. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE PLEDGE FORM

Happy Birthday To Our Daddy Pogi!

I ran out of surprises today. And so, I just greeted my husband with the sweetest happy birthday I could muster and most loving kiss I could give right after saying a quick morning prayer. I hope that is enough. Although I do feel my lousiest today as you would know, I am big sucker for surprises (I keep throwing them even if my husband already expressed dislike over it).

So maybe today was really just about giving the husband what he wanted. A quiet birthday that he welcomed personally and without a kid badgering him to wake up and blow his birthday cake. We've been doing that since our kid learned to walk and mumble "happy birthday". Honestly, I wanted to do that because I wanted to make memories for the little girl. I wanted her to think of how special birthdays are and the best idea I came up with was cutting the birthday boy's sleep short and forcing him to blow his birthday candle at dawn. The kid really loved it (and would often replay the videos from years back) but now I'm not so sure if the husband felt the same. 

Tonight, we're going to quietly enjoy our KFC dinner at home. The birthday boy requested that we make an exception to our weekday pescatarian diet tonight and let him enjoy his KFC chicken guiltlessly. So yes, I have no issues with granting this birthday wish at all. And maybe we can squeeze in sometime for movie night later. I miss movie dates at home anyways since we've been putting too much time on our marathon training these past few weeks we hardly get to do our Thursday dates anymore.

To our dearest Daddy Pogi (as the little miss would fondly call the husband lately), happy happy birthday! Yes 34 is off the charts but you will forever remain 30 to us. So don't worry! (and my advance apologies for posting this pic hehe)

Recipe: Leftover Chicken and Steamed Vegetables Soup

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

It has been quite sometime since my last recipe post here. Admittedly, I did lose my cooking mojo (and honestly I still have not gained it back till now). I would attempt to cook but they never turned out as good as I'd expected them to be so every time my family would request for home-cooked meals from me, I would often just choose safer menus that wouldn't take longer than 30 minutes to cook. There's one meat recipe that I made several times though which my family really loved but that was a recipe I borrowed from Maqui. 

The past few days however saw us with plenty of leftovers from New Year's and as I have a penchant for 'upcycling' things I was looking into finding a recipe that I could use most of the remaining leftovers in our fridge. Gladly, while I was thumbing into an old issue of Good Housekeeping magazine I found a soup recipe. It will provide me a use for the steamed veggies and the lechon manok leftovers that we have. Even better, I had all the ingredients for it and I was really aiming to use them soon else I wouldn't really wish for them to stay in our fridge for another week.

So here goes my soup recipe that ended up tasting more like Chicken-ala-King. Fortunately, it still won the hearts of my 'critics'. 

What I used:

-A handful of Leftover Lechon Manok, diced (I used the breast part here since that's usually what's leftover)

-2 cups of steamed veggies (large chunks of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and baguio beans), diced

-1/2 cup of evaporated filled milk
-1/2 cup of whole corn kernels

-A few teaspoons of flour

-1 tsp of cornstarch

-2 cups chicken broth/vegetable broth

-1 medium onion, chopped 

-1 knob butter

-2 tsps olive oil

-salt and pepper to taste

-(optional) chopped parsley for garnish

How I did it:

1. Over low fire, saute the onion over melted butter and olive oil till translucent/fragrant.

2. Add in the leftover chicken and saute for 3 more minutes.

3. Dump in the steamed veggies and corn kernels

4. Sprinkle the flour and stir in the broth. 

5. Pour in the milk and simmer. If the soup isn't thick enough to your liking, dilute your cornstarch in a few teaspoons of water, pour over the simmering soup and mix evenly till you achieve your desired consistency.
6. Remove from fire and garnish with chopped parsley or spring onions, whichever you have on hand.
7. Serve with a hot steaming bowl of rice. Enjoy!

This can feed 4-6 hungry stomachs.