Five Things This Week: What Day Is it?

I’m losing track of the days, to be honest. While writing this I checked my planner and, apparently, it’s Day 56 of Metro Manila lockdown. It’s quite amazing to think that we have not been outdoors for this long. Apart from the time we moved to my in laws house a couple of weeks ago, my kids and I have not gone anywhere else.

I was browsing through my Insta Story Highlights last night and what I found equally amazing was how often we were out and about pre-quarantine. Our weeks were packed with places to go, people to see and activities to do — museums, art shows, playdates, studio visits, grocery runs, parks, bookstores — you name it. So it’s really quite an enormous change for our family to just be staying indoors. However, I’m quite thankful that we’re coping well. We’ve managed to fill our days somehow and keep our minds and bodies busy. There has been some kind of flow in our day to day that makes this entire ordeal manageable.

Before ending another week in quarantine, here are five things that has kept my days a little more exciting lately…

1. EDUCATED

I just finished reading Educated by Tara Westover and it blew me away. It’s probably the best memoir I’ve ever read and I totally recommend it. It’s a powerful and mind-expanding story about family, faith, self-discovery, abuse, courage and education. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Not knowing for certain, but refusing to give way to those who claim certainty, was a privilege I had never allowed myself. My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

― Tara Westover, Educated

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2. PRETZELS

Kayo has been baking with the girls and they made pretzels last weekend. The girls were so proud of themselves, even I was impressed! My favorite moment was taking a video of Jo as she twisted her second pretzel. She was oozing with confidence and nailed it like a pro!

They were yummy and did not last very long.

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3. WARHOL AND BASQUIAT

I carved a portrait stamp of Jean-Michel Basquiat the other day which led me to read up a little bit on him and his work. I stumbled upon stories about his friendship with Warhol and discovered old photos of them together at work or just hanging out. I thought it was so interesting, how they seemed to have supported and pushed each other in their craft. of course, they had a falling out but it made me wonder what sort of dynamic they had back then when they were still good friends. I wonder if they would have reconciled if they were both still alive. And what further spectacle could they have accomplished together?

THIS ARTICLE, in particular, was an interesting read. This photo with Warhol working out in a turtle neck is my fave.

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4. MINIATURE MCDONALD’S

As the mother of my children, I am naturally obliged to express just how proud I am of them. But sometimes, they really just honest to goodness impress me. Maybe because the stuff they are able to make with junk are way more creative than what I was able to make with similar junk when I was their age. From the beginning of this lockdown, they have been constructing many different miniature toys for their dolls which they end up playing with for many weeks. I feel like I never have to buy them toys anymore! (Of course, they will strongly object.)

Their most recent masterpiece is a miniature McDonald’s take out kiosk made out of cardboard boxes and random paper pieces. This could just be a manifestation of how much they miss going out for fastfood but it is amazing, nonetheless!

5. LET’S JOURNAL

I have really been enjoying producing time-lapse videos of my journaling process. It’s something I started to do for the fun of it and for content. If it helps other people out there to get started with journaling then that’s definitely great. This quarantine season is a good time to start the habit, I think.

You can check out the journaling videos on my IGTV and Facebook Page

Finally, a happy HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the mommas out there! Take some time today to do something for yourself. Take a long bath, binge watch a series, have cupcakes delivered or sleep all day. Whatever it is, do it and enjoy it!