Tears and Hope Amidst the Ashes on the Palisades Wildfire

The past few days I’ve found myself teary-eyed, deeply moved by the stories of survival and loss from the Palisades wildfire. Each time I watch survivors cry—whether reuniting with their beloved pets or standing amidst the ashes of their dreams—my eyes turn watery too.

One video showed a man jumping with joy when he found his cute dog alive, lost in the rubble for five days. Another heart-wrenching video captured a man sobbing uncontrollably as a firefighter brought his distressed cat out of the fire. The sight of him gently wiping his cat’s paws with water was both tender and heartbreaking. Then there was the video of a man standing in disbelief and crying as he realized his house was the sole survivor in a sea of destruction. It’s a miracle his home remained unscathed while everything around it turned to ashes.

These videos are so powerful, so raw, that I’ve told myself I shouldn’t watch them anymore. As I reflect on these stories, I can’t help but hope for a big thunderstorm to sweep through the area and extinguish the raging flames. The wildfire has already claimed many lives—human and animal alike—and caused immeasurable heartache.

To all those affected, my thoughts and prayers are with you. May your pain find solace, and may hope rise from the ashes of despair.

12 September 2024 ~ Random Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates over the past week! As usual, I've been swamped with writing assignments and running errands, and things have been even more hectic since Maria, our part-time helper, is expecting and hasn't been feeling well. She hasn't come in the past week, and with my mother-in-law back from England, there's been a hive of activities in the kitchen again. She loves cooking, which means even more work for me.  She cooks, and I clean up.

Unfortunately, all this extra workload isn’t doing my right hand any favors, as the pain from my Tennis Elbow has gotten worse. I first developed it back in April, after my trip to Bangkok with Alycia. It's been five months now with no sign of improvement. Every movement with my right-hand hurts so much that even lifting a blanket to fold it is a challenge. Getting out of bed is pure torture, and I've had to rely on my stomach muscles just to sit up. My bed for the past five months has been unkempt with an unfolded blanket. Even brushing my teeth a little harder hurts my right hand.

Alycia and Sherilyn, on the other hand, are thoroughly enjoying their semester breaks. Alycia just returned from Taiwan on Tuesday, and in a month, she’ll be off to South Korea with another friend. Sherilyn has been keeping herself busy with dancing and just finished competing in the Get The Beat dance competition yesterday, where she won gold in the Hip Hop category for her age group and Double Platinum in the Contemporary category. This Saturday, she’ll be competing in the Asia Open Dance Championship. She’s a bundle of energy, always on the go and thriving in competitions. I’m amazed by how much joy she finds in staying active and pushing herself.

Sherilyn at the Get The Beat dance competition on 11 Sept 2024. 

As for Cass, her school holidays begin this Saturday, which, to be honest, is a bit of bad news for me. She’s another one who can’t stay at home with nothing to do, so I expect she’ll be spending most of her week-long holiday at the skating rink, which I’m perfectly fine with. At least I’ll get some very, very much-needed peace at home!

Here are some of the pix that Alycia sent to me that she took in Taiwan with her university mates.

Traveling on the train from Taipei to Tainan.

Some of the streets in Taiwan look similar to those in Japan.

In Tainan

Random Thoughts

I just found out that one of my very, very old posts dated back to 8 July 2013 (exactly 11 years ago) has garnered 5,700 views as of today.  The title of the article posted on my other blog is "How To Dilute Crystalized / Thickened Homemade Marmalade Jam" and I still remember vividly the sequence of events on that day when the mil made the jam. 

When our girls were younger, we used to eat bread almost every day. Homemade jams were always finished off in days. I used to prep sandwiches with jam or kaya for their school lunch boxes. The girls loved Gardenia white bread or grandma's homemade milk loaf when they were younger. Having bread for lunch or dinner was also a norm back in the day. Fast forward to a decade later and the girls don't eat bread as much now.  Alycia doesn't like to eat bread with jam now while Sherilyn and Cass prefer sourdough breads. 

As for me, I've always preferred sprouted wheat bread which is flour-free bread and lower in carbs. I like my sprouted wheat bread air-fried and spread with light Lurpak butter and homemade lemon curd.

My stock of walnuts and hazelnuts from Signature Market arrived! When buying nuts online, Signature Market on Lazada is still the best place to get them. I've tried buying from other sellers but their nuts never satisfied me as much as those from Signature Market.

I like to add my favorite nuts from Signature Market to my Lazada shopping cart and then monitor the prices daily. When the prices are reduced to the lowest, I quickly check out and pay for them via Boost. That's how a housewife with no salary gets more bang for her buck -- by grabbing the cheapest nuts to earning points (free money) from eWallets 😁

Got Tagged Again - 7 Random Things

Got tagged again, this time by Leena (sweet revenge huh?) on 7 Random Things About Myself. Good tag, at least this will give my readers an idea of what kinda person I am.

1. As my blog title says it, I am a health freak, also a fitness nut and cleanliness freak.

2. I'm a worry freak too, love to worry over every single thing.

3. Like Leena, my sense of direction sucks too.

4. I am an Atkin's follower and currently living on a low-carb diet, don't eat rice, noodles, potatoes, candies and keep white flour products to the minimal.

5. My favourite colors are pink, baby blue and violet.

6. I am super impatient and my temper flares up very easily, thanks to my dad's genes.

7. I weigh myself on the scale at least twice a day. You call this eccentricity or character flaw?

Now, I really want to get to know these wonderful bloggers too:

Shoppingmum
LZ Mommy
Jazzmint
Shannon Chong
Elaine (Montessorimum) ... another filler post for you, hah!