So the latest ‘in’ thing to do is biking. Bike-riding for fitness, and for fun. My brother got himself a new bike:
It’s a second-hand bike he got for about 7000 pesos. He intends this to be Diane’s bike, as soon as he finds another one for himself. Alfred and I are looking to get bikes too.
Kuya’s friends go on bike trips already and someday maybe we can join them. For starters, we’ll bike around the area or around UP. Oh scratch that, for starters, we need to get bikes. It’s been decades since I was last on a bike, but I rode my bike everyday when I was a kid.
If I ever do get into serious biking, I wonder if I’d want those biker suits too? You know how I’d always go in the Nike store because I love their fitness wear for women, and how I admire looking at yoga apparel because they look so comfy for when your exercising. Would I feel the same about getting those figure hugging outfits that bikers use? Maybe not. Haha.
Maybe our friend Ruth is right (she’s gone biking with her husband too), I should make the investment for health. But these bikes are just so darn expensive. We saw bikes on sale at Greenhills last week but I don’t know if that will do. Maybe I’ll borrow this bike first and try it out.
The 30-day challenge over at Crystal Wilkerson’s blog starts today, February15th. If I were normal, or if I decided to commit to this last week, I should have started this morning (or last night, as my day really starts at nighttime). But since work schedule is in EST anyway, I’ll be taking the challenge on an EST calendar as well
This challenge is important to me because I need it badly. I have never been known to be punctual. I show up. But most times, I’m late. Sometimes I am early or on time, but it isn’t most times. And that’s not something I am proud of. I’ve actually come to accept that about me, but it isn’t a good trait so I want to change. And I need help to change, this might be it. When I die, I don’t want ‘the late…’ to be the biggest joke of all.
I know that the challenge isn’t about being punctual, but a good reason why I’m late for most things is because I don’t heed my own wake up call all the time. I’m in a love affair with the snooze button. An abusive love affair. So though the challenge may not make me punctual for every appointment I make, it will at least help set the tone for my day, and that’s good enough for me.
Also, one of my resolutions (trying to do a happiness project too, hehe) is ‘to have a bedtime’ and to ‘wake up early.’ Two resolutions. So this challenge will actually help me achieve at least three things: get to work on time, all the time, follow a bedtime schedule, and wake up early.
Why should I take the time?
Anything important is worth making time for. I will consider this an investment in time and effort, and the payoff will be big. Hopefully, I won’t even have to wait too long for the ROI.
Why now and not later?
Now is good a time as any. Besides, my word for the year is Start.
Why will this help me?
This will help me in so many different levels, I can’t even begin to list them. But finding balance before my actual day starts is an exciting prospect. Most of the time, I am a zombie as I get ready to leave home, and while I drive to work. I get to my desk, I sit, and it takes me at least 15-20 minutes to warm up and get things in proper perspective. This challenge, for me, promises a new way to start the day. If successful, I can hit the ground running as soon as I arrive in the office.
Why should I not give up?
In some form or another, I have done a similar challenge and I stick to it for awhile but not see it through the end. I have had enough of that. I shouldn’t give up because life is too short. I will think of Papa, and take on this challenge as a tribute to him who always gets up early.
I just drank a bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy. They say it’s got ‘no preservatives added’. Aw, c’mon…It’s bottled juice. Is that even possible? So I thought maybe… I’ll give it a try. It tasted almost like freshly squeezed orange juice with real bits of fruit swirling around the bottle. Not too sweet, and even a tinge of tangy that characterizes citrus fruits.
I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it’s got no preservatives added. So I read the ingredients (even the fine print) and everything checked out! It really has NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED! That means it doesn’t have ingredients that may turn out to be allergens, or worse…carcinogens! Whew! Now that’s healthy goodness that tastes so good, I… feel no guilt downing a big bottle of Minute Maid all by myself 🙂 No need to worry about harmful traces being left in your body either.
So okay, it’s got no preservatives added. That’s really good, right? Not just because it doesn’t have those icky, harmful ingredients, but it also means… that you get all the nutrients from the fruit. Because it’s pulpy, you also get the fiber from orange that aids digestion, and is a friend for anyone who desperately needs to lose weight like myself!
So far anyone who still has a hard time believing that Minute Maid has got no preservatives added – meaning it’s THAT natural, it’s almost like it’s plucked straight from the tree, it’s just as Mother Nature wanted your orange juice to be, it’s got nothing but the good stuff yes, none of those potentially toxic stuff that can harm your brain, kidneys, heart; cause tumors aargh- the list of preservatives’ bad effects just go on!!! Anyway, just to prove a point on just how good Minute Maid Pulpy is ’cause it’s got NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED, I’m gonna show you just how much I love my Minute Maid Pulpy Orange – I took photos of my MM vendo experience from work! Haha 🙂 Yes! First, I was excited about the new kind of vendo we have at work and wanted to give it a try, butI was more thrilled seeing that it houses my favorite juice drink!
Before this yummy drink pictured above arrived at my station, it was in this neat vendo that also carried other Coca-Cola products (including my favorite beverage, Coke!):
Though I was tempted to grab a 500-mL bottle of Coke, or opt for the 5-peso cheaper can below this rack, I stuck to my guns and hit C7 on the panel. I promised myself I’d make the little adjustments necessary to get to a healthier me, and opting for this drink isn’t a sacrifice at all!
Here’s my drink on board the drink elevator:
And finally, the small door opens with my small bottle of cold pulpy goodness ready to be picked up.
Now, there’s no reason not to replace my daily soda intake with the healthy goodness of natural juice.
Feels good to know about the real pulpy deal, right? C’mon show me a smile on the comment box, and you might win yourself a Really Pulpy Deal! (That’s a chance to win a Minute Maid gift pack simply by commenting. Sweet! C’mon you just might be picked as the lucky ‘commentor’!)
I don’t mean to gross anyone out, but I guarantee that this post has been sanitized, and completely hygienic. If you’d rather not read about sanitary napkins though, feel free to move on to my next post. Oprah’s Favorite Things might just be a more interesting post for you 🙂
The bag doesn’t look like packaging for a sanitary napkin does it? But it is. Kotex was my brand of choice years ago, specifically their Kotex White. It’s comparable to Modess I guess, only better. But they stopped production, or I just don’t see it in groceries anymore. I do remember asking my brother one time to get two pack of that brand for me, from Glo-ri Supermarket at Tandang Sora. He picked me up from work (then at Luzon Avenue) after I’d bled through my pants. Yuck. (Anyone grossed out yet?)
So anyway…. I’d seen the Luxe line awhile bag, but this is new packaging, and I must admit that it looks really nice.
The back view shows the pad designs in a bigger scale. My first reaction upon learning that the pads had designs: what would you need designer pads for? The answer – you don’t need them. These pads are not what you’d call necessities. They belong in the category of things that are “nice to have.” Not to mention, these cost more than your average pad.
But the individual wrap is violet! Nice 🙂
And the pads are really Ultrathin, much like the Modess Ultrathins designed for heavy flow. These aren’t extra long though, just regular sized.
I’d expected the print to be more colorful, but they’re quite light really. Not sure if they’re like diapers that will look different when ‘wet.’
I used this product today and it’s quite comfortably and you almost forget you had one on. I’m at the tail end of my period so I wouldn’t know how it would stand my regular to heavy flow days, but it looks promising really. Still, I think I’d stick with Modess for my regular pads, specially with the Sulit pack that allows for some savings. But like I said, it wouldn’t hurt to use these from time to time, specially when you need to tote them in a bag when you go out.
I skipped work today, thanks to migraine. After getting up earlier, I took a bath and the cold water did not have the healing effect I thought it would have on my headache. So I decided to skip work. I’ll be in tomorrow though instead of taking my RD already. There’s an HMO orientation I need to attend with my agents, and I have to finish my monitors too before I can call it a week. That works for me because we’ll have power interruption at 19th street tomorrow, owing to maintenance work on Meralco’s posts. I wouldn’t have to sweat in the heat or get bored without Internet or cable access.
So after sending SMS to people about skipping work, I lay down and fell asleep. Four hours later, I got up, still with remnants of the migraine but thankfully not a full-blown one anymore. I realized a few things:
Lack of sleep caught up with me, and it took a looooong time before it did. I haven’t had a lot of sleep in the past three weeks but this is the first migraine attach I’ve had. Thank God for that!
I am so glad that I didn’t get a pimple breakout because of the lack of sleep. Yay for not needing pronexin!
A good pillow WILL prevent migraine headaches. I need to find one soon.
Ma left the coffee maker on with a cup of brew left. So I had me some coffee and toasted muffins for a late breakfast, sat in front of my PC and found that there’s no Internet connection! I unplugged/replugged connections and all that and still nothing. Bypassed the router, nada. Called Sky, no luck. I resigned to my fate and sat in front of the telly to watch Showtime instead. An hour later, I heard the familiar buzz of my Mozy Unlimited Backup alert and realized my connection’s been restored. Yebah!
Sooo…. I’m in the mood to be thankful this morning:
Thank you for another day of waking up (I woke up twice!)
Thank you for the job I have now, and the one waiting for me next week 🙂
Thank you for the orders that I have to fill for truffles and cake.
Thank you for keeping my family and friends in wonderful health.
Thank you for this migraine to remind me to sleep well. And thank you for taking it away soon!
It’s been decades since I was last on a bike, but I rode my bike everyday when I was a kid. 
