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Putting a dog to sleep in the PI!

I’m writing today about some stuff that’s not really so common to be done here in the Philippines. One of them is putting your pets (any pet) to sleep. Well a few weeks ago we had our dog  put sleep. She’s been with us for over 9 years. It was a difficult decision for all of us in the family, but at the end we had to do it so Fluffy would not suffer more and much longer. Not one of the kids wants to take her there. We definitely shed tears for her. We gathered our kids and nieces and have their say on what to do with her. We all agreed to let Fluffy sleep without pain.

Fluffy in her better days

Fluffy in her better days

A few months ago I noticed Fluffy had some rashes, and I saw her itch it. So we thought it’s just from the fleas. So I bought different shampoo for her. I really thought it got better, but I was wrong. So we decided to bring her to the Vet. The vet gave her some medicine and we bought some shampoo there. It just didn’t get better though. Last month I could see that the skin rashes got worse. It even covered up her eyelids. I’m really heart broken just watching her daily as she kept on scratching.

Bob also saw Fluffy out in our front yard scratching so much. So we talked and we told our niece to bring Fluffy to the vet and see what does the vet think? To ask the doctor also if it would be better for Fluffy to be put down or have medication? When our niece came back the doctor gave us 2 choices. If we want Fluffy be treated it might take a few months and she’s not sure if she would really heal because of her age. It will cost us over 5k a month for that. And taking her age into consideration she might not last long too. If we chose to put Fluffy down it will cost us 2k (including the medicine to use). They will bury her too.

You have to sign a waver that it was our choice to do that. Just to avoid lawsuit against the vet. You can even watch the process if you want to when they put your pet to sleep. So that evening all of us the family gathered to talk about it and what’s the best options for Fluffy. We all decided to put her down so she would be out of her misery. That’s the best thing for her. We did it for our love for Fluffy. The next day my brother-in-law Jhun brought Fluffy to the vet. Thank God Jhun was here at the house to work on our organic garden.

Some of Fluffy's Puppies

Some of Fluffy’s Puppies

I’m not going to let someone kill her for them to eat her. You know that’s what the typical drunkards do here. They will kill that dog and make it there appetizer (hors d’oeuvres, pulutan, sumsuman) while drinking. Sounds yucky, but that’s the reality here. We had neighbors in GenSan before that they really enjoyed eating dog meat than other meat. They almost had party every weekend. How do we know it’s dog? Because it shows when they’re roasting, the whole dog on the bamboo rod. It really grossed me out but can’t tell them what to eat. Sometimes they offered some when we pass by, I just smile. It’s really disgusting but it’s not my place to tell them.

Just to show how rare it is here to have a dog or other pet put to sleep, just after we had Fluffy put down, my cousin visited with her family  I told her that we had to have Fluffy put to sleep.  She said “Oh, really?”  After a few minutes she asked, “Where is Fluffy?”  I reminded her that Fluffy had been put to sleep, but she said “where is she now?”  She had no idea that what I meant was that the vet had euthanized Fluffy, due to her health.  It is just not a well known thing here in the Philippines.

We had a good years with Fluffy. She gave us few pups. Some of our friends have her puppies. The puppies turned out to be good for them too. While writing this post, we got a new pup for the kids. It’s a black pup. We named him Pepper. I will post some pictures here later and on FB. We also have a dog named Chichi.

The price for putting down a pet might vary from one place to the other. Not sure how much the cost in the other cities here in the Philippines. I was just quoting the price of Davao City. Just like when we had our cats spayed the first one it cost 3,500, we are not happy with the result. Our cat still in heat which is annoying because she’s so loud and you felt sorry for her. Our second one it cost 5k but we are really happy with the result. We will be going to have our third one (Blue) pretty soon. We already had a quote from our vet. It will be 3,500 if the weight below 5 kilos. So we are trying that Blue’s weight will not exceed 5 kilos.

 

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My grade school classmates: Where are they now?

I was toying with this topic since it’s the beginning of another school year here. Our kids are all geared up for the first day of school. I was trying to remember the days when I was in grade school. It’s way too different now than during my time. And something caught my eyes on the FB feed: Go figure. LOL

A few days ago a former neighbor of ours when I was young posted a picture on her profile. It intrigued me because it was an old photo. When I looked at it closely I saw that half of the people on the pictures were my classmates, some were my cousins. The other half I remembered them as the brother of my classmate and others just a plain neighbor of ours. It was really good to reminisce the past. If I remember correctly there’s just like 50 of us students graduated from our grade school in our small town. A few of us went to GenSan to continue on for high school, most of my classmates stayed in the public high school near our town in Sarangani Province. To be honest I really wanted to stay there too because all my BFF studied there. But my parents had some other school in mind. Since my other siblings already studied in Notre Dame in Lagao for Girls in GenSan, I was sent there too. At first I really resented it co’z I don’t know anyone in that new school. But I made friends quickly and not regretted being sent there. Thank God. :-)

Feymas Family and Friends

Feymas Family and Friends from her school days

A few of my classmates in grade school were my cousins. Really, since it was a small town, I’ve known the family of almost all my classmates. One of my classmate, he is a successful teacher and became principal in that school we graduated from. Later he became head (supervisor to a few school) near our town in Sarangani Province. He was the one asked me to be a guest speaker during one of the grade school graduation. He asked me to encourage the students since I just arrived from America at that time. I did talk to the students and encouraged them to work hard and to let them know that even being a product of  the small town school if a person strives hard, they can become somebody someday. He just wanted me to encourage his students that working hard really pays off. As you know a lot of the students in the small town, they get married at the young age.

Most of my classmates I heard became OFW (overseas Filipino worker). Some in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and many other places. Some are in Manila right now too. It was really shocking to hear from them sometimes. I enjoyed connecting with them. Some of them they’re shocked that I am corresponding with them. They’re thinking I won’t talk to them. My God there’s no reason for me not to communicate with them. No need to be an airhead. I guess they’ve seen enough ladies who are married to foreigners and the ladies they think they are better than anybody. That’s far from who I am anyway.

I think a few of them were also pastors. A lot of them became teachers. I’m really proud of them for that. I know for sure that, that’s not my calling. I’m not really a good teacher. LOL. Some of my classmates after our grade school graduation didn’t go to school because the parents just couldn’t afford for them to continue on to high school. So because of that they got married early. So the cycle begins again, they had baby at the young age and the baby had baby. It goes on and on. But we can’t change the world. We just had to try I guess.

To my classmates: Thank you for the friendship and so nice seeing you on the web.

Have a great day everyone!

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The people close to my heart in the States: Part 1!

I was just looking at my FB feeds when I came across the headline in-front of me that read:

“So many things to look forward to this month! With all the birthdays, my bachelorette party in Vegas, getting married and honeymoon in greece, I can’t contain my excitement!”

I had to read it again and double check. My goodness the kid that used to be toddler when I first arrived in the States, that person that wrote the message on top, she turned 2 at that time. My gosh now she’s getting married. Her name is Shaina. A beautiful girl. I asked Bob right away if he saw the news feed of Shaina that she’s getting married? He told me no. I immediately told Bob that we are getting old already. I said look at Shaina, she’s one of the kids that we knew there and when we left she’s just a tween, now she’s getting married. Big sigh, its depressing, it just shows we are already over the hill now. :-)  LOL

Close to my heart

Close to my heart

When I met the mom of Shaina I was just on my few months living in the States. Bob knew her dad Steve, but didn’t know that he was married to a Filipina. When I went to work with Bob and helped out, that’s how I met Steve. He asked me if I’m a Filipina or a Chinese? Ha ha ha, he can’t figure it out. I told him I’m a Filipina, and told him that Bob is my husband. He was shocked. He told Bob that “Oh, I didn’t know that your wife is  from the Philippines. My wife Sylvia is from the Philippines too”. He then told us to come to there house that weekend, which we did. I was so happy seeing and knowing Sylvia. Sylvia’s husband Steve, he is an engineer, and a retired worker from Boeing. Sylvia was really like a big sister to me there. She’s the one person I can really be proud to have known in the US. I’ve never had any issues with her. Sylvia and I used to get together fairly often twice or more a month. More often during summer time with family. We had a few parties with our Fil-Am friends during summer and Christmas party during winter time. Few places for venues; either our house or at Sylvia’s or at one of our dear friend Connie from Oregon.

Shaina has a little brother name Patrick. He’s just a few months older than Chris. That’s one reason that Sylvia and I met up almost every week for the kids to have playtime together. Shaina was really a good big sister to Patrick and to Chris too. Very talkative, playful and funny. She’s also close to my mother-in-law. She’s just like a grand daughter to Mom. Sylvia and family including Shaina are still close to my mother-in-law. They visit mom when they have time.

I also met Sylvia’s sister Bebe when she first came to the States. Bebe was engaged to a guy from Oregon. Mom was the god-mother during her wedding. We all became close and more when Bebe became a mother of 2 kids. So we all get together at Sylvia’s house almost during weekends so that the kids will bond and play together. I saw them (Sylvia and Bebe and Bebe’s kids) when they came here to the Philippines for a visit. They’re from Cebu, so I flew there to see them. It was really nice bonding with them again. I really told Aaron to see Sylvia & Steve when he goes to the States.

To Sylvia and family, I really miss you guys. I will never forget you Sylvia no matter what. To Shaina & Michael (husband t0 be of Shaina): Congratulations to the 2 of you.  Wishing you both the happiness in the world. I’m so happy for you Shane. Have fun on your honeymoon in Greece. I hope to see you all again someday.

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Looking for good shoes!

I am not a shoe addict. I just want something that I can wear comfortably. I don’t wear high heels, the most heels that I’ve worn occasionally, that would be 2 inches, 3 inches at the most. So in short I’m looking for flat shoes. I am a sandals or flip flops kind of girl. Lately I’ve been really looking for more comfortable shoes, so I was shopping at Naturalizer shoe store. I used to wear the Naturalizer brand. They are lightweight with excellent support. I often have foot pain, but not with these shoes. I love these shoes. Over the years I have been trying other brands too. Some brands are comfortable, some are not.

Lately I have been having problems in my heel. So Bob told me to get a good and comfortable shoes. Immediately I was looking at the Naturalizer brand. SM Ecoland used to have Naturalizer store. I guess they just closed the store early this year. They have Naturalizer in Abreeza mall. So a week or so ago I went there. I heard on the radio that they had sale of up to 70% off. So I went to see if I can get a good deal there. I was so disappointed when I went there, yeah they had the 70% off only on the high heeled shoes. The heels were like 4-5 inches just guessing the height. Geez how can I walk on that? Plus it will make my foot more painful.

Shoes - where is the right one

Shoes – where is the right one

While shopping at Abreeza I was happy finding another store and another brand, its by Aerosoles. First time seeing the brand here. I went in and tried some of the sandals and  I felt  it so comfortable too, just like the Naturalizer. I didn’t buy right away, I told my daughter that I have to check the brand out on-line and read the reviews on that brand. It’s not a cheap shoes too. Similar price with the Naturalizer. When I get home and look at the internet, I saw good reviews. So I will check good sales with both brands when I’m ready to buy.

For running shoes, I felt had a pretty good one. It’s comfortable to wear. I got that half price thankfully. It was an expensive shoes. One of the problem for me finding shoes, I have a wide foot and high in-step. If any of you had the same problem with me, I will not be surprise if you had to go to a lot of shops before finding the right shoes. Good thing Davao and the rest of the country already has so many malls that carry good brands from other countries. Thank God for that. They even have here those super ridiculously expensive shoes that were endorsed by the NBA stars. I always called them “The eye popping highly price shoes”. Ain’t buying those for sure.

My kids have a big problem also shopping for shoes. My oldest Chris wears size 13, Aaron & Jared our youngest wears size 12 (American size). I’m more worried about Jared later though, because he is just 14 years old and he already wears a size 12. How much more when he will be like Aaron’s age? For his school shoes I am ordering to be made by a shoe company here in the city. A friend suggested to have it made here locally. But for the tennis shoes I had to search the whole malls here in the city to find the shoe that fits him. Jared’s problem also he has wide foot and high in-step. He got that from Bob and my side of the family. Thank God I don’t have shoe problems with our girls.

If malls don’t have it in stock, I can easily have my friend get it for me in Manila. For sure lots of places to get shoes in Manila. So for any of you that have some concerns about shoes for bigger foot, there’s hope now for everybody finding a good shoes here in the Philippines. Too many good brand from other countries that’s for sale here. Just have your wallet ready. ;-)

Have fun shopping!

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Book fanatic!

I am a fan of reading books.

Guys not the encyclopedia Britannica. Lol. I’m just a fan of reading romance novel books. In short pocket books. :-)

I’ve been reading the old school way with book in hand for a long, long time. Well, when the Kindle was introduced a few years ago, Bob was asking me if I want to read on kindle? He told me that he will order it for me and have it sent it here. He explained to me the whole thing on ordering the books and how easy it is to read on the Kindle. I told him I have to think about it. I’m kind of iffy about reading on the gadget. I didn’t get back to him for a long time. But I keep continue on reading with the book.

Reading on a Kindle

Reading on a Kindle

A friend was visiting from Iligan and he had Kindle. Bob borrowed the Kindle of our friend and showed it to me and explained the functions and such. I still held off at that time after I saw it. I was still not convinced by it. Finally Bob put and let me test  the cell phone apps that functioned like a Kindle. He told me to try it for a few days and if I don’t like it he will uninstall it. Ha ha ha… Surprisingly I liked it a lot. It’s so awesome knowing that I learned new things and remained liking it for the long haul. LOL

The good thing I liked about having the Kindle apps on my cell phone, I can read during night time at my lounging chair even if Bob was asleep. No need for me to have over head light on. My cell phone’s light is good enough already. So happy to have options like that. I would never get rid of the cell phone apps ever. Every time time I will have a new cell phone, I will have Bob or Aaron install the Kindle apps for me. Can’t live without now. Ha ha ha.

My niece Glenda is into reading also. She mostly read the Tagalog romance novel. The only thing is when I was browsing for a free sample to read. No free Tagalog novels so far that I know. I have to look more I guess. That’s one thing I like about the English novel, so many free ones on the net. I haven’t ordered yet so far. I want to read the free ones right now. I might order and pay pretty soon because there were some novel that I read and it has a continuation to part 2 and 3. Option for me to read the rest of the story, I have to pay for it. It’s so interesting that I am thinking of ordering the rest of the story. Bummer.

I got into reading on my Kindle just right before Bob was hospitalized. It’s been over a couple months now. I’ve read so many books now. Luckily all of them were free. Bob’s been telling me that I can order if I want. He already set me up that it’s just automatic for me to order. He really spoiled me with this one hobby of mine. Love him to pieces for that. :-)

When I was younger I usually go to bed late at night and just read. But lately I will read till 11 or 12 midnight. Then get up early for my early walk with my daughter Jean. That’s our bonding time. Aaron also got hooked to reading on Kindle. He is like me. He also reads until late at night.

Friends, are you a Kindle reader or still read the old fashion way? Either way is good, whatever works for you. Have fun reading!

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