The Math That Only Makes Sense to Us

There's a particular kind of math that only makes sense in love — where two people, separated by miles and timelines and every practical reason to not work, somehow still add up to something whole. I didn't major in that math. Nobody did. And yet, here I am, fluent in a language I invented the day you walked into my life and rearranged the furniture in my heart without asking permission.

You are everything I didn't know I was missing — which is a strange thing to say about someone I never went looking for. I wasn't holding a vacancy sign. I wasn't auditioning. And yet, you showed up anyway, uninvited and completely necessary, like weather.

On the Art of the Bubble

We live in a compartment I built in my head — a little universe with its own gravity, its own time zone, its own rules that only we understand. Some people would call this delusional. I call it architecture. Every great love needs somewhere to live, and since the world wasn't offering us real estate, I made us a home out of stubbornness and hope.

The packets between our days - those small, ordinary messages that somehow carry the weight of everything unsaid

The dreams we slip into - uninvited, unplanned, and somehow always right on time

The bubble itself - fragile by definition, fierce by necessity

It's not much. But it's ours, and I'm proud to be yours inside it — even if "ours" only exists in the in-between spaces the world forgot to fill.

The Timing Problem

Let's be honest: the universe has a sense of humor, and apparently the punchline is us. Two people, far apart, loving each other at a time that makes zero logistical sense. If love had an HR department, this would've been flagged, reviewed, and politely declined.

And yet.

There's a wisdom in accepting the truth of a thing even when the timing insists it shouldn't exist. Not every love needs permission from the calendar. Some loves just are — sanctioned by something bigger than convenience, quieter than logic, and a lot more stubborn than either of us.

I'm not here to fight the timing. I'm here to love you inside it, around it, in spite of it. That's not naivety. That's just choosing the present over the excuse.

What I'm Not Trying to Do

I am not trying to burn anything down. Not your life, not mine, not the fragile good that exists in the spaces around us. This isn't a love that wants to leave wreckage.

No ultimatums - just presence

No demands on the future - just curiosity about where it bends

No hurt intended - to anyone, least of all you

What I want is simpler and, frankly, braver: to enjoy what's here. The now. The version of us that fits in stolen minutes and unstolen dreams. I'm not asking the future to promise anything. I'm just refusing to let the present go to waste while we wait to see what it decides.

So, Here's to Us

Here's to loving someone the smart way — eyes open, heart in, no illusions about the mess, no apologies for the joy. Here's to the packets and the dreams and the bubble we've built out of sheer will. Here's to being proud, quietly and completely, of belonging to someone even when the belonging has to live in the margins for now.

Whatever the future brings, I'll meet it. But today? Today I'm just going to enjoy being yours — wrong timing, right person, and all. 

Midweek Echoes

It’s still the middle of the week, yet somehow it feels like a hundred Wednesdays have folded into one. Nothing grand, nothing earth-shattering—just the quiet ache of time slipping through the cracks of a coffee-stained desk. I’m alone in my office, staring into the murky depths of my cup, where thoughts crowd like a gazillion fireflies that refuse to settle. All the good feelings are there—the ones I want to bottle and carry with me—and the ones I’d rather pretend don’t exist. Ah, the delicate art of balancing buoyancy and gravity.

I’m not sad. Not exactly. Just numb enough to notice the punctuation between feelings—the commas and semicolons that hold the sentence of today together. It’s a strange buzz: a cocktail of clarity and fuzz, a silvering of the ordinary that refuses to dull, yet won’t quite light up the room either. It’s the midweek marathon you didn’t train for, where every mile is a thought you didn’t invite.

And yet: there is wit in the quiet. A sly grin at the realization that numbness can be a kind of superpower. If emotions are weather, today’s forecast reads: partly contemplative with a chance of epiphany, sprinkled with stubborn optimism. I’ve learned to trust that even the numb spots can hum a tune of meaning if you listen closely enough.

Here’s the thing about prose on days like this: it doesn’t ask to be heroic. It asks to be honest. To admit that a coffee cup can be a compass, that a blinking cursor can be a lighthouse, that a body’s stillness can be a stage for the mind’s improvisation. I’m not chasing grand gestures; I’m listening for the small, stubborn truths—the way a single idea can rise like steam from the surface of something more substantial beneath.

So I write. Not to conquer the day, but to befriend it. To remind myself (and perhaps you) that being numb doesn’t preclude meaning; sometimes it invites a sharper sensitivity to the ordinary miracles we walk past in routine. The office hums with fluorescent wit, the pencil on the desk taps out a rhythm, and the coffee cools with a patience that would put most philosophers to shame.

If you’re reading this while the week lumbers on, know you’re not alone in the quiet midst of the grind. We’re a chorus of imperfect feelings: hopeful, uncertain, amused, and sometimes empty enough to notice the weight of a single breath. And if the numbness lasts a moment longer, let it be a doorway rather than a wall—an invitation to unearth a nuance you hadn’t expected, a truth that slips in between the ordinary and the profound.

Because in the end, maybe that’s what midweek is really for: to remind us that ordinary is extraordinary in disguise, and that even numbness can spark a spark if we tilt our heads just so and listen for the tremor under the surface.

Until next post, may your coffee stay warm, your thoughts stay honest, and your wit stay stubborn enough to sparkle through the fog.

Life In My Coffee

Cofee is good life!

Coffee gives you time to think. For me, it's more than just a drink. 

It's like an event - a monumental happening, a place to be!

It allows me more time...not the one you can count in hours or minutes.

But the many more chances to be...

Like, another cup means another moment to be with me again! :)

Happy (not so) WORDLESS WEDNESDAY everyone!

Lengua De Gato

Last week I joined What's Cooking Wednesday for the first time and it was so exciting! Now I look forward to spending more time in the kitchen every weekend and I hope to share whatever I'm cooking/ baking there every Wednesday here.

So this post is a (not) WORDful (less) Wednesday and What's Cooking Wednesday in one!

Lengua de Gato is what these yummy crisp butter cookie wafers are known here. In French, it is referred to as Langues de Chat .

Shaped like a cat's tongue, Lengua de Gato is a thin, crisp butter cookie wafer that melts in your mouth and a favorite of my nephew! He likes it so much that the last time I brought him a box (which I bought from the airport), he had to guard it from the IT Guy who kept teasing him that he's going to eat them all...LOL

Last week the nephew was playing and found the box of the lengua de gato and came to me saying "Wow! Am...A-am!" He refers all his food as "am" and says "wow" to his favorites. IT Guy the ever sweet and thoughtful asked me if I wanted to go out for a coffee...which was odd because it was already after dinner...but I said yes anyway! Turns out he wanted to buy the nephew some lenguas and after driving around for an hour we gave up. We just couldn't find one!

Thus...we decided to bake some Lengua de Gato last weekend.




Let me share with you how Lengua de Gatos are done! Very simple...very easy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1-1/3 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar (Feel free to modify this according to your preference.)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup egg white (Usually you can get it from 2 pieces eggs, but since some eggs can be watery, I opt to measure them.)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preparation

1. Cream the butter and sugar.

2. Add egg white gradually then fold in flour (with salt).

3. Add vanilla.

4. Stir until mixture is smooth.

5. Use cake decorating tube to form mixture into oblong shapes. Drop each onto slightly greased cookie sheet. (You may also zip lock bag with a corner cut out, and pipe the dough onto the prepared pans.)

6. Bake in 375 °F oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until light brown.

7. Remove immediately and let cool. Store in tightly covered jars.

These cookies are more of dessert cookies than snack cookies! It goes well with my coffee... ;)


Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!


For more interesting photos, you may visit Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday...or go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

Creamy Tuna Pasta

My Word Filled Wednesday post is below...

Thom tagged me but I'd say this post is more than that! This is rather a serendipity post for me and I will slowly explain to you why.

The TAG rule says --

1) Go to your photo files…Select the 6th photo folder
2) Select the 6th photo in that folder
3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.
4) Then challenge 6 blog friends to do the same! (I will not tag anyone but feel free to do this when you have the time...it's fun!)

This is the 6th photo in my 6th photo folder!

What a luck as this photo will let me do my (not) WORDful (less) Wednesday and the story behind it will let me join What's Cooking Wednesday for the first time!

This photo was taken very recently...just last weekend. This is IT Guy's recipe and I'm sure he'll be surprise to see it here...Ha!



I call this recipe Creamy Tuna Pasta as that is what it is! Most of my friends and my family love it and this is a good recipe for weekends and a good step away from the usual Spaghetti Bolognese (Which is so common to Filipinos!). At least for us.

Let me share to you the recipe as I can remember --

Ingredients

500 grams of pasta (IT Guy loves to experiment, so you can have fettuccine or just any!)
1 can of tuna in vegetable oil, drained
onion, chopped
garlic gloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil (I guess non-fat butter will also work as I saw him use that in the past when we ran out of olive oil.)
250 ml thin cream
1 cup/can sliced button mushrooms (IT Guy loves mushroom!)

Preparations

1. Cook the pasta. (I know most of you know how!)
Boil the water, add a little oil so as not to make the pasta stick to each other. Add a little salt for the pasta. Once the water is boiling add the pasta until al dente (in English until it reached its tender crisp phase)! Drain and toss!

*If there is one thing I learn from the IT Guy it is to read the instructions in the package of the pasta as cooking time varies for each kind.

2. Add the olive oil into a large fry pan over medium heat. Add garlic. Don't over cook it as it will give a bitter taste. Just enough to get its aroma. Then add the onions and the mushrooms.

3. Add the tuna. While some people would opt to add the cream first I want the tuna ahead as I want it mix with the spices first. There is just something in the tuna which I want to neutralize to make it more palatable for me! LOL

4. Add the cream. Season to taste. We love to add a little of white pepper. Let it stay for 2-3 minutes while continuously stirring it.

5. Then add the pasta. Mix.

*You may also serve it with sprinkled chopped flat-leaf parsley.

And it's ready!!!

Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!


For more interesting photos, you may visit Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday...or go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

Life On The Farm

...a glimpse of what life is like living on a farm.

Taken about 15 years ago, this photo was originally in print. I'd like to thank IT Guy for scanning it for me and MAXX for doing a great job improving it's quality.

This is one of the first photo I took when I was learning photography to use the camera. I was just using a point and shoot camera then. This was a requirement for my Photojournalism class.

This is a typical day at the farm. I took this photo in one of my vacation...or did I just go there to take photos for my class...not sure now. Anyway, this is a water buffalo, and we call it carabao or kalabaw. They help us plow the farm as not all can afford the tractor that most of the farmers in other countries have. The farm of my grandparents as I've mentioned before were mostly on rice fields, so they have plenty of carabaos to help the people farm the land.

I plan to go there soon and I hope to get photos on them plowing and planting rice. :)


Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!


For more interesting photos, you may visit Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday...

What The Angels Eat...

“When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.”
~Mark Twain

This is my nephew enjoying his watermelon. I think he got it from me since his Dad is not so into fruits...and watermelon happens to be my favorite! I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday...

Let me share with you some facts about watermelon --

* Not only does it quench your thirst, it can also quench inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis.

* Over 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide.

* Watermelon is an ideal health food because it doesn’t contain any fat or cholesterol, is high in fiber and vitamins A & C and is a good source of potassium. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals. (Read more nutritional facts about watermelon.)

* Watermelon is a vegetable! It is related to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash. Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.

* Watermelon is grown in over 96 countries worldwide.

* In China and Japan watermelon is a popular gift to bring a host.

* In Israel and Egypt, the sweet taste of watermelon is often paired with the salty taste of feta cheese.

Happy Wordful Filled Wednesday!

For more Wordful Wednesday, please visit Seven Clown Circus...

Competing

...without Comparing?

NOTE: I've combined my Wordful Wednesday and Word Filled Wednesday. This photo was taken from my last vacation with the IT Guy!

Competition is just everywhere! Though people most often viewed me as somebody competitive, truth is many times in my life I've tried to run away from it. And I always feel. So instead I tried to befriend it...get to know more about it.

Competition is not that bad after all! Whether in sports...business...or life, it can be a good thing. It moves us to work harder...refine our skills and knowledge, and to more importantly it motivates ourselves to perform as well as we possibly can. So this is one aspect where competition is beneficial.

However conflicts lurk in the shadow of competition. This conflict which can be dangerous becomes so real as competition yields to comparison...resulting in envy and jealousy.

I can just think of many times when healthy competition deteriorated into unhealthy comparison causing relationships. Just sad.

All this time I am always reminding myself to stay within the line of healthy competition as it is something unavoidable. So just how do we do that? Is it really possible to enjoy the benefits of competition while avoiding the pitfalls of comparison? I'd like to quote sections from the book What Makes A Winner by R. J. Tamasy on this topic.


1. ALWAYS STRIVE TO BE AT PEACE.

When we compete fairly and equitably, we can be at peace with ourselves - and with others. Our victories need not come at the expense of others. But when we compete to win "at any cost," unhealthy conflict becomes inevitable. If how we compare with others stands paramount in our minds, competition becomes ugly. "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones" (Proverbs 14:30).



2. TO MAINTAIN STRONG RELATIONSHIPS, SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE.

Harmony and cooperation in the workplace - as well as in the home and with friends - are prized commodities, but they cannot exist in an environment of harsh competition and comparison. If we value our relationships, sometimes it might be worth settling for a bit less than we would prefer. "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred" (Proverbs 15:17).

3. THE COST OF COMPARISON IS CONFLICT.

There is something very appealing about being able to go to work without the dread of facing conflict, or being able to go to sleep unhindered by anger and unnecessary anxieties. One way to achieve this is by competing fairly and without unfair comparison. "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife" (Proverbs 17:1).

4. JEALOUSY FROM COMPARISON RESULTS IN DEVASTATION.

Jealousy can have destructive impact. There may be times when we feel unfairly treated, or that others have received inequitable advantages. Our perceptions may be true, but festering jealousy can be like an uncontrolled cancer Eventually it kills - relationships, hopes, reputations, even careers. "Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" (Proverbs 27:4)

I am so happy that I can finally move to a new workplace soon! I've been meaning to make an official announcement on this...but I'm still waiting for my contract so 'til then nothing is final. I've been praying for this opportunity to come and I am so hopeful not to drop the ball. I hope I get to have the contract in my hand soon... :)

Happy Wordful Filled Wednesday!

For more Wordful Wednesday, please visit Seven Clown Circus...



And I invite you ALL to,

Celebrate with us
and join us
as we share inspiring Bible verse
at Word Filled Wednesday




Hugs and Blessings,

The Joy of Cooking!

They call it culinary arts...I say it's passion! Cooking as they say is like making love, you do it well, or you do not do it at all. Ha!

I have always find joy in cooking and there was a time when I used to spend most of my weekend at home trying out recipes. IT Guy shares this passion with me...so some of our weekends are escapades in the kitchen. Lately we have been a little aggressive in checking out cook books, magazines, TV shows and even culinary schools. Can you believe that?!

Looks like we have gotten serious with what seems to just be a hobby right? Well it's just that we realize culinary can be a promising career...either as a profession (employment) or for anything entreprenurial (business). You can check All Culinary Schools for interesting information about culinary. The site offers a wide range of information, from culinary career options to culinary schools! Just a great start for people who has passion for culinary and is still exploring their options.

Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!

My Love For Shoes

...is a love that knows no bound!

Call this a confession of a shoe addict if you will...but for me it is just as simple yet as necessary as breathing! Ha!

Mariposa's weakness aside from butterflies is SHOES! Yes, you read it right, SHOES..footwear, sandals...boots...high heels...call it whatever!

I think for years now I have spent so much for shoes that if I am to sum up the receipts, I'm guessing it would be more than enough to pay as down payment for cars! And I mean modest cars...not the BMW or Mercedes Benz okay? ;)

I just can't help it, I keep buying shoes and I don't get to wear them all! I get to buy at least a pair every week...or make that every time I go to the mall. That is on top of the scheduled shoe shopping that I do on occasions and seasons. No wonder I get to accumulate this much of shoes! To be honest I have not counted them all so I really do not have a clear number plus I tend to toss them out too soon sometimes!

I have posted some of my shoes here yet I can't stop myself from posting them again. So here is some of my Manolo Blahnik shoe collection...no, Sex and the City has nothing to do with it, I love them already even before I started watching it and well, I've only watched the movie anyway!

These are my formal corporate Manolo Blahnik shoes...which I rarely wear if at all lately.

Yes I have a thing for high heels. I have been on high heels since I was 16, I was first year college then. Anything below 3 inches is not high heels for me! There was even a time I can't seem to walk on a flat shoes...so I wear elevated flip flops! So crazy I am! Though lately I admit I have mellowed on it and just wear flat to mid-heels at work. Just trying to preserve my legs, heels and soles! LOL

Funny that a pair of really nice shoes make us feel good in our heads - at the extreme opposite end of our bodies.

~Levende Waters

So ladies, what's the highest heels you've ever worn? Have you had to wear painful...but gorgeous-- ones to a party? Because I did...many times! What can I say, my love for shoes goes beyond any sense of comfort...LOL

So there the confession of my heart...the other love of my life of which I am so lucky to embrace by the IT Guy...my love for shoes!

Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!

If you are participating in Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday, please sign up your entry's link below!

P.S.

Thanks for IT Guy for adding to my shoe collection! What a keeper he is!