day 58 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

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day 55 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

surprisingly, i'm on a day-off again! actually, i'm off the whole weekend! yeyyy!!!

but more yeyyyy to my workmate who changed work schedules with me because she will be traveling to London next week. oh, how i want to go with her! her daughter is a flight attendant and she can travel the world with her if she wants to. now that traveling is quite easy again, i would love to go to more places.

it's a sunny day! i helped daddy in picking up some fire woods from one place in the countryside. i love being in the countryside. there's a lot of space for Fasu to run, privacy, more singing birds and the feelings that you get from your surroundings. i wish to have a house in the countryside someday....

i made chocolate-peanut butter mugcake | day 54 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

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day 53 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

it's mommy's day-off! i didn't have any plans for today. maybe if i did, it's just to sit in front of the tv and watch k-drama 😂 after staying at my sister's place last weekend, i also want a tidy home. but with daddy's paperworks and stuffs scattered all around the house, it's like wishing for the man on the moon to come back to my life. sigh! i guess i'll have to talk about this with him this weekend. 😡

i made pork sinigang for lunch. it's always my go to dish when i'm running out of ideas what to eat. since daddy is not home today, i used as much garlic and onions in my food. the odor will evaporate before he comes home tomorrow, so it's okay 😄

i took a walk around the park because it was a sunny day. i dropped by at the coffee shop near our place. i was planning to have coffee and a slice of cake but when i got there, i saw that they're already selling ice cream! so i had two scoops of ice cream instead. 

the cafe was quiet as i was the only customer that time. i savored the moment and my ice cream. 

you know, i'm liking myself better now. last year, i was just focused on work and i didn't even take myself out on a date that much. but lately, i'm finding more time for me...doing the things that i like, eating food that i want and going to places where i want to go to...power hug to me! 

oh, and i was so worried about Amanda today. actually i've been worried since last night. i noticed that she's been sneezing yesterday evening. it's not all the time but she sneezed every now and then. also this morning, she's been scratching her nose and sneezing. she stayed almost half of the day downstairs. i searched on google and it says that sneezing could be a sign of respiratory infection for cats. i almost sent a message to Fasu's vet. but i thought, i'll observe Amanda for a while. and if it continues then i will send a message to Minna. Amanda has been beside me the whole evening and she hasn't sneezed at all. i hope that she doesn't have any infection and that the sneezing episode has ended already 😻

day 51 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

we are back from our long weekend in the Netherlands. it was so nice to be with my sister, Ed and Mees again. it has been a while since we've seen each other. last weekend was so full of nice memories and not so nice. hehehe

daddy picked me up from work last thursday and we drove right away to the airport. everything went smoothly with the check-in and security control. they didn't check the corona pass anymore, as well as the health form that was required to fill out as posted on the airline's website.

the airport is quite busy with travelers already. i'm sure everyone is happy to be able to go somewhere else after two years. 

Toto, Ed and Mees picked us up from Schiphol airport and we drove to their home. it was great that Mees already speaks English so it's easier to communicate with him. i'm so happy about that. he talks a lot and so cool to be with. he's so proud that he knows how to use chopsticks when eating 😀😊

the next day, we visited oma and opa. they are really warm and nice people, too. although oma didn't speak English, she understood what i was saying and somehow, i understood her too. plus the sign language. hehehe

on saturday, we visited Nang Dayang and Gus in Roermond. it was quite a long drive but it was nice to see them again. the last time i was there was 11 years ago. huh?! that long, huh! Gus is still very animated when telling his stories. Nang Dayang prepared kbl for us. gosh! it was so delicious! i haven't eaten kbl for a long time and it was just namit-namit!

also, we dropped by earlier that day at a pinoy shop. and they had red horse! daddy was so happy! he saved the last red horse that he had for last year's christmas. and now, he has more supply 😁

Nang D and Gus also toured us around the centrum of Roermond. we had some drinks at a local bar. people are already hanging out outside the bars because the weather was so nice. it was an amazing day!

we came home late that night. it was a full moon. i was afraid that i won't be able to sleep well, but i slept like a baby 😇

more stories next time....

 

day 49 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

i think it's wrong to ask a customer, "what do you want?" when they are in front of you. i think i offended one customer when i asked him that. or i don't know. i just didn't like the way he responded to me. now, i'm bothered. 

people around me at work were stressed today. i'm like a sponge that absorbs all their tension. now that i'm home, i feel so tired that i just want to release all the negativity that i have absorbed this day.

also, i almost...almost got into an accident. i was waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. at the same time, i was also looking at the light for the vehicles. when i saw the green light, i took a step forward to cross the pedestrian lane. then i saw that the light for walkers was still red and i backed off right away. 😬 that was scary! i just feel like a zombie today 😵

days 38 and 39 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

three more days before our trip to the orange country!!! i'm so excited to see my sister again! this will be our first trip after three years. 

i haven't packed our things yet. i'm a last-minute person so...i will do that on wednesday. today, i'm planning to walk around the city to find some gift shops for souvenirs. and also to enjoy the sunny day of the week. it has been snowing and raining these past days. but today is +2 degrees. it's a warmer day! yehey! i will still wear my sleeping bag jacket so i won't get sick before the trip.

i woke up quite early today. it's almost 10 am and i haven't drank my coffee yet. okay, bye! 😁 i'm going to make coffee before my nerves start shaking.

day 30 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

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snowstorm in April | day 27 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

i had an early morning shift today. when i opened the door, i was surprised at how much it snowed over the night. there was at least 5 centimeters of snow on our stairs. i knew then that i will be doing some snow work before opening the cafe. 

eventhough i spent about 10 minutes cleaning off the snow, preparing breakfast went smoothly....until...i turned the coffee machine on. it didn't work. i turned off the switch and on again, but still no coffee. that's when i started to panic. so i called to my boss. it was good that she's nearby and in less than a heartbeat, she got in the cafe and checked the coffee machine. she couldn't find what's wrong with it either, so she took one spare machine from the stockroom. i was so relieved that she was there to help me out. 

the coffee wasn't ready yet when our regular customers came, but they were so nice and waited patiently.

the rest of the day was kind of relaxed. outside the snowstorm is still raging. i warmed the fireplace in the bedroom when i woke up from my nap. then i started on a new K-drama series "thirty nine". episode 1 was nice. actually, i'm still in the middle of episode 1. it's in a pause mode because i made some spring rolls for dinner. 😁

i'm okay again | day 25 and 26 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

i have recovered from the virus and now, it's daddy's turn. i'm so sorry to have passed it to him, but what can i do? he's been down with flu for three days now and i think it hit him harder than it hit me. i hope he'll get better soon.

i've been back to work since tuesday. and i'm using mask again. for a while, before i got the virus, i stopped using mask at work. i felt that the situation is getting better and that i didn't need to wear one all the time. and surprise! i got infected. so, i don't want to pass the bad virus to anyone else, that's why i'm wearing mask at work all the time.

these past couple of days have been very cold. this morning, it was -10. kaloka! and i have this feeling of missing the dark winter days. it takes time again to get used to the brighter days. but i'll get there 😁

last day of my quarantine! | day 24 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

yeyyyy!!! last day of quarantine! i'm so happy that i survived this Covid. it was like the worst flu ever with dark clouds in my head all the time. i hope no one will get sick of Covid anymore...

i got to take a walk in the forest today. complete with four seasons in a span of an hour walk. i couldn't ask for more 😀

i guess that was winter saying goodbye and spring saying hi 🌞

i'm sick! | day 22 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

i've been feeling a little down since tuesday. yesterday at work, i already felt bad but i was determined to finish my shift. also, i tested negative for Covid, so i thought there's no reason for me to skip work.

last night, i didn't sleep well. my throat was painful and i woke up many times at night. i had to wake up a little bit after 4 am because my shift starts at 5:30 😪 it was really difficult to move around and prepare my stuffs. i took another test, still it's negative. 

i didn't feel it's right to call one of the girls to do my shift if i call in sick because then, i would have to wake them up. so, i went to work, prepared breakfast and everything at the cafe. when the first customer came and when i greeted him, i was surprised at how husky my voice sounded. hey, i've always dreamt of having a husky voice 😀 i tried modulating my voice when talking to other customers because i sounded quite weird. 

around 8 am, i was already thinking to call the girl who's doing the day shift if she could come earlier because i was starting to feel worse. i sent her a message before 9 and she answered that she will come as soon as possible.

i left work at 9:30 and headed straight to home. while walking, i felt like i was floating or flying. i felt light-headed. i was also feeling very cold. that kind of cold that you feel in the middle of winter when you're out somewhere and the wind sips into your bones. 

when i got home, i took another Covid test and it was negative. i managed to eat some yoghurt then settled on the couch with a fleece blanket and a warm cat. i closed the blinds and fell asleep. 

i woke up around 12 and i felt feverish and disoriented. i felt like i've been to another planet.

for the rest of the day, i stayed in bed, watched youtube vlogs and slept. my throat is still painful and i have cough. i checked my temperature earlier and it was normal.

now, i'm waiting for daddy to come home and maybe eat some ice cream 😁 

day 21 of 365 | the life of Joanna Marie

yes! i'm back at the second-hand shop again. i was already thinking to go to Helsinki on my day-off. i've been wanting to visit a Mochi cafe in the city. i was on the same cafe foundation training with the two young Chinese owners last autumn. i've been following their instagram feed and the mochis look so yummy and vibrant! 

but then, one of the workers here at the shop is sick and someone has to fill-in her shift. so. here i am...

it's been very quiet since i came at 1300. but one customer shopped a lot of stuffs and i'm so happy ^_^