June 23, 2011. Written by Leila Ruth Novales
May your days be many and your troubles be few. May all God’s blessings descend upon you. May peace be within you may your heart be strong. May you find what you’re seeking wherever you roam. –Irish Blessing
June 23, 2011 – Thursday
Breakfast: 1 c. muesli with soya milk, 1 c. hot chocloate wth Lifestream’s Ultimate Greens; 1 cup apple cucumber smoothie made with plain yogurt and soya milk
Lunch: Veggie Spaghetti; ½ litre honey grapefruit tea
Dinner: Tomato and Basil Linguine, apple cucumber smoothie–by candlelight!
Snack: 1/3 small bar of dark chocolate, 5 oz. Merlot
Physical Activity: 20 minutes walking
Treatment/Therapy: Meditation
Relaxation: Watching Season 2 of Cougar Town
Medication: Yes
Sleep: 6 ½ hours
Positive Thoughts: I am blessed and will even be more blessed!
Blood Pressure: AM: 133/87 PM: 135/90
It’s raining cats and dogs right now in Beijing (wish it would rain my cat back to me!). Highly unusual for Beijing. It has been raining so hard that I actually had to wade through a mini-flood on my way home from work! Just like back home in the Philippines! It’s a bit funny though because the strong rains were deterring my Chinese colleagues from going home at once because the rains were so strong and especially since I just walk home. They were wondering why I was going home already when it was raining so hard!
“I have an umbrella. Don’t you have one?” I queried.
“I do,” answered one of my colleagues, “but the rain is so strong!”
“Oh, I’ll live. This kind of rain is normal back home,” I replied nonchalantly and went out the door.
Rain has always symbolized a downpour of blessings to me. So this evening’s rain, for me, heralded a future replete with bountiful blessings–especially since I waded in it! =D So that means I’ll be swimming in blessings in the days to come! Not that I consider myself or my life devoid of blessings. Every single day is a blessing to me. Just waking up every morning makes me smile! The bountiful blessings I’m talking about here are the extra embellishments and spices that make life even more beautiful and interesting. And I’m not referring to having an insanely luxurious lifestyle either. Rather, I’m looking forward to a full, meaningful life filled with positive relationships and in which I feel content and at peace and I am actually doing what I have always dreamed of doing but have not had an opportunity yet to live. I know this kind of life does not happen overnight but comes one step at a time. I’m in no rush and I want to take it slow but sure. And I am going to savor each step that I take to get there.
Dinner tonight was a simple dish of Tomato and Basil Linguine. Just cook garlic and onions in olive oil. Add tomatoes then tomato sauce or 1 to 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (which is what I used). Add a dash of red wine vinegar, around a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 to 20 minutes (I did 10 minutes but I think you’ll get more flavor if you simmer for 20). Add the cooked linquine (or some other pasta you fancy like penne) and fresh basil. Really easy to cook especially since I already had my daughter prepare and pre-slice the ingredients so that I only needed to cook when I got home. And voila! Dinner in 20 minutes. Because Krystle Lane keeps telling me to post photos of what I cook, finally, here’s a photo…
