Blogger Stories

So, my family and I live in an 84 square meter lot that had a pre-built house on it. It's our first house (and, so far, our only house) and we've been living in it since 1998. Fig. 1  Original layout of the house. The house had two bedrooms, one toilet and bath, and a space that combined the kitchen, dining, and living room. It had 36 square meters floor space, which was enough for Loida and me, and our four-year-old daughter. There was a generous space around the front, side, and back of the house that was planted with grass and served as our washing and drying area. A small parking space (so small, you can hardly open the car door to get in or out) completed the package. The biggest disadvantage of the house was the small kitchen, so small it would be more appropriate to call it, the cooking nook. So, one of the improvements we thought about was using the back space as the kitchen. Fig. 2  Planned extension We thought of using the two meter by five meter space at the back for

Sometimes, as I'm walking around in malls, on the streets, or in offices, I spot a face that I don't give a second glance to. He or she may be looking at me, maybe even smiling at me, but I continue on, unmindful. A few seconds later, the face suddenly registers and a memory is tickled. I look back to check but often the owner of that face has gone and I am left wondering if I knew him or her. There are times when the tickled memory lets out a giggle and vague scenes play out in my mind. The face seems to fit one of those persons in the memory but I can't be sure. Sometimes, the memory laughs out loud and I'm sure I know the person but the name escapes me. There is a tinge of embarrassment that I might have snubbed the person and maybe even ruined a friendship. But occasionally, the memory bursts out in a guffaw and I remember both face and name. I turn around and hope he is looking my way so I can greet him. Often, he is and we may exchange smiles, a wave, a handsh

I have been a fan of the Peanuts comic strip since the 1970's. I bought the comic books by saving the leftovers from my school allowance and read them over and over. Sadly, those comic books disappeared as the family moved residences and I lost track of them. The internet, however, has enabled me to see the gang any time I wanted to. My favorite happens to be Snoopy. Now, I used to be a fairly decent artist, drawing with pen and pencil. My artistry, unfortunately, is limited to copying photographs or other drawings. I also avoid coloring my drawings because adding color ruined the drawing. I'm still a kid who can't keep the colors inside the lines. So, all my drawings were either black and white or gray-scale and one of my favorite drawing topics is, of course, Snoopy. Most of my Snoopy drawings were personal, handmade greeting cards, sent to my friends, which means, I don't have them anymore. I made other drawings but one of my favorites was made back in the summer of

  Mom and Dad at their wedding / Mom back in 2014 @ 79 years old. Just before I got married, I had a little conversation with Mom and Dad regarding how to handle pregnancy, not how to get my future wife pregnant but what to do after. Among the questions I asked was, were there any things I needed to know besides the medical sides of things. Dad smiled and told me to watch out for women's peculiarities during pregnancy. Some women, he warned, seem to do weird stuff when they get pregnant. Mom laughed and began telling me this story: * * * During one of Mom's pregnancies (they didn't say which one among the seven children), Mom told Dad that she wanted an orange. Dad said that, sometimes, preggies look for food that is either difficult or impossible to get. Compounding the problem is that you really have to find what she wants or there'll be big problems usually characterized by crying sessions, silent treatments, and, sometimes, physical harm.  He was, however, relieved