Fortune Plants and Chain Letters

I have three fortune plants. This week I noticed one bearing flowers for the first time. Then something flashed in my mind. They say that it's good luck when a fortune plant flowers. Unfortunately, I don't believe in luck. What does a flowering fortune plant have to do with what's going to happen to me? What's the connection? Of course, it's giving off oxygen. The same goes for chain letters. Sorry guys for those e-mails that I have to ignore because I don't believe that something bad will happen to me if I didn't reply or send them to ten others. Or the sender will think that I didn't value our friendship. My life is simply not dictated upon by flowering fortune plants nor by chain letters.

Mini Me Turns 19

She's called Junior by my co-worker. Why? Because she's a mini-me. She just doesn't like it when people compare us especially when we are mistaken as sisters. Ahem, there's a 25-year gap. And she's 19 now. Very much the same Amyel that used to be. Simple. Timid. Reserved but a good friend to those who are close to her. I can see myself in her. Sentimental. Sensitive. Can't do without a planner. Definitely not a compulsive buyer! Gifted... Yes, we have clashed at times. Maybe because like poles do repel each other but it is usually a mother-like-daughter-like-mother thing. She's young and she has a long way to go. May she continue to be a God-fearing girl. That's all she needs to reach her dreams. And I love her.

Getting Healthy in 2009

Health is wealth. It may be an old cliche but it's the truth. As always, my new year's resolution is to be a better person. This year, it's going to be a healthier me! My cardiologist emphasized to me that there are three important things in hypertension: diet, stress management, and exercise. I told him that I do good in diet and stress management. It's an exercise that's lacking. So, Bobby and I started our 30-min brisk walking ritual every weekend morning starting November 2008. The CvSU athletic field is witness to people like us who have experienced the lung-filling and heart-pumping excitement of walking or jogging for good health. It makes me smile to see the Flanax boys (for they remind me of the TV commercial showing two brothers racing on their bikes), Lola (with or without her companion, and our scripted story about her), Pink Panther (the guy in pink running shoes), and the many others including the irregulars in their fashionable sportswear. Go for good health!