I keep accidentally hitting my knee, which is truly unfair because the bruise is positioned front and center, as if it had paid extra for premium visibility. Every time I bump it, my soul briefly leaves my body. Full system shutdown.
Then today I discovered another bruise on my arm. A surprise bruise. The worst kind. My arm currently looks like I’ve been in a very low-stakes but persistent bar fight with my own house. Honestly, if someone saw me, they’d assume I either joined a secret underground sport or lost a series of arguments with furniture.
I’m now being extra cautious around the step I tripped over yesterday. I approach it like it’s sentient and holding a grudge. Slow steps. Full attention. Possibly whispering, “Not today.” Clearly, I need to be more careful, if only to stop my body from collecting bruises like they’re limited-edition souvenirs.
I went to Walmart with Alex and Lexi, one of those trips where everyone has a mission. Lexi was on the hunt for beauty essentials, carefully evaluating products like a seasoned professional, while I focused on grabbing ingredients for Tommy’s work lunches and picking up my medication. I’m planning to start prepping his lunches soon, which always feels like a small act of kindness mixed with mild logistical chaos. I have to make dinner soon as well. Taquitos, we are having. I’ve never done this before, so I’m curious to see how it will turn out.
Before that, I figured I’d settle in and study for a few more hours, riding that productive momentum while it’s still hanging around. Because I am certainly not feeling productive today. My knee and arm are sore, so slow and steady is the way to go.
I also learned a new Tagalog phrase today: “pwede na yan.” It means “that’s fine,” which honestly feels like a phrase I could use in about a thousand situations a day. Now I just need to find excuses to casually drop it into conversations. Dinner slightly overcooked? Pwede na yan. Brain is tired but still functioning? Pwede na yan. Life in general? Definitely pwede na yan.
I’d really like to learn more Tagalog. Being Filipino, I sometimes feel like I should know more of the language than I currently do. Learning it now feels less like an obligation and more like a way to reconnect.
That said, my family’s dialect isn’t actually Tagalog, it’s Cebuano (Bisaya). So while I’m picking up Tagalog phrases here and there, Cebuano feels closer to home. For example, “that’s fine” in Tagalog is pwede na yan, but in Cebuano it’s maayo na.
I like noticing those little differences. It makes learning feel more personal, less like memorizing vocabulary and more like rediscovering something that’s been quietly waiting for me to come back to it. I should probably write down these Tagalog and Cebuano phrases so I don’t forget them.
I should start making Tommy’s lunches and the taquitos. I’d like to have dinner done by 5.
