CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT - Epi. 3

 Hi y'all!!  We turn another page of our calendar and it's August which means we are at the end of summer.  And for us it means we are 5 months or 23 weeks away from when Michael says goodbye to his work to retire.  Actually he keeps pointing out to me that he is not retiring in 5 months but he is quitting his job in 5 months.  And he is right.  He doesn't turn 62 (his target date to retire) until next year but it really doesn't make any difference.  Quitting, retiring, they both means you stop working, right?  So having mentioned that, we will be working on our house to get it ready for the market then, so we would still be working although not for someone else.

Well, I've been dreaming of building a "payag" next to our house in the Philippines.  I wanted to have it built last year when JJ and I were there but since I wasn't sure then when we might be back, I decided against it.  A "payag" by the way is a Filipino term for gazebo, except a "payag" has a place to cook and a place to take naps and it's even used as a place to sleep at night if you have family or friends visiting.  It's also a good place to lounge and hang out during the hot season.  We decided that in our "payag" we will have a sink, a place for cooking/grilling and a place for our "pugon" or earth oven.  The other part of the structure will be open with counter the length of the open space with bar stools so we have a place to eat or enjoy halo-halo on a warm afternoon weekend.

Speaking of halo-halo, we are having one every other night.  If you are curious what it is I made a video while I was making it.  It's so good and very refreshing.  You can watch it below:

  

So there you go lovely people.  I know I'm just rambling here but if you want halo-halo, message me and I will be more than happy to prepare one for you.  Until next time may the Lord keeps us all in His care for in Him alone we live and breath....SHALOM!!!

CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT Ep. 2

Hi y'all!  July is almost over, school is almost here and JJ will be starting his 8th grade, which would be his last year in the school system here.  With what's going on in the public school these days, I worry about him a lot and sometimes I'm even toying the possibility of homeschooling him just like I did with Josh and Zach.  But the boy loves to socialize (we call him the social butterfly of the family), and he is involved in band and sports.  So I will just wrap him daily in prayer before I send him out among the wolves, so to speak.  I claim daily God's promise of protection in Psalm 91 and my heart is at rest.

On a different note, Michael and I have been, (for months now) exploring and planning to build an earth oven when we return to the Philippines.  We have a gas range/oven there but it would be more practical to have an earth oven since we both love to bake and wood is abundant year round.  Besides, nothing beats baking on a wood fired oven.  It just feels different and very natural when you cook or bake with wood.  I grew up using wood to cook our food so I know what it's like.

Right now we have been experimenting with sourdough bread and also the sourdough discards we've accumulated while maintaining a sourdough starter.  The reason why we started turning to sourdough is two-fold: one - we found out that regular bread that you buy at the store no matter how the labels claim them to be healthy, is loaded with first of all, an enormous amount of sodium AND preservatives.  And two- sourdough goes through a fermentation process and therefore, is good for your gut health.  But it has to be home made because store-bought sourdough breads are also loaded with sodium and preservatives.  And also the process to make sourdough helps break down the gluten in the flour to make it very easy to digest which is actually good for me since I had a tummy problem myself.  And because we've started to watch our sodium and sugar intake we want to make our own bread and pastries when we get back to the Philippines.

Yesterday I made whole wheat roti out of the sourdough discard and we love it as a wrap or tear it and eat it dipped in olive oil.  Oh it was so good I'm making another batch today.  We've also baked decadent brownies out of the sourdough discard, it was so moist you'll have to lick your fingers :)  I decided to film my sourdough experiment yesterday so you can watch it below.

There's so many you can do with a sourdough and sourdough discard and we continue to experiment while we are still here.  Then when we get to go back to the Philippines we would have enough know-how to do it there.  That's it for now lovely people.  I'm going to try another recipe called "Rosemary and Olive Oil Fougasse" which is a flat bread and apparently is best dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  This one I will use the sourdough starter so I best take it out of the fridge to revive it so I can feed it.

We hope you enjoy today's blog and thank you for following.  May the Lord keeps us all in our comings and goings, for in Him we live and breath.  Until next time.....SHALOM!

CHRONICLES OF OUR PRE-RETIREMENT

 Hello y'all!!  I decided to come back to writing/blogging, which is my original favorite past time.  Good thing too, because starting today, I want to publish for posterity's sake our journey to retirement.  When Mike and I started Midlife Wanderings blogs we were heading to the Philippines to be with my aging mom.  Then we came home to the USA in 2018 after she passed on.  

Back then, JJ was a cute 8-year old boy who captured the hearts of everyone in our place and neighboring towns.  This time JJ will be a 15-year old teenage boy who will definitely tower everyone there.  He will be finishing his 8th grade education here and then next year he will be attending high school in the Philippines and possibly college.

Last year JJ and I were back in the Philippines to fix our house after typhoon Odette.  We accomplished a lot in our 5 months stint there, making improvements to our house, helping others rebuild and strengthening relations with neighbors and families.  I was even able to make it to our mountain property to see the damage to our coconuts that Odette left. 

Mike stayed behind to keep working and sending us money for the rebuilding and improvements.  When it was time to go, I thought it would be years (at least 5-6 years) before I could see my beloved town again so I decided to record one of my favorite places so I could revisit it any time I feel homesick.  I'm sharing it below if you want to see it.

Then when we came home Michael informed me that he plans to retire at 62.  He's not waiting for full retirement age.  He wants to enjoy life earlier than he should which is music to my ears.  My heart leaped with joy!  Yes, he said we are retiring to the Philippines!  Isn't it wonderful?

We are 6 months to retirement - and today is the start of our pre-retirement chronicles which I will update and publish consistently until we leave for the Philippines and then it will be another chapter when that day comes.  

May the Lord bless us all in our daily comings and goings for in Him alone we live and breath.  I hope you join us once again on this journey.  I love you all...SHALOM!

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This is our first step to getting ready to return to the Philippines.  Please follow us as we prepare to fly back to the Philippines during this pandemic season.

I hope to have you along this journey with us.  I pray you are all staying safe.  Thank you for following.

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