Luckless on My 34th Birthday

I turned 34 years old last month. (HAHAHAHA! IKR? Last month pa, guys. Sorry naman! Ang dami ko lang talagang labada kaya super delayed ang blog post ko!) Days before my birthday, my husband and I were talking while we were on our way home. Boyet said, “Nandun na ako sa point ng buhay ko na kapag may nagtanong sa akin kung ilan taon na ako, kailangan ko ng mag-minus ng birth year ko from the current year!” I laughed so hard because I could totally relate!!! I would literally shut down for a split second when people ask me how old I am. So yeah, I am now 34 years old! Huhu haha na lang talaga e! :p

I wanted to make my 34th birthday different from my 33rd, but life had a different plan! I was initially planning to spend my birthday in Baguio with my family. Unfortunately, some of them could not afford to take days from work. I settled with an overnight trip to the beach. I was set to book a beach house somewhere in Bataan when my aunt told me that my niece has a Saturday class on our scheduled trip. Once again, my plan was botched. I figured another trip to Tagaytay would not be a bad idea so I focused all my energy looking for Tagaytay hotels. Unfortunately, almost all hotels were already fully booked save for a couple but with prices up the ceiling! I really wanted to go back to Crosswinds Resort Suites, but they were also fully booked at that time.

I took a rest from all the online searches. I told myself that there are still a lot of places we could go to. I was already contemplating on going back to Blue Coral Beach Resort in Laiya for the third time in a span of 8 months! Hahaha. But a series of unfortunate events unraveled as my birthday came closer.

A couple of weeks before my birthday, we got into a road accident. My husband and I were so ecstatic that we were already on our way home with the sun still up. I told him how excited I was to run around the neighborhood with Zayne. Then all of a sudden… BAM! A car hit us from the left passenger side! The impact was so strong that we really felt our car skid off. Boyet went out of the car. We later on found out that another car hit the car who hit us. Picture this. Car A hit Car B from behind, then Car B hit us on the side. Car A was on a different lane while Car B was trying to switch to our lane. We were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. The owner of Car A was very apologetic and owned up to the damages. Her insurance will cover up the repair of our car, but that only means we can’t use it for a couple of weeks. We live in Manila. I work in BGC while my husband works in Pasig. That was what’s on my mind at the time of the accident. I realized a few minutes after that we were supposed to have an out of town trip! The car can make it to long drives, but we still don’t want to risk it. (BTW, our car is not yet fixed. Pwede ba akong makisabay senyo papasok at pauwi ng office? Hahaha!)

An out of town trip was out of the equation. I was only left with going on a staycation in the Metro. Never mind that I filed for a two-day vacation leave. My birthday was a Friday so I planned to take Friday and Monday off from work. I was just waiting for my next credit card cutoff before booking a hotel. I was supposed to book on a Monday. I postponed it because I still had to consult my parents if they still wanted to join us. I woke up on a Tuesday with a very itchy throat. I was still able to go to work, but I decided to call in sick the following day. I started coughing and it became worse that night. I skipped work once again on Thursday, the eve of my birthday. I spent those two days sleeping almost the entire day. I diffused and topically applied my essential oils. I woke up on my birthday feeling so much better. I was still coughing, but it wasn’t as bad as the previous days.


I decided to just stay at home. I just went out of the house to go to church. My parents had pizza and pasta delivered to our house for dinner. At least I got to blow a birthday cake which was given by my younger brother.


I finally had a proper birthday celebration the following day. I didn’t get to go out of town, but I got to do what I do best – pigging out! I treated my family to a buffet lunch at Niu! We went home afterwards because I didn’t want to have a relapse.

Jerellt 34th Birthday
I remember spelling out my name. The lady who took it even highlighted the letter T on her paper. Anyare?! Hahahaha! :p

The following day, Boyet, Zayne and I went to Sunday mass. We had a Korean lunch at Nice Two Meat U, and I finally had the time to have my legs waxed!

My 34th birthday was far from what I hoped it to be. It took me a while to write about it thinking that it was uneventful. I figured that there was absolutely nothing special when I reminisce my 34th birthday years from now. But as I was sulking in self-pity and disappointment on my first day of being a 34-year-old, my husband helped me realize a lot of things!

First, our failed trips helped us in realigning our finances! Contrary to popular belief, my husband and I don’t earn a lot. Haha. I find it funny when people don’t believe me when I say, “Wala akong pera!” They would then try to make a comeback by saying, “Ang yaman yaman mo. May bahay at kotse ka nga e!” People, do you honestly think that our house and car came to our lives for free?! Nagbabayad kami ng bahay, kotse, 3 life insurance, anik anik na insurance para sa bahay at kotse, groceries, utilities, vaccine ng anak namin at kung anu-ano pa. So ‘yung yaman na hinahanap nyo, 10 minutes after payday, waley na! Hahahaha! But seriously, my husband and I had to think over how we handle our finances. We even had an “objective-setting” at the start of 2018 so we can properly plan our spending habits. We fell into the trap of trying to “enjoy life” by getting something out of our emergency funds. But then a trip to the beach is not an emergency, and so is a hotel staycation. Haha! We’re actually doing better ever since our “objective-setting” so we looked at the failed trips as a blessing in disguise. And our emergency fund thanked us big time!

Second, getting sick reminded me that I need to stop being a control freak! My husband said that I got sick because I spent too many late nights obsessing over planning our trip. Itutulog ko na lang, mag-online pa ako to look for hotels or resort. My husband also emphasized that I got too stressed when family members started backing out at the last minute. He said that I need to let go of the many things that I can’t control! Hahaha. K, fine!

Third, being sick actually reminded me that I need to slow down! I already have too many things on my plate. My team at work doubled last year! I take care of my toddler who has no plans of weaning anytime soon. I cook our meals and oversee almost everything at home. I try to blog, read and spend as much time as I could with my baby daughter. I’m trying out a business. And the list goes on! Madalas kasi talaga, nakakalimutan ko na tao ako! Harharhar!

Fourth, getting sick made me realize that I am actually healthier now! I know it’s ironic, but that’s the truth! I used to have flu that lasted for a week. The worst I had almost lasted two weeks. Knock on wood, my latest episode only lasted two days. I’m glad that I may not have money to replace my two-year-old phone (which my husband bought for 11K haha) or to shop for new clothes (OMG I CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES), but at least I have money to spare to buy essential oils, and I get to save money which I used to spend for antibiotics and hospitalization!

And lastly, the series of unfortunate events leading to my birthday made me go back to basics and appreciate the simplest of things. My mind was a mess (I honestly think it still is, haha) so God took away a lot of “unnecessary” things and let me focus on what’s really important. I wasn’t able to feel the cool Baguio breeze, but I got to enjoy free buffet lunch, discounted leg waxing and free eyebrow threading as my birthday treats! Haha. I got to spend some quiet time with my family. I felt how my parents, no matter how old I already am, got so worried because I got sick. My husband tried really hard to spend time with me on my birthday. I saw him really struggle in sneaking out of my sight each time he answered a call from the office. Haha! I felt really loved through the endless hugs and kisses of my darling, Zayne. I have to think that God was trying to remind me that He is and will always be in control of my life. And I actually felt really happy albeit having “less” as I turned a year older. :)

Jerellt 34th

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