Happy Halloween, everyone!!! 

We’ve just celebrated Halloween the last 4 days (Oct. 28-31) and again it was a blast! I’m still in the middle of preparing a vlog and blog post for it so I can share with you all how we celebrated my most favorite season this year. I hope yours was a happy one too! Stay tuned!

On the other hand, I feel like this will be the last time I’m celebrating this way my fave holiday. It’s been 20 years of blissful spooky celebrations, from Malate street and Boracay beach parties in my early 20’s, to Oktoberfest celebrations in my late 20’s, to house and costume parties in my early 30’s, to trick or treating with Tuz and Mahal in my late 30’s to early 40’s. My wish every year was to have more of the same and I was lucky enough to be given that. Thank you, universe! You’ve been good to me all these years, making me happy to have the chance and budget to party. I’m now passing on the torch to our almost 7-year old son, Tuz. I told him about my plan to retire and pass on to him organizing such parties but he said he’s not yet ready! 

Maybe I‘m just feeling a wee bit sad, tired, and drained as of late. Adulthood  is probably taking a toll on me and I will soon need a proper break — break from work, break from taking care of Tuz, break from taking care of our household, from thinking and worrying about it all. We’ve just been  on a one week trip to Cebu City to run some errands and take care of some medical stuff. Though the trip has been very productive and positive, it just left me over-fatigued and wanting of a much-needed mental reprieve. 

But since work has always been hectic (which I am thankful for, don’t get me wrong!), I really can’t afford yet to take a real vacation (give me 8 hours/day of sleep please with nothing to do in between if possible!) But I do need to take mental breaks every now and then to keep my brain fresh and ready to tackle again the next task. So one of the things I actually do especially now that HBO’s House of the Dragons Season 1 has ended is I actually play online games. I’ve mentioned to you on one of my previous posts that Tuz and I love to play online games to keep our brain refreshed and functioning well in between homeschooling and work. One of the sites I go to is https://www.calculators.org/games/board-games.php. They have these games that remind me so much of my childhood. My favorites are: 

MASTER CHESS

This online game, when you’re playing with the computer, has 3 levels of difficulty. You points also get reduced the longer you play. I’m not an expert on Chess, but I do love playing it because it reminds me so much of the good times I spent with my dad as a little girl. He taught me how to play it and now we’re teaching it to Tuz as well.

STRAIGHT 4

This online game is soooo addicting!!!! I had the same exact physical toy when I was a little girl! I loved to play it then and I love playing the online version of it now. The computer is just so hard to beat though!!! Grrrr!!!!

These games remind me so much of the happy parts of my childhood when things seem so easy and carefree and all we do is play. Pandemic, recession, and adulthood stuff are still unknown to us and life seem so much simpler and easier, don’t you think?

You can also explore the rest of the games they offer at https://www.calculators.org/games/all.php. They have a wide range of categories from Math, to preschool games, to music and even physical games. You won’t run out of options to choose from! They’re perfect because many of these games I now use for homeschooling Tuz and he’s having so much fun with them! 

So if you’re needing a mental break from work and life, try those games too and let me know how they are for you. 

Til my next post!