I didn’t even realize that my Gleniz da Menace newsletter just turned a year old! I still have my occasional once-or-twice-a-month free posts, but September last year I started making these exclusive posts to help support this ancient blog of mine.
Though I am fairly consistent with my creative output here, I am sluggish in a business sense and find discomfort in promoting this paid newsletter too much. So if you find enjoyment in what I write here, I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription. If you’re wondering if it’s worth it, here’s a note from one of the early subscribers:
I shared this with Kenneth and tried reading the message out loud to him but failed ‘cos I started crying. Thank you for your generous words 🥺
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May random moment sa sasakyan (on the way kami sa Waterton para ipasyal ang Mama one last time bago sya umuwing Pilipinas) na napa-blurt out ako ng, “12 times pala akong sumakay ng eroplano this year!” After saying that, ang unang pumasok sa isip ko ay exhaustion.
I will not deny the feeling of relief na last na yung Waterton sa itinerary namin ng Mama. After ng sunod-sunod na ganaps sa Pinas, tuloy pa rin ang ganaps pagbalik ko ng Canada. I know this is a great thing, pero looking forward na rin akong tumiim ng bahay. Lalo na dahil sa result ng blood test ko. Mababa raw ang WBC ko, meaning mababa rin ang immune system ko. Kaya pala ang bilis kong magkasakit at ang tagal kong gumaling. Napa-paranoid ako kakaisip kung nag-normalize na ba yung WBC ko or mas bumaba pa. At feeling ko, ang solusyon para maging normal ulit ay magpahinga.
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I was connecting to my Bluetooth speaker at nakita ko sa device list yung speaker ng Mommy. My heart sank. Bumalik sakin yung mga days sa ospital na tatanungin ko ang Mommy kung gusto nyang makinig ng music, tapos tatango sya. Papatugtugin ko dun sa maliit na pulang speaker yung mga paborito nyang lumang kanta, o kaya minsan mga piano music. Tatanungin ko sya ng, “Rinig mo Mommy?” kasi nakikipagsabayan sa music yung tunog ng mechanical ventilator nya. Ipi-pwesto ko yung speaker sa may ulunan nya para sure na rinig nya.
It’s Thursday Letter on a Saturday! Also, you have full access to this post because you’re a paid subscriber. Thank you! 🤍
Love my new office space 😍
In the journaling and planner community, September is known as ‘planner season’. It’s when notebook brands start rolling out their new lineups for the coming year. Two of the popular ones I always look forward to are Hobonichi and Traveler’s Company (both Japanese companies).
It’s kind of like when Apple announces the new iPhone each year. I know I’m not going to buy every release, but I’m invested in seeing what’s new. It’s the same with these two big brands. It’s just so fun to browse the new cover designs and themes for 2026, and also temptingly look at all their planner offerings in different layouts and sizes. But in my heart, I already know the single thing I’m going to get. I know that I’ll be sticking with the same planner I’ve been using these last two years: the simple and uncomplicated Hobonichi Day-Free in A6 size.
But alas, I was wrong.
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I have a very complicated budgeting system, so I won’t go into every detail. I have an expense tracking app, an Excel file, and I track every cent—if you ask me how much we paid for our Instapot back in 2019, I could tell you (it’s $67.19). In short, it’s a whole thing (but it’s an obsessive-compulsive’s dream).
Today, I just wanted to share what I do during paydays. I remember our abundant months when I’m not waiting for paydays to arrive. Back when I was confident that if I forgot to allocate funds to our different money buckets, I know that our bank account had enough money to cover all the auto-debited bills. Oh how I miss those days.
June 2013 (this is my old app, I use Money Lover now)
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I’ve downloaded the LinkedIn app again just to take a peek of what’s out there. I even received two messages about remote job opportunities na para bang alam nilang babalik na ko sa trabaho soon. Pag nakauwi na ang Mama sa Pilipinas, I will be in my full-on job hunting mode.
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The ultimate throwback
May pagka-bitter ako dahil wala akong video footage nung bata pa ako. Understandable naman kasi hindi naman uso ang mga smartphones noon. Pero tuwing nakakakita ako ng mga rare footage ng random people nung bata pa sila, nakakainggit. Tsaka pag nanonood ako ng Kardashians tapos ipapakita nila yung mga old videos nila, ang sarap lang panoorin. Very active ko pa naman nung elementary ako, ang dami kong extra-curricular activities na ang sarap sanang balikan.
Na-surprise na lang ako nung pinuntahan namin yung kaibigan ng Mama dito sa Calgary. Inimbitahan nila kaming mag-lunch sa bahay nila at may nabanggit si tita na pinapanood daw nila nung minsan yung mga lumang videos nila. Tapos andun daw ang Mama sumasayaw kasama yung ibang momshies. Tapos ako rin daw nandun (??) Wait. What?! Matutupad na ba ang wish ko? Haha!
Turns out, ka-choir ko pala yung anak ni tita at na-record nila yung isa sa mga performances namin. Nung una, ang nahanap nilang footage ay yung sumasayaw ang mga Mama, tapos nakalagay sa date stamp, September 1999. So nag-calculate na ko at if ever totoong nakasama nga ako sa video, 10 years old pa lang ako nun! Sobrang excited na ko. Pero ayoko pa masyadong mag-expect kasi baka wala naman ako or baka hindi na nila mahanap. Hanggang sa nakita ko na yung muka ko sa screen at tawang tawa na ko, and at the same time, super amazed. Ang cool. Thank you universe sa unexpected gift and thank you sa sosyal kong ka-choir noon na may camcorder! 😄
Periodt.
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1.
Sa sobrang baliw na baliw yung dalwa kong pinsan sa The Summer I Turned Pretty, hindi nila mapigilan na magkwento sakin kahit wala naman akong gatiting na idea sa story nun. Alam ko lang na libro sya at meron syang TV adaptation pero yun na yun. Alam rin nilang hindi ko alam kung anong pinagsasasabi nila but it doesn’t stop them from talking about Belly, Condrad and Jeremiah. Hindi nga sila yung, “Ate panoorin mo! Maganda!!” Hindi. As in diretso lang sila agad sa mga ganaps kaya litong lito ako. Ang alam ko lang kilig na kilig sila kay Conrad, hate nila si Jeremiah, at super frustrated sila kay Belly. So ako tuloy, mapapatanong sa kanila kung bakit. At sa kaka-bakit ko, nagkaron na ko ng idea at nagkaron na ko ng interes panoorin pagbalik ko ng Canada.
After almost isang oras na kwentuhan about TSITP, sabi ni Isabelle, “Para tuloy gusto ko ulit panoorin mula season 1.” So ayun. Sinimulan din namin at naintindihan ko na rin kung bakit sila nababaliw dun sa tatlo. Hindi pa ko masyadong makausad sa season 2 kasi nasa episode 3 pa lang ako. Pinaparaya ko kasi sa Mama yung TV para hindi sya mainip.
2.
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It’s 3:30AM at three hours na kong hindi makatulog. Kakabalik lang namin dito sa Canada two days ago at expected ko na yung mga ganitong nights na sira ang tulog ko. Medyo sabog yung utak ko ngayon pero na-miss kong magsulat dito. And I’m typing this on my new laptop! Well, technically hindi sya bago kasi laptop ‘to ng kapatid ko. Nag-switch kami ng gadgets. Nasa kanya na yung iPad Pro ko at nasakin na ngayon yung MacBook Air nya. Sakto kasi gusto ko nang magkaron ng bagong laptop na hindi na kelangan isaksak para lang mabuhay, at si Tricia naman, gusto nya ng iPad para daw madali syang mag-take notes when talking to clients.
Gleniz da Menace 