"Breathe"....started it ALL...

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Before "White Horse", the song "Breathe" by Faith Hill and a lot of Shania Twain's songs were the songs that the little one heard a lot when she was a lot younger. They are 2 of my favorite singers so I played their songs a lot. The result? This....

She was barely 3 years old here. She didn't know most of the words but it was hilarious how she would emote and how she caught on the few words....

I've been busy digging the old home made videos and it's been fun. I should probably start a blog and make it her "Video Blog", eh?

Anyway, enjoy this one.

White Horse...

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We've spent the better part of today browsing You Tube for some of Taylor Swift's popular songs. The little one likes to sing her songs over and over again so I decided to see if she can sing-along with the 'karaoke' versions of Taylor's songs. What do you know, she nailed every single one she tried. I'm quite impressed how she's able to sing quite well with only the background music. She's still 'shy' to do anything else in front of the camera but she'll get there. Here's one of the songs she recorded. I think she'll give Taylor a run for her money...that's the Mommy in me talking of course! LOL....

Rainy Weekend...

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It’s about 5 o’clock in the afternoon as I am writing this down. The little one is busy jumping ropes while the big man of the house is resting comfortably after doing some yard work. He has finally transferred the cactus his brother gave us on the ground. Right now it’s raining and it has been for the last hour or so. I guess we won’t be going anywhere, eh? Summer weather here in the sunshine state is very unpredictable and hot. Yep, even if it’s raining outside it is still H-O-T around here. So what to do when it’s raining outside? Eat ice cream what else? But if there’s one thing I really want to do right now, it’s to go on a trip…in one of those ESCORTED TOURS in places I’ve never been before with the whole family of course. A stress-free tour.

So why do I want to go on an escorted tour instead of going to one where we can choose our own schedule? Simple. I’d rather have a solid itinerary with specific times in order to maximize our vacation. The last time the family went on a vacation, it was the kind where we went as time permitted us to. As a result, we weren’t able to go to certain places because there was no planning involved. To prevent that from happening again, an Escorted Tour will be our best option when we go on our next trip. The only question that remains unanswered for now is: WHEN?????

Weekend Sing-Along!!

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That's what we've been doing. It started yesterday and the little one just couldn't stop singing along with her favorite Taylor Swift's songs. I think she recorded about 10 of them already. I have been trying to edit them so I can upload them to You Tube. Our camcorder is definitely overworked at the moment so we may need to start checking out different camcorders sooner than we want in case the we have right now starts acting up because she's been using it so much. But that's alright because she's having a great time and that's all that matters, right?

Our weekend will definitely be spent indoors because it has started raining about an hour ago and it's still going while I'm typing this. The husband was able to mow the grass though before it started raining. He will be free of his watering chore now that mother nature decided to help him in that department. I wonder why it didn't rain [at all] when I was the one doing the watering. Hmmm....that's kinda' unfair, don't you think? Oh well, at least I'm free of that chore so now I can spend my time surfing the net.

I better get off here and keep on working at the home videos the little one has waiting for me. With the rate she's going, she'd probably have about 50 raw videos before the weekend is over. Uh oh....

Enough Already!

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After days of being under ‘weather alert’ the rain [with the whole shebang of lightning and thunder] happened yesterday. It even flooded the dirt road in front of our house. The heat index finally went below 90 around here because of that and we’re free from our watering chores. Those are the ‘positive’ effect of the rain. For the negative effects, our electricity keeps going out messing up the different electronic gadgets we have around the house. I can live with that as long as my internet connection is not affected much. But IT IS! Actually, our internet has been acting up since forever. Just last week, the husband was furious because our emails were not working. He had to call their customer service to see what’s happening and guess what? They couldn’t explain why that’s the case.

Needless to say, hubby said that we better proceed with our plan of finding another provider and I couldn’t agree more. Qwest was the first one that came to mind when he asked me to do that. We’ve tried a few companies already Qwest is the only one we have not tried yet so I really want to give it a shot. I have a friend who uses Qwest high speed internet and she has not complaints about it whatsoever. I thought of switching to them a long time ago but decided against it and give our present provider another chance but after the all the headaches we had with them the past couple of weeks, I am not more convinced now that we should just ditch this one and go with Qwest instead. My only problem right now is we should also get the Qwest phone service because our internet provider is also our phone company. Unlike their internet service, their phone service has been doing surprisingly well. I guess we just have to wait and see...

One Word Meme...

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Thanks Tetcha for this tag!

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It’s not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to use only one-word answers. Be sure to tag the person who sent it to you!

1. Where is your cell phone? Drawer
2. Your hair? Long
3. Your mother? Straightforward
4. Your father? Hardworking
5. Your favorite food? Seafoods
6. Your dream last night? Nada
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Bunches
9. What room you are in? Livingroom
10. Your hobby? Singing
11. Your fear? Snakes
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren’t? Man
15. Muffins? Any
16. Wish list item? Garden
17. Where you grew up? Famfanga
18. Last thing you did? Yawned
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? Zenith
21. Your pets? Hubby
22. Friends? Bunches
23. Your life? Happy
24. Your mood? Fluctuating
25. Missing someone? Parents
26. Car? Jeep
27. Something you’re not wearing? Necklace
28. Your favorite store? None
29. Your favorite color? earth
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Forotten
32. Who will resend this? Moi
33. One place that I go to over and over? Bathroom..tee heee
34. One person who emails me regularly? Bunches
35. My favorite place to eat? KFC

Event Planner Needed!

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We need the best Holiday Event Planner real bad. It’s not my family that needs it though but my high school classmates and me. Why? To help us plan our Silver jubilee at the end of this year. I’ve been talking about this Silver Jubilee here for quite a while now. It’s a major event, not only because it’s been 25 years since our high school graduation but because it won’t just be us. Our batch as the so-called "Jubilarians" will only host the event which will be attended by other alumni from all the batches since the 1970s. Ugh! It will be an exciting event, yes, but it’s also very stressful as it gets closer. My former classmates have been meeting regularly but no one among us has the experience in planning such an event so yes, a professional event planner will definitely be a big help.

I wish I can help more but there’s not much I can do. Aside from being thousands of miles away, I don’t have much experience in planning holiday events, big or small, myself. If ever the time comes that I will have to be in-charge of planning, I think I’ll do it the smart way and hire a professional Holiday Party Planner like Event Solutions. Why not when it’s one of the best places to go to when one wants to have a successful party without sweating it out. With 20 years of experience, this company is known for its superb services for any occasion. Event Solutions is a well-known Christmas Event Planner which by the way is a woman owned company. How I wish they do event planning overseas. Because if they do then our Silver Jubilee will definitely be a success…

Michael Jackson DEAD!

Michael Jackson 1958-2009[Photo courtesy of last.fm]

Shocking isn't it? I was just watching the news and they we're announcing that he was rushed to the hospital because he went on cardiac arrest. The next thing I know, they were reporting that he never regained consciousness after collapsing in his house in Los Angeles and was pronounced dead at the hospital. He was only 50 years old.

Hollywood is really in mourning right now. Earlier today, one of the original Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett died from cancer. She's been fighting cancer so it's not as shocking as the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Earlier this week, another icon, Ed McMahon also died. That's 3 in a row. May they rest in peace.

Weather Alert!

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We've been under weather alert for the past, well, 5 days maybe? That means we're supposed to watch out for thunderstorms, tornadoes and what nots. None of those has happened yet. It's not that I'm waiting for them but a rain or two would be great because we've been hitting the 100s in the heat index for the past few days. It got really dark around dinner time here so we thought it would rain. Nope, it didn't. I can hear some faint thunders right now so maybe later in the night we will get that much needed rain already.

The thunders are getting louder now. Hopefully there won't be any power outage because I don't think I know where to find a candle [or if we have any for that matter] if the light goes out. Maybe I better shut off my beloved computer before these thunders [and lightnings] get any worse. It's almost my bedtime anyway. Here's hoping I'd be able to sleep without any trouble...fingers crossed!

Imelda Marcos....

This is NOT a political post. I just came across an article in Philippine star with the accompanying picture about her being 'nearly' broke...as in 'no money' broke. That's according to her [and probably her family] anyway. Maybe she can sell that 22 carat rock/ice she has on her finger, eh? I just thought it's interesting how someone claims he or she is broke while flashing that big 'ole rock.

Another TGIF!

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It's been a "semi-busy" week for me. The earlier part was slow but it got busier so I call it 'semi-busy'. Ha! Anyway, we went to the doctor yesterday. Our first stop was at the ophthalmologist for the little one's appointment. The doctor said her eyes are perfect and they're not causing the headaches she gets. His diagnosis? The same as the pediatrician: Migraine. I thought she's too young to have it but apparently, kids younger than her get it as well. He advised us to keep track of the food she eats...which we already started doing a week ago...before he told us to. He said a lot of times, processed foods are the culprits. I guess that's to be expected. Hotdogs & those instant mac & cheese would have to go...as well as cheeses which happen to be her favorites. Oh well....

Next stop was to her pediatrician for the shot that wasn't available when we went there last time. She did a lot better this time. Tears [and a lot of it too] fell last time she had the [3] shots because that was the first time she was getting any that she's aware of. Yesterday, no tears fell. She panicked a bit when she saw the injection but that's it. She looked for stickers though which they didn't have this time around. Anyway, our last stop was for my blood work. It's been more than a month since I started with my medication and the doctor wants to know if they're helping any...I hope so. We stayed in the lab the longest. We went in at around 9 AM and we were out after an hour. There were so many people waiting when we came in.

In the afternoon, the trees we bought last weekend were delivered. We now have 3 more trees here...that means more watering for me and the little one. Our yard still needs about a million plants but we're getting there.

Work was also released last night. It's not much but it's still work. I stayed up late trying to do as much as I could. It's all gone now but I made a few bucks and I'm happy about that. Hopefully there's more coming.

That's my week so far. Nothing planned for the weekend even if it's Father's Day weekend. We will just play it ear I guess. Hubby doesn't want any gifts...what else is new anyway. Anyway, have a wonderful Father's Day weekend! To all the Dads out there.....I hope you have a great one! Here's one of my favorite pics of my Father and Daughter tandem....

Fixed!

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Yep, our AC is fixed! I posted yesterday that it's been acting up. I'm actually not that bothered since it's not that hot with the fan on but the eskimo a.k.a. husband is a different story. He doesn't do well when the temperature in the house is above 75. So he called the people that installed it a year ago. A guy came and found out that something was loose so the freon drained out. Can you say 'their fault'? Totally. But we didn't want to play the blame game and just let it go...with us paying the co-pay of course. With the AC fixed, the husband was able to sleep soundly again. Ha!

So it's now, 1 down 100 more to go on our "to do list". One of things in the list is insurance. All of the insurance we have like health, car & home. Last month when we were about to renew our home insurance, we found out [on the day we had to sign the papers] that the insurance company was charging us a few hundreds more to renew it. They probably thought that we'll just go with it since it's the day we need it. Boy were they ever wrong. As soon as the husband saw the additional charge, he went to look for another place where we can get insurance. Guess what? He didn't only get a new home insurance but he also asked this other place for an auto insurance quote because we will be renewing our auto insurance in a couple of months as well. The other company now is probably thinking that they messed with the wrong people.

Tag Gallery!

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Here are some blog awards I got from 2 wonderful blogger friends.

Thanks to Lena of PinayMomBlogs!

And to Kikamz of Just About Anything!

Summer Heat!

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Yep, it’s another hot day here in our neck of the woods. It is 93 degrees as I type this. And to make matters worse, our AC is acting up. I just realized something was wrong with it yesterday when I noticed that the reading on the thermostat wasn’t budging. The husband came home to check it and he found out that it’s low on freon. Ugh! It’s only been a year since we moved in here and we’re already having issues with the AC. Now we have to call someone to check it as soon as possible. That means…money out the window again. Ugh!

Because of the unexpected expense for the AC, we are now putting some of the not-so important-things to buy on hold like:

New bed sheets
A tula purse I want [to replace my small cross body purse]
Some trees we want for the side of the garage

Ceiling fan for the living room [our floor pan will do for now]

These are just some of the things we’re putting off until further notice [read: when we have the money]. The list is actually much longer than that. There are more important things that we need to get like, like a father’s day gift for the big daddy here. Hubby said that he doesn’t want anything for that day…so typical of him. Him not wanting anything for father’s day is actually the reason why I thought of not getting that TULA purse yet. I just thought it would look ‘odd’ if I’m getting something for Father’s Day and he's not…hehe.


He wants something for this day though… a book. Not the ones you can buy from the store but one that is made by his little princess. For the last few weeks, the little one has been making these little books where she would draw characters with short stories on them and Dad always looks forward to them at the end of the day. He reads them while having dinner and it cracks him up everytime. I think she has about 7 ‘books’ already [and counting] and they are all in Dad’s nightstand drawer. Yep, we’re keeping them. Maybe one day, when she’s already a famous author, we can sell these little books and make a fortune out of them. Then I can buy all the Tula bags I want. Ha! Now, that’s what you call positive outlook and long term planning!

May We ALL...

Hopefully, this week will be a productive one for all of us. I know I could use some work - the one that pays 'ya know.

Anyway, thanks for all the compliments about our little one's video. Like I said, I'm a proud Mama. It's funny though because I've been trying to record her without her knowledge so I have all these 'voice only' videos of her singing kinda like this one.

Anyway, after I recorded about 5 of her singing using the digital camera she asked for the video camera so she could make her home movies in her bedroom. Haha....

Where Have I Been?

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I’ve been busy weeding again. It’s been really hot outside but I try to go out there when it’s a bit bearable to feed my obsession with weeding. I have all the time because work is still at a standstill. One company has some work right now but it’s a pain to do and pays so little so I choose not to do it. I probably should do a little bit so my boss won’t think I quit or something. The husband is not that busy at work as well so we’ve been spending our weekends looking at plants in different nurseries around here. Yesterday, we went to this huge nursery! It was almost in the 90s when we walked the place to check the plants they have so we were sweating the whole time. I think it was only us there at that time. As we were walking around the place, I noticed they didn’t have any kind of security [like an ADT Security] in the place that one can probably walk out of there with easy to hide plants without paying for it.

After a few minutes of walking around the nursery, we headed out and went to the store for some errands. We also wanted to check places that provide home security systems like adt security but they were all closed so we weren’t able to do that. When we got home, the husband got a message that his brother wanted to talk to him. It turned he has a friend interested in looking at the house we have for sale. He said that he may come down here in a couple of weeks to see it. I guess our plans of having an ADT Home Security system installed would have to wait until after that. We don’t want to spend more money in that house if it’s going to be sold anyway. I am just keeping my fingers crossed my brother in law’s friend and us can come up with a reasonable price for the house. We’re not expecting to make money selling the house, we just want for it to be sold. Knock on weed…I mean wood!

You Belong With Me...Little One's Version

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This is the little one singing with the new Taylor Swift song called: You Belong with Me... acapella She's a big TS fan right now so that's all I'm hearing around the house lately.

The little one's video is far from perfect but I'm a proud Mama. She recorded this all on her own so pardon the little 'booboos/mistakes' she made while recording/singing.

Enjoy!

If you're not familiar with the song, here's the link to the official video.

Another WAR in the Offing?

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I certainly hope NOT! But with the way North Korea is acting, there might be one. According to the news, war with North Korea cannot be called NEW because technically the US is still at war with them. Why? Because the last war didn't really end...it was just: PAUSED? Ha!What exactly does this half of a nation want anyway? World domination?

Back in the 1990s, I got the chance to teach and talk with a lot of South Koreans that came to the Philippines mostly to learn English. Most of my students were young men fresh out of the military training. They were mostly in their 20s then. Apparently, when they reach a certain age, young Korean men were required to go to the military school to prepare them for something unexpected, a civil war with the north. In some ways I fee bad for them because they didn't have a choice. The only consolation they had at that time was their family sending them off somewhere to take a break.

Right now, there's about 28,000 US military in South Korea and about 35,000 in Japan. That means at least 60,000 families here in the US will be affected if a war indeed breaks out in that part of the world. Let's hope and pray that those people leading North Korea will start to think straight and stop testing all those weapons of mass destruction they have.

Rain, Rain...

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...don't go away...come again later today! It rained yesterday! Yay! Yay??? Wait, isn't that very 'uncharacteristic' of me to actually be rejoicing about rain? I've been whining, complaining, crying...well, maybe not crying, about rain here in past. So what gives? The trees!! Yes, the ones we planted last Sunday. Since it rained yesterday, I didn't have to water them myself. Thus the YAY! Ha!

Anyway, I am still a bit sore from the tree planting [and weed pulling] we did last weekend. I wasn't expecting to this sore but I am. I also sweat a lot because of the humidity out there. But that's okay because sweating is good, right? I'm planning of sweating it out some more later on even if I'm still sore because I really want to lose the few pounds I put on when I pigged out with the foods from the Philippine store a few weeks ago. I'm still thinking of finding the best diet pill out there but I am also hoping that I wouldn't have to take any pill to lose some pounds. That's why I will try to do as much as I can to make that scale budge a few numbers counter-clockwise...instead of the other way around. Anyone care to join me?

Mission Accomplished!

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Tree planting went great. It wasn't too hot outside [and it wasn't raining!!!] this morning so the husband was able to plant the trees in no time. The little one and I only hang around and helped with putting the mulch around the plant. I pulled out weeds...of course!

Here are the before and after pics....with our little model of course. See the cloudy skies? It made the task a lot easier. It drizzled but only for a few seconds so it's all good.

He only planted 6 and they're enough. We thought we'd need about six more but I guess not. Next mission: More plants....flower plants hopefully...

Blackberry Case for Father's Day!

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Father’s day is in a couple of weeks already. We haven’t decided yet what to get big Daddy here. I have no idea right now what to get him. His razor broke a few days ago. It would have been a great gift for Father’s Day but…he got himself a new one already. So shaver is now out of the very limited choices we have. My next choice would be a Blackberry case which he doesn’t really need now because the case he has now still looks new but it wouldn’t hurt to have a spare, right?

Aside from Dad's gift, I am also looking for an iPod leather case for the little one’s iPod. The case that came with it is black. Her favorite color is NOT black so she’s been asking for either a pink one or a purple one. We looked around in the stores around here but they don't have those colors available. And if you can’t find it in the stores, where do you go? Online of course and look what I found…

Yep, a pink case for the little one’s iPod. Cool, eh? Now all I have to find is big Daddy’s father’s gift…and some Motorola accessories I want for my cell phone that I am not using. LOL….I will once I decide to have it activated.

News are Depressing!

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I like to read the news online every morning. I also tune in to our local TV network to watch [more like listen] to the news around here. I don't think there's been any good news being shown on TV. As for the online news sites I visit, the headlines are all so depressing.

Plane crash where all 228 passengers are all now presumed dead, movie star found dead of an apparent suicide, shootout where 16 people were killed...sigh. I could go on and on and on and I'd probably run out of space here and I wouldn't be done enumerating all these depressing news. What is happening???

What am I doing now? I turned off the TV and put a Taylor Swift CD. The little one is now singing along with it. It's lovely hearing her belt out the songs. I know that the news will be as depressing tomorrow...but that's how life is nowadays I guess.

Ok...enough venting. I'll just sit here and listen to the little one....

Such is Life

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It’s a beautiful day here today…for a change. We thought it was going to rain earlier but it only drizzled a little bit. It was a bit cloudy which made it easier for us to plant the bottlebrush trees, well, my husband did the planting. I pulled some weeds while the little one watched Dad. We just helped him put some mulch around them. I thought we needed about 10 of them but we didn’t. The 6 we have sitting on the back porch are enough. I’m sure glad they are now on the ground so the waiting game begins. I have to do a lot of watering though because each of the trees needs about 5 gallons of water a day. Now I’ll be praying for rain, eh? LOL…

Right now we’re just relaxing in the house because it’s too hot to hang out in the back yard. I need to take a nap because I’ve been having a hard time sleeping. Yep, it’s still partly because of my RLS [restless leg syndrome]. Apart from the thyroid problem, I read that my lovely spider veins may have something to do with my RLS. So let’s see…my eye problems may not get better even if my thyroid problem is fixed. There is also a chance my RLS won’t get fixed if my thyroid problem is gone. It sucks to say it mildly. I am now checking some possible cure for this and found spider veins pittsburgh in Pennsylvania called Advance Veins Center.

If and when I have to undergo some kind of treatment for this problem, I’d definitely choose the laser vein treatment. I don’t want a long down time so this is the best route to take. My mother really had bad case of varicose veins which she endured for years. I would see her in pain everytime the weather is too cold or when they flare up. She never had them checked. VARICOSE VEINS PITTSBURGH would have been a perfect place for her to get treatment but we didn’t have any way of knowing that there is such a place because we live half way across the world. If I ever have that problem, varicose veins pittsburgh will be the place I will go to. Luckily, our insurance covers this treatment…so that’s one less worry on my part. I definitely feel a lot older now that I've been going through one medical issue after another. Oh well, such is life.

Once Again....

Need I say more? I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting for Fridays. Or am I? It just seems we live for Fridays and the weekends. Am I right or am I right?

Yesterday was another day at the doctor for yours truly. It's with the ophthalmologist this time. Honestly, I don't understand why I still have to see him since we already know what 'possibly' caused my left eyelid to retract....hyperthyroidism...and my eye is getting better already. I thought my visit was just a follow-up to make sure my eye is really getting better. Guess what? The doctor has some other theory. My eye problem MAY NOT get better even if my thyroid problem gets fixed. Why? Because I may have what is known as Thyroid Eye Disease or TED. Ugh! So, I am scheduled to see him again in 4 months time. I'm just glad that my eye problem was caught early on. From what I've been reading, this disease is often misdiagnosed to something else which can result to more serious problems.

Anyway, we also asked him about the little one. We're getting worried because she gets headaches quite a bit. It usually starts with her complaining about her eyes then it goes to headaches which can sometimes make her throw up. The doctor said that he doesn't usually see children [he normally recommends a pediatric ophthalmologist] but he made an exception and opted to see the little one in a couple of weeks. Why did he agree to see her? Because she seems mature enough. Great, eh?

This weekend, we're planting some trees. Hubby bought a few of this:


This is a bottlebrush tree or Callistemon. We're going to plant them around the property so we need about 10 of them. Hubby got 6 already so we need 4 more. Busy weekend for us....if it doesn't rain, of course. It's pouring right now actually. Sigh...

Social Networking...and BFFs!

Friendster & Facebook are only 2 of the social networks I'm a member of. I blogged a couple of days ago that I started getting in-touch with my 'very first' students through Facebook. It's great getting messages from them and seeing how much they've changed through the years.

It's also through these 2 networks I am able to find some old friends & acquaintances from my former lives...my college classmates in St. Scho and my dorm mates in Pope Pius XII. I am still looking for some people I used to hang out with especially in Pius but it's proving to be difficult.

Anyway, as I was browsing the news this morning I came across this article in Yahoo. It's a study saying that half of all friends in these social networks are replaced every 7 years. Really? I am actually surprised & a bit sad reading that. I know we move on and lead our separate lives, but what happens to lasting friendship?

Well, according to the study these social networking sites are not actually ways to determine 'friendship', eh? Here's a part of the article:

...networks were not formed based on personal choices alone. Our friend choices are limited by the opportunities to meet. He saw that people frequently choose friends from a context in which they have previously chosen a friend. Also, whether or not our friends know each other strongly depends on the context under which people meet.

from: Yahoo News