Pinay WAHM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 a

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. Som

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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!

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 [a

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some blog awards I got from 2 wonderful blogger friends. Thanks to Lena of PinayMomBlogs ! And to Kikamz of Just About Anything !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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]. T

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....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 U

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 t

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 somethi

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 al

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 s