Pinay WAHM

I just think it's good to see our soldiers in Afghanistan finding the time to unwind. Way to go!

That's me when I was in Gr. 2. I was about 8 ½ years when this picture was taken so it's close to the age of our little one. Those that have seen this picture in my FB commented that they can see a similarity between me and the little one. It's probably because of the long hair and the big round eyes but that's where the similarity ends. Personality wise, she's a combination of me and the husband but she definitely is more outgoing than both of us. I'm sure though that one thing she's not taking after me would be my height. Right now, she's almost my height and the rate she's going, she may be taller than her Dad in no time. I'm happy she doesn't have to click here to see if she needs help in getting taller. Dad's side of the family has some really tall relatives. His oldest brother and an older sister are well over six feet tall so the little one won't be out of place if there's a family gathering. Before I know it, I will be...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...today from my walking regimen. That's because I feel like I'm going to fall over from being so sleepy. But choosing not to walk on my treadmill this morning may not be a smart move because I feel a lot more tired now. Ugh! I have some things that need done before the weekend is over and with me being this tired, it's taking me twice as long to accomplish anything. I wonder if this has something to do with my thyroid again. My poor thyroid. It's been being blamed for almost anything that I feel is not right with my body. But based on the result of my last blood test, my TSH level is already normal so my thyroid may not be the culprit, eh? In my family, I think I'm the only one who has been diagnosed with a thyroid problem. Diabetes IS my family's disease, unfortunately, so I am also a good candidate for that disease. There's a lot of medication for diabetes and lately, I've read about irvingia which is also known as the...

It's been a little busy around here so I'm glad that the weekend is just around the corner. I still have a lot of things to accomplish before the weekend arrives but I'm almost there. Right now I'm busy doing what I do every Friday...writing a grocery list. It's almost done so I'm off to the next item in my 'imaginary' to do list. Ciao for now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not the nasty 'body odor' but for 'burned out'. I guess it's about time, eh? I guess I've been feeling it for quite a while now. It seems that everything I do, it has to be somehow forced out of me. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that work has been kinda' steady for the past month. It's just that I can really use a get-away like a Branson vacation right about now. But we can't...just yet. It's not so much about my work schedule since I can do my work anywhere in the world as long as there is a decent internet connection or the little one's school since we can take her 'school' with us anywhere as well [the beauty of homeschooling]. Who's left? Yep, the husband's work schedule. You would think that since it's his own business, he can take off anytime as well. NOPE! It's actually the opposite. It seems that if he or his partner takes a week off, they will fall apart. That's not the cas...

The first leg, anyway. I try to do it several times a day in order to meet my so-called daily goal. It surely feels good to be sweating this early in the day. We have a rather cool weather here this morning. Right now, it's in the lower 60s. A far cry from yesterday's lower to mid 70s at this time of day. It's slowly going up though. At the end of the day, it would be in the mid 80s already. But right now, it's all CLEAR outside. The sky is so blue and it definitely is a nice day. One more day and it's the weekend again. As usual, no plans whatsoever but WEED, maybe. We'll try and contact the gutter company so we can have our gutters put up already. Then, we can start planting real flowers on our flower beds. Fingers, toes & eyes crossed1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After canceling the last appointment with my doctor, I finally came in to see him this morning. As usual, the husband wanted the earliest possible appointment so we got a 9:15 sked. We made it just in time...but we had to wait another 30 minutes to be called. I hate that. We try to make it on time every single time just to wait...every single time! I guess that's a common practice especially in medical clinics. Anyway, the visit itself went well. My TSH level is normal so the doctor is happy about that. He was surprised though to learn that I'm off the meds for a couple of months because I never got a call back from his secretary or the pharmacy about the refill I requested. He wasn't happy about that so right there and then he checked my files and there it was...his clinic called the pharmacy for refills but the pharmacy told me they didn't get any request from his clinic when I called. He called the pharmacy right away and told them about i...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's the motto of a lot of people. It's very practical and seems to deliver if one is patient enough to wait for the result. That's what I've been trying to do when it comes to my weight loss quest. When I went in for my doctor's appointment this morning, I was eager to know what my weight is because last time I was weighed at my doctor's office, I gained about 4 pounds in 3 months' time. The doctor blamed the medication for that. This time, I only gained a pound, well, on top of the 4 that I gained before. So why am I happy? I really think that if I didn't start my walking a few weeks ago, my weight will be much heavier. Anyway, whenever I'm walking I always have the TV on. It keeps me occupied while I'm trying to hit my daily goal. The downside? I see infomercials like the kymaro body shaper infomercial that make me think twice if I should keep on walking. Why? Well, the ads show how this wonder shaper will ...

Black-out. Power Outage. No lights. No Electricity. For about 3 hours....then on and off throughout the night. Why? Strong line of thunderstorms . Somewhat unexpected, to me anyway. It was bit cloudy during the day and I expected that it was going to rain and boy did it rain. For the first hour of the power outage, the three of us just cuddled up in the couch messing up with the little one. The second hour or so was spent in silence. I was left alone on the couch resting while the little one played and the husband read his magazines. The 'silence' was very soothing. No noise but the rain and the loud thunders and when it stopped, almost complete silence. It still surprises me how quiet it is when the power is off. It's only then that I realize how much background noise the appliances make. Power outage...surprisingly a welcome treat. As long at it does not happen in the middle of the night....and only lasts for a couple of hours.

Giant PUTO [rice cake], I must say. LOL... I've been buying this puto mix [rice cake mix] from the Philippine Store without the slightest idea how I would be able to cook them. I don't have the 'steamer' that's required to make the traditional puto. I tried using the oven to 'steam bake' them using my muffin cups. I did that a few times and they came out okay. It really doesn't matter how they look like, the important thing is how they taste, right? Only the little one and the 'big' one [moi?] eat them because the husband says that he could eat all 12 muffins and it wouldn't fill him up...so I started HIDING them from him....haha! Anyway, a few weeks ago I decided to cook them differently. Instead of using the oven, I used this: Yep, my ever dependable rice cooker [which needs a replacement soon]. My only problem was the muffin cups don't fit on the pot. Solution? I used the steamer that came with it and just put foil to cover the holes ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gorgeous day here again today. It was clear the whole day and the little one and I were able to do some minor cleaning outside for a couple of hours this morning while the husband was at work. He came late in the afternoon and went straight to cutting the grass. Yes, no rest for him. It seems that it will be a while before he can get any decent time off work. We're thinking of maybe visiting the Philippines this year but with the rate things are going at his work, we may have to wait until next year to do that. Even an outside of the state get-away may not be feasible right now unless we only go away for a couple of days. If we really want to go somewhere for a get-away, our best choice is take one of those Orlando vacations that are widely advertised around here. Last time we were in Orlando, it was just a day's outing. We left the house early in the morning and went back home late at night. It was fun but not enough. I'm sure the little on...

and.... Hopefully, I'll be able to see some results in time. Tomorrow, maybe? Happy Friday everyone!

My older brother works for the biggest casino franchise in the Philippines. He’s been with them for about 20 years I believe. He said that sometimes he also wants to unwind and play in a casino just like most of their customers. Too bad, he couldn’t because as an employee of the casino, he is not allowed [as well as his family] to play or bet in their casinos. So I introduced him to online casinos, sort of. Before I mentioned it to him, he wasn’t even aware that there is such a thing. Oops. Anyway, he’s a little bit leery about playing online. I guess that’s normal? So I have been searching for a site that does reviews as well as news & articles about online casino…and I found it. It’s called Online Casino Wizard. It does all those I just mentioned plus a lot more like a listing of US online casinos. With this site, one can find the best online casino that best suits one’s preference. My brother is not here in the US so I’m not sure if he can actually play in any of the US online ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can you say that? Eyjafjallajokull is the name of the volcano that erupted in Iceland a few days ago. If you're watching or reading the news, you know that this volcano has caused and still is causing problems upon problems. Millions of dollars have been lost so far because of delayed and canceled flights in and out of Europe. People are stranded at the airports and patience is running dry already. Life for those stranded is at a standstill until flights go back to normal. Eyjafjallajokull eruption reminds me a lot of Mt. Pinatubo's eruption in June 1991 . I remember vividly where I was and what I was doing when that happened. Makati, gallivanting around with my co-teachers. We headed home as soon as it got dark at around 4 PM because of the ash falls. I didn't make it home right away because we were stranded. Drivers were caught by surprise with the sudden darkness that it caused multiple accidents one of which was an oil tanker. Oil spilled...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I lie. You lie. Who doesn't? But if I lie, I at least try to work a bit hard at it so I won't be caught with my hand in the cookie jar...especially not almost instantly. Well, that's what just happened. Good thing I'm not the one lying...bad thing, I was the one being lied to. Tough, eh? Would I lose any sleep because of it? Not really. It's not something that's life altering so I won't need to read any eye cream review to find out the best eye cream out there which I will probably need if I spend sleepless nights because of this liar. What it's doing to me right now is making me think. Should I call the person and let him know that I actually caught him in a lie or should I just let it go and not say anything? Right now, I'm leaning towards letting it go but I may just change my mind later in the day so we'll see. One thing is for sure, this person does this quite often because I'm pretty certain I am not the on...

Yep, that's me. Trying really hard to walk as much as I can...which is not MUCH. I have some goals I want to attain weekly when it comes to my walking. Hopefully I'll be able to fulfill the goal. If not, at least I'm trying. I've been off my thyroid meds for a couple of months. Not by doctor's order but as a result of a certain circumstance which I will be talking with my doctor when I see him in my next appointment. It's not a life and death situation so I opted to wait to talk to him about it. Anyway, my last lab work shows that my TSH level is back to normal range. I wonder if my not taking any medication actually helped. Hubby and I are guessing it probaby did. But we'll see what the doctor has to say about it. I guess I can say that my week is off to a good start. I was able to squeeze in some walking time in between work. Work? BUSY! Quite a bit has been released earlier today so that will occupy my time for the most part. Weather wise....unpredictable...

For work-at-home Moms like me, a home office is somewhat a necessity. Now, home office is different depending on who you ask. For some their home office is the whole house. For others, it's either the dining table, the kitchen counters, the couch or the bed. Me? It used to be all of the above. That is still the case most of the time but I have a job now where a 'real home office' is actually needed. A space where it's quiet and away from unnecessary noises and distractions when I'm working. Fortunately, we have a home office. Unfortunately, it still needs some office furniture pieces which we are hoping to get this year. Anyway, for the last 7 years or so that I've been a WAHM, I rarely used the home office. It kinda' beats the purpose of working at home if I stay stuck in an office for the most part that's why I'd rather stay on the dining table or the couch most of the time. But that has to change soon. Beside, I also want to have some kind of spa...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Complete with popcorn, games & music. That's what we just had. Well, it's not a real 'party'. It's one of the little one's party that she hosts almost everyday. LOL. I guess her being holed-up in the house on a Sunday bored her more than I thought because she put up some decorations and really had some plans written down. It was fun even if it only lasted for 30 minutes...haha. It's her bedtime already and we don't break her bedtime...as much as possible. She tried her hardest to entertain her visitors - me & Dad - by playing her trumpet & maracas. She also did some puppet shows using her little toys. It's a well-planned 'night party', eh? Just like any other parties, I took pictures of course. What can I say? Pictures don't lie! I badly need to read more of the lipo 6 hers reviews to see if that will work for me. Sigh. It's a good thing the little one only served popcorn in her night party. At...

Good for the plants. Not so much for the little one because it's only on the weekend that she gets to run around the yard. She was able to stay outside yesterday though. Dad was home so they stayed in the yard doing whatever. We've had great weather the whole week so we can't complain. The forecast this week is also good. Unfortunately, we can't stay out much on the weekdays because of my work & the little one's school work. Since we can't stay outside, here I am doing some work online while the little one is watching some TV. Dad? At work, of course. So what else is new, right? Such is life....

It actually feels like it's summer here already...but it's not. The highest today will be in the mid-80s so it's getting warmer as the days go by. I wish I can say my 'mood' is sunshiny as well but not quite. Why? I jumped in the scale first thing in the morning and not surprisingly, I *think* I gained a pound or two. Sigh. Not too happy about that but it's also my own doing. Yesterday, I went back on my treadmill and was able to walk 2 miles...a mile each time. I think that's a good start since I haven't been good at doing that in the past couple of weeks. I am starting to wonder if I should start thinking about taking ephedra diet pills already since I seem to be going nowhere with just my walking. But then again, I haven't been consistent on that walking as well. Hmm.... Hubby said that I probably need to tell my doctor about my weight concern. He's thinking it may have something to do with my thyroid situation and not so much with the food I...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bad news. The past couple weekends are not very good with my weight loss ambition. Nope, not at all. The candies that the Easter bunny brought for the little one were just way too tempting for me. Then the little one had her birthday. More sweets needless to say. The chocolate cake she baked for her special day and the chocolate ice cream that accompanied it just didn't have a chance with me. And to make it worse, I also skipped on my walking on the treadmill. Bad me! I guess I won't be one of those with weight loss success stories to share anytime soon, eh? Not yet. Hopefully in time, I will be. Moving on to some good news. My lab test results from Monday came yesterday. I don't really know how to interpret the results but by comparing it with the last ones I had, it seems my THS is back to normal. With everything that was tested, only the 'absolute eosinophils' is out of range. It's the one that has something to do with my allerg...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the second time around, I'm bearing the bruise inflicted by [to my opinion] an incompetent person. I posted in December how I got bruised because a phlebotomist couldn't find a vein to draw blood from. I thought she was the worst at that time. Boy was I wrong... Yesterday, I went for another round of blood tests. Same place that I go to everytime. At first I was happy because I didn't get the same person that drew my blood the last time I was there in December. My happiness didn't last long. This guy [yes, a guy] is worse than the other girl. He felt for a 'good vein' in both arms then went for the right arm. As always I wasn't looking while he was drawing blood. I got a bit restless because it was taking him longer than the norm so I looked over only to see him discarding the blood drawn from my right arm. WHY???? He said the blood stopped flowing and it wasn't enough to use for even one test. Buset! I almost bolted out o...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's what I need, hands down. I just think that I don't have it in me. If you come to our place right now, you would think that we only moved in yesterday. The walls are still bare and there are few pieces of furniture that are still missing. The latter is the result of somebody else's bad work habit which I've ranted about here quite a few times already. The former, well that's mostly me I think. When I first arrived here, hubby said that I could take charge and do whatever pleases me as far as home decors are concerned. Not a good thing to tell me. I don't have the confidence in my taste so I almost always ask the husband's opinion. That still goes true until now. If I do some online window shopping sometimes and I see something I like, say, some discount rugs , I don't normally buy them right away. I'd bookmarked the site and show it to the husband when he gets home. More often than not, he'd say yes then I...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's how we spent our morning yesterday. We were almost late for my 8:15 Dr's appointment because we got up a wee bit late. I forgot to tell hubby [the early riser] what time the appointment was so he didn't get up until I did which was a little after 7. We're just on time so it all worked out fine. My appointment lasted for about an hour including the wait time. From the doctor's office, we went to have breakfast then ran some errands. On our way home, hubby pointed to me a car he fancies right now. He actually pointed it to me several time [everytime we passed by a dealer..LOL] which tells me he really LIKES the car. We only have one car right now because a second one will be a waste of money since it will only be sitting in the garage because SOMEONE [ehem!] still doesn't know how to drive. Hubby doesn't know how much exactly is the car he likes so he went online as soon as we got home to check the price. It's not too ba...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of our plans in the 'soonest' possible time is to visit loved ones & places in the Philippines. I have not gone back even for a short visit since I left in 2001. Hubby wants to visit ASAP because he's interested in visiting several places there and possibly purchase a property for future plans. Me? I just want to see friends and family and for them to meet the little one in person. Hubby's work is mainly the reason why such visit is not YET possible. But if and when that plan pushes through and we would be away for a few weeks, I want to be able to still be connected on the internet and be able to do my job/s while away. That's one of the advantage of being a WAHM and homeschooling. I don't need to ask for a vacation while the little one don't need permission from school to go on a vacation in the middle of the school year. Anyway, I have a few options on how I can still do some work while away. One, I can take my laptop with m...

After telling that girl at the park that she is ' 7 going on 8 '...she is now a 'whole' 8 years old! ... and here she is...mixing the batter for her birthday cake! It seems it was only yesterday when she was only a 'few hours' old .... Before we know it, we will have a teenager already. Anyway, we spent her birthday running errands together...and the little one wouldn't have it any other way, of course. I had a Dr's appointment that's been set up 6 months ago. Normally, the husband would only take an hour or so off work to drive me to the appointments but today he decided to take the WHOLE DAY off. We were out the whole morning running errands and spent the rest of the day at home. Anyway, my ophthalmologist said that my eyes are great although they are uneven still. This time around, it's the right eye that has a lid retraction. He said it's normal for someone with thyroid issue. I had some blood test done as well which means I need to set ...

Yesterday when we were at the playground by the beach we went to, a little girl asked our little one how old she is. Her answer: I'm seven going on 8! Ha! She just can't wait to be eight. She's almost 8 alright but I didn't expect her to actually say it when asked about her age. Anyway, her birthday is not until tomorrow. We did our little family party of cake, ice cream and gifts. Last year, we bought her a cake. This year it's different. She wants to "bake" her cake. She made sure we remember it is HER birthday so she can have the cake she wants and decorate it any way she likes. It's a deal! I was on hand to help her with it but she did most of it. We bought the boxed cake since it's virtually fool-proof. As you can see with the result on the left it's far from perfect. But in her eyes, it is PERFECT...and so it is! For gifts, we got her a bunch of mystery/detective books because she's into that. We also got her a paint set with a table ...

We went the beach nearby on a spur of the moment. The husband came home a bit earlier than usual yesterday. He wanted to go to test something he's experimenting on and the little one was just too happy to tag along...so tag along we did. Since it wasn't a 'swimming trip', we just stayed on the shore. It was low tide so beach goers were able to walk on ankle deep water like my father & daughter tandem. The little one definitely enjoyed the quick trip so we will definitely go back there soon. As for the husband's experiment, he said he didn't get the result he wanted but it's only one of his many 'inventions'. If an idea pops in his head, he would definitely try it out as long as the materials needed are affordable so I'm no longer surprised if I see him searching online where he could buy things like stainless steel drums or different kinds of metals. He likes to put his ideas to test. Who knows? Maybe one day one of his ideas would actually...

Ho-hummm....Not quite sure why I couldn't go back to sleep after sending hubby off [to work]. I feel sleepy but sleep has been 'playing hard to get'. But it's the weekend so it's all good because it means I can nap anytime I want to...or can I? Anyway, no big plans for this weekend since it's back to work on a weekend for the man of the house. My boss also informed us that we have some 'rush' work to finish this weekend so it's going to be one busy weekend. No complaints here though. The little one is super duper excited. She'll be turning a year older very soon. No big party...just the usual cake/ice cream with some presents for her special day. She asked Dad to get some balloons she can blow up and a candle #8 and some rainbow sprinklers for her cake. She will be baking her own birthday cake with a little help from moi!

This is our majestic beauty tree. I posted a close-up of its flowers last week and today, I took this picture of it with some of its flowers in bloom. From what I have been reading, at its peak, this tree will be covered in flowers that you could barely see its leaves. Aside from being pretty, the flowers also have this nice mild smell. Anyway, I took a few pictures of the tree alone and some pictures where the little one and I posed beside it [feeling tourist...LOL]. I would have posted my picture with tree here but when I saw how big I am, I decided not to. Yep, I think I'm obsessing about my weight already. I'm afraid that this obsession might even lead me to try a weight loss diet in the near future. But then again, I don't really believe I need to do that...yet. Okay..back to the treadmill I go!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm sure you've tried subscribing to some interesting deals on the web. Majority of the emails I get everyday are notifications for these subscriptions. A lot of them go to my junk mail folder directly because they actually sound like they're junk mails. Anyway, one of the sites I signed for offers things like MP3 players , digital cameras and other electronics for just fraction of the store price. When I say fraction, I mean as small as 10th of the original price or even less sometimes. Some of the things are even offered for free and the only thing you pay for is shipping which ranges from $2.99 to $4.99. Doesn't it sound too good to be true? Believe me, I have been tempted to bite the offers but I have not given in to the temptation yet. I'm just not sure if it's the real deal or it's one of those places that just scam you of your hard earned money. I wish there is someone I know who can vouch for this site but I don't. M...

That's how they look like now. I actually have no idea when I should be transferring them to their own little space. We've already decided that I won't be planting them directly on the ground. Instead, hubby got me some planters where I can plant them. I'm actually excited to start tending to them and watching them grow. It seems though that not all the seeds we sowed are going to make it. If you look at the second row from the right, there are no seedlings out yet. Those are my eggplants..and they are the ones I actually expect to survive. I guess I just have to keep buying eggplants then, eh? The little one has been watering them since day one. Today she doesn't have to do it. Rain did it for her. Yep, it rained here last night and it was still drizzling when I woke. It's all clear now and my seedlings are getting the sunlight they need for the day. I feel like a real 'gardener'. Umm...not really....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Growing up, we didn't have a car. We didn't even have a bike actually. But my father worked for a bus company that were bound to Manila from our province. What does that mean? It meant that we got free rides everytime we wanted to go to Manila. All we had to say when we took the ride was our last name and we didn't have to pay a dime, well, a centavo is more like it. It wasn't as cool as owning our own vehicle but it was good enough for us. But that was then. My father has been gone for ten years now so my family don't get that privilege anymore. My brother also owns a honda accord now so they don't really need to take the bus now to go to Manila [or even Baguio]. Where I'm at right now, owning your own vehicle is a must. There are buses around but the bus stops are few and far between so it's more convenient to have your own ride. Needless to say, the husband is used to having his own vehicle to drive around. In the fu...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...sound alike is a boy...a Taiwanese boy at that. Have you seen this? Amazing voice, isn't it? He is now a certified internet sensation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What a busy day I had! How busy? So busy I didn't even have the chance eat anything for lunch. When I had the chance to get off my computer, it was way too late to eat lunch so I just made some strawberry smoothie and munched on a piece of not so appetizing 'hardened' biscuit. I baked the biscuits myself a few days ago and they didn't come like the biscuits I wanted...soft and flaky. I followed a recipe from the box the mix came in. It's actually my second time to try that recipe and I still didn't get the result I want. I am about to give up trying...but I won't. Cooking is something I really like to do. I like the preparation part as well as the cooking part. It's the tasting part that scares me to bits sometimes even if I follow recipes. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to cook. It's part of the deal when I got married. I didn't cook for anyone but myself before that so it was all new to me when I first got ma...

...is equal to how many pounds of fat after consuming it? Hmmm.... Anyway, that 1-lb chocolate bunny is one of the treats that the little one got from the easter bunny. I've been staring at it for days thinking if I should even open it or not. But then, it's not mine so that's not my decision, is it? Since the other treats are now history, the little one decided to start munching on this one a few minutes ago. I only gave her a little portion since I cannot imagine her finishing the whole thing in one sitting. As for me, I'm trying very hard not to eat it but it's proving to be a struggle...tee hee. I'd probably give in a little bit later...then I'd hit the treadmill again to burn some of it off. Ha! The joys of eating, eh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have 8 nieces and nephews courtesy of my 3 brothers. I have more nieces though than nephews. For a while there, my brothers were getting worried that they will not be able to produce a son who will continue the legacy of the family...LOL. Well, all 3 of them have a son each so that problem is solved. When I left, these nieces and nephews were either still in elementary or were not born yet. I've seen them grow in pictures only. Now thanks to technology, I also see them via the web cam. Most of them are in that awkward teenage age. You know that stage where proactiv is one's best friend? That's where they are. Modesty aside though, they are good looking kids. My husband kept saying that one of my nephews should try modeling. That tickled my nephew that he couldn't smiling while we were talking to him. I'm sure his sisters and female cousins will tease non-stop about that. Anyway, it was good to see most of them. Hopefully, next time I...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I've mentioned here a few times, I have been homeschooling the little one. It's just convenient because I am working at home anyway. Besides, I need to put what I studied for in college in good use, right? Those, plus the "little-known" fact that I have yet to learn how to do this thing called 'driving', are the reasons why homeschooling is the way to go...for now. Homeschooling is a good thing if one has the patience for it. Do I? Can't really tell if I do....hehe. But it's very challenging especially if your ward is learning faster than you can teach. Whoopps! I am not much of an 'experimenter'....is that even a word? As a result, I let the little one do experiments that interest her and that's practically everything. Sigh...Dad is the one who LOVES anything that has to do with Science. I believe that if he only has the time, he is the better teacher when it comes to that field. This is the reason why I feel li...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quite a few things going on around here lately. That's basically the reason why I have not been blogging for a few days. First, the husband was finally able to have the weekend off after a while. We just hang out around the house which means that I have extra stuff to do. It's just the way it is when we're all home. It was fun because it's been forever since the three of us were together 27/4. We also took advantage of his free time to talk more about our future plans...just the short-range ones for now. The result: a bunch of paperworks to attend to...mainly by me because hubby is already back at work. My family back home has been bugging me when they'd get to see their little niece/cousin. Well, it may not be that long. Hubby really wants to visit the Philippines and see for himself how it is living there. Guess what? He wants to experience the hottest days of summer there. Goodluck with that, eh? Anyway, I hinted to my family that we may...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...at Walmart! Did you know that? Yesterday, the husband and the little one went to get some stuff for the husband's experiment. They weren't supposed to go to Walmart but I needed romaine lettuce and my face moisturizer so they didn't have a choice. The master has spoken, that's why. Ha! Anyway, as soon as they entered the store, Easter stuff greeted them...of course! What did the little one see first? The things that the Easter bunny gave her. Tadaa! She stopped and looked at Dad [aka the Easter bunny] with this naughty look on her face and said: I didn't know the Easter bunny shops at Walmart. Toink! The little one has known for a quite a while [a couple of years at least] that Dad is actually the mysterious character/s that leave her gifts on Christmas eve & Easter. She just plays along so she'd get the goodies. She's aware that once she 'actually' admits that she knows it, her 'goodies' will stop comi...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not my baby though. One of my nieces is expecting her first baby. She got married last year and now they're expecting. Exciting...especially to my brother because this will be his first grandchild. I was able to see them all last week via webcam because everyone was on break. Anyway, I saw my niece with her bulging belly. I am very happy for her because she's really happy with the baby coming in August. After telling the niece how excited I am about the baby, what else can an Aunt like me do? Scare the heck out of her of course. LOL...I actually tried doing that by telling her that she needs to start checking on hemorrhoid relief as early as now because a lot of women who give birth via normal delivery suffer from this uncomfortable condition afterwards. I thought her eyes would pop out of her head when I said that! But I was quick enough to tell her that such is not ALWAYS the case. What I didn't tell her was that I put some baby stuff for h...

I've started my so-called quest to lose some pounds a few weeks ago by walking on the treadmill regularly. By regularly I mean at least 4 to 5 times a week. I have not seen any change as far as the numbers on the scale is concerned but I'm hopeful that will change sometime soon. So what's my dilemma at the moment then? Work has started to pick for one of the company I work for...and when work is there, I want to do as much as I can. So far this week, I have only walked 2 or 3 times and I wasn't even hitting my daily goal. Yes, work is taking precedence. Because of this, I am thinking of doing some kind of a weight loss program . I know there's no guarantee on that as well but I'm thinking of giving it a try. If I don't see any improvement, then I can go back to my own 'weight loss program, so to speak. I haven't decided yet on whether I'd stick with what I'm doing right now or find other ways to lose weight. What I know is, I have to find a w...

This is one of the trees we planted last year. It's called ' Majestic Beauty '. The name fits it because it's really beautiful especially with its flowers in full bloom. I believe it's the only tree [aside from the huge oak trees in the backyard] that didn't lose its leaves. The buds also started to show during winter so it was kinda' neat. Anyway, the buds started to open up and there's quite a few in bloom already. The tree is full of buds right now and I can't wait to see when it looks like this [picture from redwood barn website].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This communication tool has been around for a number of years. A Vietnamese friend who resides in England asked me to download it a few years ago so we could talk for free. I wasn't able to do that then because our old computer was, well, ancient and it took forever to download anything much less run anything on it. But that's all in the past. I do have it now and I use it as much as I can especially when communicating with friends and loved ones overseas. Earlier this week, my niece tried to contact me using Skype. It was choppy and they kept losing connection but it's all good. We just kept on trying and we were able to talk some. As usual, the million dollar question was: When are you coming here for a visit? My answer: Right now if we can...but we cannot do that yet. What I'm not telling them is we're seriously thinking of visiting maybe later this year...depending on the man of the house's work sked, of course. During the on ...

skies, I mean. This is the view from where I am sitting [sans the blinds] right now. I took the picture just to post it here this morning. Lovely, isn't it? The weather bug on my computer says it's currently 64 degrees F. The highest for today...84 degrees F!!! How nice is that??? It's getting warmer around here and I'm pretty sure it won't be long before we start complaining about how hot it is. Toink! And because it's getting warmer, I have started to look for outdoor furniture that we've been meaning to get for the last year or so. The husband really wants to spend time at the back porch and/or the backyard some evenings but we don't normally do because we have yet to get some furniture so we can lounge around outside in the early evenings when the temperature is at its best. Hopefully I'll be able to find something by this weekend.