Monday, May 31, 2010
Excited for the Baby
Memorial Day 2010
We lazed around the house for 3 days. Meaning? Ate, ate and ate some more. Ugh! I tried to eat more fruit than anything though because I know I'll regret it big time if I don't do that but it's kinda' hard to resist junk food especially when we're all home. I'm actually feeling the added weight already. Yep, the 2 pounds I lost were just found...and then some. Yikes! It's times like this that I wish I can just pop diet pills but I'm way too concerned about diet pill side effects so I don't have the heart to do it. The hubby says that I should just go back to my walking again and stop worrying much about my binge eating this weekend. Yeah right!
2 pounds...
Berries & Grapes


Right in our backyard. It's fun to watch them grow and bear fruits especially to me and the little one because we're only used to seeing them in stores...cleaned and ready to eat. We also have some blueberries but the pictures I took turned out to be blurry.
Aside from the fruit trees/plants we have, I also planted some veggies in pots like this one..
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Time to hit the hay. My allergy is acting up again so I better go before I sneeze my head off. It's been a productive day today. I was able to do some work. The back porch is all set for some summer relaxing. Yeah! The little one is very happy because we put cushions on the chairs there as well as a new table to go with the set. She even suggested that we should sleep in the back porch tonight because it's comfy. Ummm....not quite. There is only one lounge chair and she already claimed it as hers....so where would Daddy and Mommy sleep? Apparently...on the other chairs.
Anyway, time to go night night....see you all next time...
Wise Investments
Today, gold is still one of the better ways to invest. Its value does not go down as quickly as other investments and it's easy to sell because it's something that everybody likes.But if ever I decide to invest in gold, I'm going to buy gold coins instead of jewelry. I'd still buy gold jewelry but not for investment anymore but just for personal use.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Long weekend for us. The hubs will be home for the duration of the 3-day weekend. Guess who's the happiest about that? The little one, of course! She never fails to ask Dad every Friday if he'll be home for the weekend so when the Dad said yes this time around, she was over the moon.
Anyhooo....have a great weekend everyone....and have a safe Memorial Day!
Life Insurance
Like I mentioned in my earlier posts, life is so fragile. We just never know what the future holds. Unfortunately, most of us only realize this when something unexpected happens. But that's human nature. We all need a good jolt every now and then to make us see that yes, life indeed is fragile.
Friday, May 28, 2010
All Together Now!
I thought it was Friday yesterday! Seriously! I guess I was in a hurry to get to the weekend...but who's not?
As always, our weekend is 'free'. That means...we can do whatever we want to do. It can be staying at home or running some errands or going somewhere to have some fun. I have no complaints whatsoever....I'm just glad that after some nerve-wrecking couple of weekends, I can now just sit back and relax with the family...and for that I'm thankful.
Have a great one everyone!
Fragile
Finally, I was able to sleep fairly well last night. I still struggled a little bit to fall asleep but once I did, I slept through...well, until hubs left for work early in the morning...then I went back to bed again to sleep a few more hours. I'm sure I'll be able to sleep a lot better now that I'm no longer worrying about my health scare.One thing good that came out of this recent experience of mine is a better 'appreciation' of my life. Dramatic, eh? But during the 2-week waiting period for the test results, I kept on thinking how fragile life is and I've actually written about it a few times in the past but that's based on what's happening or what happened to some people close to me. This time, it's ME. Everytime I looked at the mirror the past 2 weeks, I tend to think of the 'what ifs'. I started thinking about the more important aspect of life. How I almost obsess about my weight and how much time I spend reading things like acnepril reviews to see if I should be taking anything to help me lose my weight. I couldn't help but think that my weight should not be a priority. Yes, it kinda' became like a priority because I would spend hours thinking about it and thinking of ways to get rid of a few pounds. I still want to lose some weight but I know now that I shouldn't be obsessed about it. I will keep on doing my part to stay healthy but there are other more important things in my life besides my weight...and that I should remember.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sleep-Less-Ness
Believe it or not, even if she no longer needs me to wake up in the middle of the night [for feeding or diaper changing or whatever] I still don't sleep as soundly as I did when I wasn't a mother yet and no, the mattress we have has nothing to do with that. I think that's just the mother in me. It seems I am always listening in case she needs me for something. That's what mothers are for, right? Sleep is still something that's precious to me but nothing, as in NOTHING, can be more precious to me than my little one.
American Idol 2010
Lee Dewyze is season 9 winner in American Idol. Surprising? To some it was. I didn't sit down to watch him and Crystal sing it out on Tuesday because it's also the season finale of my favorite show...NCIS! And yes, I'll watch NCIS over any other show out there.Anyway, the husband watched the showdown and he was convinced that Crystal would win. From what I've read in the news on Wednesday morning, it was clear that, yes, Crystal out sang Lee in all the 3 songs they did. BUT...Lee is more popular to the fans. I actually told the husband that I think Lee would pull a surprise win...and he did. In fairness to him, I don't think he was ever in the bottom 3. I may be wrong but that's what I remember. Crystal was in the bottom 2 when Michael Lynch was eliminated. Also, Lee was consistently praised by the judges before Tuesday's show so much so that Simon actually picked him to be this year's winner before the last showdown.
He won and that's all that matters now. It's a competition where viewers pick out the winner. The viewers picked him so let's just be happy for him. We know that both of them will land a recording deal anyway and that's what [all of them] want anyway, right?
Breathing Normally Now...
After two weeks of not breathing normally, I finally had that first sigh of relief yesterday afternoon. Without getting too much into it, I had some kind of a health scare which I've been hinting here for the last several days. My doctor called yesterday and it was good news so...yay!As a result of this scare, I stopped doing what I started about a month ago...my walking regimen. I know I should have kept on doing it but I didn't have the willpower to do it. All I wanted to do was sit down and mope. But guess what? I won't be needing a Lipofuze or any kind of diet pill for that matter because even if I stopped my walking regimen, I think I may have lost a pound or two. Blame it on the loss of appetite and lack of sleep as well because of this ordeal. Mind you, even if I lost some weight without even trying, I don't ever want to go through such ordeal anymore. I would rather do the hard work of exercising to lose weight instead of going through another health scare like that. It was 2 weeks of pure torture not only to me but to my loved ones as well. So yeah, I'd rather walk, walk and walk to get fit instead of going through the same thing again.
Back to walking I am...I guess...
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Waiting Stinks!

I hate it. It doesn't matter whether it's waiting for a good news or bad news, waiting is always something I dread. I just don't know what to do with myself when I am waiting for something or someone. This is also the reason why I always try to come early to my appointments. I don't want other people to feel this way. Right now, I'm on pins and needles. I just hope that when everything is over, I won't have to seek depression treatment for all the waiting I've been doing. All this waiting is making me a nervous wreck. The little one and I have been singing karaoke for the last few days just to keep my mind off things...but we can only sing so much before our voices give out.
Anyway, it's about to rain here. The sky is all dark and gloomy right now. I can even hear some thunders already so I better wrap it up. I'm not sure if I'm going to hear anything today but I'm hoping I would. I've been sleeping really poorly the last few nights and I don't like it one bit. Yep, waiting is definitely one of my least favorite things to do.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pope Pius XII Dormitory

My home away from home when I was in college. I was so at home at this place that I never wanted to leave. I stayed an extra year after college graduation because of that.
When I started teaching, I didn't have a choice but to check out of the place because my work place was way far from this 'home'. But everytime I would pass by the UN Avenue LRT station, I never failed to look down the road leading to this place.
I guess I was destined to live in this place. Two weeks into my college life, my father probably noticed that I wasn't happy renting a room in his friend's house. He went to look for a place for me to transfer and Pope Pius XII Catholic Center Ladies Dormitory became my home for the next 5 years after that.
The place is being run by nuns so we had to abide by some strict rules. We had curfews and mandatory rosary recitations every night at 7 PM. No one but us could go inside our rooms and 'neighboring' was not allowed. Of course we defied that rule and would sneak in friends' rooms to have midnight snacks [taboo as well]. Residents had some kind of structure to follow in order to stay and I wouldn't have it any other way. In the 5 years I lived there I think I had 12 different room mates, maybe more. I stayed in a 4-resident bedroom throughout my stay so if someone checked out, another one would come in her place.
Even if the place is being run by nuns, we also had some fun activities there like Secret Santa followed with Christmas party for the big reveal. What made it fun was it was a joint activity between the Ladies' and the Men's Dorms. There was a bowling tournament every year where everyone in the dorm can join. I never joined the tournaments but I was always present to watch friends play.
But if there was an event that most of us waited for, it had to be the Open House where all the dorms in the compound [Ladies, Men's & Professionals] participated in. It was a 2-day event when everyone could come up to our rooms for snacks and chit chats. We would spend hours decorating the halls for this event and we often bonded during the preps for this event.
I miss this place a lot. I'm not sure how everything is in that place at present but if the little one should go to college in the Philippines and in need of a dorm, I will definitely let her stay in this place. A home away from home...
Bag of Nerves....

... and I've been like this for almost 2 weeks now. I guess it's human nature to be worried about something even if we know it's totally out of our control...[read: Serenity Prayer].
One minute I'm thinking that everything will be okay. The next minute I'm back with 'what if'...
I've been trying to do other things to keep my mind off it. Sadly, it's not working. I would start something only to be stuck in the middle of it because my mind will be wandering off....like right now. Sigh...
Aside from some sporadic blogging, I try to surf online to divert my attention. It helps a little bit especially when I'm looking for something definite like postcard printing companies for the hubs business need. They need some new business cards printed out in the next few weeks and I volunteered to search for them.
Other than that, there's not much I can do since work has 'surprisingly' slowed down again even if we're told that we have a bunch of work coming our way. I wish it comes now so I can think of something else and refrain me from worrying about something I have no control of at this point.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Another Week....
A challenging week for me, I guess. I haven't had the chance to really blog the last few days because of some things I'd probably divulge some time soon. For now, things seem to be ok. Hopefully, I can still say the same thing sometime next week. Fingers crossed...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
from the HEART...
Because of the 'impromptu' driving lesson I had on Mother's Day, the little one's original plan of going out with Dad to get me something 'special' for Mother's Day didn't pan out. It had been their little 'tradition' to go out before or on Mother's Day itself to look for something to give me on MD. This year, that tradition was somewhat broken and she wasn't thrilled about that. She was apologetic so I had to let her know that we had a great day together and that's a great Mother's Day gift in itself.
Every year though, she always makes me little cards. This year is no different. As soon as we got back home, she went in her bedroom and started making this card for me...

Yes, I have the BEST little one and she is the sweetest little one on the face of the earth.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sun-Shiny Day....
I heard there's a slight chance of rain over the weekend and that's going to be a much welcome change especially for our plants and the grass which by the way, hasn't even had the chance to recover from the cold winter a couple months back. So yes, rain would be a good thing to resurrect them.
This weekend is also a special day for mothers in some parts of the world, here included. It's Mother's Day once again. The little one is a bit worried because she hasn't gotten me anything yet. But I told her she doesn't have to. Honestly, I don't need or want anything right now. For the past 2 years, Dad would take her to the store so she could pick out something for me. Last year, they got me a bunch of clothes. In the years before that, it was either clothes or jewelry. I have enough of those so I may just tell Dad to hold off this year. If the little one insists, I may just ask them to get a cake or something that we can share together.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
This is Me Today...

So far today, I was able to walk a bit. I'm actually sweating as I type this but that's probably because of the heat. It's in the 90s again today so our AC is going on non-stop since this morning. Looks like it's going to be this hot in the days to come. Actually, it will get even hotter as the days go by.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to be back to this
Not so Good News...
Oil spill. Botched bombing. These 2 are hogging the headlines for days now. One is an ongoing disaster with no end in sight as of yet while the other could have caused a major disaster if the bomb actually went off. Is there any good news out there? Not much unfortunately. The economy is still struggling and many people are still out of work while others are on the verge of losing everything. Sadly, it doesn’t seem that things are getting any better in the job market.
Case in point…a friend’s husband just lost his job of 5 years. I am afraid for my friend and her husband because they live in a state where the cost of living is almost 3x as high as our cost of living here in our state. Can they relocate here? No. They bought a house a few years ago and they don’t want to lose it by relocating. Their solution to their sudden loss of income: tightening their already tight budget. I even suggested payday loans to her in case they get into a really tight spot especially if it is an immediate need since receiving the money from this type of loan normally takes only 24 hours.
My friend is still optimistic that her husband’s [new] small business will be able to generate enough income to cover for some of their bills. She’s also lucky because her boss is always willing to give her cash advance if needed. I am hoping that things get better for them. I hate to see them lose their house as a result of this economic downturn.
What Spring???
We barely said:
...and now it's GONE? Seriously? "Technically" Summer won't be here in over a month but our temperature is saying otherwise. It's only the first week of May and we're already hitting the 90s in most days. Right now, it's 85 degrees already. Hot, hot, hot, eh? But I shouldn't be complaining because it can be worse. So, I better stop here before mother nature decides to give me an upside down slap. Whoopss....
Promoting Business
Monday, May 3, 2010
Time to Start...

Anyway, I better start my 'walking' before I run out of time to do it. I only have a couple of hours to do that then make dinner...and back to work again.
Dreams Can Come True
This is me when I was about 5 years old. If I am not mistaken, this was taken just days after I had my last haircut before my father decided to let my hair grow long. Why do I remember it? Because my next haircut after that would be during my college picture taking. I was almost 23 years old.I remember the day when I went with a friend to her friend who would do my make-up and my hair for the pictorial. My hair was way down my behind that he suggested to cut it so he can style it the way he wanted to. It was a hard decision for me because my father didn't have any idea that I would have it cut. Anyway, I agreed and the transformation was unbelievable. Not only did I have a shorter hair after a couple of hours, but I was also fully made up. I almost didn't recognize myself in the mirror. I was in awe of the magic the beautician did to me.
That day started my fascination with make-up and hairstyling. I tried to replicate what the person did to my hair and my make-up but with very little success. I quit trying after a while but I have always had that secret desire that somehow somewhere someday, I will be able to learn cosmetology.
Fast forward to a few months ago. The husband needed a hair cut. He said he's tired of going to the salon to have it cut so he asked me to cut his hair. No way, Jose. That's when it hit me. Maybe I should look for a cosmetology school in Florida! Seriously. Why not, right? If there is a good time to start something new, maybe this is the time. The course will not take years like the other courses and I will be able to use it everywhere I go. Most importantly, the husband doesn't have to go out of the house to have his haircut! Problem solved...a long hidden dream fulfilled! Hmm...
Fruit Trees...
Here in our little haven, the husband planted some berries - blackberry & blueberry trees. He also has a couple of green grapes that are still in the pots. Yesterday when we went to the Philippine store, I got me 3 mangoes. He suggested that we should try and grow a mango tree as well using the seeds of the mangoes I got. And to that I said: Definitely! Hopefully that will happen in 5, maybe 10 years?
Declining a Job
It's only one of the seasonal jobs I get offered almost every year but every little helps so I'm always thankful when something like that comes along. So why did I decline the job? I didn't at first. I started training this weekend but as I was going through training process I realized it's not worth it. The pay is not that good but it's not that bad either...but in the end, it's the pay that made me bow out of the training. I haven't done it in a couple of years so it meant a lot of refreshing is needed on my part. I felt overwhelmed as I was doing it last night. I went to bed unsure if I wanted to go through with it or not.
This morning I went back to continue my training. Halfway through, I realized it's not worth my time. I decided to let them know I'm not pushing through with it. Hopefully, someone who needs it more than me will get the spot I just vacated.
It was hard for me to do that but I'm hoping another one will come my way...something worth my time.
Investing in the Future
He wants to buy a property there but he wants to see the place for himself so we may just fly there soon. Properties in the Philippines are a lot cheaper compared here. A few years ago, it would have a great investment. I’m not sure right now if it would still be a great investment. If you ask me I’d rather buy gold coins for investment since the price of gold has been rising steadily amidst this economic downturn. And if we really want to be secured with our investments, I believe gold is the way to go. But if we find a property there that is cheap and is in good location, I may just say yes to the idea…but, we’ll see.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Check This Out!
Yep, that's about correct. It seems that is especially true on a Monday. It's probably because we tend to overdo it on a weekend making the first 'working' day of the week a day of struggle...sort of.
Today we were able to go to the bookstore and got the little one some much needed workbooks. Aside from the WBs, she also grabbed some of the Magic Tree House books that she doesn't have yet. I was waiting for the next boxed set to come out so it'll be a little cheaper but she saw the books and Dad would never say no to her if books are concerned. Now she has about 10 or more books to read at her leisure. She's so much into detective/spy/secret agent kind of stuff so we got her maybe 6 or 7 Nancy Drew books as well as other detective books. Now she has the Magic Tree House books as well so she'll be busy in the next couple of weeks finishing those books.
Anyhooo....it was a tiring day so I better head to bed already. In the meantime....
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Pumpkin PIE...
Anyway, I better call it a night. I'm afraid that if I keep on sitting here I might reply to that faint voice in my head [or is it in the fridge] telling me to take a bit of that yummy pie we baked this afternoon. Besides, we have long day tomorrow. We're going to the bookstore to get new books for the little one. So...Ciao!
Accidents DO Happen
Hubby's grandma [his stepmom's Mom] is well in her 80s. Eversince I came over, her health hasn't been the best. But she's still trying to be active and be independent. She and her husband still live in their own house but their children make sure to check on them regularly. Unfortunately, they can't check on them 24/7. Mom-mom, as she's fondly called, has slipped and fallen several times especially in the bathroom that they installed handles everywhere in all the bathrooms in their house. Our Aunts also started checking walk in bathtubs as well to make it easier for them to get in and out of the tub. Since they don't want to move to an assisted living facility, the only thing their kids can do is to make sure they are monitored closely. That's all they can for now.















