Pinay WAHM

The little one and I played with the webcam yesterday and today. These are only 2 of the pics we took and they're hilarious. Now I know how I'll look like if I decide to chow down the candies that we're supposed to hand out today. Maybe I shouldn't, eh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earlier today I called my family back home. They're having a long weekend there because of All Saint's Day which is observed on the first of November. Usually they're all there on days like this one that's why I take the time to give them a call and possibly talk to all of them. I called a day earlier though so I was only able to talk to some but it's okay. I took the chance to also ask them what they want for Christmas and my niece is asking for a couple of pet beds . I sent one a few years ago because I saw one online which was really cheap. I'm sure they won't be that cheap now. I told her I'll try but no promises. I didn't even know they have more pets now so I was surprised when she requested for beds for them. Anyway, I'm supposed to call again around 9 PM my time but I wasn't able to. We went to the mall to take the little one trick or treat then ate out so we got back a bit late. By the time I got done doing w

From our NOT very 'spooky' Jack ' Lantern & its Creator!

Shoes here, there, and everywhere. Like I mentioned in my other posts, I am not an impulsive shopper...even when it comes to shoes. With that being said, I have to admit, I also like shoes just like every other woman out there. I guess what they say that it's part of our DNA is true. As early as now, I can tell that the little one likes shoes. I can only hope that she likes looking at them more than buying them. It's fine if she wants to buy more than me as long as she can afford them, right? Anyway, when I opened my email today I saw some shoebuy coupons in there. What will a girl do if she sees shoes & coupons in the same line? Look for the best shoes to buy of course. Well, I haven't bought any...yet. I just looked around the site to see if there's a pair that wil catch my eye. Nope...there's more than one pair that caught my eye. I have to bookmark a few and will try to sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow wneh I wake I'd be able to choose just a pair...or two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My favorite. Not good. I just had it. Not good. I'm the only that likes this flavor so I'm usually the one who eats most of it. Again. Not good. At all. I think I should visit http://www.mosteffectivedietpill.org/ and start reading on the different weight loss supplements available. Or maybe I can just stop writing 'butter pecan ice cream' on the grocery list so the husband doesn't get any when he goes grocery shopping. Funny because he said next time he buys ice cream he's going to pick what he likes. I guess he finally realized I've only been listing my favorite ice cream flavor. Ha! I thought he'll never notice. LOL. Seriously I really need to lay easy on some sweets starting, maybe, now. Aside from my aim of losing some pounds here and there, I also need to watch my sugar intake. I have the dreaded diabetes in my genes so I should be careful in having too much sweet. What to do??? LOL....

That's exactly how I'm feeling and what I'm doing. My eyelids are so heavy I can hardly keep them open. After maybe a couple of months, I'm sitting here in the back porch typing away. The weather is just too perfect to waste indoors so I decided to stay out here in our very much neglected back porch. Everything was dusty when I first came out so I had to do a little dusting before the little and I could settle in any of the lounge chairs. I tried to do some work while she carved her pumpkin. She's all done and I'm still here not done with what I wanted to do. Oh well...maybe tomorrow again. Hopefully the weather will be as good as the one we're having today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few days ago, the little one lost a tooth. To my surprise [and delight, maybe?], she expected the toothfairy to show up to give her some coins. That made me feel that she's still somehow a baby. The next day though, she called herself a 'young lady'. Ugh! It didn't crush me or anything like that but kinda' took me back to reality. Yes, she's growing up [fast] right before our eyes and there's no stopping it. A lot of times she still wants to be treated like a baby but for the most part, she prefers to be treated like a 'young lady'. The changes in her are not only emotional or psychological. The physical changes are probably the most drastic and of course the most obvious. With all the physical changes in her, she has started asking questions like 'what is acne?' or ' what is blackhead '? because she's been seeing little pimples as well as blackheads on her nose and around her nose. I don't remembe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the weight loss saga continues.... It seems I am on an endless journey when it comes to shedding off the extra pounds I have been carrying for quite a while now. I admit, I am not very good when it comes to burning fats. In other words I'm lazy. I have attempted numerous times to start some kind of an exercise regimen only to stop dead on my tracks when something happens. The last being a health scare which turned out to be nothing serious. To say I'm disappointed in myself is probaby accurate not only because I can't seem to continue what I start but I find it hard to even start. Should I start considering something else in order for me to lose some unwanted weight? I don't want to pop just any diet pill. If ever I go that route, I may choose one with conjugated linoleic acid cla because CLA is known to help in burning fats while building lean muscles. That's exactly what I want. As it is now, not many people will say I'm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let me clarify...I'm not talking about ME. LOL. I'm talking about a famous singer who has been dodging the bullets when it comes to this intersting stage in her life. Yep, Mariah Carey finally confirmed that she's indeed heavy with a child...and she looks like it. During the time that they were not confirming [or denying] whether she's pregnant or not, I've seen a lot of pictures of her. What can I say..if she's not pregnant then she may just have to go to one ot the diets for quick weight loss being advertised so she won't be mistaken as preggy. She's not the only famous person who tried to pull this even if it's very obvious she's pregnant. J-Lo did it as well. I remember Ellen De Generes donning very pregnant J-Lo costume in one of her Halloween shows and she kept saying: I'm not pregnant! I thought that was hilarious. Maybe next year Ellen can don a very pregnant Mariah costume and do the same thing. Ha!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earlier this week, the little one asked Dad what the nail file [that she found in the grooming kit we use] is for. Dad explained to her that it's used to trim or mainain nails. Yesterday, she asked me if she can have the nail file. I said no and that we'll get her a grooming kit just for her as soon as she needs it. As it is now, I still trim her nails for her. She said that she NEEDS it already. I just said not yet. Her reply...'Can't a young lady have something like that?' Did she just say she's a young lady??? Really??? I told Dad what she told me and he just smiled and chuckled. I know she's 'almost' a young lady but this mother is still in denial...big time. Also, isn't this so-called 'young lady' the one bouncing around the day before because she's excited for a visit from a tooth fairy ? Nah, it can't be. She can't be a 'young lady' who still believes in the toothfairy, right? Tell me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So the little one lost one her lower incisors 2 days ago. I thought she won't be expecting the toothfairy anymore since she's 8 already. I was wrong. As soon as the tooth came out - she pulled it out actually - she said the TF will give her more coins. Huh? I almost asked her if she still believes in the TF. I didn't ask....for selfish reason. I'm still to enjoy whatever 'babyness' [is that even a word?] is left in her. Anyway, she put the tooth under her pillow that night. Guess what? The TF didn't come by...opps! Hmmm...again? Yep, the TF also had a no-show at one time. Here's that little story which I of course posted here in my blog. She woke me up waving the tooth and the empty plastic jar and telling me that the TF didn't visit her. I just told her maybe the TF fell into deep sleep. Her reply: Maybe she ran out of money. Ha! She went back to her bedroom and wrote the tooth fairy a note and put it back in the jar wit

This is our yard during the spring season [I think]. We [meaning the husband] try to maintain it as much as possible. Even during those days where the husband works 7 days a week, he still finds the time to mow the grass and work around the yard. Judging from this picture, you would think our yard is near perfect. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In the last 3 years that we've been living here, hubby tried almost everything to rid our yard with some unwanted creatures. He followed suggestions after suggestions from home improvement people to the nursery people where we get our plants on how to get rid of these pests but to no avail. Fireants are the biggest problem we have followed by moles. For the moles, we tried buying things like fox pee [yes, urine but in tablet forms] to the sonar gadget to traps. So far, nothing worked. For now, we decided to take a break from sabotaging these pesky moles since nothing is working. As for the fireants, we tried the store bought killers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like I mentioned in my post earlier , I finally had my hair chopped after almost 10 years. Here are the before and after photos of yours truly... A lot hair gone, eh? My head feel a lot lighter now since more than a foot was taken off. I am now getting ready to send the hair to Locks of Love so someone who needs it can use it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weekend is over! Almost anyway. Sleep is the only left to do and then we’re faced with another week to tackle. We had a semi-busy weekend. Half of it was spent out running errands [plus me finally getting that much needed hair cut] while half of it was spent just chilling at home. I cleaned and did a little bit of work while the hubby also did some work on his computer. Originally, I didn’t plan in working since I had a busy few days last week. But I feel guilty knowing there’s work and I’m not doing any of it so I decided to do some. Many people out there would love to have my job. Just today I saw in the news that unemployment in our state is up again this month. Not only that, I read in the news over the weekend that even people who have regular jobs are now using food stamps to make it through. Why is that? Has life become so expensive even people with jobs need government assistance to survive? That seems to be the case now anyway. With this present sta

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Big time I must say. Physically anyway. Clue? Looks like a black snake, doesn't it? Yep, that's a foot [more or less] of my hair that I had chopped off yesterday. Finally! It only took me about 10 years to finally do it. I had it trimmed a few times over that period of time but it's nothing noticeable. Picture? I'd post one as soon as I get the chance. Since we were out already, we decided to run some errands. Right after the hair 'makeover' we went to lunch. Right after lunch, we had an oil change for the car which took about an hour. So while waiting for it to be finished we decided to walk around Wal-Mart. First stop... tv stands because we need one for the little one's TV in the bedroom. Unfortunately, we didn't find what we're looking for so we just checked some latest DVD releases, electronic gadgets and some stuff for the little one like a kid's make-up kit. She's been asking a lot about make-up lately

Have a good one, y'all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Any plans for the weekend? We don't have any, of course. Well, we do. It's not a big plan but if it happens, it's going to be something that I don't do a lot. What is it? Secret for now. It's not something life altering but something will definitely be 'altered'. LOL. Aside from this 'secret', we may also go look around some furniture stores. Yep, we're still looking for some pieces for the house even more than 2 years of being here. What can I say, we take our sweet time choosing and deciding. Who's in a hurry anyway? Everytime we go around looking for something for the house, one of the things I always consider is the functionality & versatility of whatever it is we're hunting for. It's no different with a coffee table. It's been a few months now since we started for a new coffee table but we haven't found "the one" yet. There are a lot of choices out there and I think that

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TGIF! Finally. My week started out slow but it got a little busy as Friday approached. I blogged a lot yesterday in between my gigs. I only took short breaks to eat, cook and do some laundry. I wish it's like this all the time but it's not. It seems that everytime one of my jobs get busy, the others also get busy. That's my only complain. But that's the way it is so I just have to wing it and do my best. Anyway, I took a longer break later this afternoon. I spent most of my break time cleaning out the fridge since it's grocery day today. While waiting for hubby, I went Facebooking, of course. LOL. What else is there to do to unwind, right? The first thing I would normally do when I go to FB is to check for latest photos. I don't do it as much anymore because all I see now are stuff for sale. I've seen almost eveyrthing being sold there. Things from signature bags to iPhone imitations to jewelry to cars. It won't be

SMART A$$ ANSWER #6 It was mealtime during a flight on Hooters Airline. 'Would you like dinner?' the flight attendant asked John. 'What are my choices?' John asked. 'Yes or no,' she replied. SMART A$$ ANSWER #5 -- A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without missing a beat, she said, 'Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub.' SMART A$$ ANSWER #4 -- A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store but she couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a stock boy, 'Do these turkeys get any bigger?' The stock boy replied, 'No ma'am, they're dead.' SMART A$$ ANSWER #3 -- The cop got out of his car and the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window. 'I've been waiting for you all day,' the cop said. The kid replied, 'Yeah, well I g

I'm chatting right now with a high school friend and she said it's pouring hard at the moment where she's at. She's supposed to attend a meeting in our high school alma mater to talk about the Ruby Jubilee of the school this coming December but with it's now looking like she won't be able to attend because of the heavy rain. I thought rainy season is over and done already in the Philippines. I guess not, eh? Anyway, I'm teasing my friend that she should attend and put her kamik rain boots to use. She said she will but it seems that rain won't be the only problem. It's been raining in our province for about a week now...since that super typhoon earlier this, and it looks like flooding is very much likely especially in and around the area where our high school is located. I can't believe flooding is still the problem around that area. I thought that would be remedied after more than 40 years but I guess not. The sad part is...it's just getting

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last month, a friend finally walked down the aisle. She's a much younger friend but she got married later than I thought she would. She's more than 10 years younger than me and she was just a baby when we worked together. She was the secretary of a small tutorial center a friend started and there's only 5 of us teaching plus her. We were practically family since we all lived in the center as well. This girl became our faithful listener everytime one of us teachers had something going on in our lives and we needed to vent. I was so happy when I heard she was planning to get married although the date was yet unknown to us then. Three of the teachers she worked with including me are now living out of the country. She really wanted us to attend her wedding if we could. She even sent us save the date cards in the mail almost a year before her wedding date just because she wanted to give us time to plan a trip back home. I would have loved to attend he

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was only earlier this week when I read about a baby stroller recall. Graco is recalling 2 million of their strollers after reports of 4 deaths are said to be caused by the stroller. Yesterday, I read that Chrysler is recalling thousands of their products as well for some fire hazards. Today, Toyota is recalling 1.5 millions of their cars because of some brake fluid related problem. It's only been a year since they were in the news and now they're back. Why is it that many companies are going through this anyway? I thought they do extensive studies before they manufacture their products? Does it mean the studies they do may not be enough? It's frustrating to read such news because everybody's affected by it...not only those who actually buy these products. Can you imagine sharing the road with a defective car? The vehicles that are being recalled are models from 2004 to 2006. If reports are to be believed, Toyota started getting reports of

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About a month ago, hubby's Blackberry trackball quit working. He's had this blackberry for about 4 years, maybe more. He got it while we were still in the other house which is almost 3 years ago. He can still receive calls as well as make calls but that's about it. He couldn't access anything in the phone like phone numbers or the internet. So he thought of replacing it with a new phone...possibly the new iPhone. There's just one problem...he cannot get the new phone without strings attached to it like a contract. He doesn't like contracts so he decided to keep his blackberry and just get the new iPod that has the same features as the iPhone except for the phone itself. So now we have 2 ipods at our disposal. The little one's which she got Christmas 2008 and the big one's [aka Big Daddy]. Everything is working out okay. He's happy with his new iPod which by the way has the inscription: This one's mine. Get your own! T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If I followed my father's wish [suggestion?], I'd probably be in the medical field now either as a midwife or a nurse. But I couldn't possibly follow his wish because I'm not made to be in that field. Read: I'm scared of blood! Plain and simple. One of my gigs now is probably the closest I can get to a medical field job. Without giving away too much information about this [which I'm not allowed to disclose I think] gig, let me just say that with this job I deal with a lot of medical terminologies such different kinds of health issues like diabetis, medical machines like ecg machines and respirators as well as medications. I never imagine that I will be dealing with a lot of these terms that some of them really are foreign to me even if they're in english. Most of the time I actually find myself either searching online for these words so as to educate myself a little bit or use my dictionary for the definition. I even had to call m

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Women and shoes. They go together, don't they? I'm probably considered an 'odd ball' because I don't really swoon over shoes. Yes, I like cute shoes but that's not enough reason for me to buy a pair. I have to make sure I can actually wear them. I HATE getting blisters because of new shoes...and cute shoes won't compensate for that...to me anyway. Right now, I probably have 10 pairs. I'm a WAHM so shoes are not really a must to go to work. I work 'barefoot' actually. LOL! But even when I was still teaching, I only have the same number of pairs. And I tend to use the same pair over and over unless it's a total misfit with my outfit. Anyway, last weekend when we went to exchange the little one's shoes the husband started walking around the shoe store. After a while he stopped and asked: Honey, don't you want a pair of shoes? Me: What? I'm not sure if I said what because I thought didn't hear him r

Let's not get carried away though...we may not have enough energy to celebrate when FRIDAY comes....tee hee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I finally saw a picture of my brand new grandchild! She's technically my brother's first grandchild but in the Philippines, he is also considered as my grandchild. The picture they posted in FB is just a picture of his face but I can tell that he's a big baby. According to my nieces, my brother is 'claiming' that the baby takes after him as far as 'looks' is concerned. I'm sure my other relatives are claiming the same thing. Seeing the picture of my 3rd grandchild makes me feel old. I still remember seeing my nieces and nephews as babies and now I'm seeing their babies. Ugh. Physically, it's no different. Gray hairs are overtaking my black ones. I try pulling them out but I'm afraid I might go bald if I continue doing that. I'm starting to consider dyeing my hair. The fine lines on my face are also showing in more places than I care to aadmit. I wonder if these lines will eventually cover the acne scars I have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ International name: Megi aka as "Juan" in the Philippines. I was surprised to read about this first thing in the morning today. There was no news of any typhoon yesterday. And it's called a super typhoon at that. I thought of my family immediately. So far I have not seen our province as one of the affected places so I'm not as worried anymore. They probably had lots of rain though so they're not totally spared of Juan's lashes. My next concern now as far as my family goes is flooding. We have a river right by our backyard so everytime it rains straight for 24hours, there's that chance the river will swell up and flood our house. Not good. It's too late to call now since it's already 2 AM there. I am hoping I'll get some news from my nieces or nephews via Facebook either later today [tomorrow there] or early tomorrow. According to the news, 3 are known to have died as a result of this super typhoon. I am praying the

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As planned, we went to the mall yesterday to exchange the little one’s sneakers. When we got them last weekend, we didn’t bother to measure her feet and just got the size next to what she was wearing. Wrong move. As soon as we got back home, she tried the sneakers and they’re almost a size too small for her. Big surprise. Her shoe size now is just a size smaller than mine. Yep, BIG FOOT is in the house. She grows like a weed now and needs a change of wardrobe every week. Can I say expensive??? Speaking of expensive, it seems that nothing is cheap now. I try not to browse at the mall when we’re there because it’s crazy how much clothes, shoes, etc cost now. I would rather prefer to shop – window shop – online. At least my feet don’t get tired walking around just to look for cheaper stuff. I think I bought almost all my clothes online in the last year or so. It’s not that cheap but cheaper compared to the prices in the mall or other department stores. Since p

So it seems. When we went to the Philippine Store last weekend I was surprised when the husband picked a bag of this 'Fried Jeprox Fish Fillet'. I was even more suprised when he said we're buying it. So we did! Everyday, the little one would ask: When are you going to eat the fish chips? His reply: On the weekend. I don't want to eat them when I have to go to work the next day. Hahaha... He finally opened the bag yesterday. I wasn't around when he did but when I went to the kitchen I knew right away that he did. His facial expression said it all. He only took one small bite and that's it. He said he couldn't get past the smell but he likes the taste. The little one ate a little more than the Dad....and I get the rest. I haven't eaten it yet but it's very similar to 'danggit' or some other fried fish we have in the Philippines. At least I won't have to fry it since it's ready to eat already. Yay for me! LOL....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lately, I've been fussing a lot about my weight gain. The last time being 3 days ago. Frankly, I haven't really done much to lose it so I shouldn't be complaining, should I? Ha! Anyway, after I wrote that entry about my weight gain, I went to my other blog to write some kind of an udate. That other blog doesn't really get much traffic so when I see someone new visit it, I try to return the favor. The blog of the last one I visited somehow hit me. The entries are mostly about the struggles of someone who is on the heavy side. Reading through the entries made me think about my constant whining about my being a few pounds heavier than the weight I am used to growing up. I felt like I shouldn't be making a big deal out of it since it is something I have control over. I mean, all I need is discipline when it comes to eating and exercising and I will lose the unwanted poundage. This blogger on the other hand has some kind of medical problems

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This weekend turned out to be another busy one for us. Yesterday hubby went to the other property to cut the grass and weeds because the person we paid to cut the grass stopped doing it. We can't let the grass go tall because the house is on the market and it's a big turn off for prospective buyers so the hubby has no choice but to do the mowing himself. He's been convincing his neighbor at the shop to buy the house and he wants to show it to them probably next week. The guy though is unsure though if he'll be able to get a mortgage because of his bad credit. Now I can tell the husband to let the guy know that there is help out there for someone like him with a bad credit get home mortgage . Hubby really likes to help this guy. He's been camping out in the shop since he has nowhere to go. We're thinking of lowering the price of the house if that will help him get a mortgage. I'm trying to find as much information for first ti

Let's dance the day away!! Of course I don't [CAN'T!] dance but since this is virtual...let's pretend I can, okie dokie? LOL... Not a lot of things happening around here. It's same-o same-o. Since it's Friday, I just feel like celebrating for no apparent reason. Wait...Friday IS a good reason to celebrate, right? We have no plans this coming weekend but that's us. We don't really plan anything unless it's something that involves going out of town or something big. We MAY go back to the mall because the sneakers we got the little one are just her size right now. That means in about a week, they will be too small for her already...and we only got them last weekend. Get it?

Sleep used to come easy to me. I remember sleeping so much when I was younger that my siblings would tease me non-stop because of it. I could fall asleep in any position as well. My father was the same. My mother would get mad at him because he'd fall asleep on her in the middle of the day while they're chatting. It served me great when I was still teaching and had to be at work as early as 7 AM. That meant I had to be asleep by 9 or 10 PM if I wanted to be productive during the day. A lot has changed since then...especially after I became a mother. Added to that is my crazy schedule as a WAHM. Since I work from home I no longer have to worry about waking up as early as I used to which means I don't really have to go to bed early as well. Not a good idea. My body clock is so messed up that I now take forever to fall asleep. As a result, I am tired during the day. Hubs told me to try Tylenol PM but I'm not keen on popping pills to put me to sleep. But lately, I've b

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weight gain used to be something that I thought would never happen to me. I was barely 80 pounds when I graduated high school and stayed below 100 pounds up until I got pregnant. I still remember how happy I was when I saw the hand on the weighing scale go over the 100-pound mark when I was about 5 months pregnant. It was the first it happened so it was something new to me. Back when I was in college, I got really thin because of the pressure of school that you would think I was taking a cocktail of diet pills for dinner. In reality though I was eating like a truck driver. I could eat 2 to 3 cups of rice in one seating but it didn't do anything to my weight. My father got really worried that he asked a doctor to prescribe me something that would help with my weight gain. When the doctor learned that I was eating as much as I was he thought I had some kind of worms so he ordered some tests for me. Nope. No worms. Nothing was wrong with me either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anybody with a kid who has gone to McDonald's probably bought this 'kid friendly' meal. I know we did. Mostly because of the toy that came with it. We don't eat out on a weekly basis [not even on a monthly basis actually] but the times we'd go out, there was always that chance that McD would be a possibility... Last week, the news about the Happy Meal not decomposing hit the headlines. Apparently, someone is doing an 'experiment' on this famous kiddie meal and decided not to eat the fries and the burger that came with the meal. What did she do with it? Nothing. She left it out and wait for it to rot...and took pictures of it as the days went by. It's now been 6 months or so and the fries and burger are still not rotten. Within that span of time, molds didn't even grow on the bread or on any of the food. They just got hard and felt like 'plastic'. Hmmm.... I thought the fries turn into that a few minutes after you buy the

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This past weekend we finally had the chance to catch up with hubby’s brother and his wife. They only live 20 minutes away from us but we rarely see them. Blame work! LOL. We talk on the phone but it’s different when we talk face to face of course. The little one was very excited to see her uncle because he laughs at her jokes. The good thing about visiting them is we get to hear updates not only about them but about other family members as well. We learned that hubby’s other siblings who used to live down here that moved in other states at the start of this year are coming back before the year ends. We have no idea why but I’m guessing they’re not happy where they moved hence the decision to come back this soon. I still remember how excited they were about the move. A sister in law even offer her dining set to us but the color of the set didn't go with the rest of the furniture. The good thing about their ‘come back’…the little one will have more cou

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celebrating 'fiesta' is probably one of the things I miss most about the Philippines. It's usually the commemoration of the town or barrio's patron saint. It's one of the many influences of the Spaniards to the Philippines. Fiesta is a big thing especially in the province. When I was growing up, October 12 [today] was the big fiesta day. It's the Feast of the Nuestra Senora Del Pilar which is the town's patron saint so it's actually the town's fiesta. Since I lived in the central part of the town [plaza], we were at the heart of the celebration. For the longest time, those who were living in the 'plaza' only celebrated the town fiesta. Our barrio [aka village] didn't celebrate its patron saint's feast day unlike other barrios. Such is no longer the case. From what I heard, the big 'town fiesta' is no longer as big as it was when I was growing up. They still have some kind of a celebration but not

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm turning a year wiser next month. I can't help it. The day just comes every single year...LOL. As usual, the hubby is, yes, stumped as to what to get me. We go through this at least 3 times a year. But during this time of the year, he tends to be more concerned at to what to get me. Maybe he's trying to cheer me up since I'm getting a year greyer[?], eh? As always, I don't have a clue either what I want or what he can get me. Big surprise. The thing is if I want something and I find it online, I usually get it myself just like was the shirts and some leggings I ordered last week which arrived this weekend. When he asked me about 2 night ago he voiced out same sentiment again...."I don't know what to get you because you're not into anything. You're not into clothes, bags, jewelry." Hold it! When he said I'm not into jewelry, I suddenly had a bright idea. Maybe I can just let him buy gold pieces of jewelry for me a

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It wasn't part of the plan but we ended up going to the mall yesterday. Why? We found out that the little one's 3 months old sneakers are getting too crowded...meaning: she's outgrowing them already. How can that be? We bought her a size bigger than her size still her feet caught up with the shoes faster than I can say 'what?'! Since we also need to look for a pair for her Halloween costume, we decided to take the trip to the mall after we visited some relatives. Since it's Sunday, there's quite a few people walking around the mall. We made it there an hour or so before closing time since they close early on Sundays. We had to move faster since an hour is not enough for the little one to make up her mind when it comes to her shoes. Yeah, typical, right? While we looked at shoes for her, Dad went to check on the perdomo cigars in one of the stores. Her brother that we visited mentioned that their oldest brother like the brand so hubb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ October 10, 2010 - that's tomorrow. I didn't even realize it until I saw something about in the news this morning. So what's the importance of this date? I have no idea. I just did a search and a bunch of stuff came up so there must be something to it then. At least to some people anyway. I also read somewhere there's going to be a computer virus named after, yes, " 10/10/10 ". But some computer security experts are shooting down such rumors...so there! Moving on. It's the weekend! We're just staying home. I'm working while the husband is also working...in the yard. I have no idea what he's doing but he keeps shutting off the water so I can only do things around the house where water is not needed. Those things that need done that need water would have to be done later on when he's done with whatever it is he's doing. In the meantime....have a good weekend everyone! Take it easy....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TGIF again! It seems to me that this week went by fast. Partly because I'm busy with work again. Usually that's what happens when I have something to keep me occupied. Since it's Friday, it's also grocery list day for me. I have not started writing the list down yet but I have to ASAP because the husband needs it in a couple of hours. As usual whenever I write a grocery list I can't help but think how expensive everything is. We've been hopping from one grocery store to another to see which one has the cheapest products. So far, all the stores we've been to are ranking the same. Indeed nothing's cheap anymore. Everything comes at a higher price today. So goodluck to me in finding that cheap auto insurance we've been looking for since a couple of months ago. I'm trying to shop for it 'online' to see what's out there but again, I'm coming up empty. We're running out of time because the time to rene

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyday when I watch the news, one of the headlines is almost always about jobs or the lack of jobs everywhere. Our state has record-breaking unemployment rates almost monthly. It was reported last night that more and more people here are depending on food stamps because more and more people are losing their job. The sad part is we're not only talking of 'poor' people counting on food stamps. Middle class people are also into food stamps now. It's very disheartening to say the least. This is why I have really have no clue why some people still want to come here in the US. I would understand why if the economy here is booming...but it's not. It's the opposite that's happening. One good example is my cousin. He has a job back home at the international airport. I'd like to believe it's a stable job because he's been in that job for about 20 years already. You would think he'd be happy but it seems such is not the case.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With all the social networking around, I no longer know which is which sometimes. I don't really jump into the bandwagon right away when a social network is launched. I used to but I stopped when I started email alerts one after the other. It seems a lot of people [majority of them I don't even know] want to be in my social circle. Really? So I decided to just delete my accounts to most of othem. I stayed with the most famous one...of course! But even with this one I don't really post much. I comment periodically and post a picture here and there but that's about it. The thing I love the most about these social networks is how I am able to reconnect with people I lost touch with in the last, maybe 30 years. Childhood friends, grade school and high school classmates, even college classmates as well as relatives especially my cousins. We didn't have celfones or emails then so we just exchanged home addresses to keep in touch. But through t

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember the You Tube video of the Dancing Flight Attendants I posted here a few days ago? Well, it went viral and reached 6 million hits in just 5 days. And since it's on You Tube, it also hit international news in no time. I saw them in our local news here I think on Monday or Tuesday. I just did a search and several major news companies like MSNBC , Fox , CBS , Reuters to name a few already had their take on this internet sensation. Of course not everybody's happy about this. The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Phils as well as the women's rights group 'Gabriela' are only 2 of those not thrilled about the video. Demeaning, undignified and cheap promotional gimick are only some of the words used by those who are not in favor of the said video. I guess everybody's entitled to his or her opinion. I wonder what the participants in that video have to say about this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When my husband started his small business about 5 years ago, one of the first things he said he would do was build a website for his company. He is quite the computer whiz so I had no doubt he would be able to do it. He didn't have a lot of time to do that because he worked during the day in the shop so he could only work on the website at night. After maybe a month or so of tinkering with it, he published the company's website. I must say I was impressed considering the little amount of time he made it. For the next several months after launching their business and website, he was able to check and update the website regularly. Today, he barely opens the website. It's been 5 years so they already have some kind of a steady flow of work coming in. Sadly, the website has taken a backseat as far as my husband is concerned. He just doesn't have the time to work on it as much as he wants to and as much as he used to. I wonder if they have ever

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's another nice day outside today. We've been having really gorgeous days around here for the past couple of weeks. If only I don't have to work, it would be good to run around the neighborhood in this kind of weather. Instead I am stuck in the house working. If this kind of weather stays like this next week, I'd probably take some time off and do just that...run or walk around even if it's just around our yard. I badly need to go back to my walking. I noticed that I'm gaining some weight lately and it's all going in my mid-section. Yep, the belly roll are starting to bother me. If only stomach weight loss is easy. Everything I read says that losing belly fats is one of the hardest when it comes to losing weight. I can only agree. Honestly, I'm happy with my current weight. I just don't like that I have the jelly rolls that came with my weight gain. I tried, unsuccessfully I must add, to do walking and simple exercises h

Yep, it's rather cold outside...to me anyway. It's currently in the 60s but the highest today per the weather bug on my computer will be 83. Not bad at all. It's going to be very nice later in the day. If only I can stay outside...but no can do since I need to stay indoor to work. It's not as cold in the house though but we're still wearing some light jackets. I need to so my allergy won't kick in. Yesterday I kept on sniffling until I realized that I had to put on something warmer. The little one...well, she likes to wear her light jacket even if it's in the 90s outside. She said it makes her look cool. Ha! Anyway, I am 'hoping' to be busy today. Hopefully, work will be released soon....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I blogged about this here several times but after more than one year, the custom corner curio we ordered from a guy in Georgia MAY actually be finished. "MAY" being the operative word here. I have no idea why but we couldn't bring ourselves to actually believe what he said last week. Maybe that's because he promised to deliver a year ago? Yep, that would it. Anyway, we tried to be patient with him. Everytime he talked with my husband he would always have some sob stories. The very first one was that of his wife leaving him with the kids. After that, it was just one sob story after another. We got fed up with his false promises that we seriously considered asking our lawyer to write him. At the same time, we also started looking for another curio but we couldn find one that meets what we're looking for. I guess that's the reason why we ordered a customized one. That's probably the reason also why even if we're so fed up wit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After more than a month of waiting, I finally saw a picture of the newest addition in our family back home. My 3rd grandchild...courtesy of my niece. Here she won't be a grandchild but a great niece. I'm not sure which one I prefer. Both name makes me feel OLD! But I'm glad that the family is growing and the new addition is healthy and good looking. Bias me, eh? Of course... I was also able to speak with his mother...my niece. Before she got pregnant, she was working at a department store. Her pregnancy had complications so she was forced to quit her job even if she knew she wouldn't be able to get it back. The baby's safety is much more important. When I asked her if she's going to find a new job now that she has given birth already she kinda' hesitated to reply. It turns out she's planning to go back to school. She finished an associate degree in hotel and restaurant management. Jobs in that field are almost non-existent

Interesting, isn't it? It's also a good way to get the attention of passengers and 'listen' [??] to the instructions. That's debatable of course since we're not sure if the passengers are actually listening or just watching. LOL. Hopefully it's the former just in case something happens. This video reminds me of the 'dancing cop' which was also popular some years ago. I never actually saw the 'dancing cop' directing traffic only on TV but it would have been cool to actually see it in person. Again, it was entertaining but there was also that fear that more accidents might happen because the attention of the drivers were all focused on the entertaining 'dancing cop'. I wonder if there is still dancing cop somewhere in the Phils?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That seems to be the case for now. What am I talking about? What else but our planned vacation. When I called my sister in law on her birthday, her first question was "when are you coming for a visit?". I wish I could tell her but I myself isn't even sure when or if it will happen anytime soon. We've been planning to do that for the longest time but everytime we try to have a fixed plan, something else comes up. So now I just don't plan anymore. We still talk about it, we just don't plan much anymore. Last night hubby brought up myrtle beach . I was actually the one that mentioned that place to him a couple of weeks ago. Since we cannot go far for a vacation, I thought why not go somewhere near enough where we won't use majority of the time traveling...thus my suggestion of myrtle beach. Anyway, he's been there. He knows the place but it's been more than 10 years since the last time he was there. That time, he visited a fr

First time I've seen and heard about this kind of weed was when I came over here. I've never seen them before that. We have them in the old property. Now we have them here as well. From what I've read they're common in our state. I didn't think we have them here until recently. I started stepping on them here inside the house. Ugh. Why are they inside the house? Because they stick to anything especially clothing. We also step on them outside which would make them stick on the sole of our foot wear. They are irritating because it hurts when you step on their spiky husk. Since we have very mild weather today, I tried to look for them in the yard...and there they were by the edge of the front yard. They're hard to pull! Their roots are like 6 ft under so it's kinda' impossible to just pull them out. I needed to dig them out...and I was only able to dig very few. My weed picker is not designed for these pesky weeds. I'd probably ask the hubby to look

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I just had a few sad dreams last night. I think I woke up at least twice sobbing. The dreams were about my father passing. I have no idea why I dreamed of that. Everytime I woke from one, I'd think if there is something coming up soon like his birthday or his death anniversary. None. I guess I'm just missing him even if he's been gone for 10 years now. My father was probably one of the most hardworking man I've ever known. He started working very young and he wasn't able to finish school. As a result, he could only get jobs that didn't require any education higher than grade school. He mostly worked in a bus as a conductor, inspector and a dispatcher. He had a steady job for the most part but there were times when what he's earning wasn't enough to support us. To make both ends meet he would do a lot of side jobs. I remember him selling clothes as a side line. He even tried selling antiques and some precious metals like si

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J.K. Rowling was the guest in Oprah today. Of course majority of the things they talked about was about HP...more popularly known as Hewlett-Packard....nah, Harry Potter. I didn't watch the whole interview but I caught the part where Oprah asked her if there is a chance that she's going to write another Harry Potter book. According to the billionaire author there is always that possibility. She said she can write several more books about Harry but for now, she's done. First time I heard Harry Potter was in the late 1990s. I was already teaching in Taiwan and I would hear several of my former students talking about it. I didn't get interested in reading the book until a former co-teacher loaned me a copy of the first book. Needless to say I was hooked after that. I bought my own copy of the first and the second books while I was in Taiwan. The third book....it was the husband's very first birthday gift for me. I should probably have that

Free Twitter Backgrounds It's Friday! And it's October! It's the last quarter of 2010 already as well. Wow...before we know it we will be welcoming 2011 already. I would love to look back and see what has happened already in the first 3 quarters of this year but I'm not in the mood to think that far...LOL. One of these days I should probably do that just to see what has transpired in the last 9 months of my life.

One of the gifts we got the little one on one of her earlier birthdays is this personalized piggy bank. I think we got it on her 3rd birthday. She's been putting all of her coins in this piggy bank since then that it's almost full now. Where does she get the coins? From the Daddy of course. Instead of putting his change in our big jar of coins or in his car's coin dispenser, he would let the little one have them for one condition...she should be able to count the money by herself and tell us the correct amount. A good way to teach her to count money. Dad no longer asks her to do that now since she's quite a pro in that department already. Even if, she still counts them whenever she gets them. Force of habit I guess. Anyway, sometime this week Daddy handed her some coins again. As soon as she got them she started shrieking...a gold coin , a gold coin!! I really thought she got a gold coin but no such luck. It's another country's currency and it looks like, yes,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eversince we moved the old TV set in the little one's bedroom, she's been asking daily if she can watch something on 'her' TV. Yes, she has to ask permission if she can watch. We made it a point that she just doesn't turn the TV on if she gets the urge to do so. She can only watch if she's done with wathever it is she needs to do. Throughout the year we've accummulated probably a hundred or more children's DVDs and some VHS. Obviously, she has outgrown a lot of those already. Right now she's only watching about 10 of them alternately. She's watched those 10 so much that she can already lip synch every single dialogue and/or songs in each one of them. So last night I decided to look more blu ray movies to add her very limited collection. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to get some new movies that she can watch in her "own TV". Since she already has TV in her bedroom, she rarely watches in our bedroom

Getting bruised after blood work. I seem to have that problem EVERYTIME I go to the lab to have my blood drawn. Here's a picture of the latest one. This is 4 days old. The little one was surprised to see on the 2nd day even if she was with us when we went to the lab. This next one is a picture of the one I had in April. The only difference between this one and the one on top...I had bruises on both arms because the phlebotomist had to try both arms because he wasn't able to draw 'enough' blood on the first arm. Do you also get bruises when you have your blood drawn? I asked hubby last night if it's normal to get the bruise after blood work and he said that it's just me. Hmmm....