Pinay WAHM

and.... That's what I've been doing from Monday to Friday, and sometimes weekends as well, in the last 6 months or so. I'm glad I'm still doing it and I have no plans of stopping if only to stay fit. It's the only way I stay active so...

These are pictures of the night blooming cactus flowers we used to have in our backyard. We only had the cactus until 2009 because it died when we had that extra cold winter weather the next year. The flower up top was taken in the middle of the night...around 10 or 11 PM while the one at the bottom was taken the next morning....around 7 AM. Why so late and early? Because as soon as the sun hits the flower, they start to wilt. We love seeing those flowers. They actually look fake, don't they? Especially the bottom one...it looks like it's made of cloth or something. How I wish we still have that cactus...but we don't. I guess we have to be happy with whatever we have at the moment, eh?

More like a year and a month....since we went to the Philippines for a visit. It was my first trip back since I left in 2001 so it was an exciting time for me as well as the whole family. We were only there for 3 weeks. Needless to say, it wasn't enough. We would love to do it again of course but we just don't know when. The main thing that prevents us from doing it sooner than later is the looooonngg plane ride. It was almost a whole day of just being on the air...cramped in that small place called an airplane. Well, it may not be as small when it's on the runway but when you're on it for more than 20 hours...it sure get a lot smaller. Anyway, the family back home has already started asking when our next trip will be. Just like before we took that first trip, our reply remains the same: We have no idea. But one thing is sure...next time we take a trip back home, we are planning in staying a day or two somewhere in between here and our main destination. We don't k...

Maybe. My oldest grand niece just started taking some ballet lessons. Her Mom said that she just said one day that she wants to become a ballerina so they looked for a ballet school in the area and they found one. They enrolled her for summer classes and she loved it. Now she wants to continue taking lessons after school hours. I say good for her. Her birthday is not in a few months but I already started looking for dancer gifts at ballet gift shop online so I can put it in the box I'm sending home in a month or two. Hopefully the little girl is still into ballet when that box arrives. Fingers crossed.

More like 'sleep-lackness'. I've been going through that phase again where I just have a hard time falling asleep. I'm usually tired and would fall asleep for a few minutes when I go to bed only to wake up and not be able to go back to sleep for an hour to a couple of hours. When I wake up from that few minutes of shut-eye, it feels like I'm fully awake again. It's very frustrating to say the least. Right now I'm very sleepy. I'd probably fall asleep if I try to but I don't want to because I'm afraid it might keep me awake tonight. Sigh. Anyway, we had a great weather today. Perfect for those who had a Memorial Day barbecue in their backyard...which we didn't have around here. We just went out to look for stuff...shoes, ceiling fan then we came back home. Hubby installed the fan in the back porch. Afterwards, we all stayed in the back porch to see how it works. That's how our Memorial Day went. Nothing exciting I must say.

That's what we did today anyway. It's not a shopping spree though...just shoe shopping. We're actually looking for specific types of shoes one of which are hiking shoes just like the zamberlan hiking boots I saw online. We're planning in going somewhere that would require us to wear hiking shoes so I want to start looking for a pair for me or the little one. Also, I just realized recently that with all the pairs of shoes that she has, the little one doesn't have a pair of shoes or sandals that she can wear with just shirts and shorts. Her shoes go with specific outfits. So today we went out looking for just that and also a pair for the man of the house. As usual we came home with more than just a couple of pairs. Dad got a pair, I got a pair and the little one got 2 pairs. I wasn't successful in finding hiking boots though because they're not 'in season' so to speak. We saw a few in the store but I didn't like any of them. I might just get them ...

So I finally gave in and got me this 2.5 lbs hula hoop a few weeks ago. I've been planning in getting one for about a year, maybe even longer, but I kept putting it off for several reasons. One, I read that if you want to lose weight using a hula hoop, you have a better chance doing so using the regular hoop. The reason being...you need to exert more effort to keep the lighter hula hoop on your hip which results to more calories being burnt. I thought that made sense so I  decided to use my regular hula hoop instead of getting the weighted one. The problem was I got lazy [maybe tired] and stopped using it. So my intention went nowhere. Another reason I hesitated in getting a weighted hoop at first was my fear of getting bruises. I bruise very easily so that kinda' made me think twice about getting the weighted hula hoop. So what made me get the weighted hoop this time around? My jelly belly. I've been walking regularly on my tread climber for a good 6 months, 5 d...

That's what I got for Mother's Day...and it's a very special card because it's made by our little one specifically for me on Mother's Day. I'm pretty sure it's the only one in existence. Ha! Both hubby and I are taking advantage of this time when she makes all her cards for us because we know that it won't be long before she stops doing that. It makes me sad just thinking about it but that's the reality of life. Anyway, she made this card for me. She actually gave it to me a day early...fresh from the oven...LOL. As soon as she finished it, she handed it to me. I guess she couldn't wait for the MD itself. She was bugging me weeks before Mother's Day what I wanted and I kept telling her I would be happy to get a card from her...and yet she kept asking until last Friday. It's a an honest to goodness answer that I really didn't want anything else because she's more than enough for me. On the day itself, we 'thought' of e...

Err...weeds for Mother's Day I mean. Huh? It's actually something that my 'thoughtful' husband handed me yesterday as soon as he got in the door while greeting me 'happy mother's day'! He plucked it from a weed growing in our front yard. Haha! So, will I be getting 'real flowers' for MD? Not really. It's been established around this household that I don't want money spent on flowers only...so nope, no real flowers for me on MD...per my order. I'm perfectly happy with my flowers blooming in our yard. Anyway, a flower is a flower so there. With that being said, I hope that all MOMS out there have a good Mother's Day!

That's what I think anyway. So Mother's Day is today. After this one, it's going to be Father's Day next. That would be sometime next month. Exactly when...I have no idea. Usually the little one and I decide together what to get our honoree here. We've made videos for him in the past, personalized cards and some store bought gifts as well. This year we can probably get him a leather wallet from idstronghold.com since he needs one that's durable enough to last him at least year. He can't use a flimsy one because of the nature of his job. But I always feel that he appreciates the gift more if it has some personal touch from his little princess so I still have to think of other ways to do that. A wallet maybe enough for some other Dads but not this Dad. Actually he'd rather get something that his little one personally made herself than those we buy from the stores. Maybe I can learn how to make wallets or purses then teach the little one how to make them. ...

If no one won it last night, the pot will be around $300 M already. It's almost a quarter of a billion yesterday. We bought some tickets but we didn't win.Ugh! I was so confident we'd wake up millionaires this morning...so did the hundreds of millions of other people I bet. Ha! Anyway, I'm pretty sure that more people will be buying tickets now that the pot is a lot bigger. Will we? I'm guessing we are. We only buy when the winning is more than a hundred mil which makes our chances a lot slimmer since the bigger the pot is, the more people take chances in buying tickets.  Anyway, if someone actually won it already, it would have been in the news by now...and so far, there's nothing in the news that says someone won it. So by Thursday next week, I may be a multi-mil already. Yeah? Dream on baby....LOL....

My oldest brother didn't get his college degree until he's in his 40s. And that's after all his 3 kids graduated college and were in their post graduate studies already. Right now, he has a son who is a doctor, a daughter who is reviewing for the bar exams and another daughter who just graduated from a master's degree. And yes, he's the one that sends them to school. Not bad for someone who got married at 18 and lived with his parents [and siblings] until he could afford to stand on his feet and support a family of his own. He is now in his early 50s...and he's back in school himself taking a master's degree. He said that he wants to continue working once he retires from his current job. He wants to work as a teacher or a professor. To do that, he needs at least a master's degree so he's going for it while he can. I greatly admire my brother for his perseverance and I want to give him something special when he graduates sometime next year. I'm th...

Tomorrow is election day in the Philippines. I cannot remember the last time I actually voted there. Everytime there's an election I was always out of the country so I've only voted maybe twice since I registered. I was reading the news online and the first thing that I saw was about 'vote buying'. I told the husband about it and he just chuckled because to him it's something odd since we don't hear such things like that here. We just had the presidential election last year and there was a lot of mud slinging just like anywhere else during the campaign...but vote buying is something else. He was also surprised to hear about some election related killing of people [candidates and/or supporters] back home. I know my relatives back home are going to vote because I spoke with them yesterday and they were getting ready to head out to our hometown to exercise that right tomorrow. We're not political but we make it a point to vote when we can. Even my father who...

That's today. Do we have any big plans? Not really. I just don't feel like going anywhere so when I was asked what I wanted to do, I couldn't think of anything. So decided we'll just stay home just like any other day. Hubby just left for the store to look at industrial rubber hoses because they need one at work and I may clean the back porch a little bit later on. Yeah, yeah...not very exciting but that's us. Maybe we'll head out later in the day to get some frozen yogurt and that will be my big treat for the day. Ha! The little one already made me a card and handed it to me yesterday and I of course love it. I know it will only be a few more years before she stops making those cards so I better take advantage of it. I'll be posting a picture of it at a later date to 'brag'.

I was finally able to call home today after what seems like months. Oh wait, it's been months since I was able to call. Duh! Anyway, I was able to talk to almost everybody. My niece though wanted to talk to 'McGyver'...aka...the husband. They know that he's a computer geek so everytime they have a computer related question they usually ask me to ask him. This she needs help on how to erase hard drive because she wants to sell her computer. She said she already erased the files but she's doesn't know how to erase the hard drive itself. She can take it to a computer store but it will cost her. Unfortunately, she's not in luck because hubby was out. I told her I'd ask the husband to email her what to do so she doesn't have to pay anyone to erase the hard drive of her computer.

I hear ya! We just stayed home today though. Tomorrow? No clue if we're going anywhere. I'm sure the little one would want to go somewhere because it's Mother's day. She already said we should have lunch somewhere...the Yogurt Store...LOL! We might do that actually...if it doesn't rain. 

I like the neighborhood we live in. It's a very quiet one and not a lot of activities going on. We have neighbors close by but we don't bother each other. We do our own thing and they do their own thing. I'm not saying it's a perfect neighborhood because we also have some not so great neighbors. One does not cut his grass regularly while the other one uses his big yard teaching his dog to 'fetch'. Not just the simple fetching but something else because he's using something like a zinger winger bird launcher. I didn't know what it was at first but when I told the husband about it, he told me that he's training his dog to fetch birds. It's a trick that bird hunters teach their dogs so the hunters don't have to get the birds themselves once they're shot. I only saw our neighbor doing that a couple of times though. I guess one of our older neighbors complained about it since houses are close enough to be hit when something is launched in the...

Hey...it's the cat asking, not me! Or is it? Ha!   Actually, days have been flying us by. I'm trying to take it easy and not worry as much. I guess that helps to make the days go by fast, doncha think? I know so because when all I do is worry, it seems days are dragging. Tell me it's not the same with you.   Anyway, I've been trying to keep busy with things. Work is still not as busy as we'd like it to be but it's better than before. We get some every and then and we're happy with that. Aside from work, I keep myself busy with other things. I walk around the yard just looking at our few flowering plants that have started to show their beautiful creation. I posted a couple a few days ago so I thought I'd post a couple more.   The one up top is an Asiatic Lily which is like a hidden gem in our flower bed in front. They don't grow tall so they're covered by the other plants. I had to push the other plants aside just to get a bet...

Unlike in some states in the country, spring [or is it summer] is very much felt around here now. Our plants started 'resurrecting' a few weeks ago but the process is not complete yet. Some of them are still 'waking up' so to speak while a couple already have flowers on them. Look... We have not tended to our flower beds yet so they don't look very nice right now but I'm surely happy to see the burst of colors we're getting from our annuals. The bat faced flowers are also starting to bloom now. In a few days there will be some orange colors popping out in our flower beds as well. The back is a different story though. We decided to pull out the blackberry bushes that used to be on a small plot by the back porch. We haven't quite decided yet what to replace them with. I'm thinking some veggies, maybe. I'm not sure where to start with that though. The thing is I also want some colors back there so maybe veggies won't be a good idea. Oh...

My good friend out of state just bought a brand new vehicle. Her first car that she calls her 'baby' gave out on her already after about 10 years of using it. It's a Toyota Camry and she just loves it to pieces. She didn't want to give up on it even trying toyotapartshub.com genuine toyota parts to see if she can find the parts needed to fix it. She did but the car needed a lot of fixings that it was more practical to just trade it in and get a new one. She said that she shed a tear or two when she dropped off the car since it's been her ride for so long. I joked that she should get the exact replica of it so she won't miss it as much but her husband didn't want to. Being Toyota fanatics, they opted for another Toyota but an SUV this time because they need a bigger vehicle for their business. Hopefully, this one will last as long, if not longer, as her first car.

Yep, that's what I've been told a few weeks ago. It's courtesy of one of my nieces of course. I was surprised, to say the least, because I expected more from this niece of mine. She's in school taking up education. I was hoping she's going to follow my footsteps and become a teacher as well. But not quite yet. She is several months pregnant now. I think she's giving birth in a couple of months. I've been told late because they know I'm kinda' expecting more from her. But such is life and we have to accept what it offers. In a way I sort of knew she may get married earlier than we want her to because she's had a steady boyfriend for quite a while now. So I'm not really shocked...maybe just a wee bit disappointed. Hopefully, she'll go back to school down the road. I think she only has about a year to go to finish the course. I'm hoping her parents as well as her husband, and maybe the rest of the family back home will convince her to ...

Don't you just hate it when you realize that a part is missing from something that you bought when you're about to assemble it? That's exactly what happened to us when we bought a bookshelf not too long ago. The shelf came in a package with the instruction booklet and all of its parts. Hubby doesn't have a problem putting things like that together. He doesn't even use the instruction booklet that comes with the package most of the time. Problems only occur when parts, like a dowel pin , comes up missing from the box. Yes, one of  those little wooden screws-like thing to hold the pieces together was nowhere to be found when we opened the box...just one. Since we ordered the shelf online and it took forever to get it, we didn't want to return it anymore because of one dowel pin. Instead, he just made one at the some using metal. Ah...the perks of being married to McG! Ha!

And it's the first day of a new month, May! How time flies. It's been gloomy again here. The weekend that passed was perfect as far as the weather was concerned because it wasn't raining and the temperatures were mild. This coming weekend...we just have to wait and see. We've been having 50% chance of rain the past few days and so far, it's been accurate. The weekend basically looks the same so it may just be a day to stay indoors...but we'll see. There is a little light at the end of the 'work' tunnel for me. Our boss sent us an email letting us know that there might be work in the horizon. We don't know how much work or when it's coming but it's something. It's been really really slow as far as work is concerned so anything that resembles work is something to be happy about. I just hope it continues even if it's sporadic for now. Who knows...we may get another big job in the future that can keep us busy for months like before. ...