On A Wonderful Day Like Today

Boo Pooh!

...3 years of marriage ...10 years of love ...11 years of friendship Happy Anniversary!

This may be unknown to many but I am sharing here the news article about the recent beatification of the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. Parents of St Therese of Lisieux beatified Monday, 20 October 2008 15:46 The cardinal who celebrated the beatification Mass of the parents of St Therese of Lisieux urged those present to thank God for their own parents. "I have thought about my own father and mother, and I would like you also to think at this moment of your father and mother, so we will thank God together for having created us and made us Christians through the married love of our parents," said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, former prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes. "Receiving life is a wonderful thing. But it is still more admirable for us that our parents should have led us to the Church, which alone is capable of forming Christians. No one can become a Christian by himself," the cardinal said a...

Lately, I've been thinking about our travel plans for next year. Actually, I think it all started with the advance booking I made for our travel this January to visit my dear sister. And then only yesterday, I got to also book another lovely trip to Cebu just for me and my husband in time for a Valentine's weekend at Marco Polo Cebu Hotel (but I still need to find time to pay for it through PAL). Now, I can't seem to get my mind off making another trip for next year and hopefully, it's out of the country. It was a frugal year for us this year so we opted to skip the out of the country trip. In addition, although we were both aching to go to Hong Kong or to Singapore again for our second honeymoon, we simply could not take leaving Zoe at home with the nanny for five straight days. Anyway, as for plans, we are aiming high this year. We want to go to Hong Kong and Macau and if given the budget, maybe we can try to go also to Germany and visit my relatives there. S...

I was craving for some seafood pasta yesterday so I asked hubby to make a detour to Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe along C5 road for a quick dinner before we head to Shopwise for our weekly grocery. I'm blogging about the place since it's actually our first time to dine here. The place is really cozy and homey. And we were both surprised that their lemonade is colored in an attractive blue color. :-) For the husband, he ordered his ultimate comfort food ~ Callos. I had a fettucine with salmon and capers (not posting the pic here because it turned out blurred). Anyway, it tasted good but the serving is a bit small (at least for someone with a huge appetite like me). Hahaha!

As I blogged here last week, our humble home was chosen to be a shoot location for a television show. Nah, it's not really for something big but we thought it would be a new and great experience to have our house used for something for tv. Anyway, here are some snippets: Here's a picture of our house--- supposedly a house of a rich couple, that is played by Toby Alejar and April Tolentino (if you guys don't know her, well, I don't know her too LOL). Anyway, Dexter Doria was also in the cast. Apparently, this is a telemovie by Carlo J. Caparas. Here's my dad's room where they had some heavy drama scenes. I checked out the bathroom and saw lights there too. My husband pointed out to me that it's needed to illumine the whole room (yup, that's our fullview mirror hidden right inside the shower cubicle). Some pics with the artistas: I had some small talk with Toby Alejar during one of the breaks. I told him, "So, you play a bad guy right?". He ans...

Thanks to the thread at n@w about the new musical Jollibee toy in the market, my husband and I were able to take Zoe out for merienda yesterday and buy that much-sought after toy. As expected, Zoe was all smiles when her Dad handed her Jollibee toy. This is actually her 2nd Jollibee toy (one of her older cousins gave her old one but that one didn't have a musical function). Anyway, just sharing some of the pics of Zoe with her Jollibee toy: Zoe's a happy Jollibee kid!

Because I've been "complaining" on how stressful things are at work, my husband managed to take me out for dinner last Friday in order for me to destress. Hahaha. Okay sa pag-destress no? Anyway, after leaving the office at 9 pm, we headed to Dampa in Julia Vargas to eat and unwind. Dampa has always been a great experience and it's almost always guaranteed to take your blues away (and hunger) away. Here we are ~~~ (Dad, how come you still look fresh even after working for almost 16 hours?) We ordered the usual: calamares and garlic buttered shrimps Yumyum! Thanks Hunny!

Hooray! I'm so happy that I was able to book for Iloilo this coming January (although we didn't get the cheapest rate). We'll get to see my sister again and it will also be the annual vacation of our yaya (her family is in Iloilo). I think the yaya has been working extremely hard and she deserves the vacation. :-) Thank God for credit cards and Christmas bonuses!

Your Funky Japanese Name Is Rukinoya What's Your Funky Japanese Name?

In these times when many of unsure of the economic condition in the country and even around the world, people find it extra hard too to find good and stable jobs that promise a secure life for them. But we need not worry, really. There are other career options that one can consider that will remain in demand amidst the worries regarding the downhill movement in the economy. One of these options is in the medical assistant field. In addition, maybe you are a housewife or already a professional, maybe a teacher, a clerk, a bank employee or what have you and you are considering a making a career shift to improve your annual family income, you may want to take up this new career field. To complete a whole training and get a certificate or diploma, all you have to do is enroll in a medical assistant school . You need not leave the comforts of your own home and attend the traditional classroom lessons or meet strict deadlines in order to complete a course as a medical assistant . There are ...

Yup, that's ME today.

Guess what? I just got a call from someone from Channel _ asking if they can rent our humble home for a day of shooting for one of their shows (for a fee of course). That's on Sunday. Whoaaa! Well, whaddya know? The "House" is going to be on TV! I wonder who are the celebrities who will be coming? Abangan!

I have this habit of calling the house every lunchtime to talk to Zoe. Yup, she already knows how to use the phone and already communicates fairly well. When I ask her what she's doing, she would say either eat, car-car, banana, milk (actually, she says 'gatas'). Sometimes, she also asks me what am I doing. I say work, computer, opps (hahaha), or eat. She makes this very loud laugh (a shriek actually) that is so contagious that I wonder if my officemates think I'm crazy coz I also tend to laugh with her. Anyway, I asked the yaya today what the little girl is busy with. She told me that Zoe spent most of the morning inside the house, playing with her "lutu-lutuan". She also engaged herself in putting her books and crayolas inside her little bag and then out again and then in again...then says "BYE-BYE" as if she's off to go somewhere. This little kwento made me panic during the whole lunchbreak. Omigosh! Zoe wants to go to school already!!! I have...

...I'm coming down with a flu. Photo credit here .

I have been wearing eyeglasses for my astigmatism since I was in fifth grade. I had this bad habit of reading while in the car or while lying in bed and many times, without sufficient lighting. I only had an inkling that my eyes were getting bad when we had a crochet project and I just could not do the stitches myself. I couldn't see where my fingers and the yarn where sticking! When I finally found out that I needed to wear eyeglasses, my imagination immediately ran wild and I had visions of myself wearing thick eyeglasses or worse, going blind by the time I reach 60 years old or something. Of course, this is would probably be like an exaggeration now because now, there is no need for me, or for anyone, to worry because technology has the answer to eye problems. I had been curiously reading about LASIK information and it has been such a relief to know about this technology. For several years now, there has been LASIK technology that is already available for those with nearsighte...

Thank you Dyes for this interesting filler! 1. Where is your cell phone? TABLE 2. Your significant other? T_NG 3. Your hair? LONG 4. Your mother? NANAY 5. Your father? BAIT 6. Your favorite thing? FOOD? 7. Your dream last night? NOPE 8. Your favorite drink? COKE 9. Your dream/goal? SAINTHOOD 10. The room you’re in? OFFICE 11. Your hobby? READING 12. Your fear? SIN 13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? STATES 14. What you’re not? SLIM 15. Muffins? CHEESE 16. One of your wish list items? LAPTOP 17. Where you grew up? CAINTA 18. The last thing you did? TYPE 19. What are you wearing? JEANS 20. Favorite gadget? CELLPHONE 21. Your pets? KIKAY 22. Your computer? CLONE 23. Your mood? HAPPY 24. Missing someone? MOM 25. Your car? TOYOTA 26. Something you’re not wearing? MAKEUP 27. Favorite store? RUSTAN'S 28. Like someone? 29. Your favorite color? PINK 30. When is the last time you laughed? NOW 31. Last time you cried? xox!

It's payday once again. Sadly, for many, their net pay is not enough to cover everything that needs to be paid. The prices of basic commodities have been rising and there are still various bills to be taken care of. In our case, we honestly are feeling the economic crunch and had been more conscious in trying to avoid any unnecessary expense. This means limiting our dining out and staying away from the malls (there are I think at least 3 big malls on a 3-day sale this weekend!). We also are now more careful in budget planning. On top of that, my husband and I already made a pact some days ago to use our forthcoming Christmas bonus and 13th month pay to zero out most of our existing credit card balances (of course, after we have settled the annual payment for Zoe's college educational plan due this December). Actually, just thinking of the huge interest rates these credit cards are charging makes me want to scream! I often ask myself, "How did I get myself into this big mes...

Dyes sent me something to smile about! Thank you! Smiling is infectious, You can catch it like the flu. Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too. Toss this smile along to your friends who brightened up your day or those whose days you want to brighten up. Smile! Each day is a wonderful reason to celebrate!

I received this article from one of my egroups and thought it's worth sharing. 10 (More) Reasons You're Not Rich by Jeffrey Strain Wednesday, October 1, 2008 provided by The Street Many people assume they aren't rich because they don't earn enough money. If I only earned a little more, I could save and invest better, they say. The problem with that theory is they were probably making exactly the same argument before their last several raises. Becoming a millionaire has less to do with how much you make, it's how you treat money in your daily life. The list of reasons you may not be rich doesn't end at 10. Caring what your neighbors think, not being patient, having bad habits, not having goals, not being prepared, trying to make a quick buck, relying on others to handle your money, investing in things you don't understand, being financially afraid and ignoring your finances. Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren't rich: You care what your car looks l...

My dear sister will be directing another musical in their school. They've already done Les Miserable, Wicked, and something else (forgot na what it was) in the past. Anyway, for this year, they're already preparing to do Legally Blonde, the Musical. The kids are really excited! Anybody here in blogsphere who has a soundtrack that I could borrow? :-) This musical sounds so interesting...

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I got this book for only 40 bucks at the Book Sale in Megamall when we were there last weekend with my Ate. I bought it with the secret hope of making Zoe potty trained after a day or two. Guess what? After starting last Sunday, she is now successful at making "wiwi" and "poo-poo" in the CR for the past three days!!! Here's what's written in the book : Potty Training For Dummies is your total guide to the mother of all toddler challenges. Packed with painless solutions and lots of stress-reducing humor, it helps you help your little pooper make a smooth and trauma-free transition from diapers to potty. You’ll discover how to: - Read the signs that your tot is ready - Motivate your toddler to want to give up diapers - Kick off potty training on the right foot - Foster a team approach - Deal with setbacks and pee and poop pranks - Make potty training a loving game rather than a maddening ordeal I don't know if we're just lucky or what but bottomline is...

After all these years of going to Makati, we just realized only last weekend that we actually have not yet brought Zoe to Greenbelt. So we did just that when I had to go to a TAG meeting last Saturday morning.

Thanks Pat for this! :-) I really appreciate it!

I'll make a little experiment. Question: Does this picture make you salivate and have that "tam-asim" feeling? If yes, then we're on the same boat! :-) LOL. I just love those mangorind candies. I could eat it all in one sitting.

This is kind of a back-post. Pictures taken last Wednesday, October 1, during the non-working holiday. We decided to just stay at home the whole day last Wednesday. We munched on these for merienda. Banana-que: Bread with pesto spread: Corned beef spaghetti: Thank heavens for holidays!

I read about this Mercatornet article (of the same title) and it gave me several realizations as a parent. I realized that parenting is not about those trips abroad, those expensive toys or having that colorful time-out mat to discipline your kid. It's about showing your kids that you truly love them and that you set the proper example on how to live as a good person regardless if the rest of the world is acting in chaos or in lack of virtue. And regardless is you have money in abundance or not.