On A Wonderful Day Like Today

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."  -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (quoted from Beth of Mysimplerlife.com) Happy New Year everyone!

...and these are some of those things. Ondoy was a rather sad and painful experience for my family, our neighborhood and thousands of other people. It left a huge dent on our finances, our properties and our lives. We would rather forget and hope that something like this will never happen again: not to us nor to our children's children.

If there is one thing these days that’s bugging me, it’s F’s very low grades in school. I feel that he is not making an effort to improve on his studies. After being sent home to the province for a year and enduring the hard life over there, it still doesn’t seem enough for him to learn and change for the better. He still seems to be cutting on some of his classes, still doesn’t ask permission when he goes out of the house, still plays basketball all weekend long, still doesn’t wake up early, still doesn’t do his assignments…etc. etc. My list of “frustrations” goes on and on. Are all teenage boys like that? How I wish that some day, he will soon realize that all the hard work to answer the Math questions in school will result to something good for him in the future. I hope all those Geometry help which I offer him will do a lot of good in training him to be patient, observant and analytical. I hope he realizes that all that Chemistry help which we get is going to be someday good f...

We had a team-building activity last April 17. It was my first time to have something like this in my 13 years of working with the company. And although I had already had a "secret" plan cooking up (more on that next time), it was, I think, worthwhile experiencing. Anyway, here are some of our pictures. Our current feelings: Jumbled-up letters activity: Lunch-break: Group pic: (Sigh) ~ I'll miss OAGC.

That's me. And add the word "lazy" na rin. Hehehe. I just realized that I haven't updated this site for a couple of weeks already. I've been mighty busy plus I've been feeling like a wreck for the past few days. I promise to be a "good blogger" soon with more interesting updates. But that's until I start feeling better about myself. And I wish that happens soonest. P.S. My updates are mostly written here .

Hi guys! How are things with you? For me, things have been mostly the same day in, day out. It's made up of constantly breastfeeding Luigi, chasing around Zoe, reading, praying, taking a bath, eating. That's it. I seldom get the chance to go out of the house especially since the car is out of order. Neither do I get "me time" but I feel din that it's not a loss for me (you can just imagine how my hair is now --- totally not presentable!). For many, I don't really seem to get anything much done. But I swear --- I could go on like this forever! I just want to cherish these days with the babies. I know that I won't be able to repeat this experience once I go back to work again. This kind of bonding is so priceless.

Hi! Just wanted to drop a line or two here because I've been missing blogging. I've been so busy kasi with family life that I almost never get to do other things, much less go online. Anyway, this week was so packed. After Ondoy, I literally had 'binat' and was feverish for days. My husband had to rush me to Cardinal Santos one time because my fever just keeps coming back. Anyway, they put me on a round of antibiotics to clear the infection that I seemed to have. And then, amidst this, we still decided to push through with Luigi's baptism last October 10 (with the reception held at home). It was a small and intimate party, both intentionally and unintentionally. Meaning, we only invited half of the number we invited compared to Zoe's baptism but then maybe because of the lack of time to invite and the hangover from Ondoy, only half of the invited were able to come. Anyway, at least nakaraos na. Then come Monday, I had to go to my scheduled annual retreat. It was...

With only a few weeks to go before baby number 2 comes along, I've started to look for birth announcement sample designs over the net which I can easily "copy" with the help of Photoshop. Here are some of the cute stuff I saw: So cute, right? I'm actually reviewing the shortcuts in Photoshop now so I can immediately give a go on a prepared design and be able to broadcast my baby's coming as soon as I am able enough after I give birth.

Hahaha! My Dad (and ninang) are leaving for the US and Canada tomorrow and I'm so envious! How I wish we can fit inside their maletas so that we can tag along! In fairness, I'm so happy that my Dad's making this trip. It's his first time to go to the States/Canada. I heard that they'll be going to Detroit, Las Vegas, New York, Toronto, and Chicago. Ang dami! It's also his first time to go abroad with my ninang so okay din. I remember when he went to Europe two years ago, lungkot na lungkot sya because he toured all those fantastic places alone. Ang hirap kayang picturan ang sarili mo! He even got left by the plane because he got lost in the train station. Tsk! At least now, he has a companion. Have a safe trip po! Don't forget my bilins! Hehehe! Be home soon!

The answer came from Baby Center : You still may not look pregnant even if your waist is thickening a bit. You probably feel pregnant, though. Not only are morning sickness and other physical symptoms out in full force for most women, but you may feel like an emotional pinball as well. Mood swings are common now — it's perfectly normal to feel alternately elated and terrified about becoming a parent. Try to cut yourself some slack. Most women find that moodiness flares up at around six to ten weeks , eases up in the second trimester, and then reappears as pregnancy winds to a close.

Hi everyone! It's already 2009. Happy New Year to you! It's the first day of the year and I find myself blogging again after a rather long rest from blogging. The house is quiet and it's nice. I could smell something good coming from the kitchen (I wonder what's for breakfast). My hubby is still asleep while Zoe is with her yaya outside so I have the whole first floor to myself. I want sana to write a longer post but then I just realized now that, in a few hours, my relatives will be arriving again and I still haven't cooked a single thing for lunch! So maybe I'll just log in again later tonight when the party's done (oh well, if I'm not too tired). I still have a lot of stories and pictures to post! Meanwhile, I wish you all good health, happiness and love this new year and the years to come!

I just realized now that Christmas is soooo near and I haven't even gotten close to meditating about the birth of Our Lord and corresponding to His message for me this Christmas. Work is still busy and to top it all, all our evenings for the next few days are filled with parties and gatherings. I know that God wants me to slow down a bit and learn to LISTEN soon. Fiat , Lord. :-)

The topic of wanting to have more children and fecundity have been very much in the air these days, well, at least personally for me. I think it started during one afternoon when my husband and I were out in our mini-garden talking. Just next to our house, we saw the four cute grandchildren (all siblings) running around their grandparent's house and enjoying very much the company of each other. My husband and I realized how happy it would be to have a lot of kids (our own) running around our house. And then this week, I stumbled into this wonderful blog called Sonlight Garden . I then tell myself ~ here is a great example of a mom talking about motherhood, her children (6 kids and one in the oven!), husband, her faith, homeschooling, her garden and all of these don't seem to be in contrast with each other. In addition, I go to Mercatornet and chance upon their feature on big happy families. Finally, I see this one by Pope John Paul II (14 October 2000, A Message of Life and Ho...

Don't keep on talking about your health, your family name, your career, your work, or your next step... How annoying this can be! It would seem you have forgotten that you don't have anything, that everything is His. (The Forge, 1050). Enough said.

The holiday season is really near! So many last minute shopping going on to say the least. But we all know that the times are really hard and we need to save for the rainy days. That's why I've resolved to limit all the holiday spending and concentrate on the family's needs, not the wants. Hunny, if you're reading this --- I'm already contented with what I have now so don't go buying me any expensive gift for Christmas, alright? I-cash mo na lang. LOL!

Well, the past fews days have been a blur... I'm dealing now with some more important issues in my life that work and blogging, I guess, need to take a back-seat (eventhough there are still soooo many things to do, including unfinished opps). But this is only momentary because I'm sure God will show the way and bring back the old (happy and bloggy) me in no time. Anyway, looking at the brighter side of things, I'm glad to realize that it's already our Christmas bonus tomorrow and then I've been approved to go on a week-long leave next week. :-)

Boo Pooh!

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...

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...

Why am I so bubbly today? Well, I'll give you 5 reasons. 1. Today is the last day of September and September has been a great month! 2. Tomorrow is a holiday and I plan to spend it well with Zoe and hubby. 3. I had found a renewed sense of peace again -- after finding time to pray today. 4. I'm wearing my new blouse from Kamiseta (new clothes always makes me feel good!). 5. I have many things to be thankful for ---my work, my family, my friends, good health and food on the table. So smile and have a happy Tuesday!