Floored!

Been going through a rough time on the health front.  My Mom's specifically.  We're all scrambling to make sense out of all of the news.  My relatives have been our first allies.  I got a cousin who, without any prodding, went to be present at the test.  My Aunts and other cousins readily contributed when we said we'd have to raise funds - we didn't even have to ask.  They just gave.  Isn't that amazing?  Their hearts are just bursting with so much generosity.  That's what I love about our family, we are fiercely loyal.  And also fiercely tsismosa about each other's lives LOL.

Our little boy readily gave up his birthday plans, so he can give the money for his Lola.  I was the affected one, because I want to give him a great 7th birthday... but he happily gave it up.  I said we'll do a Jollibee birthday.  He said it's a waste of money.  He'll just have a playdate with friends

God is just an amazing God.  He's never put us down.  His love and mercy are endless.  When the news of what my Mom has first reached me, I couldn't contain my emotions.  I, myself, was in the hospital for a minor check-up the moment the results came out but I wasn't afraid for me, I was afraid what it meant for my family.  I desperately wanted to control my tears, but I couldn't.  First time I cried in an elevator ride.  First time I cried buckets at the hospital chapel.  I thought it was all hopeless and I didn't know how to pray so I just said that God will take care of it, He always has.  And He did, He still does. 

So today I heard wonderful news.  My Dad's health insurance will cover the very expensive procedure that my Mom needs ASAP.  We don't have worry about raising the funds.  We just have to think about Mama getting better.  It's an endless manifestation of God's goodness.  And I'm infinity grateful.  I'm totally floored!

But, I still love u!

I've been eyeing this Michael Kors bag since end of June.  Saw it from their main store in Greenbelt.  And again earlier today at a bazaar.  When I got home, I googled it and have been ogling it for the past couple of hours.

Why are you so pretty, you bag, you! This obsession has to stop.  I don't have the budget for a new bag.  Specially for a bag like you. 

But let it be known, that I still love you :P  So help me God. LOL

Trashy people

Last night, I went to the ATM.  As I got down the car,  this group of loud young men, probably, in their late teens/early tweenties arrived.  So they were in line first.  There were two machines and two lines, the first in the two machines were part of the group of young men.  Suddenly, when the other man moved to our line and stood in front of me.  I usually talk to those who go ahead of me who are not in line, but that night, I just let it go.

So he went ahead of me.  His friend before him left the receipt on the machine, this guy called his friend and just threw the paper on the floor.  I was a bit irritated already.  The trash bin was just right beside him.  But I just kept my mouth shut.  Then he proceeded to use the machine, got another receipt, crumpled it and threw on the floor again.  Now, I couldn't take it anymore.  I had to tell him, "Kuya, nasa tabi nyo lang ho yung basurahan" (Bro, the trash bin is just right beside you.).  He did say "Ay sorry po" (Oh, sorry).  But still didn't pick up the receipts.  When he was done at the machine, he left another receipt.  I simply put it in the trash bin.

Seriously, these people need to know to put their trash in the bins.  We have to be more responsible with our actions.  The world isn't going to clean itself up.  We humans throw trash like someone else is going to do it.  Honestly, it doesn't take much to pick up your trash and put it in the bin.  Let's just do it.

Public announcements

Laguna Governor's FB account

I remember when I was younger, we only had the AM radio to announce class suspensions.  Then in college, there's the TV and radio.  Now that I'm a Mom, aside from AM radio, TV announcements, we now have Twitter and Facebook.  The past two weeks, upon waking up, I check the two too.

PAGASA's Twitter account

And then I also check the Weather Channel for weather forecasts.  So I'll know what outfit to wear if I'm going out or going to the office.  Or whether I should go to the office at all.

The Weather Channel's awesome & accurate Ipad app

I used to say to my Mama, to listen to the radio to check if there are classes.

Now, my son tells me to check Twitter and FB to check if they have classes.

How the public announcements have changed.

Antonio, you didn't disappoint

The house specialty - Sizzling Bulalo and Bulalo soup on the side

On the day Typhoon Gener arrived, my family and I went to Tagaytay for lunch after Sunday mass.  I was hoping to use our Antonio's Breakfast voucher that I bought at Groupon.  But they were closed for a wedding reception.  And since it was pouring rain, we decided to go to Antonio's Grill instead.  The one near the Starbucks/Pancake house area.  The last time I was in Antonio's Grill was about 3 years ago.  And I remembered the food was awesome.

We wanted soup, because it was raining so hard and was quite chilly.  But then I remembered their Sizzling Bulalo.  However, if we get the Sizzling Bulalo, we won't have the soup.  Good thing the waiter offered to give us free Bulalo soup :)  So yes, Sizzling Bulalo it is, which was still yummy as I remembered it. 

The very yummy Ginataang Monggo

Then we got the Ginataang Monggo.  Monggo is one of my favorite beans.  And put in gata, it's so yummy!  It's the best Monggo I've ever had.

Inihaw na Liempo

  Then we got the Inihaw na Liempo.  It was nothing spectacular, but it wasn't bad either.

Turon with langka

 

For dessert, we got the Turon with Langka.  It was quite good.  Although because of the sugar syrup, it was a bit sweet for my Mama.

I was happy to know that Antonio's didn't disappoint after all these years.  Food was still awesome.  Service was fast and efficient.  We find that in some restaurants, after a few hit years, food and service decline.  But this is not so with Antonio's Grill.  Good job!  3 snaps for ya :D

Sit back and have a massage

After all the stresses of this week's habagat rains, we all need to sit back and relax.  Mr Sun finally came out Friday morning, but then it still rained in the afternoon.  For most of the offices on Tuesday and Wednesday, work was already suspended in Metro Manila.  But since we can work from home, we still had to "work" from home.  No work suspension whatsoever.

Work has still been full this week, so I was totally spent come Friday afternoon.  And as I was on a quick break in front of the tv, my son offered to massage my feet.  He saw that I was tired and I've been glued to my computer the whole day.  He's such as sweetie.... sometimes :D

Happy Friday folks!

Super Mario saves the day!

My boys with his favorites - Angry Birds, Mario & Luigi

Raining time again in our side of the planet.  It's been more than 10 days with non-stop raining, heaviest of which in the last 3 days.  It's no wonder that it's flooded all over the metro.  So it's quite difficult to go in to work, and harded to get out of work if you're already in.  A lot of people are homeless and hungry.  Relief efforts are in full swing, any help is welcome.

We've been praying for the safety of our kababayans for the past 4 days.  Classes have been suspended for 2 days already, same as last week's.  I appreciate that our governor has been top of the announcements, announcing them early, unlike other government officials.

Thankfully, our family is spared from the flooding.  But not from the rains.  I made sure that we have enough food supply for more than a week, drinking water as well.  All our emergency lights and phones are charged.  We have enough candles and matches too.  We don't have transistor radio though.  But at least we'll have twitter and facebook from our phones.  I'm truly touched too with family and friends who kept in touch and checked in on us.

Yesterday, we were all tuned in to the news and we're all vigilant, but not scared.  My little boy, provided us with a little comic relief.  During dinner, and after a lengthy discussion on why he should eat vegetables, he suddenly blurted out:

Little boy: "Mom, why don't have a nickname?" (technically he doesn't, we call him using his first name)

Me: "Why you want a nickname?"

Little boy: "Yes!" 

Me: "Ok, you choose your own nickname."

Little boy: (ponders for a few minutes) "Call me Mario!"  (he's a fan of Super Mario) 

Little boy: (after a few minutes) "No, call me Ogie!"  (of Ogie and the Cockroaches)

So yes, my son will now answer to the name of Ogie.  :D

Me, a juggler

My seatmate for two days

 It has been a rather busy weekend and week - in all fronts.  At home, we're changing our car and so I had to do multiple errands for it, like changing the speakers of the stereo, making sure the documents are all in order, this is on top of coordinating with the buyer.  Selling a valuable item is a lot of work, I tell ya!  Plus I got emotional about selling the car LOL  The other day, I thought I was driving it for one last time, I got teary eyed.  I know, I am mababaw ang luha :P

My folks were at home to visit.  I love having them here but they do demand a lot of my time and attention.  I do love having my Mama close by, she always has a story to tell.  And I've started to watch Walang Hanggan, a teleserye, because of her haha!

The little boy stayed home for 2 days because classes have been suspended due to the Typhoon Gener.  We were all holed up at home, except for the hubby of course.  When classes resumed, it did so with a bang.  They're in the tail-end of the first quarter with exams on August 13-17, this means quizzes everyday.  And he has Mandarin lessons too, which is alien to me.  Wish me luck with the tutorials!  Plus this school bus operator is irritating me.  Sadly I signed a 10 month contract with them, so it'll be difficult to pull out of it.  Hay.  We have to make it work!

While waiting for dear hubby

Work has rather been hectic lately as well.  I haven't had a day without conference calls or clients phoning me for questions.  Project, clean-ups, reports and client issues come up left and right, and right after another.  Sometimes I feel like my to-do list is endless.  I have notes, post-its and reminders all over the place.  Thank God I learned prioritizing :P

Thankfully, I am finding myself taking on each day, without much stress.  Emphasis on the MUCH.  There's still stress, but it's manageable. I sometimes don't finish my tasks, spilling over stuff to the next day, because well, there is always the next day :)  I don't over stress about unticked items in my list, like I used to before. 

I am thankful that I have a loving, although makulit, family.  I am thankful for a job that allows me to work from home, from the road, from the car shop, from my son's school, from practically anywhere.  I am thankful for the opportunities to learn more about life and  relationships.  And I am thankful for the ability to laugh at myself, with others, for others.  Juggling family and work, with everything in between, has never been easy.  But it's made easier with prayers, with a God who can always turn to for everything and anything.

Lady friends

I grew up knowing the 3 ladies in this picture - one is my Mama and her two closest friends since they were kids. They all saw each other from first grade, boyfriends, weddings, losing husbands, bad and good health - including the ups and downs in between.

Theirs has not been smooth sailing all the way. They had their little spats too, sometimes lasting a few months. But they all come back together. They are each others staunchest allies and worst critics. But they would never back out from each other.

They taught me this: friends make room for you to grow. And true friends allow you grow apart from them, but know when to reel you back in.

Fifty + +

Heard about the book Fifty Shades of Grey from my bestie.  She still lives in Cagayan de Oro and comes to Manila once in a while, and when she does, we always make it a point to catch up.  And one of our favorite topics is books, specifically, what we were each reading.  She has the most interesting reading list even way back in High School - from science fiction, fantasy stuff and thrillers.  I was more into love stories (Sweet Dreams), then adult love stories.  It was only in college that I started reading into science fiction, fantasy, action books.  But I still read a lot of chick lits to satisfy my chick soul. :D

She introduced me to Fifty Shades of Grey.  Googled the book the minute I got home.  Found a lot of people blogging, tweeting and talking about it.  So I downloaded the trilogy that very same night, and I've been shackled since the flipped on the first page :P

Christian Grey is so easy to like and then love haha!  Of course it turned out to be a love story, but a cute one nonetheless.  My college friend calls it Mommy-porn, which I must agree that it is.  I'm not the only one who's enjoyed it too.  The hubby has been very happy since I've read the books haha

There are talks of a movie in the making.  I'm sure the movie's going to be changed coz if they follow the books up to the very minute details, it's going to be edited a lot.  And I saw somewhere in twitter that it's going to be Matt Bomer of the White Collar fame to play Christian Grey.  I think he can totally pull if off too.  Although in my head, I somehow imagined Christian Grey as Ian Somelholder or Ryan Gosling.

Laters, baby :D

Bare skin

My personal skin essentials

Because it's been raining for days in our side of the world, let me share with you my skin care regimen. Haha! I know there's no clear connection with rain and skin care, but what the heck, right? LOL

When I was in high school, most of my friends were battling with pimples or acne. I never did have any pimples, which at that time, I felt so lucky. I was already in college that I realized I had dry skin. After I washed my face, it became so tight that it burns. So I started using moisturizer, my first was Neutrogena.

I was never the face powder or make-up girl. I only started wearing face powder and lip gloss when I started working. And those two are still my only daily regimen, sometimes I even forget to wear face powder haha!

But I never forget to take care of my skin. I only use Cetaphil for daily wash. I alternate with a hydrating facial scrub from Celeteque. I also used Human <3 a="a" after="after" amazing="amazing" an="an" and="and" been="been" cheaper="cheaper" cosmetics="cosmetics" coz="coz" dry="dry" for="for" from="from" go="go" hoard="hoard" hongkong.="hongkong." hydrating="hydrating" i="i" in="in" it="it" just="just" ladies="ladies" light="light" moistrurize.="moistrurize." mostly="mostly" my="my" nature.="nature." never="never" olay="olay" p="p" re="re" reason="reason" s="s" sasa="sasa" skin.="skin." skin="skin" so="so" some="some" store="store" there.="there." these="these" they="they" toners="toners" up="up" used="used" user="user" usually="usually" ve="ve" washes.="washes." washing="washing" with="with" years.="years.">
Wash, moistrurise - that's all I do. Oh, and put on face powder if I don't forget LOL!

Whirlwind week and weekend

Last week was quite heavy for me.  My Mama was rushed to the hospital Wednesday, her 3rd hospitalization this year.  I had to hurriedly get tickets home and be with my her.  Thankfully she felt better and was discharged last Saturday. 

But she needs to get heart tests - the Holter test and an Angiogram too.  I had to stay in Cagayan de Oro until yesterday to be with Mama for the Holter test.  We'll have to canvass for the Angiogram first since it's a bit pricey in Cagayan de Oro.

I'm the eldest of 3 girls and my sisters still don't know how to handle these kinds of situations.  And my Papa is an OFW and this time, he's out of the country.  The first two hospitalizations, he was home so I didn't have to fly to CdO.

It's hard to leave my little one and hubby home.  My little one has school, he has homework that we have to do and other little things.  Although the hubby is quite great with studying and doing homework with the little boy, thank God.  But it's still different when I'm there with the little one. 

When I left Cagayan de Oro yesterday, I felt sad leaving Mama behind.  Mostly because I also saw she was struggling to hold back her tears.  But also because I worry about her - how she'll be with an empty house while my sisters are out, Papa away and me and my family here.

At the same time, I so wanted to go home and be with my own family.  I can't wait for the little boy's stories about school, his friends and what he's been doing while I was away.  And I can't wait to be with hubby, just spending time and talking. 

C'est la vie!

Of crowns and dragons

I'm a Queen, not a Princess.

Loved Game of Thrones Season 1 from the first season.  No, make that, LOVE Game of Thrones.  Watched Season 1 in a span of 2 days, almost non-stop, except to eat, toilet breaks and sleep.  I hated when they killed Eddard.  My favorite characters are Eddard and  Jon Snow in Season 1.

Reading list in iBooks

While waiting for Season 2, I started reading the book.  And then book 2 - A Clash of Kings and book 3 - A Storm of Swords.  After a long wait, finally, Season 2 started.  I was reading A Storm of Swords already while watching for Season 2.  So there would be instances when I get confused - like I wasn't sure if I read the scene or watched it LOL  Enjoyed Season 2's ending.  And my favorites are Sam, Brienne, Arya and Daeny.

I'm now reading book 4 - A Feast for Crows.  And playing DragonVale while waiting for Season 3.  I'm a new dragon lover.  I wanna have this adorable little figurine I saw at a store :)  Too cute!

I want.  Perfect for my desk.

Learning a new language - the new way

My little one's enrolled in a Catholic Chinese school and he's learning Mandarin now.  We (yes, we, because it's a family effort) are having fun learning new words of a new language.  Although I think he's better at learning the language than I - his enunciation and pronunciation are so much better.  Hubby and I don't have a drop of Chinese blood, so this isn't easy for us.  Thankfully, there's youtube!  I don't know what we'd do without it, probably buy VCDs or DVDs or cassette tapes even (yes, 80s ito! haha).  So, yes, thank you youtube, you're saving us tutor money :D

Deafening

Hanging out with my bugoy :)

Hubs is sick and I'm working from home but the little one is at school.  The school boy is at school from 6:30am to 3pm.  It's so quiet at home.  We're not used to this kind of silence. 

No one bugs me with "May I" questions.  No one comes and squeezes himself between my chair and the laptop and asks "May I play in your computer?".  No one tells me that lunch is ready.  No one complains that he doesn't want to take a nap, and then promptly falls asleep.  No one takes long baths, turning the bathroom into a wet big room.  No one watches basketball or cartoons on TV.

So yeah, I miss him. A lot.  I can't wait for 3pm.

So apparently....

Cibo dinner: tomato soup, spinach with bread and salmon with caviar pizza

.... at 34, I learned I'm allergic to dust, pollen and well, rain haha
.... bcoz of which, I can't eat a lot of food - allergens mainly: nuts, junk food, spicy food.  And others I didn't care to remember LOL
.... so what's up with ladies, it-bags and living the high life?  Read here. I'm a self-confessed bag addict, but I only buy bags I can afford (euphemism for SALE! LOL).  And even when they're on sale, I still have a price ceiling.  It's hard earned money, I refuse to just spend it on one thing.
.... speaking of addiction, I now find myself starting to like shoes as well. OH NO - says the Hubby :P
.... the picture was taken last Monday night.  I met up with my UP college girls for dinner and tea.  Yes, we're soshal like dut haha
.... so nice to spend time with my girls.  It's so comfy and cozy, it's like wearing your old PJs to sleep.  Yes, the butas-butas and threadbare one :) 
..... Don't you just love gurlfriends? They're one of the best things in life.  Next to, well, sleeping in your old PJs :D

A day in my old playground

I had to work overnight on Friday so I decided to stay over in a Makati hotel for that night.  I didn't want to sleep alone so I asked my boys to accompany me.  Gladly, since it involved a hotel stay, they obliged :)


Surrending to a whole day of mall fun



The next Saturday, we spent the entire day at Greenbelt.  It was an easy breezy day. Well, it wasn't exactly breezy as it was rainy.  Anyhoo, I've mentioned somewhere before that we don't normally spend weekends at the mall.  So this was a treat for all of us.  We tried to get tickets to the Amazing Spiderman in Greenbelt 3, but all we're fully booked up to the last show.  The little one really couldn't wait to watch it, so we tried at Greenbelt 1 and fortunately they still had seats.  We got Wendy's burgers for lunch inside the movie house. 

Spiderman was good :)  I loved Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield together.  Although it had few action scenes and was a bit on the emo side, as the Hubby said, I still loved it. LOL!  Maybe bcoz it was on the emo side that's why I loved it HA!

After the movie, we then went around the mall where most of the shops were on sale.  I went to Mango but my boys got bored, so I didn't have time to really check out the stuff.  But we got a pair of shorts for the little one at F&X, which is also a Bench company hence points with my Bench card.  Yay! haha



An old favorite of mine and the little one loved the hummus with the pita bread! :)



Turkish salad at Cafe Med - tomatoes, while cheese and olive oil.  Yum!

We then had late merienda at one of my mine and Hubby's fav - Cafe Med.  We had the hummus, Turkish Salad and the Chicken Kebab.  Although I totally forgot to take a pic of the Kebab as I was too busy stuffing myself with food :D 

Staycation at B Hotel

I and the little one enjoying our day "out", rather "in"

Last weekend, tired from well, life in general and work in particular, Hubby suddenly surprised me with a proposal to stay at a hotel. We initially planned for Tagaytay. Coz really, who can ever be wrong with Tagaytay. But I couldn't get a reservation at Taal Vista.

So I searched for hotels in nearby Alabang and found one - B Hotel. It's also owned and operated by the same group at Bellevue. And surprise, they had a rainy day promo. For just P4k, you get a standard room and P5.5k (thereabout), you get a pent house. Difference between the two aside from size is a tub. So we went with the pent house. And oh it was lovely! The place was large, clean, new and smelled heavenly. The bed was large, more than enough room for two adults and a little rascal.

He had two of these lovely bubble baths during our stay

We stayed in the whole weekend. Just relaxing, watching tv - which they had 2, one for the common area and one in the bedroom. We had dinner delivered, coz we were really into staying in. The next day, we slept in and only woke in time for the buffet breakfast. The breakfast food though wasn't spectacular as I expected. Although the champorado was heavenly.

It was an awesome vacation, all in all. It also boils down to the people you're with. And well, the hotel you stay at too.

Yay for this weekend's pure, unadulterated R&R!

Finally spending time out with my boys for some long overdue R&R.  It's rather been a hectic month and before I dive into the frenzy again next week, we're headed out to spend a night out of the house.  But first we have to attend a children's party - we've actually been invited to 2, but don't think we can still make it to the second one.  We'll just pop by at the 2nd party and drop our gifts (yes, gifts, since it's a joint celebration).

Yay for all of spontaneous weekend plans and more Yay for end of summer hotel promos :D  Happy weekend folks!

Green love

The past summer, I've been growing my modest herb garden. We don't have a big yard and the soil isn't good for plants.  So I had to do a choose the plants I want to grow and also buy garden soil.

There's my Basil, Celery, Taragon (herbs), Sampaguita and Pink Roses

Our very small front yard.  I fancy myself a gardener LOL

Tools of the trade - gloves and clippers

New buds - Taragon, Roses, Lemon Grass and Citronella

I'm still growing my garden and I've added Lemon Grass (Tanlad in Bisaya), Citronella to keep the mosquittos away, Bell Peppers, Calamnsi and a couple more flowering plants.  I'm a little bit proud of what I've been able to do.  I grew up with professional agriculturists - my Mama and my Uncle - so I thought I'd have this easy, but gardening is hard! It's labor intensive and sometimes frustrating too, especially when your small buds suddenly die.  The insects can be quite harsh as well.  In our area, red fire ants are abundant and they even got to my Bell Pepper before I did.  Kainez! LOL

But it's also fun and a great stress reliever :)  Who knew that this girl who always tried to skip gardening in grade school would be growing a garden, eh? LOL

From Cartoon Network to Basketball

As summer rolled in, we enrolled our little boy for a summer basketball clinic.  It's not a school based program but it's being done in my son's previous school.  Their program combines basic basketball skills thru drills and application of the skills thru a real game, they even had a tournament half way through the clinic.

He's one of the youngest in the clinic, and one of the most involved.  If before the clinic, he liked basketball, right now, he's crazy about basketball.  Crazy enough that he no longer watches as much Cartoon Network, but shifts to NBA :D

The little boy isn't the best of the players... yet :P But he's learned a lot and he's become more active.  He's made new friends and basketball has taught him teamwork, discipline and following rules.  I'm sure this won't be the last summer clinic he'll join, in fact, he's interested to join throughout the school year.  I'm a bit hesitant though since he'll be starting in a new school and he'll be Grade 1.  We can look it up again next summer.

Best Ice Cream Bar EVAH!

While waiting for my little boy's summer Math lessons, I browsed inside a small Korean store in the building.  I found this ice cream bar.  It looked interesting and it's only for P25, so I got one.  And boy, did I not regret unwrapping it!  It was so good!  Probably the best ice cream bar I've had.  It was creamy and tasteful, but not too sweet.  I can't do sweet much as I'm diabetic.

Another movie to watch in the cimena - The Bourne Legacy :)

Call Me Maybe - More Fun in the Philippines! INDEED!

Empty Nest?

School's about to start in our side of the world. My son will be in grade 1 in a week. And he will be having lunch at school, every weekday. That's five days a week. For the next 12 years. Whoa!

I'm beginning to feel a bit sad about this not-eating-lunch-at-home set-up. I've arranged to work as much as I can at home and have been used to eating lunch with my boy. But now that he's not going to have lunch at home, should I still work from home?

Looks like mommy's having a separation anxiety. While my little one was so excited yesterday when we toured his new school and he saw his cafeteria. He asked if he can carry his tray and if he can eat with classmates.

I know, I've got to let go. But not yet. Not until summer is really over and he starts back at school. And that's still 10 days away.

Where is home?

The little boy with his Lolo - playing with Ada, my parents' black lab

I went home to Cagayan de Oro last weekend and came back with my Mama.  She stayed with us for 5 days.  It felt good to have my Mama here, we talked non-stop for days.  I brought her to church.  She went with me when I picked up my little boy and my hubby.  She went with us to shop for grocery, ate dinner somewhere and we watched TV together.

Both hubby and I are from Cagayan de Oro.  We're both strangers here in Laguna.  I came to Manila when I studied in UP, back in 1994.  So I've been here in Luzon for 18 years.  My hubby came here after he graduated from Engineering school in 1998, so he's been here for 14 years.  But we always consider Cagayan de Oro as home.  When we plan to go "home" for a vacation, we mean Cagayan de Oro.  In fact, we do plan to go "home" when we're retired.

Lately whenever we (my hubby, I and our little tyke) go home or have family come visit, I've always wondered what it would be like to move back to Cagayan de Oro and be near family.  Be with people who have known you since you were a kid.  Be with people you can just call out to whenever you need something.  What would it be like?  Would it be so comfortable?  Would being with and in the familiar, be relaxing?


I so envy those who have their families within driving distance.  I also want to be able to just drive to my parents' house, and find them home.  I so want to call my sisters, and we could go to the mall or get frozen yogurt.  I so want to text my cousins to meet up for coffee or tea.  I'd so like to see my son so excited for weekends, so he can swim non-stop with his cousins while my hubby bonds with his brothers, and I catch-up with my sisters-in-law.  I'd so like to go grocery shopping with my Papa, coz he buys the biggest can of milk haha

But we can't.  They're there and we're here.  We make do with a few days a year of being together, like how families should be.  And we try to make the most of it.  We'd bunched up all the activities - talking, eating, swimming, playing, drinking, and yes, sometimes, arguing - in a few days a year.

After we dropped off Mama at the airport earlier, I still wonder.  And I guess I'll always wonder, what would it be like if we all moved back to Cagayan de Oro?

After Ash

As it was Ash Wednesday yesterday, and like most Catholic Filipinos, I went to hear mass.  I was with my lonesome self as the Hubs already had mass at work and the little one had "black cross on my head" given by the "Sister" at school.  My little one goes to a Catholic school run by Nuns, you see. 

We usually go hear mass at the St. Benedict Church right outside Ayala Westgrove.  It is a little farther from our home, but I just love it there, the church design is minimalist, it's so clean and airy.  Plus the crowd is thin and homilies are, well, relevant. 

Key take aways this Lent:
1. Pray
2. Give Alms
3. Fast

Aptly timed, yesterday, on my way to work (yes, yes, I do physically go to our office LOL), I saw a couple of backpackers (foreigners) on the corner of Ayala and Buendia Avenues.  They were speaking to street kids and then gave them food.  I was about two cars away, so I was able to take a picture.  Right there, giving alms, in the middle of a concrete jungle.



Thank you kind couple, for visiting our country and for feeding our street kids!



Why?

Practicing to write

When I was a kid, whatever my Mom told me, I'd follow.  Like my Mom said not to stay out after 6pm.  So I always ran home before it was 6, even when my playmates were still outside, well, playing.  Or when my Mom said not to bike outside the house, so I biked around our garage instead even when I got so dizzy turning in circles LOL

Experts say that we have to keep a set of rules for kids to follow.  Kids follow structure.  So I set rules for our little boy to follow, some rules were handed down to me, some new.  One particular rule I inherited and my little is having a hard time following is not to stay out after 6pm.  Whenever I asked my little to come inside before it's 6, he would always ask why.  And every single time, I answer the same thing.  What I don't get is that, he always asks "Why" and I say the exact same thing. 

When I was his age, I never asked, I just followed the rules.  But this little boy, he asks.  Always.  Like why he needed to eat vegetables, why he is allowed to eat only half of the donut, why he can't drink Coke, why he needs to practice writing, why he's not allowed to watch Willy's noon time show.  Endless whys.  Sometimes I get tired answering and I take out the "Because I say so" card.  You'd think the questions stop, but they keep on coming LOL

I'm not sure if I like answering the why's, coz really, it gets tiring.  But I let him ask and sometimes I shot it back to him and ask "Why do you think?".  It keeps him curious, makes him question and learn things.  It exercises my mind and his too. 

Maybe I should record myself when I answer him why he needs to go inside the house before 6.  So the next time he asks, I'll just play it for him :D

Sharing a wonderful video - of Moms and kids

Drove me to tears.  Cherish every moment.