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.

It's almost Christmas

And nothing like listening to Christmas songs while wrapping Christmas gifts can make you feel the spirit of the season.

My work desk - at home

I haven't been out to my "real" office this week - on my 4th day running.  So I thought I'd share what my work desk looks like at home.  It isn't much, but for some reason I very much rather like working at home more than I do at the office.  Although on hot summer days, I'd rather freeze at the office than fry in my own oil at home.  Anyway...

My very messy work desk at home

I've converted our old dining table into our work desk.  This is where the hubby also does his OT work or online "window" shopping :D  I do lots of things here, like work, blog, facebook, tweet, pay bills, online banking, skyping, scrapbooking, gift wrapping.  You name it, this table has seen it all.  And more, in fact :D

To my right is a window where some birds take refuge on rainy days.  To my left is the flight of stairs and where we also put the towels to dry - dual purpose.  In front of the desk is a small window and a blank wall.  I'm still thinking what to put against the wall.  I'm thinking bookshelves or paintings.  We'll see how this progress.

My trusty Blackberry and Ipod

I can't live without both.  I even sleep with them under my pillow.  I get in touch with people from work, the hubby, family and friends through my blackberry.  For me, BBM is LOVE :D  My Ipod gives me music (listening to Miss Saigon sound track at mo, and yes, I love musicals).  I'm a huge fan of Plants vs Zombies!  I play PvZ before going to sleep.  If I get stumped at an issue at work, I play PvZ to give me a short break.  I play it while waiting in line.  It's my daily doze of relaxation hehe



Blackberry earphones

 I need this for those quick calls with officemates or clients.  It works great as it takes out all the ambient noise and I get to hear clearly what the other person is saying in the other line.  And they won't know where I'm at!  Plus very convenient coz I'm hands free.

Landline with speaker phone

There are times when the wireless signal go haywire, like you know, last night, I have my speaker phone to use during conference calls.  The unit actually has a handphone, but for the life of me, I can't find it.  So all my landline calls are on speaker, even when I order our gas or set an appointment with our suking Spa LOL

External drives

Let's just say that I have lots of files, both work and not work related.  So I have lots of external drives.  There's even a red one, but it's plugged into our media drive downstairs.

I'm a fan of CD-R King

And because I have lots of stuff attached to my laptop, I need a USB port.  Hence the blue USB port from CD-R King.  And I when I need to upload pictures, I have the CD-R King card reader.  Both are really cheap and work well.  My card reader is already as old as my son and even survived about 2 other card readers.  My USB port is quite new, but so far, it's doing it's job really well.

Fan-ny han-ny

There's a small fan for my laptop.  And then a desk calendar, to keep me updated hehe!  And an well, an extension wire for the power cords.




To file and pay

 At the other end of the table, I keep the things to file, fill-out and pay.  I keep it in a separate corner where there's space for writing.

So, that's my work space.  What about yours?

To red or not to red

I'm not an expert in make-up, in fact, I don't do a lot of make-up.  I have to attend a close friend's wedding, so I had to practice putting on make up.  So I did a couple of experiments and had my boys judge.  Here's what I did:

The hubby thinks the pale pink is better.  He likes the natural look.  The little one loves the red.  Coz red is nice, right? LOL

So what do you think?

Small talk

While driving towards Laiya last Wednesday night with friends, they commented that I wouldn't last a minute without talking.  I really think that I would.  I mean, there would be moments when I'm with the hubby that we don't talk.  And not just when I don't "feel" talking to him, but those moments when we have coffee and just relax.  But then, my friends proved me wrong on that very night.  LOL.

Last night hubby and I were waiting for our take-away dinner.  We both just had our hair cuts.  And I was still mourning the loss of my long curly hair.  It was just getting too dry, so I had to chop off the dry roots. 
Anyway, the conversation went like this:

We converse in Bisaya so I've added the English transaction
Me: Ganahan ka sa akong mubong buhok? (Do you like my shorter hair?)

Hubby: Yes.
Me: Mas ganahan ka sa akong mubo or taas na buhok? (Do you like my shorter hair or my longer hair?)
Hubby: Mubo (Shorter hair)
Me: Mas ganahan ka sa akong mubo na straight or taas na kulot? (Do you like my shorter straight hair or my longer curly hair?)
Hubby: Mubo (Shorter hair)
Me: Dili diay ka ganahan sa akong kulot na buhok? (You don't like my curly hair?)
Hubby: Dili (No)
Me: Nganong ganahan man ka sa akong mubo nga straight hair? (Why do you like my shorter straight hair?)
Hubby:  Daghanang pangutana sa buhok oi! (Too many questions on hair!)
Me: hehehehe