A Walk Through Life

finding humor even in difficult times

2010-03-09T09:36:00.016+08:00

Here's another entry from mom's journal of happy moments. I don't know why she found this one funny. Well, back then, she always finds the humor in everything; even in difficult times. Read on below if you want to know the details.

Back To The Original

My eldest daughter, a high school graduating student wanted a new pair of shoes. Our remaining budget could not afford to buy her one, except when she has to wait for the next payday.

She has caused me confusion when she, on tantrums, demanded immediate replacement when she kicked the worn-out shoe in front of the T.V. set where we were viewing at the time of her need.

I really noticed when she kicked them off the floor that there are holes on the soles.

I was compelled to do some immediate action. I got the well-treasured cream-colored shoes from among my favorite shoes and went to the shoemaker. I instructed him to dye the pair of shoes to black so it can be used by my daughter for her school uniform. According to her, the school guard won't let them in if they won't wear black shoes along with their school uniform. I had it double-stitched so it can last longer.

When I arrived home to surprise her of my ingenuity, I was more surprised when she said she can't use them without her classmates (most of them, a well-to-do) knowing they were only dyed.

I was more perplexed when my husband gave me money to give to the shoemaker to have it returned to its original color!

- Lifted from Mommy Diana's Journal of Happy Moments

Honestly, when I think about it now, I felt so ashamed of myself because, in a way, I gave my mom a hard time as a housewife and mother. Now that I have just began my life as a mother, this made me recall the pain that she must have felt in the past--the limitations that prevented her to provide for the needs of all her children. Come to think of it, they were only material needs and they were less important; so I'm still very proud of her--even when she graduated Cum Laude back in college, she chose to be a good housewife and mother.

Sorry if I have to re-use this photo from one of my older posts again. This is the only scanned picture that I have with me back in high school. I guess this was during my freshman years.

Music Monday - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

2010-03-08T15:44:00.007+08:00

This is my first time to join Music Monday. I thought it would be nice to greet the week with a beautiful song, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, originally from Starship but I think the band did the MYMP version in this video (from our October 2007 wedding). This was played and sang during our wedding dance.

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now lyrics

Looking in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I found is too good to be true
Standing here beside you, want so much to give you
This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you

Let 'em say we're crazy, don't care 'bout that
Put your hand in my hand baby, don't ever look back
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now
Woh woh oh

I'm so glad I found you, I'm not gonna lose you
Whatever it takes, I will stay here with you
Take it to the good times, see it through the bad times
Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do

Let 'em say we're crazy, what do they know
Put your arms around me baby, don't ever let go
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart

And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us

Ooh, all that I need is you
All that I ever need
And all that I want to do
Is hold you forever, forever and ever

And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us
Woh oh oh-oh-oh
Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now
Hey baby

And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever
Nothing's gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other
Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

is it okay for a woman to tell a guy that she likes him?

2010-03-05T16:01:00.037+08:00

Is it okay for a woman to tell a guy that she likes him? This was a question raised by a friend of mine and she posted it on her wall at a social networking site. I find it interesting to write down my thoughts about it and see if my thoughts make any sense to me and people.

Here's what I am thinking at the moment, and by the way, the question applies only to single, free and available people... I believe it's all about culture. If our culture tells us that it is inappropriate for a girl to make the first move or to suggest anything, then a girl is left to suppress her feelings for a guy. This was the culture that I was brought up with; although there were times before that I was left thinking if I would have felt better about myself if I allowed myself to be more open about my feelings. I guess it worked better for me that I didn't because my feelings cannot be trusted at that time yet because they're still unstable. With other countries, though, they say it is even okay to ask the guy for a date. And girls are not even offended if they are rejected.

Well, anyway, our ability to handle ourselves with men around would somehow change as we grow mature.

When we like someone, we can still show the person that we do and can somehow drop a hint that we look forward to getting to know him better.

I am not a relationships guru but here are my ideas on how we can let a person know that we like him and/or how to get a guy to get to know you better:

1. Look at the person in the eye when you talk and show some sincerity.

2. Be interesting, just as you are. You don't have to act differently. Just try to repackage yourself. I can explain it better this way – If you are going to present a video that the person has not seen yet, he would be skeptical if that video is a good one. So, what do you do? Choose a good 'thumbnail' for that video. Something that you think might catch the person's attention. Highlight the interesting part first but remember not to give everything – just the thumbnail so the person will have to go watch the video until he finishes the full version. Does it make any sense?

3. Invite the person along with your other sets of friends for some peer activity that will allow both of you to get to know each other. Just do some wholesome fun. Don't think about anything that has to do with wine and getting drunk. They're not going to do both of you any good.

4. Try to be the person with no hang-ups. Even though misery loves company, you don't want to end up miserable with a miserable person. Be the positive person (speak to people, smile at people... blah blah blah) that you would like to be.

5. Don't be someone too intimidating for a guy. Don't give a wrong impression that you're too beautiful to be dating anyone.

Is there anything that I'm missing here? Feel free to comment. :-)

turning japanese or chinese?

2010-03-04T15:45:00.005+08:00

Just found ourselves another hobby - caring for bonsais!

Even though they say that "money does not really grow on trees", we are happy to have received this little plant (from Stephen's uncle) that's been made to grow on a rock - it's called a Money Tree! Hmmm, we're not Chinese and I'm not really into feng shui but they say it's going to bring us luck. As if we're not lucky yet!

Anyway, we're just happy to be proud caretakers of this Money tree bonsai. It doesn't look like a bonsai yet but soon it will become a beautiful bonsai, hopefully.

They say that the best thing about caring for a bonsai is that it really won't need so much care and attention. Although, we had a bonsai before, I named her 'periwinkle' but because of too much heat, she didn't survive. This time, we're going to take care of our bonsais. Yes, we were given two. We'll call our money tree 'Pachira' (taken from its scientific name). The other bonsai is bigger - uncle said it is called a Pycos tree but I don't know its scientific name, so we'll just get settled with the name 'Pycos'.

Meet Pachira!

Meet Pycos!

From time to time, I'll be reading some references on the web on how to care for bonsai.

My thoughts on death and that sad feeling of loss

2010-03-02T19:58:00.008+08:00

Photo Source: Internet

What is it about death that we don't really want to talk about it? Death is a reality that can come to us at anytime but why are we sometimes so unwelcoming when we talk about it? In fact, I have been thinking about my previous post about death almost two years ago with a brave title that goes – Are you prepared to die? In all fairness, it was a post for All Soul's Day, so I was thinking maybe everybody had been very busy at that time to ever think about sharing their thoughts or comments or perhaps maybe my post just wasn't interesting enough.

The reality of death can really be a scary thing. We don't know when or how we are going to die. We also cry when someone we love dies. We cry because we associate death to losing someone or missing someone. Never did we think about our dead if they have felt any regrets for leaving this world.

Last week, we were told about a death of hubby's distant relative who once had the chance to come over to the house when hubby's grandmother came by for a short visit. Grandmother told us that a week before this distant relative died, she had been hinting about her death - like wanting to have all her laundry done that week because she wants everything else clean for some reason and wanting to pay the debt that she owed to a fish vendor because she said she does not want her soul to be bothered by any unpaid debts when she leaves this world. Hubby's grandmother said that she wouldn't have died if someone stopped her from hinting about her death. But for me, I believe that when it is time to go, it is time to go. What do you think?

You must be wondering why I am writing about death today. I was just sad to know that a high school friend's dad passed away. I know what it's like to have lost someone we love and it's a very, very sad feeling of loss – like something, that feeling of happiness, has just been emptied out from yourself that you really can't explain. I do not know how to comfort her because I myself felt sad about it. What is it about death that we aren't usually prepared to accept it, especially when it happens to someone we care about and love?

would you care about what others think of you?

2010-03-01T11:12:00.019+08:00

Have you ever been in a situation where others perceive a negative image of you - sometimes to the point of being hurt and almost losing your self-esteem in the process? When I was still working in an office setting, I had my share of office politics. Back then, I used to be team leader before I decided to step down because I wanted to be free from stress to finally have Dipdip in my life. It's not like I was handling a really big team but I can definitely say that it was a team that was quite a challenge to one's leadership skills, especially when you are just starting.

Well, I guess you could blame it on me because I used to be just the funny officemate and friend until I became appointed as part of the management team, although it wasn't really big time. Naturally, I was like being torn between being a funny friend who can overlook a lot of things and an effective leader at that. It was stressful for me then especially when you are handling some members who believe they can do better than you do for a lot of reasons. Every quarter, I would get below-the-belt comments from some members (trust me, they were really below-the-belt), although some of them were valid feedbacks that I needed to work on to become a better leader. Even though the names were not divulged for members to freely give their feedback online, I knew for certain who wrote those feedbacks. Why? Because I know their manner and style of writing to the point that I could put faces and names to those statements.

Today, I am happy I didn't have to go through all of that anymore. But to those who have felt the same way that I did in the past, don't be affected by negative comments around you. Just do what you have to do.

I am now leaving you with the words of wisdom I got from my ex-supervisor slash mentor slash friend. I did not lose this one because I believe this has really helped me become a better person and leader.

Just remember these facts, Jo, and I know the "hurt" you are feeling now, will become healed by wisdom, patience and understanding:

1. Most of the people who are giving bad feedback in a destructive way are those who are hurting. They have low morale themselves--they are disappointed (not necessarily because of you but by circumstances and individual stages in their personal lives); most are desperate and most of them lack enough wisdom themselves and so you cannot really expect from them to express out good judgement about you.

2. Below-the-belt feedback are coming out from people who intend to make use of the opportunity as a means to get even with you. They might have had encountered a bitter experience in the past related to their work and subconsciously even, they wanted to strike you out to make upper management aware about negative things about you.

3. Some people are not really gifted to have tact. Tact is sometimes like a "gift of gab". As I'm sure you already know, it is the ability to express a point without making an enemy. They don't know how to express something negative in a nice way.

4. All persons have their blind spots. I mean all of us cannot really see our own mistakes and pitfalls. It is but normal for us to be hurt when we are being told of something we don't consider as true.

5. The most important is that Leadership is one of the hardest roles in life, whether you are the president of the country, the judge in a courtroom, the 'mayordoma' of among the servants of a wealthy household..etc. You have to be the "humblest", have the widest emotional arena within your heart to accept your mistakes and to love the unlovable subordinates; the one to stand on your principles no matter what other people say, your confidence should not come from yourself but from your Creator - because it is hard to feel confident if you would depend on how other people would look at you. Your confidence to lead effectively should come from your relationship with God, because it is what matters most. Never perceive yourself as how others perceive you..but stand on the right principles you have.

my sunshine bloggers

2010-02-28T15:51:00.006+08:00

I believe this year is the best year for my walk through life blog because of the awards I've received this February -- The Beautiful Blogger Award about not so long ago and then now the Sunshine Award!

Thank you to the twitterer for giving me this award. Actually, I'm a recipient of two awards from her but since I've already done giving awards to beautiful bloggers, it will be a great way to end the month of February by giving this Sunshine Award to the following:

My Sweet Haven - you definitely deserve this award 'net because you're a great friend, you always find my jokes funny, you're Dipdip's "volunteer" ninang because you have lavished her with gifts hehehe, and I'm greatly touched to see you consistently being one of my top Entrecard droppers!

Sprite 24.7 - What can I say? Ever since I met her (thanks to this blogging world), she's been nothing but a really really really good friend. She's been a great blogging buddy (and even more than that) all throughout my pregnancy and even up to now. And she makes me feel good about myself! Bchai, even though we've never really met personally, I appreciate the friendship that I found in you.

The Writings of an Introvert - Marie, you've been a great friend to me ever since I can't remember when. I don't know how our personalities have jived but you're definitely one of the few list of friends and ku-maries I'd like to keep forever. So, even though you don't do awards (I know you're busy), I'd like to give you this award. Sincerely from my heart.

Shanix - Shanix, just like bchai you've been a great blogging buddy all throughout my pregnancy. Somehow, what started the real connection between us is distance and this whole motherhood and being-a-wife thing. You've been my officemate and friend for years but we haven't really gotten this much closer, right? I was deeply touched when you said you want to make our being "kumares" official by making me Blanche's ninang. Thanks, Shanix!

C'est la Vie - Vannex, you have been a great friend to me since we met in college. Even though we haven't really ahd the chance to meet again after such a longggg time, I know we can still catch up on each other. This is why you deserve this award.

Veni ... vidi.. vici - Master Pearl, you know I've always admired your being such a sweet, cheerful, super nice, intelligent, witty person. I will always have fond thoughts of you. Your Holy Bible is with me and thank you for letting me have it.

Memories As A Mom - Andrea, I have a lot to know about you yet but I believe you deserve this award because you are definitely one of those cool-headed moms I know in this blogging world.

Oh, I'll just do 7 awards for now. My lucky 7. Thank you for bringing sunshine into my life, guys!

In case you'd like to do this award, the rules are simple:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post;
2. Pass the award onto 12 bloggers;
3. Link the nominees within your post;
4. Let the nominees know they have won the award by commenting on their blog;
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

my baby at eleven months

2010-02-26T21:10:00.008+08:00

My walk through life blog presents...

Dipdip at eleven months old! This only means one thing -- One more month and she'll turn a year old! :-)

Yes, she just turned eleven months and she's such a talker! Only that the right words won't come out from her mouth just yet.

Watch this video only if you want to see it. Thanks! :-)

a cheap ink for a printer

2010-02-26T00:31:00.000+08:00

Do you own a printer that always runs out of ink? Are your children always complaining because they can’t print important pages for their projects just when they would need it for the week’s submission? Why, what’s up with that inkless printer? Why do you own a branded printer but can’t afford to buy that most coveted ink? Surely your printer now is lying there useless and abandoned because you didn’t buy it new ink. You say you would just wait until your next month’s salary comes so you can buy the ink for the printer without messing on your budget. Wow, so that’s how expensive your ink is? I tell you, we all need to be practical. So, don’t go for that expensive stuff anymore. Why be so lavish about an ink when you can buy cheap ink? With a cheap ink, your need to print a lot of pages will no longer be put on hold. You don’t worry now about your children being late on their projects again because they won’t be, ever. You don’t worry about printing your own self-made greeting cards. So, what are you waiting for? You better shop for it now. Choose the right ink that’s compatible to your printer and inquire about free shipping.

fascinated with words!

2010-02-26T00:15:00.006+08:00

It is still February, right? I figured you want another dose of happy moments from mom's journal...

During one of our home parties given in favor of my brother who has just arrived from his singing stint abroad, he had 2 of his closest friends (Bebe and Roque) to stay up late for a very interesting discussion - a topic about linguistics applied to different countries.

Manny, my brother said that in Japan, it was very hard to apply what you can easily learn in English.

"In English language," he said, "we can use terms to substitute the words we mean to say. Synonyms, in short."

"Yes, it's true!" the younger visitor of the two, nicknamed Bebe, said. "Just like for example when we say "like". It's like "love" and there's another term for that. There are many substitutes you know... it is...." he forgot and asked Roque about it.

Roque mentioned many synonymous words yet they haven't agreed because the younger said, "it's just at the tip of his tongue!"

Finally, the discussion was over for it was already very late in the evening. In fact, they're the only ones left even after the informal party was over.

Manny had gone back abroad for another singing engagement.

During the fiesta of the community, Roque assisted the basketball game as announcer. He noticed Bebe signalling him to come down from the announcer's booth. He gave a sign language that Bebe should wait. But Bebe kept waving for him to come down. Roque excused himself and went straight to him who was standing near the audience at the basketball court.

"Yes?" Roque demanded "What is it?"

"I remember now, the other term for "like" which we discussed last time!" he said enthusiastically.

"Whattt!!! That was such a long time already, okay, what is it?" Roque was a little bit interested than annoyed.

"FASCINATION!" he proudly answered.

- Lifted from Mommy Diana's Journal of Happy Moments

Hahaha I thought it'd be much funnier if he had called Tito Manny, mom's brother, via long distance just to let him know what was at the tip of his tongue.... Hmmmm FASCINATION, is it?

my tito Manny, right here! :-)

Now, friends, just by reading this post, you've learned synonyms! Please don't let that stick right at the tip of your tongue! LOL

on cars and car maintenance

2010-02-25T16:41:00.006+08:00

The next paragraphs you will read below are my husband's thoughts about cars and car maintenance. I am just his secretary for now. And he is guesting on my blog! :-)

In the past, owning a car was considered a luxury, but today it becomes a necessity especially if you're living in urban areas. Commuting in a public transportation can either get you fired or deny you to get that elusive promotion because of tardiness. Therefore, owning a car is a must to get to your workplace on time.

A car provides us comfort and independence to get to the place we want. This is why it's very important to have it regularly maintained by trusted car maintenance shops. If you're in Dallas, for example, there are plenty of Dallas auto repair shops that can help your car engine to give its best performance. Aside from giving the car's engine maintenance care, we must not forget that power without control is dangerous. I'm referring to your car brakes. You don't want your car to experience sudden acceleration. And you don't want to drive with brakes not working properly. Better safe than sorry - have that brake job done now!

If you're no longer happy with maintaining your old car because it is draining your pocket with all of its maintenance cost, you can look for a replacement - one that can provide the comfort and features that you need. Do your research on the internet or you can read the reviews about Chevrolet Silverado. Who knows this Chevy might suit your style.

on gaining weight after giving birth

2010-02-24T05:14:00.003+08:00

Listen now, would you buy this idea?

I had a little discussion with a relative about wives gaining weight after delivery and having a hard time losing it. This whole discussion started when this relative was surprised to see me not losing so much of my maternal weight ever since I gave birth almost a year ago now.

Yes, it's almost been a year since I gave birth but for the life of me, I'm still not reduced to my desired weight, shape and form.

Photo courtesy of Shiela Hamac

Anyway, going back to the discussion on gaining weight, she and her sister told me that I did not lose weight because my husband did not fool around and that I can easily get thinner if he turns unfaithful. They said they were telling from experience.

Now, would you rather have a faithful husband and not lose weight? On the contrary, why would any husband stay unfaithful when he has a sexier wife now?

So silly. But then relatives are relatives. Maybe they were just telling me that to make me feel better about my weight because I've been compensated to have a faithful husband by my side. Is that really how it works now? LOL

kids know how to shopwiki?

2010-02-23T23:11:00.003+08:00

Hubby and I came across this neat shopping website called http://shopwiki.com. We found it to be a really cool shopping website because it not only provides cool items for sale but it also serves as a great guide to any shopper. This site provides great tips to the buyers on just about anything - from the latest and upcoming deals, some recommendations and reviews, and some good reads about each of the product that they've put on their site. I mean, this shopping wiki is literally an updated library of products and items for sale - probably the neatest and most organized shopping website we've ever came across with.

Actually, it was hubby's 10-year old youngest cousin who showed it to us last week when he hinted about his two year's worth of missed Christmas and birthday presents from us. Well, what can we say but we were really impressed with the little guy's taste. Why? He showed us the link to the Xbox 360!

He didn't have a hard time looking for his favorite Xbox Games since everything on the website is indexed accordingly by product categories. Oh, and he said he's hoping to get a new Xbox 360 Headset as well! We'll see about that yet, little guy!

my mom's secret wish

2010-02-21T15:47:00.002+08:00

I'd like to share my mom's secret wish. She shared it to the Lord in her prayer first. Well, we always share our secrets with the Lord, right?

If you can't read this, it says "Lord, I wish I could make just one book that is one of the best sellers! If one by one all our dreams will come true, please let this be the one."

Even though I know she wasn't able to fulfill her wish because the Lord already made the courtesy call for her to be in Heaven, I can make that wish fulfilled for her pretty soon. If I can't do it myself, then I'll pass it on to my little girl. :-)

So, my secret wish is to fulfill my mom's secret wish. I guess it is no longer a secret, huh?

What about you guys? Would you like to share one of your many secret wishes? *wink*

beautiful blogger award

2010-02-20T15:43:00.003+08:00

I believe this is my first time to have received an award like this. It's really a great honor--many thanks to Jenn, Lea and The Twitterer for this award.

Because of this award, I am now obliged to divulge 7 things about myself:

I am not a singer but I love to sing!
When I was in high school, I was a member of the SRC (St. Rita Choir) and I had the chance to perform with the group for a large audience on many occasions including a fundraising concert, school performances, Christmas caroling, and the best one of all – we've sang at funeral masses as the church choir!
I used to dream about being a lawyer someday.
Now I just want to concentrate on family and writing.
I am a sentimental fool - I cry over television soaps - whether they have happy or sad endings!
More than that, I am a funny person (at least I'd like to think of me as that)..
I used to think I was Bridget Jones (LOL)

Now, what's left to do is to pass this award on to beautiful bloggers like Shanix, Bchai (i know you've been tagged already), Andrea, Juliet, Vannex, and Pearl.

The rules are simple. Just simply follow this format - acknowledge the one (or the ones) who gave you the award, share 7 things/facts about yourself, and pass this award to other beautfiul bloggers you know who deserve this award.

Got No Pain!

2010-02-18T23:59:00.003+08:00

I'm saving this space again to make way for Mom's journal about me when I was 10 years old. If you have read my prequel to the writer and the pen post, then don't miss out on this one. This happened when I was in the fourth grade, I think. I guess I was a little hard headed during my younger years. :-)

Read on if you're curious about what I did which deserved this entry to my mom's journal of happy moments.

Got No Pain!

My daughter, Joan, has something in common with her brods and sis. It was her way of handling physical pain in a detached manner.

One time, she was trying to play spinning top. I immediately told her to give back the top to her elder brother coz she has no right to play a game that befits the opposite sex.

She was 10 years old, this time. However much I rebuked her not to do such a thing, she positioned herself to spin the top and she did it clumsily that it landed not on the floor but on to her gums! Believe me, I really saw blood coming out from that offended gum before the spinned top fell on the floor.

I could not fathom why this girl turned around with her back now facing me and she jumped like she won a prized game. She shouted with pride, "Got no pain!"

But I turned her face towards me and I saw tears of pain falling from her eyes.

This time I laughed.

Here's the lesson learned -- Children, obey your parents!

On Haste Being Waste

2010-02-18T00:21:00.000+08:00

"Haste makes waste." But why do superiors keep pushing 'SPEED' to their subordinates? Why do some of them care about the quality less than the speed? Well, maintaining a so-so quality with a huge emphasis on speed can bring on good and better income for the company. But the question is, for how long? While this is quite a disappointment for employees who want a touch of perfection in their work, they can't do anything about it but to comply.

Indeed, it makes such a waste to do things in haste. How many times did we try doing things too quickly that we didn't and aren't able to do them well enough and only to find ourselves doing and re-doing it again?

Again and again, because time is gold, we shouldn't do things in haste. We don't want to get stuck doing the same thing because we haven't done it well the first time.

Nothing personal. Just my random thoughts. :-)

It's Brushing Time!

2010-02-16T17:24:00.000+08:00

When dipdip's teeth started to appear, which started somewhere between her sixth and seventh month, we have already started putting a little fluoride on her teeth and gums. This was the pediatrician's instruction. We were worried at first because she doesn't know how to spit it out but we were told that it's okay for her to swallow some fluoride as long as it is just a little amount. We've been planning to really let her brush her teeth because each time she sees us brushing our teeth, she gets so amused and looked really excited to have the same experience. Last night, she ate a lot of fish and we didn't like the smell of her mouth after taking her dinner. So, we decided it's time to let her use the new toothbrush that's meant for her age. By the way, we only used just a really, really, really tiny amount of the toothpaste because she's not learning how to spit it out just yet and we have also learned that too much fluoride on a child can cause fluorosis - not a very good sight to see for anyone's teeth. We also agreed to not use fluoride on her brush all the time. Pretty soon, we'll probably let her hold the tooth brush herself.

What time is it? It's brushing time!

My Valentine Blessings

2010-02-15T23:58:00.003+08:00

On Valentine's Day, I didn't have my husband and my daughter to myself. We were celebrating it with my in-laws. I would have wanted to celebrate it with my own family as well but they were literally in different places. Aside from that, the invitation from my in-laws came ahead. It was like we were really booked to be with them on February 14 like two weeks ahead. It was a fun celebration even though it was more of a birthday celebration and fiesta in honor of the patron saint, Sto. Niño. I am happy to say that my in-laws really treated me like their real family even from the start of our marriage. Because we are really family now, right? There were lots of food prepared on the table. And I managed to eat just a little of everything. All right, I guess I slipped again. But it's Valentine's Day, okay? And there are February birthdays to celebrate. So, why shouldn't I partake? :-)

Even the papaya's felt really special on that day.

Overall, it turned out to be the best Valentine's celebration because it is celebrated with family. Valentine's Day is all about love and families. Anyhow, I have all the time with my husband and my daughter at home, every single day. I am happy because I'm blessed to have them in my life.

With that, I will end this post with a beautiful article about Faith Declarations from my favorite inspirational speaker and writer, Brother Bo Sanchez. I suggest that you guys really read it. It's a short article, anyway. They are faith declarations for married people, people wanting to get married, and for people who want to remain single with God's grace. Let us all be inspired, not just on Valentine's Day, but every day of our lives.

Top Ten Things I Slightly Don't Like About Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T20:42:00.003+08:00

This one is inspired by Mary's Madness Top Ten list, here are the top ten things I slightly don't like about Valentine's Day!

1. Restaurants Are Filled
Sure Valentine's Day is a time for great dinner dates and all but when all you wanted is to eat at your favorite restaurant and there are no available seats, you might just end up ordering for a takeout and then find yourself celebrating VDay in your home!

2. Valentine's Day is on February 14, Not February 15!
When both of your salaries fall every 15th and 30th of the month and you weren't able to save a portion of your previous month's earnings, you and your partner are off to celebrate it the next day. (Now this solves the problem on list #1).

3. Celebration of Valentine's Day can sometimes be too expensive.
If list #2 is not a problem, you're lucky -- but be prepared to have a fair amount of cash on your wallet. Or at least have a credit card that's not maxed out!

4. Taxis Are In Demand.
When both you and your partner only rely on taxis as the means of transportation, be prepared for your varicose veins to complain! And if you have arthritis, you surely wouldn't look forward to going out on Valentine's Day next year.

5. Love songs and loads of love songs everywhere
Don't you just hate it when you want to hear Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and all they're playing are songs that help you remember all your debts and then fall you right off to sleep?

6. They're Showing Nothing But Mushy Movies
I do love to watch mushy films but not too much of it like they're playing a movie marathon. La la la la la caught in a bad romance~

7. Can't get enough of everything RED!
Don't you just hate it when everywhere you turn, almost everybody is wearing red, including YOU? LOL
(But I would definitely love a glass or two of red wine)

8. Stores are flooded with flowers and chocolates and you're wondering if you're getting any (hope my husband reads this! Hint hint hint)

9. Hotels and inns are fully booked! Not that we're planning to be there, hahaha.

10. More women get deceived by men and then pharmacies would run out of pregnancy tests next month (Not that it happened to me, LOL)

Do you have a top ten list? Go and make your own now!

An Old Valentine photo of me! Don't you just hate it when you can't go back to this weight? :-)

Time Is Gold But...

2010-02-10T22:43:00.001+08:00

Why do we take the time to smell the coffee? Why do we take the time to smell the flowers?

Why didn't it say that 'Time is diamond' if we were to emphasize on how precious time really is?

Quite frankly, it is not realistic to think that we have time forever in our hands. In fact, we are catching up on it!

Seriously, time is gold but we don't need to rush. In fact, it means that our time is precious that we need to spend it wisely. Let's not do too much goofing around. Let's not keep doing too much intermission in our lives when we know we've got so many things that are left undone.

updating files with directory sync

2010-02-09T16:24:00.000+08:00

Oftentimes, I would also need to use my husband's PC when it would be time for him to to do maintenance check on my computer. Yes, his computer is also my work station especially when he's not using it. Well, actually, we do it reciprocally. I mean, we do make it a point to have backup for our important files on each other's PC. Our dilemma is when we tend to update with the outdated and not the other way around. It is definitely a good thing and a blessing that things like directory sync came to being. We no longer have to do complicated things like copying our working files to a USB flash drive so we can use it on his or my PC. We are so glad to know that the software for synchronizing directories or files can be downloaded for free. Cool, huh! I am not really a very technical person, so hubby takes care of our file maintenance and to keep both directories from our computers synchronized. Now, we can definitely exchange places anytime we want because we make sure that important data gets updated from both computers. With this free software, we no longer have to worry about working on outdated files!

the spaghetti love story

2010-02-09T15:28:00.001+08:00

To tell you the truth, it's my husband who does much of the cooking around the house. I believe he cooks better than I do. And faster, too! If you want me to cook, you better give me a lot of time so I can do it pretty good. When husband is cooking, he would already heat the pan or start the cooking right away while he is also busy cutting, slicing or preparing the rest of the ingredients to his recipe. He's definitely an ideal home chef! As for me, I like to have everything cut, sliced or prepared ahead before I turn on the heat and get everything started.

Yesterday, when there was power interruption, I decided to make spaghetti for all of us. I thought it would be a perfect pre-Valentine's Day treat! I especially made my husband's spaghetti plate extra special by carving out small hearts by knife from the red bell pepper. I secretly carved it out when he did the errand to buy the can of spaghetti meat sauce. So, when I served him his spaghetti plate, he was like surprised to see the special hearts that were on top of his spaghetti. I guess he appreciated it but still acted like he didn't. He mustered a smile and made the nicest comment about the three hearts. He said that it looked like some caveman did it because they were perfectly carved. Yeah, right! :-)

brother's biggest achievement

2010-02-09T02:22:00.002+08:00

After all the many things I've written about my brother Jason, I still feel like writing about him. Brother J had been my long time boardmate or housemate for many years before I got married and lived with my husband. In all those years where I became her guardian parent when he was still a student, I guess you can say that we've put up with one another, hehehe. I guess at some point (or shall I say 'at times') I was the typical 'overprotective' sister that most siblings would not dare wish to have. During my time, back in my student years, I've never really fooled around. I was the typical student and a home buddy. Sure, I have friends but they're also my kind. So, when it comes to Brother and my younger sister, I thought it would help them be in the right path if I act as their sister disciplinarian but then I realized that this has not really helped at all, especially with my brother, because most of the time they would end up hating me for it. I'm not saying I'm not close with my siblings, though. It's just that there are lots of things that we disagree on. Let's probably just call it generation gap. Today I'm not wishing for anything more for my brother J but for him to fulfill what he wants to achieve in life. Now that he's not living with me and is now in another country, I was very happy when he told us that his biggest achievement is is his faith. So, to my brother, keep it up! Rock n Roll!

conversation with grandma

2010-02-07T11:00:00.006+08:00

My brother McAldz has been working in Abu Dhabi for almost 3 years now. Even though he's got a job there, it's not a job which afforded him some luxury, which explains why he would hardly make overseas calls to us. On one special occasion, he thought of calling our grandmother to check on her. He thought it would be a beautiful conversation with grandma considering that it had been a long time since they caught up on each other. However, instead of getting a good greeting from the other end of the line, he didn't expect to hear an angry voice.

Grandma: Wa ko nalipay sa imong gibuhat!

(Translation: I am not happy with what you did!)

McAldz (puzzled): Ngano man 'la, unsa diay akong gibuhat?

(Translation: Lola, why, what did I do?)

Grandma: Nganong karon pa man ka kahuna huna ug tawag nako?

(Translation: Why have you thought of calling me only today?)

LOL. I really found it funny when brother relayed this to me because he really thought he did a really major offense! Well, come to think of it, our elders are sensitive when it comes to affection and they would really appreciate our thoughtfulness. So, I guess, brother really did a major offense. And the rest of her grandchildren who forgets to find time to call her are guilty as well. :-)