why i buy books for my son

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I again bought a book, a Geronimo Stilton comic book, that RJ read for less than 30 minutes. Only. With the price that I had to pay for that book, I thought he would finish longer than that. But come to think of it, books are investments also, right?

I'd rather buy books than toys for RJ. He learns a lot with books. He gets to know important people, he can travel to anywhere he wants, he can do new things (eg. origami) just by reading a book.

So yes, buying that Geronimo Stilton book is an investment that I shouldn't regret.

friday fill-in's #16

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1. Up up and away.

2. With all the stress that's been going around the last few days, I'm getting a massage right this minute.

3. Coats and scarves, mittens and boots: cold?

4. Backpains! I need a nice back rub.

5. I'm thinking about eating healthy from now on.

6. Do you want to be really happy? Just be yourself. You can't please everyone.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing the laundry, tomorrow my plans include playing chess with my son and Sunday, I want to go to church earlier than usual!

Girl Talk #10

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 Life is like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you'll gonna get. ~ Forrest Gump

So true. Very true indeed. Never did I imagine, even in my wildest dreams, that some of the things that happened in my life will ever happen. I have resolved, talked and convinced myself last New Year's eve, to accept everything that comes my way from this year onwards *fingers crossed*.

I am bracing myself for more surprises. Bring it on!

wordless wednesday #1

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wordless wednesday

remembering my lola

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Last January 5 was supposedly my Lola's, who we call Inay, 93rd birthday. Lola by the way means grandmother and Inay means mom in the Filipino language. Sadly though, a few months after her 91st birthday, she passed away August of 2009.

Inay took care of all her grandchildren. Being the eldest, I'm very sure I'm her favorite grandchild. Although my sister, MT, will surely object to that observation. But in all honesty, her love for all of us are equal.

While she was still alive, she didn't avail of a life insurance, not even Burial Insurance, maybe because it was not that popular during her time. But she never complained when my Uncle accompanies her to the family doctor for her annual check up. She knows that her kids just want her to be in good health all the time.

What I remember most about Inay was her deep love and obedience to God. Not a day passes by without her praying and reading the Bible. The whole family joins her in praying the rosary before going to sleep. It was a must for us grandchildren, before we even started going to school, to know how to pray and understand the rosary.

I miss my grandma. We all miss her so much.

sleeping early is good for me

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...and for you too.

I now sleep early. How'd I do it? I stopped drinking coffee at night. I now feel alive in the morning because of that. I feel normal again.

                                                pharmaprojects

I usually go to bed at 1 or 2 am the whole year of 2010. I even had to wake up at 530 am to help RJ prepare for school. I feel like a zombie, while preparing breakfast, and can't wait to go back to bed. As soon as RJ's school service picks him up, I'm snoring before my head even hits the pillow.

But now, I feel normal. I miss drinking coffee at night but I'd choose normal anytime than looking like a zombie in the morning.

Red Box Greenbelt 3

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Me and my sisters invited our cousin to Red Box, a KTV in Greenbelt 3, a few hours before his flight back to the US. He is a member of a band so I was pretty sure he will enjoy it.

The Php299 + taxes per person already include buffet lunch and 12-3 pm ktv room use. My cousin enjoyed it since they don't have that in the states. I didn't.

I reserved a room the day before we went there. They assigned the room nearest the reception area. Noise from outside can be heard inside the room. What's really horrible is they were playing songs in the reception area and most probably set the volume to its maximum level. The sound system is thumbs down for me. It creates a very annoying sound whenever the two microphones are near each other! The room is not that big so here's how two people look like when singing together...

The did fix it, when I complained, but they should have fixed everything before letting people go inside the room. It was a waste of time waiting for them to fix it. Forget about the lunch buffet because it's not something to rave about. And no score at the end of each song! How will we know if we did good right?

There were a lot of bad reviews on Red Box Trinoma. The Greenbelt branch is better, they say. But based on our experience, this KTV gets a thumbs down!

To make up for the hazzardous lunch-slash-ktv date we had with our cousin, although he does like the KTV experience, we decided to give him a shirt that will make him remember his 2011 visit to the Philippines.

friday fill-in's #15

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1. So many of us are addicted to facebook.

2. One should smile even in hardship.

3. Those who are accepting of challenges with an open heart, should be applauded.

4. My son is waiting quietly for dinner.

5. Light is in both the front and back of the house.

6. The simplicity of all that is ordinary .

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping earlier than usual, tomorrow my plans include watching a movie and Sunday, I want to buy a new book!

Girl Talk # 9

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I love this week's topic for girl talk. I am amazed, actually, when I checked the topic for today

                Work Resolution

                                 exactly what I was pondering about for a few days already.

I blog and I consider blogging my work. I was thinking about changing the layout of my four blogs, but I'm no layout artist. So I have to allot some of my free time (oh no, my nap time!) to learn about HTML among other things. That's first on my list of my work resolution

I so wanted to buy muck boots last month but ended up with nothing for me because of too much people to give gifts to last Christmas. So my other resolution, I hope it works, is to update my blog and visit my online friends everyday. Everyday from now on, not once in a blue moon but E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y! More blog visit means more you-know-what-friend$$ means buy-something-for-me-this-time!

So those are my blogging resolution, what's yours?

ABS-CBN's Imortal

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There's this show on ABS-CBN that started late last year. Imortal. Just like the Twilight Saga, it's a story about vampires and werewolves. But unlike the story of the Twilight Saga, which is a love story between the vampire Edward Cullen and the human Bella Swan, Imortal is a love story between werewolf Lia Ortega and vampire Mateo Rodriguez.

Watching the first episode is laughable to some because of the similarity to some Twilight scenes. Mateo's vampire dad, who like the Cullens belong to a tribe of good vampires, fell in love with a human. The similarity ended with the giving birth to Mateo. Ceres, his mom, died because Roman, his vampire dad, chose not to give her a "cursed life".

Lia Ortega, the strongest werewolf, became the leader of a group that protects humans from vampires.

I don't really watch the show on television because I really hate the advertisements. I just wait for the video online. I really like the plot, very interesting. Except for the love scenes which I think is not appropriate for a 9pm show. It only happened once, I was able to fast forward it because I watch online, but the kids who watch it! Hopefully they don't show scenes like that again, it doesn't help the show at all. Talk about awkward -for parents and kids who watch together!

Do you also watch the show? What makes you watch it every single night?

hot summer heat

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The sun was very bright in our bedroom window this morning. Is summer here already? Hopefully not! The weatherman said that the country will still experience rain for a few more days. Why the hot morning sun then? I'm not thrilled with the flooding in some parts of the country and in other parts of the world. But a little drizzle, that'll give cool air on my face, is more welcome than the humidity that we have in this country all year round.  

                               craigrogers

But as the day progressed, clouds began forming in the sky. It's 4pm already and not a single rain has dropped yet. No rain but cool air blowing, I love! When I stepped in the shower, the glass tiles felt so cold on my bare feet. It usually takes more than 30 minutes for me to take a bath, but 10 minutes in the cold shower was more than enough for me to bear.

The weatherman was right, we won't experience the heat of summer yet.

the girl effect: the clock is ticking

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what I dont like about facebook

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The tagging.

Tagging pictures, and other things like videos, has become a hobby for some people. I have been tagged from ugly pictures of me during times-I-want-to-forget to pictures of the newest POS systems available in the market these days.

                                                                       posterous

Ordinary people use facebook to communicate with families and friends. Businesses use it to make people know of their new products and services. Tagging is really not that bad. But facebook users should be responsible in tagging other people.

the girl effect

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I just saw this on Oprah and I want to share this with you my lovely readers.

what I hate about Christmas

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Celebrating christmas eve in the Philippines is never complete without a Noche Buena feast. Yes, a feast. Not just two or three dishes but all kinds of food are prepared for noche buena. Who can resist taking a bite (or two, or more?) of mouth-watering food? I am no saint when it comes to eating yummy food.

Actually, the whole time we were on vacation, all I did was eat! So yes, I gained a few pounds during our christmas vacation in the province. What's really horrible is that those few pounds settled on the wrong places! That's what I don't love about christmas, I eat too much. Top selling diet pills are now available over the counter and also online. But I will try to lose weight by exercising and eating the right amount of food. If diet and exercise fails, hello diet pills!

easy gift wrapping

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Just the thought of wrapping almost a hundred gifts, or more!, makes me tired and lazy to even start. Thank God for hallmark gift wrappers!

Lookie at the back of the gift wrapper. Lines! This is the kind of line that I like (not if it's on my face). The lines helps in cutting and folding the paper. Gifts, big or small, are more easier to wrap because of this gift wrapping papers from Hallmark.

now and then

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Because of technology, more kids wear prescription eyeglasses these days. The culprits are television, handheld games, video games, cellular phones and computers. When I was in grade school, more than 20 years ago, there are only a handful of good shows for kids. And it's not even appealing to watch those shows because our television set was black and white.

We do play video games once in a while. But compared with thousands of exciting games now, the games available then were only a few. Computers and cellular phones were not necessities during those times also. Because of that, I still have 20/20 vision.

Although technology has bad effects to us, we shouldn't ignore the fact that it also has good effects. What we can do is use technology wisely. Use it to our advantage and not to our destruction.

toothache

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Ouchy! My gum is very swollen. Now I know why I wasn't feeling well. I went to three dentists just to make comparisons with diagnosis/advice and their prices. Everything in this world is very expensive!

The tooth was root canaled years ago. The first dentist said that I only have two choices: root canal (again!) or have it extracted. She wanted me to think about it and not make a hasty decision right away. But if I have it extracted, a "new"tooth is woth P12,000!!

The second dentist scheduled me for xray the next day. If the tooth can still be saved, the dentist wants to root canal it again. P10,000 to root canal one tooth, P8,500 for a "new" tooth if I want it extracted. But the cost of extraction and xray is still not included yet.

Third dentist wants to extract my tooth right then and there.

I'd rather have the tooth extracted. This tooth has caused me a lot of time and money already. I have to look for a dentist that doesn't charge so much though.

what the future will bring

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I am a thrifty person, I make sure that I have enough for "rainy days". I want to know where I spend every single centavo of my hard-earned money. I try to save more than half of what I earn.

To avoid buying the latest expensive trends, I look at the opposite direction of counter displays on department stores. But I must admit I do buy once in a while, especially if the price is right.

No one in this world has the power to know what the future has in store for each one of us. It is better to save up, a single peso a day will do, instead of begging money from people we know during rainy days.

under the weather

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I've been feeling sick, the past two days, since arriving from my two week vacation. I am not sure if I'm just feeling under the weather or I really am sick. I hope this won't continue for long. I want to be able to work on my http://www.currentraves.com/ site. This was supposed to have been launched last year. But due to unpredictable circumstances, it hasn't been launched yet.

Hopefully I can finish the layout before the end of this month.

gift giving dilemma

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I can never be a personal shopper. I don't know what to buy for adult boys. The best gift that I can think of - ties. If they don't like the color or design, that's their problem and not mine anymore.

Gifts for girls are easier. Just look for the latest trends and it will be the best-gift-ever especially for teen girls. Teenagers are still confident in wearing and using anything, even if they look weird, compared with older girls. As long as its the latest "in thing", they won't hesitate to use it.

Every gift-giving season, boys are my problem! What about you?

finally!

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I wasn't able to watch it when it was first aired here in the Philippines. I searched for it on youtube and I was able to watch part of the show. It is on youtube where she was discovered by Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey.

I am talking about Charice Pempengco and her guesting in The Oprah Winfrey Show. I was able to catch the rerun earlier of The World's Most Talented Kids episode of the show. Charice was promoting her first Pop-RNB album entitled which includes the chart topping Pyramid. Justin Bieber, another Youtube sensation, is also a guest of the show.

It also feels good to be a Filipino sometimes. Thanks to many Filipino's who made a name for themselves worldwide, just like Charice, like Manny Pacquiao, Arnel Pineda, Monique Lhuillier, and many others.

I hope more talented Filipino's make it big internationally and put the Philippines on the map.

brilliantly aging women

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That's the title episode of an Oprah show, a rerun that I was watching earlier, with guest Raquel Welsh. She authored a book entitled Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage. An excerpt of the book is available at oprah.com.

                                         oprah.com

There were other guests who look amazing at their age. One was even in her 90's but she looked nowhere her age. Their advice on how to not look your age boils down to one thing: ACCEPTANCE.

I hope I can accept my age when every part of my body is being pulled down by gravity. I am nearing my 40th anniversary of being a human. I want to look amazing when I reach 40. *fingers crossed*

back to reality

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Christmas and New Year has passed. Vacation is over, it's now back to the real world people. While on vacation, RJ had the time of his life! Imagine two weeks of just playing, watching television and no school work? He's at school now, his first day after school break. As for me, I am trying to finish up some work before taking care of the piled up laundry. Which includes my sister's nursing scrubs which my niece used while she and RJ we're playing doctor and nurse.

color of the year for 2011

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It has been our family's tradition, for the past five years, to greet the new year with everyone wearing the "color of the year". This year's color is Honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

source: pantone.com