One Big Step. Today my little boy Rance had an interview in school. He's 3 going on 4 this Aug., and he's going to apply for nursery at his sister's school. It's one big step for him - starting school and being in school for the next 17 or so years. I hope he knew the answers to the questions the teacher asked him. I've taught him the basics - letters, numbers, colors, shapes, some songs...but he's kind of a restless child. He can not sit still. After teaching him for about 20 minutes, he gets restless. I've also introduced educational computer games to him, just to give him variety while trying to learn his numbers and letters. We'll know the results in two weeks' time. I hope he passes :)

After A While

After awhile you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul

and you learn
that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises

You begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.

And you learn
to build your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have ways of falling down
in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure,
you really are strong,
and you really do have worth.

And you learn


And you learn


With every goodbye, you learn.....

1971 Veronica A. Shoffstall

Sports Attended the school sportsfest with Aevryl. She isn't engaged in any sport as of now, she was giving a dance number together with her classmates as part of the opening ceremonies of the games. Ricky was into sports a big way when he was in high school, he's a member of the track and field team and also part of the volleyball team in his high school. He used to practice everyday - Mondays to Sundays! Me, I'm the exact opposite. I'm happy just staying at home and reading. Yucckks!!! Boring ba?
Come to think of it, I don't know who the kids will take after - me or Ricky. No indication yet from any of the two.
"We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." -? Stacia Tauscher

I'm Back
Been tinkering my template, looking for new ones on the internet as well. As you see, my site is sorta out of sorts in a way. Hopefully, I can get it right in the near future...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Does the new year bode well for the sign of the monkey? I really don't know....I haven't had the chance to really sit down and read all the newspapers and magazines with the latest predictions from the different renowed geomancers. Who can tell what will happen in the coming year? It really is tempting sometimes to want to know the future, a glimpse of what will be, a peek at what lies before us. :) In the end I guess it is the person himself who can forge his own path with the help of the stars on in defiance thereof.

MIDST OF A BUSY WEEK It didn't take long for me to get back to work after my SHORT vacation. Just looking at the BIR calendar already sets my panic buttons to high :( the deadlines were 20th - mayor's permit & license w/c would need total year sales' figures, 27th vat, 30th inventory (which means you already finished the clients' trial balances!!), and withholding tax. Can you believe that!!! Our clients have already reached 20 or so and some are new ones without any kind of data yet from Joan - my Mla. partner. She's also into revising their vat scheds so our figures of some companies would have slight differences (for recon later :# ). Through everything, I have to squeeze in my working hours in the early morning or late at night. I've also taken to internet cafes in the afternoon just to catch up.
However, I still managed to have dinner and coffee out with Ricky's friend Mike, Mary Ann (daughter of Ricky's boss) and her cousin Mike. Treated Mike to ihaw na manok bisaya, fish, squid, and ngohiong. His wife Cherry is still recovering from the mild stroke she had mid last year. Guys...always take care of your health.
Bea is still doing good in school, got her card last Jan 18 and all her grades were Excellent *FEELING PROUD* and her conduct was A. I just hope she keeps it up :) Been looking for short courses to slowly integrate my Rance into the school world. I just want him to sort of get to know how a classroom looks like, how to have a teacher, how to have classmates around. We might enroll him in development reading in Ayala. For Aevryl, I enrolled her in Kumon for 4 months before she went into nursery. I must admit the course did her good.

Home Came back to Cebu Wed (Jan 8). Had 1 luggage and 1 balikbayan box full of gifts and 1 twist-twist car for Rance. Got held up in the airport. Guess there was a regulation about not bringing anything with steel bars on the plane :< had to slip a little something to the girl with the xray machine. Aevryl and Rance were ecstatic about their gifts from their ninongs and ninangs. It didn't matter it was already past Christmas, they were just as happy receiving them. :) As for me, it's time to shape up and lose the lbs. I gained in Mla from pigging out almost every day *GUILTY* Time for me to go back to work as well as Jan is the busiest for an accountant with literally LOTS of deadline. Time to play catch up too with my children.

Gano Excel Went to the office today and had a tete-a-tete with my friends Irene and Nette and my sister-in-law Cynthia. Both Irene and Nette have worked there for around two years already. We talked about what happened in the office, the staff, the stockists, management.... we all hope the company will grow to be more professional, and will develop adequate internal controls to safeguard its assets. Most of the time, it seems so hard to implement changes to better the company policies and procedures. Maybe the staff are untrainable? They've reached college and some even have college degrees, but I don't why they can be so "unbendable" or why they only follow the rules for a certain time and slowly veer away from them or why their attention always have to be called in order to keep them in line. I can tell you figures are easier to handle than people. You should really give credit to people in human resources.

Happy Three Kings!Attended mass, then proceeded to the Podium. We had lunch together with Auntie Victoria and Tino. The sudden passing away of Trini still hung in the air. How could one get over the death of one's son or one's brother? Tino tried to tell us the events that led to his passing, what kind of a person he was, what if's, "incompetence" of the hospital staff, how the kids are coping......I don't think there are right words to comfort their grief.....

Hectic DaysBeing in Mla. puts me in a tizzy - had a blood test (results were good, whew!), visited Value Point and got to talk to Dulce, Alex, Willy, and Oliver. Went to Ann's house and compared notes on children and nannies. JT talked endlessly about his Digimon characters, he practically knows every robot and was telling me the names of each one and showing me their pictures. Jet's smaller but he moves around a lot, touching things with curiosity and trying to play with anything he can get his hands on. A guy with lots of curiosity! Had an Edgeworth reunion at Greenbelt 3 - Ann, Jojo, Sam, Renan, EC, Cesar & Cherry. I think Makati is till the place to be. There were so many people, it was hard to get seats for dinner!
Was able to renew my immigration papers, visit my ob-gyn for a pap, and then to Gano Excel to visit former co-workers. Enjoyed dinner with Junice, friend from Unionbank and Cynthia, my sis-in-law. You can see I'm eating a lot. I'm already dreading the pounds I'm putting on these past few days :(

HAPPY NEW YEAR!Started the day with mass, personally officiated by Archbishop Cardinal Sin. It's the first day of the new year and at the same time the day of Mother Mary. Planned to visit Alabang Town Center and got lost on the way :) Guess I can't quite remember the roads that much. Met with my Uncle Alfred and Aunt Mila from Pampanga. They were accompanied by James with his wife and two children, Jr. with his wife and one child, and Sheila. We were able to browse around, did some window shopping. Got home around 5 and caught the 113th Rose Parade on TV. The floats looked so grand and I'm continually amazed at how they were able to build the floats out of flowers and other plants. To top it all, Aunt Jeanne even called from the States. A good day filled with time with family.

Happy Reunion. Arrived Mla. 10am Dec 28. I was excited to see my old friends again. You know how they always say the best friends you'll have in life are the ones you went to high school with. I know I got some good friends in my high school buds. :) Dropped by Megamall late morning and early afternoon, browsed thru Book Wagon (for my babies) and the Stitches & Things (for me). Then off we went to attend mass with my mom, aunt, and sister. It was the celebration of Holy Family, so I wish each and every family peace and love always....Went to Powerbooks as I still had time before dinner with friends. How I wish I can buy all those interesting books! Did buy some for the children :) Dinner was good. We gorged on pasta. Almost everyone was there - Ros, Jho, Carol, Ellie, Wins, Ayleen, Minnie, and Crispin. Chatted without end and tried to catch up with each others' lives.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Spent Christmas eve at our aunt's house. Ricky's cousin Biboy had finally come home to visit after 16 years in the States. Can you imagine not seeing your child for 16 years?!?! His brother's family (Abet and Ellen) came from Iligan to join the family reunion. We joined them and my mother-in-law and Ricky had a good time catching up with each other's news and happenings. Aevryl and Rance got to know a few more cousins. They enjoyed to petting Auntie Tata's dog. We had bbq pork chop, fish, and squid *lips smacking* along with veggies and noodles. The children also got pasalubon gifts :)
Christmas Day.....after a refreshing sleep, the kids were able to tackle their Christmas presents from us... a stenciling kit for Aevryl (she always likes to draw and color) and a big truck for Rance (all he wants to do is drive Vroomm....vroomm...) Ricky surprised me with a Body Shop kit full with "essentials" for a lady. Ashamed to say...I still have to get a gift for Ricky :( Guess I just ran out of ideas....Been meaning to give him a bracelet but I was waiting for an opportunity to get him to shop with me in Ayala. We've been doing most of our shopping in SM. We'll just have to wait and see.....

Aaarrrgggghhh......!!!!! I'm really having a hard time redesigning my template..... maybe I should have stuck with the old one....hhmmm...can you believe i was able to post one template that covered my tag board and links????HHHEEELLLPP!!! Linnorias, when we get together next year...promise me you'll help me restore my "Comment" from Haloscan... and resize the tagboard.... PLEEAASEE....

At last, my daughter's exams are finished. So far, I've also finished my sub-con job with Bayantel (more to come next year...) ahem...ahem...I'm going to busy myself with my Mla. accounts. Try to update their books till Nov and hopefully finalize their financial statements by Feb of next year. I also have to get my things together for my visit to Manila next week. I'm really looking forward to the visit - to be with my family and friends. However, I just have this little nagging feeling about leaving the kids. It's the first time I've spent time away from them. Yes, I haven't been away from home for more than five years! Well, there was that three-day trip to Hong Kong Ricky and I took while Aevryl was still a few months' old. After that, nil. Maybe it's time to energize and refresh myself by spending some time by myself...some time away from the kids.

Christmas is coming!!! And all I can think of is how am I supposed to get my act together???? I've sent greeting cards to family and friends living in foreign countries (this task is usually my priority - considering the term snail mail is really applicable here :). Then there are family and friends living in Manila and other provinces. Some I have to greet via email and text. Some I have to send cards to. I'm also excited I'll be going to Manila for a few days. But that would mean pasalubong!!! To family, relatives, friends and colleagues!!!! Plus visits to Ricky's side and my side of the family, and hopefully get-togethers with friends. Then I'm also searching for a Maris - who's supposed to be in Cebu but I have no way to search for her, because all I have is her address in Indonesia!!! Help!!!

A four year old was at the pediatrician for a check up. As the doctor looked down her ears with an otoscope, he asked, "Do you think I'll find Big Bird in here?" The little girl stayed silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked, "Do you think I'll find the Cookie Monster down there" Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her heart beat, he asked, "Do you think I'll hear Barney in there?" "Oh, no!" the little girl replied. "Jesus is in my heart. Barney's on my underpants.

Had dinner with a few of Ricky's friends (Gina, Shirley, Ayeen, and Jocelyn) last Saturday. It was very casual all-girl affair (except for my hubby :) though). They caught up with each others' lives including the lives of their classmates, a bit of gossip here and there included. Me, I did most of the listening, and enjoyed the night as much as they.
My daughter Bea had her big dance number yesterday at their Christmas Fair. She didn't like to practice her moves at home nor did she want to show us a sample of what her teachers taught her. She didn't have stage fright and remembered her routine. I'm proud of her! She has grown up... and I sort of miss the baby and toddler years.....
She's currently doing good in school and I hope she keeps it up. Thank God for my two adorable chidren!

A List To Live By

The most destructive habit................... Worry
The greatest joy .......................Giving
The greatest loss.............................Self-respect
The most satisfying work..................Helping Others
The ugliest personality trait................Selfishness
The most endangered species............. Dedicated Leaders
Our greatest natural resource................Our Youth & Our Elderly
The greatest "shot in the arm".................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome.......... Fear
The most effective sleeping pill.............Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease..........Excuses
The most powerful force in life...............Love
The most dangerous outcast............A Gossip
The worlds most incredible computer........The Brain
The worst thing to be without.................Hope
The deadliest weapon.................The Tongue
The two most power-filled words........... "I can"
The greatest asset.........................Faith
The most worthless emotion.................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire.................................. A Smile
The most prized possession..............................Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication......... Prayer
The most contagious spirit............................ Enthusiasm
Our greatest teacher .................................Experience
To the world, YOU may be one person; but to one person, you may be the world!!

God gives hope to those who dream, gives miracles to those who believe. He never lets down those who trust and He never leaves those who walk with Him.