Gadgets. Since I've gotten a nokia 6100 last month, I"ve been daydreaming about the camera that goes with it. Last Saturday, Ricky got me the camera YEHEY!!! I've been taking some test shots and my little tots have tried their hand at it. The only thing I have to figure out is how to transfer the pics to the computer so I can include them in my blog. Personally, I'm not that techy when it comes to computers, PDAs, and digicams. I like the results these gadgets produce and always wished I could do the same. I have the interest - not the money to indulge.... he he he

Butterflies...not the colorful, fragile, and beautiful ones. Ever see some that are brownish or black with white spots? For the Chinese, these butterflies are harbringers of bad news for when you see one or two flitting around in front of you, that means someone close to you (family and relatives) will pass away. Or if someone dear to you has passed away, the butterfly is his or her way of paying you a visit. Starting a few weeks ago, Ricky has sighted around three of these butterflies. Well, a few days ago, his uncle checked into a hospital for heart check up. The doctor didn't let him go home anymore. He's still taking some tests and medication and may have possible bypass in the next few days. Believe it or not...

Two Different Tots - One Mom. Bea is sick. She had a headache during lunchtime, and when I felt her forehead, it was hot. Took her temperature and it registered 101. I had no choice but to let her stay home and rest. She actually cried when she saw me taking her brother to school. She even clung to my arm asking me to take her along. I just couldn't believe she loved going to school THAT much. My Rance, on the other hand, scurries to hide at the mere mention of the word "review" or at the sight of me holding some books in my hands. But then, there's a side of him that is quite good and commendable. The other night, while having his dinner, he saw a tear in his yaya's shirt - around the armhole, he laughed and started to tease her. The yaya only smiled, and then he asked, " Ya, gusto mo bili kita t-shirt?" (Ya, would you like me to buy you a shirt?) How could a three-year-old boy display such empathy or care?

My brother dropped by for an overnight stay. He was here on a business appointment yesterday at 4. There will a new mall constructed in the downtown area, and my brother was selling them slightly used sound system and projector units from Mla. The equipment hasn't been used for more than two years and still in good condition. He says the movie theaters are starting to close down one by one, specially the ones not inside malls. Gone were the days when movie theaters were classy places people would go to to watch a movie. Watching a movie was an activity in itself, not "a movie then eat then shop or vise versa" kind of an acitivity. Movie theaters were usually two stories high with escalators or wide staircases and spacious lounges to wait in. Now they're just part of a square or retangular types of malls. A little too ordinary and boring to for my taste.....

Girl Talk. Spent two hours chatting with Ros, a high school friend. I didn't realize how much I missed that kind of conversation - smooth-flowing, spontaneous, speak your mind kind of talk. We've sort of lost touched after I got married - mainly because I concentrated on raising a family and didn't get to call her that often anymore.
We talked about guys :) (Is there anything else?) She's still single and so far, she has endured dates arranged by well-meaning friends. The whole two hours were spent LAUGHING! I must've looked pretty silly staring at the computer screen and giggling by myself in the middle of the night. She'd met quite an assortment of men - one was quite untidy but seemed like a good person inside (she couldn't get over the untidy part); another was ok but her father didn't like the guy; still another whom she'd dated regularly for 2 months but (puff!!) went up in smoke one day with nary a word; and a recent one who brought along five of his friends on their supposed first date. Unfortunately, the dating scene for a woman in her thirties isn't quite pretty. She hasn't totally closed on the idea of marriage, but the men she meets are, accdg to her the odds and ends of her generation. A guy can be too old, separated, widowed, too young....
I'm thankful I got hitched in my twenties... ha ha ha

From the mouths of babes. Rance was watching "Blues Clues" the other day, they were trying to find clues as to what makes Blue happy and trying to see what makes the other characters happy as well. I turned over to Rance and asked him what makes him happy. He said, "You, mommy!" Doesn't your heart just melt!?! Although the next time I asked him, he answered that playing and riding his car made him happy. Hhmmmm.....
Bea is six and her lower front teeth have started wriggling. I told her it's about time she got new teeth. She then asked me to take her old tooth put it under her pillow, so the tooth fairy can come visit, leave money, we will have money, and I can buy anything I want. See, guys, it's that simple to get rich! Loose your teeth first!!

Back to School Attended a parents' orientation a few days ago. The orientation started off with a VCD showing the activities it had during the last school year. The kids looked so cute! Rance is going to start nursery - his first in a "big school." I hope he has that much fun. I hope he doesn't cry and I really, really hope he'll learn to like studying. These days I've been attending school orientations, acquiring gate passes, covering books , and coming up with ID tags and bookmarks. I can't believe two summer months just breezed by!!

Bumming.. Been quite lazy the past few days though I still have a few loose ends to tie regarding work. Have you ever felt that way, like you just don't want to touch or even hear about the word work? Don't like to go beyond the everyday ordinary tasks that need to be done. I'm just reflecting... Linkin' Park Caught a feature shown of the band last night rgdg their new album. Got to hear a few of their songs plus their videos. I think their songs are good, though. A little more to hard/heavy metal rock side, but fortunately, still pleasing to the ears. Was afraid the new songs would make me cringe and start thinking of them as noise. When you start hearing new songs and categorizing them as noise, does it mean you're getting older? Maybe....hmmm.......

A Thing Not Missed. Heard there were strong rains and floods in Mla. the past few days. I know how high the waters could go and I'm thankful I'm not there. Floods are one thing I don't miss about Mla. I remember a year ago, I had a client in the Sta. Mesa area where I drop by thrice a week to go over their books. It was raining quite hard, but by the time I left home, the rains had gone down to a slight drizzle. Took my usual LRT ride and got off in Avenida. To my dismay, once I climbed down the stairs, the sight of knee-high flood waters greeted me! There were enterprising pedicabs willing to brave the waters, and I had no choice but to get in one. The ride put me in the middle of Recto and Avenida intersection with water on all sides of the streets. Only a few cars and jeeps braved the water. Decided not to go back home but to push through. Waited for about an hour before an FX passed by, and, by some instinct, I just jumped in. There was only one passenger, and she explained to me that she had a very important meeting that morning and she had to specially contracted the driver to take her to Cubao. She said they could drop me off along SM Sta Mesa, but that I had to pay a higher fare than the usual. I agreed and so did other passengers who got on after I did. When I arrived in Sta Mesa, SM was flooded and the intersection of Araneta Ave was also knee deep!!! Had no choice but to wait it out. SM didn't open because their basement was flooded. After another hour, the waters subsided a little, enough for tricycles to cross. Tricycle it was and I finally reached the office after 3 hours! Only to find out that the office was also flooded in and that there wasn't going to be any work done for the day. Felt like hitting my head on the wall for trying so hard but to no avail. Should've just stayed home and slept the whole morning!
Finally, I'm at the end of a week-long workfest. Frankly, I don't know what happened... one day I was finalizing the financials of a company and juggling with the usual house chores and kids' homework, then WHAM!! Got a CD from Joan containing around twenty companies. Had to come up with three-month books of accounts, trial balances, and quarterly income statements for all of them. Received a text msg from an old friend who wants me to go by her office and pick up around 30 bank accounts' worth of data for recon with books. The courier dropped by the house and I got two-months' worth of documents for updating. It was a mad rush the last week to try to finish as much as I could, since the bank recon and the quarterly statements had their respective deadlines. A week has passed and I've been true to my word and delivered the work promised. Now I'm going over the financials again - right back where I started.

>Family Ties. Ricky's fourth aunt from Zamboanga stayed with us for a few days this week. She and her daughter Pinky arrived here for a two-week vacation. Can you imagine my mother-in-law has a total of 8 brothers and sisters - one in Manila, one in Cebu, and five in Zamboanga. Once they get togther, it's nice to hear them talk because they start catching up - what's happened to them, any malady or sickness in the family, what happened to their children/granchildren, what happened to their spouses including members of their spouses' families. Their real-life stories are more colorful than any TV melodrama! How can you beat hearing stories about death(s) to distant relatives or friends; whose spouse ran off with whom; who went abroad and who came back; what aches and pains they underwent and their corresponding remedies; criticisms on decisions made by which spouse; how the children are doing in school and work, etc., etc.... Ever since I was small, I've always liked to listen to grownups talking to each other. It's not really eavesdropping, more of like they were talking and all the while thinking I wouldn't understand.
What gives me inspiration is the fact that in times of trouble in the family, they all band together and support each other, try to be there to help or lend a hand. They show us that in spite of what they like and don't like about each other, they're still part of ONE family. My dad has 11 brothers and sisters - but that's for another day... he he.....

Something Bad to Something Good. Suffered thru a six-hour brownout last night. It was the result of a heavy downpour - the first this year. What's the first thing that goes thru your mind once the lights go out? OH NO!!!! Another wasted night! Can we go out instead - to somewhere with electriciy, with aircon? I hope the kids don't get fidgety and irritable. I hope the kids can sleep with this heat. Can't use the computer or watch TV. But then again....Brownout nights remind me of years ago when we used to have brownouts/blackouts during strong typhoons. Everything was done by candle light, dinner and even lessons we had to do. My brother, sister and I would seek out the coolest room in the house, just get together and start talking. No TV or radio to distract us. We'd talk about what was happening with our lives - which during that time was more about school - the teachers and the workload; our friends - a little gossip here :) ; a touch or our "love lives" - crushes, do you think he's/she's cute, what's he/she really like....TV show, music, and movies were among our shared interests. We enjoyed the feeling of being able to share and talk amongst ourselves. Those times are dear to me, since now that we're all grown up and have our own families we have less of that kind of time together.
With the children last night, we played an alphabet game with them to keep their minds off the darkness and the rolling thunder. We picked out letters in the alphabet and asked the children to give us words starting with those letters. We also let them guess some words by giving out clues about what that word sounds like, what it letter it begins with....we had a pretty good time with lots of laughs and seeing the children try to outdo each other. They slept alright with me fanning over them till the lights came on.

Not really a good day. Met a fellow school parent and she was telling me her mom passed away and the burial was last Sunday. Last Sunday was Mothers' Day. Can you ever imagine how you'd feel if you had to bury your mom on that particular day?
Also received news that one of our college schoolmates and ex-co worker passed away. How could anyone die so young?

White Ants Literally translated from a Chinese term for termites.... They are the reason I've spent a week away from blogging. Ricky found out our house had a little termite problem and had asked a carpenter to take a look. The carpenter arrived last Monday and started knocking on the garage ceiling, the doors, and the walls of the house. They started their work outside - tearing down the plywood, putting on new ones, painting, and finally spraying the pesticide. After a few days, their work moved to the inside of the house. Fortunately, the damage wasn't extensive, but if left unchecked, who knows? We might end up living in a cardboard box - all walls and ceilings all hollowed out! :)
We didn't want the kids to be exposed to the dust, the wood chips and pesticides being used, we decided to let them spend a few days outside the house while the repairs were going on. Since we had a few free nights in Cebu's hotels, we used them. We spent a night in Waterfront, a night in Montebello, and a night in Cebu Midtown. The hotels were near enough so we can check the progress of the repairs. The children had fun trying out the different pools, the bath tubs, new surroundings. Rance likes the waterso much, he wants to go to the deeper parts. Bea just likes to stay in the kiddy pool where she knows her feet can touch the pool floor. It was really hard to get them out of the pool. Swimming is the first thing they mention in the morning and they would forget about dinner just to stay in the water a little longer. They couldn't get enough of eating in different restaurants for days in a row. We had ihaw-ihaw, the never-ending Jollibee and McDonald's, pizza and pasta, and always-present Chinese. Both children were quite tired out when we finally arrived home last Sunday to celebrate a quiet Mom's day.
It took only a few days out of the house to let me realize how dependent I am to my old trusty computer. I missed checking my email and seeing if I could chat it up with my friend in manila who happens to be online. Or simply surf for a while. Since I've got some pending work for my Mla. clients, I miss not working with it. As expected, my mail hit their critical limits, so I had to clean them up a bit. My work is staring me in the face - 1st quarter income tax returns for 18 companies!!!! I also have to finish some company financials I've been putting off for a long time. Did I say everything is ASAP???!!!

In A Whirl. The past week just zoomed by. My mom was in her final days of vacation here in Cebu. She likes spending time with her grandchildren and accompanies them to summer school and shopping, eventually ends up spoiingl them in every possible way. My brother and sis in law also came by to enjoy the beach - sort of a pseudo honeymoon type of vacation. We had the tour of restos around here - inihaw, Singaporean, Thai, and of course, the never-ending Chinese cuisines. I was the source of questions regarding where this and that were located, where can they buy these or do they have these things here. During the last few days, we eventually ended up visiting the malls - finding bargains not available in Mla. and buying local delicacies like otap, rosquillos, dried mangoes, dried fish, Chinese sausage, banana chips, green mangoes, and chicharon. We even made a beeline for the famous CnT lechon early Saturday morning, so we could get the nice parts - RIBS. YUMMY!!!! Just enumerating these food stuffs make my arteries choke!! :)

A Big Boy Now. Rance surprised me today during dinner time.Everybody was sitting down and starting to have dinner. I, on the other hand, was just getting something to drink, when he suddenly said, "Mommy doesn't have a spoon." Huh? Everybody turned to look at my plate and true enough, I only have a fork beside my plate. "See how he looks after his mom?" Ricky commented. Ahem...ahem..... I'm really proud that he can be thoughtful and can already think about somebody else besides himself.

Simple Joy Received a letter today from Remy, a good friend of mine. We've known each other since the 90's. Although we don't talk as much as before, we try to keep in touch with each other's milestones - career, marriage, and kids. It just warms my heart to receive letters through the regular postal system. It's kind of old-fashioned in a world of email and texting, but I don't mind.

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her
70+ birthday. Maya really is a marvel who has led
quite an interesting and exciting life. Oprah asked
her what she thought of growing older. And, there on
television, she said it was "exciting." Regarding body
changes, she said there were many, occurring
everyday...like her breasts. They seem to be in a race
to see which will reach her waist, first. The audience
laughed so hard they cried.

She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much
wisdom in her words. Because of that, I share
this...by Maya Angelou

When I was in my younger days,
I weighed a few pounds less,
I needn't hold my tummy in
to wear a belted dress.

But now that I am older,
I've set my body free;
There's the comfort of elastic
Where once my waist would be.

Inventor of those high-heeled shoes
My feet have not forgiven;
I have to wear a nine now,
But used to wear a seven.

And how about those pantyhose-
They're sized by weight, you see,
So how come when I put them on
The crotch is at my knee?

I need to wear these glasses
As the print's been getting smaller;
And it wasn't very long ago
I know that I was taller.

Though my hair has turned to gray
and my skin no longer fits,
On the inside, I'm the same old me,
It's the outside's changed a bit.

Ma's Here My mom arrived today for a two-week visit. She's part of a group of Chinese women who practice dance together five days a week in Binondo. Some of these women plus their instructor are here to teach the local instructors a year's worth of dancing lessons. Dancing to them means ethnic Chinese dances involving fans and might include some gadgets I'm not aware of --- just kidding.... Well, dancing for them is a way for them to exercise and an excellent way to get in touch with the Chinese culture in terms of song and dance. She's currently staying with her friends, but when the sessions are over, she's going to stay with me for a few days. She brought some cinnamon buns laced with chocolate - YUMMY!! (FORGET the calories!!!)
Got to meet some of her friends and they're quite nice. They kept saying I looked pretty and that my mom didn't look like she had a daughter who already has her own family. Who wouldn't like hearing those compliments huh? I think their average age would be around 55-60, with children all grown up - so I'm thinking they know what they're saying. Ha Ha Ha!!!

Happy Birthday My little girl! 6 years old and as precocious as any six-year old girl can be. This year, she knew how to count down her birthday. She knew that March came before April - she said "After March, it will be April, April is my birthday." Come April, she'd count the days. A sample line would be - "It's April 5, tomorrow is 6 then 7 then 8 then 9, then it's 10 - my birthday. You should buy me a gift, put it in a box, and put a bow on it." She's taking summer classes now - math and reading - she seems to enjoy it. She attends class twice a week, does her work everyday for about 30 minutes and still has the resta of the summer to enjoy :) So far, she likes school, I just hope she maintains her enthusiasm through history, trigonometry, and phsics.
House Help My nanny went on vacation two weeks ago. I have my hands full with looking after two kids. Fortunately, the nanny was able to find another house help - a younger one with no previous experience. At least, I don't have to worry about house chores and can concentrate on the kids. I literally don't have time to myself anymore, so as you can see, I'm blogging this in the middle of the night. My work is on hold as of the moment, luckily (or not!) I don't have a full time job, so if it's really urgent I do it midnight or early morning. Anyway, the up side is I spend time with my kids, but the truth be told - it's draining me both physically and emotionally. Imagine never ending questions of can i have this, can you read this, can i do this, i want this, i want to go there, i want you to play this with me, not to mention monitoring meals and sleep. Whew!

Cold Feet? You know what Rance kept on telling his teacher during his first week of school? Somehow, he thought of telling his teacher that I was calling for him. His teacher said it happened around once or twice during the one-hour session. Fortunately the teacher didn't believe him and instead directed him to other activities and told him that he hasn't finished his class so I won't be there yet. Maybe it's a kind of insecurity - like somehow, he had to be sure that I didn't leave him and he wanted to check that I was indeed waiting for him.
Yikes!! Paid the children't tuition fee today - can you believe everything amounted to a total of seventy three thousand pesos??? Books not included yet!! My goodness! Why does it cost so much to educate a child these days? Can you imagine how much we'll be paying by the time they reach college? Maybe three hundred thousand?