Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)

Bits of China. Spent some time last night watching TV, and I chanced upon a Chinese talk show. There was a host and two guest speakers. It's been along time since I listened to Mandarin * he he* good thing there were English subtitles (and I could read those in a jiffy!). I didn't know what the topic of the show was, just that they were discussing the Chinese language becoming second to English as to the most-spoken language of the world. This is considering the number of Chinese in comparison to the total population of the world. They noted that even as far as France, there were already road signs written in Chinese. There has also been a proliferation of language centers teaching the Chinese language, specially in the States.
There has been some confusion as well in teaching of the language, because apparently there were two types - the simpler, more "modern" language and the other more conventional Chinese. (I think I belong to the ones who studied the traditional one, and my daughter is starting on the easier one.) Some centers would teach foreigners the simpler language just to get them talking to and being understood by Chinese using the simplest terms. The more conventional terms and writing of the language would then follow. Apparently there has been some confusion in the terms being used between the more conventional teachers and the teenagers or yuppies of today. Certain differences in intonation or the way words are spoken have been noted. Like a new term - LKK (lao khok khok) which apparently means old person is being used by today's teenagers. If you tell an older person about an LKK, they wouldn't understand what. Even among themselves, the Chinese have different ways of pronouncing some words, sometimes resulting in some confusion.
But one thing I admire about the person who came up with the language is the fact that Chinese, when written down, would be understood by all Chinese who come from different parts of the country and who may pronounce the words differently.

Annoying mail. For the past week or so, I've been receiving quite a lot of mail from various email addresses with the subject "approved" , "your details" or "thank you." They're either 98K or 101K size of msgs and when I scan them with the norton antivirus, they always contain a worm. I simply delete them, but they usually fill up my mailbox and it gets irritating. Don't these people have anything better to do?

Too Fast. I feel as if the days are going by so fast - can you imagine the start of the -ber months is next week? Another year's coming to an end....*sigh*

Blah Week! The past week has been quite trying. The children had their exams from Tues to Thurs - and on different time scheds too! We were reviewing the lessons on a daily basis and in the midst of it all, Rance woke up with a slight fever Wed am. After taking some medication and sweating it out, he felt better and didn't miss his test for the day. After the exams and when I thought it was time to relax a bit, it was Bea who had the fever. It might be the weather which has been so HOT lately. Fortunately, she got better by Sunday and is now back in school.
As for me, FINALLY finished all my pending work Time for me to go to the bookstore, they're having their annual sale. Yippee!

Amidst all the hullabaloo, Ricky and I were able to sneak some time together to watch LXG.

Is This Me? Took an online quiz - just for fun!!

You're dark, twisted and gorgeous, Angelina Jolie.


What sexy girl are you
brought to you by Quizilla

Weekend Rush. Saturday was spent going over lessons with Bea, in preparation for the periodicals this coming midweek. We did go to Ayala for Bea's Kumon class,and we caught the "Song of Mulan." Since the lines were long, we decided to stand outside the seating area and Ricky had no choice but to lift Bea unto his shoulders. Bea totally liked the 30-minute musical. The costumes and stage were very colorful, and the songs were familiar to her. I'm looking forward to the day we'll be able to go to plays together. Hhmmm...Ricky didn't enjoy it that much, since he had his daughter on his shoulders the whole time. A very sweet act of fatherly love :-)
Sunday was Rance's turn to hit the books. He liked it when I came up with testpapers for him to answer and color. He had his regular Sunday bonding time with his dad. They went to the barber and then the supermarket. Sunday afternoon was my time, to do some work. Corny ba?

Midweek Special. Time for the movie "Finding Nemo." Guess I'm as excited as the kids. The children were able to wake up on time - 6am instead of the usual 8. A bit groggy, but the thought of the movie erased their sleepiness quickly. I went with Bea, and the maid with Rance. Ricky wasn't able to make it for he had to get some things done in the office before he flew off to Bacolod today. Bea thoroughly enjoyed the movie, she liked seeing different kinds of fish, the corals, and the comedy scenes. Rance just can't sit still in the sections of movie where there was a lot of dialogue. He liked the action parts better - the shark chase scene, the jellyfish rescue scene, the turtles riding the waves. Personally, I liked the movie. It has reminders for me as a parent - of letting children do things on their own and not being too over-protective.
YESSS!!! I made it just in time - finished my 15 companies of single props. Deadline tomorrow - Aug 15. Time to face the local client then off to the partnerships and corps for the Aug 30 deadline.

Time to face the music. The CD I've been waiting for finally arrived, and I spent the better half of the afternoon and the midnight hours getting a start on the companies' income statements for submission this Friday. I'm trying to get everything finished by Tues night, so I can fully enjoy "Finding Nemo" on Wednesday. No doubt about it, I still enjoy watching cartoons. don't you?

For the Romantics :) It occurred to me then that some people are like prisms: Anyone with a light in them can be near that person and have their light refracted into many different colors, like the colors of the roses around us. Prisms by themselves cannot make light, and light by itself cannot divide into the lovely colors of the rainbow. James Charlet's wife must have been like a prism, being there to magnify and refract her husband's light. He made her complete because she completed him. - by T. Jensen Lacey

Interesting Fact. One of the times I get to watch the TV, I tuned into Nat'l Geographic. Maggots - the new cure? Who thinks about flies anyway? We only try to swat them whenever we see them, and for good reason for they carry LOTS of germs. The maggots, on the other hand, "eat" decaying flesh/dead tissue. *eeks* You don't get to see them, unless you're the one assigned to throw out the garbage at home. :) But scientists have found that maggots can work where antibiotics or surgery won't. In severe injuries involving torn flesh like motorbike or car accidents, some doctors would want to recommend maggots - they feed on the dead tissues thereby cleaning the parts the body doesn't want anymore. They don't touch the live tissues. There's always the danger of doctors "cutting" out the live tissue in addition to dead tissue when they do surgery. While "eating" the body's dead tissue, it secretes a substance which stimulates tissue growth - to replace what's lost in the accident. About a thousand doctors are practicing this new method - would you like to be on the receiving end of the treatment?

Ricky's Rest Day. Last Wednesday being a holiday, Ricky decided to take Rance for a haircut in the morning, but the barber shop was too crowded, so they ended up going to the supermarket instead and then off to lunch afterwards. Bea and I stayed at home as we were going over some lessons - in preparation for the periodicals in the next two weeks.
Ricky then went out for lunch with his friends and accompanied them to Kia to canvass for a car. One of his friends is going to buy a new car, and he plans to do it before the prices increase. ( Car price increases , Makati mutiny, hotel bombing in Jakarta, oil price hikes are the bad news these past few days. No wonder I don't read the papers and I don't watch the news on a daily basis :< )
We then decided to watch "Tomb Raider - the Cradle of Life." What can I say? We gorged on popcorn while watching unbelievable stunts, lots of gunfire, and new tech gadgets. Thought-provoking though - ever wonder what's inside Pandora's box? Ever thought is there really was a cradle of life or the exact spot where all life began?
Got home by 10. Ricky was pretty poofed by then. No wonder....
Joan's computer broke down and there's going to be another delay in forwarding her files for me to work on. AAhhhggg!!!

Ok this is it. It's the calm before the storm....It's Aug - time for the quarterly returns in conjuction with the regular monthly jobs I do. The deadline is already next week for single props (roughly 15 companies per my guess), but I haven't received the files from Mla. yet! YIKES!!
Just a note on Uncle James - he underwent surgery this morning. Quadruple bypass. Prayers would be most welcome.

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!!