Nemo Found !

My children absolutely LOVE Nemo and Dory, they think the fishes are so cute, cuddly, and lovable. I wouldn't let them see this picture though, it might break their hearts. For me, I think it's a rather cute picture.

Craving for twister fries....hmm......

What's with me and the old songs? Ever since I chanced upon a Rod Stewart concert at MTV singing songs from the big band era like "The Very Thought Of You," and "The Nearness of You," I've been humming them every now and then. *sigh* Is this the sign of getting older and wanting to listen to slower music?

( feeling...) Just received the children's report cards this morning. They got my son confused with somebody else. His report card says that he's doing well in school, is articulate, likes to participate in classroom discussions, can do his work independently, and has learned all the lessons in the first quarter proficiently. This is not my Rance. Rance, who upon seeing me finish with his sister's lessons, would start to find the black hole where he could drop in and avoid his study time. When asked to sit with me for a review of his lessons, his range of answers include - it's Saturday, kids are not supposed to study on Saturday; can we study during week nights instead?; but I'm sooo tired....; can I play for another five minutes? I don't know when he had the time to learn the things they teach in his class, because he devotes so little of his time to it at home. Still.... I'm PROUD of my baby!

AAArrrggg!!!! My phone is down again. Gift of my hubby, my relatively new toy/gadget - the nokia 6100 is Out Of Order! I honestly can't believe it. Ricky bought the unit last June, and I got to use it around July. Just last month (Aug), in the middle of the afternoon, the unit had a power failure, as in I couldn't turn it on, can't even charge the unit, no lights or moving bars when i plug the phone to the charger. Took it to the nokia service center, and the service personnel promptly fixed it for me in a day. She told us it only needed a software upgrade. I honestly don't know what features were upgraded, I just blindly trusted what she relayed. Just yesterday, the phone went DEAD. So it's off for servicing again today. Jokingly, I'd tell Ricky, "Masama ata loob mo nung binigay mo yan sa kin." He he he....

(aahhhh...... ) Mooncakes are one of my favorite favorite foods. Got the cakes from Mla. courtesy of an aunt in Mla. who gave to an uncle in Mla. who sent it to an aunt in Cebu who gave us some. YUMMY!!! What do we do without the family members who surround us and continually look out for us? hhmmm....

Happy Tiong Chiu Tsie!! Annually, my father's side of the family would gather in our Pque house, share lunch, talk about what's been happening to each of us, share the latest baby pictures and gossip :) ending up in "puah tiong chiu." There would be aunts, uncles, and cousins all gathered together. Food was provided my the previous year's winner (chong uan) at the "dice game." Venue was provided by us- the house where my amah lived and comfortable enough for a party of thiry or so people. This was our version of the annual Christmas or New Year family get-togethers. It's been two years since I've attended the gatherings and I kinda miss it. Guess there's no chance of all of them coming over to Cebu...

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...