Time to dance Both Bea and Rance got very high marks on their report cards for the first half of the school year. To top it all off - I'm on the last project with next week as a deadline! Whoppee!!

"What is war?" Ricky and I had just tuned in to Mel Gibson's "We Were Soldiers" - a movie about American soldiers in the Vietnam war. The actors were getting ready for war, saying goodbyes to their wives and children. Bea was sitting with us and playing with her toys. Her question put questions in our minds as well. How do we explain war to children? There had been so many wars in the world - both big and small ones, and I don't doubt there's a war going on right this minute. But is all war the only way for us to have peace?

1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space. snug

2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer. woman, flexible - I'm looking at her in the mirror. Lucky me!

3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pasttime.stress-reliever, quiet, colorful

4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day. relaxed, kidstuff, fun, challenging

5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life. active, healthy,wise,wealthy, content

- courtesy of Friday Five

"Can we watch My First Romance?" Huh? Did I hear right? What's this from my six-year-old child? The movie was more of a teeny-bopper type of movie with first loves and crushes - and I personally don't think my little girl turned into a teenager overnight without my noticing. I bit the "No" answer I wanted to issue and instead asked her why she asked. She said she was just reading what was written on the marquee. (On the point of learning how to read by herself - no questions asked, it's something I'm proud of.) I persisted, so what if it's on the marquee, she didn't read Matrix Revolutions which was also on it. It turns out that what made her retain the memory of the movie and made her want to watch the movie was the constant commercial and pluggings done in TV. She was thinking that with the constant showing of the movie bits, it must be good to watch.Hhmmpphh.......Now we know why kids these days ask for so many toys. Have you ever tuned into the cartoon channels lately? The commercials are mostly for food or toys - creating this sudden "want" in them. I think less TV is better for kids.

From sunny highs to rainy day lows. After playing in the sun, and I think having too much fun, Bea got coughs on Halloween and proceeded to develop a slight fever a few days after, with still no relief to her coughing fits despite the otc medicine taken. It was to the doctor's we went, only to find out after numerous calls that most of the doctors decided to take a few days vacation in observance of All Saints' and All Souls' days. We were fortunate to chance upon a doctor who could squeeze us in on short notice. The doctor was quite friendly and explained to us that maybe the cough wasn't viral and that Bea's body might be fighting some bacteria. (Oh well, so much for fun in the sun!) Antibiotics were in order and we have to give the medicine a few days to work. Speaking of a few days.... oh no, it's almost time for school again....grumble grumble...

YIPPEE!!! It's sem break and I seem to feel happier than any of the kids **tee-hee** We've also just finished the 2nd quarter exams. Aside from studying, the children had two days' of fun activities in school. Last Oct 18, they had the mini-olympics. Their classes had their own flags, and the children paraded around the school gym to the start off the proceedings. I proudly watched my two kids render their dance numbers together with their respective classes. Bea danced with hoola hoops to the tune of "You Can Shake It Like That" and Rance used pompoms for their "Cheeky Boy" number. After their dances and before the games proper, Ricky wanted to grab something to eat with the kids. They had had only milk before going to school. We ended up eating brunch in SM and decided not to go back anymore naughty, naughty !! **blush** We skipped the games altogether and ended up strolling and window shopping in the mall. By afternoon, the children were already "knocked out." The house was peacefully quiet and I felt GOOD

Yesterday, they had their fun day to mark the beginning of sem break. We all trooped to the football field at 2 in the afternoon. You cannot believe the SUN!! It was sooo hot! The teachers had to bring them to the farther corner of the field where they had trees. We (parents, yayas, drivers, et. al.) had to contend with standing or sitting by the side of the field. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time in the big, big field where they could run, jump and play ball. With condos, apartment buildings, and townhouses, one rarely has a place large enough for a child to run around. Plus with the proliferation of malls, video and computer games, something as simple as playing the sun seems quite "bland." Haay.. quite a day it was.

Week-long hiatus. "Peace man!" the doctor proclaimed after examining my son's eye. "Peace" short for pis, short for piskat, the local term for sore eyes or conjuctivitis. My son had woken up last Thurs. (Oct 2) morning with his left eye half closed, red around the eyeball and a little swelling along the eyelid. Ricky had just arrived from Dumaguete and they had to go to the doctor pronto!
Rance had no choice but to stay at home for the rest of the week. I, in turn, talked to his teacher. I found out that just the day before, one of her students had arrived in school with sore eyes, and the teacher had to send the boy back home. The mother of the child didn't have enough sense to let the child stay at home. Ggrrrr...!%$#@
By Friday night, I was the one with the red eyes and by Saturday morning, it was the house help who had them. Darn! All three of us stayed in the house for the weekend till the first half of this week. We went through a lot of alcohol rubbing of hands, spraying of disinfectant around the house, and consumed a large amount of tissue paper. We wanted to prevent the further spread of the "virus."
Initially I couldn't think of how to spend those four days at home. My interests lay in reading, cross-stitching, and surfing. My work lay in spreadsheets and figures. With the disease I had, I can't do any of those things. Tiring out my eyes might aggravate their situation. (Made me realize how grateful I am I can see and that I'm not blind.) I resorted to taking a lot of naps. If I'm not napping I'm playing cars or bey blading with Rance. *he...he...*
The doctor pronounced him A-ok last Wednesday, so he's back at school, busy rehearsing for their Mini-Olympics tomorrow.

A week just ZOOMED by... It was Monday when Rance brought some garden soil to school. He was studying the parts of a plant this week. And yesterday (Friday), he came out of his class and handed me bean sprouts in a pot where there was only soil five days ago - nature in all its wonder and beauty!
My son recited this to me, "Seeds grow into plants with sun and air and love and care!"

Feeling indulgent.... Just bought a small bottle of Clinique's Happy Heart - I absolutely LOVE it's flowery scent!

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Now that we're already into the -ber months, do you know that Nat'l Bookstore is already has piped in Christmas songs and its personnel are hanging up the Christmas decors? This is way too early, if you ask me.

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
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