Template Again

I thought I'd play around with my template. When I came back, I had lost all of my sidebar clutter. I love my clutter.

So, I had to change it again. Is it working now? I have no earthly idea because I wouldn't know until later. If you're noticing that it's not working properly, please let me know.

I noticed there's a video upload button on my editor. Isn't that nice? I haven't tried it...but I will. I distinctly remember a duck chase at a mall near us involving some straw. I tell you, I have never had so much fun watching ducks!

A Surprise Visit

My cousin Annabelle stopped by yesterday afternoon for a visit. Her son is about DS4's age and they had a blast. They did their baby talk, baby screetching, and head bopping. I do believe they were well on their way to being great friends at the end of an hour.

I was running late for the post office and was sorry to see Annabelle go. I made it to the post office with seconds to spare...then saw that my passenger was only in his diaper! I couldn't go in, so we just turn around and went home.

Sing Me A Song

There are some songs I knew from childhood which I love to hum and listen. This one below is one of my favorites. Jose Marie Chan rocks! You'll see some of the top actresses from the Philippines here.




My best friend, a gifted pianist and singer, sang this one at my wedding. I think Regine Velasquez might have sung this song.

Slave For You...Oh Dark Master

Get your minds out of the gutter! I don't mean that...whatever is that you're thinking about. See this picture on the left? My friend, Tart, from New Zealand, who shall forever be known from now on as a "goddess of chocolates" sent me a pack of Tim Tams. You wanna know how good this thing is? Well, it's character altering. I, a mother who always shares my goodies with my kids decided to hide this one. Until I know for sure I can get this locally, I will probably eat the whole thing myself. Yep. I stashed my chocolates deep into my underwear chest. To give you a picture of how big this chest it, imagine one big enough to hold almost 200 pairs of underwear!

If I can't find it hear, beware if you leave in the Australian continent, maker of this miracle food. Thank you, Tart, for sending me this Tim Tams. You've made this mother, one happy woman!

With a Chance of Poetry

I should be sleeping, but I landed on this Haiku site. It says, 5-7-5. So I came up with this

summer for children;
rolling in mud and water
chasing dog around

and no, I am not quiting my day-job!

I wanted to post this picture from the author signing. It took me a long time to find my camera thingy.


As usual, to find something, you must first buy it again. Once you have it in hand, wait a few day, and surely, the lost item will be found. I now have two of this camera thingy. It's not such a waste. I get to leave the other by the TV and watch my pictures on big screen before downloading it.

Weekend Full of Movies

I saw The Preacher's Wife with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston on TV. There's a line in there which strikes a chord. Whitney's character was asking Denzel what happens if the flame goes out between couple? I like Denzel's character's reply. You don't let it. Simple words, yet it makes sense.

Friday night, D and I watched The Painted Veil with Edward Norton. It's a story about a girl and a boy, and a marriage where one loves more than the other. It's a wonderful book, and the movie is great too. I want to re-read the book because I want to find out more about her child. I wonder if the book said anything about it.

Sunday afternoon have us all sitting and lounging in our living room watching THE PRINCESS BRIDE. What a very good movie that was. I love the fencing scene. Even my baby loves watching it. He got really excited when they started rolling down the hill. It's my favorite kind of Sunday where everyone enjoys each others company over good movie. Yossi and Yoash jumped up and down on my train table and made such noise, we has to read sub-title for about half an hour.

I also borrowed Jane Eyre with Timothy Dalton. I watched all 11 episodes of BBC's version. I know it was rather horrible acting at times, but I was caught up with what a hottie Timothy Dalton was. I mean, have you look at this guy closely? He's very handsome and attractive. I think he's a perfect Mr. Rochester just like Colin Firth was a perfect Mr. Darcy.

I decided this will be a summer of catching up on my classics. I am waiting for Wuthering Heights and some other ones too. I think I will watch Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice in all their versions. It might be hard to find all versions, but my local library has most of them. My husband, of course, cannot see the attraction. I think he fell asleep to my Jane Eyre.

D and Yoel went to see Transformers early Sunday evening. Chana and I planned to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at IMAX. They were all sold out when we got there around 11ish. We end up seeing THE TRANSFORMER. I love, love, love the story. I want to watch it again. I think I want to see The Iron Giant again. That was a good movie.

Am I Looking for My Sea-legs?

I have been feeling nauseated all day. It's exactly the same feeling I get after a cruise, or a ferry ride or any type of water transport ride. It's also the same feeling I get riding the octopus at the carnival. You know the one I am talking about. The ride in which the bench, the carriage, the stick holding the carriage and the main big stick holding the little stick holding a pair of carriage spins and spins. Yep.

Louann over at Three Boys and a Lady gave me awards and I am now a happy sea-sick person sitting down here. Click on the awards below for the award explanation. I am very flattered. Thank you Louann! Nothing like an award to keep me smiling!


I am still waiting for my multi-adaptor for this Sony camera so I can properly display my digiment from a recent book signing. I can't wait to write about it, but it's not the same without the pictures.

One of my bulletin board buddy, Mira, treated us to a dinner at Antares at Reunion Tower. It was fabulous and fantastic. We were inside the ball of light way up in the sky. I am fine with height. I don't think much about it. It's the motion of the restaurant. It might as well have been going at the speed of light for the all difference it made of my motion sickness reflex.
I held on with iron will to my stomach. I am glad to say, I didn't barf. But now, 48 hours after my wonderful dinner, I am still queasy and sea-sick. This doesn't bode well for my husband's plan to take us all on a cruise in Alaska. Unless those sea-sickness medication really works!

My daughter had a blast though. We took picture of our beautiful plates. I'll post it later, when I can retrieve it from my camera. She wants her birthday party at that restaurant next year. Maybe even her wedding reception, even though she hasn't picked up a groom yet. I was glad to hear this because she's only 9.

Did I mention I am quite queasy? I have half a mind to go to my eye doctor and check my prescription. I had such a time with my health insurance today. I am too mad to even gripe about it.

I'm So Excited!

In less than 3 hours, I will be meeting a bunch of friends from my favorite Bulletin Board, and my favorite authors too. I can't quite decide whom to buy a book from and take a picture with.

This year, my daughter is going with me. She's 9, but she's into reading. My friend Jovy will watch my kids. There's a dinner afterwards, but I don't think I can go to that one since my husband works nights and it's too late to not be home with my kids.

I heard by door bell two hours ago, and surprise! My mother came to visit me from Oklahoma. It's always wonderful to have her here. I wanted her to sit and relax, but she's like a whirling dervish when it comes to my house. She had washed my dishes, which I had planned to wash later on this evening. I should really sneak out now and pamper myself with nail polish and waxing (my brows) but I think I'll stay and gossip with her instead.

Yoash is asleep for about 2 hours now, which means he's going to wake up soon. Check out his picture on the sidebar. Isn't he cute? I also better check yahoo maps on the best way to get to Hilton Downtown for the signing. At least, rush hour will be going to opposite direction, so I won't be stuck too long in traffic.

It's so hot here right now, and muggy too. I almost didn't want to get out of my 69F temp house... but really, Romance Writers of America Convention doesn't happen everyday.

Fish Theraphy?

We have an aquarium with 5 fishes next to the kitchen sink. The cabinet above the aquarium is my spice cabinet. It has been an interesting few days for the fishes and for my husband. He had to change water half a dozen times in less than that many days. Between Yossi (DS3) and Yoav (DS2) giving the fishes some spices or too much fish food, it has been interesting to know that fishes does not like Cajun Grill seasoning mix, but they're alright with Asian Gril spices. They would gasp at bacon bits (the vegetarian kind) but they're alright with fish pieces.

This morning, they have to dodge a table tennis racket, the other day net. Between the clangings of the workmen, and the banging of the pans from children learning to cook, I have a feeling I will soon be needing a Fish Pscyhiatrist to deal with the "nerves" issues which may arise.

Otherwise, everything is alive and well at this casa. Still not finding my camera cord. I have tried to buy another at Sony.com, but evidently, they don't sell it alone. I have got to buy the whole things again...camera and cord both. Does anyone know if anyone is selling a cord only for Sony Cybershot 10.1MP. This model below.

Almost There

We're almost all moved out. The closing was delayed a week. It was a blessing as I still have little odds and ends in my old house. I really love it here in my new house. I am positive I will love it even better when all the boxes are unpacked and all the things are safely and neatly tucked.

I am just about ready for a day in the spa. My hands could certainly use a day of pampering. We're moved in for about a week now, and it's wonderful (other than the unpacked boxes and crates).

Yossi, my almost 3 years old has been asking me to go home. Poor baby. The stairs which I was so worried about is not so bad. They're all navigating through it fine, even Yoash, the baby.

The wonderful thing about my new kitchen is Chana's interest in baking and cooking. Every day she comes up with new recipes from scratch and bakes them. She has mastered the fine art of making French toast. Yesterday for lunch, she tried her hand at Spaghetti Carbonara. It was delicious! I was impressed.

I have some pictures but I managed to misplaced that thingy which will take pictures out of my camera into the computer. So I have pictures, but they're trapped! I guess I could remove the memory stick and get it from there, but it takes time which I have been hoarding to catch up on my reading. Books and blogs both.

Seven Days to Moving Day

It's been really busy days. I have 17 days left on my moving day.
We've been busy shopping for floors and tiles. There are so many to choose from. Here's a few that we like, but it might be too light for my kids' feet.



It's only a few yards away, but goodness gracious, how many junks I've accumulated over the years. I am pretty sure I have sorted through my items and still have lots more to go. I should just chuck the lot in the trash. However, my good friend Jovy mentioned about a garage sale. I am going to try it. We'll see. Except, I am not sure my personality can handle people touching my stuff (discarded they may be) and rejecting it.

Maybe I better not watch the garage sale. I will let my daughter tend to it. Maybe she'll make some money, or maybe not.

The other day, my husband came home with beautiful flowers for me, no occasion. I love it!

It's summertime and my children gets to have playmates over 4 days a week. Have you got any idea how to keep 7 children from getting bored?

Mad as a Hatter

OK. The title has nothing to do with my post. I think.

Last Friday, DH and I went walking at the mall. We enjoy sitting down with our Which Wich sandwich after walking 4+ miles around the mall. It's a good thing the circumference is big enough or the potential for dizziness-induce-puking is rather high.

Some days, we only put up with walking because we know that after at least 5 laps, we can order our favorite food to date. Which Wich
I was told my hands are allergic to water. I spend long enough time playing with water and my hands bleed. My hands are allergic to water. I have five children which mean I must wash and rinse my hands more often than a surgeon. I have tried mineral oil as a moisturizer for when my hands are still wet. I have tried expensive rich cream, to all kinds of stuff. It would work for an hour, and then it's back to dry and crackly I go. If you have seen X-Men, you can picture my hands as Rho, except, instead of absorbing anything, it just expels all moisture!

How did we get to talking hands? Oh right! Some one tonight thought it would be really fun if they lined up some McDonald condiment and jump on it. There were sweet and sour, ketchup, Honey mustard, and barbecue sauce. It's why my hands are crackly. I had to mop it, and arrange it so that there won't be next time, or at least, as close to no next time as I can make it.

I am thankful for my hands….it's just gets really dry.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm on my way out the door to take my kids to their piano lesson today. Usually, I have their lessons at home, but their teacher couldn't make it last Friday. I will post my cards and stuff the kids made me later...but right now, I want to share with you the perfect card for mothers out there. I share with you Yahoo Greetings card sentiment. Click here or on the picture below.

Happy Mother's Day!

Short Fuse

I have noticed that I have a very short fuse these last two days. I get cranky. I think if I could, I would have sat down and bawl my eyes out complete with feet stumping.

I'm sleepy all the time, but it's not in me to sleep longer than 4 hours. Something would always wake me up. I envy other people who could go lie down and get some sleep. I am not like that. An average sleep for me in a week would be 28-35 hours.

As I am getting older, I noticed that I want to sleep, but there's a pattern to my sleep-deprive routine. I'd get really sleepy. Then I get cranky. Things that wouldn't bother me usually start to get on my nerves. My aim is to keep my mouth shut when I am tired and cranky. I noticed I can get very inventive with my complaints.

Back to sleep pattern. I get very sleepy; my eyes would be half-mast, my head fells like it's stuffed with cottons. Then I just had to do one more thing, that feeling will past, I get my second wind. I don't know if it's good or not. I just know that's how I live with little sleep.

My brother and sister and mother came to town for a short little while. It is always great to see them again. I dragged my little brother for a 90 minuntes detour to pick up my new table. It was really fun. I wish he lived nearby because he and I get along very well. We used to see lots of movies together, and going out to the lake with the kids, and short day trips too. My turn to go up north in a week or two.

Get Real: Bloggers Without Make-Up

As my natural state is make-up less, it's not that hard to find a picture of me without make-up. In fact, I can count with one hand the times I have used make-up in the last 10 years. I have calculated the time it takes to put on and take off my make-up and decided to use my time elsewhere.

In the morning, putting it on is approximately 30 minutes. For me, it takes that long. Damned pencils seem to want to mark all over the place but where I want it. I have a steady-hand (I would have make an excellent surgeon), but absolutely missing make-up sense.

I was thinking that if it takes me 45 minutes on average to put on make-up, and let's say that I only put it on weekdays, which is still 45 minutes times 5 which is like 225 minutes a week, or 3.75 hours a week. In a year is 52 weeks, so it's 195 hours of make-up time. Over at Adventures in Babywearing Stephanie posted her make-up-less self. So, here's my more flattering make-up-less face. The picture on my header? No make-up either.

As you can see, this is already late in the day. I don't think I have even washed my face that day yet. Some days are so busy, I gotta hit the ground running or my schedule will drag me. I have a little routine. Wake up, do my morning ablutions which had better include my face or it's not going to get done until bedtime.

With 195 hours I save forgoing make-up, I can catch up on my favorite authors, experiment reading books I would never condescend to hold when I was younger like Lincoln and His Generals by T. Harry Williams. I would have missed how nice this book is. This book flows so I forget I am reading history book when I could read instead a romance book. With 195 hours a year, I can spend it holding my children instead because they are growing very fast, and pretty soon, even if I want to, it's going to be hard to carry them in my arms.

I am not saying wearing make-up is bad. I am just lazy about it, and after looking at the numbers, I don't feel so bad passing it up. Some days, I do put on make-up. I am not a complete slob. But it surely is rare indeed.

Know When to Stop

There are a lot of things happening right now around me. It is very draining. I know that it is nice that I have a steady lifestyle, strong relationship and all that. I just wonder how long I can stay strong and stable when I almost never get a chance to replenish me.

I am slow to realize that for anyone to keep their center, and focus, one must take time to invest in them. I am no therapist who knew these things. It's just common sense. I imagine being stable and giving is like a bucket full of water surrounded by a group of thirsty people. This bucket of water is very refreshing, and it's making all these thirsty people feel good. That’s wonderful!

Imagine how long that refreshing water will last if all everyone ever does is take and take and take. One does not have to be a math genius to figure out that it will go dry. Sometimes I feel like that bucket. I need to re-fill and re-fuel so I can continue to be a nurturing person.

It is very easy to overlook this self-nurturing in the business of life, especially in the midst of the adrenalin rush, and the good feelings inside providing all these help. On the other hand, I am reminded that Dr. Spock was not a very good Dad, yet he was every one's Dad. I am sure there are others who excel in their humanitarian work, yet end up making sacrifices of their families.

Yes, I want to be giving, and pillar of stability. I just also need to know when I've reached my limit so that my children is not the future casualty of a stressed-out mother, never-having enough time mother because I'm too busy elsewhere.

I am with Jackie Kennedy when she said

If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much.

I think knowing when to stop is a good place to start having balance in life.

Shoes Etc.

Last Friday, we heard the emergency alarm system blaring a warning. I was so out of touch with news and event; I didn't know what the warning was about. It was for Tornado. My kids were just finishing piano lessons, but I didn't have to worry about their piano teacher. She's safe in minutes from leaving my house. Her next student lives nearby.

It was fortuitous that we're in the middle of repainting outside. All my windows were covered and draped in plastic. My two little children went visiting next door to their Lola's house earlier. When I heard about the Tornado warning, I was concerned that they're not where I can see them. I went to pick them up. By the time we were walking back to my house, hails the sizes of little marbles were raining from the sky. We made it inside sans bruises. There wasn't that many hail because after a few minutes it stopped.

I find it fascinating to see a hail. Raining ice cubes in a not-so-cold weather anymore. I could probably google the information, but that wouldn't be fun. I was thinking that hail is more logical in winter than in spring. In winter, there's actually cold enough weather to make the water freeze. I can still recall the first time I saw hail. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. I imagine it's the same feeling seeing your personal favorite star walking towards you, looking like he's about to axe you.

This afternoon, my daughter and I stepped out of the house. We were going to go to the Mall, but stopped by One Price Shoe Store instead. We had such great time trying on shoes. I think my daughter's shoe interest was awakened today. We left with 5 pairs of shoes between us. I got a pair of sandals for my mother, and three pairs for DD.

At one point, I was afraid she's going to wrestle a petite lady over a pair of sandals. I talked her out of it but only because the sandals came in blue. That's her favorite over any other color right now.

After shoe shopping, we went to Chilis and had a drink over dessert and appetizer. It was only lemonade but we opt to sit in a bar. There were TV screens all over, and we had our attention divided between PGA and kickboxing. I didn't know it was kickboxing. The last boxing I know where the ones with Mohammed Ali, so I was complaining why they were kicking each other. Lucky for us, our very cute, earrings-on-both-ears-server knew about the sport and explains it to me. I would have been embarrassed if I wasn't so occupied trying to figure out what the numbers on Golf score meant.

Bonding Over Dirt

My kids and I are starting a garden. We had list of things we need, and we have pictures and drawings of what our garden is going to look like. I thought my children would prefer the already grown type of plant. I was wrong. They wanted to grow their garden from scratch.

We bought some garden soil, which we have renamed "poopy" soil because they really stink. I think it's a mixture of compost and horse/cow manure. Last Saturday, we were digging, and hoeing, and putting in some garden borders. Other kids were examining seeds to plant. Even DS4 helped by biting through an envelop of corn seeds.

It was a blistery day, so water run along with snots as we were starting our garden. Here's our picks :

Corn, three kinds
Pumpkin, the giant variety
Cucumber
Poppy
Zinnia, for borders
peas

We have tons more, but I can't remember them now. We went to Home Depot for our garden needs. On one such trip, we got hit by a car. We lost a headlight, crushed our bumpers, misaligned our hood, and shook me so badly, I want to come out of my car swinging.

She's over-speeding by over 20 miles in a neighborhood street, and not paying attention to where she's going. I had my eldest and youngest child with me, and she's fortunate that no one was hurt. I am very protective of my children that way. Damn her cell phone anyway...and she must have hit accelerator instead of brake.

Bygones! She doesn't have insurance, and had the gall to hand the cops a fake insurance card. I didn't have my cell phone with me during the accident, so I couldn't double check.

With such an eventful beginning, we are off to making a memorable garden for the kids.

Happy Esther

Not our jeepney picture, but similar. We had more than half-a-dozen at some point. They're almost always elaborately decorated, and some even have fancy horns. I hear one sounding like a woman in the throes of passion.

A long time ago, my mother and all of us kids went out on a Saturday night. We had our driver took us somewhere and it was very late when we came home. Along the way, we picked up a hitch-hiker. It was different then, plus we do have our driver with us and some other "guards."

We weren't Catholic, we've always kept Sabbath on Saturdays. It's not that we are unaware of the tradition that majority of our country celebrates, we just don't pay close attention when these things happen. My mother and little sister were sitting in the front seats.

In an intersection near our home, the guy asked to be let off. As he was going out of our jeepney, he called out "Happy Easter!" to which my sister and mother replied, "Yes?"

The Happy Shopper

I took these two to Target today. I had a list of cleaning supplies, and about half an hour inside the store, we have bagged three kinds of play dough, a car-washing brush, a pair of pants, a TV stand, a shelf, and a four-drawer chest. I have no idea about that brush. I am under no illusion of my wanting to wash my car. I just drive it to the nearest car-wash. This brush was so soft and cuddly, I had picked it up without even thinking about it.

We're examining the merits of another big bouncy ball when a worker drops a few things on the floor. As she bent down to start picking it up, my DS3 breaks into a song at the top of his lungs...

Clean up, clean up
Every body, every where
Clean up, clean up
Every body do your share

He broke into 2-3 refrains. I thought it was so cute; I had to write about it. Then my husband called me because I was almost half and hour late for my landscaping appointment. I forgot about my plans with my dear neighbor about re-doing our front yard together. So, most of my day was spent telling someone where to put what and pretending to sound like I know what I want. Ha ha ha.

I will have to post a before and after picture later. Right, to the carpool!