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Friday, May 30, 2008

I just got tagged!!!

To-Do-List

I just got tagged by my sis-in-law, Jolana

Here goes mine:

#1 in my list …get the room makeover before Im due to give birth ( as in major project )
#2 in my list …have the the kids' measurement taken for their school uniform ( school's gonna start in 2 weeks na :)
#3 in my list …organizing the room of Frances and Jeremy
#4 in my list …sort out clothes and other stuffs to be given away to different recipients :) #5 in my list …organize our pictures from our China trip

And now, I’m tagging Mariz, Beverly, Jee, and everyone else reading this blog :)

Monday, April 28, 2008

It's our 8th!!!

The whole family is together here in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China for a vacation, well for the kids and me at least hehehe...while Hubert works during the day. It's the longest time we've been together since Hubert started working here. He would come to the Philippines for a couple of weeks or less every 4-6 months. And we always made sure that each time was well worth it. Same time last year, we had our 7th Wedding Anniversary. We started it with a renewal of vows led by my cousin-priest, Fr. John Anthony, and had our house blessing on that same day. We shared the celebration with our friends and relatives. And then we also celebrated Christmas 2007 together and then he was back to fetch us after Frances' graduation in March. So here we are right now :)

How fast time flies! It's been another year full of blessings and bliss.There are so many things to be thankful for. I know many people find it weird that both Hubert and I have decided to take the road less travelled, in our case choosing not to live together in Suzhou. Every decision we make entails a lot of thinking and consideration...and mostly it's done for everybody's good. It's good to get the best of both worlds at this time though. We get to travel on a vacation and be together, Hubert gets to go home on for a vacation too, and at the same time we get to send the kids in a school in the Philippines where they would learn the basic socialization skills which will aid them to be well-adjusted adults in their time soon. I get to exercise my role being a doting mother to them in school, hehehe...I always put in mind that the kids should go through things I have gone through as a child before because my childhood was so full of fun and Hubert's too! :) And I don't want my kids be deprived of that or worse they would be giving that look on their faces, asking us " Have you seen my childhood?" Familiar with that MJ song? But we also agreed that, if the kids would have been smaller yet, it would have been a different story though. We would have stayed together wherever the head of the family may go. Just like what we did when we decided to reside in Baguio City sometime in 2002. But things are different now, the kids are doing well in school, they are at the age where it's very hard to uproot them from where they stand. Just like a growing plant which you want to try uproot and transfer to another place, they may wither. Anyway, even with the kind of set-up we are in, I can say that we are always happy, thanks to technology ( PC, internet, mobile phones, etc.) we always feel like we're just near each other. It doesn't make neither one of us feel anything less of a wife/husband or mother/father just because of our geographical distance. Contrary to what people say that the wife should be there to serve the husband all the time, what other better way is there for a wife to serve her husband than seeing her taking well good care of the rest of the family, the household well-taken cared of, and the family's finances well-secured?

In the case of Hubert, he always make sure he talks to the kids all the time especially at night and update on each other. We all know this kind of setup is just temporary, and that there will always be a time that the family will be together once again. We just have to make our sacrifices and just invest a lot of trust on each other and most especially on God. All thing's will work out fine as it has been for almost three years now. :)

And now today, as we celebrate our 8th Wedding Anniversary...there might be no relatives and close friends to share our blessings with this day..but there's always the FIVE of us together...yes and I mean five, hehehe, you'll know why :)

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary My Loves!!!

Glitter Photos
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Photos*]

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Injured Princess

My family had our usual Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's Shrine in Mandaue City and took a side trip to the nearby Orange Brutus before heading to the mall. While I was ordering at the counter, Jeremy and Frances were at the kids' corner playing with the Little Tykes playset. When they were called to join us in eating, only Jeremy complied. Frances stayed there for long and seemed to be in pain. As I stood up to see what was happening to her, the more she cried and she didn't want to show me what happened to her right hand. I talked her into it and she showed me like a 6-inch cut from her palm down to her wrist. She wasn't so cooperative at first because she was afraid thet her Papalo would react. It wasnt't a deep cut though, just a superficial one, but still, as cut is a cut is a cut, no matter how small it is, especially with the sight of blood, it only means one thing...PAIN. I tried to call the attention of the male food attendant at first but he didn't seem to mind it. So next step was that I brought it up with the manager how unsafe it was for kids to be playing at the slide when all we thought was that the plastic material was smooth to the touch. I'm just so glad the manager was not defensive and admitted that there was really a rough portion of the slide and assured us that she would bring it up to the maintenance team. She also applied first aid on Frances which brought me relief. She even sent out a plateful of French fries and Chocolate Monster cake to Frances' delight, hehehe...Mama said they might be afraid of being sued but I assured them that it's okay since it was only a minor accident and that they should just do something to prevent the same thing from happening to other kids.Or maybe they we're startled to see Her Royal Highness in pain after going down the slide, hehehe. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

This was her dressed wound...

Her Royal Highness enjoying her complimentary cake, hehehe...

Thursday, March 13, 2008

USC Revisited

I was at the University of San Carlos-Main for a scheduled Job Fair held at the Wrocklage Yard. It has been like eight years or so since I last set foot on my alma mater. The last time I was there was when I was taking up my Masters in Social Psychology. I intended to be early in going to the venue so that I would still have ample time to roam around and take pictures.

As a whole, the school has transformed a lot. Some departments were transferred to different locations. First, I went up to the Psychological Testing Office where I met Ma'am Remy, our professor in Psychometrics. We talked for a while and had to excuse myself since I understood that she has to administer test batteries to the clients there. As I went up to the second floor Iwhere I was supposed to find the Psychology Department, I was a bit disoriented . I was hoping to find familiar faces like former professors, schoolmates-who-have-turned-professors, old flame ( wahahaha...was there any that time? LOL) etc. Anyway, got down and went back to our booth. We received a call that our messenger was on his way to USC to bring our tarpauline standee, I went out to meet him so he could enter the school using the extra gate pass for the said event. While waiting for him, I met my kumareng Leah, who is handle some major subjects in Psychology and was on her way to the Psyc Dept. It was from her that I learned that the Psyc Dept. has been transferred to a bigger location at the third floor, to where the Math and CompSci Department used to be. She promised to show me around the place as soon as I'm done with my duties at my booth. So by lunchbreak, I started climbing up the very, very steep stairs by the side of the USC Post office. I had to defy my fear of climbing those flight of stairs because eversince my college days, I rarely pass by that area for fear of falling down and landing on the headlines since we have a news reporter for a classmate, hahaha.I only got to use those stairs during my Español 1 and 2 with Mdm Aller hahaha.....hadlok ta ma headline oi, naa ra ba si Karlon....that used to be an inside joke within the JIGKATE circle because of our craziness.

Anyway, it was so nice to see familiar faces, like Ma'am Rizza, the department secretary. I was surprised that she still remembered me. There was also Erlinda who is now part of the Psyc faculty and some of the former SHSJ students taking up Psyc, who used to be under me during my Guidance Counselor years. It was good to meet up with them.

My time at USC was so limited, I hope to visit the place again soon, this time with my kids.

Here are some pics to share with.......

........at our job fair booth

.......at the Testing Center with Ma'am Remy

........this used to be the Psyc Department Office

......my visit wouldn't be complete without getting a glimpse of the

Father Goertz Hall. This was the main witness of my rollercoaster ride

as a Psyc major; of becoming aware of who I really am, the laughter

and tears shared by everyone who was with me at the Group Dynamics

Laboratory, etc. FGH was a silent witness to all these and every Psyc

major is aware of that. :)

Well, well, well...buhi pa man diay ni nga pay phone!!!

Another silent witness ni, hahaha...if only you could this

phone talk, it can tell you everything that was untold,

sayang it can't spill the beans, hehehe....:P

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

We Were Elfed

Wishing you the best of the Christmas Holidays, from our family to yours....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1785659796

Saturday, November 24, 2007

My Thoughts

Hello, I'm not really in a blogging mode tonight, but I just want to share my thoughts. I was in Ayala Center with the kids this afternoon. We were just so happy to see the big taurpaulin poster hovering over the mall's fountain area. It was about the "Suessical the Musical" a play adapted from the Cat in the Hat all-time favorite children's tale by Dr. Suess. I was waiting for my turn to be served at the information booth, where tickets for the said play can be secured, when two couples caught the attention of the lady in front of me in the cue.

Lady: I don't like what the shirt that the guy is wearing
( Looking at me and her companion)
...I couldn't help but look at the guy she was referring to

ME: Oh yes, I agree with you, it's very degrading
Lady: How could he dare to wear such beside his girlfriend?
ME: And how come the girlfriend accept such intolerable act?
Lady: mao jud...

Looking at what the guy was wearing, it's a navy blue shirt with yellow print that goes " I'M WITH STUPID ---->" and the girl beside him was his girlfriend ( I just assumed looking at their lovey-dovey gestures at each other.)

Tsk...tsk...tsk... wala pa gani nagminyo, wala na ang respect unsaon na lang ug magkadayon? Basin magpaprint na pud ug lain shirt " IM WITH ______"

Just a simple reminder for all the couples out there...

1 Corinthians 13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

THE SCARS OF LIFE

I just want to share this forwarded email from a dear friend, Mommy Fe. These are worth pondering on...

"Love is when God became man."


Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.

In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His father, working in the yard, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.

Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father,

but the father was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father ' s fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn ' t let go"

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let you go. In the midst of your struggle, He ' s been there holding on to you.

The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That ' s when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and

will not ever let you go.

Please pass this on to those you love. God has blessed you, so that you can be a blessing to others. You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what they are going through.



Never judge another person ' s scars, because you don ' t know how they got them. Also, it is so important that we are not selfish, to receive the blessings of these messages, without forwarding them to someone else.

Right now, someone needs to know that God loves them, and you love them, too - enough to not let them go.