A Walk Through Life

I just have to write about this. I'll write this under 'senti moments' category. It's really true that we feel special when we find our name on a birthday cake. Even though I didn't get to celebrate my actual birthday with a bang, I celebrated post birthdays with my in-laws last December 28 and had my name on a cake! Actually, this was the second time that I celebrated post birthdays with them and we always have a sponsor -- my husband's sister Ruthie! Isn't she sweet? This was actually my second birthday cake with them but I feel a renewed excitement just seeing my name on the cake every year even though the limelight is shared with other names. I guess I am really OA. :-) So, to all of you out there who probably have no idea what to give to their loved ones on their birthdays, as simple as a birthday cake with their name on it would give them a smile on their faces.

It has been two years since our dearest mom has left us to join our Creator. And so again, in her honor and loving memory, hubby and I (with little Dipdip and her nanny) went to Compostela to reunite with my grandmother and the rest of our relatives in remembering her death anniversary. Dad was stuck in Medellin because he was expected to attend the company's Christmas party the day after. My sister was with him that day to attend mass and cook for him in lieu of remembering mom. Both of my brothers are out of the country, so literally we're one little 'scattered' family after mom left us. So you see why I will always miss mom? She makes me miss my whole family. When she was here in this world, we always had the chance to be a complete family. I still miss her a lot. I will always do. She is also the reason why I would love to pursue a career in writing because it is our common passion. Finally, I made it happen. And this career I am talking about has saved me from bein...

Christmas is all about family. This is why I feel a little sad to know that I'll be missing my two brothers this Christmas 2009. I don't know why I miss them when all they do is try not to be around home almost all the time. I feel like they wanted to be with their friends rather than be at home celebrating the holidays. Oh yeah, maybe that's how brothers are. They show up at noche buenas and then sneak out to see their peers, have silly conversations with them, and enjoy getting drunk and all that. Still, despite all that fact, I miss my two brothers. Such sweet fellas hekhekhek. It's like they've been gone for a really longgggg time. Merry Christmas, bros! Hope to see you both soon.

I know I need to sleep right now. It is almost two a.m. but I thought I should write about God's goodness. In fact, hubby and I thought of creating a blog that's dedicated only to write about the goodness and greatness of God and anything related to our faith in Him. First of all, we are not saints or saintly. I mean, we make mistakes, we keep making mistakes. We even miss to go to Sunday mass sometimes for many different reasons that are not sometimes valid. Now, I'm thinking what valid reason can you ever think of for not putting God first? Maybe if you were so sick that you couldn't get out of bed. I also do confess that there were times that I forget to pray before I go to sleep because I would sometimes come to bed already too sleepy to do that. And everytime I wake up, it makes me feel GUILTY everytime I realized I skipped saying my prayers. Yes, I would feel very guilty because God has been very good to us. We may have trials but He was and is always there to hel...

It's been awhile since I've posted more updates about Dipdip, our dear little princess. She is now 8 months old! She's a cheerful little darling, much like her own mother. The house would only turn like a library when she's asleep but when she's awake, be prepared for her noisy chants and screams :-). Her two front teeth is showing now and she can already stand up when she holds on to something like the sides of her crib turned playpen. I'm so happy to have witnessed all of this as her mom.

I'd still like to think about having a happy Christmas! However, even up to this time, it still gets me. You know, this whole thing that I have to go through. The days before Christmas. I really can't get past it until now. Everytime December gets nearer, my heart is less than happy because it makes me miss my mom even more. Somehow, December would always remind me of the time that we lost her. You can't blame me. I am my mom's daughter. I will always be thinking of her and I will always remember the beautiful memories I had with her. So, to all of you sons and daughters out there. Seize the times or the moments that you still have the chance to be with your mom or your parents. You'll never know how much chance you've got! Here's an old picture of me with my mom(+) and dad... I will always be their loving daughter :-)

Christmas is almost here! If there's a perfect time for any family to be together, it should be on Christmas Day. It's a time for families to catch up and update one another with all that's been happening in their lives. Aside from the living room, one of the best places to have a great bonding time together at home is in the dining area. So, if you're looking to replace your old Dining Tables with some really good ones to bring a good welcome to the coming New Year and for any member of the family who will be visiting your homes on Christmas, Spacify has a lot of modern designs to choose from. The best part of it all is their free shipping offer! Check on their website to appreciate this special offer and their wide collection of modern designs as well as their current pricing.

It's been thirty-three years of existence, and still counting, and yet at this point in time, I felt like I haven't really done much. Or have I? I think and I know there's still so much more to achieve. I don't have to be a perfectionist to be able to realize that I can go through life better than this. So much better than this. I didn't mean the material things because they're just passing fancies. Everything and everyone will all come to pass. Pondering on these things, I just realized that I've already hit my middle age, that is, if you look at the current average life span of a human being. And yet, at this stage in my life, I felt like there are lots of things that are left undone. Frankly, I really don't know why. I guess I'm just so afraid life won't permit me to fulfill all my dreams for my family while I still can. I'd like to see my daughter grow up, go to school, have a job, and have a family of her own. Or who knows, she just mi...

October was a special month. The last week of the month, that is. My baby turned seven months last October 26th, hubby and I had our second wedding anniversary on the 27th and then celebrated my husband’s birthday on the 30th. We celebrated them in our own way. We didn’t invite some friends over because we’re a little tight with money. Will that pass for a perfect excuse? Hmmm, I see lots of agreeing heads. Anyone who has a monthly housing amortization to pay plus a less than a year old baby can probably relate to our situation. But if I look at how my daughter grows up each day with a beautiful smile on her face, I felt like we’re one of the richest couples. And that is something that money cannot pay. *wink* My in-laws came over on the 31st. It was like a belated birthday celebration of hubby. My husband and I, who were supposed to be the hosts of the celebration, didn’t get to spend a single penny because they brought some food and drinks with them when they got here. Dad arrived i...

It's been two years since I’ve been married to a wonderful person. In these two years, I’ve realized over and over again just how lucky I am to be married to him. There’s no one else like him and if I were to go back to being single again, I would still want to be married to him. That is, if he would still find me to be the right one for him. I certainly hope so. You see, life is beautiful being with him. It even became more beautiful when we already have a daughter. Oh, how my life has really changed!

Sorry for this late update… but I already have a job! Yipeeee.. I haven’t written anything for awhile now because I’ve been busy with my newfound career online. Yes, I’m happy to know that I got a job that I also love doing and it’s not keeping me away from home. I still have to work full eight hours a day though so I get to check on Dipdip with her nanny downstairs when I do my breaks. I’m just happy and grateful to the Lord for giving me the job that I wanted and just when we already needed it. So, this is again another proof of God's unfailing love. People may turn their backs on us but the Lord will never abandon us in our time of need. There may be tough times but all these will make us stronger and wiser. And more GRATEFUL for His LOVE! I’m giving back all these to the glory of God. Thank You Oh God for sending me my new employer. Thank You for making all these things possible. Thank you for being such a sweet GOD! In You will we always put our trust.

Right on her sixth month, we started feeding Dipdip with baby cereals, her very first solid food. Following the pediatrician’s advice, we began with just two to three tablespoons of the cereal to check and see how her body would react to the solid food each day and to make sure also that she will not have any problems with food allergies. After that, we can gradually increase her intake as soon as she gets used to the solid food that was introduced to her and especially when she begs for more. We’ve been warned not to overfeed though. We will have her try different kinds and flavors of cereals, one at a time. So, aside from taking her milk supplement, she will have baby cereals three times a day for her breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was also told that we should make sure that she didn’t take her milk two hours before her scheduled feeding so that she would still have some appetite for the solid food. Right now, she’s still trying to like eating her cereals. It’s such a mess when sh...

Despite the not-so-good weather today, we brought Dipdip to her pediatrician. It's her last shot of the 6-in-1 vaccine. I can't help but brag about my daughter, she's so brave. She didn't let out a loud cry. She was only teary-eyed because the one holding her leg (the pedia's personal assistant) was not familiar to her anymore but she already smiled when she saw her mom (ahem!) beside the assistant. Just like her previous shots, her pedia was amazed because she has endured all the pain coming from the needle that pricked her skin. She would just give a surprise look on her face and look at her doctor. After that, it was like nothing has happened. I guess she was already used to the needle when she was just a newborn. She had a couple of shots after I delivered her via Caesarian because she had a little infection when she was inside my womb. Her last vaccine (Measles) will not be due until she reaches nine months. Incidentally, it's her sixth month today. Tim...

I'd like to share some of the silly things I did before. I thought I should write about this so they don't go deleted from my memory. :) When I was seven years old I had fever that day but I refused to stay at home. I went against my parents' decision to be absent from school. I don't know if you can call it "karma" or it may just not be my lucky day after all but I got myself soaked and wet from my hips all the way down. My skirt, underwear, shoes and socks were all wet! It's either someone (a silly classmate) pushed me swimming to a large fish pond at school or I must have slipped from where I was standing while I was fish watching with classmates. I had to go home to change. Thankfully, my fever went away. Obviously, I got a little spanking from mom after that. When I was in college When I was in my first year in college, I wore high-heeled shoes to go with my blouse and skirt uniform. There was a time when I didn't watch my steps. I slipped m...

My in-laws predicted that my daughter will skip the crawling stage and that it won't be long until she would learn how to sit, stand and walk by herself. Well, I noticed that one too everytime I would let her play longer on the crib or in our bed. Her attempts were not to crawl but to sit. Yesterday, she almost succeeded sitting on her own but it would probably take a little more energy to do that because of her weight. LOL. I took a video of her but I'll just place some snapshots of it here. I already envisioned myself sweating from chasing after her the moment she learns how to run. It looks like she has almost outgrown her crib and I find it too small for a playpen. LOL. I guess it's time to discuss with her father about getting something safer for her age and built.

One great way to save on space when getting beds for your kids is to invest on Bunk Beds. Like in our case, our house has only two rooms, so I guess it would be practical to have this kind of bed in another room. Because our daughter Dipdip is still a baby, she still has to sleep in our room. The other room is still empty and it wouldn't be long until Dipdip would want to have that room for herself. Later on, if she will have a brother or a sister, they can share the same room and there's already a bed waiting for the new member of the family. Even if she will be our only daughter, it would still be cool to get a bunk bed in her room, wouldn't you say? At least, there will always be an extra bed for a cousin coming to sleep over. So if you're looking for space-saving beds for your kids, you might want to consider ordering one of those modern wood bunk beds with great-looking European designs from Spacify.

If you've noticed, I just got a new domain! No, I didn't buy it myself. I take credit from my fairy godfriend Jenn Lord . Oh my sweet Lord, thanks for this new domain. Hopefully next year, I will be the one to renew it. Thanks again!See you on your wedding. So it's joannamashka.com now with the blogspot removed. If you're wondering why I used joannamashka. It's because joannemarie.com was already taken. I could've used walkthroughlife too but it's already taken as well. Then I remembered a good friend of mine Coco who used to call me "Mashka" during high school, a name taken from a character in one of the pocketbooks she came across reading. So it's a combination of Joanne and Mashka, joannamashka. Like you really wanna know the story. Hehehe. Like I really wanna sing right now "I'm nothing special.. in fact, I'm a bit of a bore~~~" And don't ask me how I got meretrisha. I coined it myself. It's definitely not taken f...

Lately, our little angel has been experiencing some discomfort because of her swelling gums. I don’t know when a tooth or two will show up completely but I can already see something white through her lower gums. I feel sad for her. If only I have the power to take away all the pain she’s feeling, I would gladly take her place. Despite all the discomfort, over all, she’s still a cheerful baby. I’m proud to say that she’s generally a happy baby. Not cranky. She would still smile at me as if trying to assure me that she can handle everything. Every time she’s feeling some discomfort and pain, I would just carry her and sing her some songs and she would just pinch my flabby (ouch!) arms and then she would seem to be okay. I love it when she looks and smiles at me. After that, I would already hear her saying something. Yeah, I can’t wait till I would hear her say “Mama”. As for now, I just hope she can get through her teething with less and less pain.

For many of us who would like to search and download e-books and other file formats, videos, music, etc., for our own personal use, we are probably going to make use of either or both of these two popular sources: Rapidshare and Torrents. To make it easier and more convenient for us, some techie guys came up with a rapid4me.com search engine so that we can directly and easily make our search for rapidshare files without any hassle. Alternatively, if the files we are looking for are not found in rapidshare, fortunately, we can also do it via Torrents Search . It’s amazing how they came up with these convenient options!

Update update update! It's been eleven days since I've been at home with my daughter. I pretty much haven't done anything except for those few small writing opportunities. Oh, you have no idea how MUCH I missed bonding with my daughter! You see, she's almost on her sixth month and I enjoy every knowing look and smile she throws at me. I enjoy every minute of playtime with Dipdip that it's just so hard to do anything else. Hehehe. Anyway, beginning today, I'm gonna try harder and get more online work. I still have so much time, though. Procrastinator me! :)

Do you know that babies also have a say in politics? I didn't know that until my 5 months+ Pauline gave her own version of a "Laban" sign when I took her picture (look at her hand). I guess she's saying that she's rooting for Noynoy Aquino (son of late President Cory Aquino) to be President in 2010. Maybe this picture would help Noynoy end his retreat and make that final decision. :) Mama, what has that got to do with this picture?

I was starting to like Shan's idea of collecting stamps . In short, I have no originality hehehe. I know I should have written about this sooner but we were at Stephen's parents then. I have received a postcard from Shan and some stamps from France to add to my collection. Hmmm, I have yet to buy an album for the stamps. I wonder how long it would take for me to collect stamps from other countries. Maybe I wouldn't have time to collect all of them. I might pass this on to Dipdip pretty soon. It's good to have a lot of hobbies!

We are already entering the month of September. In less than two months from now, it's already Halloween! Let the countdown begin. It's funny that I am writing about this now. During my younger days, there's always this Halloween disco party that we would look forward to attend so we can show up in different costumes. The most unique and the best costume gets to receive a prize. The disco house would look scary with a coffin displayed together with the cobwebs effect and people dancing but looking like witches and vampires. Nowadays, Halloween reminds me of kids running around in various costumes. I usually see them with their parents in the mall. They would happily bring around their baskets for a trick or treat. Oh, you would see the happy look on their faces when they have a lot of candies inside their baskets. Incidentally, I just bumped into this great website which features a lot of wonderful Halloween costumes for all ages. I was just amazed at how this website is s...

A week after I received my retrenchment notice, I had another talk with the big boss. He offered me a new project that could somehow delay my retrenchment for another two months or more. It was so kind of him to have re-considered me for another project but I guess my mind was already set that I will be home after August 31st, after having signed all the papers. Add to that, the circumstances leading to the termination of Dipdip's nanny seemed to be in favor of my plan to stay at home with Dipdip. Without burning any bridges, I told him I'm gonna try and make this home-based thing work but when all else fails, I would surely like to come back like a prodigal daughter, if I'm still welcome. Else, it'd then be the time to look elsewhere. I knew he understood because he respected my decision. In fact, I will never forget when he told me this, " Babies are only young once ." And he's most definitely right! As Dipdip's mom, I want to be near her, to look a...

it's really hard to get a good nanny these days. for the last four months, i have kept my patience with dipdip's yaya . issue no. 1. when we got her to start working the day after we interviewed her, she already asked if she could get an advance on her salary. she said she was indebted to her previous employer and wanted to pay her back. since it's really hard to get a yaya and she seems to give a pretty good impression that she's probably the best nanny we could ever have, we gave her an advance. i thought this would just be a one-time thing but she kept asking for an advance even when we gave her her salary every 15th and 30th of the month. when i finally received a retrenchment notice from my employer, i told her we can only promise her to allocate for her salary from our funds and that she shouldn't expect that we can grant her any advance on her salary. problem solved. issue no. 2. when i had her interviewed, i told her that i terminated my previous nanny becau...

What do dreams really mean? Why do I dream of people and old acquaintances that I haven't met in a long time? Why do they appear in my slumber when I'm not even thinking of them? Why do dreams take me back to my younger days? Back. Way, way back. Back in my native land, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. Maybe my homeland misses me. Or is it the other way around? I can't seem to figure out why sometimes my dream of a particular person or persons can run for days, like sequels to a tv series. Maybe they don't really mean anything. Maybe they do. But I can't stay around thinking about it. Reality is here. Maybe I'm just plain tired. I can't write my thoughts any further. I'm going to bed now. And dream again. Of people and old acquaintances I haven't met in a long time. And still wonder why I do. And write about it. Get sleepy. And dream again. Wake up and wonder. And... yeah, I get you. This whole dream thing is going nowhere.

"Feeling fat last nine months but the joy of becoming a mom lasts forever." - Nikki Dalton This is so not true! The nine months thing. At least not for me. I thought after I give birth, I will already lose all of that maternity weight but I was wrong. It's been four months+ after the C-section but I'm still not back in my old clothes. Sometimes it would anger my husband because it takes me longer to get dressed. Why? Because I don't like the woman I see in the mirror. I hated everything she wears. Nothing seems to look good on her. The mirror is no longer my friend. I hated looking at it. My postpartum body (especially my awful tummy) is just so depressing! Well, I tried not to be depressed. Mind over matter still works. Everytime I feel sad about it, I think about my trophy -- my baby! But it doesn't mean that I wouldn't try losing weight or getting back in shape. It just helps in conditioning my mind to be more PATIENT. Sometimes I even overeat especiall...

.... Consequent to the foregoing, we wish to inform you that we shall be constrained to retrench you effective August 31, 2009. Nonetheless, you shall receive all corresponding benefits due to you. Should we be notified of changes in the circumstances necessitating a resumption of the work force, we shall give you preferential priority...... I promised myself not to be overly dramatic. I knew it was coming. My retrenchment. Was it something I expected? Something I looked forward to? Or something I didn't want to happen? I won't divulge my answer to these questions. All I know is that my time has come. I'll be leaving the company in less than a month from now. For five long years, this company has honed me to become the best that I can be. Now it's time to spread my wings and fly. What's in store for me outside? I remember my mom used to tell me things that she learned from the bible. Things which helped me hold on to my faith in God. Now even though mom is no longe...

just wanted to let everyone know that i'm still here. you might have not noticed it but i've been gone for almost a month. been so busy. work, motherhood, health issues, laziness, what have you. now, i'm starting to pick up! i'm back with a lot of stories to tell. happy and sad. hopefully, i get to write about these on my subsequent updates. first off, i'd like to thank the Designer's Chic for giving a new look to my blog. i never had the time to sit down and learn how to change layouts or design for a blog. i really wanted to have a 3-column layout for my blog. i wanted to learn how it's done but i just didn't have the time YET. thanks to Ivy for the overhaul. this would not have been possible too if it weren't for Jenneth . thanks net for the sponsorship. right now, i'm just warming up a little bit. see you on my next update. if anyone is still reading me, please let me know. comment to this post, message me privately or send me an e-mail. wha...

JULY 5, 2009. Sunday. I've put off seeing my doctor personally because we've already scheduled Dipdip's baptismal. I thought I would miss Dipdip's baptism that day because of vaginal bleeding but doctor's prescribed medicine via SMS did a great job of regulating the bleeding. I would definitely see her this weekend. So there. At first, we were planning to save more money so we could invite all of our relatives and friends but then we realized that Dipdip's getting bigger and she's still not getting that sacrament. Stephen's parents suggested that we just hold a simple celebration together with the godparents. And so we finally made it happen. Our apologies to the rest of our family and friends who couldn't be there with us. We just made a short list of attendees. We will just make up for it soon. Maybe on her first birthday. Or debut! Who knows. LOL. Welcome to the Christian world, Diane Pauline!

i'm here to write about what happened to me last week. it was a scary, bloody week. abnormal vaginal bleeding. i knew there was really something wrong with me. it wasn't my normal menstruation. the culprit? the birth control pills. i had to stop taking it. it was supposed to be my 21st day of taking the pop pills but i had an unpleasant experience while taking them. i may not have a great skin to start with but it got worse with the BC pills. not only that, i also noticed that i had blurry vision. the scariest part was last week when i was bleeding so much. now i'm taking medicines to regulate or stop the bleeding. thanks to my ob gyne who is only an SMS away. what a terrible ordeal!

dipdip and dad's hand Dipdip is now three months old! Wowww, look at how time flies. She used to be too small and fragile to hold, now she's grown taller and bigger each time. Thankfully, she's safe from sore eyes. Before she even turned 3 months, she's already squealing and giggling, and makes a lot of noises as if trying to speak out. I'm one happy and amused mother. Dipdip's usually in a happy mood but I guess, in this picture, this is not one of those usual times. And oh, Sorry, I haven't lost that much weight yet :) More updates soon. I've written thrice in a row already and it's almost twelve midnight, Cinderella would be mad if I would also leave my glass slipper behind. LOL. Tomorrow, I'd definitely go blog hopping. Promise.

a lot of fans were saddened by the death of MJ. when i first read about it, i was surprised. what?? michael jackson is dead at 50? who wouldn't know michael jackson? i didn't bother to post a picture of him in this post not only because of copyright issues but primarily because i know almost everyone knows michael jackson. anyhow, i also knew pictures of him are only a Google away. i don't usually write so much about celebrities. but MJ's songs have a great impact on me growing up. he's contributed so much to the music industry and there is no question about his talent as a composer, singer and dancer. i really don't know him personally and whatever negative writeups about him as a person, that is not for me to judge. if there's only one song to choose from his many great hits, that would be "Man In The Mirror". I really love the message and the melody of this song. I'm starting with the man in the mirror I'm asking him to change his ways A...

i know i shouldn't miss a post about father's day. i have planned to write a wonderful article about my husband in celebration of this special day but like i mentioned in my previous post, we were so caught up with worries about little pauline and the possibility of her getting the sore eyes from her nanny and so we had to make immediate plan of action and decided to take dipdip to my inlaws. honestly, parenting would be a difficult task without him. just like motherhood, fatherhood is also a full-time job. and it does not only take a day to appreciate what a wonderful father he is to our daughter. i'm sure hubby would be sneaking in to this blog when he's not busy. i'd like to dedicate this post for all the times that he would put off buying something new for himself just so we could prioritize our daughter's needs; for all those nights of staying awake for our daughter; for putting off getting a haircut just so we could be home the earliest possible time for o...

last week was kind of hectic. or stressful if i may say. dipdip's nanny had sore eyes and i was torn between sending the nanny home and taking over. it would mean being absent from work for days which is not a good option considering that work is expecting that motherhood will not be in conflict with my being an employee. fortunately, problem got solved when my in-laws were kind enough to take care of dipdip for a few days while her nanny tries to recover from conjunctivitis. and so we sent dipdip to stephen's parents. we had to make that sacrifice so that the infection would not be passed on to dipdip. dipdip's now home though. nanny has already recovered. whewww... well, it only took 3 days of maxitrol and she's off the hook. by the way, this is not a paid advertisement and it's really best to get a prescription for sore eyes.

At 2 months+, dipdip has found a new habit of feeding on her fist. She’s like eating fried chicken. She started to do that from the time that she no longer wore any mittens. I don’t know if all babies do this at a certain stage but it’s a habit that I don’t want to tolerate. I know that it wouldn’t be long until she would find thumb sucking even more enjoyable than her fist. I sure hope though she’d skip this stage.

I just have to write briefly about this photo. Dipdip is with her second cousin Luke in this picture. I was wondering how I am related to the son of my first cousin. Some say he can be called my "nephew" but when I googled for the answers, he is my "first cousin, once removed". Hmm, puzzles me, this is the first time I encountered the term "once removed". I'll leave that to the experts in genealogy. Anyhow, Luke is such a sweet little boy. This was the first time he met Dipdip but I think he already had a fondness for her. He even suggested that I wrap her on a blanket so she can sleep well. I'm also impressed with this little guy because he gave me lessons about how babies are formed (as if I didn't know!). He told me everything he learned from a certain educational channel on tv (sperm cell meeting the egg cell.. and I think I heard him say x and y chromosomes, etc.). I was amazed. This child has a future. His parents should be proud of him....

Living in a low-cost housing has its advantages and disadvantages. The most obvious advantages are: low amortization and low tax rate. However, in our case, we have to live up to the quality and kind of materials that the contractor has provided to that housing. Naturally, because it's low-cost housing, we can't expect that the materials are of superb quality. Personally, I didn't quite like how our kitchen area is located but what with the limited space, we have to go with however it was constructed. All that's pretty much easier to do is to make some improvements to it. We just have to save up for it. Among other things, we are planning to invest on a sink that's made of stainless steel. It's only been two years since we have moved to the house but our sink pretty much needed to be replaced already. It's not stainless, so the rust forming around it is not a beautiful sight. I dream of getting one of those beautifully designed stainless steel kitchen sinks ...

Bring on the champagne! Yes, there's a reason to celebrate. My BP has returned to normal. I now consistently have a BP of 120/80. So I guess it's goodbye to hypertension, huh! I hope it's for keeps. I'm staying on my diet which is mostly veggies (although sometimes I'm tempted to eat meat dishes LOL). And I intend to keep monitoring my blood pressure from this time on. Also, I'd like to share part of the rituals I made for keeping my BP down. Lemongrass! Yes, we grow lemongrass in our little garden. It's called "tanglad" in our dialect. I drink the water from the boiled lemongrass. I think it has really helped my BP go down and return to normal. Incidentally, with my BP going normal, I finally got a clearance to drink birth control pills. So now, IUD will be my second option, in case my body can't tolerate BC pills. This would be my first time to drink birth control pills. I was hesitant to take them because of the possible side effects but I g...

After reading Shanix's blog about birth control , I also thought of writing about it. At first, I thought that it's a little awkward to talk about it on my blog. Talking about sex and stuffs like that is quite uncomfortable for me. I only talk about it hush-hush with some female friends. Anyway, I realized that just like the celebrities, I needed to take on more mature roles. Hehehe. How did I get pregnant, anyway? So there you go. After giving birth via c-section, I'm expected not to get pregnant within two to three years. Something to do with healthy pregnancy. My health, in general. Prior to giving birth, we've already agreed that we would only try the Billings method as our recourse for family planning. This is what the church had taught us during our pre-cana seminar. We were told that taking birth control pills, ligation and any other non-natural birth control methods are said to be "anti-life" and the church is against this. So that's my fear. Being...

They say whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Well, probably not at all times. I hear a lot of people bragging about being able to watch live all the boxing fights of Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Watching his boxing fight live is a dream for many of the boxing enthusiasts that it would turn out to be something to brag about. Let's not limit entertainment to boxing though. There are more things to expect in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is one of the best places for good entertainment. It is where the most famous entertainers perform and the most spectacular shows can be seen. This post is for the benefit of those who are going to Vegas. You might want to include watching fabulous shows in your to-do list. I bet you would! It'd be fun to be a spectator of Las Vegas Shows like Phantom, Blue Man Group, or the Peepshow. I learned that you can get show tickets at competitive prices before you even get to Vegas. Check out ShowsLasVegas.com if you're not sure ab...

Take a look at Dipdip taking a dip. This was taken a few Saturdays back. Boy, is she mad at her father? I guess we need to buy a bathtub for her. LOL. She doesn't cry though when it's her nanny who gives her the bath.

Stopping by for some thoughts on Economics. Investing some of your money may be the best way to fight economic recession. There are several ways to invest-- you can put up your own business, invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, or in products offered by banks. If you choose to invest in banks,it is better to do some research especially on the risks involved and the rates they are offering before handing over your hard earned money to them. If you're interested in investing on certificate of deposits, for instance, it is really wise to monitor and check on the best CD Rates offered by different banks.

Yesterday we went over to Compostela to celebrate my late mom's birthday. We, minus my dad and brothers who are abroad, attended mass and got together for dinner. I don't know but I just felt bad that dad didn't try to make it to the celebration in memory of mom. He just chose to stay in Medellin because he said he's got work on Monday (that's today). Even though he also scheduled and attended mass in Medellin church for mom, I expected him to go out of his way to make it to Compostela. I thought maybe he's just not comfortable being around his in-laws because maybe (just maybe) he'd feel awkward because the in-laws are somewhat aware that he's dating someone. And maybe he wants to avoid any discussion with them about it. I know that he's already free to date (and I don't have any right to go against his decision or his happiness) when he became a widower but I don't know, maybe it just takes a lot of getting used to. Or perhaps I expected to...

"At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you've left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent." -- Golda Meir Ever since I got back from work, I couldn't help but think about my daughter back home. Yes, it's separation anxiety. I know all working mothers go through this and it's only a matter of time till they can adjust to the situation, but, I don't know how long it would take for me, I just felt so bad about leaving my daughter behind to the care of a nanny when I should be the one attending to her. Why bear a child and leave her behind ? I thought if my daughter could only complain, she would probably ask me that. Mama and papa needs to work baby, so we can afford raising you and sending you to school someday. It's called a mother's sacrifice. It's painful having to leave your child to somebody else, especially when that somebody is not even your relative. ...

it's been awhile since i've last monitored my blood pressure. i felt like everything's going back to normal. or so i thought. when i went back to my ob gyne last sunday for a post-natal checkup, i had a BP reading of 130/90. i used to be 110/70 prior to pregnancy. doctor said that i might be hypertensive already. chronic hypertension, that is. she will refer me to an internist when my BP wouldn't go down below 130/90 after june 6th. i think that's already past the 6-week recovery period from c-section. she said that 130/90 BP is a boundary between normal and hypertensive and with that, i need to closely monitor my BP. nowadays, i am told, a systolic of 90 and above needs aggressive treatment because of a high incidence of stroke in patients ages 30 and above. whew, that's the scary part. i guess i would need to closely monitor my BP again, and eat healthy foods. *sigh*

"There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it." - Chinese Proverb wohooooo... what's up? dipdip is now two months old. wow, that was fast. it still feels like yesterday when i gave birth but when i look at my daughter, my golly, i can't believe that the child i'm seeing before my very eyes came from me! a product of love. she's grown bigger each day and Lord knows how thankful i am for giving me this wonderful gift. she will become my new inspiration. i will give all my best to be the kind of mom that she deserves.

When hubby’s sister left for Norway, she left her car at his care. They had been communicating and discussing about customizing the looks of her car so it will physically look like a sports car, from the car interior accessories down to the latest wheels and rims designs, and body kits. What’s up sis? Well, she’s getting married in June and wants to surprise her partner with this car when they get back here in the Philippines. So hubby had been looking around for a reliable automotive shop to detail the car engine. Since they wanted the car to look like a sports car, they are also planning to make it run like one. Incidentally, I just learned about turbo and superchargers over the Internet. A turbo or supercharger can surely get them the speed which they long for. If you’re adventurous like my sister-in-law and her fiance, a turbo or supercharger can do the trick. They say it gives you the feeling of a race car driver when you’re driving. If you are interested in turbo or supercharger...

I just had to write about the gifts I received on the day of Mother's Day. Came right on time. They're like Mother's Day gifts and a baby shower. Oh, daddy pippen had one too. They're gifts from Jenneth . Thanks a lot, Tita Jenneth. Thank you, Lord. And Jenn Lord. :) Belated Happy Mother's Day, everyone. Actually, as Bchai puts it, everyday is Mother's Day. So, happy mother's day to us! Cheers!

About three months ago, we bought a beautiful furniture set made of bamboo logs. I fell in love with its design that we didn’t push through with the plan of buying the sofa set that we saw at the mall. It saved us a few bucks! It gives a rural yet urbane appeal to our simple concrete house. You’d be amazed just how much love and effort a simple furniture maker puts into his small business of making beautiful furniture out of simple bamboo logs. He didn’t even use high-tech equipments, just his skillful hands. It was not until I bumped into this interesting furniture website that I realized that the furniture set I bought was called a “rustic furniture”. All the things we learn every single day. Yes, I’m proud to say that I own a “rustic furniture” as this type of furniture never goes out of style.

here's a little update on my little princess. lately, our sweet pauline's skin color has changed. i don't know how it happened but i suspected she had too much exposure to sunlight. her nanny seems to have overdone the "sunshine" thing as i once caught her still walking the baby outdoors even when it's past 8 a.m. i'm not sure about this though. this can also be her "true" color, the "morena" effect. hmmm pretty soon she'll have the makings of a ms. universe hahaha i must be dreaming... check out her before and after pictures. DipDip at 4 weeks DipDip at 6 weeks My oh my, she's only less than two months old but look at her " siopao " face. LOL