Earth Hour 2009

Will you take part?

The kids and i sure are. we did the same last year where we turned off our lights for an hour at home. weird thing was, it seemed that we were the only house in our street that supported this cause. i hope this year would be different.



more info HERE

News thru photos

Of late, I have been envious of photojournalists who with just one photo can deliver the news. Their photos speak a thousand words, their photos deliver the message straight to the viewer. How I wish I could be that.

Admittedly, I am still quite a newbie in this photography business. All I have right now is my / our trusty family point and shoot digital camera. But according to some family members, I have some photos that are worth sharing. I even joined a weekly online photography club where a weekly theme is followed for photo submissions.

And recently, I have discovered a website that has everything. Photography, news, everyday life, humor, human interest – for newbies and professionals alike. All you need is a camera and you’re good to go. There’s a Photo Contest waiting and your photo might be the next one you’ll see featured in the site. I’ve signed up in the site and I’m starting to build my collection of photos. Some are quite creative, funny, newsworthy, and everyday photos of people.

Why not take a visit as well let me know what you think!

it's about time

i just had a realization today on the way home from kyle's recognition day. it hit me a bit hard that i should start to learn how to drive.

what made me realize this is that hubby had to move 3 cars (including his service vehicle) just so he can park the car we used into the driveway, move out the other car since my dad will use it later in the evening and then park his service vehicle so that our other inconsiderate neighbors will not park in front of our gates.

yes, three cars had to be moved this morning and all the while i was just there. a helpless little wife who just had to stand there after opening the gates.

it's so sad.

so i decided right then and there that i shall take up driving lessons as soon as possible.

now the first step to this is to control my road rage. yes, i have road rage even if i am just a passenger.

Question of the week #51

click on the title to join Yen's QOTW. :)

Here's mine:

1. How’s the week going on so far? so far so good, highlight of the week was kyle's recognition day. but that's for another post. :)

2. Would you rather love or be loved? i'd rather love. it's more fulfilling sharing the love to others rather than expecting other people to love you back or to give you love.

3. How do you feel when you hear a friend completely butchering a story? if i am within earshot, i make sure to correct it but not in a way to offend my friend.

4. If you could have a recorder which would make a DVD or video tape of your dreams, would you use it? i'd select a few dreams but not all of them.

5. Have you ever had a dream about being a place you’ve never been, and days or years later, you end up there? i think so, especially when i was a kid. but i can't remember.

6. Do you sit at your computer and eat snacks and have refreshments to drink? in the office, no since we're not allowed to eat in our cubicles, for drinks i just have water. but at home, it's an all out pig out session. haha

7. Which is more true: everything matters or nothing matters? everything matters. but it's really a matter of a person's perspective.

8. What was the last thing you gave up on? smoking. way before i found out i was preggy. :)

9. Can the love of a person really make you change? oh yes, especially when you least expect it tat it's changing you already. :)

10. Any plans for the weekend yet? we're going to the martha stewart wedding fair on sunday and to meet up with our wedding planner also. :)

Enjoy! Questions of the Week

Pregnancy update #3: from tiny bubbles to karate kicks

the little one (aka bebe #3, bebe gehl to Ple) has been on a growth spurt the past few weeks. according to babycenter.com.ph's weekly updates:

Your baby's skin is still quite wrinkled because he has so much growing still to do. But his face and body are beginning to look more like those of a newborn as his lips, eyelids, and ears become more distinct. If people are telling you that you look smaller or bigger than you should at this point, remember that all women and their babies grow at different rates. What's important is that you see continuous growth and change, not how fast or slow it is.

as for the movements, she's (i'm assuming the little one's a girl - more on that in the coming posts) been quite the little karate kid. and usually the karate chops are given when i'm relaxing at home watching chef at home on AFC before we head off to bed. looks like this one will give us some sleepless nights once she's born. (yey!)

the upside to all these kicking and obvious movements is that it causes utter delight to my two boys. especially kyle. he's been quite the eager beaver when i tell him the baby's moving, he'll drop whatever he's doing and put his hand over my tummy and wait for a movement. keon on the other hand, would just utter "baby" near my tummy and on rare moments would plant a kiss for his little sister.

a little over a month to go and i'm moving up to the last trimester and for sure, this is where the worrying starts.

and yes, i'm quite showing the baby bump already but still in denial in wearing my maternity clothes. i'm thinking of just looking for dresses or "man clothes" that i can wear over tights. there's always a trusty ukay-ukay shop near our place to do just that. :)

how well do i know hubby

snagged from facebook tags:

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the tv?
ESPN, NBA as long as there's balls. and AFC, we both love watching cooking shows.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
caesar

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
veggies, anything veggies

4. You go out to eat and have a drink; what does he order?
anything that has meat - burger, steak, etc. as for drinks, iced tea, cola or if i allow him to, beer.

5. Where did he go to high School?
xavier

6. What size shoe does he wear?
9 to 9.5

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
i bet basketball jerseys and cars


8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
as long as there aren't a lot of veggies

9. What would he eat every day if he could?
tuna and salmon sashimi! steak with lots of gravy!!

10. What is his favorite cereal?
never saw him eat cereal

11. What would he never wear?
colored underwear,

12. What is his favorite sports team?
this i don't know because i don't pay attention when he and his friends start talking basketball

13. Who did he vote for?
if we were in the US he'd vote for obama, here, never voted.

14. Who is his best friend?
jago, cj, nic, melvin which he'd known since pre school.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
being moody and mataray

16. What is his heritage?
half chinese half pinoy. the only dark chinese boy i ever met. haha mas believable pa ako na chinese kahit hindi eh.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
chocolate decedent cake with caramel sauce on the side.

18. Did he play sports in high school?
basketball, soccer

19. What could he spend hours doing?
sleeping!!!!

20. What is one unique talent he has?
unique? he can pretend to be one mean gay friend. ask colby =)

getting ready for the big day

as some of you know, hubby and i have been planning our church wedding on and off. but by some sheer force, we've been determined more than ever to make sure we do get wed this year. we're not after all those extravagant trimmings that go with the usual weddings. what we want now is a simple celebration with close friends and family only.

first on the agenda is meeting the event planner at the end of this month. the fun part of this one of them is due to give birth in june, a month ahead of me. we've given them our target locations for the church and reception. and starting this week, they'll call up the churches and reception areas to block off or even to just pencil mark the dates for us. we're also attending the wedding expo of martha stewart and hubby has been eyeing some apparel for him and his male entourage. this task would be easier for him since men require just tailored suits versus all the drama we women have to go through in choosing the perfect dress. hubby has to make sure though that the important details such as the motif will be followed when he gets to select the perfect tie to go with the suit

just a sinking feeling

Some friends know that I love to rant about anything and everything. I find it as my coping mechanism to somehow not breakdown and get all crazy about something that wound me up. Whether it’s about work, personal stuff or just something that bothered me out of the blue. I just need to let it out or else it would just consume me like acid melting some material. That bad.

Just this afternoon, I had this sudden sinking feeling that for some reason I have come to realize that I’m the one losing in this set up at work. It feels as if the accounts that I handled before that I tried to bring over the digital side was taken from me and at the same time began to realize that they do need digital in their lives. Considering the fact that I am an AE for digital. How sad and ironic can that get? It feels as if I’m starting all over again. On the bright side it is a welcome challenge to excel and exceed expectations, but the depressing thing in this scenario is that after all the efforts of convincing, some other person would reap the rewards. Quite painful but nothing to cry over I guess.

I just need it to get it off my chest or else this would really affect how I work in the coming days. Now all I need is one last rant to hubby before we sleep then all would be better.

something quick

i had a good cry last night. it didn’t last long though I just wanted to let whatever was bugging me last night out and it helped a lot. I guess I just needed a good cry and a bit of closure for all the things that have been happening over the few weeks. it was hard but I’m not giving up, it’s not an option to give up, especially now that our family’s growing.

it was a good feeling that while I was crying I was holding my little boy’s hands. it added a bit of comfort that things would turn out for the good. as to when,we don’t know yet but I’m positive that it will happen soon.

And it’s an added comfort that hubby’s always there even if he may not know the things I’ve been going through everyday but the thought that he’s there. Soon, when the time is right, he’ll know all of these it’s just that I don’t think I’m ready to open up just yet. That’s the beauty of our relationship, we give each other time to mull over things then when we’re ready to open up, we’re there to listen to each other.

and yeah i blame the preggy hormones for this rare drama session. LOL

Yen"s Question of the week #50

if you want to join Yen's question of the week, hop on over to her blog

1. Is it fun being you? - i'd like to think i am a fun person. :) it is fun being me since i always have a funny "hirit" up my sleeve that leaves some of my friends in laughing fits.

2. What have you changed your mind about in the past few weeks? - usually it involves work and if i can make it to the meetings. on the personal side, nothing much.

3. Do you find yourself in a better mood on a sunny day? - usually. but generally i don't like days that are too sunny especially if i'm not on the beach. :)

4. When meeting someone new, what makes you feel more comfortable? - if we have found something in common to talk about or if the person's very much open to talk about anything and everything.

5. If you could be any god or goddess from mythology, who would you be? & why? - i'd be hera, wife of zeus, because behind every successful man is his wife. *wink*. and i find her one of the coolest goddesses ever.

6. How do you spend the night before a “big” day? - i make a mental list of what to bring, what to do, what time to wake up, more of an itinerary of what should happen on this specific time etc. i'm a bit of an OC person. everything has to be prepared the night before.

7. Describe the person that would be the exact opposite of what you find attractive. - he's the type of person that would hate riding any type of public transportation, hates going around public places, would prefer to eat/dine at expensive places always, not willing to try out new things, very imposing on what he wants, very closed minded, puts himself first before anything else, hates acting like a kid sometimes, actually, in short the exact opposite of hubby. and that's an honest answer. :D

8. I would be a happier person if… we had more to save for the future.

9. Have you ever regretted? - i don't believe in regrets, just learning from your mistakes. you only live once and there are no erase and rewinds in life.

10. I seldom leave home without the keys to the house and gate in my bag.

one step at a time to a new look for the home

been hearing my mom gripe to my dad that she wants to improve the look of the living room and i can't help but agree with her. the living room now looks too old with the sofa almost giving up on us in terms of how much we get to abuse it day in and day out. the coffee table needs a new polish. the tv needs a new home along with all the dvds we accummulated, not counting the ones the kids watch over and over.

but i suggested to mom to start with the lighting . with two lamps to light the living room, i think it's not enough, we need a better lamp something that would create mood lighting but at the same time provide enough light if one chooses to read rather than watch tv. i do hope mom would choose a nice lighting fixture that would match the look of our living room.

if not, i might ask hubby to buy a lamp for our own room instead.

Happy Birthday Blog!

didn't notice that my blog has turned a year older now. (actually it was supposed to be last mar. 3 pa)

so anyway, here's to another year of (hopefully) more blogging and stories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!

summer has begun!

we're just counting down the days to kyle's recognition day. since he's officially on summer break i think my big boy deserves a little treat. he has been drawn to techy things, hubby and i decided to indulge in his hobby. he has been a fast learner in using his uncle's ipod, psp and even the family desktop. we can leave him there for a good hour or so to focus on tasks or to spend one on one time with keon.

and since he has been a good older brother. hubby has decided to reward with a gadget to call his own. now all we need is to check out which gaming console would be appropriate for his age and with mommy's seal of approval.

now all i have to worry about is hubby getting all child like and wanting one for his own. he's been very vocal about being able to own almost all of those games and consoles when he was a kid. well we were blessed too as well. but i'm not stopping him, if he wants to look for the latest games and controllers, he's free to do so. as long as he'll let me play with my dolls too. haha

bored on a weekend and the kids are asleep

Here are the rules: Post this list on your profile using the Notes tab. Replace my answers with yours. Tag 25 people to do the same thing.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
I don't think so.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Does getting teary-eyed over francis m's death count?

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
If i use a great pen.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
We usually have chicken or pork

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
2 boys and one girl (hopefully) on the way

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
yup, dafinitely =)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
You think?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
scared of heights but if i have been secretly wishing to try it out along with riding rollercoasters. big wuss i am.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Frosties!!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
no. i just take them off.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
as long as it's yummy, i call it my fave :D hehe ice cream is universal and unbranded!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Face and body language

15. RED OR PINK?
Red. Pink's too girly for my taste

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
i can be this big lazy person

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
my best friend

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
i'mnot obliging them. but if they want to copy and tag themselves, then go ahead. i'm not the tagging kind of person.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
my i heart Ny shirt and teddy bear jammies. and my black unbranded flip flops

What happened to #20?

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
the hum of the aircon and my noisy typing

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
periwinkle or purple of course!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
the kids after they wake up in the morning and before going to bed.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Kyle's yaya, was asking her to buy milk.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
just copied it hehe

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
soccer/football

27. HAIR COLOR?
brown/dark brown. depends on the lighting

28. EYE COLOR?
Dark brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
japanese, anything a bit spicy, anything with white sauces, anything with cheese, i'm not really a picky eater.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
both but not at the same time

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Shoot, can't remember!!

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
White.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer!

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
both!

And #36?

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
no idea since i'm not tagging anyone

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
same thing as above

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
reading love in the time of cholera ebook

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Not using a mouse pad now.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
when we got home last night i went straight to bed.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
the boys laughing

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
both!

44. WHATS THE FARTHEST THAT YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Mactan, Cebu

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
i can easily memorize songs

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Manila

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
if someone wants to share their answers then great!

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
He was my batchmate when we worked for a bank. he was my ususal yosi buddy then, and then this other batchmate kept on teasing him and dared him to kiss me. ayun, tinamaan. haha

why do boys love cars?

because mommy can make them pose like this:

things going missing

i don't know if i'm just really forgetful because of the pregnancy or just plain irresponsible but it has been a month already and i can't seem to find the battery charger of our digicam.

as far as i know, i remember when i last placed that darned case and now, it's not there.

i guess this is a sign as well that i have to start doing a major cleaning frenzy in our room and our house...

all those pictures waiting to be blogged and uploaded. :(

wrinkles before 30? no way???

thanks to a client meeting yesterday, we (my officemate and i) were treated to a free skin consultation (for me) and make up/make over session (for officemate). thank you may for being such a cool client and new found friend. :)

anyway, during the skin consultation, i finally knew my skin type. i was a dry combination skin. meaning i have areas that are dry (the cheeks) and oily ( t-zone: nose, forehead and chin). i was sampled products that were fit for my skin type. and surprisingly, and not in a testimonial kind of way, right then and there, i saw some changes. and it was only sampled on the skin on my hands. i was also advised to start taking care of my skin especially the area under my eyes which was starting to show signs of fine lines leading to wrinkles (nooo!!! not yet not the W word! ) and from that warning, i decided to start with a beauty regimen that was advised. thank god it was only a 3-step thing. knowing how lazy i can get and how much i would prefer to just wash my face and go, this is easy for me to follow.

and the best part was, i got free products! yey! it may be samples but it's better than nothing.

and so day 1 started today and so far there were some minimal changes i can notice. #1 would be the pores on my nose which i call blackhead central feels a bit smoother vs using my usual facial wash that i thought exfoliates enough blackheads. oooh, this new product puts it to shame. i still have a week to go to really see the results according to them. which i plan to come back to them after a week to show them if there were any changes at all. so we'll see. :)

so what's this product? it's clinique. and their 3 step beauty regimen so far so good, rocks! try visitng the clinique counter in rustans makati, you might get a free consultation too and maybe some samples as well. :)

feb 13, 2009 - friday the 13th

this date will forever be etched in my mind. this is the day that i experienced my first ever spotting. after 2 pregnancies, this is the only time that i was this delicate pregnant working mom. it sure did scare the poop out of me and hubby.

let's start from the beginning shall we?

friday, feb 13. i was scheduled to attend two presentations to clients. one in the morning at 10 am and the other at 130pm. i met up with my publisher at the client's office since our house was much nearer. and lessens the hassle of going to the office then back to makati. so anyway, presentation went smoothly, we even bought food for almost the entire agency. presentation was over around 12noon. just in time for lunch. my publisher and i ate at the nearest food joint since the next presentation was near and within the area.

after lunch we proceeded to starbucks to buy some snacks for the next presentation. i was feeling a bit tired after walking a few meters from the previous venue. and since we are in makati, the only way to go was the underpass. so anyway, on to the next presenation at 130. everything was going smooth. the clients enjoyed the presentation and the snacks of course.

after the presentation and while waiting for our driver to bring us back to the office, i went to the nearest washroom to pee. and from there, things went crazy. the moment i prepared myself to pee. i saw blood. lots of it actually, it looked as if i was having my period. i tired to compose myself after peeing. i slowly returned back to where my colleagues were. sent an sms to my ob informing her of what i found out. i nonchalantly told my publisher that i can't go back to the office with him. a bit puzzled, he asked why. i calmly told him that i was at that moment experiencing spotting. he started to panic, i told him it was ok, since i had called up my hubby earlier and asked him to pick me up. i asked him if he could possibly relay to our boss that i can't go back to the office and i have to head to the hospital asap and have myself checked. at that time, i kept calling hubby and reassuring him that i was ok and i just want to go to the hospital asap since my ob was waiting for me. thank god hubby was only 15 mins away from where we are.

my publisher and some colleagues were the first ones to leave and were a bit worried and concerned in leaving me all alone in the coffee shop. i told them my hubby's on his way and i'll keep them posted. a few mins after they left, hubby was there to pick me up. we headed over to his house which is near the hospital to pick up his mom so that i'll have a companion (my mom can't go with me since she has to look after the kids first) but she was the next person i kept on calling after hubby.

anyway, side rant, all the while i was keeping this calm composure since i don't want to stress myself out and add to the panic and worry vibe from the people around me. and here comes my MIL who in a way was indirectly insinuating that it might be my fault that's why i had spotting that i'm not taking care of the baby enough, that i kept on lifting heavy things etc. etc. in short it';s my fault. and from there i started crying. i mean if she was sensitive enough she shouldn't have said that. my own mother didn't say that to me. i just felt hurt and didn't talk to her after. good thing hubby had the right mind to tell her off.

anyway, once we reached the hospital, my ob ordered an ultrasound to check up on the baby. she did an IE as well to verify everything. i was diagnosed with a threatened abortion. she said it might be because of the stress at work that accumulated over time or it just happened for no reason at all. i told her i was stress free ever since i found out i was preggy. i avioded stress as much possible. (thank god i didn't hear anything from MIL after the diagnosis). but i was ordered complete bed rest for a week with meds to keep me and the baby safe.

the downside to the bedrest was the fact that i got bored easily. but i guess it's a blessing as well since i was able to catch up with the lack of sleep i had over the past few weeks and i got to bond more with my kids but with limited mobility.

overall, this experience was a blessing. that after all this ordeal, the baby is still healthy and on track with the development. seemed as if this incident never happened. i'm just grateful that there were people who were there who took care of me and made sure i was ok. and with that i am happy.

baby and i are doing great. both of us are growing by the day. (haha) and we're looking forward to the end of this month to find out the gender. (hoping for a girl this time )

now everytime i see that there's a friday the 13th, it reminds of that very scary day. so i'm praying that this friday the 13th would be smooth sailing. and nothing to worry about at all. :)

things you discover while shopping

an officemate gave us the shock of our lives over lunch today (yes, you again shar! hihi) by bringing this monster of a banana which she found while shopping the night before.

who would have thought that a banana could grow to 11 inches and that huge? which of course sparked a lot of double meanings and naughty ideas from the usual lunch group. who wouldn't really?

and as proof, here's a comparison of the banana vs. the unwilling umbrella. (lol)
and the 6 girls who lost the battle:

(the missing girl, glai who took the photo)

another pinoy legend gone

i may not know Francis M personally but he was one of the greatest pinoy artists that have been an influence to me musically, next to the E-heads, the dawn, wolfgang, razorback etc.

people close to him and people who knew him are washed with sadness today. a legend has been taken away.

rest in peace kiko. you fought a great battle, not it's time to rest.

salamat kiko sa lahat ng iyong nagawa para sa pinoy.

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