The Journey Continues...

Constantly working nights is starting to take its toll on me I think. Before, staying up late and with little sleep was no problem. But after a little more than a month with that routine sure is different now. Sometimes, while on my way home, I’ll start to get sleepy; maybe even dazed. Thankfully, I haven’t had any dizzy spells or headache. The last thing I’d need would be migraine. That would be a drag. Anyway, when I get home and see Lance, I’d feel better already. I mean, who wouldn’t feel relieved when you see your kid smiling at you?

For the first time, I’ll be yaya less for a few days because Lance’s yaya told me she’ll be visiting her sister in Bicol to spend the New Year there. She’ll leave on the 29^th and will be back on Jan. 1. That means more bonding time with Lance. Hehe! And since I don’t know how to cook, my sister and I are now thinking of what food to prepare for New Year. Most probably we’ll just buy food and cake at Conti’s. Or maybe, we’ll just spend New Year at our relative’s house. Anyhow, Lance and I will have a lot of time together this weekend and I’m looking forward to that! :)

First off, Merry Christmas!!! I’m sure all of you had a wonderful time this Christmas. We had a great time too! This is the first Christmas we spent as a family. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to show. Lance has cough and colds and is in no mood to smile or to pose in front of the camera. He just wants me to carry him always.

As mentioned here, we had the Garcia Christmas party in Angono last Dec. 22 and we had such a great time there. I’ll post a separate kwento about that party. Dec. 23 we just stayed home and clean the house. Dec. 24, we went to my cousin’s house in Tandang Sora to have dinner. We went home by 9pm because we really want to have our Noche Buena at our house. Dec. 25, we heard mass at 7:30am at Christ the King then went to Parañaque to visit my other relatives (my mom’s side). We stayed there till lunch time and since Lance is still not feeling ok we went home na after lunch and slept. When I woke up I opened the gifts I received. Lance’s gifts are still wrapped under our Christmas Tree since he doesn’t want to open it yet. He opened a few already but I have no picture of him opening it kaya there are some more gifts unopened para I can take pictures pa when he opens it. Hehe! That’s it! That’s how we celebrated our Christmas! And now I’m back to work (and pretending to be working), and will be here until tomorrow. I was on leave yesterday because I am observing Lance’s colds because it seems he’s not getting better. He’s taking some medicines na and I brought him to a “manghihilot” last night so hopefully he’ll feel better today. :)

As post Christmas gift, I am also tagging everbody in my blogroll just like what Nice did. Cmon guys and hop on!

The rule: When you get tagged, you have to add your name below the person who tagged you and by doing so you are letting the list grow.

Limadang.com
RamblingMoo.com
blogginginmypyjamas
Chinneeq
Dora-zooropazoo
Babyshern
HiPnCooLMoMMa
Rachel’s Soulful Thoughts
When Silence Speaks
Dancing in Midlife Tune
Underneath it All
I am Dzoi
Hobbies and Such
moms…..check nyo
Choc Mint Girl
Amel’s Realm
My Thoughts
Rusin Roundup
Juliana’s Site
Max
Rooms of My Heart
Mariuca
A Great Pleasure
MondayMorningPower
LadyJava’s Lounge
Colin aka Cotojo
NafaSG
Hanna
My Life My World
Mommy’s Gibble Gabbles
Author’s Sweet Life
A Window To Our World
Jenny’s Wandering Thoughts
We are Family
Momma Stuff

Paul, Toni and Lance - Bridging the Distance

Paul and Toni

It’s only 2 days left before Christmas and people are still busy buying gifts for friends, godchildren and loved ones. Some friends I know started buying Christmas gifts as early as September to avoid the Christmas rush. I was busy this month that I was only able to buy gifts just last week. And I’m not yet finish. I don’t have a gift for Paul yet and I’m not sure what to give him. He too has been asking me of what gift I want to receive. I was telling him that I would like to receive gold bullion as gift, (of course I was just kidding). But if he can afford it, why not? Right? Gold increases its value unlike other materials that depreciates in time. Plus you can buy so much in just a small amount of gold. Here’s hoping for a very nice Christmas gift. :)

I need to list them down before I forget them because I haven’t blogged for the past few weeks and I have so many kwentos to share.

1. Shower Party at Victoria Court
2. Abdiel’s Baptism
3. Our ISO audit
4. Trip to Divi
5. Employee Christmas Party
6. Jon and Vangie’s Wedding
7. Ruel and Norie’s Wedding
8. Adtel employees (with their families) Christmas Party
9. World Trade Bazaar Shopping
10. Surprise Party for Tita Sening’s 75^th birthday
11. And of course, tags from fellow bloggers

I hope I did not forget anything. I’m still waiting for pictures on some of the events kaya it may take some time before I can post them. Was not able to take pics kasi either I’m hosting the event or I’m the one in-charge of the party kaya busy ang lola niyo. Unahin ko na lang yung mga walang pics. :)

Her question was: What would you want to receive this Christmas?

I’ll do this in bullet points.

• My ultimate wish this Christmas is a DSLR. Canon has a promo now but the husband is not keen to the idea of buying a new camera. Haayy…
• Attend a photography class, but since I won’t be receiving a DSLR now, I need to scratch this one too.
• A red alice crocs, a pair of havaianas or nike flip flops
• Clothes (either pants, blouse, or just a shirt, good if all)
• Books

That’s on top of my mind now. Hopefully, the husband will change his mind and buy a DSLR. Hehehe! Thanks Abie for the tag. Sorry it took me some time to answer it. :)

I was on leave yesterday to bring Lance to his pedia for his well baby check up and to do some last minute shopping na din. Lance kept on running at the clinic and was just shouting and roaming around. When it was finally our turn, his pedia was shocked with his weight. He now weighs 13kgs and is 85cms long. As usual we were not given vitamins (for obvious reasons lolz!) and she said that Lance is doing ok. I asked her to check Lance’s knee because I think he has a lump there but the pedia said there’s nothing to worry. But she noticed that Lance is bow-legged particularly his right leg. She said that it can be corrected but Lance needs to lose weight. She advised me to give Lance apples, pears or banana before lunch or before his meal so that he’ll be full already when it’s time to eat. She also suggested changing his milk to low fat or lessen the scoops of milk with the same amount of water. Other than that, she said that Lance is a happy baby. Lance even waved bye to his pedia and blew her a kiss.

Right now, we’re doing the second option, that is lessening the milk, and hopefully it will work. Or else, I need to have bigger and stronger arms when I carry him. Lolz!

I just talked to my dad and stepmom a few minutes ago. They’re both doing well out there in Daly City. It’s been just about a year since my dad left for the US and about a year and a half I think since I last saw him. Now he’s there juggling a couple of jobs. I remember him saying before that all he needs would be a piece of land where he can plant and just watch them grow. My dad has a green thumb, you see. The backyard in our old home had a lot of plants and trees there. I’d often refer to it as rainforest. I, on the other hand, know nothing of plants. I wouldn’t be able to identify plants and trees without the fruits. If I had the resources, I’d look up for some land for sale and I’d buy my dad a piece of land where he could just tend to his plants. By the way, my dad says the only thing he can’t manage to grow, is his hair. I miss my dad.

The holidays are here again, but the weather not so cold here though. When I was still in Taiwan, there was a time the temperature went down to 13°C. Now that is cold for someone who’s used to the tropical climate. Anyway, one of the typical things you get to see there especially during the holidays would be dogs all dressed up in boots and even sweaters. There would even be some dogs there that ride on what looks like baby strollers/carriages. The dogs would just sit around there looking all pretty while their owners push them around town. Spoiled dog, huh? Being a dog lover myself, I used to buy some dog supplies for my pets. There was even a time I got nipped in the finger when I was playing with my puppy back then. Talk about puppy love.

I brought my sister’s car last Thursday since there’s a jeepney strike going on. I’m not sure also if there are enough cabs since most people will take a taxi going to their destination. Ayoko naman mag abang ng taxi ng matagal kaya nagdala na ako ng sasakyan, total suspended naman di yung coding. Before ako umalis ng house, ayaw mag start nung kotse. Syempre binuksan ko pa yung hood kahit na wala akong alam don. Hehe! I asked help from my brother’s in-laws na nakatira lang sa kabilang street. Buti andon pa sila so pinapunta sa house yung driver tapos sumunod yung FIL ng brother ko. Sabi nila there’s a problem with the battery and it needs to be replaced but I don’t have to worry kasi makakarating pa daw yon ng maayos sa office.

So I left and went to work. I really need to bring the car because I’ll bring home our monthly rice subsidy and the Christmas groceries given to the employees. Nakarating naman ako ng office without hassle. Nung pauwi na ako, ayaw na naman nya mag-start so naki series ako sa car nung officemate ko and umandar naman siya. So drive na ako pauwi. I normally pass by Xavierville pauwi kasi don less traffic. Ayun nasa Xavierville ako, biglang tumigil yung kotse. Kinabig ko siya pakanan para makatabi ng konti pero ang tigas na nung steering wheel. Buti na din lang, nasa may right side na ako talaga kaya di naman ako naka cause ng traffic. Nung try ko start yung car, ayaw na ulit. I called my officemate to ask help. I also called Paul and my sister para mapuntahan ako sa Xavierville. Buti din kung san tumigil yung kotse, may mga guards yung building so tumulong sila para itulak yung car para nakatabi talaga. Meron din daw kasing dumadaan don at nag-tow ng mga sasakyan. Hirap pa naman kasi automatic yung car so shift ko lang to neutral para di masira. Habang tinutulak yung car, dumating na yung officemate ko. Syempre naki series ako ulit at umandar na naman yung car. Naitabi din siya ng maayos. Sumagot na din sa text ko yung sister ko and si Paul. Papunta na daw si Paul kasama FIL ng brother ko and yung driver. Sinabihan ko na din officemate ko na pwede na nila ako iwan since parating na sina Paul. So they left na, tapos iniwan ko din yung car na umaandar para din mag charge yung battery. Finally dumating na sina Paul. Sabi nung FIL ng kuya ko, since umaandar na daw ulit makakarating yon sa house. Yung driver na lang yung nag drive nung car tapos ako sumakay na sa sasakyan nila. And ayun, nakarating naman sa house ng ok.

Kakatuwang experience siya. First time ko masiraan and ang bait talaga ni God sa kin. First andon ako sa maliwanag na area nung Xavierville tumirik, tapos yung building pwede mag park sa harap para di ako ma-tow. Katuwa no! Ayun, the following day, napalitan na namin yung battery nung car so ok na siya ulit.

When my cousin and her family went to the US for her brother’s wedding, they also visited some of the cities and states there. It was as if they’re having their second honeymoon. They didn’t have a hard time looking for a place to stay especially for Las Vegas. They checked hotels Las Vegas which has a list of all the hotels in Las Vegas including pictures and descriptions. They liked the hotel they chose and when I saw their pictures, it really showed they had the grandest time ever.

As I was browsing, I saw a site that provides assisted living software. This is the first time I heard of it and it impressed me. They have a product called the service minder software which is designed for senior living and assisted living facilities. They also have several services which will help you increase efficiency and profitability. Not only that, all the transactions are documented making it easy for you to monitor and check. You might want to check their site and see.

At first, I thought that only older people will experience arthritis. I often hear it from my aunts and uncles who are old already that’s why I got a misconception. One of my friends here in the office experienced that. And he is only in the mid-30s, which proves that arthritis is not only for old people. My friend has osteoarthritis where he experience pain in the joints and has difficulty walking. He only felt good when his doctor gave him osteoarthritis relief medicine. There are several foods that he is not allowed to eat and he is still under medication. Haven’t heard from him yet how he is doing but I hope he’s doing great.

Its mid-December already and you can really feel the spirit of Christmas. I was telling some of my friends that it is only this year that it is already December and I haven’t bought any gift yet for anyone. I’m really busy this month and even the decors at home are not yet complete. We were able to put up the Christmas tree but that’s it. Our home still lacks decors like socks or Christmas lights or even those christmas flags that we can put outside the house. I still need to take out from the storage room some other Christmas decors. Hopefully I can do that this week.

Finally, I have the time to update this blog. I know I owe you guys tags and updates, I’ll do them as soon as I can. Just keep them coming! I just have one final activity this Friday and from then on, I can blog again daily. Yipee!!

I really miss my blog and even bloghopping. I am not updated anymore to the activities of my friends and fellow mommies. Thanks to those who still drop by even if I seldom update for the past few weeks. I was really busy in the office. I can’t even blog at home since I’m tired already when I arrive from work. Anyhow, I’ll try to do the tags one by one soon. I’ll also visit your blogs so that I’ll be updated with your happenings. Okies! :)

When I started working, some friends told me to get insurance as early as I can. They were telling me to get one while I’m still young so that the premium to be paid is not too high. Unfortunately, at that time I can’t understand its importance. I only got one because I have a friend who became an agent and explained to me its relevance that why I got convinced. What I like most about my friend’s company is that they have life insurance no exam policy. You just have to answer their questionnaire regarding your health and that’s it. Paul and I have our insurance now and we’re thinking of getting another one. Whether another life insurance or an educational plan for Lance. We haven’t really weighed things yet so we don’t know yet which one to get.

I again experienced paying late on one of the bills that I received monthly. That’s because I was not able to receive the bill at all. When I called the company they said that the bill was delivered to our house. I guess the messenger just inserted the bill in our gate since we don’t have those nice mail boxes that can be seen right away. I really think we need a nice mail box since I often experience missing bills in our house. I don’t want to have someone from the electricity company going to our house and will tell me that they will cut our power because we haven’t paid. That will surely piss me off.

This is a long overdue post. We went to Batangas last Nov. 24-25 for our town fiesta. It was the 50^th year arrival of the Virgin Mary to our town so people really prepared for that day. That’s also one of the reasons why our parents stayed for two months to be there during the fiesta.

There’s the usual parade and procession. We were not able to join the procession because they had it on Sunday night and we need to go back to Manila since we still have work the following day. Here are some of our pics during the fiesta:

lance with my sister and his nanny before hearing mass

with us and with my parents

I remember when I was just new here in the office. Aside from the main task that was assigned to me, that is the ISO Quality Management System, I also conducted market research. At that time, the North Expressway is not yet built. We conducted a survey about fiber optic cables when laid on the expressway. We went to the provinces near the expressway, visited their city halls and asked about the demographics of the province. That was one part I enjoyed the most, combining work with travel. :) We get to see the province and what it has to offer. I hope we’ll have another market research to conduct where we can travel and see other places. :)

My friend who’s coming home from another country is looking for a place to stay for vacation. She is also looking for condos for sale so that she won’t need to rent anymore whenever she’s here visiting. The last time she was here was about 5 years ago, but this time around she plans to be here every year thus the search for a condo. It doesn’t have to be big, better if it’s fully-furnished and of course the amenities must be great. My other friend recommended one already and we’re planning to check out the place sometime next week. I hope the place will suit her taste. :)

I’ve mentioned here several times that I haven’t gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight even if it’s been over a year since I gave birth. But honestly, I really did not exert that much effort. I did not exercise or at least jog in our village to lose those extra pounds. I just watch what I ate and try to lessen it as much as I can but that’s it. As I was surfing, I saw on the net what they call the Miracle burn. They said that it helps in loosing that excess baggage. I think it’s helpful especially for people who do not have time to exercise. You might want to try it too. Just log on to their site to know more.

I’m really busy now. There are several events in our office that I was tasked to handle (both official and non-official). Official would be the ISO audit on Monday (I’m really handling this one ever since and as always may mga pasaway na naman sa office na kung kelan malapit na saka maraming tanong at mga revisions); we also have 2 christmas parties; and I have a training on Tuesday and Wednesday kaya ngarag talaga!. Looks like I need to go to work on Friday and Saturday. My non-official tasks naman are the bridal shower for our 2 colleagues who’ll be getting married on December, and I’m also helping one of them in their program during the reception.

So my dear readers (kung meron man hehe!), just hang on lang for the updates. I have so many stories to tell and I’ll post them as soon as I can. :)

When my cousin got married about 5 years ago, I was one of the secondary sponsors. I remember I was teasing her because the style of our gown is a corset. I told her it’s as if she doesn’t want me to breathe. But when I wore it already, I loved it!!! These sexy corsets are really meant for women to wear to support and shape the body. That’s why at that time, I really felt sexy wearing it! :)

Our human resources department is quite busy now because there are several openings here in our company. I posted before about our business planning and some of the department heads said they needed additional manpower. So now, the recruitment group is busy looking for applicants and screening them if they meet our qualifications. They even seek out help from headhunters to make sure that they’ll find the right person fitted for the job. There are some applicants already but I’m not sure yet if they’ll be hired or not. I do hope we’ll find the right people to help us attain our goals and ensure the company’s growth.

I was not able to go to work today because I have bad cough and colds plus my head aches because Lance woke up at 4 am and did not go back to sleep anymore. (Well, actually since I have colds talaga and headache that’s what I said in the office para I can file a sick leave. Hehe! Don’t want to use my VL anymore kasi lapit na siyang maubos.) Anyway, the main reason why I took a leave from work is to pick up Lance’s passport at the city hall.

Last Nov. 10 kasi, people from DFA went to Marikina City Hall to accept and process application for passport. I went there with Lance’s nanny to apply for their passports. Unfortunately, Lance is the only one who got a passport; his nanny needs additional docs pa. There are advantages and disadvantages of applying at the city hall. Syempre advantage was convenience. Few people are there compared to DFA so short lang yung line (hmm di naman talaga ganon ka short pero shorter compared to DFA) plus ang lapit lang sa bahay. Disadvantage naman is that they don’t deliver. They scheduled the release of the passport today and for minors, only either parent is allowed to get it. If parents are not available, you need to secure pa a special power of attorney for your authorized rep. So I have no choice but to go on leave since Paul is on training so he can’t leave from work yet. Kaya early morning today, I was at the city hall na, and I got Lance’s passport at 9:30am. They started releasing around 8:30 so medyo mabilis lang. Inggit ako kay Lance, machine readable na yung passport niya. Hehehe!

Since I’m on leave na din, I scheduled Lance’s haircut to Kids Salon kasi I’m hoping he’ll behave the same way when he had his hair cut there before as posted here. We tried bringing him kasi to a regular salon but unfortunately, he cried kaya he did not get a decent haircut. I even have a post about it here. So when Lance woke up from his morning nap, we had lunch lang then went to Robinsons na. Lance did not behave the same way as I was hoping for. He cried his heart out while having his haircut. Deadma din niya si Barney that’s shown in their tv. Tapos mukha rin akong nagpagupit kasi yung hair nya napupunta sa kin kasi I was hugging him. He tried to stand kasi and sobrang kakaawa kaya I hugged him while ginugupitan siya. Natapos naman kami ng maluwalhati. Hehe! Sabi lang ni Paul when he saw Lance, medyo maikli daw yung hair. Hayaan na lang, hahaba din yon hehehe!

From Galleria, we went to Rockwell to meet fellow n@wie Hiromi. I bought kasi the maclaren stroller that she’s selling. Sobrang nice ni Hiromi, as in she removed pa the stroller from the box and demo pa niya lahat. She even asked her son’s nanny to accompany me to the parking area since medyo mahirap buhatin yung box.

Upon getting home, I left again and this time naman with my mom to take her to Philippine Heart Center. Di naman sa heart yung sakit ng mom ko pero good thing the doctor holds clinic there kaya nagpunta na kami. Her sched kasi was tomorrow pa eh there’s no one to accompany her tomorrow kaya we went na today. She needs to see her doctor kasi before she leaves for the states. The doctor said naman that she’s ok. May kelangan lang siyang parang maintenance na gamot para di lumala yung asthma niya. Ayun, from the hospital we went home na. Kakapagod pero at least I was able to accomplish a lot. :)

When my friend had a vacation in the US before, he stayed in Florida specifically in Orlando. He said he did not have a hard time finding good hotels in orlando because there are a lot. When he went back here, he told me of the places he visited and how nice they were. He went to Discovery Cove, saw Orlando’s Waterparks and of course the Sea World and Walt Disney World. He showed me tons of pictures and some souvenirs from the places he’d been to. You can really see that he enjoyed his trip there. In fact he’s planning to go back next year and hopes to tag his girlfriend along. If that will push through, I’m sure they’ll both have a wonderful vacation.

I saw this from fellow bloggers but I snagged it from Mich. :)

1) What’s the brand of your wristwatch?
Anne Klein, Nike

2) What’s the brand of your bracelet?
No brand

3) What’s the brand of your cell phone?
Nokia

4) What’s the brand of your computer?
Here in the office it’s Acer, at home we have HP

5) What’s the brand of your bags?
Nine West, RL, Tommy, Gap, Benetton, Nike, and others that are not branded

6) What’s the brand of your undies?
Triumph and Wacoal

7) What’s the brand of your flip-flops?
Nike

8 ) What’s the brand of your shoes?
Naturalizer, Charles and Keith, Rusty Lopez, Mendrez, Nike and others

9) What’s the brand of your wallet?
Girbaud

10) What’s the brand of your shirts?
Esprit, Aerospostale, Nafnaf, Nike, and others that are not branded

11) What’s the brand of your TV?
Sony

12) What’s the brand of your cars?
Toyota (it’s my sister’s)

13) What’s the brand of your mp3 player?
Apple Ipod

14) What’s the brand of your make up?
I don’t wear make-up. I don’t know how :)

15) What’s the brand of your shampoo and conditioner?
Palmolive or whatever is available at our comfort room

16) What’s the brand of your jeans?
Levis, Kamiseta

17) What’s the brand of your laundry soap?
Tide, Champion, Perla

I was not able to rest last weekend for we were out for two days. Saturday was Paul’s birthday and it was also Lance’s well baby check up and immunization.

While we were waiting for his pedia at the hospital, he was just playing around and running and shouting. The assistant called him to get his weight and my God, he’s already 12.5kgs at 13 months. No wonder my back and my arms hurt whenever I carry him. Hehe! When it was finally our turn, his pedia was telling me that his growth was like that of an infant. Because it seems he’s gaining at least 1kilo per month. Lolz! She then measured his height and head circumference but I can’t remember the measurements. Hehe! But she said that it is still in proportion to his weight. She then gave Lance his immunization (it’s Hepatitis A this time) and Lance cried when he was put down the cot. But he stopped crying na when we carried him. The pedia did not give us vitamins anymore (for obvious reason! Haha) and just told us that Lance is doing great. We just continue to teach him for more developments.

From the hospital, we went straight to Makati to pick up my parents and my sister. We will be having lunch at Seaside since it’s Paul’s birthday. We decided to eat there since we all love shrimp and my dad loves fish. We were so full upon finishing the meal. Even Lance loved the food. Well, he eats naman anything we give him eh. Hehe!

From Seaside, we went to MOA to look for a blouse for my mom. It will be the town fiesta this coming Saturday and my mom don’t have any blouse to wear. The ones she brought from the US don’t fit anymore! Lolz!! Unfortunately, we were not able to find a blouse that suits our taste so we went home after that.

Come Sunday, we all went to mass at 7:30 and had breakfast after the mass. After breakfast, my mom, my sister and I left again to look for a blouse for my mom. We went to Glorietta and finally were able to buy a blouse at Woman. My sister and I were able to buy our blouses as well but from a different store. I was also able to buy a pair or pants. From Glorietta, we went to NBC tent to check on the bazaar. We were not able to buy anything from there. :( And from NBC tent, we went to Boni High Street and Market Market. And finally went home!

Like what I said, I got really tired last weekend but I love it. I get to spend time with my mom for I’m sure I’ll miss her again when she leaves on the 30^th.

Most of us are trying to invest in any way to make sure that we’ll have money whenever we need one, especially for emergency cases. Some try to invest in business, some into stocks, some buy a house or a condominium unit and have it rented, while others put their money in the bank for time deposit for higher interest rates. I haven’t heard of some people who try to buy gold to preserve wealth. I don’t know why but maybe because gold is really that expensive. If I can, I’ll buy gold bars since it is real, honest money and like what they say, the best form of money the world has ever known for. Plus these items don’t depreciate but increases its value more.

I was tagged by Mhay. Thanks for the tag!

*My comfort food*

I would say that my comfort food is chocolates. I really can't last a day without eating at least one. Whether local or imported ones, I like them all. Good thing our parents always send some chocolates from abroad that's why we never ran out of supply. And whenever I buy cookies or biscuits, I make sure that they are chocolate flavored ones. I just love it!!!
* pic downloaded from wikipedia*

Can't resist to post this one too:

Shrimp is my favorite food. I love it regardless how it's cooked. But my all time favorite is the buttered-garlic shrimp. Yummy!!!
*pic from bubba gump site*

What about you Norm, Pheng, Vina and Mich, what is your comfort food?

I have a friend who’s been going out for a trip sometime next month and she’s looking for a luggage to be used for that trip. She said she needs a durable and high quality bag. I told her that Swiss Army, the makers of Swiss Army knives are known to provide high quality products. Their knives are really good and I’m sure their luggage is of good quality too. She said she’ll look for it at the mall and hope to buy one before she leaves.

We recently had our business planning for next year and for the next 5 years. The department heads presented their plans and they all looked very interesting. Our company provides telecommunications equipment, and since there are always changes or upgrades in this type of industry we need to act fast and make sure that we’re not behind with what the industry calls for.

Our president also wants the sales team to have other business development. He said that we need Sales Leads database so that they will know where to find prospective clients. We do hope we’ll be able to get more sales from these business developments.

Next year’s plans are really interesting and we hope that all of them will come true so that there will be growth for the company and rewards and bonuses to employees. :)

Happy Monday to all! As always, I don’t want to go back to work and would rather spend time at home plus I was not able to play that much with Lance. Saturday morning we went to his pedia, then went to Dampa (for it is Paul’s bday), then to MOA. Sunday, I was out the whole with my mom. I’ll post about our weekend next time.

I need to really concentrate on my work now since it’s just two weeks to go and we’ll have our ISO audit once more. I don’t want to cram and revise and review the departments’ procedures again.

I need to look for some opps though, I grabbed a few from blogitive and payu2blog has some tasks for me. Still can’t grab opps at PPP (thanks to the drop in page rank), and there’s one at smorty (though I did not grab it yet). I hope other mommy bloggers were able to get some opps too! Have a great week everyone!

It’s been thirteen months since I gave birth and I still haven’t gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Though I really did not exert too much effort on losing weight. I just don’t eat as much as I do when I was pregnant and that’s it! I did not even exercise or tried playing any sport. I wanted to join badminton here in our office but I also want to go home as early as I can to be with Lance so I did not join.

I envy those moms who have gone back to their shape and can fit to their old clothes as well. Some said that breastfeeding helped them but I was only able to breastfeed for 1 month so I did not lose weight from that. Some recommend a surgery called the lapband system since it’s the safest, proven weight-loss surgery available today. But unfortunately it’s not yet available here in our country.

Right now, I’m 5-10 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I guess I just have to seriously consider dieting so that I can get back in shape and fit in my old clothes again.

I would like to return back the award to you and to some other friends as well

Mhay – she’s not only a fellow mommy and blogger but is an officemate as well. She’s there whenever I have questions especially if it’s about being creative (wala kasi akong creativity sa katawan!) and she’s also very helpful when we were preparing for our company’s Christmas party.

Peachy – I’ve known her since wedding planning days pa lang since we’re both June brides and we have an egroup and we sometimes share notes on each other’s accomplishments at that time. We even had several EBs and we always had fun in those. She’s really nice and is always there whenever I buzz her at ym and tries to answer my questions. She’s really helpful also when I just gave birth, sharing her experiences with Joaqui since he’s a few months older than Lance.

Nice – I’ve known Nice since wedding planning days as well since we have the same designer. Though I haven’t seen her yet. I got to know her more through her site and of course when we chat at ym. Her name really describes how she is. Indeed Nice. She’s also there when I have questions especially now as I have started my own site. She even called me once here in our office just to answer my question. See! I told you she’s Nice!

Kitts – she’s also a mommy blogger and is part of the egroup where I belong. I’ve known her through again ym and has been a constant chatmate. We talk when we have a chance and if we’re both busy, we just buzz and say hi. I also haven’t met her yet but she’s really a great friend. She even volunteered doing Lance’s guest book for free when I was looking for one for Lance’s 1^st birthday party! :)

Amore – I was introduced to her by fellow mommy bloggers and since then she became a friend. She set up my site and has always been a great help. She patiently answers my gazillion questions on how to go about designing the site and sometimes she’s the one who logs in to my account (whenever I don’t understand what she’s asking me to do. Lolz). Thanks ha!

Aggie – I’ve also known Aggie since wedding planning days. Like Peachy, she’s also a june bride but she was not able to attend any of our EBs (or yung time na nag attend ka, ako yung wala? Hehe). She’s really nice and is also a great friend. She’s also there when I have questions and tries to answer them as soon as she can. She’s the one who introduced me to paid blogging! :)

I mentioned before that I have a colleague who is getting married next month. She recently distributed her invitations and almost everyone here in the office were invited and are excited to attend their wedding. Both the groom and the bride are our officemates.

When she was just planning her wedding, she asked me how to go about their preparations. I told them that they first must find a church and a hotel that are still free of their chosen date and book them right away since they’ll be getting married in December and it is a peak season here for weddings. Now, it’s only a month away from their wedding and I think she’s all set. They have everything already and she even said that they have personalized wedding favors to be given to their sponsors.

I’m excited too for their wedding and I’m sure it will be a beautiful one especially since my friend was all hands in the preparation. Can’t wait for the big event!

I was only introduced to chatting 3-4 years ago so you can say that I’m just an amateur chatter (if there’s such a term). I was glad though that I learned about it because at that time it helped in my communication with my high school friends while we were organizing our 10^th year reunion. We sometimes create chat rooms to discuss our plans for the reunion. It served as our “meeting place” so that we won’t have to go out of our homes or offices just for the meeting. There we share one another’s suggestions and opinions on how to make the reunion fun and worth remembering. And there was my history of chatting. I loved it right away!

Next was when Paul was assigned to Taiwan, this was also our means of communicating with one another. It’s as if he’s just there beside me. We chat everyday upon arriving at our workplace and will continue chatting when we get home. In this way, we don’t miss each other that much since we get to communicate always.

Until now, I still am an active chatter. I go online when I get to work and as much as possible, I go online when I go home from work. I also met a lot of people through chat and they became good friends. It’s really a good avenue to communicate and make friends.

I watched Marimar last night and I can’t wait to watch it again tonight. Haha! Fan talaga!! Sergio finally learned that Marimar and his daughter are still alive. Tonight he’ll visit the hospital where Cruzita (his daughter) is confined and Corazon (the nanny) will confirm that Cruzita is his daughter. I’m not sure lang what will happen after that since they also showed that Marimar (a.k.a Bella) will enter the room.

I don’t know also what will happen to the story or how they will prolong it since I heard na it will air pa until January or February next year. For now, I can’t wait to watch it again tonight. Awww!!!

We always hear people say that growing old is one part of our lives that we cannot control. As much as we want to stay young, we will grow old eventually. Some are afraid to grow old because they don’t want to be left alone. With the fast paced world we live in, almost always, every household has both adults working. So who can the elders expect to watch over them when they’re old and sickly? Good thing that in most parts of the world, the elders are taken to a nursing home where someone can attend to their needs and can be with them always. Especially those who are bedridden, weak or have a medical condition or illness, that means they need a lot of attention from a doctor or nurse. These homes are good for them since there’s always a nurse on duty 24 hours a day. It will help both parties since the elderly will be taken cared of and the son/daughter will just have to visit him for whatever he needs.

We all know that eating fruit is extremely beneficial to our health and well-being. However, finding the time to eat enough fruit per day can be difficult due to busy lifestyles. I have found a site that has hundreds of smoothie recipes to help with this. Give it a try.

My favorite recipes are the strawberry smoothies.

This site is also looking for submissions for all fruit smoothies.

1. I’m a cry baby. As in I cry easily, kahit yung mga telenovela tinatamaan ako, hehehe! Or sometimes if I’m mad, I don’t fight back or shout at the person, naiiyak ako sa galit.
2. I’m a sports buff. I may not play often anymore but I used to play badminton (though medyo beginner pa lang, naguguluhan pa ako sa foot works), I play volleyball from grade school to high school, and I swim (eto pinaka favorite ko, and I know all four strokes). I’m contented now to watching sports na lang on tv. I watch baseball, tennis, basketball (eto panahon pa nina Alvin Patrimonio, fanatic na ko, and sa NBA naman nina Magic Johnson). I know the rules of those games by heart. Ang OA!! Hehe!
3. As early as 4, nasama na ako sa santacruzan in our province. I was the little girl holding the crown of the Reyna Elena during her coronation and after that was the civic parade. The last was when I was in high school and there was again a civic parade in our province and I was Mutya ng Yakal (I think that’s our barrio or something, can’t remember hehe!)
4. The company where I am now is my first job. I’ve been here for 8 years.
5. I love to dance. I used to dance in school whenever there are programs. And when I used go to the gym, I prefer attending the classes than doing my workout. I attend the taebo-kickboxing, belly dancing and the jazz/hiphop classes. Mas enjoy ako don kesa sa treadmill hehe!
6. I know how to drive but using automatic shift only. Pag manual, namamatayan ako! Pero I studied driving using stick shift pero what I’m using kasi is automatic kaya I’m used to it na.
7. I’m a chocolate lover! Goya man yan or ferrero papatusin ko! I love dark chocolate more.
8. I’m the youngest child in our family. My siblings say I’m spoiled pero I don’t agree with them hehe! And since I’m the youngest, utusan din ako sa bahay. :)