oprah

the best talaga si oprah.  ang galing!

check out oprah’s favorite giveaway ever.  

pasalubong

while johann got camou pants, a t-shirt, a basketball set and an ear thermometer when rudney arrived last october, i got 2 rubber shoes ~*a nike and a skechers*~, vs cologne, capri pants and my very own laptop!!!  so happy!!!   

i installed all my games na and transfered all our pics here kso mauubusan na ako ng disk space coz 40gb lang yung hard disk.  i was planning to buy an external harddisk but rudney told me na sya muna mag-hanap dun baka kse cheaper.  since may thanksgiving sale, rudney outdid it.  he got me a 400gb ehd, a router with speedbooster and a webcam.  woohoo!!! 

and for christmas he got me an ipod shuffle ~*i told him to use it muna*~ and a leappad learning system for johann.

di ko pa alam kung kelan ko makuha yang mga yan, either by december ~*by box*~ or january ~*through his ofcmate*~.  grabe, na feel ko tuloy ang pagiging ofw wife. hehehe…

i won’t mention here what i plan to give rudney for christmas para surprise.  besides dun sa request nyang polo i’m doing something pa for him.  hihihihi 

they’ll be fine

They’ll Be Fine
By Patsy Hughes

I am a single mother of two.  When my oldest child started school, I was like all mothers: I stood, at a loss for words, when he dashed to meet his new friends, without noticing that I was standing there waiting for my bye-bye hug. I felt as if someone just snatched him from me, and I would never have his full attention and dependence again.

I had a lot of time to share with my youngest child, who is three years younger than my oldest.  I had him at my side tugging at my shirt strings for three years.  Where I went, he went.  He was by all means “my baby.”  We had a special bond, the two of us.  He was my li’l man and I was so dependent on his being with me for such a long time that I dreaded the upcoming year for he would start school too.  Every mother knows the hassles that come with shots for school, preschool records, little backpacks and the extra school supplies, not just for one but for two.

For a while, I was working the midnight shift.  One day after seeing my oldest off to the bus, I came back into the house, and as the sitter left, Jeremy said to her, “Don’t wowwy.  I be good and go back to sweep wit Mommy.”  Back then, I would sleep for a few hours then get up and do the Mommy things.  He would help me prepare supper since the earlier I cooked the more time I had with his brother.  His brother would get off the bus, we would play for a while, then do homework, eat and bathe.  By that time, it was almost time for bed and we would nestle up in our beds and retire for the evening.  However I had to get up three hours later to get ready for work.  By this time, the sitter would come. Jeremy heard her every time, and he would come into the living room where she would study before I went to work, and watch her or cartoons and then give the sweetest little kisses as I exited our home.

One morning I got home, changed out of uniform and slipped into the car.  I figured I would try to get my errands done before retiring for a few hours sleep.  I came home exhausted.  I had run all over the malls for a certain crimson red T-shirt to match with Jeremy’s little shorts that I had bought for him to wear to school.  I searched and searched.  My last stop was at Kmart.  As I headed toward the children’s department, up against the wall I noticed the perfect T-shirt.  I grabbed it and started saying, “Look, Jeremy, look!  Here is one and it’s perfect.”  I turned around and he was gone.  Knowing how children love to hide in between things, I started looking for him.  I called out his name, but he never answered.  Several minutes had passed, and I was panicking, screaming his name.  An associate from the store approached me and asked me if I lost something.  I screamed, “I can’t find my baby!  Someone has stolen my baby!!!”  The manager summoned a clerk to call the police as they issued a code on a missing child.  I rambled hysterically through the store looking for my baby.

By this time, a policeman was asking me questions.  I was telling him that my son was standing beside me while I picked out his shirt.  As I reached for a picture of him in my purse, the officer asked, “Ma’am, what was he wearing?”

I started telling him, little bitty white tennis shoes, blue jean shorts and a yellow T-shirt with . . . “Oh, my gosh!” I turned red with embarrassment.

The officer said, “Ma’am?”

I started to cry.

He asked, “Ma’am, what is it?”

I exclaimed, “I am so sorry!”

“What, Ma’am, what is it?”

I exclaimed, “He started kindergarten today!”

Honestly, I was so embarrassed that I paid for his shirt and went straight to the school and stood behind the glass of his new classroom.  As I watched him playing with his new friends, I realized I was all by myself now, no one to call my name thirty times a day, ask questions of why and how come!  I stood there remembering the time I first held him and his brother, and I started to cry.

The next day, I stood at their school doors and watched until the principal walked up to me, grabbed my hand and said, “Ma’am, I promise they will be fine!”

enjoying the moment

 Enjoying the Moment
By Stacey Granger

     There was a day a few months ago when some city workers came into our subdivision to repair the street.  It was a warm day and my children had been outside playing all morning.  As I was making beds, picking up toys, sorting dirty laundry and doing my other “mom” chores, I listened to the grind and scrape of the diesel machines working in front of my home.
     Nearing lunchtime, I went to call my six children in.  They weren’t in the backyard playing on all the gym equipment we had purchased for their entertainment.  They weren’t in the side yard playing kickball or soccer.  They were in the front yard with awed expressions on their faces watching the machines on the street dig and dump and fill.
     I watched them for awhile – my grubby little throng – amazed they could stand so still for longer than a minute, but unlike them, I soon became bored and called them in.  I could see they were reluctant to come inside.
     “We was watching the tractors!” my three-year-old exclaimed, pointing as if I hadn’t seen the enormous machines.
     “Why?” I asked.
     They all traded glances and shrugged their shoulders, and my nine-year-old answered for them all, “Because they’re neat.”
     Later I thought about how enthralled they were with those big machines, as so many children are, and I myself had been when I was young.  It made me sad to think that I have become so busy trying to keep up with everyday life that I’ve forgotten how to enjoy the everyday things.  That while we as adults are so busy chasing the almighty dollar, we’ve forgotten that the simple pleasures we enjoyed as children are free, right in our own backyards, there for the taking.
     One lazy afternoon while watching my children play, I started thinking about how differently the world looks through the eyes of an adult with so many responsibilities.  All at once I realized that while I was trying to raise them to be perfect mini-adults who would then become perfect full-grown adults, my oldest child at eleven was essentially still that – a child! I felt my stomach drop as I recalled reprimanding them over and over about this and that and giving lectures on appropriate behavior.  I cringed inwardly as I realized with clarity that I’ve essentially been telling them that it’s wrong to behave as the children they are.
     My five-year-old chose that moment to look over and give me a wave. She yelled, “Mom, watch!” and jumped off the swing seat in mid-swing and flew through the air.  I held my breath until she landed in the sandbox without a major injury.
     My first response was to let loose a barrage of admonishments about how she could have broken a leg or landed on one of her younger sisters, but just as I started to yell, I shocked myself by responding with, “Wow!” And I gave her a thumbs-up.
     Suddenly I felt a pang of longing for the days of my own youth.  The days when I, too, could romp and play without a care for cost-of-living increases and budgets and mortgages.  The days when all that seemed to matter was that day, that moment.
     Remembering the day with the machines working in the street, I walked across the yard to my children and asked if I, too, could join in the fun.  For a moment, six pairs of eyes just stared at me in astonishment.  Even though I spend all day – every day – with them, it had been a long time since I’d taken off my “Mom” hat and just enjoyed the day – the moment – as if it would last forever.
     I let my children re-teach me that afternoon, for I’d forgotten that a whole world of fun could exist in a child’s backyard.  I’d forgotten how much fun it is to squish and squeeze fresh mud into patties and lay them on rocks to dry in the sun.  Or how plucking the stem from a honeysuckle will reward you with a single sweet drop of “honey.”  Or how forbidden it feels to make a mud puddle with the garden hose and stomp in it just for the sheer fun of getting dirty.  And how thrilling it is to climb just one branch higher in a tree and then from your perch in the sky, gaze over your tiny kingdom through innocent eyes and yell, “I’m the king of the world!” 

     I’d forgotten how your stomach does that flip-flop tickle when you swing so high that the seat practically falls out of the sky and at the last moment catches, pulling you back to do it again.  Or how relaxing it is to lie on your back in the grass watching the dandelion fluff float by on a lazy summer breeze.  Or how, when you use your imagination, the clouds can really look like bunnies and horses.  And I’d forgotten what it was like to be dirty and sweaty and itchy and not even care, because there was still an hour to play before dinner.
     There was once a time when a day seemed to last forever and yet now I feel there aren’t enough hours in a day to do all that needs to be done.  I now know that the days slip by all too quickly and so does a child’s youth.  Once it is gone, it can never be reclaimed no matter how badly we wish for it.
     As for myself, I can only hope to capture a few stolen moments from my children’s youth to remind me how precious these carefree days are for them.  And I try not to question why they will go through the trouble to rake all the leaves in the yard into a big pile just to run and jump and stomp and kick them all over the yard again.  Instead, I go outside and join them.  Enjoy the moment with them.  Because even though they don’t, I know the moment won’t last forever.

dancing

hindi pala ako marunong sumayaw!!! 

i’ve always thought that i was a good dancer.  during my primary years, me and my friends would dance in our community gatherings, new year’s party and we even went to other barangay to join a contest.  

 

last night i joined the body jam class.  goodness gracious, i can’t keep up and i feel awkward doing the dance moves.  i’m like a stick figure dancing with no grace and timing.  is this a sign of aging?  or maybe i was just too tense?  well i plan to join that class often and maybe, just maybe i can dance naman pala talaga.  kulang lang sa practice. hehehe…

3 weeks

~*overdue post *~

rudney arrived last october 1. we were busy. bonding time and everything. while i was at the office he met with friends. dinners here and there. elite’s november rain became october fest because of him. we celebrated it in munting buhangin in batangas.  johann didn’t like beach because of the waves. we had a great time though even when our van brokedown in tagaytay on our way home. we had to wait for my parents to arrive together with our mekaniko friend. since our van brokedown rudney didn’t get a chance to go home to their province.  we just rented an auv for her lola so that she can go to the province. we went again to tagaytay the next saturday this time with cora’s family.  had guisadong misua (courtesy of cora) for breakfast at mcdo mrt quezon ave. had lunch at leslies. instead of going to picnic grove we just transfered to one of the kubo at leslies and ordered fruits. we just let johann and cianna run freely.  we took turns in looking after them.  we had fun.  come sunday we’re off to bohol via cebu pacific. just the 3 of us. we stayed at dumaluan beach resort (its beside bohol beach club).  went swimming at the beach in the afternoon. it was low tide then.  johann still remembered the waves in batangas. he doesn’t want to swim/play alone even if the water is knee high (his knees) and very calm. rudney was a bit diasppointed.  we transfered to their swimming pool.  we stayed first at the kiddie pool. johann can’t reach the pool floor so we put on his arm floaters. we let him get comfortable with the water first while rudney was holding him. then finally he just let go. thank God he’s not afraid anymore. the next day we toured the city. we saw the blood compact monument, cholcolate hills, man made forest, hanging bridge, loboc river (had lunch there), tarsiers and the baclayon church.  before going back to the resort and since its our 2nd wedding anniversary we decided to have a feast. we had pasta, chicken, fish and beef.  all from jollibee.  the next day we just stayed at the resort. had breakfast then went swimming at the beach. this time johann’s not afraid anymore.  before the sun got too hot we went back to our room to rest.  after our siesta we went swimming again sa pool naman.  after dinner i packed our handcarry bag while rudney and johann are sleeping.  we still went swimming sa beach and sa pool the next morning. after swimming while johann and i watched backyardigans rudney packed our things.  had an early lunch because manong will fetch us before 12.  by 3pm we’re in manila na. mamang and my uncle fetched us.  we met papang in robinsons pioneer for an early dinner.  went home unpacked our bags then went to sm fairview.  while rudney had his hair cut, i went to the grocery to buy things he”ll be bringing to US.  the next day we went to citibank libis to sign some papers.  then we went to mall of asia.  we showed rudney around. had lunch at lamesa grill and dessert/merienda at cafe breton.  after fetching mamang from ministop cybergate we went to cubao to get some padala.  the next day we went to cubao again to get some last minute padala.  then went to glorietta to meet some of his officemates.  had lunch at mangan.  after lunch went to sm makati to buy last minute habilin.  then went to project 8 to visit rudney’s family.  his mom and sister were crying before we left. on oct 21 we left the house before 6am.  his flight is around 9am.  we got there before 7am.  we didn’t cry on our goodbyes but we know we’ll miss each other terribly.  johann just watched him walk away.  he didn’t cry.  told him to say “bye-bye daddy” but he didn’t.  he just watched him. which is weird because everytime somebody gets out of the car or is left behind when the car moves he always say “wawa ____”.  rudney texted me around 3am on sunday to inform me that he’s already waiting for a cab at the airport. 

that’s about it.  he won’t be with us on christmas, new year, my birhday, johann’s birthday and his birthday.  kalungkot but its okay.  we’ll get through this.  now, i don’t know if we’ll have a party for johann on his 2nd birthday or just dinner/day out with our family.  when i asked rudney about this he told me to ask johann. hmmm…

bohol pics

tagaytay pics

dinner pics

baby no more! by rudney

wanna share with you rudney’s recent blog post.  read it here.