Talulot Festival

Woke up bright and early to attend mass at the Shrine (8 am). We were there to start off the Talulot Festival. Talulot, meaning petal, to lead the celebration in commemorating the feast day of St. Therese.

It was the FIRST time we were going to do the festival. Heck, the company organized it! :) So we were learning every step of the way. We had floats, street dancers, judges, bands, singers. It was a colorful, fun festival all the way. It drizzled a little bit, but that didn't stop the crowds from cheering their respective zone groups when they performed.

The Talulot beat was unforgettable, too; as it played, everyone just started dancing to the beat. Total fun, despite the heat and the length of time we were there. Sure, there were a lot of things that could be improved....but we're chalking this up to experience and we're going to learn from it. Next year, it should be loads better!

Leaving you with some photos of the Festival:


TTFN!

Shoe Shopping!

Early Saturday morning, I took the girls to Metro East to go shoe shopping! They were SO excited! I knew the sale was going to be until the end of the month and I wanted to be at the store early to avoid crowds. Sure enough, we pretty much had the place to ourselves for almost a good hour before other people started showing up.

Anyhoo, huge 50% off sale at Australian shoes. Raine was ecstatic as she tried on shoe after shoe after shoe. I explained to her that we would be giving Raegan priority first as Raegan had a slightly larger size. For the most part though, the girls were able to share whatever shoes they bought, pretty much doubling their "shoe capacity". Hehehe.

Surprisingly, even Raegan wanted slight wedge heels on her shimmery, sequin-y shoes! Whoa! So Raine ended up getting a silver pair, Raegan a pale yellow gold pair. There were also some flat orange beaded shoes that were just darling! I practically forced the girls to get it because *I* wanted it! Hehehe.

We went to the Ladies section to find Raegan some ballet flats (she had no size in the children's section). When we were there, the girls started squealing when they saw these 3-inch HIGH heels (wedge)!!! Oh my! They grabbed the pair of shoes and started walking in them!

Yes, my 7 year old and 9 year old girls were strutting like models in the Venetian hotel wearing these super duper sequined high heels! STRUTTING! With arms held at shoulder level, sashaying their whole bodies in the store aisles! *eyes agog here*

Can you imagine?!?! Sigh! They BEGGED me to get the shoes, which were, unfortunately, very expensive, even if they were on sale. I could have gotten them ONE pair between the both of them, but I didn't want to be responsible for them breaking their ankles in the very near future!

Rogan's Concert

Rogan has been taking Kids' Band the past 2 months. He has been practicing on a guitar and he has enjoyed it. The kids taking the enrichment class put on a concert and Rogan was part of a set of music! He played the electric guitar (because it could be heard more) and he did really well.

No pictures since they're still in Japa's camera. Sigh.

Rogan's teacher gave him an orange guitar pick, which he used. While looking at him strumming his guitar confidently, I saw an orange blur whip out of his hand. Uh oh. That would be his guitar pick, flying in the air. Ooooookay. I looked at Rogan, wondering what he would do.

The kid kept his poise and used his thumb to play his guitar! Hehehehe. Of course, the rest of his fingers were spread out trying to compensate for his thumb, but hey, he played beautifully! :)

Gemstones and Scents

Rushing to get these Sweet Rewards Points for my discount coupon over at the Sweet Shoppe! :)

Here's what my gemstone is:

Your Gemstone is Amber

Creative, happy, and logical. You shine in any intellectual endeavor

What Gemstone Are You?

And my scent:

Your Scent is Lemon

Vivacious, tangy, and lively You are one gigantic ball of energy!

What's Your Girl Smell?

Ok...I'm energetic?!?!? Hehehehe. Tell that to my husband! He should get a kick out of it! :)

And I think I've got the barest minimum of points for that coveted coupon! Yay!

Some Interesting Sites I Go To

Other than checking my email, surfing the digi boards and digi blogs, there are some other interesting sites out there in cyberspace. Here are just a few:

1. Sudoku - Of course!!! I love doing these number puzzles, and it follows that I look for it online :) I still maintain though, that I enjoy doing Sudoku on paper instead of online. Feels different...and I feel smarter, hehehehe. *wink*

2. National Geographic - test your smarts in this fun quiz :) Always a different set of questions everyday!

3. Bless Your Chick - see my avatar? I ordered it from this site, back when they had NO free stuff. Now, you can make your own chick, but because you didn't pay for it, someone else could have that same chick. But with the thousands of possible combinations, that would be sheer coincidence indeed!

4. Planet M&Ms - another one for a possible avatar....or just to have fun with m&ms :)

Have fun with these sites.....and hey, I'm entering this over at the SSD blog for another Sweet Rewards Point! :)

Dessert Personality Test

Here's for a Sweet Rewards Point :)

If all the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which one would you choose (sorry, you can only pick one). Now please don’t cheat (something we all like to do when it comes to desserts), you must go with the first one you choose! Supposedly, this is very accurate. Pick your dessert, and then look to see what psychiatrists think about you.

Here are your choices:

1. Angel Food Cake

2. Brownies

3. Lemon Meringue Pie

4. Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing

5. Strawberry Shortcake

6. Chocolate on Chocolate

7. Ice Cream

8. Carrot Cake

Now, MAKE YOUR CHOICE with NO peeking as to what your choice of dessert says about you!

Okay, now that you have made your choice, scroll down and see what the research says about you…

1. ANGEL FOOD CAKE - Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.

2. BROWNIES - You are adventurous, love new ideas, and are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up, you whip out your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction. You tend to be very loyal.

3. LEMON MERINGUE- Smooth, sexy, and articulate with your hands. You are an excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don’t try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you have many friends.

4. VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING - Fun-loving, sassy, and humorous, not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation. Everyone enjoys being around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

5. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE - Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people, can be counted on in a pinch and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. Can be very emotional.

6. CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE - Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

7. ICE CREAM - You like sports, whether it be baseball, football, basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sports. You don’t like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.

8. CARROT CAKE - You are a very fun-loving person who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm-hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends.

And if you know me, of COURSE I picked chocolate on chocolate! What else would I choose?!?!? So yes, I am SEXY! Hahahahahaha! Ok fine. Not all *that* sexy, but the rest are SO me, wouldn't you say? *wink* Ooooh ooooh oooh---hey sisterhood! Check out the "cold exterior but warm on the inside" part. Is that ME?!?!?! Hahahahaha!

My November Trip

My November trip to the States may not push through any more. Sigh! I was thinking of going with Tita Belen and Roc when they go to Washington DC, but it looks like Mom wants to go....and we can't both go since they're going to be getting regular hotel rooms instead of timeshare units. Now I have NO excuse to go to the States!

But maybe.....with Dic and Lai and Rod and Zhar? Hmmmm......but nah....I don't want to look like a stupid 5th wheel since Japa doesn't want to go. On the other hand though, I don't mind being the 5th wheel! Hahahaahaha! Oh well. We'll see.

I don't think Randy and Stella can go along either, since they'll be honeymooning in Europe around that time. I'm not quite sure if they're going to Barcelona, as the Spanish Embassy was where they applied for their Schengen visa, but I know they're going to several cities in Switzerland. Paris is going to be a main stop for them as well, and I'm still trying to convince them to take the train via the Chunnel (I've never been on this one, as it was finished AFTER I had done Europe more than a decade ago, hehehe) to London. They've budgeted a doable $70 per day for food, and their hotels have been pre-booked, I think. So here's hoping they go on a stress-free honeymoon! :)

Ok....off to try and figure out how to wrangle a trip to the States somehow. I want to---NEED to---go off somewhere! Hehehehe.

AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

My NEW external hard disk has DIED!!!! Man oh man oh man oh man!!! I am *so* HATING life right now!!!!!

The dang thing is NOT being recognized by ANY of the computers..my laptop, the kids' computer, the iMac, NOTHING!!! And it makes this strange zzzzt zzzzt noice which does NOT sound normal at all!!!

And to make matters worse, I had JUST transferred all my NEWER digiscrapping stuff onto the EHD and ERASED everything from my laptop. I *was* going to start backing up from the ehd, but pfffft! Nope, everything had to be GONE. Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

Even my best-laptop-investment-so-far, my trusty Norton Anti Virus program, couldn't have seen this coming at all. Grrrrr!!! I am just SOOOO pissed!!!

Sigh. Off I go to send off messages to all the digiscrapping stores I can think off and BEG them to reset ALL my download links. Grrr. Wish me luck!

Might as well put on some Scraps here..as it may be a while before I am able to come back and REALLY blog. Sigh.

THE TRICORN
Journaling reads: Tricorn hats are very visible in Colonial Williamsburg. Both visitors and the “colonists” wear the Tricorn, lending an authentic feel to the 18th-century ambience.

Credits: kit - Bright Side of Life Collection Set 3 by Nina's Scraps at Oscraps; circled rainbow - Rainbow Pop by Miss Hunibuini at The Digi Shoppe; star doodles - Edge Doodles by Miss Hunibuni at TDS; folded corner - by Karah Fredricks; rip - by Micheline Martin; photo cluster - by Nancy Comelab; stars - All Stars by Nina's Scraps at Oscraps; fastener, journal tag - Office Bits by Nina's Scraps at Oscraps; font - DJB Adee1 by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick

MY BABY
Credits: paper - Monochromatic Blends by Katie the Scrapbook Lady at The Digi Shoppe; frippery - by Tracy Ann Designs; license tages - by Dani Mogstad at SSD; words - Entitled by Katie the Scrapbook Lady at The Digi Shoppe; doodled hearts - Edge Doodles by Miss Huni Buni at The Digi Shoppe; mine jellie - by Miss Huni Buni at The Digi Shoppe; photo wraps - by Katie Pertiet; font - KGD Tiffany

SWIMMING BFF
Credits: kit - Fantabulous Friendship by Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digital; tag - Free Tag Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; alpha bits - by Micheline Martin; Don't Be Negative Cluster - by Gina Miller; stitched sequins - by Gina Cabrera; photo action filter - by Holly McCaig; font - DJB Adee1 by Darcy Baldwin

TTFN!

Lazy Day Of Sorts

I think we were tired from all the excitement last night during the Moon Festival, hehehe. I did get up (later than usual) and I did drag my butt over to the treadmill to do my Couch to 5K program though! So I was proud of myself for doing that! :)

When I got to the office, Dad was behind my desk, having his lunch of Beef Bowl. I told him to stay put and I sat down on my massage bed right next to my desk :) Yes, it's there for just-in-case instances when my back would hurt from sitting down too long. I checked my email and surfed the boards a bit, and that was it.

I left the office early to take my boys to the doctor. Ranger's stye (sp?) was too big for comfort (and it looked like it hurt) and I wanted Rogan's progress on self-prescribed asthma medication confirmed by their pediatrician.

The pediatrician put Ranger on antibiotics (poor baby!) and prescribed an appetite stimulant, which relieved ME, because I felt he wasn't eating properly. He doesn't like rice, he'll only eat chicken and catsup, or fish sticks or lumpia or tempura. Anything, just as long as he can dip it into some condiment. "Sauce", he calls it. Hehehe.

Whatever we were doing with Rogan was ok. The nebulization, the medicine. He was given Zyrtec for his allergies and we were told to go back IF neither boy's condition improved. I'm crossing my fingers we don't go back. I hate going to the clinic on Saturdays.

Note to self: Have Japa's and my wedding bands cleaned. Too much lotion and soap getting into the diamonds make them lose their luster. Mom said something about dipping or cleaning them with vinegar. Not sure how much of an old wives' tale that is, but hey, whatever works, right? I'd love for my ring to shine again :)

I love having a blog---I can actually write down my mental notes to self, hehehe.

{SCRAPS}

Here are some layouts for our East Coast album. I'm doing good work on this album---I want it nice and thick and we took TONS of photos, too! :)

HISTORIC WALK
Journaling reads: We walked the one mile path from the Visitors’ Center to Williamsburg’s Historic Area. We passed brick tunnels, plantations and creeks as we traveled through time to experience what life was like as a colonist on the eve of the American Revolution.

Credits: kit - Ice by Ronee Parsons at Oscraps; brown paper - Earth by Ronee Parsons; blue journaling background - by Katie the Scrapbook Lady; star - by Gina Miller; font - DJB Teacher by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick; template, curl, staple, pin - by Jen Caputo

WILLIAMSBURG BUILDINGS
Journaling reads:
From left to right, clockwise:
1. The Randolph House
2. A Windmill
3. A Barber and Wig Shop
4. The Capitol
5. The DeWitt Wallace and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museums

Credits: kit - Fire by Ronee Parsons at Oscraps; stars - Sizzlin Stars by Gina Miller
tears - by Jen Caputo; font - DJB Janelle by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick

OUR PICNIC LUNCHJournaling reads: It wasn’t the fanciest place nor was it the most expensive place for lunch, but because it was just the two of us, it didn’t matter where we were, or even what we ate. Ok, that’s pushing it, but the Root Beer went really well with our Ham and Cheese sandwiches, capped off by yummy apple crumb cake and a chocolate chip cookie from Greenhow’s Store. We weren’t alone though, we had squirrels and birds to keep us company.

Credits: kit - Sunflower Days by Bannerwoman at Scrappin Freestyle; photo cluster - by Nancy Comelab; font - DJB Janelle by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick

TTFN!

Moon Festival Celebration: Food and Dice

The Moon Festival dates back to the Song Dynasty in China, more than 1000 years ago. It traditionally falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, a date that coincides with the Autumn Equinox in the Western calendar. This festival celebrates the abundance and togetherness of family, much like Thanksgiving.

The Chinese all over the world celebrate this festival, from what I've read in the news. It used to be just a day to receive moon cakes from our Chinese friends, but because Bang had proposed celebrating it, I read up a little on it :)

So yes, Chinese communites from Shanghai and Beijing to Binondo to all other Chinatowns in the world from New York to Los Angeles to Scottsdale real estate properties, celebrate the Chinese Moon Cake or Mid-Autumn Festival.

Tonight, we had a Chinese-Filipino themed dinner. It was supposed to be just Chinese food in keeping with our theme, but dear Mother and Lola could not be stopped as they kept adding all sorts of Filipino food to our buffet table. Sigh. Oh well. Food was plentiful for sure! We had Dragon Balls (shrimp), Sweet and Sour Pork (of course!), awesome fried rice, fresh lumpia (yummmm!), some steamed fish cooked in the traditional Chinese way, lechon, fried chicken (mainly for the kids). For dessert we had black jelly with nata de coco (sounds gross, but totally GOOD, trust me!) care of Bang and mango sago (which I forgot to taste!).

I took photos but am too lazy to post them now :) Also, because we're a fun bunch ---hehehe--- we told everyone to come in some form of Chinese garb. I raided Mom's closet for this one, Japa borrowed from Noj, Raegan borrowed hers from Zhar, Raine wore Raegan's old chiongsam, Rogan had a chinese dragon polo, and Ranger just wore red because he didn't like Rogan's old chinese pajamas on him. Go figure. *roll eyes*

Everyone else wore Chinese, with the boys giving in when Randy came down decked in a baby blue Chinese polo. Japa then borrowed Noj's extra polo while Boydee scrounged around in his closet for a very wrinkled D.O.M-like chinese polo. Hehehe. Dic borrowed a white one from Boydee.

The best costume of the night had to go to Tito Rey who arrived in a long Chinese robe! Hahahahaha! He said this was the ONLY chinese thing that would fit him and he wore it over regular jeans and a shirt. Tito Lito then followed suit, as well as RJ, who snagged robes from Boydee and Bang.

Then it was on to the Dice Game. After paying the "entrance fee" (to fund the cash prizes), everyone sat at the long dinner table according to numbers we drew from a bowl. Then on his or her turn, the person would grab the 6 dice and throw it inside a bowl. All dice MUST stay in the bowl and the dice determined what you would win, if any. Prices ranged from P20 to a jackpot of P2000.....all for a P200 fee :)

The best part was that each winning combination of the dice (too complicated to list here) had a corresponding prize in HOPIA, a small, bean-filled cake/scone. The smaller prizes had these cute little hopia given to the dice roller. The jaw-dropping hugeness of the jackpot hopia was something to see, though! Hehehehe. It was the size of a PLATE!!!! Holy Cow!!! We told Elizza, the eventual winner of the jackpot with a roll of five twos, that she HAD to eat the dang hopia BEFORE she could claim her prize! Hahahahaha! Totally hilarious night, totally fun.

Thank you Bang for this wonderful idea and time to get together with family again. Hey---any excuse to celebrate with good food and family is always the best eh? *wink*

Birthdays on the Moon Festival

Happy Birthday, RJ and Krystal! Yup, more birthdays, this time my cousins from different sides of the family.

Today is also the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by the Chinese. Bang enthusiastically encouraged us to join some dice game played with dice (of course) and some hopia, small chinese bread with monggo filling inside. I'm not too sure of the mechanics yet, but I'm sure I'll know them by the end of tonight! To enter, we pay P200 so yes, I have the kids signed up as well, hehehehe. I'm sure they'll be excited to roll those dice. The important thing is for the 4s to show up, that's all I know. I'll blog about our little moon festival party later tonight.

***
In States news, Randy just told us that the escrow for the office fell through. Again. At the rate we're going, we may not move to Las Vegas by year end. Oh well. No hurry, since Polaris is still unsold as well. I guess the real estate market in the States haven't caught up to the government lowering interest rates. The potential buyers were saying something about the lenders having too high of an interest. They're investing in some Tampa real estate as well, so they're pretty stretched for cash, too. Oh well. I told Mom the third time's a charm! Hopefully, that time will come soon, with an offer we can't refuse! :)

Asthma Attacks and Black Fingers

No connection between the two, really, except for the fact that it happened to family :)

Rogan still has difficulty breathing; there's some wheezing in his lungs, from what I can tell. Yes, he's being nebulized 2-3 times a day, sans a visit to his pediatrician. I'm talking him tomorrow just to make sure. Our huge clunky nebulizer, although serving it's purpose, needs to be replaced with something more mobile, like a portable oxygen concentrator. Not a major "appliance", but a small nebulizer looks like. AND operates on batteries! How nifty is that! He's on ventolin now and taking his allergy spray, so he's going back to school today.

Now. Black fingers. Mom and Dad BOTH had minor accidents yesterday. Mom for some reason, had stuck her finger inside the electric fan which was still ON. She said she was reaching for something and wham! The blade had hit her finger. It was a stroke of luck that the fan wasn't on full strength AND that Mom hadn't stuck her whole finger in!

Notice I said black fingerS. As in plural. Dad had his spill yesterday, too. He had gotten up from a chair, lost his balance, and had gripped the back of his chair, thinking that it would prevent him from falling. Uh......NOT without some major weight on that chair, Dad! He fell towards the ice machine, grazing his left cheek which left a small cut AND pinning some of his fingers between the chair and the ice machine. The result: a MAJOR black thumb that did not look pretty!

Day and Night

What a day!

I got on the treadmill and did the second week program of Couch to 5K. Which meant that after a 5-minute warm up walk, I did 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking. And after a totally sedentary weekend, I was huffin' and puffin'! At least I *did* get on it right? And yes, I still maintained the same speeds I was at last week (5 kph walk, 6.5 kph jog).

Went I got to the office, Dad was behind MY desk, having his lunch. So I did other non-computer stuff (which was about nothing, hehehe). I went down to the mall to Toys R' Us to get Riley his birthday gifts of some Pokemon fighting toys. For all their ugliness, Riley's face was a joy to watch, when he opened his gifts and found the Pokemon fighters in the gift bag :)

What a night!

We trooped to Makati to meet the family of Zhar before Zhar and Rod get married. Zhar's family was totally funny and uproariously funny, especially Zharro. We had a pleasant dinner care of Ponzo's, although the food could have been a lot warmer, according to most everyone. Dessert was YUMMY---the rich, sinful chocolate cake, and the calorific mango crepes. Aaaahhhhhh! And yes, the kids were there as well, because Elizza made sure to bring a birthday cake for Riley to blow on his special day. Stole a little bit of the show, but I don't think Rod would have traded it for anything.....he was trying to get away from all the attention focusing on him and Zhar.

In fact, we never talked about the wedding at all, which was the sole purpose of dinner! Sheesh! Hehehehe. Everyone was having too much fun, eating too much and getting to know each other to be serious about the night's purpose. Oh well. I guess it was understood? Hehehehe.

***

And now I am just pooped! Poor Rogan had an asthma attach while at school today, too! :( He missed only the last 2 classes but it was clear that he couldn't breathe very well. We made sure he drank some medicine, and got some nebulization done. At least the asthma didn't affect his appetite---he still ate a ton at dinner!

Not sure what triggered his asthma, but I'm guessing it's the changing seasons again, and the dust and pollution everywhere. Really gross, if you really think about the disgusting air we breathe in. How do I know it's in the air? Well whenever we're in the States, Rogan NEVER got an asthma attack. At all.

Maybe next time, we can vacation in Australia. I'm positive none of the kids'll have any asthma attacks AND we haven't been there as a family. Japa has never gone, either. I'd love to sightsee in Sydney and Melbourne again.

Look at how pretty it is! :) Of course, we'd have to travel on a strict budget! Sydney Hotels and Melbourne Hotels won't be all that cheap of course. But I'm always on the lookout for great bargains! Those two cities will most likely be more expensive than getting some Brisbane Hotels just because they're more well-known and people flock to them more. A great deal to me is free breakfast at the very least.

Inclusive tour prices would be awesome as well. The Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour (I remember a great mall there, hehehe), and the kids are going to LOVE the Sydney Aquarium!

But until we get enough to travel as a family AND the kids are old enough to understand and appreciate the value of travel, Australia will simply be on our wish list :) Soon, hopefully. In the next 5 years maybe?

Good night! Gotta make sure Rogan sleeps well and is able to breathe well throughout the night.

Busy Day Today

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RILEY!!!!! He turns 5 today! We WERE going to have a fun day at McDonald's (I was soooo looking forward to a QP with cheese! *pout*) but that was scrapped because......

It's pamamanhikan later. This is where the family of the groom visits the family of the bride to formally ask for her hand in marriage. In the "olden" days (hehehe), it used to be JUST the guy and his parents who would do that. But recently, our WHOLE family goes, including the kids! And that is NOT a small group.

So Zhar, if you're reading this, we will see you tonight! :)

Okay, I need to get my arse off the bed....and see if I can get on the treadmill to start my week right! I'll be back to post some layouts!

Sitting at the Computer

That's what I did practically the WHOLE day yesterday. Sit at the computer. Not counting the time I went to mass and had lunch out with Japa's side of the family. Just sitting at the computer, trying to get used to the iMac. I scrapped a few pages, surfed the internet, and scrapped some more. But I'm still trying to get used to the whole different system or interface, whatever the heck it's called.

In the meantime, the kids were all over the white desktop and my laptop. My poor, old, battered computer. Hehehe. I'm thinking what I'm going to do with it. After I get a new laptop, of course. Either give it to the kids....or have the office buy it. Still thinking of the possibilities of a Dell notebook, too. I just saw their website and they've got this sweet machine ---the Dell Vostro 1000 NB Laptop--- that runs with an AMD Athlon processor. Which, in all honestly, is what I prefer. Having gaming specs on my laptop has been very very useful for me as I constantly use Photoshop to scrap with. Something about being able to access the data faster...I forgot what the guy in Best Buy told me about the Athlon system. All I know is that having a computer with gaming specs is what is best suited for me. That, and beefed up RAM of course. The more it is, the merrier I am, hehehe. I think the Vostro comes with 1 gig of memory, and can hold a maximum of 2 gigs, maybe even more, if they sell those cards with twice the capacity on them.

A new laptop for me. Soon, hopefully. Soon :)

A Day of Movies

Yup, we watched a couple of movies today. In the morning, first showing, I took the girls and Rogan (yes, Rogan) to watch Bratz the movie. I saw the trailers when we saw Nancy Drew and it looked pretty good.
The movie *was* pretty ok. A bit shallow, but ok. I was trying to explain to Japa the relative shallowness of it when he reminded me that the movie's target market was KIDS. Hehehe. So true! And with that perspective, I think Bratz was ok.

I loved Sasha; I think she is uber pretty and those eyes are just amazing! But my fave Bratz is Jade (ever since) and whoever played her is another cutie. Brainy, but fashionable. She looked great in this movie.

The er, antagonist, Meredith, kind of reminded me of Sharpay Evans in HSM. That's High School Musical for those of you who don't know. :)

In fact, HSM and Bratz were a little bit similar, but HSM had more music and production numbers.

The plot was eh *wave your hand here like you're emulating a rocking boat*. Could've been loads better and more exploratory, but like Japa said, it's meant for kids and it was ok for the kids.

Raine's eyes were all agog when she espied various fashionable outfits on the Bratz girls. Sigh! I swear she went to see the movie just for fashionista tips! Raegan had some outbursts of "cool!"; seemed like she couldn't control herself. Hehehe. Rogan was busy chowing on clover chips and cheese popcorn.

In the afternoon, Japa and I went with Boydee and Bang and Lola and RJ to Gateway, this REALLY FANCY movie place. Lazy Boy, plush leather seats, and all you can munch popcorn and coke (no diet though, bummer). I told Japa that we should go see movies at Gateway whenever we can.

We watched Shoot 'Em Up. Ok....can someone say slapstick?!? Hehehehe. It was an okay movie, too. Thrilling definitely, and full of action. Impossible scenes for the most part, but was pretty interesting. Clive Owen would have made an AWESOME James Bond. I'd be glued to the screen if he were 007!

We had some lively discussion about this movie when our little group trooped to Chicken Bacolod for an early dinner. We were laughing up a storm as we tried to remember most of the impossible-thing-to-happen kind of scenes from the movie.

All in all, because it was action packed, I liked this movie. The plot could have used some beefing up, but I guess I'm trying to be TOO intelligent sounding, hahahaha! The Gateway theater more than made up for the whole experience though!

Computer Talk

I ended up freeing a little bit over HALF of my computer's hard disk space. I am now the proud owner of a laptop with slightly over 52 gigabytes worth of previous hard disk space! Whoohoohoo!! Of course, I have yet to notice whether it is now more efficient and working up to speed. Maybe a few hours doing Photoshop will show me eh?

As for regular desktop computers, I'm thinking of getting STILL another one. For the kids. We now have two, and they're just constantly squabbling about who gets on what when. Ugh. It's been getting on my nerves lately and they're close to snapping. (uhmmm.....maybe it's that time of the month? Who knows.)

Anyway, am constantly on the lookout for cheap computers. Of course! I don't want to have to spend a bundle for a computer for the kids, right? Something budget friendly, that'll make the kids happy. Now when I say cheap, that doesn't mean gross and ugly at all. Cheap, meaning a great computer that won't break the bank. My bank.

And of course Dell pops into the equation again. As I've mentioned, they have been changing up their marketing and have been more prominent in this aspect again. I remember when I refused to consider Dell because all I've been hearing were not-so-good stories about their products. But NOW, all I've been hearing are raves about the new Dell computers! Talk about turnaround eh? Anyhoo, I want a great computer that the kids can use for fun and for school doing research and stuff. (They're slowly becoming adept at doing some research via the internet.)

Something speedy (so they won't whine at us and try and use OUR computers), something with Wi-Fi capability (hate those wires all over the room), and something which even Ranger can use to pop in his Jump Start learning CDs!

Ok, off to bookmark some potential desktops. And yes, Dell is going to be a contender for the next computer purchase!

He'll Be Home Soon!

Japa that is. Yes, it's still early and I'm up....Ranger's been throwing tantrums this early in the morning, the little bugger. Grrr. He's been doing that quite a lot recently, and it's beginning to piss me off. So far, I've found that talking to him reasonably works well. I guess he feels a lot more grown up because of it? Go figure. But still. Most of the time I just want to yell at him so can it, especially when I know he's doing it to be bratty to his siblings. Grrr. Again.

I really want to go back ---NEED to go back to sleep since it's going to be movie time today. One in the morning with the kids, and another one in the afternoon with the big kids (that's us, hehehe).

{SCRAPS}

GOVERNOR'S PALACETo see the individual pages up close, just click on them :)

Journaling reads: 1. Rona in front of the GATES of the Governor’s Palace; 2. The ROYAL SEAL of the King of England showing the Lion and the Unicorn; 3. Japa by one of his favorite places in the Palace; 4. theFOYER, where all these rifles and swords were on display; 5. This cellist was in the Palace’s BALLROOM, the Blue Room; 6. Some beautiful LEATHER wallpaper; 7. A STOVEPIPE in the Green Room, which kept the Governor and his guests warm during the winter; 8. Rona with HELEN, our wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide who gave an entertaining commentary as we walked through the Palace.

Credits: kit - Live Abundantly by Rina Kroes at SBE; staples - by Rina Kroes; aged notebook paper - Meaning3 by Jen Wilson; alpha - Glass Key by Miss Mint; font - DJB Adee1 by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick; template - Smartstart Coll 3 by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick

ROGAN-GRADE 2
Credits: kit - School TearZ by DeDe Smith at Divine Digital; grungy alpha - Alpha Bits by Christina Renee; "2" - Splash Alpha by Eve Recinella at SSD; inverted staples - by Rina Kroes; fonts - Apple Casual, You Are Loved; sketch - by Rachael Giallongo

THE TRAIN ROOMJournaling reads: The owner's grandson had used this train room to propose to his girlfriend. While in this room, Zhar jokingly extended her hand to Rodney and wiggled her fingers. Little did she know that a real ring was waiting to be slipped into her fingers upstairs.

Credits: kit - Hannah's Joy (Deux) by Ramona Williams at Divine Digital; railroad ephemera - by Kathryn Balint; photo wrap string - by Katie Pertiet; ribbon wrap - by Christina Renee; curled border template and action - by Marcie Reckinger and Traci Murphy; font - DJB AmandaG by Darcy Baldwin; template - by Janet Phillips

Japa should be here any moment.....I'm going to try and get some shut eye.

Freeing Up Some Space

I finally did it! I am freeing up a whole LOT of space from my laptop!!! With my move to an iMac, I have found it very hard to scrap the past couple of weeks. I have files in my laptop, on my hard drive, and on the desktop. Yes, as in plural. I have been going crazy trying to juggle all those files and trying to figure out where I put what. Sheesh!

Anyhoo, I've been transferring ALL my scrapbooking files from my laptop into my new 500 gig EHD. I figure I'd just lug this EHD around and use it to access all my scrapbooking files. Added weight in my bag, but hey, what's another pound or two right? Then with files in hand, so to speak, I can now scrap using my wonderful new laptop. I have just beefed it up from 1 gig of memory to a wonderfully speedy 3 gigs of RAM!!! Whoohoohoo!!!

A lot of the gals in the digiscrapping community stand by their Dell computers. I've never tried Dell out but the girls say that Dell specs are some of the best out there for the price. For both laptops and desktops. I like the ones that come with a slim casing for desktop computers. They're all the rage now, especially with desk real estate becoming more and more precious. At least, to me it's precious. I hate working with a lot of clutter on my desk; most days, though, I just deal with it.

Rondic has also said that Dell has been transforming their marketing and has been pretty successful at it. I know a Dell was one of his options for a new laptop. Yup, it's that time for our laptops: Dic, Lai, Mom, me. We've gotten our laptops within a few months of each other and I know mine's going on it's 3rd year....so yes, I think it's time to consider other options.

Wish me luck! I'm *still* waiting for files to be copied onto my EHD and waiting to be deleted. So far, I've freed up 40+ gigabytes of space! Now I'm crossing my fingers Photoshop will be flying soon! :)

Jogging: Day 3

Yes!!! I was feeling a wee bit lazy this morning, but I made myself get up and onto the treadmill for the third time this week! That is SUCH an accomplishment for me! Whoohoohoo!!! And yes, I did the same thing I've been doing: a total of 25 minutes, including a 5-minute warm up time.

And yes, it was a lot easier and I could breathe more. Of course, it helps that the huge plasma TV is in front of me, and I was watching the news. Anything to keep me occupied while i was in the jogging part :)

Then I just had enough time to take a shower and we left......for lunch. Hehehehe. Yeah---exercise just so I can eat! Sigh! It's this family; we love to eat TOO much!

We had lunch at Xin Tian Di where they served dimsum, all you can eat. It's in a hotel, so a little bit sosy, they serve you the dimsum your order at will, not a free for all buffet line. :)

Office Stuff

I was really hard pressed to concentrate while at work today. Those cold meds really get you down, don't they? I did try to work on finishing up off the job descriptions today. These will be the basis for the performance appraisals which NEED to be done this month. Yikes! I also have to update our organizational chart and plot where people stand and their possibility for promotion either vertically or horizontally. I honestly need to have some succession planning in place to keep the employees happy. Because really, for a lot of people, having a raise is all nice and hunky dory, but having a TITLE is even more a big of a deal. Sigh! So many things to balance, eh?

And I'm all for promoting from within the ranks. I also detest having to hire incompetent people just because they're relatives! Sad practice here in the Philippines, nepotism, but it's a fact of life. Mom and Dad want to help out some of the less fortunate relatives out there but sometimes.......sigh! Oh well. At least we can weed out the really bad ones.

Jogging: Day 2

Yes, I did go on the treadmill yesterday morning. And it wasn't as bad as the first time, thank goodness. I was still winded of course, I mean, that's expected right? Especially after YEARS of leading a sedentary lifestyle! *shake head here* Sigh!

So I get on the treadmill --- actually turned it on by myself, hahahaha! Of course, I had to ask Japa how to do it, but I did it all by MYSELF! So yay me! :) I am following the Couch to 5K program, so I did a 5 minute warm up, then 60 seconds jog followed by 90 seconds of walking. And let me tell you, I *really* slow down during the 90 seconds! I am getting better though; at least I can breathe a little bit more now than the first time I got my arse onto that machine!

{Sisterhood Challenge Scraps}

Well, I got my baptism pages done a few weeks ago. Yes, just now posting since I'm trying to catch up. There have been days where I'm a scrapping machine, and other days, nada. Still working on the next series in the Sisterhood Challenge...but I'm hoping to post those soon.

Imagine when we turn our scrapping efforts towards making our vacation albums. Yikes! That's a lo-o-o-o-o-o-t of years that I have to go searching photos for, scanning them, and finally scrapping them. And yes, I want separate albums for separate years. I wonder how many Disney albums I'll have? Hehehe. My favorite vacations so far have been to an Orlando vacation home, a few minutes away from Disneyworld and the other Magic Kingdom parks. That was one of the best!

Anyhoo, those are pages for fa-a-a-a-r in the future! :)

RAINE'S BAPTISM
Credits: kit - Folk Art, a collab kit by Jan Crowley, Meredith Fenwick and Shabby Princess; vintage frame - by Katie Pertiet; bend it tag - by Debbie Knorr; folded corner - by Karah Fredricks; fonts - KGD Mozer Print, Adler; template - by Jen Caputo

RANGER'S BAPTISM
Credits: kit - Chalked Full of Fun by Lisa Whitney at Scrap Artist; label - by Shabby Princess; fonts - DB Pastor Dave by Darcy Baldwin, JW Artist's Manual

TTFN!

Bye, Japs!

Japa left for Bicol early this morning. Which is why I'm blogging this early, hehehe. Couldn't go back to sleep; I'm sure I will though, in a little bit, but I wanted to write down something first.

Japa had his truck serviced (sort of) yesterday. It was due for a 50,000 km check-up, but that was going to take 1.5 days. So he just brought it in yesterday for a battery and warm-igniter thingy check-up yesterday. I think he wanted to have at least those checked before he went on his 14-hour drive today.

Good thinking! :) Better to be safe on the road, eh? I swear, sometimes I think that Japa treats his truck like one of his babies. That truck has been juiced up and fixed up. It's got fog lamps, some window thingy that prevents the rain from going inside the car when you put down the windows, he's got a really nice hard cover for the back of his truck. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a ladder rack installed next! Hehehehe. Not sure why he'll need it, but with his truck, I never know!

So Japs, I'm sure you'll read this tonight...hope you had a safe drive. Love you!

Ok, I'm going to try and go back to sleep :)

Oh Baaaaaaang!!!!

Check this out:They're called baby slings and they look comfy enough! Hehehe. Ok, if not for you, maybe for Boydee? But these look great, especially for newer babies, and should work well when you have Brooke (assuming it's a girl of course, hehehe. Or Brook for a boy?).

Seems you can wrap the slings around your body any which way. I'm looking to see if they come in different sizes or if it's one size fits all. Hehehe. Ok, I just checked, they have different sizes for men and women. They have lots of different kinds of fabric, too, so this has the potential to be a LOT of fun!!! And.....you have both hands free to hang on to Bric to make sure he doesn't run all over the place!

I'm guessing you can "tie" Bric to you (or to Boydee) to make him behave, too. He should enjoy the feeling of closeness with the baby sling, I think.

I think they're very cool! :)

Renovation: Painting

Well, I did it! I gave the contractor a down payment of P15,000 to paint the girls' room. The balance will be given to him upon completion of everything in there: the stripping of wallpaper, painting the walls, reconstructing some closets in the bathroom, painting those closets. Maybe I can even squeeze in a new TV cabinet (or TV table) from him :). Or maybe even repainting the window frames.

Those babies are SO old! Older even than the wallpaper, I think! Hehehehe. Japa and I have been thinking of changing those as well, when budget permits. I detest the grills that are on them now. Ugh! I'm thinking of casement windows or tilt and turn windows. These types:

And yes, they seem to have a double glazing finish on them, which means that they don't have to painted again for a long time! :) Which is what I REALLY need!

All these Home improvements projects of mine are going to be costing a bundle, I think. But I'm having fun trying to decide stuff, you know? I also ask the kids for their opinions, since it's their room, and it's fun to see what they think of things, too.

Lots of stuff for me to do! Decide on a color scheme---gotta go to Pottery Barn for Kids for that, hehehe---and take before pictures!

Oh My Poor Body!

I'm sitting here at work and I am A.C.H.I.N.G!!!! My back is just about killing me because I know it's super duper stiff! Aaargh!!!

But then again, I did wake up this morning with a sense of accomplishment, you know? That I did something GOOD for my body. Finally. Now to see if I can continue what I started.....

Bored out of my mind here at work, staring at empty office desks (Bang isn't here now, just Lai and me). I can't keep staring at Microsoft Word the whole day, doing job descriptions. Ugh! I do take a break every now and then to surf the internet or fix my digital files :) I figured out how to put my layouts in Albums in my online gallery over at DST. So yay me!

Ok, my self-imposed break is almost over. Showing off some scraps:

ROGAN'S BAPTISMThis is Dad and Mom with Rogan.

Some photos of Rogan's Ninongs and Ninangs.

Credits: kit - Smarshmallows by Shabby Princess; tag, cardboard elements - Birthday Bash Grab Bag by Shabby Princess; staples, tag - by Rina Kroes; fonts - Caramella, Adler; template, concave bend photo action - by Jen Caputo

YOURS, MINE AND OURSJournaling reads: Because our kids are so close in age, it is not unusual to hear them call us Mama and Papa, and Mommy and Daddy. We get confused looks from people as they try and figure out which child belongs to which couple, when all 8 kids call us by name! We also love getting looks when one couple takes ALL the kids somewhere and we can tell by their faces that people are trying to place the kids in the order that they came out!

Credits: kit - Treehouse Park by Miss Mint at Peppermint Creative; alpha - Glass Key Alpha by Miss Mint; cardboard frames - Craft Jar by Miss Mint; font - KGD Angela

Say a little prayer for me......to see if I can get my arse back up on that treadmill again tonight!

TTFN!

Off to Work!

Ok. I *was* going to lug this body downstairs and get on the treadmill again.....but I think I'm just hurting TOO much! And I'm stiff as a board, too! Hehehehe. I can barely straighten my back when I get out of bed, you think I can get on the treadmill?!?!

Besides, Japa has a meeting today, so it's off to the shower for me.....

Skin Health

We TRY to be healthy, yes? But when we talk of being healthy, we usually talk about our bodies, nothing else. But all of us have a touch of vanity somewhere deep down inside of us, whether we want to admit it or not :) And yes, that definitely includes my dear brothers and husband! Hehehe.

Their vanity includes putting stuff on their faces---anything that will make them keep those wrinkles away, and help keep their skins moisturized. :) Yes, they're boys, and I feel that they're even more vain than me!

Found this cream called the RG Skin Revitalizer, an ultra-rich cream filled with anti-oxidants. No, not made by me (although those are coincidentally my initials, hehehe!) but come from this red fruit called Gac (from Vietnam). You know how Asians---especially the Chinese and Vietnames---have exceptionally beautiful flawless skin? Well, it's probably because they have a diet full of lycopene (hey, we get that from Del Monet catsup, eh?) and beta-carotene (carrots, I think?).

And the best thing? This cream helps our skin cells rejuvenate, which makes for resilient, healthy looking skin. Everyday, we go out into the sun and face the ghastly polluted air here in the city. Disgusting, really. And yes, I've cleaned my face at night with an astringent and it is dirty! So I slap on some cream to try and appease my poor skin and give it "new life".

That's what Red Gac says it does: it revitalizes your skin. If I'm spending good money for good food, why not extend that to include spending for my skin as well? I'm not getting any younger for sure, and I need all the help I can get!

P.S. I love the name, too: Red Gac. Cute!

Exercise, Schmexercise!

My poor poor body!!!! Aaaargh!! How it hurts! Yes, ladies and gentlemen! By those groans of pain, you can very well guess that I have exercised. And I am paying for it right now, after stepping on an exercise machine after soooooooooo many months of not doing anything! Sigh!

I stepped on a treadmill for 25 minutes, doing the Couch to 5k program (trying!). I did a 5-minute slow warm up walk until Japa came in midway and asked why in heaven's name was I walking oh-so-slowly! Hehehehe. So I sped up to a brisk walk for the remainder of my warm up. Then it was 60 seconds jogging, and 90 seconds brisk walking. My treadmill speed was 5kph for walking and 6.5kph for jogging.

Not bad at all, except of course I was sucking wind. Ugh.

I knew better than to flop on the bed and sleep after jogging. I was actually quite GOOD and did some yoga for stretching after the treadmill. So YAY me! :)

Now I need a shower in a major way, and am off to bed!

Board Meeting Take 2

Today was the "real" board meeting. Where we tackled ALL the different companies and ALL their status reports and ALL their finances. Sigh! At least it took us "only" 7 hours, including an hour or so break for lunch. Which isn't too bad, really, if you think about it; we had a lot of ground to cover since it's been a looooong 7 months since our last Board. So yeah, 7 hours is pretty good: We started around 1030 am and we were done at 530 pm.

Hey----look at those numbers: 7 hour meeting, 7 months since our last Board. Lucky you think? Hehehehe.

Next month, we should seriously look into using some sort of financial reporting software. This way, all the companies will all have the same look to all financial statements, making it easier for the members of the Board to look through the financials of each company. If we know what to look for, i.e., the bottom line, then we should be able to determine what's the bottom line for ALL the companies just because the numbers were presented in the same manner.

There were some "exciting" discussions/debates for sure, which made for the long hours in the "conference" room. I'm just SO glad we're not going to have another Board Meeting until next month!

[SOME WILLIAMSBURG SCRAPS}

MAIN STREET Journaling reads: Main Street was THE focal point of the entire Colonial Williamsburg experience. This was where everything happened, where everything started. The declaration of independence of the original colonies from England was re-enacted, and the townspeople got in their character by dressing in colonial wear and speaking in Ye Olde Colonial English.

Credits: kit - Tropical Sunset by Rina Kroes at SBE; alpha - Colour My Alpha by auren Grier at SSD; notepaper, inverted staple - by Rina Kroes; vintage frame - by Katie Pertiet; convex photo action - by Jen Caputo; font - Marker Felt

MAIN STREET SIGHTSJournaling reads: The American Revolution originated in Williamsburg with such great Virginian patriots as George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Peyton Randolph. It was humbling to see how these great men and ordinary townspeople responded to British threats; and how they decided to declare that the colonies were no longer under British rule but free and independent United States of America.

Credits: kit- Tropical Sunset by Rina Kroes at SBE; yarn stitches, red circle stitch - by Gina Miller; natural color circle stitch - by Rina Kroes; circle date stamp - by Rina Kroes; font - Marker Felt

THE CALLIGRAPHERJournaling reads: We entered the Post Office for an hour with John Greenhow, who talked about the Mysteries of the Quill. We learned that quills have to be sharpened, and that a quill dipped in just a little bit of ink is the best way to use it.

Credits: kit - Back In Black-FUNKY by Amanda Rockwell; inked alpha - by Meredith Cardall; colored alpha - Colour My Alpha by Lauren Grier at SSD; notebook paper - Back in Black FUNKY by Amanda Rockwell; recycled alpha - by Toni Berman; tears - by Jen Caputo; index card - Back In Black-GRAPE SPAZ by Amanda Rockwell; font - Times New Roman, DJB Cinda by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick; template - by Janet Phillips

I'm so excited to be scrapping our vacation photos! :)

TTFN!

Cinderella

We watched Cinderella, a play by Repertory Philippines. It was a field trip and a fundraiser of sorts for the kids' school.

After mass, we had lunch at Italianni's, where I, of course, ate TOO much. Again. Old news, I guess. But Italianni's is one of my fave restaurants, so I really enjoyed our lunch, hehehe. Since we had an hour or so before the play started, we walked around the block to Bizu, a dessert place. We had macarons (yes, only 1 "o", and no, they don't look like macaroons at all....maybe it's a french term? *shrug*)---they're about 1 1/2 inches across and look like a mini sandwich. I had a couple of orange ones, and a mint. The kids each had 2 vanilla flavored ones. Yes, more eating. Sigh!

The play was good, and the kids had fun. The whole school filled all the seats, and the characters in the play even included the audience in their conversation. That's what I like about Reportory, especially if the play is specifically geared towards the children. There is interaction, and they style and act especially for the children.

The kids were enamored by Cinderella of course, no one else. I loved the Fairy Godmother the best, whoever played her. Fabulous acting and singing, and she definitely had stage presence that one.

Rogan sat beside me and he tried to act all cynical and knowledgeable about the story (which of course he knew, but still!). I wasn't sure if it was because he was beside a girl-classmate (yes, they're so conscious of the other sex at this age! Sheesh!) or because he had some of his friends behind him. *roll eyes* here. Typical boy reaction to something "cultural"? Maybe. Sigh!

After the play, we all trooped to Ayala since Daddy Doods had arrived last week, and everyone was congregating there for dinner. Doods had bought a Wii and Japa set it up.....we played Big Brain Academy and had a blast! The girls totally beat the boys 23-16! Hahahahaha! Gurlz Rule!!!

Note to self: Remind Japa to have his truck serviced early this week. He's planning on going to the province towards the end of this week, and I don't want that truck to give him any trouble. It's due for a 50,000 km check up and the starting mechanism has been giving the driver some trouble recently. And just in case he brings home coolers of seafood, his tonneau cover should be nice and snug so that nothing falls out.
{Some Scraps}

LAST SHOWERSome pics of Tita San's last bridal shower before she passed away. These were taken during my Stella's bridal shower.

Credits: kit - DeeZee by Nina Scraps Designs at OScraps; doodled flowers - Funky Flowers by Laura White (Princess Lala) at Divine Digital; hung up tags - by Katie Pertiet; scallop template - Fill A Paper Shapers by Katie the Scrapbook Lady at The Digi Shoppe; backward staples - by Rina Kroes; fonts - Vaguely Repulsive, Arial

WILLIAMSBURG COVERJournaling reads: We stayed on the second floor of this colonial type building on Speakers Court. We loved the brick houses and the general old-world feel that being in the Colonial Williamsburg area gave us.

Credits: kit- Easter Parade by Jolene Shaffer at Divine Digital; swirl stitches - by Gina Miller; kraft star - by Weeds and Wildflowers; font - Big Caslon; template, inked edges - by Janet Phillips

Yes, I'm starting our East Coast album! Whoohoohoo!!! I'm planning to have a lot more pages than the Cebu Album I made, just so it looks so much more like a coffee table book :)

TTFN!

Renovation: Lighting

Ok. On Wednesday this week, work will begin on the girls' room. Making a mental note to self that I have to withdraw some money to give a down payment to the contractor. He is going to be buying some paint --- I specified lead-free of course--- and he will start stripping the dang wallpaper from the girls' room. It's been 10 years or so, and I'm not afraid to rip it out.

Now, we're modernizing the walls a lot, but my dilemma is still changing the lighting fixtures. Our rooms still have the old-fashioned chandeliers, courtesy of Mom and Dad when Abada was still their home. You know, the crystal-type ones, those that you see in, er...museums maybe? Hehehehe. Exaggerating a little bit, but these chandeliers are at least a quarter of a century old, making me classify them with the fine arts lamps as the museums really have.

I was thinking maybe a recessed ceiling, and then have some side lighting with these wonderful, not-so modern looking george kovacs lamps:

__________

The 2 left most ones have matching table lamps as well, and I think these might fit nicely in the girls' room IF we decide to take out the existing chandelier.

Crossing my fingers that I remember to take before and after photos of the transformation! :)

Being Sexy

Here's my take on being sexy:

I WISH I WAS SEXYJournaling reads: Ahhh...to be SEXY. Again. I really was sexy...10 years of marriage and 4 kids ago, that is. Being SEXY is but a dream. It may be reachable, but it’s so darn HARD to do! I have to resort to wearing these FLEXEES shapewear to some semblance of having some sort of shape to my body. Ahhh...to be truly SEXY. Again.

Credits: kit - Treehouse Park by Miss Mint at Peppermint Creative; alpha - Worn Label Alpha by Christina Renee; digital photo slice action - by Terry Maruca; antique paper photo action - by Michelle Coleman; dream definition - Dictionary Defined by Miss Mint; tears - by Jen Caputo; photos - downloaded from the internet; font - Adler

Not only do I have to resort to those dang super duper TIGHT thingies, I have had to go to several doctors to try and get some weight loss medicine! Yes, I know exercise is the way to go, but face it, I'm lazy. So meds are sometimes the only recourse for me. Not that I'd need some drug rehabilitation of any kind.....I've actually been off weight loss meds since last year when I had my slipped discs diagnosed.

I kind of figured that the meds were messing with my bones or something (sucking the calcium out maybe?)....I did notice a correlation of drinking my weight loss meds with a start in my back hurting again. So......I dropped the meds. I figure I might as well be happy doing other active (semi-active, hehehe) things than being bed-ridden! :)

{Other Scraps}

FLOWER GIRLS
My daughters and nieces with my brother on his wedding day. They were all flower girls.

Credits: kit - Gentle Sprint by Nina Scraps Designs at Oscraps; stitched flowers, alpha, butterfly, beads - Saturday Market by Dani Mogstad at SSD; round stitches - by Gina Miller; font - DJB Lorraine Bold by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick; template - by Traci Reed;

RUMBLY ON MY TUMMYJournaling reads: Whenever Rogan is sound asleep, Papa takes a Sharpie marker and draws Rogan's likeness on his stomach. No matter that Rogan tries to hide the marker, Papa always finds it.

Credits: kit - Sunflower Days by Bannerwoman at Scrappin Freestyle; round stitches, candy dot alpha - by Gina Miller; fonts - Arial, DB Connor Buck by Darcy Baldwin; template - by LB Creations

BROTHERS AND SISTERSWithout a doubt, the TV show that best represents our family in real life is the show Brothers & Sisters! I used the show's official website for some inspiration

Journaling reads: Our family shares some uncanny likenesses to the characters in the TV show BROTHERS AND SISTERS. We share the same fears, the same strengths, the same weaknesses. We love each other unconditionally, and when disaster strikes, we automatically band together and draw strength from each other. Each person who marries into our family is treated with the same unconditional love we have for our own siblings. And yes, our lives are all inexorably intertwined with each other, as a family’s lives must. We are each our own person, and have our own family, but we all realize that we all form part of ONE FAMILY.

Credits: kit- Butterfly Symphony by Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digital; the following elements from Miss Mint of Peppermint Creative: paint strokes, paint splatters - Pop Rock Graffiti; ampersand alpha - Alpha Glass Key; vintage frames, transparency frame - by Katie Pertiet; worn label tape alpha - by Christina Renee; concave AND convex photo actions - by Jen Caputo; font - DJB Lorraine Bold by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick

I'm STILL downloading my purchases for the day. Hehehe. I'll be back with some previews of stuff I got. Stay tuned!