Happy Leap Day!!!

28 DAYS HAS FEBRUARY
Twenty-eight days has February
A very light load for one month to carry
The other months have 2 and 3 more
Thirty and thirty-one being their big score
In Leap Years the days they do vary
Making 29 days in February

No, I wasn't born on Leap Day, but this is just such an interesting day, yes? Imagine being born on this day and celebrating your birthday every 4 years! I'm kidding I'm kidding! :) But it would be cool to age in a waaaaaay slower rate than your peers wouldn't it?

Some interesting facts about Leap Day and Leap Year that I picked up in cyberspace:

A leap year is a year in which one extra day has been inserted, or intercalated, at the end of February. A leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days.

Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolutions around the sun. ---> to which I respond: HUH???? Apparently, if we DON'T have Leap Day, we'd lose something like six hours per year, which, really, isn't that big of a deal.....unless you're talking about years and years and years! Then it starts to make sense to add another day!

This one's for Zhar:

A tradition was introduced many centuries ago to allow women to propose to men during a leap year. This privilege of proposing was restricted to leap day in some areas. Leap day was sometimes known as “Bachelors’ Day”. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage offer from a woman.

The tradition’s origin stemmed from an old Irish tale referring to St Bridget striking a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. This old custom was probably made to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how the leap day balances the calendar.

Hehehe.

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In other news, I'm still scouting around for some vacation deals for the States, for France, for after the Wedding Anniversary and/or after Rod and Zhar's wedding. Lots of things to plan for! But concentrating on Paris for now since we leave in a couple of weeks. Panic mode starting to warm up!!!! Acckkk!!!!

Thank goodness our passports and visas are in the in progress. Tickets and seats have more or less been finalized. Just the itinerary. You think Mother dear would go for a Segway tour? Hehehehe. I think that would be loads of fun, but we'll see what she says.

TTFN!

Raine's Presentation & a Dentist Trip

Raine's stiff neck was so much better today. It was good enough for her to get dressed for school and do her presentation. Of course, there was still a little bit of pain, but the pain meds and the ben-gay helped. She talked about Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. And I was pissed that she didn't do well during her presentation!!! For all her loud voice and aggressive attitude, she was a meek little mouse when faced with the microphone and other parents and students!!!! Aaaargh!!! Oh well. At least she memorized her lines and she did know how to fold the bangle and the samurai hat for her demonstration. Afterwards, she told me, during recess, she helped her classmates finish their bangles and samurai hats. The girls loved how simple the bangle was to make and the boys were yelling and being samurais with their hats on, hehehe.

After Raine's presentation, I rushed to the office so I could get some work done. In the afternoon, I had a dentist appointment. I was there for close to 2 hours while the dentist worked on FIVE of my teeth! FIVE!!! Four of those were chipped (I have NO idea why! All on one side, too!) and one was a temporary filling, just in case I had a root canal. FUUUUUUN!

But afterwards, my mouth felt WHOLE! Yeah! Hehehehe. Worthwhile visit for sure! Raegan dropped by in the middle of my procedures to have some sealant applied to 3 holes where her teeth used to be. According to the dentist, Raegan now has 3 baby teeth left.

I've started watching Brothers and Sisters Season 2 :)

Stiff Neck Alert!

Uh oh! Raine woke up bawling because she couldn't get up. Apparently, her head slipped from her pillow sometime during the night and stayed there. When she woke up she couldn't move. To make matters worse, she had a presentation at school today!!!

I go in the girls' room and she cried even louder when she saw me. Sigh. What is it about mothers that when kids see you they cry more? hehehe. Anyway, I made her get up carefully so I could check her neck. It was one huge HARD muscle. Ugh. I so know what she's going through. So I rubbed some (expired) Zostrix on the area, telling her it would burn. After a little bit, she was able to get up....but not in time to make her presentation. I know, I'm the sort of mom who would think of school first, hehehe.

Anyway, we both stayed at home today, Raine to rest, and me to make sure she rested. I didn't have her go swimming because I wanted to take her to her pediatrician. I *was* going to take her to a quack doctor, i.e., manghihilot, (hehehe) but I knew I'd get flak from her doctor, her Papa and her grandfather! So we played a waiting game until the afternoon.

The doctor prescribed a pain killer every 6-8 hours. Thinking of her presentation tomorrow (I had texted Teacher Kitkat to let her know) AND a swim meet this coming weekend (!!!) I had Raine take it every 6 hours with instructions to the yaya to wake her in the middle of the night to take her meds.

Sigh! The stress of today!!!

So yes, I scrapped :)

DIC & LAI-VALENTINE'S DAY

TTFN!

Scraps!!!

Nothing doing today. Just back to work. I was productive yesterday, though, as I lounged on my pillows as I scrapped. Majorly. :) I took advantage of the holiday, that's for sure! Hehehe. Scrapping this way is much better for my back than just sitting on a chair. I am able to take some pressure off when I'm in a reclining position with a bed tray for my table, or when I'm flat on my tummy (on some pillows so as not to arch my back).

Here are my scraps! Get ready for an image-heavy post :)

MY PASHMINA
3RD MONTH-RAEGAN

I LOVE LOLLIPOPS

Was yesterday a major scrap day or what?!?!? Whoohoohoo!!! Can you believe the month is about to end?!?!?

TTFN!

EDSA Revolution Anniversary

Twenty-two years ago today, the world witnessed its first ever People Power. The people of the Philippines had had enough of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, his family and his cronies. Filipinos poured into the streets, onto the main highway, Edsa, to show their support for calls for the strongman to step down. Armed soldiers atop tanks were showered with flowers and given rosaries, food and drinks. Later on, top honchos of the army catapulted and joined the peaceful revolution. The rest, as they say, is history.

No gun was fired, no bullet flew. Everything was peaceful, non-violent. Oh, if it were this easy today. For today, our country is rife with corruption and greed. People in power have no ethics and disregard the plight of the 90% poor people of the country. Worse, everyone is cynical. That to me, is the bad omen. If people are cynical, we will always look and EXPECT the bad side of things, the bad things to happen. If people are cynical, we will not move a muscle to help our country improve its plight. We will not listen to people protesting in the street, preferring instead to listen to ourselves put down other people to justify the status quo.

Pathetic picture, I know, but unless we do something, this is what the Philippines will be a few years from now. Today, outrageous scandal after scandal involving corruption and greed are being uncovered...all done by people in power. Yet nothing is happening. True, there are calls of protest, of taking to the street, but it seems only a few heed the call. WHY?

I'm not the type of person who will take to the streets at a moment's call. But piss me off and I will.....after much thought hehehe. There are a lot of groups calling for the resignation of GMA now, but there's a train of thought going around thinking...does this group really want change or do they want to grab power for themselves? Cynical? Yes, probably. But with this country's history of power-hungry people, it's a fair question.

No school or work today. Originally, the holiday had been called back. But stupid GMA was probably enlightened and figured people would be at rallies and stuff, so she made it a holiday yet again (as it should be anyway) and most people took advantage of the long weekend.

We "celebrated" today by having a "shrimp broil" at La Vista. Dic and family arrived from Bacolod and we had shrimps and crabs served on banana leaves along with rice and fried chicken and kielbasa. Yummm! At the rate I've been eating I'm going to be needing a couple of corsets to fit into any of my clothes! Aaargh! Good thing they help my back though, hehehehe.

Scrapping with Insomnia

Yup. Seems it's struck again. And I *KNOW* I didn't have any caffeine today at all!! We had lunch at Ayala, and I was soooo sleepy, I ended up sleeping afterwards! In a chair! Hehehe. Why? Because I had slept really really REALLY late again last night. Like almost 3 am! Hayayayayay!!!

Because I had a nap in the afternoon, of COURSE I ended up sleeping late. Again. Grrr. Never ending cycle.....but.....I scrapped three whole pages again! Whoohoohoo! It helped that the one layout was a 2-pager, for the Sisterhood Challenge. We're creeping along on the 3rd month now, hahahaha. It sure takes a long time if you're trying to scrap ALL FOUR of your kids' baby books all at the same time! :)

YEEHAH!
DESIRE TO DRIVE
A PINK VALENTINE

And yes, all the kits I used were from that designer/scrapper exchange thread I was blogging about yesterday. That was a lot of fun!

TTFN! Now to concentrate on watching CSI....all of them :) AXN has a marathon of all CSI cities on Sundays!

Day of Leisure

Didn't do anything much today. Just resting and enjoying the day with the kids. We took a swim mid-morning and had fun. I was able to squeeze in 20 laps of breaststroke; I was lazy to do freestyle, hehehe. So just breaststroke, with some play time every 10 laps.

I forgot how much fun it was to just play with the kids. They made it easier of course, just screaming, swimming, diving, jumping. We didn't do any relays, thank goodness. I don't think I would have won anything! The kids have gotten so much stronger and faster in swimming, it's so hard to believe they just started a few years ago!

We had lunch at La Vista, stayed there for a bit, then went to mass at 530 pm. We went straight home because the kids wanted to catch Night at the Museum on HBO. We have the DVD but I guess it was different watching it "live" on TV! Hehehehe. Go figure! So it was pizza night---I ordered pepperoni and 3-cheese pizzas from Pizza Hut and enjoyed the movie with the kiddos.

It may not have done really well in the box office, but it is a good movie....and the best part is that the kids keep talking about someday being able to go to the actual Museum of Natural History in New York. YES! Something educational that they're planning!!! Not just amusement parks and water parks, but museums!!! Huge step for the kids, hehehe! So this particular trip will be on the list of things to do when we go to New York.

Thank goodness it was more or less during dinner time, because I had made a date with myself (Japa is in the Visayas as photogrpher for the Relics visit there) to watch Mark Wahlberg in Invincible.

Fabulous, gripping show! LOVED it! Of course, it helped that I enjoy football :) But it was an inspiring movie for sure, and I love the fact that it was based on a REAL person. How cool is that!

Then the surfing of the message boards starts, hehehe. With a child beside me, I go through all my bookmarks for blogs, for digital scrapbooking sites, for galleries. Loads of information out there, lots of inspiration.....which I will definitely need as I'm still searching for my mojo, hehehe. It seems to have deserted me yet again! Sigh!

You would think I'd be scrapping the night away with this sudden bout of insomnia, but nooooo.....I spend hours just surfing! Sheesh! Sometimes I think it's a total waste of time! Hehehe. Oh well. At least for some reason, the inspiration I go through sort of sticks in my brain and I can draw on it to jumpstart a page.

Nighty-night!

And Inspiration Strikes!

Whoohoohoo! Finally! I've gotten my mojo back! Ok, maybe not fully restored, but I got some pages done. Yup, pages....as in more than one!!! Yeah!

BOYS IN MACAU
3RD MONTH (L) - ROGAN
3RD MONTH (R) - ROGAN

With the exception of the last layout, the kits I used were taken from this thread posted at DST where scrappers stated that they wanted to play the game, and designers would pick scrappers to scrap with their designs. It was so much fun! There were a LOT of generous designers who posted in the thread and sooo many great ones that I never knew existed!

I guess with all the negative thoughts on piracy in the digiscrapping industry, we all needed a picker-upper of sorts. And this thread started by Gabs (evitangel) was the perfect solution! So Gabs, wherever you, are a huge THANK YOU for doing this! I think it was a great thing to have, and helped to restore the reasons of WHY we scrap our memories in the first place. And the generosity of the designers out there show no bounds, really. For credits, just click on the images.

TTFN!

Just at Work

Spent the whole day in the office. Doing stuff :) Trying to determine flight times to Paris, France when Mom and I leave a few hours after the Relics do. Surfing the internet and trying to get the best buy I can for hotels, packages, tours, etc. We will be having Bishop traveling with us in the first part, until Lisieux, and one day in Paris. So I want to be able to cram as much sightseeing as we can into that one day of his before he leaves for Manila for Holy Week.

There are SOOO many option available out there, my head is spinning! I've bookmarked what I can and will explore those at a future date.

Other stuff that needs to be done is organizing photos for the 40th anniversary of Mom and Dad. I'm having LetLet unearth what she can out of Tita San's boxes store at VWL. Tita Nina says she's given a ton to Tita San and they were never returned. So I'm crossing my fingers that they are in the warehoused boxes! After that, the photos will be turned over to someone who can scan them FAST. Am thinking of the States, but I need to figure out how to get the photos back to me without incurring too high a cost.

We had dinner at La Vista because Mom was hosting some relatives from the States. Major eating as usual, hehehe. And all seafood since it's a Friday. When the heck am I going to diet? That's THE major question!!!

Just vegging out in front of the tv now, surfing the boards. Having that seminar 3 days in a row has definitely put a cramp in my surfing schedule, hehehe. I don't even have time in the morning to check my email! The horror! :)

I'm not in the mood to scrap either. Surfing takes up a lot of time, as well as leaving some love over at MSA where I'm a Comment Chick (I forgot our title, hehehe). I'm playing Snood and watching some TV. The kids are back in the room watching some senseless cartoon again.

TTFN!

Last Day of Numbers!!!

WHoohooohooo! I survived the 3-day seminar on Accounting! That is a MAJOR feat for me!!! Hehehehe. Lai was gone--she went to Bacolod with Dic and the kids, so it was just Bang and me. For starters, we both arrived at the seminar with a few minutes to spare. Good thing we had someone buy our lunch and it was brought to us at the function room. We scarfed down our lunch with minutes to spare hehehe. Yes, we were that hungry!

Towards the last part, as Bang and I were getting the hang of computing some problem, our instructor didn't bother going over the last problem with us! Although it was very similar to the last problem we solved, there was a major twist. We were coming up with some answers but had NO idea if it was correct! The nerds that we are (hehehehe), we refused to leave the room, even when everyone had gone. The instructor came up to us and asked us what we wanted to know and we asked her for the solution, or at least some guide on how to solve a certain step. Apparently she didn't have much time anymore, because she said she was going to have the solution emailed to us!!! HMP!!! Hopefully, that email comes!

Because of my back aches, I'm smart enough to immediately lie down on my bed when I get home. Thank goodness for my laptop, I can scrap while in bed, either in a reclining position (with the help of pillows) or on my tummy. And yes, I watch TV as well, though nothing major that requires my complete attention. Some CSI shows that I've seen, some movies that I've seen, and lots of news. This way, I'm still updated as to what's happening here at home and in the world (thanks CNN, hehehe).

Maybe it's age, but despite the size of our TV (I think it's a 36" but I could be wrong), it's getting harder to see everything on the screen now. Hehehe. Yes, maybe age. I would love love LOVE to have some tv lift cabinets installed in my bedroom. You know, the ones that come in the hoity toity hotels...where a mechanism LIFTS your tv (preferably plasma because they're a lot lighter than regular tvs) from a cabinet. I would love to have mine installed at the foot of my bed, just so the TC would be closer to me. The tv lift cabinets themselves are pretty pricey, but you do have the option of buying just the mechanism, so I think that merits some looking into for sure :) It would be COOL to have that huh? The only problem I see is that then I wouldn't have an excuse to leave my bed, hehehe.

Though I slept early last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. So I scrapped, yes!

EATING VEGGIES
3 OF A KIND

TTFN!

"Non" Accounting Take 2

Second day of our seminar. It was a bit better, as we knew what to expect. We were also better prepared. Lai brought some chips and we chowed those down during the seminar. No, it wasn't rude, as there were coffee and tea served. Since we had a heavy lunch at Mexicali, we didn't bring out the chips until it was break time anyway.

We had a little bit more problem solving to do today, which was a bit fun, despite the fact that we had to post the numbers into T-accounts. Ugh. But it was doable, most definitely! So YAY! :)

Not doing anything much today. All the sitting around during the seminar has taken a toll on my back :( Took some painkillers and the muscle relaxants just so I could lie down straight. Sigh! I guess I need to do some PT again or better yet, maybe some yoga; some sort of strength equipment or my back would be extremely helpful, too! I do need to whip this back of mine into shape!

The meds are taking effect, so I'm turning in.

Accounting for Non-Accountants

Yup. I finally attended a seminar about Accounting. I had Lai and Bang for company, though, so the 4-hour session wasn't too bad :) A lot of accounting stuff seemed simple, really; can't believe I had such a hard time in college! Hahaha!

I still hate the talk about numbers though. I did make an effort to understand, and I think I understand stuff about debits and credits, and ledgers and T-accounts! That last bit has me a little bit excited (just a little bit!!!) because I can actually POST in the proper accounts! Hehehe. Seriously, I NEVER understood this while in college AND graduate school. Yes, it is a wonder how I graduated! Sigh!

I'm getting the hang of sales and expenses and such. Like what side of the T-account I should post them on. So things such as Hilton Head rentals I can now classify as an expense with confidence, hehehe. Same thing with how to treat depreciation, equipment, etc. It helped that Bang was there to brush up on her accounting knowledge. She was a font of information when Lai and I would get lost. during the explanations of the speaker.

I liked the speed of the entire seminar; I felt my eyelids drooping only when the speaker seemingly droned on and on about the purposed of accounting. I mean, we can READ her handouts, for pete's sake! Anyhoo, when we got to the numbers part, and especially the practical side of applying what we had learned, I sat up and was all ears.

Now, 2 more such days. I'm hoping I can hang on and still understand until the end. I am appreciating more and more the life of bookkeepers and accountants. And no, I have no wish to be doing what they're doing, thank you :)

Now, I REALLY need to scrap. It's a new week, and I've got tons of CT assignments! :)

TTFN!

Ahhhhh! Relief!

YES! We all just came back from a massage. All 5 of us: Japa, Raegan, Rogan and Raine. We had a nice, quiet, relaxing, much-needed afternoon massage at Cool Mint Spa. And boy, did we really NEED it! The common room where we all were were filled with oohs and aahs as the masseuses kneaded and pulled where the muscles hurt the most. The hour was just oh-so-wonderful, and went by too fast of course, hehehe.

With that massage, I can now go up and down the stairs much easily, can get up from a chair faster....sure, still with some groaning, but I am able to function a little bit better now!

Ok, off to do more stuff on my laptop!

OMG! Can I *DIE* Now?!?!?!?!

Aquathlon time. A 600-m swim and a 5k run. Of full TORTURE for the body. My body. Ugh! And we did this to be able to be with the kids?!?!?! What a joke! Or a fiasco, for that matter! First of all, the kids went first, for their 400m swim and 2.5k run. And I sooooo wanted to do the exact same thing!!!

But no, we had to wait for our age group to be called. And age group meant Japa and I were in the 30-39 year old category. They grouped us 38-year olds with the 30 year olds?!?!?! What were the organizers thinking!!!!! Hehehehe. Oh the age, I SO felt my age today!!!

Ok, some random facts:

1. I was definitely out of shape. Indubitably, no question.

2. It was pure stupidity on my part to even THINK I was going through with this entire thing.

3. Pride was the ONLY thing that kept me going throughout the damn run

4. Swimming I could take, running was another story

5. I wish I hadn't forgotten my iPod. MP3 players definitely would make running go by faster!

6. The race organizers at the drinking stations were cheering me on, but kept saying "Let's go, po!" "Po"---meaning I was OLD!!! Ugh!

7. I was both walking and jogging during the entire thing.

8. I thought I would DROWN when I launched my body with everyone in my age group into the pool....good God! I thought I would be drinking the entire contents of the pool with the way everyone was splashing about! Sheesh!

9. While on my last couple of lengths of the pool, 2 guys from the next age group were on either side of me....I thought I was done for. I stood up, sputtering, and exclaiming, "damn!". Hehehe.

10. I had gotten out of the pool earlier than Japa, but he just slipped on his shoes and his shirt, kissed my bye and said, "see you at the finish line."

11. I was probably the ONLY person there who wore a b.r.a, hahahaha! I couldn't run withOUT one, you know!
12. We were probably the ONLY ones who participated as a family.

13. The MOST difficult thing was to run right after swimming. I thought I was going to fall flat on my face!

Some noteworthy things that happened during the Aquathlon:

1. Roby won first place in our age group.

2. I won second, seeing that we were only 2 women; the other lady was a swim coach, who had swam competitively before.

3. Raine won a special prize for being the youngest competitor.

4. I finished the swim and the run in one hour and twenty minutes.

Some lessons to be learned:

1. Train for the running part, not the swimming part! Hehehe.

2. Don't let the kids ever ever EVER convince you to join something like this again. EVER.

Ok, I have GOT to rest. TTFN!

Major Carbo Loading

With the aquathlon tomorrow, celebrating Reese's birthday in Apitong tonight was timely. Sure, it was technically a day late for carbo loading, but I used it as an excuse :) I had THREE platefuls of spaghetti vongole, oh so delish made by Elizza! Food was plentiful, and despite the Lenten sacrifice, Dic and Lai made sure most of us had something to eat!

I had the vongole, some yummy garlic/parmesan bread, stuffed crab, prawns thermidore, and some tuna belly. Yum yum YUM! We capped Reese's birthday by singing raucously, which was the norm for our family, hehehe. Children's birthdays are much simpler nowadays, thank goodness, not like the circus-like atmosphere we had a few years ago. Now it's just basically family in attendance, a birthday cake with the requisite candles, the birthday song, and plenty of food. That's a must of course. Text messages are sent for birthday invitations, for the times when the moms (usually) don't have the time to prepare special handmade invitations :)

Of course, we do celebrate the important years like 1 (like the child would EVER remember a celebration this young!!!), 7 and 10. Then there's the all-important debut at 18. But that's a long time for us. In the meantime, we're enjoying the childhood of each of our kids :)

We had to say bye early to everyone, since I wanted to make sure that the kids got enough sleep for tomorrow's event. What am I saying? *I* want to ensure that *I* get enough sleep! Hehehehe!

G'night!

Happy Birthday, Reese!

Reese turns 11 today! Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Last day for a training swim at the pool before the aquathlon :) Since we were coding anyway, Japa and I decided to leave the office early. Japa stayed home to do some photo work for the Relics, and I went with the kids to the pool for a swim.

The water was COLD!!!! As in ICE cold! I have no idea why; weather patterns have really been weird the past few months.

I had time to scrap again, after a few days of nothing on the scrapping front, hehehe.

KISS AND HUG SISTERS, FRIENDS

TTFN!

Happy Hearts Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Just a regular day for us, really. No flowers, no chocolates. I did make some treat bags for the kiddos to give away at school though :). Yes, let's make my life more complicated shall we? Hehehehe. It was also Teacher's Day at school today, so the kids gave out the same treat bags to their teachers, where I just changed the greeting to reflect Happy Teacher's Day instead :)

The kids wore red, and silly me totally forgot to snap a photo of them! Blame it on the late night I had making the treat bags. Sigh! Another photo opp lost! Oh well.

Here are some pics of the treat bags I made, courtesy of some of Kate Hadfield's adorable doodles:
We had Valentine's dinner at La Vista. Zhar and Rod took care of the salad and fish, Lai and Dic were in charge of the risotto and soup. Japa and me? Well.....erm.......we were left to take care of dessert, hehehe. Stella and Randy were in the States, and they were usually in charge of the decor. Bang and Boydee usually took the dessert. Japa and I were *usually* in charge of some hybrid project like the menu or the place cards, hehehe.

We dropped by Mom and Tina's to pick up some delish ice cream cake and a mango torte. We got Dad a sugar-free mango torte, too, so he could enjoy dessert. EVERYTHING was yummy and cooked to perfection. I even had wine and that was good, too! :)

It was a sit down dinner, and even the kids behaved. The caveat? Instead of wearing red, we all wore PINK. Um, yeah. Like I had a plethora of pink tops to choose from! In a panic, I searched my closets until I found something appropriate. Even Mom and Lai were surprised I did show up in pink, hehehe! I told them it would have been so much easier if they had told me to wear funny t-shirts instead of scrounging around for a PINK blouse!

I even put full-on make up AND flattened my hair! Hehehe. I guess I had time on my hands while getting ready for dinner!

Hope everyone's heart day was a fun one, too!

Pre Valentine's Date

Ever since I can remember, Japa and I have NEVER gone out on Hearts Day. I guess we're both too practical for our own good; I mean, neither of us want to go out when everyone else is out *just* because it's Valentine's Day, you know? We hate the crowds, the commercialism. So we usually go out and sort of celebrate it a day before or after the actual date :)

This year, we just had a late lunch (I had a meeting in the morning) with Elizza in tow at the Chinese dim sum place in Crowne. Dim sum buffet, but you have to order it. Yum! Not that I had a craving for Chinese food, especially after our recent trip to Macau and Hong Kong, hehehe. It was just easier and faster to go there than another restaurant.

Lunch would have been absolutely enjoyable if not for the not-very intelligent waitress serving us. She totally messed up our order, which meant that we had to WAIT for a long period of time before we could enjoy our dim sum! I mean, seriously: how in heaven's name would 4 pieces of Ha Kao be enjoyed by 3 people?!?!?! Sheesh! We ordered 40, NOT 4!!! Simple mathematics, really! Grrrr! Pissed all of us of, hmp!

After lunch, we went home, so we could go to the Ayala pool to train for the swim part of the upcoming aquathlon. It was much easier today, for some reason. Maybe it's because my body is getting used to swimming 22 laps? Hehehe. Love the clean, cold water as I glide through it. Love the feel of the tile underneath my fingers as I touch it to do yet another lap. I just with the run would be as easy as this, hehehe!

I have a US Visa!

Whoohoohoo! Successful interview at the US Embassy, and my visa has been renewed. I don't know how long the consul gave me, but I'm pretty sure it'll be at least more than a year! (crossing my fingers and toes!!!). The consul did give me a bit of the third degree when she found out all the kids had been born in the States. What else is new?

Good thing I had a couple of my hospital bills on hand showing a $0.00 balance. I also assured her that I did NOT owe the US government anything, and that everything had been paid for because I pay such astronomical premiums for my insurance. She kept harping on the fact that why I had given birth there whereas American women in the Philippines gave birth *here*. Ummm.....of COURSE I didn't tell her with exasperation in my voice that the difference was that American women were different from me BECAUSE they were American!

I wanted to give MY kids the opportunity to choose to be an American or Filipino. Although of course, they are BOTH. I think we've stressed that part to them pretty successfully. Sure, they would rather be American (who wouldn't?) more than anything right now, but that's normal. I just tell them it's their choice when they turn 18. Me? I don't need to be American to enjoy being in the States. I love the States, it's my second home. If I had a choice, sure, I'd love to stay there......but then I can only stay there for so long. I'd miss having a cook, someone to clean the house, to drive me around, to have a nanny. I'd be old in no time, and hoarse, probably, from screaming at the kids to do this and that, hehehe.

But yes, I love being in the States, too. The kids get to learn to do chores. REAL chores, stuff that they have GOT to do because no one else would do it for them. And that makes them realize and value the life we have here in the Philippines. Now......if only they don't forget :)

The hassle for this whole interview was the wait, really. Several lines to wait in, although the line for renewals was definitely a LOT shorter than for those who were there to get their first shot at a US visa. Good think I knew how to read my passport and the markings of departure and arrival. The consul had asked me to write down ALL my comings and goings from the States. She wanted to make sure that I had NEVER overstayed my time there, even though I was pregnant. I told her we had to be going back and forth mainly for business more than anything else, even for my pregnancy. I just chose to give birth in the States because the doctors there were more for pushing the normal method rather than cutting me up at a moment's notice like here. *shudder!*

So after I listed everything down and went back to her, the consul grudgingly told me that my visa was renewed :)

To unwind, I finished up the Birth Story page of Ranger:

RANGER'S BIRTH STORY

It was with a sense of trepidation and uncertainty that we journeyed with you through the 9 months in mama’s tummy. You see, before you, there were 2 other; 2 others who weren’t fully formed. You were a surprise, and to carry you to full term was a gift from God. We needn’t have worried. Fervent prayers were said for your safe delivery. Mama had an epidural at the right time and didn’t even have to push. You practically gave birth to yourself!


Off to hunt photos for all the kids in their 3rd month. The Sisterhood Challenge continues!

I have a US Visa!

Whoohoohoo! Successful interview at the US Embassy, and my visa has been renewed. I don't know how long the consul gave me, but I'm pretty sure it'll be at least more than a year! (crossing my fingers and toes!!!). The consul did give me a bit of the third degree when she found out all the kids had been born in the States. What else is new?

Good thing I had a couple of my hospital bills on hand showing a $0.00 balance. I also assured her that I did NOT owe the US government anything, and that everything had been paid for because I pay such astronomical premiums for my insurance. She kept harping on the fact that why I had given birth there whereas American women in the Philippines gave birth *here*. Ummm.....of COURSE I didn't tell her with exasperation in my voice that the difference was that American women were different from me BECAUSE they were American!

I wanted to give MY kids the opportunity to choose to be an American or Filipino. Although of course, they are BOTH. I think we've stressed that part to them pretty successfully. Sure, they would rather be American (who wouldn't?) more than anything right now, but that's normal. I just tell them it's their choice when they turn 18. Me? I don't need to be American to enjoy being in the States. I love the States, it's my second home. If I had a choice, sure, I'd love to stay there......but then I can only stay there for so long. I'd miss having a cook, someone to clean the house, to drive me around, to have a nanny. I'd be old in no time, and hoarse, probably, from screaming at the kids to do this and that, hehehe.

But yes, I love being in the States, too. The kids get to learn to do chores. REAL chores, stuff that they have GOT to do because no one else would do it for them. And that makes them realize and value the life we have here in the Philippines. Now......if only they don't forget :)

The hassle for this whole interview was the wait, really. Several lines to wait in, although the line for renewals was definitely a LOT shorter than for those who were there to get their first shot at a US visa. Good think I knew how to read my passport and the markings of departure and arrival. The consul had asked me to write down ALL my comings and goings from the States. She wanted to make sure that I had NEVER overstayed my time there, even though I was pregnant. I told her we had to be going back and forth mainly for business more than anything else, even for my pregnancy. I just chose to give birth in the States because the doctors there were more for pushing the normal method rather than cutting me up at a moment's notice like here. *shudder!*

So after I listed everything down and went back to her, the consul grudgingly told me that my visa was renewed :)

To unwind, I finished up the Birth Story page of Ranger:

RANGER'S BIRTH STORY

It was with a sense of trepidation and uncertainty that we journeyed with you through the 9 months in mama’s tummy. You see, before you, there were 2 other; 2 others who weren’t fully formed. You were a surprise, and to carry you to full term was a gift from God. We needn’t have worried. Fervent prayers were said for your safe delivery. Mama had an epidural at the right time and didn’t even have to push. You practically gave birth to yourself!


Off to hunt photos for all the kids in their 3rd month. The Sisterhood Challenge continues!

A Day of Work

Yup. Work, work, work. That's what the 3 of us in the Sisterhood did. Bang, Lai and I trooped to the site office for a workflow meeting. Technically, I didn't have to be there for the meeting; it was a Treasury/Accounting workflow after all, but I guess Bang and Lai wanted some support? Ok, fine. Someone with a big voice to back them up, then, hehehe.

We were a tad bit late as I had set my alarm off wrong. Think PM instead of AM!!! Hehehe. That hasn't happened to me in a verrrry long time! I literally jumped out of bed, almost in hysterics that the sun was up and about! I think I made Japa jump our of bed, too! Bwahaahahaha! Anyway, after a quick phone call to Bang who was supposed to pick me up, I was ready in 20 minutes! That is a record, for sure!!! That includes a shower, shampoo, conditioner, and full-on make up! :)

After our meeting at the site, we proceeded to our "official lunch" place, CPK at Shang plaza. Hehehe. Our all-time fave place to be for lunch, especially a working lunch. We had salad, pasta (2 kinds!) and a pizza. Yum yum yum!

In the afternoon, it was the same meeting, but at the Main Office....with dear Mother in the meeting. Luckily, Mom had to be at a mass at 6 pm, so we knew the meeting couldn't last THAT long, hehehe. And it didn't, surprisingly! Mom did raise some points but I like to think she was pleasantly suprised at how the meeting was being conducted and how it was being ran. We were actually getting stuff done AND solving some kinks in the system to boot! Yeah! More like YAY for Bang and Lai, obviously, since I was there solely to back them up just in case Mom got into her questioning moods, :D

***
I was just a little bit sad that I was out the whole day for meetings. The kids had no school today (because of Family Day over the weekend) and I was looking forward to spending some time with them. Oh well. Sigh! Next time!

Family Day

For the first time ever in our history with the school, we did NOT attend Family Day. I know we probably disappointed some people (hehehe), especially the kids, but we were just too pooped to go to Clark. It would have been fun, but we would have had to work at having fun, so nah, it wasn't going to be really ALL that fun, right? Whatever. I'm confusing even myself.

What with the Relics being here and catching up with work from our Macau Hong Kong trip, there just wasn't time to do Family Day this year. Hopefully next year, we'll be able to go.

I did get to finish Raine's Birth Story today, though:

RAINE'S BIRTH STORY

After 2 false alarms, Mama was finally admitted. We spent a few hours in triage before being brought to the room. Labor pains were a thing of the past, as the epidural took effect. Papa called Mamalyn to say that it was almost time. Luckily, Mamalyn dropped her utensils (she was having dinner at home), rushed to the hospital and arrived just in time to witness Raine coming out. After ONE push, the doctor told Mama to stop; Raine just slid right out.


Now...to look for Ranger's pics...I know I've burned them to DVD somewhere. Sigh! I need to get more organized!

TTFN!

Birth Stories

The Sisterhood Challenge continues. Lai has been putting a lot of pressure on us laggers who have yet to finish the birth stories of our children. Like we can remember what happened 3, 7, 8 and 9 years ago! Hehehe. Epiduraaaaal!!!

But with the pressure, I've gotten to finish Raegan's and Rogan's pages:

RAEGAN'S BIRTH STORY

April 9th, 5 am. Mama’s water broke. Mamalyn brought Mama to the hospital and went back to pick up Papa at the airport. On the way back, they got lost! Meanwhile, Mama would not dilate properly, despite the fact that pitocin was doubled. Papa arrived just in time for Mama to try breaking the bones in his hand from the pain of back labor. And we were thinking of doing this with Lamaze?!? Thank goodness for the epidural! It was what calmed Mama down. A sensor was put into your head to better monitor your movements. Finally, after 23 hours of labor, you were born.

ROGAN'S BIRTH STORY

Your birth was definitely the fastest and the bloodiest one. There wasn’t enough time for the epirdural to work; within 5 minutes of the injection, Mama could feel you literally pushing your way out! While Mama was screaming her head off, you just zipped out! The speed with which you came out was the reason for the swelling of your entire body and face. You were wailing and thrashing about...a true boy!

I guess one never forgets how your children are born, huh? As I look at these photos, the day, night and hour of the kids' birth seem to be so clear......as if it had happened only yesterday. Where did the time go??? Yikes!

The Aquathlon

Ahhh, yes, the aquathlon. Japa and I decided a couple of weeks ago that we were going to join the kids in doing this. So today, since it was coding anyway, we went home early and went with the kids to the Ayala pool to do some training for the Aquathlon. Ooookkkaay. Hehehe.

I keep telling Japa that MY goal is not to win or anything. Heck, I don't even dream of making good time! No sirree! I tell him that my goal is simply, to FINISH the darn thing. However long it takes. No I am NOT going to quit midway; what kind of example would I be setting for the kids? Besides, I would NEVER live it down if that happened anyway!

So I'm computing: about 20 minutes for the 500-m swim, and an hour tops for the 5k run. Hehehe. That's a lot of allowance, I know, but I haven't been running in like, FOREVER. I have no intention of training for the run since that would definitely throw my back out of whack again. So just swimming for now, and that'll stretch out my back nice and well. Running, I'm going to have to wing it on race day. Dangerous and stupid I know, but I'm hoping by preserving my back strength before race day, I'm giving it a chance to perform in the run.

TTFN!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Happy Chinese New Year!

We *were* hoping we'd be celebrating with chinese food at La Vista, but I guess we were all too busy to plan anything, hehehe. That, or we're sick of chinese food after spending almost a week in Macau and Hong Kong! Yeah, that must be it! Otherwise we'd be gorging ourselves right now! :)

Raine did get to celebrate today, as she dressed in a chiongsam for school and had her hair coiffed into a bun. She clutched the piece of paper where she re-wrote Tita Bang's Chinese writing of the numbers 1-10 so she could show teacher. When she came back from school, she kept saying Kung Hei Fat Choi and she-she (thank you) and other Chinese phrases, hehehe.

Japa went to Bulacan to take photos of the Relics and came home with some photos from Oel and Mario burnt to DVDs. All 20 gigs worth! Sheesh! That's going to be a LOT of weeding to do. And he kept telling me, "I only have 7 gigs left on my laptop!". I looked at him and told him simply, "welcome to the club! At least you've got 7 gigs---try running your programs on a mere 2 gigs or left of space left!" Hehehe. No sympathy from here. :)

Rogan packed his things for his trip with Papa. They are going white-water rafting over the weekend in one of the provinces. I hope it's safe! I'd love to go, but all pooped from traveling all over :)

With the exception of Raine, the kids all have either the sniffles or cough. Ugh! It's that time of the season, I guess. Again.

I tried scrapping again but no mojo. Again. This is pissing me off. I have GOT to scrap! I've got tons of photos sitting on my hard drive (AND other DVDs) and I haven't scrapped anything in a few days!!!! Aaaaargh!!! Maybe if I keep venting it'll help my mojo come back quicker? Hehehe.

{HARRY POTTER}

Well, I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Again. (are we loving that word in this post or what! Hehehee) I was able to buy the kids' version while in Hong Kong and so I now have the complete series in both adult and children versions.

The main difference? The kids' version has less of the menacing evil parts, like when Tom Riddle went about collecting his Horcruxes. There were some missing parts in the kids' version, I think.....which makes me want to read the adult version again. :) The explanations for "tying everything together" were a lot clearer in this version, obviously, which makes it a great addition to have. It states the reasons who did what very clearly and succinctly, which the adult version never did.

So yes, I'd probably read the adult version again. I feel that after reading this particular version, a lot more things will be made clearer, and I'll enjoy the whole story much more. As always.

Where's my Mojo?????

Aaaargh!!! I actually sat in front of my laptop and stared at the screen, willing something creative to enter my brain, or at least, direct my hands to do something in Photoshop.

Finally, I did open up a template, I started to work on a page for The Sisterhood Challenge. I had a photo and loads of ribbons on the page. Then I deleted it. Everything. NOTHING was making it work!!!

That is exactly what I feel like doing!!!!

Okay, before I damage my laptop, I am going to sign off tonight. And read instead.

TTFN!

It's Lent

Lent.....the time for preparation, in the Church calendar. We had mass at the office and Fr. Benny talked about this time of sacrifice. Sure, we can sacrifice anything, but if it really doesn't hurt, or if there is another underlying purpose, then it really isn't that big of a deal of a sacrifice, right?

So anyhoo, I've decided I was going to give up having meat for the next 40 days. I've learned to love eating meat; I am a bonafide carnivore....a far cry from my college days of when I *used* to be a vegetarian. Seriously! Seven years of no meat, and here I am loving it! It's been several years since I've given up meat, so I figure it is worth giving this particular sacrifice another go. Meat for me, will include chicken and duck....so it'll be just seafood for me for the next month and a half. Crossing my fingers I can get through this one! :)

Math Quiz Bee

I went to school bright and early to see Raegan in action for the Grade 3 Math Quiz Bee. She had told me NOT to go since she would be a nervous wreck if she saw me. But you know me, nothing would stop me from grabbing some photo opps....all in the name of scrapbooking. Hehehehe. I was there to show some support of course, but scrapping the experience was a priority as well :)

And Raegan was fine. I think having Kumon definitely helped. She was confident as she answered questions quickly. She had a few rocky starts, but as she warmed up, she garnered confidence and it showed in her demeanor. Gone were the nail biting, gone were the twirling of the marker, gone were the chewing of the lip. She would listen to teacher intently, screw up her face a bit, and then write the answer on her white board. Pretty good, I say.

She was in the running for 5th place, along with 2 others. As the contestants went into the average and difficult rounds, the students were weeded out a bit. There was a girl who got everything right; she had done Kumon early on, and it showed. After the difficult rounds, Raegan had garnered enough points to take 3rd place. Yay! Congratulations to Ate! She did a really good job!

I don't have photos as they're in Japa's camera and I'm too lazy to get them :) I'll just save them for scrapping :)

Some Macau Pages

My Macau album's off to a great start!

MACAU SNIPPETS
GIRLS & BOYS IN MACAU
A WALK WITH MOM

Ok, I think I'm all scrapped out, hehehehe. I churned out a lot of pages the past few days, you think??? And before you ask, Boyds, I *AM* updating our lovely website, too, so I've got that covered for sure! :) It's not all "play" for me you know! *wink*

TTFN!

Got an Old Car?

Wondering what to do with your old car? If you don't want to be bothered by selling it, why not just give it away? AND earn some tax credits, too! Why not have your car donation go to an organization that helps makes videos for both teenagers and children? The videos are designed to help bring Jesus' word to kids around the world. Check them out at http://youtube.com/user/boatangel. Love the quality and the fact that the story has viewers following a donkey named Ollie during the time of Jesus. The best part? The kids learn those valuable lessons the Bible contains, all told in an entertaining way. And of course the kids are going to enjoy these "lessons" more than if they were forced to learn them in school right?

Again, any and all car donations are used to make these videos for children around the world. For free.

Scrap, Scrap and Scrap!

I'm still on that scrapping roll! I guess having some time off doing something does help improve that something. Huh? Whatever. Hehehe. I'm just ecstatic that I am able to put to (digital) paper my memories. Hmmmm.....maybe I smell a Macau album in the making? We'll see how many pages I'm going to be able to do. At least 20, and yes, I've got an album for sure :)

CLUB PENGUIN
MARHSMALLOWS
RANDY & STELLA

Whoohooo!!! Another 3 pages done, another 3 CT kits used, too! :) I am definitely on a roll. Shhhh! Watch me jinx this, hehehe.

TTFN!

I'm Scrapping!

Got these babies done, all for CTs of course :)

CHAMPAGNE?
I LOVE YOU
VERY BEST OF FRIENDS

Oh it feels sooooo good to be able to scrap again! Yeah! I am on a roll, eh? Just click on the layouts themselves for credits.

TTFN!