ROOT-y TOOTy SCRAP

ROOT-y

Two visits to the dentist down, 1 or 2 more to go! Today's session wasn't too bad. Gone were the humongous syringes of anaesthesia, and no x-rays to be taken today. The dentist took out the temporary filling she had put in last week, and started cleaning and scraping the canals of my tooth.

Turns out each tooth we have has 3 canals....and because the nerve of this particular tooth was exposed, causing my tooth to hurt REALLY bad, a root canal had to be done. The dentist had inserted a piece of rolled up cotton dipped in some medicine/antibiotic into the canals of my tooth. Today she took that out and SNIFFED it! Eeeww! I asked her if it was stinky and she said, "surprisingly, no!" and proceeded to stick the piece of cotton in front of my nose. Oooookay. But I did take a sniff and nope, no nasty gross smell, but just the smell of the medicine she had put a week ago. The anals of my tooth are actually clean, yeah! Hehehehe.

Inserting those coiled springy thingamajiggies into my tooth again, I heard scraping and scratching but didn't feel a thing. The dentist promised that my tooth wouldn't be hurting this week at all. Crossing my fingers that it happens the way she describes it!

TOOT-y

I'm tootin' the fact that I'm in a magazine that came out today! Woot woot! No, not scrapping related, but more baby-related hehehe. It's called Baby Mag, and no they don't have an online version nor have I scanned in the couple of pages it has on me. Titled Paddle Parenting, it's under the Working Mother section.....and it just focuses on how we influenced the kids to be involved in sports because *we* were involved in sports. It came out pretty nice and I thanked Ditas, the writer, for making me sound so fun, so FIT (!!!) and such an awesome Mama!

I'm going to buy copies tomorrow so I can show off, hehehe. You can bet that those couple of pages will be framed! :) Yes, I'm going to try and scan them or take a pic of them as proof that I'm famous (sort of, lol!)

SCRAP

And I got a page done just now!

FALSE EYELASHES

Off to bed now...to read :)

I am Reading Again!

Whoohoohoo!!! I have been reading again, starting the past few days. And it is just wonderful to be holding and turning the pages of a novel! I forgot how relaxing, how a story can just take me to a different place, a different time. Ahhhhh......I love books, I love reading!

I finished reading PS, I Love You by Cecilia Ahern a few days ago and I've been reading voraciously ever since.

A short summary: PS, I Love You follows the engaging, witty, and occasionally sappy reawakening of Holly, a young Irish widow who must put her life back together after she loses her husband Gerry to a brain tumor. Ahern, the twentysomething daughter of Ireland's prime minister, has discovered a clever and original twist to the Moving On After Death concept made famous by novelists and screenwriters alike--Gerry has left Holly a series of letters designed to help her face the year ahead and carry on with her life. As the novel takes readers through the seasons (and through Gerry's monthly directives), we watch as Holly finds a new job, takes a holiday to Spain with her girlfriends, and sorts through her beloved husband's belongings. Accompanying Holly throughout the healing process is a cast of friends and family members who add as much to the novel's success as Holly's own tale of survival. In fact, it is these supporting character's mini-dramas that make PS, I Love You more than just another superficial tearjerker with the obligatory episode at a karaoke bar. Ahern shows real talent for capturing the essence of an interaction between friends and foes alike; even if Holly's circle of friends does resemble the gang from Bridget Jones a bit too neatly to ignore (her best friend is even called Sharon).

Not a bad book; it was enjoyable for the most part, until the end. Hehehe. I know, I know. But for me, if the end isn't a great one, then it makes the book a so-so book. So yes, this one's a so-so book. Would I read it again, maybe, if there was nothing else to read. For a light, no-thinking read, this should be ok. But if I had a choice, I'd probably pick something else.

Not only have I been reading, I actually SCRAPPED today!! So double TOOT for me today!!!

GALERIES LAFAYETTE

I'm going to have to speed scrap soon, to catch up on all my CT requirements!!! But man, it felt sooooo good to open up Photoshop for something other than wedding stuff! :)

TTFN!

First Day of School & LOTD

Well! This was less than exciting! Hehehehe. Maybe because Raegan, Rogan and Raine are a lot older now, or again, it's probably MY age, but there wasn't too much of a hullabaloo for the first day of school.

Things *have* been pretty busy, especially this weekend (for the kids at least), so maybe there wasn't that much excitement to go back to school. There was a token "I wish it was still summer" and "I don't want to go to school yet!", but I think it was just because of something to say to try and get a response from me :) I didn't give them the satisfaction of that though; I was half-asleep when they left. I did tell Ruby to take some photos of the kids at school, but I haven't downloaded them yet, much less taken a look at the pics!

I guess I'll just update this post with a pic or 2 of them off to school...just because.

I felt a bit frazzled trying to get their school stuff in order though..there was a last minute trip to the bookstore to get some much needed things last Friday. And I thought I was done. Um, not. The kids came home today with more lists of *other* stuff to buy!!! Grrrrr! And what pisses me off in a MAJOR way is that Raegan's teacher told her she NEEDED to buy the school's dang homework notebook! But from experience, it was a LOUSY notebook to begin with, with the leaves coming off after a few weeks, AND it was grossly more expensive than a notebook I could buy at the bookstore! It made me soooo mad! *breathing deeply here and trying to count to 10*

Anyway, I figure the teacher was new and didn't know any better (and I was right, dang it!) I guess she was trying to impress Teacher Joy. Grrrrrr! Good thing the teachers of Rogan and Raine were a lot more reasonable, since they knew that the school's notebooks were overpriced and not that great. So anyway, I just made peace by buying Raegan the stupid notebook just so I would hear the end of it from her. Ugh. I soooo hate the few days before school starts, honestly! And each year, I vow to myself that I'd be better the next year by getting everything together waaaay early. Yeah, right! Hehehehe. Oh well.

A bright spot today, though, was when I opened my email first thing in the morning. Rina Kroes, one of my fave designers that I CT for, mentioned that I was Layout of the Day over at 3Scrapateers! WHoohooohooo!!! I got it with the page I uploaded yesterday, the Treehouse Boys one. And because it got LOTD, I figure it earned itself another spot here on my ole' blog:


Click on the image to go the 3S thread that says it got LOTD for June 15. I'm not making this up! Hehehehehe!

TTFN!

CPK Part 2

Lai and I did it again. We made California Pizza Kitchen our office away from the office. Eva from iStudio texted us to let us know that our laptop memory simms were available. So off we rushed to juice up our macbook pro babies. We are both now operating at the laptop's maximum of 4 gigabytes of RAM!!!! Whoohoohooo!!!! Photoshop is definitely flying sooooo much faster now!

So of course, while we were at Shang Plaza, where else would we have lunch but at CPK. We decided to try new stuff today and we came up with the fantastically yummy (our new fave now!) Waldorf Salad, White Pizza and Portabello Mushroom Ravioli. Yum, yum and YUM! :)

Yes, we were hard at work as we finished up the Columbarium Tour Map. So much attention to detail, I tell you, but we got it done! AND we are proud of the results! Hehehe. Of course, it's OUR work that's going to be printed! And because Lai couldn't find her files for the Shrine shots, she used MY photo for the cover! Whoohooo! I am officially published!!! Hehehe. Sort of. The BOTH of us are published, since the map WILL be printed out for distribution!

We wrapped up after a few hours' work. Happy, but tired. Not that all the work was done; I had to do some uploading and emailing when I got home so that the files could get to the printer's tomorrow morning.

But all this eating at CPK will make us rotund and FAT for sure, hehehe. Gotta get me some hoodia pills or something to help me suppress my appetite especially when working on a deadline. The pressure!!! But for both Lai and I, we found it verrrrry productive to be OUT of the office when working on something like this. There's way less distraction, less interruptions when out of the office, which helped us work continuously AND productively.

LOTD!!!

Whoohoo! I'm featured at Scrappers Daily Dose as Layout of the Day with this newly scrapped page of Rod and Zhar:
Loved how this turned out, actually, considering that I wanted to use only that ONE pic! Hehehe.

That's it. Just wanted to TOOT! Back to scrapping and downloading and fixing my files :)

TTFN!

Another LOTD!

Yay! This layout of Raine was featured as a Layout of the Day yesterday (or was it the other day?) over at SDK:

RAINE TURNS 7Credits: kit - BirthdayZ Girl by Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digital; vintage frame - by Nancy Comelab; beaded staples - by Amy Martin; circle stitches - by Gina Miller; tag - by Royanna Fritschman; transparency frame - by Katie Pertiet; font - DJB KeelyB by Darcy Baldwin at The Digi Chick; template - Templates with Attitude 3 by Tracy Blankenship at SDK

Just wanted to TOOT :)

LOTD!!!!

For you non-scrappers, that means Layout Of The Day!!! Whoohoohoo!!! And I got LOTD over at Scrappin Digi Kreations, a great cozy and fun-filled site.

With what layout? This one:

THE RING

Zhar, showing off her engagement ring :)

Credits: kit - Summer Porch by Kim Smith at Scrappin Digi Kreations; photo border - by Terry Maruca; stitched button - Saturday Market by Dani Mogstad; font - SandraOh; layered sketch, stitches - by Janet Phillips

Cool, huh? Hehehe. That pic was taken by Rodney and I didn't have to crop anything. Good thing my brothers and sisters love taking pictures...I always have an array of pics to choose from. It's just a matter of borrowing their memory cards, hehehe.

Off to Cebu We Go and a TOOT!

Finally, we are off to Cebu. We have been planning this trip since a few months back, but somehow, it's always been delayed for some reason or the other. Since Boydee, Bang and Bric will be going to Cebu this week (Bang and Bric have their flight at 1 pm later, ours is at 540 pm), we figured we might as well be a complete family there, too :)

And so, over a couple of days planning and feverishly hunting down good deals on airfare, we are set. For some strange reason, the travel agents could not get us a confirmation for the Shangri La Hotel; so just for the heck of it, I tried their website....and got 3 rooms! Weird, but at least we got the hotel that Mom and Dad wanted. We will also be staying at Bang's beach house at Mactan, where we've stayed before.

A trip with our family wouldn't be complete without some last minute things. Classic one was today....I HAD to make a fast trip to the mall to The Body Shop. I had to get some sugaring/waxing solution for my legs and underarms! Hehehe. Couldn't go to the beach being unshaven now, could we?!?

{TOOT!}

I forgot to upload this layout on the 14th, but it did get chosen as a Layout Pick of the Day at 3Scrapateers! :)

DIVA
Raegan playing dress up with a gown, wig, and tiara.

Credits: kit - Color Me Funky by Kate Hadfield and Gina Miller; buttons - Twinks by Gina Miller; paint smears - by Amy Cheeseman; tiara - Le Chapeau Rouge by Rina Kroes and Kimmi Stewart; alpha - Love Is Stamped Alpha by Kara Fredricks; folded template - by Karah Fredricks; font - KGD Brandi; For the Hodge Podge Challenge.

{RAKS Newsletter LOs}

Here are a couple of layouts that were in the RAKScraps Newsletter:

ISLAND KIDS
Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson reads:
How do you like to go up in a swing? Up in the air so blue? Oh, I think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do!

Credits: kit - Doo Wop by Cindy Simon at ndisb; sun - by Bethany; font - DB Pastor Dave, SBC Noodle; layered sketch - A Little Eclectic 6 by Janet Phillips

MACAU: JORGE ALVARES
Statue of the European explorer who "found" Macau.

Journaling reads: The name "Macau" is thought to be derived from the Templo de A-Má, a still-existing landmark built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu. When Jorge Alvares and the Portuguese arrived, they landed on the peninsula opposite the temple; locals told them that they were in the bay of the goddess A-Ma (ah-mah gaw in Chinese), and the Portuguese effort to say those Chinese words became the name of the city: Ma Cau.

Credits: kit - Peace Love and Happiness by Erika Teney at Timeless Memories; fonts - Chowmein, Arial Narrow, LD Slender; layered sketch - by Johanna Berry

{DST Newsletter LO}

This layout was in the DST Newsletter this month. Since Eve Recinella was the featured designer and Gold Members and diamond Members got an exclusive kit from her, and since I am a CT member of Eve, we got to play with her cool kit a month before it was released! :)

CLOWN FACE
This picture of Raegan clowing around (sorry for the pun, hehehe) always cracks me up!

Journaling reads: You put on this CLOWN FACE, struck a pose, and called, “Hi Mama!”.

Credits: kit - Frolicsome, an April DST exlusive kit by Eve Recinella; folded corner action - by Jen Caputo; bend it photo template - by Debbie Knorr; fonts - KGD Angela, Rusted Plastic

Ok. Off to pack. Really! :)

TTFN!

February Round Up

My February 2007 Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

I still have Sudoku on my nightstand. Making progress with it.....doing the Medium puzzles and totally leaving the Easy ones unanswered! :)

I also have a copy of Simple Scrapbooks on my nightstand....it's still unopened, in it's plastic bag. Hehehe. Somehow, with the advent of digiscrapping, I rarely open my CK or SS mags anymore, much less buy them!

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

We didn't get to watch any movies this month. I would rather NOT go and sit in a theater for 2 hours. My back will pay for it the following day if I do. Not much TV either, come to think of it. When I get home, I usually lay down on my tummy and scrap until the wee hours of the morning.

I have enjoyed watching a few Nick Jr. shows with Ranger. His favorites include The Wonder Pets, the Backyardigans, Dora, Diego, and Lazy Town. As for the other kids, I know I hear Pokemon and the Fairly Oddparents blaring in the background when I am scrapping. They've also gotten to watching this relatively new show on TeeNick. I forget the title of the TV show, but it does feature the younger sister of Britney Spears. Go figure *shrug*

What special days did I celebrate and how?

February 3 - Rielle's birthday. She turned 9 this month. Looking at her though, you'd think she was 6 or 7 because of her small stature.

February 14 - For the first time ever, as far as I can remember, we celebrated Valentine's Day in style. We had a catered, sit-down dinner at the 20th floor of the Malayan Plaza in Ortigas. Randy had arranged to reserve the whole floor and had it set up to accommodate all of us, including Mom and Dad. Boydee and Bang weren't there, as they are usually in Cebu helping out at the Chateau, Bang's family's restaurant. Dinner at the Malayan Plaza was cooked by RJ. Decorations were done by Stella and Elizza, including a photo corner of course. Rodney and Rondic were in charge of the menu.

February 15 - Reese's 10th birthday. We had dinner at Teriyaki Boy to celebrate.

February 18 - Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year! We welcome the year of the Pig.

February 21 - Lent starts with Ash Wednesday. We got our ashes early in the morning so Raegan could make class and swimming. My sacrifice for this year? I'm giving up beef and chicken. I will NOT swear (the heavy swear words at least). I will allow myself to eat SOME rice during the day, not going over 1 cup of rice. So fish and veggies it is, pretty much. Oh, and I have to watch what I say :)

February 24 - Bric was baptized at the Shrine. Reception was done in the crying room, catered by RJ Ungco. Well of course I was Ninang, seeing as I'm the only sister, and Bric was the first child of Boydee and Bang. Hehehe. I'm the godmother of ALL my brothers' first born. I don't expect this trend to be broken anytime soon....HINT! HINT!!!

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

My back didn't improve or worsen this month. I can definitely sit down for longer periods of time, but I have to be ultra careful to stand up and stretch several times each hour so my leg and back wouldn't hurt. As it is though, I found myself staying longer at the office and consequently paying for it that same night and into the morning.

I did start YOGA this month. Bikram Yoga, that is. The super duper uber HOT kind. Like working out in a sauna! But after the first or second session, I felt my back improve.....I can stretch it out more, I can actually kneel down and sit back without feeling any pain.

Ranger was put on antibiotics this month for a bad cough/asthma. Hopefully he'll outgrow this soon.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Yoga, albeit HOT, was a fun, good workout done with Japa. We also had Rodney and Zhar join us, as well as Stella on our last session. It was nice to compare how and what we felt doing yoga, discussing the good and the bad points of Bikram Yoga with family.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Other than digital kits-that-I-don't-really-need-to-buy, nothing I don't think. I remember thinking that I should vastly curtail my expenses this month since we're STILL paying for purchases done over the holidays....not so sure if I was able to do that, but I think I've controlled myself. A bit. :)

What were this month's disappointments?

My back and leg aren't improving that much. Of course, with no physical therapy, I dare not think they'd improve, but still. Hehehe.

I was a bit disappointed that the kids didn't win at their respective Spelling/Math Bees, but I was proud of them for representing their classes!

Other than the ONE DVD I had burned as back up, I have NOT done any backing up this month! I have started to panic as I now have less than 10 gigabytes on my laptop's hard disk!!!

I also thought I was getting caught up on blogging, but somehow in the last few days of the month, I stopped blogging! Ack!

What were my accomplishments this month?

CT requirements done, on time.

I finished the album I started for Rogan's class, Where in the World is Grade 1-A? The best part of that presentation was when some girls squealed and thanked me for making them famous, hehehe. Oh, and the WONDER in this boy's voice when he told his teacher that he didn't remember visiting the Little Mermaid in Denmark (he was photoshop-ed in!).

I had TWO layouts picked for the PICK OF THE DAY at 3Scrapateers: The Bride and Tongue Twist. Additionally, Kristi McFadden over at SBB emailed me to ask me if they could include 'Mallows Roasting on an Open Fire in the March Ezine! Now how cool is that?!?!!!

Anything else noteworthy to record?

As mentioned, the kids represented their class in Spelling (Rogan and Raine) and Math (Raegan). They didn't win, but they bested 20 other kids to get to the final round!

We have begun to plan for Lola Nene's 88th birthday in June. If you know our family, this is a MAJOR MAJOR record for us, as we usually do things last minute *roll eyes up here*

February Layout Count: 45!

***End of Round Up***

Day of Beauty

I had an appointment at the dermatologist today at noon, which is why I didn't go to work. Besides, if I went in between the hours of noon and 3 pm, I get a 50% discount off all services. So who am I to waste money, eh? *wink*

I had a session of Derma Lift; I also tried a new thing called Aqua Detox. It's pretty much like a foot spa where my feet are placed in this small tub. After a few minutes, the water turns into this orange-y color AND I see small gross-looking brown stuff swirling in the water! Apparantly, these things are the toxins in my body. Ugh! A few regular sessions should help me detox, according to their brochure. :)

Then I picked up Raegan from school, went back home to rest my back and leg which hurt a bit after sitting down for the Aqua Detox. Scrapped some, including a calendar for Bric for his baptism tomorrow....

But first, more layouts to show off:

This first one I am especially proud of...it is currently featured in the RAKS newsletter for the Scraplift Challenge!!! Go check it out and see!!! :)

TRAIN TRACKS
Ranger walking the train tracks at Travel Town.

Quote by Harold R. McAlindon reads: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path & leave a trail.

Credits: papers - Softly Spring Paper Pack by Heather Heinzer at SBE; swirl, flowers, buttons - Baha Blossoms by Rina Kroes at SBE; note paper, ribbons - by Amy Martin; painted cardboard - by Gina Miller; denim tag - Denim Bouquet Extra Embellies by Laurra Deacetis at SSD; photo filter - Vintage Actions by Kim Hill; fonts - KGD Tiffany, KGD Tara

FLYING THROUGH THE AIR
Raine doing a backflip.

Credits: kit - Flower Dreams by Miranda Bontan at digitaalscrappen.nl; word art - Birdie Bits; Doodles by Audrey Neal at The Lily Pad; photo cluster - Polaroid Cluster 1 by Nance Comelab at My Digital Muse; fonts - the King and Queen, KGD Anne Catherine

TIGGERanger
Ranger bouncing around as only a Tigger does!

Tiggers are bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!

Credits: kit - Celebrate by Gina Miller, Debbie Knorr, Natalie Braxton and Traci Murphy; paint blocks, painted chipboard - by Gina Miller; polaroid frame - by Faith True; bouncing ball - B3 by Amy Bleser at ACOT; paint splotches - b2basics by Shelleyrae at SBB; date stamp - by Paula Duncan at SSD; kraft stencil alpha, black paper - by Kimberly Geswein; heart doodles - Messy Alpha by Kimberly Geswein; stapled paper element - Art Chicks by Kristy Ann Designs; photo filter - All that Pops by Holly Mccaig at My Digital Muse; fonts - KGD Tiffany, Rusted Plastic

scraplifted from Lifts with a Twist

FIRST NEW YEAR'S EVE
Dad and Mom with Bric and Robyn, the newest additions to the family.

Credits: kit - Go Lightly by Becky Vosburg at The Digi Shoppe; poka dot papers - Lil Flurries Paper Pack by Gina Miller; ricrac, sequined flower - Denim Bouquet Extra Embellies by Laura Deacetis at SSD; font - KGD Tiffany; layered sketch, swirl, butterflies - by Teresa Ferguson

PLASTIC PLAYGROUND
Journaling reads: This plastic playground was just outside the restaurant where we had breakfast. The kids had a blast on it.

Credits: kit - Miss Peacock in the Conservatory by Becky Vosburg, as part of the February Sampler at the Digi Shoppe; denim - classic denim by Kimberly Geswein; chipboard reel - by Manda Bean at SSD; tongue twist ties - by Jen Wilson; gingham ribbons - Denim Bouquet Embellies by Laura Deacetis at SSD; glitter graph notes - by Gina Miller; notepaper alpha - by Ashley Olson; fonts - KGD Mozer Print, Rusted Plastic, Orlando; frayed fabric action - by Atomic Cupcake; layered sketch - by Teresa Ferguson at SSD

Ok. This should be it for now...it's past midnight and Japa just remembered that we were going to try doing YOGA tomorrow morning!

TTFN!

Forgetting to TOOT!!!

Sheesh! How can I forget to toot my own horn!!! Busy busy busy so far....this month has just zipped through...

Anyway, back to my TOOTS: Just wanted to record here that i was PICK OF THE DAY at 3Scrapateers!!! Not once, but TWO times in a week (February 13 and February 17)!!! How exciting is that?!?! Yeah!

My POTD (that's Pick of The Day) LOs (layouts):

THE BRIDE
Yes, this is me....almost TEN years ago!!! Sigh! I can SEE my collarbones!!!!

Credits: kit - Whispered Promises by Rina Kroes at SBE; corner rose - from Always and Forever kit by Rina Kroes; cream flowers - from Blessings kit by Rina Kroes; other flowers - by Brenda Kempf, Trish Jones, Amber Clegg, Heather Heinzer; font - Fiolex Girls; photo filter - All that Pops by Holly McCaig; sketch - adapted from a sketch by Carole Neal


TONGUE TWIST
Journaling reads: You are so funny when you show of that you can twist your tongie. You have a blast making this goofy face and getting everyone's reactions to it! You are such a silly darling boy!

Credits: kit - B3 by Amy Bleser at ACOT; painted cardboard - by Gina Miller; font - KGD Angela; layered sketch - by Amy Bleser at DSD

TTFN!