Thursday, February 28

All Fours

It's late! I'm sleepy. But wait, got to post this tag from ZJ and Eds. :)

4 Jobs I Have Had (got only three and all in the same company)
Bookkeeping Staff
Treasury Specialist
Financial Systems Analyst

4 Movies Watched Over and Over:
The Prince and Me
Forrest Gump
Two Weeks Notice
The Devil Wears Prada

4 Places I have Lived:
Australia
Manila
Bacolod
Isabela, Negros Occidental

4 Shows I Watch:
M*A*S*H
Friends
Two and a Half Men
CSIs

4 Places I Have Been(all in the Philippines)
Cebu
Davao
Bohol
Cagayan de Oro/Iligan


4 People Who E-mail Me
Friends
Family
Airlines (award membership)
Shopping Websites

4 Favorite Things To Eat
Pasta
Chicken (fried or grilled)
Seafood
Salad

4 Places I Would Rather Be Living:
Anywhere with my one-and-a-half-men

4 Things I Look Forward To This Year
Trip back to RP
Visa
Holidays
Jens walking/running

Not sleepy yet? You can snag this tag if you want to. :)

1.2.3 Smile

Mitch said, post the cutest smile. So here it is, one of his most recent photos with his new toy.

Mummie who would like to share their bub's photos, you're welcome to do so. :)

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On the side note, Jens' at his age is already hogging the bed (a queen size one but not like the platform beds). Sometimes I fell asleep feeding him on our bed and when MCJ went to sleep, he had to squeezed himself in afraid that he might wake Jens if he's going to put the little boy in his bed. Jens likes to sleep in our bed - sleeps deeply than when he's alone - so MCJ and I had to share just the half of the bed. lol.

Bigger Than Oscars

Yes! These awards that we got from our fellow bloggers are bigger than Oscars.

This one from Mich. Thanks, sis!


And I got lots from Arlene. Thanks, sis.






And I'm sharing them to all my blogger friends. We all deserve these, ladies.

Tuesday, February 26

A Friend is Back

From what I can remember, my mother's course went back close to one year after giving birth. That thrilled me as I was thinking I could be the same. I don't really like the idea of expecting some uncomfy feeling every month.

But when one fellow mummy blogger said that hers was back six months after giving birth, I prayed that mine could be at least later than that. And it was. Jens is now close to eight months. :)

Well, I suppose this is good thing as I won't be in the dark if I am pregnant again or not.

Monday, February 25

Weekend Snapshot 8


This is the motorway wall to block the noise coming from the traffic. It was put-up recently and before some 'well-behaved' mob paint graffiti on it, the government decided to paint it. Isn't that a lovely idea?
On our way to the shop, I told MCJ if we can stop over on our way back so I can take some photos of the wall. I completely forgot about it but he did stopped.
I think, the painting is much better than graffiti.
More weekend snapshots here.

Saturday, February 23

Plugging

Finally, I was able to make a blog for Jens - The Life of a Tatapilla. Tatapilla? - you ask. Please visit http://tatapilla.com to know what it means.

The frequent visitors of this blog know that I've been writing about our Tatapilla here but I thought that everything about him deserves another blog.

I'll be writing updates and whereabouts of him in his blog though sometimes you might see some of his photos here. So please check him out. :)

My Stash

I'd say women's stash eats a big chunk of the family budget. There's makeup, special toiletries, hoisery, lingerie - not just the ordinary jammies (some even bought for special occasions like bridal lingerie) and if you go with fashion - new clothes, shoes, handbag very often.

I'd say too that MCJ is thankful that I don't wear make-up and he doesn't encourage me to start using. Plus my toiletries are just the usual and common as well as my nightwear. I'm not a high-maintenance wife, well, in that area, yes. I only spend more on hair products.

I've also stopped the Imedific trait. I haven't bought any shoes this year yet. I have longings but I curb them right away by thinking that I don't need them. But I wonder though until when I can hold on my desire to have new shoes.

Noypi Ako

This is a very interesting tag from Mich. Thanks, girl.

I wonder though, why isn't there any item concerning politics. We have our own political culture, isn't it folks? I can't really add one as the only election I've voted was the Barangay and only once. Sometimes, it makes me feel less Pinoy. :(

Here it goes:

1. You can speak Filipino (erstwhile Tagalog). Y
2. Whenever necessary, you take the hand of an elder relative and pat the back of the palm of that hand to your forehead and say “mano po”. Y
3. You know “bayanihan” and had witnessed it personally at least once. N
4. You’ve seen a bahay kubo at least once. Y
5. You’ve ridden on a jeepney at least five times. Y
6. You have separate clothes for in-house and outside use (pambahay at panglakad). Y
7. You’ve eaten adobo, dinuguan, kakanin, tuyo, dilis. Y
8. Your meal is incomplete if without rice. Y
9. You hear Sunday masses and attend Misa de Gallo with your family. Y
10. You can sing “Lupang Hinirang” very well, with no lines missed. Y
11. You don’t care donning ragged and torn clothes exclusively for use inside home. Y
12. You have bought items in a “sari-sari store” at least ten times. Y
13. You have played patintero, tumbang preso and piko during your childhood. Y
14. You can sing at least five OPM songs, and know what OPM means. Y
15. You know the Philippine presidents from the year of your birth onwards. N
16. You have witnessed “balagtasan” at least thrice. N
17. You’ve been recounted with stories involving aswang, tikbalang, manananggal, nuno sa punso. Y
18. You’ve been read, have read or have heard Filipino legends (Ang Alamat ng…). Y
19. You’ve lived, stayed or visited Philippine places other than your city or town at least seven times. Y
20. You’ve visited local (or public) wet market at least five times. Y
21. You have heard guys trying to sing Englebert Humperdink songs on a karaoke machine. N
22. Your main means of expressing anger is tampo. Y
23. You eat with your hands or use your fork and spoon together. Y
24. You visit home taking with you a few balikbayan boxes. Y
25. You use "po" at "opo" when talking to older people. Y
26. You don't feel comfortable calling people older than you by their first names. Y
27. You know what a "karitela" and "balut", "bagoong" are. Y
28. Instant pancit canton is a good snack. Y
29. You've eaten taho from the magtataho passing by in the morning. Y
30. You send money remittances regularly back home. Y
31. You live with your parents until you get married. N
32. You attended a town fiesta and has eaten at some place you didn't know. Y
33. You can text more than 30 messages a day. Y

Here’s the gauge to tell how Filipino you are: [It increases as you add your own items so adjust your gauge according to your # of items. For those that I tagged...your highest score now is 30 because of the last 3 I added. Make sense? Hopefully...]


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22 - 24 = The Filipino blood, spirit and flame burns intensely in you. You are the typical Filipino, who takes pride of your nationality.
17 - 21 = You are proud of your being Filipino and that the traits unique to most Filipinos live in you.
13 - 16 = You are the Filipino who, even adopting strongly the cultures of other nations, still don’t forget some old ways of the Filipino life.
9 - 12 = The Filipino culture has little by little been forgotten by you. You need to at least try some of the items mentioned.
5 - 8 = The Filipino culture has substantially faded in you, or that you have not been exposed to the true, authentic traits of being a Filipino.
1 - 4 = You’re a Filipino, only that you may have not been born and raised in the Philippines and had not lived up or been accustomed to the ways of Filipino living.
0 = You’re not a Filipino.

I'm tagging Leah, Mitch and Idealpinkrose. Have fun ladies.

My Books

When I was in RP I seldom buy brand new books, unless they were inspirational or motivational books. You know there is Booksale in every mall and even in our office building. That was my source of good reading materials in low prices.

Though Booksale sell pre-loved books, if you happen to shop there when they just opened new arrivals, some of there were actually the latest bestsellers.

I remember, a friend and I would often go down after lunch to check if there are new arrivals or buy magazines. It was fun and relaxing.

Here, I used to buy pre-loved books from the guy in the flea market. Then, it might be last year of before last that he opened a shop close to our place. I'm one of his frequent customers now.

I bought books that were really published very recently at a good price - 400% less than the original price in the cheapest shop. The downside though is the second hand book shop sell mostly UK published books.

Tuesday, February 19

Saturday, February 16

Smell the Roses

As I've said, I was and am not busy but I couldn't get things done on time. I am a procrastinator sometimes so don't even go there. :) It's just that there are so much things in my mind and stuff to plan (not as big as onsite checking of Tennessee land for sale) that they're catching up, well, just in my thought.

Thanks to these awards (from Leah and Rose). Thank you, sisters! These are just some of the reasons why I stopped mulling and smell the roses, errr... blog again. :)





Anyway....
Wanna know what keeps my mind active? Planning for our trip back to RP which is almost 6 months to go. Am I not too excited? Yes I am. Though my last trip back wasn't a year ago, this upcoming trip will be out first as a family.. and we would be meeting my family and friends. There are major setbacks that we have to cross - my visa and Jens passport - but these couldn't spoil and curb my excitement. :)
But I need my mind to rest... so gotta go and see a movie. :)

Busy

NOT! :)

I am just in my usual lazy and sloppy self. Plus with Jens teething seriously, he doesn't get to sleep longer during day time then wakes up several times at night - left Mummy tired and sluggish.

Then, there's the task of cleaning around the house, though these days I am not really particular and OC with how I do stuff (not as sparkling as Kohler sinks). A tad bit clean is good enough.

And I have to schedule my activities so I can watch my favorite telly sitcoms (M*A*S*H, Friends, Two and half men). It would be a disaster if I miss them. Really!? Nah, just kidding.

Plus, I have two new books lining up for my attention.

See how busy I am? :)

Tuesday, February 12

New Tooth at 7 Months and a Whole Lot More

Jens will turn seven months on Valentine. Time flies soo quick. It felt like yesterday when I had pregnancy sickness. Anyway...

He just cut a new tooth. I felt it yesterday when he took my finger and chewed it. Thankfully though, he hasn't started biting me when I'm feeding him.


Plus at seven months, Jens can be a pain in the neck already. :) What I really mean was, he can cover sooo much space when you leave him on the floor. Then, there's the worry of him falling off the floor as he always tries to stand up when he can hold onto something. When in he's cot, he might hit his head on the bars when he stands up and walk along the bars. Even when he went to sleep, I am reluctant to leave him as he stands right away when he wakes up. But I'm not complaining really. Actually, I am very happy as these physical developments were normally shown by 9 months old babies. :)

Saturday, February 9

The Lump that Went Away

Around the beginning of this year, I felt soreness in my left breast and a little lump. I am breastfeeding so I reckoned it was just a blocked duct, but it stayed for more than two weeks. I was worried after learning from a friend that her sister got a cyst though she was breastfeeding. I was thinking I could have the same case. So when we saw our GP for Jens' vaccine, I told him about it and he referred me for a mammogram - as after him feeling it said that it was mobile.

I booked for a mammogram but the earliest schedule was two weeks away (the receptionist had to confirm to her boss or whoever if it is cover by medicare - I forgot to tell her that I have medicare supplement, our private health insurance). Okay, nice.. it will give me time to think about it if I really have to go through with it or the lump might melt down by that time. Though, mammogram is just sort of like x-ray, it side effects can be severe than x-ray radiation so I was reluctant.

Luckily, a week before my appointment... I can no longer feel the lump. But still I didn't cancel my appointment, as I want to be sure that I am free of any ailments. But MCJ was so busy during the week that I will have the mammogram and told me that we might just ask FIL to drive me down the clinic. I don't like the idea so a day before the appointment, I cancelled it. Indeed it was just a blocked duct that I often have especially now that Jens is eating solids.

Having a lump every now and then still worries me because we have relatives who died from breast cancer. It's scary.

Thursday, February 7

A Busy Week

... for The Big Guy, that is.

He was half-sitting when he turned 6-months - sitting on his leg with one arm on the floor supporting him. He can't hold himself up when you put him in a sitting position for longer, also. But come February 4, he just rolled his other leg to the front and put himself in an upright sitting position. Yayyyy!


I've said in my previous post (when he was around four months old) that he was already crawling. I stand corrected, he was creeping actually. Come February 6, he actually crawled on all fours. So now, he's clothes don't get as dirty as it used to be when he's on the floor for an hour.

Two weeks ago, he can go on all fours (with the feet not the knees) but he get stuck to it as he doesn't know what's next to do. For some days, this trick was thrown at the back of his mind as it was not shown. But he had been grabbing the legs of the couch to support him so he can stand up, unfortunately the chairs were not built to support him. But as of today February 8, I found him in his cot standing on one corner. I wasn't able to take a snap as he was already whinging but the second time that he did (my back was on him while reading), he actually posed for some photos and showed off that he can eat his mobile.



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On the side note, Mummy was also sort of like busy and lazy as well. I think, Jens is in serious teething stage now as he can't sleep longer than an hour in daytime and wakes up several times at night. That left me tired and sleepy and my hands full. Plus the weather wasn't nice, sunny one moment, drizzling the next. It's not good for me as well as for our car parked outside. It has been battered by sun and rain (it and the other car needs car covers).

Holiday Plans

We only have plans to spend a month in the Philippines this year but I'm already excited. It's just a plan until I can have my visa (otherwise, I have to apply for a bridging visa B) and have Jens' passport. But I'm already excited about it.

I have been looking up the net for how much are we going to spend on airfares - we won't be spending a lot on this as mine is already covered by our frequent flyer and credit card award points. And if I'm going to book Jens' with mine, it is free. Well, just the fare but the other charges would only cost us a third of the actual price. I have also been thinking of where are we going to spend time there, the activities, etc. And the most important, it came up in my mind to buy some matching funny t-shirts for us three. We might look like dags but I think it would be sweet.

Left Brain?

You Are 75% Left Brained, 25% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.


I took this test for MCJ. There are questions that I am not sure of the answer - proves that I don't really know him well, eh? :) But, I guess the result is almost "him". But it doesn't include there that he's also a jack-of-all-trade. He can do mechanical stuff (like changing the fiber cable of the car and some serious thingie-me-bob), he can do bookkeeping and some software stuff, he can do housechores, etc. Hummmm.. I ought to revise the result then. :)

Awards, awards, awards

It's been raining awards in the blogosphere again... so here I am grabbing 'em all. Oh, not really all because there are some I missed. Bwahaha!

Anyway, thanks sis for these. Appreciate and lurrrvvveee 'em!







To all my friends, these awards are ready for grab. :)

Friends-like Life

Being a stay-at-home-mum-and-wife, gives me time to watch the tube but I am not a couch potato. There are just some program that I love watching and don't want to miss them (I adjusted my schedule just to see them). Most of them were sitcoms and weekly soaps. Yeah, I still watch soap opera here but not the melodramatic ones. One of them is Friends. I love this sitcom. I have some mini-dvd of this that I kept on watching over and over again. I am planning of buying a 10-series dvd box but it's not on my budget yet.

Anyway, why I like it? Because the character of the six of them were all unique and it reminds me of the way I lived when I was a newbie in Manila. I also lived with friends and in a neighborhood full of Ilonggos that we can just hang out at each other's lounge or porch every weekend or at night. Plus the kind of life when we just watch the tube all day - much life the same when Joey and Chandler have new theater seating couch, didn't do any cooking at all and drinks were placed in an eskie within reach. :)

Oh, those were the days... I miss them though. :)

Gutter Problem

The front gutter which was repaired three years ago is sometimes leaking when there's a big storm. I think, it might be full of leaves. Need somebody to climb on the roof to clean the gutter so the water will flow smoothly to the drain. But all the people that are capable of doing it are currently busy with all the projects they've got. And I'm out of the question to do it. :) That might leave the person who fixed the gutter before, you reckon? Which reminds me the name of his van rack is the same with his family name. Funny, eh?

Anyway, it's not raining today.. and the leaking just happened once. It had been raining and flooding in the nearby areas and thank God we were spared. It's the last month of the storm season (Summer) and the guys might be able to fix them soon.

Lucky Red

This is a nice tag from Arlene. Thanks, sis.. and I'm sorry for taking this too long to post. I owe you another one.

START COPY HERE

Here’s the rule:

1. Post YOUR photo wearing red, may it be a red top, bottom, the least would be red accessories if you hate wearing red… If you can’t find one, you still have an option…. Either post your Significant Other’s photo or your child’s photo, if you have one. Of course, they should be wearing red.

2. Let us know the reason why you were wearing red that particular day. Was it your birthday? Is red your fave color or was it the shirt that you first saw in your closet that day?

3. Tag 3 people close to your heart. By the way, they have to be in your blogroll. No cheating heart pleaseeeeeeee!

4. Once you’re tagged, could we please keep it going - just for this month?

END HERE

This is my photo taken at the top of the building where I last worked for. We had a photo op as a memorabilia for those leaving the company so everyone was wearing red.
Now, I'm passing this tag to Wireless Bliss, Liza and ZJ.

Monday, February 4

Sunday, February 3

Saturday, February 2

Hearty-heart Awards

Rose awarded me this. Thanks sis.



I'm a lousy blogger these days. I seem like busy that I seldom blog-hop or update my blog but I'm not really into something. And it took me soo long to post about this. And I know there are lots of tags that I've missed.



I need something to bring back my groove. Maybe, another round of shopping? Lolz...




And this one is from Lhen.












Thank you soo much, ladies.