Vacation for Everyone Else

When the fiance of my third sibling left for Singapore a month ago, she had long been home sick. We wish we can help her but we can only settle for text, calls and chats. But now that vacation time is up, we have our separate travel destinations.

My husband shall be off to Zamboanga City in the coming weeks to join his cousin's wedding while my youngest sibling shall join our other sister in Manila come April 12. My pop shall be away too when he will leave for Pangasinan come April 17 and for me and my kid, we shall be away too this May 10 to join my siblings for a 10-day vacation.

We shall be traveling by plane but we wish we can use even used travel trailers    so we can just travel on land and enjoy nature's scenery and different cities on the road.

Our family van needs its annual registration and since its papers need to be reapplied, we can only use other alternatives for traveling.  

It is always fun time to enjoy vacations with loved ones. For one, my kid had long identified his tour destinations once we arrive Manila.   

For now, we can only  finish pending works in our business as we await our scheduled trips and paint the town red! LOL!

Holy Week in the Philippines

The holy week has started and the Philippine government has announced over national news that tomorrow shall be half - day holiday so people can still go home and be ready for the holy days.

Filipinos are quite religious in spite of the ill doings of most people but holy week is usually consumed for long family vacations or spiritual retreats.  Beaches and tourist hot spots are now swarmed up.

Last year, we  did visit for the first time, Samal Islands. My other siblings simply enjoyed the long travel, white beach and cold sleep at our tents. My kid since then keeps on asking when we can come back again.

But, regardless of how we commemorate the passion and death  midst of fun and relaxation.

My Sibling's Graduation

My youngest sibling is officially a graduate of high school. She did receive a medal for Roverette or Boy Scout's honor medal plus loyalty certificate. However, since everyone was busy with stuffs, only my second sibling joined her in her recognition day. The youngest sister was only excited but kinda felt sad when our parents could not at all come with her.

This was aggravated today when she was joined again by her elder sibling during graduation day and none of our folks attended. She was quite teary - eyed. Worse, my sibling teased about becoming an academic honor first so she could demand the presence of my parents. Sigh! I never realized that my siblings can be inferior or insecure of us who had received academic honors and recognitions.

But, gladly, our pop decided to join my sibling in her graduation day. We concluded the event with a lunch together. They also consume the evening with party hopping with fellow graduates and dear friends. 

I hope she would feel better and never think of being insecure since she is well talented and capable too in her own rights.

Graduation Gifts and More Gifts

My youngest sibling will have her graduation day on March 30 and since she is quite close to me, she  has been sending hints of what I should buy for her gifts.  LOL!!!!!   Kids simply love receiving gifts  and I guess this liking is not age inclined.  

My kid on the hand, asked his grandma for a nice  Nintendo Wii  as a birthday gift. We are simply too excited to have this since everyone in the family can play with this stuff and more. 

My husband just received another SONY DSLR camera lens as a freebie from his mom and I was told that I shall soon receive my TISOT watch. Yepey!!!!  But, I still wish to have an Apple IPOD Wifi 3G so I can play music, watch my fave videos and surf as much as possible.  We will be receiving these in time for our birthdays.  Hmnnn! My husband promised me a new set of Twilight Saga books too before he leaves for his hometown. I guess summer won't be that idle anymore.   

Since life is harder in the Philippines, we can only be happier that our loved ones are still remembering us especially on our big days.    We can only be excited as we anticipate the coming of our gifts. 

Vacation - Recreation Time for the Youngsters

After recognition and graduation ceremonies, students here in the Philippines are already enjoying their summer vacation. For the kids, they have more than two months of home fun and recreation. 

My youngest sibling on the other hand will have her graduation day from high school this coming March 30 and after that, she has to scout schools for her collegiate schooling. 

I shall be off for my vacation too come March 29 and even if I have to spend my summer off in our stores, at least, I have more time now to be at home and spend time with my kid.

My kid spends most of his time playing with his PSP and watching movies but I shall have him enrolled  soon to a swimming school to make him exercise and have other fun too. 

Vacation time always a great time for physical exercise and more family - home fun. 

The Kids Mourning on Their Died Tortoises

I bought the tortoises since I wanted to teach the young ones at home to be responsible and independent in taking care of themselves and taking responsibility on others. 

Somehow, it helped that they got to feed the pets, clean them up with the help of my husband. But, after a month's care, when my kid was about to feed them, he simply saw one dead tortoise.

He was all worried when he joined his dad in picking me up from school because we made a deal that I shall buy him another pet, particularly, a dog, in case the tortoises will be taken care of.  His pop just explained that it isn't really his fault. The tortoise was overly fed that the uneaten food simply stayed afloat their home, making the water slimy.

We took extra care after one lost pet, but after a week, the last tortoise died too. Sigh! Next time, we shall simply buy animals that require less care.   As for my kid, he still has to be older before he can really be responsible taking care another household pet.  

The rest of the young ones simply saw the tortoises buried. It is a pity that at their young age, they can already witness death of their loved ones. 

Big Events Are Stressful

I guess the sentiment is also experienced by a number of individuals.  Events are pretty nice when you are only invited or if you are not responsible for holding it. But sometimes, the mere attendance to long and tiring events can make you wish that you are elsewhere. 

I don't want to waste my time  especially on events that seem to be not too important. I quite value how I should manage my time since I hurdle through different tasks: teaching, selling, blogging, mothering and the list simply continues.

Too much stress is noted to be the culprit of a number of diseases. For one, symptoms like zits  and  sluggish look can be a signal that you have a lot of things over your head.

Medications are there however, to help you. But, for fast relief particularly on acne, there is a safe and fast blue acne light  treatment that can be checked out.  Relaxation is a safe way to destress but we can always consider alternatives  especially if we are treating the consequences of our problems.

Events are nice avenues for any businessmen like me to meet other people but they too can drag you.  One of the ways however, that I can relax is to just watch funny movies. That way, my nerves are less tensed and my head is clear.  I help them control the occurrence of wrinkles and other stress - resulting problems.  

Fun Family Photo Shoots

with my kid, pop, and nephew

with kid, husband and nephew

quite fun way to be accelerated to the  next level!

We rarely get family pictures but during recognition day of the kids, we made sure that we took nice and cute pictures we can boost on our albums. So, I got the pictures above to be preserved.   The kids are just too excited that they have graduated from grade 1. LOL!

Moving Up for the Kids

The entire students on their graduation and recognition day


with my  kid and nephew on their medals

My kid and nephew just had their recognition day today. We joined the kids while my pop was able to catch up and see the kids received their medals.

My kid won the participative award while my nephew the most determined award. We concluded the day with a lunch in McDo with their happy meals freebies. LOL!  My kid had to complain that his old school did not give him any medal that his recently medal was supposed to be kept on pedestal.

He is not quite focused to receiving honors and doing his studies seriously. So, we are only prouder that he is still distinguished among his classmates. Cheers to all graduates and students and parents.  

Brownouts Bring More Mad Filipinos

It is almost a month now that the power energy provider decided to curtail energy distribution nationwide. But, it is in Mindanao that is greatly affected where every day, we experience as much 9-15 hours of rotating brownouts.

Everyone is simply affected especially those who have to do business but are constrained because of this energy problem. In our school, classes still resume in spite of the curtailment since the generator is on standby. I have to however, leave my boutique when the brown out strikes in when the heat is beyond endurance already.

Although the brownouts can be nice avenue to lose weight when one seems to be in a spa room. LOL! When we feel uncomfortable, it is only natural for us to behave as grumpy and nasty to anyone who pisses us off. We can still endure these brownouts only if we have alternatives to freshen us up or continue business. I may want to take this as an opportunity to lose weight, but I shall prefer instead to take  diet supplements   and be more comfortable. 

The local energy provider had given a schedule when to anticipate these brownouts, but, for unknown reasons, they simply keep on changing them. Sigh!!!! We, Filipinos are greatly distressed by so many things: politics, economy, ill culture, and now brownouts! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!

Fun Kids at Home

This is a photo of me, my kid and nephew taken during Valentine's day 2010. Since I only have one kid and have two nephews at home, I treat them all as my own.  It somehow drains me when they are all wild and wacky and on each other's neck but I simply adore them. 

Normally, I can't go home without bringing them any freebie. Whenever I can,  I bring them to the  malls and dine in their fave McDo or Jollibee.

The kids can be a big pain in my *** but they are more importantly, joy and warmth to me.  

Pilipinas Got More Talents: Stories and Talents with a Heart!

I never really like reality shows. They simply bore me but since our Filipino channels are swarmed with a lot of reality shows from morning to evening, this leaves me no choice but totally ignore them and do something else. 

My family however, is hooked to reality shows particularly Showtime and Pilipinas Got More Talents.  I did not see any of these  shows but when I came across one article on Jovit Baldivino, an auditioner for Pilipinas Got More Talent, I simply became intrigued that I watched a Youtube clip on him. His singing struck me more than once that I seemed to hear another Pinoy artist, Arnel Pineda, the lead singer of Journey. He has indeed big talent but when he was about his family and what he does to earn a living every after school time, I simply cried of humility.

Since then, I  may bore my time watching people who try hard to change their fate, but there are simply stories behind them that even if they win or not from the contest, they are sure winner in the amount of courage and faith they showed in. And,  they simply look bigger than life!  So, in spite that my countrymen are in great distress, we simply keep fighting and continue believing.

Here is the video clip from Youtube of Jovit Baldivino's winning performance.

Running Shoes and Curls For Us

Forgive my title but basically it means we spend most of our time eating and watching movies than hitting the road early morning for the usual jogging.  My family is into business and the young ones go to school and since  school starts early here, we always have reasons to miss exercise. LOL!

History says that we, Filipinos, are average in terms of weight but with fast - paced lifestyle, we are joining other nations where obesity is becoming an alarming concern.

Gym enthusiasts say that it will motivate anyone to exercise if he sees it as a way to stay healthy and  to look  good.  But, like other lame excuses, we simply miss exercise because we don't experience any health problem and any diet and lifestyle are simply acceptable and beyond scrutiny. Health experts however, say otherwise.

Most of us look for fast ways to have that result - oriented  fat burner  to keep the weight down while others prefer non - invasive, and non - processed therapies.  

When  technology was not popular yet, we  were usually out of our homes, playing until  the oldies would call us. Sicknesses and obesity issues were remote concerns for most of the folks.  Nowadays, even diabetes is feared among the  toddlers.    

I have been adamant about being on my running shoes again. But,  I just don't have the time. LOL! 

Our Youngest Bugger

My nephew making  one of his cute faces

 This is my nephew and he will be turning 2 years this August. We  quite adore this little boy and most of the time, he drives every one mad. 

He likes to imitate  people on TV and sing and dance too! Quite an entertainer, huh!??? At his age, he likes to hold a pen and draw practically every nook at our house. Even our newly acquired freezer had his markings on it. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!

His mom wishes to go on vacation to Manila but my oldies would rather ask her to make the young boy stay behind. Geez! This kid considers my mom his biological mother than my sister.   He however, likes me for my freebies whenever I get from school! LOL!

Holy Week Escapades

As a Catholic country, we, Filipinos, are anticipating the holy week as a time for rest and reflection. Normally, we have prayers and some who are quite devoted even exercise the passion and death of Christ.

But this holy week is a time for long rest and bonding moments with family. Last year, we went to Samal Islands during the holy week with my direct family and siblings. My kid sure loved the time there where we had to sleep in our tent and enjoyed the clear waters of the island.

We wish to have a family climb but the climb will take three days so, most likely, we intend to just go to a newly-opened resort and stayed there overnight.

Families will surely maximize these long weekend before resuming to work.

Badminton Time for the Kids

 

Since the kids are done with their official classes, they normally spend their time in the village’s basketball court with their badminton rackets. The youngest member of the family joins the big boys and quarrels with the neighbors and anyone who comes in his way. LOL!

But, the shuttle cock needs replacement, so the kids will just have to find another way to have fun. I quite envy how the young ones can easily reduce their weights and find any game as a fun exercise.

I am back to my old size 3 and getting heavier for my old clothes. I wish to cut this size and go back to my size 1 fit. Sigh! Although, size 1 was not really my normal fit and was only due to extreme stress and diet that I had this.

My BWM however, says that my weight is only normal based on my present height. So, doing regular exercise, eating healthy and taking herbal diet pills   may reduce the present weight and become healthier.

We can’t do much with the consequences of aging but it should not stop anyone from becoming healthy and fit.

My Bigger Boy

 This is my  kid who is quite taller and heavier for his age. I want to reduce his weight but he simply eats a lot and does little  physical games. He spends most of his time watching TV and playing before his PSP  and computer.

I wish this summer, I can bring him to swimming or karate lessons to trim off his fats. He may be cute but I know the dangers of obesity soon. I can only be vigilant of his weight.

Mad Kids on the Loose

The kids at home have been enjoying their free afternoons since they are done with their last quarter test, they are now free for their culminating day practice.

They enjoy their free time through regular plays and movie marathons. But, when power interruption takes their toil, the kids are simply busy buzzing around the house and driving the elders mad! LOL!

My kid wants me to buy him a pair of swimming gaggles so he can start his lessons. Perhaps, after my school work is over, we can hit the road and check the next swimming lesson schedule.

These kids simply know what can bring them fun!

Sibling Rivalry and Stuffs

I grew up with three other sisters and as an eldest, this was a gruesome experience. But, if I have to recall my prior experience with my siblings, I have to say, I had the most fight with my younger sister who is only two years my junior.

We bickered a lot, said bad things to one another and played around again after the fight. Our mom sometimes, would have to resort to extreme means just to keep us off from fighting. 

But, as we mature and had our individual relationships, we had subsided the bickering  and simply replaced this with respect.  Now, that we are at our 30's, we still don't agree on many things, but we have the liking for fashion apparel, accessories and other beauties and fun.  

We are quite vain too that we sometimes, both hit the road to spa's and beauty parlors to get pampered!  And, when my in - laws send us some clothings, accessories and beauty products including  best wrinkle creams, I get to share this with my sister with or without my full permission.  

Rivalry is quite strong for siblings with closer age gaps but oftentimes than not, this is replaced with strong friendship as they age. If my opinion is subjective, then I my experience is an exception. LOL!

Just earlier, she wanted me to join her in her Holy Week escapade through a three - day mountain climb. I reciprocated this through asking her to join me in my ten - day trip to Manila. We  may not have the nicest memories when we were younger but we sure want to make good ones as we age. We only wish that we can impart this lesson to our little ones at home. 

Our Photographer Kid

my kid's shot of his little cousin with his INSIGNIA point-and-shoot camera

My son has long been inclined in photography. He got this liking from seeing his pop  through his SONY Alpha DSLR camera. 

It first amazed us that he was able to use this unit with so much ease that he was able to take nice pictures from his school functions and from home. 

So, to boost his skill, his grandma was generous again to buy him his own point - and - shoot digital camera. He was too happy with his own thing that he simply showed this off to everyone in the family. Further, he just kept on taking pictures. LOL! He kept on convincing us too to let him bring his stuff to school so he can do the picture taking in school and impress his classmates and teachers. He originally had a prior school award in photography when his teachers saw his skills in one of their school events. 

I plan to keep an album of all his works. Perhaps, in the future, I can make an exhibit for him. LOL!

Tent Life for Us!

with my kid in our tent for a week's sleeps

It is almost a week when we decided to put up our tent for our evening sleeps.  Although, we like the strings of stars and cool windy breeze as we sleep, the discomfort is always felt when we wake up the next day. LOL!

My kid  however, likes to stay in the tent because he can boost it among his friends the unique sleeping arrangement we have at home.  Kids are always kids really in spite of their weights or heights. hahahhah!

But, I decided to go back to our old room so we can sleep comfortably even if power interruption may occur in the evening. At least, we have some sun wall protection to keep the room from extreme heat.

We really wish the energy curtailment is only limited to daytime because sleeps  are quite disrupted when you sleep in an oven - like temp room. LOL! We can only get pissed off as we start the day. 

Family Outdoor Fun and Sleep

The entire Mindanao has been struggling the constraints  of  rotating brown outs. I guess the problem is not just limited to our place, but to the entire Philippines but on varying extents.  

Not only that private and government establishments are pissed off but also the locals of various affected cities and provinces. 

I have to drag my family off our house especially during evening brownouts and we just stay at our patio on our beaten old outdoor furnitures.  With long running brown outs, I wish I can have steel - made patio furniture  that I can place in the middle of our garden and just next to our sleeping tent. 

With limited things to do, Mindanaoans simply chose to be elsewhere including window shopping and swimming.  And now that our local energy provider had given a fix schedule, at least, we can work with anticipated cut off and just maximize the chance.   This brownout will run until May, thus, outdoor rest and fun can only be preferred than staying indoor, grumpy and sweating profusely. 

Fun Day with Family and Blogger - Friends on SMI Escapade

with my sister Tammy, and friends Mark and Donna

Just having a big laugh

with other friend - bloggers

Last March 6, the SOX  Bloggers in Region 12 joined together  to have a tour in Sagittarius Mine Inc. office and project site in Tampakan. 

We were almost 20 and just had great fun, I had the chance to meet my old English college teacher too. What a small world, huh! LOL! 

But, the tour ended when we had the 45-minute bumpy ride to and fro the Tampakan mountains, had a visit with the pure B'laan community and saw their unique burial site. 

It  was tiring but worth the day! It is always fun to be with friends and family on a nice day. 

Managing Family Business

My mom who is into furniture business for almost two decades now wishes to relinquish the shop and just to hand it over to us. 

We are into selling RTW and other fashion accessories and managing a furniture shop is not only new to us but also can be very tedious and difficult. Further, it shall require bigger capital investment.   We may not be having problems with our regular customers but operating it shall be gasping in the unknown. My parents shall help us with the management but while she can still man it, we would rather have her still in the business.

We wish to find out if there is an all-in-one-stop door hardware  that can help our customers with their door requirements especially on the locks and knobs. 

Customers now are more educated than before and they simply demand quality on every penny they paid. This is quite understandable since we personally demand this principle too from other establishments. 

I can only wish that my parents will live longer since we pretty don't know how we can get by with our business when they are not around to help us. 

Having Nephews and All

Because of harder life in the Philippines, I have known my friends to be either single in spite of their 30ish age. LOL! 

For some reasons, they chose to be single because either their partner is still not into the big "M" thing, or there is really no partner at all to convince, and worse, they cant simply afford to risk their future in marriage.

In my case, I am married with one kid but I don't have to have another kid simply because I don't have the time to take care of another child. I am quite too busy with work, business and with other reasons. 

Thus, it helps when I have my kid and two other nephews to attend to. At least, my kid's desire for another sibling is somehow addressed. I opt to just devote my time and resources to the youngsters at home. 

It is quite true that aging becomes a global problem now when the bigger bulk of the population is now filled by the oldies and every year, the birth rate is decreasing. 

We are indeed facing global problem here should the birth rate constantly drop.  But, crisis and all is just too difficult. Sigh!

Sick Father In-Law

We were quite worried when my father in-law seemed to have stroke or something when his tongue got twisted and had a bloated mouth when he took some anti - hypertension medicine. hen he was brought to the hospital  again, he was diagnosed of allergy to hypertension medicines.

Hospitalizations and medications abroad are quite expensive that it is a greater help if health insurances are there to lighten up the burden. Somehow, we can only be worried with our patient's condition and not anymore with the incurred expenditures. 

It also helped when my in-laws have their prior training in health care. They were able to do the right first aid when the oldie got his hypertension and allergy attacks. Now that they are graduates of nursing aid trainings. They are searching for the right placement. Perhaps, I can ask them to check healthcare job search   for their immediate job placement. 

My brother in-law was luckier when he and his spouse were able to get the nursing job right away in Sacramento considering their previous employment in the Philippines was already in health care.

We could only wish that our father can immediately recuperate from his allergy and from his hypertension. He has to however, be vigilant of his diet and ill lifestyle since he smokes a lot too.

Having health care providers at home makes illnesses easier to deal with. At least first aids and alike can be immediately given to patients until they reach the hospital for further treatment.  We were quite lucky to have saved our father in - law in just nick of time.

My Blogging Family

Since Mindanao Bloggers Convention in 2008, the SOCCSKSARGEN bloggers community meet every  now and then for  some occasions in the private and government sector.

One was the Google Mapping of General Santos City key landmarks and establishments in Cafe Amoree where we got great food and accommodation.

The community now grew to be bigger with varied members from all sorts. I simply have great time hanging out with them on great places on practically any occasion now. LOL!