place of we can take off our shoes and be ourselves.
Scratch where it itches; clutter stuff, pick up, argue, agree.






And most importantly, it is where we learn that imperfections of others and ourselves are acceptable.

Number game has always been my waterloo.

When blessings to decode and decipher figures were vested upon humanity I guess I was asleep. Or was I busy doing something else?

I have long accepted the fact that if numbers were to mathematician, words were to me.Just give me something to read anytime, I will be most happy to oblige. Just do not attempt to throw avalanche of number to me. I will be lost in the myriad of those codes. Then someone has to slap my face to bring me back to my senses.

That is why financial management has always been a challenge to me. That is why I always struggle with the figures and how to put together the numbers that come with budgeting and the likes.
Help is what I need. I searched for financial wisdom high and low. I am forever a blog reader of financial geniuses' blogs and sites out there because I am perpetually struggling to comprehend and manage the family's finances.
Now that we are down to one income household, I am always on my toes regarding finances. There are, however, moments now that I do realize I have improved a lot than before. Learning is a continuous process and if ever I win the grand price in iLASIK Video Contest I will be the most happy being!

I lost my father when I barely nineteen years old. Sad but true.

I did not know at first that he died due to a bullet wound. I was away in the University earning my degree.

Being fourth in the brood of eight kids, I felt the blow and had the awareness of the loss.
Lucky me, I was able to spend my nineteen years with him. My youngest brother was only 9 years old then. He was barely aware of what was happening. He remembers the event, though. Now that he is 26, he spent most of his life with my mother.

The loss made me be aware how precious life is. It made me step back and prioritize relationships and cherish them as life-long treasure.

Cliche it may sound but it made me treasure more those people who matter to me. Most may not love me back or even value how I value them, but I will love them nonetheless.
Life after all is fleeting. Now you have arms that hold you, tomorrow you may not.

Missing a loved one? Try searching MyLife

Who knows you may find the precious one you have been looking for all along!

Found this letter inside his leather shoes.

My ten year old cleaned and brushed his shoes the night before work.

"Dear Daddy, today is a new day. Today, I will miss your morning hug and kiss. You will spend all the mornings and afternoons with your cubicle and students. You need to spend the entire day without us because you love us. You will also miss lunch time with us. Dad, have a happy and safe travel without us, but with God's protection. God bless. Love, Hannah"


Priceless. Agree?


image from: babyequipment.blogspot.com

Just one shot.
Yet, how many colors do you see here?
Ain't nature wonderful?

So I'm turning a year older in less than 24 hours.
Blessed.
Grateful.
Excited.
Are the words that can aptly describe the feelings of turning 36.
I got inspired here and hope to live it. Soon.
Happy Birthday to me.

The hands that painted these were little ones way back.

In fact they used to wiggle inside me.

Now they have grown and would soon be same sizes as mine.

How time flies...

And yes, one canvass is a reused material. That's a bonus, right?

It is not easy - to love others as myself. This means not less than and not more than, but as.

If I cannot even fully love myself, how can that love trickle to others?

Grace.

That is the saving grace.

Hope to be back.

Lesson number 1. It's always enough. It's the "want" that's never enough.

Since I took my one year leave of absence from work, our income dwindled. Worse, the business my husband has been into since 2007, has not taken off that well. To put it simply: the income can put food on our table but never sufficient to send our kids to school. To make matters complicated, my blogging earning was slapped tremendously . Good thing my family/siblings always trickle down their blessings to us. However grateful, we know we have to work and really earn on our own because dependency is not an option.

Meticulous menu planning, basic goods buying, no impulse buys, our car never used, very rare eat-outs, all fancy things buying gone - we are still alive!!

Simple living can be done. It's difficult but it can be done. Doubly painful when I hear my kids comment: "why can't we be like this or buy this or get this?" There are however, explanations to everything. The trade of the simplicity: they all eat vegetables now, the older kids were never sick the entire year and they seldom ask for anything fancy. They know they won't be succesful, that's why.

Simple life is difficult in this material-driven world. Others will always have better life compared to ours, but isn't that a fact of life? Now, I always ask myself: is it a need or a want?
Hopefully, I will be better in money management later. That is one lesson I was taught by our situation.
More details to follow.

Poised to receive another new year, I have been into a lot of introspection. Deep thoughts scoured my usual passive state. This is quite off-track because I have never been into this reflective mode before. Is this a sign of mid-life crisis? Or is it for the reason that I am leveling-up in life learning? Whatever, it was a never a walk in the park. But hey, nothing worth having is ever easy to attain, right?

Looking back the past year, I just learned the one of the greatest theories in Physics - for real, on my face kind of deal, that is: for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Translated: decisions I make affect other decisions thereafter - good or bad.

Seriously, it was a year of uncertainties and "standing still". Except for my kids' tremendous growth -physically and in wisdom, the year that passed was unexplainable beyond words or belief. I felt I was always walking on eggshells, on tiptoes...hands up and going to unknown destination blindfolded! It may sound hilarious to some or illogical to many, but I have no idea how our family carried it through. 2008 passed by, with so much that happened that can be summed up as tremendous, humongous life-changing lessons.

Watch out for the details.

photo from: scienceportal-one.org

Have you ever heard someone uttered regrets on his or her deathbed which goes something like: "How I wish I could have spent more time in the office or at work than I did."?

It will be the weirdest thing of all, should I hear such.

Time. It is spent.

Flashes of what if's come to my mind. What if I did not choose to spend my time at home like I do most of the time? What if I chose spunky stilettos and power suits instead of flip-flops and my house dresses? What if I chose to beat the metro traffic, the rat race of the corporate? What if I chose to be in another path except the domesticated one which I have? Would I be richer? Would my kids be kids of richer parents? Maybe.

Dang. That would be awesome, right?
What is lovelier, though, is not what other people will see or observe, right? My life is not that rosy one like that of laundry detergent commercial over TV , but all I know is my time passes with:

ten feet in a bed, at one time
screams because of tickling
noisy dinner table, nightly!
arts in progress scattered on the floor, with daily doses of genre!
question from a five year old which goes: "if God is all-good then why did He create the devil?"
picnics anytime
sticky kisses
googling together for science lessons
karaoke time with kids, off tune via youtube.com
cries because of bruises for running around
long walks and biking then more bruises
tight hugs and unwashed faces in the morning ready to narrate "bad dreams"
more questions like: "Who created God?" "Did God create Himself, how?"
"Mommmy, we are out of shampoo!"

Pardon the biases, but by the way, I am poorer than most of those who are reading this. Downright less objective than most of you all.
Because I chose to spend my time, empty wallets and all, with those who make me this subjective.

Manny Pacquiao won over Oscar dela Hoya.

I am overjoyed.

As millions were tensed that it was a mismatch, Manny gave all he could and won the fight. It was not about height or reach or weight anymore. The fight was about the will and motivation to win.

And Manny Pacquiao won.

Bravo, Manny. You are one fearless fighter - you neither felt intimidated nor inferior to anyone not - even to a decorated, overrated man like De la Hoya.

I am one proud Filipino today.

(first 2 photos from http://forum.philboxing.com)

Is your life as peachy as what others appear to have in blogland?
Mine is not.
And some of you might agree with me. And no matter what I do or don't, life will always have hitches.
Plans do not materialize as they were conceptualized.
People around do not react as we expect them to do.
When we look for some things which are constant, changes happen - and are never the same again.
Moments fade and mood changes thus life is not as rosy as what it is supposed to be.

What gives?

Let me be one proud stage Mommy for a moment - but for the nth time.

What the heck, I like to brag about my kids.

I think they are worth the bragging. LOL.

My life is like a bowl of spices. Everything comes naturally - in due time.

No words describe what is in between too exotic or too sour or too spicy flavor ;but there is a taste to it definitely. Nothing predictable, though.

No mixture is ever too perfect. There is, however, flavor and color to it. It is up to me how to accept and react to the taste.

What about you? To what do you liken your life?

The greatest struggle is to be always relevant.The greatest fear, is be otherwise.

Those are my thoughts right now. Agree? Are you relevant to someone? to whom?

As a parent, a wife, a sibling or a friend - to anyone or someone: relevance matters. Without such, my existence pales.

God, however, loves.

This life and beyond He has a laid-out plan for me. Relevant.

Which makes me relevant, eternally.

(photo from www.tightlinelinks.com)

2003 was the year this picture was taken.


Our three kids were aged 5, 4 and 2 then. See how thinner I was?
Full time work, being a wife, homemaking and motherhood rolled in one was quite a feat to hurdle!

This second photo was taken 2007.

With our kids older (ages 9, 8 and 5) and routines a little lighter we have changed!


Especially the weight?

What do you think?

I am 35. Today.

So, how is it to be 35?

Let me count MY ways:

• mother of eleven, nine and six years old girls - who all talk like 35.

• wife for 12 years to a good husband - who goes to Mass as often as he can, if not everyday. yes, ladies he is a rare species.

• 

• daughter to a strong woman.

• has been an educator for almost 13 years.

• sister to seven siblings far richer than I am ( lucky me, right?)

• blessed with God's unfailing grace every single day to live with purpose

• blogger for almost 2 years...

I am blessed.

We all are.

SO what is missing for me? Fat bank account. LOL. I still have years ahead of me to settle that.

But what I am blessed with now, I am more than thankful.

God is good. All the time.


Ain't life grand?







1st image from therosenblog.blogspot.com

I was bewildered by the moment and thought of sharing it.




Just yesterday my husband was an invited speaker. He was given an hour to speak in front of students regarding I.T. related concepts. We decided that my eldest daughter would be the one to do the introduction of him. No hesitations, she agreed.

It was a such a sight to behold: my own baby has grown up and now speaking in front of people to introduce her Dad! It seems like only yesterday when we were busy changing diapers and mixing her milk. Now she is 10 years old and grown and has her own confidence to face an audience.

For a parent, it is such an affirmation to see our children grow, not necessarily perfect or ideal - just themselves and part of us.

Joyful tears and tearful joys are good, right?

(photo from www.pioneeryouthservices.com)

That will be my question for Michael Phelps' Mom.

Or for the rest of the Olympians who will bring home the golds.

Since the Beijing Olympics began, that has been a nagging question in my mind.

Or was it since the day I heard about the sixteen years old who graduated from U.P. with Physics course, summa cum laude.

What do you think?

I know geneticists can very well explicate how genes play for exceptional human beings.

However, as a parent I still wonder how the nurture-nature factor affects achievers like them.

What is your choice: is it the genes (nature) or the milk (nurture)?

I guess, it's discipline, baby...discipline.