Nap Time Rocks!

A night at The Fort

i had the chance to treat my family out to dinner last night at the fort. we went around fashion market at market! market! first to buy some more gifts, then went to Bonifacio High Street to have dinner. i was taking them to Texas Roadhouse Grill but the restaurant was full and we were 7th on the waiting list and my mom was already complaining. so, we head back and on the way, asked at Italiani’s, Mini Shabu-Shabu, and Claw Daddy’s all to no avail. the place was just crawling with families and groups of friends gathering for pre-Christmas celebration dinners.

i got frustrated because i really wanted to eat at Texas Roadhouse. the chicken tenders are just awesome. i realized i should have called to reserve. well, next time. so we ended up at the Polu Kai Grill at Serendra. since we really had no choice, as the other restaurants were full (except for Brazil Brazil, that only offered buffet meals at P600++/head which my mom pointed out that she was not going to get my money’s worth for it), i had us get a table at the Hawaiian themed restaurant. (more…)

2 tags and a couple of updates in one post. i need to maximize precious time!

O Christmas Tree!

here’s a tag from miss misyel to show our Christmas tree at home. this photo is actually about 2 years old, but we haven’t replaced it in years. sorry kasi you can’t see much because this is all i have on my pc right now. i know i need to take a picture of it, but there’s just no time! (i know, i’ve complained about it for the nth time, sorry). anyway it’s something i put together that i posted on my flickr site.

the seiko wallet tag

my wallet will not fare against malen’s wallet. hers has everything!

inside: mercury suki card, robinsons atm, abenson discount card, citibank and metrobank cc, philamcare card, some cash, and a few calling cards and receipt slips hidden somewhere there

this wallet is from my mom and she gave it to me because she doesn’t like big wallets. i, on the other hand, have a liking for everything in big sizes big wallets and big bags, what were you thinking?

that’s it for my 2 tags. so show me yours, k, lilmiz, ate pao, joyce,  kath, meeya, ate maru, karmi, and you!

mia and her favorite book

i just caught mia kissing her favorite book, Elmo’s “In My Stroller” soft foam book. it’s really funny what kids can do.

i hope she starts that love affair with books early, like mommy. and then, mia starts to get a feel of walking on her own.

with her lolas trying to show off some new skills

i was just so thrilled to see mia interact with other people since we’re always cooped up inside the house and mia never gets to see other human beings other than her immediate family. that’s why when we’re with relatives or my friends, she never wants to go with anyone else which can be quite hard too. last sunday when we went to my lola’s house in bulacan to have her 2nd flu shot by my cousin, which was also my other cousin’s bday party. the other kids were there and mia was happily exploring the grounds with clarice, my niece. whenever clarice would squeal, mia would imitate her. it was so adorable!

mia smiling at the camera because clarice was, too; with ninang jed also

later on mia would grab that hotdog stick

i am rated G

everyone’s welcome to read my blog. this site just gave me a nice rating. too nice, in fact. i’d like to see mine with an X on it. haha.

all this season’s hype is getting to me: the pressure of having to complete my shopping by next week, christmas parties to attend to, and finding the right gifts! i am so overwhelmed by so many things needed to be done and my grownup side is really being pushed to the limit. it wasn’t long ago when all i had to think of is myself, my family and my friends. anything goes. no reason to be conscientious too much with spending both money and time. i had no one to answer to, except maybe my own limitations.

this year is quite different, as it was also last year. a year ago, my daily routine would take me to the hospital where mia was being incubated because of her premature entrance into this world. that would be twice a day, one in the morning, and one in the evening when i would have also saved enough breastmilk for her feeding times. the nurses in the nursery were all very familiar with me that they would often let me do the bottle feeding myself if i came in right in time (it wasn’t allowed normally allowed). it was also there that i would have to endure watching ABS-CB’s soaps and variety shows because that was their channel and i don’t exactly have arguing powers. sometimes though, they would tune in to 24 Oras on GMA7. well it’s ok. besides, i would be busy talking to mia and telling her to get better and that she should come home by Christmas, or if not, before New Year.

i would also keep a casual conversation with whoever was visiting that time and we would be exchanging stories about how our babies have been doing. it would eventually be a contest when we determine which baby is more good looking or has more attitude in the nursery. of course, i would always win because of my story of how i delivered my baby and because mia was so tiny, but mostly because she was so cute and had golden brown hair and was such a fighter that anyone who would ask how she’s doing i would have something new to say every time.

watching her weight was also in my daily checklist. her doctor gave her a weght requirement before she could come home with me, which was 4lbs. (she was 2.14lbs when she came out). it was a hurdle that we took one day at a time, and there were times when it didn’t change at all. during those times that her weight dropped because she got sick, it seemed to me like another day extending her stay at the hospital and away from me. but there were days that she had done so well that it made me cry.

last year, things were somewhat depressing. i spent Christmas day partly at the hospital and partly at my grandma’s house. i spent the entire time praying that we get to take her home before New Year’s. i spent half the time crying too. all my friends know how horrible i felt that time. save for the hormonal emotional spurts, i was not in a Christmasy mood.

i don’t know, but somehow everything that has happened to me in the past year has made me a lot more responsible. not just because i’m required to, but there’s that earnest feeling of having to step up my game in anything that i do. that i have to be reasonable always, and that i don’t just answer to myself, but to mia also.

sometimes i miss being a carefree, anything-goes kind of person. even in shopping! a while ago i was out trying to finish my gift list (midnight sale at Araneta Center’s malls — Gateway and SM) and i can’t seem to enjoy it. maybe because i keep thinking i have to finish early so i can get back to take care of mia. i’m pretty sure she’s not going to sleep early again because she has a habit of waiting up for me sometimes. or maybe because i have to carefully watch how i spend my Christmas bonus because you know, there are just more important stuff to buy.

i can feel peter pan and tinkerbell sprinkling pixie dust on me. hehe. but well, many things are inevitable to happen, and taking more responsibility is one of them. i don’t regret anything i’ve done in the past, except maybe for some mistakes, but i’d like to take a break from all the hype now. all this rationalizing is making it even worse. i’m going back to that anything-goes mood. albeit a little more mature now.

i’ll be sharing some great shopping finds next time. i’ll also be featuring a new post category, which doesn’t have a title yet and whose concept is still in the works. watch out for it.

3 years ago, i started a christmas wishlist of the things that i need and want. the wants won more than the needs, so it was really more of a wish list that asked not for the heavens (you’ll be surprised), but for little practical things. here it is, but it’s not going to be in order anymore since priorities have changed. hehe.

ris’christmas wishlist from 2 years back (and my comments a year ago)

#001 pilot g-tech pen, .04 i got this a few years back, and i actually prefer using pencils now than pens, so scratch this

#002 016 il mare, my sassy girl, windstruck dvds –>yep, still as is but this will probably go down the list#003002 nike shox/air unify –>oh yeah
#004 the devil wears prada book –>got this already
#005 nike watch–>this one too, but not from nike, though
#006 nokia 7610 6270/6280
#007 nokia hands-free set –>got this one along with my phone last year
#008 Gokab Puto Special
#009 any graphic novel book
#010 any gaiman book (except american gods)
#011 coleman lunch box
#012 someone to sing me a nice song –>hehe
#013 someone to hug for Christmas
#014 nice new speakers for my pc
#015 a cd of the shorts that i helped/starred in (*hint hint*) –>paging ruthie and wawel…

and for this year’s new list…
#017 world peace (i can’t be entirely selfish can i?)
#018 the postman (il postino) soundtrack –>thanks to one good being

and now the 2007 rehashed-yet-again wishlist:

i got the Nike Shox ODrive (in black) i wanted thanks to my generous aunt and uncle who treated the boys (my cousins, all 15 of them i think!) each to a nike shopping spree. and where does my nike shox come in? i was luckily one of those who just tagged along and received early pamasko. that’s the picture right there, except that the columns and the accents on mine are blue-green. hehe. anyway.

1. il mare, my sassy girl, windstruck dvds - still need to scour quiapo for these
2. technomarine watch
3. iPhone or Nokia N82
4. bibingka from a particular store in Dasma, Cavite
5. stil, a collection of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels
6. a cd of the shorts that i helped/starred in - i still don’t have this! oi wuthie and wawel, please make my day
7. a nice big bag for mia’s stuff and mine for when going out
8. a new laptop that’s loaded with the right stuff, i’m still thinking if i should go Mac
9. transfer of all my Betamax and VHS video collection of classic Disney cartoons to DVD (yes, i have loads) for Mia
10. a shopping spree at Fully Booked or National Bookstore - now how geeky is that?
11. a shopping spree on Amazon.com

i’m actually having a hard time filling in my wish list even up to 15. my wants have drastically changed since a long time ago when all i had to think about was myself, then my family second. yes i admit i was a bit selfish and materialistic before. although my self-purpose was always about my family, i still only had to worry about myself.

after having Mia, it becomes a different story. now, all i want for her is to be there for her, 24/7 if possible. but i have to work, and not even for myself, but for her. talk about change. i don’t even want material things for Mia, but a good childhood and that I become a good parent to her as God intends. so no matter what stuff i list up there, they will never equal the worth of what I’m going to ask the Lord for. and He knows what it is.

let’s pray it’ll be a more fruitful 2008 for all of us.

mia decides to show mommy her skills at 5 in the morning. for the longest time since mia learned to crawl she has been doing it on her tummy. as in she pulls herself around with her arms and a little push from her legs. i don’t know if it’s just a preemie thing to do though. but this morning, after waking up twice in the middle of the night for milk, she explored the room on all fours.

imagine how happy (and groggy) i was to see her crawling around. i’ve been teaching her how to do that but she won’t; i guess she’ll just put them to use when she wants to. and now she sits up on her own too. yey! mia scores again.

so now she’s found herself more mobile, she just grabs anything she can to stand herself up. we wrestle most of the time before going to bed because she just won’t quit. but of course i’m not complaining even if it’s at 5 a.m.

that’s her first baby laptop that her ninong joel and tita sadel gave her for her 1st birthday. i told myself not to buy mia anything electronic while growing up (or maybe until 12) because i wanted her to play with clay, Lego, and even sticks and stones to develop her creativity and imagination more. you can guess that’s how i grew up but then again, toys are gifts and who knows, mia might grow up to be a techie person more than her mom is. you just don’t know how much intelligence and behavior is evolving these days with the proliferation of media and technology into our daily lives. and being a mom, of course you only want the best for your kid.

maybe the one thing that i really won’t let her play with are video games. not until she’s twelve maybe. i wouldn’t say she’ll be deprived because my brothers and i didn’t grow up in front of the tv and look how we turned out. real bad. hehe kidding. but really, i don’t regret our parents bringing us up the way they did. and i think i’m finding myself adopting their discipline with mia. but maybe with a little difference when she reaches her teens. i think all parents naman have their ideals when it comes to raising their kids, and it’s usually because of how they were raised. as for me, i just pray i do a good job.

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a beautiful little princess whose name is Mia. She was a joy to everyone who saw her, a jem in her mommy’s eyes, and the delight of her grandparents.

Hehe. The birthday party was a success. We did go to far far away land, but more like we drove there. (more…)

pahabol, before i  log off for a while until next week. it’s mia’s bday celebration tomorrow (her real bday’s on the 20th)  and we’re flying off to Far Far Away Land for her party
she’s starting to learn standing up on her own (finally!) with anything she can reach and hold on to. it’s quite a bit hard to take her down every time when i’m putting her to bed, though. still, i’m proud of  mia.

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barely 3 days to go before mia’s first birthday party and i still don’t have paper bags to pack the goodies with. i haven’t found any, which is mostly because i haven’t really looked hard; i’ve no time to go to the mall save for lunch break, but that’s not enough if i go to megamall or robinsons galleria. instead, i tried looking in tiendesitas, but to no avail. (i ended up buying stuff for me and my mom tuloy).

anyway, if you have ideas about where and how i can get nice (and cheap) goodie bags, i would really really appreciate it.

tapos the food pa! my mom and i have planned what to serve on mia’s birthday, but of course we still have to buy the ingredients since we weren’t able to get the cook sana.  i really have to go on leave tomorrow.

panic, panic! hehe

happy tired 

yup you read that right, i’m tired but happy. just got over that weekend hangover with mia and some friends. i just had to pay a really high price for having fun. i got bedridden-sick last sunday and had to stay home till yesterday and i thought i had dengue. the fever’s gone now, but i’m still feeling a bit sluggish (and my insides aren’t that all functioning well) so i might have something else.

anyway, i finally tested my supermommy powers to see how far i can go with just mia and me. i thought, ‘this is a piece of cake. i’ll just put her on her stroller and push her around’. by the time we got to leslie’s i was a bit on my nerve’s ends because mia wouldn’t sit still on her high chair and would grab anything within her reach.

or, she would reach out to mommy to take her somewhere else where she can see the dancing lights and tree leaves a little closer. mariel, tin, and jeff tried to be the sub but mia wouldn’t last that long with anyone else because she wanted mommy, mommy, mommy!

i did manage to enjoy the bulalo, bangus belly, and lechon kawali i really had to be a party pooper afterwards for asking to go home because i was really tired by then. we didn’t even stay for coffee anymore to wait for one of our other friends, aurie.

lesson learned? never dare to tag the little one along on long trips without a certified untiring yaya (like lola). hehe

love DSL?

finally we got broadband internet. yeah yeah you can call me ancient for getting dsl this late when everybody’s up to wireless broadband already! me and my cousins finally decided to split the bill to have everyone connected to pldt myDSL. they bought a router and finally tested it last night. it works! i was asleep (trying to, actually) already, though, so i wasn’t able to test if the wifi works on my laptop.

by the time i post this entry, i would’ve found out already

after one night and one day…

and yeah, i did find out that it sucks. either that, or we’re just trying to troubleshoot the connections by ourselves and we suck. my cousin who’s already techie enough couldn’t figure out what else is wrong with my network settings. para sa mga hindi techie, you’d know how i feel. gusto ko ng itapon sa labas tong laptop ko.

news bit #1: stonefreak!

had a really great time catching up with 2 friends, onee and joey, at shangri-la last night. i had to meet up with ons because i’m the lucky one who gets to surprise them with two avps for their wedding in january. though ’surprise’ isn’t exactly what onee would want for her perfect wedding, so i guess i’ll be having the first screening for her first. good times.

and of course me being at the shang means there is an ulterior motive. just a secret, but i really wanted us to meet there because stonefree was playing. *wide grin*. loved the band’s rendition of beautiful girls (originally by jojo and this dude…).

i miss watching live bands, really. i think the last time i was at a concert was in UP pa. Ang tagal na non! *hay* i miss the feeling of being in the middle of a crowd with pounding music especially when the act’s not a show band. good music, good times.

newsbit #2: lights, camera, action!

there’s a tv commercial shoot right out there on our dead-end street.  

it was a little bit irritating because as early as 530am they were banging those metal things around and mia naturally woke up because of all the ruckus. i mean, they can’t just come parading into people’s sleeping neighborhoods can they? ano ngayon kung shooting pa yan nung kung sinong pontio pilato? i mean, for us who have sleeping babies, it’s just not appreciated much. pero in fairness, maganda yung model ng tvc.

direk erik matti: “cut! i loove-et!”

newsbit #3: exhausted

and because mia was awake really early, i didn’t have to meme her to sleep again around 10.

she just did while playing with her milk bottle. hehe

newsbit #4: letters from the crypt, este, highschool

i was cleaning old stuff in my room and i came across these letters from way back in highschool from my bestfriend, nat.

and i just realized how fun it was to write letters with your own hands back then and you found even the littlest pieces of scrap to write on. those letters don’t even have any of the “important and adult” stuff in them like, “To whom it may concern”, “Cc:”, or something like,

This is in clarification of the note sent earlier at 0900 hours during English class regarding plans of extended bonding hours at the mall. Will it be suffice to provide 5 minutes after class before proceeding with the activity? The undersigned is concerned that some academic authorities might intercept the plan and have them undergo extreme detention penalties for said assignation. Please advise.

that would be very scary. imagine if we were all adult-thinking when we were in highschool. true, a lot of teenage pregnancies would have been prevented, and a lot of adolescent angst would’ve been non-existent, but it would’ve been utterly boring.

newsbit #5: my frustration

so while i’m at it, i unearthed some story boards i did for an advertising class back in college. i loved that class. i especially loved my prof, since he always gave good grades (and i mean i keep getting 1.0’s hehe). i learned a lot, so that’s not all bola. actually that’s when i decided i wanted to go into marketing or advertising when i graduated. 

i really want to produce this still. those papers aren’t really much, after all, i’m not a good artist, but i really think they’re good. (hehe love your own). it’s just one location per story so not that much off-site production. all my friends are in the film/advertising industry so what if i bring this up with them no? tamang-tama over coffee in tagaytay

direk iris: “cut! ano ba yan dingdong, ayusin mo naman!”

 :)

newsbits

got my N70 back from the Nokia Center and cost me six hundred ten bucks of what was left of my already-diminished pay. tsk. but it’s working now so i can take pictures of mia and the road again. lesson learned: don’t leave your cell phone out on the beach with only a knitted little pouch to protect it from sand and water.

found neil gaiman’s journal on the web from one of the blogs i lurked in. brilliant, brilliant work i tell you. i love his style, his imagination, the worlds he create. in one of his blog posts, he talks about his story plots like they were live beings; they run around until what he started with end up differently. and this, my friend, is a fascinating take on best loved nursery rhymes.

slight problem

i have this ‘problem’ with mia, my little girl, who is growing cuter and more adorable by the day, but quite the feisty little girl she’s becoming.

i think i have the common working mother’s dilemma. 12 hours a day i spend away from mia so just about when she’s starting to recognize who the important people in her life are and i’m not there most of the time, i’m a bit worried. she still knows me, of course, but lately when i tell her to come to mommy, she’d rather amuse herself with other colorful little things, or if my mother is nearby she clamors for her instead.

(not that i wouldn’t want my mom to be close to her.) i just want mia to know that i’m still her mommy and mommy’s always welcome to get smiles and hugs and kisses from her. i’m worried that i might be away so much that she won’t come running to me when i get home.

tell me, am i having valid mommy fears or am i overreacting? i know none of child psychology stuff so i just don’t know how to deal with this. i’m hoping she (and i) grows out of it soon. or do you?

not long ago, i blogged about mia falling from the bed while sleeping. just this morning, she fell higher than that — from our countertop table. it was my mom who was with her since i was already at work. they were having breakfast when my mom — just for a nanosecond — left her sitting there alone. she wasn’t really far from mia, and it happened in a split second.

my mom said it was like one moment she was sitting there and the next she was right over the other side already, on the floor. she really didn’t see mia fall from the table, nor did she hear anything. parang nag-vanishing act lang si mia.

so there she was on the floor crying, but with no scratch or bruise on her, not even a bump on her head. my mom was actually panicking when she called me on my cellphone and told me to come home. she was short of fainting na daw. (nerbyosa talaga mom ko eh, and this is the 2nd time mia had an ‘incident’ with her). but thankfully, mia’s acting normally and there’s nothing really wrong with her.

i couldn’t help but cry a little on my way home because i was so worried that something might happen to mia, but i guess God did answer my prayers. every night i always pray that He take care of her when and even if i can’t. that mia doesn’t get sick or that being a premature baby, she grows up well and healthy like any kid. i tell Him that i can’t always be there, not even my family, to watch out for her so i just put my trust in someone who’s a better guardian than i am.

usually, the prayer is really more for me because with it i learn how to trust like a child. it’s really one way to not put hope in myself or in other people (though that’s not a bad thing) entirely but to know that my faith in someone not bound by any empirical definition works.

for other people that’s not acceptable. they are the captains of their ships and the masters of their souls. but i guess if there’s anything to be learned here, when you discover faith in Him, He will always keep His promise no matter how disfunctional or flawed or wrong you are most of the time. it’s just a matter of trust like a child really. it’s when you have no worries because you know your Father’s hand hold yours and He will never let go.

so maybe He really did want me to learn a lesson. and maybe it really was His hand that caught mia when she fell this morning.

 wasn’t much of a boxing fan, but i think ever since pacquiao glamourized the sport at least here in the philippines, i’ve been able to watch his matches (thanks to my dad and 2 brothers; even my mom watches avidly). so, it’s not at all hard to be very proud of the one man who brings down the cime rate in a single day, and who makes both rich and poor equals in front of the television. ironic no? that this man’s the only one who does it.

anyway. congratulations to us for hoisting the flag up once more in a foreign land. naawa naman ako kay barrera. if you go, you really should go out with a bang. it was supposed to be his pre-retirement victory. but one thing that really set pacquiao apart from him is humility. we all saw how the guy landed a rather frustrated punch at manny after the referee calls it. if he knew that he was going to lose to manny in his final game, after promising that he will beat him, he should’ve just kept to a good clean fight. i actually lost some respect for the eight-time boxing champ.

but then again he hasn’t got filipino respect, so let’s just give it to him. hail manny pacquiao.

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in other news, gusto ko lang sabihin na ang kulit-kulit ni mia. she’s so likot, when she sees me on my laptop she just can’t help but join in. but i don’t mind

and yup, we sleep on the floor now, just to make sure she doesn’t have any more night-time accidents. mia likes being done up. hehe. when i put on her sunglasses, a headband, or a bonnet, she doesn’t even mind.

cute no?

wala lang, i just remembered you with this song.

Only two more days, until your birthday
Yesterday was mine
You’ll be turning five
I know what it’s like, growing up without your father in your life
So I pretend, I’m doing all I can
And I hope someday you’ll find it in your heart

To understand
Why I’m not around
And forgive me for not being in your life

I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Remember waiting there to find nothing at all
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Waiting there to find nothing at all

maybe someday
you really get to know me
not just the letters read to you
I pray I get the chance
To make it up to you
We got a lot of catching up to do

So I pretend, I’m doing all I can
And hope someday you’ll find it in your heart

To understand
Why I’m not around
And forgive me for not being in your life

I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Remember waiting there to find nothing at all
I remember waiting
For you to come
Remember waiting
For you to call
Waiting there to find nothing at all

Forgive me!
I’m so sorry!
I will make it up to you….

—–

november 20, 2006

 found a site that sells all sorts of posters online. ang cuuuute! lalo na yung mga vintage nila. this is now the stuff you’ll find on my desktop.

—– 

a friend of mine is getting married in january (actually there are 2 of them) and has asked me to do their avps. i really don’t mind; i even volunteered for the job because the couple are my good friends. in times like these, i just can’t help but be nostalgic and a little sentimental over a lot of things.

theirs is actually a very nice story. it wasn’t exactly a fairy tale in the beginning, but it was in the end. so now i’m thinking how best to do justice to their love story. pressure! isipin ko nalang, kung ako ang nagpagawa ng avp sa friend ko, kung ano ang gusto kong makita at ma-feel pag pinanood ko yon.

sana magawa ko ng maayos dahil baka maiyak lang ako habang ginagawa ko yung avp. hehehe.

—–

if mia fell (not the movie)

mia fell from the bed for the first time last saturday night. we were both asleep then, and a soft thump woke me up. para akong may spring sa likod dahil bigla akong napaupo. buti nalang she fell on the big pillow that actually should have prevented her from falling off the side of the bed. thing is, she was so likot that she probably kicked the pillow off the side. mia cried but not so much and she wasn’t really hurt, buti nalang.

note to self: tuck her in more safely next time. she can climb over pillows now (yey!) and leaving her on the bed even for brief periods of time can prove to be really risky now. especially that babies have no sense of depth yet at this age. she can also crawl under the bed, pero di siya marunong lumabas

we’ll be baby proofing the house pretty soon!

—–

where do i find a ran online cd? do you get it for free?