A matter of (good) perspective

Life can be challenging at times, especially if you’re a Pinoy. Yes, you read it right. If you are a true-blooded pinoy/pinay living in seemingly chaotic/problematic country like Philippines, there is not much to expect. Negative news and negative remarks, you can hear and see all over the TV and newspapers; morning after morning, even before you swallow your first sip of coffee.

So have you heard? Lay offs and (Legacy) scandals. Better that you’ve not heard of it. It’s not going to make you feel good, trust me. And here is definitely not going to make you feel any better: Extremists threaten to behead red Cross hostage. (If you haven’re heard about this news, go to the link.)

A gunfight between our military men and Abu Sayyaf rebels has been taking place for several days now. And it will take long before it will end. Has it been going on for decades now? I’m not quite sure. Better check our history books. But more likely than not, this war in Mindanao has been existing long before I was born.

By the way, I also read somewhere else (I can’t remember) that US recession will be “in the air” for another year. Good Lord! I think lay offs are here to stay longer than we expected.

Good thing, we Filipinos are fighters, overcomers. If you’d ask Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ninoy Aquino, they would probably tell you to be brave and fight for what is right for you: either write a book,or labor till you sweat with blood, or go to other country and make a living, then come back if you have saved enough. The result would be nationwide awareness, freedom, indignation. In short, we Filipinos are genius at making things work for the better. We are known for our very long patience. We waited more than 300 years to get to a free country status that we have now. So I’m very sure, we can make ends meet. We can get by.

After all, it’s just a matter of believing that everything is going to be alright. This, too, shall pass.

PS: Have you heard? Manny Pacquiao has given ABS CBN the right to cover his future fights, leaving GMA7 “angry”. Hmm… network war, Pacman.. now that’s what an average Pinoy call “good” news.

How are you doing?

I’ve been “away” from the worlds (here and out there) for some time now, more or less a month of placidness and silence. Though I did drop a few comments on some of my friends, I could still feel and see myself “not moving” my body and wanting to just sleep rather than work. My wry smiles and grim humor have made me look a bit older, with obvious manifestations on my very dry insipid hair and pimpled imperfect face. Yes, worries and stress could make one ugly and old. I was not spared.

With the momentarily jobless status of my hubby and my shaken credibility and competence at work, I could hardly think of pleasing thoughts and happy activities. In times like this, I try not to be affected, really, but the magnanimous impact of these recent events in my life is taking its toll quite victoriously. However mighty and courageous I am to fight this particular life’s battle, exhaustion and negativity are too forceful in their goal to tumble me down. Yes, I am bent a little awkwardly, but my head is still far from the ground, my feet are still glued toward the earth, and my head is refusing to lose this battle.

My hubby just signed a new contract with a new company (a call center again). It’s been 4 days now since his first day at work. He will undergo a month of training before he could finally go live on the floor. On a daily basis, he eagerly tells me how the training went that day and how he passed the oral exam and so on. As a wife who silently, for a time being, doubted his capability to raise a young family, I am glad and pleased with his new serious determined effort to regain himself and prove to me once more that he is indeed “my man”. I could sense his enthusiasm to excel; his wounded pride has begun its healing process.

This man, my hubby, is “my man” through thick and thin. Let the whole world know that.

Meanwhile at work, my seemingly overzealousness has quite subsided. I know I am “now” doing better at work. One of my bosses approached me and told me that it’s not my fault “entirely”. The client is making criticisms unfavorably in order for them to have a suave exit. Yes, they want to pull out the project I am handling alone (other projects are being handled by more than one person). Why don’t they just say it directly and we’d be good? Fortunately, their wanting out is not because of my “errors” but because of cost-cutting. Somehow, I felt a bit vindicated.

Just this morning, a colleague asked me how am I doing. I just replied sheepishly, “Oh, I am doing great. Thanks for asking”.

How about you, how are you doing?

Missing in action

It’s been awhile since my last post. I have had a lot going on like most people do, plus the fact that I have an infant to take care of, which spells a huge difference. I’ve been stressed out from work because of the recent “errors” I’ve heedlessly committed. Much to my dismay, there were a lot of them; more than my 2 hands can count. My bosses were expectedly disappointed (and so was I), hence my now “zealousness” at work slightly exhaust my mind. The remaining energy I still possess after work is consumed by my baby boy who is now 71/2 months old. What is left for writing is nada.

In addition, the news from hubby 2 weeks ago made me so worried. He was laid off from work because their client pulled out the project sooner than expected. I know that God’s resources are countless and that alone should have pacified and calmed me, which did not. Yet true enough, after just 1 week of waiting, he is now employed again. This and the above-mentioned work stress have resulted in this month-long hiatus from blogging.

I missed blogging and blog-hopping as well as my blogger friends. I am very sure that they have tons of posts that I failed to read. Sadly, this “busy mode” might continue on until I am able to regain my confidence at work and the trust of my superiors, not to mention my own peace of mind. However, I would still insert some thoughts/stories from time to time as well as visit other blogs and drop a comment or two if time and energy permit me.

For the meantime, let me give you this picture to inspire you (and me as well).

God bless you all!

I gracefully accept this award…

Mommy Chris gave me an awesome award! I wanna thank Mommy Chris fot this award. She is a wonderful woman whose blog has become one of my favorite sites. I love her blog because there is nothing in there that gave me an unpleasant feeling. Positivity and praises are it’s main core. Sharing pictures and thoughts toward motherhood has become easy for me because her blog openhandedly allows any mom blogger to do such with delight and dignity.

Do visit her blog. You won’t regret doing so, that’s for sure 🙂

A mother’s concern

There has been a debate going on between what really transpired in LUST open party held on January 16, 2009, at Greenmeadows. The said party was organized by Poveda third-year high. school students.
A letter from Mrs. Celine Piezas, mother of Marcel, was all over the net. Marcel, a second-year Ateneo student, was mauled by a group of high school students. Read this. Then a rhetoric letter was also made by STOYA kids who defended the misbehaviour and it goes like this:

Here’s the whole story, we’ll try to keep it as short as possible:
So most of you know what happened in Lust. An Atenean got beaten up for molesting a girl (correct us if we’re wrong, but this isn’t what the entry is about). We all know stuff like these are BOUND to happen but when your parents call up your school to complain, things get ugly.
The school started investigating on students who were involved in organizing parties. As soon as we heard the news, we approached that sophomore and told him to tell his parents that we HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT BECAUSE THAT WAS THE TRUTH. Surprisingly, this only added to the flames as his parents felt that their son was being threatened. OBVIOUSLY, all our names popped out together with the Asylum people once the investigation began. Since we never had started GM-ing Nitro, the school decided to interrogate our brothers in 3rd year, leaving us on the sideboard. They were threatened to be expelled and what not, but after they talked to several people (parents, school officials, you name it), they replied with letters explaining that open parties are obviously out of their hands but once trouble happens in these said events, the organizers will be forced to take full responsibility facing charges from BOTH the school and parents.
It’s our graduating year and EVEN THOUGH FIGHTS NEVER HAPPEN IN OUR PARTIES, we wouldn’t want to take risks. Rumors say that school officials and parents plan on dismissing/expelling us if we pursue Nitro as to set an example of how not to treat the last days in high school.
We would like you to know that one of the things we are most proud of would be the crowd in our parties. We love you guys ’til death! The guys don’t fight, the girls actually aren’t all KJ and snobby. You make us smile and give us our daily energy; all the words of encouragement and positive feedback.
HOWEVER, it can only take ONE person to destroy a party. All he/she needs to do is to tell his/her parents to call up the school, name names and say drugs or what not has been going around. Also, the police can always be ordered to go to a party to end it. We all know for a fact that it’s illegal to drink at such an age. We’re just disappointed something like this had to happen for something not big at all. Pucha, everyday people DIE due to far more worse incidents than mere fist fights and now people start making this such a HUGE deal since it happened to someone close to them? Parties have been going on since FOREVER which is precisely why we can’t see why this had to happen NOW. We have no other intention but to have FUN when we host parties so don’t call us insensitive and immoral for promoting alcohol under the age of 18. You’ve never had a shot of vodka or a cold glass of beer? Don’t be a hypocrite and lie. It’s part of high school, face the fact! We are given the CHOICE (hence the name OPEN party) whether to drink or not. Also, It’s the parents’ choice to allow their children to go and do these things so if you have a problem with parties, don’t allow your children. It’s as simple as that! Don’t go around whining and complaining how evil the young adolescents of the Philippine society are today. You just cannot see yourselves 40 years from now telling your friends, “Pare, naalala mo ba nung nasa highschool tayo nung nag perfect ako sa Math quiz?” That’s complete bullshit. Chances are most of you will be talking about the first time you smoked up, got drunk, or kissed your crush.
Enough with the hate towards them; Who are we to say what’s right from wrong? It’s not how the world works and there isn’t much we can do.
The bottom line is: We STILL need to follow the rules because we chose to study in this school. STOYA has decided not to push through with Nitro or any other party ’til further notice due to an incident blown way out of proportion.
This completely saddens us as we never intended to make things this way. We obviously still want to make parties. HECK, Valle Verde 4 was already paid for and our Greenmeadows reservation (Expulsion 2) for April 3 has been set. SAYANG. We planned to get SOBERCLUB, ELATION AND PARTY FUEL for our last party as a thank you present to all our supporters and friends! Our dreams of creating 7 parties in 12 months are most likely not to push through! Eight if you would even include Dipsomania. Although it would be too early to say that this would be the end for STOYA’s parties, We would like to thank you all for supporting us and hearing us out! Just remember that life is such a precious gift so we should all make the most out of it.
To sum it all up, people will never believe in the same things. This is what makes Earth a more challenging yet exciting place to live in. A famous quote goes, “If you want to fail, try pleasing everyone.” But what’s important is that you believe in something and stand by it, and we believe in creating the best parties which will make your high school stay a one worth remembering! With the school and parents breathing down our necks, doing this has become immensely difficult and one thing we surely don’t believe in is making half-assed parties. Once again, we’d like to thank you for all of your support, this isn’t the last you’ve heard from STOYA…we’ll all be 18 and legal next school year anyway. 🙂
Repost this entry if you wish.
We’re kinda sad now but you can cheer us up by bringing ALL YOUR FRIENDS to ASYLUM on FEB 20 in the GREENMEADOWS CLUBHOUSE. Naghahatak kami ’til death and we can guarantee a minimum of 500 people. :> So, congrats in advance, Blacklist! Libre after ah. =P

Much love,
STOYA ’08-’09

Because investigation is still going on (hopefully) and there is no reported actions by the authorities yet (the soonest possible I hope), I cannot go beyond beyond what Marcel’s mother’s concern. I sympathize with her. She has the right to do what she did. After all, she is a mother; a mom has to do what a mom has to do, right?

With this latest event, I could hardly imagine the lifestyle teenagers of today have. As a mother, I feel alarmed with the things and activities they are engaging themselves into, particularly of the following:

(1) alcohol
(2) sex
(3) violence
(4) illegal drugs
(5) language profanity/obscenity

Although my son is still few years away from going to school, I am already intently listing my criteria in choosing a good school. But nowadays, we cannot count on our school system. Even those that are labeled “reputable” and “catholic” schools are blemished by intentional wrongdoings of its students. There is no such guarantee anymore.

As a first-time parent, I am confused as to how I would like my child to grow up. What kind of discipline I should impose? When do I say no and when do I say yes to his pleadings? Should I practice “spank” discipline and be labeled as abusive parent? Is it really true that the way a child acts is a reflection of the kind of parents he/she has? These are just a few of the many things that concern me. Parenthood is indeed a complex job!

I hope parents of today would realize how important and crucial the role we play in our children’s lives. They see us everyday. Let us give them a strong and unshakeble foundation – God’s words.

A case of childhood and fatherhood in one

Alfie Pattern, a 13-year-old boy from Britain, has become a father to baby Maisse Roxanne, weighing 7 lbs 3 oz. His girlfried Chantelle Steadman was 15 when she got pregnant. She said, “We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now. We will be good, loving parents.”

I do not know if I should believe this but it’s all over the net and has been the talk in mommy (and daddy) forums. At first I thought this is another hoax by those people who want either money or fame, or even both! However, if this is really true (I hope not!), I feel sad for the two adolescents and the newborn

Alfie is just a child. How could a child raise another child? Look at his frail small body. He barely looks 10, let alone 13! I can’t imagine him working hard to earn money so he could provide for his baby. When asked about how he could support the baby financially, Alfie answered: “What’s financially?” He is indeed a child in body and mind!

The world’s changing society is becoming “broken” indeed as the news call it. The parents of these two children should have protected them from the celebrity-like life the two have now. It used to be that this kind of “shame” was being kept secret in the family. The same “shame” is now being “shown” to the world, publicly announced for profit? A sad reality in life. I hope baby Maisse would grow up in a loving and supportive family. A young family could still “grow” to be God-fearing and not “broken.” There is still hope. Let’s pray for this new-breed family as well as for our children. They may grow up and come to know that this “world” of ours is still the best place to live in.

Top 3 meme

I was tagged! Thanks Mommy Chris.

Three Names that (blogosphere)Friends Call You:
– OMM
– ohmymama
– mama

Three Most Important Dates in your Life:
– Nov 28
– Sept 25
– July 24

Three Things You’ve Done in the Last 30 Minutes:
– visited other blogs and dropped comments
– went to the office
– called my yaya at home to check on my baby

Three Ways to be Happy Even your at Home:
– play with my baby
– read a book, mostly baby books
– talk to my hubby

Three Gifts You Would Like to Receive:
– cash (lol!), so that I could by
– new clothes and shoes
– plane tickets for me, OMB, and hubby to any beach resort

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies:
– i used to love to play badminton, but since i cant find time
– i just stay at home and play with OMB and when he’s sleeping, i turn on our computer
– and surf the net 🙂

Three Places You Want to go for a Vacation:
– boracay
– bohol
– bikol (my hubby’s hometown)

Three Favorite Drinks:
– cold water
– pine apple juice
– coffee

Three Things Found in Your Bag:
– right now im work so i brought my breastpump with me
– wallet
– cellphone

Three Favorite Colors:
– green
– blue
– white

Top Three Hangouts:
– like ive said, i usually stay at home
– when im not at home, im at work
– then i go to the malls only when necessary

Top Three You Love so Much:
– my God
– my family
– my friends

Top Three You Think Will Answer this Survey:
– you
– you
– you (fill free to grab this meme :))

Top Three Things Special To You:
– my breastpump
– cell phone
– my digicam

Top Three Reasons Why You Answered This Survey:
– i was tagged
– wanna share few info about myself
– i love answering personal questions, and this one is fun!

A love letter to my baby

Today’s Mommy Moments theme is “love letter”, that is, a love letter of your child(ren) or your love letter to your child(ren). Because OMB is only 6 months old, he could not write yet (obviously, but it’s just a matter of months more lol!). I opted to do the latter option, with the help and guidance of my hubby (of course!) 🙂

Dear OMB,

Ever since you came out into this world, I’ve become a new person. This person that I am now is a better version of me. I’ve become patient, loving, compassionate, understanding, responsible, and more focused. All these because of you. You, my little boy, brought out the best in me, qualities that I once thought not part of my being. You made me love myself more. You are the main reason why I feel joy in my heart everyday. You made me understand that I need to be happy; now I have a reason to value my life and my work — you gave me direction, you gave me light, you gave me color. I am falling inlove with you every single day. I am looking forward to each passing day, the early morning sunshine, with you in my arms. I have loved you even before you become you. I love you now and forever.

With more love,
Nanay and Tatay

A lovely award… thank you!

I started this blog because primarily I want to have a venue to rant, muse, share, inform, and be informed. Along the way, I found other blogs who have the same “feel”, and then I started to find myself fascinated by how excited and proud these bloggers are about what they have and what they become after giving birth.

I am fortunate enough to have few of them who come by and drop a comment or two. even more fortunate to have bestowed an award — the Love Ya award.

These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who can choose eight more and include this text into the body of their award.

Yes, this lovely lovely (can I say it one more time, LOVELY) award was given to me by Chris and Twinkie, two mommies who graciously thought I deserve this. LOL! What can I say, THANK YOU so much. This award is the very first one I have ever received since I started this blog. Who would have thought other mommy bloggers would notice this side of my world.

I have a long list in my blogroll but to tell you the truth, there are just few of them who happen to become my “net-friends”. So I would just have to let this award be grabbed by anyone in the list. Feel free to do so 🙂

Roses on Valentine’s day, anyone?

Love is really in the air. I went to the market the other day and guess what I saw. Flowers! Lots of them along the road. Red, pink, and white roses are mostly the bestsellers. Roses being lined up, in bouquets and in long stem, made me stood in awe and just looked at them in admiration. Then I thought to myself, “Gee, how come I like roses now?”

Actually, dear readers (there are about 5 of you I guess lol!), I do like flowers. Why not? They are nice to look at. A rose is a symbol of love, passion, and romance. Any woman would love to receive a bouquet of roses especially from a loved one. Any guy knows that. All men, except my hubby!

Would you believe that eversince I met my hubby (OMH), he has never given me a gift of flowers on any occassion? Probably never for a Valentine gift. “I’m just not that type, baby.” This is his line whenever this kind of topic pops up in one of those conversations when (for only a few episodes) I’m feeling a bit unappreciated and unnoticed, and then I would inject a statement like this: “I missed accepting flowers as a gift.” He would just shrug it off and would unsurprisingly come up with an excuse like this: “But you told me when we were just going out as friends you hate accepting flowers on Valentine’s day. You said it’s so jologs.” When he starts sounding like this, trying to justify his lack of romance in his blood, I would just give in and nonchalantly change the topic.

Ok. A little confession here. I used to dislike flowers (take note: past tense), especially during Valentine’s day. I had a suitor who gave me a bouquet of red roses at the mall on our date. I thought I looked stupid carrying flowers while walking inside a mall on valentine’s day! Hence, my dislike on flowers during heart’s day. Reasonable enough? For me, yes.

So when I met OMH. I somehow “accidentally” gave him an impression that I didn’t want to receive flowers on heart’s day. But I fell (still inlove) inlove with him. Everything was(is) nice and easy, light and sweet, blue skies and colorful flowers (that’s it!).

Sigh. OMH took it seriously. Instead of flowers, he gifted me chocolates, books, clothes, nice dinner, kisses, hugs. Not bad at all, of course! No complaints on those things. None whatsoever.

But flowers, roses specifically, are romantic. The touchy-feely essence of it is something else. The “love, passion, and romance” character of a rose is best magnified during heart’s day, and what’s great way to feel loved and special is through receiving a bouquet of roses this February 14, am I right?

The truth of the matter is, after all these nonsensical narration and divulging on the essence of roses, this post is actually made with an intention of “coercing” OMB to buy me flowers (ha!ha!ha!). I hope he gets to read this before Feb 14 and be able to get the (OBVIOUS) message.

To OMB, if you’re reading this: Don’t you dare give me that I’m-not-the-type excuse. OK baby?

Musing with a song

There is one particular song that has been refusing to leave my head the whole day today. It’s the song my hubby used to sing to OMB at night before OMB dozes off.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high.
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.
Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops.
That’s where you’ll find me.
Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow,
Why then – oh, why can’t I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow,
Why, oh, why can’t I?

Eversince my hubby started to work as a call center agent hence taking a graveyard shift, I was being compelled to sing that song to OMB for several nights now. It’s not working quite well. I guess my baby is missing his father’s voice, or perhaps, my voice is not soothing enough (my singing voice is bad, in short!).

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops. That’s where you’ll find me.

Oh! I am missing my husband so much. If only he could have a better day job… there, I’ve said my wish. I hope the stars heard me and would come by tonight as I sing a song of lullaby to my baby…

This is how it all started…

I am joining again Mommy Chris and other moms in friday’s Mommy Moments. Today’s theme is “Preggy Days.” Here it goes 🙂

Last year, I got pregnant by my boyfriend then of 2 years. We were a bit shocked at first because it was all unplanned. We were both not ready for the “responsiblities” the pregnancy entails. Although we’re both working, we did not have savings yet and the possibility of getting married was far from our minds. In short, we were just having a grand time being together and just having fun going to places and exploring new things. God has differrent plans for us, I guess.

I could remember how delighted OMH (ohmyhubby) and I were when we saw for the first time OMB (ohmybaby) moved his fist during an ultrasound. I didn’t even know how to look at him in the monitor, where was his head and where was his bottom, due to lack of imagination I guess.

The pregnant me continued to gain weight as months passed by. The more my belly got bigger, the greater excitement we felt. My first trimester was fantastic. I did not have the so-called “morning sickness”; no vomitting and no nausea.

preggy at 4 mos

Thankfully to God, the second and third trimester went by as wonderful as the first trimester.

preggy at 6 mos

My only problem was the pain in my pelvic area; every time I would move my legs, even when I put on my underwear, I felt an excruciating pain in that particular area. This occurred when I was nearing my 9th month. My OB-GYNE told me that it was due to the pressure of baby’s weight on my pelvic and also due to hormonal changes. I also had leg cramps for some days. But these things really did not bother me. What was worst for me was the melanin (over)production in my face, neck, underarms… wait come to think of it, I felt ugly because my whole body was so so dark! What happens to pregnancy glow supposedly to happen in all pregnant women? I guess, I was an exemption to the rule. Oh well!

so preggy at 9 mos

About 2 weeks before my due date, while I was at home munching on my second ensaymada, I felt a mild pain around my lower back down to my bottom. It was so mild that I thought I was just having Braxton Hicks. Then suddenly when I was about to stand up to get a glass of water, a small amount of “urine” (my water bag had broken,apparently) trickled. That was the time that I panicked a bit. I called my OB-GYNE about it. She said I need to go to the hospital as soon as possible. I callep up OMB in his office and told him I’m going to the hospital for an emergency checkup. At that time, a stubborn me thought that this was only a false alarm. I was elatedly wrong!

I went through a labor for only about 2 hours because I was losing amniotic fluid already. Otherwise, a dry labor would endanger my life as well as my baby’s life. So, at aroung 8:45, I delievered OMB via a C-section. Oh! It was my life’s greatest turning point, my life’s greatest achievement.

Pregnancy changes my view about women; we are tougher than men, ladies! Pregnancy made me realize that God indeed is magnificent for He made a woman’s body a vessel for another life. Pregnancy is indeed a journey, the most wonderful journey that any woman could ever travail. It is our gateway to more things, fantastic things to come.

With that, I want to impart this saying from an unknown author, “Pregnancy is a journey. At the end, a woman gives birth not only to a baby, but also to her own identity as a mother.”

To all pregnant moms, happy journey!

A proud moment for Filipinos

My hubby used to play tennis regularly. I’m very proud to say that he’s good at that particular sport, aside from badminton of course. He is a single-backhand player which, according to him, finds other tennis players quite difficult to do. That maybe the reason I got hooked in watching grandslam tennis games. And also the main reason I want OMB to be a great Filipino tennis player someday and follow the footsteps of big stars like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Nothing’s wrong with dreaming (super)big for your child, right? 🙂

In the recent Australian Cup in Melbourne, a first filipino player won a championship in the junior boys double. Francis Casey “Nino” Alcantara teamed up with Cheng Peng Hsieh of China and played really well in the finals. They performed their best and came out victoriously.

I say, let’s talk about him. This is another achievement for our country. I am so proud of him. I hope this is not Nino’s first and last win. It’s my dream to see him play in the men’s single someday. I cheer for Federer and fanatically watch every grandslam, I definitely wouldn’t miss watching a Filipino play tennis in the international scenes. Hurrah to you Nino!

Dilemma: budget for OMB’s birthday party

When I was living the glorious life of a single working woman, I used to think that parties are only for kids and adults. I always tell my friends, I wouldn’t throw a lavish party for my son’s first birthday, the way other moms do. Not me. When I was pregnant with OMB, I was thinking of only inviitng close friends and have a simple party at home.

Lo and behold! Six months after, I’m already lurking all mom forums and reading all blog entries about moms who threw birthday bash for their 1 year olds. I see all the balloon decorations, giant tykes, host and magicians, character cakes and cupcakes, lootbags and giveaways… Boy, I tell you, I am getting excited!

But wait, with all the crisis (eg, hoarding of gas tanks, closing of plants and factories, laying off of employees, etc) our nation has right now, how could OMH (ohmyhubby) and I have the “budget” for the party? Surely, we need more than a few thousands here and there to be able to come even near to a perfect party we want for our precious one. Is it practical to have such party this year? What is the reasonable amount or budget we should allot?

My head suddenly aches. I know, I should stop now.

Does your baby have colds?

Yes, OMB has been down with colds for 2 days now. Oh, all moms know how hard it is to take care of a sick baby, especially at night. OMB finds it hard to sleep longer than an hour. His nose is clogged and can’t breathe the way he would want it to be. He’d turn his side from left to right, and if he still not comfortable, he’d cry! My poor baby…

I’m breastfeeding him directly at night. His stuffy nose makes it harder for him to nurse. Fortunately, kellymom has answers to my problems.

*Keep baby as upright as possible. At night, try propping up on lots of pillows and nursing/sleeping semi-upright.

*The best thing you can do to help baby’s illness end quickly is to nurse often – that way she gets lots of the antibodies that your body is making to help her fight off the illness.

*Use saline drops (or breastmilk) & a rubber suction bulb to clear baby’s nose before nursing (if baby won’t tolerate the bulb syringe, then the saline drops/breastmilk alone should still help).

*Boil a pot of water (some moms use small crock pots/potpourri pots), remove from the stove and add a few drops of essential oil (for example, eucalyptus, sage or balsam), and let the scent permeate the air. This may help relieve some head congestion.

*Do NOT apply products containing peppermint oil, camphor or menthol on the face (especially in the nose) or chest of a baby or young child. There have been cases where the direct application of menthol or camphor products (for example, Vicks VapoRub™) to baby’s skin resulted in severe breathing difficulties or liver problems.

*If nothing else is helping, you might talk to baby’s doctor about trying a decongestant.

Taking care of a sick baby is hard. I think he got it from his dad, and then from me. It’s been 2 days and I haven’t slept longer than 4 hours! My eyes are puffy; my nose are runny. And I feel sleepy at work. Ugh!

First smile

Mommy Chris posted pictures of her kid’s first smile. I took that as an opportunity for me to “showcase” my OMB’s first smile.

Here’s OMB’s first smile ever!

OMB here was only a week old

This was taken when he was only a week old. I dunno if he is really smiling but what the heck! For me, he looked like he’s really smiling. Don’t you think so?

at 3 mos old

This is OMB at 3 months old. Surely now, he’s really smiling here, right?

Oh, these photos made me reminisce those sweet days from labor to delivery, to the first time I hold him, to those sleepless days and more. Indeed, pictures are good reminders that things definitely shall pass but not memories.

Frugal living is the way to be

I’ve posted about the economic problems our nation is facing. It is already a fact that a lot of filipinos are alarmed with its inevitability. We are not alone. Other countries are suffering from global economic meltdown. Even this we cannot do something about.

 

So what now?

 

I say, live frugally. Here’s how I’ve been combatting the crisis:

 

1) Buy second-hand (slightly damaged) clothes and appliances. I love going to the thrift shops or ukay-ukay. Just recently, I bought a G2000 long-sleeved polo for OMH (ohmyhubby) for only PhP150!

 

2) Minimize taking a cab/taxi. If it’s not that far or if I am not carrying a huge stuff, I take an FX or a jeepney to go to places. Come to think of it, the flagdown PhP35 is still much higher than the minimum fare of a jeepney or an FX, right? Think of the additional fare per kilometer; usually it would cost me a minimum of PhP100 everytime I go to a department store to buy our weekly groceries. Imagine how much I could save!

 

3) Go to your nearest local wet market places rather than mall market. Meats at wet market are fresher than those frozen meats we used to buy at a known mall’s hypermarket, and they are cheaper too!

 

4) Make one meal/viand for the whole day. This really works for us. The viand is already prepared in the morning since OMH and I are both working. It saves gas and prepping time.

 

5) Travel off seasons. Usually, the rates are much lower. OMH and I went to Bohol last year. Our rates were cut into half. The airline offered a 10-peso promo if you book in advance. We might do it again this year. Yipee!

 

 I’m still trying to follow some other frugal tips, but for now, these 5 items are in the top of my list. I’ve done them and will surely continue practicing them. So far, so good 🙂

During tough times, we should be tougher

US recession. Intel Cavite shutdown. Accenture’s layoffs of more than 500 employees. Ten rural banks closed in a week. And layoffs happening in a lot of call centers unreported.

 

What are these news telling us? For me, this kind of newsbreak is alarming. Some experts say we have economic turmoil, while others say these are the impact of global crisis happening right under our nose. These terms are big. I dont know what they really mean. But I sure feel their impact in the lives of most Juan dela Cruz.

 

OMH (ohmyhubby) is a call center agent. The other call center office just beside their’s has been laying off it’s employees since the last quarter of 2008. He feels unsecured with his job right now.

 

I am a regular employee of one of the biggest BPO companies in the Philippines. I used to earn on a piece rate basis during the period of 2001 to 2005. Then came 2006, the project I was part of was transferred to a province in Visayas. The management told us, they’re cost cutting; clients were demandind lower prices. Before we knew what was really going on, almost all of the Manila-based projects were transferred to either provinces (where labor cost is cheaper) or other third world countries (again cheaper labor cost than we have here in our country). The management offered us a fixed salary – ceiling rate. That was 2006, and up to this day, my salary then remained fixed.

 

OMB and I are starting to make modifications on our budget. This include cutting our expenses on certain things, thinking of new ways to earn extra money, and exercising frugality.

 

Times are hard. We need to be tougher, but we should always remember: God will provide.

 

 

 

 

 

Debt is a serious matter

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7)

 

A close friend once told me that debt is something that seeps into most people’s lives without them knowing it. You can hardly notice it. The moment you realized the danger of having debts, you’re already in the dark pit.

I am living with quite a huge debt now. “Quite” would mean a little over 20,000.  To some, it looks unalarming. I even spoke to a person who had a accumulated debt amounting to over a hundred thousand, yet she seemed ok, appeared stressed-out though.  With me, an unpaid hundred bucks to a friend is something that disturbs me at night. I need to pay her/him immediately, the next day that is. Well, to each his own. 

 

I want to get out of the pit and never return, ever. It may seem too late because with my baby’s growing needs, how on earth I would be able to budget my money and that of OMH’s (ohmyhubby)?

 

It’s time to…

 

1) minimize my spending on clothes, but come to think of it, I already actually stopped buying clothes for me!

2) shorten my list of toiletries and beauty products (I feel rejuvenated from taking bath soaks and applying sweet smelly creams and moisturizers).

3) stop purchasing magazines.  There is a limited internet access at work where I
can steal (hush hush) an hour or so to visit my favorite sites.

4) limit eating takeout/delivery food. Why not optimize my hubby’s cooking abilities? He loves to cook good food.

5) lessen dining out with friends. I’ll just invite them over for a lunch or dinner. It’s OMH’s chance to showcase his skills hehe

No more self-centered living. Time to grow up in a new and better way.

Saturday’s delight

Hay… time really flies so fast. OMB (ie, ohmybabyboy) is now 6 mos old. Gee, I couldn’t believe that he is this big already — 9-kilos in weight! So that’s why my back aches a lot hehe. In another 6 mos, he’d be a year older. Now what? Oh, a birthday bash will come soon. That means, OMH and I must prepare for that exciting event. Oh well, we both got to work hard, stay a little longer at work, render an overtime, so we could have a decent party for OMB. That’s how parents these days. We work, work, work. Is that how life supposed to be? Sheesh…

 

Before I get emotional, here is my baby’s photo. Something that always makes me smile and love life more. Have a great weekend, y’all!

OMB now 6 mos old