Eight Women and Two Babies

Saturday night last week was well spent. My mommy friends and I had a get together at Cookie's house to celebrate her birthday and our baby shower for two of our friends. Feng just gave birth while Cess is due in two months. We have been planning this since April or May but our schedules just won't meet. Finally we had a date when everyone can attend. I was glad to meet Anna Manila for the first time.

Thanks to Cookie for preparing delicious dishes. I love the fish fillet and the salad green.


Cess and Feng with the gifts from the mommies. I love their smiles!


Group picture after dinner. Seems all the food on the table are nowhere to be found. Magic. :)

Standing, L to R: Julie, Chats, Wenchie, Cookie, Me. Sitting, L to R: Feng, Anna Manila, Cess

We stayed until nine in the evening and some stayed even later waiting for their rides. It's been quite some time that we are complete so as expected, we shared endless stories of just about anything. I love these girls!

***More snapshots at WS, hosted by Slack-jawed.

At the Zoo and With a Shih Tzu

I am fond of birds and fish in aquariums but I was never fond of furry animals, not even stuffed animal toys. Maybe because as a child my mother prevented me from holding cats and dogs for fear of inhaling their furs and causing an allergic reaction.

Now where is that teaching that pets will make a child more compassionate? Has my mother heard of it? Of course but she is just a little over protective (until now with her grandchildren) but that's alright. There are other factors which greatly shape a child's attitude, feelings and behavior - parents living and leading by example for one. So no worries, we grew up well and compassionate enough. :)

But then on the contrary, my daughter loves animals, stuffed and real - cats, dogs and rabbits. We bought her a rabbit when she was about five years old. She spent a lot of time in my in laws when she was a toddler. My husband and his family care for a number of cats and dogs in their household. My daughter acquired her fondness for animals from them.

She loves this shih tzu named Star, her cousin's pet. She played with her all the time during the holidays last year. We were supposed to buy our daughter her own puppy last summer but suddenly she developed an allergy which prevented her from touching and going near cats or dogs, no perfumes or colognes either. I know she misses playing with this dog and feeding cats. Something's got to give. We have to follow her pediatrician's advise. When the allergy is all gone, we can proceed buying her prized dog.



The pictures above were taken at Island Cove's Animal Island during their school's field trip two years ago. Either my husband or I join her in her field trip, on a convoy, since nursery. These pictures are special because this was the last year that parents were allowed to accompany children in their recreation trips, not even on convoy. My daughter longed to go to her field trips without any of us, her parents, tagging along. Her wish came true last year when we allowed her to go by herself. Just imagine how many times I called just to check where they were and what they were doing. This mommy should learn to give her daughter the independence she needs. It's all for the best in the long run.

***More sharing of mommy moments at Mommy Journey.

Kids Day Out

"Tweens love to enjoy their time by themselves with little or no intervention from their parents." --- TargetWoman on Tween Parenting

And that's just what happened three weekends ago when my daughter joined her cousins on their mall "hang-out". That's how she and my fifteen year old niece puts it, a "hang-out". They don't want me tagging along. I even read my niece's post in my daughter's social networking account asking why do I have to be there. I had to laugh at that. They think they're adults that they can go on their own. Then she asked me what I will do. I said I will just watch a movie while they go around the mall.

They cannot bear the fact that there will be a mother tailgating them. Here's the deal. I allowed my daughter to join them since three older cousins joined too - ages seventeen to twenty. I texted and called several times just to check where they were and how they were doing.

This is a milestone in my daughter's tween years. This is the first time she went out with cousins without me. She and her cousin Jill were the organizers of this "hang-out". I love their enthusiasm. They were calling each other and sending emails about their "itinerary". I don't want to spoil the fun. I just needed to be sure my daughter will be taken cared of. The three older cousins are really responsible kids.

I did my own thing - bought some things, had my pasta fix, and read a good book at Power Books - Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen. I intend to buy this book after my I finish my current read, The Pillars of the Earth.

So what do kids do without the presence of any parent?

They hug bears. They make silly faces. They take pictures even inside the wash room.

They pose endlessly play endlessly. The upper right picture, my daughter with her puppy dawg eyes, is my favorite. :)


They enjoyed the last few weeks before school started. School is on its third week for most of them. The fun they had in this get-together will last them a few months before they plan another "hang-out".

***More snapshots at WS.

The King of Pop

Before I became a fan of alternative music and the radio station that played them - WXB, I was glued to 99.5 RT, Rhytm of the City, for my daily pop music fix. The station ID keeps playing on my head for a few minutes now.

I never missed RT's broadcast of Kasey Casem's American Top 40 every Sunday. I even list down the songs in my notebook. That was the mid-80s. Radio, television and yes, song hits and music magazines were my allies in my music exploration. There was no internet yet as we have it today.

I started on pop songs before new wave captured my attention. New waver it was called but it sounds really tacky now. You guessed it right, Michael Jackson was on top of my list. I was ecstatic having my own Thriller cassette tape. It was a prized possession.

Songs from the Thriller album were our favorite back in high school. My friends and I danced to PYT (Pretty Young Thing) during our home room presentation. The boys danced to Thriller complete with tattered white shirt with red undershirt to have a gooey blood effect coming out of their bodies. Haha.

It was the time of baston, today's skinny jeans, bitin pants (cropped pants) and leather jackets. Aga Muhlach, the local teen idol of the 80s, and half of the high school boys copied MJ's style - leather jackets with heavily padded shoulders, a hat, sequined gloves, and all that iconic fashion statements.

My taste in music shifted to alternative after high school. I will never be caught dead listening to any of MJ's songs. It felt like I needed to put my music to a different level. That was juvenile thinking.

As I was maturing I got to appreciate Michael Jackson's music again. I was not affected when he was branded as Wacko Jacko. I admired him for his talent. Elaborate outfits and cosmetic surgery aside. I was not a big fan anymore but I was again fascinated by his songs. One of my favorite songs remain to be You Are Not Alone. I love the lyrics, I love the video (even how he looks in the video) and I love his soulful rendition of the song.

Again, I am not a big fan, but his death is sinking in. It's sinking in like I have lost a good friend. I feel sad about it. A blow in growing old in age is seeing one of the icons who was a great part of my generation, Generation X, leave - gone forever. I am very much affected. Michael Jackson was the common ground in one of the happiest and most unforgettable years of my life. Michael Jackson was a great part of my youth.

I am reminiscing now watching some of his music videos over at YouTube. God only knows why things happen the way they do.

May you rest in peace, Michael Jackson, King of Pop. I bow to you. Thank you for the music. I pray for a good life for all your children too. May they be guided properly and may they live well.

Health Kit

Tuesday, June 16, marked the first day of school for my daughter. She told me she can't believe classes has resumed. Better believe it, girl. She is happy to be with her classmates again, especially her best friends.

It's good to note she is excited about school. I am too. Oh yes, just like most moms (and dads) I'm also wary about the A(H1N1) virus. Prevention is the best. I adhere to a positivity thought that instead of highlighting the negative, it is better to implement positive actions.

*I reoriented my daughter about keeping good hygiene at all times.
*I have demonstrated the proper way of washing hands.
*We also advised her to keep away from crowds for the mean time, like the school canteen and the play area.
*I visited the school's wash room for grade school and have already given my feedback to her adviser.
*A health kit is a must.

All moms I know personally have included alcohol and hand sanitizers in their children's school bag staples. I'm sure most of our kids have this in their bags even before. My daughter's school has the mandatory health kit for each child inside the classroom since she was in preschool. One shoebox for each student kept inside a cabinet in the classroom - extra shirt and underwear, alcohol, toilet paper, facial tissue, small towel, soap, etcetera.

So now aside from that, I bought my daughter a pouch which she can carry anywhere she goes. It contains the necessities - alcohol which I portioned in a refill sprayer, hand sanitizer, small towel, liquid soap, Nivea lip care (for her chapped lips), facial tissue. The importance of using them properly is strongly emphasized during this time.

It's good also, temperature of each student entering the school is being checked. The advisers of each class also had another thermal check at the clinic yesterday. A circular from the school's management was submitted to all parents to inform us the measures implemented to prevent the nasty virus.

Let's pray that this virus will soon be gone. The War of the Worlds flashed on my mind where the aliens attacked the earth just died on us, earthlings, because they cannot survive our planet's microorganisms. But then, we are humans and we rule our earth. Virus, begone.