Happy Anniversary

Here we are 9 years ago today!




9 Years ago today I became a wife! I was never really sure that I would get married. I didn't have marriage role models since my mom and Dad divorced when I was very young and mom never chose to date. So the whole concept of marriage was something that was lost on me and in my mind was a bit of an anomaly something that only really worked on TV and in the movies.

All through college I had my fair share of boyfriends I dated but never really found the one, I thought I had come close after college but he turned out to be a cheating loser, glad I found out when I did. Then there was the guy who broke my heart in a million pieces, after that I was done I swore off men. Then came Dan and my world has not been the same since!

It was the summer of ‘96, AOL had just really taken off a couple of years earlier and chat rooms seem to be the new thing online at the time, online dating had not yet taken off. Dan IMed me while I was in a Washington DC chat room and we chatted for a bit. This went on for like 2 weeks, soon he asked me if we could meet and I was very unsure of that. We continued to ask and finally one day I gave in, yet it was in the back of my mind that I didn't know him and he could be an axe murderer for all I know. But I was very interested since I had spent so much time talking to him. So I decided to meet him however I chose a bar where a lot of people knew me and I could shake him if he was a freak.

So we met, I will never forget it was 7pm at a place called Hard Times, this place is small but it was usually packed. I walked to the back of the bar not spotting anyone who I thought fit his description. Then as I turned around to walk back to the front he popped out in front of me and said “Hey are you Steph!” I was in shock because I was pleasantly surprised how good looking he was. We had dinner ordered a few beers and stayed there talking till 1:30am. We went out every night for the next 2 weeks. We had a brief split because I was afraid things were moving to fast, but I quickly realized I couldn’t live without him. We dated for a year before Dan was given orders to Korea, right before he was to go to Korea we were to go away for a long weekend, before we left that Friday night Dan called and asked to take me to lunch, strange I thought I will see you in 4 hours but OK. While we were at lunch he was acting strange but I thought it was because he was going to leave and we really weren't sure what the next year would hold for us. So mid way through lunch Dan says "we need to talk" Ok I say, he then says "Well since I am going to Korea I don't want to date you anymore" I was furious, all I could think of was how to leave without causing a huge scene. I then saw him reaching in his jacket pocket and then suddenly he thrusts a box across the table and says "so I got you this" in the box was the most beautiful engagement ring I have ever seen. Mind you I never did get the Will you marry me question, but then again that isn’t Dan’s style. We spent the whole next year apart planning our wedding. We went 6 months between seeing each other and I can truly say it was the longest year of my life.

We married in a lovely ceremony in my hometown of Alexandria VA and had a reception at the officers club on Ft. McNair in Washington DC. We had the most perfect day! I remember thinking this is the start of the rest of my life as I walked down the aisle with my mom. I was right and what a wonderful life it has been thus far. I never would have imagined I could be this happy. Everyday I think I am so lucky and hopefully he feels the same.

So to you Dan the love of my life, I thank you for choosing me and loving me through all my quirks and wacky ways, thank you for pushing me to succeed , believing in me and picking me up when I fall down. You surround me with love everyday and for that I am eternally thankful I love you and I look forward to many many many more years of happiness!!! Happy Anniversary honey!

These are some pictures from our wedding

album looks like we had a fun time huh?

Wordless Wednesday

Can you tell what kind of day I am having?

All hail the beauty regime

merriam-webster is quite clear on this, and so am i.

re·gime (n.)
\rā-ˈzhēm, ri- also ri-ˈjēm\
a: mode of rule or management
b: a form of government (a socialist regime)
c: a government in power (predicted that the new regime would fall)
d: a period of rule
i.e. "The Philippines was placed under martial law during the Marcos regime."

versus

regimen (n.)
\ˈre-jə-mən also ˈre-zhə-\
a: a systematic plan (as of diet, therapy, or medication) especially when designed to improve and maintain the health of a patient
b: a regular course of action and especially of strenuous training
i.e. "Her daily skincare regimen includes at least five different whitening products."

i think somebody forgot to tell the singaporeans. not only have i heard "regimen" being swapped for its politically-oriented sound-alike in conversation by the locals ("swimming is good exercise regime, lor") , i've seen it published in more beauty and fitness articles than i can count on both hands. i guess it's easy for the average joe to confuse the terms, but i would have expected more from editors, particularly of some of the international glossies they have around here.

my mental nitpicking has finally found a voice simply because my first assignment for a local mag involves writing about a skin "regime". yep, that word appeared on my job brief. and now i am faced with an interesting professional dilemma. do i:

a. sell out and use "regime" just to fit in? (the very thought makes my scalp bristle)
b. avoid using the word altogether? (a truly creative exercise as it is a skincare article)
c. use "regimen" and meekly await the inevitable striking of the n?
d. use "regimen" and eagerly await my chance to educate an editor? (we all love to be right, don't we?)

i feel like i'm going to get spotted and crucified by a local for criticizing locals, so i'll say this as well: i've found extremely brilliant beauty writers in singaporean magazines. the type who'll leave copy editors and writers with their mouths open, or drive housewives out to the nearest department store without having to drop the ubiquitous word, "must-have". (i happen to be both a writer and a housewife, so i know what i'm talking about). they may have to share space with the barely concealed press releases, but they exist nevertheless.

now if you'll excuse me, i've got a regime to attack.

Ten on Tuesdays

10 Superstitions, Traditions, and/or Personality Quirks
Note these are in no particular order :)

1) I cannot walk away from my kitchen unless it is completely cleaned.

2) I layout my clothes for the week on Sunday night (I also do this for the kids too)

3) I always make homemade Pumpkin pie and Apple Pie for Thanksgiving.

4) Christmas stockings in our family are as big as the presents, sometimes I think we look forward to them more then the presents.

5) I always say I love you and mean it when I leave the kids or my husband for the day.

6) I snuggle with my son in his bed for a couple of minutes after I read his book every night, some of the best conversations have been had during snuggle time

7) I am 35 and my mom still give me a Christmas PJ box and an Easter basket and I would be upset if she didn't.

8) I am a clean neat freak, borderline OCD I think. Some say they don't' understand how with 2 children my house is so clean.

9) I make my coffee the night before and set it up on a timer so I have fresh hot coffee waiting for me, it is best for all who come in contact with me in the morning and there is nothing like the smell of fresh coffee to wake up to

10) And yes I believe that breaking a mirror will give me bad luck!

Tuesday Toot

Well I had hoped to have photos to share of this toot but my work and home computers are having a spat and don't seem to want to chat with each other so I can retrieve the pictures. So you will have to take my word for the work I have done at least till I can get the pictures posted.

This past weekend I finished putting my deck together for the Spring/Summer. I love to sit out there with a cup of coffee or better yet a nice glass of wine. So I hosed the deck off to get rid of the pollen which is an on going battle at least for the next couple of weeks, then I proceeded to plant flowers in all my flower pots and also planted some shrubs which will take 10 years to grow and provide us the privacy we want for our hot tub, but at least they are in. Last year I planted some wisteria which has exploded this year giving me the lush fence coverage I was hoping for. It doesn't sound like a lot of work but it was. So I am tooting my horn for all my hard work this weekend.

What's your Tuesday Toot?

FORKED!!!

http://www.crimsonkitten.blogspot.com/

and like FORK!!!!11 so long didn't update. cuz everyone comes and not tag. ;_; *looks at counter and tagboard* yes, i see de numbers rise but... hurhur. *me gets no motivation* WELL HECK!

anywaysss busy busy busy wif projects. our grps gonna get de young lions to play at our soccer competition for event management. wat's best? JERSEYS!(Lirin 4)

my fave no is 4. do u know why? pls dun luff. i like horses. horses has 4 legs. u get de picture.

FORRKKK. happy Lirin. me&Fion gonna do de drink stand haha. if we can get 100plus to sponser de drinks thou. XD
ELINA KOH WE LOVE YOU. oh how random but very well said.

i miss my baby.

pictures in another entry~ hurhur! lazy me. nyehh~~ *pokes everyone with spoon* i feel so high suddenly. absolutely no idea. =_=~ tis happens to me whenever i'm bored and when i bla bla bla bla..... BYE.

Kitchen kakikayan

i found these random photos while cleaning out my camera's memory card. these are the fun kinds of things i like to do in the kitchen, when i'm not more seriously trying to follow in the footsteps of jamie oliver, my ultimate culinary crush. really, i never thought puttering around in the kitchen could be so much fun.

1) birthday cookie

we celebrated marlon's birthday (march 23) with a quiet evening at home watching stranger than fiction. in the middle of the scene where maggie gyllenhaal's character, who is a baker, offers will ferrell, who is auditing her bakeshop, a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies, i suddenly had an overwhelming urge to break out the cookie mix and bake.

good old betty crocker was a no-brainer: just add two eggs, water and butter. now i understand why maggie randomly bakes at odd hours of the night, like at 1am during our kiddie sleepover. it's quite therapeutic, you don't need a whole set of implements and skills, and the smell is dah-vine.


ah shet. kaya pala leave spaces between cookies. our dozen or so cookies fused together to become a giant sheet of sugar. so i decided to decorate it and hit two birds with one stone: hubby's birthday and cookie craving.


as the syrup was a bridal shower gift, it may have been intended for less wholesome pursuits.

2) mint and lemon water

way back when we started dating, i knew marlon had major houseband potential. however, nothing prepared me for the day when he would chop up some fresh mint, slice up some lemons, stuff them into a bottle of water and store it in the fridge.


3) brainless grilled fish

i got this recipe out of my favorite cookbook, superfast foods. season fish steaks (white fish works best, but salmon and tuna are okay too) with salt and pepper, slap them on a greased grill pan (foil is optional but helps), spread dijon mustard and grated parmesan on top, and grill in an oven for ten to fifteen minutes. gaaaah ang sarap. virtually no oil pa.


you can substitute any type of mustard and any type of cheese. i personally would like to experiment with a two- or three-cheese variation. if you don't have an oven, you can even do this in an oven toaster!

ang saya saya!

Mothers Day Photo Contest Part 2

I have received some lovely comments on my first mother’s day photo submission, but then I got to thinking it isn't fair to Jackson; and should he years later look back at this blog he may call me out on why he didn't have a picture of him submitted. So below is my submission on his behalf. I love this picture because we were at the playground the day this was taken and he was truly having a blast and I as his mom, loved that he was so happy!



So if you haven’t already, hop over to 5 minutes for mom and take a look at others photos and submit one yourself!

Back to school?

hello, i'm back in singapore again.

there's a lot to write about, so much has been going on. lately i figured out what's been stopping me from blogging more regularly is this feeling that i have to write about significant past events before writing about what i really feel like writing about at the moment. so i'm putting that aside for now to say...

damn was it hot today. hahaha.

i'm finally making use of the reading corner in our bedroom to, well, read. i have an industrial fan aimed at me and am dredging the bottom of a glass of iced kapeng barako.

i am also surfing for arts courses. over the past few weeks the possibility of being an illustrator has opened up for me. i've been drawing and painting since i was small, although i haven't been as dedicated to it as i was in childhood. while racking my brains for new ways to find work here in singapore, i figured i might work on building up a portfolio of work as an illustrator and see where i can ply it.

also, i've always thought that if i would ever go back to school, i would take fine arts or design. and here seems like a nice place to do it. hindi ako masyadong natuwa sa mga nakita ko sa national museum nila, pero one thing that really strikes about singapore is its design savvy. i love old things and i love manila's cultural mishmash of kitsch, but i also like this aspect of living in such a young city. things are so new and so... designed.

so i'm contemplating plowing some of my earnings (yes, i'm about to have earnings very soon) into a short course. so far i've turned up courses on abstract painting, basic western art (as opposed to chinese i guess) and visual communication at nafa, a school in a part of town that i really, really like.

can't decide quite yet. the visual communication course seems to be the best compromise of "wishful" and "useful" in that it complements my experience and will allow me to invent myself as a writer/designer. my preference in art runs to rather graphic styles as well. but at $1,200 per term (and the likely necessity of a mac) it seems quite pricey. i'm not making that much... yet.

the abstract painting course's focus on exploration of materials intrigues me. it hints at collage, which is one of my favorite art forms. i would love to pick up some new perspectives and techniques that i can use. and at half the price of the viscomm course, it's beginning to look really, really good.

western art is just to really give me basic drawing skills and teach me to focus. i'm not particularly excited by it, but it could be really be useful.

i've been sidetracked by tempting little offbeat classes. like batik painting at the substation! but what the hell would i do with that, right?

Mothers Day Photo Contest

5 minutes for mom is having a conest in honor of Mothers day. All you need to do is post a picture which signifies what mother hood is to you.

Here is one of my favorite pictures, this my daughter enjoying a little time in a bucket with water, pure kid right? :) The smile on her face makes me feel like I am doing something right as a mom.
Now if you want to participate all you need to do is post your photo then go 5 minutes for mom and add your post to Mr. Linky. Good Luck and I can't wait to see everyone's photo's.

Friday Hodge Podge

First I want to send some love to Nicole at Driving with the Brakes on, she has suffered the unthinkable, the loss of a child. She delivered her precious baby girl earlier this week at only 21 weeks. She is grieving and we who love her and her blog are trying to surround her in love. So please if you can stop by and show some love.

This week has flown by and I had so much to write about but never found the time to do it. The warmer weather has had me outside when I get home from work so I can play with the kiddos.

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments about my 10 year bling. I do work for a good company and I hope to be there many many more years.

Yesterday was the company’s monthly board meeting, nothing to exciting but it is expected that we all attend, however I was able to sneak out early enough to go with my daughter and her class to the Zoo, well I met them there but I was still there. Lauren was so excited and couldn't stop saying look it's my mom and my dad….ah that is what parents live for to see there kid giddy at their mere presence! She didn’t get to see as much as she would have liked so I think another trip is in order soon.

Speaking of my daughter she is trying out for the school talent show today. She has decided to sing "A few of my favorite things" from The Sound of Music pretty big song for a kindergartner I can't wait to here if she makes it! Keep your fingers crossed.

Next week is my 9 year wedding anniversary! I can hardly believe it has been that long but on the other hand I can't remember life without Dan. An anniversary post will be coming of course so stay tuned.

To wrap up Friday Hodge Podge I will open the floor up to you, the readers, is there a question you are dying to ask me? Something in one of my posts that you want me to expand on? Or just want to know what my opinion is on a topic? Well now is your chance, send me your questions and I promise to answer them all.

Have a great weekend and go outside and enjoy Spring :)

Wordless Wednesday.....kinda

I think leaving this picture wordless would make people scratch their head. So.... this is the watch that my company gave to me for my 10 year anniversary with them. Pretty snazzy huh?

Ten Things on Tuesday

Ten things I love about my life

1) My Kids, they are the light of my life and I thank God for them everyday.

2) My Marriage, it has been the one thing for 9 years that has been completely stable in my life and I can only hope that it continues that way for the rest of my life.

3) My Friends, without them I don't know what I would do.

4) My Career, In high school I was once told by a coach that I would never amount to much, I have and I continue too. Not to mention I love what I do.

5) My Family, They keep me centered and make me feel loved.

6) My Health, I am so blessed to be a very healthy individual.

7) My Sense of belonging in this world.

8) My Ability to volunteer and help others, there is nothing greater then help others, I find more joy from giving then I do from receiving most of the time.

9) My Computer, it has opened up a whole new world to me and others.

10) My Love of Food, I get great pleasure from food (in moderation of course).

Could it be?????

We had a wonderful weekend until Sunday around 9 am when the skies opened up and rain poured down all day, matter of fact it is still raining now. Stuck inside all day with 2 active kids was not going to be fun, especially since they had a huge taste of spring/summer the day before.

I am not a big fan of movie theaters, why I don't know, but it just isn't my gig. Add to that the thought of wrestling with 2 little ones, well I think you get the picture. So it surprised even me when I suggested to hubby that we all go to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who, what on earth was I proposing??? On a rainy Sunday every family who had had enough of the house would be at this movie, oh well! So off we go, we stand in line get out tickets I take the kiddos to get some seats while daddyo gets the refreshments, which you need a 2nd mortgage to pay or these days. (see I told you I don't' do movies) We get settled and I braced myself for the unleashing of hell that will take place as soon as someone has had enough, or who had been shhhhed for the 100th time. To my pleasant surprise we, the whole family, made it through the whole movie without one issue. Granted Lauren appeared to have ants in her pants the whole time but unlike some episodes of ants in the pants this was relatively tame. Could it be that this ever active 6 year old and constantly talking 3 year old are growing up and becoming manageable little people? Could be! Stay tuned!

Relaxing Sunday Morning

Good morning from rainy Virginia, I am sitting on my deck (it has a canopy) listening to the birds sing and watching the rainfall, best of all, I am sitting here with Hubby. We both woke up about 6:30 am this morning and ventured downstairs; once we realized how cool it was outside we went out to have our morning coffee, hubby said the cool air rain and birds singing made him feel as though he were on vacation. I couldn’t agree more! It is so peaceful and relaxing.

I have been very blessed by this blog world, being able to vent my feelings and share with people the love of my family has been wonderful and the best is that on occasion I receive blog awards!

Wendy at The Adventures of MomLady gave me this wonderful award and I thank her for the kind words You should check out her fabulous blog
I am passing this award on to Poltzie, she is anxiously awaiting the birth of her first child a son. So pop over and say hello!


Tootsie Farklepants @ vintage thirty passed on this award, while it didn’t come to me directly it was still given to those who read her blog which i do faithfully. I encourage you to check her out. In light of the wayI reciefved this award I am passing it oninthe same way. If you are one of the folks who come to my blog on a regular basis or not so regular basis concider yourself awarded.
Have a lovely and restful Sunday I know I plan to!

Hodge Podge Friday

It's another edition of Friday Hodge Podge brought to you by The Daily Grind….. sorry I felt the need today to be announcer like.

So this week has been a short week for me because I didn't work on Monday, what did I do you may ask??? Well I pampered myself with a pedi and a mani, oh and lets not forget the waxing. I love me a good pampering day!!! I wish I could be a Hollywood type if only to be able to get pampered on a regular basis!

Thanks to all of you for your kudos on my accomplishments regarding my spring cleaning it really felt good to get all of that done and even better to hear such great praise for it! I don't have nearly the tasks set up for this weekend. Hopefully I can try to relax a bit! (yeah right)

So as part of my spring cleaning accomplishments I made a baby gift for Lilah go check out her blog it is awesome! I also made door prizes for the teacher appreciation lunch we host at school for all the teachers. Here are my creations. I thought they were kind of cool and perfect for door prizes. The coordinator of the event stopped by my house last night to pick them up and she seemed to be pleased as well.
So early this week I had a Wordless Wednesday post and it was of my daughter’s feet. I feel the need to explain. While Dan was out of town I was looking for fun things to do with the kids and one of the things they love to do is hang out with the kids next door that are close to their age. We live in a relatively tight knit neighborhood so it is not uncommon when you see a neighbor outside that you go out and join them. Well Saturday afternoon was no different. We all congregated on the pipe stem and us ladies watched the men work :) evil I know but someone has to watch the children. My one neighbor was trying to drain a puddle that had formed as a result of a poor paving job earlier that week. He was having great success, and then my kids came along. My son is all boy, loves to get dirty and I for one let him on occasion but I was shocked when his sister wanted to join in on the mud play. So there they were like 2 pigs in slop having a blast. Don't believe me check out the picture I don't think it lies!

So yes I am the horrible mother that let her kids get muddy from head to toe then hosed them off before entering the house. However I am totally cool in their eyes at least for this week.

So as some of you may have figured out I live in the DC area and as the world knows the Pope came to town. I am a catholic, I went to catholic school for 9 years. I grew up with Pope John Paul II really he was the only Pope I ever knew and didn't feel I could relate to anyone else. Yet in the past several years the church in total has seemed foreign to me. I have total disgust over the actions of Priest pedophiles and I feel it has tarnished the church in an almost unrecoverable way. When Pope John Paul died I was deeply sadden yet I felt that this might mark a change for the church a chance to look forward and not rest on tradition and believes of the past. It was my hope the incoming Pope would make some much needed changes to allow the church to continue to evolve and hopefully bring back some dignity. I won't get into what I would like those changes to be...... I don't want to lose the few readers I have. I am happy that the Pope is here and I applaud him for address the scandalous issues of the past, but I have yet to see what is being done to ensure those issues do not reoccur or any changes for the church to evolve in the future.

I have another follow up meeting with the CEO and Sr. VP's to discuss our new division’s market strategy, I should really be focusing on that instead of writing this but I need a break form all that number crunching. Things on the work front continue to be good and at times downright wonderful. While I was home last week my boss called me to inform me that I received a bonus... a very very generous bonus I might add, and hopefully that is sign of what it to come.


Finally, a huge ((((HUG))) to all of you who left me your heartfelt comments on yesterday's post. I struggled with posting that but I must say I am glad I did. I know I will never change my mom yet posting yesterday made me feel like I was not some sort of freak and that there are other families out there with some of the same issues.... so thanks again for making a girl feel normal and not to blame.

Have a great weekend and I hope the weather where you are is spring like so you can get outside!

Goodbye Nanay

my maternal grandmother, whom we called nanay, passed away in her sleep a little past midnight on wednesday. she had been confined in the hospital after coming down with a high fever the previous thursday, and had been showing signs of recovery despite being unconscious for several days. but our lord was kind, and took her painlessly and peacefully at the ripe, ripe old age of 94.

there are many other ways i've seen His kindness over the past few days. He also spared my mom from having to make any agonizing decisions over whether to keep her attached to all the medical equipment in the hospital in the hope of recovery, or simply to take her home and let the inevitable happen. i can say without a doubt He is truly wise, and makes the best decisions of all.

nanay has been one of the constants of my life, one of those that you think will never go away. she has lived with our family my -- and my sister's --- whole life.

this is the first time that i've faced a death in my own family. i was three when my dad died, so it was never really real for me.

there is much to say about nanay, and about the past few days, but i'll save that for when i get back. my sister and i flying home later tonight (after much wrestling with cebu pacific's insane ticketing system) to be with our mom, who is my biggest concern at this point. marlon will follow on a jetstar flight tomorrow morning. the funeral will be in my mom's home town of sta. cruz, laguna on sunday morning.

please say a prayer for nanay and our family. and when you do, please thank God for me -- for her long and full life, her peaceful and painless passing, and for the new angel who is now looking out for my family from a long-reserved, choice spot by His side.

To be a Grandma or not to be a Grandma

Ok so I have had a little something on my mind since last Friday night. As you know my husband was on a boondoggle trip to Vegas. I took some time to be home and get some things done. BTW thanks for all the sweet comments about my spring cleaning, I know I am insane I just don't think I know how to sit down and do nothing.

Anyway so the weekend before last I drop my moms taxes by her house when we were on our way to the circus, she commented that she was surprised at how much Jackson had grown, then quickly added "but then again I haven't seen him since Christmas" a dig yes, the truth, yes. However it is not because I have kept my kids from her. She has on more then one occasion made comments about not wanting to be around the kids when they are sick because it gets her sick. Well, in a family with small kids who are in daycare and school it is a bit hard to have every one healthy all winter long. Not to mention there are weekend activities that make visits difficult too especially if you factor out the sick weekends. Now personally I think it is a bit offensive that she doesn't want to be around us when we are sick but hey, I honor her wishes. It isn't until they end up smacking me in the face in the form of a dig that I get upset.

So I invited my mom over for dinner Friday night, I thought it would be a good chance for her to spend some quality time with the kids especially since she brought up the fact the weekend before. She came over right around dinnertime with a big shopping bag in hand, which I have told her not to do because I feel it makes the kids associate her with gifts and toys only, but she is the grandmother so I let it go. As I prepared dinner she does nothing, no offer of help, no I'll go play with the kids, no she plants herself in my kitchen and watches me work. She made a point of saying she hadn't seen the kids a week earlier yet she wasn't doing anything with them. It certainly wasn't to catch up with me because I talk to her about every other day. So I started to get steamed.

We ate dinner, during which I felt as though a had a parrot at the table repeating what I said to the kids. If I told them to sit up, or to be careful, or to stop playing with their food she would repeat it. Then I cleaned up from dinner sent the kids into the family room to play a game, my mom stayed in the kitchen with me. After the kitchen was cleaned up, I said lets go into the family room, we sat down and the kids were all over me jumping on me and having a good time, my mom then proceed to give them the items in the bag I am sure as a way quiet them down and selfishly have me to herself. They played in front of us with their stuff sometimes getting a bit loud or stepping in between us while we were talking typical things kids to do. My mom asked if we could put a TV show on so they would clam down and we could have some peace. Well that did it I was done. I gutted through the rest of the visit but I was extremely mad when she left.

See my mom made a point when I was pregnant with my oldest that she in no way shape or form was going to be my babysitter. I can count on one hand the times she has watched the kids alone and truly those were extreme emergency's. Trust me I would never ever expected that my mom would watch the kids and certainly not on a regular basis but to never do so, come on already? Her statement to me when I was pregnant I thought most certainly would change but it has not. Her belief is she had to go it alone without help and therefore so should I. Trust me when I tell you that it really really hurts. In some ways I feel like she is punishing me because she had it rough being a single parent. I thought she would enjoy being the grandmother and would relish spending time with the kids. No instead she buys the kids stuff drops it in their lap and feels as though she has done her grand motherly duty. She has even picked up on the fact that my oldest doesn't really talk to her or try to play with her, my mom claims she is distant to her. Gee you think? Maybe if you played a game of Uno or connect four with her she would open up. Hell she only sees her Nana and Pop pop a few times a year and she is more into them then she is my mom.

I have in recent years in a very polite way only when I have been pressed by her to answer the question if I am made that she doesn't baby sit, told her that I am not mad I am hurt. This discussion usually ends in an argument and I have certainly never come right out and told my mom that I think she should get on the kids level and play with them because I know it would cause a huge fight. I am not sure why I was so angry this past Friday because this is the norm when she visits, but I think it has finally gotten the better of me.

I didn't have grandparents growing up because both sets had passed away before my birth, so I really had high hopes of being able to provide that to my kids. These hopes have been dashed at least on my side of the family.

So I welcome thoughts, comments or possible solutions, truth be told I am not sure there are solutions but maybe someone out there has had a similar experience and can share with me how they have dealt with it. Thanks for listening/reading.

** as I read through what I have written I feel like it is all over the place but the truth is that it is at least in my brain.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Kids Play

Tuesday Toot

Hi there!
Well I am back from my hiatus, it wasn't nearly as relaxing as I would have hoped for but it was very productive. So much so that I decided to make it my Tuesday Toot. Below is a list of things I did while home the last few days. Keep in mind that I had 2 active kids to take care of since hubby was out gallivanting in Houston and Vegas for 5 days. I am sure that once I publish this post there will be more completed tasks that I remember so check back because the list may continue to evolve.

1) planted all the deck flowers as well as some shrubbery

2) Cleaned the hot tub and installed new pillow pads (but of course didn't use it to relax)

3) totally scrubbed my kitchen floor, I mean on my hands and knees, amazing the crap you don't see till you actually get on the floor.

4) cleaned out my dresser drawers of clothes that no longer fit, and made the fall/winter to Spring summer transition

5) totally reorganized our master bedroom closet (I need to take pictures so you appreciate the enormity of this project

6) cleaned out the dresser drawers for both the kids of clothes that no longer fit, and made the fall/winter to Spring summer transition

7) made dinner every night!!!! (no take out)

8) bought 2 new rugs 8 x 10 hauled them in and laid them down

9) Did 10 loads of Laundry

10) Let my kids play in the mud, more to come on that later

11) Didn't go to Walmart or Target and randomly buy stuff I don't need

12) organized the Craft storage area

13) made some cute presents/ door prize giveaways

14) and a bunch of little things I can't see to remember at this point.

The good news is that while I was doing all these things I came up with several good topics for blog posts so hopefully you will stay tuned!

Nothing of real value..... simply a rant indulge me

OK I have to say I do follow my site meter pretty religiously, I can see who is coming and going, what they are viewing, where they are out clicking, the time they spent, oh and let's not forget the keyword search always a fav! Technology is wonderful isn't it?

I have people from all of the world who stop by yet never comment, now I understand the random person from India who stumbles into my blog world never to be heard from or seen again, but what is with the people who come around a lot and BTW read a lot but never comment, do they not think I know they are here? I could easily send them an email asking them why they visited at x date and x time. If you are going to take the time to come back time and time again please for God's sake leave a comment!!

I know I have posted about this in the past and that post was really just me being curious if others had the same issues which you did, but now I am starting to see readership pick up... BTW thank you for that and the folks that come and lurk and don't comment at all ARE FREAKING ME OUT! I can see you and don't think I won't start naming names and IP address because I will! If you are a lurker go away!!!!! Because I will sick my bloggy firend on you :)~ Regular readers you have my back right?

*** Just an update my spring cleaning is coming along wonderfully, I am not sure that it will be blog worthy but it has made me one happy camper. I know I am strange. what sane woman gets giddy about organizing and cleaning??? See you soon!

Absent for a bit

Hey there,
This will be a short post, I am working form home the rest of the week since my husband is out of town and my boss is sooooooo nice. I have a ton of work to do plus I want to capitalize on my "found time" (my 3 hours of drive time when hubby isn't here) by getting a couple of projects done here. I will be sure to post results when I am done.

Wordless Wednesday

Need I say more??

short outin

picked him up at shatec den went CWP. watched Untracceble... erm.. i tink i spelt it wrong. *smacks Lirin* such a simple word yet i can forget. yes de movie was just a lil draggy but pretty alrite. FREAKY. =_= *imagines oneself being heated alive* ughhhhhhhhhh~



ate at burgerK aft dat den went to supermarket to buy some snacks for myself. i'm not sure if i've featured these chips before... but hey! Lays salt & Vinegar! it is extremely HARD to find it. if u do, grab it!!!! it's super nice. it's so salty u can actually breath de vinegar in. (no kiddin!) ur lips will feel so raw. LOL! but oh so satisfying~~

him choosin cereal. de only person i know hates cow's milk hence eatin kokocrunch wif soya milk. @_@~

ok~ small happenings for de time being. going Yishun tmr for dance practice. Namida drop~~ XD

Shirasetakatta, waratte. Dakasetakatte, waratte

i wanted to tell you, smile. i wanted to make you, smile.

Transliteration

omigod i can now blog in hindi characters! not that i actually know how to read indic script, but it's still pretty cool.

now i can also see what my dad's name (amitabha) looks like in this script. i've thought of getting this as a tattoo, but never knew what it would look like.

अमिताभा

tadaah!

okay fine matutulog na ako.

Oo nga naman

midnight chat with eena.

Deepa: wait i have to get it out right now -- i think the neighbors above us are having sex!!!! hahahahaha
Eena: hahahhaha
Deepa: i'm hearing pounding on the floor! hahahahaha!
Deepa: so sad. this is the first time i've heard sounds like this since we moved in in january!
Eena: baka naman nagp-pound ng pepper
Eena: haha
Deepa: ang laki naman ng pinangpa-pound ng pepper!
Deepa: and the layout of the condos is mostly the same, so bedroom din ang nasa ibabaw ko
Eena: ah ok. don't complain
Eena: you never know what the neighbors downstairs are thinking!

Alternate universe

it's funny. one of the reasons i was ecstatic to be assigned an episodic plug was because i thought it would be easy, and exactly like what i used to do for gma. in fact, those words have popped out of my mouth almost every time i talk about it to someone. but after day one on my first freelance promo project ever, i feel like i'm in an alternate universe.

and it's not bad at all. as i told marlon before he flew off to bangkok this evening, i wouldn't say it was easy, but i wouldn't say it was hard, either. the best thing about it, i think, is that i'm learning. and i know that short of a major fuckup, in at least ten days' time, i will have a piece of my work airing on international cable tv.

i showed up bright and early at the bda office (okay, 10am is not early by the standards of the working world), ready to view my episode of the show. already the jargon is different -- i "log" rather than timecode tapes, make a "log sheet" versus a shotlist, "cut" not script an episode, and produce a "promo" rather than a plug.

instead of a cushy little preview bay, i sat at a high stool in a room full of machines, kind of like the ingest room at post production. one thing carried over from my gma universe though -- the room for previewing tapes was ice cold!

and once i was in there, after a few minutes of help from lay tuan and a guy named raj, i was on my own. no george to teach me about the script format or make me watch showreels, or ayee to ask "sino si hagorn?" and cheer me on my first script, or bj to introduce me around the floor, or marian to squeal for voiceover scripts in the minutes leading up to 7pm, or dino to approve my script.

sorry for the digression. but god, i really miss my team right now.

anyway.

i took a loooong time (by my standards at least) to view the tape -- two hours. i felt rather self-conscious about the time i spent viewing, but i'd like to think the people at bda have better things to do than clock the freelancer. it was kind of like my very first day at gma, when i intently watched an entire half-hour episode of encantadia before going through it a second time to take down my shots. because, apart from the jog-shuttle mechanism on this particular betacam being a little hard to manipulate, my gulay, the material is awesome. complete, beautifully shot, and smart.

this is where i spin off into the aforementioned alternative universe. writing the script back in my cozy, cushy bedroom, i entered a new realm where lightning speed or ingenuously making do suddenly didn't matter so much anymore. with so much well-shot, well-written material on my hands, it began to occur to me that the challenge was not to be glib or slick, but to really figure out what the piece (the piece! i'm already talking about a television program like it's a piece of art!) intended to say, and say it in 30 seconds.

not to shock and awe, but to pare it down to one issue, and keep it simple.

to find the bottom line quickly, and to communicate it elegantly.

which i think i did, but i wouldn't be surprised if i didn't. i find myself excited to wake up tomorrow to find feedback of any sort in my inbox -- and not because i think i'll get rave reviews (although they would certainly be nice).

maybe because i want to know how close, or far, i've come to hitting the mark. because i want to find out my place in this universe, which is both strange and familiar. but most of all, because i want to learn.

Tuesday Toot

Sorry to keep going on and on about my race, but it was really important to me that I do this and do it well.
For those of you who don't know, I started to work out again and in the process I have lost 18lbs as well as built up my running endurance to where it once was. So I decided to take place in a 5K run / walk however my intent was to run the whole time and hopefully get a decent time. I ran the 5K in 33.21 and I place 279 our of 730 and I place 31st out of 91 for my age class. Now if I can shave off 8 minutes by next year I will win my age group!

SO my Tuesday Toot is a "I ran a 5K and I ran it well"

Phew what a weekend!!!

I think this post should be Monday hodge podge but I don't want to over due the hodge podge thing! So let me start with Friday (FYI this may be a long post)

Friday as you know I had my big meeting with the CEO, well before that meeting there was a staff meeting for all in my division, we all knew about it but just figured it was a routine meeting. Not so, my company has an award called a star award which is given to those who go above and beyond the call of duty. It requires a write up from the persons direct boss then it must be passed along the food chain for approval. I submitted a write up for my assistant for this award because without him I would be lost! So during this meeting we honored him as well as one other person for their achievement. I was totally unprepared to present this to him as I had no idea it had been approved, but I stammered through.

Then my boss calls me to the front of the room and proceeds to had me a bouquet of flowers along with a gift and a certificate, all to celebrate my 10 year anniversary with the company talk about being floored I had totally forgotten. His speech was great and from the heart and made me feel that the job I do is appreciated and respected. Here is a picture of my bouquet and the award Pretty cool huh??

So then later that day I had my meeting with the CEO; it went well and the new division wheels are in motion, a promotion will not happen for some time but it is a huge possibility by the end of the year, I will keep you posted. Thanks for all of you words of support last week.

The race... I did well I finished 279 out of 730 and 31st out of 91 women in my age group not bad huh? Unfortunately since there were 2 races going on Dan was not aware that my finish line was different then the 10 mile finish line. I was a bit upset there was no one there to greet me but I caught up with them. I am sure that next time he will get it right. Here are a couple of shots of the race.

Finally, we were given tickets to the circus unexpectedly for Sunday at 1pm, yes just a few short hours after my race the kids had a blast and loved seeing the Elephants!
All in all a good weekend but very busy, I needed to come to work to get some rest!! :)

And the winner is....

Thanks to all of you that stopped by to take a peek at my giveaway, it is so much fun meeting new blog friends!

I enlisted the help of my 3 1/2 year old son to pick the winner, he wasn't so sure about the whole thing but I finally bribed him with some Chocolate milk so he could pick the winner!

Are you dying to know? Well drumroll please..... And the winner is?

OHMommy!!!!!!

mojo slayers

sweet baby heels.(stupid cam) so.. on a sat, went to vivo to buy a surprise dark chocs for Tama 1st, den i went to church. aft dat i took a cab to suntec to meet up wif Zean kor,Mizu&Muffin(Tama's workin at suntec)

when i was in de cab i tot i saw de 3 of em but they disappeared! XD~ den nvm, got off and walked to entrance. den 3 ang moh guys(waitin for cabs) suddenly came up to me and said :"hi miss, tis is for you" dey smiled and gave me a lollipop. i hesitated and went like "huh?" lol! "tis is for u, take it, take it!" "er... okay..thanks.." they were like in a jolly mood~ *takes and walks off* "and, i love you so!!!" one of em shouted across. LOL... all de smokers outside were lookin. omg. embarassing -_-~

and wow, de lollipop costs $5. it's pink in colour wif little hearts carved into it. went up to meet Tama 1st. i told him and his 1st words were:"throw it away." XD~~ wanted to take a pic of it to post here but he said no! lalala~~! =b~ den Zean&Muffin came up 1st(Mizu went to her singin sch 1st) den i told em wat happened. den Kor was like "de big big size ang mohs rite??" "YA! how u know??" "cuz i saw em holdin de lollipop ,aft dat toked bout some lady" i was like lolllllllll so considence. where were u guys!? XD

see de lovely chocs. bought it ard $8? or is it $9? *shrugs*

de day before sat. went AMK. ate at sumo huse. LOOK AT ZEAN KOR. =_=!!!! he did wat Eric did in one of my old entries LOL!







omg..

ok gotta cook soup for family bye!
and somethin to lighten ur days up! i totally absolutely love japanese game shows! blue team vs red team. HILAROUS. enjoy~

Episode one

on wednesday, i woke up to a wonderful, wonderful email from lilian at bda.

i have this small project for you. it's an episodic promo. would you be interested in doing this?

in j's words, tumumbling ako. would i be interested in my first paying job in singapore EVAR?!?!?! hell yeah!

lilian went on to tell me the rate for a 30s episodic promo spot: SGD250. she explained, rather apologetically, that if they had a generic series plug for me to do, the rate would be much higher but would i mind? what did i think?

what did i think? forking over two hundred fifty dollars to a workaholic-turned-housewife who can barely afford to get herself a mani-pedi or keep herself stocked with magazines and chocolates (my weekly must-have luhos) without dipping into the hubby's pocket is like offering a glass of water to a man in the desert.

and two hundred fifty dollars for an episodic? dios mio, marimar! ina-outsource pa ba 'yon? that's nearly a third of my monthly salary at gma for something i used to do every single feckin' day! (and on really long days, i could do literally half a dozen episodics in a day!)

put it this way: two hundred fifty dollars for an hour of logging tape. maybe another hour of scripting -- at most (this generous speed assumes that i am practically brain dead, wear lead weights on my fingers and take a languorous snack break). on my first day at gma, i wrote my first script in ten minutes. and i knew nothing about the job or the show. my fingers were literally trembling as i typed.

then maybe another half hour each for revisions (if any) and brainstorming with/briefing the graphic designer (which used to take me and charlie eons). here i'll have to supervise the voiceover session and edit session, which i never did back home, but that's just another two to three hours tops, five if things go badly or slowly.

so, total it up and it works out to two hundred fifty dollars for less than eight hours of exactly the same type of work i used to do (and love to do) and the chance to wedge my foot in bda's door. who am i to complain?

wait, it gets better. the next day, bda's production manager lay tuan emailed me with the details.

i'm doing a promo for THE BBC!

the promo spot i'm doing is for an episode of BBC's horizon. (clicky on the linky. the promo for the memory episode is awesome.) and i have ten days to do it! kakaloka! toto, we're not in gma anymore!

first of all, i actually received a production schedule for an episodic. at gma, you're fortunate to even get a job order. second, the schedule stretches out over ten days from viewing and timecoding to final edit and dub out (or as they say here, dump out). the long gap between scripting and edit is for client approval and revision. back home, the faster the better! episodics have been known to be viewed, scripted and edited within hours.

i got all my instructions (plus a couple of sample promo spots and a nice tip from lay tuan to bring a jacket) last week, but i'm still thrilled and delighted. i feel totally vindicated to have held out for (and pursued) work that i really love and can get super duper excited about. i don't think i would be in this big a tizzy if i had sold out for an easy-come job like... i don't know, a tindera at an estee lauder beauty counter. which i seriously considered for... one whole afternoon. haha!

tomorrow's the big day! i plan to wear my gray team manila shirt (reprezzzzent y'all!). and right before i step into the bda office, i will put on my nice, new, hard-won hat -- you know, the freelance on-air promo writer/producer one.

*kilig* i can't wait.

Friday Hodge Podge

This week as flow by, Today is the last day to enter the Pasta Pot Drawing I can't wait to see who wins it! I love giving away stuff. Check back Monday for the winner.

I continue to add blogs to my google reader, I am having a lot of fun stumbling across blogs, if you have some blogs that you think I must check out please let me know.

A few weeks ago I posted about going shoe shopping, believe it or not I have not worn either pair of shoes until today. See I have a big...no huge, meeting with the CEO of our company today. I have not bloged about it because I am really nervous and all of you are so supportive an I knew would leave kind comments, but seeing it all week would have made me more stressed then I already was/am. If this meeting goes well and we decide to launch this new division I may very well stand a chance to make VP! HUGE I tell you!!!!

Anyway back to the shoes. So I am dressed in my business suit and I realize that those cute brown shoes would go perfectly with my outfit. First here is a shot of the shoes on my feet, my husband thought I was crazy for taking a picture of my feet and here is the entire outfit, unfortunately my husband caught me looking quite fat in the face, not to mention the glasses but I didn't have time to have him retake it because I needed to get going. So what do you think are the shoes cute or what!!!!

Well Sunday is race day and I am actually excited, for the first time ever I will actually feel ready to race and hopefully won't be hurting like I was the last time.

Have a great weekend!

A tale of two interviews, continued

interview #2: beverly

departure time: 930am, 1.5 hours prior

mode of transportation: shuttle bus to mrt station, mrt to toa payoh bus interchange, bus # 145 to tanjong pagar road

background research: i was asked to visit five portals/websites for women and be ready to discuss what i liked or disliked about them. it was a surprisingly easy task -- at some point, i've actually have been a regular visitor to three out of five of them: glam, daily candy and ivillage. (remember those superfun virtual makeovers? those were from ivillage.) one was a fun new discovery, fab sugar, and the last was the beverly site itself. it was, i think, the most reading i've ever done for an interview -- and i have four legal sheets of notes to prove it.

i also had to put together a writing portfolio -- i laid out and printed most of my pieces from the star (i rarely kept up with my articles when they came out in print, so all i had were soft copies), plus the things i wrote for penshoppe, wedding essentials, manila bulletin, candy and gma, and stuffed them into a clearbook.

outfit: cream, brown and pink printed wrap dress from folded and hung. i love this dress, it's so comfy and easy to wear. wore it with my vintage rose pendant and leopard-print heels.

took this photo in the only clean corner of the closet (on marlon's side nonetheless!). in fairness mukhang may blue filter!

the proceedings: after half an hour on the bus, i started to worry that i would be late. so i brought out my trusty street map to try and figure out where i was and how long it would take me to get to tanjong pagar. the skinny, reserved-looking chinese man sitting next to me seemed to notice. he leaned over and mumbled: "are you going to chinatown?"

"sorry?" i said politely, as i could barely hear him. this was to become an often-repeated word in the course of our conversation.

he repeated his question. "no, i'm going to tanjong pagar," i replied.

two-minute silence. then he mumbled something.

"sorry, what?" speak up man!

"half an hour," he repeated.

"oh, it'll take me half an hour to get there from here?" darn, i was going to be late.

we rode on in silence. "is the weather ok?" said my seatmate suddenly.

"what? uh, yeah it's fine," i said, mystified.

"if it's too hot for you, it's ok with me to swap seats." i had the window seat.

"no, no, it's fine, i like the sun," i replied, giving him a little smile. silence again. then -- "do you always take the bus?"

"huh? uh, no, this is my first time to take the bus to tanjong pagar," i said distractedly, as i riffled through my notebook for the number of my interviewer. i had to tell them i would be late.

"oh." he fell silent. "do you take the train?"ano ba 'to, twenty questions? animal, mineral, vegetable? i gave him a small, tight nod. pause. "mumble-mumble-this-mumble-train."

"sorry, what?"

"we can do this again on a train," he said.

ano kamo? i must have misheard. alam mo naman ang ingles ng mga taga-rito. "yes, you're right, i can do this again on a train," i said, somewhere between forced politeness and complete befuddlement. "maybe next time i'll take the mrt coming down here."

our charming little chat was interrupted by a call from my interviewer. after i hung up, my seatmate shook his head. "we can do this again on a train," he repeated, louder this time.

i believe i frowned at him. "do WHAT?"

he smiled a little turtle-like smile. "what we're doing now."

aym zorehhh! bakit biglang may "we"?!!! hindi ka cute!!! at may asawa na ako!!!

by divine intervention, the bus had stopped at the landmark indicated by my interviewer. i grabbed my stuff and quickly got off the bus.

and he followed me off! he walked toward me, calling, "this is not your stop! this is not it! this is not it!"

che! paano mo alam! ikaw ba si madam auring?! i quickened my pace, dialing my interviewer as he gabbered on behind me, and just praying that he would leave me alone. i couldn't believe he got off the bus with me.

when i looked behind me after getting directions over the phone, he was gone. thankfully.

when i got to the office, it turned out that the man i had been talking to over the phone the wasn't person who had set up my interview. and the man who set up my interview had forgotten that he had set it up at all. in fact, he wasn't even in the office -- and wouldn't be back that day!

ganda.

so the only interview i had that day was from the creep on the bus! i do not want to know for what position that would have been.

the verdict: that did not go well at all. let's try that again, shall we?

DVD's and 5k's?

So for those of you that follow my blog you know that I have been on a weight loss journey, I have done quite well 18lbs down **as I pat myself on the back***. I have found doing the same ole workout is not going to get you far, I have hit a wall and my weight loss seems to have peeked. What's a 30 something woman to do??

So....I am a huge fan of the biggest loser, I watch on my DVR at 5:30 in the morning while on my treadmill getting my morning workout. I know I sound crazy but I would love to have Jillian come kick my ass for a few workout sessions. I use to be a college athlete so tough workouts are something I love but they are hard to do on your own! So when I heard she had a new workout DVD I decided to get it. I mean what could it hurt? I have done the workout twice and let me tell you it has kicked my butt! I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Hopefully my wall will be coming down soon.

On a related topic I am running in the Cherry Blossom 5K this weekend. This event is sponsored by credit unions and being that I am a board member of a credit union I make an effort every year to participate. the first year I volunteered at the check then the follow year I worked the after run snack table (bananas oranges, water and stuff. Then I decided I would run the 5K that was 2 years ago. I did miserably but I finished and wasn't last. I skipped last year, however this year I am a runner once more. This race started as a 10 miler and then there was a huge outcry for a 5K. So now they have both the 10 miler and the 5K I am hoping that next year I might actually attempt the 10 miler. I have asked my family to come out and support me during my run, I am not running for time only for personal satisfaction. I will be sure to post pictures and let you know how I fared on Monday.