The World of Second Chances

She Wants To Be Like Me

January 15, 2011

Wedding & Family Life

My daughter, in her most poker face, asked me what would be my reaction if her grade in Math would be 78.

“Of course, that is not acceptable to me. You are studying very hard, waking up early to prepare your breakfast and staying late at night to do your homework. Then what could have gone wrong?” I replied.

I asked this question to dig deeper what could have happened to her grade in Math. Should I hire a full-time maid so that she won’t get up at 5AM to prepare her breakfast? Should I hire a tutor to help her with her assignments? I am not a supermom. I know my limitations. I cannot be like my mother and it frustrates me that I am not Adora.

Adi and I went to our room after dinner. Chang knocked and asked if she could show me her report card. Was I sleepy when I read the card? I kept on looking for the 78 but her grade in Math showed a 92! Wow! From 81 during the 1st grading, it went up to 92! Attagirl!

Most of her subjects improved during the 2nd grading. She was ecstatic when she succeeded in making me believe that she had a failing subject. I texted the good news to my sister-in-law.

Physically, Chang and I do not look alike and somehow, I know deep inside that she wants to look like me, maybe even be like me (in a positive way).

Here are our differences:
1. She took most of my ex’s genes and sometimes, she tend to compare herself with Adi (who’s a spitting image of his mom).
2. I love to read. She doesn’t. I gave her a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends and Influence People.” Ewan kung binasa. Hehehe.
3. She’s headstrong for a tweener. I was easily intimidated when I was her age.
4. She likes kikay kits. I consider them a thrash.
5. She is very very moody. I am less moody. Hahahaa!
6. She loves fruits. I only eat fruits when dieting and when I’m sick.
7. She loves to dance.Nobody would like to dance with me because I am not a good dancer. Loser! Hehehehe.
8. She’s expressive. I’m secretive. She has a social networking site, I hate to have one.
9. She loves to spend. I watch every cent. Hehehehe.
10. She loves noodles for breakfast. I can’t eat breakfast without pandesal.

With these differences, I told her that she could never be like me because she is her own person. I could only be her piece of amusement or maybe disappointment but she could never be my clone. She’s got a different life, a different destiny. Thank God, she both love her biological and surrogate father. She is also close to my father and my younger brother.
Kasal o Sakal?

January 12, 2011

Life & Love

Bata pa ako, I was sure that I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Nauna ko yung pinangarap kesa pangarapin ng isang batang babae ang maging isang nurse o doktor. Alam ko ngayon, di ako motherly in so many ways or perhaps, hindi lang ako ang traditional mom pero sa isip ko, pinakamasayang araw ko ay ang maging wife and mother. Siguro nga, in relation to my previous posts, iyon ang reason why I admire motherly figures like Pia Magalona, Coney Reyes and even my own mother!

Ano ba ang tamang edad sa pag-aasawa ng isang babae? Sa akin, 25 years old is fine. By today’s standard, bata pa yun dahil sa edad na yan pa lang nagsisimulang maging stable sa work ang isang babae. Kung dumating ang tamang lalaki sa akin noong 25 years old ako at mabait naman sya, maayos, maalaga at masikap sa buhay, buong puso kong tatanggapin ang alok na yon. Siyanga pala, dumating din ako sa puntong ako na mismo ang nagtanong sa boyfriend ko that time kung ano ba ang plano namin sa pagpapakasal. Hindi nya ako sinagot.

Magkaiba ang panuntunan ng babae at lalaki sa kasal pero isa lang ang dulo nyan: pag mahal ka ng tao, hindi maaaring hindi ka ihawla nyan sa isang commitment. Panigurado ba. Kaya nga uso ang engagement ring, engagement bracelet at kung ano pang anik-anik. Pag ang lalaki ay gusto ka lang i-commit sa kanya through living in, at alam nyang ang nasa puso mo ay pagpapakasal, get out of the relationship. Maaaring mahal ka nya pero hindi ikaw ang babaeng gusto nyang pakasalan. Don’t give me that bullshit na liberated kayo. Heck, kahit ang pinakaliberal na taong alam na natin like Britney Spears, nagpapakasal pa nga rin. Si David Beckham nga na pwedeng magpalit ng girlfriend as often as he wants ay piniling maging asawa ni Victoria. My point is, pag gusto ka, ikakadena ka sa kasal.

Tama rin ang desisyon ni Pia Guanio to find a new love dahil kung totoo ang balita na si Vic Sotto ang ayaw magpakasal, it’s just right for Pia to find that commitment from someone else.

Tama ang desisyon ni Camille Pratts to get married pagkatapos mabuntis ng boyfriend nya dahil mabuti naman itong asawa at ama.

Nakakatuwa ring makabalita ng mga kinakasal ulit pagkatapos di maging successful ang kanilang unang kasal. Ikakasal ang classmate ko ng highschool. Second marriage nya ito at sana, maging maayos na ang married life nya this time.

Ako rin ang tipo na hindi bitter-bitteran pag may ex akong kinakasal. Para lang kasi yang jigsaw puzzle. Hindi kami ang magkatugma kaya bakit ipipilit pa? Hindi lang ex-bf ang sinasabi ko, ha? Mga ex-suitor, ex-crush, ex-MU, ex-muntik-ng-maging-bf. It amazes me na sa dinami-dami ng lalaki sa mundo eh sa asawa ko ako nagpakasal. Destiny ang tawag dun.

Nakakainis ang mga sobrang bilib sa sarili na babae, usually mga 23-26 years old, na very proud sa pagre-reject ng marriage proposal ng boyfriend nila. Girl, pag 35 ka na at kulubot, baka kahit sino na lang eh tanggapin mo! Wag kang sobrang proud at baka ipagpalit ka sa iba nyan, iiyak-iyak ka!
Marvelous Taheebo!

January 12, 2011

Health & Beauty

I resorted to herbal treatment when I felt that my bad cold was not getting any better even if I was taking medication for the past seven days. I asked my father to send me alagaw leaves through my youngest brother who stays with me during school days.

My father sent me alagaw leaves with taheebo. I mixed them in a pot and boiled them. I drank two cups and after that, I was profusely sweating! I don’t think it’s because of the hot drink because the room was cold (ac) Next, my stuffy nose began to feel better.

I called up my father to thank him for the leaves and told him to religiously consume taheebo instead of soda for health benefits.

You might want to try taheebo. I googled it and found this site. http://hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits-of-Taheebo

Charlene Gonzales’ taheebo tea and capsule commercial is no bogus after all!
I Love Pia Magalona!

January 11, 2011

That’s Entertainment

There is something very charming about this mother of eight beautiful children. Truth is, I love her more than I love Francis M. Hehehe. Kabilib lang at how she manages to raise her kids especially after Francis M’s death. I’ve been lurking some of her blogs (blogspot, livejournal, posterous etc) and she seems to be a woman of substance, too. Beauty and brains, just like Maxene.

I wonder if she’s open to accepting hosting job. Kayang-kaya naman nya eh! Don’t you agree that Pia looks more beautiful these days? She even looks years younger. =)
Adi’s Moments

January 10, 2011

Life & Love

Today is Adi’s 16th month. He moves faster now, he even loves to run and climb the stairs. He can say the following words and he is aware of the meaning of these words:
1. mama- that’s me!
2. daddy- Miel
3. Ate- Chang
4. papa- his grandfather, my father
5. hot
6. cold
7. no/hindi
8. ao- for yes
9. bike- his bicycle
10. play
11. pray
12. Amen
13. dog
14. cat
15. yumyum- pronounced as “mummum”
16. wow!
17. great!-pronounced as “gate!”
18. dede- pertains to his feeding bottle
19. babye!
20. hon- short cut for honey
Oh, these are just of the words that he frequently say. I am amazed at how a small person like him can learn so fast.

Yesterday afternoon, I put him on the stroller and I left the rest room door half open while bathing. Adi saw the bubbles on my hair and he laughed as if I was cracking a joke! He found the bubbles in my hair funny. Boy, my son got my sense of humor!

He loves to kiss the 9-month old baby next door. He even hugs our neighbor’s baby. He puts his stuffed toy to sleep while saying the word “baby!” My little one knows that he’s growing up and anything or any person smaller than him, he regards it/him as a “baby.”

I never felt happier until Adi came to my life. I was also happy when Chang came to my life but I was not ready to be a parent at that time. It takes proper timing to be a better parent. Thank you, Lord, for giving me this second chance at parenthood.
Kare-Kare Recipe

January 8, 2011

Health & Beauty

Ingredients:
1 kgs. ox tripe or ox tail (tuwalya o buntot)
1/2 kg. pork (laman)
2 sachets of Knorr Kare-Kare Mix
1 small glass of Lily’s Peanut Butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 onions
4 pcs. garlic
1 bundle of stringbeans (sitaw)
3 pcs large eggplant
1 bundle of pechay tagalog
1 small puso ng saging
bagoong

Cooking Instruction:
1. Chop the ox stripe and pork into desired size.
2. Wash and put into the pressure cooker.
3. Pour 3 glasses of water.
4. Tenderize for 30-45 mins.
5. Get the meat put into a plate. Reserve the broth for the Kare-Kare mix.
6. Saute the garlic, onion and meat for 5 mins.
7. Pour the kare-kare mix and peanut butter. It is salty so you may add water and sugar if you want it less salty.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. Put the chopped vegetables (puso ng saging, sitaw, talong and pechay).
10. Stir occasionally.
11. Serve with bagoong.
Free Internet Access

January 8, 2011

Career, Finance & Product

I live in a place where a landline is scarce (though the PLDT agent gave me some hope that maybe my application for a landline and an internet connection would be approved until February) so I use either Smart Bro or Globe Tattoo to connect to the net. Smart Bro used to be okay until 2009; I am not sure if it was the signal or the increasing number of Smart users that were blocking my connection off so in 2010, I switched to Globe Tattoo. So far so good; I hope Globe Tattoo won’t suck in the future.

My Globe Tattoo is prepaid and maybe I’ll switch to postpaid in case I become more net addicted. Lol! Yesterday afternoon, I tried their SUPERSURF50 which entitled me to 1-day unlimited surfing. I don’t download anything on the web so my unlimited surfing is maximized.

I read somewhere that it’s possible to hack Globe Tattoo to get a free internet access. Oh yes, consumers always like a good bargain, freebies and so on but hacking is another thing. Hacking for a free internet access is just like buying pirated DVD’s because you’re robbing off Globe of revenue from a prepaid load. If there would be 1,000 users who would hack Globe Tattoo, that would be 1,000 x the number of surfing hours x PhP 20 per hour that would be lessened from Globe’s prepaid income. And since we love to share what’s free, more and more users will use the (hack) code for a free internet access.

Domino effects of hacking Globe Tattoo (or Smart Bro/Sun Cellular)
1. Less taxes to be remitted to the government–>less income for the government—>less budget for telecommunications improvement project—> we’re behind again when it comes to new technologies.

2. Less income for Globe’s prepaid account—>less income for small e-loading stations—> kawawa naman maliliit na naglo-load lang!

3. Less income for Globe’s prepaid account–>less income for those selling prepaid cards–> less seller to sell prepaid cards—> Globe will downsize it’s prepaid card team—> Filipino din ang mawawalan ng trabaho. I don’t care if they’re just 50 or less people, my point is, a possible downsizing could happen.

4. Internet users will be more addicted to surfing. Not that it is bad if it will be used for a good cause like earning money online or researching but if it’s just to kill time, wag na lang!—->Because of the increased number of users, internet traffic will happen and people who are fairly buying a prepaid card or e-load will just be affected.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch!” Tayo lang ba ang may mentality ng libre-libre na yan?