See you tomorrow, Cebu!

Right now, I'm the only one awake in the house, in spite of our early flight tomorrow. There are two things that I need to explain. First, I can't sleep without finishing MMK. It's the Halloween episode, and as with every year, I can't miss it.

Second, I'm still waiting for my nails to dry.

I painted my toenails dark blue for my feet to become presentable. I'm already anticipating the tons of pictures to be taken for the next five days, so I tried my best to not at least become an eyesore. I would have taken a picture of my toenails, but I'm not too keen on fetching my camera outside the room. Where it is dark. Wooooo.

Seriously, I'm excited to go to Cebu tomorrow, and I have a handful of reasons.

1 - It's my first time to travel with Y, and if you're a mother, you'd understand how terribly exciting it is to pack baby clothes and stuff.

2 - The next five days will be purely vacation. It's not like other trips where I have to do some stuff for work or for school. Well, my trip to Surigao with J last year wasn't work or school-related, too, but the whole time I was there, I kept on thinking what would happen if my mom calls. This time, I don't have to do or worry about anything at all.

3 - It's my first time to see our relatives from Cebu. I grew up only with my mother, father, and siblings, so I virtually don't know anyone from the extended family. Please wish me luck on explaining where Y came from. Hahaha!

PS: I was supposed to take pictures of Y's things for the trip, but I got sidetracked, sooo...

To leave Facebook or not

I've been on Facebook since 2008. That makes 4 years of liking and commenting on posts, tagging people, stalking good-looking people, and sending ignored personal messages to old friends.

Just kidding about the last one. I noticed that Facebook isn't really compelling me to do anything good in my life. It doesn't inspire me anymore. In fact, all it does is inspire envy, whenever I see "friends" turning into beautiful gods and goddesses, rich (or feeling rich?) shoppers, family girls and boys (which I also am, by the way), travelers, global trotters, whatever they became.

I don't want to be envious. I like to remind myself that I am a lucky woman blessed with so many things I don't think I even deserve. So why do I get envious sometimes? Maybe because I'm only human.

Now, I'm contemplating on deleting my Facebook account. However, along with the deletion of the account comes the deletion of photos, notes, videos compiled over the years. Memories. Chos! So, now I'm confused. Should I delete my Facebook account or not?

After all, J has no FB account. I am also enjoying Twitter more nowadays - it gives me updates on other people's lives in 140 characters or less. When it comes to sharing, well, this blog exists for a reason. Also, I can do online shopping from other websites. So, why should I stay on Facebook?

Maybe I can answer this question once I get an Instagram account - which comes after I finally get myself an Android phone. #newmommyproblems

Yaya Woes: Wild Ditiktibs

Image taken from Google

I remember watching this on TV when I was around 5 years old. I didn't understand it then. Anyway, we all know that yayas are the Pinoy's (and stay-in) version of nannies. Our own yaya, Honey, has her own share of antics that she can star in her own sitcom.

I work at home everyday, so I get to witness our beloved yaya's antics. Here is a collection of last week's performances:

(After feeding Y)

Okay na baby, ubos na your Cerelacs!

(While watching NatGeo Junior Explorers, before our no-TV policy)

Wow, baby! Sali ka sa Wild Ditiktibs! Wee Wild Ditiktibs!

(While playing with Y)

Boom boom badoom boom boom badoom boom brace
Super brace!
Boom boom badoom boom boom badoom boom brace
Super brace!

And, of course, I saved the best for last.

(While lulling Y to sleep)

Tomorrow morning if you wake up,
knock, knock, knock on the door.
It's time for makeup, perfect smile.
It's you they're all waiting for.

Let's give her a warm warm of applause!

20 Months and 10 Reasons

Today's our 20th month as a couple. I've written this letter originally for our second anniversary, but guess what? I couldn't wait. Hahaha. Anyway, here is the letter I wrote for J:

I love you because we can talk about anything: from serious things like news, mundane things like work, to weird things like how to prepare octopus. 

I love you because you're annoyingly kind and understanding. Even when I'm unreasonable. 

I love you because you cry - and admit it. 

I love you because you love Y very much, even when you're not here with us. 

I love you because you always make me feel beautiful and loved. 

I love you because of your sense of humor - and the Surigao-non jokes that I will never understand. Hehe :P

I love you because you give me time for silence when I'm mad. 

I love you because you rarely get mad. Just kidding. If there's one thing I can change, I wish you would get mad at me more often. 

I love you because you exert the effort to discover my world, as you take me into yours. 

I love you because you never gave up on us: not when my family told you so, not when your friends told you so, not even when I told you so.

Well, the point is that I love you. And even when there are many reasons why I shouldn't, it's the reasons why I do that matter.

Dy, I know there's no internet connection where you are now. But I hope you'll be able to read this, say, before November. LOL. :P

Cheers to more cheesy posts in the future! XOXO

Victoria on ANTM Cycle 19

This is a late post, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I was too busy looking for a decent template. Better late than never!

Image taken from Google

Victoria Henley is weird. Victoria cries to her mom over the phone. Victoria didn't want to have a makeover. But I like Victoria, especially in this epic moment:

Kiara eventually shows up to reiterate her request to shut up after midnight, and Darian responds that she'll stay up as late as she wants. She walks off to her room, and Kiara follows her. Darian thinks that Kiara is fake for not giving the message herself. Kiara says that she didn't feel the need to come all the way upstairs to tell Darian to shut up, and Darian says that if she were a real bitch she would have. Kiara is SO OFFENDED by the accusation that she's not a real bitch. Darian wonders why Kiara is totally up in her face, and the answer is to prove that she's a real bitch. After a whole lot of fingers in faces, Kiara leaves while making sure that everybody knows she's a real-ass bitch. Kristin, still secretly the best, just stands on one of the beds, bouncing and laughing. After Kiara leaves, several of the girls do a real-ass bitch impression, and it's kind of awesome. Victoria's is, of course, the best. She analyzes the whole situation as such, "That's not an argument. I mean, I'm a real bitch? What is that supposed to accomplish?"

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/americas-next-top-model/the-girl-who-wants-out-1-a.php?page=6

I can't find a video of it no matter how hard I try. Okay, I didn't try. But I just loved her the moment she said that. She sounded almost exactly like me. It's like my old but trusted mantra: Great minds think alike.

Now, I'm rooting for her. Victoria's weird, but she's smart and, well, adorably weird!

Another blog makeover

If you visited my blog lately, you must have noticed how my blog was constantly changing looks. You can blame Google Chrome. See, I always used Mozilla Firefox to blog (while I used Chrome to work). I'd like to think it helps me become more productive, but actually, it does not.

When I got finally fed up with the frequency of crashes I encounter with Mozilla, I decided to use Chrome altogether. That's when I found out that my old template, Elite Minima, doesn't work well with Chrome. Instead of having 2 columns, it showed just one column on Chrome. In other words, my blog looked like a big mess when viewed in Chrome.

I didn't have the patience (or the knowledge, for that matter) to fix my settings. I just looked for a new template, but nothing seemed to be working right. Then, after days of looking for the perfect blog, I discovered Incipient, which is a fully-customizable template. So far, so good. I think I'll be sticking with it from now on. :-)

How do you say goodbye to an old friend?

It's funny how you easily assume that when you're friends with a person - or two - for more than six years, you're friends with them forever. And it's funny how easy it is for those people to throw those years away.

Sadly, it happens.

Sadly, it happens when you were raising your firstborn baby alone. It happens when you couldn't move due to the stitches in your stomach. It happens when you were scrambling around, looking for funds, because you couldn't work yet. It happens during the baptism of the same son, when all you need are a few good friends to make you forget why the baby's father can't be there.

Sadly, it happens when the world around you spins so crazily fast that all you need are a few old friends to lean on to so you won't get dizzy or fall off the chair.

Sadly, it happens when you need them the most.

And you don't know why. Sometimes, you will never know why.

This is my last straw, my last bullet. After this, I'll never text nor call nor send you PMs on Facebook. I won't bother asking for my books again. After all, I can buy new ones, just like how I will find new and better friends. After this, I'll live as if I never knew both of you in the first place.

So, how do I say goodbye to an old friend? Or a couple of old friends?

In your face!

(Photo taken from Google)

Mother Packer: The Checklist

I pride myself on being an adept multitasker. As of this moment, I am working, blogging, and making a packing checklist for our upcoming Cebu trip.

This is what my checklist looks like currently:

Somehow, the black ink turned to blue. Oh, well.

Note that my own things only occupies a quarter of the list.

I'm an excited and anxious packer. Usually, I can prepare my things for a trip overnight. I can also list down the things I need in a couple of minutes. However, because I'm packing for me and Y, I need to consult my list over and over again. I need to make sure that Y has everything he needs; I don't want to be stuck in an unfamiliar place at 2am without rash cream.

I'm also consulting these two travel checklists from Baby Center: Baby Checklist and First Aid Checklist. I think I got it all covered! (Emphasis on "I think.")

Good luck to me!

Little Y tries to walk

This happened last Sunday morning, when we were lazily sprawled in the living room. It was very hot outside, so we postponed our SM trip to later in the afternoon. Y was in my lap, playing, when he decided he wanted to get down on the floor.

He couldn't sit up on his own yet nor crawl properly, but he decided he wants to stand up and walk.

Please forgive me for posting my thunder thighs and legs in public.

My son is such a gwapito!

Why the smirk, Y? :D

This is when I decided to become a good mommy and gave Y soft shoes to wear.

I can't imagine the day when Y would explore the world on his own. On another note, he may have looked like me when he was born, but he's really turning out to resemble his papa. 

PS: You're right, George. :D

* Grainy photos courtesy of my 2-year old mobile phone.

** Blurred photos courtesy of a giggling auntie and a 6-month old baby who won't stop moving.

What to get from Lazada?

The stats are back! Again, I know my stats are not that much, but I worked for more than a month to get that. Besides, it's better than nothing, right? My heart actually skipped a beat when I saw the zero stats this morning -- that's how I love this blog -- and breathed a little sigh of relief when I found out that it's a global glitch. However, I wasn't completely relieved until I saw my stats back.

Whew!

Anyway, I'm glad to say that I have already fulfilled my quota for last week. I was almost hopeless because I didn't work on Friday afternoon. But I don't lose hope that easily and worked on a Sunday. I'm looking forward to another productive week this week!

On the other hand, I remembered that my Lazada voucher will expire in 9 days. I need to buy something from the website -- fast! I can't decide among these choices:

Huggies Dry Extra Large

I swear by Huggies Dry. Y never experienced spills and he can sleep through the night using it. We still have more than 10 packs of Huggies diapers from our last Lazada loot, but I think we need to get some in extra-large sizes. Big baby is big!

Imarflex Ice Crusher and Blender

I broke our blender last Christmas because I tried to crush graham crackers in it. I didn't know the blender could handle the pressure. LOL. Anyway, since Y is already eating solids on a regular basis, I should get a new blender to process natural baby foods, and replace the blender I broke. :P

iPhone 5

Just kidding! I have no budget from an iPhone 5. *tears*

Where are my page views???

Dear Google,

I know I have not been able to write blog posts for a few days now, but you can't punish me by doing this:

There aren't that many page views, but I was proud of them! tears*

UPDATE: Apparently, I'm not the only blogger experiencing this glitch.
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/dSFrwW2SWgE[151-175]

For the tummy troubles

I am already free from gastroenteritis this morning, but I still have to have these on my worktable:

Gatorade for rehydration, apple to "harden the stools" (TMI), and my handy Salon Pas for pain treatment. Not in photo: Bananas!

Pardon the view, everyone. I'm working on our communal table by the stairs. I can't work upstairs because I need to be somewhere Y can see me. Thus, the temporary workplace. Happy weekend!

PS: The apple doesn't look perfect. I know.

Gastroenteritis

I didn't blog religiously this week. I know. I was always in a rush to finis my quota, and on top of that, I had bouts of gastroenteritis. For the uninformed, it's sometimes called "stomach flu" and is characterized by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

So, yeah, if you plan to visit me, today's probably not the best time. I'm still having the time of my life at the toilet.

I have always been prone to having gastroenteritis. What confuses me is that I'm a very picky eater. I don't just eat anything, so it's not likely that I have eaten something unclean. In fact, I stay at home most of the time so what I eat is exactly the same as what everybody else in the house eats. In addition, we don't drink tap water so we order those gallons of distilled water. In short, everything I ingested was basically clean. Really confusing, isn't it?

Fortunately, it's not so severe that I can still work. Unfortunately, the muscle spasms and the need to "go" happens at night, when Y is sleeping. The poor kid always wakes up whenever I had to wake up, too, so both of us had a less-than-perfect night.

PS: Y's lucky that he's had rotavirus shots already. I didn't have it 20+ years ago, so, poor me.

Blocked by the boyfriend!

This actually happened last week but I just remembered to write about it now. It was last Thursday or Friday, I think. J sent me load (#prepaiduserproblems) as he always did. Then, he texted me. Of course, I replied to him. He didn't reply so I figured he was busy doing something. I didn't think anything of it, when he texted again. "Busy ka? Please text."

What? I texted! I sent a lot of text messages already, but he still continued sending the same message. I tried calling him, but my calls couldn't get through. Even the text messages I sent via Facebook couldn't get through. Finally, I asked my friend, George, to send him a text message for me. That he got and informed me immediately that he got George's message.

The following day, he switched to his Smart sim. He was using a Globe sim the day before and we thought the problem might be with Globe. Now, we used to be on the same network (Smart), but he had to switch to Globe for work. Long story. Anyway, we thought he could receive my messages already. Guess what? He still can't! My calls still couldn't get through, either!

So for a short period of time, I relayed my messages through his sister. That lasted for about 15 minutes. Message relay is so tiring! Haha!

The next day, he still couldn't receive messages on both sims. I was already starting to lose hope (chos!) when finally, finally, he figured out what was wrong. All my messages were in his spam box!

Apparently, his phone blocked my number. *tears* He swears he didn't block my number so we were clueless as to why I was blocked. Was I sending too many messages? Nah, I don't think so. J's guess was that I was sending obscene messages. Seriously?! Hahaha!

Then, he remembered that his kid cousin borrowed his phone when he went home for his sick leave. He must have blocked my number my mistake! At least, everything goes smoothly now. J was really upset, but I was amused by the turnout of events. Well, it wasn't my money that was wasted. Teehee. :P

More finds at SM Lanang Premier

Last Sunday, we went to the newly-opened SM Lanang Premier for the first time. If you think the only things we bought were stuff for Y, then you're wrong. We bought clothes for ourselves, too! My sister and I got these pretty dresses -- at the department store!

Button-up yellow dress for ze 10-year old sister

And a striped dress for me

Because they were bought at the department store, they were considerably cheaper than the dresses sold at boutiques. They only cost P400 apiece. Now, we know SM Lanang Premier has Forever 21. Why didn't we buy dresses there?

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

These clothes were given by J last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't wear them anymore outside the house. The yellow one serves as pambahay while I gave the gray one to my sister. The gray one is still wearable outside the house but I don't have the time (and patience) to mend it.

Don't get me wrong; Forever 21 has a LOT of nice clothes that I would love to wear. However, as the mommy of a baby who snatches everything he sees, I can't afford to wear clothes with flimsy fabric. Here are a few guidelines on who can wear Forever 21:

1. You can wear F21 if you're not a mommy. I can only speak for myself, though.

2. You can wear F21 if you're skinny. I'm on the heavy side of the weighing scale so thin fabric is a no-no!

3. You can wear F21 if you or someone else does the laundry at home. We don't have time to do our laundry and we don't have household help outside of Y's yaya (long story), so we bring our dirty clothes to the laundry shop. Clearly, they don't know how to wash dresses with thin fabric. See Exhibit C.

There you go! If you're none of the above, go ahead and splurge at Forever 21. If you're doubtful, there are so many other great (and cheaper) finds. Don't you think the dresses we bought are pretty? :-)

Monday Updates

I'm squeezing in 5 minutes between work to post a quick update. Not that it matters to you, though. But it matters to me! *pouts lips* Hahaha!

Y update: He can now do close-open at 6 months! You know that age-old song of Filipinos? Close open, close open? Y's yaya randomly sang the song, opening and closing her hands along with the song. Suddenly, Y began following her! He opened and closed his hands, too! We gathered around Y and he continued showing off. However, he lost attention quickly and already moved on. Anyway, he can do it na! Smart baby!

EDIT: Babies can do close-open at 5 months! I should have taught Y earlier. I didn't know!!! Maybe I should start teaching him to clap and "McDo-McDo." What? Babies younger than 6 months can do those already? Di nga?

Cebu update: We have finally booked a room at a small hotel in Cebu City. We were scheduled to stay at the Grand Regency Hotel and Towers, but, ugh, there was a mishap and we didn't like the way we were treated. To make the long story short, after the mistreatment (chos!), we decided to spend less for the hotel to make way for more. We booked at the cheapest hotel in the city so that we can have budget for other things, like a rental car. Good luck to us!

Work update: Today's the first day of my increased quota. Good luck to me!

Blog update: Finally, this is what happens when you don't blog for an entire weekend:

My blog overview from Thursday to Monday

My poor ranking also went from 160 to 290. Great job! Oh, well. :P

First time at the SM Lanang Premier

Sundays are my self-imposed days off and our self-imposed family days. After going to church, all of us would troop to nearby malls, such as Abreeza and Gaisano Mall and just spend the day eating and shopping. My parents would never admit it, but like me, they also like to shop. Teehee.

As mall-lovers, we were excited to go to the newest mall in the city, SM Lanang Premier. Malls are going nearer to the north! Yes! It opened the other week but we didn't go because there were a LOT of people. My posse included a 6-month old baby and an old father/grandfather, so we didn't brave the crowd.

We finally had our chance yesterday. The herds of people were already gone so the mall was for us to explore. My mother thoughtfully brought a camera, so we shamelessly took pictures inside:

While walking along the halls of the mall -- Y is wearing Carter's rompers, Baby Gap socks, and Zara Baby shoes.

Pit-stop at Toy Kingdom and a photo op with Rich Uncle Pennybags

At the baby section of Toy Kingdom -- Y was laughing at the toys!

The first thing we did was, of course, buy stuff for Y! I was supposed to buy him this jacket:

Hindi na-orient si Ms. Saleslady LOL

It was a dark blue jacket with an owl hoodie and Y looked cute in it. I was already supposed to pay for it when my father spotted this:

What's this?

St. Patrick!

White and brown-striped jacket

It is exactly the same as the jacket I pointed out in this entry. But that was blue and this is white and striped. It was really cute, neat and fresh-looking that I just had to return the owl jacket back on the rack. Also, the saleslady at St. Patrick informed us that we would get a free toy when we purchase more than 300 pesos worth of St. Patrick clothing. The jacket costs P400, so we got this:

Blue and pink rattle

I didn't want to buy just one item for Y, so I got this, too:

Y would look so pogi in this striped shirt and cargo shorts

Hoodie + striped shirt + khaki shorts. Hmm... Now, come to think of it. It is the exact getup of his dad!

Never the winner

I'm sorry if the title sounds so emo, but that's right: I never win any contests! Last time, I told you that I joined a contest from Dainty Mommy. I wanted to win a giveaway from Mayumi and Me so I diligently tweeted everyday. But my efforts - they're useless! Huhuhu.

If you think I'm being OA, well, I am. But it's not just this contest. It's every freaking raffle contest I join. I just never win! Sometimes, I think baka may balat lang ako sa pwet. Hahaha! Anyway, I already stopped being a sore loser and just thought of online shopping for our Cebu trip.

I'm thinking of buying these:

Image taken from Mayumi and Me

Image taken from Choochoobaby

Image taken from Lazada

Image taken from Zalora

I don't know where to buy a feeding bowl -- suddenly, all feeding bowls in Zalora are gone! I hope I can find one when I visit SM Premiere. Anyway, we're still accepting gifts, so... Teehee.

Reading List for the New Mom

Pile of books for the new mother - me!

I love to read, and when I gave birth, it is only expected that J and my mother would give me some books to read while nursing Y. (I don't have an iPad or anything similar.) These books helped me a lot, not only in passing time, but also in understanding Y, especially in his colicky days.

I'm not saying that all books offer the best solution, but you work with what you have, right? These books all offered sound advice, so I'm sharing them with you. Here they are:

This book discusses more of new media and less of parenting. As a new media student, I love it; I read it every night before I sleep. It tackles the strategies used by companies and conglomerates to target their youngest audience -- babies. Prepare for issues with Fisher-Price, Baby Einstein, etc.

It provides useful information, but it doesn't focus wholly on newborn and babies. Parents of 12-year olds can benefit from this book more. I don't have to deal with issues on sexuality yet. I guess?

This is my favorite book in the bunch. Unlike the previous book, it really focuses on how to take care of babies. Written by a nanny, it has surefire tips that a new mom can really use, such as knowing how to check whether your floor is free of things that can hurt the baby. It's also divided into four parts: 0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months, and 9-12 months, so you are sure to get tips that you really need and avoid tips that you don't need to do yet. Plus, it has chapters devoted for parents of twins and special children.

This book would be really helpful for mommies and families, in general, who are committed to living an environment-friendly lifestyle. It has environment-friendly tips on maintaining said lifestyle even when a new addition to the family comes along. It's not my strongest advocacy, but I'm trying to live the earth-friendly lifestyle in baby steps.

We have had this magazine since my sister was a toddler. It presents some studies done on babies which show how they have more potential than we think. But I'm a bit wary on reading this book because all I can think of are babies being observed by scientists...

This is a magazine I picked up when J and I were buying baby toys in SM City Davao. (No SM Premiere yet.) It covers a lot of issues and gives a lot of tips, just like what a magazine should do.

I haven't read this book fully yet because it deals on figuring out baby's speech patterns. Since Y is already starting to babble, I think I need to read this already. And for your information, he babbles very adorably. Ada, aba, dada!

This is my other favorite. It's a really large and heavy book by Johnson & Johnson's, and also presents a complete discussion of your every concern as a new mother, which can range from proper sterilization of equipments to how to play with your baby at every age. My favorite feature is that it has pictures for everything, so you'll never go wrong on following a tip! By the way, we bought this hardbound book for only P250. Just ask me if you want to know where we bought it. :-)

There you have it: the books that kept me sane for my first months as a mother. I hope I was able to help you!

Spending your income correctly

Now, we're back to regular programming. I can still blog leisurely this week as my "pressurely" work would not take effect until next week.

As I told you the other day, I just received my salary for September. Because I now have a little one, I can't just go on spending all my money for myself. Now, I have to go on spending all my money for Y. That sounds wrong. What I mean to say is that I have to set a stricter budget now that I have someone to take care of. However, it's not a burden on my part. If you know me, you would know that I love budgeting -- it's just the implementation that needs work!

I only receive my salary once a month, which means I need to budget for the entire month. Thus the need for a budgeting tool. I have an account in Expense Register but I have yet to use it. I think I will use it after I have paid my debt off, which is next month. Instead, I referred to this budget calculator from CNBC by Carmen Wong Ulrich.

According to CNBC, the ideal allocation of your monthly budget should be as seen in the pie chart above. I like it because once you provide the exact amount of your monthly income, it calculates the exact amount you should allocate for each, well, allocation. You can just make "dagdag-bawas" if you want to. Teehee.

I tried calculating using only my own monthly salary. Then, I tried calculating with our combined salary, J's and mine. I liked the latter better because there is more left for "everything else." Lol!

Pressure!

Just this morning, I received this email from my boss:

It's a request for me to review more essays. Apparently, there are sooo many essays in queue now that the academic year is already in its second month. There is already a need to request tutors to review extra essays in order to finish the queue. As of now, there are more than 3000 essays in queue. Hurrah! The zero essay-queue I experienced last August now seems a lifetime away.

Well, I could use additional income, even though it means more time at work. I figured it would be fine since I'd be taking a 4-day vacation at the end of the month anyway. I also figured this means more pocket money for me and Y. So...

Huh? Seriously? Memes are so last year!

On loved ones and tonsils

From now on, I will be careful on what I post.

No, I'm not talking about the Cyber Crime Law. Remember, I'm not affected! Haha, feeling. Anyway, I'm talking about a previous post I made on J. In that post, I talked about how he doesn't get sick often because he's so healthy and he has a good immune system.

Please remind me never to talk about that again! Last Monday, he got sick with fever. Of course, he decided to wait it out. By Tuesday, he was still feeling so bad that he decided to pay the doctor a visit. Honestly, I was shocked. He must have felt really bad that he had to go to the doctor. :-(

Apparently, he has tonsillitis. He has been eating lugaw for the past couple of days, and trust me, that's a huge sacrifice for him. I remember when I had tonsillitis last year and it was painful. Poor boy. My heart goes out to him because he's living alone and he has no one to take care of him. #ldrproblems

However, I'm thankful it's not dengue or Chiku-whatsitsname. He's okay now but still has to take antibiotics and prescription medicine. Whew.

I swear I'll never talk about his immune system again.

UPDATE: He swears he got the virus from me -- I had tonsillitis April or May 2011. Bad boy!

Thoughts on the first day of the Cyber Horror Law

Yesterday, I just reached an all-time high regarding the number of page visits in this blog. Thanks, guys! It makes me giddy to think that I may have more than 4 readers after all. Maybe 5.

Anyway, today's the day that the Cyber Crime Law would officially be implemented. Please sign the petition if you haven't yet. As for me? I won't let myself be affected by it. I didn't change my profile picture and I don't plan on doing so, because for me, changing my profile picture to black would mean I accepted the law. I would only accept RA 10175 after the necessary amendments. I'm only speaking for myself, though, and I laud the others on publicly voicing out their views.

Apparently, my friends in Facebook and over there in Twitter aren't affected, too, based on the number of posts praising the honorable Mr. Sotto. Don't you just love this man?

It's a good thing I'm pretty adept on using the language of sarcasm. It's not included in the bill, is it?

Again, I am against this law, particularly the libel clause inserted by Sotto. Please don't use the taxpayer's money for absurd laws. We have the RH Bill, the Freedom of Information Bill, and the Sin Tax bill still on hold. Should we wait for more mothers to die before the RH bill gets passed? Should we wait until we die of smoking and drinking before the Sin Tax bill gets passed? What should we do with all the corrupt officials before the Freedom of Information bill gets passed? Oops, I may be charged with libel for that statement.

Ninoy Aquino must be turning in his grave right now. Good job, PNoy!

PS: Here's another petition shared to me by George.

Change.org|How to Start a Petition

If you're against politicians who are anti-democracy and anti-Filipino, you know what to do!

Junk the Cyber Crime Law!

On another, more serious note, I ask you to please sign this petition to junk the Cybercrime Law, or RA 10175. This is important to me because as a new media student, a blogger, and now, a mother, I value my right and freedom to being able to express my opinion without fear of libel charges.

Change.org|Start an Online Petition

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 poses serious threats to Internet freedom, the right to privacy and other essential civil liberties including the freedom of speech, expression, and the press. (http://www.change.org/petitions/junk-the-cybercrime-prevention-law#)

There are still more than 900,000 signatures needed. If you are someone like me who values his freedom of expression in the online platform, please please sign the petition.

I love my job!

Of course, I love my job. The first things I love about it are the online platform and the flexibility of time. Who doesn't like working (and earning) in the comfort of your home? As a mommy, it's especially important to me when Y encounters milestones. I'm proud to have been there during his first smile, laughter, his first rollover, and I was the one who fed him his first solid food. It also benefits me that I can stop working whenever Y demands the breast. TMI. I know.

The second thing I love is the ease of work. It was really difficult at the beginning, though. I began my applications May last year, and I was finally able to start training on July. Yes, the 2-month period was just the application phase. There was no guarantee that you can be considered for training. The process is difficult, too. You really have to be a capable writer to be accepted. But after more than a year of being an online essay instructor, I can say that I'm already pretty adept at it, so the job comes easy more often than not.

The next thing I love about work is the stability. As long as there are students in the US who are required by their professors to write essays, we'll always have a job. I just don't like seeing this in the summer months:

But this rarely happens.

The fourth thing I love about my work is the prompt and convenient payment! While the main office is in Manila, I never had any trouble receiving payment for my work (ahem) because they directly deposit my salary into my BPI account, which I can check online! I thank God that I never had to experience delayed payments with my current work.

Finally, the fifth thing I love about work is the one that prompted me to write this blog entry:

Yes, that's me! Our team manager sent us this email just now, and as I mentioned in my reply, it's the first time I receive a special mention -- for something good! I have been an inactive tutor and I have only worked full-time this July (a year after I successfully got in). Before then, I was so "kulelat" and was actually the reason for deficit productions of the team. Reading this email makes me so proud of myself. :-) 

PS: Now that my salary has arrived, I can finally pay for the laptop! Here's to being debt-free -- cheers!

Surplus of Fans

DISCLAIMER: No, I'm not referring to people fans. I only have one - myself.
#falsemodesty

In my Facebook account, I posted a cute picture of Y when he woke me up this morning. Of course, his adorable face is the first thing I see each morning. However, when we went downstairs, I wasn't prepared to see this:

Yes, that's Kuya Kim on showtime. I was only able to take this photo when Y's yaya took her lunch.

There are four electric fans in our living room! Before you react, no, it's not a particularly hot morning. We're not opening a surplus shop either. These are the fans from the rooms upstairs and from the kitchen that need repair.

See, we have a funny lot of electric fans. The first one in the picture, the black one behind the white, runs but only with its head up high. We call the fan hambog, or "proud" in English. The white and purple fan is relatively new, but its motor already died. We call it luya or "weakling."

The third fan is the maroon one -- and it's the only one that runs! Actually, it runs very strongly and it's capable of blowing your hat off with just the first setting. The family doesn't have a name for it, but I proudly call it "Fighting Maroon." Need I say more? #UPpride

Finally, the last fan is the beige fan on the right. It's the oldest fan among the lot, and it's the exact opposite of the first fan. Why? Because it runs only with his head down low. We call it ulawon or "shy."

So, there. That's only half of the fans we have in the house. We have many because we're draft-loving people; apparently, we're weird people, too, because our electric fans have names. Hahaha!

PS: Here's the photo of Y in my Facebook:

Call me biased, but he's adooorable!

 *Grainy photos courtesy of my 2-year old mobile phone

New look for Davao Mommy

If you frequent my blog (attention, 4 readers!), you would know that I used to use a pink template with an image of a girl on the right side. This is what DavaoMommy.com used to look like:

For purposes of nostalgia

I used the theme because I found it cute. However, I've known for long that the theme just wasn't me. I have always been a "no-frills" girl and the said theme was all frills. I have self-image issues; I know. Anyway, I've been meaning to look for a new template for my blog that suits me better. I just waited until the end of September (wala lang).

Now, I changed the theme of my blog into something cleaner and more classic. Not only that but the theme is also feminine and has touches of pink. It has to have touches of pink. It's also a smart theme because it already has sharing buttons and automatically centers Google Ads, unlike my old theme. Anyway, the bottom line is that I like it. I hope you like it as I do!