Today, I got my new pair of prescription glasses. My last pair is two years old and in my world of constantly being online, my eyes are also constantly tired and "abused". I have been seeing squiggly lines and dancing letters. I thought I was just going nuts but it seems like the problem was that my eyeglasses needed to be upgraded. So we trooped to the doctor - my kids and I plus Ethan, and had our eyes refracted. Crap! My eyes need different lenses for nearsightedness, mid-sight and farsightedness. Of course I'd look stupid alternating three glasses as I change my focus so I opted for a progressive lens eyeglasses to encompass all three different grades. So! I had myself fitted with one and wow! It was freaking expensive. I received an set of instructions on how to adjust to my new eyewear. No sweat. However, I found the last step quite funny. It said " If you can't adjust to your new progressive lens within a few days, do no despair. Some take as long as a month or so to adjust."

Okay. I am not despairing for it only took me a few hours to adjust. However, earlier on, Ethan, my son and I were all very careful going down the two flights of stairs coming down from the doctor's clinic. We felt like the ground and the stairs were afloat. But as the instruction sheet said "don't despair" and we did not. We follow instructions to the core.

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Hubby was on a golf tournament the other day. He has not been actively "golfing" of late but I guess he still has the hang of it as he went home with a prize. He said he got second place in his category. I have no idea what the category was and truth be told, I don't really care much as my house is teeming with "golfing" trophies. Even the basement has trophies way back in his basketball days. I have thrown out or or two or, alright, more than five trophies for they were ready to "retire". What interested me most was the big package he won in the raffle. All golf tournaments here have the mandatory dinner and raffle thingy after a tournament. Well, the package turned out to be an LCD TV that my kids went nuts as to who would get the TV. After much deliberation, the tv went to D3's and D4's bedroom while their TV went to my son's bedroom while his TV went to the maid's room while the maid's TV went to the garage. Now, the problem is my son's "new" tv is too big for his current tv stand and D3 and 4 need a new tv stand too. They said a new tv needs a new stand. Guess who will have to look and buy for new tv stands?

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Anyone coming in my home would have a hard time calling to be let in. Utility men, postmen and other delivery persons must hate dropping by my house for meter readings and delivery of bills, letters and packages. If any of my kids are commuting and has to use the front gate as entry, they need to text or call anyone inside the house so the gate could be opened. Yes. I do no have a doorbell. I have put one time and again but somehow, it always short-circuits. I guess the problem electrical line runs under the ground. There's no way that I would dig for that electrical wire as that would ruin my garden. I'll just have to rewire up ground. Meantime, my kids have been calling my little dog's name when they need someone to open the gate. Chip barks out loud when he (it?) hears his name called out. That's my cost-effective and energy-efficient doorbell.

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I ran out of vitamins for Ethan. I generally get free supply from my brother-in-law. He comes here in Manila every June-July to visit. Ethan prefers the gummy bear vitamins. I have the big jar in my bedroom refrigerator. At 2 gummy bears per day, I was sure I still have more than enough until August. Yup! Ethan had a field day eating the vitamins! He said he was hungry! Crap! No harm done said D1. Okay then. I needed to buy my meds at the drugstore anyway so I included a bottle of gummy vitamins in my list. I bought a different brand, a local one. It was cheap at 250 PHP. When I came home and inspected the label further, I noted that there were only 30 pieces. What an expensive "bear"! It came out priced at 8.35 PHP per. Nothing comes cheap these days.

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I know (and have used) a lot of appetite suppressants out in the market since the 1980s. A lot of them worked but only to a certain point as in the end, the dieter loses the energy to even bat her eyes. Yes, the diet pills are so effective, the dieter loses the will to eat. Simple. If you do not eat, you do not have the energy to do anything so your body goes to starvation mode which means your metabolism slows down. When metabolism slows down, you get stuck at your present weight. Vicious cycle I tell you. Anyway I heard about this new Jillian Michaels pill that suppresses appetite yet boosts energy. Great combination - you eat less but exercise more. Give me that pill!

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We went to the beach last Saturday. It was somewhere in Batangas so a day trip was possible. I was with two of my sisters-in-law and their families - the same bunch who went to Coron, Palawan. The beach was for members only and we got in because one of my SIL's bought shares. I guess the beach club was alright but it was nothing like the beach club we went to last year in Bataan. My kids and their cousins just paddled in rented canoes for there were lots of jellyfish in the water.

I did not try the sea water, as usual. The only time my kids saw me try the sea water was in Puerto Princesa and Coron. I am picky. I did try the pool. Dirty. Ethan's eyes turned red. I am such a snob. We attempted to play beach volleyball but it was too hot, we were melting. So! There was nothing left to do but take a dip in the pool. I was bored so I gave Ethan swimming lessons instead. D2 and D3 joined in and taught their 10 and 11 year old cousins how to swim. At the end of the hour, Ethan was now floating while the older boys were doing basic freestyle. Teaching Ethan how to float and do bubbles is such a big deal as for the longest time he was freakishly afraid of learning how to swim. I think he was inspired to learn how to swim when he saw aunties D2,D3 and D4 do IMs (individual medley)

Funny. The three girls no longer have the stamina for a 25 meter butterfly.

"Girls! You seriously need the best fat burning supplement to take off the extra poundage in your bellies!"

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I am a person who have gone through some awkward "duh" moments because of my frankness. No, I am not rude. I am just one of those persons who has to say what needed to be said... and that got me into a lot of trouble. I am not for duplicity. I will not beat around the bush or be condescending(sigh) just so I would not offend someone. That was before. Now that I am older, I find that there are ways to approach and handle sensitive matters without being rightly offensive. However! Here's a situation.

What if you gave an overly overweight person a ride and in the process the tire of your car (the side where the overly overweight person sat) was damage to the point that you had to buy a new tire? Right. I bought new a new tire to replace a month-old tire.I let it go and did not even mention it. However! The very same person is asking to ride with me on a long road trip. Short of driving away as fast as those cars I see on atv racing, what the heck am I suppose to do? Help!

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I am not happy that my son had to take summer classes. Taking summer classes have always had a connotation of "failing" subjects during regular school year though in reality that is far from the truth. What makes me "unhappy" is the fact that my son cannot spend the greater part of summer vacation with us.

A few days ago, I called to say that I'd drop by his apartment so I could take him out for dinner. He refused and gave me the adequate (though lame) reason that he was studying for his finals. I let him be for 2 days. On the the third day I called to ask when he was coming home. He said in 2 to 3 days yet. I asked "why" and he said that he still has some stuff to do. I looked at my watch and read that it was 5:35 P.M. He was supposed to be training at this time but wasn't. I asked him and he started to stammer. Crap! He was lying. A few more minutes of interrogation and I finally found out the truth.

He hurt his right hand on the day I called to see If we could eat out. He was storing his bike when it started to wobble so he acted to grab for the handle bars and he hit the glass pane of the window instead. The glass cracked and caused a deep gash in his hand. The wound was deep and was bleeding profusely. He said he applied pressure, went for the spray disinfectant then to the university infirmary. The wound required 4 stitches, a tetanus toxoid booster and a course of amoxicillin. Amoxicillin?! The doctor should have given him cloxacillin!

Me: What gut did the doctor use for the stitches?

My son: The regular one, not the soluble one.

Me: Crap! Come home right this minute. You are allergic to the regular gut suture!

My son came home. D1 looked at the suture (nicely done) but was concerned with the swelling. She immediately changed the antibiotics, dressed the wound et al. I wanted D1 to give my son antibiotic shots but she said "mom, you are so over-acting".

The wound is nicely healing now. I told my son that I should have been the first person he called when he had the accident. His omission to tell me led to delay in the healing process. Wrong medication. Wrong catgut.

"I have told you and I will tell you again: mother knows best!" I told my son.

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It was my niece's birthday yesterday and to celebrate, her mom gave a barbecue party. There were grilled steaks, burgers, fish, shrimp and squid. I tasted them all but in truth I was not keen on the taste. It was "blah". It's either something is wrong with my taste buds or something is wrong with the way the food was prepared. Anyway, it was just an "okay" birthday dinner party. I came with a very personalized gift, a picture frame with her photo of 22 years ago.

The party ended with ice cream in waffle cones. There were talks of going to the beach tomorrow and knowing how we talk and plan about day trips, we'd probably end in the beach alright. I better check if I still have some 70 spf sunblock.

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The advent of the internet opened a lot of possibilities for people, spanning all ages, ethnicity, educational background and financial status. Gone are the days when spam pertains to luncheon meat. Though spam "SPAM" is alive and well, the other form of spam literally fills my mailbox daily. Today, I won three cars, one lottery, and received a Nigerian 419 scam letter. I also got an offer to try out some anti-aging cream and a spot for a "lose weight" program which is actually great except for the fact that it is in Texas. (Hello! I am here in Manila!) What intrigued me though was an email with the heading of "be happy". I opened the email and read extenze. I followed the link to find out what it's all about. Oh! :)

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D2 told me that a lot of teachers in the school where she is teaching are opting to go abroad. One is going to Doha. One has left for Indonesia. Another one is set to go to the USA as they say there are great teaching jobs in Philadelphia while yet another teacher is all set for Korea. What gives? Teachers are underpaid! It's understandable if the school is public or if the tuition rate in the said school is low, but for an educational institution that has a tuition fee in the high hundred thousands, a higher salary range is expected.

The Philippine basic education system is losing good teachers all because the basic salaries are low. Something should be done about it. What could that be? Better pay for teachers!

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Academic Year 2010-2011 is just around the corner. I have been receiving a lot of emails from Ethan's school reminding me of this and that, that and this and back to this and that. I have it up to "here" (neck level) with the reminders. First, I was reminded that school shirts should plain and in colors of red, blue, yellow and white. Fine. Next, pants or shorts should either be denim or khaki. Fine. Crocs, flipflops and sandals will no longer be tolerated. Ethan has to wear socks and rubber shoes. Okay. Next came a list of stuff to buy for the coming school year. Fine. I forwarded the list to Ethan's mommy. The other day was a reminder that I need to get Ethan's class card by the end of the month only if we have updated some forms and submitted the other requirements. I finally emailed back and asked what the requirements are. Seems like we need to update his health form, submit birth certificate and ID pictures.

I am too old for this. All I want to do is buy some baby shower invitations and plan my niece's baby shower.

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I have mango trees and a santol tree in my yard. The trees are yielding out fruits like crazy to the point that I would have no problem if I do not see/taste/hold a mango and santol until next year. The "fruiting" trees may be too much to bear for some passers by that many-a-times, we've caught some kids, teens and even adults trying to scale our fence to get to the mango and santol fruits! It is so frustrating to be constantly running out into the yard every time Chuck and Chip bark.

Chuck and Chip are my very own personal wireless security systems. They bark when they feel an unknown presence in the yard. They bark when my kids (either ambulatory or by car) are minutes away from the house. They bark when the "basurero" is about to call out. How's that for an energy-efficient personalized alarm system?

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Sometimes life is pathetic. It was Saturday and I was feeling quite cranky. There was no food and other supplies in the house which means I had to go to the supermarket. Ethan decided to tag along so we could eat lunch at the mall. After the meal Ethan and I went to the grocery section to but stuff. You can blindfold me and I think I can still find my way around the supermarket.

Later that night, my girls, 3 of their cousins, Ethan and I went to the town proper to eat halo-halo. It is shaved ice with sweetened beans, macapuno, custard and milk. It was hot and eating halo-halo was one way of beating the heat.

We walked towards the town plaza and watch groups of jejemon compete in dance. I felt bored and kinda pathetic. "What the heck are we doing here?", I asked myself. I should be home watching the 4th season of Brothers and Sisters in my home theater!

Oh, yeah. I don't have one.

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I used to have some negative views of wannabes who lug their laptops everywhere they go because of the advent of wi-fi technology. I got kind of irritated seeing people from all walks of life spanning all ages and levels of education, hunched in front of their laptops while at the mall, doing FB and doing Tweets. I would have had no problem if they were doing something important like school work or any job related work.

That was before. Now, I have become one of them! In fairness, I do bring my laptop computer wherever I go because I have deadlines to make. I usually bring my laptop especially if I know I'd be waiting for a considerable length of time. I hate to waste time. The FB and Tweets are just incidentals.

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I have been getting a lot of censures from some of my contacts in FB. You see, I am quite vocal in my doubts regarding the platform of the next president of the Philippines. All I heard from his campaign ditties was his thrust not to plunder. Is that enough? Shouldn't he make sure that corruption is wiped out of the system? Shouldn't the thrust geared more on furthering education and creating jobs for employment? In general, the public school system in the Philippines is below par. Unemployment rate is high and for those who chose to work abroad, can they be blamed?

The cycle is vicious. That is why the Philippines needs a president who is capable and able and not just the son of famous parents. What's done is done. I could only hope and pray.

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Self-medicating is "bad". Oh alright! It's fine to take some over the counter medicine and vitamin supplements but other than those, one has to have a prescription from a doctor. I am always one step ahead. I read my blood work results and found that my RBC was a few numbers below norm. I decided I was anemic and started taking B 1-6-12 with iron. When my doctor finally saw my blood work results, he said that everything is normal. I argued that my RBC was low and doctor said that was normal too for my age. I asked my doctor if I need iron supplements. He said no. Now, what do I do with 48 tablets of B 1-6-12 with iron?

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The doctor's appointment I had yesterday went fairly well. I was quite worried beforehand as my lipid profile test showed an escalated LDL, the bad bad cholesterol. On the other hand, my HDL level was way above the normal so my cardiologist said, they cancel each other out. The phrase wasn't exactly what the doctor said, but I guess you get the point.

I have stopped jogging for more than 2 months now. I have not exactly gained weight but I feel a bit flabby and wobbly. I have been reading some online sources on how to reduce belly fat and I think I'll try one method that I should seriously do. Exercise.

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I found it hard to sleep last night. I kept on tossing and turning. I finally gave up trying to sleep and turned on my laptop so I could work on some deadlines. I browsed my email and found three interesting ones. The first interesting email was from my cousin living in California. She sent me some house perspective because she intends to have a house built in her hometown sometime next year. She is giving me the job. Great! The next interesting email was from a client who was very pleased with the freelance work I did for him, and wants me to do more work. Great! The third email was from a local advertising agency who wants me to do some write ups for one of their clients. Great! That's triple "Greats" for me.

If only I could say the same thing regarding the Philippine's political scenario. I guess "great" is not an adjective that I could use to describe my sentiments about the current political scenario. The Filipinos are not ready for "change" as they still cling to the old and tried (albeit not effective) routines.

I guess it's like having a flabby tummy that you've been trying to firm-up for the longest time. You have the best ab workout and the right diet but the flab just doesn't want to go away. The materials are there but you're not using them.

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Today is a sad day for the Philippines. The fate of 90 million Filipinos now lies in the hands of people whose main quality is their popularity. Ability? Good question! Today, I take no pride in being a Filipino as I cannot reconcile to the fact that an impeached president almost made it to the top post again. Today I take no pride that a great majority of my fellow Filipinos voted for movie stars and super athletes. Call me a snob. Call me an elitist. Call me anything you want but the fact that majority of the Filipino voting population do not possess the right mind and intelligence to be given the right to vote holds true.

Manny Pacquiao, excuse me, Dr./Congressman Manny Pacquiao will be one of the Philippine's lawmakers. Noynoy is, most likely, the next president of the Republic of the Philippines. Isn't it amazing that a year ago he was not even considered to run for the presidency even as a joke? If Cory Aquino didn't die, Noynoy would most likely be still having a great time sleeping in the Senate, sitting on the 9 passed-zero-approved bills he authored or co-authored. While other senators and congressmen are authoring and co-authoring bills left and right, Noynoy was happy with his 9 bills.

The Filipinos lost the chance to be led by an intelligent, honorable and highly qualified man, Gibo Teodoro. I think that Gibo lost the fight because he lacked the funds and the machinery to promote himself. I take part of the blame as I did not do enough to campaign for my candidate. I cannot say "next time" as there won't be a next time for Gibo. He has conceded and said that his running for public office was a one-time thing.

I feel so sad that until now, the Filipinos have not learned from the past. There might still be hope for a brighter Philippines. I don't know... I've been hearing this cliche for the longest time. At this moment all I can think of is to pray for the fate of the Filipinos.

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To all the mommies who unselfishly gave
themselves to their children...

It's your day ...

Enjoy...

Happy Mother's Day!

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This opening is through a cave in Kayangan Lake in Coron, Palawan. It was eerie going into the cave but in we went nevertheless. I think D2 has some pictures of when we were inside the cave but up to now she has not uploaded them.

My girls all got sunburned in the hot Palawan sun. They used sunblock alright but they were not faithful in re-applying the stuff. I used sunblock with an SPF 70. I re-applied the gooey substance every 2 hours or so. The result? I got darker but didn't burn. The thing is, I think I have more fine lines around my eyes. Too much squinting? Nah... just old age. I heard there's a great wrinkle treatment program that uses a cream with prototype 37c. Whatever that is, I think I'd better take a look. No harm doing.

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One thing that I am really keen about is touring the Philippines by land transportation. That should be quite a dilemma since the Philippines is a country with more than 7,000 islands. This is the reason why it is so expensive to tour the Philippines. You just can't hop in your car and decide to traverse the country from North to South. There are ferry boats that could take in cars to and from certain points of Manila. However, the mode is not quite up to a tourist's comfort zone as the ferry "ferries" cargo trucks, deliver trucks, new vehicles to be delivered to various outlets in the country and the likes.

How I wish I could just pack my bags and tour the whole country. Any rv for sale out there? If ever this one fir sale, there's just one glitch. I cannot afford one!

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I just have to say my piece.

Qualifications of Gibo Teodoro

LEGISLATIVE PERFORMANCE
1. 9 years as congressman
2. Bills filled: 113
3. Bills co-authored: 200
4. Bills passed into law: 12
5. Bills passed in congress but pending in senate: 65
6. Assistant Majority Leader (Leadership experience)

EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE
1. Secretary of National Defense
2. NDCC Chief

WORK EXPERIENCE
1. Lawyer, Estilleto Mendoza Law Firm
2. Founder, Evercrest Golf and Country Club
3. Chairman and CEO Suricon Resource Corp (Gotesco Owned)
4. Licensed Commercial Pilot

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
1. De La Salle University - BS Commerce
2. UP Bachelor of Laws
3. Dean's Medal of Academic Excellence
4. Bar Topnotcher: No.1
5. New York Bar Passer
6. Harvard University - Master of Laws
7. Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from West Negros University Bacolod

In fairness, here is Noynoy Aquino's ah.... well.... read on...

LEGISLATIVE PERFORMANCE
1. 9 years as congressman and 3 years as senator
2. Bills filled: 8 (Including Tarlac Day 2005)
3. Bills passed: ZERO
4. Very quiet and prefer to stay at the side rather than engage in discussion (No Legislation to speak off)

EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE
1. Never run a city; never run a business (no leadership to speak off)
2. Never lead the people in crisis because he prefer to keep quiet
3. The least experience among the 8 candidate.

WORK EXPERIENCE
1. Retail Sales Supervisor - Nike Shoes
2. Assistant for advertising and promotion- Mondragon (Owned by Cory's Friend who owes her a favor)
3. VP Best Security Corp (Family owned)
4. Field Service Manager - Azucarera (Family owned)

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
1. Ateneo de Manila - AB Economic

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Sometimes I lay awake at night thinking of stuff that are best left forgotten. Sometimes it's hard not to give a care especially if the affected ones is your family. There has been a lot of altercation and misunderstanding within the clan. I just can't understand why the heck there are relatives who want the worst for me and my kids? What the heck? Here we are keeping quiet and doing what we have to do in order to survive but there are just some "meanies" out there who can't accept the fact that I am prettier and more talented than they are! Oh well. It's no use losing sleep over people like this. They're just not worth it. No, I don't need to pop sleeping pills... yet.

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It is quite unbelievable the number of spam emails everyday. On an average day, I receive a minimum three notifications of money that is waiting for me somewhere in the African continent. On other days, I win cars or a large sum of money from worldwide lotteries that I did not even know existed much less buy tickets from. For the past 3 days I have been receiving an email without any heading nor name of sender. This is the type of email that I'll never ever open. This morning I received an email with the heading FREE maxoderm. Maxoderm... derm, skin. Maybe it's a freebie of a dermatological product. I clicked the link. And I said. Oh wow! Hahahaha

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I am not really familiar with the diet fad called hcg diet. There has been a proliferation of diets for the longest time and more often than not, the diets work (albeit temporarily) as the "dieter" is serious about losing weight. The problem is that most of these fad diets do not teach the dieter how to eat healthy meals as the diets usually consist of low-carb diets or low-protein diets, high fiber or high protein diet. Not normal diet. There are diets that ask for a completely unreasonable amount of calories set a 500 calories a day whereas it takes 1,000 calories just to make our body do its necessary functions. Bottom line. Eat less. Exercise more.

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I went through my bi-annual blood works, carotid doppler scan, ECG and x-ray last week. The tests took one afternoon and one early morning for the fasting blood sugar blood and lipid profile. The ECG result is okay so is the carotid doppler scan. I have yet to get the X-ray to my doctor for reading. though My blood work results is generally alright but my HDL and LDL are elevated so is my cholesterol level. I was taken off my anti-cholesterol meds six months ago and I guess I have to go back taking the medication again. I read my blood work report and saw that I was anemic. My RBC is below normal and maybe that's the reason why I've been having episodes of dizziness. It's either that or I really need new prescription glasses. My BP is alright I guess but I'd really prefer it if I could still lower it a bit. My current weight is still okay so I guess no diet pill in the offing.

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The breathtaking backdrop is the fantastic fresh (with a dash of salt water) water lake called Kayangan in Coron, Palawan.

The lake is quite deep but not really scary as you can actually see the bottom of the lake. My niece kept on dropping her goggles in the bottom of the lake and we had to ask mamang bangkero to dive for it. By the third time, I think manong was about to expire so I told him to just forget about the goggles. Well, he still took one last dive and after that then left to maybe catch his breath (?)

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One thing I hate about going to the beach is the exposure to the sun. My kids call me crazy because aside from slathering sunblock with an SPF high enough for a vampire not to burn (ha-ha), I still need to wear a hat, long-sleeves shirt, sunglasses and sport an umbrella. Well, okay. I sort of junked the umbrella when we were island hopping in Coron, Palawan for I'd definitely look weird carrying an umbrella while snorkeling.

I used to not care whether I toast or not under the hot Philippine sun but when I hit a certain age and wrinkles due to sun exposure magnified, I just had to do something. Sunblocks and anti wrinkle eye creams are my best buds now when it comes to skin care.

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commenting done on http://www.arisandphillips.com/?p=1168 cool site! i've been browsing the net looking for sites that sell printer cartridges. i've been considering getting a refill kit for my printer cartridge and i'm wondering if it's any good. any feedback?

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What is really troubling is that the PHP/USD exchange rate has been consistently changing in favor of the PHP. If this is the case, why does the price of gasoline keeps on going up? Where is the logic? As my economist nephew said, "it's just not worth it to keep your money in the bank as it's better to invest it by buying stocks."

I think a better way to invest nowadays is to buy gold instead of stocks. The price of gold has been steadily going up ever since the US economy took a turn for the worst more than a year ago. Gold has a history of moving contrary to USD. Now is a good time to invest in gold as it is a safer investment and retains its value even when economic and political situations are unstable.

That being said, there is speculation that China will be in great demand for gold in the next ten years which could translate to a boom in gold prices. Hmm... I wonder where I can buy gold bars?

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We went to the movies last night to watch Ironman 2. The movie was okay as truth be told Robert Downey Jr. is "close" to my heart. He is such a talented actor but has not been given the "vehicle" to prove his mettle - what with the genre of movies that he has done. He can't very well be nominated for the Oscars with his portrayal of Ironman, could he?

Anyway, he is so buff in the movie it's a shame that he has to be in his suit of armor as Ironman. He would have looked better half-naked or in tight-fitting shirt playing the part of Ironman. We watched at our local SM movie theater. We were supposed to go to Mall of Asia but my doctor's appointment and laboratory tests took most of the day that all I wanted to do after was go home.

We caught the last full show. The movie house was only half-filled which was quite a relief. I bought bottled water so I could take my meds on time. I hate it when I have to use the restroom in public places. I don't know why most restroom stalls have super small cubicles to fit in American Standard toilet seats. More often than not, "users" have a hard time fitting in the cubicle especially if you are lugging some packages.

Anyway, the movie was alright. Nothing really special.

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