simple pleasures

Pleasure, from the anglo-french word PLAISIR, which means please, a state of gratification or a frivolous amusement..Pleasure is a positive sensation. It is commonly conceptualized as somehow opposed to pain, though it has received much less scientific attention. Pleasure can be brought about in different ways, depending on how every individual feels the feeling of pleasure. Some feel this phenomenon through music, sexuality, writing, and any other imaginable activity; even pain.(wikipedia)



My current simple pleasure is my IPOD...30 gig, white.

Dad's simple pleasure is 325i series...black.

What's yours?

BIG break

A break from the routine can be healthy at times, refreshes the mind. Gets you off track, but keeps your senses alive. One phone call out of the ordinary can be a good break from your routine...you know what I mean?

remember that Sleepover?

This was a follow up on the sleepover blog I posted last month. Nikki had a BLAST on the sleepover party she had. She had too many stories to tell me when we picked her up. It was hard to part from her friends when it was time to go home. It is one of a life time experiences she will never forget she said. A happy one. I am glad me and Dad gave her that opportunity.

just like me...

Nikki and Eyen reminded me of Anne and me when we were growing up. However, Anne is more like Nikki and Eyen more like me. Eyen have such a strong personality, which is balanced out by Nikki who is more patient and being a good elder sis, she does not fight back at Eyen. I pity Nikki all the time coz Eyen will just show her stubburn attitude until she gets what she wants.Nikki is less impulsive, she likes to analyze things, likes to mend anything she can.
I was Eyen....Eyen is me.

You're beautiful...by James Blunt

Told me that song is for me.
Heard that song of James Blunt. Remembered it. Liked it. Repeatedly played it. Memorized it. Now, can't get it (you)off my mind.

Eyen and me

Eyen had an in-house baby sitter we call YAYA, was good with Eyen but gets easily tired getting up and down the stairs with Eyen. So, she quit. Eyen and I by ourselves again whenever Nikki and Dad are in school and at work respectively. Not that I don't love it, but I'm afraid to be in deep slumber again and not be able to monitor Eyen's antics. Thus, the wise decision to send Eyen in Pre-school.

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Eyen started pre-k school today. It breaks my heart to depart with my baby but it's best for her. She is safer there than with me alone, when i am asleep. She might do something dangerous that I would really regret, so before all this will happen, I have to slap my face right now.

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When I sleep, I stay in deep sleep at all times. It is good for me but not if I am alone with Eyen. One day I was dreaming that i have this bad toothache, a feeling that something was poking my teeth, I woke up feeling the same thing...because they were...Eyen was poking my teeth with a tooth pick.


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Got home at 0745 and greeted by Eyen's wail, "I'm hungry Mom, I wanna stay here downstairs and eat". Her dad said, "Eyen, you just ate, Mommy just came from work so she needs to take a bath, she might have a lot of germs in her hospital uniform". So, Eyen has to go upstairs with me as Dad and Nikki have to leave for school. On our way upstairs Eyen keeps saying "I'm still hungry Mom, don't you understand?, I'm hungry." Don't mess with Eyen if she's hungry.

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Awakened by Eyen this afternoon with another of her delightful weeee!!! finding the TV screen with her signature sketches using red, green and blue permanent ink markers. When asked what she did, her sheepish reply was "I drew flowers and butterflies on the TV Mom, isn't it pweety Mom? do you like it Mom? ha Mom?". Do you think I have the heart to spank her?

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Before I go to work, I would always do my girly rituals and Eyen always know when to go to my room in time for my make up application. She would then present her face and say "it's my turn for eyeshadow and lipstick Mom".

reality bites

18 years have passed, no goodbye words...just parted ways. Childish acts now became regrets. Pride overpowered everything. Had learned to forget, unknowingly kept in the subconscious. Started anew after mended by another love. The pain of the first love totally forgotten. The memory sometimes creeps in my mind to which I became an expert to shut. The face my heart have etched was faded by pain. Dreams I did not want to entertain kept coming back. Common friends were the alley to the dreams and the memories we once shared started to unfold again. Your faded image becomes vivid once more. Now, this time, it is hard to shut it out, for the truth is, there never was closure. After all those years, discovered that we both just kept the feelings aside. Too late it may seem but fate found its way to confront us with the truth, but this truth we know will not set us free.

It maybe harsh to say it but I am fulfilled for I knew you never gave up on me. You revealed to me that you were just thrown by circumstances to make decisions in your life you were not capable of doing then.

However, amidst all this turmoil, the commitment and the love to my present life overpowers everything. The values I've inculcated in my system keeps me from being astray to the life I live. I am not saddened. I am not regretting. I am not confused. I am strengthened, for the principle I held during the times we parted upholds the meaning of LOVE that we both knew then....I have shared to the man I am most committed.

up one level

Nikki was up another level in KUMON math. She has the talent and the ability, however, she needs the concentration. "She's a 9 year old, for heaven's sake!", says my husband. He said, I am pushing her too hard on both the academic and extra curricular activities. Nikki attends Kumon every Tuesdays and Thursdays, Voice lessons every Wednesday, and Ballet lessons every Friday. Hey! I just want the best for my child. I just want her to develop the sense of responsibility and to inculcate in her mind that it is through perseverance and diligence that one can achieve their goal in life. Through these activities, she would develop her self esteem and her personality. For me, if they are introduced at an early age, it will be engraved in the child's mind. It is how they are molded. It is how they are developed. It is through consistency as well. Am I too harsh?

nerveFULL or nerveWRECKED

I am nerveFUL or nerveWRECKED if...

....slept less than 3 hours and have to work for 12 hrs

....asking for companionship and you replied negatively

....left early for work but the traffic in interstate 10 is bumper to bumper

....entered the appoinment in my ipaq but the alarm missed to alert me

....enjoying a phone conversation while driving and unknowingly the police laser gun is pointing at me

....off only one day in a week, but my hubby got called to work

....signed up to work overtime, slept all day, but gets cancelled from work

....late for work and discovered that the gas tank of the car is empty

....in deep slumber to find out my 2 yr old has the wipes all over the room, the chocolate all over the carpet, and her masterpiece all over the beige leather sofa.

....ordered salad by drive thru, but did not get any silverware

Sleepover

My 9 year old started asking about sleepover. She was allowed by her dad to sleepover at her cousin's house since she was 6. Now, she had been asked by her friend from school for a sleepover party. This is different. It's hard to say Yes and just permit her, it's always coupled with fear of what might happen to my little girl away from home and at night at that. On the other hand, it's hard to say NO to my little girl for I know she will be disappointed, so I'm just playing it by ear for my hubby to decide if she will be allowed to sleepover at Caitlyn's house. I've met Caitlyn's mom at Nikki's 8th bday and Caitlyn invited Nikki at her 8th b-day as well. Pretty nice family, but what hesitates me is the fact that Nikki is going to be away from home (Caitlyn's house is about 5 miles from us).
Parenting is hard. Parenting is a challenge. Parenting is rewarding. Parenting is trust. Parenting is fear. Parenting is happiness beyond compare. Parenting is TRUST IN GOD.

challenge

Nikki had her challenge in voice lesson today. The voice teacher said she did excellent. I was so proud of her. But most importantly, Nikki enjoyed doing it. She said, " I did it Mom!, I sang my solo with my heart". That's my Nikki. She always wants to be the BEST, not with my nudging, but because of her willingness.
Dad was impressed. I know, she did not inherit that talent from my genes, it's from Dad.

NO CPR

You would encounter this two words if you are a healthcare worker. It may seen brutal to other people but it's the medical words doctors use to free a patient from further suffering. If you are the family member on the other hand, you would be filled with guilt once you make your loved one as NO CPR. It's easier said then done. Can you imagine by signing the NO CPR, meaning you are giving permission to all healthcare workers not to do any heroic measures whenever your loved one stops breathing or the heart rate stops. Pretty heavy, huh? However, you have to put your shoes on that sick person, when you become apneic (absence of breathing), or the cardiac monitor flashes a red word ASSYSTOLE (absence of pulse) and annoying alarm, imagine, the medical team would pound on your chest and put a mask on both your nose and mouth and blow air to help you breath? Technical it may seem if you are a nurse or a doctor, but too emotional if you are a lay man. Too difficult to decide for it would be a lifetime of guilt. But that is life, there is a beginning and there is an end, the question is when will it end?

grave yard shift

we get our times mixed up, we're glad not our minds
we're awake when everyone's asleep, our slumber is not quite as deep
the sunshine we hardly see, time with our family is our fee
caffeine keeps us company, too much may impair our sanity
mind you grave yard shifts are mostly filipinos....

9th birthday

Birthdays are always fun especially if you are a kid. My 9 year old celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday...this time simple family celebration. No grand party whatsoever which makes it really special than I thought. The focus is indeed HER, the celebrator...rather than other people in the party. Enjoyed looking at her sparkling eyes as she choose her birthday present at a huge toy store, her desicion making tested when her dad gave her a budget for her birthday, to choose which resto to eat, her patience as her 2 year old sister tried to sequester one of her presents...but indeed the main focus of the day is Nikki...everything about what happened that day is for her.
Nanay (grandma) , her solid fan, her spokesperson, her lawyer, on the other hand had ordered..."it's Nikki's special day make sure you give her what she wants, make her happpy and above all do not scold her".