The Director in You

We've heard gazillions of advice from self-help books about taking hold of your life and other similar matters. Quotes like "life is what you make it" and Invictus' "I am the captain of my soul" are all too familiar stuff.

Want more? Here's one from Coke zero: Life as it should be. They even got this cool do-it-yourself movie feature on their website where you can put your creative skills to the test. Make one now and show off the director in you by sharing it with your friends and with the rest of the world.

I don't know about you but I've always been a Coke fan. Coke zero is even better -- real taste, zero sugar! What more can you ask? :)

Gifts to go

There are lots of special occasions in the coming months for this family of ours and it is customary to give the celebrant a gift as a token, no matter how small it is. After all, as the saying goes, it is the thought that counts.

As the designated person in the family to think of gifts to give, I sometimes do run out of ideas, especially when you've known the celebrant for so long. But, on the other hand, it helps as well that you do have an inkling of their interests in life.

Let's take my friend V, for example, who loves Italian food. An option is to give her one of those italian food gift baskets. The ones at Gourmet Gift Baskets are quite popular with their customers so I might just pick that one for my friend. Not only that, they've also got gift baskets for other occasions and themes which they can ship to any country via FedEx. Knowing about this eases my mind, which makes it whole lot easier now for me to shop for gifts for friends and family.

Balancing Act

Gah! So many things to do but so little time! My life right now is one massive balancing act. I've got so many projects that are in the works right now, plus I'm trying to cram in as many articles for those occasional paying opportunities. Oh, and yes, I am still a full-time mother and wife. That's a whole lot to juggle especially when you've got chores to do as well.

I wish I could say I was Wonder Woman or some heroine of that sort so that I can accomplish more in a day. But frankly, I do feel there really isn't enough time to do all these things. :(

Alright, got to get back to work. Precious time is wasted with these ramblings! :P

Come fly with me!

Remember that trip back home to Manila I was raving about in an earlier post? Well, I took a peek at our countdown ticker and discovered that as of today we have exactly nine months to go before that much-awaited trip. It's getting nearer by the minute!

Any time soon, J and I must start booking flights to Manila and to Australia as well. As I have mentioned before, J will be heading back home to Oz a month earlier than Erin and I will. I am hoping to convince my mom to come along with us on our flight back to Sydney because I know Erin will be quite a handful and it will be very difficult to travel with just the two of us in the airplane. Besides, she might want to visit her friend up in Queensland and avail one of those cheap Cairns flights. She might be able to enjoy her holidays in Australia this time around because Erin's all grown up now. :)

And since we always book our flights online, maybe we can do it on DialAFlight this time as they offer cheap flights and hotel accomodations. We could probably save heaps of money and still get to enjoy our holidays.

What the?!?

I haven't been a fan of beauty pageants of late but this one got my attention when they featured it on Rove last Sunday. You have got to watch this.

Ano daw? I couldn't get her point. Can you? She was going around in circles the whole time.

Alright, let's give her the benefit of the doubt. I suppose she must have been terribly nervous at the time, hence, the fumble. I mean I, for one, personally hate speaking in front of a huge crowd. I know lots of people do. But candidates in this type of competition surely must have had enough practice to have that presence of mind. Then again, in Miss South Carolina's case, maybe not. :P

I guess the kicker here is that inspite of making that boo-boo on international TV, she still managed to bag third place in the pageant. Imagine that! Now I reckon it's the judges who do not have the 'presence of mind.' Pun definitely intended. :D

Shop Until You Drop

I have been dying to do some personal shopping for quite some time now. Ever since Erin came into our lives, I haven't had the chance to buy things for myself in the leisurely pace that I would want to. Not only that, I also need to take into consideration our budget since we are now a family of three.

Online vouchers can come handy when I want to save up on my purchases and still get the best deal from it. They offer a lot of coupons from various merchants, which is great because it gives me loads of choices. :)

Happy 2 years!

Lots of happy stuff for this month, eh? Well, exactly two years ago on this day, J and I said our I-do's in front of a judge at Parañaque City Hall. At that time, I remember we were still in the thick of things, preparing for our church wedding later that year.

Erin-less days

We decided just to stay home because Erin was feeling restless (she really must be teething now). J and I were supposed to go out for lunch and leave Erin with my sister-in-law. Instead, we're buying take-away food at one of our favorite restaurants and invited J's sister and her family over.

Not at all romantic I know. But I guess those dates may have to wait, at least until Erin's a bit bigger and easier to handle when left with others. Ah yes, such is life. :)

Happy 5 months!

The little girl turned five months last Saturday. Has it really been five months now since she was born into this world?

She's grown up a lot in that short span of time.

• She can roll over on to her tummy very easily, with little or no help from us. Getting back to lie on her back is still a bit more difficult for her.


• She is more vocal than ever. By this I mean, she loves to shout and scream and make all kinds of noise. I suppose she is into exploring sounds these days.


• Aside from sound, Erin is very much into exploring through touch. She will grab anything placed near her and bring them to her mouth. I think this is because she may also be teething.


• Her hair is getting pretty long, and therefore, unruly. Those Goody barrettes are the greatest! :D


• Erin is more sociable as well. By just throwing her a big smile, she will also do the same. Sometimes, we are rewarded with giggles.


• She's starting to sleep better too, especially at night. Thank God! No need to explain this one. :)


• Erin's more aware of her surroundings now. She knows when I've left the room. Sometimes I think she's starting to develop separation anxiety. :(

Babies grow up so fast! They are amazing, I tell you. They can surprise you every now and then. More often than not, these surprises are just a delight.

Rant All You Want

Would you believe I haven't been to the cinemas ever since Erin was born? Yes, these days I do not have the slightest idea which of the latest movies rock and which do not.

I'm glad though that I can check on a whim sites online that give out honest movie reviews of the latest flicks. There is actually a site that delivers the freshest rants on movies, tv shows and DVDs to your inbox if you register to be a member for no charge at all. Critics Rant is the place to go for all of that.

Then if you're feeling lazy to go out to see a movie, you can just rent them from your neighborhood video store, chill out on your couch and watch away in the comforts of your home.

Know What Counts

A couple of posts ago, I was rambling about my massive weight loss after having Erin five months ago. But unfortunately, for some, losing weight may not be as easy as it was for me.

A good and healthy diet combined with regular exercise is the real key to successful weight loss for the general population. When I talk about a 'good and healthy diet,' this not only means choosing the right food to eat but also taking into account the calories in food.

A calorie counter and a calorie chart are handy tools in keeping track of your food intake. It's never easy to watch what you eat but using these implements will definitely make shedding all those excess kilos less difficult. These and a whole lot more can be found at MyFitnessPal.com, a free online diet and exercise journal site specially designed to help you reach your ideal weight in a healthy way.

Scrappy me?

Well, well, well... Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd give digiscrapping a go. I suppose the creative bug bit me this morning and I soon found myself buried in tons of paper, embellishments and alpha's. This online tutorial also made it sound pretty easy so I finally gave in. While Erin was napping away, I took the golden opportunity and by late afternoon, I came up with this...

Credits: Urban Kiwi Kit; felt ribbon from 2006 Seasonal Sampler. All from ShabbyPrincess.com.

Okay, it ain't much, being a novice and all. But do tell me what you think. :)

No Need for Jenny Craig

Want to lose weight fast? These are the things that I would suggest you to do:

Live overseas.

Get pregnant and have fussy baby.

Make sure to breastfeed, if possible 100% of the time.

By fussy baby I mean no decent sleep, continuous for at least six months.

Don't forget to do all the household chores as well.

It worked for me! :P I am now down to 50 kilos which is even less than my pre-pregnancy weight (I was 54 Kilos when we found out we were expecting Erin.) so I can fit into my old jeans once again. By the way, 50 Kilos was my weight when I was a fresh college graduate. And no matter how much food I eat now, I can't seem to put on any weight back on.

The sad part about all this is that my wedding ring keeps falling off from my ring finger especially when my hands are wet. I have to wear it now on my middle finger to keep it from slipping off and eventually losing it. Sometimes, I just leave it to J when I'm about to take a shower for safe-keeping. Occasionally I forget to get the ring back from him and he has two wedding rings on his hand! :)

Alright, wanna try out my weight loss program? Let me know if it works out the same way for you as it did for me. Good luck! ;)

e-commerce

A few weeks back, J was asked by a friend if he could create a website for her to sell her cakes. He said yes without batting an eyelash, trying to exude the confidence of an employed IT professional. But deep inside, he knew he should be hitting myself for saying yes.

J recalled to me his days as a first year IT student. One of the first big projects they had was to create was an online store. This was to give them an idea of how object oriented programming is used to create software components that mimic a complete e-commerce cycle. He clearly remembered how tedious, complex, and very time-consuming it was because they were coding from scratch and arguing about everything related tp the project. Now, he says, it is like reliving the same nightmare except this time, he's all alone.

However, in the midst of his depression, he remembered the first advice their professor told them.

Don't reinvent the wheel. Nick others' code.

Now that does not sound very creative at all. It even borders on something criminal. But, according to J, in the IT world that is given some decent names like reusability, open source, etc.

This prompted him to do some research on the net and have found some sites that practically saves you from all that trouble. One is Ashop Commerce. The company provides a complete ecommerce software solution that can be integrated with major banks, gateways and third party processors like PayPal. To him, that means less headache and more savings in time and money. Plus with all its features and technical support, he is confident that our friend's website would look and function like any professionally made websites out there.

Lesson learned! Before saying yes, make sure to do some research first because next time, one might not be as lucky.

Get Paid by Smorty

Yes, I've gotten approval today from another one of those get-paid-to-blog companies. This time it is from Smorty.com.

Just like the rest, you get paid to blog about your opinions of the products and/or services of a variety of advertisers who are also their client. Basically, it's a two-way street between the blogger and advertiser with Smorty as the middle-man.

Actually, this blog was initially denied approval when I first submitted it to their site. I admit my blog did not generate enough traffic at that time so it was no surprise to get a rejection from them. But after a couple of weeks since then, I decided to try my luck once more and resubmitted my blog for reconsideration. An hour later, I got their approval. I give them two thumbs up for their quick response to my request! :)

I'm liking their blogger's dashboard as well. It's very easy to maneuver around and the layout is simple and quite direct, most definitely user-friendly. Oh, and one more important thing, pay-out is on a weekly basis. :) Now, that, I think, is a good incentive for all of their blogger members.

Alright, time for me to cash in more of those posts. I'll be back to later write the outcomes of this new venture of mine, once I see results.

Just got in

Look what came in the mail for me today...

Well, better late than never. :) I'm not much of an HP fan but this was sold on eBay at a real low price and I couldn't let it get away. Anyway, I don't intend to read it just yet. I need to read a couple more from the series first. The last one I read was Prisoner of Azkaban. I know, that is a lot of catching up to do! Meanwhile, all this HP hoopla has got J very intrigued and curious about it. I think he might give it a go to see what all this madness is about. :)

The World at Your Fingertips

Every time we fly to Manila, we always stop by Sydney for at least an overnight stay so we can have a bit of sightseeing and rest before our long flight of eight hours. Without that, it would more or less translate to eleven hours of travelling from Canberra. I think it's still a lot cheaper than the three of us flying from Canberra.

About ten years ago, this meant doing your research using the phone directory. The obvious limitation using the phone directory is that some needed information like their prices, ratings and promos are not readily available. And after doing your research, you have to haggle with hotels to get the best price. On top of that, phone directories of your intended destination require you to go to the town library. Okay, maybe you can use a travel agent to do all that but sometimes it also mean queuing up in the line just to talk to a cranky agent working on a weekend.

Internet has changed all that. With a click of a button, you will be provided with choices of the most competitive priced hotels available of your preferred destination. Comparing that to what you have 10 years ago makes you appreciate the great value of internet in our daily lives. Personally, I still choose well the websites I deal with. That means it should have good support in case something happens.

Birthday wishes

It's the big 3-0 for my brother R. According to my sister, they had a rather grand celebration yesterday because they had catered food for dinner.

There was also lechon which I'm sure was flown all the way from Cebu.

And for entertainment, they sang the night away with one of those videoke machines which they rented.

As usual, we were green with envy. We so wished to be there!

25 years ago

Happy birthday, Iko! Hugs and kisses from all of us down here. :D

Victimized!

Yes, out of all the people in the entire world, we had to be the chosen one. Allow me to be more specific. Last Wednesday evening, J brought home some bad news. Part of our car's window (that small triangular piece) in the backseat on the right side was broken. It looked like someone intentionally smashed it, with the objective of stealing something within or probably the car itself. J didn't notice it until he was at the petrol station where it's well lighted.

We think that the perpetrator/s could have been drug addicts, out to steal whatever they can so that they can afford to get their regular fix of drugs. Or they could have maliciously done it for no apparent reason, maybe just for the fun of it. In other words, napag-tripan lang yung kotse namin. Our car was parked outdoors (therefore no security cams, etc) at that time so there is no way for us to catch the bad guys.

And since it is something that we just can't ignore, J had to take the car this morning to have the window repaired. *sigh* There goes 120 bucks down the drain. :(

Shopping for the holidays

As I have mentioned earlier in a separate post, winter time is coming soon to an end for us people here in the southern hemisphere. Before you know it, it's Spring already! I'm also looking forward to the summer days because of the Christmas season. And you know what I love about it? You guessed it, shopping!

But hey, I am not talking about senseless impulsive shopping. It pays to be wise and get value for your money when you've got a massive list of things to buy. Making one's list far in advance is a good example of that because it prevents you from indulging in your impulses when you shop at the last minute. Another way is to collect coupons which could offer you huge discounts on several items that you're probably interested in.

I have yet to make my own shopping list. I'm not quite sure what items to get for my family this Christmas. Maybe I'll get J one of those books on programming he's been eyeing on at Amazon. As for little Erin, I may try to browse through Babycenter because sometimes they give out heaps of ideas there which are age-appropriate.

It's our first Christmas here in Oz so it's going to be pretty special. I better get a move on it now and make my list while there's time.

Back to basics

I got this in my inbox today:

DVDs to help babies learn 'may hinder skills'

Researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and video - which often feature disconnected images and scarce dialogue - infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them. Baby DVDs and videos were found to have no effect on the vocabularies of children aged 17 to 24 months.

Frederick Zimmerman, lead author of the study and an associate professor of health services at the university, said of the paper, published today in the Journal of Pediatrics: "There is no clear evidence of a benefit from baby DVDs and videos and there is some suggestion of harm. The more a child watches baby DVDs and videos, the bigger the effect. The amount of viewing does matter."

A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland said:

"While we would not wish to comment on the suitability of any individual learning aid product, the EIS would support the view that there is no better method than interaction with parents or other carers in assisting young children in language acquisition.

"Visual aids such as CDs and DVDs are no substitute for genuine interaction with a parent or carer. Active parental involvement is a key to effective learning."

Read more »

Who would have thought eh? It's all hype on those baby DVDs. It even got me hounding after this Baby Einstein DVD set for weeks on eBay but for some reason have never won it. It looks like my losing on those auctions is a blessing in disguise! :) I'm switching back to the basics.

Time to spread some love!

Muchos gracias to Jean for naming me as one of her picks for...

I've never gotten a title that's blog-related before so to get this is really cool. :)

Ok, here's a little summary to my blogging history:

• I started blogging in late 2004, when I started documenting our wedding preps online for friends and family to read. It was (and still is) a trend among brides-to-be from a support group called WeddingsatWork. Prior to this, I have been keeping a journal since I was 10.


• This wedding blog of ours has underwent several facelifts as well because I got interested in html and template designing. It soon developed into a more comprehensive site.


• I then transferred to bloxster after I got my visa to migrate to Australia. Unfortunately, they provided terrible service to their bloggers (I lost dozens of entries there). That's why I migrated to WP.


• Like the rest, I am also trying my hand at making a little money with blogging. I've put up a separate blogsite for this.

Alright enough blabbering. Time to get down and list my 5 rockin' girl bloggers. I'm picking out those who haven't been tagged yet (as of this writing). :)

1. Jannah - My idol mommy. She has 2 beautiful daughters, a great husband and is currently finishing her studies. And she still has the time to blog! :) I met her at w@w.


2. Abby - the girl from NY. She's also from w@w. She writes really well and I enjoy reading her entries. She cooks good food too (as if natikman ko na! :) the photos she takes of them just make you want to drool).


3. Via - my classmate back in grade school. She's been a good friend ever since. We kept in touch through snail mail when my family moved from Manila to Cebu. I found their blog (with husband Noel) accidentally while surfing the net.


4. Iris - She was a co-therapist at the hospital where I used to work for. We also went to the same college. She is an avid writer and is good at it too. Iris is now based in Texas.


5. Kat - Fellow Australia-based blogger. She writes articles for several online magazines. She loves reading like I do and is a self-confessed romance novel junkie.

Okidokie girls, now it's your turn to spread the love. :)

Just one of those days/nights

I'm tired. As in, dead tired. If you have been reading my previous posts, you'll know why. Being a new mom to a young little baby does not actually mean I'm all blissed out by it. Since not all babies are the same (as with us adults), not all families get to sleep peacefully at night. And we are one them.

It's been almost five months now since I've had a decent sleep. By this I mean at least 8 hours of uninterrupted shut-eye. I've learned to be more awake instead because of Erin's erratic sleep pattern. During those rare instances when she does sleep well, I find myself wide awake, my entire body tense with absolutely random thoughts racing in my head. Maybe I am too tired to even sleep!

I have to give credit to J though. J can be quite a lifesaver when we're having another sleepless night episode. He takes charge of Erin and orders me to get some rest. He has gone from the clueless father who can barely hold her daughter because he is afraid he'll squish her tiny body to the daddy that can actually settle his kid and even get her to sleep when I can't. Yes, we are the ultimate tag team! :)

Anyway, I digress. Last Saturday night was one the worst because Erin was having trouble sleeping. Being puyat from Friday's "bout" (and from other nights), I just broke into tears in the midst of it all. J came in and took charge. It was 1:30 AM when I slept and woke up at around 5:30. I got up and saw Erin fast asleep on J's lap, while he was surfing the net to keep himself awake. He told me that he could still take care of Erin until 7AM just so I could rest. Awww... :) I took Erin from him and went to bed and just allowed him to sleep until noon.

Thank God for wonderful and thoughtful husbands! I cannot imagine new mothers who do not have support systems in times like these. No wonder postnatal depression is so common here as most parents in first world countries like here are on their own.

-o-

Speaking of husbands, happy anniversary Beh! It's been an awesome three years*. :) Three years pa lang pala. It feels like decades already.

* since we first got together.

Random blurbs

Oh boy, it's the last month before the "-ber" months start to kick in. I can hardly believe winter is already over in another four weeks, which, by the way, is getting to be more obvious because of the less cooler temps these past few days. In no time, I can say goodbye to my fleece and wool outfits (and hopefully to Erin's eczema as well!) and welcome good old cotton back into the wardrobe. It's no secret the cold has not been a good friend to the family so I am just giddy at the thought of Spring in the not so distant future. :)

-o-

With Erin getting bigger by the day, she is quickly turning into a Daddy's girl with all her cute antics. J is so smitten with the little girl (not that he wasn't before. it's more pronounced now!) that he vehemently expressed that he cannot go on without her for three months. You see, we have been slowly planning our loooong holiday next year after Erin turns one. The original plan was to go home to the Philippines in April 2008, with J staying for two months while Erin and I stay back until the end of August. Now, we have both decided (yes, after a bit of compromising because I really would have wanted a longer break) to just start our holiday by the end of May (in time for Erin's cousin Pablo's 1st birthday), with J going back in July and Erin and me by the end of August. As of this writing, all is still in the planning stage (i.e., no booked flights yet so no specific dates to speak of) but one thing I know for sure is that we are definitely going home for a much needed vacation. I can hardly wait! :)

On Being Responsible

Our niece, C, just got her provisional driver's license last week. This was perfectly in time for her 18th birthday. I think it was the icing on her cake. At 18, she now has her own car (which she purchased months ago) and the license to drive it around town without any supervision. That is pretty cool when you're just a teen!

I hope she got herself one of those auto insurance plans. You never know when accidents may happen and it helps a lot if you got your car covered. Being a young adult, I'm sure she can get value for her money by doing some research on the internet and get several insurance quotes online. Who knows she might even find a teen driver's auto policy at a special rate.

Now that she's an adult, she better ready herself for all the responsibilities that lie ahead. Knowing her, I think there won't be a problem.