Raising a toddler...

...is very hard. As in very very hard. I don't know where I went wrong. Angela seems to grow away from the values that we are teaching her. She's becoming unmanageable. This morning, her yaya told me that the reason why she doesn't go with us to church is because she doesn't believe in God. Whoa! That hit me...hard! =(

I have no idea where she got that. I don't know who taught her that, whoever you are, I'll deal with you soon. But first, I have to do something with my daughter. Although she's normal most of the time, she scares the hell out of me when her tantrums kick in. That's when she becomes unruly. She would (sometimes) shout, call people names, throw everything away, and cry like there's-no-tomorrow. Oh, she's no evil. She's still my angel sent from heaven.

I usually ignore her during these times. I read somewhere that throwing our fit of temper to them while they are out of control would only make everything worse. True mga mare, once I wasn't able to control my emotions and join her in shouting, we both ended up wasted and crying. Masakit sa ulo. At masakit sa loob. Now, what I do is, I tell her that I'll talk to her once she's calm and willing to listen. Sometimes, it works. Pero minsan rin hindi. Pag hindi epek yan, I'll tell her to stop (in a higher tone) and count from 1 to 10. Minsan rin epek, pag hindi, I ask her to face the wall. Pati pag face the wall, hindi rin sya sumusunod. She'll stand near the wall though, but she'll make sure that I see her frown. Di ba? Hindi ko na talaga alam kung anong gagawin ko.

Helllpppp!!

The Homily

We have our fair share of burdens. Lately we have been through a financial crisis...again. And there have been times that I questioned God's existence. My faith have suffered tremendously. But I'm glad I have survived. My faith has never been this strong. I'm back on track!

Today's homily is about accepting life's trials and having enough faith in Him. Sabi ni Father, walang tao ang hindi nakakaranas ng mga problema. True enough. Nobody raised their hands when the priest asked kung sino ang hindi pa nakaranas ng paghihirap. A part of me was hoping that somebody was spared of this world's cruelty but I was also half hoping that we're all in the same boat. Don't get me wrong mga mare. Hindi ko ipinagdarasal na sana lahat tayo may problema. Knowing so kasi, it would be a consolation to us that we're all have our own problems. Minsan kasi akala natin unfair lang ang buhay satin, iniisip natin tayo lang ang may problema. It is harder for us to resolve anything pag ganyan ang thinking natin. Sabi rin ni Father, we should raise our burdens to Him. And just have faith that everything will be alright.

I did. For a change, I lifted everything to Him. Ang gaan sa pakiramdam. Kasi I know that God is with me as I find an answer to all my problems.

Kayo din mga mare, wag natin kalimutan to hold on to our faith. He is with us all the time. Minsan lang nakakalimutan nating lumingon.

Have a blessed sunday everyone!

* For typos and grammar errors, please bear with me, I'm mobile blogging. =)

Old School Blogging: A-Z Meme

I can't deny how much addicted I was in slam books during my younger years. I love answering the questions kahit paulit paulit lang naman. I can vividly remember how my mom punished me for answering the question, "Course?" with "sexual intercourse" at a very young age. Ginaya ko lang naman kasi talaga yun sa sagot ng kaibigan ko na nabasa ko sa ibang slam book. Promise. We had a very serious talk after that. Hehe. Don't worry mga mare, I learned my lesson. Lol!

I first heard this Alphabet Meme from Denise of Bebengisms when she lovingly answered all the questions, and from then on I crossed my fingers and hoped that someone would tag me as well. Sosyal na slam book. Thanks to Krisna for remembering me. 

And thanks to Elaine of The Miss Elaine-ous Life for reviving this Old School way of Blogging.

Now brace yourselves for my answers, I hope you'll have fun.

A. Attached or Single? Very much attached and will forever be to the best father of my children, Roniel.

B. Best Friend? The best-est of them all is my husband. 

C. Cake or pie? Cake. Period. =)

D. Day of choice? Oh, How I love Sundays! Family Day at its finest.

E. Essential Item? This is variable. At the moment, it's my BB. Or, can I put "s" to make it itemS? No? Ok. 

F. Favorite color? Orange. I love bright colors. It brings joy to my day. I love red, too. And yellow. =)

G. Gummy bears or worms? Gummy bears. I love to chew on it.

H. Home town? CamSur. That reminds me to visit Caramoan, soon. Yeah, I know. Nakakahiya. Isang tumbling lang, andun na ako. 

I. Favorite Indulgence? Shopping. Should I explain more?

J. January or July? January, definitely.

K. Kids? 2 adorable-beautiful-smart-lovely-sweet-charming-little girls. Angela Robi, 4. And Aerin Rainielle, 1.

L. Life isn’t complete without? God and family. 

M. Marriage date? September 23, 2011

N. Number of brothers/sisters? I have one lovely sister and 2 handsome brothers. So far..... =)

O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges. 

P. Phobias? A lot. I hate anything that crawls. I hate thunderstorms and lightning. And the ultimate, I am afraid to die. :(

Q. Quotes? When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile - Anonymous

R. Reasons to smile? I have a thousand. =) My family, my paying-job, my sidelines, my house, good health for everyone I love, and the list goes on and on and on. Told yah, I have thousand of reasons.

S. Season of choice? How I wish we have spring here in Philippines. And since wala, I'll choose summer. =) Hindi man summer-perfect ang aking body, I love going to beaches.

T. Tag People. Geline, Joan, Claire

U. Unknown fact about me? Before entering college, I somehow considered entering a convent.

V. Vegetable? Laing!

W. Worst habit? Pouting my lips so I can smell them. Yaikkks!

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound, of course. Yung 3D pa. =)

Y. Your favorite food? Pizza, Pasta, Chicken, Cake, Chocolates, Ice Cream, isingit ko na rin, Hotdogs. =)

Z. Zodiac sign? Libra. That's why I'm sweet and loving. Chos! =)

Don't forget to tweet and use the hastag #OSBlog.

You can copy and paste the questions from The Miss Elaine-ous Life. Go!

Have fun!

A letter to my husband and the father of my two kids

Dear Bhe,

I know marrying me has been the biggest decision you've ever made in your life, let's spare my readers with the drama behind our love story, and I'll be forever grateful to you for being the man who completed me.

Each day that I spend with you, I get to know better the man that I married. You're sweet (in your own way), loving, hardworking, funny (whenever with family), serious (to others) and the ultimate jack-of-all-trades (that others may not know). Everyday you make me fall in love over and over again. You are the perfect husband to me. And you are the greatest father to our children. No doubt Angela and Aerin seems perfectly happy in your arms. You have no idea how many tears I've shed whenever I see them laughing their hearts out with your funny stories. I just knew I made the right decision when I marry you.

We will have more petty fights in the next years to come, but I am pretty much secure that we will always end up kissing away the issue on hand. You've always assured me that we will spend our lifetime together. And that's more than enough assurance.

I've always been afraid to raise kids. Because I know it isn't an easy job. But with you as their father, I know I should stop worrying. You're doing a great job, Bhe! I never hear you complain when you have to send them to bed because I have other things to do. You lovingly change diapers every morning. You willingly pick them up when tantrums kick in. You shower them with kisses everyday. And that makes me one lucky mom! I have to thank your parents, Tatay and Nanay for raising you so well. If not for their guidance and love, you wouldn't be the man that you are now. Thank you, 'tay and 'nay!

I'll make sure that marrying me was the right decision, Bhe. Thank you for being the best father to the kids. We love you so much!

Happy father's day!


With love and kisses,
Abi

She's sick again :(

Tell me, pabayang nanay ba ako? I feel really sad today. Babay Aerin is sick again. It started with a fever last Sunday. I thought dahil lang sa bagong ngipin na lumalabas. It was accompanied with LBM. She was normal. Makulit, bungisngis at magana pa rin kumain. Yesterday she still has fever. Just the same, bibo pa rin. Until this morning. Bigla syang tumamlay. I didn't come to work kasi gusto ko na syang dalhin sa doctor. The doctor told us that it might be tigdas hangin kasi meron ng konting rashes sa likod. The fever might last until tomorrow. Nakakapraning lang kasi her fever went as high as 40deg. Sana tonight bumaba na temperature nya.

Please pray for my daughter mga mare. Nakakaawa na kasi sya. Hindi na nya ma-meet yung desired weight nya kasi kagagaling lang nya sa sakit tapos eto na naman. Hayyy.

*if there are typo errors, please bear with me today, I'm mobile blogging plus I'm looking after my sick daughter.

How I Met My Husband

I was not in search of a potential lover when I met R. I was actually mending a broken heart that time. Our meeting was as casual as it can be. We were both on site, waiting for the cell site to be up and ok. I was checking the radio signals on my laptop and he was like 100m away from me on his usual get-up of polo shirt, denim pants and a pair of rubber shoes. Oh, I forgot, he's wearing his cap and sunglasses. While I was wearing my pambahay-pwede-nang-pang-site wardrobe. I am mostly one of the boys when I am doing fieldworks. I am not the kikay type. And he found me sexy, sabi nya. Buti na lang. =)

If bad words could kill, he died long ago. We were not the best of friends because he's the typical guy, an asshole. (No offense meant, guys! Peace! *Wink) On a seniority level, he was my boss. He was working for our client and we were their contractors. Most of the time, I was on the waiting line. That went on for months.

Something magical happened one evening when most of my colleagues all went back to Manila and I was left with my driver in Laguna (that meant I can stay wherever I want, usually kasi, we stay in one hotel and just share rooms para makatipid). I decided to stay na lang because we were actually expected to stay in the area for the whole week. Call it fate, he was there in the same site. The site took forever to be stable and gumagabi na rin so I asked if he wanted to eat dinner with us and he declined. Asshole nga, di ba? =)

After dinner, I received a call from him asking me where we ate. (Nagpakipot lang pala.) I told him where and that we're going to wait for them (he and his driver). Wala lang. Promise. Gusto ko lang maging polite. While waiting for them to finish, we had a little conversation which led to an invitation of two bottles. I am pretty much sure that I did the invitation without malice. Told 'ya, I am one of the boys. And my profession required me to learn how to drink...a lot. Is that a good excuse? Well, I hope yes. Hehe.

We invited a common friend to join us since he will be the one in-charge of the next site (cell site). Small world, no? Hehe. Ganyan sa telecoms, kami kami lang din ang nagkikita kita.

I won't go into details na about what happened that night. Basta it was the start of everything. We had fun. We got to know each other very well. And wala pa man, pinuna na kami ni friend na bagay daw kami. =)

On the next day, he dropped by to where I was and we had a cup of coffee. The conversation was sweeter and hotter than the cup of coffee that we're sipping. Yun na. That was the start of forever. =)

June is for HIM

Let's dedicated this month of June to all father's out there. =)

Advance Happy Father's Day, Bhe! Excited lang ako. Hehe.

Sunday is LOVE!

Oh, How I love Sundays! =) Sinanay kami ng father ko that Sunday is Family Day. And gusto ko rin na yan ang makagawian ng family ko. Bawal mag schedule ng personal na lakad ang sinuman samin. Noong una, hindi ko na-appreciate yun. Sabi ko pa sa isip ko, ang KJ talaga ni Papa. But now that I have my own family, very much appreciated na. =)

We started the day with a mass. Kami na lang dalawa ni R ang nagsisimba ngayon. Dati kasi nung sinasama samin yung dalawang bagets, hindi rin namin maintindihan ang homily. Minsan kasi, R ended up hearing the mass outside the church kasi nagliligalig na yung dalawang bata sa loob. Siguro kapag malaki na sila at nakakaintindi na ng sermon ni Father, pwede na silang sumama. Tama ba ako mga mare? I can always teach them the Word of God at home. At hindi ko naman kinakalimutan yun. And Angela's new school is a Catholic School. So, I guess, katuwang ko na ang mga teachers nya sa pagpapakilala kay God. =)

We had laing with hipon and fried tilapya for lunch. Ang sarap mga mare. Kung ako ang nagluto, mas masarap 'yun. Chos!

Siesta na muna ako after this. =)

How's your weekend mga mare? Hope everyone's having a blast. =)

By the way, I had a wonderful Friday night. R fetched me at the office and we went straight to Blue Wave for a dinner. We capped the night with a bucket of San Mig Light. Hehe. First time kong makaubos ng dalawang bote after giving birth kay Baby Aerin. Malakas ako uminom dati mga mare. Shhhhh! ;)

They come and go

After those two weird house helpers that we had, we're on our 4th set of newly hired house helpers. Kalowka lang! Almost 1 month din kaming naghanap ng ipapalit dun sa dalawa. And then one of our former katulong in Bicol recommended her cousin. We took her. I thought I found the one! Ok sya. As in malinis. marunong magluto. Hindi tamad. After a month of working with us, she asked if she can go home to Bicol to attend a reunion and her town fiesta. (Susme! Ganyan na po talaga sila ngayon. Bawal sila umabsent sa fiesta.) I agreed for a 3-day vacation. Gave her money and off she went. (I was expecting this.) On the day that she's supposedly coming back to Cavite, she texted me that a relative was stabbed and she needed to stay longer. (I know, right?) Mabait na ako to accept her once again when she called me after 3 weeks. Sabi nya, she'll bring her sister na rin since I asked her naman talaga to look for her makakasama sa bahay. Partida yan, maliit lang ang bahay namin. Pero ayoko silang mahirapan kaya 2 ang kinukuha naming katulong. I sent them money, pero na-delay pa sila ng isang araw dun sa araw na pinagkasunduan namin na darating sila. At dahil mabait nga ako, dedma na lang (again). I thought ok na kami. Both of them are masipag. Jackpot! (Or so I thought.) On the day of Baby Aerin's party, the original katulong told me she's pregnant. (Huwaaattt?!) Her boyfriend (for 5 months) wants her to stay with him sa province. She decided to discontinue her service for us para maalagaan nya sarili nya at ang baby sa sinapupunan nya. To make the story short, she asked their younger sister to replace her. So ang nangyari, si Ate 1 (yung original na preggers) umuwi ng Bicol. Naiwan si Kapatid 2 at Kapatid 3. On the next day, nagpalaam si Kapatid 2 na pupuntahan daw yung anak sa Tarlac and magnininang daw sya sa binyag. (Haayyy!) It's a weekend and since the Kasambahay Law states that we have to grant them a 24-hr restday every week, I had no choice! She asked for a cash advance (again) and I willingly lend her. Para daw kasi sa anak nya. (Mommy ako, matitiis ko ba ang anak nya?) Although alam ko na ang susunod na mangyayari. =(

To end this this rant, si Kapatid 3 ang naiwan ngayon sa bahay. Plus her friend na dumating kahapon (in replacement to Kapatid 2 na hindi na nagparamdam). So far, ok naman silang dalawa. Sana last na 'to. Nakakapagod na rin kasi talaga. =(

So I was thinking, anong naging tulong satin (employer) ng Kasambahay Law? Kahit naman may kontrata silang pinirmahan, anong magiging habol ko sa ganitong sitwasyon? Kasuhan sila ng breach of contract? What for? To cause me more stress and more money?

Naman. Kainis.

EK: Friday Kwentuhan

Good thing that Angela's classes will start on June 17 pa. We haven't bought her anything pa, well except for her shoes and bag. She'll be using her old bag na lang kasi hindi pa naman sira. Sayang ang money. Hehe. I bought her shoes early this summer when a mall near our place went on sale. Di ba? We need to be practical. =) Maybe we'll head to the mall this weekend to complete her school requirements.

I am a little uncomfortable with the school service though. Did you guys feel this, too? Or baka hindi lang ako sanay na ipagkatiwala yung anak ko sa ibang tao. Although malapit lang naman yung school sa bahay, 5-minute drive I suppose. And another consolation is, they won't pass any major highway. Praning lang talaga akong nanay, 'no? OA lang. Anyway, I will ask the owner if I can send a yaya with her on her 1st week. Para alam ko rin kung saan ang ikot ng service. Right, I'll ask her tonight. =)

One more problem I am facing right now is, Angela's not ready yet for school, I think. =( We were telling her everyday that soon there will be a change on her routine again. Pero parang dedma lang ang bagets. Nasanay na naman sa TV and sa paglalaro. Hopefully come June 17, she'll get excited to meet new friends. Goodluck sakin. =)

This is ME!

I was in deep thoughts yesterday (naks!), thinking why my posts became few and far between. I had the answer this morning while I was in a bus holding on to my dear life as the bus driver made his way like a crazy snake on the busy highway, EDSA. I was pushing myself too much pala. I was trying so hard to be a blogger that I am not.

Don't get me wrong mga mare. I love how the other bloggers manage to make kwento of every tidbits of their lives. And I want that, too. Pero kahit madaldal ako in real life, I find it hard to put into words everything I have in mind. But I'm working on it.

I dream of the mouth-watering foods that food bloggers post every now and then. But I can't be a foodie blogger. That's it. Admitted! I can't snap pictures everytime we dine out. I lack the passion for food photography. And I only have two adjectives to describe the food I eat, (1) masarap and (2) hindi masarap. =) I tried, and I failed. But I'm still going to try some more. Just so I can give a decent credit to all the restaurants that I love and will love.

I admire every OOTD entries. I attempted once and asked my cousin to take my picture before I leave the house to work. But I didn't have the guts to share it and let everyone to see. I don't have a sexy body to flaunt. I don't have enough outfits that I can be proud of, IMO. Yes, I have a few pieces of branded clothes. I also shop in Greenhills, Divisoria and Baclaran. I've been to a bazaar. I bought some from online shops. But I just don't have the courage to pose infront of a camera. How I wish I have Angela's innate love of camera or posing for a picture. But you know what? I really love to have my own online shop. I am currently working on it. I recently found a nice blouse and I fell inlove with the fabric. At dahil dun, gusto ko syang ibenta. =) (Wish me luck mga mare)

That's it, pancit! Yan ang gusto kong mangyari ngayon!

I am really blessed with a business-mind. After graduating from college, I asked my father to help me finance and build a computer shop. He did. I showed him my business strategy, gave him a tour around my target market and we did it. And I thank him for supporting me all the way. But young as I was, my being impatient led me to transfer the business to my brother instead. I was fickle-minded, too. But those were the days.

My mother had the biggest influenced on me. I grew up in a salon. Our house was half private and half public. For me, she is the best saleslady ever. She knew who to approach and what to offer. She has the unique gift of pursuing her potential buyer without sounding annoying and makulit. You can never say no to her. Basta ang galing. Hindi annoying level.

I also get to experience managing a tiangge stall in Monumento. My aunt owned it. During school breaks, I manned her shop. That's where my mother took the idea. And we expanded to Cubao. Little did I know, someday I would want to have the same business, on a different level though. Uso noon ang tiangge, uso ngayon ang online shops. =)

Before I was assigned to Malaysia to support a project, my husband and I opened our own tiangge stall in Dasmarinas, Cavite. I have high hopes then. Ganun ako eh. Excited lagi. Hehe. I personally picked the items that I am going to re-sell. I designed the stall. Kaso waley, after I left, hindi keri ni R ang ganung business. Walang nag asikaso. Ayun, pag uwi ko, wala na rin ang tindahan. I was heartbroken. Pero I told myself, I'll find the right time to re-open that kind of business. And feel na feel ko na this is the right time. =)

Mabalik tayo sa pag bblog ko. I was about to click the "Publish" button when I remembered na hindi natapos yung intro ko. Hehe. I'll stick with my plan. I'll write from my heart. I may post food reviews and my shopping finds from time to time. I am a woman after all. Nag shoshopping rin ako. At mahilig rin naman akong kumain sa labas. But I will promise that I won't make pilit. Hehe. Tingin ko, since my initial plan is to make this my online journal, mas madalas ang pagpopost ko ng mga nangyayari at kwento ng aking pamilya. That's what I want to document. Our milestones.