sa aking pagtanda

i just want to post this message... it's from an email sent to me by a very good friend, karen :)


A very warm reminder for everyone...

- - - - - - - - - -

Sa aking pagtanda, unawain mo sana ako at pagpasensyahan. Kapag dala ng kalabuan ng mata ay nakabasag ako ng pinggan o nakatapon ng sabaw sa hapag kainan, huwag mo sana akong kagagalitan. Maramdamin ang isang matanda. Nagse-self-pity ako a tuwing sisigawan mo ako.


Kapag mahina na ang tenga ko at hindi ko maintindihan ang sinasabi mo, huwag mo naman sana akong sabihan ng "binge!" paki-ulit nalang ang sinabi mo o pakisulat nalang. Pasensya ka na, anak. Matanda na talaga ako.


Kapag mahina na tuhod ko, pagtiyagaan mo sana akong tulungang tumayo, katulad ng pag-aalalay ko sa iyo noong nag-aaral ka pa lamang lumakad.


Pagpasensyahan mo sana ako kung ako man ay nagiging makulit at paulit ulit na parang sirang plaka. Basta pakinggan mo nalang ako. Huwag mo sana akong pagtatawanan o pagsasawaang pakinggan. Natatandaan mo anak noong bata ka pa? kapag gusto mo ng lobo,paulit-ulit mo 'yong sasabihin, maghapon kang mangungulit hangga't hindi mo nakukuha ang gusto mo. Pinagtyagaan ko ang kakulitan mo.


Pagpasensyahan mo na rin sana ang aking amoy. Amoy matanda, amoy lupa. Huwag mo sana akong piliting maligo. Mahina na ang katawan ko. Madaling magkasakit kapag nalamigan, huwag mo sana akong pandirihan. Natatandaan mo noong bata ka pa? Pinatyagaan kitang habulin sa ilalim ng kama kapag ayaw mong maligo.


Pagpasensyahan mo sana kung madalas, ako'y masungit, dala na marahil ito ng katandaan. Pagtanda mo, maiintindihan mo rin.


Kapag may konti kang panahon, magkwentohan naman tayo, kahit sandali lang. inip na ako sa bahay, maghapong nag-iisa. Walang kausap. Alam kong busy ka sa trabaho, subalit nais kong malaman mo na sabik na sabik na akong makakwentohan ka, kahit alam kong hindi ka interesado sa mga kwento ko. Natatandaan mo anak, noong bata ka pa?
Pinagtyagaan kong pakinggan at intindihin ang pautal-utal mong kwento tungkol sa iyong teddy bear.


At kapag dumating ang sandali na ako'y magkakasakit at maratay sa banig ng karamdaman, huwga mo sana akong pagsawaan alagaan. Pagpasensyahan mo na sana kung ako man ay maihi o madumi sa higaan, pagtyagaan mo sana akong alagaan sa mga huling sandali ng aking buhay. Tutal hindi na naman ako magtatagal.


Kapag dumating ang sandali ng aking pagpanaw, hawakan mo sana ang aking kamay at bigyan mo ako ng lakas ng loob na harapin ang kamatayan.


At huwag kang mag-alala, kapag kaharap ko na ang Diyos na lumikha, ibubulong ko sa kanya na pagapalain ka sana ... dahil nagging mapagmahal ka sa iyong ama't ina...

-Written by Rev. Fr. Ariel F. Robles

CWL Spiritual Director

St. Augustine Parish

Baliuag, Bulacan

that big leap

how can you actually know what's on the other side, when you don't pick up the courage to stand up and crossover to that side? surely there will be fear (lots of it), doubts, anxiety, but you must always think of what it might actually be when it's positively the other way around.

making big decisions is awful. why? because everything doesn't really depend on what you decide. it's a mixture of you, and the whole universe around you. what you can really bring with you is not the talents or the gifts or the monies, but the courage to face adversities in your midst. because you'll never really know unless you get there and actually live the being, the time, the essence. maybe you've exhausted all the pro's and con's... maybe you've verified the authenticity of it... maybe you talked to some people to confirm it... in the end, it's still up to you to make the decision and stay firm. you should never give up, you should never expect it to be perfect, for in that comes disappointments.

live life as it comes your way. hope for the best, expect for the worst. and you don't really have to worry, because you're never alone. He will always be with you, you just got to have faith that He will not want bad things for you. hurt happens for a reason, it strengthens your dignity and makes you appreciate life better. remember your friends who are always there for you, who will stand beside you through it all. they may not always say the right words to comfort you... you may not always hear what you want to hear from them... but in the end, they've always loved you.

i'm picking up my courage to take the big leap. i don't know anything about the other side, but i'm gonna find out. and if it's not as good as i thought it would be, i can always go back to my dear family who loves me and will never abandon me. i can always start again... that's the challenge of living. thank you dadi rock for being so supportive... thank you for encouraging me to become the best that i can be. love ya dadi nino! :)

birthdays galore part 2

we celebrated noah's 1st birthday on a saturday, february 11, 2007 at 3pm in the afternoon. it was a swimming party with all the kids and parents and our friends. thanks to my kumpareng rodel and ate tess, we were able to reserve a barbeque pit at their condo in bullion park.

hanzel, eddie's friend from back home, was on a vacation here in sg and he likes to cook. i admit, he's really good at it. so we asked him to do the cooking for us on that day. we ordered papaitan, spaghetti, paksiw na pata, sweet and sour meatballs, barbeque chicken and barbeque liempo. he also made some leche flan for dessert. we brought some hotdogs also for barbequeing. and the cake that eventually melted a little so the boy that was sitting on top of it, fell down on the icing hehehe! our guests thought it was really made that way bwahahahah! i should have asked the delivery man to just deliver it in the afternoon.

anyway, there were lots of chatting and get together of some old and new friends. of course, the ever loyal and dependable ptv4 staff was there. special thanks to bossing also, who was our official photographer that day. darwin and pazette was there also together with their own bundle of joy, morrison. hono's family was there also, and nat's and malou's kids. anton and ellen with their kid, and also our kumares and kumpares (trina and ken, mader cecel and lew, hani and ffg, rodel and teena with their families too). laura and eugene's kids were also present as well as welong and chat with gelay.

noah showed everyone that he can now walk, well not that good hehe... he still stumbles and sways but he's totally enjoying it. he and nixon had a swim later in the afternoon with some of their kid friends. we were done at around 9pm in the evening. i'm just so happy we were able to pull it off for our little boy's 1st :)

mE & nOAh

dADi & nOAh

candle blowing: nIxOn & nOAh tried but mami beats them out

"FaThErS" ..with Pazette, Daweng @ Morrison

ptv4.. and where's the bday celebrant?

oh, there he is!! (witwew)

for more viewing pleasure of the pictures, please visit our multiply website.

birthdays galore part 1

i guess when you're nearing your 30's, it's inevitable not to feel excited when your birthday arrives. it's not usually normal for all, but for my case, it's a resounding fact.

my day started with plenty of birthday greetings... they really made me smile. niño did a little surprise for me and i can't still stop myself from smiling everytime i remember it. he came out of the same mrt station as mine and i wasn't aware of that as i was in a hurry to beat the clock for the morning rush. when i logged in the timesheet, bossing told me that i had a delivery at the reception area downstairs. so i hurriedly went down, but nobody was there. i just decided to go back then bossing saw me and told me to hurry because the delivery was outside the door of our office! and then i saw dadi... he was holding a very big bunch of pink and red roses. i was speechless. i was so shy going back to my desk holding the pretty flowers. people were all looking in awe as well, even my boss stood up from her desk to take a peek.

the thing is, the night before my birthday, he kept on telling me that he's sorry for not being able to give me any surprises. i wasn't really shocked because we're never used to the idea of flowers and those stuffs. but i admit, i was quite disappointed. i guess i'm the same as the other romantic girls out there. would u believe that for almost 6years of our being together, this is the 2nd time he gave me flowers. *smile smile again :) kilig!*

another funny thing, while he was spilling how sorry he was, he had already plotted the plan in his mind. the day before my birthday, sunday, tita juvs and i went to the market. apparently, while we were away, he took our savings atm wahahahahah!!! very naughty indeed.

it was really a very pleasant day :)

guilty as charged

yes, i'm guilty... i'm guilty of procrastination. i haven't been participating much in the w@w discussion although i've been silently searching for some bands to play on our reception. we need a group who can play oldies but goodies music. i've also been on the look-out for a good florist and stylist for our bouquets and decorations. so far, i have shortlisted some and since tet uy seems nice and good at flowers and styling, we will schedule a meeting with her.

same goes with my hair and make-up artist. my coordinator, teena, advised that i should do my trial hair and make-up already when we get home this march. we might not have enough time when we get home a week before the big day.

hmmm... what else? ahh yeah, i've also been communicating with newly wed brides to get some feedbacks on some of their suppliers.

well, i guess that's all for now...

thoughts

how do you love your enemies? it's one of the greatest commandments that's also the most difficult. i have seen how vicious man can be just to taste the sweetness of revenge. i have seen life thrown out of waste for the times spent on planning vengeance. but after these, has the pain die down with your victory of finding that person beneath the ashes or hollowed below grief?

we just can't deny the fact that we want to pull ahead of the pact and be on the brink of success. but to the expense of stepping onto another person's being is a disgrace. i guess it's man's instinct, survival of the fittest as they say. i just couldn't imagine how some people enjoy other people's misfortunes and difficulties. life is a continuous struggle to learn. it's very disappointing that some people are so blinded by success and happiness that they forget to feel for other people's misery.

it's so difficult to approach someone close to your heart who is floating in the clouds of ecstasy and suddenly breaking that moment with your grief and sorrow. a true friend in that person will never see your difficulties as a disturbance to him. he'll share with your anxieties even if it bores him to death to listen to your whining and crying. after all, when all has been said and time has passed, he will come to heal. and what's important is that you've been a part of it every single second of his climb towards enlightenment. isn't that more fulfilling, giving joy and sharing the miracle of holding on to each other through good and bad times.

i think it's wonderful :)


*ganito ata talaga pag tumatanda... hihihi*

simple gestures

the time that i stayed late in the office til 8:30pm with my user, dadi and i were suppose to meet our friends and have dinner at suntec by 7:30pm. i just asked them to go ahead and i'll try to catch up. dadi niño met eram, jolens and hani while i took the mrt to get there as soon as i can. and dadi niño waited for me and accompanied me with my very late dinner. i was very thankful that they were there and i was relieved out from my toxic work. we later met with ulrik, jen and their daughter yanah who just flew in recently. dadi was there to cheer me up and we both enjoyed our friends' company.

the following day, dadi and i watched a movie together with jolens and eram at marina and had a good laugh with borat mwehehehe... we malled around to find us a nice pair of jeans. dadi was trying to exchange his jeans bought from giordano the other day which apparently he disliked after trying it at home. we looked for other outlets but couldn't find a decent one that time so we ended up buying me an esprit jeans. gosh, i'm just sooo excited to own my first esprit 'thing'. on dec.31, we went around orchard and there it was at takashimaya outlet that we're able to get hold of his jeans. dadi asked me to find a good wallet at guess who was having a year-end sale, he said it was his late christmas gift. i was hesitant at first but he was so persistent *and i liked his pushing me to buy it hahahaha* so i gave in. and 'guess' what, he picked out a nice bag to go with the wallet... aaaaaawww i was so touched... my heart melted with so much love and affection.

i was in the office for our implementation until 10:30pm last jan3, and at around 8:45pm, niño was at the lobby of toa payoh waiting for me. at around 9:30pm i told him off and ask him to attend to our sons' needs. it's also nixon's first day in school and we're all so excited for him. i was so touched that dadi even bothered to pick me up even if he was dead tired from waking up so early to take nixon to school and from working til late in the evening.

the other night, while i was trying to put noah to sleep on the sofa, dadi put a pillow beneath my legs and head. aaaawww another touching moment. i'm just so blessed to have a very supportive and understanding husband who's sensitive enough to ease my pain and answer my needs *and wants as well*. he never much complained... all he needed was a good night kiss and snuggle before falling to sleep. (",)

bring it on

tomorrow is the first day of work for this year and i dreaded this day since last year, dec.29, the last office day for 2006. jan.3 is our implementation date and it's the first oh so major project that i went through without a help from my project leader.

i was supposed to give my reply to our agent about my extension with hdb but due to the fact that i can't face that at that moment, i just asked my agent to get my reply next week after our implementation. and his reply: "ok, will wait for reply on jan.3". *talk about consideration...* so tomorrow night, hopefully, i will be able to draft my reply and send it, if my work permits me to go home early.

tomorrow, also, is nixon's first day in school. imagine how much it breaks my heart not to be able to accompany him on his first day because of my f@&#%$g work! so i just asked niño to bring him to school tomorrow and i'll be with nixon on thursday.

i've been sighing the whole day thinking about things... on what reply i'll give my agent... on how things would turn out for our implementation... on my son's first school day... on noah's upcoming 1st birthday... on saving up for our vacation to pinas this coming march... on moving on to another job... i've been trying to convince myself to do it one day at a time. i know it's pathetic because i usually give this piece of advise to my friends, but when it comes unto you, you just can't help but worry especially being away from your families and friends back home. before, it was easy because you can always turn to them, but this time, when you have your own family, you have to decide for the betterment of all your futures.

on the matter regarding my work, i've been browsing through jobstreet and was relieved to have found some postings on new jobs across sg. the other night, in between niño's snoring, i came to realize that as much as i wanted to stay with hdb, i feel that i can't stay with my work together with my current project leader. sure, he's nice and all but the fact stays that professionally, his working habits are getting into my nerves. imagine the stress and load he's passing on to me when he was suppose to help me out and encourage me. my user stayed with me til late last friday night just so we could be able to cover most of their requirements when it's suppose to be my pl's task. so i just told my husband that i might just find another 'condusive' job. but my options to stay are still open... i just need to hang on.

quick december view

for the first two weeks of december we prepared for our dance for the hdb christmas party.. yah yah i know it's been years since i last had a chance to show my prowess *bwahahahaha* anyway, it all went well during the party itself. the party was last dec. 15 dinner time. there were lots of food, games, raffles and band playing courtesy of our good friends ulrik, buru, ffg, pader lew and 3B.

the following day, it was pitibifor's christmas party celebration at costa sands eastcoast. we rented a chalet for our overnight stay and had some food cooked for our dinner. we played some few games that entangled them together, guessing games that frustrated us to the last minute for not being able to come up with that one word.. hehehe.. then we went out for a walk and had some nice hot cup of coffee at the coffee bean. went back, played card games and jammed with the guys.. well they did, i dozed off while boss was telling some ghost stories. after 3hours, it was daylight so we packed things up and cleaned up the leftovers. niño and i went ahead with ami coz we need to get back to the kids early.

after some 4hours of sleep that sunday, we went out again to start christmas gift shopping. yeah, we wanted to start early to get the nicest pick. i was really dead tired so we didn't stay out so late and just took a cab on our way back home.

last dec.22 we had our department christmas party in hdb auditorium. we participated in the christmas carolling competition, well it's more of a just-for-fun competition. there were lots of food, drinks, logcakes!, ham, turkey and other food that i wasn't able to check out anymore. it was also the last day of this year that pitibifor would be together because most of the guys would go home to pinas to spend the holidays back home. we had dinner at food republic in wisma and it feels like one big happy family dining together, having fun and some few laughs.. remembering all the wonderful things that happened during the whole year.

dec.24, noche buena. some few friends came by the house to share our simple feast. niño's cousin and her family was expected that day. unfortunately, they weren't able to come due to the rains. later that night, some friends of ice from her church came by and spend some time in our home. at 12midnight, we started opening gifts. nixon was very excited and noah as well. it was our first christmas together as a family away from pinas. it's totally different being away from my bro and sisses and parents.. the following day, christmas day, we woke up late and decided to go around vivo city. that place is really huge and swarming with so many people. we just decided to go and have dinner at home.

in between those days up to this time i've been burried with tons of work in the office. nevertheless, i tried to keep up and give as much time as i can to my kids and niño. we're also preparing for nixon's school come jan.3. oh how time flies.. my eldest boy will start schooling and he'll meet new friends and learn new things.

the next few days, i need to think about my plans, our plans for the coming year ahead...

staying in the battle

i've been burried to work for decades i guess.. it's been soooo long *for me* since i dropped a note here in my blogsite. good thing wedding preps is at a limbo right now and floating smoothly and soundly at the moment. i have been finishing a project involving different systems, left and right, and my bosses and users are having their vacation leaves altogether so i'm left into assuming what else to do with those codes. i haven't been 'sick' lately so i can't get any medical leaves, i just let the days go by until another holiday would come by which is happening in the next two weeks still. i've been counting down the days til march10 so we can all go home and have a vacation. i've been practicing for our presentation this coming friday for the hdb pinoy christmas party. hell it's been two weeks that almost everyday we have to learn and memorize the counts and steps. in between all those, i am a mother of two boys when i get home and a wifey to dadi niño. good thing we're almost done with our christmas shopping.

a 5minute of my day today gave me a break thinking of things i wish would happen in the next few months... celebrating another wisdom in my youth hehe... celebrating noah's first year of blessedness :) ... going home to pinas, being able to see our families... taking care of our wedding preps, booking most of them... go to phuket thailand to have a short break... finding a new job *the most dreaded part*, being able to stay in sg for another year or two... applying for PR? maybe... celebrating dadi niño's youth bwahahahah... being able to go home again on september for hani's wedding :) , booking more suppliers for the final leg of our wedding preps... celebrating nixon's fifth... finally, going home again for our wedding day and spending the festive season with our families...

*it's like drafting a list of christmas wishes don't you think? hehehe*

side story: a warm hug and lots of kisses to mareng friend hanipay for landing that fedex job! wiipppeeee let us know when is the next shipment going out of sg, maybe we can tag along? heheheh siryusli, congrats friend mwah mwah mwah! ok, congrats also to ffg for getting that damn noisy guitar, peace! bwahahahaha!

side story2: a big congratulations to pareng buru and mareng twix for landing a slot to that US visa!!! wiipppeeee don't forget to bring home some goodies! mwehehehehe!

side story3: another congratulations also to my mareng trina and pareng ken for being pregnant! yeyeyeyey!!!


*sign off.. will be back in the next couple of days or weeks, i hope sooner :) *

my long awaited gown sketches by veluz

it's been 30days now since i received mama veluz gown sketches for me. i was so stunned with the designs that she made for me and deciding was really difficult. nevertheless, i have decided to inquire the details for designs B and C, well especially C hehehe.. you may give your comments and suggestions (if you have time) and drop me a message regarding these designs. i'm posting them now here on my blog for the pleasure of your viewing...

venue fiasco, changing church

yes it's been a while since i last posted anything with regards to our wedding preparations. i was about to, three weeks ago but the difficulties of dealing with our ae in ilustrados made me weak to the bones to make me blog these details. i was completely devastated of what has happened, and now we're just moving forward. anyway, here we go with our latest updates...

to date, we have decided to just let go of ilustrado restaurant. we just don't want to deal with anymore stress regarding package inclusions and alterations. it just sent us into more fear that in the span of one year ahead, there would be more movements in the deal that we made with them and we just don't like that idea. so better to pull off the plug right this early and find another venue.

for the past three weeks, we have been searching for a possible venue that would suit our taste and budget. we have looked through father blanco's garden, a venue behind san agustin church. we asked for their package rates and compared against ilustrados. after a week of researches and calculations, we came to the conclusion that costings for father blanco's garden is relatively high, and moving away from our initial budget, and so we decided to find another one.

along the way of searching, we considered having it in a nice function hall. and we came across ba lepanto penthouse in makati. a fellow w@w's wedding came just in time to give us a glimpse of how weddings are done in the place. at first call for inquiry, i was turned down because ms. revi, the managing officer for lepanto, said that the place would undergo renovations next year and she's not sure when. she said i should get back to her on january 2007 to inquire again. both my shoulders dropped in dismay as i hung up the fone.

i came across ramon magsaysay center, kind of a historic place. when the day came that i needed to inquire about the place, the line was busy. so i said to myself that i'd like to try and ask lepanto again when is the renovation starting. ms. revi told me that they only accept bookings til august 2007. my spirits where dampened... and she asked, when is our wedding date. i told her we're scheduled on dec. 27, 2007 at 4pm. she just immediately said that it's ok to book lepanto after christmas! hooray! i was able to pencil book our date and hopefully by end of november, we'll be able to send in our reservation fee. along our conversation, i inquired about the possible caterers we can get for the place. she recommended swan lake catering, somehow i had this idea already since they were the one's who made a fellow w@wie friend's wedding a success. well, thats another story. i'll be posting a separate blog entry for them once we touch base with their ae (accounts executive).

with these changes, we're now planning to change our church to nuestra señora de gracia in guadalupe makati. it's really a nice peaceful church, our 2nd option to san agustin church. we were thinking of getting nsdg if we ever get a venue in makati, and san agustin church if we land a venue in manila. so now, we are changing from san agustin to nsdg so that it would be accessible to our guests and us.

i'll just post again when we've finally decided on these matters and paid the required downpayments. *cross fingers*

toxic 3weeks *sigh*

what way to better spend your whole week than to sulk and burry yourself with work! it's been more than two weeks in the running now since i've been juggling with different systems and requirements from my bosses and users. never in my IT career was i able to pull off from finishing five programs in 8hours! but i haven't tested them yet... hopefully come monday they would all work accordingly. thanks to the help of some few mf friends *mareng twix, pareng buru, natsy, derwin and sha*, i was able to work it out with my tasks.

the best thing was that niño was always around to cheer me up and assist me in taking care of the kids while i take a breather at home. it was so sweet of him to treat me to dinner at suntec the other night even if it was another burger and fries meal. i just miss him so much at the office. before, getting by a task was easy because he was around to help me out with my questions, and now i have to handle them all by myself. but our dinner date relaxed me somehow and it helped a lot in bringing my sanity back to being a mom to our kids and a wife to my loving hubby.

*huuugggss and kisses @dadi rak*

twinkle twinkle christmas tree...

today we beat the storm and went our way to geylang road to find the store that sells cheap christmas trees and decors. there was a downpour of rain as soon as we sat down on the bus to get us to lorong 40. it was a long journey, around 30minutes ride so we were expecting that the rain would die down by then. but nooooo!!! it didn't even tone down so we have to wait for at least a few minutes in the waiting shed. but for the life of me, the rain would not stop! and we've been standing and waiting for 15minutes! so we just decided to walk our way to the store through the rain... *talk about real determination!*

mind you, we didn't really know the exact location of this store. all we know is that it's along a popular intersection at the corner of geyland road. so off we go the streets, dripping wet. we even forgot to bring our jackets. and the streets were really flooding with water. so we crossed the street and finally came to our destination. we just stayed outside for a while to shake off some water, and the storekeeper saw as lurking around the 'trees' so they asked us to come in. we were the only customers that time.

niño and i really enjoyed shopping around for 'the tree' for our family. basically, we're so excited since this is our first tree for our family, and the kids are here so we really want to surprise them. we decided to get red, gold and silver for our color motiffs and the tree we chose was a 6feet tall green christmas tree. it was soooo pretty! we never had a christmas tree taller than me during my growing years in pinas. and now, i just wanted a big tree for us.

upon arriving home, we ate our meryenda, and the kids were still asleep for their afternoon nap. we decided to put up our christmas tree while they're asleep so that we could surprise them when they woke up. we enjoyed putting it up, it was a bonding experience for me and my hubby. and when nixon and noah woke up, the expression on their faces were priceless. a total view of innocence and awe. there's no replacing that special feeling of making your kids happy and loved.

*and now it's time to start thinking of how to introduce santa claus to them hehehe...*

officially hitched weddings and rene gaviola

last november 6, 2006, we were able to give our downpayment to my coordinator, teena barretto, of hitched events wedding. we're now officially their clients, and even if our wedding is still a year more today, we're very happy to be able to move properly one step at a time especially with our dream team.

so far, teena has been doing an absolutely good job with handling our concerns. i admit i get into so much stress and tantrums when something is not going well with our expected plans for the big day. she's very reliable and she's good at calming my nerves. we had difficult times, but we were able to manage everything, and now we're back on schedule. we just need to smooth some more rough edges along the way. you may view their website link for more details on their services.

another talented person will join the team... our photographer, mr. rene gaviola. he's one of our favorites. i wasn't really looking much into his profile because i heard that his package is kinda way up our alloted budget. and i was kinda thinking that he's a little intimidating because he has a name in the entertainment business being part of abs-cbn. but i was wrong...

i looked up one of rene's work posted by a co-w@w, chie. from the beginning to the end of the photo video, i was stunned and mesmerized. it was like living through the moment of the event itself! so i got the strength to pull myself together and send an email of our preferred items. true enough, he replied very quickly and accomodated our requests, just like that! he granted our wishes within the budget that we have and he promised to make the most out of the littlest penny spent for his services that we'll pay. he was indeed a very good catch and we're very happy to be his clients. every now and then i would stop by his blogsite just to check on his latest works. his masterpieces never seem to stop amusing me. thanks also to my college bud and fellow w@w, carol nolasco, who is also rene's client for their upcoming wedding next year. alternatively, you may visit his official website to view his profile and more samples of his works.

nixon's fourth :)

by eldest baby, malcolm nixon came to stay with us here in singapore last february, when our second baby, migual noah, was born. niño fetched him and my mom from pinas that time. and now, this october 25th was nixon's first birthday here in sg with us.

good thing oct. 24 was a holiday, we chose to celebrate his birthday a day earlier so our friends could come by. we started cooking early in the morning, i'm very thankful that tita juvy (our yaya) is very efficient. she does things without having to tell her from a list of things-to-do. we were able to pull it off with a bang! hahaha!!! we cooked spaghetti, beefsteak, fried chicken wings, sautéd upo with shrimp and sinigang na bangus. we also bought nixon his cake and thanks to tita kati *aka kuret* for the ice creams.


we watched a pinoy movie love story flick, close to you. cast includes bea alonzo, john lloyd and of course, sam milby *kilig*. everybody enjoyed watching the movie, gone are the days when we consider those kinds of films as corny. when you're overseas, you couldn't help but appreciate watching and listening to anything pinoy. after watching we proceeded our favorite past time, videoke hehehhe! even if nixon doesn't really appreciate it that much, but he was there to hang around with everyone and sing along.


the party ended around past 8pm, it was a simple yet very memorable birthday for my son and for us as well. we ended the day with nixon opening his gifts. we would like to thank everyone who remembered. the following day, after office hours, we went home to light again a mini cake for our eldest boy. his grandmas were also there singing happy birthday through our celfones. it really melts our hearts knowing that our little boy has grown and he appreciated everything that we've done for him so far. :)


again happy birthday nixon bebe!!! dadi, mami and noahby loves you so much!!!

growing kids

ohh how time flies so fast. one day i was just holding my eldest son, nixon, in my arms. the next thing i knew, i can't even let him sit on my lap long enough to finish a bus ride goin to our church. i use to bathe him, and now he doesn't even want to get out of the bathroom naked! he can play some games in the computer, sometimes he just types his name, the alphabet and numbers in the notepad. he likes to do puzzles, can read storybooks. funny thing is, he really doesn't know how to read well.. he just learned to memorize them hahahah! very clever hehehe.. omigosh! is this really happening?!

he also replies to some questions smartly. typical conversations would go like this:

nixon > mami wat are those? *points at veggies on the table*
aslee > baby, those are called vegetables
nixon > what? how do you say that?
aslee > veg...ta...bols.... vegetables!
nixon > bols? but they are not round mami!

hmmm.. ok arrgghhhh... here goes another during times when i scold him:

aslee > don't do that again ok? i'm angry at you for doing that!
nixon > but i love you mami.. *with batting eyelashes*

so of course my heart would melt and he gets away with it.. when his dad scolds him:

niño > why are you ignoring mami? she's still talking to you..
nixon > but i love HIM
niño > no, i love HER
nixon > how about me?? don't you love me?

now you get the picture.. its quite difficult when your kid has all the excuses in the world, and yet makes it a point to tickle your funny bone even when you're angry. he know some diversions just to get off the topic on his back.

nixon > mami do you love dadi?
aslee > yes of course!
nixon > is he your dude?
aslee > *LOL* yes!

my kumpareng dennis and kumareng che calls each other dude, it's their term of endearment. my son heard it from them one time. he has a very good memory. he can even remember all of our friends names here in sg. he also likes to sing different kid's songs like barneys song, some nursery rhymes. and when he hears a certain song and he likes the melody, he sings the song even if he doesn't know the exact lyrics. he also likes to dance when he hears lively music, even in public.

my second son, noah, he's really growing strong and steady. now he can sit on his own in bed or in the couch. sometimes he stands up and holds on to the handle bars in his babycot. he opens his mouth immediately when he sees food coming his way. whenever we arrive from the office and sees us opening the gate, he would make noises and cries for us to take him from the crib. he laughs along with his brother. he likes to sing when he watches tv and there are music playing on the show. he watched the movie 'the shawshank redemption' very quietly with us on the computer at home. he just sat there with us and behaved himself hehehe...

christmas is getting near. and we're all so excited to spend our first christmas together as a family. we'll put up a nice christmas tree for the kids. although its also quite sad that we won't be able to go home and visit our families and friends back home. anyway, we're really looking forward to christmas... we're blessed with our wonderful kids and loving families and friends. what more could we ask for :)

meeting W@WSG

last friday, october 6, the bride-to-be's (b2bs) of weddingsatwork (w@w) yahoogroup had an eyeball at starbucks in raffles city mall. mareng hani and i first decided to meet each other then proceeded in meeting the others. we were expecting around seven members only, but as it turned out, there were ten of us :) sis resie wasn't able to stay that long, but nevertheless, it was fun having to meet everyone in the group.

we started rolling the ball by asking everyone to say something about themselves and what they have done for their wedding preps. so far, almost everyone has a church and venue. it was good thing for sis jenny c. to be able to attend to get some few pointers in deciding their location area. the following day, a good news came from her telling us that they've finally decided where they wanted to do their wedding. *so happy for you sis jenny c. :) * we also discussed the pros and cons of having some stuff bought here in sg and from pinas like buying a bridal gown, DIY materials, etc. there was also a little sharing of ideas on DIY (do-it-yourself) items like invites, STD's (save-the-date), souvenirs and gifts for the entourage.

i'm really happy to have known the people behind those email addresses hehe.. it was uplifting to be able to share your own thoughts and emotions regarding wedding preps. it was really different telling it to a co-b2b than connecting with your husband/husband-to-be (h2bs).

thanks to mama benz for creating a w@wsg yahoogroup. she posted an article at weddingsatwork website regarding our eyeball meet. i'm so excited to have another eyeball, looking forward to our next activity yehey!!!

*excerpt from my posting at w@w*


haler mga kafatid sa sg!

ang saya saya no? heheheh.. di ko expected na ganun pla kadami mkaka-attend! ang galing, sobrang dami nating napagusapan tapos we were able to relate to some dilemmas hehehe..

sis resi, hope ul be able to stay longer nxt time :)

sis kendz, tnx for sharing d experience with ms benz.. ayan may w@wsg chapter na! yahey!!! saludo ko syo kafatid, dami mo ng accomplished items!

sis lyn, pakonek nmn hehehe.. naku malapit na, simula na ng wedding fritters and jitters hehehe. o bsta and2 lng kmi, makikonek n lng kaw pg klangan mo ng saklolo. dont wori, ul get over d homesickness in time. konting practice pa sa roadmaps hihihi

sis jen cabrids, congrats! ambilis ng mga pangyayari! edi final na pla nxt yr na tlga.. naku ka-excite na yan. start na ng masinsinang preps ito! bsta we'll pray for u, sna madecide nyo na dn in time ung church and venue nyo.

sis joy aka angel, ang kulit mo! nyahahah!! malapit ka na din! konting polishing na lng sa mga small details tlga. share mo dn mga DIY stuffs mo ha. ingats dn lagi sa pguwi ha..

sis tin, hay bongga tagaytay bride! pg may questions ka pa about ROM stuffs, kung itutuloy nyo, pm ka lng ha :) ako nmn mgtatanong syo abt ur DIY's hehe. extend our tnx nga pla kay hubby mo, naging fotographer pa naten kgabi hehe.

sis jenny luy, i hope ul be able to finalize wer to get ur wedding gown. im pretty sure dat watever u decide, its gonna be perfect! cguro nmn no matter wer u get it, as long as ur hapi and u feel d connection of d gown and u, den go for it! :)

sis mareng faye, oi tita congrats, a very successful first eb woohhhoo! so sympre masusundan na ito ulit. :) congrats dn for being able to finally buk wack wack golf and country club. another 'tick' on d checklist. moving forward na kyo ni ffg yey! o sya kuyugin mo lng kmi pg may klangan pang iba. suportahan taka sa upcoming ROM yey!


and to all our sg b2b's sisses and married sisses, we hope that you could also join us in the W@W SG yahoogroup. thanks ya'all and hope to see you agen on d nxt eb session. :)


p.s. ang mga pics ha, pakishare na lng mga sis. tnx!

aslee wife ni niño
7/8/2005*civil*, 12/27/2007*church*
sac/ilustrado garden courtyard

http://asleelabnino.weddingannouncer.com <-- wedsite
http://www.rockbebitrock.blogspot.com <-- chika etc.

melancholy

he was my teacher... he was always there to support me and teach me what i should know and not know. he was not really sold on the idea of us working together in the same office, in the same environment. he knows the extent of my emotions, especially my uncontrollable mood swings. i admit i have those attacks, but nevertheless, i've learned to control them as time goes by. again, thanks to him. he was so understanding... whenever i get frustrated over work, a thing or just nothing at all, he was ready to receive all the blunt words and impulsive accusations. but at the end of the day, i have to admit i was at fault... and somehow, he was too *despite the fact that he did nothing wrong*. i have always believed in his abilities to make wise decisions, although sometimes i would complain for the delays. but as it turns out, it was better to have waited. and again, it was thanks to him.

today, marked the day of being by myself again in the office. i still have some few more months to bear being on my own. this morning, i was hurrying by myself walking to the train station to catch up with time, i guess being without him doesn't give me any more excuses to be late. i bought pancit for my breakfast and had to eat half of whats left of it in the afternoon since he was not there to eat them just like the way it used to be. i had to eat my lunch with jelly adobo sauce... i just felt lame to walk to the pantry and have my food microwaved. anyway, it was just me eating alone on my desk. i had nobody to talk to about how frustrating my coding and testing are...

i just really miss dadi niño so much... i was writing this in my pc while waiting for my submitted job to get off the queue. and now i'm ready to dive back to work. tomorrow, he starts with his new work in millenia office. and things would really start being different... but i'm still hoping for all the best possible luck for us :)

mister videographer

From the beginning of our wedding preps, getting a separate videographer was not part of the plan. We wanted a photo and video package in one. However, as we get along our way of scouting for a prospective team, we decided to just get them separately. We wanted our teams to concentrate on their crafts, and our photos and videos are important to us. We decided to put a big chunk of the budget to our photo video team, second to the reception budget.

Our first choice for our video team was Threelogy, well I guess that’s not really a big surprise since it was the most raved about video team during the time I got into weddingsatwork yahoogroup. I kept track of their works and the feedbacks from my fellow w@w sisters. Of course my second move was to check on their price package. Well somehow, as much as we want to move our budget just to make things fit in, it really won’t. So we moved on… *actually I moved on, I was the one really pushing this team so hard to be part of our armory of supplies*

We realized later on that we closed our minds and hearts for other possibilities. Slowly we entertained the idea of exploring other options and finding someone who’s as best but at a more affordable price. We browsed through several videos and flipped through the archives of w@w. Finally we discovered Mr. Shierdan Pamintuan.

Dan is easy to talk to, it’s like talking to a kid with the heart and attitude of a professional. He’s very accommodating and responds very quickly with our inquiries. My husband agreed on getting his services. And so after one month of getting to know him and his works, we finally booked him today. We are so glad to have Dan in our team. Please do checkout his works and masterpieces at his website, www.shierdan.com.