Congratulations to the Pinoy Expats-OFW Blog Awards or PEBA that honored the the best and inspiring Expatriates and Overseas Filipino Workers Blogs around the world. I am honored to be included as an honorary member of this organization, considering that I am not an OFW.
PEBA’s 2009 theme “Filipinos abroad: hope of the nation, gift to the world” captures an uncommon perception of our expats and OFWs – they are heroes for both the Philippines and the countries that receive them as workers or migrants.
Congratulations to the winners, and organizers for the successful awards night. I know how it feels to organize an awards event and you pulled it through. I had so much fun at the awards night, meeting Juana Change, Dinky Soliman, Risa Hontieveros, Susan Ople, and OFW bloggers. I am grateful that corporate giants like Nokia and Smart Communications supported their endeavor in so short a notice. Read more…
After dinner, I’m usually in front of the TV, digesting and unwinding with a glass of tea. Normally, I prefer coffee over tea, but I feel that the latter is a more agreeable beverage for the evening. Not only does green tea aid in digestion and relax the digestive process; it can also stimulate the mind and keep your nervous system in excellent form. These days, I am busy with a new project called blogwatch.ph (Voters education) . I usually have some more work to do after dinner, and tea is the perfect drink to help me stay awake and focused without causing insomnia. Can you tell that the word “VOTE” is plastered all over my face that my husband bought me this tee as one of his Christmas presents. Read more…
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ~Roy L. Smith
Our Christmas day in a slideshow. Background music is “Christmas in Our Hearts” (Click here to download- 3.0 MB)- Jose Mari Chan , arranged by Carmina R. Cuya
Not all is calm. Such is life. Things do not happen as planned but it does mean that the Christmas spirit will be affected. Today, I found out that Christmas truly reigns in my heart for all time.
Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man. Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.
Despite the challenges, I honor Christmas in my heart. Never mind if the outside appeared chaotic.
I am gentle with myself and I take care of my tender heart.
The gift we give ourselves is a gift we give to our children what they would want for us: for us to find as much peace in whatever way that we possibly can. If I could give each of you a gift I would want to give you the gift of peace, as much peace as you can possibly find.
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. Agnes Pharo
During my stage mother days, I never tired of listening to my children sing over and over again. Singing is a tradition in my immediate family but sadly, I don’t have the voice yet I can tell if the singing is sharp.
Singing Christmas Carols has been a treasured family tradition. I remember the last Christmas I had with my mom. I was 18 years old then. All the 7 siblings gathered around the Yamaha organ as my late brother, Oscar played festive carols. Sometimes it was mom who accompanied the songs in the piano.
I’ve been there. I’ve been judged. I understand the anger of @Miltary_Mom when people started to judge her when she tweeted on the drowning of her two-year old son Bryson Ross in the swimming pool of their home in Merritt Island, Fla.
Shellie Ross otherwise known as @Miltary_Mom and who blogs at blog4mom.com tweeted the following:
5:22 p.m. – a breezy update about the fog rolling in and spooking the chickens as she worked in her chicken coop.
16 minutes later, , a 911 call was placed from her home saying that Bryson was lying at the bottom of the pool.
6:12 p.m. “Please pray like never before, my 2 yr old fell in the pool.”
5 hours later, she wrote in tweeter “remembering my million dollar baby” then posted photos of the little boy. (Some of these tweets and photos have since been removed.)
Then violent reactions errupted:
Not long after that, a firestorm erupted on Twitter, with strangers wondering what kind of mother tweets during a crisis. The debate has been going on for days around the Internet, with critics calling Ross callous (and suggesting that if she had been paying as much attention to her child as she had to her Twitter account, her son would not have come to harm) and supporters (many who know her in real life, and others who have never met her) describing her as a caring mother who reached out to her virtual community during a tragedy.
In Madison’s blog, she points out that “Between the hours of 8:37 a.m. and 5:22 p.m (her first and last before son was found drowned in pool) she tweeted 74 times. ” Read more…
Holidays are a season of cheer and happiness for many of us. For others it serves as a constant reminder of their loved ones who are no longer with them.
On the second Sunday of December, parents worldwide join together and light candles for their dead children.
For 12 years, parents gathered on the second Sunday in December in homes, churches, parks and gyms. Sunday night, families all around the world lighted candles at 7 p.m. in remembrance of their beloved children. It has been 4 years for the Compassionate Friends Philippines.
“You wish you could be naive again, go back to your life the way it was,” said Kristy Mueller, who organized the South Bay candle-lighting ceremony in Palos Verdes Estates in the USA.
“But you can’t,” she said. “You don’t get over it. . . . And this is a hard time of the year. When you can’t help but think about what you’re missing.”
For many of bereaved parents, this is a difficult month. Holiday traditions bring families together, but they also spotlight grief and amplify loss.
The company of other parents is part of what made Sunday’s candle-lighting so special.
“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”- Dalai Lama
I glanced at the man behind the wheel, the same man I’ve been seeing the past 32 years. My heart raced “Oh my, he looks unusually handsome and dapper in his crisp barong tagalog “. As I reached out to hold his hand, I remembered I picked a fight just 2 days ago and held back. He had chased me all the way from home, not knowing his car was tailing behind the tricycle I was riding.
That’s how our married life is. bati, galit, bati, galit and probably will always be, hopefully more good days than bad. The reasons behind some of our spats are immaterial but the latest conflict started with an illogical jealousy fit making our love story some sort of tragic comedy. Tragic in the sense that Ondoy caused property damage yet reunited us somehow. And the comedy part? His cave got ruined by the floods and he had no choice but to crawl back to our bedroom.
“The bad dream known as martial law has become an absolute nightmare under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!” , an activist during 37th Anniversary of Martial Law, September 21, 2009.
I was 15 years old when Proclamation 1081 was declared by then President Ferdinand Marcos. My folks seemed overjoyed with the news. The administration did a great job brainwashing the old folks that the country was in turmoil and thus, Martial Law needed to be declared. I didn’t know it then, of course.
I felt a bit alarmed that any house could be raided for “subversive materials”. Any reading material might be “subversive” in the eyes of the military. Dad was wise. He started buying books and magazines that were pro-Marcos. But all of these inconveniences were insignificant compared to the pain of detained and tortured “political prisoners”, the loss of freedom of speech, the pain of seeing my brother in jail and so with my barkada. I was never brought to detention due to luck, perhaps.
Soon after Marcos declared martial law, one American high-ranking official described the Philippines as a country composed “of 40 million cowards and one son of a bitch” otherwise, he reasoned they should have risen against the destroyer of their freedom.
“Never again, never again – never again to martial law!” Read more…
The most important political office is that of the private citizen. ~Louis Brandeis
I love my children.
I think of their future.
I hope for a good leader.
We all want that for our children, right? So listen up…
Do you wonder if our candidates think of the future of their children, or if they are single, the future of the kids of their friend or sibling. Does President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) think of her grandchildren’s future?
Dear readers, don’t be swayed by herd mentality that this candidate is good for the country or their emotional appeal, or celebrity status. Some of you are probably supporting a candidate this early but it pays to make the decision on informed choices. You are opinion leaders who can probably influence a non-internet user.
This is about me ( a Filipina mom) and my journey to a "new normal" after the death of Luijoe , my beautiful 6 year old son. Recovery is a work in progress.... read more?
After dinner, I’m usually in front of the TV, digesting and unwinding with a glass of tea. Normally, I prefer coffee over tea, but I feel that the latter is a more agreeable beverage for the evening. Not only does green tea aid in digestion and relax the digestive process; it can also stimulate the mind and keep your nervous system in excellent form. These days, I am busy with a new project called 
We all want that for our children, right? So listen up…
This is about me ( a 
