October 2008

Getting Through Stressful Times

I worry about my daughter who is still in the states. She is there for vacation and some thesis research. It’s natural for a mom to worry especially if she finds out that her daughter’s housing is unpredictable and her money resources are slowly dwindling off. I keep telling her to move to my sister’s place in the suburbs of San Francisco but all she says is I have to learn to start living in the real world.

Yes, she is right. She is an adult and needs to learn to solve her dilemma.

Being the protective mother, I can’t help feeling disappointed that her original housing plan did not materialize. I feel like calling my bitch powers and spew out a tirade of tongue-lashing at the person causing her discomfort and misery. I check myself and remember that my daughter is not a little child. She is not the little girl that I use to place a band-aid on her knee. She can fight her battles. . The ““band-aid” she needs is just within her reach.

It really bugged me that things didn’t work out as planned.

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Subscribe to My Free Weekly Email Newsletter

So why should you subscribe to my weekly newsletter when you are already subscribed to my blog? Isn’t it redundant?
Email:

Before I encourage you to subscribe to my free weekly email newsletter, let me bring you back to Janette Toral’s commendable project, Philippines Top 100 Blogs for 2008. Unfortunately, I did not make it to the event but she sent a series of interview questions like What have you done this year for your blog that contributed to its growth?

I’d rather measure my blog’s growth to the rewards reaped from my blog’s goal than statistical measurement. Sure there was a rise in subscribers and readers but if there is one thing that touches my heart, it is Saving a life. Strange that this should come from a blog that promotes grief support in the Philippines but I figured that I can do both, save a life and comfort others.

I received an email from someone thanking me that my page on Suicide Prevention saved the life of his friend. The thing is the Suicide Prevention page was more for parents , health practitioners and educators to help prevent suicide deaths. Never did I imagine “suicide thinkers” to actually research on dying by suicide and re-think their plans.

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Mead Johnson’s Enfakid A+ Milk Formula Does Not Nourish Your Kids’ Brain

Oh the irony of Enfakid A+ Milk Formula with Nourishing the Brain and the Pursuit of Excellence!

Milk Formula Manufacturers are quite aggressive in their marketing campaign that they are not checking their “trying to be smart” ads. Blooey first pointed out the Enfakid Milk Ad as shown in the Inquirer (Page D3, October 22) and I want to re-post the photos and explanation below.


Flipping through PDI today, an ad reads… (page D3)

Flap opens to…

And then the milk formula in the corner.

Their ad further shows that

Your child can learn, discover and imagine far richer with Enfakid A+. Now with enhanced DHA levels that help brain cells communicate well to support your kid’s rapid mental development. Nourish the brain. Pursue Excellence”.

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Happy Birthday Dear Bloggers


Meet Casey, one of the first generation net kids. If you have read my daughter’s blog (then online journal) when it started in 1996, then you might have met Casey in a few of her entries. Casey is not his real name. I first met Casey and a few of my daughter’s online friends in 1996 because I was an internet safety head of World Kids Network. Back when modems were cranking screeching noises and webpages screaming with blinking fonts, I was a Web 1.0 designer where I built hand-coded HTML pages as the structure to house the content of our websites. I didn’t have an online journal. I thought it was for kids. Lauren and Casey were one of the few kids that started an online journal in 1996.

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Home Sweet Home

I woke up to the sunlight streaming down my face. A bit dazed, I thought “Where am I?” As the bay window shape loomed in front of me, I smiled and realized I was back home. Oh home sweet home, back to the arms of my sweet husband despite the sore right shoulder. I felt I never left home. The vacation in America felt like a brief respite from the humdrum of my daily grind in Manila.

The day after Lauren arrived in San Francisco, she wanted to spend her time with her good ole mama at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) instead of the malls. I yelled “let’s shop at the Sephora!” but she refused. This good ole mama just had to agree with her daughter. But the MoMA was closed on wednesday.

The Golden Gate Park was a better plan because it was a few blocks away from her friend’s pad. I just knew there was something for young and old alike from the green oasis of gardens, museums, and over 1000 acres of flower beds, meadows, lakes, playing fields, hills and forests.

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US Elections, Obama, Proposition 8 & Serious Catholics

US elections is just a few weeks away. As a tourist, US politics is all so new to me. I see the American flag and candidate signs in front of homes and certain spots of each city and state. I like that the signs are not littered all over the place. It is quite neat actually. Conversations in dinner table are now centered on the upcoming elections and some propositions that one needs to answer on the ballot. It’s my first exposure to US politics. Normally, I just read about it in the newspapers.


Sunday mass and the Catholic church in Northern California is a revelation in itself. After the mass, a group passed out brochures on Proposition 8 and a “Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics”.

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I Support Reproductive Health Bill & Population Development Act of 2008 (HB 5043)

Not all husbands (except for my readers) are responsible and understanding like my husband. My husband never took it against me if I refused sex because he knew there was more to sex than the act itself. Usually the “no” is because I wasn’t ready to be pregnant at a certain point in time. When I say “sorry dear, I think I am fertile”, he will either abstain or use birth control methods like the condom which is in itself is a violation of the Catholic doctrine. (We have since stopped believing in the Catholic Church especially when it has not responded well to current issues of the populace.) I have never used the pill either. Yet, I wished we had more children though because I can certainly afford the means to provide for their future.

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Living in the Countryside, My Brother & Telemedicine


I love countryside living. This is my third visit to mid-west Missouri but in the past two visits in 1998 and 1999 (with the girls to visit Lauren’s online friend), we stayed in hotels never really basking in the beauty of the surroundings. Missouri never fails to freak me out. My arrivals always happen at night. Driving along the lonely dark road at night is like being in Twilight Zone. Think “Jeepers Creepers” and you will understand why that movie was filmed in Missouri. Whenever I vacation in the US, I am contented with big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago or Florida but Missouri? If it weren’t for my brother, I swear I never want to visit Missouri until…a week ago.


Here I am in a part of rural Missouri with a population of 18,000. I am taking in all the goodness that countryside living has to offer sans the high pollen count. The first thing I did the next morning was walk around the private park surrounding my brother’s residence. The chilly weather didn’t stop me from walking the dog and enjoying the new sights like the cows in the perimeter fence.

And a lake and trees in Autumn. It is just so pretty!

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Photo Hunt: Sad


Photo Hunt theme is Sad. I don’t actually equate sadness to this beautiful Autumn photo I took near my brother’s residence in rural Missouri. I guess I feel sad because in a week or so, I will miss him. I will miss the wonderful countryside beauty and just being with him and his family.

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