7 Random Facts About The Woman Behind aboutmyrecovery.com

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Memes are so cool when one is faced with a “blogger’s block”. Note that I never say I am a writer. Thanks to Dexie, the feisty Momma, I am tagged to list down the 7 Random Facts About The Woman Behind aboutmyrecovery.com that will revolve around fashion, styling, hair, beauty and vanity. So yes, here is everything you need to know about the kikay me :

1. I wore the same hairstyle for twenty years and only sported a short layered cut this year. Thanks to my lovely 2 girls who constantly beg me to drive them to their favorite hair stylist. A favorite hair stylist is from I Love you Store or Hair News, a Korean Hair salon in Ortigas Center. My favorite hair color artist is from Salon de Manila because they make the most flattering highlights.

2. I own only 5 pairs of footwear. If you compare that to my husband’s 50 pairs, he’s really lucky to have married me. (I should show you the shoe cabinets I bought for him). As to the shoe style, I prefer to wear 2 inch sandals. I don’t like to wear flats or havianas because I feel short.

3. I own a lot of handbags in various colors but I only use one bag colored black till it gets rotten and unusable. Poke me when you notice it’s rotten because I pretend it’s not.

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Missing Daddy

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The poignant thoughts of Pia’s entry about her seatmate, Senator Juan Flavier (who has now graduated from the senate) brought back memories of my own dad. Like Pia, I have a soft spot for senior citizens about the same age as my dad would have been today. Whenever I garner an achievement, I often think “dad would have been proud of me”, sometimes wishing I can catch my dad’s beaming smile with a nod of approval.

I am turning 50 years old this week and somehow I am thinking of the day my dad turned 50. My sister and I walked towards the UP shopping center so we could send a special card telegram to dad. Our greeting was:

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On Husbands and their Caves

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denThere are two peculiarities I learned about men the week after I married my boyfriend.

1. He hibernates in his “cave” when he is moody and wants to be alone and

2. He has a hunter instinct. After a hard’s day work, he gazes at the far horizon such as the television .

I couldn’t find the right words for this quirky behavior until I read the book of Dr. Gray, Men Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the number one best-selling relationship book of the last decade.

–A man often wants solitude when he is thinking about a problem.
A woman should be careful not to bother a man with questions at such a time.

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Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

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Do you believe in luck and chance especially in financial success? When our only son was born in 1993, our life changed dramatically. My husband and I believed that our son was our lucky charm which brought us good fortune and lots of happiness. In fact, among all the kids, Luijoe had the grandest Baptismal celebration and even birthday parties. Our family was indeed blessed. We could not ask for more. When we dabbled in stock trading, I had no knowledge on how the financial markets worked. My husband got a hold of Initial Public Offering (IPO) of large companies in the early 90’s. The booming stock market and rising price indexes drove me to sell when it was high. It was bullish period in the stock market trading.

And how did I determine the time to sell?

I rubbed Luijoe’s hair like one would rub Aladdin’s magical lamp and I’d whisper to Luijoe ” do you think mama should sell?”

If Luijoe smiled to his right that meant “yes” and the opposite is “No”. What a silly way to sell?

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Being Needy

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“He’s needy.” I once overheard a conversation from one of my daughters. It pertained to a peculiarity in her crush. And it didn’t sound like a positive statement.

Is being needy a bad or good trait?

It depends.

We accept ourselves as people with needs- the need for love, comfort, understanding, friendship and a healthy touch. We also need someone to listen to us, someone to give positive reinforcement. It is not a sign of weakness for needing these things in our lives. It actually makes us human and healthy.

But what happens when we are particularly needy?

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The Ideal Husband For My Girls

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daughtersDo you believe that mothers (or parents) know their daughter more than she knows herself? It got me thinking do I really know my daughters well enough that I can advise them on the ideal spouse? I recall my dad often spewing advice like “marry someone who is intelligent “. I even thought my dad was such a snob. My romantic ideals were such that “love will find a way” and “love will prevail”.

So I posed that question to one of my daughters.

Her reply ” I think so , mom. You know me more than I know myself.”

Most married women would agree with me that an ideal husband is one that is a nice, tender, forgiving, passionate, hard-working, honest, peaceful, generous, understanding, pleasant, warm, intelligent, humorous, attentive, compassionate and truthful person. Of course, good looks is a bonus but isn’t the ultimate clincher.

I guess there is no such thing as an ideal husband . I can guide them though.

So I told my daughters,

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Proud to be a Filipino

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Imagine the consternation on Lauren’s face when I told her that I rejected the immigration papers that Lorna, my sister sent me in 1987.

“Mom , how could you?” I explained to her my reasons.

While reviewing the requirements and the time frame for approval, I figured that in twenty
years, my papers would have been approved. My children would then have the choice of staying in our beloved country or the land of milk and honey. But I didn’t submit the immigration form and instead told my sister that I wanted my children to stay in the Philippines and continue to work for the good of the country. After all, People Power Revolution fever was still high in the air. My heart filled with hope and dreams for the Philippines through my children. As a mom, I felt that my UP student activist and idealistic days can be best transformed in educating my children towards patriotism and nationalism. Yes, “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” so I thought.

I was confident that if the kids chose to go to the USA after college, it would be a piece of cake since I had a lifetime US visa (it was lifetime then) and if need be, acquire American citizenship from her dad using that obscure immigration law of Filipinos born to American citizens in 1930. I missed the fact that working opportunities are not open to non-American citizens.

It’s been 20 years and now, Lauren screams Screw Nationalism

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An Interview by Migs Paraz

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Here are 5 interview questions from Migs Paraz which is actually a tagged post.

1. There is a lot to learn from people in their 40’s and above. How do we get them to blog?

I definitely agree that there is a lot to learn from the 40’s and above. The best way to get them to blog is to expose them to bloggers in our age group. I always thought that blogging was for the 30 and below age group until I came across Connie’s blog. I have been told by 40 something bloggers that they got inspired to start a blog because they came across my blog ( ahem, Annamanila). This question gives me an idea. Maybe I should categorize my blogroll by age group to inspire more people?

2. What opportunities did winning the Philippine Web Awards and the Philippine Blog Awards bring you? (Oh and being one of the Top Pinoy Probloggers as well.)

Winning the award brought hits and gave me more visitors. It widened the scope of my readership and advocacy. Then, I get invited to PR events or help out with blog activities. Most importantly, I am loving the fact that my circle of friends widened in all age groups. As a problogger, the opportunity to socialize and venture out new things in the blogosphere and even in new media enable me to produce more content for my blog. More content produced enhance my earnings especially in Google Adsense and Text Link Ads.

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Mommy Lunch Meetup

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moms
The Pinoy Moms Network’ Mommy Lunch at Swiss Deli and Bistro finally happened.

Photo Above

Below (Left to right): Jane and Salen

Standing (Left to right): Rachel , Lynn, Me, Connie, Dine, Feng, Cess, Julie, and Lisaflor

Standing behind the group: Chato

Kudos to Rachel for coming all the way from Batangas. So sorry Sheila Marie (based in Africa) but I totally forgot that I had Skype running in my macbook.

So what did 12 moms exactly do ?

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