Family Blog Award and The Philippine Blog Awards Night

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meandmyawards.jpgMy feet are killing me! For 2 hours, I walked the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium lobby to cajole guests to eat cocktails and be merry. Well, what a day! I got a surprise! I received a special award from Globe Broadband : the Family Blog Award which is meant to honor family-oriented blogging. It’s indeed an honor to receive the Family Blog Award as it helps promote my blog’s advocacy. Of course, I never imagined myself to be a recipient of any award for tonight’s [tag]Philippine Blog Awards[/tag] since I chaired the Venue and Food Committee. I learned that Globe Broadband/Innove guys thought of this idea and selected their winners based on their own criteria. What an innovative way to promote brand name recall and recognition to a very special niche. It’s a good thing that my Globelines Broadband Internet is working well so far or else I would not have been happy to receive this award.

Other awards given out by Globe Broadband were

1. Blog Achievement Award” The Mommy Journals
2. Pinoy Ako Blog Award: ederic@cyberspace
3. Blogirl Award: Well Whatever
4. Deliblog Award: Dessert Comes First

The best thing about receiving the Family Blog award is that my whole family attended the Awards Night with me. They enjoyed the food (thanks Josiah’s Catering), the bloggers and just being there with me. All my family members maintain a blog except that Butch and M chose to keep a private url. So it was quite an exciting adventure for them to see/meet the person behind the blog that they have been reading for ages.

meandbutch.jpg
(Photo courtesy of Anton)

The night flew so fast…In just one hour and half, winners were announced.

The winners of the 16 categories are:
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Graduation Blues

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graduation photosgraduation photosYearbook photos

Lauren gave me a couple of her [tag]yearbook photos[/tag].

Tomorrow is her [tag]graduation day[/tag]. All week long, she has been wailing…

“I can’t believe I am graduating!” I assure her that we are just as shocked. Shocked that another milestone marks her parent’s lives. Shocked that we are getting older.

The other day, Butch turned to me as he drove the car “can you believe ? our daughter is graduating?”

I can believe it.

Tomorrow is the Commencement Exercise at 4:00 PM for the School of Humanities and School of Social Sciences. She will have a long day. Her day will start with a Baccalaureate Mass at 7:30 AM then a graduation rehearsal at 11:00 AM.

What a disappointment that after paying such a huge sum of tuition averaging 55,000 pesos a semester or a total of more than half a million pesos for Lauren’s college years, we , the parents have to endure the tropical heat at the high school covered courts, the venue of the commencement exercise.

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You’re so Slim, Mom!

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health is wealthIt was 10:00 PM and quite dark at the Xavier Hall grounds in the Ateneo Campus. Lauren left the Blue Rose festivities earlier than the rest of her friends. I directed her to meet me at the Flagpole. She glanced over me from a distance and ignored me, or so I thought.

I yelled “Laauureeennnn”

She looked surprised to see me wave at her.

“Oh mom I didn’t recognize you. You ‘re so slim”

oohhh…Music to my ears

“It’s just my tight fitting shirt!” I hugged Lauren with glee.

I don’t think I lost much weight the past weeks. It’s just that some clothes I own make me look slimmer. Losing the last 10 pounds is not an easy goal. My daily routine consists of 2 hours at the gym leaving me with approximately 6 hours of work. I often tell myself “what good will my income be if I am unhealthy?” as I huff and puff on the treadmill.

“Health is wealth” is my mantra as I continue to exercise.

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Neat Freak or Neatness Lover

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The Neat Freak“Mom, I really like it that you’re anal”, M, my psychology major daughter told me the other night.

The word “anal” sounds deregatory but I’m pretty used to my family teasing me with my neat freak attitude. Haha, I just laughed.

“And that’s a compliment!” they chirped..

I was touched.

I never thought I’d hear the day my daughters and husband would appreciate the effort I put into my household.

So I asked my 2 daughters “Why do you now appreciate my being anal?”

The two girls then narrated to me that their dormmates have even messier rooms than their own. Often the thoughts running through their minds are “If only mom can see this mess”. The girls can’t stand disorder in their own rooms but still I raise my eyebrows whenever I pass by their rooms. I just give a one-liner like “You have a lovely bed that cost me $___. Too bad it’s messy” or “studies are not an excuse for being sloppy” or “you have so many drawers . Use them to organize your things”

Whenever I drop by the dorm, I never step into their rooms simply because I want to avoid lecturing them on neatness. One time, I had no choice but drop some important items inside their rooms. Know what I did? I closed my eyes , opened the door and dropped the bag on side of the door.

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My daughter is 21 years old

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happy birthdayMy beautiful daughter is now 21 years old. A few weeks ago, she envisioned her 21st [tag]birthday[/tag] in our new home. It’s one of the many reasons I moved heaven and earth to finish the renovations at the soonest time possible. A 21st birthday celebration in our new home seemed the best [tag]birthday gift[/tag] for Lauren. Much as I love to prepare fancy dishes on special occasions like this, I opted to cook simple fare at Lauren’s request: pancit canton, lasagna and barbecue. And she added “and a birthday cake baked by you.”.

*Groan*

I know what she meant by birthday cake complete with icing and fancy decorations but I thought it’d be too cumbersome. I have yet to get used to my new kitchen. I settled for something less complicated: blueberry cheescake. Even if our home furnishings are still incomplete and boxes are still unpacked, Lauren still wanted a small lunch party with family and close relatives.

And we managed to pull it off.

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Adjusting to a New Home

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kyleeladyIf you think moving is stressful, imagine what went through our pets’ thoughts when they saw boxes upon boxes being packed, furniture disarranged, and everything in our old home to which they’re accustomed being turned upside down. The family managed to live with the mess for two months. But what about our pets? One of the many considerations of the move was the feelings of our pets. How do we make them feel comfortable towards their new home? Can we teach old cats new tricks? Will they escape and walk back to their old home?

My dear husband refused to bring the pets with him when we drove by convoy to our new home. Humphrey the Boxer pup, Kylee the sassy Siamese Cat, Lady the Royalty Cat, my daughters L and M all rode in my SUV. Humphrey wedged in between the two girls behaved quite well . Kylee and Lady inside one carrier looked like two very pissed tigers. What torture for Lady. She sqwalked all the way from Makati to the other end of Pasig.

“meooooowwwww. meowwwww”

lady the catkylee the siamese catboxer pup

Her wailing meows must have irritated Kylee to his limits that the latter bit Lady’s face. A cat fight ensued. Oh dear. Humphrey ignored the meows as he was being needy. He was still nursing a hurt paw. Despite the pets’ nervous state, my two girls just laughed it off as I continued to drive merrily to our new home.

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I nearly killed our Boxer pup

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March 18, the day we had been waiting for so long. We finally moved in to our new home. You know, our new home symbolizes new beginnings. It seemed like an unreachable dream a few months ago. For months, we couldn’t find a property that satisfied our budget and needs. The journey to our new home shows that one can attain a dream if one remains focused and believe that God’s plan works.

The move must have made me so hyper-excited that I lost my focus that morning. As the movers drove in to the garage, they told me to move my car a bit forward. Then I heard a long yelp. Ugh I had forgotten I had tied Humphrey’s leash beside the garage door. Then I heard cries from my 2 girls. Oh no…I killed our boxer. My heart sank. I couldn’t bear to look at the suffering puppy. I turned to the fawn colored pup and felt relief that blood wasn’t spilled all over the garage. My girls were horrifed that I ran over his tiny paw.

“oh mom, let’s bring him to the vet”

It was a dilemma. Should I bring the pup to the vet or not? The movers were piling the boxes on the van and soon we would have to go. Butch was nowhere in sight. So I trusted my instincts. I hugged the whimpering pup close to my chest and he stopped yelping after a few minutes. Phew, I almost thought I ‘d run to the vet for emergency checkup.

The horror of moving day ended there…

It’s our third day since our move and there is 50% semblance of order in our new home. There is still so much to do but I am taking it slowly enjoying every activity in fixing a new home.

Here is a rundown of the day.

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Globelines Broadband Budget Bundles, Smart Bro and PLDT DSL

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(Read my Review of Globe Broadband, PLDT Mydsl, Smart Bro and Smart 3g)

writing deskThe house is clean and sanitized, the air smells of paint, the pocket garden looks refreshing as I am sitting here beside my antique writing table, trying to catch up with my backlog in work . Thanks to the [tag]Philippines Cable Internet Providers[/tag], installation was fast . I always imagined that installation would take months. I remember moving in to Pasig in 1980 and I got my landline in 1984. But take a look at this. If you move to a new home (well at least in Pasig City where I am moving), you can have an internet connection the following day after payment. This is my experience.

1. Smart Bro– I paid 999 pesos for a 384 kpbs connection on March 2. An hour later, they called me to schedule the installation the following day. That’s pretty quick, huh? Smart Bro has this ongoing promotion where you get free installation for new applications if you apply within the month of March. It didn’t make sense to continue with my existing contract because I would have to pay 1600 pesos for the transfer. Might as well get locked in for a one year period. Besides, my cousins in my new neighborhood swear that Smart Bro connection is pretty reliable.

2. Globelines Broadband Budget Bundles – I called Globelines to send me an application form to my house. Since I wasn’t there yet, she dropped it with the caretaker. After I signed the form , the agent came back and processed my application form. A week later, I got my phone line and my 1 MBPS internet connection which came with a prolink modem and wi-fi bundle. So here I am enjoying a 1 MBPS wifi connection goodness. This budget bundle costs only 1450 pesos a month. I don’t know how long the free landline use lasts.

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The Tuition Fee that Blogging Paid

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graduationIMG_4711.jpgHalf a million pesos or so later, my husband finally gets to visit Ateneo de Manila campus today. Can you imagine that? Sure he has seen the campus through the windshield as he drops Lauren to school but to actually step down and take a stroll…err no. My daughter’s college came up with this “Congratulatory Ceremony” with cocktails in honor of the graduating class of 2007. Lauren says they are around 25 Social Sciences Major in her batch.

Butch and I arrived in separate cars and met up at the Figaro coffee shop in some new building in the campus. We sip coffee and nibble on carrot cake as we reminisce of the past when sometime in 2004, a financial crisis hit us. Thanks to blogging because Lauren was able to pay half of her tuition fees in college (details here). I have to give credit to L for being so frugal and wise. She gives herself so little credit. I am so blessed with a daughter who has a vision of her financial independence. Feeling generous for all the blessings she showered on us , we bought her a Fender Squier guitar and a trip to Singapore and other Asian cities in the next two weeks and a US trip soon after. Squealing with joy then hesitates a bit “we have money for this?”

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