Mommy Layouts
Myspace Layouts and Livejournal Layouts by Lauren
I was checking out my daughter’s Myspace and Livejournal Layouts and was surprised to see that Naruto topped the list. I don’t see anything beautiful with the Naruto art. The page views says it all
My eldest sister from San Francisco just sent me an email about travelling to the USA or within the USA due to the recent terror plot.
Getting ready to travel by plane for the USA or within USA? I just had a talk with my husband (who works for an airline in the Onboard Services department) who told me that if I don’t want any delays during check-in, (1) plan on being there three hours before; (2) that I shouldn’t bring my cellphone on the plane; (3) and that I should buy one of those huge ZIPLOC bags to put in my ID, keys, wallet, passport for my handcarried items — and to check in everything else. His advice to me might sound quite extreme so I recommend that you contact your airline and check www.tsa.gov for the latest travel advisories before taking off… When I was in London a few weeks ago, I did wonder why there were triple security areas we had to navigate before we could board the plane for the US. AND I think I’ll ask about bringing my cellphone — since I can’t live without it while travelling. Did my husband mean any cellphone that had all that fancy internet access technology?
I presume laptops, PDA’s and the like are not allowed too. The no-carry-on policy is going to make flights long and boring. I checked the Transport Security Administration to see the latest changes :
NO LIQUIDS OR GELS OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED IN CARRY-ON BAGGAGE. ITEMS MUST BE IN CHECKED BAGGAGE. This includes all beverages, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, tooth paste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency.
Exception: Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling; prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket; and insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines
The Philippines had a similar incident in January 1995. Our security briefly banned aerosol sprays, bottled gels and liquid containers of more than about an ounce from departing planes because of a suspected terror plot during a visit by Pope John Paul II. As in the current situation an exception was made for baby formula, even though in powdered form it could easily disguise explosives. Some commercial products are even designed to be transported as two relatively inert substances and then mixed together on site to produce an explosive. That would be a catastrophe!
All these security measures are needed but it must be stressful to travel during these times. It’s a good thing my younger sister arrived safely from London just before this terror plot unfolded.
Remember how we mothers ease the pain of our toddler’s scraped knee? I remember blowing the wound and caressing my little girl’s leg…. “There it will go away now” . My little girl would then wail “baaand-aiiiid” thinking the band-aid can patch the pain. What happens when this little girl is now an adult, nursing a broken heart? How can a band-aid now patch the gaping hole in her heart?
Yesterday night, my daughter went home from her dorm. She informed me beforehand that she had a problem but she will tell me in person. My husband and I couldn’t sleep thinking it could be serious. Eventually we lifted our worries to God and soon fell into a deep slumber. What could we do anyway at 12 midnight?
We broke off! I stared at my lovely daughter with her sad eyes upon me as I sat on her bed.
Oh no was all I could say. I couldn’t believe it. The boy was just at our home last weekend. They had been together for more than 2 years. But then, I also recalled Butch and I broke off on our second year. I had outgrown him. I was already a working girl and he still had to graduate from his bachelor’s degree (he is younger than me). I tried to recall the pain of breaking up and what I did to alleviate it. Doing something new and keeping busy was what kept me going.
I told her that her dad and I had two break-ups in our 7 year steady relationship. “Relationships are not easy, my dear. It hurts because you love him. You are going to grieve the loss of a relationship. Feelings of sadness , anger, acceptance and moving on will be part of the healing process. Just like I often say to the newly bereaved parents, you will start looking for your “new normal”. A life without your loved one. That is the moving on phase where you live the life of being single again. The “we” that was there before is now broken.” I didn’t have to talk much as all she wanted was my unconditional love.
“I’ll enroll you in that pottery class every weekend. Try something new.“, I suggested.
She warmed up to the idea. “that sounds like a great activity that I can start“.
I know she will need to figure things out for herself without mommy. Her mommy can only hug her and say “things will be better. Keep on praying for guidance”
I love you mom.
My heart breaks as I see her forlorn expression.
Unfortunately, I can’t mend her broken heart. She is grieving the loss. The “band-aid” she needs is just within her reach. In time , she will heal. I believe the terms “grieving” and “healing” are synonymous. As she grieves, she heals.
The mother of a my husband’s brother-in-law passed away early this morning. Although the mom was ill for the last two months, her death was still sudden. A few minutes before she passed away, she scribbled a note saying “Welcome J and A”. It’s like she knew she was leaving. Since the children are all based abroad, they had to rely on friends and relatives to check on things while they prepared for their trip to the Philippines. How stressful it must be for them to think of all the funeral arrangements. Having experienced 5 deaths in my immediate family from 1976 to 2003, the stress alone in funeral arrangements is overwhelming. While on our way to the chapel tonight, I told my husband that we should consider having funeral insurance (I forgot the term for it). I can’t imagine having to burden our children with our funeral.
When my father died in 2003, the “funeral assistance” component of my sister’s Philamlife plan did a wonderful job of coordinating paperwork, details for the coffin, the funeral car etc. All we had to do was approve it or provide suggestions. This was not the case when my son died in 2000. One does not expect to bury your child so one is totally unprepared for this formidable task. An accidental death in a city far away from home added to burden. Where can we get 70,000 pesos at 7:00 PM to pay for the coffin? Where can we get the death certificate at this time of the night? On a saturday night? What ? Where? How? By God’s grace, friends and political connections produced the cash and the death certificate. The task of choosing a coffin is the most depressing job ever but it needs to be done. My 14 year old daughter sensed my hesitation and held my hand as we shopped for a coffin. Walking like a zombie, I jolted from my stupor when she pointed to a purple coffin.
A purple coffin , mom!
huh?
Oh no, dear. Luijoe is a boy and he can’t be buried in a purple coffin.
For a brief moment, mother and daughter laughed. We found humor in an otherwise depressing situation.
See, if there was a funeral events coordinator ( much like a wedding events coordinator), we would not have to face such a
daunting and crazy task. In my deepest despair, I might have ended up agreeing with Lauren’s choice of a purple coffin.
To get the meetings all over the Philippines Contact this number
CONTACT NUMBERS OF ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS PHILIPPINES
A lot of contact names and numbers and meeting times and places have changed since 2006. Here’s the link of the yahoo group of AA Philippines:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAPhilippines
If anyone is interested please join the group. Once a member, you can access DATABASE where the List of meetings and contacts will be found. Metro Manila is under NCR. You may leave the group anytime you wish.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) hotline# +632 896 5707. (Teena M.)
Email: bigbook@edsamail.com.ph / mclm@edsamail.com.ph
When the high and mighty fall, the road to recovery begins with a public apology. If there is any redeeming factor that [tag]Mel Gibson[/tag] has given to the world is the media coverage of [tag] alcoholism[/tag] devastating consequences. In the Philippines, drunken men or women are a common sight in parties, fiestas or celebrations. Oooh, you can see them falling to the floor, slurring their words or being just an annoying loud mouth. The party drunk, the life of the party, right? The San Miguel Beer says it all. The multi-million ad portrays a festive atmosphere where beer overflows and sexy ladies sashay their bodies or flaunt their beauty. Such an ad conditions the mind of our vulnerable young kids to associate beer with lovely women and lure them to a life of fun-filled parties.
The effects of alcoholism are easily shown in the sensational section of the local TV news. How often do you see wives beaten up by their husbands? Or children being sexually abused by their biological fathers? What about that actor caught for drunk driving? Though I don’t have the statistics right now, I bet there are cases of drunk -related accidents or physical abuse.
Countless families are ruined and being ruined by alcoholism. Family members walk in eggshells as they pass by the pink elephant snoring in their living room. Not many know that alcoholics are just in the same level as drug addicts. It’s even harder for alcoholics to abstain from their addiction because alcohol is available everywhere. San Miguel beer ads often show a party atmosphere and that a party is incomplete without beer. Oh well, how else can they advertise right? Still they shouldn’t show bottles of beer on the table. Drinking alcohol is so much a part of our Filipino culture. In fact , it is “macho” if one can gulp a number of beer bottles. There is the issue that one is not an alcoholic just because the person is not rolling in the road or that he doesn’t drink everyday anyway. Does the person even know he is an alcoholic?
A week ago, I received a call from Miriam, the chairperson of the VoIPCon Philippines Event Management Company thanking me for the wonderful photos and the VOIP convention entry I blogged about the event. I attended that convention in search for a [tag]VoIP[/tag] reseller in conjunction with future expansion plans for my online business. Miriam wanted to meet up with me because she wanted to have some sort of exchange deal for the upcoming [tag]VoIP Philippines convention[/tag] in March 2007. Right away, I explained that I have limited financial resources but I can help with the logistics.
Yesterday I met up with Miriam and Mar, her Operations manager. Mar expressed gratitude for the great photos of the VOIP event. I was surprised. “really? Why?”
Mar explained “We hired an expensive professional photgrapher who gave us 1000 photos but most of it were heads. We liked your angles! ”
I laughed “That’s because I was a participant and blended very well with the crowd. I mean Speaker Jose de Venecia’s bodyguard probably thinks I am harmless”
I was thinking, maybe amateur photobloggers see the event in another perspective. They shoot to capture the human emotions, that certain “moment”. Like in this photo below, I could not get inside the hall so instead I took a shot of the photographers.
No I haven’t watched Sukob but my daughter thinks it’s a more horrific film than The White Lady. Notice how the Philippine Movie industry is spewing Filipino film [tag]horror[/tag] genre like its Asian counterparts? As the movie’s title (““Sukob“) states, the movie is about all the horrible things that happen when two siblings are married within the same year.
Well fellow bloggers, my sister B and I married on the same year, 1985. Another sister , M got hitched in 1986 and another sister, L in 1987. And guess what? We all encountered marital problems like most marriages. But how would I know it back then? The year 1985 was originally reserved for me. Oh yes, we had to book our wedding dates in advance as my father is overly superstitious. Dad was a typical traditional Filipino father. Also, we wanted to play it safe. M wanted to get married in 1985 as well but gave in to me because I was the older sister. Besides , Butch and I were already steadies for 7 years. M and her fiancee just met that year. M thought we should get the wedding date of May 1985. I had seniority and first priority. One day in October 1985, B suddenly announced her [tag]wedding plans[/tag] for November 1985. M and I were furious.
How could you? Don’t you know one of us will have bad luck? I cried.
M protested “ I gave in to Noemi because I didn’t want both of us to be married the same year”
B argued “That’s just a superstition!”
I didn’t expect much of the Philippine Idol last sunday night . I thought our Filipino contestants were subdued compared to their American Idol counterparts. If you followed the past American Idol seasons, the audition is the wackiest part of the show. The [tag]Philippine Idol[/tag] Season 1 proved to be just as funny and entertaining with certain quirks that is peculiar to the Filipino culture.
That [tag]stage mother[/tag] in the photo must be so proud of [tag]Erika Jill Bautista[/tag] . As Erika sang, the mom engaged in small talk with Ryan Agoncillo. Sometimes, she listened through the walls. Erica has an hearing impairment (35 decibels) in one ear that she has to wear a hearing aid. Inspite of her hearing impairment, she sings pretty well.
That’s why the judges called the mother inside so she could hear the good news. The look in her face is magical just like any proud mother would react to a daughter’s achievement.
My 41 year old baby brother in Missouri (I still call him baby brother because I took care of him) wants me to be his wedding coordinator for a church [tag]wedding[/tag] in the Philippines. My brother and his wife did not have a church wedding 14 years ago due to financial challenges. Now that he is a successful neurologist, he dreams of a marriage with God’s blessing. He has indeed been blessed through the years with 4 lovely children, a lucrative medical parctice and a devoted wife. I told him that weddings in the Philippines is not the same as it used to be. I started to look around for wedding fairs. The last time I attended a wedding bazaar was in 2004 for Lauren’s debut plans. Just looking at the prices for photography, venue, catering , cake and other perks for Lauren’s debut could easily cost 150,000 pesos ($2,500.00) at the least. My daughter dubbed it “A not so typical debut celebration” and happily, the total expenses were only 80,000 pesos ($1,500) for 100 guests. Divisoria is my friend. My brother was impressed that I coordinated a “sort-of-grandiose” celebration . But weddings are different! There are a 101 considerations. I told him that I would shop around for a wedding events coordinator who will coordinate with me.
I have been tagged by Niceheart to list down six weird things about myself. Yet another [tag]meme[/tag].
So here are 6 weird things or habits about me. Beware I am obsessive compulsive in most of these weird habits.
1. I like my books to be arranged neatly in the bookshelves from tallest to shortest. Mind you, the books have to be aligned in a straight line too. Something like this
Actually, when I trained our helper to fix books from tallest to shortest , she did an even better job. I think she became even more OCD than me. Or was it she got contaminated with my obsessive disorder?
2. I want my bedspread carefully folded on the bed with very little crease. I have to pull it together with my other helper on the other end to attain an “ironed look”. I drive my daughters crazy by telling them to do this. I’ve since left them to fix their dorm beds the way they want it to be but at home, I end up pulling it for that “ironed look” when they are gone. Something like this:
I never used to have this strange habit but like number 1, my helper did a better job and I got hooked on that no-crease bedspread look.