My sister won in the US midterm elections

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The election results are now official. My sister, Myrna emailed me a few minutes ago “I won second place (75 votes less than John Delgado). The important thing is I am elected! Now on to governing.”

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I am so happy for her, thrilled that I was there in the last two crucial weeks and helping out in the mini rallies. She won a seat in the city council of Hercules. In 2013, she will be the vice-mayor and on 2014, the first lady mayor of the city. Many of you asked me if my sister won. I purposely did not make an announcement pending official results. The winner was known 4 hours later but you never know. I didn’t want to jinx it.

Filipino-Americans are slowly having a voice in their communities. My sister won because she had a proven track record of competence, commitment, and character as a a community member in the Planning Commission. Oath-taking will be on December 14 and suddenly I miss my sister.

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Meralco lights up Christmas for kids from 1 to 92

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Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.– Ruth Carter Stapleton

Christmas lights always gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that glows inside for the entire season. It brings me so much joy. Childhood memories of twinkling lights and Christmas carols are enough to lift my spirits during the holiday season. Through the years that I lived in Pasig, the lights in the Meralco compound never fails to mesmerize me as the car passes by.

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It never occurred to me that Meralco has been opening its gates to the public for a long time now, giving delight to kids from ages 1 to 92. Yes, not just young kids but kids at heart like me. I didn’t have to think twice being invited together with other bloggers to witness the Christmas lighting tonight.

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CEO Manny Pangilinan together with other very important guests marked the lighting event. For Meralco, lighting up their Ortigas compound symbolizes the light of Jesus Christ whose coming to the world brings joy and hope to the young and old.
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Family and Parenting at UNBLOGGED

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Just letting you all know that I blog for the Family & Parenting section of Philstar.com UNBLOGGED every Tuesday for the next three months. Well, UNBLOGGED is the official blog section of philstar.com. It features emerging and seasoned bloggers dishing out fresh content on a myriad of topics that shape up today’s popular culture-delivered in a laid-back but no-nonsense style that is sure to keep readers informed and entertained.

My first article was about “Parenting in a Digital World” and my second is “The Truth about the Birds and the Bees”, an excerpt of which is below:

children1I often monitor the keywords in my blog to check which entries are popular or not. One keyword, ““sex,” brought me a number of hits. That puzzled me the first time I saw it but apparently, it was pointing to my ““sex education in the Philippines” entry that I wrote in 2006. It continues to receive comments from parents and students four years after I posted it. Why? Sex education is a controversial topic, made more relevant with the Reproductive Health bill that has yet to be passed. It shows that people are searching for more information on sex education. The people who continue to fight against sex education should listen to the parents and our children because they are the ones affected by it.

read more at Unblogged

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Are you a diva of righteousness?

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Abraham Lincoln once said “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.”

I think Yolly Ong is just making it worst.

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“Coordinated online outrage?” Where did she get that idea? A lot of social media users are scratching their heads now over Yolly Ong’s “Pilipinas Kay Pangit” article.

A wide range of comments from social media users describe her piece as:

“self-righteousness”
“arrogance”
“tackiness”
“pikon”
“Typical holier-than-thou ”
“kung walang blunder, walang issue”
“target of a conspiracy theory”

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Gratitude is the memory of the heart

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Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

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I am right now in Cebu. I am beginning to love this place. There is still something missing about Cebu that makes me sad. Perhaps because I often travel to Cebu just to bury a family member. Just when I made peace with the deaths of family members, another chaos ensued after a class reunion, then a death of a classmate. Making sense out of a chaotic situation is futile especially if the door is shut in front of you.

A conversation from a dear friend tonight jolted me out of chaos when she said that “there are more important relationships that need responding to just like what you have just done; gving comfort to parents who lost a child.”
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Let’s take control of diabetes. Now.

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285 million people have Diabetes. That is 6.6% of the world’s adult population.

I am one of them.

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Let me tell you my story.

I was diagnosed of Diabetes on June 2000 a month after my beloved son died. I desired to have another baby at some point so I got a thorough medical checkup. The diagnosis should not have stopped me from having another baby but I felt I needed to have my diabetes under control. I was given Solosa (2 mg) and metformin (500 mgs after meal). Overweight at 145 pounds then, my blood sugar was pretty high at 180 mg/dl. Perhaps it was because of my deep sadness over my son’s death that I had no desire to take care of myself. I struggled with my overweight body until there came a time that my blood pressure shot up to 160/90 which seemed so scary. My stress test showed distressing results that the doctor thought I needed Angioplasty. An angiogram revealed no major arteries were blocked. Phew what a relief.
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Congratulations Representative Manny Pacquiao

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Boxing is not for killing each other you know – Manny Pacquiao

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Manny Pacquiao beats Margarito via Unanimous Decision is what I heard while doing my groceries. My favorite supermarket probably wanted to make sure their customers could still get entertained while shopping . I smiled because I knew he would win the match.

I heard this will be his last fight because he would rather focus on politics. I took that photo of Rep Pacquiao on the first day of the State of the Nation address last July 30, 2010. He seemed really excited. I have a gut feeling he will make it as a congressman. He seems sincere to me.
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Aging gracefully and laughter definitely mix

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This post has been moved to

04Nov 2010

Photos: I was there at the Giants Parade

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A sea of orange and black confetti was falling from the sunny skies during the Giant Parade. Montgomery Street and Market Street were packed from ten to fourty fans deep that I could barely take anything from the parade. The cheering crowd were dressed mostly in orange and black. I took photos of the happy fans who were cheering like anything.

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Halloween Trick or Treat

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Halloween Trick or Treat is a tradition that my husband started with the kids when they were around four years old. As a kid, I never grew up in the Halloween tradition of the Western world but hubby did. Halloween Celebration through the years is a memory that my kids treasure because of the yummy treats and magical costumes.

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My two girls who were 5 and 4 years old then

Yes, happy childhood memories next to Christmas and birthday celebrations. Now that my kids are over twenty years old, they have their way of celebrating Halloween.

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It’s my first time in the US without my children during Halloween day, a first trick or treat here too. I enjoyed my day. The kids were so cute or scary in their costumes.

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There were not that many kids though. According to my brother-in-law, not a single candy is left after Trick or Treat. We had three huge bags left. I think the Giants game prevented some parents from driving their little kids around the neighborhood.

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