updates

I missed blogging for a few weeks!!!! I've been so caught up in the day-to-day activities I completely lost time blogging! Not even after hubby and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary. :-) It wasn't a grand thing, we've always liked things simple anyway, and besides it seemed to make more sense to spend time together with our baby that just the two of us. After all, our Jessica is the reason we're happy now.
I didn't have any anniversary gift for hubby anymore, I combined it with his birthday gift instead. I bought him a remote-controlled truck online, which costs 109.00 dollars, which has not arrived yet, but its something I think hubby will love once it gets here!
Even my gift for my princess, Jessica, has arrived already!!!! I bought a leapfrog little touch, a toy that has books and talks at the same time. it will really help my daughter with her speaking skills. I so love it!!!!
And then tomorrow, hubby and I will take princess jessica to Adtraxx to have her VTR and pictorial taken. I wanna try her out and give her the opportunity to be a print ad model! whoohoo!!! wish us luck!!!!

she's growing up too fast

here are jessica's pics at six months old. she's as adorable as ever. need i say more?

here she is in her new activity playmat. I got her this one night I went to Baby and Co. It was sooo cute and I realize now its also east to assemble/disassemble and wash. She likes reaching out for objects already so its really being used.
Here she is in a rocking bear (something like that) at Child's Play in Greenhills when I had my creative shot taken. I wasn't going too much for a creative shot, rather I was making a statement that I want to show the world how pretty my little princess is. Anyway all my friends are telling me she is so cute and she smiles a lot, so everyone really adores her.
Oohhh... another ride at childs play. See, told ya she smiles a lot!
A shot while we're on our way to Grimis house for late lunch/early dinner after the pictorial. She looks kinda fat here, not like the 6-month old baby that she really is. :-)


A costume I got from Helen (thanks girl!), all spanky and flirty. hahaha.... i let her use it for the 6months old pictorial. Cute, eh!

Now if you had a cute baby like my princess, would you also be thanking the heavens above for the blessings?

i'm back

Ok so I haven't been posting the past week or so. Not that nothing has happened at all, but I guess I've been pretty occupied the past week with a lot of stuff in my mind. but so far it was an ok week for me, busy but not too tense. I've learned to survive the week ahead of me and put it all behind. And I have this deja vu that I swear by myself that I will be good at work but I will have a balance life and career. Looking at my baby and my husband, I realize that I want to be with them more than anything, so I will make sure that my life will stay focused at them. I will learn to take things as they come at work, but at the end of the day, I will come home to my family and spend the rest of the evening, and weekends with them. that's my promise to myself. A promise I intend to keep.

almost

I almost got promoted today.... duh... almost, that it seems to sad, and I tend to wish that I had not known about it, then I wouldn't have felt so disappointed.
well... one of my officemates who told me about it at least told me that they knew it would have been well-deserved, had it not been blocked by the department head, who seemed to think she needed more time to observe. duh... i felt really bad earlier, and right now I just need to vent. when she (officemate) told me we didn't make it, my first reaction was that I didn't need the company to get to where I want to be. By the time I reach the age of 30, I will be a manager. And I will hold to that promise to myself.

owning a garage

One of our frustrations with the apartment we live in right now is that we don't have a garage. Because there are several tenants on the compound, there is a constant struggle to get a slot in the street sidewalk. Since we got the car, my husband and I have been telling ourselves that the next time we get a new apartment or our own home, the garage is something we should have. Non-negotiable. And I'd like the garage flooring to be something smooth, since hubby is a big hobbyist of remote control cars. This way, we will have a clean garage, and at the same time, hubby play with his toys whenever he wants to.

venting

I so have to vent my frustrations at work!!! i know its not healthy at all to be harboring this much negative energy, but the day's events have really taken a toll on my stress levels.
today at work my boss told me that I'm supposed to handle another set of workload at the office. I was, to say the least, shocked! Just last friday, I accepted around 40-50% more work to enable my co-worker to absorb some more work. And then this afternoon someone tells me like "hey, this is your work!" OMG! I couldn't stop myself from airing my concern with my boss. But I stopped there. But then I had to tell anyone who would listen how really pissed off with the situation. Irregardless of him saying I'm efficient and that he is impressed with my capabilities, I feel soooo pissed off because of their assumption that because a person is efficient, its ok to add to them more work, and that they will wholeheartedly accept the new assignment. Not me. I've just had it with the additional workload. For one thing, I know my priorities. And I believe that I perform well in my work, I know that much. But I am not willing to sacrifice my time for the sake of pleasing my boss, or anyone else for that matter. And I also do not want to sacrifice my efficiencies and leave my internal customers with a bad impression of me.
And so I had to tell my boss. After ranting on the way home to my hubby, I texted my boss that i cannot accept any more additional workload after they added the ones they added last week. I cited that the new work entails hours and hours of meetings with clients and suppliers alike, and I don't want to sacrifice the quality of my work.
Hay, I still don't think I can sleep tonight because I still feel pissed off. Which is why I've got to vent some first.

To get or not to get compre insurance

That is the question. To my mind, the safest route is to go get one for the car, considering that we are still paying for the car and there is always that risk that the car might be stolen (knock on wood). But when asked to compare car insurance, I'd say a TPL insurance wins, hands-down. Its required by LTO regardless of compre insurance. Car Insurance really is a large expense relating to owning a car, just as home insurance is an essential expense of owning one's house. In terms of cost though, getting TPL is surely cheaper, but highly unsafe. I'd personally like to get comprehensive insurance for the car, but that would depend highly on our budget.... :-(

Aftermath of Glorietta

This morning hubby and I visited Glorietta to look for possible good buys, since I heard there are a lot of sales going on there because of the aftermath of Glorietta. Indeed, I found nice blouses as giftd for my sisters. That's 2 people off my gift list. Unfortunately I didn't find anything nice enough to give to my brothers-in-law (all three of them!). Huhu.... But it was sad going to Glorietta. There weren't a lot of people, and there were really a lot of sales in there, but somehow the atmosphere is different, and really quite sad. We happened to go out the entrance near where the bombing was and there was sort of an altar there where the victims names were written in ribbons. It gave me goosebumps.
I hope we will continue to relive the memories of those who were unfortunate enough to be in that tragedy. I really pray for their families that they may find peace in their hearts.

Police gear for sale

Its a fact that Hollywood police movies are a real source of entertainment for many of us. There's this great website that offers tactical police accessories and equipment for those aspiring (and training) to be policemen. At 5.11 one can find a wide variety of tactical items that you can use, and because they have a huge inventory of their items, they can easily sip your items out in less than 24 hours! No need to wait too long to receive your purchase! Try it now, you may find the tactical gear you've been looking for.

Bar Stools for the Home

Like everyone else in this galaxy, I dream of becoming rich. I know it may not come true in the near future, but I would still like to think that one day I can own stuff i may not necessarily need, such as bar stools. I found a great site that does sell the item online. A bar stool would look great in an entertainment room of a large house. The site offers bar stools from the best manufacturers at discounted prices. There is a wide variety of bar stools to cater to different tastes: from wooden, metal, aluminum and combo metal and wood stools. Their best sellers so far are the retro style swivel metal bar stool, wood bar stool, and the Westminster swivel bar stool, which are really great pieces with affordable pricing. Moreover, the site offers free shipping to the US Continental sales for all orders amounting to more than $500. That's a great deal since the stools are rather bulky and quite expensive to ship via courier. Its a great way to buy, whether its something to decorate the home or to use in a your new business venture. They could serve as great conversation starters with your guests. Do scan their offerings, who knows, you may find the great furniture piece you've been looking for in this site.

Going to Australia

I've always been fascinated by Australia. Given the opportunity, I'd surely love to visit the place and be aware of their great places and rich culture. Just a few days ago one of the event organizers made a pitch on the kick-off a department is planning in Australia, and my interest in Australian culture was renewed yet again. I'd like to learn them firsthand, honestly. There are lot of hotels in Brisbane that one can stay in during their first visit. With varying rates, amenities, and offers, going to Australia need not be expensive. It all actually depends on one's interests, what makes for a good hotel.



Adelaide is known as the city of churches. Being a Catholic I've always been so fond at visiting old churches and knowing that there are still a lot of us that share the faith. Oh, I'd so love to go to Australia. I sure wish I'd know someone who can finance me going there!!!!

Hotels in UK

Been a while since I last posted. We're on a three-day holiday this week what with the barangay elections this coming monday, so I was more busy being mommy and wife. hehehe... got a call from my father-in-law though last night, inquiring about some credit card bill of my sis-in-law who happens to be in the UK already. I miss her. Of all of my hubby's siblings, I could say she was the one I'm closest too, and I'd say my hubby is also closest to her. But since we got married they've spent less time together and well, less stories and all. I wish I could visit her in the UK. There's this site the offers cheaper hotels in the UK and it would surely be a good way to visit. I know hotels in Edinburgh can be expensive. There are lots of hotels to choose from with varying stars and rates, depending on one's budget. There are also hotel reviews for some. Surely a great way to get some info considering its hard to make oculars with the distance. hehe..... A promise to myself: if I when I get enough moolah to visit my sis-in-law, this is a consideration for booking my hotel.

getting our own house?

a few days ago hubby and i had a discussion on our plans to purchase our own house. to this effect, i remind myself that hubby and i have the same conditions to purchasing our own. For one, its not just about buying one, its important to us that the place is at least accessible, that its a house (definitely not a condo), with a parking space. I'd rather wait for a year or two more than scramble to get a place say, in Sta Maria, Bulacan, hundreds of kilometers from our workplace. I cannot imagine myself having to wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning to dress up and get home 8 or 9 in the evening because of the 2 hours travel time. NO WAY! My sister in law, who's in UK right now, is also renting an apartment with her hubby. I wonder how expensive Mortgages UK are? I mean, I know for some fact that the cost of living there is quite high. That would me mortgages may be quite high as well. Probably why they do not yet consider having a baby, at least till next year, because they need to plan there future there first if they do intend to stay there. If so, they'd be needing a good financial advisor when they do finally decide to get their own house.

more new opps

i now suddenly have more opps available from me.... for some reason... so now I get to thinking: is it because of my blog rating or simply because there are new available opportunities for me. hahaha... oddly enough, at least that makes me happy. it make me think that I have a better change of earning at this part time work than I would at any other I may venture into, since at this stage, I'm so busy with other stuff that the flexibility of making blog posts is really the only thing I could probably squeeze into my schedule.
thanks, Lord, for this opportunity (or for the opportunities, i should say)

Theme Park Adventures

In my lifetime, I've only been to one Theme park twice. That is not much, considering I'm 28 years old and counting. Of course, I've been dreaming of going to Theme Parks someday, and feeling like a kid all over again. One of the places I'd like to see is Blackpool, UK's oldest theme park.



It would be fun to try out the Pepsi Max Big One, Infusion, and Big Dipper and enjoy the day, leaving behind all worries and just acting like a kiddo. I mean, I've been to a similar (small) amusement park here in the Philippines and its really fun, but I'd especially like to see one that's bigger and to put it simply, more amusing!

smorty scores

funny, i now blog at smorty and I am actually clueless on the smorty score ratings I get. Hmmm... Its surreal, one minute I remember I was at 500+ and the next minute at the 400+ score. That's weird. Actually the only explanation I can muster at this point is that perhaps, the score is averaged to the number of posts, including approved and pending posts. Hmmmm... Anyone care to enlighten me, please do!

Review of Best in Class Casino

Several times already, I've seen online casino websites when I'm in the mood to do some surfing. I find it really interesting, though right now the possibility of trying it out hasn't occurred to me yet. Then I saw this site that did a reviews of an online casino, and my curiosity heightened. Its cool because it doesn't only list the casinos based on the perspective of whoever does the review, it also includes ratings from the gamers themselves. In addition, max bonuses are also indicated, which gives us curious webbies a chance to weigh out the options before diving into the game. Hmmm... I know this is somewhat becoming a trend in our country as well, I sometimes see establishments with online casinos. Well, at this point I still haven't decided if I will try it out in the near future, but I'd surely keep in mind this website where I can do some planning - before I try out my luck.

Dubai opportunities

A few months back, just as I returned to work from my maternity leave, the first big news that went my way was my colleague who resigned to work in Dubai. She jot the job through the internet. You know, technology has come a long way in bridging whatever location gaps existed before. Now for instance flights to Dubai are easier to book, and it is so much easier to find cheap Middle East flights now that there is easy access on the internet. Life is so much easier, as it is complex, but then, I won't trade it for anything less.

still few opps

Its been several weeks already and there aren't any available opportunities for blogging. I have memberships to several paid posting sites but so far, all of them are in their lean season. just when paypal has started to remit to the philippines and I'm more attracted to blog! howell.... i guess one has to be awake till the wee hours of the night to be able to grab some opps!

Booking via the Net

I’m currently part of a cross-functional team in the office that would handle the upcoming Sales Kick-off 2008 for one of the business units. And boy, are they a lucky group because they will be having this Kick-off, guess where? Australia! Yep, they’ll be going to Sydney, Australia February of next year on a business trip. Though I’ll be part of the team selecting the Event organizer for their program, unfortunately, I won’t be joining them. Everyone is excited. They are already contacting the Travel Agency to look for rates for the hotels and plane tickets, since we’re talking about 160+ individuals who will be part of the trip. Hotel Reservations will be quite difficult especially if it will be a peak season (might be Chinese New Year), and they will also reserve function rooms in the same hotel. Good thing there’s the internet, and one good sight to look at when booking hotels is this one, Hotel Reservations can become a breeze with their wide portfolio of hotels and reasonable prices.



They offer great discounts on their world-wide destinations. That's more money left on your pockets to spend on the trip. Its also a great way to explore possible places to visit the next time. You may not have immediate plans at this point, but looking at the site will give you something to look forward to and plan for. Just what a person needs when they are feeling down or stressed over the many things they experience day by day.

Personally, how I wish I had the funds to go to Europe! Its such a romantic place, definitely worth the money. Well, its a lot to save for since its and expensive trip, but then with all the nice places to see its definitely a different experience. The culture will be so much different, so its really something new for us. Hmmm. ... who knows, I might be relocated to Europe someday, then I'd have hotel reservations to look forward to as well!

no opportunities

there are no open opportunities for me in Payperpost for several days now, it so sad. Especially now that I'm only 1 post away from being able to get put up another blog. I'm also hoping I can get better rankings so I can get new and better opps. hay.

Getting more out of your international calls

A few years ago when there were no webcams and cellular phones people spent a lot on placing overseas calls to their loved ones who work in other countries. To bring people together these overseas contract workers would buy those phone card international that turns out cheaper than the usual landline overseas calls. They would usually buy an several minutes worth of the call card that allows them to catch up with their loved ones. With the advent of internet and other calling facilities, there are more ways to communicate, but this doesn't take away the more trusted modes of communication: international calling cards. Now there are inviting offers one can find online, such as Pingo's low rates.

For instance, one can get over $8 worth in calls when they sign up for Pingo! That's almost 5 hours of free international calls. If the reader signs up and uses the code "ppp3", they can even get $3 off on their Pingo purchase! What's more, when you join Pingo's affiliate program, you can get $15 for each new member you refer! That's a lot more than what you can ask for in an international phone card. Do check it out. In this day and age, any savings is worth a lot! Take it from me.

Bedding for Kids

One of my plans for the coming holiday season is to buy some of the stuff I wasn't able to buy since last year. For one, I'd like to buy us additional beddings. I'd also like to buy some childrens bedding for my daughter. I know I won't be able to use it yet till my little Jessica has her own bed, but I find that I like some of the designs I see on the net, such as this one:

Sometimes its really hard to find nice, simple designs when looking around malls. I find the one on top really cool, I can use it and even my daughter can use it. I'd really like to buy the whole set! If I get enough credits on Paypal I'd give this as a gift to myself for Christmas.

so busy at work

I'm just so busy at work sometimes I think I should have just gotten a clerical work that would be finished on a day-to-day basis. A clerical type of work, if I may. Of course, I only think of this on days when I feel so tired after a hard day's work. At the end of the day I still like the work I do, where most of the time I feel empowered by what I do and the decisions I make. I guess everyone gets their stress levels up often. I still manage to get home quite early than others do, and I guess this goes with my belief that I still work quite efficiently. Well, I have quite a few pending projects I need to work on, but still, I believe I'm doing fine, and have adjusted quite well to my comeback after my long maternity leave. :-)

when in need of cash

Short of saying that I'm a middle-class, working, struggling career-woman, who has gained her confidence from the years of hard work, when it comes to finances, I still haven't learned. As such, I'm one of those people whose financial capacity goes only as far as the next payday. I'm not saying I'm not happy with my life and with where I am today, but I've made some pretty stupid decisions in the past that I'm hoping to correct within the next two years. Several times,to remedy such cash shortages when payday seems too far away, i'd go get a cash advance from one of my credit cards. Personally I haven't tried doing any payday loans, and I hope I won't have to resort to it in the near future, but they are still a good source of cash whenever there are emergencies at home. Well, saving for it is better, but assuming there isn't any, this is an option.

i have one of my own

paypal works! hah!!!! i was just able to subscribe to my own domain. wow... isn't that cool? I've actually gone out and used my well-earned dollars by buying myself my own domain. actually, its supposed to make me go out and blog more so I can earn on the side. and hopefully this domain isn't as banned as blogsite in the office, perhaps i can work there too. teehee... just wishing! anyways, come visit me at jenn's corner, my blog is as simple as simple gets, but don't blame me, its new anyway! I'll work on it in the next few days... set up my own template and so forth.... see you there!!!!

Selling on the net

Internet transactions are fast becoming a new trend in the global marketplace. Being a procurement professional, I admire how a lot of my suppliers are crossing borders to get the items we need in our company. Personally, I would like to be more involved as well, and one of the things I like about using the internet is its ability to make life easier for all of us. Take for instance, how we now have a shopping cart in websites that sell items -- be it material stuff or services or simply intangible goods. Now we don't need to go through long queues in markets, shops, department stores, etc to get what we need. Life is so much easier. Selling is much easier to. I just recently bought a domain name and I'm thinking of using it as a blog or as a place to sell some items. But I still don't know what. I intend to use a shopping cart software such as this one so purchasing from my goods would be easier. Timetable: put up the site this year. Yikes, that's a mere 2 months to go. Aha! Gotta start planning already. I'll be back with ideas on what to sell... soon.

long weekend

yey! tomorrow's a holiday and its going to be a long weekend. well, not so much for me, but still its a day without work and i'm happy. tomorrow hubby and i are set to go out and get the car checked, apparently hubby thinks something is wrong with the car because all of a sudden the steering wheel is wiggling/shaking a bit. hope its not something serious. i was planning on a long day with jessica but i guess it'd have to wait because we'd be needing the car on Saturday for my sister's wedding. wow! its quite hard to believe that by saturday all my sisters will have been married, and our parents are now through of their responsibilities. my sister will still live at home with my parents but then its still different. i hope my parents will be happy this weekend. now they can rest a bit.
hmmmm.... what else to write? paypal is now in the philippines so i am renewed a bit to blog knowing i'd have to earn some, my hubby's getting to like a lot of remote cars and a paypal account may come in handy. hehe.... now i have to build up my own domain name in time to put up a second blog.... i just hope i'd get the willpower and the spirit to start again with blog design. :-p to do... to do.... to do....

New Blogger at Smorty

I got approves at Smorty! Yey! I've been meaning to more actively work on my paid blogging because of the additional income it will generate and thankfully I got approved with Smorty! Similar to other posting opportunities, I get paid to blog, something I believe that I'm quite interested in. Ok, so I don't blog like, 24 hours a day, but I do get to have some time off from my career and being a mom that I'm sure, I can at least squeeze in some time writing my thoughts down, and at the same time earning from it. In an environment where survival is the key, having some other income potential is really a must, and thankfully, after a few tries, I've found some work that I can do at my own time and at my own pace, not sacrificing my sanity as well as my time for family. The to me is the most important, non-negotiable deal.

christmas wishlist

its already mid october and it might be high time to look at my christmas list for presents for my family and closest friends. i think this year i'd better start early because i don't want to be stuck in the christmas rush. I'm already thinking of everyone I need to give presents to, and the list may be a bit long. Online purchases are becoming a trend so I may try it out this year too.
Couponchief.com is quite a good site, makes me feel like i got me a present too! And it has a lot of member stores to choose from. Like if I wanna buy some sports gear for hubby or hubby I can use Adidas coupons , or maybe computer accessories using
Dell Small Business coupons for my dad or brother-in-law. There are really a lot of possibilities and, and I could just as soon write out the rest of my wishlist from here. I'd better start it next week.... think-think-think!

power dressing

a few days ago we received a reminder from our boss regarding our work attire, which has someone turned a little less formal over the past few months. the memo made me realize that over the past few months, I've actually lost interest in dressing up after i went back to work. when I was preggy I invested a lot on branded clothes and after i gave birth, i invested on the stuff for the baby rather than on myself. so last saturday hubby and i went to divisoria's 168 mall to buy me some blouses for the office. I got to buy 6 blouses that are ok for work, and then sunday we went to megamall to buy some from tomato, and I got three, so basically, i have 9 new tops (plus a pair of shoes....) on my wardrobe. Did i also tell you my shoes (around 4 pairs!) conked out on my in a span of a month. Grrrr!!!! I need to buy 2 more shoes but it might have to wait till next month.
whew! the problems working women experience!

storage cabinets for keeps

When we moved into our 2-BR apartment from the one-bedroom one, we realized we simply had so much stuff, even though we've been a family for a mere two years. we actually swore that we won't move to a a new place unless its our own, because it would be too difficult to have all the stuff placed onto a truck (or two). with all the stuff of jessica now part of our inventory, its become more difficult. and when we do move to another house, one of our requirements is a garage for the car. With that, I'd loce to have garage storage cabinets to put in all the stuff that doesn't need to be inside the house. It would make the house look organized and neat. And later on I can go back to those stuff and remove the stuff I won't be needing anymore, like make a garage sale of the stuff we accumulate and ever earn from it later on.

baby shower pics

grimi just uploaded our baby shower pics (after several months) and i just wanted to share (actually i wanted to see again how big i was during my 9th month! hahaha....

my bestest mba friends

kumare fran - mom to joaquin, ninang to jessica

cute backdrop!

opening gifts!

never too old

its never too old to love.... never too old to find that someone for you. it may seem odd to think about older people wanting to find someone for them, but here's some news: there really is a website for senior singles to meet other singles their age! the site has featured seniors introducing a member of the group who's lookin' for love, fresh profiles of their members to browse through, and a search page where one can narrow down on their "types" for easier uhhh... sorting. senior dating made so much easier, if I could say so myself. its really more of a community for the older generation to meet and possibly to find the person they intend to spend (the rest) of their life with.

my updates

i haven't blogged for the past few weeks, yay! blame it on stress!!!! i am literally drowning in work!!! I'd like to think I'm quite well adjusted already to work since I came back from my ML, but work just remains to be a lot, well... right up to here (*think neck-deep*). hay.... i wanted to do a lot of stuff but i guess it'll have to wait till i get back my rhythm. i get enough rest naman, but every so often i feel that work gets on my nerves. whew. weekends are just as busy, though i'm happy that we get to spend it as a family. We go out to malls, visit grandparents (both sides) and we go to mass (me and jessica).
by the way, jessica's started to eat solid foods --- well, basically cerelac and banana and apple. she's only 4 months so i'm in no rush to introduce her to too much variety. figured i'll have more time for that when she gets to 6 months. i don't want to force her tummy to absorb so much anyway, i don't want her to get prone to allergies...
in line with her eating, we got her a walker.... well, right now it serves just as a seat for her since she's not yet learning how to walk. we don't let her on the stroller lately because she already kicks, and there's the danger of her falling down. the walker we bought only for 900! haha.... its originally priced at 1600 but it was on 25% off, then another 25% off on top of that because of two missing toys (which is really of no relevance to the purpose of the walker). so i think its a good buy considering its something we'll quit using anyway when she outgrows it (like now with the stroller)... at least she likes to sit on it, watch tv, push buttons and hear sounds.... so cute!
here she is at 4 months, getting prettier every day!

solid food! yummy!
me in my sports car

watcha lookin at??!

poot poot!!!!

long way from over

whew, i've been spending such busy days at work that i don't get the chance to blog as much even at home. Well, mostly because I spend my evenings with the baby and the husband, who, at this minute, are both sleeping like logs. Hubby is not feeling very well lately, been bugging him to see a doctor but to no avail, apparently he says he saw one but only for the colds he's been feeling in the mornings, not the asthma attacks or the eyes. it worries me so much but i know him to well to bug him just so much.
work is so hectic. i'd like to think i've been making pretty serious accomplishments for myself lately but there's never time to stop and look at them. everyday there are new to do's coming in, so there's no time to look back. i always said i would welcome any new opportunity that comes my way, and i still think i would. though i'm ok where i am now, it doesn't stop me from thinking that i can do more. but right now, since i get good benefits nevertheless, i'dsay its ok to stay till something better comes along.
jessica's turning to be as cute as we expected. today she's exactly four months old. and as advised by my supplier-friend, its good to cook misua for birthdays, so that's what i cooked today. i can't say its my favorite food, but its a change from the spaghetti-carbonara-spaghetti ritual of the past birthdays of jessica. anyhow, she's learning a lot, and i'm so proud! she can now hold some stuff: spoons, teether, her hair... my hair... yaya's hair... she already puts her hand on my face, and she babbles a lot already. its like chatting with a kid, only she's babbling. hehe... she likes to stand up always. and she's started tasting solid foods! yey! i only started her on cerelac and its more of a taste test. but its an understatement when they say babies are cute when they eat solids. its pure happiness seeing her face all covered up in cerelac! hahaha....
hmmm what else? i'm getting quite sleepy so pardon me if i continue posting another time. there are a lot of things i've been wanting to blog about but for now i just wanted to update.
hope to see you (very) soon!

school is harder than ever

over the past few months since having a baby, I've been more attuned to listening to stories of parents about kids and anything related to parenting. One example is schooling. I've heard quite a few times that school isn't as easy as it was before... more for parents than for kids. Well, at least this must be the case mostly in private schools, where kids are expected to perform better or do projects well. So a lot of parents need an Innovative Tutor to help them along the way. And well, if it was me, and I'm still a career woman, I'd probably consider it to. Not to help my kids catch up with homework, hopefully, but to make them excel.

busy

miss me? been so busy with stuff that I haven't had much time to blog. hay. kinda sad really, i don't even have time to do paid posts. geez. whenever i get home the first priority is to really make time for jessica, and some time for hubby as well. whatever small time is left i get to sleep, and this weekend has also been busy. Saturday was my MIL's birthday so we spent the morning with hubby's family. In the evening I attended the wedding of my MBA friend, Mai, at Fernwood. At least I got the chance to meet up with my MBA girlfriends and have a laugh and chat and simply catch up on stuff. Sunday it was my niece's 7th birthday and we attended her Mcdonalds birthday party. So whew! it was a really busy weekend. I don't think I've had much rest during the weekend, which is kinda sad because I'm expecting an even busier weekend ahead of me. Hay. Here are some pics of Jessica with her MamaLa and PapaLo:

Jessica at 3 months!

jessica's BUB pics

We got jessica's pics last saturday, and I can say i'm very happy to see the pics! hehe... of course, my daughter is really very photogenic. Seriously though, isn't she adorable?

i'm back

I miss blogging. Haven't blogged since I got back to work. I don't even have the time to write paid posts. Well, actually there's not much opps to write about so its ok. Unfortunately I can't log in to my blog because its restricted in the office. I'd have to post my postings at home.

Work is relatively easy (read: manageable) these days and I haven't felt this Unstressed since I got into this company. But usually at night I feel so stressed already more because I want to spend quality time with Jessica when I get home. If she's awake I usually get her when I get home and then cook dinner. Dinners are usually very early (around 7) and when Jessica is awake I spend the time carrying her around and talking to her. Normally she'd be awake till past 9 so after that I have to pump some milk first. I realize I need to buy natalac to increase my milk supply since I don’t want to stop breastfeeding yet. I really am thankful that we live very near to our offices so I get to spend as much time as we can with Jessica. We leave for the office before 8am and we get to the office in around 15minutes. So in the mornings I still get to hold Jessica as long as she's awake. At nights she wakes up somewhere between 12 and 2, and after that at around 4 am. Sometimes she doesn't ask for milk at 4am and wriggles around half-asleep till 5:30. At her young age, Jessica sleeps like her dad, moving around a lot. I'm actually contemplating asking hubby if its ok to put jessica in the middle of the bed (I'm at the middle now), but then, I'd be half-awake checking up on her so her dad won't crush her, and I'd hear a lot of complaints from hubby about feeling unimportant. I hear quite a lot of drama already from him as it is.

BTW, last Monday, we went to Blow-up Babies for Jessica's first photo session. We chose the egg set-up and the shoe set-up and we wanted a family portrait. Midway through the egg session (where Jessica was wearing yellow hooded onesies), she started to cry because she was already sleepy. We had to pull her through the rest of the photo sessions. I admire that their photographers and assistants try their best to make the babies laugh. There were really some instances when Jessica was already crying, and they would talk to her or pull up props to catch her attention. In the end we ordered prints for the egg session in collage (since Jessica had more nicer pictures in this session) and 1 in the egg session. I decided against the family portrait because I felt fat in the pics. Hahaha. The pics will be out by this coming Monday. Can't wait! I'll definitely scan those pics after I get them so I can give it away to our families when we meet next weekend. I'm really very glad our best friends (Jessica's godparents) gave us the free membership as a gift. I think its really worth it considering we're getting these for free:

- 1 8R print - worth 800
- 1 upgrade to collage - worth 800 also
- 3 birthday GCs - 1 for me (March), Hubby (December) and Jessica (May) and a 5R print upgradable to an 8R print for 300.

- other discounts which I might not use, except for the membership next year which I'm really contemplating, so I might buy their free membership GC at 20% off.

I'm kinda hoping we can have pictorials at least every other month, but I figure I'd have to negotiate this with my hubby first. Hehe… Pending the outcome of the pics, I'd say I'm quite satisfied with BUB's service. Even if it’s an expensive investment (with prints at 800 per 8R page), I figure that our baby will be a baby only once in her life. After she's passed the infant phase there won't be any turning back so I want to have as much memories from her childhood as we possibly can. :-)

dsl/landline bundle of horror

like i said 2 postings ago, i had a horrible experience with my service provider: Globelines/Innove. and till now i can't seem to let go of the fact that their continued negligence led the matter this far. I mean, I'm pretty much not a noisy/uncontrollable bitch when it comes to these things but this last encounter with them really,really tested my patience, not to mention my sanity. ok, it went like this:
we had the landline/dsl bundle installed last may 2007. prior to this we had their data only service, which was really ok, very few downtimes, i can't remember an incident where i was pissed off with them. now, when the landline was installed in may, they put in a different modem, actually now its a router, which was faulty in itself. They had to replace it 3x because it kept crashing and we kept losing the internet connection. i was ok despite hubby's protests that the service sucks. they always came whenever i called in the problem, anyways. but then, after this, now its the landline or internet that crashes. I had to call every 2 weeks (at most!!!) to have the phone repaired. worse, when the phone is repaired, we lose the broadband after. it was so frustrating. every two weeks i would call their hotline, request for them to repair the landline, then they would repair it, i lose my broadband, and i'll call their technical support for broadband, and then they fixed it. It has become routine. i hated it, but what was i to do? i don't like the situation, but at least they reacted within their 24-48 hour window.
then on august 9, evening, no dial tone again. called up their customer service and requested for repair. august 10, early morning, the dial tone was restored. surfed for a while, then come lunchtime i lost both dial tone and dsl access. called it in again. hubby of course, will be mad since its a weekend and weekend nights are spent playing DOTA. saturday, no show, no access, no repairmen coming in, followed it up, its supposed to be lined up for repair. sunday, i was already mad, followed up again 2 or 3 times. asked them to call me for feedback on the status. nada.
monday morning, i followed it up again, the csr (customer service rep) tells me the request was closed already.... huwaaaat???? how can they close the request without checking if the line is ok??? i didn't get any phonecall or visit from them checking if its ok. asked them to expedite the new (??) request.
to cut this long story short, this happened 3x for the next few days. i would call, they tell me that the request is closed, i'd get mad and i'd nag their CSR. i even asked for their supervisor, who was kind enough to provide feedback that she's coordinating the case already, this was tuesday, but after this no follow-up or resolution was still done. you can only imagine how mad i was already. i was mad at their technicians because they KEPT ON CLOSING MY REQUEST WITHOUT CHECKING IF MY LINE WAS OK. They kept going to the cabinet, a few blocks away, i suppose, checking the line there and changing this and that part. they could've visited my house, checking if the line there was the problem, RIGHT??? and i was angry at the CSR's because whenever i'd ask them to call me for feedback, it came unto deaf ears. I made 34+ calls to them from August 10 to August 16. Each call ranged from 10-30minutes. I even had an instance when I was put on hold by a CSR named Sam, for more than 30minutes! I used the second line on my cellphone to call them again and ask what the hell was their problem putting me on hold for sooo long!!!
august 16, i was at the end of my sanity. despite soooo many follow-ups, still no repairman, still the same old answers from them, still no feedback at the very least. i went to their globe business center. told them that if they don't repair the line that day, just cancel the request and terminate my account, i'd get service from another service provider. This was around 3pm. The Account officer there tells me again they will prioritize this request, that he will directly handle my case, and give me a call to update. NO ONE CALLED. THE LINE WAS NOT FIXED.
august 17, i called them again, this time i was calm enough to tell them to just get their modem and telephone and cancel my subscription. i hated them sooo much already. they fixed the line after lunch. apparently it took them only a few minutes because the line inside our compound was cut (or something to that effect). a few minutes. it took them 7 days to get here, 34 phone calls and follow-ups. they could have gone here a few days earlier and the situation couldn't have gotten this bad.
right now i'm testing the waters, i want to file a formal complaint with their customer care but i'm still really feeling so much anger so i'm delaying it a bit.I dunno, I mean, I did my part, in all angles, I can't see why I should be blamed for this. They really disappointed me, which is an understatement, because I can't imagine, for the life of me, how they could be this negligent.
hay, my ranting won't stop if i continue to write. this is just a warning to whoever is out there contemplating about getting them, I know there are satisfied subscribers. Good for them. But for me, the experience was definitely traumatic.

Going Aussie

One of the places I would want to go to, given the opportunity, is Australia. I want to experience the laidback life there, even for a moment. Of course, it would be fun to experience the holidays in Australia as well, to give me an idea of how their life is and what's important in their culture. There are a lot of flights to Australia, and one of the ways to get there is through DialAFlight. They offer flights to Australia at a cheaper rates, and there are holiday offers for those wanting to experience their culture. There are a lot of places to go to in Australia, such as Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Queensland, and the Gold Coast. It would be a sure fun way to spend a vacation (or two). There are also a lot of Filipinos in Australia and its not uncommon to find some friends residing there. Another great way to spend the vacation: with friends or long-lost relatives. The good thing about using the Net to get info and tickets to other places is that they offer solid information, complete with pictures, so its easier to imagine where one would be going. And its a lot more hassle-free than looking for travel agencies and getting several quotations to find the lowest rates. So why not DialAFlight on your next trip to Australia?

repaired at last

i had the most horrible telecommunications issue since last week, which accounts for my not being able to blog at all since friday last week. i mean horrible.... the internet connection and the phone line just got repaired today. i'm not much in the mood to blog about it yet because my anger hasn't subsided so much, so I'll deal with that later. Just wanted to let you guys know I'm alive.
and I'm back to work.... :-(

holidays are coming

In a few more weeks we enter into the -ber months already. Hopefully this Christmas will be a bit lighter for our small family as we are both working already. Hubby has a good job and well, I have the bonus. hehe... plus GC's... yey.... in 2005 we were a bit broke because we just got married, and then in 2006 tabs was starting out with the onesnap business so we were also broke. hopefully 2007 is a lot nicer to our pockets.
I need to scout already for gifts for family and friends, I don't want to join the Christmas rush anymore because I realize one tends to spend more with all the panic buying. There's this great site in the net, Coupon Chief, that gives out coupons when you shop in stores. Stores such as The Children's Place, where one can buy gifts for the kids (like my nephew and nieces), and Old Navy, to buy gifts for dads and hubby and bros-in-law.
I therefore promise to myself: This year I'll start Christmas shopping early. Well, at least I'll start planning early.

classes suspended

Funny how it is that whenever PAGASA declares suspension of classes, the rain stops and the sun shines. Really, not that we don't trust that they are doing their job preventing any untoward incidents with the kids, flooding along the major thoroughfares and all, but then, its kinda funny. When we were college students we took advantage of the suspended classes to go to the malls, especially when the suspend it midday. hahaha.... brings back memories... i do hope the arrival of the second typhoon this august will help ease the dry spell in some of the provinces in luzon.

online goth dating

Online dating is already common these days, and its not uncommon either to learn of online affairs that lead to the altar. I personally consider it fate, that a couple can end up with each other after a long-distance affair. It takes a lot of trust to make something work out from nothing, right? Would you believe there is also an internet side that has real gothic personals where real gothic members are looking to meet other like-minded goth friends? Goth dating for people into the goth scene has never been easier, and it seems fun, of course, for gothic minded people. Interesting, eh. Goth singles can look for their special goth someone in this site, and they can end up happily ever after.

last 5 working days

time flies so fast, before I know it, my maternity leave is over in about a week's time. hay. did i get some rest? well, some, the time's i didn't, i know it was well-spent with my daughter. did i get to do everything I should have done? Well, NO. There were a ton of stuff I wanted to be able to do while I was on leave, be it personal stuff, having to go to places for some documents (transcript, PRC ID, Driver's license, NSO, etc.), but when my yaya left just as jessica turned a month old, well, I sorta lost the drive to do those things because I needed to stay at home. But I can truly say I spent as much time as I possibly could with my baby, so no regrets there as well. One thing I'm proud of, though, was being able to cook up new dishes, I didn't have time or the energy before to do them. Makes me feel like an accomplished mom. haha. i was able to cook lumpiang ubod, baked macaroni (which garnered a lot of good compliments, btw), polvoron (i stumbled on the first batch i made but the second one was good na!), mocha ref cake (ok lang, but nakakasawa), and finally, blueberry cheesecake. I always loved the BB cheesecake of Red Ribbon (because it tastes good and is cheap too). In fairness to my cheesecake, it tastes good, just like Red Ribbons'. The only difference is that I had a hard time topping the blueberry on the cake so it appeared like a blueberry cheesecake pie of sorts, hahaha, or you can call it blueberry cheesecake swirl (because the cheesecake went above the blueberry. waaah! its ok though, because it tastes good! I made it on Monday and by Wednesday evening we finished the whole cake, the three of us at home! hehehehe.... :-)
hay, if i had more time and budget I'd surely love to test a few more dishes, and learn to bake!!!! hmmm... someday... someday.

i'm now a postie

i finally got my blog approved for Payperpost after 5 days or so. Been checking every so often because i already finished the 20 posts requirement last week. Just got the email today and I'm happy I finally got approved. See, I need to work on some extra income and since I like to write anyways, then one good part-time work is to get paid to blog. A lot of the blogs I visit now are also PPP posties, and its good to know there is a community of posters right here. Anyways, blogging is good therapy, so why not earn from it at the same time. Well, I was almost good at it with my previous WP blog, which is not archived, I guess. Howell, that's some dollars already lost, but then its ok, I at least learned my lesson already. teehee.... I guess blogger isn't so stringent about sponsored posts, which is a good thing. When I'm earning enough I'll be working on a new blog, just for me, to increase further my income. hope it'll help at least with some of my personal expenses, and some internet shopping as well! teehee!!!! seriously, I'm hoping this new hobby/part-time job will work out, tried applying for some online work earlier this year, but it appeared to be too tedious and time consuming, something I'm not ready to rack my brains out what with my baby and my day job. :-) Congrats to me, I'm now a postie!!!!

jessica's baptism kwento & suppliers rating na rin

Finally! Last Sunday, August 5, Jessica had her baptism at the Edsa Shrine. Its nice to have a simple celebration witnessed by our family and closest friends. I never dreamed of a grand celebration for the baptism, I really wanted it to be an intimate celebration witnessed only by the people closest to us, the ones who really, really care for our daughter and our family. We didn't have the budget for a big celebration only since we're just yet recovering from a difficult start of the year. Anyway, we'll be inviting the rest of the people na lang on Jessica's first birthday.

The day started out fine, the baptism was scheduled for 3:30 pm so in the morning we were free to do things pa at home. A week before I attended the seminar/sharing that was required for the baptism, a good way to remember the Catholic concepts that we sometimes forget as we grow old. hehe....

Anyway, Saturday night, we got a call from Mark, the guy from the Parish office, confirming the schedule. I asked whether its ok to have a cream/ off-white colored garment but it was disapproved. hay. had no choice but to buy Jessica something else.


And so we left home before 2 since we needed to buy her a white skirt. I got a white blouse for Jessica as a parting gift from my boss before my maternity leave so just wanted to buy a white skirt. I didn't really want to buy those white gowns because she won't be able to use it. Sayang lang after. luckily after a bit of panicking, we were able to get a white skirt from Gingersnaps. It was too large for her so mukhang gown na rin. hahaha.... it was size 24 pa, she can still use it a few months from now. I just bought nappy clips para sumikip sya. hahaha... di naman halata sa pics noh!

So ok, the ceremony was really a nice and intimate one. There were only 3 kids to be baptized so di ganun kadaming tao. The priest was also nice and made some important reminders in bringing up the child in our faith. Nice. The ceremony ended around 4:15, most of the godparents were there: Charles, Jordan (Tabs' best friends) and Noge (Tabs brother), Grimi, Fran and Helen (My MBA best friends), and Marione (my HS bestfriend). Jeff (HS bestfriend) was not able to attend the ceremony since he was coming from Davao pa, while Francis (Tabs' HS friend) is in the hospital naman and wasn't discharged yet. Irene (Tabs sister) naman is in London already.

The reception was simple lang, we just ordered some food na by platter na lang instead of the initial plan to order per head (like the bunch of lunch meals) since I wanted the guests to be free to eat what they like. There was these family bundle meal ata yun, with one platter of spaghetti, one family size pizza, one family chicken (5-pc) and one pitcher iced tea. Since some of the invited guests didn't attend, there was a lot of food and we had a lot pa to take home. The staff of Shakeys were also very nice and easy to talk to. Overall I really believe we saved a lot and the guests seemed full naman.
I also gave out small tokens for the guests, I bought some round chocolates from Chocolate Lovers and then I made sticker labels na lang, its really cute. di ko pa pala nakunan ng pic. hmmm.

Jessica seemed to have fun naman looking at mommy opening up her gifts. hahaha... she was really staring e, she had a lot of gifts, nakakatuwa. next year sya na magbubukas ng gifts e. hehehehe....

My ratings:
Edsa Shrine: 10/10 - They are nice, easy to talk to, and I believe the ceremony was really solemn and intimate.
Shakeys Robinsons Galleria: 9/10 - They forgot to put the tarp banner because we were a bit early. Other than that, service was ok. Food was also ok.
Giveaways: 10/10 syempre DIY yun e!