Straight From The Heart

John at nearly three years old

 

• He says "Plablo" for Pablo or say " No ploblem " for no problem.
• Out of the blue he  said  "I love Uncle Jun-jun" when my brother came here to visit us but he said it when his uncle was not around.
• When we got back to the car after seeing my brother off at the airport, he said right away, "I miss Uncle Jun-Jun" and it made me sad because he truly doesn't see much of any relatives here except for two aunts and two uncles who live within our city.
• I am amused and amazed when I hear him say some things like, " that's awesome Dad" or " Is it ready yet, Mom?". I use simple English words with him and I have never use those lines that's why I am secretly laughing inside when I hear him say those kind of things.
• He already knows how to take the milk jug from the fridge. One time I was busy in the computer doing something and he was asking for his milk and I did not budge, he left and came back to the room with the one gallon jug still full of milk and kinda dumped it beside me and said " I'm strong Mommy, I'm strong, arrr ."
• He's still the ever-smiling, happy little camper though sometimes he tries to test my patience too by shouting his signature " NO!" when he's not in the mood.
• When his Dad doesn't seem to listen  every time he asks for milk, he'd run back to me and  would  tell me, " he's not listening Mommy, he's not listening... "
  
• He loves Power Rangers. One time when we went shopping, he chose a 3- pack Power rangers "briefs" and for three days he wore one everyday. When I told him to show his Power Rangers to his auntie Mavic,  he excitedly said,  " it's right here, my Power Rangers ", and he immediately unzipped his pants,  and pulled it down  to show her his  briefs. What a proud little  boy. :)
• When he's wearing his red Power Ranger brief, his shirt should also be red. If it's Blue, the shirt is also blue. Talk about being coordinated. :)
• He still calls his milk, as "Nana", stress on the two a's.
• The first time he said a tagalog phrase was when I told him,  "Pangit si Johnrey", and he replied in Tagalog, " Pangit si Mommy" which really made me laugh so hard 'coz he really doesn't know and understand any tagalog word but he just  said it exactly the way I did.
• There are times when he's in the mood to try on all his clothes till he gets the look that he wants and he always wants to wear socks even if it is scorchingly hot.
• He loves to hear stories and would always bug me to " Can you read me a story, Mommy?  Can you, can you, can you?" And if I don't read him his story, he'd say, " Alright, I can  read you a story " and he'd start off with, "once upon a time.. " and he makes up his own story of course...
• He told me matter-of-factly, " Mommy, Jesus is Lord"  and this was not something I told him so Mommy's heart was given hope that maybe indeed my promise to God that my son will serve him will come true someday. :)
• He says Winnie the Pooh, is the brother of Winnie the Pee..
  
• When he saw the mess on the floor of a department store he asked his Dad, " what happened here Dad?" and he said, "Oh my goodness, what a mess ! "
• When he plays rough with me, and he hears me say" Ouch" , he immediately says " Sorry Mommy" and gives me a smack in the lips, in the tip of my nose, in my forehead, and kisses me on both cheeks and ends it with an " I love you Mom, so much ! " .
• He's truly a very sweet boy, always saying " I love you Mom" or " I missed you Mom" or always giving me kisses. How I wish he will still be as sweet as that till he grows older.

   

 

Moving Out of State

My sisters-in-law have all moved to different states, to Arizona and Idaho. Both of them are convincing us to move to their new state. Although I am flattered that one of them is even planning to buy a house for us, I still have to think hard before deciding to finally move.

One thing that I keep on reminding myself should I decide to move,  is that  most of my family and relatives are here or will be coming here to California and now I   am planning to move out of state? I don't like to move too far away because I would like all of us, my family and relatives to be just in one state so visiting each other wouldn't be such a hassle.  I also have to think about how the weather in those states are going to affect my family and my mother should we move there. In Tucson, Arizona, I feel that it is too hot over there while the weather in Idaho is a bit colder than California. Those kind of weather will be hard for my Mom if I get to petition her to come here next year.

Other concerns will be the expenses, plus the task of looking for another job in a new state, the stress and all that.

I don't think I can ever move out of California. Not unless something big really happens that will make me change my mind.

Have you ever moved out of state? What were your good and bad experiences when you did it ? Was it really worth it to go and pack your bags and live to somewhere new again?

An Invitation

Hi friends, just want to invite you to take a peek at my other sites, USAPinoy and  Charina.net . I wasn't able to post anything new here yet but do visit those two sites, that is if you aren't too busy, because I have some new posts there.

That's all for now. Promise, I'll post one here too. :)

Take care y'all...

New Fashion

I happened to watch "Daisy Siete" last week on our cable and during a scene where Jordan Herrera came to visit Jopay in the hospital,  this was what  he was wearing, to my amusement.

Is this the new  fashion trend in the Philippines? I am so not in the loop.

Oh well,  maybe this is a  guy's way of showing some "cleavage".

I just feel it's kinda funny. The suit has always been a formal wear but  looking at how Jordan Herrera wore it here, it doesn't seem so anymore. 

  :)

On Copying my Blogs..

I have started my blog since May 2005. I began blogging during my early days here in the USA. There were just too many things I wanted to say but nobody to talk to that I always find myself turning to blogging.

I do admit that putting down  my thoughts into something amusing, informative and vivid is not always an  easy thing considering that I am not a native speaker of the English language. I always spend time rewriting and rewriting my posts especially the ones that I feel should be given more thought, because it is also my responsibility that I present my ideas as factual as possible. That is  the reason why I guess, I can never write something that I have no knowledge or experience of. That is the reason why I titled my blog, Straight from the Heart, because I write everything straight, no lies or pretensions, from the bottom of my heart.  I do not write just to write, I  put myself into it, with the objective that this post will somehow bring a smile to somebody's face, that it will bring information,and  that my friends will know what my thoughts are, or what is happening to me even if we're miles apart.

So it hurts me that some people grab some of my posts from my sites without nary a thought that they are infringing with my rights. They are what I call "Blog-Photocopiers" , "Blog-grabbers".  Do they think that these posts were written with just a wave of the  hand?  I wish I had a magic wand to be able to do that but I don't. I can't blame them though if they  find some of my posts amusing and they want to  share it with the world. The thing is , I wish they will give some respect to the author, and provide a link back to me.  So I am posting my  Copyright Policy , for all the blogs that I have created and  that is  "you are not allowed to copy whole post contents but only  excerpts of  about 50-100  words and the rest of the article  should be linked back to my page that you have copied.  You should also  provide my site's URL as source  as well. "

So there, should you wish to share my work through your own blogs:

1. you may only provide excerpts.
2. you have to link back to my site/ page that you have copied.
3. you have to put my site's page address as source .

I still have got  a lot to say but they are words better left unsaid.
 

Feeling Lazy

I am so lazy these days that I am at home. Due to my ankle injury, here I am, stuck at home, just staring at the four corners of my apartment.

Just kidding there. Actually, how can I  just stare at the four walls when my two-year old is always jumping on my back and whining, "I'm hungry Mommy, I'm hungry". We had to let him stay with me so he wouldn't have to wake up so early to go to his daycare. So my days since my injury are  filled with trying to prepare his food (while hopping on my right foot) ,  changing his diapers, changing his tv channel, which is either PBS Sprout or Noggin and trying to amuse him with tickles and stories.

But  even if I am just staying home, I really  don't have any energy to post anything. I also don't grab any opportunities for my paid post.

I feel so lazy and bored.

Bye Pagerank !

And there goes my pagerank. Now it's back to zero. Google did their re-ranking again I guess.

Oh well, so much for the pagerank, they come and they go. If it could talk , it must have  hollered, "So long, suckers !! "

But that's fine, I was already  forewarned by somebody who had a similar experience so I knew I had it coming.

Anyway, so long my dear pagerank, see you next time... hehehe.

3 Question Personality Test

One of the things I randomly find while surfing the internet. For the first time, I will be "tagging" my co-blogger friends Ging , Retche and Lisa for this 3-question personality test.

This was the result of my test:

 

 

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ) You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented. Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules. You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader. You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you. A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do. You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up. In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly. At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions. With others, you tend to be polite and formal. As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself. On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

Trademark Band

This is one of my favorite bands, Trademark. Have you heard of them? I got to know about this band about year 2000 when I worked in Taiwan. Great songs really, kinda very sentimental, heartbreaking. I feel like crying when I listen to their songs, it triggers some memories. Hahaha, mushy me..

 

Injured Last Good Friday :)

Hi friends! How are you all doing ? How's the weather in your part of the world ? I live in Northern California and right now, ours is still a  bit cold especially in the morning. Anyways, how was the Easter celebration? In the Philippines, people must have all gone back to their own provinces to celebrate Easter. I envy you guys. I celebrated Easter with an accident. Me, John (my two-year old son)  and my husband were on our way out when I had that little mishap.

I was carrying John, was telling him, " I love you John" when I suddenly tripped and buckled down to the ground. I felt something broke in my ankle  but thought it wasn't serious. John wasn't harmed at all since I cushioned his fall, specially his head, when we fell. I gave my son to my husband and stood up with his assistance coz it was really painful. We dropped off John and went to work. I didn't know how serious it was until my left ankle swelled.

My husband picked me up from work after just an hour, went to Kaiser's Urgent Care and got in immediately. I had a bloodpressure of 141/100 probably because I was injured. They had the ankle "x-rayed" and the doctor said that I broke something and it will heal in about 4 to 6 weeks.

And so right now, I have a splint in my left foot, and I have crutches.. complete battle gear huh?

So that's my Easter celebration, not too thrilling but it's okay. I am just glad that it wasn't too serious and I am still alive.

Got A PR Finally!

Woo-hoooo !!! I checked my friendster blog the first week of March and was surprised when I looked at the Google PageRank bar in my toolbar. There it was, a tiny green bar ! What, was that really a pagerank ? I checked from a pagerank checker and my blog really registered a PR2 ! Goodness gracious, I can't believe it so I took a picture of it, for posterity ..( hahaha)

Nah, don't think for a second that I am on cloud nine now just because of that, just a little bit but not too over (LOL).  I believe that Google PageRank is an ever-changing thing so maybe tomorrow my PageRank will be down to zero again so while it's still on PR2, I had to take a picture of that, for lack of better things to do hehehe..

And before you think I have forgotten, of course I haven't so I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, my dear readers, for dropping by every now and then to read my blogs, the stories of my life, the sad and happy, the rantings, the lessons learned and everything else in between.

Thank you  everybody  and thanks to the Google PageRank people too ! Finally.. even if it may be for just several days, it's nice to finally be recognized.

 

New Entries

Hi friends, I have posted some new entries in my other site  so I hope to see you there. Don't be shy to leave a message. All comments are welcome.  :)

Life is So Fleeting ...

Our neighbor downstairs, the one I blogged about last time that has stomach cancer, passed away last Friday, March 8. He must have been diagnosed with the cancer about January and in barely two months , he passed away.

My coworker's son was just 30 years old when he was shot to death by his girlfriend's ex. He was brought to the hospital but he didn't make it. He left behind two young sons aged 9 and 5.

Everytime I hear that someone I know died,  or someone I know lost someone dear, it makes me think about how fleeting life really is, about how temporary our borrowed life is.  One moment you are enjoying life, the next, it  gets snuffed out of you.

When I was younger, I lost my grandfather. I grieved for him and I still do even to this day. But those days, the impact on me was just on losing him, not on the lesson that life is so short.When you're young, you think everything that happens to other people will never happen to you.  Now I am older and presumably wiser, I know that my time to go isn't too far behind too. Who knows what God has planned for me right? Maybe I might not even live long enough  to see my grandkids, or even see my son get married. Who knows, really? 

Now I understand why people change for the better when they are old and grey. They become more understanding , more forgiving of everything.  Maybe they know that the time is ripe. They know that any moment, life may just not be with them any longer.  Now I am more aware that I should be prepared everyday because my time on earth might not be that long. Time will come, that I will not be able to post anything here anymore. Time will come, even if it breaks my heart,  when I will have to say goodbye to family and friends because life isn't forever.

Life is so fleeting and death will come like a thief in the night.

 

Unlocking your Nokia Phone

Do you have a Nokia phone that you can't use with other simcards because it's locked ? I did have that predicament too with my beloved Nokia 6610 that I bought from the Philippines and I was never able to use it when I got here in the USA but not anymore. Surprise, surprise, after just a few clicks, I am now using it with my T-Mobile simcard.

Read more how I did it.

Cancer, Again ???

I feel so sad today, a friend of mine called me up, we talked about our kids and then she told me that her husband is undergoing chemotherapy. I feel so shocked. I didn't know about it till she told me today. I feel so sad that her husband, who I feel is such a kind-hearted man, has it. It is so heartbreaking to hear it from a young Mom like her, who's just starting out with her life here in the USA, with her husband and her one-year old son.

Actually, lately, I feel so bothered because so many people around me seems to be having cancer. My Mom's friend has cancer. My coworker's brother has it. Our neighbor downstairs has it. A friend of mine, her brother in the Philippines, has it too. My two caucasian brothers-in-law had a bit of those cancerous tissues that they had removed too.

Hearing all of these, I cannot help but be sad. I wonder why all of a sudden, that C word gets so mentioned up in my conversations, in emails sent to me. It's so sad really. I know how scary it can be to the person who has it, thinking about the family, the finances, all those things. My heart just goes to all these people and their families,  especially for those with the worst kind , those in the terminally-ill kind of stage. I know it will never be easy.

                                                ======

How in the world did cancer become so prevalent today? If its not genetics, then maybe it's got something to do with the foods that we eat, in the air that we breathe, in our unhealthy lifestyle ? In the olden days, cancer is not that rampant, widespread and only the rich people had it before but now,it seems it just hits anybody.

I think that these days, we really have to think about how our food choices are wreaking havoc to our bodies. Ive been reading about it lately and I read that too much coffee, tea, sweets, meats, they are contributing factors in making cancer cells in our bodies go stronger and multiply. All of us have minute cancer cells in  our bodies but they go undetected since they have not yet grown to the detectable size, but if we are not careful with the things we do and eat, and our immune system is not strong, these cancerous cells grow and multiply.

I hope people who read this will not take things easy. I know some people are just too complacent, they do not want to think about things like these, it's too morbid, too negative but think about it, do we still want to spend some more time with our loved ones or do we want to go on with our ways and risk our lives? If you'll ask me, life is beautiful, and even more beautiful because I have a wonderful little boy that I'd want to stay longer with, so I am going to make a change in myself and in my family. No more fatty foods, no more caffeine and sugar filled treats, no more to too much meats , and late nights in front of my computer. I'll make myself strong enough, make my immune system be able to fight off the cancer cells. I want to be one less of a number that will have that big C.

I am saying "NO" to cancer !!!

Please read: We Can Fight Cancer

P. S.

Now if I can just have that lump in my foot checked. I have this lump that I have always ignored, one that I happened to notice when I got here in the States. I haven't had it checked because I feel scared what the findings will be. I hope it's not what I fear it is.

The Simple Things by Jim Brickman

I  just want to share this song that I really, really like, it's THE SIMPLE THINGS by Jim Brickman and Rebecca Lynn Howard. The lyrics can be found  after the video so you can sing with it when the video plays. I couldn't find the original video for this song so I just picked this one featuring a Korean actor ...

So shall we go sing now ? :)

          

SIMPLE THINGS (Jim Brickman)

Hey, time won't wait
Life goes by
Every day's a brand new sky
Every tear
Comes to dry
All that really matters in this crazy world
Is you and I together, baby
Just remember

The first leaves off the tree
The way you look at me
A thousand chiming church bells ring
The simple things are free
The sun, the moon, the stars
The beating of two hearts
How I love the simple things
The simple things just are

So here we go
Let's just dance
Teach my soul to take this chance
Put my heart
In your hands
Out of all the moments that we leave behind
Turn around and tell me baby
We'll remember

The thunder and the rain
The way you say my name
After all the clouds go by
The simple things remain
The sun, the moon, the stars
The beating of two hearts
How I love the simple things
The simple things just are

Oh, the ocean and the sky
The way we feel tonight
I know that it's the love that brings
The simple things to life
The sun, the moon, the stars
The beating of two hearts
I love the way the simple things
The simple things just are
I love the way the simple things
The simple things just are
The simple things just are
The simple things
Just are

Friendly Site Award

An award from my friend Ging.

Thanks Ging. :)

No More Marimar For Me

I just want to let everybody know that I am no longer watching Marimar of GMA-7. I have to post this lest some of you will think I still am considering that I made two posts regarding this Marimar show. After two visits to Youtube to peek on the latest on Marimar, I decided that it no longer deserves anymore of my time. I hate to say this but this Marimar's storyplot is becoming annoying and more stupid, sillier, by the day so no matter how I like GMA7, I will no longer patronize this show. I'll just go to crunchyroll.com and watch the reruns of those Taiwanese and Korean telenovelas than watch Marimar.

Sorry Marimar fans but if you will notice, their storyplot has become so unrealistic that I think even the people in the squatters' area will have to agree with me. So many scenes would make you want to ask yourself, " what in the world was that?". I am annoyed that the storywriters and the director think that we are mindless nitwits who will will still watch their show amidst all the very odd , stupid twists in their storyline.

Now if somebody can just tell me where I can get the episode 15 to 40 of 100% Senorita so I can get on with my  life ? :)

Viral Linking

This tag has been passed on to me by Ate Lisa. I am not tagging anyone but you can grab it if you want .

Just cut and paste the following starting here.

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!) It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially! The benefits of Viral Linking:- One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!- Increase your Google PageRank fast- Attract large volume of new traffic to your site- Build your community- Make new friends!

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My New Site :)

Hi  friends, I know I have not blogged for awhile. It was because I was pretty busy with my new site which I will plug here :) ,  please, please  visit my new Wordpress site USAPinoy.com . Hope to see you there.