went home scared

Yesterday, the little girl was out to play with the kids at the neighbor's house, just a few steps in front of ours. It was already an afternoon routine for her and her playmates. Not long after she went out, she went home scared and crying. One of her playmates informed me that one of the older kids showed her a toy that really looked like a real snake. Boy, she was shaking, sweaty and in so much tears! The kid (a girl) who scared her with the toy went to the house and apologized and explained to her and us that it's nothing real because it's just a toy. She showed it again in front of her. Feeling assured, she has already calmed down and was ready to play again after I let her drink some water. I told the kid that regardless that it's a toy, she shouldn't play with it (although it's really her choice) because she might see a real one and think that it is still a toy and not mind picking it up. She said, she has already seen a real one.Tough one! Reminded her not to do that again to my daughter because she's scared of it. Anyway, when the kid left, my daughter Dippy told me she shouldn't have bought a toy like that. Jesus will not be happy seeing her play with a creepy toy like that. One way or the other, I really thought she made sense. Oh, the wisdom of a five-year old!

sad but thankful November

November didn't feel quite as special like it used to. In fact, it was more like a nightmare to me. I didn't even try to celebrate my birthday. I just let it pass like it's an ordinary day. I thought it is just not right to celebrate while there are a lot of people who have experienced life's difficulties and challenges because of that devastating typhoon Yolanda. I have thanked the Lord, though, for all the blessings that I have received from Him; although I believe I got more of those blessings than I deserve.

I was quite relieved to know that dad and family are okay. Dad's place has been one of those areas that have been hit really bad in Cebu. Somehow, I felt a little guilty that I wasn't able to convince him to evacuate. Although I have already warned him about that super typhoon, neither of us thought about how "super" it is until it becomes too late to do what is necessary. At the height of the typhoon, we were communicating to let me know that the wind is coming too strong and that water got into the house. He also added that he is lifting everything to God. Then there was no more time to elaborate what was happening because he said goodbye and said "I love you" a number of times. Wow, he really said it plenty of times (and he hasn't done that before) until the communication lines went off. Yours truly got paranoid after that because I couldn't get in touch with him for nearly 24 hours. Overnight, I had been thinking about their plight and then I woke up at midnight because of a weird dream about my late mom visiting the house and looking too sad. I prayed that nothing bad happened to any of my family. Thank God, they're okay. I just learned later that dad's cellphone battery got drained and he didn't get the chance to charge the battery because power lines were off.

If there is anything good that can be derived from experiencing a calamity, that would be the love and concern of family and friends. You can really feel their genuine concern and effort to help in every/any way they can. It has brought families closer and at the same time have caused a lot of helping hands to come together for a common cause. There is still life after the super typhoon after all. I just hope those extremely affected areas, like in Tacloban and Samar, can say the same thing.

Anyway, November isn't over yet. People in the US will be celebrating Thanksgiving. I only have words of gratitude to them for the HUGE help we have received from them and their country. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

just a short breaking story

One time, I jokingly asked my 4-year old little girl if she has a boyfriend in school. Shyly, she said "Yes" and the name of the boyfriend was "Jacob".  I hope his mom doesn't get to read this. :-) My daughter actually mentioned the little boy's name with a giggle. LOL. Funny daughter!  Days passed, she talked to me about what happened in school one morning. She was teased by Jacob in school and made her cry. I listened to her story and tried to make her feel better. In our dialect, I then told her to break up with her boyfriend Jacob. :-) The next day, she told me that she already said what I asked her to say to her classmate. Curious, I asked what happened next. She said, they were eating their snacks during their "break" time. Hahaha.. Oh c'mon, give me a break! :-)

going towards 100

My oh my, I am on my way to my 100th post for this blog! Thank you for many of you parents and parents-to-be who took the time to read my posts. My gratitude also goes to those who have liked Our Life As Parents on Facebook. Thanks for supporting me on my journey as a blogger throughout the years. I hope to do better with my future posts. In fact, I am planning to share with my readers how I am earning a little bit through this wonderful hobby of mine. You see, this hobby also requires diligence and dedication. Although it is not really necessary to do it every single day, it helps that you have some regular time to sit down and blog about your thoughts or ideas. Well, that's just a little information for now since our little girl has been begging me for the nth time to shut down this computer. LOL.

something to smile upon

I love this picture of my late mom with her parents and siblings. They have don themselves as cowboys and cowgirls. I like it that they are putting effort to achieve this kind of look. Their picture together is really something I am going to show to my daughter again when she's bigger. :-)

Inspired by this photo, I think I am going to have to convince my siblings and my dad to have some pictures of us taken wearing equestrian outfit because that is probably the only time we get to wear something like that, unless there's a costume party we could attend with an equestrian look for a theme. I wonder if we could look taller in this kind of outfit. However we would turn out in the photos soon, surely it should be something that we and our next generation can smile upon.

flowery thoughts in the garden of my mind

We left home last Sunday to visit the in-laws. It was great to see them again. My little girl was also happy she got to play with her cousins. However, I forgot to transfer our potted pink rose into a less sunny place when we left. So, when we went back home, it has almost withered and looks a little dehydrated. Poor little precious thing! I wish it was easy to bring it along with us. Otherwise, I should have asked or hired someone to water it for us. Good thing it has survived. In fact, I checked the garden today and look what I found - a blooming pink rose!

 I guess I am like that rose plant that blooms, loses petals and grow new ones. I am definitely a survivor; but without the love and care of family and friends, I don't think I will ever bloom or come this far.

window shopping for a jacket

Another must-have for me this year is a jacket that I could wear when I am riding the motorcycle with husband. Husband already knows about this need but we were still debating on which jacket to buy. I just learned though that there are patagonia jackets on sale and I would love to wear exactly the purple one that I saw on the website today; however, husband would insist on having me buy the one we saw at the mall last weekend. Should I give in to his suggestion? I told him I should think about it first. After all, I will be the one who will wear it, right?

not a sweet story

I can't help but remember what it's like last Christmas and New Year. Life had been very busy with parties, meetups and reunion with friends and classmates. These activities all had one thing in common - we were pigging out! Definitely, diet was put off again for the nth time. Husband is starting to worry for my health while I am again feeling awful about myself.

One of the many things I couldn't say No to are chocolates. Honestly, I wouldn't think about buying them myself but when they're given to me as gifts, I would definitely indulge (or overindulge even) and give in to my cravings. Haha!

An officemate gave me a handful of these chocolates. The next day, she again gave  me another handful. Like a second helping. :-)

She said the chocolates are for me; so I ate most of them and only shared some to husband. Next thing I know I ended up buying toothache drops at the pharmacy. Totally not a sweet story, right? Serves me right for being so greedy with chocolates.

bumped into someone

At the toy store some weekends ago, I bumped into someone I later recognized to be a classmate back in college. I asked her what she does for a living and she just kind of told me that she's a print broker. I exclaimed "Wow! Big time, huh!" but actually I wasn't sure at that time and was ashamed even to ask about a specific job description. I wondered if it's a newly coined term or perhaps I fell asleep during our career orientation. I was sure I didn't hear about this before; so this must be something new. Anyway, I was glad to see her because I haven't seen her for ages. I was a little surprised to know that she already had three kids because she's so slim. I was a little envious that she was able to maintain her figure. When she asked me how many kids I have, I was somewhat embarrassed to tell her I am only a mother of one at the moment because I am more or less three times her size. Thankfully, she was polite enough not to say anything about my weight. Oh dear, I really must do something about this!

little girl wants to play

Just this month, my husband accidentally broke the toilet seat at his parent's house. So, naturally, we needed to replace it.  We've been to several hardware stores already but, unfortunately, it seems like these stores ran out of beige toilet seats. Last weekend was our final attempt of buying the toilet seat replacement from another hardware store. We tagged our 3-year old along that day, by the way. Still, we weren't lucky to find any beige color. Thus, we were thinking of just getting the white one since the old seat needed to be replaced ASAP. To make up for the color mismatch, the salesperson in-charge was more than pleased to assist us that she went out of her way to demonstrate the best feature of the toilet seat they are selling - the rubberized feature. She took one from the shelf, put it on the floor and jumped right down at it several times with all her force and weight just to show us that it's hard to break the rubberized type of toilet seat. To make the long story short, we  were impressed and went on with our purchase regardless of the fact that it didn't match the color of the toilet bowl. When we arrived home, my little girl who had witnessed what the salesgirl did with the toilet seat at the hardware store happily asked with excitement if she can already play with it because she wants to jump on it! :-) Suddenly, I thought we shouldn't bring her along the next time we're going to the hardware store.