The Coffee-Addict

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down List for 2011 Part II

2012-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took a few days before I released my thumbs down list. I just needed some time off to take down the tree and finished up left over food and ofcourse and to vegetate after the New Year frenzy.

Here it is now, the second part that I promised-my thumbs down list for 2011

1.Touch Screen
My friends keep on telling me that I’ll get used to touch screen. Ok, after using this phone for more than a month now,I am still not used to it. I don’t have a fat finger problem. But my problem is more on how hard I press the screen especially whenever I send text message and chats. It seems like the keys on the touch screen ( by the way I’m using HTC Wildfire S) are too close and the spaces are not enough for my finger to press a letter. And you could just imagine how one time it ended up like a disaster when I rushed and typed the word “clock”. That ended up as “cock.” Nice!

2.Spending Christmas Alone
Worst thing ever. This is a double thumbs down for me. The spirit of Christmas is joyous season to be with your family. But spending it alone (either because of some personal or work related reasons) will somehow make you feel the blues of the season. If you’re a home alone hater like me during Christmas, it’s sensible that you should try to attend to Christmas parties to boost your morale a bit instead of joining a pity party which I did and wasn’t even dressed up properly for it.

3.Break Up:
Gee, breaking up before Christmas is a very bad move. I know it’s inevitable and nobody schedules a breakup with your partner. Like“ honey, how about we postpone our split- up since it’s just weeks before Christmas? Can we just make our breakup one of our new year’s resolution for 2012?”

Two of my friends had a bad breakup months before Christmas. Don’t ask how their holiday went like. No amount of presents, parties and movie marathon cheered them up (ok shopping did- only temporarily though. Thankfully it did!) Basically, having friends who are heart broken during the Christmas season, made me discover a second career for myself- a Christmas mascot. For interested parties, booking is six months in advance.

4.No Internet during Christmas holiday
You gotta be kidding me. No internet during this time of the year is like having the urge to smoke without cigarettes. You’ll be irritable, sweating, struggling with headaches and swearing a lot. When all your friends, colleagues and family are on Facebook, it’s the easiest way to reach out to them and give them your Christmas greetings at the convenience of your home. Ok I know you got Facebook now on our phone. Say what you want to say but it isn’t the same as you are on the computer. If you call technical services of your network about your internet problems and you get a we’ll- fix –the- problem- after -the –holiday- response then you’re doomed. It’s like having a toothache during the two week Christmas holiday and all dentists are out for a vacation. Then, you’ll just have to take your chances on any type of pain reliever. Good luck!

5.Food Pushers
What may be acceptable to you may NOT be acceptable to us. That’s the beauty of cultural diversity. We are all not the same. Our cultural practices vary and depend on where we come from. In some countries like in the Philippines, we show guests hospitality by offering our native delicacies. We put food on the table and allow the guest to choose which ones he’d prefer to eat (ofcourse we don’t push duck embryo to our guests.) We don’t want their government to put a travel ban to the Philippines because of that. But here in Croatia, it’s the exact opposite. Hospitality and warm acceptance are exhibited by getting into your plate literally especially by the old people ( who know the art of blending the taste of Sarma-stuffed sour cabbage.) What they’d do is push you to eat what they’d put on your plate. And you’re expected to finish everything or else they’d get offended if you don’t. I know they mean well, but I never got used to food pushers. Next time, I encounter food pushers, I’ll pout. If that doesn’t work, I’d pretend I got a tummy ache.

6.Bourne Legacy

I’m an avid follower of the Bourne book series. What precipitates my adrenalin to pump up while I read is the visualization of Matt Damon as Jason into the story. Unexpectedly, the soon to be released film Bourne Legacy later this year will not leave any legacy without Matt Damon in it. I’m not saying that this upcoming movie will not be spectacular( haven’t seen the trailer yet.) I’m sure it will exceed or at least a little bit closer to the previous sequels. However, viewers like me, associate Jason Bourne with Matt Damon for years. And it’s not going to be same with a different persona.

But hey, a good movie is a good movie. Let’s wait and see if Jeremy Renner will be at par with the only Jason Bourne I know.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me what’s yours.

My Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down List for 2011

2011-12-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

Have you discovered something new about yourself this past year-those things that you love and can’t live without and those stuff that you can’t even stand leaving you puzzled why in the world did you hang on to those in 2011?

Ok, it’s almost the end of the year, when you sit down in the little corner of your room before midnight- few minutes away from the first day of 2012 while you do your New Year’s eve self assessment routine, it won’t hurt to contemplate on some new revelations like an epiphany ( not likely coming from heaven) about yourself that you thought you knew but actually didn’t know about until you got the chance to discover it only last year.

It may not be something significant though. It may just be some minute part of your everyday life but matters a lot.

I can’t wait to know what’s yours. But before you tell me your list, let me burn your ears first with mine. You ready? Here goes…

Thumbs Up List

1.Latino Parties:
I’am a sucker for latin dances but two particular dances that make my heart beat faster in a bossa nova rhythm are salsa and samba. Who cares if the rest of the world are sleeping? All I care about at Latino parties are Mojitos, samba and lots of hip shaking and grinding with sultry Latino friends who dance to their heart’s delight. Oh, did I mention about hot Brazilian bartenders?

2.Facebook’s More Than Just Happy Birthday Greetings
When it’s our birthday, it’s a known fact that the first thing we do is to look at our Facebook wall, right? Ofcourse we’d like to see who remembered us on our birthday.

But how could this birthday routine be exciting if all we see is “Happy Birthday, All the Best!” or just simply “Happy Birthday” or worse “Happy B-day”. Therefore, if you’ve got 25 friends who remembered you on this day, all you’ll see is a “Happy Birthday” repeatedly written 25 times on your Facebook wall. Gee, that’s exciting!

How about writing something nice about the birthday celebrant? Write something that’s encouraging, or say something about a person’s good traits, write something positive. Oh, for heaven’s sake! Write something that’s more than just “Happy Birthday!”

3.Scented Candles
I used to dread opening Christmas gifts before especially when I could feel that what’s inside are candles. Until I got smitten by L’occitane candle fig scent (again a gift to me) whose seductive scent can throw you down on the floor.
That’s when I got a paradigm shift about candles. From that time on, I always ask my friends that I’d like to get scented candles for Christmas. What can I do? Things change!

4.Bubble Bath
My new bubbly passion. I didn’t have the chance to have bubble baths before since my old apartment didn’t have a tub but just a bath corner shower stall instead. Now that I’ve got one in my new apartment- ha! I make sure that I always give myself reason why I do so-to relax my muscles, to calm me down, for a good night sleep, to try different bubble bath soaps. I don’t run out of reasons just to do it every other day. In case I do, run out of reasons, I’ll make one for the next day.

5.Caramelized Almonds
Gosh, I’ve never thought that this stuff are so delicious. Ok probably because I got sweet tooth. But really, they’re addicting that once you munch one sweetened almond, there’s no way for you to stop until you wipe out the rest in the jar. But let me give you a caveat, they’re harder than you thought. So those with porcelain caps, be careful.

6.Running
Since when did I start to like running? Three years ago, I guess, when my goal was to simply substitute smoking with running. But this year, I don’t just like it. I love it! Doesn’t this sound like a Nike slogan? Running to me now is more than just good for my body- it’s good for my soul too.

7.Jelly Babies
Ok from running to eating sweet high caloric jelly candies? They don’t go together, right? But you know what? I don’t really care. Jelly Babies are the best gummy candies I’ve ever tasted. Taste is perfect. Sweetness is just enough for my once in a while cravings ( ok sometimes more than once in a while) but the shapes? Well…uhmm, let’s just put it this way, it’s like your chewing sweetened little babies. Eewww!

Don’t ask me. I didn’t make them.

8.Ask and It is Given -Law of Attraction Book ( self- help skills) by Abraham- Hicks
Powerful book that everyone must have. When I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I was hoping that I won’t reach the last page since it has revealed tons of information that I missed before. The book generally endorses the principle of law of attraction where you can attract what you desire ( or in the same token as attracting negative things or events as well) depending on how you direct your thoughts.If you get the chance get hold of the book. Go and get one for yourself. It’s a good read especially during the beginning of a new year.

My Thumbs Down List for 2011 will be posted tomorrow. Stay tuned!
While I’m ending the first part of this blog few hours right before 2012 begins.

Let me wish all of you, ( my dear blog readers) a life rich in love, peace, good health and abundance of blessing for the Year 2012.

I hope that I could see you more often here and that my blog would always be worthy of your reading time.

Happy New Year to all!

A Different Flavor of Christmas in Croatia

2011-12-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

Note:

I'm reposting my article published on American Chronicle. This article is dedicated to all my Croatian friends who consider me as one of their own . To all travelers planning to visit the country during the holiday season, you may want to read this too. Here's the link to the page. I'm giving you all my blog readers more pictures of Croatia since I wasn't able to do so at the site below.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/262856

May your hearts be filled with love, peace and grace this coming year.

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Reading!

Joy

Remembering Her.....

2011-10-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

For most of us, this time of the year means thinking about outlandish costume to wear, coolest Halloween party to go, ghoulish makeup to put on or maybe boozing the night away.

But for us in the family when the first of November was coming close, we used to think about how we were going to make my mom's birthday party celebration a day to remember.

Considering her propensity to be particular about party details, we used to think about whether she preferred home catering service, dining out or home cooked special lunches and list of close friends to invite. In general, the aim was to make the party as festive as possible and make her the happiest birthday girl in town.
Ever since I can remember, first of November is a sacred date, a day when any excuses for not visiting my mother whether excuse is valid or not is utterly unacceptable. All of us were always expected to be at home- reporting for duty like loyal soldiers. When the party frenzy is over, we sat together at the dining table or gathered around her in bed like little chicks squeezing closer next to mother hen for warmth.

And you know what was the best part? It was the marathon of latest update about our lives. That completed my mom's special day. Well, at least before she ended her usual birthday, we always managed to make her smile and stretched her laugh lines with funny anecdotes as we massaged her arms and legs- a thing that we spoiled her with since we were little kids.

Since we got used to this routine yearly, November 1st didn't look anything exceptional for us until last year when Mom celebrated her last. Early morning that day before she got checked out after a full month's stay at the hospital due to a massive brain stroke, the nursing staff, close friends and us (her children) once again gathered around her not in her regular bed but in her hospital bed this time with birthday cake, fresh flowers, confetti and balloons feigning party mood excitement. Because deep in our hearts, we mumbled prayers of healing and life extension in a hope for another year of blissful birthday celebration.

But who are we to question God's plan for us? Apparently, His plan is way much better. Twenty two days after, He took mom to rest with Him in His kingdom.

But before that, He made her experienced her best birthday party celebration ever.
Happy Birthday Mommy! I miss you.

Grocery Carts Follow the Law of Nature

2011-09-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how the law of nature applies surprisingly from regular situations to inanimate objects such as grocery carts. Grocery carts especially the ones we have in our common grocery stores in Croatia are attached by a chain that can only be released once you insert a coin. Naturally, when you return it back by attaching back the linked chain, the first thing you'll see is a coin sitting there that quietly says "take me." But that was what I exactly did this weekend. I attached back the chain and hoping to get back my coin. But there was no coin waving at me. I didn't see any.

Then, my friend curiously asked "what are you looking for?" I replied back "your coin" What coin? I didn't insert any. She continued. "I found a loose chain from an unattached cart that I just pulled out. That's why I got the cart without inserting any coin." Then I realized- so no money in- no money out.

Simple. Isn't life as simple as that? Why do we always have to complicate it?

You give love, you get love back. You show hatred. You get being hated. You show kindness. You'll experience kindness in most unexpected place and time. You share your talents. You get rewarded. When you cheat, you'll get cheated too. When you smile at somebody, that somebody will likely smile back at you.

Accept it or now, law of nature spirals to law of reaping what you sow, law of retribution or karma philosophy or even Newton's law of motion's "for every action there's an equal or opposite reaction."
W hat ever way you put it, still it will boil down to the amount you give is what it is going to be given back to you.

If we as human beings forget this basic law of life, well, the good news is that grocery carts will remind us that if you did not insert a coin, then don't expect to get a coin back.

What Happens When The Princess Kisses the Frog?

2011-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Seriously, does the frog turn out to be a prince instantaneously?
Or does the transformation from a green toad turn into a handsome prince happen over time?

Few days ago, a girlfriend exuberantly revealed an "aha moment", her personal discovery to make a frog turn into a prince is to kiss him not only once but several times either on the cheeks, lips, nose, neck, forehead where ever you want until metamorphosis slowly takes place. She made her resounding statement:Frogs kissed by princesses turn out to be princes no sooner but later.

If you don't believe me, listen to this enthralling romantic tale of my BFF who unexpectedly met an amazing man she never thought she would. If you want to know how it happened, here's how she kissed the frog.

Poptart love as they call it now a days refer to love of two people met online
(according to Urban dictionary.) They initially started as friends. They chatted incessantly practically everyday for the past couple of months. She enthused that her day's highlight before was to see a chat window with his name blinking red infront of her computer screen. Their regular online chats and phone calls made long distance relationship more exciting.

Subsequently, their surreal relationship turned real- flourished, blossomed almost resembling like a love story lifted from a romance best seller perfect for a good beach read.

She claimed that it was quite a challenge in the beginning as she went against all odds struggling against naysayers who frowned on the idea of meeting the man she had been online dating for the past months. Since her relentless spirit prevailed, she yielded where her instinct led her and followed her heart completely. She gives credit to her daily mantra that sounded like this.

"The best thing that you can do in life is to follow your heart. Take risks. Don't just take the safe and easy choices because you're afraid of what might happen. Don't have any regrets and know that everything happens for a reason. (Anonymous)"

Finally, the moment of truth came. The first meeting did not spark fireworks of the 4th of July, no drum rolls or soothing harp music played by angels. The meeting was akin to a simple quiet fine dinner by the beach in a starry moonlit night.

No frills but lots of thrills.

In the beginning, the plan for a meeting drew out a lot of apprehensions, doubts and discouragements and a tad of ‘what ifs”.

To meet or not to meet. That was the million dollar question. They had both planned to do this meeting sometime during the first quarter of the year. Hurdles surfaced as fast as it was knocked over.

Tension escalated as the meeting got closer. Then more anxieties, bickering on the phone, vacillating and yes, more crying and disturbing heated arguments that almost made it close to a meeting that never was.

Finally, she said to herself "what the heck, I'm going to meet him." So she packed her bag and flew out of the country to meet him.

Phenomenal. That was how she described the meeting. She related that it was more than what she expected. Their deep seated feelings grew further and relationship slanted towards a more serious direction. The time they spent together gave them the chance to know each other deeper and taking down the cultural barrier and blending their personality differences smoothly.

Harmonizing both type A personalities is a tough row to hoe, she lamented. There were conflict of perspectives as they see things differently (example: on what makes a scenario romantic-ambiance for her and persons for him make it romantic, tug-o-war of doing things his way versus her way as in making coffee, correct way to open a bun and minced onions as opposed to onion rings for a hotdog sandwich and most importantly, reverence to football meaning watching the game is like he's in deep transcendental meditation and no one is allowed to disrupt a holy activity such as that.)

Paying attention to details is what makes him who he is and my girlfriend’s carefree I-don’t-care-attitude for as long as things serve its purpose is what makes her who she is.

Some discussions about these petty issues didn’t always result into a nonchalant, acquiescing manner like–oh-yeah-do-how-ever-you-want-it-baby. But most of the time, she confessed that the conflict brought tears of frustration and crossroad dilemma that made her think about the future of their relationship.

In the course of time, as each day passed by, they realized that both danced to the same music, same rhythm and same tempo but just in different style. They began to ease the rigors of how to do things his way and her way. As a matter of fact, towards the end of their time together, they realized that their individual differences make them complement their uniqueness as a person.

Having said that, she still wished that there was a manual on how to get to know him better.

But the truth is, there’s no such thing as a personality manual on learning how to get to know your partner. The best teaching manual is to spend time together and get to know each other in a sweet or painful way. No other choice than that.

And thankfully they did. Parting was not easy and not as enchanting and exhilarating as the first meeting but it surely was dreamy. The juddering emotional pain inside her made tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Remember the movie "The Notebook"? The poignant scene when Ryan Gosling delivered an it's not gonna be easy…it's gonna be hard and we have to work on this everyday -line to Rachel McAdams. That's it! That was how they appeared like at the airport (minus the Hollywood film crew.)

When I asked her if her feelings changed after the meeting, she was stupefied with the question yet assertively replied “Yes, it did. It just made me love him even more.” To her, there was no sliver of doubt that meeting him was the best decision she has ever made in her life.

In the end, I asked again, so why would you kiss a frog?
She confidently claimed that if you don't kiss it, you'll never know how it will turn out to be. Will it turn out to be a prince? Or remain to be a croaking toad.

Thankfully, her frog did not just turn out to be a charming prince but a prince who made her feel like a real princess.

Follow Your Yellow Brick Road

2011-06-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yellow Brick Road? Remember the story of the Wizard of OZ? When Dorothy wants to find the wiz in the Emerald City? She was told to find the yellow brick road- the way that will surely get her to the elusive Wizard of Oz so she could find her way back home.

You may not be Dorothy literally looking for your way back home. But I know that there are times when you get into a situation where you experience an undefined feeling that you've lost a valued missing piece that could be in a form of a person close to you or a part of yourself that has drifted away.

Though, it may not be as massive as Dorothy's home swallowed by a tornado. But losing something that has made you complete all throughout the years, would definitely prompt you to turn your back, search around or march forward and leave no stone unturned to seek for the right answer to bring back what you're missing.

And what you should be looking for actually is the Yellow Brick Road.

Yes. The Yellow Brick Road. You know it exists but you don't know where and how to find it, right? Don't look at me. I myself also don't know where it is. I'm still on my search. But I know what I'll take with me in my Yellow Brick Road life search adventure. This is why I'm sharing it with you so we could saunter together hand in hand and make this trip an exciting life experience. Don't forget, take all of these with you and you'll never get lost on your way to the Yellow Brick Road.

Scarecrow: Did you know that humans experience as much as 70,000 thoughts each day? Perhaps, that's the reason why the scarecrow wanted a brain so bad so he could think, discern and be judicious like humans. Well, clearly, if he had a brain he wouldn't be humiliating himself hanging on crossed sticks and do a pathetic job of giving crows a scare donning his faded overalls and straw hat. Probably he'd be a dignified scarecrow- Ok still on a scaring business but in Armani suit. Huh!

Wisdom is what we need to seek all the time. We can only find it through prayers and becoming sensitive to God's voice. There's no doubt that He'll definitely guide you through. However, don't forget to astutely weigh and balance your predicament. They say that the reason why God put our brains in our head so we could use it to rule our lives with sound decisions.

The Tin Man: When I watched "The Wiz" on TV last Saturday for the umpteenth time, I still get amazed with the scene when Dorothy opened a square window on the Tin Man's chest and saw a vacuum inside. It was hollow and empty. Thankfully, we're blessed with a heart ( sorry for you Tin Man.) Then follow your heart where it leads you. Ignore what other people think about you and your decision in pursuit for happiness. You only live once. You don't want to spend the rest of your life sacrificing your happiness because other people disapprove of it. Andrew Matthews, an International speaker and author of "Be Happy" contends "Happiness is in the way you think. No one can make you happy except yourself." Know what's inside your heart. Find out what your heart desires. As soon as you know what your heart longs for, then climb the highest mountain (if you have to) to attain it. Subsequently, your beaming smile will radiate the joy coming from your heart.

The Lion: You may have the brain and the heart but without lion's courage -you won't get anywhere. Your ability to muster courage and strength will make up your unwavering character and steadfast integrity. It is through courage and strength that you can trek the rough mountain terrain, walk on hot coals in bare feet and jump over the cliff. In the same token as through courage and strength that you can rebuild your life and pick up the bits and pieces of yourself and start all over again. I read this quote once before that says "A strong woman is one who gets her heart broken time and time again and still has the strength to gather the pieces to create a new life for herself." Nothing could be more undaunted than attempting to start your life all over again. It takes a boulder sized courage and strongest character to be able to do that.

Toto: Lastly, don't forget to grab Toto a dog Terrier on your way to the Yellow Brick Road- friendly, endearing and lively dog that reminds you not to take life too seriously. Don't sweat the small stuff as they say (Ok I'm telling this to myself too.) Sprinkle a dash of humor as you meander one step at a time towards the Yellow Brick Road.

Never give up finding the road signs. Follow the arrow pointing where it leads the way. Be wise. Listen to your heart and muster some courage. Be Dorothy. Click your heels three times as you take a leap of faith and trek the Yellow Brick Road that will surely bring you back home.

Have a lovely summer! - J.A.S.

Are You Ready to Take the Plunge?

2011-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

Many years back, when I was a young girl, I was blown away by an iced tea TV commercial that left my mouth agape every time it got flashed on TV. It didn't matter then how many times this commercial hit the airwaves – its euphoric appeal got me thunderstruck and wowed me endlessly like I've seen it the first time.

Picture this: a young teenage girl drinks a glass of fresh iced tea and quenches her thirst on a hot summer day then suddenly makes an unexpected backward fall into the pool- aaahhh….feeling the freshness of cool water as she splashes away.

Now tell me, who wouldn't want to be in her place? If I were her, I'd do back flips, backward takeoffs, springboard dives, or side flips or swan dives- Ok …Ok…. I don't really know how to do any of those. I was just showing off.

But I still wish I could really venture into a free fall one time in my life. Who cares about a bad fall as long as I get the best time splashing all over and getting out of the water with a big grin on my face.

I may sound a bit of a ballsy adventurer. True. Probably because I'm the type who'd like to embark on a certain level of excitement in my life- not necessarily adrenalin- pumping and hair- raising excitement but I'm talking about everyday life adventures. Although giving adrenalin pumping and hair raising adventure-a try is not a bad idea at all.

Sometimes we don't realize that every single day is an adventure itself. Just think about this, you start your day making an insignificant decision such as how you like your eggs cooked for breakfast- will it be fried? boiled? over easy? or scrambled? Will you wear a green shirt? or a brown one? Will you wear your hair down or curl it a little?

You pick your choice. You decide.

Then you end up your day in bed racking your brains about heavy-weight decision whether to take better job offer or not or whether to marry your boyfriend or stay single. You cull and then you decide.

Whatever we do everyday, we're always left with choices. To risk or not to risk. Accept it or not, it always demands a great deal of audacity to be a risk taker- would you like to have your breasts augmented? or climb Himalayas, meet your Facebook friend in person, break up your relationship in favor of a new one, emigrate to another country or simply decide whether to sit next to a dubious looking character on the plane or not.

These will absolutely require you to come up with a snap or a well thought about decisions that could make you feel better at the end of the day.
If you come to think of it, what are you really looking for? I know. It's the inner joy the certain level of happiness is what you're aiming for like a pot of gold sitting at the end of the rainbow for your prize.

The pursuit for the elusive happiness is the driving force can make you take a giant leap of faith- that no one else can do. The search for the elusive happiness is the one that can make you do what you don't normally do. Seeking for the elusive happiness is the one that can make you suddenly become a different person.

Some may frown or raise eyebrows, purse their lips or downright put two thumbs down on your decisions but who cares? The strength that you mustered going out of your comfort zone to find the indefinable happiness is way admirable.Give yourself a reward for that since not everyone has the temerity to move heaven and earth just to seek his own happiness.

Packing your bags and living in an exotic country or trekking the Himalayas or starting a life with a new person in your life is not as easy and fun as shopping downtown. Not even close. (I wish they were- so I'd be in the Himalayas every weekend.)

Taking chances to experience something new in your life doesn't give out promises that will be followed by a happy ending. But expecting for happiness to fall on your lap while sitting down and watching six o clock news is not going to happen either. Sometimes, it's worth to take boulder sized risks to be able to feel the glory. No guts, no glory as they say. The odd side of chances is that- once you let it go, it may never come back again in the same form.

The line "Life is too short" has been overused (and abused several times.)But it's true. Life is too short. You got to make the most out of it while you still can. Whenever I make decision, I only think about Mark Twain's words, "Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did."

And I hope I won't come to a point when I'm old and gray,as I sit on a rocking chair, pondering, that I'd regret why I didn't do what I had to do before. The truth is, life is teemed with risks and decisions. That's why don't be afraid to up your ante a little. Because life is a game of chance. One can never be sure of what life will bring you.

Like the back fall into the pool or skydiving, I'm doing a full gear check, strapping and buckling up tightly to make sure my parachute is going to open up in mid-air.

Because soon, I'm about to embark on a big sky dive of my life and when I jump, I intend to glide gracefully wherever the wind takes me and enjoy one hell of a ride.-J.A.S.

Spring Cleaning: If You Can Do It-Your Kids Can Do It Too!

2011-04-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Need help with your Spring Cleaning? You don't have to do it alone. Your kids can join you too in cleaning up the clutter, dusting off furniture and tossing old worn- out stuff that you haven’t used up for ages.

Teaching kids to get involved with household chores prepare them for their responsibility in the future. According to Marty Rossman, a researcher and an Emeritus Associate Professor of Family Education, "Teaching kids at an early age to take part in the household tasks will enable them to develop sense of responsibility, competence self-reliance and self-worth."

So before you rack your brains in figuring out how to complete your Spring Cleaning adventure, here's how you will do it in 5 easy ways.

1.Make Spring Cleaning a Fun Activity:
Just like kite flying, swimming and other fun activities, spring cleaning should be considered as an enjoyable activity too. However, that depends on how you present the idea to your kids. If you want to make them join you, put a little excitement in your tone. Hype up spring cleaning activity few days before you do the actual work. And when you start, play some games as such sorting, classifying, counting, identifying colors and beginning sounds of words among others to make it real fun.

2.Give Special Rewards:
Helping you with gardening, cleaning the closet, or sorting broken toys could be quite a challenge for young kids. So to increase their motivation, give special incentives like stickers, ice cream, a trip to the park, arranged play dates with friends among others. You don't have to spend a lot of money for rewards. Remember that children love simple joys in life.

3.Use the Opportunity to Teach:
If you're encouraging your kids to learn how to do household chores, make use of this chance to teach values, learning concepts or basic ideas so learning would not only be confined in the four corners of the classroom. Share the goals and objectives of your spring cleaning task. Let them know that they are already growing so fast. And it's time for them to do what big boys and girls do.

4. If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It:
An old saying that means if everything is alright, then don't do something about it. With regard to the kids' spring cleaning exploration, this means the other way around. I'm sure you know that kids will never clean up the way adults do. It will always turn out that the finished job would be needing some polishing somehow- you know how kids are! However, if your child's completed job is far from your neatness standards, then leave it at that. It will add to your child’s self-confidence to see that you appreciate their efforts even if the job needs a lot of tweaking in the end. By recognizing his efforts, chances are, you'll get a help again from your children with your Spring Cleaning next year. But ofcourse, nobody stops you from fine tuning their finished job when they're away or asleep. Just don't make it too noticeable, they'll surely spot it.

5. Be Proud of Your Child:

Tell other moms and dads, your friends, family, relatives and colleagues at work what you turned your child into. Flaunt his small but meaningful accomplishments. When he hears you're proud of him, he develops his self-esteem and self- worth subsequently.

By getting your child involved with tasks like Spring Cleaning, you consequently, make your child become responsible, caring, competent and more matured for his age.

So what are you waiting for? Ask your child to help you now before he changes his mind.

Enjoy your Spring Cleaning!

-J.A.S.-

Helping Your Child Get Back on Track

2011-01-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This article is a repost of an article that I've written exactly one year ago on American Chronicle. Just thought of sharing this again to my blog readers who are parents, teachers, child advocates or care givers who may be struggling with some post Christmas holiday issues with your child. I wish you a smooth and an easy going back to work or school transition on Monday.

Now that the holiday season frenzy is over, after getting yourself ginger up with home decoration, shopping, cooking, planning your family winter skiing holiday, the next thing that you wouldn't even dare to think about is to go back to the old grind, isn't it?

The thought of coming back to a desk with high pile of papers, driving your kids back to school in an early morning traffic rush and beating deadlines at the office are not only akin to being visited by your Christmas past but thoughts that you wouldn't even want to muse about in the midst of your relaxed family bonding this holiday season.

Adults are not the only ones feeling the jitters of the first week back to the old routine mode.

Your child feels the same way too.

This is why some children sometimes revert to the adjustment period stage exhibiting episodes of crying, whining, temper tantrums and clinging when they go back to school. Children spent three long weeks or even more with parents at home during the holiday break. From the first day of their Christmas vacation ending to its last day, children have adapted new set of I-can-do-what-I-want-to-do-at-home routine. This includes, staying up late, frequent play dates, watching late night TV shows or DVD, skipping afternoon naps, getting up at ten, tagging along with mom on a shopping spree and other similar free wheeling activities.

Now that classes have just started or perhaps to some are about to start next week, getting back your child on track may be an onerous attempt like pulling a tugboat with bare hands. To make your home-school transition in a smooth fashion, here are a few tips that can make wonders and less stressful for you in dealing with your child's post holiday struggles.

1. Psych Up Your Child Gradually. Inform your child that holiday season will be over after the New Year. Thereby, he'll be going back to school and doing the same old routine of getting up early and being picked up in the afternoon just like before Christmas. Whether your child understands the concept or not, it doesn't matter as long as you made him informed and reminded about the series of events that will come his way soon.

2.Establish the Old Routine Few Days After Christmas: It doesn't matter whether it's few days after Christmas or few days after the New Year for as long as you start putting your child to bed early-instead of ten in the evening, try nine then move down to eight ( if that was his ideal bedtime.) Slowly, his body gets to be readjusted to new habits gradually and will get accustomed to it before he goes back to school. By the same token, if waking up your child early could post as a problem, try getting him up the usual time he wakes up before he goes to school. Remember that the earlier you put him to bed, the more chances he gets the ample 8 hour sleep.

3. Do Your Bedtime Story Earlier: If your child can't sleep without your mom-child-story-bonding-time, then adjust your bedtime story earlier. This would entail an early adjustment of your household routine such as making dinner, tidying up the kitchen and putting on his pajamas then accentuate the end of the day with a bedtime story before tucking him into bed.

4. Control Late Night TV Viewing: Say goodbye to late night cartoons, DVDs or computer games. Staring on the TV screen or computer monitors for a long time has harmful effects on children. According to Dr. Sigman, a psychologist who studied on the effects of television watching on children, "Excessive TV viewing may cause physical, cognitive and educational damage later on."

Ergo, limit your child's TV viewing in the afternoon for one to two hours. Don't deprive him of his pleasure to watch instead monitor TV watching strictly.

5. Start Doing School Work Piece by Piece: Some schools give homework or essays about a recount of their Christmas holidays. Some don't.

If your child's school sent some homework, you may start doing it one piece at a time. There's no point in putting pressure on the child to accomplish everything all in one go. Few days after Christmas or New Year are still part of their holiday. So, let your child set one foot in winter wonderland and the other foot in the school door.

The point being here is to make them do their homework on a scheduled time consistently while enjoying the rest of the holiday season. Whether answering pages of workbooks, writing essays, book reports or coloring pages, as long as these tasks are done while on vacation religiously-at least for an hour, you'll see that redirecting your child's mind to go back to school won't be a Herculean task after all.

6. Prep Him Up The Night Before:

Don't forget to give your child a plethora of encouragement anchored to the idea that school is fun. Cheer him up with the assurance that his classmates and favorite teachers are there waiting for him. You may entice him to tell his friends at school about his wonderful holiday skiing trip, memorable time with grandparents, presents he got from Santa or the tallest snowman he ever built. Providing a feeling of excitement to your child a night before the first day of school after the holiday break will evoke a more positive disposition which consequently will make your child look forward to go to school.

Spending the holiday season is such an invigorating respite from the endless humdrum of daily work-home routine schedule. The sad thing is, in as much as you would wish that the alignment of stars will be in your favor bringing no end to those blissful moments of vacation, you'll always reach your vacation's last day, no matter what. In this case, you might as well get yourself armed to the teeth and accept the fact that holiday is over.

That's when reality bites.

Wheat Filled Life

2010-12-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

The taller, the greener and the stronger the wheat sprouts until Christmas Eve -the more prosperous your life will be for the coming year. At least this is what they believe as part of the Christmas holiday tradition in Croatia, Hungary and some other parts of Europe who have been planting wheat at this time of the year in honor of St. Lucia. More than just blessings and prosperity, a sheath of wheat symbolizes new life, growth and resurrection.

I never knew this before until I saw my husband planting wheat on a clay plate for the first time- I was awestruck. Since I come from Asia, where countries prefer rice than bread, wheat is not a common plant to see (not until recently as they’re promoting wheat grass as a nutritional drink in Malaysia and Philippines.)

As I gapingly watched my husband embedded the clay plate with pieces of cotton, (yes, not soil but damped cotton) before he sprinkled wheat seeds on top, my stupefied face looked like a 3 year old girl’s first time experience to see how icing is spread on a cake with unblinking eyes.

Few days after the planting ceremony that includes making sure the cotton is damped all the time, keeping them at room temperature and exposing the wheat with sufficient light needed-lo and behold, fresh apple green colored grass started to germinate.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to react over a natural plant growth sequence- you plant then ofcourse it will grow. So what’s the big deal?

My husband gingerly said, “Congratulations, lovi, your wheat grew just right before Christmas Eve.” At the back of my mind I was like, “Ok so what?” But after my husband told me about the significance of the growth spurt on Christmas Eve – he explains that the noticeable increase of height of the grass bespeaks of how fruitful and progressive my life would be next year.

Then that was when I started to literally jump and cheered a resounding “yehey, yes! yes! and yes!” I admit -my over reaction was more like the wheat predicted that I’d be winning lottery next year (ok that’s quite an exaggeration but you’ll never know.)
However, if you want to see a dramatic growth before the big day, make the most out of your nurturing skills few days before the 24th. Ok I know that’s partly cheating but well…ok erase that part.

Just hope against hope that you’ll see a growth spurt before Christmas Eve. And you'll be all set for the coming year.

Everyone is excitingly looking forward to the breaking of a new year on Friday. With full anticipation of blessings, prosperity, good luck, positive energy and perfect alignment of stars on your favor, we somehow plant wheat inside our hearts to embrace a new life for a new year with fervor.

I wish everyone especially my faithful blog readers abundant blessings, Christ centered and a wheat filled life for 2011.

My Christmas Past, Present and Future.

2010-12-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

Few days away from today, a new year is about to begin. As I mull over how each day of my 2010 went by,I can’t help but be amazed how time flies so fast that I didn’t even realize the brisk ticking of time as the new year approaches.

I don’t know how your year unfolded- but mine was chock full of blessings, challenges, unexpected trips, opportunities, struggles, decision makings, dilemma, compromises, lost of a loved one and yet a birth of a new life. The first half of this year sailed on steadily without hassles. However, I had no inkling that the second half of the year would have spun around to its opposite direction.

An unanticipated and unwelcomed visitor in my life- a familiar name, called anemia happened sometime in June that inextricably scared the living daylights out of me. My first time with blood transfusion made me wonder for a second what was wrong with my body which I thought was well pampered with vitamins, exercise and good food.

But since I am a feisty fighter, I mustered the strength to literally stand on my feet the next day and begged those red blood cells to reproduce some more. And so they did. Though, I still looked pallid like half-beaten by a vampire towards the end of June but I considered myself lucky enough to have looked that way than appearing like a character in The Twilight Saga.

Gradually my determination to get well paid off. And a holiday trip with my husband to the Philippines spruced up my summer 2010. After the amazing time with my family, we went back to Croatia and went through the old grind-work, home and weekend activities.

Just a month after, a startling phone call turned my life upside down. Mom was in a critical condition due to a massive brain stroke. I was overwrought. Distressed. My body juddered incessantly. At that very moment, I was wishing that it was just a bad dream.

But it wasn’t.

I flew out of Croatia immediately and upon arriving to Manila, I dashed to the hospital directly from the airport. It wasn’t a pleasant sight to see your mother plugged to machines, shaved head and recuperating from craniotomy.

My faith barometer worked overtime. I prayed for healing miracles to God every single day in a span of a month while mom was in St.Luke’s Hospital Global City. Blessedly, she was checked out on a significant date, November 1, 2010, her birthday. What could be a better birthday gift than that, isn’t it?

God is indeed so good.

My mom went through stages that beckoned signs of recovery. It was overwhelming to see her milestones of improvements.
I had peace in my heart knowing that she was being taken care of by my overzealous sisters Reina, Mai and Chip, who are naturally gifted with nurturing spirits. Brenda my other sister’s impeccable financial management prowess and my brothers’ knack for logistics details made me a firm believer of the saying “There’s always good in bad.”

Clearly, this predicament made us gleamed in a dark situation such as this not only as an individual but as team players- we did our best we could to see our mom back the way she was before.

Surprisingly, three weeks later, God showed us a different route to my mom’s happiness. He took her with Him to heaven where she laid resting comfortably in His bosom. God shared to us a wonderful and a loving mother, our first teacher who touched the lives not only of my family members but a whole lot of people whom she had helped before.

Leaving behind my Christmas past in 2010 is not all about completely forgetting it. But clinging on dearly to the sweet and bitter memories of the past year inspire me as I make first bold steps towards my emotional healing in my Christmas present. What my Christmas future holds? Honestly, I don’t know.
I’m as clueless as you are with yours.

But I believe that every cloud has a silver lining. And from where I’m standing, I can already spot a blinding glint radiantly illuminating from afar.

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Prosperous 2011, Everyone!

Special Note:

On behalf of my family, I am thanking the members of Neurology Department of St.Luke’s Hospital, Global City, Manila, Philippines headed by Dr. Roy Torcuator, Dr. Vince De Guzman and other members of his team who put a new meaning to excellent medical service.

To all members of the professional nursing team at Critical Care Unit and 7th floor particularly Nurses Kim and Randy, you guys are modern day angels. Your care went over and beyond the call of nursing duty. Thank you for making my mom’s life joyful and comfortable while she was there. The surprised early morning birthday greetings, flowers and balloons from all of you surely made her last birthday a day to remember.

Thank you.

Tis the Season To Be Jolly

2010-12-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly fa la la la la la la la” Do you like that one too? When I was a young girl, whenever I heard that Christmas carol, I had always been curious how boughs of holly looked like. All I knew before was that we used to scrunch pieces of paper into small marble sizes and wrapped them with red crepe papers that we wired to green spiked edged elliptic shaped paper leaves-and voila, we had an instant holly plant for Christmas décor in a tropical country.

That wasn’t hard. You can try that yourself especially for children’s art activities.

But ever since I moved to a place where temperatures go below zero, it’s a great relief that during Christmas, I save my fingers from crumpling pieces of newspapers and few bucks for red crepe papers since holly plants here are real.

And they look absolutely gorgeous!

As I got enthralled not only with the Christmassy tune of the song, but with the endearing Holly plant as well, I went few steps further than just admiring a pot of Holly shrub that I bought from a plant nursery- I researched more about them.

And here’s what I found out.

According to a site called piglette.com, the Holly plant’s evergreen nature made it so special during Christmas. The Druids of the Celtic Society used Holly for head dresses while brandishing the beauty of red berries on their heads since they represented the sacred blood of their goddess.

During the Roman period, they used Holly to decorate their houses as it symbolized kindness and friendship. In fact, the pagans during this period left Holly plant outside their homes because of their belief that fairies sought Holly Shrubs as shelter during the cold temperature of winter. (Now, since I’ve got a pot in my balcony, I’m expecting a slew of Tinkerbells to fly around at night.)

For Christians, holly became a symbol of Christmas with its sharp edged leaves that bespeak of Christ’s thorns and red berries for His precious blood. In essence, holly represents peace, joy, friendship and good cheer.
Now that we know that there’s more to holly’s beauty than meets the eye, next time, you’re buying Christmas plants, don’t just pick poinsettias- grab a pot of holly too.

Holly plant is more than just a bunch of sparkling dark red berries sprucing up our balconies or end corner of the living room. With its real meaning, it awakens us to open our hearts and homes to the needy during this time of the year.

Let me assure you that not only that holly’s sparkling glory can make you smile in a cold winter morning, but these little bright red balls with evergreen leaves can also make you sing fa la la la la la la.

I am Thankful For....

2010-11-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Meister Eckhart a German Philosopher said that” If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, it will be enough.”

Often times, we forget to say thank you not only to people who go out of their way to extend help to us but to our God who never misses a day sending bountiful blessings.

Though I’m still grieving for the death of my beloved mom, but tomorrow’s thanksgiving is a perfect time for me to give thanks to God to have known such an endearing soul, an admirable woman, a dedicated teacher, a loving wife and a selfless mother.

More than anything else, I thank the Lord for giving me an amazing three weeks to be with my mother at the hospital before she passed away last Monday. The time I spent with her-sharing stories, staying at her bedside and watching her sleep was one of the memorable moments that I’d treasure for the rest of my life.

She left the world with peace in her soul and happiness in her heart knowing that we, her children loved her more than she had ever known. But the peerless love of a mother is unconditional and unmatched.

And this is what I am thankful for.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

Faith Self Check Test

2010-10-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Is there a way we can measure our faith? Don’t you just wish that there’s a yardstick-of some kind like a Faith Self Check Test gadget similar to home pregnancy test that you can buy over the counter that can give you signals where your faith stands?

Wouldn’t it be more interesting to see numerical indicators such as 5- most stable; 4- very strong and stable; 3- average; 2 -below average and wavering and 1- lack of faith on a Faith Self Check Scale?
Imagine this, if you want to know your latest faith score, it’s simple, just put your thumb onto it, then it will outright tell you “Congratulations, your faith today is 5- most stable”. On the other hand, it may be dreading to see a blinking red light with a high pitch beeping tone that complements a screen message saying “Warning, your faith today is 2- below average,sorry.”

Unfortunately, no matter how high tech it may sound, the truth is, it doesn’t work that way. The real measurement of our faith can not be quantified in any form even if assumingly there’s an existing faith self check test gadget. Our faith is put to a test NOT when life is smooth sailing and devoid of any problems. But, when things go wrong in our lives, that’s when we usually cling to our faith.
If you come to think of it, truthfully, how often do we knock on heaven’s door pushing our prayers in when our marriage is at its best or our careers at its peak or during moments when we enjoy living in luxury.
Realistically, what usually happens is that we only come to Him during times when we need Him.

Recently, God shook my faith up in a very special way. Three weeks ago, a horrifying news about mom’s serious condition reached me. My mother had a massive right brain attack. She got operated and stayed at the Neuro Critical Care Unit.
I hurriedly packed my bags and flew more than six thousand miles away while being on pins and needles. The thought of what I was going to see at the hospital petrified me.

My imagination ran wild of the worse case scenario during my 20 hour flight. As soon as I entered the room, my blood ran cold when I saw my mom’s shaved head with dark black stitches on the left side of the head, tubes plugged in her nose and mouth (NGT and respirator.) Her eyes barely opened, left side of the body is paralyzed and worse, her voice was hardly audible with common stroke patient’s slur.
I broke out in cold sweat as I uttered my first greetings “Mom it’s me. I’m home now.” I knew she was listening to my voice even if her eyes were closed. I saw an indescribable peace on her face.

Spending two weeks watching mom attending to her personal needs at the Neuro Critical Care Unit was like struggling in a boot camp. No chance to relax or to doze off since her machines kept on beeping one after another. And once it set off (on an average three times a day), I always got jolted from deep slumber-woke up disoriented, nervous and terrified that I might suddenly witness a Grey’s Anatomy's patient resuscitating scenes.

In other words, aside from deep dark eye circles, a spaced- out - blank stares of a sleep deprived person did not only make me looked like a living zombie but a certified boot camp survivor. Well at least, it’s never too late to discover something new about oneself.

At the end of the 2nd week at the Neuro Critical Care Unit, we were anxiously anticipating for the extubation, the removal of the endotracheal tube from the larynx. My siblings and I prayed as hard as we could for the success of the process since doctors forewarned us that in the event that extubation won’t work, they’d be forced to perform a tracheostomy a procedure that involves opening a hole into the trachea with a tube. Blessedly, mom successfully got away sans tracheostomy. Thank God!
As soon as docs were sure that she was out of the woods, she was transferred straight away in a regular room. That was when my heart was put in place. While in the room, mom slowly showed eye opening, started uttering phrases and sentences (still with a slur though) but sounding a little bit clearer than before.
Aggressive therapies especially with Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy pushed her to put a little effort to move the right part of her body since therapists are still working on the left- the paralyzed side.

It’s amazing how God puts His hand to heal the damaged part of her body slowly but surely. He led us to take mom to the right hospital where He wanted us to be. He anointed the hands of the medical doctors and nursing staff who not only displayed professionalism par excellence but genuinely showed tender loving care on top of everything.

Though mom’s still needs a complete therapy work out and a great deal of time to heal. For sure, she’ll be sitting on a wheelchair for quite some time, but certainly not forever. My mom’s spirit was not crashed but renewed. Her faith soars like an eagle reaching sky high inspite of her condition.

I was humbled and blessed by her unwavering faith. Tomorrow, November 1st, is her 75th birthday. Finally, doctors scheduled her to be discharged from the hospital- a precious gift as the beginning of a new life.

A Promise of a Rainbow

2010-10-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Something good happened in my life these past few days. My mom was able to grip doctor’s hand during a post-operation test and was able to write words on a piece of paper in her attempt to communicate- a break though that instead of making me jump off my seat made me cry a bucket of tears.

Last Sunday, I was awaken up with a text message from my sister that my mom was being rushed to a hospital due to a suspected stroke. I blinked several times to re-read the message wishing it was a part of my dream. But as I immediately picked up the phone and spoke to my sister, I could hear a cacophony of ambulance’s high pitch siren and panic stricken human voices on the background. I struggled to hear my sister’s voice to confirm that it wasn’t a dream. And yes, I was awake. It was for real.

Mom had a massive brain stroke. As I was told, the blood clot on her right brain left her left side of the body paralyzed and unable to control drooling which makes swallowing a tedious task for her. Few days ago, she had a brain surgery to drain the blood clot and was sedated for three days to give her worn out 74 year old body to rest while attached to a respirator.

This week was just like a whirlpool-everything span so swiftly and I didn’t even have the time to sigh and rethink what went along the way. In a matter of days, I was able to file a leave of absence from work, coordinate with boss and co-teachers about work that I’ll be leaving behind for 3 weeks; went to the bank and book a flight back home.

I can vividly remember that two Sundays ago, we were on the phone talking about her forthcoming trip to Singapore with my siblings. Boy, she was so excited. I could feel her beaming on the other side of the line. She sounded like a child going to a field trip for the first time. And it made me feel so content to hear her ecstatic towards a trip that she has been dreaming about. Though it’s not her first time in Singapore, but the thought of flying gives her a sudden adrenalin rush. Hearing her laughter on the phone while I’m six thousand miles away from home is indescribable. It still reverberates in mind as I think about her.

Now with my mom’s unimaginable situation, and where she is at the moment, it makes me ponder how we’re dependent on God’s grace holding on to see a glimmer of hope and a promise of a rainbow as signs of assurance that everything is going to be all right. True enough, God is at work all the time. He makes miracles in small mysterious ways. We only have to direct our eyes and look for God’s clues that say “Hey, go and look. I sent these from heaven for you.”

Blessedly, I spotted off hand that good wishes and strong prayer support from online and personal friends, encouragements from colleagues at work and solid family members taking care of mom in earnest are angels sent from heaven.

In a book, The Alchemist, it says “When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.” Today, I got a news from my sister that mom was able to write “I love my children very very much” using her right hand. If that isn’t good enough for a news, I don’t know what else is. How about you? Did you look closer enough for God’s blessing in your life today?

Turn your Tropical Island Trip Upside Down

2010-09-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

My family name clearly doesn’t sound Spanish or much less a native Filipino surname. Since I’m carrying my husband’s Croatian surname with a soft ch represented by an accented c on top of the letter, my Filipino friends and even immigration officers show fondness in pronouncing my strange married name. After all those aaahhh-so-that’s-how-you-pronounce-it reactions, I somehow nurture a funny feeling of false joy with the fact that I’ve given a tongue twisting challenge to curious readers of my foreign sounding name.

As a Filipino, who travels to the Philippines yearly for my summer holiday, the pride to showcase my country’s national traditions, uniqueness of culture, picturesque places, people’s warm heartedness and hospitality made me feel like an Oscar multi-awarded actor brandishing a shelf full of Oscar statues in my own home.

More than all of these, the most interesting part of my husband’s tourism adventure was to have a feel of the rhythm of life in a tropical country. His excitement and enthusiasm to travel six thousand miles away from home to discover an interesting place in Asia was my motivating factor to book my trip six months in advance and to endure the bureaucratic tra-la-la that goes together with fixing of my traveling papers three months before August departure date.

Although my initial goal was to give him a meaningful first hand experience from riding tricycle, malling ( at the Mall of Asia which is ten times the size of a regular mall in Croatia, seriously), trekking in Tagaytay, revisiting history in Intramuros and bar hopping at night to keep his Manila schedule full. But the hype about Boracay's beauty and splendor proved to be more irresistible than experiencing the horrendous Manila traffic.

Thanks to My Cheap Travel, my professional and reliable travel agents who worked with our itinerary and other travel needs in a breeze ( www.mycheaptravel.yolasite.com)

Boracay, a famous tourist destination is located in the Northwest of Panay Island in Western Visayas region of the Philippines. It takes a one and a half hour plane ride from Manila via Kalibo then continues to a one and half bus ride to Caticlan where you can enjoy the panoramic view and a whiff of fire wood scent typical in a rural Filipino town.

Once you reach the port in Caticlan, the highlight of your adventure will amaze you with an exciting fifteen minute boat ride that gives you the first adrenalin rush of the day. As you get closer to the place, you'll understand why Boracay is a top choice by local and foreign tourists.

On the way to the airport, as we rushed to catch up our early morning flight, we hailed a cab and boy, we're glad that the cab driver didn't contract us for a fixed rate. He used a meter. Yey! But at the airport, I thought I spoke too soon. He suddenly blurted,"
Can you please add some more to the total amount of 150 pesos?" I gaped as I handed him 200 pesos. Do I have a choice but to let him keep the change since catching our flight in a jiffy was more important than to get a 50 pesos change back, right?

Thankfully, we hopped on the plane and went through the nine seater van tough ride on a curvy rocky road plus traditional banca boat splashing adventure before our eyes gazed through the majestic beauty of the island. Sugar powder like white sand, countless coconuts swaying, sky blue sea water beckoned and welcomed us – a little short of saying, enjoy your stay.

It's true. The place has a distinct character like an x factor that you can't simply describe. It's totally captivating. No wonder why a slew of foreigners mostly Europeans decided to settle in Boracay for good.

But hold your horses, for visiting tourists, not all that glitters in Boracay is gold. Or should I say everything you touch in Boracay is gold and pricy. Everytime I strolled with my Caucasian husband in tow, few yards away, a flock of fake watch vendors, water sports agents, locals offering massages, manicure, hair braiding and henna tattoos swarmed and incessantly hard sold us with their services.

So since we stayed for 4 days and 3 nights, and we sashayed on the main pathway on a single day for 10 times, we were also approached with "wanna ride banana boat mam, sir?" 10 times. Same faces, same sales pitch and same questions. If we only had known that low season means more aggressive vendors, we could have worn a shirt that says " No- thank- you. Please- leave- me- alone" shirt print.

But hey, vendors just wanted to earn money. And we wanted rest, peace and quiet and also get our money's worth as vacationists. After all, this was exactly the reason why we crossed continent- to have a taste of a tropical island paradise vacation.

Virtually, prices in the island also vary depending on who's asking. When I asked for a pair of earrings, one night, I was told it was less than 100 Pesos. Then the next morning my husband and I asked again and it suddenly increased to 150 pesos. Ok my eyebrows raised with 150 pesos and so was my blood pressure .

That night, we swung by and lo and behold- the price was right this time, 85 pesos. Thank God for small mercies. But if you want to know the secret- I asked my Caucasian husband not to stay with me while I was buying. If you're married to a foreigner, do this trick and you'll definitely get a good deal. My friend once shared that her Filipino husband, being the chinky eyed fair complexion was mistaken for Japanese. And voila, his price of shirt was different than hers. His was higher and hers was on a regular price, ofcourse.

Inspite of Boracay Island's glaring metamorphosis from an erstwhile quiet island paradise known for its array of homey coconut cottages now turned into to a highly commercialized island with a cluster of five star hotels by the beach, still has its natural charm bonded by its x factor.

Braving the challenges of travelling especially with a Caucasian foreigner in Southeast Asia is inevitable and quite unexpected as a sudden downpour on a hot sunny day. At least now I know. Unpleasant eye-opening travel experiences can happen anytime anywhere- not only limited to Southeast Asia. Take this type of experience with a grain of salt. Let it not hinder you to pursue your next trip at the same place again. On the contrary, it should make you bolder, wiser and learn to bargain for something. If anything else, at least you get to brush up your skills in the art of negotiation.

A View From The Top

2010-07-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

This may not look like an ideal landscape view for a commercial poster or calendar pictures. But this sight is a view from the balcony of my work place where I usually take a short breather after a hard day's work with the kids. Amazing. Enchanting especially when you see this unfolds in four different seasons. Gazing at this picturesque scene in the afternoon does not only rejuvenate my energies but I feel that its refreshing effect gleams on my face every now and then.

They say that when the going gets tough the tough gets going. And in order to get going, I guess the survivor instinct in us tells us to hold on even to frivolous activity that can possibly release your stress, tension and anxiety through the day. Five to fifteen minutes of distraction from stressful situations can go a long way. Whatever works.May it be playing Farmville, reading messages on FB, polishing your nails, or in my case basking in the afternoon sun at the balcony with this gorgeous canvass right infront of my eyes is more reinvigorating than a short nap. I don't know if it's about the view or is it about giving yourself the gift of solitude

Whatever it is, thank heavens for small mercies.

I'm In The League

2010-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Am I scared of the big 5-0? Well…uhmmm aahhmmm…still contemplating.
Seriously, I hope that nobody would ask that. As you can see, I can't even reply a simple yes or no to a simple question.

The truth is, I'm not just scared but terrified of the big 5-0.

Long time ago, when we say you were turning 50, you were expected to look matronly like, more sophisticated in taste and style of dressing,refined choice of jewelries and must be at the peak of your career and laying the grounds for retirement at 60. In other words, reaching the big 50 before means- fun is over, baby. That's the old picture of a 50 year old woman years ago.

However, in this day and age, images and lifestyles of women have evolved gradually and gracefully. When we think of matured women along the late 40s and pushing 50s, we can now visualize a Demi Moore and Madonna look alike with voluptuous body and toned biceps donning a mini-skirt strutting arm in arm with their dates 10 years their junior.

Now this is when I wish I'm 50.

Thankfully gone are the days when people would give a rocking chair, a crochet thread and hook as presents to a woman of 50. (God forgive me if I'll get that on my 50th birthday. I think hell will break lose.)

I'm lucky that I belong to this generation when growing older- ouch! that hurts.
Ok let's sugarcoat this. I mean growing more matured bespeak of embracing more life's adventures without fear, taking risks without holding back and making giant leaps brazenly in the next stages of life. And if this is so,then what's there not to be proud about being a golden girl?

Oh, but for the record, I just turned 48 today. Two years from now, I will officially be a golden girl. And when that time comes, I think the first thing I'll do is to utter a Samantha Jones dialogue of "Who cares what you are, just enjoy it. Or I will wear whatever and blow whomever I want as long as I can breathe and kneel".

But for now, I'll enjoy being 48 and think about 50 when I get there.

Bitten by a Vampire

2010-06-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was. Keep those eyebrows down. Ok, not really… I look like I just had a date with Lestat de Lioncourt, (the French nobleman turned into a vampire in Anne Rice's Interview with a vampire) who had a feast on my neck after starving himself for two weeks.

Pallid. Dizzy.Weak. Shortness of Breath. All of these started on Monday evening.

It was kinda odd why I've been longing for intermittent rest after every activity. I know myself since I've been indulging into physical strenuous activities since September especially after I stopped the disgusting smoking habit. My stamina doing badminton, brisk walking, running, samba and weight training has grown by leaps and bounds. So there's no way that I'll experience shortness of breath just by climbing the school's plight of stairs.

However, last Monday evening, as I was pounding my keyboards, I felt a certain light headedness, weakness and almost turned the palms of my hands including my face as white as paper with my arms and legs numbed. Ok I rationalized or fooled myself a little that maybe it was over-fatigued. I slept over it- hoping that it would be better the next day.

But Tuesday, got worse.

I went to school without my usual perky, vibrant mood ( not intentionally though) and told the kids that "Teacher Joy is a little bit sick. Let's play nicely and go easy on me today..." In other words-no shouting, no rough playing and do what you're told by your teacher!" And that solved the problem.

However, I continued to feel weaker like a burning candle losing its flame. And more pallid too- a transformation from a run-of-the-mill computer white paper to the whitest of the white A4.

Quite disturbing, huh? I thought so too.

So right after work, my husband brought me to ER to find out what's going on. A neurologist first ruled out any signs of brain injury or nerve related issues that caused my dizzy spells. After doing a similar to sobriety test (walking on straight line and do what I do) and look-where-my-finger goes kind of examination, she said everything is alright.

Until the result of my complete blood test results sprang up the monitor and voila, my red blood count is low/ my white blood cells are higher than normal.

In other words, anemia! Now, that kind of put my heart in place why I've been feeling this way. I'm still clueless why this happened but later today, my dear husband and I will continue the ER saga to hear what the gynecologist and internist will have to say.

In the meantime, I'm hunting for Buffy, the vampire slayer to help me finish off the throngs of vampires on earth- I can't be a vampire victim for so long.

Who Needs a Doctor, When You Have a Mother

2010-05-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

"Mother, mother I am sick, call the doctor very quick." Remember this old time favorite children's rhyme? Whoever composed this three liner rhyme didn't write the word, mother on the first line by mistake. The children's writer knew in his heart that the first person any child would call in times of trouble is his mother.

From babies to adults, we all feel much better whenever we get mom's sweet words of assurance that "everything is going to be alright" whatever predicament we're in-break up of relationship, financial loss, career failure, passed over for a promotion or even as minute as a loosened button on your favorite blouse, there goes mom. Call her and she's the solution to everything akin to a one-stop shop open 24/7.

You need an accessory to match with your dress? She has it. An instant baby sitter for your baby-she'll do it without hesitation. You miss something on your chocolate mousse cake recipe? She'll tell you not only what's missing but the secret ingredient that you should know to make it the most special chocolate mousse cake ever. When you need to vent out your woes and blues, a tete- a- tete with mom over a soothing cup of tea makes miracle wonders.

Good moms are heaven- sent- angels that are just right behind us waiting for our call. Sometimes, they don't need to be called. They jump in spontaneously when they feel needed. You don't even have to utter a word. They know it. They're moms, remember?

Who needs a doctor, when you have a mother?

When I asked my preschool kids what is mother's day? One Chinese girl who's just learning English retorted "Teacher, Mother's Day is Happy New Year to Mommy." Clearly, New Year's Day is a grandiose celebration for Chinese. And by that she meant "Mother's Day is about celebrating mothers. And indeed…it is.

Happy Mother's Day to you mom and to all moms in the world.

A Good Gardener

2010-04-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not. Not even close to somebody with a green thumb. As a matter of fact, it's more like I have a black thumb. Withered and dried plants were all what you could see in my small little garden that ended up in the trash after experiencing a slow death even before and after winter.

My husband even called it more of a graveyard than a garden. So to refute his correct impression of a graveyard, I pushed all those pots with dead plants surreptitiously in a corner and covered them with small sacks of dirt on top. Few days after I replanted the pots with new fresh flowering plants then it looked like nothing had happened. Voila! Who would say that I don’t have green thumb. No trace that I couldn't keep plants alive for a long time. Ok that dodge was just my desperate last ditch effort to save my bruised ego and my little garden.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any of my late father’s magic touch with plants. I remembered how he would rub egg white on the leaves of each plant to make them look fresh and shiny.
He used to grow all sorts of plants from vegetables to flowering ornamental plants and the funny part was that even plastic plants looked real with his care.

Plant needs caring and nurturing hands. I know I'm gifted in that area but apparently not with plants- more with children. But everything can be learned. Soon I can call myself a good gardener. It might take awhile though. Who cares!

In the meantime, I'm basking in the glory and beauty of spring flowers. An Australian writer, Germain Greer once put it "A garden is the best alternative therapy."

And yes, I happen to agree with her.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG NEW HOPES

2010-04-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

Finally, winter is over. Aren't you glad that those struggles with icy roads, freezing sub-zero temperature and breath vapor mornings are no longer here? Now it's more like rainy days, chilly mornings, wet sleeky roads, gloomy skies-not my ideal kind of weather but are definitely far better off than the harsh freezing winter months this year.

Spring is in.

In as much as I have always been an admirer of the raving beauty of spring, I know that many people frown on the flaws of it. But hey, don't forget to count your blessings. Fresh canary yellow daffodils and colorful hues of tulips peeking in the neighborhood garden with pale pink cherry blossoms and immaculate white flowers of plum trees complementing birds' melodious chirping on a warm sunny weather- how priceless is that? Don't they just remind you that life offers us more than what we bargained for?

Well, it does to me.

Spring always give us promises that we are oblivious of such as a new hope and bright blessings to spruce up our lives for the rest of the year. It always give us an overwhelming assurance that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow-a prize that we should look forward to at the end of our personal journey and battles.

Sometimes, we may feel downhearted over a career failure, lost of a loved one, broken relationship, financial difficulties or a wrong turn in life's direction.

Here's the good news, it doesn't matter what we bear at the moment. There is someone up there who knows what you're going through. He will finish what He has started in you. And that's His promise.

Just like spring weather, even if it drenches us with occasional heavy rain and covers our days with thick dark clouds, don't fret! There will always be patches of sunlight that will provide a sliver of comfort and cheer for us to get by for the time being until the radiant beauty of the glorious sun unfolds full blast in summer.

Keep your faith in Him. Spring symbolizes a promise of a new beginning...a new hope and a new life.

Enjoy the beauty of spring!

Waiting for Groundhogs

2010-01-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

Every first week of February where winter seems to be losing its grip, we make it a point to share an amusing American folklore to children at school-The Groundhog Day.

These rodents, members of the squirrel family are a spectacular sight during the 2nd of February in Pennsylvania. People queue up to witness the groundhogs' final verdict whether winter will stay longer or will be over soon. And how do they know? As soon as they get out of their burrows and won't see their shadows, this indicates that winter days are numbered. However, if result is otherwise, then there will still be 6 more weeks of bitter cold winter.

Today, I went to a mall. No amount of icy rain with snow could stop me from taking advantage of the 50-70% discounts on almost all items at the stores. All stores want to get rid of their winter items. Isn't that a good sign? Not only that it's a heaven sent signal to women to grab the discount opportunity to keep a stack of new winter clothes for next year, but hey, winter items are going and soon will be gone.

This bespeaks, that in the next two weeks, we'll see more spring items, more greenish motif on store window dressing, longer days ( though not necessarily brighter) but at least more light than heavy winter gloom. Hopefully, above zero warmer temperature will soon follow.

Before we know it, it's already Spring! Personally, I'm not a big fan of groundhogs. I don't even know if I've seen one here in Croatia but goggling the results of this spectacle in Pennsylvania if they will see their shadow or not after February 2 is always a part of my to-do-list.

I can't wait to see if I'm keeping all my thick furry jackets and snow boots away or should I buy more of winter stuff for the next six weeks.

We'll see. I'll let you know.

Helping Your Child Get Back On Track

2010-01-06T13:05:00.001-08:00

To all parents, teachers and child advocates out there!

Here's something that you may find useful before your child goes back to school soon.

This article was published on American Chronicle.

Helping Your Child Get Back on Track
Joy Avelino-Filipovic
January 05, 2010

Now that the holiday season frenzy is over, after getting yourself ginger up with home decoration, shopping, cooking, planning your family winter skiing holiday, the next thing that you wouldn't even dare to think about is to go back to the old grind, isn't it?

The thought of coming back to a desk with high pile of papers, driving your kids back to school in an early morning traffic rush and beating deadlines at the office are not only akin to being visited by your Christmas past but thoughts that you wouldn't even want to muse about in the midst of your relaxed family bonding this holiday season. Adults are not the only ones feeling the jitters of the first week back to the old routine mode.

Your child feels the same way too.

This is why some children sometimes revert to the adjustment period stage exhibiting episodes of crying, whining, temper tantrums and clinging when they go back to school. Children spent three long weeks or even more with parents at home during the holiday break. From the first day of their Christmas vacation ending to its last day, children have adapted new set of I-can-do-what-I-want-to-do-at-home routine. This includes, staying up late, frequent play dates, watching late night TV shows or DVD, skipping afternoon naps, getting up at ten, tagging along with mom on a shopping spree and other similar free wheeling activities.

Now that classes have just started or perhaps to some are about to start next week, getting back your child on track may be an onerous attempt like pulling a tugboat with bare hands. To make your home-school transition in a smooth fashion, here are a few tips that can make wonders and less stressful for you in dealing with your child's post holiday struggles.

1. Psych Up Your Child Gradually. Inform your child that holiday season will be over after the New Year. Thereby, he'll be going back to school and doing the same old routine of getting up early and being picked up in the afternoon just like before Christmas. Whether your child understands the concept or not, it doesn't matter as long as you made him informed and reminded about the series of events that will come his way soon.

2.Establish the Old Routine Few Days After Christmas: It doesn't matter whether it's few days after Christmas or few days after the New Year for as long as you start putting your child to bed early-instead of ten in the evening, try nine then move down to eight ( if that was his ideal bedtime.) Slowly, his body gets to be readjusted to new habits gradually and will get accustomed to it before he goes back to school. By the same token, if waking up your child early could post as a problem, try getting him up the usual time he wakes up before he goes to school. Remember that the earlier you put him to bed, the more chances he gets the ample 8 hour sleep.

3. Do Your Bedtime Story Earlier: If your child can't sleep without your mom-child-story-bonding-time, then adjust your bedtime story earlier. This would entail an early adjustment of your household routine such as making dinner, tidying up the kitchen and putting on his pajamas then accentuate the end of the day with a bedtime story before tucking him into bed.

4. Control Late Night TV Viewing: Say goodbye to late night cartoons, DVDs or computer games. Staring on the TV screen or computer monitors for a long time has harmful effects on children. According to Dr. Sigman, a psychologist who studied on the effects of television watching on children, "Excessive TV viewing may cause physical, cognitive and educational damage later on."Ergo, limit your child's TV viewing in the afternoon for one to two hours. Don't deprive him of his pleasure to watch instead monitor TV watching strictly.

5. Start Doing School Work Piece by Piece: Some schools give homework or essays about a recount of their Christmas holidays. Some don't. If your child's school sent some homework, you may start doing it one piece at a time. There's no point in putting pressure on the child to accomplish everything all in one go. Few days after Christmas or New Year are still part of their holiday.

So, let your child set one foot in winter wonderland and the other foot in the school door.The point being here is to make them do their homework on a scheduled time consistently while enjoying the rest of the holiday season. Whether answering pages of workbooks, writing essays, book reports or coloring pages, as long as these tasks are done while on vacation religiously-at least for an hour, you'll see that redirecting your child's mind to go back to school won't be a Herculean task after all.

6. Prep Him Up The Night Before:Don't forget to give your child a plethora of encouragement anchored to the idea that school is fun. Cheer him up with the assurance that his classmates and favorite teachers are there waiting for him. You may entice him to tell his friends at school about his wonderful holiday skiing trip, memorable time with grandparents, presents he got from Santa or the tallest snowman he ever built. Providing a feeling of excitement to your child a night before the first day of school after the holiday break will evoke a more positive disposition which consequently will make your child look forward to go to school.

Spending the holiday season is such an invigorating respite from the endless humdrum of daily work-home routine schedule. The sad thing is, in as much as you would wish that the alignment of stars will be in your favor bringing no end to those blissful moments of vacation, you'll always reach your vacation's last day, no matter what. In this case, you might as well get yourself armed to the teeth and accept the fact that holiday is over.

That's when reality bites.

NEW LIFE BEGINS TODAY

2010-01-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ten seconds before the clock turns to twelve midnight was the last few seconds
of the lives we left behind in 2009. Today, the first day of January 2010 is a new beginning .

Sticking- post –it- notes of New Year's resolution list on our computer monitors, sporting a 2010 new look and realigning priorities for the next twelve months are most likely what we set our minds to do. As each day passes by, we may falter or revert to our old habits and ways.

But each day is a new day. And nobody stops us to redo what we committed to change all over again.

Let's all start this year bustling with a mind filled with optimism, new aspirations, hopes, promises and dreams for this year.

Welcome to 2010!

Red for Me….What's Yours?

2009-12-24T01:19:00.000-08:00

It's good to be back home in the blog world. I know I haven't been a loyal blogger lately.
An avalanche of work at school, Croatian language proficiency test, editing my manuscript and other personal issues among others are just a few of a number of nerve-racking hurdles that kept me engrossed and overwrought for the past months. Oh and did I mention about badminton? Yes, my newly found passion. It keeps me fit and a good stress reliever. Whenever I imagine the faces of obnoxious people in my mind while I smash the shuttlecock( odd name for a badmintno ball, isn't it?) boy, that feels so good.

However, there's no excuse for my being slack. My bad! I promise to make it up to you but please don't mention it to Santa as I need my Christmas presents this year badly.

Every Christmas whether we admit it or not, we unmindfully paint a shade of color of our own personal Christmas. With our disposition, moods, temperament, feelings and lifestyles we create an intimate distinct hue that suits our past, present and future. From there, we envision a Christmas theme for ourselves. With our chosen color, we whirl around the color based on our disposition and spirit for Christmas.

Some people think that Christmas has always a constant generic color for everyone.

Not to all.

For those people who anticipate the magic of the occasion, ginger up to decorate the house with Christmas trimmings in advance and making a list of friends to give presents to or those who frenetically count the days before Christmas- are people who paint their Christmases red. As red symbolizes love, the intensity of love resonates to people who chose red evidently share genuine sweet smiles, hugs and handshakes.

Choosers of green color pin hopes in their hearts that Christmas would bring promises of the future.
A hope for healing for emotional distressed or physical ailment. A hope for a better job. A hope to renew broken relationships or a chance to turn a new leaf.

But there's a caveat for green choosers. The green in extreme can be associated with the bad side. So be careful about that. Remember the Grinch's color is green. If you start noticing that you start being grouchy this Christmas with your family members, co-workers down to the store cashier, or giving recycled gifts to friends ( so as not to spend a penny), then you're qualified to print a business card with your name and underneath a title that says " The Grinch Who Stole Christmas".

Those who claim that they have a blue Christmas are those who you need to evade from -if you don't want to contract the blue Christmas fever ( at least better than Swine Fever this year.) People who are emotionally down, unhappy, depressed or melancholic can influence you in a way with your red cheery Christmas mood. Indeed, misery loves company. It's inevitable that we all feel lugubrious at this time of the year especially when musing over our sad past. But Christmas is a joyful celebration of God's goodness to us. And dwelling on our negative feelings can make you feel down or worse still, can pass on the negative energy to the person next to you.

Meeting people who just shrug shoulders and roll their eyes when asked about their Christmas wish and respond with a cold nonchalant "whatever" must have culled white as their favorite color for Christmas. White is known for neutrality, purity and cleanliness. Don't ever think that these people are not into Christmas, as white symbolizes the immaculate color of snow.

Choosing your personal color for your own Christmas aura is entirely up to you. We're the painters, the one holding the paint brush and choosing the color scheme we want to blend for our own Christmas canvas. There's a wide variety of color spectrum to choose from- turning dark red to light or light green with a shade of white is a creative way to play with our own Christmas colors. Do whatever suits you. You can even wear a color that harmonizes with your mood at the moment, if you want. Just don't forget to match it with christmasy bling bling. Which ever way you want it, feel free to do it.

However, if you're scrimping and saving this Christmas due to the current recession, don't ask me about that particular Christmas color....... because I think it's black.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all!

"Mama, I Don't Want to Go to School! "

2009-10-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Sounds familiar? I’m sure that you may have heard this objection before either from your own child or from your distraught friends who may have shared their woes and blues about their problem-their child’s refusal to go back to school.
You may be wondering why children utter the unwelcomed infamous “ Mama, I don’t want to go to school” line, don’t you?

Well, in a child’s preschool life, there will always be a point in time when he’ll cry, “Mama, I don’t want to go to school!” either during the early part, middle or towards the end of the school year. I know that this strong reaction from preschoolers is most dreaded by all moms. Since this means that more clinging around your legs, sudden stomach or head ache, moodiness, non-compliance and temper tantrums become your everyday struggle.

Not to mention that this also purports that you kiss your self pampering days, coffee meetings with friends, doing household chores goodbye. What a nightmare! Isn’t it?
But if you come to think of it, why do children really refuse to go back to school? Here’s my two cents worth.

A child who exhibits any of the behaviors mentioned previously is showing stress signals caused by a period of anxiety– a stage considered normal for preschoolers entering kindergarten schools. However, a child in crisis at this phase must not be ignored but be well attended to. Moms and Dads should look into the following possible reasons why these behaviors occur.

Spending time at home longer than necessary: When the child is ill, of course, it’s inevitable to keep your child at home until he feels much better. However, prolonged staying at home has its downside too. Your child adapts to new routine and gets comfortable with doing activities with moms at home. Naturally, your child will refuse to go back to school as he got used to his daily home routine. By the same token as refusal to go to school often manifest during long school breaks such as Christmas and Spring Holiday due to the same reason.

Longing for Feeling of Belongingness: During the beginning of school year, meeting new faces can be intimidating for a young child. This can illicit reasonable fear to be in the midst of children whom your child does not even know. Developing friendship and connection with other children in class takes time and a gradual process. When your child has not reached that stage yet, he may feel a little bit alienated and refuses to go to school. However, let me give you a word of caveat, once your child gains friendship and camaraderie among his peers, you will be confronted with questions like how come there’s no school during weekends-now, that’s a different story.

Changes in family dynamics: Your child may exhibit some kind of maladjustment behavior when there are changes in your family set up such as moving to a new place, travelling to a far place for a long period of time, divorce, death of a family member or a sick member. Considering all these, he may show distressed signs but definitively temporary.

Child’s physical condition: When your child is sick with the slightest fever or just coming down with a flu, colds and coughs, these factors are a good yardstick why your child cries without any apparent reason or hesitant to go to school. Remember that preschool children can not still articulate how they exactly feel. Don’t expect them to say “ Mom, I think I’m coming down with a flu, can’t go to school today. Can you please give me a paracetamol?” Try to check him out before he gets off the car or better yet, you may ask your child’s teacher to do that as well.

To beat the “Mama I don’t want to go to school” syndrome, here are some few tips that could make you spend your life easier, stress and worry free when dealing with your preschool child.
Don’t keep your child at home longer than necessary. The longer your child stays at home, the harder it is for him to return back to school.
Check your child from time to time. Symptoms like runny nose, congested nose and slight increase of temperature, watery eyes, diarrhea, weakness can make your child lose interest in going to school.
Collaborate with your child’s school teacher. Present your situation with the school professionals. They can evaluate your situation objectively and give you some helpful advices on how to resolve the problem. Don’t forget that it will benefit you more if you do not withhold any vital information about your current family set-up.
Inquire about some potential bullying problems. Bullying not only in the form of aggression but includes teasing, humiliation, intimidation or name calling may result to socially withdrawn, anxious and depressed child. In this case, a child experiencing bullying, would not find school appealing.

Every parent beset with the challenge of a preschool child refusing to go to school undergoes a nerve-wracking experience that makes you feel highly agitated, scared and on the brink of losing your mind. If a refusal to go to school situation arises at any point, remember to stay calm and assess the situation thoroughly. Find out the real cause of the behavior. More importantly, never give up school just because your child doesn’t want to go to school. If you concede, your child wins the battle over you. Be patient and determined and keep on trying. To make you convince your child go to school, always remember what Peter Kline, an American Professor said, “School is the best party in town”.

If you don’t go, you’ll miss the fun.

BACK TO LIFE

2009-09-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

No, I wasn't in any way resuscitated and restored back to life-Thank goodness!

But pretty close- if I had not taken a 5 week holiday back home in the Philippines, I would have been writing here about that too. The challenges of my work, writing and hectic lined up of scheduled activities in the past months and other personal issues were too unbearable at some point. My allergies, asthma, flu and cough and colds became my best friends that I've spent so much bonding with for quite sometime- a time when I'd wouldn't even dared to say the phrase "best friends forever".

My trip to the Philippines was awesome. The 20 hour long haul flight didn't seem to matter with all the pump of adrenalin rush of excitement inside me to see my family once again. Moreover, I was hell bent to break away from the humdrum daily routine of work-home then work again and short weekend respite kind of schedule every single day. The pressure of daily grind took a heavy toll on me.

Seeing the light of day hearing the cockcrowing sound and mild tropical breeze touching my skin instantly reminded me – that I was home. Home is always where your heart is just like what they say. And it will always stay that way.

Having a great time with my family dinning out, playing badminton, shopping here and more shopping there may seem common Sunday family activities. But not for somebody like me who do not see her family on a regular basis.

I have often asked if we went sight seeing. The answer is no, my husband and I purposely didn't do that as we preferred to spend more time catching up with more stories funny ones, gossips, goofing around and updated them with our life happenings in Croatia. The travel experience is simple, unfettering and reminded me not only to spell out again the five letter word R-E-L-A-X but more like the real meaning of it. It was priceless.

I couldn't stop hearing the tune of "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae playing in my mind.

"Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead and let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams
You go ahead and let your hair down
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow."

On the way back to Croatia, stopping by Amsterdam Airport, I chanced upon a SPA parlor within the airport called "Back to Life". It caught my attention. Turned my head and chuckled. But deep inside, yes…that's it. I'm back to life. I'm going to take it slow because I know that I know I'm going to find myself somewhere…somehow.

Sun, Sea, Sand and Chicklit

2009-07-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the beach? Hold on a second. Before you leave, check all your stuff in your duffel bag first. If you think that you got all your beach paraphernalia-sun cream SPF 30, bikini, tanning oil, shampoo, conditioner, aloe after sun gel packed in and you figured that something is still missing, and then take a one more look. You may be missing the most important stuff that will keep you company during your sun worshipping moment - a book.

For those ladies who bask clutching a romance comedy novel ( or for those of you who consider romance novel as an item that you will not be caught without aside from your iPod), here are some good beach read that I highly recommend. Amusing, charming, sparkling with wit and humor all in one is all what you need to keep you entertained you while getting your sun kissed bronze.

Here's the list:

Chasing Harry Winston- Lauren Weisberger
Everyone Worth Knowing – Lauren Weisberger
Certain Girls – Jennifer Weiner
Shopaholic Series – Sophie Kinsella
Something Borrowed- Emily Griffin
Baby Proof – Emily Griffin
Eat, Love and Pray – Elizabeth Gilbert
The Art of French Kissing –Kristin Harmel
Rise and Shine – Anna Quindlen
Belong to Me – Marissa De Los Santos
Beyond the Blonde – Kathleen Flynn Hui
The Diplomatic Corpse – Anne Marshall Zwack
Dot.Homme – Jane Moore

There are heaps of titles of other Chick lit books that are out there in your local bookstore. But the ones I've mentioned above are the ones that I can give my thumbs up. Whether you're going on an island hopping or simply plunked down on a hammock under a coconut tree, take one of these books on your summer jaunt.

Oh and don't forget your IPod too.

Have a great summer!

Croatia's Smoking Ban Takes Off and Takes Ashtrays Away

2009-07-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Stop Smoking- the staunch slogan of the Croatian Government slammed against "Stop Smoking Ban" clamor of coffee shop owners after the Croatian government implemented its strict law against smoking on indoor public places on May 6, 2009.

The government is bent to execute strict "No Smoking" law to safeguard the physical health and well being of Croatian nationals from the hazards of smoking. Prior to the new law, the government's media propaganda against smoking apparently, did not create much of an impact- thus, had fallen into deaf ears.Restaurants, coffee shops, ice-cream parlors and malls from run-of-the- mill to high end food service joints were filled with employees taking a break from work, friends engaging in a tête-à-tête, football aficionados, coffee drinkers including mothers with tag- along -babies in strollers.

These coffee shops habitués either active or passive smokers, oblivious to the dangers of smoking frequent to the coffee shops at any time of the day as part of their daily routine schedule.However, on the 6th of May 2009, the Croatian government blew its whistle and put a big stop sign to smoking. As the law stipulates -those who are caught smoking in an indoor public place shall be slapped with 1000 Kuna fine for smoker and 15,000 Kuna for business owner to ensure that Croatian public knows that the government means business this time (no pun intended.)

Since the Croatian government guards public places keenly watching for smokers who consist of more than half of the coffee shops' costumers started to wane their regular visits to coffee shops for their daily fresh espresso and cigarette ritual. Thereby, sudden drops of profit sales have recently been the cause of ire of food service entrepreneurs that consequently precipitated a protest among coffee shops owners and restaurateurs requesting the government to relax the smoking ban law.

During the first month after the law was strictly enforced, the once smoke filled coffee shops are not only devoid of smoke but with customers as well. It's an awful scenario to see coffee shops with empty seats throughout the day.To cope up with the sudden drop of sales, coffee shop owners opened the backdoor terrace or provided an open air make shift terrace or pitched small umbrella tables along the street curbs just so as not to lose old coffee shop patrons. The temporary resolution of setting up an open air smoking venue to regular coffee shop habitués is akin to putting on a band-aid to a big economic wound to stop the momentary financial bleeding.

The coffee shops' nightmare has started to be felt during this early summer days when occasional rain showers and cold breeze prevent customers to sit in the terrace.
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Recently, it was reported that a significant number of coffee shops and restaurants have already closed down due to the unexpected plummeting profit sales. Subsequently, the whirlwind effect of unemployment of wait-staff whose salaries could not be sustained by their employers is becoming a serious problem.It is a known fact that smoking causes 95% mortality rate due to lung cancer as verified by Dr. Desmond Carney, Oncologist and Secretary General of the International Association of Lung Cancer in Dublin.

The European Union Commission has made a giant step to create a conscious effort to promote a strong general awareness among EU member states by imposing tighter rules about smoking.Hence, the complete makeover of Europe's image as an erstwhile smoking haven now is heading towards a smoke free zone. Ireland initially banned smoking in 2004 followed by Italy, Sweden, Malta, Estonia, Finland, Germany, France and Hungary (not necessarily in this order.)

Clearly, the effect of the banning of smoking is helping the prevention of the spread of lung cancer among Croatians. However, alongside with that, it is now building up symptoms of economic cancer especially during the rainy months of autumn and cold winter months where people would prefer to stay indoors drinking hot coffee rather than stay in terraces.The idea whether the government would give in to the food service entrepreneurs' lament of relaxing the smoking ban is still hazy at the moment.

It's still too early to say at this point. Who knows? This could be an advent of embracing new coffee drinking habit of taking "coffee to go" clutching coffee mugs to work giving Starbucks,Costa Coffee, Peets Coffee and Tea and Caribou a fair chance to compete in the Croatian coffee market.The owners' petition to establish categories among coffee shops whether smoking or non-smoking has already reached the government. Whether the government considers it seriously or flexes its muscles or plays arm wrestling, the response to their plea is well much anticipated. In the meantime, coffee buffs continue to sip their hot espresso and puffs their cigarettes on warm sunny days in open air terraces and enjoying the feeling while it lasts.

MICHAEL JACKSON ROCKS THE WORLD FOR THE LAST TIME

2009-06-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson is dead at 50.

What could be worse news to see on your morning papers or in Yahoo news at the start of an early Friday than seeing an eye popping headline that the king of pop music is dead. A thought that's almost inconceivable almost mistaken as a hoax akin to regular text messages con game. Until reality sets in that Michael Jackson is gone- not ill or seriously ill or recuperating from illness but gone.

It's indeed a day of mourning in the City of L.A. And this time I sincerely wished that I was there at this moment to grieve with his millions of fans awaiting for his body to be released from L.A. Hospital side by side with the venue of paparazzi vultures taking snapshots.

Growing up in the early 70s, Michael and the Jackson Five had been my personal favorite choice as far upbeat pop music is concern. The Jackson Five made a loud resounding statement with regard to their musical standing in the US music chart from 1976. Hits like "Ben", " Rocking Robin", "Got to be There and The Brand New Thing" among others made MJ stand out from his bros during the early 80's. Titillated young and old ladies shrilled at the top of their lungs as they watched an eight year old boy's magnetic charisma worked his way on stage with his impressive snappy dance moves (that he can only do in perfect 10.... remember moonwalking?.) I knew this because I was one of those voices that gave out an ear splitting screams as a young girl whenever I saw him on American TV shows during the early 80's.

I practically grew up hearing his songs on the radio, watching him on MTV basically witnessing his successes and downfalls. I didn't bother much to know what was in with Michael since he was like a permanent fixture in the US Music Industry.

His songs were heard all over everytime -one hit after another. We all knew that Michael was just there somewhere around the corner of LA rehearsing perfecting his craft conceptualizing next MTV or finishing an album to surprise everyone at any moment. To date, I still delight in listening to his hit songs that made waves in unsurpassed decades of reigning on top of the game shoving away tons of Michael Jackson copycats and wannabees.

But sad to say, the prize of fame is indeed very costly. The guy had been a lot of tremendous pressures for maintaining his status as the King of Pop Music-straightening out his court cases, rising above from financial quagmire and most importantly dealing with his sanity in the midst of bad publicity. The viewing public all over the world had been harsh, relentless and brazen in skinning him alive when it comes to criticizing his grotesque looks, his questionable fondness for kids and Neverland, his gender, his rumored bankruptcy among others.

Inspite of the sensationalized and magnified issues to the inane cheap celebrity gossips hurled at him, based on what I've read, people who knew him have only one common thing to say about Michael- that he was a person with a good heart. This ofcourse I can't verify as I did not know MJ personally (wish I could say we grew up together and name drop him to everyone.) However, whenever I check out http://www.tmz.com/ where you can find paparazzi's videos of Hollywood celebrities, you can see other celebrities turning violent losing tempers when pestered by journalists. However, it was always a different case with Michael, he graciously declined ambush interviews and spoke short casual pleasantries then ended up the casual chat with calm "peace brother".

This part of him was not known probably by the viewing public. But as human nature dictates highlight the negative first then downplay the positive, right?

Michael's demise will always be a bitter reminder to us to look beyond what our eyes can physically see. I think there was more to Michael than the pop legendary icon sensation, the image of a cosmetic surgery gone awry or a feigned philanthropist sharing The Neverland to young children.

There was once a lonely person hurting and concealed behind the almost deformed face battered by multiple plastic surgeries. Michael Jackson the King of Pop unselfishly shared his incomparable talents and outstanding music fit to perfection for the whole world to see.

May you rest in peace, Michael!

THE YEAR THAT WAS

2009-06-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, June 23rd, I'll be turning 47. Ok not bad if you consider that life begins at 40.
In retrospect, my 46th year wasn't a bad year at all. As a matter of fact, heaps of blessings came in my way which I initially didn't perceive it as such. Work wise, it was a great year with a few challenges along the way. Health wise, I can consider myself in pink health except for a few asthma attacks, allergy rhinitis and bouts of severe dysmenorrheic cramps sans any signs of recurring pneumonia, thankfully.

This year, opened a wide door for me to pursue my personal passion for writing. My non-fiction book has finally reached the end of its 2nd draft. Indeed, time flies like an arrow.
I remembered how I grappled with all the ideas I could come up with to form my outline in the midst of my sunbathing session during my summer break. Burning with enthusiasm, I inched writing chapters or more like few pages every night after a hard day's work, sleepless nights or sometimes missing my regular shopping dates to be with my newly found best friends-my monitor and keyboard.

At a certain point in February, I felt that I needed a break from writing ideas related to my teaching profession for my book. Then I discovered a romance short story writing contest which I exuberantly joined. The competition is based on the number of votes of readers instead of the merits of your writing. Though it looked kind of foxy to me but what the heck, I thought, I joined just the same. Fortunately, my entry won the grand prize. And I got an unexpected $250 prize for that. Not bad for a first time short story writer, huh?

My story? It's entitled " Winter Dream." Honestly, I didn't plan out the plot. Believe it or not, the ideas just flashed in my mind while I was browsing through a news about a winter storm that got passengers stranded at the Madrid International Airport. Not only because of my winning experience but the feedbacks of my friends who enjoyed reading the story plot brought a lot of confidence and assurance that I could pull off a non-fiction chick lit style novel one day ( this year I plan.)

More than all of these salient colorful events of my year, the one that I loved and enjoyed tremendously is my glaring passion for cherry picking. Thankfully, the school where I work has beautiful cherry trees with sturdy branches bearing abundant cherry fruits that I devoured like being stranded in an island without food except cherries.

It was fun picking cherries-poking the fruits with a broomstick, using a ladder and pulling the sagging branches to reach for the maroon over ripe ones became my short obsession. Just like cherry picking, my 46th year was no different from that. With the challenges that I struggled during the year, I did everything to make things happen to rise above the hurdles just like everyone. In the end, a special bonus awaited for me-a bowl full or light, dark red and maroon over ripe soft sweet cherries that I delightfully nibbled under the tree.

Jumpstart

2009-03-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

My Romance Short Story is now featured on “Enchanted” a newly published book containing a compilation of entries to the short story writing contest in February 2009 on a Be My Valentine Short Story Writing Contest. The book is now on sale for $8.24. For your book orders, please check out World Wide Association of Writers’ website
( http://www.publishyourself.com/)

Story Title: Winter Dream

Synopsis:

A light romantic love story that involves a vibrant career girl, Amberly who travelled to Europe on a business trip and unexpectedly got stranded at the airport because of a Snow storm. Little did she know that this grueling experience of waiting for her flight back to the States is a blessing in disguise. Her ho-hum life started to change drastically after an unexpected special romantic meeting that eventually marked her future.

BLAME IT ON THE WEATHER

2009-03-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Have you been feeling feverish or struggling with inexplicable tiredness? Or a sudden swing of clock pendulum mood that shifts from blissful temperament at one moment then ends your day with crestfallen feeling?

Does this experience of an abrupt change of mood make you feel crabby at work that make your co-workers brand you as one of the people that they can’t stand? How often do you make mistakes on your shopping decisions or picking dingy clothes instead of bright and vibrant colors. Do you flounder unexpectedly when you do your writing?

Good news to all and sundry. If you can’t find any source of this enigmatic changes that’s overwhelming you, then, blame it on the weather.

Weather has been the most convenient excuse people use for almost everything from common embarrasing blunders to the most trivial unthinkable faux pas such as fumbling at work, ordering the wrong dressing for your salad, sleepless nights or simply having a bad day? It’s the weather, as they always say. I hear this everytime from people uttering the “maybe-because- of- the-weather chant like a mantra sans the lotus position. Why blame it on the weather? It’s easy. You can get away with it without pointing a finger to others or to yourself at least no arguments or altercations with anyone.

Poor old weather-always gets the receiving end of the people’s condemnation. But hey, something has to take the blame, right? Not yourself, not anybody. I’m sure the weather won’t take it personally if you do.Whatever kind of weather it is, it doesn’t matter. People still preceive it as a yardstick of how our mood and disposition will turn out for the day.

So, if you think that I’m not making any sense on my blog today, I say, maybe it’s because of the weather.

Smart Spring Break Ideas for Family Adventures

2009-03-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

Blogger's Note: If you're residing within Europe area, you may visit Croatia's suggested beautiful places for your Spring family adventures. This article was reprinted from TLT's school newsletter.

Spring is already beckoning. Since we’re expecting a lot of sunshine, warm days and a pleasurable ten day spring break you may have already been planning for your spring family adventures. To save you the trouble of racking your brains resolving how to keep your family attuned with nature, here are some savvy ideas for creative and productive family activities for the spring break.

1. Take a Spring Nature Walk:
A quick out of town day trip in Lika’s Plitvice and Eco Selo in Samobor in Croatia, provide a complete lush greenery to trek on. After a long nature walk, lay your picnic basket on your blanket on a green meadow and enjoy your lunch on a warm sunny day.

2.Zoo Visit: If you feel that you got enough of Maksimir Zoo, try Eco Selo in Samobor a good place to discover where your little ones are allowed to pet farm animals.

3.Flower Arts and Crafts: During times, when you feel that you need a break from outdoor activities, stay at home. Do some arts and crafts in your dinning or living room. You can do some picture frames, posters or book marks out of dried flowers, leaves, twigs and tree barks.
Display your finished products on your child’s bedroom as a souvenir for this year’s spring indoor activity.

4. Travel Light: Take a short trip to Croatia’s popular destinations such as Dubrovnik, Split and Pula. These famous places in Croatia are not jam-packed with tourists during this time of the year. Take advantage of this season as you may not have the chance to do so in summer.
A quick trip to Italy and France is not a bad idea at all. Whether you’re relishing your toothsome gelato or spinning around on a roller coaster at Disneyland, Paris, your kids would be most excited once they see you pack your bags. Just remember to travel light.

5. Blow Some Bubbles: While gardening, leave a bucket filled with water, glycerin and soap mixture to make your children occupied and engaged. This bubble solution will surely do the trick to make your kids to stay quiet- at least for the time being while you’re gardening. For a variety of bubble making activities and tips, you may check out this site: http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/bubble/bubble.html

6. Bake Some Gingerbread: The best recipe that we recommend the one we have tried and tested in our cooking activity. Please see shared recipe in the newsletter. Just one tip, if you want your children to give you a –wow-you’re-the-best-mom-reaction, make sure you use a gingerbread man shaped cookie cutter. They love imagining gingerbread man story while munching cinnamon smell gingerbread man.

7. Fly a Kite: Windy days are the best time to fly kites. Kites do not necessarily be store bought. You can make your own kites by improvising Japanese colored soft paper and bamboo barbeque sticks. For more details about the procedure of making a paper kite, here’s a site to help you out: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/paper-kites.shtml When kite is ready to fly, go to an open field and fly your kites away.

8. Squirrel Feeding Day: Before you take a stroll in Maksimir or Ribnjak Park, make sure that you fill your pockets with walnuts. While sitting on a bench, you can spot some squirrels scouting for food. Make those walnuts ready incase, your little cute furry friends crossed your path.

9. Make a Date with the Stork: When I say this, I mean literally date with the stork. In Prekmurja, Sisak a small village called Mala Polana is known to be a stork breeding place. It was given the European Stork Village award in 1999 for nurturing a healthy habitat for 9 breeding pairs of stork. So if you have a passion for bird watching, this is the place to be. Keep your binocular handy.

There is more to family outdoor adventures than just mere fun and enjoyment. Special moments of bonding with your family nurture love and relationship. It does not matter whatever activities you choose. Go for it this spring break. Remember that a family that plays together, stays together.

Have a wonderful Spring break!

What Was I Thinking?!

2009-03-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

I hope that there’s a tv show that features how people fumble showcasing everyday’s awkward, unconcious moments of silly, stupid and clumsy mistake, if there’s a tv show just exactly like that? - I think I could be their main star of the show. Mind you, not a regular guest but a main star of the show. And if there is a show similar to that that I don’t know about, producers should contact me immediately as I can give their show the highest rating ever.

Today, I’m going to boldly admit a blunder that I did to myself (thank God that no persons or animals got involved!) the unthinkable and almost bordering to qualify in “Beyond Bizarre” tv series.

I screwed up my age.

How is that possible? Here’s how I did my preposterous unfathomable blooper. As I was reading the news about the famous rapper in the Philippines Francis M. who died at the age of 44 born in 1964. I was gobsmacked by two things, his untimely death and as my eyes scrolled down the text, my eyes gawked on the birthyear 1964.

I muttered while reading word for word: born in 1964- died 2009.
Born in 1964 means 44 years of age. I was born in 1962 then that makes me 46 years old? But why the heck have I been saying all through out the time that I’m 48 years old?

Ok I’ve to admit that my heart stopped beating for a second followed by shrieks and screams- my initial violent reactions to this new discovery which was not supposed to be called a discovery as our ages are supposed to be a common information that we should know instinctively like our names. But knowing that I’m just 46 and turning 47 this June, my birthday is like winning a free ride to a time machine travelling two years back.

All along, I have considered myself, a 48 year old pushing fifty lady getting prepped up with menopausal blues, knees woobling with fear that at any time, onset of wrinkles will be more evident and getting into contemplation of hiring a cosmetic surgeon for a possible tummy tuck (or maybe not.) Entering the age of a golden girl (turning 50s) apparently is giving me a scare for some reasons. Beats me. I don’t know why.

Ok I know that Math is not one my strongest points, as a matter of fact, my mathematical ability is no better than gradeschool level. Unfortunately, it stopped right there and never moved on to the first year highschool level until now.

This is why my dependence on Brenda, my sister’s mathematical prowess as a banker to do basic computations for me is like depending on IV fluid when you’re hospitalized. Most of the mathematical equations that I am only able to do are too basic that my gradeschool nephews and nieces would gleefully solve for me. But calculating my age? This should be the only Mathematical addition that I should know, right? And yet I failed ( ofcourse!)

Probably, the fear of facing the big 5-0 has become a furtive reason for my unconcious stress or concern psychologically that I have been hiding since a year ago. Bearing 48 years old as my official age ( before this discovery)in mind, I have already listed down my plans of what to do before I reach 50, places to see, books to write, clothes to wear before I settle with the 50’sh style, rushed to diversify my career, announced on facebook, tbd and other social networking circles that I’m just two years away from being a golden girl.

Sheesh, what the heck was I thinking!

The usual common cases of people is not to realize that they are older than they thought. But in my quaint case, two years younger is an appalling yet an astounding blunder that I welcome as the greatest news happened in my life.

Two years younger means more time to take things in stride, a delay appearance of wrinkles
(not just yet), dismissing the thought of consulting a cosmetic surgeon for advice and changing my age profile on facebook ,TBD, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Friendster and shouting to the whole world : hey, due to the malfunction of the mathematical side of my brain, I miscalculated my age and I officially declare that I’m only 46 not 48 as previously declared.

Though shooting the 50’s is not far from now (ok I refuse to say three years from now as I might miscalculate again!). I know I’m getting there. But no- not just yet. I still got 2 or 3 years to go? Am I right? Aahh never mind, the important thing is, I still have time.

KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD

2009-03-06T00:56:00.000-08:00

My blog today is heartfully dedicated to a popular young rap artist/ singer, Francis Magalona who just passed away at the age of 44- battled leukemia for almost a year.

Master Rapper, as he was popularly called had touched the hearts of millions of Filipinos not only because of his artistic talents both in rap music and photography but more than that, he exemplified hope, courage and strength that inspired people suffering from the deadly disease.

His great patriotism as a Filipino enlivened his rap songs that everyone in the Philippines continue to remember. With Francis’ bright and optimistic perspective- he painted his world in a multicolored symmetrical designs reflecting as mirrors. And finally, he allowed us to take a peek through a magic tube he called a kaleidoscope world.

Please see the links for the video of Kaleidoscope World:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejgAVvnwT5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKlCGgciLw

Kaleidoscope World
by Francis M.
So many faces, so many races Different voices,

different choices Some are mad, while others laugh

Some live alone with no better half

Others grieve while others curse And others mourn behind a big black hearse

Some are pure and some half-bred Some are sober and some are wasted

Some are rich because of fate and Some are poor with no food on their plate

Some stand out while others blend Some are fat and stout while some are thin

Some are friends and some are foes

Some have some while some have most, yeah Every color and every hue Is represented by me and you

Take a slide in the slope Take a look in the kaleidoscope

Spinnin' round, make it twirl In this kaleidoscope world

Some are great and some are few

Others lie while some tell the truth

Some say poems and some do sing

Others sing through their guitar strings

Some know it all while some act dumb

Let the bassline strum to the bang of the drum

Some can swim while some will sink

And some will find their minds and think

My List of TV Shows that Help Me Kick Off The Coffee Habit

2009-03-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

Shows that lighten up your heart, give you a chuckle and make your mind alert without craving for a cup of coffee.

Boston Legal : The show gives me the desire to have the number one attorney, Alan Shore as a friend for pro-bono legal services, his court room theatrics, refined wit and occasional sarcastic banter make him a shark in the courtroom. Who wouldn’t be amused by the occasional memory lapses and narcissistic demeanor of Danny Craine, Senior partner of Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Shirley Schmidt’s shining attractive beauty and grace with her past golden girl age is every woman’s envy. Watching her everytime always makes me mutter-I wanna be like her when I grow up.

Valentine: Shallow but cute.

Grey’s Anatomy: Ofcourse, who could resist Dr.Derek Shepherd? A top A-1 list for boyfriend material.

Desperate Housewives: I love the characters more than Sex and the City. More down to earth, dealing with struggles of real life suburban housewives. Would make you wish to live in that well manicured Wisteria Lane.

The Mentalist: A crime investigation with a different twist. Though quite dragging but it’s a welcome change from the usual crime investigation tv shows.

CSI Series: Vegas, Miami and New York, exactly in this order.

Reba: hilarious
CNN News: reliable and 24 hour programming
Travel and Living: “While You Where Out” my favorite, gives tons of ideas about art projects; very relaxing.
Eli Stone: You should see the first episode with George Michael, priceless.
Medium: I just love the ideal family of Allison Dubois. Patrica Arquette is a born natural actress.

TV Shows that Help Cure My Insommia. A good way to save a wad amount of money from buying sleeping pills or going to a psychotherapist.

Married with Children: What a title! I wish they had thought of a better title than that.
Las Vegas: I rather read a book than watch this.
Dexter: Come on, I wonder why are they making this type of tv show that glorifies serial killers? Not to mention that the show gives the viewing public especially the young adults different techniques of killing.
Largo: Rubbish
Betty La Fea: Ok enough with ugly women transforming into a lovely princess.
Lost: Not very encouraging to go on a tropical beach adventure.
Big Brother: This should have been petitioned to be taken off the air; digusting!
Naked News: For the first 10- minutes, this will definitely make your eyes pop out seeing news reported in frontal nudity. I repeat n-u-d-e! As a viewer, my eyes kept on jigging up and down the screen gazing at the reporter’s face or the naked body or the naked body first then the face where ever you want to look first.

Not withstanding the frontal nudity, the news reporting is not worth watching anyway with or without clothes on. It’s more like porno stars trying to turn a new leaf in their lives by shifting careers from acting in an x rated flick to news reporting. It’s utterly distasteful, appalling and a disgrace in the news reporting industry. More than anything else, it will bore you to tears.

Tell me what’s your favorite?

Netiquette Crisis in Social Networking Circles

2009-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

Few years ago, everyone went gaga over chatrooms, Mirc, YahooChat, AOL Chat and that includes me.

Through chatrooms, I’ve gathered a bunch of good friends from all over the world who became real life friends that I’ve met in person with whom I’m still corresponding up to now. Could you believe that? That was almost 10 years ago. Alongside with chat programs, ICQ Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Msn Messengers suddenly came into the picture.

But a decade after, who would say that internet social networking will be enhanced more with sophisticated features embodied in Friendster, Flixter, Multiply, My Space, TBD ( for middle aged people) and the coolest so far-Facebook.

Currently, I’ve got Facebook, TBD and Friendster. But most of the time, I ‘m an avid user of Facebook more than the latter. I like the idea of seeing different people on my facebook page. It’s like knowing what they’re up to without the effort of prying into their private lives.

However, I’ve noticed that several times, I’ve been asked by new faces that I assume wanted to connect and socialize online with me to add them on my social networking pages to be their friends. But once I click “confirm”, I don’t get to hear a simple greeting or any message to break the ice to start an online friendly relationship with me. Ofcourse that made me give a second look at my pic to see if I appear that grotesque that they would be too embarrassed to be associated with me. But I hear myself saying: naaah I’m not.

Worse part is that even if you jump in their conversation through their newsfeed or their posts I felt like I just engaged in a monologue and talking to the wind waiting for no response.
So what’s the point of asking to add you if you don’t even engage in casual pleasantries to pave the way for new friendship? It’s as simple as now I’ve added you then what?

In fairness there are few people who really made a nice friendly gesture to reach out through exchanging messages. That’s when I realize what a social networking site is all about. But to those who ask me to add them without saying a word or two. Thanks but no thanks! I can’t stand staring at their pics on my facebook just to realize that they exist on the other side of the world.

So if you’re interested, you can friend me on facebook, but don’t forget to send me a personal message and we’ll take it from there.

Write me on curica41@yahoo.com and we can talk about finding each other on facebook.

TOPLESS COFFEE SHOP- A SAVVY BUSINESS IDEA?

2009-03-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Ok stop right there.

Before you raise an eyebrow and give me a stern look like as if I opened a Topless Coffee Shop Business, let me tell you first that this is not my idea of a coffee shop. But in a small town in Maine, Mr. Donald Crabtree (what a name) just opened a topless coffee shop which raised the blood pressure of his neighbors around the area.

During this economic crunch, it’s amazing how people can think of all sorts of schemes and strategies to catch up or even to survive the economic downfall. The owner claimed a Mother Teresa type of social work as he quipped: He wanted to provide work for those who got laid off. Ok assuming that I believe him. On the other hand, isn’t he exploiting those who got laid off from work as well? Therefore, this leaves the waiters and waitresses bite the bullet because it gives couple of bucks to pay the bills.

And for those coffee addicts like me, should we go there for a business meeting and tête-à-tête with a friend sipping a cup of espresso with the risk of getting slapped by 38 D boobies or getting distracted and mesmerized by a six pack well toned abs while being served?

I don’t think so. Even as Mr. Crabtree proudly reported that his topless coffee shop is filled with people since he opened, no cameras, no touching are the cardinal rules. Damn! Why flaunt if you can’t touch!

If anything else, one of the cost cutting measures that Mr. Crabtree may have taken with this business idea is that he saved big bucks for food servers’ uniform.

Espresso or Cappucino?

2009-03-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

What usually soothes your tired nerves in the midst of a stressful day -before a job interview, a doctor’s appointment or few minutes while you anticipate your boss’s ire over a low sales report during an early morning meeting? I’m sure you usually grab the first cup of coffee available in your sight. Whether it’s brewed, espresso, latte or instant coffee it doesn’t matter as long as it gives you your daily fix for your much needed perk to keep your eyes steady-eyelids open and mind alert, right?

Just like you, I’m an unofficial coffee addict too. Unofficial since technically there’s still no diagnosis and therapy (yet) for coffee addiction ( is there?) At least I’m not on denial. I’m a self-confessed coffee addict ( thankfully not a shoppaholic but also getting there.)

But if you ask me how did I get to be a coffee addict? It started during my travel to Europe where I currently reside at the moment. Initially, I thought that drinking coffee 3 times a day is more than the required number of coffee latte I could drink down in the Philippines, where I originally come from. But to my consternation, Europe produces the most coffee drinkers in the world. Everywhere you go coffee shops proliferate like synthetic bags and plastic toys made in China. Europeans frequent small coffee shops, hip and cool Asian motiffed coffee shops and umbrella table coffee shops set practically on the street curb which are more preferred during summer.

So my predisposition to the coffee addiction was further enhanced and turbo boosted with five strong espresso a day in Southeast Europe in such a short time.

I know that there are heaps of coffee addicts out there denying that they are or maybe proud to be one or on the verge of being one. Whereever you are..whoever you are coffee addicts or not…join me in my blog and feel free to rant or ramble about anything while both of us sip fresh hot Arabica coffee. But no smoking is allowed.