Share your "stuff"!

Have you heard of Acobay, lately? If you haven't yet, I suggest you head on over there and see for yourself what I am about to rave in this blogpost.

Have you ever wanted to buy something, but it's a considerable amount of investment that you're not quite sure if the purchase was worth it? Conscientious consumer that I am, I always have that moment. Like everytime. Good thing I know how to use the internet to my advantage.

You know how important it is to get honest to goodness reviews nowadays, right? How many times have you finally purchased something because someone you know or trust said something good about the product?

And oh, if I purchased something that fell short of my expectations, how I love to rant about it! The company that provided me with the product or services should at least know what I expected from them and meet that expectation. Otherwise all my friends are gonna know about it.

Imagine my delight when I learned about Acobay. At Acobay, you get a chance to establish network with real people with real opinions about products, games they play, places they visited, cars they drive, movies they love, books they read, and so on. They even have Wishlist wherein you can put in the stuff you wish to have, planning to purchase, and get personalized recommendation from other Acobay members who share the same wish or stuff as you do. Else, you can browse through stuff, read real reviews by real people with genuine product experience.

Afterwards, off to google you go to scour for the best bargain you can find. And oh, get the one that offers free shipping, too. ;-)

While I'm writing this, I'm adding more stuff to My Stuff, and probably on to Wishlist next (I so wanna know what people say about the new toy I'm eyeing for Xofia). I'm excited to finally see my Stuff Network grow!

So, see you there?

What will I do without Dr. Karp and ice packs?

Dr. Harvey Karp said that toddlers acting out when their mommies (yes, mommies, not daddies) are around is the ultimate form of flattery. I remember he made an explanation as to why (and it made sense!), but totally forgot the moment my 1 1/2 refuses to go to sleep when Mommy is in the room.

At one and half, my little Xofia is beginning to be a handful. I think she forgot how to walk, she's running all the time. She has mastered throwing things at a precision that everytime she'd successfully hit her target, she'd beam with pride, clap her hands, say "bub" (her version of "good job"), and look around for a nod of approval. Her glowing pride will most definitely stop glowing when she'd see my serious, upset face. I then proceeded to lecture in toddler-ese how we don't throw things in a civilized world.

With eyes almost filled with tears but refusing to let herself cry, she'd walk away with shoulders down, and observe me from a distance. If a glance in the next minute is met with a neutral face, she'd let out the cutest smile and who am I to resist that. The moment I curve my lips into a smile, she'd come running to hug me.

Sometimes, my Harvey-Karp Method makes me feel like she's the grownup and I'm the baby. Those moments that she'd look at me about to cry, I have to stop myself from saying sorry for getting upset, that it was nothing what she did.

I just hope she remembers all those in the next 5 minutes before she rolled to the edge of the bed despite my stern warnings, and in a blink of an eye, hit her head on the floor and got a major boo-boo.

Thank God for ice packs!

Is your home secured?

You watch the news, scan the channels for a good 15 minutes and tell me if you don't come out of it depressed (if you weren't already) and more worried. Crime rate is staggering. In UK, burglaries are up as recession takes its toll that the leaders plan an emergency summit to tackle the issue. With the rising cost of living, cities all over the world are experiencing an increase in, particularly, property crimes.

Of course one can always argue that crime statistics are better indicators of the prevalence of law enforcement and crime reporting, than actual crime prevalence. But then, think about it, what's there to report if there's no crime happening? The fact is that crime is happening all around us, even so with the recession, and we better come prepared.

I'm sure all of us have a trick or two on keeping our home and loved ones safe. I know somebody who lines up food cans along the inside of his doors and windows to startle would-be burglars. I personally believe outside home lighting is a good deterrent. This is counting on the good Samaritans in my neighborhood, hoping they'd report any suspicious activity. However, robbers also have tricks up their sleeves to outwit home owners.

With the layoffs and salary cuts, I expect to be working doubly hard, and rendering more overtimes in work. So is my husband. How do you think we'd feel leaving our house and the people who live there under the watch of the subdivision guard, who also happen to be watching 75 other houses, and manning the gate? Home security is never overrated. Before anything happens, God forbid, start securing your home, your loved ones, and your personal belongings. Personally, I find ADT Home Security Systems equipped to provide you peace of mind. Their video surveillance system allows you to watch your home from anywhere in the world. It's really something to personally see that everything's all right even if you aren't physically at home.

ADT provides a lot of other security services that are worth checking out. The safety of your family and your home is one less thing to worry about while you concentrate on a host of other things in these trying times. I suggest you start securing your home now before it's too late. Better to have a tiny bit of paranoia and acting on it, than sorry.

Made.In.China

Say again?

This was from the box that one of my french presses came with. Aside from the lead and melamine issues, I simply love Chinese products. They're cheap, functional, and they provide entertainment -- a value-add to customers if you, like me, enjoy cheap thrills.

In this lifetime, I've mourned over the demise of 3 french presses. For coffee drinkers like me, a coffee press is an important thing. Of course, there's drip coffee maker. But aside from consuming so much electricity, they separate the oil from the coffee making the drink less, uhm, full. Oil makes the flavor really really bold and aromatic. It also maximizes calorie content. Filtering coffee beans in the coffee-making process just strips off the fun of enjoying full, bold, calorie-filled drink. Coffee press brings all that back in. Ah, little joys.

Since I've lost every single press I've had, the husband and I thought of buying several at one time. It is his ardent belief that if you store several pieces of presses, the one you're currently using will not break. I am willingly subscribing to the belief, dutiful wife that I am! Currently, we have 3 french presses. All are proudly Made in China. Because they're cheap, they serve the purpose, and they make me look like a supportive wife without dishing out thousands of pesos for a Starbucks or a Coffee Bean press. Those from these two are just outrageously expensive.

Oh, if you're looking for a press, Metro Gaisano at Ayala Center has plenty. You're welcome to hoard.

Night, night! Don't let the bedbugs bite!

I have very, very sensitive skin. At least that's how my dermatologist describes my affliction. Yesterday, I finally went and saw a doctor. (Oh, congratulate me!) And because of the type of skin that I have, I am now to follow a strict skincare routine twice a day. Aside from that, I am to stay away from almost everything that this polluted world is basking in.

I have always wondered why I get welts so easily, why insects seem to see/smell me and make me their first victim in a crowd of hundreds. Either I smell really good (move over, Bella Swan) or I'm just totally unlucky. Among other sites, I consider bedbugbites.com an additional treasure when it comes to guides on bugs and insects. The site provides a lot of information about bed bugs, how to treat them and prevent them. Because bites differ from one person to another, they also provide pictures of bed bug bites to help you identify if what you got is really a bed bug's doing.

I don't want to come to a point where I have to worry how to treat the bites, heaven forbid, I need to know exactly how to identify if we have bed bugs at home. Once I get the bite, the welts will then develop into something terribly ugly. I then use lotions or creams, which in turn, irritates my skin and I'd get flare ups. So either I stop the bugs from getting close to me, or I pray I see them first and kill them before they get close to me. (Oh, I mean bugs, bugs. Not people). And if the unlucky me gets bitten, I can only use the most natural treatment devoid of any allergen. Ah, it's a blast to be me!

Rocking out

It's the connection.

I am, once again, wondering if I did the right thing going for this provider.

Even Speedtest.net refuses to load. So I made screen captures of all those loading pages to while away the time. Pathetic...Internet.Connection.


Incidentally, however unrelated, I was reminded of some pics I owe Xofia's godmothers. Xofia received a big Dora pillow and an electric guitar from Titas Caffeinated-Muse, Diva, Faery, and Jan. She went to sleep late that night because she kept on turning her pillow over. Dora wins all the time, there's nothing much you can do about that. The guitar makes a lot of noise, alright, but this girl likes it, so I bite my lips and bang my head like a true rakista along with the rest of the household.

But really, nobody here can rock it out like this girl can:

OK, now, don't be such a killjoy and rock with me!

YEAAAAAAA!!! *peace out*

Mga Atih, you girls rock the most! Thanks for making my little munchkin so happy. :-D

Picking up and gaining speed

I've been away for quite some time that I don't know where to start. To save you from going through my boring list of TODO's, allow me to assure you that I am picking up, albeit slowly, from where I left off. Holiday recipes will be posted soon, and some videos as well. For those who are wondering, my blog also serves as communication tool between me and my relatives. They don't comment as frequent, though--we're very shy bunch--but they do pester me with updates ;P

Anyway, I think I should be starting with my most favorite subject: Xofia. Oh, the things these little munchkin has learned over the past month! I dare not believe how fast time flies. But Xofia accumulates skills in a heartbeat sometimes leaving me and her daddy wide-eyed and wondering where she got all that. Before we went to Bora, she only knew one number: 2. When I counted with her, we finished off until 10! And man, can she dance! She danced before she can even walk. And now, she sings like it's the most natural thing babies like her do. Am I grooming a performing artist here? :P :P

How do you keep those very fleeting memories stay without leaving you blissfully overwhelmed? I am dreading the time when I cannot recall each and every moment of wonderful discovery with her. Ah, simple joys. Happy 2009, everyone!

Yummy Bora sand, come have a spoonful!

For those who aren't from the Philippines, or those who aren't familiar/heard of Boracay, click on the link and drool away. The Bora is reason enough why Filipinos should love this country. The feel of its sand moved me to tears and I can't understand why some people still throw their cigarette butts anywhere when there are receptacles especially for it around the beach.

Anyway, if the powdery white sand had me emotional, I never thought of it to be edible. Only Xofia can harbor thoughts like that. She tastes everything these days.

O.M.G.

OK, so evidently, I panicked. I sent the guilt-stricken husband running for bottled water... to down the sand with? I don't know, because I really don't know what I'd do that minute. Xofia seemed to be wondering, though, why her Mom and Dad panicked when she's having a grand time. I brushed off whatever I can from her mouth, which she refused (she bit me when I tried poking a finger inside her mouth). After a while, when we thought everything has been forgotten, her Daddy took a swim, and I was left with her. Then ever so calmly, she placed another handful of Bora sand into her mouth! My jaw dropped.

See, I told you it must be tasty, she's gotta have seconds.

But I was dead worried. What will happen to my baby now? Well, Haitian eat cookies made of clay, but maybe that's different. Will the sand go through the usual digestive process? Will it harm Xofia? The husband read somewhere that too much sand ingestion will cause diarrhea. We waited. She pooped good the next day (in her bikini, nonetheless).

See, Mom? Nothing to worry, really.

All's well, then. A piece of heaven right here. What more can I ask for?


Happy third anniversary to us, Langga!

A bit of Bora

The weather is not as sunny as one would wish when spending time in the beach, but it doesn't stop us from having loads of fun in Bora. After a heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping plane landing, these greeted us:

this looks yummy!


grotto in the background... too far, we'll go near it next time.


enjoying the sunset. the little one fell asleep waiting.


even with the overcast, he can't be stopped. the glorious sun showed his famous exit


beachcoming in PJs the next morning


had to take a morning dip

On Bora, holiday buzz, and Xofia learning words

I am not the type who spends extra effort for the holidays. As long as I'm with my family, everyday is a special day. That's why I can't understand how I become so busy and caught up these days that I don't get the chance to do the things I love doing. I try to pace myself, though, and remind myself that it won't kill me if I fail my own expectation. Sometimes, you just have to let things be and find your peace in the fact that no matter how bad you'd feel about it, it won't change the thing that already happened. Might as well not feel bad about it. But knowing me, I just had to say something about it, even for just one time, then I'm done. I move on, I get over things quickly.

We're spending weekend in Bora next week. Yesterday, I learned that Xofia's swimsuit no longer fits her. That suit is for 1 year olds. Xofia is only 1 year and 5 months old. I expected that suit to at least last her until she's about this age. The good thing is, this shows that she is growing, normal, tall and strong.

Xofia has now learned a faculty of cute words. I never knew that the words I utter on a daily basis can be so irresistibly cute when uttered by 1 year olds. She's also singing-along to some of her favorite nursery rhymes. She has memorized the words and actions of itsy-bitsy spider. You just have to really spend a good amount of time with her to familiarize yourself with her words. The best thing so far that really had me to tears was when she said "Bah-bye Mamie. Mwah!" when I was about to leave for work. Tell me, how can you make yourself go away and work the whole day when you'd rather stay home and explore the world with the little one?

Remember how I told you we have to have her undergo surgery for her ASD? Well, we asked another pedia-cardio's professional opinion. We've been talking with this particular doctor on top of our regular visits with Xofie's doctor for quite some time now. Her opinion is that Xofia will not need the immediate intervention. She will need intervention, yes, but at a later time. Two other specialists share her opinion. It's 3 to 1 this time, and we're thinking of waiting and do the intervention later. So far, Xofia's growing well, gaining weight normally, is healthy and happy, and has never showed any symptom. We're hoping, praying and wishing it stayed that way until she's old enough to undergo the operation. No matter how late she'd have it, though, we'd still prefer the cardio-cath method over open heart surgery. I just pray that I'd have the strength to see my daughter go through the ordeal. I've never felt so helpless my entire life, never felt so vulnerable. Indeed, motherhood is no joke.

I don't really know how to close this, the same way that I have no idea when my next post will be. Here's hoping that there's wi-fi in Bora so I can upload pics as they come. If I can't, I'll be sure to put everything together after New Year's day. I guess I just want to let you guys know that I'm still here, breathing and very much blogging.

Enjoy your holidays!

Blogger's back!

It started one fine weekend. I opened my computer expecting to see my friendly neighborhood wi-fi greeting me a good day. I didn't get a single hi. To my dismay, this lasted the whole day. This seldom happened! That same day, the family living two doors from ours moved out. Putting two and two together, the family who just moved out was the friendly neighborhood wi-fi provider. They were gone so fast, I haven't got the chance to thank them of their kindness. Not that I'd explain the reason behind my gratitude, really, because I'm not quite sure if I can do that. But maybe I'd mask it in a false pretense of thanking them for being such nice neighbors... (because not all neighbors give you free internet!)

We waited for a week, hoping other neighbors are as kind. Of course nobody ever leave their internet unsecured anymore. What was I thinking!? While we had a good excuse (my sis-in-law is in town) for dilly-dallying, we cannot deny the fact that we miss the great Internet world--to generalize the downloading and blogging activities of this household. So I signed up for another year of lock-in period with Smart Bro. Here's hoping my experience with the Bro is the same as this faery's.

So anyway, I'm back! Thanks for visiting, will do my best to return the favor. See you!

Scrapbook Saturday: Happy Birthday

This is a long overdue scrapbook. I was supposed to make an accordion-style scrapbook to include a lot of photos (it's so hard to choose!), and realized I printed out bigger photo sizes than I intended. So here's one whole page of scrap done the traditional way.

For more scraps from SS participants, click on the Scrapbook Saturday button above. Happy SS, everyone!

If you're into hydraulic presses

I've an uncle who's a mechanical engineer who sometimes ask me to research stuff in the internet. You'd wonder how a girl like me would know something about hydraulics, bolts, piping, and all that stuff. I don't mind doing the favor, really. It gives me a reason to learn something I didn't know. Not that I care about them, but it's good to know stuff sometimes. Especially if these stuff doesn't come up in girl talks :-)

One very recent research job I did for him, I stumbled upon information about cool ways on making things out of metal. One way of doing this is called Hot Stamping. The principle is to heat the blank sheet at a press table very rapidly at high density to prepare it for subsequent hot forming processes.

AP&T is one of those companies that provide the metal forming industries with state of the art automation, presses and tooling; and has applied the most recent researches on the technology to their products. Their hydraulic press rebuild meets the demands for stamping, forming and deep drawing of today's high tech metals. If you're one of those guys who are into press robots and deep draw tooling and the likes, check out their site. I'll be sure to send my uncle right over there so he can explore AP&T more.

Meat and Sausage Macaroni Soup

I’ve been so amiss on my recipe postings, that I have accumulated quite a number worth posting but never got around to doing it. Primarily because the dish is gone even before I can whip out my camera. Cook something my husband likes, and that will be the flavor of the month. Not that it’s his duty, but he won’t care if I need a photo of the food before anybody dig in. Doesn't matter, everybody will be starving by the time I’m done cooking anyway, so there’s not much energy left to point and shoot. This one is taken on one of those rare moments when I took a bite or two during cooking time, thus, there was energy left to operate the cam before the main event. I think I gobbled up a couple of sausage slices.


Recipe

• 2 medium sausages of choice, sliced
• 200 grams lean ground meat of choice
• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed, peeled and sliced
• 5 medium-sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3 cups chicken stock
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 250 grams macaroni pasta
• a handful of fresh basil leaves
• salt and pepper

Cook the ground meat and the sausages separately. You don’t need to add oil in cooking, the meat will render what little fat they have during cooking. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat olive oil. Sautee garlic. When fragrant, add tomatoes. Cover to cook.

When tomatoes are done, add chicken stock. Let simmer. Add in tomato paste and let simmer for a good minute. Add eggplant slices.

Stir in the pasta. Cook 2 minutes before the scheduled cook time in the package. Stir occasionally.

Add the ground meat and the sausage. Stir in basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This should cover the remaining cooking time of your pasta.

Serve hot.

Oh yeah, this was last month's flavor. This month is Chicken Basil.

Take me to HOME COOKING tab

I need to lose weight. Seriously.

On my 3rd month of pregnancy, I gained 10 lbs. I maintained that gain after my 5th month. On the 6th month, it was uncontrollable. There was no particular food craving, but the craving was more of stuffing food into my mouth. To put it simply, I can't stop eating anything! I don't even want to give justice to my weight by putting it in print. A year after I gave birth, the 10 lbs gain is the hardest ever to shed off! It keeps on clinging to my midsection and arms up to this very day.

Next month, I am slated to wear a bikini while strolling the heavenly shores of Boracay. God. Help. Me.

I don't know what happened, but I seem to lose interest on jogging. I used to love the activity and used to do it with my then-boyfriend-now-boyfriend-with-wedding-band-husband. I don't know if it was entering motherhood and domestication, but I'm quite sure time has got a lot to do about the loss of interest. I'm a working mother who cooks for the family everyday and takes care of husband and baby as much as I can. Now, who's got the time for exercise?

The boyfriend-with-wedding-band and I thought it best to purchase an exerciser. At least with an exercise machine at home, we won't have to get out of the house to exercise. In addition to the orbitrek we already have, I plan to purchase a treadmill for use at home. If like me you're looking for an exercise machine you can use at home, read on home treadmill reviews at Treadmills Guru. They provide very useful information on treadmills anybody with plans on purchasing should read before doing anything.

So with less than a month, and the holiday feast on the offing, this is the masterplan: Cut back on rice, no greasy food, chomp on nuts and anything with monounsaturated fats, hiphop abs, and treadmill.

Wish me luck! Really. I need that.

Sometimes, I rant

I am only human; I also dislike some personalities.

And it's a total weird situation when a certain someone asked me if I could contribute to this person's (inadvertently, the one I don't like) project. The person who asked me didn't know my private feelings over this other person; so tell me, how do you politely decline to help?

I am also human; if people ask me for help, I'd do what I can. But I am not a hypocrite and I suck at sucking up and pretending everything's well and dandy when in fact I'd rather live in a place where annoying, insecure people mind their own businesses and I mind my own. (I know, too long, run-on sentence; sue me!)

But for the record, I do not hate annoying people. I merely dislike them. Annoying people are a challenge. They continually pry me out of my resolve to always take the high road. :P

Thank God for close friends and husbands. Otherwise, I won't have anybody to listen to me rant about these annoying people. I need to release the pent-up energy, you know, and trees are very unresponsive sometimes. I like a little interaction.

Now, back to my point. I don't want to have to do anything with this person, but I cannot say no to this someone who asked me. Something wrong with me?

Our house has termites!

Yesterday was Xofia’s last day of antibiotic. She has shown lots and lots of improvements, and she’s eating well. The only problem that remains is the colds. She still got it even when I was giving her Allerkid everyday. The doctor advised us to free the whole house with any allergen. Apparently, vacuuming the big furry teddy bear was not enough; and I’ve resolved to vacuum the couch every other day.

When I was cleaning the whole house, which I often find myself doing most of these days, I notice several instances of termite attack in different places of the house. The house is mostly concrete so you’d understand why this wasn’t much of our concern. However on places that wood is used, the termites seem to be working doubly hard. It’s amazing how they even managed to cling to the floor mouldings mostly on the rooms upstairs. And here I thought termites need soil to make their homes. Apparently, I’m one termite ignorant. Termites Guide provides all the information I need on anything about termites, termite control, spotting colonies, and even spotting those that mimic their path of destruction. If you have termite problem, you might find this site helpful.

Excuse me while I catch up on my termite research.

Xofia's home and well

Finally, Xofia got discharged from the hospital Friday. We were finally out of the place that had been our home for the last week. Nothing can beat sleeping in your own bed, pooping in your own toilet and can you believe it, I actually missed cleaning the house! The moment we got home, I rearranged the furniture in the living room, and drag the husband to buy a vacuum cleaner. Today, I vacuumed the whole house. You wouldn't believe the dust! I've also been cooking the whole time. I always miss cooking, no question about that. And tomorrow, we'll be hosting a potluck lunch with friends. I'll be serving appetizers (he, he!) But was tasked to cook the binagoongang baboy by my beautiful friend Faith.

When cough is coupled with fever, it's always not a good sign. We brought Xofia to the clinic on Wednesday, and that's when her pedia diagnosed her with mild pneumonia. There were ralls but very, very faintly still. We brought home a mild antibiotic but she did not respond to that. Turns out the bacteria that caused her pneumonia was of stronger strain. By Friday, there were ralls from both lungs. In the ER, I bailed out the moment they had to insert a needle into Xofia's vein. I just can't stand watching my daughter in pain, so I stayed outside bawling like a girl. Gosh!

The first IV antibiotic given to her caused her watery stools, so we had to change to a stronger medicine. By Thursday this week, she was able to tolerate the oral antibiotic that would replace the IV. Right now, she's back to teasing me and keeping me busy shielding the keyboard from her. It was so difficult, how, for so long, she didn't smile, and I kept my silly self from crying everytime she's in pain.

Happy Halloween!

Xofia is sick. Some bacteria got her--the doctor diagnosed her with mild pneumonia. If you haven't noticed yet, I've only been able to log on to check on new comments, and not even had the time to respond. I won't be around for quite some time while I take care of my baby. In the meantime, here's something I took couple of days before whatever bad thing got her. Hope this Halloween Peek-A-Boo will keep you company while I'm away.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Scrapbook Saturday: Baby Charmer

The pics were taken when Xofia was about 1.5 to 2 months old. Even then, this little peanut is a happy baby; she's had more episodes of smiles, laughs and giggles than cries.


Click on the SS button above to see more scraps from Scrapbook Saturday participants.