Changing Template

If you see something funny in here it's because template is currently undergoing changes. I hope it will be quick. :)

A Fellow Blogger's Give Away

This is my first time to join a contest hosted by a fellow blogger. I hope to win of course. This is what Maver is going to give away for her blog's first year anniversary.


It's a Smart Prepaid Broadband Kit. You may go to her site if you want to join the fun. :)

Female Icon Quiz

Whenever the results of online quizzes I take are somewhat close to some facts about how I am, I publish it. And this one has some grain of truth. So I am not Jackie O, I am not Marilyn Monroe, but I am Joan.

Am no Mommie Dearest, okay? Definitely not but I sure would want to run a corporation. I understand Joan Crawford chaired PepsiCo after her last husband.

Anyway, those in bold fonts are quite a bit like me but not to be taken solely as they are phrased here. :D

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Joan!

You are a Joan -- "I need to succeed" Joans are energetic, optimistic, self-assured, and goal oriented.

How to Get Along with Me
* Leave me alone when I am doing my work.
* Give me honest, but not unduly critical or judgmental, feedback.
* Help me keep my environment harmonious and peaceful.
* Don't burden me with negative emotions.
* Tell me you like being around me.
* Tell me when you're proud of me or my accomplishments.

What I Like About Being a Joan
* being optimistic, friendly, and upbeat
* providing well for my family
* being able to recover quickly from setbacks and to charge ahead to the next challenge
* staying informed, knowing what's going on
* being competent and able to get things to work efficiently
* being able to motivate people

What's Hard About Being a Joan
* having to put up with inefficiency and incompetence
* the fear on not being -- or of not being seen as -- successful
* comparing myself to people who do things better
* struggling to hang on to my success
* putting on facades in order to impress people
* always being "on." It's exhausting.

Joans as Children Often
* work hard to receive appreciation for their accomplishments
* are well liked by other children and by adults
* are among the most capable and responsible children in their class or school
* are active in school government and clubs or are quietly busy working on their own projects

Joans as Parents
* are consistent, dependable, and loyal
* struggle between wanting to spend time with their children and wanting to get more work done
* expect their children to be responsible and organized

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Sites

I would like to share the thirteen websites I frequently visit. These sites vary from food to current events to cartoon blogs. I found a few through random browsing, all the others I sought out since I love watching them on television or love reading them. You might want to check out some and just might find them good and useful for you. :)


1. Taste Spotting
This site has loads of pictures of food and they are linked on the blog or site from where the picture came from. Most are recipes so I have a delightful read whenever I click on the picture I like.

2. Eating Asia
I love the pictures and how the post goes. It's a virtual trip to the places the author goes to.

3. Gaping Void
Often times I love the cartoons.

4. Rotten Tomatoes
For my dose of movie reviews.

5. Business Mirror
For my daily dose of current events.

6. Sinfest
For some silly cartoons and a few laughs.

7. Parenthood
A lot of good articles about parenthood. The title is a give away, isn't it? :)

8. Comedy Central
Jon Stewart is a genius.

9. Fox
For my update on Prison Break, particularly Wentworth Miller.

10. NY Times on Books
When I feel like checking on what books are on review. Not that I follow what the reviewers say.

11. Nickelodeon
To be updated with the current Nick shows my daughter loves watching.

12. Disney
To be updated with the current Disney shows my daughter loves watching.

13. My Blogs

Happy TT! :)

Get Linked

I was tag by a Cookie. So here goes. :)

Links around the world tag (update as of Mar. 5, 2008) 1 - Momhood Moments 2 - Business Mars 3 - Pinay Mommy Online 4 - OnlineBiz and Resources 5 - A Simple life 6 - moms….. check nyo 7 - Mommy’s Little Corner 8- Princezz 9 - Princess 10 - Random Thoughts 11 - Paradigm 12 - See Me For What You Will 13 - Pamp’s Blog Corner 14 - Pampered 15 - HappyHeart 16 - Qtcotzkie and Baby 17 - A Sorta Fairytale 18 -tragicseven 19 - Listen to the Beat! 20 Just Saying 21 Tipsy Tips 22 Different Angles 23 Delicious Corner 24 I Care 25 Blog Blag Blog 26 Daily List 27 Life’s Journey 28- D’ Cooking Mudra 29 Clark & Butchay’s Blog 30 Sweetbites by Bang 31 ScroochChronicles 32 Everything and then Some..... add your blog here!

I'm tagging Bing, Ellen, Juliana and Lena. :)

Tag; Links

I got a tag from Liza. Here goes another boost for PR.

Instructions:

1. Place your link after the list. If you have more than 1 blog, feel free to add them all here!
2. After placing your blog’s address/es, you must tag 5 or more bloggers that are not yet on the list, this is to keep the ball rolling.

Links around the world tag (update as of Mar. 11, 2008)

1 - Momhood Moments 2 - Business Mars 3 - Pinay Mommy Online 4 - OnlineBiz and Resources 5 - A Simple life 6 - moms….. check nyo 7 - Mommy’s Little Corner 8- Princezz 9 - Princess 10 - Random Thoughts 11 - Paradigm 12 - See Me For What You Will 13 - Pamp’s Blog Corner 14 - Pampered 15 - HappyHeart 16 - Qtcotzkie and Baby 17 - A Sorta Fairytale 18 -tragicseven 19 - Listen to the Beat! 20 Just Saying 21 Tipsy Tips 22 Different Angles 23 Delicious Corner 24 I Care 25 Blog Blag Blog 26 Daily List 27 - Life’s Journey 28- Welcome to my Crib 29 - Hearts Desire 30 - Island Paradise 31 - Texas Life 32 - Long Journey 33 - D’ Cooking Mudra 34 - My life 35- Swept Away 36 - Winged Words 37 - Rainier and Katrina 38 - Life! Learn it. Live it. Love it. 39 - Colour Our World 40 - The Next Chapter 41 - Painted Life 42 - La Place de Cherie 43- Chez Francine 44- Le Bric à Brac de Cherie 45- Missbodybeautiful 46. My Thoughts and Moods 47. My JOurney 48. Celebrate Life 50. Deeply In love 51. mY pReciOus 52. mY vOyAge 53.denz techtronics 54. denz recreational 55. Cashing 56. Icelog 57.Life's Impression 52.Liza 53.Everything and then Some..... 54. Place your blog here.

I am passing this tag to the following: Ellen, Lena, Rachel, Janet.

I Wonder...

if this first blog of mine would only contain memes and blog badges. :) I don't really mind as I love being appreciated by old and new blog pals. First up is from Genny.

'Tis the Season

.....for awards. :)

Julie handed over several awards, a total of fifteen, to her blog pals whom she said inspired her one way or another. This is so sweet of Julie. We've met her four times already - one lunch, three dinners. Haha. Talk about food and friendship.

Julie handed a collage of blog badges actually which I lifted from Julie's A Carnival of Awards post.


I will also giving away blog badges in the posts to come.

Another one from Janet...A gold card, would you believe? :)



Thank you so much! :)

Blog Badge

Thanks once again for a blog badge. I got this from Janet, we're both recent visitors of each others' blogs. I find it nice that people would want to get to know more of you. :)

Badges of Appreciation

I would like to thank Ellen for handing me over these blog badges. She said she is all the more inspired to blog with all the comments she gets from blog pals all over. I feel the same way. I get to also see from different perspectives various subjects that people blog about.

I Got Some More Blog Badges...and a Tag

Thanks to Liza for telling me to pick up my awards on her blog. This one's called Forever Friends. And Gbex also handed over this to me.


This badge originated from Juliana and you can grab the code from the link on her name. This is so sweet of someone to create a thank you badge for all the bloggers who take time out to comment on her posts.

Another one is this. This is also for making a blogger's day more exciting with all the visits from fellow bloggers. That's according to my blog hopping from Liza's site to Nyumix.


And another one from Gbex.

After serious and cautious consideration…your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2008! It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!
Last but not the least is the BFF badge from Bing. She mentioned in her post that she hopes to get to know better all those she had handed this badge over. I would want to get to know more about Bing too. I guess I have to pay her more visits. I am a delinquent blog visitor. :D


And here's the tag which Gbex and Ivan passed on to me.

*Start Copy Here*

1. You do not have to be tagged to play along. This game is simple and so are the rules. Copy from *Start Copy Here* through *End Copy Here*

2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post at each site you add.

3. Tag or don’t tag, your choice, however, the more tags you create the bigger the list will grow.

4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list. (If you would like the scroll box code, leave me your email address and I will email it to you.)

5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often. This process will allow late-comers to get as much link benefit as the first ones in.

1-Attitude, the Ultimate Power 2-Juliana's Site 3-Rusin Roundup 4-Grow Rich Along With Me 5-Comedy Plus 6-lynda's loft 7-Amel's Realm 8-MAX 9-Speedcat Hollydale 10-Mariuca 11-Complain Complain Complain 12-Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 13-Life Is A Roller Coaster 14-Sugar Queen's Dream 15-First Time Dad 16-Life 17-My Life 18-The Painted Veil 19-My Thoughts 20-DatCurious.com 21-Little Aussie Cynic 22-A Nice Place in the Sun 23-DatMoney.com 24-The Callalily Space 25-Rantings of a Woman 26-My Life My World 27-Mommy's Gibble Gabbles 28-Sweet Paradise 29 - A Window To Our World 30 - Hobbies and Such 31- Jenny's Wandering Thoughts 32- GBex_reachingOut 33- Ivan 34- Everything and then Some

*End Copy Here*

If I remember it right I still have three tags and one composition of books and food to post. I will do them all one by one in my coming posts.

I appreciate all bloggers who drop by here. Feel free to get all these if you may. :)

More Blog Badges

They say what goes around comes around. Look here, I've got badges once again. Blog awards have been going on in the blogosphere and I'm glad to say I've been getting some of them. Thank you very much. :)

This is long overdue but I'd like to thank Julie for giving me my second I Love Your Blog Award. She said "you may not post that much but I can sense you would, when given more time. It is nice to wait for your posts." That felt good. :)


Liza handed me this award.


Bodacious. Iluvet! It's the first time that I encountered this badge. I want to blurt out, "Cowabunga!". Thanks, Liza!

And the next badge I got from Jessie because I commented on one of her posts. Thank you, you're such an appreciative person. A welcome surprise too because Mayi gave me the same Friendship Award.


I'll spread the love and give away these awards too. There are a number of blogs that I love. More often than not I am a silent lurker. I guess I need to comment more. I'd be more open in appreciating posts which I truly like.

I fancy food blogs. I love going to blogs with loads of photos and information about food. Some of the food blogs I frequent are Eating Asia, 80 Breakfasts, Market Manila, Baking Bites, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Chocolate & Zucchini and The Traveler's Lunchbox.

And for the Bodacious blogs, I'd like to give this to Toni. Hers is one of the remarkable blogs that I read. One thing that makes Toni stand out is her sincerity in relating with the visitors in her blog. She's one blogger whose posts radiates positivity. She's a natural.

I'd like to hand this award too to Manilenya. I love her posts for their honesty. Astig! :D From her posts, I could feel she is a very down to earth person with a great sense of humor.

This blog award is perfect for ECL, Eastcoastlife. ECL's posts tells me love life and laugh more. She's a good storyteller and one bubbly person. :)

For the Friendship Badge, let me hand this to Rachel, Feng, Julie, Chats, Salen, Cess. I've met them personally and I could say I feel really comfortable with them. They are nice people and no hang-ups or pretensions. Cowgirls if I may say. Is that word still being used? Haha. One thing we have in common, we are great Pinoy Mommies! :)

I'd like to give the Friendship Badge also to some of my peers in our usual photo hunts and weekend snapshots - Natalie, Carver, Sandy, Gbex, Tricotine and **"Liza"**. I thought memes are just memes, you do them for fun. That's fine, great in fact. But as I continue doing the usual photo hunts, I get to discover new people and I learn interesting snippets of things about them through these weekend staple of mine - going through blogs for photo sharing.

I have to say I get inspired even with the simplest post of how a person's day was or how they had bonding time with their family. Or how the night out with friends went through. Some blogs just make me smile. I love blogging and the bloggers which make blogging worthwhile! :)

I still have tags to do. I'll do them after the weekend memes. :D

A Tag - Why Do I Blog?

A tag from Trinity a few days ago.

I started blogging fifteen months ago. The first few months are sporadic blogging as I only blog when there is spare time. Now, blogging (or peeking in my blog and my usual visits) is included in my "to do list" even for just a few hours a week. It's like caffeine, it's addicting.

I love to write my thoughts, my interests since high school. I had my first diary when I was thirteen and from then on, I kept a daily journal. I turned to blogging because it is the most logical thing to do for me since computers are very much accessible. Also I find some blogs really interesting which encouraged me further to make my own. I write mostly about my daughter, my interests - food, places, books, movies. I also love putting up the pictures I took and what are the stories behind them. I love taking an understanding of other countries' cultures straight from the sharing of bloggers.

Blogging is a very good way to relate with people from all over the world which share the same interests, and surprisingly, even those which have different interests as I do. I enjoy going around blogs which are full of positive vibes, beautiful pictures, blogs which seem to be unedited in terms of pouring out their rants and raves, blogs which tells of the bloggers' daily lives and thoughts on even the simplest of things. These are the blogs that I am naturally inclined to read and one way or another, I get bits and pieces of inspiration from them. If there are wandering souls who happen to drop by my site and liked it, that's a bonus. I appreciate it very much.

Thank God for blogging. :)

**********
I would like to tag some recent visitors here. If you have time and haven't done this yet, it will be a pleasure to read why you blog - Fortuitous Faery, Amy, Connie, Andree, Sandy.

Here are the guidelines from Monday Morning Power.
**Start Copy Here**

We have a voice;
We must be heard;
Therefore we blog;
Now spread the word!

This directory is based on a recent post that was conducted asking the question “Why do you Blog?” and the rewrite “Why do you Blog? - Reworked.” The purpose of this directory is to tell our tales by spreading the reasons that we blog to as many sites as possible. We get to explain ourselves, direct traffic to our site and highlight our most important, most representative or most relevant post in an SEO favorable format. This will be a positive experience for everyone who wants to get involved. This will enable you to create a short advertisement for your site that will be spread across the blogesphere; a growing directory of blogs.

This is an open directory. You do not have to be tagged to join in. All you have to do is follow the rules.

Please let me know when you have added your site by leaving a comment on “Master List” with a link to your post. This will insure an up-to-date list, giving you even greater distribution. You then need to copy the growing list back to your site on a regular bases.

Rules:

1. Copy this post from the very beginning through **End List Directory** and place it in your archives (back date it so that it does not appear on your front page. This list is too long for your front page.) Title this post "Spread The Word" Directory
2. Copy from "**Start Copy Here**" through "**End Copy Here**"
3. Paste into a new post
4. Create an inventive post title
5. Write a brief introduction to the post.
6. Before “**End copy here**”, please add your name, site name (with link), a very brief description (2-3 sentences) of why you blog, and your most important, most representative, or most relevant post (with link.)
7. Create a link from the end of your new post to your archived Directory (Ex. "Click here for complete directory")
8. Tag others to participate. This is a request, not a requirement.
9. Leave a comment and a link to your post on “Master List.” That way I can grab your addition and add it to this growing list.
10. Schedule regular visits to the "Master List" so you can copy/paste into your archive, keeping your list current.

**End Copy Here**

Check out the directory of the listed participants here.

For the Master List introduction:

I'm Lynn and I blog at Everything and then Some. I blog because I like to share ideas and experiences with bloggers around the world. It's like virtual traveling. I am interested in other countries' culture. Blogs about food, books, movies, day to day experiences and everything about being a mom get my attention. I would like to share this link to one of my posts, Avocado which tells of the story behind my blog name.

**********
It's halloween, I got this sweet badge from Trinity and Mayi. Thank you for passing this on to me. :) This badge originated from Hootin' Anni.

Blogging Feast

I may not be blogging everyday or as often as I want but I have to say blogging relaxes me. There are some blog sites that I go to whenever I am online though mostly just through my Bloglines feeds only. It's easier to read them that way than jumping from one tab or window to another. :) I only go to the sites when I want to comment or the feeds don't show the whole post. I do blog hop sometimes when I am in the mood to do so. It is a joy to discover very engaging blogs from different countries. Ironically, I quietly lurk in blogs that I enjoy reading most.

What kinds of blogs am I inclined to read? Slice of life, stream of thoughts, food blogs especially those with great pictures. Blogs which are written like no one will get to read their thoughts. Free-flowing. I like happy and funny blogs but I also enjoy reading blogs with enough sarcasm and wit. As long as I sense they are for real, I continue reading them. I roll my eyes and close the window when I encounter blogs which are too preachy, holier-than-thou, know-it-all. Yawn.

I thank Maiylah for giving me an Egel Nest Award Blog Award. Love begets love. :)


I went to the site where the award originated. There aren't much explanation about it but it's obvious that you just pass on the award to a blog/blogger you love reading. I know that there are bloggers which are not quite into these blog awards for some reason. I respect that but what the heck, just let me show my appreciation on their blogs. Spread the love around. So let me share this with the following:

Judy, a loving mom who never tires to cook for her children. :) Her entries are fun to read because she tells them like they are happening real time. I know I already gave her a Rocking Girl Award. What can I do, I love her posts. :)

Chats, I met her already but looking forward to more meetings. I like the way she chronicles her life as a WAHM and how she wonderfully supports her hubbyness. It's her 1st blog anniversary, my blog is three months older than her blog. :)

Rachel, the most awarded blogger I know. :) She deserves every recognition she gets. Like Chats, we've met and looking forward for more EBs. :) She is naturally sweet especially to her little mister sunshine, Yohan. Check out her sketches too, she's very creative.

Mimi, for her passion in blogging about world peace through her Blog Blast for Peace and Peace Globe posts from participants she invites.

Eastcoastlife, most of her blog posts are funny. The lady is funny and witty. If you want a good laugh, read her posts. She's really passionate about her blogging.

Manila Metro Bloggers, for giving their time and dedication in posting in our very own city blog started/sponsored by Sean Bonner. And this reminds me to polish my posts in my drafts and contribute. I have been a delinquent member. I get updated sometimes with their posts on events and everything-Manila.

There are a lot of great blog reads out there I am sure. I just have to blog hop more often. :)

**********
Mood: Thoughtful.
Music: Bella Luna, Jason Mraz

Belated Post on Some Good Things

I did not post anything when my first year of blogging had its anniversary on July 17. I was pretty busy I guess. And my mind was on my daughter's birthday celebration at school the following day. Anyway, this is a belated post. I was a reluctant blogger in the sense that I rarely blog hopped during my first few months and I blog sporadically. I appreciate the comments even then but they all disappeared when I transferred my content to the template of my practice-blog where I hone whatever little there is of my html skills.

There a lot of good things blogging has given me. I am writing again. I may have not produced a literary masterpiece or something that will catapult this blog to internet stardom but I am happy just putting my thoughts down.

I love it that I was able to discover Photoshop and I'm able to create or tweak templates to my liking. Given more time and patience, I can do this better. I have always loved taking snapshots but looking at them posted on my blog is something that makes me feel good. Not that they are breathtaking but they are mine. I was able to produce something that I like looking at.

I was able to find various good reads from the different blogs I visit every now and then, blogs from different parts of the globe - Mommy blogs, men's blogs, meme, photoblogs, rant blogs, etcetera. I am loving food blogs these days! Though with time constraints, I am starting to connect with my favorite bloggers/blogs. I interact whenever I can. I am starting to get addicted actually.

I am able to participate in my own little way in a group blog started by Sean Bonner for all bloggers who want to share something from their place. For the Philippines, it's the Manila Metro Blog. And the e-zine composed of wonderful Filipino mommies around the globe - Pinoy Moms Network. The network share about how it is to bring up moms, fashion and style, raising children, home and garden and other interesting topics mom and non-moms can appreciate.

A few days ago I received a comment from White Trash Mama saying that she'd been reading my blog regularly and that she mentioned my blog on her post for the Five Blogs You Should Read. I was flattered when she posted she's completely hooked here. Thank you. :)

The other day I read Maiylah's comment that she gave me a Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. She mentioned browsing through my blog is a wonderful experience. I appreciate that. I will not turn down good deeds like these. :)

I'd like to give this Rockin' Girl Blogger Award to the following:

1. Liza, The Real Me - I like the way she tells her stories. It's very natural, spontaneous. Liza is a young mom who juggles two careers - one of them is teaching. Isn't that great! I admire women who can attend to every role she needs and wants to perform. Her profile states "I am hoping to leave a legacy that my son will be proud of".

2. Caffeinesparks - I'm a lurker in her blog. This woman's got sense, as her blog says, hear her roarrrr, though now, she's "lost in transmutation". Very cerebral. If I will have a son, I'd like him to marry someone like her. Haha, maybe that's too much but I love straightforward views and opinions. She's very honest with her POVs.

3. Judy - Judy writes about her "mundane life and reflections on life and perhaps one day, this will be a piece of treasure to her children". Judy writes so gently. I like going over her blog because she posts as if she's having a good conversation with a friend over a cup of hot tea, in a porch, overlooking a beautiful garden. I have just recently visited her but I keep on coming back. Like what I told her, her thoughts are calm but very engaging to read.

Six Weird Things and an Interview

The first meme was a tag from Salen. Here are some "unique" things about me. :)

Six Weird Things About Me

1. I keep the DVD of Prison Break in my laptop's disc drive all the time. Anytime that I want to take a peek of any of the episodes (or should I say Wentworth Miller), I can. Anytime. I guess this is not weirdness but an obsession. Haha!

2. I love chocolate cake but I have to have something salty with it. Like potato chips or fries. Here's a proof. Had some snack at Chocolat. Since there are no chips sold at the said restaurant, I asked my husband if he can buy me some chips or fries from any of the stores nearby.



3. Listening to music is quite an extreme activity for me. There are times I don't finish a whole song. I go to the next song even before it's finished. I can't even stay put on a radio station. I keep on station surfing until I find a song that I like. And if there's nothing that I like, I play a cd but then I skip songs and listen only to the songs that I like, sometimes over and over. I guess my daughter Andz got this habit. :) This goes on usually in the car on the way to work. The hubby gave up asking me to stop this.

4. I love the smell of new books, notebooks and magazines. I go to my favorite bookstore to take time to browse on the pages of a particular book before I buy it. As I browse, I can't help but smell the pages also, well discreetly. Hehe.

5. I love watching horror movies but it gets into me. I can't sleep properly for a few days.

6. I text someone and right after sending it, I find myself calling the person to get a faster response. This is being impatient I guess. Guilty as charged.

I will be tagging some bloggers after checking if they haven't done this yet. :)

**********
The interview of one blogger to another has been going on in blogs. I wanted to join the fun so I asked Julie to send me questions. Here they are:

1. If you were to choose your fate, would you choose the life you have now or would have rather have a different life? Please explain.
I would still choose my life now mainly because I would like to have the same family. They're the best. My life too is generally good, great even throughout the years. With setbacks, yes, but nothing that God cannot handle for me. :) But to be realistic about it, I will edit the things that I should have not done in the first place especially when I was still a teenager and choose do the right and sensible things.

2. I know that you treasure your only daughter. What if one day she tells you that someone from school is bullying her, teasing and calling her names. What would you do?
*I will not go on a rampage but I will empathize with my daughter.
*I will get all the details so I can have a good reading of what is happening.
*I will also tell her bullying is not right but definitely, retaliation is out of the question.
*I will tell her I am going to do something about it. I believe it is important that a child knows you are listening to what he/she is telling and if there is something that needs to be done, he/she has to know one way or another. Like adults, I believe children also don't want to be kept in the dark. The assurance should always be there that whatever they are saying are important.
*Definitely I will inform the teacher so he/she will be extra observant of the students' behavior.
*I will teach or help my daughter how to "counter" bullying. I will tell her to seek help from her teacher or an adult when someone is bullying her.
*But the best "shield" I believe is to support my daughter's confidence level so she can face up with the bullying in school. This is not about hitting back or doing the same thing, definitely not. But having that confidence even as a child will definitely serve her as bully-proof. :)

Let me also say that when our child is bullied, we should also check why they are being bullied. Is it lack of social skills? Is it being poor academically? We just have to get to it further to correct them the soonest possible time.

3. If you were to choose a "perfect vacation" for your family, where and what would it be?
The U.S., either in California or Las Vegas. My whole family is there, my parents and my sister and brother. I just want us all to be together again. That would be a great vacation!

4. What charity or community or organization would you be willing to support? Why?
In my own little way, I have supported several organizations that take care of our old, our young, our single mothers. Participated even in Gawad Kalinga. But there are these organizations I have been looking at and wanting to be a part of actively but one at a time. What's the most doable for me is to get involved in Children's Hour (which is affiliated I believe with UNICEF).

5. If you were to put up your own restaurant, what kind of cuisine would you be serving? Why?
I used to be in the Food Industry. The most lucrative really is the fastfood - burgers, quick fix value meals, the like. But personally, I will go for Italian cuisine and a cake shop. I love pasta and I love baking! :)

Dona Nobis Pacem

A Tale For All Seasons
by Kurt Kauter

"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a cola-mouse asked a wild dove.

"Nothing more than nothing," was the answer.

"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.

"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow-not heavily, not in a raging blizzard-no, just like a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say-the branch broke off."

Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.

The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."

*****This is Mimi's site for Peace.

**********
Be the change you want to see in the world so goes my favorite quote. Tough, idealistic, eyebrow-raising...maybe. But have great faith and a great deal of conviction, it can be done. Little things that matter, little things that can help our house, our office, our school, our community become a better place to live in will surely inspire others to do the same things. What goes around, comes around. Let's take this positively too. :)

***********
I love this song, All You Need is Love. When love abounds, peace reigns.

Lunch with the Mommies of Pinoy Moms Network

So I attended, I'm glad I did! Like Feng and Salen, I have no expectations really of what will go on. I just want to meet whoever will attend and have a hearty lunch with them, have fun. Big thank you to Noemi and Connie for setting up the lunch-out. Great idea.

I do read posts of other bloggers of course though I don't go around much. I am so sure I was the least known among the attendees. Much as I want to post and post, and blog hop, there's time constraint. But honestly, after this mommy lunch, I got really enthusiastic to get to know them better and interact more. Not just the ones in there but the others as well. The good thing though is all of them are very accommodating and I did not experience any awkward moment conversing with them even if they are not familiar with me. The truth is it's as if this is not our first meeting. It was easy connecting with them.

One pleasant discovery, Julie, Cess and me live in the same area. The three of us can easily meet up and shop! Haha. I only got three pictures on my camera because I spent most of the time talking to the moms, listening to them, especially those sitting near me. I'll just steal request copies of pictures from the others. :) I would have wanted to go around, it's just one table afterall, but time was kind of short. I came in thirty minutes late and the lunch ended around 2:30 pm. Next time, I'll take the opportunity to meet and greet everyone.


(Row 1, L-R) Jane, Salen, (Row 2, L-R) Rachel, Me, Noemi, Connie, Dine, Feng, Julie, Lissa with her little Lex, (Row 3, L-R) Chat, Cess




Pretty moms, I'm thankful I signed up for this first meeting. I hope too this will be the start of our friendship and more bonding moments.

Photo Hunt 3: Empty

This is a hallway of Caleruega Church in Tagaytay City. This church is famous for its serenity and nice landscape. Most dream weddings are held here. About two hours away from Manila, it's a frequent destination for Catholics and non-Catholics for some contemplation and sightseeing.



An empty bench. I can feel its emptiness. Taken from the balcony of my colleagues' house in Tagaytay. You can tell that I'm a frequent visitor of that city. :)

**********

The clock just hit 12:00 midnight, March 24. It's supposed to be a 'world shutdown of computers day'. It's an experiment to see if we can do that and what will happen if we do that. I'm not 100% sure I can do that since mostly, it's only during weekends that I get to go online. But I have an appointment with my orthodontist-bestfriend in the morning and will have a tooth extraction. So I have to rest in the afternoon and will probably catch up on my movie backlogs.

So far from the survey in the site, "I can" is a lot, lot higher than "I cannot". Let's see what we will get from this experiment. :)

Connection

Finally we were able to secure a Sky DSL connection last December 17. It was doing good until the third day. We were having problems with the intermittent connection plus there are occurences the dialogue box says our password does not match with their record. How can that be? Anyway, I've been a regular caller of their technical support (read: Bayantel's call center) since two days ago. In fairness, the call center agents are courteous and very patient though there are no concrete answers. They should be but I still like to commend them for being that way. In fact two techinicians came in yesterday to check our connection. Unfortunately, there was a 10 hour brownout in our place so they were not able to check.

We were in prepaid card for so many years thinking that we can get by with it. But with our massive use of the computer these days for personal and professional reasons, prepaid really takes a lot of our time just waiting for some sites to upload. That's why we decided to cut one of our telephone lines and have a DSL connection instead. I just hope the problem we are experiencing now regarding our connection will be resolved as soon as possible. It's starting to frustrate me now because for four days, Bayantel only has "we are monitoring the problem" to say. For four days already.