Anything goes...

More veggies, less meaties. More fruits, less rice. More water, less caffeine/soda. More exercise, less laziness. More rest, less stress. More studying, less compromising. More book readings, less social networking. More writing, less daydreaming. More family bonding, less unimportant socializing. More early log-ins, less tardiness. More cohesive reports, less procrastination. More early reports, less overtime. More silence, less useless talks. More prayer time, less senseless chitchats. More savings, less expenses. Reviewing my New Years' resolutions for the past 3 years, and I thought that while some of them may have been followed, more have been compromised because of some circumstances that were yet unknown the moment the resolution was written.  I wonder how I can accomplish all these new ones, because the other resolutions were kind of specific, but this one's not. But definitely, I will try my best to just follow all these thing...

On Thursday was the third Christmas party that I have attended, as there were a lot of invitations trying to grab my attention to join them in their parties. However, I am not always at liberty to join these parties. First, I take consideration that during the night, my kids need me and it is only the vacant time I have for them. Second, I do not really enjoy going out without my husband, or going out for a few drinks and getting merry all by myself.   But there are exceptions, always. And this Christmas is one.  On November when I was in Cagayan de Oro, I was able to join my long time friends to a one night (barely 4 hours) of KTV party in the long stretch of Divisoria, Cagayan de Oro City.Whilst there, these friends enjoined me to a bucket of flavored Tanduay Ice.  For the information of everybody, the first one I have tried was actually a bottle of Beer na Beer, back in my high school days, and that was only after the graduation in high when I had a try at...

We are celebrating husband's 37th birthday this December and while prepping up for an advance  celebration, I was in the kitchen with my mother-in-law when she asked how old my husband is as she wanted to validate his age. I answered the number and then she got silent, and said, "So I'm already 30 years a widow". And that kept me silent as well. As she was talking, I could feel the pain inside her suddenly gruffy voice, she remembered that 30 years ago on the fifth day of a cold December night, her husband succumbed to cardiac arrest. And after that, her whole being was dedicated to working her life off as a solo parent trying to raise three boys, my husband the youngest of the brood. The thirty years that came after Tatay's death was kept as memories filled with challenges and grief, but there were also many times they had celebrations of a kind, one that would keep them going and going even if it meant not having a father in the family. And so she ...

While my children may have had a mom and dad whose minds and concerns are over their basic needs, education, shelter and most especially food, there are some parents out there who do not really care about what their children are up to. They are the carefree parents who'd permit their children to work even in hazardous workplaces if only to provide for additional food to their homes.  As a program manager for the Anti-Child Labor Program of our department, I am one with others in trying to curb this wrongdoings. I am also one with many others whose hearts melt in pity of the children, and would want them to experience a good life, a safe playground, unlike the ones they are used to playing at - the sugarcane field.  I have already mentioned about the working children in Malungon, Sarangani Province, and I have even asked a few friends to help me in making these children a tad happier this Christmas. And so, with a help of a generous sponsor , and friends who helped...

The weariness that you feel when you get home gets a little bit relieved when somebody welcomes you home with some milliliters of canine saliva, thus we have a pet. Her name is Coke, she was a gift to my kids when they were depressed because of the death of our first puppy we named Sprite. As you may notice, we are a family of soda-loving people, hence the names of our pets.  On a visit to the boss' house one day, we were also welcomed by their cute pup named Kyro. I just couldn't resist myself from taking a snap of this cute 1 month old doggie.  The boss is in awe of the pup, that when Kyro first arrived, he had to fan Kyro because it is used to staying in an air-conditioned room. Knowing Gensan as the brownout capital of the country, Kyro whimpered and scampered because of the warm room he was kept in. And so the fanning went.  But that's just one of the stories of Kyro. And that's just one of the stories I would like to tell you. What I really wanted to ...