About Me Tag

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/

2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box.

3. Use only the first page.

4. Insert the picture into your Blog.

1. What is your relationship status?



2. What is your current mood?



3. Who is your favorite band/artist?



4. What is your favorite movie?


5. What kind of pet do you have? - None. I have virtual pet.



6. Where do you live?


7. Where do you work? - surf the net, chat, teach my son in the computer etc.



8. What do you look like?





9. What do you drive?


10. What did you do last night?



11. What is your favorite tv show?



12. Describe yourself:


13. What are you doing today?



14. What is your name?



15. What is your favorite candy?

Thanks Em for the Tag! I'm tagging Leaflet hehehe =)

Aidan's Game and Learning Development

My son plays a lot of games and looking back I noticed that he had progressed to the games that he would play or his interests. He started becoming interested at around 15 mos old when he saw my husband doing some work on the PC along with that we spent most of our time together on the computer.

Starting 15 mos old he was surfing Sesame Street website , which had plenty of kids games and movies that he can interact with, also this site offers a lot of singing and alphabet tutorials.

He used PowerTouch learning system and Interactive DVDs system when he was two yrs old, basically these systems develop hand eye coordination by responding to stimulus in the form of spoken words, colors and music.
Along with the PowerTouch, he also played some not so educational games courtesy of my husband who had an X-box, so he was also playing Cars, Finding Nemo, Shark Tales, Spongebob and PacMan3 unfortunately we don't have these games anymore as I sold them without thinking they could still be used in a X-box 360.


By the time he was three we gave him Leapster Games and Nintendo Game Boy, you see this is the age where they complain a lot during long trips so these games were useful because it occupied his attention when we traveled.



He has now graduated to some X-box 360 games that are for his age, his favorite is Thrillville off the rails, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Avatar from Nickelodeon. The only problem with these games is that they are mostly role playing so it is still hard for him to follow the storyline.

I know some parents think, well let me quantify that they believe that video games are bad, at least with my son he will ask me if the words that he heard in his game are good or bad, at that early age he has some understanding that some games are bad and some are good.

These are the learning system that he used at the age of 4yrs old. He usually plays this before bedtime, specially the V-tech Alphabet Town because of the music and spelling features.
Lastly all through these years he has never lost interest in solving puzzles, these could involve the connect the dots puzzle, word puzzles and shape puzzles. He also loves completing puzzle maps specially the US map, see the picture below. I hope he keeps these interests as the inquisitive and curious mind is good for kids.
The toys that he has hopefully will be used by his younger sibling and at that time he can teach his younger brother as well.

Hubby turned 34 today!

Today and in the future, one thing will still ring true - life's greatest gift will always be to love someone like you.

Happy Birthday Honey, with all my heart.

Myths About Marriage

I would like to give my two cents about, John W. Jacobs, M.D. article on the "7 Lies About Marriage". I subscribe to this site, Ivillage.com and happened upon this article by chance and after reading it I find that there is a grain of truth in what he explains in his article, so let me get on with my opinions:

All you need is love!
For all the oldies out there I guess the Beatles had it right, when it comes to stuff and relationships, "All you need is love" actually is wrong. I always hear he/she knows that I love him/her so that should be enough right, this of course is a grave mistake as marriage is about skill and diligence it does not end with "I do" but is a work in progress, you have to treat it like your most favorite thing to do in the whole world like a guitar player it is not enough that you love to play or sing you have to practice to be good at it, same goes for marriage.



You talk we talk everybody talks!

The only other animal that closely resembles human interaction in my opinion would be a parrot, people rarely in a conversation listen and when I say listen this does not mean just shutting your pie hole but actually let the conversation sink in whole. Often when someone is talking we are already forming an answer or opinion in our minds and therefore we end up getting to misunderstandings. We are taught to say and shoot straight from the hip which would be ok were we still living in the wild west, but in marriage brutal honesty is just that, brutal. A lot more tact and care, respect in the conversation goes a long way.

A lot of marriages fail because of communication but learning to talk and listen is just the first steps toward a good marriage.

I am guilty of this sometimes, he he can't really admit I am all wrong but I am learning =).




People don't change!

People try to mold each other in many ways, when we are at work we are taught conformity, we have individualism but that is the image of the company that we work for, so it is with marriage. There are times when couples try to change some of their failings but when they falter, it reinforces their belief that "People don't change" so instead of giving their marriage a chance couples just opt away and go for a divorce.




When you marry, you create your family legacy!

Come spring people start cleaning their attics, and start throwing away stuff that they don't need and generally they opt to go brand new as spring symbolizes renewal and life. My question is why do couples carry so much emotional baggage, this can be in the form of past experiences with their family and in some ways this clouds the present marriage as we tend to generalize our partners in marriage.

This all the more evident in couples whose parents are divorced, they generally do not trust their husbands as they believe that they will end up like father/mother who has infidelity issues.
Egalitarian marriage is easier than traditional marriage!

In present society it is very hard to find stay at home moms/dads as our culture has put it in our head that when it comes to responsibility in the marriage the traditional man provides and wife does the dishes is not acceptable anymore.

Marriage should be a shared responsibility with 50/50 split in all tasks, in this manner each of the parties involves develops a healthy appreciation of each others worth in the marriage. This is a typical person doing his share of the 50/50 of course as he would say it feels like 70/30 ha ha.

Children solidify a marriage!

A lot of people say that kids in a marriage are what bind the couples together but why is it that even with kids people still divorce, probably because with all the time devoted to the kids they neglected themselves in the process.

It is important that even if you have kids your spouse should come first as this will make for an intact family, remember the stories of people who have lost all feelings for each other staying together only for the sake of their kids is wrong, they should have not neglected themselves or their partners, a loving couple will always have time for their children. Find time for your partner.
Great sex easier than ever.

We are surrounded by sexual innuendo in everything we do and we see, TV shows portray people having terrific sex but when it comes to your own it just does not match up, want to know why? The reason being is that what used to be sacred and only you and your partners has been shown a lot in the media that ofter you don't feel you can live up to the hype.

In your mind you are replaying the scene that you saw and living in that fantasy expect the same in your marriage so when it turns up not as great then you look for this fantasy somewhere else and so begins the downfall.

Couples should learn to discover themselves and clear their minds of what the media shows us what great sex should be.

Lambchops play along

I was amazed one day when I was watching my son staring intently at Qubo (a kids channel in cable), then as if by unknown agreement he started singing, " This is a song that never ends". I have noticed that he has become adept at memorizing TV show themes especially the kids shows that he watches.

I guess he has a mind for music, I hope that he does not lose his enthusiasm when he grows up because kids usually when they grow up lose the part of themselves that enjoyed and loved life even if it is just singing or humming along a tune.

As adults we lose the simple pleasures of life and it takes children to remind us that these are the things that matter most.

Here is the video of the song that never ends:

Artificial Intelligence

I guess the title will have readers thinking this discussion is about Science Fiction, but this could not be more farther than the truth, I wanted to talk about the slight differences between being smart vs wise.



I had mentioned in my previous blog about my husband, I consider him smart and I consider myself wise, in case you are wondering let me explain a little further. In Filipino parlance "wise" literally means cunning, able to take advantage of a situation when it best presents itself.

Wise on the other hand means that decisions generally made when a problem is encountered amount to the right decision taken, an individual who has a lot of experience dealing with certain situations in his/her life will generally not make the right decision when confronted with the same dilemma or issue.

Smart equates to being highly intelligent, more to the point smart is honed by skills and logical reasoning based on facts that are clearly laid out, as an example a PC runs purely on logic that computations and permutations are large either 0 or 1. If I have a file and I delete it the PC just runs the logic in the most efficient manner and completes the process, but it cannot decide that maybe the file should not be removed.

Based on these I would consider my hubby to be generally well knowledgeable in a lot of things as he can seamlessly carry on a conversation about most things under the sun. He does exhibit the traits of being wise when he is at work because as he puts it " problems come with only the partial glimpses of their true nature, but deciding the course of action to take is harder to do"

I consider myself wise as I have a sense of maturity in making decisions since I was a young adult, granted that some of them may have been wrong, I decide on a course of action merely because it was logically the right thing to do.

A person would like to be both wise and smart, being a wise person means you have come up on a lot of experiences in life and being smart means that you are able to figure out most things.

One hopefully strives for both in their daily lives.

So how bout you do you fall on the smart ones or the wise ones?

8 Random Facts About Me

"Bigeyedgal" tagged me to participate in the 8 Random Facts About Me . I think I've done this before so if you've been reading my other journals, I'm probably repeating myself =). I'm tagging Leaflet and Raft3r

1. When I was a kid I skipped Kindergarten and went straight to grade 1, I passed the aptitude test in school and because of that my older sister became my classmate until high school.

2. At the age of 11yrs old I joined a Catholic Ministry, I was in a music ministry group attending bible studies, seminars and religious outreach program, I was a member until my college years. You probably know this as Loved Flock headed by Bimbong Crisologo.

3. I was a member of our community church choir when I was 9 yrs old till I went to college. I'm an Alto and I played the Tambourines. I was also a choir member in High school competing with other schools till I graduated.

4. I had my 1st boyfriend when I was 13yrs old.

5. I avidly joined float festivals such as the "Santacrusan".

6. I met my hubby when I was 17yrs old and got married at the age of 23.

7. My friends in Grade School call me Cathay, CJ, Catherine.

8. I love to go out, I think I have restless feet and I feel the urge to take a walk or a stroll as I can't feel cooped up in one place too long.

Missing My Family in Jersey!

These are photos of my family in Jersey, I miss them as when we still lived there we would go out from time to time to sample or dine out in restaurant of our choice. We also could chat about anything or nothing. It is good to know that you have family around that you can help each other out, hopefully we get to visit them one of these days.



My Brother (AJ), Sis in law (Guerlain), younger sister (Marie) and My Beloved Beautiful Mother!

Snowfall Before Spring Season '08

As I woke up this (sat) morning I looked outside and saw Louisville braces for another big snowfall, it all started yesterday Friday afternoon. I'm a little bit happy and sad because I got to see some snowfall one more time before spring comes in about 2weeks from now but I'm sad because I'm stuck again here in our apartment with nothing to do except household chores. Weekend for what it's supposed to be our family day, we go out usually, practice my driving, go to Mickey D's playhouse, Barnes and Noble Bookstore etc. But we're stuck here because of this crazy weather, also DST Daylight Saving Time starts tomorrow, the time's gonna change again forward meaning less sleep and more daylight. I'm getting depressed here overtime! I just want to sleep all day but I'm scared that I might get pre-eclampsia. Back to my routine life! Can't wait to move to our new place to see new surroundings and I'm so looking forward to spring and summer season. I so hate winter! I hate the feeling of a chilly, winter breeze, watering my eyes and turning my nose in an instant faucet! And one more thing our electric bill gotten so high that sometimes I want to turn off the heater and just get inside the comforter all day all night! I hope this could be the last snowfall for this winter season! I've had enough of winter! I'm really fed up with all the snow and winter storms!

Here's the picture that I took this morning during the snowfall today about 8-12 inches high and I took also some pictures in the afternoon after the snowfall.


While taking the pictures outside I saw a bird snooping around outside our patio maybe he's trying to get inside our apartment because of the bad weather.

The Bird who snoops around outside our sliding door!
I took this picture inside our window

The afternoon shot at the pool
At the Tennis Court

About My Hubby Tag

Tagged by Em. Right now I'm tagging Leaflet.

How long did you date? - 5 years and 10mos.

How old is he? - He's turning 34.

Who eats more? - Hubby but he's sexier than me =)

Who said I love you first? - Hubby but right now mas madalas ako.

Who is taller? - Hubby by 2inches.

Who sings better? - He claims that he's better than me pero di ako pumapayag hahaha....

Who is smarter? - I won't deny it. He's smarter than me but I'm wiser than him =).

Whose temper is worse? - Me. Di ako nagpapasindak.

Who does the laundry? - My hubby but we fold our clothes together.

Who does the dishes? - I do this mon-thurs then my hubby fri-sun. O di ba talagang may schedule yan.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? - Hubby kasi malapit sa window eh ayaw ko sa window.

Who pays the bill? - Hubby.

Who mows the lawn? - None

Who cooks dinner? Me.

Who drives when you are together? Hubby.

Who is more stubborn? - Both of us.

Who kissed who first? - Me. Sobrang lambing ako eh.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? - Hubby. Kasi di ako nagpapatalo eh.

Whose parents do you see the most?- Right now none.

Who proposed? - I think both of us coz we want to get married na that time.

Who is more sensitive? Right now me but before si hubby.

Who has more friends? - I think both of us have a lot of friends.

Who has more siblings? - Me.

Who wears the pants in the family? - Hubby. He's the bread winner, the provider of the resources.

The Prize is Right!

I am sure everybody has heard of Bob Barker and his game show " The Prize is Right", I mean this was pretty big back then and in some ways it is still big now. I had mentioned a while back that we were going out to look at some furnishings for the apartment, typically furniture, beds and etc. So last sunday we decided to cruise around for them and we found this warehouse type furniture dealer American Freight.

The place had everything with different brands and choices from complete living room sets, bedroom and dining table sets and the biggest thing of all was the price, they were not exactly expensive they were just right.

They also had a good lay away program that does not require any credit check and credit card application so for people starting out that have not built up their credit it is also good. Suffice it to say the warehouse does not have the amenities of air conditioning and suited attendants answering your questions, the place had very capable staff and the reason they can sell stuff lower is because they do not have to pay a premium on the rental.

In the end we ended up buying two queen set of mattresses and beds, a sofa set, a dining table set and some coffee tables to round it all out, I remember that we did not have any gifts for ourselves during Christmas, B-day and Anniversary as we were looking to move so in retrospect I believe we got our money's worth.

Madonna

I heard the superstar Madonna will be having a concert in the Philippines according to my sister in law, on her blog site. I was always curious as to have stars come in to their concert venues so I found this video and it shows Madonna arriving at a concert.

P.S. I like some of her songs but I am not really crazy for her. Just sit back and relax as you watch this video.

6 Quirky Things About Me

Sorry for the late post been busy lately. My husband told me that I'm not that weird or quirky...So here's the short list of my quirkiness..

1. I don't usually wear shorts when there are other people around unless I'm very comfortable with them and I've known them for a long time.

2. I don't eat squid or at the least the part with tentacles because I imagine that they might come alive in my stomach ala Sigourney Weaver "Alien" ;)

3. I'm a very observant person even if I don't know you that much I can say many things about you that you might find surprising. I based this through your physical appearance and the way you talk.

4. I have pretty good intuition sometimes because I can sense things that are going to happen either bad or good and later on it will really happen.

5. My husband told me that I talk a lot about many things, in short makulit hahaha...I will not stop asking and tell you my story about anything.

6. I like to debate a lot and reason out, I will not stop until I prove to you that I have a point and even show you the facts that I am right. I am a frustrated lawyer wannabe.

I was tagged by Bigeyedgal and Coriander Dreams.

A Blessed Addition To The Family

The visit to my OB turned out pretty well, she said that I was going along well with my pregnancy and that the baby was healthy, during the visit the baby was actively moving about and making some ruckus probably because of my excitement on finding the gender of the baby.

Drum roll please! We are pleased to announce that our second child will be a boy, the Sonographer in attendance during my visit took one look and said right away that it was a boy, I of course was mildly surprised and I asked her again to confirm and she did with pictures as evidence and she also pointed out the developing male genitalia of the baby.




After being shown the picture I did not know how to react because I was assuming that it was a girl, and looking at some different Chinese Calendars and believing the old wives tales of my physical appearance they determined that the baby would be a girl.

My husband was surprised as well but he is also happy because he has two boys and he can always start his football team with them, also my son was ecstatic as whenever I ask him for the baby's name he always tell us that he likes to name the baby Sam.

So in ending we now know what to expect and we are trying to get our affairs in other like picking out a name, preparing a baby shower that my husband will give me. I will of course keep you all updated on any developments.

*This is not my ultrasound picture, I got this from Ivillage.com 22weeks development.* The sonographer did not take a good picture so this is just a visualization of the a baby at 22 weeks.

Driving Mr. Daisy

I know most if not all of you have seen "Driving Mrs. Daisy" where Morgan Freeman is in the employ of wealthy southern lady, Jessica Tandy. In the movie it spans the relationship that they had for a couple of years and how it had stood up to change.




I put the title for this piece as "Driving Mr. Daisy" because I recently had the opportunity to drive my husband and my son when we were going for my monthly checkup, it somehow resembled the movie as Jessica Tandy had certain beliefs that she could not let go even though the times have changed, same with my husband. I know that he trusts me with my driving but he is a backseat driver and would constantly make correction to my driving.

All in all it was a wonderful day as I had attended a driving class before going to the doctors office, the instructor was very helpful with a couple of faults being that I was a "lazy driver" because I don't crane my neck when backing the car. I also tended to over compensate on the brakes as it would not be a graceful stop but I believe that with time I will be able to overcome this thing.

So the road to independence is very near and I am very proud needless to say this does not sit in well with my husband as I can now pick him up when he goes on his late night forays with co workers, the better to keep an eye on him:)

I will keep everyone informed on the success of my road test.

NutJobs

A few days ago I had an experience that scared the living daylights out of me, on that day we were minding our business when we heard some loud rapping against our door. The knocking was going on repeatedly and with no let up and when the person on the other side stopped he went to another door opposite our place and started knocking again suffice it to say that I believe he covered all the doors in complex.

I have heard of resourceful people who do surveys door to door but looking at the door peephole, I immediately convinced myself that this person was neither, in way it was like he was listening for signs of life or if anyone would open their doors.

Needless to say this drove me into a frenzy, which I called my husband who in turn called building management and they sent somebody to look but could not find the person as they had probably left, lesson of course don't ever open the door for anybody even if it is the police and they brandish a badge, if it is the police tell them that you will confirm with 911 if they sent a person over to your place, also do the same if you are not expecting a package.

I still remember the incident but that is one of the reasons why we are moving from this place, make no mistake the place is good but because it is so transient there is the prospect of these things happening.