It's 4:00 am

I don't normally wake up this early, even for work. I guess I'm just excited to go home. I've been living out of a suitcase in the past week and today I fly back home.

Two of our resident offices requested assistance on the use of our new electronic filing system and my supervisor thought of sending me as we were not able to get anyone from our IT department to go. I think I pulled it off.

A number of firsts on this trip:

My first trip to Viet Nam. Our office is located in Hanoi and it's only now that I knew that the city has a lot of lakes! I went to the closest one, Hoan Kiem, and just walked around. I had my share of playing patintero with the motorbikes that ply the streets and I survived!

This week, I was able to walk to and from work. I wish I could do that back home but no, walking to and from work for more than an hour is not an option. The office is Hanoi is about five minutes away from my hotel, most of the time spent in waiting for the motor cycles to pass before crossing the streets. The one here in Phnom Penh is ten minutes away. I could've taken a tuktuk for a dollar, but walking sounded better since it was only for 10 minutes and there are parks everywhere.

Last Wednesday, I was able to have breakfast in Hanoi, lunch in Vientiane (upon take off from a technical stop), and dinner in Phnom Penh. Cool, huh?

Tasted Cambodian food for the first time. This is my second time here in Phnom Penh, but the last time, we had all types of food, even Filipino, but never Cambodian. It was good and quite similar to ours.

Everyday this week, I wake up before the alarm. I don't know why but that's how it is. Today's the worst, I won't have to get up 'til 6am, but I was up at 3! I know I'm so excited to go home, although I won't be home until 9PM tonight. Hubby will bring Maia to the airport when he comes to meet me. I sure wish my daughter still knows who I am.

~*~*~*~

Let me also share these 2 pieces of conversation:

Vietnamese colleague: Where are you from?
me: The Philippines.
Vietnamese colleague: Really, you don't have the accent!

Cambodian colleague: Where are you from?
me: The Philippines.
Cambodian colleague: Oh, so that's why you have the accent.

Funny no? I wonder what accent I have.

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Second Hair Cut

DSC03687
Originally uploaded by haetec

Yesterday, we brought Maia back to Cuts and Tots for her second hair cut. Her hair was still long and with the summer heat, she got rashes on her neck and nape.

There was this kid that was (sort of) bullying her. He would get whatever toy Maia was holding. Maybe because he got there first that he thought everything was his. Anyway, I was closely watching the kid and my daughter's reactions. I was ready to pounce at the shadow of a tear, but thankfully, my daughter was cool about it and just let the kid take whatever he wants and she'll get another toy instead. My mother-in-law is doing a good job raising her.

Earlier that morning her pediatrician commented that she was such a nice kid. "Ang bait-bait na bata. Maganda ang pagpapalaki nyo sa kanya," was what she said. You bet my ears are clapping!

Right now, Maia babbles a lot! Words that really don't make sense to us. She says "buga" to mean "bulaga!" Sometimes, she shortens it to just "ba." She loves to read more than play with her toys. She can now identify a number of things from her picture books. These include lions, tigers, monkeys, fishes, birds (all kinds of birds are birds), rabbits, etc. She know most of the Sesame Street puppets/monsters. She loves Elmo and Ernie. She dances to every tune she hears, even church hymns. She can tell you where her hair, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, feet and pwet are.

She has an attitude though. She wants to have whatever it is that we are holding. If we don't give it to her, she wails. So we just let her cry or give her another item to distract her. So far she's responding to our tricks. Although I don't think that will last, she catches up real fast. It is really funny how very difficult it is to outsmart a one-year old.

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The Cost of Having Children

Reposting this from Data's note in Facebook.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with P5,404,725.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But P5,404,725.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* P300,262.50 a year,
* P25,021.88 a month, or
* P6,255.50 a week.
* That's a mere P893.64 a day!
* Just over P37.23 an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your P5,404,725.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold..
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.


For P5,404,725.00, you never have to grow up.

You get to:

* finger-paint,
* bake chocolate chip cookies,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle, wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere P893.64 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a softball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless..

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!

It's the best investment you'll make!

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I am on a Diet!

Last year, during my physical exam, I found that I have a string of gallstones. This year, I asked for an additional upper abdominal ultrasound to check on them. And they have grown, a lot! I used to have only about 9 stones, now, they counted around 50!!

The doctor told me that there are two schools of thought regarding gallstones. One is that if it's not painful then just let it be. The other is to take them out while one's still young and relatively has a lower risk during surgery, as it will surely be painful later on.

I immediately called our Ninong Surgeon and asked for his opinion. He confirmed what the office doctor has told me. He said that surgery is the best option. That it is better to take them out now than do an emergency surgery later.

I'm having second (and third, and fourth) thoughts about it. Aside from the fact that surgeries are always expensive, I started thinking about the risks of undergoing surgeries. I trust Ninong Surgeon with my and my family's life, but what if? Especially since he's not the only one in the operating room. Also, I heard that one of my friends' mom died while undergoing a gallstone removal surgery. Mas lalo ako napraning!

Then I learned that the Institute for Natural Healing has a clinic in Bgy. Kapitolyo. The place is near, so I took time off yesterday Thursday afternoon to go there for a consult. There, I was told that gallstones are either caused by a weak liver, or a weak gall bladder. A weak liver may be caused by the following: fatty food, caffeine, alcohol, medicines, puyat, heavy dinner, frequent meals, and stress. I don't remember the causes of a weak gall bladder.

I was also told that following our natural body clock, our liver produces enzymes from 5am, peaks at 12 noon then slows down by 6pm. From 9pm to 12 midnight, our brain recharges; and from 10pm to 2am, it's the liver's turn. We should be asleep by 9pm to give our internal organs time to recharge.

So to "flush" my gallstones out, I was given a 10-day diet, everyday, I should:

• have a King's breakfast, a Queen's lunch and dinner should be in liquid form, that is, juices, soy milk or soups (breakfast and lunch should mostly be vegetables and occasional fish);
• drink at least 1 liter of 100% apple juice;
• drink 1 glass of grapefruit juice with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil; and,
  
• drink calamansi juice as often as I can.
  

On the 10th and 11th day, I should skip dinner and at 6pm take 1 glass of grape juice with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt. This should be repeated at 8pm. Then at 10pm, I should take a mixture of 4 ounces of calamansi juice with 4 ounces of extra virgin olive oil, (I think this would be the most difficult part) then apply hot compress in the liver area while lying on my right side.

The next day, upon waking up, I should drink 2 glasses of water and after 30 minutes, do the salt water flush, I should drink a mixture of the following within 10- 20 minutes:

• 2 liters of warm distilled water
• 20ml of sea salt (table salt)
• 20ml of calamansi juice
  

After that, I should expect some loose bowel movement, wherein hopefully most of the stones will be flushed.

I am on my third day today, first day and second day were ok, I didn't even feel hungry during the last 2 nights. The grapefruit juice with olive oil is not at all yucky if I don't smell the olive oil.

I am hopeful that with this therapy, coupled with a lot of prayer, I won't need surgery for the removal of my gall stones.

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New Year

I got this from Niña, and since today is technically the start of a new year for me, I tried it out and here it is.



Here's the second part of the text.

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Lullabye

I love music, but music doesn't love me back. While I can easily memorize a song, I cannot carry a tune. Anyway, when Maia was born, I so wanted to sing to her like what other moms do. But since I'm almost always off key, I just hummed, and the song has always been "My Lord and I." Somehow, whenever I put her to sleep it is always the first song that comes to mind. This is the first hymn I've ever memorized as a kid and never forgot it since.

This evening, since it was only me and her, I tried singing Maia to sleep, and again, My Lord and I was the song I sang. I also sang "Sweet Jesus" and "My Faith Looks Up to Thee." Yes, I equate hymns with lullabies, I am weird that way. Maia was asleep in less than 15 minutes. I'm thinking she's really tired. That, or she just wanted Nanay to stop singing.

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Blessings in 2008

This was supposed to be a new year post but I just can't seem to find the words on how God has blessed me and my family in 2008. So I found this meme and I thought I'd do it this way.

Instructions:
Take the first sentence (or two) from the first entry of each month and post it here. That’s your year in review.

• January
  The new year brings new stuff for me. For one, I no longer have my mom here to "wait" on me. She migrated to the US to be with my sister. Imagine how I miss her here, especially since I've been with her for 3 decades!
• February
  Layas (stress on the last syllable) is a Filipino word that refers to someone who's always on the go. My friends call Maia layas. Where else can you find a baby whose been to Bataan twice in one month. She's been to Subic and Clark also in a span of one month... and she's only 2 months old!
• March
  I am very thankful for a little girl's toothless smile very early in the morning.
• April
  I love traveling. I love going to new places, seeing new places and going back to places I've enjoyed visiting. Currently, my dream is to be able to bring my family to the places I've been to and to discover new places with them.
• May
  I was invited to join a lunch gathering by a former staff who came to visit. I agreed, but somehow I feel that I will just be there to eat and not take a very active part in the conversation. I backed out.
• June
  No update for weeks, sorry! I'm being domesticated, I have just finished cleaning up our fridge and I'll do some more ironing after this update.
  
• July
  This post from Batjay not only applies to OFWs, I believe it also applies to me who live and work here in the Philippines.
  
• August
  We stayed in again today and decided not to go to church because of the rain.
  
• September
  Post was only a flickr meme. What happened in September?
  
• October
  September went by in a breeze. October is almost gone. Been really busy at work.
• November
  After one week of being discharged from the hospital, Maia got the common cold.
• December
  Earlier I received an sms message saying to look at the sky as it is smiling.

I got lazy blogging during the last part of the year that I was not able to write about our house project. Yes, we're building our house! Our loan got approved in July, we started building in November and we hope to be able to move before 2009 ends.

Look, we've got walls now!

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