ALTERED

And my life was altered JUST.LIKE.THAT!

Two years ago, I was very much single and unattached.  I had my whole life -- time, resources, energy, and everything within my control <oh well, and God's, of course>.  The thing is, I had everything planned according to how I like it -- I will finish school, I will travel to the ends of what my extra savings could reach <translated as promo fares>, I will have fun. Life was good. And honestly, I could stay like that forever.

Then a man, and later - a boy swept me off my feet -- and my life has gradually changed. First, the proposal. Then, the marriage, then the bump, now the baby.

No more shopping sprees. No more overtimes. No more starbucks, or yellow cab, or other late-night joyride and getaways. Now, I try to forget about spending too much, and start saving for the family.
My life now revolves around my two boys, who are actually my joys.

My dreams, aspirations, and priorities have changed, too.

This time around, my time, resources, energy, and everything will be --first and foremost to God, and to my family.  With God's grace, and strength, I will be my husband's helpmate, his partner in crime, his listener of his <paulit-ulit >stories, his right ear <because his' is no longer functioning>, his number one fan, and critic...I may not be highly domesticated -- but I will see to it that I will manage the home first,  before managing anything outside of the home.

As for our little bundle of joy -- I will play with him, laugh with him, sing to him, dance him, cuddle him, kiss him, feed him, teach him, and love, love, LOVE him!

I have made it a resolve that nothing shall come between me and the needs of my family...because of all the responsibilities placed on my hand, or the aspirations within my reach -- this is the one thing I'm certain that has an eternal value.


My life was altered, all right, but I love every bit of its changes... I don't want it any other way.

Missing UP

While on search for a relevant issue to share to my PST class, I found these --

-http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/205957/why-students-need-to-learn-about-the-arts and http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/97499/you-can%E2%80%99t-improve-what-you-can%E2%80%99t-measure

These articles are significant not only because I find them worth sharing to my students, but also because the author happens to be my professor in UP -- the only one I've had during my meaningful stint as a student in the country's one of the best, if not the best universities.

Yep, I took all my twelve units under her class (6 per semester), and if you're from UP College of Education, you would know that Dr Koo is toxic -- requirements wise....  four reaction papers (5 pages the least), 1 research paper, 1 oral and written report, 1 narrative are not easy tasks to juggle with -- that's more than fifty pages all in all! and since I was taking two classes under her -- that's just twice as hard! Whenever my classmates learn that i'm taking two classes with her, they would tell me -- "what?!", I will just respond with a smile...and tell them... yeah..

But it was fun. Really. Modesty aside, I think I aced all my classes... and I shall give due credits to her... clearly, the educational psychology expert has really stretched out the motivational fibers in me...Her classes were a mental feasts--in a light, smooth sailing way...it was like conversing and sharing with each other about technical terms on educational psychology, and before I knew it...classes were over...when I do a mental rundown on what transpired... I would realize there's so much I had learned..... Basically, I have learned to like reading journals, and critiquing, and analyzing researches... I was always on the lookout for free downloadable entries or articles from sage, eric, and ebsco.. I would download all of them like panic-buying before the duration expires, and thinking  that one or most of them might land on my future "RRL". The habit of reading research articles, and searching for what could be its "research gap" may sound geeky to some, but I enjoyed it like eating ice cream.  The way my professor handled all our classes totally invalidate all the scary, crazy stuffs I heard about UP before.  She was very professional, too! In the beginning of the semester, she gives you an idea of what to expect for the coming days -- the lessons, the dates when requirements are due, the "no-classes" day within the semester -- and they were followed strictly.  She returns papers right on time, complete with notations, commendations, and recommendations!

That's why, even if studying on my own expense, and on top of my work load was a bit difficult -- schedule and tasks wise, it was fine with me, I was having fun, and I know it was worth my every penny.

And so there are times when I tend to miss Thursdays -- when I will have to ride a bus going to Magallanes, have a quick grab of something to eat before riding the MRT going to Quezon Ave, ride a jeepney to UP, or when I'm already late, take a taxi which would cost me around seventy to 100 Php. Room 205, Benitez Hall -- that's where I'd be from two thirty pm to eight thirty pm...while I enjoy the mental feast, I was also hoping every time that the class would  end rather early.... by eight or eight thirty, I'd be hurrying down the stairs, ride the jeepney to Philcoa, ride a bus to Kamuning, and if i'm lucky I will be able to catch the nine pm bus just about to leave to balibago... but some nights, I'd be so unlucky, I will have to wait till the ten pm bus gathers enough passengers before it leaves. That means, I'd be in AUP by twelve midnight.

When I recall about it now, I cannot imagine how I endured, and survived everything.

Unfortunately <but not bitterly>... my pursuit for post graduate studies had to be postponed indefinitely...I am still hoping I will finish what I had started, I don't know when... but some dreams have to be put to the side lines to focus on more important things... things I cannot afford to give up...things I will not dare miss!

Could he be teething?

I have been waiting. Waiting patiently for the first tooth to come out!

I lost count already, but every time I happen to meet mothers, I would often ask them "Kelan nag ngipin anak mo?" Some would say, at four months, five months, or six.... I heard one mother said that when the child has started on solids, that's when the tooth eventually comes out.

Well, my baby just turned six months last Saturday (August 25), and had his first official solid food the next day.  I started with pureed apples, which he's been gladly taking for three days now. No tooth yet.  A few weeks ago, his pedia checked on his gums, and said "hindi pa naman namamaga..."

The newsletter I received today from whattoexpect.com is all about teething.  According to them, here are the five signs of teething:

• Drooling. Check. He let's out slimy drools from time to time that often falls on my shirt whenever I hold him up in superman stunt. What's more, he can make tiny bubbles out of them, too! cute!
• Gnawing. Check. I can feel those little toothless nips on my breasts, ouch! I would often tell him "Please don't do that".... He also loves munching on his teether now...when he was three months old, I tried to give him teether, and he didn't like it..he would cry knowing that there's no milk flowing out of that oddly shaped silicone.  I thought he would never like to use teethers... but I was wrong... he likes it now, and has actually become his best toy.
• Crying. No Check.  He cries all right... but that's because he's hungry, or bored, or wet, or sleepy... i'm quite certain it's not about gum pains, or something.
• Fasting. What?! Oh well, like his mother, fasting is a foreign word to my baby....even when he is sick, I never noticed him having significant change in his appetite.  When his nose was stuffy due to colds,  he had difficulty sucking, but he still finished his bottle, or empty my breasts, though at a much slower pace.
• Waking. Not certain. He still wakes up in the middle of the night... but most of the time, to feed. Not fussy, except when he's really sick... so, I don't know.

So that's two out of five.  And mommy has to keep waiting... Until then, I will savor the moments of his adorable toothless grins...

Yet AGAIN!

So, here's another attempt to get into blogging.

I tried one with multiply before... but when I started facebook, I got hooked into it, and forgot about updating my multiply account, as well as my other social network sites. When you're a busy person, and you just want a virtual expression of some sort, facebook is the place to be...

So, why start blogging again?

When I was on my maternity leave, and stuck with my breastfeeding kiddo 24/7 in two or three months, the mommyblogs I stumbled upon in my google searches became my best friends.  Somehow, I could say that they helped me cope with post partum blues just by "reading them."  No, I don't know these mommy bloggers personally, no plans of introducing myself to them either, but reading their blogs has been my favorite past time... not only do they provide me information about motherhood experiences, I find them entertaining, too. What's more, I got inspired to write about my own thoughts, and experiences as well.

However, this blog is not meant to popularize my virtual presence, or make money out of this. It's just my way of  rekindling my journaling habit, and upgrading it several notches higher -- going techie that is.  When I was in high school until my college days, I used to have little notebooks where I write random thoughts, inspirations, and other stuff. When I entered adulthood, I had outgrown them like the way I outgrew body-fit shirts, miniskirts, colorful gel pens, and other fancy stuffs.

But the past year has altered my life tremendously -- I had a sweetheart, got married, I became a wife, got pregnant, and now a mother! I wear more significant hats now -- which means, more responsibilities, more reasons to know and research about a lot of things, and more reasons to write and share.

So this, shall be my humble attempt (AGAIN) to share my thoughts, inspirations, researches, experiences as a friend, student, teacher, daughter, sister, counselor, wife, mother... yes, I'm ALL THAT!