Plants galore

I’ve been meaning to share these pictures with you. These are some rare plants that I took with my old Canon camera (those were the good old days). I so love these pics because these are plants I rarely get to see.

I spotted this “polka-dotted” plant in Laguna, if I remember correctly, at Exotik Restaurant. Wendy was so amused by this leaf! 

This small, cute tomato is the Paris version of our tomato.

I honestly don’t know what this plant is, but I just found the “lining up” cute.  

Now, this is something we will not get to see here in the Philippines: hollies! It felt like Christmas when I saw these in a Paris garden!

There! Some of my most favorite shots! Hopefully, next time, I can get to share more pictures!

Of oils and leaks

Remember Selina Sevilla? The one who had silicon oil injected to her butt around 10 years ago as a procedure for butt augmentation and is now suing the “doctor” who performed the procedure because “about five years ago, she felt pain and she noticed that her butt started discharging an oil-like substance” [gosh, maybe she should have put a Delta faucet “so that the leak would go out in an orderly manner”].

Anyway, most of us would ask, “Why, oh why did she had to have her butt done? She was pretty enough!”

Well, the answer would be simple:  We age,we get fats, we sag, and we’re WOMEN!. What a deadly combination!

And some women can’t accept these facts! And no matter how some may seem beautiful to others, it will never be enough!

Now, lucky for most of us, we are not celebrities and really don’t have to look good all the time! Extra pressure is put on celebrities to look perfect all the time, even when they age. So that must be what propels these women to go under the knife for the sake of beauty!

But I believe that there’s one more deeper explanation: These women will never be satisfied with how they look. And that’s where the problem really lies. Whn you’re not satisfied, you have lipo, undergo augmentation, and have all those things done to you.

I just hope I don’t come to that!

Nice to know that even celebrites like J. Lo get those bumps in unwanted places!

Losing weight the "bad" way

My younger sister told me that, lately, I seem to be losing weight (and asked if I have found the best diet pill). However, the scale is telling me no, I am not losing weight. My weight has been steady in my normal range.

So that got me thinking how she would say that. How can my weight stay steady and yet look like losing weight? Is that possible? Yes, I think.

I realized that it must be that I look to have lost weight by the simple fact that I look gaunt (to exagerate it). With all the “stress” and hardwork these past few weeks, I must have been feeling a bit tired and looked like it. These past days [and weeks] have been doing this, doing that, going here, going there! Ha! And the stress must be the reason why I look “payat”!

Well, I certainly don’t want to look payat because of stress. Pangit yun! He! He! So I promise to manage my days more efficiently again, as I have done in the past!

Aftershock

In the aftermath of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s SONA, a lot has been said. There are those who saluted the president for all the accomplishments under her leadership. And ofcourse, there will always be the critics, who seemingly cannot see anything good about the president and the current administration.

As for me, not to sound so apathetic, I don’t really care what she has said (like making “parinig” to all her enemies) or promised (I haven’t even heard or read the transcript of her speech so I don’t know if she promised healthcare and disability insurance just like Obama did), I just want this to be her last. P-e-r-i-o-d!

GMA’s sauna

This morning, Wendy asked me why they won’t be having classes on Monday. I told her it was because of the SONA.

She said, “What? Diba dun nagpapa-init?” She was referring to sauna.

I laughed at her innocence, happy that she isn’t “politicized” yet. I explained that the SONA was a speech made by the president wherein he/she reviews all her accomplishments (much like liporexall reviews) and where he/she makes more promises. “Ahhhh, I see.”

Come to think of it though, she may have a point. I mean, a lot of people are and will be “hot-headed” when it comes to the president’s SONA. Kung baga, madami ang umiinit ang ulo. And the Batasanwill become one big sauna!

As for me, I don’t really pay much attention to it. But I, together with majority of Filipinos, hope that this will be GMA’s last SONA.

Manipulative Mama

If you think only children are manipulative, think again!

KG [holding six pieces of small hotdogs]: Wends, how many hotdogs do you want for your baon tomorrow?

PW: Kahit ilan.

KG [teasing]: Ok lang kung one lang?

PW: Huh? NO!!!!! Four!

KG: Four? That’s too few!!

PW: Ok! Seven!

KG: Six na lang kasi these are paired by twos.

PW: Ok, six.

So no matter how you think children seem to be always getting their way, parents have something up their sleeve to get those dental discounts or get out of that traffic ticket!

Big baby

Last week, an officemate/friend gave birth to a 9.4-kg baby girl. Yes, n-i-n-e point f-o-u-r! I know what you’re thinking, sooo big! One friend even remarked that the baby must have walked after getting out of mummy’s tummy and might have gone straight to school! And though the baby might not need weight loss pills yet, she might be wanting to eat ulam and rice right away!

This is not an unusual phenomenon these past few years. I mean, in the past year,  three of our officemates also delivered babies weighing in the range of 7 to 10 kg!

I remember when Wendy was born, she weighed a mere 5.4 kg. She was like a bottle of coke that you can carry with one of your hands. She was sooo fragile and looked undernourished [which she probably was]. Yes, admittedly, she looked like an alien! But as she grew and became nourished, she slowly got stuffier, until she became the chubby cute little girl she is now! He! He!

 Wendy, at two months, with her Kuya Ean

So I wonder what it is with babies these days! They are much, much bigger! But I hope that bigger means healthier!

Learning about information security

With the inevitable rise of the world of computers, anything related to computers is important.

Computer-related courses have been booming since the last decade. A number of my friends have studied computer science in college, and studying about this technology has become important step for many people.

Lewis University,  a Catholic and Lasallian university in Chicago, Illinois, is one that offers information technology courses, one of which is MS in Information Security. I think that this course is very much relevant, especially in this world where information on the Internet can be very powerful. One interesting thing about this course is that:

This master’s program will challenge you to think, analyze, and strategize in unconventional ways and to expand your creative and innovative problem-solving abilities. It is a highly dynamic online program that provides students with the technological and managerial tools to safeguard businesses and government agencies from the growing risks and threats to IT functionality, integrity and data privacy they face on a daily basis.

What a great way to word learning about information security, and it seems a unique way and view of teaching this important subject! And another great thing? It’s an online course! So wherever you may be, you can easily sign up for this master’s course! Isn’t it great? [I’ve also always wanted to take an online master’s course through UP Open University.]

So those yearning to learn more about this course, just visit the Web site of Lewis Univeristy! 

Kids and money

Kids nowadays must think that money can be picked from any tree or that their parents have money stored in wholesale housewares around the wolrd.

Teaching kids about money issues is tricky. How can you tell them, “no, I can’t buy you that” without them feeling that you don’t love them? How can you tell them why many sometimes, they will not get what they want? How will we impart to them the importance of money?

Well, the most basic and important thing is to make your kids realize the value and importance of money, because if you don’t, they will see that it’s just “another thing” and not manage it porperly.

Below are some tips on teaching kids about the value of money. Hope these help!

1. Show Them What You’re Working With

Currently my wife and I used a basic Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all our monthly expenses and our monthly cash flow.  I think it will be truly beneficial to sit down with our son to kind of show him what we have coming in versus what we have coming out.  We would then show him what we contribute towards our savings account, what we tithe,   and also retirement savings. That way we show him that every dollar that comes in is not spent, and a good chunk goes toward either the savings account or saving for his college education.

 

2. Get Techy

Nowadays there are many money education sites that can teach kids the basics of money.  One example that comes to mind is kids.gov.  Before they plan to work for money, they must be comfortable with the real thing.  They need to touch dollars and coins, count them, stack them and learn that they are concrete things.

When they become a little more advanced, you could even consider games like the Stock Market Game.  Kids are able to invest $100,000 of fake money and purchase securities at real time.  That way they could really see how the market really works.

 

3. Walk the Walk

Kids watch more than they listen to lectures.  You might be the greatest money manager in the world, but if you don’t show and tell your kids on what you’re doing then they can’t learn from you.

 

4. Make allowances count

Growing up my parents gave me basic chores of just mowing the lawn and taking out the trash, and the only thing I really got paid for was the lawn.  I think, though, that by incorporating other weekly tasks for my son to do, will give him both a sense of responsibility, and also an appreciation for the money that he earns for the task that he does.  Go beyond spending money.  Require kids to save, invest, and donate.  They need to learn that money isn’t just for spending.

 

5. Play Match Maker

Just like a 401k match, you can add to their savings total.  That should give them an incentive to fill their piggy banks.  Don’t forget about the grandparents!  Let them match, too.

 

6. Be Nice, Just Not Too Nice.

Even if you can afford to give your kid a comfortable allowance, don’t.  By about age 12 kids should do small paying jobs for friends or family members.  At 16 they’re capable of getting summer jobs and saving for their own expenses.

No matter how you do it, teaching your child the value of money is imperative to their financial success.  Give your child the tools they need to be become a financial champion!

A new perspective on MJ

Honestly, at first, when I heard of Michael Jackson’s death, no emotion stirred up within me. I was shocked at first, yes, but I wasn’t really affected. I know, I know, we were in his generation, but I really wasn’t attached to him.

I guess I was indifferent, and I really didn’t really care about him. I ahrdly knew him, and most of what I knew were the few “negative” news about him. Pity on me actually.

Although I wasn’t really interested, one cannot escape the news, where MJ seems to be everywhere. So when I was able to catch some clips of his memorial and his life, I got stuck. And I got to know him better.

During the memorial, I saw artists breaking down while singing, remembering the icon that gave so much to the music industry. And I saw how his friends talked about him. I saw how his family grieved him. It was a touching memorial from the moment his casket was brought in to the moment his casket was brought out by one of those moving companies Los Angeles we don’t even know of to a destination that even the LA police don’t know.

But what touched me the most, and I believe the rest of the world too, was how much his kids loved him as their father. To them, he was the best father.

I don’t know about you, but no matter how weird the world thinks a person he is, for me, MJ’s character was reflected a lot in how his children look at up him. And I was touched at how MJ’s kids rever him. And no matter how “bad” the press makes MJ look, in my book, all that has changed. MJ must have been a good person to have been able to love and nurture his kids the way he had. After all, if most of the world perceive him to be “bad” or “sick,” how was he able to raise such loving and gentle children who so obviously love him so much? The answer is simple, there is goodness in MJ, it seems.

And as parent, I can only wish that my daughter will say the same thing about me what MJ’s kids said about him.

Rest in peace, MJ. And if your kids reflect what your life story has been, then it was all good.