These Days

Tennis blog! Photo from SI.com . The biggest upset of the year happened in the French Open last night. Robin Soderling of Sweden beat #1 Rafa Nadal in 4 sets. The final score: 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2). From the first set, Soderling was aggressive and executed some killer shots. At some point, Rafa looked like he was the less experienced player, being made to run around the court. It was unnerving, especially if you're used to seeing Rafa ahead and controlling the plays. I couldn't relax the whole time! Rafa lost the first set 6-2. Somebody finally broke Rafa's 31-set winning streak in Paris. Even then, I was only a little worried for Rafa. Surely he can elevate his game, no? :) He's mentally strong, he can get over this early loss quickly. It probably wouldn't affect the final outcome. But Soderling stuck to his guns. Second set came to a tie-break, which Rafa easily won, thanks to consecutive errors from Soderling. Oh, so maybe his nerves got the best of hi

Our village finally elected a new set of officers. The election was last Sunday. We purposely took the time to register in the morning so that we can vote in the afternoon. Richard voted for our family (one house = 1 vote) but I was the more informed one who decided on the names. I attended the miting de avance last Friday while Richard was in Manila for his MBA class. This was the first ever community meeting/gathering/activity that I ever attended. The whole pavilion was filled with the village people – supporters and those like me who came to know the candidates and their platforms. It bears mentioning that this is not our village’s first attempt at electing a new Board of Directors this year. There have been elections but the results were questioned for validity and legality. Meetings have been called and I heard it really got ugly. People did not agree, to say the least. But we moved on and thus this last official election. It is easy to not care and just let the events p

Neil turned 10 months old last Thursday! Two more to go before he leaves babyhood and becomes a toddler...*Big sigh* Current Stats: Weight: 22.5 lbs Height: 30 inches Teeth: 8 The skills he learned over the past month are: Standing for a few seconds without support. Handing over the object he's holding if you prompt him by saying "Give." I thought it was just a fluke initially but I tried moving my hand in different positions (left, right, up, down) and he does give me the object. :) Waving. Clapping. He eats a lot during the day now. His meal schedule is: milk at 6am, then solids and milk at 8am, 11am, 3pm and 6pm. He naps before the 8am meal and after the 11am meal. I think he gets around 2-3 hours total of daytime nap. And he's been sleeping through the night for the last three weeks or so. Yey! Neil's bedtime is 8pm and he wakes up before 6am. Actually we don't know exactly what time he wakes up because when Richard's alarm goes off at 6am, Ne

Fudgee Barr. I'm not a fan of the spelling but this really tastes good, especially when frozen and paired with cold milk. :) Yummy! This tandem was my dessert for a few meals last week. It was so good I had to stop myself from consuming more than one at a time. This was my first time to buy Fudgee Barr.  I always see them in different flavors/varieties at the grocery and I finally decided to grab one last week. I like trying different food/snacks and this was a worthwhile experiment. Would I buy it again?  Probably, but not soon. That's just how I am. Although it was good, it's not really something that I would crave. And there are lots of other snacks to try! I should probably choose something that's healthier.

It has been more than 4 months since I was separated from Intel and became a full-time stay-at-home-mom. My life right now is a world of difference from the 7-to-4 workdays of the last 8+ years. I very rarely leave the house nowadays (just Saturdays for grocery shopping and church), but I guess I'm really a homebody at heart because I enjoy staying at home. So, how have I been spending my days? 1) Neil time/other baby-related stuff - making baby food, playing with Neil, walking around the neighborhood (though not lately because of the rain), giving him a bath, feeding, etc. 2) Computer time - for keeping in touch with family and friends (chat and webcam). I miss the face-to-face interactions and going online is the easiest means of keeping in touch. Computer time also includes job-hunting, writing/blogging, and the not-so-productive time spent surfing random stuff on the web. Guilty! I try to minimize it though. 3) Household management - budgeting, managing and keeping track

Education is one aspect of child rearing that really stresses parents out. In the Financial Planning class that I attended, the example given was a child's education expense. Considering current tuition increase rates, college education in Ateneo would cost around $2.4M in ~15 years. That amount needs to be planned for early to make sure there's enough when the time comes. Grade school and high school education are not even in the equation yet. And that's just the financial aspect. We also care about their safety, the influences in school, etcetera. I subscribe to Bo Sanchez's blog and at the end of each post, he promotes homeschooling. The pastors in church also mentioned that their kids are homeschooled. A few days ago, our friends mentioned that they are considering, or are pretty much set on homschooling their son. So that got me really interested. I clicked on the link from Bo and I must say that there are strong and compelling arguments for homeschooling. Below a

I have been banned from carrying Neil, at least for the next five days. Doctor's order. Yesterday when I stooped down to get fresh bedsheets and pillows from the cabinet, I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my lower back.  The striking pain immediately subsided but for the rest of the day, my back hurt whenever I rise up from sitting or lying position.  Still, it wasn't so bad and I did not have to take any pain medication. I actually felt better when I woke up this morning.  There was just very little pain when I shift positions.  Not as bad as yesterday though.  I did all my usual activities, including carrying Neil several times.  Then late in the morning when I stooped down to pick baby up from the crib, I felt the same painful jolt.  That was when I thought that this could be serious. We went to see the doctor to have my back checked.  He made me do a few exercises to determine where the pain was.  He suspects it's muscular strain and advised that I put hot compress on m

Who does not know that Manny knocked out Hatton in the 2 nd round? It's the talk of the town, or at least in Facebook . I expect all angles of the match to be covered on local news for the next two weeks or so. Manny  deserves the attention because it was really a remarkable fight. Hatton was knocked down twice in the first round, and then again in the second round. That's it. Another warrior falls to the Pacman . ( LA Times photo ) Before the match, I was actually afraid for Manny. I thought he might lose this time, given that Hatton is also a tough fighter and was defeated only once in his professional career. But after the first knock down, there was no doubt that he'd win. It's just a matter of how long Hatton can withstand the clobbering. As it turned out, only up to 2:59 in the second round. Wooohooo , Manny! We were able to view the LIVE coverage on Dasma Cable Channel 36, courtesy of Congressman Pidi and Mayor Jenny Barzaga . They were smart to know what