These Days

This is probably a record -- a meetup with Intel friends for the second time this month.  After the arts and crafts activity at the Ayala Museum on Saturday, we were off to Tiendesitas to rendezvous, then convoyed to the grand residence of Ps in Pasig. It was a long night of eating and talking and laughing.  Good times!

We took Neil to the Ayala Museum on Saturday, January 26, to participate in the Chinese New Year arts and crafts activity.  I saw the invitation from Facebook and thought it would be a good Saturday activity for Neil.  We actually made him choose if he wants to do yoga or arts and crafts and he chose this. We arrived 1.5 hrs late because Neil took a nap but it was still enough time to do 2 activities -- paper plate painting and a 'snake' charm. Painting the plaster beads for his 'snake' charm.  He patiently stringed the beads by himself, including the very small ones. "Don't hold it. Mommy." After the crafts activity, we spent a few minutes watching the video on Botong. Outside the museum is this installation of fish caught in a net are made of driftwood gathered from typhoons.  There's a boat at that top which I wasn't able to capture in the frame. I wish we had more time to look around but we were running late f

On January 2, we achieved the almost impossible goal of getting together and catching up.  These are 5 families - 2 based in Singapore, 1 in Cavite and 3 in Metro Manila.  We had dinner at Kabisera and let the kids walk around BGC. It's always good to catch up with old  friends, and by that I mean we go way back! :) All collages courtesy of Paul and Ody.

It all started with seeing a deal on Deal Grocer for a 5-session yoga pass for kids at Urban Ashram.  The place was easy to get to (BGC) and the price seemed reasonable so we bought one.  After his first session, we bought another one.  Last Saturday, Neil finally completed all 10 classes. I have written about Kids Yoga here  and here .  I really like the place, the format and the teachers who already know Neil.  But what I like does not matter as much as the fact that Neil enjoys the classes.  He looks forward to it.  He would do some of the poses even at home.  It's really exercise and fun in one package - perfect for kids.=)  This has become a regular family Saturday activity for us.  That and then walking around Bonifacio High Street or browsing at Fully Booked. The last two classes he attended have been really full though.  I prefer the smaller classes.  Urban Ashram recognized the demand and just recently announced the addition of a second class for Saturdays.  Good news!

I finally got to watch The Hobbit 2 Saturdays ago.  Our friends Caloy&Charm and family dropped by the condo for lunch and we spontaneously decided to watch the movie later that night.  I bought tickets on Sureseats then claimed them after Neil's yoga class. I loved The Lord of the Rings series so I have been looking forward to this movie.  I read the book last year and I was really curious about how Peter Jackson can stretch the book into a trilogy.  But the first part has been great.  It's ~3 hours but it doesn't feel long at all.  Peter Jackson has a lot more time to show backstories that were not in the book but would enhance the audience's understanding and appreciation of this universe that J.R.R. Tolkien created.  I love it!  How long til the next one?

Neil turned 4.5 years old yesterday and his current favorite is I Spy!  We bought him his first three books last year and he liked it so we bought a set of 10 books again this year.  These are great because he able to practice scanning and reading. Not only does he like doing I Spy from books, he also plays it in real life.  He would (dis)arrange his toys into one messy pile and then we would take turns asking the other person to spy...  We would also play the I Spy game in the car (looking for signs or objects along the way) which keeps him entertained during the drive. Another quirk at this age is he asks questions by adding "means?" at the end.  Here's a sample conversation... Neil: R means? (referring to the encircled R on the Coke logo) Me: That means it's a registered trademark. Neil: Trademark means? Me: That's the name of the brand. Neil: Brand means? And so on... :)

Here it is.  I am back to doing photo-a-day, following the prompts from Fat Mum Slim . January 1. Hung out at Starbucks with Rich and Neil. January 3. Heart January 4.  The view from here.  It looks quite normal except that it's past 1AM in and everyone is still awake including Neil. January 5. Movement. Swordfight in Toy Kingdom. January 7. Street January 9. Paper.  The only paper Christmas card I received this year.  It's from Every Nation. January 10. One o'clock... in the morning. Jan 12. Surprise. Avocado cake! Jan 14. Something yellow. Two things... Ref magnet and the gift that Rich received today.  His code name was Yellow.=) January 15. An ordinary moment 16. Two things.  Santa and Snowman made of white chocolate and polvoron.  Too cute to eat! 17. Ready.  Ready for dessert. 20. Something you saw.  Mang Larry's Isawan.  It's been a long time since I last visited UP. 21. What you do. 22.  Corner

I feel more optimistic about this new year than the previous new years.  I don't know why specifically but I just feel empowered to make significant changes this year in many aspects - self, home, relationships and career.  I am sharing my 2013 tools below. Planner - Finally completed my Starbucks stickers yesterday and got the black planner.  I'm a planner person and I expect that this will be fully utilized this year.  I use my planner not just as a reminder for events/plans but as a scrapbook as well.  I paste tickets, pictures and other paper memorabilia on the pages. The Bible . One Year Devotional by Tiegreen - I bought this in Booksale late last year.  I read the first few pages and really liked the style and depth of the message.  It was a steal at P230 because the same devo is listed on Amazon at over $15.00. Journal - More writing this year. Pens - I'm using multicolored Staedtler pens, recommended by this blog . Below is my blessings jar .  Nang

Saw this infographic on Facebook. From here: http://www.workingmomsonly.com/tag/success-indicator/

December 30, 2012