occupation: SAHM

Ok. I have come down from heaven. I can now tell you without a scream or a dance, that I won a Nokia N95 8GB in last night’s Philippine Blog Awards. I wasn’t a finalist in any category, I got this through a raffle draw, but I sure have the same feeling of sweet victory as those who brought home trophies.

Never in my life have I won such an amazing prize in a raffle, so I hope those who were in the event will forgive me for having lost poise. The walk from my chair to the stage and back was a complete blur. I just knew that I was screaming because my throat hurt on the way home.

Thanks to IMom for this photo.

Do you know this is the third time I’ve won something this year thanks to my blog life?

Continue reading ‘I Got a Nokia N95 8GB!’ »

I heard the news that Rachel is among the nominees for the PBA’s Bloggers Choice Award.

And I’m casting my vote for her.

Because the blog Heart of Rachel  is indeed about the pure, simple, sweet, warm and friendly heart of Rachel.

May you get this award, Rach. But if you don’t, you’ll remain my heart’s choice.

We have a new project!

Please click HERE to find out more!

My blog post on sterilizing toilets was chosen by Raqgold, Home and Garden Editor of Pinoy Moms Network, to be featured in the said section. Oh wow,  I feel so honored. Thanks a lot, Raq!

Click HERE  to read the article.

I’ve also purchased “Mom’s a Stewardess,” a book by Angelica Viloria, wife of fellow blogger Manuel Viloria. I have just finished reading its intro and preface and I find it a very encouraging read. Motherhood, as we all know, is not an easy journey and this book provides us with a breath of fresh air when days get a little bit more stressful than usual.

It costs P175 and is available in National Bookstores. I think it’s sad though, that such a great parenting book, and by a fellow Filipina at that, is located at the bottom shelf, underneath other titles. I had to ask for a saleslady to locate the book for me, who had to search the computer files, and then fish the book under a stack of other titles. I think it’s because the author’s surname starts with a V - I noticed National stacks its book inventory alphabetically.

I may not be able to do something about her being on the bottom shelf, but I did get the rest of her books and put them on top of the stack.

The original title of this blog, when it was created in May 2004, was something like – This Mommy in the Kitchen.

It was not intended to be a food blog though. I thought it was a nice metaphor for the life I had. I was a newbie in the kitchen, and also a newbie in balancing my responsibilities as a wife, a mother, a career woman. My life felt like an experiment after another, just like my attempts in the kitchen.

There was already a lot of thinking whether or not I should be a stay-at-home mom when my son was born. But I hemmed and hawed and thought it best to try juggling parenthood, homemaking and a fledgling career.

But eventually my husband and I made the crucial decision* that I would be a stay-at-home mom. And believe me, it was and still is the wisest decision we have ever made.

But just like any one who is facing a new job, I had some adjustments to make. One of these was – what should I write in those forms? Application forms, survey forms, all sorts of forms.

Continue reading ‘About “occupation: SAHM”’ »

Been meaning to change my template, and after much hesitation because I was afraid to mess up, I have finally done it! Yay! I had to review Sasha’s how-to lectures though, tee-hee!

I’m not really tired of my old template. But I’ve been wanting to add a couple of badges, I want to do something about my kilometric blogroll, and I want it easily viewed both in Mozilla and IE.

As I’ve never been a techie, I opted for the easiest solution. I looked for a new template I could manage, and erased the blogroll. Will bring it back as soon as I figure out what to do.  

Peace to all who enter!

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Thanks to:

Sasha - Despiter her hectic work schedule, she was patient enough to refer me to the webhost, configure my site, and teach me how to go about this. This must be her biggest challenge so far as my brain was having difficulty making sense of all the technical gibberish, while she discussed them like she was singing the ABC.

Aileen - She explained webhosts and domains and gave recommendations. Hindi ko nga lang sinunod, hahaha! And oh, she was asked who she believes are the top 10 emerging influential blogs of 2007 and (sniff!) she included me in her list. She’s not going to give me a trophy, but the mere fact that my humble site crossed her mind… I’m so honored.  

Ann and Ser KD - Thank you for being so generous to accomodate me in your home. Thank you for your kindness.  Thank you for being my friends. I thank the Lord for having met such wonderful people. Kaya kayo sine-swerte e, binabaha kayo ng good karma.

Tikey and Rhoski - People blessed with creativity. They helped me figure out my template. (And I know they are going to do it again, hehehe.) Thanks!

Ipan - He actually convinced me to get my own domain. Oh, you know the way to my heart so well. Anyway, watch out. He will have his own blog soon.

Ipan Jr and Dora - I had been spending too much time on the computer and you helped me get a break by getting me to watch the very exciting Barney’s Musical Castle, or the suspense movie of Dora the Explorer, or by pulling my hand to get you some food, or just by being cranky. Mwa! Bawi ako sa weekend.

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The URL was Ipan’s idea. January 21 was the date we got married. When our life together began. Fitting, eh?

Love, laughter and friends are always welcome here.

Many thanks to Sir KD, Ma’am Ann and Ate Lei :) 

I overcame my fear of not knowing how to go about changing my blogskin :D. TADA! I let go of the haloscan commenting system though, so I guess that means goodbye to all the meaningful comments posted in the past. I prefer being able to track comments via blogger’s system.

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The distance from our house to my son’s school is 3 kms. So I drive an average of 12 kms a day, I bring my son to school, go home, then fetch him after 3 hours. And that equals PHP 100 of gasoline everyday. So that’s like PHP 500 a week, PHP 2000 a month. Hubby, on the other hand, spends at least PHP250 a day for his car’s gas. So a large chunk of our monthly household income goes to gasoline expenses. God.

Hubby said that our country’s gas prices are actually cheap compared to those in other countries. The difference would be their income is at least equal to their cost of living, thus their people don’t go on rallies in front of gasoline companies’ headquarters.

Yep, new blog title. occupation: SAHM

I have been mulling it over in my head for months now. The previous “kitchen” address is no longer applicable in my life. Literally, my world cannot be defined by my kitchen alone. I felt the former address was confining.

Plus I’m not really a great cook, although my husband will surely disagree.