Photo Hunt: BEAUTIFUL

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I am late for this week's theme for few hours. I just couldn't skip the hunt for I wanted to post my kids pics as my choice for the theme.


my youngest kid Beatrice


Nicole at 4 yrs. old/ Gabbie at 2


tres marias


my only son


my first-born, soon to be a teenager

The U.S. Elections

My bet Senator Barack Obama with his chosen VP candidate, Senator Joe Biden.

How the President Gets Elected


1. Candidate announces plan to run for office. - This announcement launches the candidate's official campaign. Speeches, debates and baby kissing begin.

2. Candidate campaigns to win delegate support. - The first stage of a presidential campaign is the nomination campaign. At this time the candidate is competing with other candidates in the same party, hoping to get the party's nomination. The candidate works to win delegates- representatives who pledge to support the candidate's nomination at the national party convention - and to persuade potential voters in general.

3. Caucuses and primary elections take place in the states. - Caucuses and primaries are way for the general public to take part in nominating presidential candidates. At a caucus, local party members gather to nominate a candidate. A caucus is a lively event at which party leaders and activists debate issues and consider candidates. The rules governing caucus procedures vary by party and by state. A primary is more like a general election. Voters go to the polls to cast their votes for a presidential candidate for delegates who will represent the candidate at the party convention. A primary election is the main way voters choose a nominee.

4. Nominee for President is announced at the National Party Convention. There are two primary political parties in the U.S.- the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The main goal of a national party convention is to unify party members. Thousands of delegates gather to rally support for the party's ideas and to formally nominate party candidates for President and Vice President.

After the convention, the second stage of the presidential campaign begins: the election campaign. In this stage, candidates from different parties compete against each other as they try to get elected President.

5. Citizens cast their votes. - Presidential elections are held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. Some Americans think that when they cast their ballot, they are voting for their chosen candidate. Actually, they're selecting groups of electors in the Electoral College.

6. The Electoral College casts its votes. - Every state has a number of electors equal to its number of Senators and Representatives. Laws vary by state, but electors are usually chosen by popular vote. An elector may not be a Senator, Representative or other person holding a national office.

In most cases, the electoral votes from a particular state go to the candidate who leads the popular vote in that state. The winner takes all system can produce surprising results. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the electors cast their ballots. At least 270 electoral votes are required to elect a President.

7. The President is inaugurated. - On January 20, the President enters office in a ceremony that is known as the Inauguration and takes the presidential oath.

Weekend Snapshot: Parties, Parties at Taste Asia

Posted below are pics taken during the first Coke Party for Bloggers, the Pond's Event (introducing the age miracle cream) and the 2nd Coke Party for the Awarding of Winners on the Coke video blog contest, which I attended. And I can say I really enjoyed attending the Coke events which gave me a chance to bond with fellow bloggers. It's also great to see friends in San Miguel, together with Taste Asia, they provide good food and overflowing drinks (kidded that they should have ordered to moi, am wholesaler of San Mig beers, he he). And of course, am drooling over the very yummy ice cream cake which they served during the 1st and recent Coke events.

ice cream cake


more drinks, thanks to San Miguel


our take-home during the 2nd Coke event


fillet mignon


baked mussels


chicken cordon bleu


camaron rebosado


cases of coke zero were given away to each guests
during the 1st Coke event last June


checking the tone, during the Pond's event


Pond's Institute staff checking my skin's moisture


bloggers watching the band


red carpet entrance to Taste Asia

Where Were You 25 Years Ago?

Twenty-five years ago, I was with my mom and sisters in Pier, buying some PX goods when we heard over the radio that our leader, former Senator Benigno Aquino was shot dead at the Manila International Airport (now NAIA). We were so shocked and felt weak by the news, we just sit in one of the chairs in the store, we were speechless ("natulala") for quite awhile. I may only be 13 years old then, but this man has changed me, my beliefs and my early perception of what kind of politics we have in this country. I remembered my Dad writing speeches to be read by the young Kris during the rallies. We would watch Kris deliver the speech, we would go to different rallies, joined noise barrage. And oftentimes our car and our leaders/supporters would be seen on tv news or in newspaper photos. But we were not scared. Our friends, mostly Ninoy supporters were not scared either. We distributed stickers, t-shirts printed with Ninoy's pic, caps, fans to people as we went around Metro Manila. Hoping that sooner or later he would be freed. Then he was sent to the States by then First Lady Imelda Marcos. We were relieved that Ninoy would be safe finally. But when he decided to come back, of course, we were all so happy to see him again. Until that fateful day, we felt so lost (and angry) when he died. We were in his wake, saw him in his coffin wearing his white shirt and white pants covered with his blood. His mother would like the public to see what they have done to his son. This is really a heart-breaking sight. We were crying from the moment we entered the church until we left...I can still remember those sad, very sad days as if it only happened yesterday.

I only hope and pray that what Ninoy said, that Filipinos are worth dying for, still stands today. That indeed, he did not die in vain.

Photo Hunt: Colorful

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the artist in the family, posing by the colorful wall decor at Kid's Village


Gabbie's work thru Microsoft Paint


another painting by Gabbie

Ako'y Isang Pinoy

Posted below is a video of my only son, Pio Miguel with his classmates, singing Ako'y Isang Pinoy during the pre-Linggo ng Wika celebration in their school. This is actually a contest. The winners will perform again next week.

Laughing Time....

Got this from my mail...

EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2008

NEW OFFICE POLICY

Dress Code:

1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.

2) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.

3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.

4) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days:
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sundays.

Bereavement Leave:

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the 'Chronic Offenders' category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break: (Love this one)

* Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.

* Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.

* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management

The Most Expensive Baby Pics

Here take a look on Forbes' report of the most expensive celebrity photos. What a lucky couple, lucky kids as well...

Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon pics
$26 Million



Max and Emme pics- $6 Million


Reported Rate: $4.1 Million

The Yaya Quest

A very good friend Malou, a mother to her one year old kid is now calling me often. She is just adjusting to married life and at the same time dealing with nannies/helpers. Maybe she thought I’m an expert when it comes to this matter, having four kids and dealt with almost 70+ helpers (in a span of 10 years) already in my household. My friends and relatives can attest though that I’m such a good, generous (to a fault) employer inspite of the heavy turn-over of my household staff. I guess, I’m not just so lucky to have the helper/nanny that I wanted or if ever I found one, she has to leave to take care of her own family or go abroad to seek greener pasture. Anyway, back to my friend’s dilemma, she recently had about 5 helpers/nanny already. One of them, she caught smoking inside her room while taking care of the baby and spends too much time on tv’s videoke channel and texting her children in the province. Of course, she has to go. The other one has hygiene problem, she doesn’t use soap when taking a bath and doesn’t brush her teeth. Gee, this is really a problem. The other nanny will go on a day off and return a day after (if she’s lucky) or two days after pay day. My blood temper is boiling when I heard her, my college friend and kumare is such a nice, kind, generous soft-spoken lady (an Opus Dei member), she doesn’t know what to do. Of course, I tell her not to tolerate the bad, abusive behavior of her helper or nanny and if she can, tell them to leave. I also gave her tips. Here are some of them:

SCREENING THE APPLICANTS

• ask her about her past employment history, the kind of work she did before and the reason she left her employer. If possible, ask her the name of her past employers. Ask for references. Check them out later. Or if possible an NBI clearance. Another friend’s two kids were kidnapped by the nanny and her boyfriend. Good thing our friend, knows where the boyfriend lives. They were able to get the kids, and luckily they were not harmed. The couple landed in jail.
  

• ask her about her educational attainment, so you’ll know if she can read labels (warning signs, instructions, etc.), can count money (had one who doesn’t know, she often came home with short change). Ask her what she will do if the child suddenly has fever? Or assess if she can be a security risk to the family.

• ask her about her family. I had one helper whom I discovered, during our occasional chats, has suicidal tendency and actually tried to commit it when her hubby cheated on her and one of her kids died. Good thing, she decided to leave before I could tell her. She said she missed her children.

• look at her grooming, check out her fingernails. Remember, the yaya would be responsible for your kid’s hygiene. Common rules include that she has to use alcohol before touching the baby or preparing her milk/food. The hair should be tied back always. Of course, she should take a bath daily and brush her teeth as well (if you can, provide toiletries for her). I also tell them they can’t wear shorts or spaghetti strap blouses in the house. There are times, I let them wear a uniform when we go out.

• Inform her of her responsibilities and your house rules, ask if she’s willing to follow them. If not, scout for somebody else.

When's A Guy Ready For Marriage

As I was listening to a morning radio show, they reported that today being August 8, 2008 (a lucky day per chinese fung shui experts), so many couples are tying the knot here in the country or even abroad. I was kinda' thinking does the date can really bring luck to a marriage. How can a would be bride be assured that she's not getting into a life of misery but rather a marriage full of bliss, love and can be as strong as a rock? Is she ready enough to be submissive to the husband? How about the groom, is he ready for marriage? Here, take a look on this recent Cosmopolitan magazine article.

On The Early Show Tuesday, Cosmopolitan magazine (www.cosmopolitan.com) Editor in Chief Kate White told substitute co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez guys "have to be in the marriage mindset. We asked a top expert, who said the equation is really 49 percent the right girl and 51 percent their being ready, and if they're not ready, they're not gonna do it. In fact, often a guy, once he's in the mindset, he's more apt to meet the right girl then. It's really a driving force with men."

White says there are five things women can look for to tell if a guy is ready to take the plunge:

He has to be capable of love:

"There's falling in love," White explained. "That's that giddy feeling, and then there's loving. Loving means he's gotta be ready to connect with you and connect with you through the infatuation phase. If he's not, he's not willing to put you first and make little sacrifices. That's a sign he's not there yet."

Rodriguez said that's "also an argument for not getting hitched right away when you're just falling in love."

He's able to accept imperfections:

"Sometimes, if they're not ready, their expectations are too high," White observed. "Not only will a guy not accept your flaws, but he may even look for flaws and blow them out of proportion in order to put distance there. So, if a guy's too critical, that's often a sign he isn't ready."

"In many cases," Rodriguez added, "that's more about him than you. You shouldn't take that personally."

"You can't," White agreed.

He has to believe in commitment:

"There are always going to be negative aspects in a relationship," White noted. "And, someone who's ready to commit is gonna understand that you've gotta work those through and do the work. And he's not gonna shut down when there's trouble. He's gonna be willing, even as much as guys hate to discuss relationships, he's gonna be winning to talk it through with you."

He's positive he can be the man. He wants to be the provider:

"Guys need to get their ducks in a row when it's time to commit, much more-so than women," White said. "He may feel, 'I've got to be at a certain point in my career.' Almost half of all men want to be able to buy a house before they get married. So, if those factors aren't lined up for him, he's not gonna be able to focus and he's gonna be resistant, where women often can get beyond that sort of stuff."

Does White think it's worth sticking it out if your guy is on that path?

"If you really sense he's into you," she replied, "then I think it's really worth it to ride out … where he is, and help him get to that point, whether it's a career point or it's a money point."

He's tired of playing around:

"They do end up," White commented, "with what you might call 'fling fatigue.' Often, that's when they start to see their guy friends fall by the wayside and get married. Most men, most mature people do end up at a point where they don't want to play the field anymore. They're just tired of it. It loses its enchantment."

"And maybe they might wind up proposing to whoever they happen to be with at that time," Rodriguez said, "which is so frustrating for the girlfriend before!"

"Sometimes," White concurred, "you're the one who's in the right place at the wrong time with him, and the other girl's wondering. 'What did I do wrong?' "

On occasion, White said, it's OK to give the guy an ultimatum.

"Sometimes," she explained, "it's superficial stuff. And so -- it might be because the timing's not exactly right for him. Or it could be that he's stuck on some minor problem with you. Or he's a chronic procrastinator. And in those cases, an ultimatum, not a threat, but something that makes it about you (is alright, such as), 'Look, I'm ready to go to the next level. The next stage. I want to go with you.' And perhaps you give him two months to say that you need to know by then."

And, if there's still no proposal at that pint?

Then, White said, you have to "put your money where your mouth is."

Low Fat Carbonara

Magnolia Low Fat Chickendog Chicken Carbonara with Spinach and Basil

Ingredients:
250 grams linguine noodles
1 tbsp. Magnolia Gold Lite
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pc. medium-sized onion, minced
6 pcs. Magnolia Low Fat Chickendog,
sliced into ½” in length
1 small can button mushrooms, sliced
2 cups Magnolia Low Fat Milk
1 pc. hotdog bun, cut into cubes
20 pcs. spinach leaves, cut into strips (chiffonade)
8 pcs. basil leaves, cut into strips (chiffonade)

Italian seasoning
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese , shaved

Procedure:
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Melt Magnolia Gold Lite in a pan. Sauté garlic and onion. Add Magnolia Low Fat Chickendog and mushrooms over medium heat until tender. Add the hotdog bun until golden brown. Stir in milk and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and basil leaves for 1-2 minutes until leaves begin to wilt. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture on the cooked pasta and add parmesan. Serve hot. Makes 5 servings.

* Calorie per serving: 230 cal.
*Serving size: about 1/2 cup

Source: www.sanmiguel.com.ph

Meme: Chores I Hate Most

Karen (of My Life, My Own Piece of Heaven) tagged me to do this meme. First I want to mention that I love to do house chores (with or without helpers around), I'm a bit an OC, I want our home especially my kids room and their things to be always clean. I hate to see dusts and I don't like my kids to have asthma attacks very often because of that. I'm also fond of watering the plants in the garden, fixing my kids things, cleaning their closet, washing the car, cleaning the bathroom, a little of cooking and doing the laundry. Before I digress from the tag, here's my answer, I hate to do the ironing of clothes. I let the helpers do that. Can't stand the heat of the iron and have no patience ironing the pleats on skirts and pants. And I also hate to....what else...can't think of any more chores that I hate doing.

There I'm done. To my mommy-blogger friends, what's your answer on this meme?

Weekend Snapshot : Rainy Days

my kids, all ready for the rainy season


gloomy rainy day


kids playing hoops on the rain

Photo Hunt: Clouds

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lovely clouds


one fine day


slightly dim clouds, pic taken at Tektite Towers

The Eating Club Strikes Again at Burgoo

Last Friday, July 25, my mommy-blogger friends (the so-called Eating Club) and I went to another dinner get-together. This time, it's at Burgoo, Powerplant branch. The last time we sampled Burgoo's special dish was when Racquel of Homeworked arrived from Germany and invited us for dinner. Before the bloggers' visits to this resto, am a satisfied/loyal customer, I swear I love their food, the service, ambiance and the value for my money. So when we made a detour (because of a heavy traffic), instead of going to Greenbelt 5 and checking John and Yoko's japanese resto, I am more than happy to be in Burgoo again for the nth time around. By the way, guys, this is not a paid post....Check out our pics. Thanks to Cookie and Feng for some of the borrowed pics.

nice cameras huh...


mommy-bloggers taking pics


taking more pics


mommy-bonding


Mommies Chats, Cookie, Feng and moi


Mommies all smiles before devouring the food
(Wenchie, Julie, Lynn and Cess)


seafood ceasar supreme

N'Awlin's Classic Platter- a combination of garlic sausage, grilled cajun chicken and baby shrimps sauteed with bell peppers and mushrooms. Served on a bed of rice pilaf and corn salsa.

margherita-fresh slices of tomatoes with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.


seafood linguini