Catching the Giro d'Italia

My dad has been following the Giro d’Italia on TV and I have to admit that it’s pretty interesting to watch. He doesn’t do it himself, but he likes the cycling sport. I remember when I was a kid that we would go up to Antipolo or even just our own highway to see the cyclists whiz past in that leg of Tour de Luzón. Anyway, I caught the Giro part when they were in the mountainous regions of Italy and the places featured looked very much like the mountain villages of Northern Spain. It made me “homesick” for Spain, of course. Or just Europe in general. I love the cities, of course, but the quaint and often remote towns appeal to me too. What I’d give for a visit to Liérganes or go up the Picos de Europa again, to go truffling in a non-commercial part of Provence, to have a picnic in some Alpine meadow, to stay in one of those north wales holiday cottages, et cetera, et cetera. Anyway, I watch the Giro with my dad not only for the places, but to see how the race turns out too. It’s pretty interesting to watch with my dad anyway. He is the kind of viewer whose knees move to indicate that he is mentally pedaling with the cyclists or dodges and ducks punches delivered in a boxing match happening an entire ocean away from our living room.

Marguerite et al (More Wedding Pics)

Here is my beautiful Marguerite with her handsome Dad. I hope the baby looks like him. We can't get a proper smile from Marguerite in these pics though...

Here's Marguerite with her Grandpa. That bloated person in the background is yours truly.

Here's Marguerite with her Aunt Chip, both looking gorgeous.

There isn't a decent picture of Marguerite with her Nannie (who stayed at the VIP table for the most part), but they do appear in the same shot a few times...

Dreaming of Alaska Tours

My wanderlust at the moment is tethered to my hometown as this is not a good time for me to do any serious traveling. If this is your first time to check in - Hi! I'm 6 months pregnant. I do like to travel and as I have mentioned ad infinitum, my primary destination is Europe. I'd like to see the chateaux and the quintessential "Old World". Living in the tropics, I'm not really that interested in the beach scene. We get plenty of that where I'm from. Hot weather? I'm so over it (of course, you have to consider that it's a pregnant woman who has just spent weeks grueling in the scorching summer heat speaking). Give me a cold climate any day. It ought to be good for my allergies anyway. I'm thinking Alaska would be cool (no pun intended). I've been checking out alaska tours and cruises, and I've decided that it's definitely one of the things I want to do someday. I've always been curious about the place. It has so many fascinating things to offer - none of which I'm certain I can find here. The northern lights alone should be quite a draw. The flora and fauna would be another treat, of course. Another option would be Australia. If I go now, I can be there for their cold season. I may have another reason for going with australia tours - and that one is found in Sydney. It would be great to time my visit with a Hillsong worship concert. Hillsong United is actually going to be here sometime in the near future, but I'm not really a fan of United. I suppose I'm too old. A third option would be ireland tours. I have a copy of the movie PS I Love You (the one with Gerard Butler) and the scenes shot in Ireland are breathtaking. Anyway, I'll be out of my second trimester soon, so travel really isn't a feasible option as of the moment, but it's fun to dream.

The Crippling Mosquito Bite

My mom had an accident. She didn't see the step down going into a restroom and managed to collect a lump on her forehead and a sprained foot from the experience. There were no witnesses, so at least her pride wasn't hurt that much. We're thankful that her injuries weren't any worse. There was no concussion and her foot is getting better. She does hobble still and is finally getting to use the walking stick Dad got her, but other than that, she's doing well. Marguerite, on the other hand, is a great sympathizer and is limping around with a gauze bandage around her knee where there is a minuscule gash and a mosquito bite. She takes the walking stick and dramatically moans and groans as she props herself up using it. She does tend to forget herself sometimes and abandons her drama to pretend she's playing hockey with the walking stick (holds it upside down and finds some poor toy to use as a puck).

Time to Buy Checks

The first time I got my own checkbook, I felt very grown-up. There was a sort of sense of accomplishment present, as though I'd just been given a diploma. Of course, that actually meant that I was entering a time of financial independence and a world where bills figured prominently, but it felt great. I envisioned myself signing my name with a flourish and ripping out a check to give as payment (or a donation - apparently, I'm a magnanimous philanthropist in my visions).

At that time, I didn't buy checks that were cute or flashy. I just stuck with the plain ones, but I did wait to get my name printed on them. How austere, right? The other designs cost more, of course, so I thought it was an unnecessary expense. It would have been nice to have a check customized to show some kind of personality, but at the end of the day, they accomplished their purpose either way. If I could have gotten cheap personal checks with an attractive design, I would probably have. At that time, I was gaga about French stuff ("at that time" is misleading as I believe this to still be the case at present), so it would have been nice to add French flavors to my checks - maybe a watermark of the Eiffel Tower or a picturesque French bistro illustration.

You don't have to limit your choice of checks to the selection your bank offers. You can get cheap personal checks for about 50% lower than what the banks normally charge. Just make sure that the checks you buy are guaranteed to work with your bank or financial institution, of course. I think when I order my next book, I'd like some with inspiring biblical verses. Spread the Word via checks. I'll be harder pressed to make sure that the things never bounce, lol.

La Fleur Plus Belle

A couple of things first...

: Does anybody know how the comment opp from LoudLaunch works? I keep on getting opps, but I just can't figure out how it works. I try going to the sites and there aren't sections for comments...

: Has anybody else tried going for the Firework Ad thing on CMF? I purchased one 3-4 days ago and I was supposed to get 200 unique visits, since then I still have about 196 clicks to go. That's 4 hits care of it for 3-4 days (I can't remember if it's been 3 or 4 days, but still...). I think I'm going back to simple spikes.

Now to more important matters - pictures of my beautiful daughter as a flower girl:

Still Buzzing Away

Busy week ahead... Today, gotta get a mani/pedi, then buy shoes for Marguerite (never did get around to doing that during the weekend), wedding gift and other details, edit and print the wedding program script (good thing I didn't have to write that one myself), send pics for the recital powerpoint, write the script for the recital program (not emceeing this time, but I have to write the script), do some work on the church website, and start prep for the wedding tomorrow. Tomorrow requires super early running around like headless chickens as the wedding is at 10am. I'm emceeing AND fretting over Marguerite behaving well as a flower girl. At 5pm, we have more choir coaching and practice for the recital. I think the rest of the week would be a little tame until the weekend (the recital is on Sunday night), unless I get some mad rush writing assignment. I'll be editing our room and going through boxes. I'm hoping no rain until Tuesday and some rain after that. I want a cooler temperature anyway. We've been resorting to air conditioning a lot lately to keep the heat from driving us to destruction. Of course, I'd prefer no rain on Sunday night, but that hasn't been the case thus far based on past recital nights. It had always been raining, so it's become something of a tradition, lol.

Time to Dye All Those Pink Onesies

First things first, we’re having a boy this time. We’re thrilled. Mark and I would have been just as thrilled if the baby turned out to be a girl, but everybody else is excited for us to have a boy. Those who predicted a boy will be sure to claim credit for being right. People are so funny. They guess the baby’s gender on a wide variety of really silly things. It’s because I’m uglier/prettier, the shape of my belly is such, I have a craving for such and such food… Anyway, it’s time to haul out the baby things. Gah, I dread going though the boxes again. I really should get some Printed Tape to pack our storage boxes with since I never know which boxes are ours, my folks’, my uncle’s… Marguerite was arguing at first that it should be a baby sister for her, but she got over that quickly. Like I said, she doesn’t really have a firm stand on the matter. We do have to prep her for this baby. She’s been an only child for 5 years. It will take a lot of getting used to. At the moment, the baby is still in a breech position and it’s on the big side. I want a natural birth, so these things slightly weigh (very slightly - I still have months to go) on my mind. I will start looking through baby name books again, and maybe get some natural dye for all those pink baby clothes.

End Times, Babies and Horses

Woohoo! It's May 21, the predicted end of the world by a certain sect (didn't they also make a similar prediction back in the '90s?). And they spent much money on it too, so I guess they really believe it. Question: did they say what time zone they were referring to?

In less kooky news, we're going to find out the baby's gender today! Marguerite, btw, just changed her mind again and now prefers a baby sister -- at least, according to her answer last night. Hmm, I don't think she has any real opinions about it yet. I think we better stop asking her before she gets exasperated and demands to get a pony instead.

That reminds me... I know I blogged about being horse crazy as a kid and getting quips about wanting to marry a horse when I grew up. Marguerite beats that. She says she wants to be a pony when she grows up. Does this mean that riding lessons are up ahead?

Local Lounging

In the Philippines, especially here in Marikina, it’s more common for houses to have a front porch of sorts (what we call a terrace or a verandah) instead of a back patio. In the afternoon, the old-timers congregate in somebody’s veranda (when my grandmother and her cronies were still alive and our street was mostly residential instead of commercial, our veranda was the usual gathering point of choice) and spend the next 3 hours just shooting the breeze. Mariqueños do a lot of lounging. By tradition, we (I pretentiously use the first person plural although I belong to a different generation and have never done what I will now proceed to describe) start early with the shoemaking and other chores and then spend most of the afternoon wagging our tongues (not that no wagging was done earlier - it just becomes the main concentration at that time of the day). In the States, where we were anyway, no such activity happened on the front porch. And it seems you couldn’t stand at the end of your driveway and yell for your cousin to come home from wherever he may be in the neighborhood, lol. Our little cousin was mortified and we started using it as a threat, “Be home before 6 or I’ll stand at the corner and start hollering your name!” I don’t know why he was so embarrassed. One time, Chip did it and about 3 kids came running (none of whom was our cousin), thinking they were the ones being called, heehee. Going back to porches and lounging, I personally preferred the backyard anyway. I spent a lot of afternoons at the patio just birdwatching. Of course, thin-blooded tropical creature that I was/am, I had to have the Patio Heater on. I could just sit there for hours, watching hummingbirds, blue jays, those yellow thingies… There were also the sparrow and doves, but we have them here, so they weren’t as fascinating. Yeah, true blue mariqueña that I am, I do quite a bit of lounging myself.

Prenatal Prescription

Marguerite and I just got back from the pharmacy where I purchased my latest installment of prenatal vitamins. Well, I won’t complain this time since pregnancy is not something I’d trifle with. I’m pretty obedient as far as prescriptions go. In this case. I normally exhibit some distrust in pharmaceutical products, opting to go the natural route when I can. I’ve mentioned here how prescription drugs really messed up my sister’s body and mind at one point. We thought the symptoms she was exhibiting was a part of her illness when all along they were side effects of the really strong medication she was prescribed. I don’t totally eschew drugs. I just don’t like the way some doctors are prescription happy. It’s so easy to depend on them when they do have side effects. People also don’t realize that they can be dangerous. Have you heard of the topamax lawsuit? The drug actually caused birth defects. I’ve never taken anything except vitamins during this pregnancy, but with my first one, I had to take stuff for my hyperemesia. I wish I hadn’t, but I was teaching at that time, so I was prescribed a pregnancy safe pill to lessen the episodes of vomiting. My daughter turned out okay, but still, I wish I didn’t have to take any medication at all.

What Are Your Plans for May 21?

We used to see the May 21, 2011 Judgment Day ads on buses, but it seems they have spread wider. I just saw a FamilyRadio Google ad showing the same thing. Now, I’m not sure if the ad is for a conference or just a general warning for the actual rapture. But shouldn’t it come as a thief in the night? Actually, my dad has mentioned a particular calculation that does come up with 2011 as the year of the rapture (but *sigh*, are you aware of the many schools of thought regarding rapture and the tribulation years - I keep hearing pre-trib, mid-trib, blah blah). It factored in the fig tree factor (Israel becoming a nation) and the number of years a generation according to the Bible has… I can accept knowing the year, because the Bible says we can know the general time, but the exact date? Are we to sit at home waiting to hear the trumpet? I don’t see why really. It can be heard anywhere in the world of course and no amount of soundproofing will block the sound. Let’s see. I have a checkup + ultrasound appointment on Saturday, then we have to go to church for team worship practice and choir coaching for the music school recital (you may want soundproofing for this as I'm singing, heehee -- just kidding, the choir is actually sounding very good) and then we have to shop for shoes for Marguerite’s flower girl outfit… Oh well, whenever it may come, I’m ready.

What Are Your Giants?

My devotional today yesterday (I started to write this post yesterday, but had to leave the computer midway because it was just so hot) discussed giants. Of course, the biblical text involved Goliath who is purported to have stood at a height of 9'9". If my googling netted me the correct data, the tallest players in the NBA were 7'7" (Bol and Muresan). In medical history, the tallest man was 8'11" tall. At 4'11.5", I'm certainly no giant. My head probably would have reached Goliath's knees or thereabouts. However, I grew up feisty - sharp-tongued and pugnacious. I certainly didn't fear going up against taller people. That was then - before I became a Christian. Of course, age taught me fear. Faith, however, improved my character, mellowing that scrapper in me. Where before I had plenty of bravado, I later learned what true courage was about. The giants of my life now are no longer juvenile bullies or adults who wanted to push kids around. They're stuff like serious illnesses (up until I was in my 20s, I never had to deal with death in the family -- and there was the time when my sister was gravely ill with a mysterious illness), financial worries, parenting dilemmas, etc. Real world problems wouldn't have fled with their tail between their legs from a sample of my banshee-shrill tongue lashing. Problems, grown-up ones, require something less laughable to battle against. And always, the perspective has to be right. All these giants are but like Goliath. I'm sure David at 17 was taller than all of my almost 5 feet, but he was still a shrimp compared to that Philistine (did you ever go through a stage when you went about throwing the word philistine around? I did.). David, however, knew that his God was big, bigger than anything, period. With faith, giants become as ants and serious problems do not cause sleepless nights or the stripping of your joy.

Personally, I really thought that the grown-up world was beyond my tolerance. It was taxing and just plain uncool. It was easier to pretend that I'd missed the passage into adulthood, kind of like a case of arrested development. However, life persisted and I couldn't be in denial anymore. Responsibilities, both welcome and unwelcome, fall on one's lap. It's a scary world and frequently too hard to handle since I didn't really prepare myself well for it. It is only faith in God that enables me to rise to the occasion. I find, really, that this is the right equipment for facing life. My own capabilities are seriously wanting, but through God's grace, I can trounce the giants that come my way.

I have made You too small in my eyes
O Lord, forgive me;
And I have believed in a lie
That You were unable to help me.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong;
And in my eyes and with my song
O Lord, be magnified
O Lord, be mag - nified.

CHORUS:
Be magnified, O Lord
You are highly exalted;
And there is nothing You can't do
O Lord, my eyes are on You.
Be magnified,
O Lord, be mag - nified.

I have leaned on the wisdom of men
O Lord, forgive me;
And I have responded to them
Instead of Your light and Your mercy.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong;
And in my eyes with my song
O Lord, be magnified
O Lord, be magnified.

I Don't Think I've Whined Enough About My Lost Portfolio

I know I’ve moaned and groaned about this many times before, but since I’m currently actively seeking out writing jobs, I keep on remembering my portfolio - you know, the one that was destroyed in that wretched flood. I’ve done so much more writing since then. SO MUCH MORE. Only about 5% of the thousands (I kid not) of articles I’ve written in the past 4 years bore my byline. That’s why I hanker so for that old portfolio of articles and short stories. It represented a different era in my “writing career” (there’s no way around it - it will sound pretentious. I wonder what I have to write before I can call myself a writer without cringing. A book? I’ll probably think it was just a fluke. Two books? Sigh. In my mind, I will probably never arrive.). It was a time when I wrote for the sake of seeing my work published. The checks mattered of course since I was an impoverished graduate student, but not really that much. It’s disheartening to think about the portfolio, really. I keep on wishing I had been more OC about backing up and had availed of document scanning services. It’s like those writings never were. My copies are pulp. The money I got for the work is long gone. Am I to hound all those magazine and newspaper offices to check in their archives for copies of those issues I’m after - we’re talking 10 to 15-year-old stuff here. Anyway, I’m now off to rewrite an article about getting an accounting degree - something that has NEVER occurred to me to do myself.

Pics from Day Camp

Buzz, buzz, buzz... busy as a bee, so I'll just post pics taken at our church's kids' day camp. Marguerite is the one in the purple bathing suit and then the girl in a yellow top in the front row. Thanks to PST (our youth group) Prez Kaycee for the pics.

I'll Tell You in a Week

Just one more week before we find out the baby’s gender. Mark and I don’t have a preference, but everybody else is wishing we have a boy this time (because we already have a perfect little girl). If I’m inclined to hope slightly that it’s a girl (and as soon as I acknowledge that, I’m quick to think that a boy would be nice too), that’s just me being all practical and hoping to get to use some of Marguerite’s stuff again (although Mom is quick to point out, “A baby boy can totally wear a pink onesie… at home.”) or wimpy and worrying about having to raise a boy and deal with boy stuff (like circumcision, lol - I’ve never really had much chance to deal with boys. It’s just my sister and myself, and then most of my youth was spent in an all-girls school…). Marguerite vacillates a lot and doesn’t really understand it much anyway, but at the moment, she claims she wants a baby brother. I think, though, that she’s just being influenced by what other people say. Anyway, I really ought to get my pregnancy stuff out of storage. I know I have clothes there I can definitely use now. I think those were spared from the flood (oh, but that baby calendar of firsts I painstakingly made and diligently filled with notes! Next time, I’ll put them away in a safer place, somewhere like storage Bolton area). I have to start scrapbooking again and writing a notebook of letters. Sigh, I’m less inclined to do that now with the second baby, which makes me infinitely guilty, of course. You should see all my resolutions and reminders for myself (listed, of course) when I finally have two kids. They come attached with a fervent prayer for help.

Thoughts on Home Lighting Fixtures

Have you ever noticed how a house is made so much prettier by the home lighting fixtures it has? Real thought has to be put into designing the lighting of a room. Of course, the various fixtures should be strategically located where they would be greatly needed. They also have to match the decorative style of the entire room as well as blend well with the objects in their immediate vicinity. A big chunk of the decorating budget could actually go to lighting, so it's important to know where you can get discount lighting fixtures.

Lots of imagination can come into play when conceptualizing the lighting of a room. Subtlety is often necessary. Sometimes you want light to emanate from certain areas, but you don't really want the source to be seen. With a little ingenuity, you can hide plain utilitarian types of fixtures while they still serve their purpose. Add a few tasteful lamps and sconces and you've got the entire room's lighting covered.

Some lighting fixtures, of course, serve as room accents or even focal points. I've seen some contemporary lamps that would certainly start conversations. Chandeliers, naturally, make great focal pieces, commanding attention and dictating the general ambiance of the room.

Sometimes you also want stuff that has dual function. That's why ceiling fan lights are both attractive and handy. You get your light, you get your fan, and more often than not, you get a beautiful decorative piece as well. They're definitely popular. I think most of the homes I've been to have at least one ceiling fan light. I guess we all agree that they're practical to have.

Lighting is definitely essential to a home or anywhere else. You should also make sure that you choose something that gives off a flattering glow. If you see yourself bathed in harsh fluorescent light all the time, your self-esteem might plummet to unknown depths. Just remember to give lighting the consideration it deserves.

How Are Things Here?

Gah. Been working. Had an infestation on my hands (will talk about that at greater length another time... bet you can't wait, lol). After the storm, it was hot again. My poor mom strained her back. I'll visit blogs again sometime soon. Btw, would you know where Marguerite could have learned a song that goes, "We wear underpants everyday..." (just that line over and over and OVER)? Oh and she also sings "Had a Mary little lamb". It sounds so cute that we are not correcting her. Yes, that may not be right, so we'll just regret it later.

Oh and I guess Blogger's okay now. Had to use the old editor for a couple posts recently.

Theater Stuff

I have an Irish friend who is another musical nut. Actually, we “met” in an egroup designed for fans of a certain Tony-award winning singer and actor. Location-wise, she has the advantage, of course, since she’s in the general vicinity of West End (relatively speaking, of course - you have to understand that I’m speaking as somebody who is far away from either London or New York). She is quite serious about being a fan too, so she has amassed through the years theater collectibles that should prove to be valuable to, well, other theater buffs. This is stuff that deserves an account with wincantonrecordsmanagementireland. She probably wouldn’t want to lose it in a flood or to a theater fan besieged with kleptomania. I don’t think I have anything of worth myself, except maybe a table napkin that Lea Salonga once used when she was in high school (this is a joke, okay?). We do have an okay theater scene here in Manila. We have a few theater groups, plus the universities, of course. It’s nothing like Manhattan, to be sure, where you could catch a show and actually have quite a selection to choose from on and off Broadway, but the talent, I am convinced, is just as remarkable and plentiful here. There have been attempts to make theater more accessible to the masses, but I don’t know. The average Filipino seems to have tastes that run toward telenovelas more than theater. Oh well.

What to Give

I showed here the card Marguerite made for my mom. Now, I show you the card she made for Mark’s mom. Actually, cards. After she was done with one, she was still in the mood to draw, so she made a second one. Here are pictures. I’m not sure if we’ll be mailing these to Zurich where my mother-in-law is or just wait for her to come home. 

Now, we have Father’s Day to craft for, lol. It’s so hard to think of gifts for men. Mark got me a cake for Mother’s Day. Marguerite raided the thing for cherries before we could get our slices, the little cherry bandit! I guess I could get him a cake too, but that would be just like we’re exchanging cakes, lol. Of course, I could get him socks and underwear, which he could always use, but, you know, I already give him those for his birthday and Christmas (hehe). Well, I’ll get him something. It was very different, of course, when we were still dating. I think I got him some interesting stuff then. I had more energy to bother about imaginative gifts, lol. One time, I even got him a remote control car. It should be knocking about in a box somewhere in storage. I told him he should get it out so he and Marguerite could play with it. We could Buy cheap RC Cars, have a whole fleet of them. I, for one, was never interested in such a toy, which reminds me, Mark was telling Marguerite about Superbook and Flying House (those Bible-based cartoons from the ‘80s) and he asked me if I didn’t watch them. I said I did when I had nothing better to do, and that I wasn’t particularly inclined to watch cartoons as a child. I guess I was just born weird.

Review: "How to Be God's Little Princess" by Sheila Walsh

“How to Be God’s Little Princess” is a how-to guide on the expected behavior of a Christian girl. It bears the subtitle “Royal Tips for Manners, Etiquette, and True Beauty”. There are tips and instructions on matters of clothing, posture and poise, entertaining, etc. It is pretty much an etiquette book with a Christian twist. Geared towards tween and older reading, this book is a great resource for Christian girls on their journey to womanhood.

I found the book very thorough. It is rather like a compilation of the things we learned growing up. Of course, this is better because everything is in one package, including things that perhaps we learned quite late. A grown girl might find it boring since the information wouldn’t be anything new, but it should prove to be a treasure for girls 8-14. It is a fun book to read, channeling the “princess trend” that many girls are into and providing crafts, quizzes and other activities for the reader to try out. It wouldn’t have been an interesting read for a woman of my age, unless of course she had a daughter who’s about the right age for it or will get to the stage sometime in the future. If this is the case, I imagine it to be something that mother and daughter could read together. Let me add that even if it doesn’t really cater to older females, it would still be a good book to have handy, a helpful resource to review from time to time.

Available in hard cover with an appealing pink, purple and silver color combo, this book is sure to appeal to young girls. The illustrations are also fun and young. The book may look trendy, but the nuggets of wisdom within will apply and remain true forever.

(Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a free review copy of this book from Booksneeze. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.)

Banal Talk

I remember being in a country (I won’t say which), waiting at a bus stop and listening to strangers exchange banal chitchat about the weather (everybody was just agreeing about how cold it was). It occurred to me then that I myself never bothered much about the weather (unless there was something extraordinary going on - coming from the tropics, it’s pretty much just wet or dry and the temperature doesn’t do anything drastic as a rule). Anyway, I thought it was funny, because at my lamest (I was young and frequently snide, even in my thoughts), I would have something better to discuss than the weather. I thought you couldn’t get smaller talk than that. So, a decade later, I found myself going on and on about the weather. First, I was whining incessantly about how hot it was. And then, wait, viola! A rain shower, which turned out to be a true-blue tropical storm. It turned from oppressively hot to refreshingly cool overnight with the skies gray and absolutely raining pitchforks. In church last Sunday when the rain was new and still gathering steam, the kids gazed out the window and just watched the rain fall. It was a sight - just a long row of them watching the wet world outside, like the rain was a curiosity, something alien, “What be this wet stuff falling from the heavens?” The recent scorching heat must have purged their memory of cooler weather. This morning, the power went out at about 6am. Mark and Marguerite didn’t even notice that the AC had stopped. The blankets stayed on. With our Discount Blinds down and the day quite gray, we could’ve stayed in bed indefinitely. This is great sleeping weather. Of course, we don’t want the rain too severe that it floods places (which this typhoon actually did in some areas of the country). Anyway, it’s been a weird summer. The weather was really much more unpredictable than usual.

RJ's Mama's Mother's Day Contest

brought to you by RJ's Mama

I’m the best mom in the world because I dedicated my child to God and that is the best thing I can ever do for her. Even as I endeavor to turn the stewardship of motherhood into a form of worship, I recognize the fact that as much as I love my daughter, I cannot ever love her better or more than God does. Accepting that my efforts and my understanding will always fall short, I’ve made a daily plea for God’s help and guidance a habit, knowing that with God in charge instead of myself, my daughter is in the best hands ever.

I Rue the Day I Discovered the Existence of Coolness

I was going to put a picture of my mom with my daughter and myself as my Facebook profile pic for Mother's Day, and then there came about this trend/meme thing actually asking people to do just that. That made me not want to do it anymore. Really. Do you know of anybody just as contrary? Is it still about being cool? Shouldn't I have already outgrown such a trait?

Just some thoughts from the perpetually juvenile...

Are You Over the Royal Wedding?

I think this time last year, my cousin (who, I have to brag, has just been inducted into Sigma Theta Tau) was taking summer courses in London. I haven’t asked her if she particularly cares, but if she does, then she’s probably going, “Why didn’t Kate and William decide to get married then?” Anyway, having said that, maybe the wedding week wasn’t such a practical time to be in the UK - much more expensive, you know. But I’m sure practicality and that argument wouldn’t have swayed fanatics (as what was apparent). As the fervor subsides, we could all go back to looking up holiday details like Bath tours or york hotels and other vacation possibilities. In any case, just stay away from silly wedding memorabilia. You don’t have to go to England to find some anyway. I was laughing at some goofed ones like a fancy mug with pictures of Princess Kate and … Prince Harry. The younger Windsor seems to be a really chatty type. My sister and I were remarking at how he was usually yakking away every time the camera panned over to him. And he always had this mischievous expression on his face. I also love the “I thought this was going to be just a small family affair” quip from William. Trust Princess Diana to produce endearing children.

Sparkles, Googly Eyes and Stories

Hello, people who bother to read my blog! I'm here and doing just fine, but I've just started a regular writing gig, so I haven't had time to post my usual inanities here. Anyway, yesterday Marguerite and I made a visit again to the post office to claim another book from Booksneeze, and then we headed over to the mall for pizza and arcade fun. We also stopped by the "bookstore" where Marguerite got glitter glue and some googly eyes. She made a Mother's Day card for her Nannie when we got home. Voilà!

No exercise of restraint. Stick all those insane googly eyes on one card. She already showed it to my mom, but she's not giving it to her yet since she said, "I still have to write a letter inside." Such ambition for somebody who only knows how to print our names (hers, mine and her dad's). :) Anyway, poor thing has a cold. She prayed last night for God to make it go away so she'll be just fine and dandy for the children's day camp.

In other news, Usama Bin Laden is finally truly dead, and I came in second at Sharkbytes' Birthday Story and Puzzle Contest!!! She published my entry here (and if you must know it took me more than 20 minutes to work the puzzle, lol).