Saturday, April 24, 2010

blast from the past

last night, the hubby decided to let the kids watch our wedding video.  we were married almost nine years ago and it was the time when wedding videos were evolving into better, shorter and more enjoyable to watch.  but it turned out to be another boring watch.  for me at least, coz i kept on telling hubby to press fast forward and step it up.

not for my kids though.  they stared intently at each scene.  they squealed in glee upon seeing slides of me and hubby's baby pictures.  they asked who the other kids are (hubby's sister and my brother)  the little girl asked why she wasn't there.  the big boy laughed when he saw his now 13-year old cousin as then a 4-year old ring bearer. 

the best part was that everytime they saw old pictures of hubby, they got so worked up and excited and shouted... it's dadddeeeee!!!  they raved that ang payat pala ni daddy dati and pogi ahhh!! 



and when they saw pictures of me,




they laughed.  like i was a big joke.  

the punchline:  while the little girl was re-watching it today (she insisted on watching it again), she told her yaya, yan ang mommy ko, pangit sya nung bata.

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.  
~Robert Fulghum

Friday, April 23, 2010

my new blog layout

so there i finally did the new layout, new banner and got a fresh new look for this blog.  

ready for visitors.  it used to be that i used this blog to write my private thoughts, meant to be read by only me.  it was some sort of an online diary, something i needed as an outlet of my emotions.  it was something i planned to read someday and reminisce on the good ol' times.  it was some kind of record of all the good things so that when my kids grew up, they can read this and know too, what it was like.

but today, this has become open for public consumption.  i know i'm not a great writer.  but this is me and what i can do.  hope those who get to read this will appreciate at the very least.  happy reading!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

julla dialogues

julla to mom while playing plants vs. zombies in mom's laptop:  mommy, ibili mo nga ng mouse 'to!  ang hirap-hirap eh.

mom to julla:  {frown as if to say what---??}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

julla to dad as new yaya is texting non-stop:  daddy, di ba ang nag-aalaga sa akin hindi dapat text ng text?

dad to julla:  {jaw drop, looks at mom and grins}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

julla, upon hearing the first few notes of 'today was a fairytale' by taylor swift:    ateeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! as she runs towards her yaya who taught her about taylor swift's existence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

julla after ballet class when asked who is the prettiest girl in her class:     {somewhat hesitant} ako.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

julla likes pop

my little girl julla, who turned 4 years old two weeks ago, has been into lady gaga and taylor swift for months now.  

lady gaganess.
she once told me that when she grew up, she wanted to be like lady gaga.  i told friends about it and asked them whether i should be glad or bothered about it.  my fashion-whore friend andre said i it's somthing i should be proud to know.  fashion icon kaya si lady gaga, to quote him verbatim.  on the other hand, my normal friends (read:  not into fashion, pop culture, more realistic) said i should steer my daughter clear of her bad romance and paparazzi videos a.s.a.p. 

which leads me to an interesting incident some time ago.  she was watching the bad romance video with her dad.  there were bodies wrapped in white spandex crawling out of synthetic shells.  she watched too intensely as everything was unfolding in front of her.  her jaws dropped in awe.  during the part where lady gaga was like being forced to drink water and it was being poured on her face and body, she asked her dad why they were doing that.  her dad's jaw dropped speechless.


girly taylor swift .
this i can tolerate somewhat.  taylor's songs are reminiscent of my teenage loves.  julla's voice, when she sings along with the lyrics, which by the way she invents, matches with the shrill of taylor's voice.  i also find it funny that julla recognizes her songs on the first few notes.  immediately, her eyes will light up and excitedly call her yaya, who i know, has influenced her in this regard for she is a fan herself.

did i write here before about julla wanting to be like that palmolive fashion girl commercial?  with long straight hair and all the cutesy stuff she can do with it?  well after that, her next peg is taylor swift's long blond wavy hair.  paglaki ko, gusto ko mahaba yung hair ko na kulot parang kay taylor swift.


and here's the latest.

last night, when i arrived home she came running to me from where she hid, (she usually hides when i get home, pretending she isn't there) and proudly announced, mommy alam mo yung kanta ni juatin bieber na baby?  then she started singing ♫ babeeeeeee ♪♫ in her strong shrilly voice.  then she goes, di ba mommy bieber parang booger...?  

i roll on the floor laughing.  i love my little girl to pieces.  ♥

i have to remind myself to expose her to julia fordham, her namesake, again soon.


Sunday, April 18, 2010

forever young

this was my theme song on my 18th birthday....20 years ago...

originally sung by Alphaville, now sang by Beyonce and Jay-Z at Coachella 2010.

Deep sigh.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

i got the power


 


yesterday i received our electricity bill for the month via email.  i nearly passed out in disbelief.  a friggin' 6,900 all-time high!

on the average, my monthly bill is from 4,500 to 5,000 and i simply cannot fathom how the effin hell did we reach this amount when i know for a fact that we have not consumed electricity any more than we did the previous month.

i logged on to meralco's website to check for announcements in increase of power rates but found none.  worse, i cannot log-in to view my bill to see my consumption.  everytime i type the user name and password, it only goes back to the homepage!  so what, i will be tortured waiting for the real bill, with all the morbid details, to arrive at my house now when the reason why i availed of the online thingy is for me to know everything in advance??  *&♣;^%$#@!!!

let me see...last month, i payed 5,800.  the month before 4,600.  and before that 3,300.

so what's up with that?

i protest!  i'm joining that facebook page NOW NA!

other electricity bill rants:
first wives club - crazy meralco bill
chuvaness - power corrupts
a filipina mom blogger - meralco bill doubles the past month


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Seasons of Love

I started singing this song in my head last night, searched for it in youtube and played it like 6times.  Hubby said it's one of the good songs... Migo asked how many minutes is one day.  Julla just danced her ballet steps along with it.

I was humming this in my head on the ride to the office this morning.  Got here at 6:45!

Seasons of Love

Five hundrend twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundrend twenty five thousand moments so dear
Five hundrend twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year

In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights,
in cups of coffee, In inches, in miles
in laughter in strife,

In Five hundrend twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life

(chorus)
How about Love
how about love
how about love
measure in love
seasons of love
seasons of love

Five hundrend twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundrend twenty five thousand journeys to plan
Five hundrend twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
how do you measure the life of a woman or a man

In truth that she learned or in times that he cried
In the bridges he burned or the way that she died

Its time now to sing out though the story never ends
lets celebrate remember a year in the life of friends

Friday, April 09, 2010

overhaul/facelift/turning a new leaf

yes, i've decided to change the layout of this blog including all of the elements in it.  but it's not yet in the very near future.  i still have to plan it out and organize everything.  so i'll post a screen capture of the existing layout, for posterity's sake.


the underachiever

migo's interview at the new school was early this morning.

principal nora manuel was stern but smiling when she called him into her office.  i saw him through the glass window as he sat in front of her, knees together, hands clasped on his lap, just as i'd told him.  i wasn't sure if he was gonna breeze through it.  what with a 'failed' mark for his reading and language entrance exam the day before.  he had a high score in math though.  and his SAI is 113, above average. 

after about fifteen minutes, he was out the door telling hubby and me that the principal wanted us inside.  my heart skipped a beat. 

once inside, the principal asked migo to step outside. 

i was wondering why your son is an underachiever...  were her first words.  i was stunned but immediately got back my composure.  

what do you...?  how so?  why did you say that?  i don't understand.  i put my bag aside and put both my arms on top of her desk, crossed.  what EXACTLY do you mean by that?

she told us that migo had a high IQ but it only showed in his math exam (he got a high 3.8), but did not reflect in his reading (2.5) and language (1.8) exams.  it meant that he is above average in intelligence but doesn't seem able to use that academically.  i was literally crushed.  no, make that heart-broken.  i don't know if my voice broke or was just unsteady as i explained to her that my son does seem to lack interest in those subjects but excels in math, science and general information.  that he is also very good in taekwondo--a gold medalist even.  that he has a whole lot going for him and the reason why we are actually transferring him to this school is because we actually want him to be better at what he's not.  having said that, the principal was supportive.  she said they were admitting him to 3rd grade but on probationary status--meaning his grades have to be good on the 1st grading period.  if otherwise, we were asked to sign a 'contract' that he will attend remedial classes. 

my heart still aches as i type this.  but my heart knows that this is but a wake up call.  i have always been lauded by my friends for being such a great or cool mom.  the problem with that, i realized now, is i usually let my kids do only what makes them happy.  which is good, from another person's point of view.  case in point, migo's reading and language would've been better had i "forced" him to like those subjects instead of letting him study only those that he liked.  i know i've been really lax with him this past schoolyear, what with my nanny being the one assisting him with his homeworks.  i am so sorry that i've not been a good mom....


but today is a new beginning for him and me.  we'll prove to that new principal at that new school how lucky they have become to have acquired migo as their student.  aja!




Wednesday, April 07, 2010

of arabesques and birthday cakes

 
little girl julla turned 4 last monday.

coincidentally, it was her first day in summer ballet class.  the family was in full force to support her -- the dad, the mom, the brother AND the cousin.  all five of us trooped to nty children's camp to root for our little ballerina.

flashback to several weeks ago.

mom i want a birthday cake shaped like a heart.  color pink.

mom and little girl in front of the computer watching videos from youtube of ballet dancers, recitals, etc.  mom i want to dance like that.  

little girl at her moving up ceremonies.  my name is jullana ysbel c. dela cruz.  someday i want to be a teacher and dancer.  i believe that if i do my best, God will do the rest.

fast forward to three days before monday.
3 tulog na lang, magb-birthday na ko. 4 years old na ko.

two days before monday.
2 tulog na lang, magb-birthday na ko. 4 years old na ko.

one day before.
1 tulog na lang, magb-birthday na ko. 4 years old na ko.

on her birthday, her dad was first to inform her that, yes, today is already your birthday.  he nudged her, her eyes slowly opened, brightened then she squealed in glee.  

she did not get the heart-shaped cake.  and we did not get to watch her in class because we were asked to wait for them outside.  she didn't have a big event party, just her cake, spaghetti, fried chicken and biko.  but watch her do the arabesque and basic steps of ballet and you'll know that even if there wasn't any major celebration, her birthday was especially memorable for her.

that's her in ballet class with teacher april