just another weekend

Hello Monday morning!

It was a productive weekend. By that I mean, I was able to finish 4 weeks worth of laundry including 3 bedsheets. I bought new curtains.

I bought two new cacti and a potted giant rose plant.

I didn't do my tryinghardchef stint this time, except for the mandatory buttered shrimp for the little girl. But I did buy a tom yum soup pack for next weekend's shrimp. For a change. 😊 I also bought Yummy, a recipe magazine so I'm sure to try out new food this week. I am excited about that.

Kids and I attended The Feast Valenzuela again yesterday (2nd time this month). So heartwarming. Kids think we should attend it every week. Which makes me really glad that they like worship.

We haven't gone to taekwondo training for 3 weeks. It feels sad not to be able to go and letting my kids' "athleticity" go to naught. But last night Mommy O called and said the coach wants the little big man in the national tournament on the 26th. That's two weeks away so we gotta work up our schedule to be able to train.

So I'm off to a brand new week. Wish me luck. Good vibes only. God's will, God's time.

broken nose

it was an uneventful sunday. until that fateful moment when the little big man mistakenly turned away, looked back and his opponent's foot hit him right smack on the nose. i stared at my boy, his nose bleeding while two moms approached him, applied ice on his nose. coach approached too and called off the game.

a technical knockout.

and here i go again, saying, he could've won the game had he not been hit on the nose. 

the following tuesday, i had him checked by a EENT doctor who declared, without batting an eyelash, that the little big man needs to undergo surgery -- as in, general anesthesia kind of surgery.  the f---?! at first, i was stunned. all i could think about was somebody knifing my son's face and fixing the broken bone. (later i found out, the procedure was by way of lifting the skin from the upper lip up to the nose. no wonder he needs general anesthesia!) the next thing i thought about was how much it would cost to undergo this operation. doc said a safe ballpark figure would be 70k. the f---?! i was stunned twice over.

i held back tears as i told the hubby much later. good thing he was calm and said, a surgery probably wasn't needed anyway because there's no dislocation. which was a bit comforting. later, reading through google searches about broken noses and fractured noses, i did find that a surgery is not always the only option.

which made me relax a bit. but not until we get a 2nd, 3rd opinion from a different doctor this weekend.

meantime, as always, we got another learning experience on our list. 

“One mistake does not have to rule a person's entire life.” 

― Joyce Meyer, Any Minute

Black Belt

the little big man was promoted to high brown belt in taekwondo on april 28, 2012.  twenty-plus months later, which is a little overdue, he was promoted to 1st dan black belt last sunday, january 26, 2014.

these are his teammates from meycauayan who also earned their black belts with migo.  ethan, giljohn, miggy, princess and maureen.

and their colored belt teammates who came to support.  ralou, luis and ceejay.

with coach moben, their coach, mentor, motivator.

of course, with who else, but the proud mommy.

his defining moment was when he broke the board with a turning side.

i couldn't be happier for my unico hijo.  this is just the beginning of more challenges and opportunities which we will go through together.  love you, anak!

"A black belt is a white belt who never quit."

loss

three days ago.

this story is supposed to be about my two kids'  taekwondo tournament but it's gonna segue into a totally different, devastating story.  that is a forewarning.

it was the bulacan taekwondo championships held in marilao convention center in, where else, bulacan.  the kids were psyched for another fight and so were hubby and me.  i can say that we live for days like these.  it just makes us plain happy.

little girl was sent to the mats early and won her first game without a sweat.  (that's me, the mom, talking.)  second game was a breeze.  (again, proud mom moment.)  

her finals match was unexpected.  she was up against an older girl but with the same height, the younger sister of a veteran champ in clraa (central luzon ahtletic association or something) and although wearing a white belt, we expect has been training way longer than my little girl.  little girl overwhelmingly lost her finals match.  and her tears of furstration and hurt were overwhelming as well.  i consoled her of course that it was not something to be ashamed of and that we're all still proud of her.

...ooOoo...

little big man's first game was a breeze too.  then finals match was definitely not hard but sadly, he lost by 1 point.  he was disappointed of course, being hungry for another gold again but i guess, luck wasn't on his side.... yet.  coach told hubby that the little big man already has everything -- skills, form, speed -- we just have to be a little more patient and we will harvest soon. this guy's time will come.  i've said this time and time again, everytime he loses, because i strongly believe so.

...ooOoo...

towards late afternoon, the intense games of the kids' high school teammates got us all worked up and cheering on the sides.  it became an opportunity for some nitwit to steal my handbag which i left on a chair together with our team's bags and equipment.  the thief singled out my bag because i left our low bat iPad®  inside.  he must've been around already since morning, checking out who would be neglectful of their belongings, and i turned out to be the unknowing victim.

when i found my chair without my bag, i told the hubby and we informed coach who announced it over the microphone to please be mindful of belongings since a parent (me!!) lost her bag.  a little while later, coach's wife when she found out, told us she noticed an abandoned bag inside one of the stinky toilets.  and there it was.  my ransacked bag without the iPad and my wallet.

three lessons in losing today:

1)  the little girl's loss tells me that despite doing your best, if the other person who beat you is way ahead of you, you have to accept.  but you better train harder so you will be as good as her, if not better.

2)  the little big man's loss tells me that being the winner is not a one-time thing.  the process of getting there, overcoming obstacles, learning and maturing marks the true champion.  his time will come.

3)  and what did i learn from my loss?  never leave your personal belongings unattended.  God bless that nitwit thief.  and God bless me more.

“Winning or losing achieves the same result-- change.” 

― Shannon L. Alder

G O L D

this is what i posted on facebook this morning as i rode a cab on my way to work.  the caloocan division meet in taekwondo was held yesterday and the little big man got a silver.  i've been putting off posting the result since last night coz i didn't know how to "announce" to the world the result.  coz when you think about it, when you get a silver, it means you didn't get the gold.

the little big man did NOT get the gold.  but migo knew he got the gold.  we knew he got the gold, our coach knew he got the gold, the referee knew he got the gold.  DAMN IT, EVEN HIS OPPONENT KNEW MIGO GOT THE GOLD.

but he didn't.  the scorers didn't see it the way everybody else saw it.

and that's what makes me want to give out a prolonged high-pitched cry of a combination of pain, grief and anger.  had he gotten the gold, he would've been on his way to the NCR (national capital region) games where if he won, he would've gone on to compete in palarong pambansa.  which is what he has always wanted.

sigh.

i remember myself praying repeatedly in my head "ibigay mo sa kanya 'to Lord, ibigay mo sa kanya 'to Lord.." the whole time i was recording on video the game.  when i saw the final decision, i wanted to break down but i held on and completed recording.  i looked at the little big man's face void of emotion.  but i knew, i knew, he was too disappointed to speak. 

but i know too that God's reason for this is that He has far more opportunities to give to my little big man.  the way he has matured in this game, the way he has worked hard to be where he is now, i know that soon he will realize his dream of becoming an undisputed champion.

for now, the gold is his determination to move on and keep training and learning and doing his best.  he has that gold.

i'm never gonna give up the way i know he will never give up.  just you wait and see.

Sometimes by losing a battle, 

you find a new way to win the war.

~ Donald Trump

conversations

i was in the gym last week waiting for my little big man and little girl who were in taekwondo training.  the coach's daughter, 6 years old engaged me in a no-nonsense conversation which went on like this:

coach's daughter sits beside me on the bench then says,  what did you look like when you were a child?

me, after thinking for a few split seconds, i looked like julla when i was a child. 

she turns to look at my daughter julla who was busy with their taekwondo drills out on the mats.  then she turns back at me, you looked like that?

yes, but i was darker.

she turns to look at julla again then back at me.  then bluntly, she says, you're black.

of course, i was quick to retort, calmly,  i'm not black.  i'm brown.

she looks at julla again then says, julla is light brown.

L.O.L.

conversations

at the newly opened Joy Avenue Foodstore:

little girl was lingering while there were no customers.  my brother's kumpare was there, who incidentally has the same family name as ours so the hubby calls him 'insan (meaning: cousin).

'insan came over the softdrinks fridge, calling out 'nay pahingi ako ng royal. (<-softdrinks font="">

bayaran mo yan ha, said the little girl.  so she thought, by saying "pahingi" the guy was literally asking for it for free.

ayoko nga bayaran.  bakit ko babayaran e pinsan ako ng may-ari?

e ako nga anak ako ng may-ari nagbabayad ako e.

ayoko pa rin bayaran, 'insan taunted her, laughing as he said this.

the little girl, obviously pissed, retorted, ta-taekwondohin na kita.  marunong ako mag-taekwondo.  lumalaban ako ng lalaki, tumatalo ako ng lalaki.

to which 'insan and everybody within earshot started laughing.  and usually, when she's laughed at, the little girl gets really annoyed. she said, naiinis na ko sa yo.  iiyak na ko! then  broke down in tears.

New Year

Oh yeah, I was supposed to blog about a few things....

It's a New Year in different ways for me so let me run down those "few" things I wanted to blog about for the last 3 months that I was in hiatus from this blog.

New school year.  The little big man, who is 10 years old, is now in 6th grade.  Schoolyear 2013-2014.  Can you believe that?  I must change the picture on the top of this blog soon.  That was so 5 years ago.  (I guess)  And the little girl, who is 7 years old, is in 2nd grade.

CPU and external hard drive are dead.  Yes, 2 weeks ago, my Seagate 500gig external hard drive containing most of my family pictures for the last 8 years, just went kaput.  And just this weekend, our family's personal computer crashed.  I need to start over.  I don't need to tell you how devastated I am about all that I've literally lost.  I did not shed tears but you can imagine my insides falling apart piece by piece as the computer tech told me that none of my data stored in all of that can be retrieved.  

Back  to old coach.  The little big man started training again with his former taekwondo coach.  Yeah, the one who disowned him some 2 years ago.  We've been wanting to communicate with him for the past year and the few times we've connected in some tournaments, he was friendly enough for us to eventually tell him that we wanted our little girl to start training with him.  And then he asked, what about the little big man?  So we took it as an invitation for us to come back and train with him again.  And we did.  There's no turning back.  So last May, both kids went into rigid 4 times a week training with him.  

Home-grown.  In connection with that training, the little girl , after training for about 3 weeks, went into her first official tournament, albeit a mini-tournament.  It was so mini that she did not have an opponent in her category who is a girl.  So, the organizers pitted her against boys.  Yes, she sparred with 2 boys within her height range.  And she won over both. Her first official gold medal in taekwondo has been sealed.

New business.  So after all the ups and downs of the previous year, the parents helped hubby and I put back together the canteen.  It's now located in our own yard converted into a cozy enough, decent enough canteen for students and for the neighborhood.  We called it Joy Avenue Foodstore, derived from our street name, Ligaya Street.  

Work-related.  Last December, the office renovation got semi-completed and my department was moved back up to the 2nd floor.  My new place is right in front of the door leading to the warehouse.  Last April, my Chinese friend and supplier noticed I'd been sickly the last couple of months.  I told her it was probably because of the crazy schizophrenic weather and that I was seated in front of the door that pushes in warm air everytime it opens and closes.  To this, she was appalled.  She said, in Feng Shui, it is bad luck to be working right in front of a door because the negative energy is right at you.  Aside from that, my back was towards the door so I could be prone to back-stabbing, literally and figuratively.  For this, I requested my bosses if we could have a wall put behind me to block the door, to which they immediately said yes.  But to this day, 2 months later, still nada.  

Still work-related but on the side.  I tried to revive SALT last February but my full-time job just keeps me too busy and tired.  So after a few successes for 2 months, I am lying low on this biz again.  My time will come.

Babies.  My younger brother has a new baby.  Cheska was born last March.  My PD Officer Jacq is pregnant and is due in late July or early August.  Her baby's name is gonna be Yuri.

I know I have a lot more to update but this will be all for now.  I will try my best to blog often so I won't forget.

kicking it again

the little big man was in a taekwondo tournament yesterday.  after a long while again.  it used to be that almost every month we were on a tournament somewhere in this country.  we miss those days.

anyway, he got a bronze medal after losing in the semi-finals to a black belt.  score was a very tight 2-1.  worth-reading an old post i wrote about losing:  

http://ceschami.blogspot.com/2011/04/prize.html?showComment=1303271527948#c2292520225407376454

the highlight of the day was the little big man's cousin -- my brother's son.  it was his first time to compete.  he trained for a week and his dad convinced him to try out this competition.  his was just an exhibition game, with our coach making sure he doesn't get traumatized on his very first game.  well, he lost but got himself a silver medal for trying.  he needs a lot of training and i hope he and his dad seriously get into this.  

the hubby came to the event and the kids were mighty glad to see him.  although the little girl started crying when he was about to leave again later in the afternoon.  things are tough but i know in my heart we will all be able to cope.

tkd girl

just 2 weeks ago, i was talking about the little girl wanting make-up yeah?

well this week, she joined her very first taekwondo tournament. and today, her first official taekwondo training.  well, she's been watching and learning whenever her brother is training so she more or less, has the general idea on how to properly kick.  and she spars with him at home too.  so hubby and i were confident enough to try her in an exhibition in last sunday's tournament.  

yep, you read that right.  my kikay girl is also a kanto girl.  


(embed video)

i'm not sure though if her other interests, i.e. ballet, belly-dancing, singing, swimming, will take a backseat this summer or not.

i'm so looking forward to the boys who will try to woo her in the future and whose asses she will kick.

shark bait

Don't think that there are no sharks 

just because the water is calm.

today marks the little big man's return to taekwondo training.  


last october 19, during training, he sprained his ankle upon hitting his teammate's thigh.  thinking it wasn't a big deal, he competed in the SCAA four days later only to aggravate the hurt ankle even more.  after that, we decided to let it heal first before training again.  after a week, it still hurt whenever he stretched his foot so we went to a rehab doctor who put him on a 4-session therapy to help it heal and advised not to stress his foot for the next 2 weeks.  which meant no running, no jumping and most of all, no kicking until the 3rd week of november.


so today, he's back.  as i watched him warming up, doing his ___ and study sparring, it seemed to me that he didn't even slip over the last month in the intensity of his kicks.  it seemed to me that he got even stronger and more confident.  perhaps it's because he missed training and gave it his all tonight.  or perhaps it's just me, the mother, who thinks her kid is the greatest in the world.  


i guess i'm just happy he's at it again.  and looking forward to fulfilling his dreams.


and so i say, watch out world, sharkboy is back.  

the hard-earned silver

yesterday was testament to the hard work that the little big man has been putting into training to become the best that he can be in his sport.  

he participated in the DPS (Diliman Preparatory School) Taekwondo Championship where most of the best players and teams in NCR competed.  

every competition sees him more and more confident of his moves, happier with the turn out whether lose or win, and learning new things which we know he will carry on to the next competition.

might i brag, he only got a silver.  it wasn't just a piece of metal though. he was matched up with a DPS player in the eliminations and did everything right to come out the winner. next game his opponent was disqualified because of a mismatch because he was, intentionally or unintentionally, matched up with a group 3 player.  third game was a cliff-hanger with a brown belt from vas gym who was a teammate of that junior black belt he fought for gold with back in camanava last summer.  it ended with a draw which led to a sudden death match where he came out triumphant.  and for his final game, the best player of DPS whom he succumbed to but not without a fantastic, breath-taking, action-packed, death-defying (yeah, you name it!) bout.  

i liked that he came out friends with his opponents, even having their pics taken with their medals on.  just shows the kind of sportsmanship these kids already have instilled in them at such a young age.  or maybe, they're going to keep tabs on each other for future fights?

definitely, it was one of the little big man's best days.  

thank you, Ma'am Vicky - Our small group of  parents now call you "Mother" among ourselves, for we witnessed for the first time how you were such a great coach on court, as strong-willed, supportive, yet gentle as a mother.  


thank you, Ma'am Sarah - I think the little big man got his new-found angas from you.  ;-) And for standing up  and asserting what should be. 


thank you, Sir Billy - For coming to the tournament eventhough you had your own game to go to, to support our players.

thank you and congratulations to our good friends and teammates for a great day.

truth told

last tuesday, the hubby and little big man went for the weigh in at the central gym of the philippine taekwondo association.  this is in preparation for the Interschool Competition in NCR.

incidentally, since he's up for promotion to brown belt soon, the hubby inquired about the little big man's belt status as recorded in the central gym.  he found out that our former coach has never -- read that again -- NEVER submitted records of any of the promotions we have had with him.  which means, technically, the little big man is still... a blue belt?  or whatever belt he was before we joined this coach.


sucks, right?


two other teammates who "broke away" from this coach found the same problem.  one of them who started as a white belt with this coach does not -- read that again -- DOES NOT have a record at all.  which means, he was never submitted as a member of the PTA at all.  the other one who's supposed to be in brown now is only in red.  this only means that our records since more than a year ago were never submitted.

we wonder now what all the rest of his players' status are.  somebody told me it might be because coach is registered in the province.  but more than a year?  does it take that long to transfer records to central gym??  your guess is as good as mine.  

turning a new leaf

last weekend, the little big man's taekwondo coach for more than 2 years literally disowned him.  

we assume he is infuriated by the fact that the hubby helped a co-parent put up his own taekwondo gym and got a different coach.  we actually understand how hurt he must be, considering he's already our coach but our co-parent got somebody else.  but it wasn't for the hubby and i to decide because it wasn't our business. 

i am writing this down to lay down our cards because many facts may have been misunderstood or some people may be saying things that are untrue and i would like the real circumstances not to be left unsaid.

first off, the little big man is enrolled in a school in NCR.  thus, we are letting him train with a NCR coach who, our now former coach endorsed to us last year.  we have informed this to him last year and he knows very well that this is the only way to go because he is based in mecauayan, bulacan and he will never be able to support our son in NCR. (on a side note, last summer, former coach tried to convince hubby and me to transfer the little big man to a school which he handles but we politely declined, believing our son is already placed well in his NCR school.)

coincidentally, our NCR coach's assistant is the one (they say) that former coach is not in good terms with.  and this particular not-in-good-terms coach is the one that our co-parent commissioned to train the students at his new gym.

we did not intentionally tell former coach of this because we knew, for sure, he would not approve of this association with the not-in-good-terms coach.  and basically, business is still business, and the co-parent who put up the gym is entitled to his own choice on who to get for his business.  and he did not want to get former coach.  we did introduce him (our co-parent) to the new coach, yes, because we are friends and friends help each other, right?

turns out, somebody told former coach some misguided information god-knows-what and it seems that he is very unhappy, angry and even hurt by these circumstances.  we understand he may be threatened by new competition.  he may be hurt that he was not the one commissioned by our co-parent.  or he probably thinks we betrayed him.  he may even think of us as ungrateful after everything he's done for our son.  but just as in any school, we pay the school to teach our children and if we decide to move on to a better school, we are not bound because of gratitude. 

for the record, we never intended to leave him because we still consistently trained with him and joined his competitions, supported his endeavors and have always had a high regard and respect for him.

but after what he did to us that fateful sunday, he has closed the door and we do not intend to open it again.   it is sad that he did not talk to us to clear everything and relied only on hearsay -- hearsay from people who probably want to suck-up to him to get on his good side, at our expense.  we can only guess what is going through his mind right now about us but we pretty much have the idea that it is not good.

we are moving on now. we are grateful to him for everything he has done for our son but we will not be controlled in our decisions on what we think will be best for him.  good luck and godspeed, sir.

birthday boy

the little big man turned 9 years old last saturday.  

i can only look at him in awe as i watched him play milo little olympics yesterday.  he's grown so much is an understatement.  he's physically grown.  proven by the fact that whenever he sleeps beside me and he throws his legs and arms over me, i feel choked and helpless under his weight.  

his taekwondo skills have way improved and his level of maturity in the game has drastically upped over the last couple of weeks.  we saw how we beat his opponent in the first game through sudden death.  his shot was so clear and precise, no biased referee can discount it.  we saw how, in his second game, he fell two times and lost to that palarong pambansa champ and not shed a tear, his poker face undaunted, his will to win and pride in himself still in tact but maintaining humility in his stance.

emotionally, he still has a lot of growing to do.  as a kuya (older brother) to his sister, we still have a lot to work on.  we have a lot of time to do that.  bottomline, despite their frequent quarrels, at the end of the day, they still know they love each other more than anything.

in school, he's improved a lot too.  he's still talkative and all that, says what he wants and comments on everything.  but he's a fast learner and once challenged, always strives to better himself.

it's maybe been a year since he told me he wanted his own cellphone.  and eversince, the hubby and i always tell him that when he's responsible enough, by that we meant not losing his ballpens, his ID or getting dirt on his school uniform, that's the time when he gets that cellphone.  

well, within the few weeks before his 9th birthday, he still lost a pen or two but not as much as before. 

and that much coveted cellphone? 

about that soul dream

from that last blog entry about soul dream comes a very immediate development.

last night, the hubby told me the new coach told him that the little big man can get a high school scholarship in ateneo if he continues to do well in taekwondo.  well isn't that an answered prayer so soon?  (yes, he has a new coach but that's another story for another blog entry.)

anyways, i haven't read on with that e-book so i still have yet to find out what -- really -- is my soul dream.  but then again, i believe, the ultimate of it all is that i eventually find our little family successful in whatever dream we pursue.

the prize

he had the most maangas na hairstyle at the  Region 3 Age Group Taekwondo Championship.

but it was  all he had to show.  on the first round of his first match with an opponent he beat at his last tournament in nueva ecija, he was a hesitant, blundering, clueless little big man.  first round, the score was tied at 1-1.  after the time-out, he came back with a little fire hitting 4 consecutive points but got head kicked and ended the second round with a 4-4.  

so it was sudden death.  (for no-tkd-background readers, it's the tie-breaker.)  coincidentally, my videocam ran out of disk space (note to self:  clean out memory cards before games!)  so i watched in frustration as i saw my champion son backing off the whole time instead of attacking his opponent.  everyone -- me, hubby, teammates, parents, coach -- were literally screaming at him to attack, but he did nothing.

i can still hear our teammates and the parents' sigh of disappointment.  i can still feel my hand touching hubby's arm to calm him down as he lashed in dismay at the son.  i can still run over and over in my head the look on the little big man's face as he broke into tears when the referee declared his opponent the winner, his coach patting his head.  while i walked away coz i didn't know what to say to him that would comfort him.  that would comfort me.

the hubby was most frustrated.  he commanded us to pick up our stuff and stormed out of the gymnasium to head home.  i knew how he felt:  all the training and hardships they went through gone to naught.  his first game as a red belt playing in novice2 went kaput.  how we waited for two months before he could play again only to end up with a severe loss that could've been a gold if only he had performed his regular game.  what happened really, we couldn't tell.  he just cried and cried on the way home.

..ooOoo..

normally, when we attend games, we are unable to go to sunday mass because it takes the whole day.  so we had the chance to go today.  normally too, we would be seated on the first few rows at the left side of the churh.  but since it was palm sunday, the church was already full when we arrived so we settled at the sidelines where we couldn't view the altar but it was presko and we had makeshift seats out of excess kneelers. 

halfway through the mass, i noticed this slightly obese boy, about 12 to 13 y/o with glazed eyes, looking harshly at my kids and other kids around.  his mom and dad were on both his sides, holding his hands each.  after a while, i heard him humming loudly -- singing actually, an unidentifiable rhythm.  his dad hugged the boy to him.  after a while, he was struggling to be let go as if he wanted to go somewhere but his dad kept him beside him.  his mom looked at him lovingly and wiped the sweat on his neck.  all of us around him knew he was special and were tolerant of his behavior. 

then i felt God talking to me.  here is a little family, much like mine, with much more to be disappointed about than me.  and here they are, in church, praising and thanking God for their special son.  they are not ashamed of him.  they are happy coz their son is alive and well.  i felt so guilty that tears welled up in my eyes.  i looked at the hubby and i knew he knew too what was going on in my head and in my heart.  i knew i had so much more to be thankful for because i had a smart, talented, healthy son whom i should be so proud of.  how could i be so ungrateful! 

walking home from church, i watched my son -- the little big man -- and whispered my thanks to God and my apology for being disappointed in my son.  talking to hubby later, he too had the same realization.  we know we wouldn't have our son any other way.  he's  our prize, our gold and nothing can take that away from us.

thanks, mike borja, for the photos.

red

and since i got time in my hands today, here's another post for the day.  yes, making up for not blogging so much for the last 3 months.

the little big man's promotion to red belt was held the day before valentine's day. he performed exceptionally well as always.  he was the littlest in height among those in the red belt -- an achievement in itself.  he's been working hard and all that is paying off.  i believe he's one of the best in his category.

good luck, son!  you know i'm proud of you! :)

conversations

i 've been an absentee blogger again. baaaddd...

so i'm taking time to sit down and type this before i forget these short simple conversations ever occured and gave me reason to smile.

the little girl

we were having adobong pusit and baboy for dinner one night this past week.  (i know it's a weird dish to begin with but the hubby learned it from the mechanic's girlfriend, so there.)

the little girl, curious as always, asked about the pusit.

it's  squid. it's like a small octopus.  i told her.

that's what squidward is.   the hubby quipped,  i guess to make her understand better, refering to the infamous frenemy of spongebob squarepants who the little girl loves so much.

to which she replied, AH, ADOBO SI SQUIDWARD??

the little big man

he wasn't feeling well when we fetched him from school on a thursday.  he said he had a headache.  it was taekwondo training day and hubby always insists the little big man attends training evenif he wasn't feeling well.  he wants to instill in our boy that he has to overcome sickness for his sport.  besides, we knew he could be faking it to be able to skip for the day.

anyhow, when we got to the gym, he did his warm-ups and joined the team but whispered to me if it's alright if he skips sparring.  i told him to ask his dad.  he didn't.  he knew what his dad's answer would be.

so he went through with it but on his first sparring, we did notice him having a hard time.  his face was all crumpled as if he was fighting the urge to cry.  his sister also saw this and she started crying because she felt her brother was going to get sick.

so after the first sparring, the hubby decided to pull him out of training and head for home.

his words while going out of the gym:

mommy i'm sorry i didn't make you happy today.  just when you were here to watch me train, i didn't perform well. 

that's ok.  i understand that you felt sick.  i ruffled his hair and hugged him to me.

stats

disclaimer:  i do not intend to brag in this blog post (although it may seem like it).  this post is for my own personal future reference.  just so i know and i will have something to look back on when i eventually lose count. 

this is what i call the little big man's taekwondo record, from april 2009 to november 2010 -- 19 months into the sport:

may 23, 2009 

lourdes school, valenzuela 

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 0

BRONZE

june 28, 2009

m.h. del pilar high school, malolos, bulacan

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 0

SILVER

july 18, 2009

waltermart, muñoz, q.c.

novice, group 0

under sir achilles ponce

september 20, 2009

region 3 cpj taekwondo championship

tarlac state university, tarlac

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 0

BRONZE

october 11, 2009

seminary, guiguinto, bulacan

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 0

october 18, 2009 promotion to high yellow

meycauayan, bulacan

promoted by sir moben angeles

october 25, 2009

sta. cecilia college, valenzuela

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 0

 

november 14, 2009 

region 3 taekwondo championship

robinsons mall, cabanatuan city

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 0

GOLD

november 29, 2009

bagong bulakeño games

bulacan capitol gymnasium, malolos

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 1

GOLD

december 13, 2009

camanava smart taekwondo championship

sta. cecilia college, valenzuela

under sir achilles ponce 

novice, group 1

SILVER

march 7, 2010

2nd mayor tito oreta taekwondo championship

oreta sports center, malabon city

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 1

GOLD

promotion to low blue

march 21, 2010

region 3 new face taekwondo championship
megacenter, cabanatuan city

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 1

GOLD

may 16, 2010

san diego parochial school, pulo, valenzuela

under sir achilles ponce

novice, group 1

BRONZE

may 23, 2010

milo summer 

bulacan capitol gymnasium

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 1

GOLD

june 5, 2010

friendship games

greenfield subd, guiguinto

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 1 

GOLD

june 13, 2010

promotion to high blue

batallion fitness gym, meycauayan

june 26, 2010

carlos palanca jr. taekwondo championship

sm pampanga

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 1

GOLD

july 31, 2010

smart national taekwondo championship

rizal memorial coliseum, manila

september 18, 2010

hundred islands taekwondo championship

alaminos, pangasinan

under sir moben angeles

advance, group 1 (tried out the red belt)

BRONZE

october 3, 2010
region 3 cpj taekwondo championship
tarlac state university, tarlac city
under sir moben angeles
novice, group 1

november 14, 2010

tagaytay taekwondo championship
tagaytay city

under sir moben angeles

novice, group 1

SILVER

TO DATE:  7 GOLDS, 3 SILVERS, 4 BRONZES -- not bad, i'd say. :)