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I spent more than half of the day in the mall today. I went to the dentist for another filling and I also got my dental application, something I have to wear every night to help correct my bite and keep my teeth from falling apart. I had lunch alone then went for a facial. I cherish my me-time but I also feel a bit guilty each time I spend some hours of the weekend away from my husband and kids. To banish my guilt, I decided to drop by National Book Store for some pasalubong . I gathered from the NBS Facebook page that they're having up to 70% off their books from August 30 to September 8. I went home happily carrying two books for the kids - a steal at 70% and 50% off! Asian Children's Favorite Stories A Treasury of Folktales from China, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia as retold by David Conger, Kay Lyons, Liana Romulo, Joan Suyenaga and Marian Davies Toth Illustrations by Partick Yee I got it for P430.50. Original Price is P1,435. That...

Strategies for Teaching Personal Finance to Teens Well, the beginning of the school year is just around the corner. I've been thinking about what to blog about this school year, and I decided that it might be especially helpful to new teachers if they had a model to follow - at least starting out.   So this year I will add some teaching strategies to what I am already doing on my blog. At first glance teaching Personal Finance may seem like it would be a hard class to teach and a little dry, and a little boring for the students. I find this is NOT the case at all. I have taught many different classes and Personal Finance is undeniably the most exciting and rewarding of them all. My philosophy, when it comes to Personal Finance, is that students have more fun and the lesson sticks better if they discover the answers for themselves. For example, instead of lecturing the students about money and telling them that they need to learn to budget, I designed a budgeting game that the ...

Back in May, during one of my "I want to find my true passion" moments, I thought I'd make my college dream come true by enrolling in a fashion design school. I was inspired by a colleague from my previous employer who pursued her passion for fashion design while working. After some years of hard work, fun and persistence, she graduated and was making a wedding gown the last time we talked. So I turned to google and I came upon Style Studio Fashion and Design School. I sent them an inquiry and got feedback right away but I got cold feet and I did not push through. I'm all plans but no guts. ;( Anyway, I recently received an email from them. In case you are or you know someone interested, here are the details: Style Studio Fashion & Design School will start the next term for short courses on Sept. 7, 2013. Enrollment are now going on. Please see attached file for short courses they offer. Saturday Class Fashion Illustration 9AM - 4PM Pattern Making 9AM - 4PM Sewing...

My 4-year old has been more cooperative in brushing his teeth ever since I told him the story about my two missing teeth. He now allows me to brush his teeth thoroughly and he is also getting pro in spitting. I blogged about my latest visit to the dentist here . This morning when he woke up, we had this conversation: TL#1: Mommy, what happened to your missing teeth? He wanted to hear the story again. Me: They were eaten by germs. They were filled with cavities so the dentist pulled them out. TL#1: But why, what did you do? You did not listen to your mommy? Me: Yes, I was hardheaded. I did not like to brush my teeth. TL#1: What did you say? Me: I said (imitating him) Waaah! No, I don't want to brush my teeth. I don't want to! TL#1: Me, I listen to you mommy. I brush my teeth. They are clean. See, I have 20 teeth! (And he opens his mouth wide to make his point) I hope he grows up with good habits on dental hygiene. At least (for now) he doesn't eat candies. I was not consciou...

I went to the dentist today. It is a big accomplishment for me because I don't fancy going to the dentist. I did not enjoy having my impacted wisdom tooth extracted about 3 years ago. But I just turned a year older so I decided to face my fear and get it over with. What was I to lose? A lot of bucks! Indeed. While I was lying down on the dental chair, cringing from the sound of the dental equipment hitting my teeth, I decided to put the experience into context. Come to think of it, the pricking during a facial hurts more than the cavity filling and oral prophylaxis (dental cleaning) but I endure that every other month. Why not do the same for the sake of my oral health! I liked the way the dentist handled my session so I listened to her advice and finally decided to fix my issue on teeth sensitivity due to exposed roots. Dental appliance anyone? I was really proud after and was bragging about my accomplishment to my son. It felt good to have squeaky clean mouth and a major (always ...

Our 4 year old had a sudden outburst the other day that left me in shock. Me: Don't hit your brother with the pillow. He's just a baby! TL#1: No, I want to kill him. I want him to die! Shucks! Me (as calmly as I could): No of course not. You don't mean that. Part of me was scared and wanted to deny what I heard. TL#1: No, I want to kill him. I was supposed to scold him and tell him that was a bad thing to say but I stopped myself. I realized I was not acknowledging his feelings. I was trying to invalidate them with my words. Good thing I read a few pages of the book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk . The book gives the following first aid to help a child in distress: TO HELP WITH FEELINGS 1. Listen with full attention. 2. Acknowledge their feelings with a word - "Oh". . ."Mmm". . . "I see." 3. Give their feelings a name. Here's a sample illustration from the book (click to enlarge). 4. Give them their wishes in f...

I've been wanting to write about this since I listened to the episode 'What to do When You Hate Your Job" by Michael Hyatt 's This is My Life podcast. No, I don't hate my job. Hate is too strong a word. But admittedly, there are times I find it hard and overwhelming. And during those times, it is easy to get swayed emotionally and it becomes difficult to put things in perspective. In short, I react and feel like a victim who has no control of my circumstances instead of taking a step back and acting consciously. I know, I know, choosing to be proactive rather than reactive will make all the difference. However at the heat of the moment, it is not easy to make the good choice. “If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own." - Stephen Covey It takes a lot of practice and conscious efforts before one can be truly proactive. Makes me think I should hav...

Next time, don't spend the flooded day guessing how much was credited to your BPI payroll account. Even with no access to my payslip, I knew right away how much money I received because of BPI express online banking. And I was able to spend a good amount that same day even though Habagat and Maring troubled us for three days. Okay, not exactly a good reason. :D To my colleagues who are yet to enroll in online banking, especially those who are on mobile unlidata, the steps are easy. Click on the images to enlarge. For ATM based accounts, you can register and activate your Account in BPI express online via this link . Be ready with your Account Number (the 10-digit number at the back of your ATM card) and Joint Account Indicator (the two-digit number after your name in the ATM card). To activate the enrollment, you may visit any BPI Express Teller ATM within 20 banking days. This should not pose a problem. I use online banking to pay my BPI credit card bill, phone and internet bills...

I would not let this day pass without blogging about how my family at work brought a big smile on my face and made me feel so loved today. With matching song number by our own mini-celebrity (she starred in Showtime last Wednesday), I was surprised by my colleagues with their advance happy birthday greetings complete with flowers, balloons, cake and of course, J Co donuts. It is becoming a tradition at work and we are loving it. Oh yes, bring on the love! Let me just say the one MAIN reason I keep coming back to the first Company I worked in is the people I work with. That makes more than one. I feel privileged to have had and continue to have the opportunity to work with the brightest and most hardworking people with BIG hearts. May I strive to continue to be better at what I do and to contribute to my colleagues' job satisfaction and professional well-being. Happy birthday to me, indeed! Thank you Lord for the blessings, most especially for the gift of loved-o...

Tonight is the eve of my 32nd birthday and I am enjoying some precious and hard-to-get-by quiet time. *sigh of contentment here* How I miss to say, "I'm bored!" or " Wala bang magawa ?". Those times are few and far between. Maybe because as we grow older, we are burdened with more responsibilities and we want to accomplish more each day? OVERWHELMED - that's me these days or maybe for most of my adult life. And I try to squash that feeling by doing as much as I could each day. I put in long hours whenever needed, which is almost everyday. Then I get sick or someone in the family gets sick or there's an emergency. I take a leave and the tasks pile up. Then I go back and put in the long hours again to address the backlog. Vicious cycle. I can only handle so much so I become apathetic to some aspects of my life like keeping in touch with family and friends and addressing our housekeeping matters. If you would note from my posts, I am mostly just rambling ab...

Malapit nang matapos ang Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa. At bilang paggunita sa kahalagahan ng pagmamahal sa sarili nating wika ay tatanghalin ang isang paligsahan sa eskwelahan ng aming panganay na anak. Para sa Junior Advanced Casa, ang paligsahan ay isahang pagbigkas ng tula at ang napiling tula ay:   Ang Huwarang Pamilya   Sa aming tahanan Buo ang pamilya Lubos na kasiyahan Aming nadarama Maaga pa lamang Iyong makikita Haligi ng tahanan Hayun nasa palayan Ilaw ng tahanan Laging nariyan Tunay na mapagmahal Maasikaso talaga Si kuya, si ate Maasahan din Masipag, magalang Magaling sa eskwela Itong aking pamilya Magandang huwaran Sa aking paglaki Sila ang tutularan    We have been egging TL#1 to memorize the poem. It's a bit of a struggle because we exposed him to the English language. Now, we're trying to help him learn to speak in Tagalog. He has already memorized the words but wouldn't listen and try to speak in the proper intonation. He apparently did not inherit my pen...

I have been a big Apple fan for a while. It all started with the iPod Video then the MacBook Pro, iPhone 3G, iPod nano, iPod touch and iPad 2. I'm currently using the iPad mini and iPhone 4s. You get the picture. And now I know why I am so bankrupt! But, for some reason, I wanted to try Samsung Galaxy S4. So as soon as the much-awaited retro pay (and more, yey! ) was credited to my payroll account, I bought it! I am really an impulsive buyer, a problem I need to address. I hope I don't regret this buy. :) Anyway, one issue I have is the transfer of contacts (and other files) from one phone to the other. The answer? Google it! Among the search results, I chose to transfer through the bump app since I have it in my iPhone. Very easy indeed, no more than 5 minutes and I got all my contacts in my Samsung Galaxy S4! Here's the video for your reference, too: You just follow the instructions in the app. It also worked for the photos!

Another reason I keep this blog is that I get to write down things about our kids as they grow up, details that I can't commit to memory because they may fade away as I grow old and senile. At least, some far away day, I have this blog to go back to. Our eldest, TL#1, is proving to be a smart kid. Something about the fruit not falling far from the tree. ;) Here are some of our conversations: Me: Oh no, it looks like it's going to rain hard! TL#1: Huh, why is it not going to rain easy? Wehehehe! Husband and TL#1 talking... Hubby: Please stop playing like that. You're too noisy! TL#1: Daddy, can you cover your ears? Can you hide? Hubby: But why? TL#1: Because I want to be loud! Before I go to work one day.... TL#1: Mommy, why do you have to go to work? Me: I need to earn money for you and baby. TL#1: But I don't want money! Mommy, please stay with me. While we were in the car driving... TL#1: Mommy, I look like but you don't have a t**** While in Zoobic Safari... TL#1...

We are stuck in the second floor of our apartment, hostage to the heavy and continuous rain that brought flood into our home. This is the third and last time. We are definitely moving out, hopefully, by year end. Times like these make us mindful of the here and now. Momentarily, only this hour, this minute matters. Survival instinct. Thoughts about work or the future vanish. Poof! We've been awake since the wee hours of the morning, resignedly anticipating the overflow of water yet hoping it won't happen this year. Just our luck! Thank God we have a second floor to take refuge in. We know there are a lot of people out there who are not as lucky. We hope and pray that the constant rainfall will stop soon. Cooped up half day and we're still happy campers. Cooped up a whole day and we're going to be smelly, hungry, cranky campers! Pakiusap, tumila ka na ulan at sana lang huwag mag-brownout! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hinde naman siguro masyadong obvious na mahilig akong mag-blog. Kulang na lang bahain ko ang newsfeed ko ng links sa posts ko eh . :) And despite my busyness, I try to make time for it. Please bear with me. I'm trying to pursue my passion. And since I Iove doing this, I decided to make over my blog! Slight lang naman para hinde mahal - a birthday gift to myself. Didn't you notice the new look?!? I love it. Kahit simple, mahalin ang sariling atin. :) Happy ako, hinde ba obvious? :) I have always been fascinated with words and pretty images. If I were to make over myself, I would like to be a magazine editor-in-chief. Why not? Well, right now, I am the editor-in-chief of this blog. Walang kokontra! I wanted a more professional looking blog so I googled and googled and googled. I also looked at some of the more popular mom blogs out there for reference. I noticed a few using premium wordpress themes. Most are using customized templates by Fancy Girl Designs but I feel I am not rea...

Initially, I was not inclined to throw a 1st birthday bash for our son. We were saving up for a future important expenditure and I thought TL#2 wouldn't even remember his party anyway so why bother? But then (shortly a month before), it got to me that our youngest is turning 1 year old once in a lifetime and it is worth a celebration. Plus, the husband shelled out the initial budget so why not. :) I'm not much of a party planner. I am an introvert and I do not like talking to strangers (weird me!). We settled for Fun Ranch (Ortigas) because of the party package they offer - venue, food, host, magician and photo booth supplier. Very convenient! It is a bit more expensive than when you DIY but I did not have the luxury of time, so. I first thought of Active Fun in Bonifacio Global City which is near our place and got their party package brochure. But I found the rates of Fun Ranch more reasonable. You may click on the images below for comparison. Activ...

I am turning 32 in a few days. Wow, i'm getting older. I want to think I am still young but my mind and body are showing signs of aging.  I celebrated the year I turned 30 with a blog post countdown . In the span of two years, I gave birth to our second son and I achieved a milestone in my career.  I am now a mother to a hyper soon-to-be pre-schooler and an adorable one-year old. I have grown 2 sizes bigger. I have become short-tempered and I suffer from constant memory lapses. I am still in denial but I know I have to fully embrace my role as a parent - searching for that big school, attending school activities, be actively involved in assignments and exams. I have to be more present at home so I need to manage my 24 hours wisely.  As I turn 32, I decided to tackle the following resolutions: 1.  de-clutter and unclutter I need to be more organized so that I can think more clearly. I've been feeling heavy lately and I need to let go of all physical, emotional and psy...

Finally, we are registered as Household Employer in SSS! The hubby also managed to process the SSS numbers of our two Kasambahay. This is part 3 of our quest to understand and comply with the requirements of the Kasambahay Law. Understanding the Kasambahay Law (Part 1) Understanding the Kasambahay Law (Part 2) After registration, we can proceed with the payment of contributions and submission of contributions collection list. Here are the procedures: 1. Fill-out Contributions Payment Return Form ( SSS Form R-5 ) and pay at: SSS Branches with Tellering Services, or Accredited Collecting Banks 2. Payment is to be made monthly and payment due date shall be as follows: If the 10th digit of the 13-digit ER number ends in Payment deadline following the applicable month 1 or 2   10th day 3 or 4 15th day 5 or 6 20th day 7 or 8 25th day 9 or 0 Last day (Advance payments may be made, but said payments shall only be credited to the records of the Kasambahay as they fall due....

Back to School Sale at my TPT Store!   The start of the school year is one of the most exciting and energizing times of the year and it is getting close. In fact, some schools are already in full swing.  To celebrate the beginning of another school year Teachers Pay Teachers and Personal Finance for Teens Unleashed are teaming up for a huge Back to School Sale August 18th and 19th.     So...It's Time to Stock Up!   This is a great time for you to take a look at your wish list and fill your cart.  These big sales don't come along often.    Don't forget to use the  PROMO CODE  to get your full discount:  BTS13  

It's Friday and my son bid me farewell today with this: Me: Bye baby. Mommy is going now. TL#1: Where are you going again mommy? Me: To work. TL#1: Why don't you work fast mommy? I'll give you my power of speed so you can work fast! He must really want me to come home early. At times like this, I feel a compelling need to find an 8 to 5 work. But is that the solution? When I was younger, before I became a teenager, I always looked forward to my Mama and Papa coming home from work. I like it more when they have pasubong but I was mostly content to have them home. Ah, the security of being with your parents! Then I became a teenager (with a boyfriend) and didn't care much anymore. That's why I want to squeeze as much memories and bonding moments with my kids at this stage in their life. Moms with older kids say that this stage is fleeting. There'll come a time that your children won't look for you anymore unless they want something. I believe in spending qual...

This is a continuation of my previous post Understanding the Kasambahay Law (Part 1) . We went home to the husband's province last long weekend with our two kasambahay. They are from the same area and we let them go home once a month. We asked them to gather their birth certificates, identification cards and whatever else they can use for their SSS, Philhealth and HDMF applications. They both brought back birth certificates, one NSO authenticated and the other from the Civil Registrar. Last Sunday, I gave them a printed copy of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) and QA from Department of Labor and Employment. They are both high school graduates (a good thing) and can read but I also plan to discuss the salient provisions of the Law with them this weekend. I have printed SSS Registration Forms and asked them to fill it up. I realized only this morning that they need to imprint their thumbmarks on the form so I dropped by Office Warehouse to buy a stamp pad. It costs only P...

Thanks Nanay, Tatay, Tita Allone, Tita Sherwin, and Amici, too for helping make TL#1's 4th birthday memorable. Our baby is now 4 years old, unbelievable! He wanted a dinosaur birthday party so we bought him an inflatable t-rex from Early Learning Centre . We now call it Theosaurus. He is so happy with his new best friend, who graced his impromptu party in his grandparents house in the province. He enjoyed playing with the other kids. He doesn't have regular playmates here back home. After the kids went home... TL#1: Mommy, why are the visitors gone? Me: Because the party is over. TL#1: But I don't want the party to be over. Gusto ko pa games! That shows how deprived he is of authentic playtime. Hopefully, this will change as soon as we transfer to our new home. Sometimes I feel for him because he does not experience in the city the kind of young play we had in the province when we were kids. But to be fair, he is also lucky in many ways. We hope he knows that. We were back ...