0100 Truths

It's been a very long while since I've done this...

100 truths.

What was your…




1. Last beverage — Water



2. Last phone call — My sister.



3. Last text message — My dad.


4. Last song you listened to — Oh Well.


5. Last time you cried — Shed a tear, this morning. At the airport. Cried, as in big cry ... don't remember.



Have you ever…



6. Dated someone twice — Yes, of course.



7. Been cheated on — Yes, emotionally.



8. Kissed someone and regretted it — Nope. But the other way around. Did not kiss someone, and regretted it. Haha! But not anymore!!



9. Lost someone special — Yes. A few times.


10. Been depressed — Yes, I guess we all go through that somehow.



List favorite colors:



11. Aquamarine


12. Old Rose



13. Light Yellow


14. Gray (not exactly a colour)



This year (2011), have you…



15. Made a new friend — Yes.



16. Fallen out of love — Nope.



17. Laughed until you cried — Oh yes, there were a few times.



18. Met someone who changed you — Not this year! Or, not yet!


19. Found out who your true friends were — I've known who my true friends are for a while now.


20. Found out someone was talking about you — So far, I have yet to find out!



21. Any regrets — I try not to. Sometimes it's an effort.


General:



22. Prized possession: Our wedding ring/engagement ring.


23. Hobby: Doing nothing! For a change. Am a busy bee otherwise.



24. Do you have any pets? — No pets in this household. Sadly.


25. Do you want to change your name? — Nope, I am pretty much happy with my unique name.

26. What did you do on your last birthday - Spent the day at home, with the little one. Then, come evening
with hubby.


27. What time did you wake up today? — 7AM



28. What were you doing at midnight last night — Working.


29. Name something you cannot wait for — I cannot wait for next summer! Just warm sunshine with a two year old would be exciting...


30. Last time you saw your mother — Last month.



31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? — Occassionally I think I would like to change a few things. But I suppose, things and events and people happen for a reason. So, I'd rather not mess up with that. Answering the question though, I wish I had me and hubby's family live in the same city as us.


32. What makes you sad? – Thinking about not spending enough time with family (obviously coz they are not around)



33. Your happiness — A very lazy weekend. Lunch by the wharf, movie marathon with hubby, spend half an hour at the park with the little one. On a very nice sunny warm weekend.


34. What’s getting on your nerves right now? — Slow Technology! Slow laptop!


35. Most visited webpage — Facebook


37. Food that I avoid: Chocolates. But, I usually succumb to temptation.


37. Nicknames — I'd rather not share.


38. Relationship Status — Married.


39. Zodiac sign — Aquarius



40. What do you wear on a nightout? — Hmm, I don't remember when the last one was! But I would probably wear blouse/jeans, or a dress + tights.


41. What do you wear to a casual lunch? Casual dress

42. What do you wear on a bad day? — I wear my hair up, baggy clothes.


43. Fashion Icon — None really.


44. Hair color — Tired brown. Would love to have some colour done tho: one shade of brown lighter.


45. Favorite brother – Both of them! Hahaha.


46. Height — 5 foot 2


47. Do you have a crush on someone? Yes, but they don't know me. And they live in a different world. Yes, hubby knows about this!


48: What do you like about yourself? I usually like that I am a go-getter. Recently though, I've been having a few issues due to my time constraint/limitations thats not under my control.


49. Workout: Balancing the baby, doing the dishes, and working.


50. Tattoos — None.



51. Righty or lefty? — Dominantly a righty. But I can do some curvies on my left too.


Firsts:



52. First surgery — Giving birth.


53. First piercing — First and only - ears.



54. First best friend — Joyce.


55. First sport you joined — Swimming.


56. First vacation — Baguio with my family.


57. First kiss – My second boyfriend.


58. First pair of trainers — Don't remember!!


Right now:



59. Eating — Chocolates. So unhealthy!


60. Drinking — Lots of water.


61. I’m about to — Have dinner.


62. I’m listening to — The sound of silence.


63. Waiting for — the little girl to wake up.


Your future:



64. Want kids? — I want another one! Sooooon.


65. Get married? — Check.


66. Career? — I am really wanting my travel biz and migration biz to work out well.


Which is better…



67. Lips or eyes ? — Eyes


68. Hugs or kisses ? — Hugs, then kisses.


69. Shorter or taller? — Taller.


70. Older or younger? — Would have preferred an older one, but I manage to always end up with someone younger!


71. Romantic or spontaneous? — Romantic. Not so much a spontaneous person, at heart I will always be a planner.


72. Nice stomach or nice arms? — Nice arms!!


73. Sensitive or loud? — Sensitive please.


74. Hook-up or relationship? — Is this even a question? Definitely a relationship.


75. Devil or angel? — Angel please.


Have you ever…



76. Kissed a stranger? — Never.


77. Drunk hard liquor? — Not in a very very very long while.


78. Lost glasses/contacts? — Nope..



79. Sex on first date? — Nope.


80. Broken someone’s heart? — I think I have. Maybe a few times. More or less. More.


81. Had your heart broken? — Oh yes.


82. Been arrested? — No.



83. Turned down someone you love? I don't know if it was love. But yes, I have turned down someone because of Love.


84. Fallen for a friend? — I think so.



85. Raison d’ Etre? — To be happy.


Do you believe in…



86. Yourself? — Not my strongest moment now, but yes, I try to.


87. Miracles? — A big YES.


88. Love at first sight? — I think so!!


89. Heaven? — Yes.



90. Santa Claus? — Yes!


91. Kiss on the first date? — Well, no.


92. Angels? — Yes.



Answer truthfully…



93. Do you still think about past loves? — I think every once in a while, we all do.


94. Did you start your day with a prayer?  I try to.


95. Did you sing today? — Yup.



96. Who was the one that got away? — Well, I'd like to think he let me go.


97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go, and why? 1990. I'd love to re-live high school and college days in Manila. They were the best.


98. If you could pick a day from last year and relive it, what would it be? — The day I gave birth.


99. Are you afraid of falling in love again? — Why would it happen again?


100. Posting this as 100 truths? — YES!

Feeding past 15 months

Just a random, seemingly selfish post on feeding past 15 months. I might overshare, bear with me!

My little girl just passed the 15 month mark this month, and so that means it has been that long that I have been exclusively breastfeeding her! (And I don't mean expressing milk into a bottle - coz she's never drank from a bottle!) I feel quite proud and happy to have gone this long and this far in terms of providing for her needs, whims and wants for over a year now. I know a lot of times, we are comfort feeding but that is part of the whole bonding experience, I think. Slowly, we have been trying to wean. It's been a good 3-4 months that I have tried to. But, a few things have cropped up and so I am not trying to force wean her at all .. we traveled solo a couple of times, she got confined due to a possible asthma allergy.. The latter being a big reason why I decide to just go on .. at the hospital, the only thing that comforted her was her num nums, when she could barely drink/eat anything. She couldn't say what she felt so feeding her was the best thing me and hubby could do. I told myself that I would breastfeed until she could talk to say if she was in pain, or at least start to wean when she could talk properly. Even if it means, she would be extra clingy for a bit longer.

We are still co-sleeping her, only for another few months I hope, so she's got easy access to her milk at night. Meaning, it has been a long, too long a time that I haven't had decent straight sleep. Just the same as the fact that I haven't had a proper glass of wine in ages! Probably over two years now! (count including pregnancy). The most I have had would be ten sips of wine (but not while preggo, and not in her first six months)... Books/Research say it's okay to have a glass of alcohol, right after feeding, but I always wanted to just play it safe. There are days (or nights!) when I feel I want to indulge in a couple of glasses, but I've managed to be good and sleep it off. I can delay the gratification with the anticipation that I will have half a bottle one day when we have weaned.

A good habit/outcome to still feeding this long means that I have been trying to eat healthy for this long now. Early on, I would be mindful of eating too much peanut butter, milk, etc. As I noticed she was having runny poos then. Nowadays I am not as careful, as her digestive system is a bit more mature now. Though, I still try to eat lots of greens, and drink lots of liquid. I never really developed the habit of eating malunggay capsules as I found my sister was intolerant of it, so I may also be. I found that I still managed to keep my milk supply up - perhaps, it's the great demand that kept it up!

I talk about weaning, with the reference to little B, but actually a lot of the weaning is also on my part. Believe it or not, I have started to feel sad sometimes with the thought of stopping our special bonding. I've even resorted to capturing a few snaps of our silent moments, just the two of us, in our weird feeding positions! Haha.

Sometimes, the thought of feeding another child, our second child when that happens... comes to mind.. whether I am able to feed as long, or whether I will have the same patience for it when the time comes. Feeding for 15 months has not been all easy - taxing on my body, my patience at times. Not that I don't enjoy it, because I do. But just like anyone we have 'trying' days, when she would bite me every time, when she would whinge and demand that I carry and feed her while doing my chores. Sometimes even, I have to multi task so much that I end up with a really painful back. Sacrifice and love. At the end of it all, prevails.

Driving mad

Hubby was driving us to the mall last week, and there was this car that swerved in front of us quite scarily. Good thing it was not in the side of the car where our little girl is seated, but either way it gave us a bit of sudden shock. It happened all too fast! I don't fully understand how comprehensive our insurance policy was, but I knew I did not want to have to contact an Austin Personal Injury Lawyer for whatever reason it might be! I was glad that hubby didn't flare up because of the instance, although if something happened at least I have the contact details of the company: O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949.

Round the easter table

The family gathered around the big Easter lunch table is one thing I've been wanting to experience again. This year, we are celebrating Easter with hubby's parents and I'm sure their company will be enjoyed although we sadly anticipate the last few days of their holiday.

We are heading off to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which would prove to be a fun family moment. Particularly for the little girl, who will experience the Easter Show for the first time this year. Surely I can imagine her squealing in delight, pointing at the animals on 'show'. With the rabbits taking center stage as far as she is concerned .. "wabby" as she calls those bunny rabbits.

Hubby would enjoy the Motocross show, featuring jaw dropping stunts and heart stopping motorcycle mid-air moments. There would be a few sports cars that would be doing their usual number as well = speed driving backwards, creating that dusty, amazing stunt. Ok, I do think this is quite fun too.

I'm sure though I will enjoy more the big tents that sell those fun showbags! A guide to various showbags to choose from get advertised in newspapers - enumerating what is inside the bags, etc. A lot of times the showbags get sold out quickly, so this should be our first stop on arrival! Sometimes the showbags include discount coupons, sweet treats, cool toys, etc. Showbag sponsors include: Magazine companies, Confectioneries, Softdrink makers, Toy makers, etc.

In the past, hubby and I enjoyed watching the Side Shows.. although I fing them a bit too gory and strange, we keep coming back to catch a glimpse of those entertaining performances!

Visiting the Easter Show reminds me of festivals that I used to attend back home, although not as similar to others, the whole ambience of being at a venue where the main purpose is to bond with the company you're with (family, friends, colleagues, etc). All that while enjoying the performances, rides, food (think fairy floss! aka cotton candy).. truly this weekend will be a fun way to welcome Easter. Of course, not forgetting the reason behind the season.

Business planning

The other day I had a meeting with my business coach about my business plan. I have not really had the luxury of time to thoroughly plan the ins and outs of my business (not good I know), but have started taking extra steps recently. My hubby has taken a few weeks off for me to be able to concentrate and seriously think about my action plan.

We've decided to take measures in bringing my skills up in the travel industry by taking online destination and product web trainings. I've also gone and set up some meetings with suppliers to be able to do some bit of networking as well. So far, I have done baby steps, but in time these will make a big difference in increasing my confidence again. After all, I have taken a good one year off to take care of the little one. It's about time I sharpen my dormant skills. Either I do this now, or I will end up wearing scrubs and take on a totally different career in medicine! At least I know the website to source them if needed : http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ Haha! Of course this career change won't happen in this lifetime. I will leave that to my youngest brother who is about to embark on his medical degree.

Cupcakes on this gloomy Saturday

Cupcakes by moi

I've put my baker's hat on and baked two dozen cuppies, since my in-laws are arriving tonight! It has been a month since I've baked, and so I was eager to make some. I actually should have tried decorating the icing using a piping thing. Hmm. I should bake again soon so I could try that.

We're not done yet cleaning the whole apartment, but the rain's been pouring since early this morning.. lazy cleaner in me. I could only manage to bake the cupcakes, and make lunch :)

Trying on dresses

THIS DRESS?
Photo from Eidress.com

.. In my dreams! I wonder what that means? Does it have anything to do with the impending domicile move? Or is it signifying a need for a career change? Hmm.

Or maybe, it means I need to buy more dresses! Shopping!! (Not)

Occasionally we dream about things, people, places, and other stuff. Sometimes we forget even what the dream was about, but sometimes we remember.

Last night, for me, it was about attending a college friend's wedding. I was trying on some dresses to wear. Whether I wanted the black polka dot dress, the (baby) yellow and blue dress (??!! ugh, colour scheme problem - well, it was a dream), or the shocking red ensemble. And, it wasn't a simple choice... I based the dresses on the black stocking that I was already wearing. Talk about putting an image on a background. My stocking was the blank canvass that needed something to go with it. Usually it was the other way around right? But no, not in my dream. The dress HAD to match the stocking I already chose.

OR THIS DRESS?
Photo from fashaddix.com

I guess in reality, we choose what we want based on a number of criteria: our mood, the event, what we have available, what is appropriate, what he have in our wardrobe. Really, that speaks more than just about dresses, mind you. It could mean principles in our chosen 'Lifestyle', career, home, etc. What is your "Stocking"? What is THE 'blank' canvass that you are choosing other things based on?

I wonder what I will dream about tonight.