cast your burdens

something was bothering me last night. no amount of words can calm my spirit so i decided to take a bath — a long bath. i let the water run through my face to wash away the tears and of course the dirt i got from outside. I felt fresh and relieved after the bath and this song ran through my mind:

I Can Be…

We went to Robinson’s Visa Sale at the Megatent last weekend just to take a peek of what’s inside. The Megatent has been there since early this year and I’ve seen numerous events held there…well not literally though. Since we live next to it, the banners gave us an idea in the past months what’s happening inside — weekend market, church gatherings, crocs sale, etc. It’s only this weekend that we were able to check what’s inside. I didn’t see much on fashion but they toy sale and the handy man sale were more than enough reason for us to stay longer. While Jaims was busy with the handy man stuff, Sofi and I peeked at the toys area. Some are still a bit pricey but some like the pool floaters cost lower. They said they can’t assure us if it’s still working but what the heck it’s just 50 bucks. We also got a toy car for Vinci but the biggest buy was the one for Sofi. She wants to get the xylophone but I figured we can always get them at the mall since its mall price is not that expensive. I was eyeing the Barbie dolls but I’m not sure if she will like them for long. She has Sally and I recently found her lying on the shoe rack. Then I saw the I Can Be…Kelly. Kelly is the baby Barbie, I figured Sofi might be able to relate with her since Kelly is around 5-10 years old. The I Can Be…Kelly is a sports-theme set. There are 4 kelly’s inside the set — a tennis player, karate champion, swimmer and a skater. I got it for P500 which retailed as P999.00 in regular price. It has been a week and the kelly’s are neatly kept in a box given by her dad. The box has dividers which served as their beds when Sofi’s about to sleep. I overheard her, during Kelly’s first night with us, saying, “Goodnight, toys!” When Sofi wakes up, she brings along the box and plays with her Kelly’s. She also asks me to feed her Kelly while she eats. I hope the little Barbie’s last a long time and that her attention for them lasts, too.

ya-yay tummy!

Last night was a terrible night for Sofi..and me.  Before going up to our room, Sofi said she pooped and that her tummy was hurting.  Thinking that the tummy ache was just something connected to the poop, I brought her up to our room,  washed her and gave her her night-time bath.  After dressing her up, she complained of another tummy ache.  I told her that mommy will put oil so that it won’t hurt anymore.  I rubbed oil all over her tummy putting a sign of the cross first before finally spreading it — just like how mama does it before with us.  She asked for milk afterwards.  a few minutes after she started vomitting the milk she drank.  I ran towards the comfort room to get a “tabo“.   But since we were both on bed, it took me a while before i can go to the comfort room and get our “suka-catcher“.  The bed was already drenched with vomit when I got back.  I undressed her, washed her again and left her on one side of our room so I can change the beddings.  Jaims was not home when this happened that’s why it took me a while to do everything.  I wanted her to sleep already but she wouldn’t.  maybe she was scared but most of all because she wasn’t feeling right even after vomitting.  She consumed 60z of water and didn’t want to take any solid or milk anymore.  She kept on saying, “ya-yay tummy ni Sofi“.  I left her on our makeshift bed to fix the beddings and wash the soiled pillows and beddings.  After a while, she vomitted again, this time it was the rice and chicken she ate at 5PM.  Somehow she wasn’t able to digest what she ate.  A few more vomitting spiels happened before she finally fell asleep.

This wasn’t an ordinary day for Sofi.  She ate rice, soup and chicken for lunch.  And then when we woke up at 5PM, she asked for rice, soup and chicken again.  After this, she asked for milk.  when she was done, she saw mini cakes and finished a pack — 3 pieces.  During dinner time, she grabbed another chicken and ate them again.  When her dad arrived, she tried getting another chicken but I stopped her already.  I was even happy that she was eating a lot and not asking too much milk, only to find out that she wasn’t able to digest it.

Today, I was supposed to bring her to work but while i was dressing up, Sofia fell asleep on our bed.  Gone were my half-day plans, but it’s fine with me as long as she’s feeling a lot better.

sally

Sofi received an imitation Barbie Doll called Sally on her last birthday.  Since I’m not brand conscious and the doll seemed to make her happy, I made her play with it.  The only qualm I have with Sally was that she’s not properly dressed.  Sally wears a very small tube that slips off easily and a super tight fit jeans that shows off the crack of her butt.  The boots she’s wearing is a plus — everything else was a no-no.

Sally and Sofi’s first few days were okay but I feel Sofi’s uneasiness whenever Sally’s tube falls off.  ”mommy, labas do-do!”, she screams.  I couldn’t remember when she stopped playing with Sally.  The last time I saw Sally, her boobs were squished and her tube’s velcro tape was already removed.  I placed Sally back to her box, and put it aside.

Early this week, as Sofi was being her usual self…climbing the sofa looking for stuff to mess with, she saw Sally’s box.  She pulled it and I saw Sally’s warped body.  I was about to say don’t play with it anymore but I saw Sofi’s face brighten.  Maybe she remembered how much she loved the toy.  I grabbed the box, told her that i’ll have sally fixed first then went straight to the kitchen.  I asked dadi if there’s anything he can do to return Sally to her normal self.  Dad was able to fix Sally but I didn’t want Sofi to keep on saying “mommy, do-do”.  We brought Sally upstairs and I attempted to give her a decent top.

Here is Sally now:

The shirt she’s wearing is an old underwear which I sewed at the top to give her a neck cut.  I sewed the sides and left the bottom hem unsewed.  I was pretty impressed with myself after i have done this shirt.  Sofi was excited while I put the parts together and she kept on insisting that she wants to play with Sally even if I wasn’t done with my project.  After finishing the shirt, I gave sally to Sofi and she played with it.

but now Sally’s back on the floor…kids…tsk tsk tsk…

superwoman

Jaims left at dawn today for a fishing trip.  In as much as I wanted to argue with him about it, there’s nothing I can do.  The man has long been deprived of what he really wanted in the past months.  anyway Sofi and I are left to do the house chores.  This used to be a Saturday event but the long weekend gave me more time to choose when to do the household chores.

i woke up at 7am.  Since Sofi was still asleep, I decided to bring down my first set of laundry and leave it at our washing machine.  since it is fully automatic, i will just come back to put fabric softener at the last part of the cycle.  I went up again, folded the used blankets and freed the room of any clutter.  I was also contemplating on how to remove deodorant stains in our clothes.  the stains accumulated over time making it less wearbale.  i searched the Internet while waiting for Sofi to wake.  There were many ways on how to do it but one easy method I found  was to leave it overnight in a water-vinegar solution.   Since I need an immediate fix, I made a water-vinegar solution and left the clothes for 30 minutes.  I scrubbed the area afterwards with soap.  The affected area became a little better after scrubbing it.   maybe if I do this before dumping everything in the washing machine then I’ll have deo-free laundry.

When Sofi woke up, I gave her a bag which contains her necessities…toys and Barbie DVD.  We went down and urged her to eat with me but she wasn’t in the mood.  She just laydown on the sofa and watched her Barbie DVD using her lolo’s portable player.  After loading my last set of laundry to our washer, I gave Sofi a bath but since she wasn’t in the mood she was screaming when i started pouring the cold water over her head.  I had to bring her back to the kitchen, boil water and let her wait.  While waiting for the water to boil, i folded my first set of laundry.

i gave her a fast bath, patted her dry, dressed her up and gave her milk.  When  i checked on her water suppply, I realized that she only has two bottles left.  So i washed her soiled bottles and boiled them.  I went back to my laundry and folded them again.  After everything has been folded and hung.  I fixed her milk box, loaded our laundry back to its bag and dragged her to our room so she can rest.

When we got to our room, I knew she was sleepy but I know that she wouldn’t sleep if you impose it on her.  I plugged her Barbie DVD in our computer and told her that I’ll just take a bath.  Just before I entered the bathroom she called me and told me that she likes milk.  I can’t seem to wipe the grin off my face, I knew that she’ll fall asleep the moment she finishes her milk.  And I was right!  She fell asleep while watching Barbie.

I took the opportunity to work on my Statistics assignment, eat lunch, surf the Internet and watched a “muted” TV  show until she woke up and started asking about her Barbie DVD again.

It’s 3PM already and there’s one more thing that I haven’t accomplish today.  To bring her out and eat at McDO.  But the stupid rain prevents us from doing so

story telling

storytelling with the Grade 1 boys

I’m still high from last Thursday’s story telling session. It was the grade 1 boy’s Linggo ng Wika celebration and I was invited to share a legend. I was already informed a few weeks ago through a letter but I haven’t had the time to talk to Ms. Pablo. I can simply call her and back out since I have no experience in storytelling at all but I didn’t. I went to the GS library to look for an alamat that they might like. Among the Moderno Series of Lampara Books I saw are:

• Alamat ng niyog
• Alamat ng mangga
• Alamat ng ampalaya
• Alamat ng butiki
• Alamat ng papaya
• Alamat ng pating

I borrowed a few and browse through them. I was already contemplating on getting the shark story but I was still undecided. 

sm advantage

we’ve had our SM advantage card for almost a year now and i really didn’t understand how it works.  all i know is that for each purchase you make, a corresponding point is added under your name.  

i religiously surrender my advantage card on the cashier’s cue:

ma’am, may advantage card po kayo?

otherwise, they will tell you to purchase a card from them.  they’ll give you a temporary card (SM Advantage Express Membership Kit), use it all up until you realize that it has already expired and the points you’ve garnered has been forfeited already.  By the way their website says, you have to pay 150 pesos for the membership kit which contains the temp card and some forms to fill up.  You can claim your card with your name printed on it after 14 days.  make sure you claim it personally or if you’ll be asking someone to pick it up for you, send an ID.  Trust me they won’t give it to you.

anyway, while doing the grocery the other day i found out how the points can be claimed.  i saw an ad near the cash register which says use your SMAC to pay your goods.  Since i was a little short financially, i paid using my remaining GC and the points I garnered from SMAC.  I earned 222 points only!  i wonder how long should i use my card to reach even a thousand.  i used it all up to pay for sofi’s milk.  i was so amazed.   i didn’t know that the points meant peso value.  i thought this is like the point system which after earning them you can have it trade for a fixture like airpot or TV. 

i’d like to complain about how slow the earning capacity of a SMAC is,  but i realized saving me 222 pesos is quite a big deal already.  Jaims didn’t know it too until i have swiped his card.  Now he’s crying because he realized he could have use it to buy car shampoo for barney.