Kyle knows how to bike! He is shown here with his A-hia Matt going on an early Saturday morning spin...

In a few more days, summer would officially be over for Matt and Kyle. I hope they enjoyed the long vacation. The days spent watching tv, playing the computer and playstation, clowning around with their neighborhood friends would surely be forever etched in their memory...

Counting the Days



May 29 - Lunch was at A-ma's house to celebrate the kids' Sa-ko's birthday. Good food again. Talk of the Town's roasted calf is still the best! Thing is, I reached my full day's calorie quota with just one meal!



May's Swiss visa was approved! Thank God! Now for the Schengen visa application which takes a longer time to process, contrary to what we initially thought. Hope she makes it in time for the scheduled departure. Really looking forward to the trip.



Finance meeting in Manila was rescheduled from 29th to Tuesday next week due to the effects of typhoon Chedeng. Aw, I was hoping the original schedule would allow me to attend our highschool batch reunion in Alabang on the 30th. The reschedule gave me a better deal though. It saved me the cost of a roundtrip domestic fare. Will just wait for Jerry to arrive on Thursday before we leave for Paris on Friday. Ooooh, I love the sound of that...

...leave for Paris on Friday....



May 30 -

I'm on the final stages of the review. In a few more days, I'll be coming up with the May 2003 financial reports and then take that much-awaited trip. Yesterday, I took time out with some colleagues and headed for Ayala center for some heavy snacks. Had our fill at Mother's Fried Chicken!

Schengen Visa



Waiting for the release of our schengen (sp?) visas... It's really cool that we do not need to appear before the French embassy. That saved us precious time and about 12k of domestic fare. What's not too cool is the Air France strike that is brewing in that part of the world. Even the air traffic controllers are joining in..... Praying for the best...

Good Morning!



6:30am - I opened my eyes to a smiling Jerry who was about to wake me... Warms your heart seeing the smiling face of your hubs first thing in the morning.


6:35am - I looked at the two boys sleeping next to me. How big Matt has grown! With his back facing me, he looked like a slightly smaller Jerry!


6:40am - I kissed Kyle's face in an attempt to wake him up. He stirred, looked at me, smiled and said in an audible whisper "Ma,...I know na how to bike (2-wheeled)..."




Such sweet things... Make me look forward to what the rest of the day will bring...

Monday was good, surprisingly! I was finally able to send the last batch of the 2002 reconciliation statements that have been pending for 5 months! I hope the SGV auditors find everything in order.... Now I could focus on other items on my "to do" list.





a quick shot of my mom's santan hedge...

My posts are getting far between. Reason for this is because of a forthcoming trip in June. The past few days have been hectic and the next couple of weeks are expected to be really tight as I try to immerse myself in report preparation (month-end again!), work turnover and delegation, packing, itinerary planning, school preparation for the kids, etc...I can't wait to get everything done and to enjoy a really good vacation after.

Yesterday was the advance birthday dinner of Achie at the Laguna Garden Cafe. The food was sumptuous, explains why the place is always jampacked and turnover is high! Below are some pics to show the special dinner last night. I'm kinda short of words...











The Shutterbug Bites



On the way home at 230pm this afternoon, I suddenly had the urge to snap some pics. No particular subject in mind, thought I'd give the camphone some foto projects. I came up with...

Cause for Celebration

Yesterday marked another year for our dearest Lola Meding who looks like she is still in her 70's though she's already 19 years past that age. Lola is half Spanish but the family celebrated her birthday with a slight Chinese twist by skipping the 89th, hence the number 90 on her cake. Except for a few, everyone opted to wear the festive color red. As usual, food was great. It was even better because everything was made lovingly in my Tita's kitchen. And to my delight, the menu was predominantly seafood fare. Grilled fish, sea urchin, crab relleno, kinilaw (a staple in all our family gatherings)...Hmm, could that be the secret to longevity?



To you our dearest Lola Meding, happiest of birthdays!

Short but Sweet

That's how our weekend went. Spent the whole day in Maribago beach last Sunday. The presence of a lot of jellyfish, discouraged the kids from swimming but this did not dampen their spirits since they had fun playing in the sand, flying their kite and plain loafing around.

On the way home, Kyle was asleep in the car. At 5pm, just as we were getting ready for the 6pm mass, Jerry bought ngohiong and puso from Cheaverz for our snacks. Everybody ate the merienda heartily. It's amazing how a P130-snack rendered 5 adults and 2 kids full!

At 6pm, we all heard mass at Redemptorist Church then proceeded to visit our maternal grandma. Then dinner was free courtesy of the Labella family who was celebrating the fiesta at Mabolo. Homestyle menudo, hamonado, and lechon (to name a few) filled our plates.

After dinner, Ma and Pa went with my uncle and aunt to try their luck at the Casino in Waterfront Lahug while we tried our luck with billiards... Though I managed to score a few points, I'd say I had more fun watching them and rooting for the kids than actually trying my hands on shooting the balls.

An hour of billiards later, we proceeded tp get Ma and Pa from the hotel. And just before calling it a day, everybody was unanimous to pass by Ice Castles in Crossroads for some Super Halo-Halo! Whew! What a day!

Ma and Junnie Arrives in Cebu



Mama and my brother Junnie arrived in Cebu at lunch time yesterday. Their flight was (as usual) still fashionably delayed. By 12nn, we all proceeded to Sto. Nino (where our Lola Meding lives) for the lunch treat. We had kinilaw (kilawin) and an assortment of seafood fare. My mother and brother are here for Lola's 89/90th birthday on Tuesday. Papa, who had to stay in Manila for a whole day seminar, suddenly made a decision to join us on Sunday morning (a few hours from now). The way I see it, this is going to be one great weekend.



For starters, the boys had a bonding session at the Time Zone with Jerry and Junnie late in the afternoon. Their reloaded cards were again made useful after several months in hiatus. Games they tried were the air hockey, bowling, basketball, car racing etc. It was amusing seeing them all equally having fun! Together with the kids, my bro and my hubs will always be young at heart.





Matthew in a series of action shots while playing a few rounds of basketball...



During times like this, I just love whipping out the handy 7650 to capture spontaneous moments. So here are more shots showing how our afternoon / evening went (hover on pics for description)...

Blog Bits



Yesterday's regional meeting was productive. We were able to discuss a lot of things to (hopefully) improve our revenues and cut down our operating expenses. High point for me though was not related to any of the agenda. It was the baby back ribs I had for lunch at Cafe Wien (Ayala).



Received word that Eric, a good friend from UP, DLSU and SGV, passed away last Tuesday. Hubs and I spent the night talking and remembering the good times we had with Eric and our other good friends from college and from work. Happy memories in times of grief....

Preparing for a Meeting



Set at 930am today, I'm here printing my financial reports for presentation to the Director and the Group Sales Managers. The 4 of us comprise the movers and the drivers of our company for the Visayas Group. At least that's what the CEO says when he gives the team some motivational chu-chu.



So far, my figures show that we would be hittting 58% of EBITDA (that's earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortizations in layman's terms) target by year-end if present averages continue. However, we are optimistic we would hit higher because of the upswing in the trendlines.



Whatever... I was just mumbling part of my standard lines during meetings like this...



I'm more excited about lunch! Heee!

Running Like Headless Chickens



The Finance Group of our company is all jittery after that 3.2M loss in Antipolo last week. I sense more work will be added to put in the necessary controls. The first batch of boldly printed and colored emails (a.k.a. memo, new directives or sopps), fortunately sans expletives, have made their way in and out of our e-boxes. Expecting a tough week ahead...



With a good set of Accounting staff, I hope it's nothing my group in Visayas couldn't handle.

Because of YOU!





I'm celebrating MOMs day because of you!

Kyle's New Duckie

The kids' Sa-ko gave Kyle a new duckie stuffed toy. Kyle was so glad, borrowed my phone and took this shot --- with a low resolution 7650. The kid has some talent, don't you think?



Digicam Projects

We attended a wedding last night and for the 2nd time I stood as principal sponsor! Anyway, as in all weddings, flowers were everywhere --- even on the cake. It was a pretty sight so I told Matt and Kyle to take a shot each using the 7650. And these images came out... First is Matt's, next is Kyle's.

Dumbo on the Loose



What do you know? I turned on the tv in between preparation of reports and what did I see? The late-night local news was on and featured the circus elephant named Dumbo who ran amuck in EDSA. Apparently, he escaped from his trainer while rehearsing (did I hear that right?) in Araneta Center. I could just imagine the monstrous traffic jam he caused to the already congested main road! Hey wait a minute, that's a short distance away from our Head Office! Oh the spectacle my colleagues must have been treated to!

Mad About Mambo

Had a chance to see the B-rated 2000 movie Mad About Mambo on cable last night. It wasn't really all that dull. Or maybe I was just too tired to notice (?). Keri Russell and William Ash kinda looked cute together. I even found myself quite amused. ..

Dimsum Blecch!



Ew! Had a disappointing dinner at Dimsum Break (Mango Square) last night. The fried wanton was stale! I should have insisted on the tapsilog at Mooon Cafe. Sorry Jerky for my mood-swings (again).

Aah Kaya Pala



All the while, I was waiting for the helper to arrive and it turns out she asked Jerry's permission that she would be back Thursday.... Next time I'll think twice before allowing the helper to go on weeklong breaks. 5-days max na lang. Heh.

Birthdays Galore



Tomorrow is Any's birthday and she has invited us for lunch at Isa. It's my colleague's birthday too so I told him to save his treat for snack time!

Oh! Happy (belated) Birthday May, sistah! Catch you in Switzerland!...Or is it Paris? (naks!)

Housekeeping Day 5



No! The trusted helper is not home yet?! Aaaargh!

Housekeeping Day 4

Had a splitting headache for most part of the day yesterday hence the absence of a post. I'd say I would have been better off staying at home than at work. I felt so unproductive. It must be that day of the month.

On the way home last night, Jerry and the kids craved for barbecue for dinner. So we made a quick stop to buy pork, longganisa and fish sinugba (barbecue in Cebuano) plus pickled radish. We all ate with gusto not minding that we were again on paper plates and plastic spoons and forks.

What picked me up from a sluggish state was when I was given a whole small pack of Lay's (sour cream flavored potato chips) to munch while I rested in front of the television. Oh, I have to thank Jerry who was quick to do the dishwashing before I could even get up from the table.



Love you, Jerky! (That's how I call him).

Housekeeping Day 3

My turn to bring my boys to work... Here they are in my company keeping me company.

Day 3 of our helper's vacation. Two more days...The dishwashing sponge is the first casualty being almost beaten to a pulp. Now it takes me longer to finish the chore since I try to keep it from breaking apart. Solution, we had our breakfast in party paper plates and plastic spoons and forks which we just tossed into the trash bin before leaving home!

Housekeeping Day 2



The airconditioning shut off at 7am signalling us (we all slept together in the boys room) to get started. However, Jerry turned it on for a few more minutes. I understood the needed extra zzzz's because he came home after midnight from his cousin Ukoy's birthday dinner at Zach's.



It was almost 8am when we got ready for breakfast and like clockwork, we took to our assigned posts. The dishwashing was still my turf just like cooking (or microwaving) was Jerry's (by default hehe). Only problem is - nobody is willing to do the laundry and the bathroom . Uh-oh!

Housekeeping Day 1



Our trusted helper went on vacation starting yesterday afternoon. In her absence we tried to go about our daily routine and more. Jerry took charge of the cooking (shame on me!) while I volunteered to do the dishwashing and the supervision of the kiddies.



So far... so good.

Just taking a break from the gruelling financial reports preparation. What imperfect timing for the Oracle to choose to bog down last May 1 up to yesterday ! Now we're double-pacing to make up for lost time. Still, no extension of deadline was announced, but I doubt if compliance will be 100%. That's my only consolation. Other groups are also lagging.



I hope this downtime doesn't keep happening. Now I'm beginning to worry about next month. God-willing, we hope to be able to take a leave for a couple of weeks same time in June.

Payback



The kids did not forget to claim the reward I promised them for having agreed to the immunizations last Tuesday. So we had to go to SM to let them choose the toy they preferred. It wasn't easy looking at all the toys that lined the shelves.







It took them long before they finally zeroed in on Zoids.