in a party rut

oh god. amori's first birthday is just around the corner and i still can't think of a theme for her party.

i'm all over the place.. first i wanted a Lilo & Stitch theme (but found it too hard to get the party supplies), then a luau theme (but later decided it was too boring), then a beach theme (ho-hum), then a rubber ducky theme (too boy-ish, but amori loves rubber duckies so i'm still considering it!), then a princess theme (this is definitely the if-all-else-fails-theme)... WAAAH!!! all i really want is a pretty chocolate cake, yellow and pink balloons, ice cream, and lots of sunshine in maya's garden!

ACK!!! how can other moms have perfect party plans MONTHS in advance???? i must be a badly uncreative mom to not have thought of this way earlier!

... but there is still hope. i've always had better ideas right at the finish line - so siguro by this weekend i would have made up my mind already! LOL. all it takes, i'm sure, is a good stroll at Michael's, Toys R Us, and Party Bazaar!

post-its so i won't forget

amori's growing at such a rapid rate that i can hardly keep up.

she's officially walking now.



and having tons of fun at the playground on weekends.







it's been (and still is!) a crazy month and ACK! only a few short weeks til her first birthday.

can't we just be on Pause instead of Fast Forward for a change?

a new routine

this whole working mom situation sure brings new meaning to the word busy.

i wake up at 6, turn the coffee pot on, measure amori's formula into the dispenser, fill her bottles with water, prepare her breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and her extra clothes. by the time i get to pull clothes off my closet, it's already 6:30. i wake up aldo at 6:45, say good morning to amori who is awake by then, put my socks on, gulp down my coffee, then dress amori for the day. we drop her off at the babysitter's at 7:30, then off to work we go.

after 8 hours at work, we (try to) beat the rush hour traffic going home and pick up amori by 6.

before i can even sit down and put my feet up, i have to make dinner, feed amori, bathe her, and do our whole evening rituals. for the past week, that has been the highlight of my days.

so by the time i get to eat, sit down, and breathe, it's 11.

then we do it all over again come 6am.

and to think, when i was still in manila, i thought i was busy because i had 12-hour work days, had to drive thru manila traffic. that sure sounds like a vacation, now that i've got a hundred things to do in 24 hours. LOL.

today's headline

a filipino is in the front page of most local newspapers today - which is quite sad and disappointing, since it was about a husband murdering his wife.

Kent Spencer, The Province
Published: Tuesday, June 05, 2007

VANCOUVER - Orlando Mangaoang was charged with first-degree murder of his wife yesterday as about 20 family members and friends looked on in Richmond Provincial Court.

i remember watching Orlando Mangaoang in the news a few weeks back because his wife was missing. he could barely speak english during the interview. the news slant then was that his wife was a gambler, owed a huge sum of money, and always went home empty-handed, owing more money than ever.

when police found the body and searched their home, a huge piece of carpet was missing, and a receipt for a bag that the wife's body was found in, was found.

so much for hoping that one day filipinos will get more respect around here, and be known for so much more than just being nannies and caregivers.

legit earnings

i'm fairly new to the blog reviews game. i signed up for it a few months back, but never really tried posting anything until fairly recently. i was afraid it was one of those scam posting schemes - and with my luck with online scams, i was always afraid of the risk. but then i posted once, twice, three times and voila - there it was, a PAID post. i've only earned $21 so far but considering i've only had to write about stuff i wanted to, it's a sweet deal. at least that's half a shoe, a couple of magazines, or a week's worth of coffee! better yet, at least now i know that PPP is a legit way of earning with blogging - so sign up and start earning!