Say Boo!

Halloween for me is when we go the cemetery, clean the tomb, pray for the souls of our departed loved ones – my mother would also say novenas for all our relatives’ house that live close by. It’s also the time when we cook our native delicacies, most are sweets. We would visit the rellies house and share with their prepared food. It’s like a celebration of the living and the dead. Some would light candles in sconce or outside the door of the house.

I miss those things.

Halloween is not big in Down Under. There might be people who celebrate it but not big enough for me to hear about it.

I might observe it spiritually. And we might be able to come up something worthwhile for the family to do. Mcj commented on Jens’ shirt this morning which has a skull and cross-bone print on it that should be worn on Halloween. I told him that Jens got another shirt with the same print. Any how, the Halloween will go by without us celebrating it. :)

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A Barbie

My sister-and-brother-in-laws are really nice. They threw a belated birthday party for Mcj. How nice is that?

They were away on Mcj’s happy today so we had the party last Sunday. It was a barbie at their backyard.


The weather was nice. Not hot. Cool. We didn’t expect it and I dressed lightly. The place was close to the beach and a cool breeze was blowing in. Good on Jens, I packed him a couple of extra clothes so I dressed him in layers.

We dashed to the beach on the way home. It’s been a while since we went close to the ocean waters. I think, that was back January this year. That was eons ago. :)

We played at the park, also. Jens had a good time.


And what’s really nice? The food. Snags. Grilled rissoles. Stir-fry veggies. Green salad. Cakes. Yummy! I ate so much. Not so much that I would need alli, though; enough that I didn’t have any dinner at all.

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Some Free Things

I am missing the freebies that I used to receive. Remember those boxes of make-ups? Not to mention some promotional products for Jens to try on? I don’t receive any of them anymore.

Why?

Because I’ve been so busy that when I get the change to be online, there would only be enough time to do some blogging (most were for paid posts), update my friends through friendster, check emails, a little shopping and searching for this and that. Important this and that, if I might add.

I love those freebies that though I can do without them, they’re too nice to pass on. I might just be more organised when I am online so I can also spend time in requesting those freebies and answering surveys.

Well, that’s just a plan.

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Mercury Rising

The mercury is rising in our side of the world. Days are longer also. Summer is just around the corner. And what better way it is to spend summer than on the beach or pool?
That's the most that we did at the beach.

Busy, busy, busy. One of these days. For now, I am just aiming of buying Jens a big outdoor bath tub. Mcj suggested once to buy inflatable pool instead. I am not really keen on that. It’s too much hard work just to put it up plus needs more water to use it. Unlike a plastic bath tub, you can just stash it away and grab it anytime. No more planning or needing a hand to set it up.

What do we really need? Togs for Mum and Dad. I’ll pass on the sexy swimwear for now. I’ll settle for shorts and singlets. :)

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Pinas Here We Come... Not Soon Though

At long last, we were able to finalise our long awaited Philippine holiday. We’ve booked the flights last Sunday. We have accumulated enough frequent flyer points that the family’s return airfares were free. We only paid for the taxes and charges which by the way had gone up to $300+. The previous time I checked it was just a wee bit over $250.

It is a three-week holiday with the main purpose of acquainting Jens to my family. I don’t really know what’s going on in Jens’ mind now let alone by then but I just hope that he’ll have a good memory of his cousins. We might celebrate Jens party there in advance just as what we have planned this year should it had been pushed thru.

It will not be as glamorous as Brazil vacation packages but it will surely be fun.

To dos: enjoy with the family, go to the beach, shopping, eating, going out, eating, etc... I just hope we'll fit everything that we planned to do.

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What's The Latest?

The Tatapilla's defiant nature is slowly crawling to the surface. When you tell him off, he'll give you a cheek.

When he got something that you don't want him to have, he'll run away if you're coming towards him to take it.

When he wants to do something that you don't want him to... the last resort is take him away from it, he'll arch his back and throw his head back.

He says TA! when you give him something and he will want you to say TA! when he gives you something

He knows how to share his food, toys, and anything.

He now knows how to ride his bike properly.

He is very sweet. Gives everybody that he knows cuddles.

Waves to anybody.

Oh, loves to eat. Big appetite!

Remembers routines and enforcing it when I forgot. He's got a sharp memory stick.

And many more.. but the best of all?

Still breast feeding. Bwahaha!

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I Want to Drive Too!

Jens is really funny! And a big copy-cat. On our way home from the shop, Mcj let me drove from the gate to the house. Then, we gave Jens the car key as soon as we got off the car as he wanted it.

Do you know what he did? He didn’t want to leave the car and then kept on pointing the key to the car to unlock it with a matching motion of climbing onto it. He also wanted to drive. Can you imagine that? I reckon, he’s really quick on the uptake.

On the other side of the car, my instructor said that I had a big improvement with my driving. We mainly practice on my speed control, accelerator use, steering and a little of hand-eyes-and-feet coordination. But I just moved up an inch in the turning department. I need more practice especially in tight corners or I’ll hit the gutter or some exit sign.

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Holiday Plans

Seems our plan of a holiday back home is getting clearer. We haven't booked our tickets yet but at least we have a plan. If all goes well, we might push through. But it's still too far in the future.

But we really need to go to the Philippines before Jens turns two so he will have a free airfare. That's the biggest motivation why we're flying back home. :)

So again, Mummy has to do some research again. Anybody who knows somebody who rent a car in Bacolod, please leave me a message. We would appeciate it. It's one of our big stumbling block, transportation aside from booking a decent hotel with a decent price (wonder if there is a a vegas hotel like that). Now that we have a little boy in tow, comfort ranks first.

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Anything with Eggs

Been thinking of making leche flan. Well, just been thinking. I will come to it one day. Meantime, found one of the egg nog recipes in foodnetwork.com:

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites*
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

Cook's Note: For cooked eggnog, follow procedure below.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and gradually temper the hot mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium mixing bowl, and set in the refrigerator to chill.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg whites into the chilled mixture.

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Biking

Jens had figured out how to ride his bike just by himself. We used to push him around. He doesn't like pushing forward though because the horn and key in his front was hurting his belly and the tires at the back were catching the back of his feet. Moving backward was better.

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The Crowd

You know what? I've been hearing and seeing in the news that Australia is one of the fatest country in the world - I mean the poeple. But frankly, I don't agree with it. I'm out and about on weekdays and I've never seen those people that were described as obese. Maybe, its in the geography? People living in the hussle buzzle lifestyle area are more fit than those living in laidback town, I reckon. I haven't seen enough of people of Brisbane yet so I can't really tell. It could be that I am moving around a circle of healthy people? I am not sure. One thing I'm sure though is, to suggest to people who want to lose weight to check the CLA - Conjugated Linoleic Acid. It might be help to them.

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Family Friendly?

The idea of going for cruises is fantastic especially if the tour is around Europe - in the romantic cities. I fancy myself going to one. Until I read in a magazine article more than two years ago of a take of a newly-wed couple who spent their honeymoon on a cruise and the wife woke-up one morning to find out her husband missing. The gist of the story is they were at the bar and it was getting late so the wife begged off to go to bed early. The last person who saw the husband was the cabin crew and claimed that he escorted the husband to their room. The wife was not aware of that happening. The husband had just gone missing.

It was said that 5% of people going on cruises has never come back. I got scared of the fact. It's a very small chance but it curtailed my desire for such romantic and faboulus holiday idea. Well, I just need more convincing maybe. My mind isn't close to that option. Mcj had gone for an Asia Pacific cruise in his teens and he said it was fun. Maybe, I'll change my mind in the future when such type of holiday is in our priority.

And the important question to ask for booking a holiday is, is the place family friendly? Seldom you can find a child-friendly cruise liner, I reckon.

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Candle Light :)

I have a friend who loves candles. We used to be roomies and she would always light candles when she came into the room. They were scented (some might have been tea light candles) and really, it changed the atmosphere. It was a routine for her already.

Anyway, I tried to do it myself. I didn’t buy the candles though. They were gifts. I have so much of them but I only get to use one twice. I don’t know. I’m not just a candle person. Maybe because I was just used to the idea that we only lit candles on Halloween or when doing novenas. And then there’s this thought nagging at the back of my mind that I might fall asleep and the candles will run out and burn the house. Seen so much news about a fire starting from candles while having a bath, that’s why.

In short, I really didn’t catch her fancy.

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Looking Back

Jens was born three days overdue. And literally he was overcooked. The skin on his legs and feet and even his soles then were very dry. From then we didn’t use soap for his bath and shower. Just oil. He had used soap twice only. Then, Daddy bought some cream recommended by the chemist for baby’s skin. I finished using it before winter this year and only then did I read the fine print. I found out that it was not a leave-on cream rather you have to rinse your skin after applying it. Huh! Lucky, Jens didn’t develop any rash (or worst acne) while he was using it. And it kept Jens’ skin moisturised.

Anyway, winter made Jens’ skin dry also. And of course, we didn’t buy the same cream. I looked at the chemist for other brands but nothing caught my picky taste. I started using the J&J lotion that was given to us – the pink variant but it didn’t moisturise his skin. Then I saw a J&J essential – green variant at the supermarket and decided to give it a go. And it is a success. Nice smell too!

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