the tadpole look

Tadpole, or 'butete' in Filipino is how I would describe my current body state at the moment. I am not going to say I am skinny but my belly is disproportionate to my whole body.  My tummy is oh so bulging more than I'd like my boobs to.

When I gave birth to my little boy, I had the best alibi, I just gave birth excuse, but now that he is already 3 yrs old, I should retire that line of an excuse right.  So what am I to do.

Tummy tuck, hahaha, kidding, but I did consult a doctor about it before, because I have never had any abs before, thanks to my affinity to Coke.  I was asking if I could have a liposuction, and she said I was crazy to consider it.  Feeling payat ako with what she said, but she did say what I needed was a tummy tuck because what I have is more of a loose skin.

That was just out of curiosity getting the better of me.  If ever I would consider another operation that would be for a eye laser surgery but that is for another post altogether.

Getting back on the subject. I am now at my heaviest, including when I was pregnant ha. I am 123 lbs, so says the weighing scale we have in the house. Before my goal was to go back to a size 4 and to have my weight go down to 113 lbs. but nowadays, I am and would like to be realistic and I just want to have my jeans fit nicely again.

I don't want you to puke over my muffin top, so I would rather not post any of image of my tummy lest no one would dare read my posts anymore.

So I turned to mareng Jillian for help. Not Jillian Ward, corny, Jillian Michaels. We are close, because she resides in my computer. Anyways, I was thinking about zumba workout but I did not feel the burn, as if serious talaga. Just tried it for a couple of days, then decided to do the 30 day shred but then seeing my body in the mirror I wanted to get ripped so this is what I am doing at the moment.

will be posting my journey to wellness, yes naman, hopefully I can keep it up, I am in day 4 and I am feeling sore all over. I did the 30 day shred before, I did not lose any weight but I got toned a little bit. so I am hoping that this would show more results. Will just take it easy with the jumping jacks and cardio that will make my knees crack again. 

Will keep this blog updated hopefully, mainly for me so I can chronicle my delusion to having a fitter body. Wish me luck people.

dengue times 2

I have been posting happy moments here in my blog, but before the flurry of excitement for my lil boy's bday, we had a minor setback.  my daughters, yes plural because they got inflicted by the dengue virus a couple of months ago.

'Twas the rainy season, oh well everyday seems like a rainy season already.  That was before the habagat and all.

They might have gotten it in school or god knows where.  First A, my eldest came home from school complaining she was dead tired and all achy, I placed my hand on her forehead to feel if she was warm, I even retorted, "hmmmn mas mainit pa ako sa iyo eh".  She came down to have something to eat, I think she had some instant soup. She went back to our room and then I touched her again and she was getting warmer to the touch. So standard procedure, I asked her to drink paracetamol, okay even if this is not a paid blog, it was Tempra. I told her to not go to school anymore the next day.

Whaddya know, she was crying, not because of the pain but because I asked her not to go to school.
If that was me I would have done my happy dance.  She begged and pleaded that I let her go to school because it was career orientation day which she was oh so looking forward to.

Anyways, so I made her a deal, that if her fever goes down 38˚ C I would let her go, provided she would go to the clinic should she feel anything wrong. I was getting worried though because she did not have any cough or colds, so that got me worried already.

She came back from school that day, acting as if nothing is wrong with her, but she was burning up.
She did not protest anymore when I asked her to skip school as she became so weak already.
The next day we went to their pediatrician, but alas to our luck she was not there, but there was a reliever doctor.  Funny side note: I heard one lola looking for a reviewer from the nurse/receptionist.
the nurse was very confused then he realized the lola was looking for a reliever.

Anyways, we were asked to have the dengue test, gone were the days when they do tourniquets, she had the NS1 test which can test if you have dengue.  IF your fever is more than 24 hours, and you suspect that you have dengue, don't go for the cbc blood test alone, ask for an ns1 test.

I have a nagging feeling it was dengue because there were no other symptoms that indicates it was flu.
She was a bit red, which I guess would be an indication if it is dengue. I am no expert but that was how she looked like.  It only took an hour for the results to be released and true enough she was positive for dengue. Her platelet was a little low so we were asked to admit her to the hospital already.

I called back home and asked if my other kids needed something else as we are near the grocery.  B, my second daughter said she needed vitamin C. I thought it was for a project but said she was not feeling well too.  I was getting agitated already as I knew that she too had dengue.  I asked the good doctor if I can have B tested already, but she said I have to wait for 24 hours before I get her tested, otherwise it will just be a waste of time and blood as it will not yet detect the virus.

We went back home, A was not really feeling that sick as she finished doing her homework and IP group projects she insisted on submitting.  I wrapped up all my work load and passed all the things needed to be done to my boss/brother.

We were waiting for my husband to arrive, when he got home we could not leave right away because A was not yet done doing their group projects, which really irked me. It was already 10 at night before we were able to leave the house.  B's fever already reached 40˚ C, so we told her to come with us to the ER already.

I just told the doctor that she had the fever fcor 24 hours already so they will administer the ns1 test.
Call it mother's instinct, this was one test I look forward to seeing them fail, unfortunately she also tsetse positive.

They got admitted in Medical City, due to the number of patients we got 2 separate rooms for them in 2 separate floors.  Boy was that hard to manage. 2 kids admitted in 2 different floors, Haist.

Anyway, we stayed there for 8 days, please note on the 4rd and 5th day of fever, they will feel well and strong and they will have low grade to no fever at all, that is when the virus attacks your system.

What the doctors were watching out for was the platelet count but they were more concern on the hematocrit level. a high hematocrit is a danger sign of an increased risk of dengue shock syndrome. taken from wikipedia. 

The only meds that were being administered to them were hydrite and paracetamol and IV.  Boy was it hard for them to drink that stuff. A has an aversion to any hydrite, she was vomitting not because of the dengue but from drinking that thing.  That is why up to this day they do not drink buko juice because it is somewhat similar to the taste of hydrite.

The hubby, was determined to buy tawa-tawa as he have looked hit up in the internet, but it did not push through because I told him, how will you make them drink that eh yung tawa tawa nga di na carry.  My sister in law on the other hand prepared tea from camote tops, B tried it, it was not bad but
she only drank a few sips.

Silver lining was that the dengue strain they got was not the worst kind, as there are several strains, you know. Thank God they did not vommit, had no tummy ache, which means the virus did not attack their internal organs.

after 5 days in the hospital they developed a rash.

in case you are wondering, that is not one of my daughter's back.  but the rash looks like that.
The nurse said, most of the time when the rashes appear it means they are on the road to recovery.

So nowadays we are sporting the GIGA citronella scent.  Prevention is always better, so we are here to combat all those bad mosquitoes.

These are my babies battling the fight together.

Shakey's Birthday Party

It has been a hectic week.

Now that my son C's 3rd birthday is done, I can now rest from planning birthdays until he turns 7.

It was not really a stressful birthday preparation as much as what I have done in the past for my 2 daughters 7th birthday.  I did not even have to drag my ass to divisoria to buy loot bags and such.

I made a lot of DIY's but thanks to Shakey's El Pueblo, their loot bags were nice enough, that I did not have to add a lot, just added some candies and chocolates and prepared additional loot bags since I cannot order loot bags per piece.

Since I have started making DIY's I have always made popcorn boxes for my kids bdays.  Just so the guests can have something to munch on while waiting.  I printed these on my computer and used the 

printables from http://www.mariahdemarco.com/justice-league-printables, for the cute justice league characters,  since I wanted to save on colored inks, I printed it black and white and just colored the boxes.  Channeling the inner child within.

The cape was very vibrant and that is included in the Shakey's package.

For this who are looking into celebrating at Shakey's, I think their policies differ from branch to branch.

But for the El Pueblo branch the 2nd floor can accommodate up to 80 pax.

What we did was to order the monster meal at P2050 per set good for 12 pax.

We availed of their theme package, the only one they have now is the Justice League theme, for P3,900

we get 30 sets of party invitation, party hats, capes, sling bags, puzzle board and tumbler. With Guest signature poster and 5 each of lunch box, sand set and stickers for game prizes.

Which are not bad because they are very useful and the kids loved the capes.

You can also get Capt Shakeys but for additional fee.

The host was good and was not brazen so that was a good thing.

You can have any theme you like and not pay the P3,900 but you would have to bring your own host and party organizer.

Because we have guests who doesn't have any kids, my hubby ordered beer for the not so young.

We did not add any other balloon decors because, I am really not a fan of spending on balloon decors.

I made a lot of DIY's, made some cake pops, and just made my famous mini cheesecake as souvenirs for the adults.  for the cupcake tower, I just bought some pastries in shoppersville and brownie in brownies unlimited, and we had to refill these, as the kids came back for more.  It may not be festive looking but, boy did the kids love it, instead of the cupcakes that are laden with thick frosting that kids do not finish, I opted for this instead.

All in all, it was great, the kids enjoyed as I prepared a lot of prizes and the food, well it was Shakey's after all. So it was not really a stressful bday celebration and C's face beamed as he is well aware that it was his birthday.  He was dancing and smiling the whole time. 

That says a lot, to us, as now the celebrant was the one who truly enjoyed being surrounded by family and friends.

Mcdonald's party..... not

Mcdonald's party..... not

Our baby boy is turning 3. so time to rush to look for a birthday venue.  First stop, Mcdonald's.
Our family eats and breathes Mcdonald's, so this was the obvious choice.
First stop was Mcdonald's eastwood. Yippee they are open for our preferred date, downer, they can
only accommodate up to 40 pax maximum. So it won't do.

Tried calling branches after branches, which was no walk in the park, as the listed number were either telefax or they just don't answer phones. So that was a fail.

One lucky Saturday (or so I thought) I got hold of Mcdonald's Metropoli branch.  The guy I talked to said there was an open timeslot of 1:30 - 3:00 but they do not entertain bookings over the phone. So
along with my whole family we trekked there and also met a friend there.

When we talked to the one in-charge she said there were 2 slots open, the time 1:30 - 3:00 and
6:30-8:00pm. Didn't know Mcdonald's can hold birthday parties that late. Being the late risers we are,
we decided to book the latter.  We didn't have cash on hand so we said will just come back to make the deposit, our last day to come back was on Aug. 31.

So thinking we were all set, I prepared an invitation to email to our guests which goes a little something like this.

Before hubby was supposed to go there to make the payment last Friday, I called to confirm nd ask for certain details of the party. Lo and behold, Lhen said we are only 2nd priority for the 6:30 to 8:00pm timeslot.  Smoke must have come out of my ears, because never during our conversation did she mention this to us.  We were 6 in that table discussing the party details, so I don't think we could have misheard her.  But she insisted that is what's on her calendar.  Never did she apologize during our phone conversation. Which irked me more.  But knowing it would be hard to look for other venues given we only have less than a month, I asked her to still pencil book me for the other timeslot.

Dissapointed, I called the hubby and he said we should look for another venue just in case. He was not comfortable dealing with them after this fiasco.

Come Saturday, we tried to look at the Shakey's branches near us, Katipunan was fully booked, so off we went to el Pueblo.  We were about to inquire at Mcdonald's El Pueblo but the one in charge was very busy with the party that was on going, so we decided to split, the hubby went to Shakey's and I waited at Mcdonald's.  While I was waiting, the party was winding down already and the Mommy of the celebrant was settling the bill, and I can over hear her that she was not satisfied.  Red alert. So I just joined my husband at Shakey's.

So we ended up in Shakey's with a totally different theme. Justice League.  My son has no idea about any of the Justice League characters, but that is something youtube.com can not solve.

So Shakey's it is. Just for those who are interested. If you are to avail of their Justice League theme,
they charge P3,900. What do you get for that.  Party invitation, party hats, sling bags, puzzle board, tumblers and cape for 30 pax.  for prizes they have lucy box, sand set and stickers.  Not bad.  I do not want to hire a different host anymore since it will only be 2 hrs.

Till next time. I will feature what we would be doing for the party.

Tata for now. I still need to save the birthday....

a little too late, pico de loro post

this is a very late post about our one and only summer family for the year 2012.
Thanks to my SIL, who has lots of friends (rich friends) hehehe. We were invited to use her friend's condo unit in Pico de Loro.
The place was nice with lots of things you can actually do but we were not able to do all because of the limited time and not waking up early to leave manila.

It is a beach and country club by members only but if you no someone you could be invited as their guest, you do not necessarily have to stay in their condo unit, you have an option to stay in Sands hotel located inside the beach and country club. you can visit the website for more info.

It is a long drive to from Manila to Batangas around 2.5 to 3hours depending on the traffic and stopovers.
Warning: Bring plenty of food as the place is really far from other food establishments, you will be forced to order from the country club and their restos which I will give  a full review later.

Some of the great shots of pico de loro Taken by our A.

infinity pool by the beach.  This is the beach club.

This is the unit where we stayed.

Then everything went downhill when we ordered our dinner.  We went out to eat at their
country club. We ate at their Lagoa Restaurant.  It was full since it was a Saturday night, but do note
this was the last week of May, so it was the remaining weeks of summer. The staff should have been
prepared with the number of people going there by now.

Looking for a table for a group of 8 was a feat, we managed to look for one and we were the ones to look for tables to put together take note.  We started to order around 7:00 pm and as you well know when you have swam to your hearts content, more than likely you are very hungry.

We ordered some fries, pasta, sinigang, pinaputok na lilapia, fried chicken, in short very basic, no frills food as I have said we are very hungry, look at us in that picture above.

come 7:30 pm,  still no food comes to our table, not even the french fries for heavens sake.  We can not even call on to any waiters/waitresses to follow up on our order.  But we do see a lot of them just passing us by.  After several times we tried to call the attention of the staff, they said the food was coming out.  Our food did come out around 8:00 an hour for the french fries, sinigang, pasta and chicken to arrive aftern an irate complain from us.

As we were eating, we can not finish the food served, the sinigang was too salty,  the french fries tasted like it was cooked from old oil (maanta). We ordered the chicken, supposedly as it was indicated in the menu, chicken quarter but to our dismay and without any explanation it became a measly chicken fillet. The food was ugh,  mas mabuti pa kung sa carinderia kami kumain. And the price were not a joke.
around P250 to P350 for a dish.

We asked for the manager to complain, and what do you know, even asking to complain to the manager we had to wait for another 30 mins. hahaha.  Really for a supposedly high end country club,
it was not what we have expected.

Hay, we left so hungry and while complaining and the manager standing beside me, I even found a piece of hair on my bowl of rice.

The place was great but the restaurant service was really poor. Hope they find a way to improve it.

Well, we capped our trip by eating in Tagaytay at Leslie's.
Having that hot bowl of soup just saved the trip.  All well that ends well, right.

Been very busy lately, call me maybe

It has been a crazy 2012 for me.  From looking for additional income to work overload.  Still the money is not enough, because of the peso to dollar exchange. gah, my computer getting busted and having to buy a new one, my boss did pay for the new computer but instead of getting the money it goes to the payment of the new computer.
Plus I paid for the repair of the old computer out of my own pocket so that my kids do not hover when I am done using the new one, so additional electricity bill, too much computer being used.

The problem is even my powermac g5 is really great it cannot get upgraded to the latest versions because of the intel pcprocessor chip churva.  Haist.

Anyways call me maybe, because I just want to go out of the house and reconnect with friends.

Well I got the chance to but not in the prettiest setting, I had to go to see them to attend the funeral of my friends' dads, (2 separate friends).  Got really depressing then Dolphy's demise.  Not a good year for  fathers, I just hope nothing bad happens to our dad because I can not for the life of me cannot fathom losing my parents.  It is at the top of list of my greatest fear, death of loved ones.

Just waiting for new project to get uploaded that is why I got to revisit this blog.

till next time.