A Sprinkle of Thoughts on a Wednesday Morning

Good morning world!  According to this laptop, it's 7:47 am yet I am the only one awake in this house.

I am actually still sleepy, having slept at around 3am last night, or shall I say this morning.  My husband and I couldn't sleep.  We had a small issue about who should watch what on DVD.  We ended up having a midnight snack, if you still call it that, at 2:00 am and watching an episode of The Walking Dead afterwards.  I don't get it but he just loves everything about zombies. So, anyway, I'm still sleepy, but I am going to take this opportunity to "write" my thoughts down while he and my son are still asleep.

Today is Labor Day.  That means, I have my husband all to myself!

Mom and Dad are coming. I'm thinking of letting them taste my chicken teriyaki.

I've been thinking of putting a new tab on this blog for my recipes.  Wouldn't you like that?

I love teaching but I hate the politics that comes with it.  Surprised?  Join the club.  I've never been more shocked when I realized there was more politics in the academic world than in the corporate world.  I know, I've been a part of both.

Speaking of politics, election time is near.  While the politicians are campaigning, the voters take advantage of this period to get what they want from the politicians. They ask for money, they make themselves at home at a politician's house, getting everything that's easy to get.  When these politicians get elected, the same voters ask for money for so many things and these politicians can't say no.  Why? Because if they did, nobody would vote for them anymore.  And yet we wonder why so many of them are taking money from public funds! They're getting back what they used in the campaign!  They're getting back what voters got from them! And since politics is their business and no businessman would just want to break even, they're trying to get the earnings of their investment.   So, let's not point our fingers to those in public office. It's so easy for us to let others take the blame.  But believe it or not, we, the voters, are also accountable for what is happening in our society.   We have to help our public officials stay honest.  Let them do their job. Don't ask them  for a dole out.   Know the candidates.  The less campaign materials, the better because the ones who invest more will want to get more.

Do you ever think of yourself as some character in a story?  Like your life is a story in a TV series. Since it's your life, you are the main character, you're the protagonist, right?  But when the conflict becomes man vs. man, sometimes I can't help asking myself, what if I was the villain of the story, and not the protagonist I see myself to be? Do I make any sense at all?

I may see a friend I haven't seen for probably 20 years tomorrow.  I'm excited. I'll let you know how that turns out.

So these are my thoughts.  I'ts 8:45. My son and my husband are still asleep but I am hungry!  Got to get breakfast ready.

Since it's Labor Day, I'll leave you with some work quotes.

Source: realgoldfearsnofire.wordpress.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest

Source: mlquotes.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest

Source: penelopesoasis.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest

Happy Wednesday everyone!

J. Co

I now have a favorite doughnut.  It's J. Co. 

Their doughnuts are soft, rich and have just the right amount of sweetness.  

I mean, you can eat four or five doughnuts in one single sitting without even realizing it.

The only problem is, since they're fairly new in the country, they have very few branches.  

And you have to be ready to spend a lot of time waiting in line.

When we first visited their Megamall branch, we waited in line for more than an hour! 

If we didn't realize that there was another counter where we could get half a dozen doughnuts without waiting in line, we probably would have needed to wait for another hour!  

The only problem with this no-waiting-in-line counter was the maximum number of doughnuts that you can buy is six and you cannot choose the flavor.  

We visited their Megamall branch again this afternoon and luckily, the line was shorter.  The waiting took only 20 minutes.  I didn't go to the no-waiting-in-line counter because I wanted to buy a dozen and I wanted to be able to choose.  But, here's the problem.  Since there was a continuous stream of customers, the doughnuts on display disappeared so fast and we, the customers couldn't really choose the flavors we wanted.  We just had to make do with what's available.  

So, here's my advice for all those who have heard of J. Co and want to try it.  Wait for another two months. Maybe then, the craziness has subsided and there would be a much shorter line and a well-stocked display counter when you visit.

My Favorite Parts

"What do you love?" Hannah of CupcakeMumma asked in her blog post entitled, O Is for One Body, Learn to Love It.  It was indeed an inspiring write and I was compelled to type a response.  

As I was typing, I realized my answer was getting too long  I just might as well write a post about it.  So here I am, answering Hannah's question and telling you all about it.

What part of my body do I love?  I actually love every inch of me.  I mean, this is the only body that I have, so every inch is precious. But I must admit that I do have my favorites.

Here they are in no particular order:

My eyes.

There is not a day that I don't marvel at the beauty of God's creation.  My eyes allow me to see the beauty that surrounds me.  They let me see my son, my husband, my family and all the ones I love.

They help me read books that make me laugh or cry or both. 

I have treasured up so many wonderful things in my mind with the help of my eyes.

My teeth.

I love my teeth mostly because of aesthetic reasons.  I mean, someone's looks can really be affected by the teeth.  A baby without teeth is cute but an adult without teeth...well, you know what I mean.

  I consider myself blessed for having strong and nice set of teeth. I didn't even have to get braces.  It seems that they just knew where they were supposed to grow and grew there.  When I was in high school, the school dentist even used me as a model. No cavities, perfectly aligned teeth.  That's how they were.  There was even a time when I thought that the set of teeth I had was my only asset.  So I used to get nightmares of my teeth falling off.

My ears.

They're big and kinda protruding but I love them because without them I won't be able to hear the merry laughter of my son nor the beautiful music that he plays on his violin.  Without them, I won't hear my husband saying "I love you."

My hands and my arms.

My arms are big ( I have gotten too fat) and my hands are small with weirdly shaped fingers but I love my arms and my hands just the same.

I cook, bake, write, type and do all sorts of things with my hands.  With my hands, I touch the ones I love.  With my arms and with my hands, I held my boy when he was a baby, I hugged him when he was scared or sad.  With my arms and with my hands, I hug and embrace the people I love , my mom and my dad, my sister, my son, my husband, my nephew, my friends and even my students.


My feet.

Well, my feet are tiny and they give me a terrible time when I need to buy shoes. Girls have a fun time shopping for shoes.  I don't. It's because my feet are too tiny.  Shoe manufacturers just don't make shoes for adults with feet my size.

However, I can't say I hate my feet.  Without my feet, I wouldn't have been able to go to all the places I have been to.  My feet help me stand and walk and travel so they are very important to me, no matter how tiny they are.

My brain.

My brain stores up wonderful memories, special moments, words spoken, places seen.  It helps me write, read, and process everything.  It helps me think, choose and decide.  It helps me plan and put my plans into action.  It helps me do my job which is to educate young people.


I can't think of another favorite right now.  Of course, I love my heart. It keeps me alive but I thought I didn't have to mention that.

What about you? What's your favorite  part of your body?

How I Have Been Feeling Lately

I wonder how plain housewives feel.

I work and earn money but since my husband is earning much much more than I am, I have been feeling a bit inadequate lately.

Somehow, it seems that what I earn  is just loose change compared to what he earns and since I pay for my insurance and my son's education,small bills like our landline and  internet, it seems that what I earn has no value at all.  One minute it's there, and then after  buying some grocery items,  one or two trips to McDonald's, it's gone, just like that... in just a blink of an eye.

 Then comes the time when it's gone and there are things I need to buy for myself, or for my son,  it's just so shameful that I have to ask.

I wonder if there's anyone out there who feels the same way as I do.

Counting Blessings v. 3

It's time to be thankful  and count my blessings once again.

1. Everyone I love is strong and safe.

2. Even if there's the talk of war in the Korean peninsula, it has not happened....and I hope it never will.  

    The peace we enjoy is just so fragile.  Please join me in praying for peace.

3. I'm almost done with my clearance requirements for the school year. Yay!

4. My sister turned 37 on the 9th.  Her birthday is always a holiday so we were all able to celebrate 

   and have lunch together at Vikings MOA.

    I was not planning to eat a lot because I was already several pounds overweight but when I got  

    there  I saw all the  food, all the will power I thought I had began to dissolve.

one of the desserts I enjoyed there

5. I made sweet and sour fish fillet for dinner the other night and it was a great success!

6. After our trip to Vikings on the 9th, I have been thinking about it a lot and was craving for food.  So,

   Ruel took me on another trip to Vikings, this time at their SM North branch.  We had lunch there with

   my son, Toots, yesterday.  I can say I am not only blessed to eat a Vikings  feast twice in a week but  

   I am also blessed to have a husband who gives in to my whims.

7. After lunch yesterday, we had these photos taken.  This is one of the rare occasions where my son

    enjoyed having his pictures taken. He just loves Spongebob!

Thank you Lord for everything!

Tuesday Topics - Six Favorite Things in Your House

I'm linking up again with Lauren.  I'm a little late because I couldn't find the linky in her blog last night.

These are my six favorites in no particular order.

1.  I guess the first one on my list of favorites is our rainmaker.  It's summer and I won't be able to survive this awful heat without taking several showers during the day to cool off.

      2.   Next on my list is our TV.  I love watching DVD movies and TV serials!
            This is not a good angle in taking a photo of one's television set, I guess.

3.  These are spare plants from our wedding tokens.  Of  course, they don't have ribbons anymore.  I
      took this picture a day after the wedding.

4. Next is our steamer.  I love it because it helps me cook different dishes from main course to dessert.

5.  My photo albums and the scrapbooks I made for my son.  When it comes to things, they are the most important to me.  I consider them my treasures for they hold special moments that can never be replayed nor replaced.

6.  Our bed.  I just wish I could spend more time enjoying it. 

Things I Wish I Could Do Every Day...but Couldn't

Last week  I wrote a post about the seven things I did on a daily basis.

That led me thinking of things I wished I could do every day but couldn't.

1. Travel to nice places.
   
2. Cook excellent meals.

3. Eat as much of my favorite dishes and desserts without ever gaining a pound.

4. Sleep for at least ten hours.

5. Pet puppies.

6. Read good novels.

7. Watch feel-good movies.

What about you?  What do you wish you could do every day?

What I'm Thinking of Today and Some Quotes

I just can't understand why some parents would get mad at teachers if their children got a low grade or a failing score at the end of the year.

We give extensions of deadlines, give considerations, lower our standards in grading projects and themes, we offer help after class but sometimes these are still not enough for some students and they still fail.  And

then the parents get mad which, I think, is so unfair.

Sometimes I am inclined to think that maybe parents think the  teachers are just making the grades up.  Goodness gracious! That is far from reality.  We spend so much time checking seatworks, quizzes, theme papers, projects and exams, so much time encoding them, so much time rechecking what we have encoded in the system just so we can end up with a grade that  truly represents a child's performance.

Anyway, I was trying to destress earlier and saw some interesting quotes on Pinterest.

                                                                     Source: picasaweb.google.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest

                                                                         Source: Uploaded by user via Marie Claire on Pinterest

Source: stumbleupon.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest

 
 .

                                                                                      Source: google.com via Marie Claire on Pinterest                                                                   

Breakfast Surprise

In my attempt to finish all my requirements for my clearance, I decided to stay in the library the whole morning.  But since the library opens at 8:00 and I didn't want to wait in the faculty room, Ruel took me to a famous coffee shop nearby where we both could do our work peacefully while having breakfast.

I saw this on their on their menu and ordered it. 

To my surprise and disappointment I got these.

Do you see the difference between what I ordered and what I got?  Well, it wasn't the first time this happened to me, but I wasn't expecting this big a difference from a well-known and upper-class coffee place.

Good thing the omelette and toast tasted great.  Otherwise, I would probably have complained....like I always do when this happens.

Tuesday Topics v. 1

I was not really planning to write a post today but as I was reading some blogs, I saw a link-up called Tuesday Topics on Tiffany's blog.

Thought it was fun, so here I am, typing away and making this post.  I guess I'm a little late, I'm starting at seven but what the heck.

Here are the seven things I do every day.

1.  Of course, I take a bath and brush my teeth.  Now that it's summer I often take a shower three times
     a day.
2.  I tell my son I love him before I go to work and before I sleep at night.
3.  I make a small cross on my son's forehead, I use my thumb to do this.  I do this before I leave for
    work.
4.  I tell my husband I love him.
5. I eat meals thrice a day and snacks twice a day.
6. I check my facebook and read blogs that I follow.
7. I pray several times a day.

So these are the things that I normally do every day.   And then in between all those, I ....

....daydream
---drink, and crave for something sweet to drink
---look at myself in the mirror (I'm not that vain, but I haven't met a girl who doesn't like looking at the
    mirror.
....think about my fears (I'm a little paranoid)
....call my dog
....laugh out loud
..
That's all I can recall for now.

What do you do every day?