Living a Sugar Free Sweet Life

Senti Alert! Don't read if you're not feeling mushy enough to share the woes of a sad mommy.

It's been a week since classes here in the Philippines started and I'm left alone by myself again. Initially, I was relieved to finally have the house all to myself during the day. It's been a huge convenience to be able to work in our home with my boy in school. But now, I suddenly miss his company.

Oh my, how time flies. In two years, I'll have a high school student already. I fear the thought of searching through men's tuxedo shirts aisle in search for a prom outfit for him. I also fear of the time when he will leave home for college. Ah, these are the days when I ask God for another child. Sorry for sharing my sentiments.

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This is a video of my son's solo performance yesterday in his concert recital. One down, one more to go. He still has another show this weekend, just in time for my 32nd birthday! Woot!

Wow, I didn't know that being a stagehand would be that hard. I slept early last night because of sheer exhaustion. Four songs and four costume changes after, I looked so harassed while my son still had the energy to play with his cousin last night. I guess it's time for me to look for discount supplements to give me more energy for the coming performances.

By the way, what do you think of my son's performance? He almost slipped as he went down the stage. My heart skipped a beat as you can see in the video. But my boy went on with his song as if nothing happened!

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This was shot during my son's 10th birthday party last weekend. Since he is a big boy now (at least he thinks so) he did not request for a magician or clown as entertainment for his party. He just wanted the adults to have fun singing videoke outside and the kids having a Wii party inside. I thought it was a great idea.

Then I remembered that we only had one television and that meant that the adults will not have a TV to use! So off we rushed to the appliance store the night before the party and bought an LCD TV. Instead of buying my son new wii accessories as a birthday gift, we decided to just buy him the LCD TV monitor for his room. I'm 11,500 peso poorer but I know that my son had a great time during his party. Yes, all the best for him as always.

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Last year, my son was diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. He was not required to wear a back brace yet as the angle of his thoracic and lumbar spine haven't reached the critical degree yet. I am praying that he wouldn't need one ever. It would be too much of a hassle for him and it would surely make him look funny to his classmates. We are blaming genetics for his scoliosis. My husband's sisters and my husband's aunt have it.

Since he wasn't advised to wear a back brace, the orthopedic doctor suggested that he make regular hanging exercises on a monkey bar to stretch his spine. Our playground has a monkey bar installed but my son seldom leaves the house. I'm thinking of having once installed inside his room. Or we can probably get a doorwaypull up bar from a sports equipment house so we won't need to bore holes on his room's walls.

Help me decide. Do you have any suggestions?

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I never knew I'd be as excited as I was this afternoon when my boy and I reached Enchanted Kingdom. You see, in the five years that we spent living in Santa Rosa City, I've only been in the park twice. The first time was right after we moved in and the last was weeks before we got relocated back to Manila. I guess I really missed Enchanted Kingdom so much that I took so many pictures of the place. Rap and I were lucky to be part of the 50 bloggers who spent Valentine's Day at Enchanted Kingdom. We were brought there to witness the park's Enchanting Hug-a-Palooza event. Too bad my husband had to be on duty in the office today and had to miss all the fun.

We rode the bus provided for us by the Enchanted Kingdom guys and arrived at the park a few minutes before 3 in the afternoon. The heat was unbearable, I tell you, but I wasn't able to resist my boy who pulled me to go and try the rides immediately.
But while our special pink wristbands gave us ride-all-you-can access, I wasn't able to muster enough courage to ride these...


Nevertheless, we enjoyed the bump cars, the Wheel of Fate, Up, Up, and Away, and the mini-train ride before the Hug-a-palooza program started.


We were up in the giant ferris wheel when the lion dancers danced around the park in celebration of Chinese New Year. Belly dancers also wiggled their bodies in one part of the park.


By the time we got off the Wheel of Fate, it was only a couple of minutes before the Hug-a-Palooza program started. So we decided to have snacks and refreshments at the foodcourt using our complimentary Wizard Money.


After our snacks, we chanced upon the other bloggers who were lined up for shots in the photobooth.


The band played lively music to everyone's delight!


At 6 pm, all of the rides were stopped to give everyone the chance to witness the program. Young and old; families and lovers; the EK staff, traditional media men, and us bloggers; were all gathered in front of the stage to witness the incredible feat of having the largest number of people hugging each other all at the same time. The program was hosted by the owner of the park herself with Mr. Tirso Cruz III.


At exactly 7 pm, music was played and it cued the official start of the Hug-a-Palooza. Fireworks lit up the sky, too!


Families with the most number number of members present at the event were given special pins and other prizes. Other park attendees, that means us included, were showered with chocolates and candies. We also got free sampler bottles of Colgate Plax. Before the program ended, it was announced that more than 6,000 people attended the event that day. Therefore, Enchanted Kingdom's aim of bringing families close to each other this Valentine's Day was a success!


It truly was a happy Valentine's Day for me and my boy even when we missed having our Dadijun around. Thanks to Azrael Colladilla and Enchanted Kingdom for giving us a chance to be part of this wonderful feat. By the way, this is just the first as Enchanted Kingdom will be holding Hug-a-Palooza every Valentine's Day starting tonight! Special thanks also goes to Mikco Maiquez of Enchanted Kingdom for taking good care of all of the bloggers who participated in the event.

You can view more of my Enchanting Hug-a-Palooza shots HERE.


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This is what I try to burn every day via Wii Fit Plus. I really don't mind at all. I'm having fun while losing all the pounds I gained during the holidays.

Rap’s new Wii is now my constant companion in working out. I’m glad that my husband bought me the Wii board, too. It actually takes me 3 hours to burn that much calories and that’s every day. There’s no need for me to take in even the best weight loss supplement in the market today. My Wii Fit Plus is enough.

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I had the biggest scare of my life last week when I brought my son to the doctor. I brought him to have his lungs checked since he was having his cough for more than two weeks already. That day, he also started to have loose bowel movements. I thought that it was just the natural reaction of his tummy because I changed his meds from Solmux to Ascof Lagundi syrup. The doctor ordered a fecalysis done just to make sure. And there it was, printed in bold and all caps: POSITIVE FOR ENTAMOEBA COLI CYST.

The doctor was explaining the condition using the term e-coli so I felt concerned and surprised at the same time. E. Coli is something you wouldn't want to hear since it is associated with food poisoning. I was wondering how it got inside my son's intestines. He brings food to school and I prepare that every morning. We also drink distilled water at home.

The doctor explained that E. Coli is supposed to be part of the natural flora of the intestines and is generally considered harmless. However, it is associated with amoebiasis and other diseases. It should not be confused with the Escherichia coli, that is also called E. coli, that causes gastrointestinal infection, urinary tract infection, and neonatal meningitis.

Since Ralph needed to have antibiotics for his worsening cough, the doctor prescribed Co-trimoxazole to also tame the E. Coli in his intestines and regulate his bowel movements. It was effective, by the way, because the LBM was gone after his first co-tri dose. The only downside is, I had to set aside my plans of buying a USB drive to buy the antibiotics. :( Oh well, it's almost Christmas anyway and I'm sure a lot of companies will be giving out free Logo usb drives as give aways. Health should always be the top priority.

To date, Ralph is well and his cough is almost gone. He's also more conscious now in washing his hands not only before every meal but every time he feels that he has touched something dirty. I guess, he also got scared of the E. coli event he had. By the way, the doctor advised me to wash fruits and vegetables with baking soda dissolved in water before eating or cooking. She says it's effective in getting rid of bacteria.

I think the recent flooding is also to blame for what Ralph had since the doctor also related that there's rise of gastrointestinal infections among her patients at the moment. Seems that we can never be too sure of what's safe and what's not nowadays so we better be careful than sorry.

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The technology of today is truly amazing! Although most people may think that too much technology lessens personal social interaction, I still think that it is all up to the user to control that. The advantages I reap from technology are more than the disadvantages I encounter.

Take for instance the other day when I cannot even speak a word because my throat is sore but I needed to review my son in Math. So what we did was to conduct our review sessions via Yahoo Messenger, me on my laptop and him on his netbook. I sent him the word problems via chat. He, on the other hand, solved the problems on a piece of paper and replied with his answers. It was quiet yet effective. Plus the fact that my boy got enthusiastic because we were doing something new and high tech.

Other people think that we are spoiling our son with lavish gadgets but we're not. He worked hard for all of them. He did his part by doing excellent in school and we did our part by saving up for his prize. Besides, we're lucky that our son is the type who abides by our rules and regulations. He knows that he can only play video games and watch DVDs during weekends.

By the way, the netbook was the prize I got from winning 2nd place in Goldilocks and Nuffnang Philippine's "You're the 1, Goldilocks" Blog Writing contest. We were supposed to buy my son a netbook once he gets the gold medal in academic excellence by the end of the school year but the blessing came in a little early. I was really eyeing on a netbook to use when I am mobile as my laptop is quite heavy. Now that we have a netbook, I guess I'll be saving for a Sony Vaio P Series! Woot!

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Dahil nga sa nag-iisa, basta para sa aking unico hijo, todo suporta ako. Kaya naman noong nakaraang Family Day nila sa paaralan at ang tema ay Halloween, talagang pinaghandaan ko ang kanyang magiging costume. Eto nga at siyang naging isang scarecrow noong araw na iyon. Wala naman kaming binili diyan kundi ang sombrerong tig-trenta pesos lang sa palengke at ang facepaint na ginamit ko sa kanya. Opo, kaming mag-asawa lang ang nag-make-up diyan, hahaha! Capital F for Effort!


Ayan na nga at nag-eensayo sila diyan ng kanyang Daddy sa pagpo-project. May premyo kasi ang may pinaka nakakatakot na Halloween costume. Nasuklian naman ang aming paghihirap at siya ay nanalo bilang Best Little Spook noong araw na iyon.

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I always make it a point to involve myself in our only child's school activities. During their Halloween-themed Family Day last year, I had a grand time preparing his costume. We dressed him up as a scarecrow buying only a cheap buri hat from the wet market and a set of face paint. My husband and I did the facepainting job.

There he is practicing his scary pose with his daddy. Our efforts did not go to waste as he won the "Best Little Spook" award that day.

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Our backpacking trip to Vigan and Baguio last March gave me the opportunity to study a little Spanish through a PSP game called "My Spanish Coach". Traveling light compelled me to not bring my laptop and it took me away from my online activities for a week. It was a blessing in a way because I had the chance to bond more with my family, especially with my boy who got interested in the game, too.

I was already studying and completing sentences about food and places in the game. When we are not playing the game, Ralph and I try to exchange simple sentences in Spanish. My son has a more retentive memory than me and it became easy for him to speak simple sentences in Spanish. He's learning Spanish faster than I have that it would look like I bought him some learn spanish for toddlers videos.

Once we got back from our trip, I had to go back also to reality and to my piled up tasks. I didn't get the chance to play the game and learn Spanish words again. I will find time to do some once my schedule permits me to. It's never to late to learn a new language. It may seem useless now but there may be opportunities in the future when I can use my knowledge of the Spanish language.

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