My Adorable Bee

I missed this. And it made me re-think about priorities and being a working mom all over again. But I took time away from work already to attend his recognition day so I guess, this is the trade off.


When I saw the pictures of this adorable bee at their year-end presentation at a theatre at SM Southmall, I was happy and wistful at the same time. His costume barely reaching his ankle, my boy is really a kid and not a baby anymore.

Grandma dressing him up

 

 

Fuelling up at Mcdo

Goodluck kiss from Grandma

Smile!!!

Bees in a row

The presentation

Scenes from Family Day

Last year, my guilt ate my entire being after I failed to spend Family Day at the husband's office with my two boys. I was at work, and was tied to a project so urgent I had to make this little sacrifice.

This year was still busy, but I had to prioritize and we declare this Jared's Day (he said there will be a Jared Day after Mother's Day).

It was a kiddie dream came true with. Zip line, giant inflatables and a colorful parade to boot.
Mommy claimed her Mother's Day gift by bringing home a loot bag full of tiangge clothes!!!!
Mom, dad and baby happy. Exactly my kind of day.

DIY Vday Gifts

From the title, you can see this post is 3 months late.

These are small tokens of love and friendship I gave to friends last Valentine's.

* * *
Orange you glad you're my friend sticker on a ponkan

Love potion no. 9 wrap on a Gatorade

You're the apple of my eye cute favor box for a mini apple pie

Paper heart cut out on a ballpen

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Jared says: Election 2013 version

On voting
Mom: Jared, will you vote on May 13?
Jared: No mom
M: Why?
J: Next time na, when I'm 18

On his candidates
Getting scratch paper and starting to write like his dad
Mom: What is the paper for?
Jared: I will write my senators.
M: Who will you vote for?
J: Ja Enril (Jack Ebrile)
Grace Poe
Aln Caytan (Allan Cayetano)
Mrs. Villar

Why 
M: Why will you vote for him (Jack Enrile)?
J: Because mom, there is something about the buko....

With a red pentel pen mark on his finger

Toms' Give Fair

This was the first ever fair we attended. We chanced upon it by accident at the open activity area of ATC.

This was sponsored by Toms and the best part is, there is no purchase required!

We didn't stay too long because the weather was humid, even on a December night. But, we fully enjoyed all the booths and even won some prizes. Double yey!!!!

Upon signing up, they give you tickets for the games and food. This got our boy so excited to try everything twice (because his dad and I both signed up).

There were young musicians, too. It was a very festive atmosphere.

Pawisan!

They were able to shoot the balls in the buckets and we got a glass and some notepads as prizes; waiting for his popcorn.

Thank you, Toms Philippines, for this wonderful activity.

Tagaytay-Canyon Cove-Nuvali Adventure: Canyon Cove Leg

Part I of our adventure is here.

Less than an hour after Tagaytay, and with tummies full from our late breakfast, we reached our destination: Canyon Cove.


Our Family Room
Our group is composed of 4 adults and 1 kid. The master's bed was big, soft and comfortable, and the the seating area by the window could fit in 2 more, if needed. There is a masters bathroom, a living area, a small dining table, another seating area by the living room. The kitchenette has a microwave, a mini fridge and an electric kettle.

The best part about this unit is the balcony which spans the entire length of this room. It gave us a full view of the peaceful beach and the glorious sunset that only eyes on vacation can fully appreciate.




For me, this place is so picturesque. We booked in November, and on our first afternoon there, we had the beach almost all to ourselves. I love the open-air reception area with high ceilings and the big, big pool.
 
This post was long in the making because it's so hard to choose the best pictures from those 2 days.

 
It was a relaxed weekend, just like how we intended it to be.  All we did was go to the nearest town to eat our meals (food at the resort was not spectacular), swim and sleep.

The town if I remember correctly is about 10-15 mins away, and we ate at Chowking and Mang Inasal. We took our breakfast at the resort though.

Gave us nice spots to take pictures, too!

I liked this beach better than the ones in Laiya and for the price we paid, the relatively short distance from our place, we'll surely be coming back. As I write this, I already have 2 more vouchers for another stay at this place.

The following day, when the sun cheerfully greeted us at dawn, we took that as cue to come down.

The pool was almost empty. But the guy had an agenda in mind. This playground proved to be too irresistible to our boy.

This was also our first out of town trip with his lolo and lola.

My favorite shot from that vacation. Our boy now considers Canyon Cove as his happy place.


Take me back to the beach, please?

What your mother does for a living

Dear Jared,

Mom writes this today, Labor Day. Mommy as usual wanted to post something unique, and in a light bulb moment, I thought of going in the gory details of how you were brought out in this world. But, that maybe too gory for public consumption. I will tell you that story when you turn 10 or 11, when i feel the love for things gory grow on little boys.

For now, I should probably tell you about what mommy does at the office.

Hmm, how do I even begin?

You always say mom is so old already, right? Well, once upon a time baby, your mom was quite young and impulsive. I was then working at a hotel in Makati, feeling oh so glamorous, when I got a call to ask if I was interested to apply at this company. That came at a perfect time because our boss was asking for volunteers. Volunteers who will take on the shift during New Year's Day. The heck (excuse the word) that I will miss one family reunion. That prompted me to go to an unfamiliar place in Manila where trailer trucks pass in great numbers every single day. I didn't know yet that the place gets flooded ( and I have my share of stories of wading in waist deep waters!). So in short, I accepted the job. That was in July 1999.

At that young age, I imagined I will go places. Because son, mummy's previous employers slash companies mommy worked for has the word "world" in it. I studied tourism in a University so big we had to ride jeepneys to go to our classes. But this job is in marketing. In a forwarding company. Before that call to come in for an interview, I didn't even know what forwarding means!

And so I started. Don't get too bored yet, okay? Mom's work gets interesting from here. My boss and I were part of a newly-formed group of the company: it's called Corporate Planning and Development. Our group started small, I think about 12 members and I was the youngest that time.

I loved my job and I truly love the people I work with. During that first year or two at work, I got to go to Hong Kong, then celebrate the success of our event there in Boracay! I made friends for life. That maybe the reason why I'm still here with the company 14 yeas after.

But one by one, my contemporaries left.

But you see, baby, I grew with my job. Or maybe, my job grew with me. It probably is a mixture of both. Four years after I was hired, I was getting bored and restless. Then, our group got involved with affiliates in the Western Pacific. These is a small group of islands where the sun shines brighter than here in our wonderful archipelago.

I can safely say, and its not a cliche, that everyday is a learning experience for me. I get to work with people from 3 time zones. I somehow get stumped trying to answer questions on what I do that I keep on revising my résumé, and why I had to send mama (your grandma) a copy of my job description so she can in turn answer her friends' questions on what I do for a living.

My job can be dirty to glam. I've climbed pallets and boxes inside a container, cut cardboard until my fingers hurt, stacked 3 chairs atop each other trying to hang ceiling decors. I go to the mother of flea markets to source various stuff. Then again, it also finds me discussing color palette and brand book guidelines and dressing up to attend corporate events. I get to see that the world is a big, big place. For one not so musically-inclined, I also once sat as a pseudo judge for auditioning bands who will play at our company hotels.

So, why do you ask am I writing about this stuff? I want to document this so when I'm old and forgetful, you can read about how interesting mom's job is. And that you should love and grow with your job...no matter what that is ( and hopefully it's legal and pays you enough for the effort you put in). That there is no short cut to reaching the top but hard work and dedication and malasakit. That sure, there are a lot of employees, but be one that people will love to work with. Be one that will earn the respect of others.

With that, 16 years from now as you look for your first job, I wish you well, baby. Go out there and prove your worth.

With love,
Mom