Dani has a cold :(

She woke up fine yesterday and did her usual stuff. She walked all around the house, ran, laughed, made a lot of noise and still danced to Soulja Boy. During her nap time, I noticed some coughing. And it was during dinner time that I saw she has runny nose. The poor thing. It's not like she was miserable but she won't be able to tell me if she is or if something hurts. Besides, she is only 15 months so medicine is a big NO-NO. After dinner, I ran the steamer while I held her sitting on my lap. She hated it at first but I made her hold a picture of a Honda Accord and we were kind of discussing stuff about it. That kept her mind away from the annoying steam and stayed on my lap for 25 minutes. At about 11:30 pm, she went to sleep. I hope she gets better. She can't be sick on Thanksgiving Day!

Where did Macy's hide the backpacks?!

My mission today is to go to Macy's and shop for a Nike or Oakley backpack. I have this $10 off a $25 purchase coupon from Macy's Biggest One Day Sale brochure from Nov 16- 17. Okay that's two days but Friday is supposed to be their preview day and Saturday is the biggest day. How generous of them. What's great about this coupon is that Nike and Oakley are not included in their long list of "exclusions" which is literally everything in the store. There is a catch though, you can use it only until 1 pm. I can finally buy the Nike or Oakley backpack that I saw just a month ago. It's price was already reduced to $30 from it's $50 original price. I didn't get it then because I was still waiting for it to go down a little more. Besides there were still a bunch of them on the floor so it won't hurt to wait.

Today, around 11 am, I tried calling Macy's to find out how much the backpack is. Why? Because they usually bring the price back up to it's unreduced price when there's a big sale. The coupon will be completely useless if this is the case. Macy's automated answering service directed me to several buttons to push. When I finally reached the Young Men's department where the backpacks are, nobody answered. I kept trying and when finally someone picked-up, it's from a different department. I asked to be transferred to Young Men's but she doesn't know the extension number so she transferred me to the Executive Office instead. A certain Mary answered and asked how she can "exceptionally help" me. She gave me the extension number [in case] and transfered me -- probably her way of exceptionally helping me. I heard 2 rings and then my call got redirected again to the annoying automated answering service. And if I enter the number given to me, it will just keep redirecting me like a loop. I called the Executive Office and Mary answered again with that intention of giving me an exceptional help. I told her of my predicament and put me on hold for over 6 minutes! I thought she was doing something smart like find it out for me herself or something. It turns out, she just transferred me to the manager of the floor who did not pick-up so the phone rang again on her end and was surprised that I was still waiting. She put me on hold for a couple more minutes and came back with "I'm sorry but someone was using the phone and it's really busy in the store and the manager is attending to someone and if you leave your number I'll have the manager give you a call back." Like that is going to happen! So much for exceptional help. They should really just drop the exceptional help crap because it gets in one's nerve when they can't help even a very simple inquiry. I thanked Mary and told her that I'll just go to the store. She was apologetic though, maybe the exceptional thing was also getting to her.

I wasted a lot of time on the phone. It was about 12:30 pm when I left the house. I rushed to Macy's, went straight to Young Men's department and searched for the backpacks. I couldn't find them! I searched the whole floor and to no avail. I asked one associate who told me that they're all gone. They may have sold out. I wanted to slap him [kidding]. I didn't stop there. I went one floor down to where the luggages are. Sometimes they have backpacks displayed on that floor. There were no backpacks around. I guess it's not my lucky day today. I saw a few backpacks but they're not Nike or Oakley. They were Swiss Army brand and [whoa!] so not in my budget.

I went back up to 2nd floor where the ladies handbags are. Maybe there are backpacks there somewhere. Maybe they run out of space in Young Men's because of the massive amount of outerwears on display so they squeezed the backpacks in handbags. It could work too you know. I mean ladies could use some backpacks too. There were none.

Macy's was packed with customers and all registers had long lines except for one -- the cashier in bags. I asked her then if they have available backpacks. She didn't blink and gave me a very confident answer that they're on the third floor. It is now 10 minutes past 1pm -- my coupon was completely useless. I checked it just the same to see if I wasted my time checking them on the wrong floors [I will surely have a fit]. There were backpacks there alright but they were all The North Face and [whoa!] so not in my budget too and it's in the list of "exclusions". I can now officially say that my mission miserably failed. It's all Mary's fault! ;)

Progress Report Cards

First Grading is over and it's revelation time! All of Yna and MJ's hardwork are summed up in these cards.

Yna, a consistent gifted and honors student, maintained her straight A grades and again achieved a Distinguished Honor Roll Status. Though she struggled with Algebra I and Science getting quizzes that were below 90%, she worked really hard to improve her grades. She'd practice working on several math problems almost every night and every time she'd be sleeping late. She tried several times to ask for our help or to check if her answers were correct, but hubby and I, unfortunately, forgot everything about Algebra. Simply put, we were totally useless. With all the projects she completed, tests and quizzes every week she studied on, loads of homework every night [even weekends!] she finished, essays and book reviews she'd written, and helping out babysitting for her sister [which she calls a strenuous and unpaid job], she rightfully deserved all A's.

MJ's grades are as impressive as his sister's although she teased him a lot about getting most 3's and only five 4's [4 is the highest]. MJ, a 4th grader, is in enrichment class for Math, Reading and Language Arts. His lessons are above his grade level so getting 3's is like getting 4's when he is in a regular class or having lessons for his grade level. I know it's confusing but that's how his teacher explained it to me during our 1-on-1 Progress Report Conference. Maybe they should just add 3E, where E stands for Enrichment, to avoid confusion and to make it more official. Also, during the month of October, MJ participated in the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE). A Growth Scale Value (GSV), a score, of 471 would reflect a higher reading performance for fourth grade students in the Fall. On this administration of GRADE, MJ obtained a GSV of 477.

What can I say? I am a very happy and proud mom. I'm glad to see all their hard work rewarded with hard earned high grades.

lilmidgetcheez REVIEWZ DA NEWZ! :armor for sleep

ARMOR FOR SLEEP
"Williamsburg"
Smile For Them
Sire Records 2007

An emotionally charged track off the band Armor For Sleep's new album, Smile For Them, "Williamsburg" is an excellent sound byte. All about the hipster fueled Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the band calls the song and video a lighthearted joke about those trendy types we all know and hate. A little play on the snobby and elitist mindset of hipsters, posers, and wannabes, the song has got it all right. From the scarves, to the Crackberrys, to passing out in parties, and right down to the tattered deck shoes, it has everything a hipster does.
The song may sound the same as tons of other pop punk tunes out there, but it's brilliant in its own little way. I love this song, and as an eighth grader in middle school, I can relate. My school is brimming with hipsters; every step I take down the hallways brings me the gift of seeing poser after poser after poser. They are so overrated and this sweet song from an underrated band sums it all up.

I give it 4 1/2 out of 5.


See video:
YouTube
See band:
Official Site

Shopping for Dani

Last Friday, we went to King of Prussia Mall to shop for clothes for Dani. We bought her 3 long sleeved tees, 2 jeans which have ruffles at the bottom, 1 hoodie, and a pair of mittens from Children's Place. We also bought her a pair of cute little shoes from Sketchers.

I know I had fun shopping even if they're not for me. But I don't think Dani did. She screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed. She screamed if she needed another helping of food. She screamed if we stopped to check something. She screamed if she wanted to point out something. She screams because it's fun ... it's her trip.


The next day, we went to Target and shopped again for her. We got her 2 pairs of Hanes pajamas, 2 hoodies and 2 tights. This time wasn't so bad. For some reason, she didn't scream [a lot]. Maybe she liked Target more .

My father

My father was a great man. His determination to accomplish anything and knowing how he endured adversities fulfilling his responsibilities are very inspiring.

Growing up was not that fun for him. His parents were poor and buying toys for them was a luxury they could not afford. Lacking in sufficient means, his parents struggled to put him and his siblings to school. My father loved school even though he didn't have the fancy clothes and shoes that other kids enjoyed. When he finished 6^th grade, their financial situation forced him to stop going to school and assisted his parents in working in the farm.

In his twenties, he met my wonderful mom. I remember my father's story about how my mom's dad challenged him to prove that he's a worthy person for my mom. My grandpa asked him to leave my mom and the city altogether for three months. He was not to make any form of communication at all. If he did come back, he has my grandpa's blessing to marry my mom. My mom and dad were both devastated about this but my dad carried on as told. Proving that he was a good person with an honest intention for my mom, he did come back and ended marrying her later on. They soon had three beautiful and smart kids. Faced with difficulties in looking after a growing family, my father never stopped working hard. He worked as an assistant to the mechanic in my uncle's garage. As a very efficient and competent man and being the quick learner that he was, he managed to learn everything from oil change to body painting to overhauling, plus more. He also became very good in doing carpenter jobs.

The absence of a degree in an automotive school did not stop him from achieving more than he can. After years of hard work, he eventually became a proud owner of a small auto repair shop. I can recall how I spent my free time helping him out at his garage. He would make me hand him the tools that he needed or I would just simply watch him work. I found it very fascinating when he first built our first car. He purchased a junk car and some metal parts from a junk shop and painstakingly converted it into a running and exquisitely painted car. It was so cool to own a car built by your own father.

He later on made a habit of purchasing junk cars, converted them and put them in the market. Aside from building us our first car, he also made us our cabinets, bookcases, bunk beds and even our bikes. Another skill that he had was modifying or transforming beyond repair vintage sewing machines. These machines may be small compared to building cars but assembling their parts together are as complex as constructing an engine. Vintage sewing machines come in legs and a table which serves as the case. He can construct that too. When everything was done and running, he would then intricately design the machine with his creative painting. He also made some portable sewing machines that were hand operated.

I don't know if he realized it but my father was a genius. He has acquired a talent he was so masterful in. I have no words to describe how proud I am to have him as a father. He said his goal in life is to give us what his parents were not able to give him – education. All three of us finished college with hard earned degrees to make him proud.

My turn to run

Hubby and I worked out today for 45 minutes on the treadmill. I began a brisk 10-minute warm-up walk. Then an alternate 1 minute of jogging and 3 minutes of walking. I finished a total of 4 minutes of jogging and walked the rest of the workout. I am no runner so those four 1-minute joggings were torturous. I felt sharp burning sensations in my legs. I was so out-of-breath, my chest felt like it was about to explode. I was sweating bullets and I had snot dripping from my nose when I don't even have a cold. Anyway, while I was in that agonizing state, I tried my best not to look like I was about to die [it felt like it] because there were people across us who were also working out. While walking back home, I felt weak in the knees I had to cling to hubby for support. I am pretty sure, since I barely stretched, I will be so sore the next day.

The Bad Eagles

I love the NFL. I particularly enjoy watching football when my favorite team is scoring and actually wins. Last Sunday's game was a big yawn and very upsetting. I don't get it when these people couldn't do a play right. McNabb couldn't even make a good pass. His passes were so darn bad even the opponents couldn't get the ball. It's silly but I still get disappointed when they lose when I know very well that they will.

It's just a game. They're just playing. They're earning millions to play. Now why in the world can't they do it right?!

The Couch-to-5K Running Plan

When hubby was still in his late teens and early twenties, he ran for hours in Greenhills and Roxas Blvd., along with fellow runners every weekend. He would wake up as early as 4 in the morning. He had participated in and finished a couple of half marathons. His physique or built was that of a runner. He was slim but fit, athletic looking and really sexy. He would sport this really tiny Botak shorts and I thought it was cute on him. He should really wear more of those kind because in my very biased opinion, he still has a very gorgeous pair of legs.

He had stopped running long before we met and got married. He altogether dropped running and waking up early and took on the habit of loving our couch, the TV and a bowl of chips. He does not drink nor smoke and I'll have to say I'm proud of him for that. But his routine of eating chips every single day and not doing any form of exercise is very alarming. He was gaining weight and he looked especially heavy around the waist.

For unknown reasons, he turned the table around -- he wanted to run again. He said he was uncertain about how he would perform or if he would even be able to run for 5 minutes but he was determined to do it. We started frequenting the park and the gym 3 times a week.

He adapted the couch-to-5K running plan. It is a beginner's running schedule where he has to ease himself into a running program gradually. The first few days were really tough for him. He said it was way too easy to run when he was still lighter and it's extremely difficult now that he's heavy. The 60 seconds of jogging alone would make him breathless. My heart would go out for him seeing him like that. There were times when he would want to skip a day but I was adamant that he stop being wimpy and strictly remain on the program.

It was May last year when he started on the couch-to 5K running plan. When previously a 60 second jogging was a killer for him, now he can easily finish a 3 mile run. It wasn't easy getting where he is now. It took him a lot of determination to finish a workout. I'm so proud of him. I hope someday I will be able to accomplish at least half of what he did.

His next goal is to join the Third Annual Valley Forge Revolutionary 5-Mile Run - April 20, 2008.

Halloween with the Rock Star, Darth Vader and Dipsy

It was an entirely different Halloween celebration we had this year. We stayed home. Kids did not go trick-or-treating. For one, Darth Vader was still ill and secondly, hubby insisted that we go to the gym. On Halloween?!!! Are you kidding me?!!!

Anyway, Darth Vader a.k.a. MJ was still sick and his fever even went as high as 104 degrees F. He looked fine though. With that temperature, I would expect him to be so miserable, tired and weak. It's probably the "force within him" that kept him up waiting at the door for trick-or-treaters to come. The Rock Star a.k.a. Yna wasn't particularly pleased griping about how she's the only child in the world who had to stay home on Halloween and babysit. But she did have fun giving away treats to kids. Dipsy a.k.a. Dani looked so adorable in that 8-year-old hand-me-down (MJ's) costume. She would stoically stare at kids who would come by probably wondering what on earth is going on and saying to herself "what strange looking kids"! Funny but the kids barely said Trick-or-Treat anymore. Their eyes were all just fixed on the bowl ready to jump and grab whatever they can. It's a blessing moms are there to calm these aggressive kids and say thank you in their behalf.

The visit at the gym was fun. Hubby and I both finished 50 minutes on the treadmill. He ran and I walked. I want to talk about this further but I'd do that next time.