The Dance of Life

It’s been snowing since last weekend so now we’re snowed in.  And we are in for more snow right up ’til Christmas.  So it’s definitely a white Christmas this year.  I am just so glad work and school is over and that I’m done with my Christmas shopping.  Also it makes me feel better that my huge list of things to do and things to buy and things to fix, etc, etc. are getting shorter by a bit.  Yep, I have lots of different kinds of list that I try so hard to get it done.  The trouble is every time my lists become shorter, there’s always something new being added, phew! Don’t even mention my list of bills that just keeps growing and growing.  Lists are necessary evil, I tell ya!  Well, that’s being a working mom for me!

One thing about Christmas is shopping for presents… it’s all about GIVING after all.  But…. wouldn’t make shopping easier when you know what to buy for every member of your family and friends?  I think what I’m going to do next year is to just ask a list from everyone and I’ll choose from that list whatever is affordable but suitable.  Although I am pretty sure Mike and I did great shopping for presents for our family this year.  We bought things that we KNOW they really NEED and things we know they’ve been WANTING to have.  It took us a while deciding but at the end of the day, we were pleased of the things we bought.  Hope they will be pleased, too, when they open the presents.

As for the kiddies, we didn’t buy too much for Wyatt and Romeo because first of all they have TONS of toys and since they’re only 2-3 years old, they wouldn’t remember and appreciate too much as long as they get one or two toys they love to play with, they’re happy.  But for Helena - well, that’s a different story.  She’s 7 years old and understands this things and gets excited about Christmas.  She started making gift list of things she wants even before Christmas (it’s very long, hahaha!) so… YEP! Of course she knows Santa is not gonna bring all those things to her but she also knows Santa will pick a FEW from her gift list.  That’s my little girl!

Anyhoo, here are some of the photos I took when we went out playing on the snow:

Helena and Wyatt playing at our backyard.

Taken in front of Helena’s school.

Mike, Helena and Wyatt sledding.

Wyatt trying to make a Snowman.

Wyatt and I go chilling on the snow.

Helena makes snow angels.

This is the back of our house. I just love the bare trees going all white!

The night after I took these photos, more snow came so the snow went higher!

More photos are posted in my Gallery.
“Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow won’t make it ‘white’.“

Being a working mom is never easy I say that once again. :-)  I’ve been swamped with work at school and at home since the the beginning of Fall and I don’t think I’ll be able to breath calmly until this Holiday is over, phew!

Snow is here.
It’s been snowing and the kids loved it.  It’s Wyatt’s first snow so he was quiet excited.  Helena played with him on the snow and made snow angels and had a bit of snow fight with Wyatt, it was cute!  Helena’s been bringing her tobbogan at school and she’s been having a great time sledding with her friends.  According to the weather forecast, it’s going to be sunny today and tomorrow but then another snow storm will come on Sunday until Christmas day so it looks like we’re going to have a white Christmas.

Christmas Show
Well, we’ve been practicing and been doing very well with it but on the day of the show (2 days ago), the snow decided to fall hard so the BOD cancelled the show.  The kids felt bad about it but they were also excited of the snow so it really didn’t bother them that much, which is a good thing.  We can always have another show next year.
Last day of school
Today is Helena’s last day before winter break so we wrapped some Christmas treats to give to her classmates.  Usually, Helena & I bake cookies to bring to the class but because I’ve so many things to do we just bought some treats and wrapped them nicely.  Of course we also prepared cards for her teachers who are doing a really great job teaching her.
Well, I better get back to Christmas shopping now (nope, not done yet.. almost).. preparing for Wyatt’s birthday party and our Christmas Eve party so adios for now.

Merry Christmas to everyone!
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Carol is one of my best friends for years and she wrote a beautiful article about me on my birthday, it flattered me. I quote:

There’s Something About NORA

October 29, 2008 by caroline2311

I remembered the first time I met Nora. I think it was in August of 1998. Yeah, it’s been 10 years since I met this girl. I was actually looking for something to get busy with away from the stress of my dad, his business and my business (they were all interlinked). Not to mention, I was getting really bored with my social life in Baguio. When all my friends were getting married and having kids, I was there sulking at being young, free and single WITH NOTHING TO DO BUT WORK.

I saw an ad in Baguio Midland Courier of a dance studio offering Hula and Tahitian dance classes. Hmmm, I thought it wasn’t bad to move this hips again and learn about some enchanting ancient culture. Off I went and enrolled myself.

There I met Nora. She was this young girl with shiny long black hair with twisted curls. I thought she was gorgeous and smart. After the enrollment and a short lovely chat, she asked me what I was doing that night. I replied, “Nothing really.” She said, “Well, I have some girlfriends and we are going out. It would be nice for you to come along.” Hmmm, here they go again I thought. They think I was their age and still love to party. So anyway, I turned the invite down as I thought it was out of my league.

The next time we saw each other was during Hula class. She told me she was going out again with her girlfriends and I should really join them coz it will be so much fun. Hmmmm, I thought this time it might be nice coz I can’t be waiting forever for my other girlfriends till their kids grow up before I can have some fun again.

So I went to her place that night and met the other girls Yvonne, Michelle and Redj. Nora then introduced me to her boyfriend Mike and Mike’s brothers Ric and Alec. Hmmm, I thought Ric was really cute. After a few card and pool games we decided to hit the clubs.

I know I can dance but it’s been awhile. So I was sort of the reluctant dance clubber really. I thought, I’d just rather sit there, smoke and drink and watch Nora and the other girls dance. As I was watching her get on the dance floor, I saw her suddenly took the dance floor BY STORM! Geez! I like that. She’s an amazing dancer! After a few drinks, I found my feet following Nora to the dance floor. Hahaha! Whatever! This girl is so cooool!

Since then, me and Nora was inseparable. Since we were both managing businesses of our families, we had lots of time to hang-out together. We go out all night. Sleep until 9 am. Work til 4 pm and get together for coffee at Amadeus before I hit the gym. Go home and eat dinner. After dinner, meet up again.

Being with Nora is like a breathe of new life. I was the most rigid person ever before I met her. I was the most hated person in my dad’s company. I fired an employee guiltlessly on my first week at work and demanded discipline to a high standard. Then I met Nora. She probably doesn’t know how much she has changed my life. I learned to have fun again. I had a cold cold frozen heart. Nora turned me around into a warm-hearted person again. There is so much more about her. I am so lucky she has invited me to her life. Not only is she beautiful outside but inside as well.

TO MY MOST WONDERFUL BESTFRIEND NORA, CHEERS TO YOU!!! HOPE YOU HAVE THE MOST LOVELY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION YET. I WILL SEE YOU SOON. LOVE YAH!

Happy birthday girl!

Source:

Carol’s Blog on Life is Beautiful
“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” ~Donna Roberts

“A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart.”

On my 31st birthday, I received a lot of sweet, thoughtful messages and because I want to remember them all and because I am ever so thankful of those lovely messages, I thought I’d post some of them here.  So here we go.

This is from my sister, Lorna, who I love very much.  My idol, my best friend, my mentor, and my adviser…. and I quote:

A sister is one who is always there to listen to you, to reach you, to understand you, to love you, to care about you, to spen most of her time even if it’s very late in the night, just to make sure you are smiling and happy and that you are okay.

As for today, a wonderful sister deserves the best wishes she can ever have.

Darling, ading, I maybe miles away from you to celebrate your birthday but I hope you always know how much you mean to me and what a wonderful sister you are.  Happy Birthday!

God Bless you always, ading, and wish you all the best.  Tons and tons of hugs and kisses.

From Michel and Lorna

“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.” ~Isadora James

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Happy Birthday to my wife who is stunningly beautiful, strikingly wonderful, and simply amazing in every way.  I love you.

From Mike

Happy Birthday, Mommy.  We love you soo much.  You’re the best!

Love, Helena and Wyatt

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For a Special Daughter-in-Law.  It’s love that’s at the heart of this family and you who’ve won a place in our hearts.

So glad you’re in our family - so glad you’re in our lives.

Happy Birthday.

From Oscar and Belle

“There are things that matter most - Hugs and laughter, Words of praise, Family ties that warm our hearts and keep us close through all our days.” ~Kay Andrew

You know what really bugs me? Those people who you’ve been helping and taking care of and in the end turn out to be absolutely unsupportive and ungrateful.  It makes me believe she really is delirious as my in-laws say.  All the time I was working for her, I was nothing but very understanding, patient, and caring…. all these to keep her happy.  And now when I needed her honesty and support, she gives a totally different story.  Oh man, I am so angry!  So here I am venting hoping to calm me down.

One thing I learned from this experience, for sure, is to keep a record of my employment history while they are fresh in mind and in detail, tsk.  I don’t want to resent her for this, I don’t wanna be resenting anyone for that matter but it just upsets me, you know.  Oh well, I just hope the damage won’t be that bad.  *Sigh*

On a chirpier note, our dance practice is coming along fine. Everyone’s practicing and they’re getting better everyday. The kids are on fire, I tell ya! It’s so nice to see them having fun. As for the staff, they’re also doing great, they’re getting there!

“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.” ~ Seneca

After we’ve decided we will use the song “Last Christmas” for our dance, I started formulating dance steps for it but I’ve always ended up with steps that are hard for the children to follow.  As a result, I changed the hip hop version to the country version where I choreographed a modern line dancing steps.  It took me two short nights to wrap it up.  With Helena and Wyatt being there to interrupt every now and then I still sort of surprised myself of being able to come up with a choreography considering that I haven’t danced in a long time.  It was quiet easy and it made me feel alive again.

I started practicing with the children last week and they had fun.  We did the first half of the song and yesterday we practiced the last half.   We were able to practice from beginning to end, they were having so much fun, they didn’t want to stop.  For the last few minutes, I let them practice on their own while I worked one on one with ones who have problem with some of the steps.

Now that the children got all the steps, it’s time for the staff to practice!  I showed them the steps a few days ago but now it’s just a matter of getting us all together for a practice, considering our busy schedules.  Hopefully we can come up with a time for all o f us to be there.  Good thing is we’re all quiet excited since some of the staff don’t really dance, LOL.

More update soon.
“Dancing is the poetry of the foot.” ~John Dryden

I work with children from 5 - 11-year olds and as part of my qualification or let’s say benefits, we are allowed and encouraged to participate in any childhood related educational events like seminars, short courses, etc., and they pay for it. First, they paid for my First-Aid course where we learned to care and protect children/adults in emergency situations. Now, they are paying for my Virtues Project seminar which is very useful when dealing with children with different and unique qualities and behaviors.

When my director told me about the Virtues seminar, I wasn’t aware at first. Mike was laughing at me because when he asked me what kind of seminar I was attending, I simply told him, “I don’t know”. Well, I didn’t get it clearly when Belle told me about it I was too busy at that time. Anyhow, the first day of the seminar turned out to be really good, very enlightening.

When the first day was over, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t be nice if every human being attends this kind of seminar?” The Virtues Project is designed to give educators tools and strategies to help them shape character by creating a positive, empowering culture or environment in which children are learning and growing. It is a positive, holistic program which has been used in many cultures and countries throughout the world to bring out the best in children and adults.

In this seminar, we will be learning strategies that will help us to live more authentic, purposeful lives, to raise children of compassion and idealism, and create a culture of character in our schools and communities. Part of this is a lot of group sharing where we group ourselves into 2 or or more and share how these virtues affect us and our children and how we work around it to excel and be a better educator, a better individual.

There are 52 Virtues (The Gifts of Character) and you can check them all out at The Gifts of Character
Check out the Virtues and see what speaks to you at that very moment and acknowledge that gift.

Joining this seminar made me feel enlightened and wonderful so I decided to share them to you by blogging about it. So ’til tomorrow again!

“For what has been, thanks! For what shall be — Yes!” ~Dag Hammerskjold

Not so quiet after all.

On my birthday, Mike woke me up in the morning to greet me and for a second I forgot it was my birthday, I just brushed it off then I came to my senses and I was like oh yea it’s my birthday today, hahaha, silly me.

I just really wanted a quiet birthday, you know, just me and Mike and the kids at home, maybe take-out meal.  (Ever since we had kids we sort of got used to taking out meals instead of eating at restaurants - the kids make huge mess!)  But just before I was leaving for work that afternoon, Mike’s dad and his brother Alec came with bags of food and a huge cake.  Mike kind of mentioned last night that his parents are buying us dinner so I thought it would only be us but as it turned out everyone in the family were coming over so that was a bit of surprise to me.  It was great though, I was thrilled and thankful.

Of course with everyone present, except for Rick who couldn’t join ‘cuz of work, we’ve got full house.  It was a fun birthday dinner party, everyone enjoyed themselves!

Thank you so much to everyone for being so sweet and thoughtful.  I loved the food/cake, loved the gifts, loved your presence/calls/messages/cards, and loved the fact that you care.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I love you, all!

Birthday photos are now uploaded on my Gallery.

New President of America

I am really so special, everyone was celebrating on my birthday, hahaha! But yea, the whole time we were celebrating at home, the TV was on, so we were updated of what was going on on the election.  Of course, the whole family was hoping for Obama.  And alas! Barrack Obama won at the end of the day!  So we didn’t only toast champagne to my birthday but also to America’s new president.

Congratulations America! Long Live Pres. Obama! Cheers!

We Remember

Nope, we didn’t go to work today because we need to take our time to recognize the tradition of freedom that our soldiers fought to preserve.  These soldiers died fighting and serving their country and today we acknowledge their courage and their sacrifice and our responsibility to work for the peace they fought hard to achieve.

Happy Veterans!

I almost always dread the coming of Fall and Winter. The busiest and most costly seasons of the year. In Fall, we furnish our kitchen with Thanksgiving food and we devour a whole turkey for days; we endlessly decorate our houses, offices, schools and on the big night with the grossest, spookiest, creepiest and most horrendous decorations and costumes. Then after all that work, we take them down and start putting up Christmas decorations. My goodness, just look how we tortures ourselves and our pockets with holiday decorations, hahaha! It’s crazy, I tell ya!

Anyway, the kids had fun this Halloween. Helena had a Halloween parade at school and some fun and treats at the school’s haunted house. We went trick-a-treating after that where Helena dressed as my little angel, Wyatt as Eeyore, Romeo as Winnie the Pooh, Mike as Michael Jackson, Rick as the invisible guy, and me as bewitched witch. We wrapped up the night with a huge bonfire and fireworks at Helena’s school. Helena was happy to see all her friends and classmates at the bonfire.

Now, I will go back to work and start prepping for the Christmas program and other Christmas events, phew! But of course, let’s not forget my birthday on the 4th, it’s not really a very important event but there it is - a year older Nora on the go!

The rest of our Halloween photos will be added to my Gallery v. soon.
Happy Halloween to all!
“Hold on, man. We don’t go anywhere with ’scary’, ’spooky’, ‘haunted’, or ‘forbidden’ in the title.”
— Matthew Lillard as Shaggy in Scooby-Doo (2002)

These past weeks have flown by. As thoughts and lives start to head towards friends and family-time for Thanksgiving. People getting busy - preparing delicious and mouth-watering food on the table, then perhaps relax and sit with a full stomach in front of the TV to watch the sports. And of course readying for reawakening on Tuesday morning when everyone goes back to work.

This Thanksgiving, I wanted to make the perfect turkey again (like last time as in before last year - because last year wasn’t the best). Mike’s parents suggested that we didn’t have turkey this year and they will make paella instead but since I am the one with little kids and Mike, Rick and Kazuyo wanted to have it, Mike and I decided to make one.

I know the turkey will be hogging the oven once it’s inside so I baked the muffins first which only takes 15 minutes cooking time. Helena helped with the baking. While the muffins were being cooked in the oven, I dressed the turkey so it’s ready by the time the muffins were done.  It took me 3 hours to cook the turkey. Just perfect for dinner time.  At 5:00, Mike and the kids got ready as I did my last touch on the food. Then we brought everything to Mike’s parents’ house where we had our Thanksgiving dinner.

Unfortunately, on our way there, the power went off from Duncan to Saanich areas.  It was scary.  On their way from Victoria, Rick said there was an accident on the highway because of the black out.  Usually, when there’s a black out, it comes back right away but last night was different.  We tried to wait patiently but half an hour has passed, the kids were getting crazy, and it was getting dark and nobody knew how long this black out was going to be so we decided to start preparing the table for dinner.  Candle Thanksgiving dinner, we supposed, ain’t that romantic? Hahaha! Finally, the power came back just before we were about to pray and eat. What a perfect time!

Regardless of the black out; and my, Mike, Helena and Wyatt not feeling well (cough and cold), we had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. Momsy made delicious paella and the turkey was crispy and yummy. We had coffee with pumpkin pie and muffins after dinner and we all ended up stuffed. YUM!

However, Thanksgiving is not all about turkey and other food, it’s mainly about being thankful and grateful about everything and all the blessings that we’ve received all year along. And possibly for the blessings that are still yet to come.  So having said that, I want to make this opportunity to be thankful for:

a. My family. My husband. My children. Even if sometimes we get sick with flu or fatigue, and stress, we are still healthy, loving and happy together.

b. My parents. My dad passed away this year but I am sure that wherever he is now, he is peaceful and happy to see that we continue to follow in his good steps. My mom never ceases to do whatever she can to be there for her children and grandchildren. I am very thankful for having such wonderful mama and daddy.

c. My brothers. That no matter how hard life is, they remain strong and do their best to support their families. I am thankful for having responsible and loving brothers.

d. My sister. I am thankful that regardless of all the trials that come her way, she is courageous enough to stand up and walk again. I have the best adviser and best friend in her and I am very thankful for that.

e. My In-Laws. They’ve been very supportive to us and I am thankful.

f. My career. I’m thankful for having a great job and great people to work with.

g. My friends. For being there for me - for patiently and understandably putting up with my ups and my downs.

And of course, I am thankful that no matter how bad the world can be, there are still good things that can happen if we let/want them to be.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the Fall colors!

“Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life… a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.” ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” ~Cicero