happy birthday mama...

dearest mimits,

a very happy birthday to you mimits.
not a very happy day for me though... i miss you terribly.
i have so much to say...
years have passed and yet the yearning to be with you still stays.
bouts of hoping that you're still here with me or that i'm there with you still come and go
pathetic i know. talk about letting go and moving on.
i miss having a mother, a physical mother...
most of all i miss having an ally...

you were not just a parent, but a true blue i-love-you-no-matter-how-many-times-you-goof-up-your-life-kinda-ally.

not just a willing-to-push-you-off-a-cliff-just-to-teach-you-a-lesson-so-you'll-learn-to-dust-yourself-off-and-stand-on-your-feet-tough-love-kinda-parent but a will-be-here-for-you-no-questions-asked-coz-i-see-you're-hurting-and-that's-more-important-to-me-than-what-others-have-to-say-kinda-mother.

you were my biggest fan. you were the world's most wonderful listener. you were my best-est friend. you were the only person i can count on, no ifs, no buts. you were my home.

happy birthday mama.
still wishing you were here with me...
or i'm there with you.

i love you always.

karen

photo hunt :: wild

here are pics of my little wild one when she was just a few months old. now that she's two she is literally a wild animal i have to run/shout after wherever she goes. =)

project:weight loss update week 1

hmmm....

My Conversation with God

i keep telling myself
i am a weed
unwanted and unnoticed
someone no one really needs

no dear daughter, my God tells me
in fact, you are a tree
tall and strong and worthy
of love and attention
from everybody especially Me

i keep telling myself
i am a worm
unwanted and unnoticed
icky and yucky and scorned

no dear daughter, you should be celebrating!
for to Me you are a cute caterpillar,
wait till you sprout your beautiful wings
Just believe in Me, and you'll go far

but i'm afraid, dear father
i don't know what the future is like for me...
what's in the great beyond?
all i hear is: trust! let go... let God!

you, karen, have always been a petulant child!
impatient, ungrateful and hasty
you insist on hiding in the shadows
you insist on thinking of yourself unworthy
My child, I say to you, listen carefully
in everything in your life:
trust! let go... LET ME!

Aug 29 - 31 Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)

these movies are the top 3 movies of the weekend in the US:

check out the rest of the weekend's box office performance. click here.

project:weight loss now officially launched

i have come to face the truth. i am more than 40lbs overweight. i need to lose weight soon... my feet are already complaining ... varicose veins are threatening to set camp on my legs... not to mention the embarrassing bulges in embarrassing places...yep, getting too heavy for comfort.

need to do this...wish me luck!

my battle ahead:

Storytelling Outreach to Baranggay Escopa Q.C.

Wikipedia defines corporate social responsibility as a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.

As part of our ODP training, we were required to involve ourselves in corporate social awareness. we initially chose helping out in a Gawad Kalinga project, however, due to unforseen circumstances, this did not push through. we instead assigned to do a storytelling session with the kids of Barangay Escopa in Quezon City.

We prepared for the event. we bought goodies as gifts and prizes. of course we also bought books for the storytelling itself. the day before, we were busy wrapping up the goodies.

the next day, we were supposed to meet at 7:30 am at the office lobby so we can leave at 8am. however, one of our classmates felt sick that day and woke up late, so we had to wait for her. we left the office at 9am. we took pics while waiting....

no, we're not going to a greenpeace rally. we just chose green as our class color. why? i have no idea! actually i was absent when they took a vote... hehehe...

green looks good on me anyway, don't you think?

the saturday traffic to QC from Makati was light, and we arrived at our destination in no time at all. the day before, we joked that we should be having the storytelling under a mango tree, but our coodinator said no, we will be having it under a bridge. when we arrived, we realized that she was not joking. the venue for our story telling session was under the Katipunan bridge.



the kids were already waiting for us because we were one hour late. there was a baranggay representative who took care of everything from their end. we started with a prayer, then went on with the story telling. our class was grouped in pairs, then assigned a story each. my partner was joy, and our story was Ang Alamat ng Pinya. we agreed to divide the narration duties, while i played the mother and she played Pinang, the little girl. performance level! it was of course a success! the kids seemed to enjoy it.

After the stories, we distributed art supplies to the kids. we gave them the freedom to draw whatever they liked.

there were quite a few budding artists in the group! here's one of our kids, James, proudly showing me his masterpiece.

After the art activities, we played games. one group was in charge of the games. we were happy to note that all the kids participated, and they seemed to really enjoy the prepared games. of course we prepared enough prizes so that every kid went home with something.

Everybody had fun! of course all the shouting and laughter left us hungry. good thing though that the food we ordered from McDonald's arrived just in time. we feasted in McChicken and Coke! yummy! it was touching the way some kids did not eat their food, saying that they will just bring their share home since their family didn't have any food for lunch.... poor kids.

the rest of the kids however, ate their heart out!

by 12:30 we were done. our service brought us back to the office where we changed our clothes (we all smelled!) then crammed ourselves into 2 of our classmates' vehicles and headed off to the Mall of Asia. There we ate at one of the seaside restaurants and sang our hearts out in the videoke. we stayed there until dark.

since i was in a celebratory mood, yes i did sing, i sang 3 songs! yipee! no longer a videoke virgin!



what a day! it was really tiring but definitely worth it. spending the rest of the afternoon with friends was fun! i hope the next time we see each other, we will be as happy...(when we receive the ODP results....waaahhhh! pressure!)

Happy & Sad.

A tag from Alpha.

~Start Copy~

Here are the Rules:

1. List the things that make you Happy and those that make you Sad.

2. Add your Blog to the list. Feel free to add all your other Blogs.

3. Tag other online friends you know.Toni’s Attachments, Cecile2’s-Small and Simple Things, Lara’s Pinay dot US, Lara’s My Blog Entry, Lara’s Byaheng Pinay, Living A’ La Mode, Bits and Pieces, My Life in this Wonderful World, My Online World, Ozzy’s Mom, Me,Myself+2, Kidd Designs, FunFierceFabulous, Eds Mommy Life, Just Me.. Eds, My Precious Niche, I Am Mommy, All About The Memories, Enchanted Play, Just My Scrap, My life is Peachy , Celebrating life , belly, baby and beyond, Mommy Talks, Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps, All Kinds of Me Stuff, The Salad Caper, Winding Creek Circle, InkBabyStudios, All Things Me, Feels Like Home, A Day of Play, Because Life is Fun, Create a Good Blog, Growing Up with Bea, My Life...My Own Piece of Heaven, YOU



What Makes Me Happy?

• my family
• dates with my hunny
• watching movies
• bookstores (and books!)
• little girl's laughter
• being with my barkada
• shopping sprees
• magnolia mango iced tea
• john lloyd movies (hehehe)
• broadband internet
• out of town trips
• blogging
• scrapping
• daydreaming
• chocolates
• comments on my blog =)

What Makes Me Sad?

• when someone in the family is sick
• little girl's feeding problem
• cancer
• weight issues
• fighting with hubby
• having no money
• work
• slow traffic in my blogs
• no opps
• zero PR (hmp!)

Tagging Apple, Arlene, Julie, Anna and Liza

Torn Paper Alpha

here's a freebie from mommy scraps. click the pic to go to her blog.

Ready for school?

is the little girl ready for school? look how well she holds her pen. i gave her a piece of paper and a pen, to keep her occupied while waiting for our order. i was successful in keeping her busy for a full....10 seconds! oh well...