Delineating Des

View more FFF participants at Living to Tell the Story It has been an ordinary week for me. Or so I thought until things that transpired, especially nos. 1 - 4 turned out to be major! 1. A cousin's overseas call . When my phone rang on Wednesday night, its little screen showed a private number calling. "It's Ireland again," I guessed. But it was from someone better - a dear cousin in France! We talked for almost two hours. Nothing beats chatting with a close relative you don't usually have communication with for years. The best part is knowing she's back to normal work with her chemotherapy sessions behind her. 2. A friend's email . Her advice meant a lot to me. I appreciate escaping from a crappy deal and knowing where I stand, what to do next and how to explore other options. 3. A consultant's reply . I am in contact with an education and training consultant in the UK. The replies to my queries are positively promising. I am really smiling. Even in

On the night of Cj's second birthday, his second cousins (my first cousin's kids) came over for a slumber party with us at home. Or it was just them because I sleep so well when I'm in Pinas I am useless when it comes to slumber parties. While waiting for dinner Cj's cousins had nothing to do and thought it fun to mess up his face with icing: The mess on the following shot may be inconspicuous but it's Cj's messiest moment so far. He was evading bath like an adult evading taxes. Yaya was chasing him around. With hair unkempt and a shirt that needs changing, he's ready to run again: He wanted to go with me to the Plenary Hall, and I wouldn't have minded, but kids aren't allowed in there. He lost his poise and had milk droplets all over. The marks kept me aware of the fact that when it's time to take off the black robe and high heels, it was also time to be a mom with a kiddo to deal with: I will be honest with you, fellow mommies. While it's

Header by Samulli . To read more or play along, click T13 . A girl friend forwarded an email from EnjoyTheMasti to her gang which comprises two wives: one married for a couple of years and the other is married for more than ten years; a beautiful, single 'dis-engaged' (her fiance found a low-quality, ancient and illegal version of Wife 1.0) and a happy divorcee (me). Widow is luckily not in this gang yet, and hopefully non-existent in say, fifty years. From the email, I am listing down 13 points from both the Troubled User and the reply from Tech Support. P.S. Sense of humor 5.0 will help you laugh your way down the list: Complaint from Troubled User 1. Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend version 7.0 to Wife version 1.0 . 2. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. 3. In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitoring system activity: applications such as Poker N

Play along here . Early morning in mid-April three years ago I traipsed The Costwolds (west-central England) and entered a shop with this sign over its doorpost : A few minutes in I found out that this sign was for sale. A few steps back this is the narrow entrance to the shop: You must have noticed that the sign is old with rusty edges that invite tetanus. Who in his right mind would buy it? Maybe someone actually would. You see this sign is the antique version of the one sold at Taylor Gifts online. And as long as the world does not run out of sentimentalists, there is always a possibility for this sign to end up in someone's collection.

Years ago my classmates and I took final exams in Research and Evaluation. Our Japanese-American professor played classical music while we were battling monster questions that required analysis only a well-balanced neurotic would bow down to weave. Today at work I will be facing exams, but not as a taker. It's something lighter - I will administer them. If it's any help to my students, the Business Communication exams I wrote last week were actually as easy as eating shelled peanuts. But they're not reading this post, are they?; and they're too busy worrying about Accounting and Labour Law. According to my timetable this week those are the exams I'm going to invigilate. To set the mood I got Survivor's Eye of the Tiger to listen to. Something tells me I will be listening to the same music when I monitor results afterwards. If these young adults are going to rock in business, they better survive exams that rock as well. This is my first post for Musical Monday

1. Your mate or spouse or the person you have known on a personal level for quite a while, comes to you and suggests that things need to be spiced up and suggests a threesome. what is your reaction? ~ not tonight dear (nor tomorrow nite, nor at anytime...) 2. you are doing the shopping at the grocery store and there is one bad habit you wish your mate would give up and it's on your list to buy. Do you conveniently forget the item or go ahead and feed their habit? ~ shop-lifters have zero appeal to me in the first place, so I can't relate 3. Your spouse/mate/date is driving and you are feeling seriously scared about the speed the they are traveling. You have already complained twice about their driving skills. Do you demand they slow down? or bite your lip? Will they call you a backseat driver and will an argument more than likely breakout? ~ if they didn't slow down - I'm out. Out of the car. Out of the relationship 4. Your neighbors put their dogs out at 630 AM ever

Siam Paragon was very crowded last weekend. I took my son to this mall for a Harry Potter 6 date. Up and up we went, using the elevators. Then we stopped. It was where a former student had her picture taken. I recognize the background. The car gallery. Or should I say the gallery where the fast and flashy wheels sit on display until some multi-millionaire decides to have them. My globe-trotting former student fancied a meeting somewhere there with me. A quick one. Nothing serious. She was in Bangkok for a couple of days, en route to wherever in the world her job was taking her. And I was en route to a job that has been gluing me to the same metropolis for two years and a decade. Out of the blue Cj thought that despite being usually shy around the camera, it wouldn't be so bad to clown a bit in front of gorgeous machinery. Y chromosomes or the spaciousness of the spot for mimicking movie character actions, documented; or it could be what I didn't speculate at all. He goofed. The

Two weeks ago I posted a song by the Heritage, and thought I would like to post another one this week, and maybe more in the following weeks. You might like listening to more of them too. Here's one customer review of the Heritage Singers : " ... known for their brilliant vocal harmonies, [This] talented group of young, professional musicians feature seven carefully selected vocalists with vocal styles ranging from traditional to contemporary Christian, celebrating 36 years of ministry. The passionate conviction of these musicians shines through their music. Their honesty, integrity and unquestionable commitment to excellence touch a common chord with listeners from every walk of life. As pastors and evangelists from churches around the world testify, an evening with the Heritage Singers will encourage, edify and inspire you to a deeper love relationship with our Lord. The Heritage Singers . . . implementing a musical message of hope, inspiration and peace . . . reaching peop

View more FFF participants at Living to Tell the Story Four out of my fave fives this week happened in one day. No. 3 is serendipity, no. 4 a surprise, and no. 5 a first experience for my five-year old. Here we go: 1. Exam-writing accomplished . Midterms at STech International next week are online. I finished writing and uploading Business Communication exams yesterday. And that means I will have a worry-free weekend :-) 2. Quick wait . My kiddo and I love japanese cuisine. Ok, we dine out at japanese restaurants every week, but the nice thing about Fuji this week is it took the staff only a few minutes to have us seated. 3. Jesada Technik Museum . A Thai businessman with a hobby of collecting different vehicles from around the world, put up some of his collection , rare cars (the rest are in his home province) for public view at Siam Paragon. We stumbled upon his collection while malling. As I'm a sucker for most things old, specially rare (antiques fascinate me a great deal), th

By the time Cj learned his first steps, I was back in Bangkok after leaving him with my mother to sort out my divorce. I did not see my son's very first, unaided step. I did personally witness his initial steps, the practice steps with those wobbly, chubby legs navigating the floor. What makes Cj's first official walk extra special is the fact that he walked on my mother's birthday! He was 1 year and 3 weeks old on June 15th. I recall my mother's cheer, "my best birthday gift ever!" The entire first year is what I would consider Cj's first milestone. Up came his first word, first christmas, meeting his maternal grandparents for the first time, albeit online; well, almost all firsts, just like any other kid. Alas, I wasn't very keen on taking pictures then. I did manage to keep this photo on his first birthday. The rest are in those old-fashioned albums. A few hours after birth Cj flashed me his very first smile: Twenty-two weeks lat

An advice circulates, 'do not judge a movie by its book.' In a book lover's blog is a little reversal of nouns in the same advice - 'do not judge a book by its movie.' I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince shortly after its release in 2005. A few weeks before the film was due, I read the book again purely for entertainment. And as I read it once more this week I find a different kind of appeal with a more reflective approach on its magical contents and what seem to be their counterparts in the muggle world. Before I wax enumerative, I must say I love Samulli 's header from the T13 home, thank you very much. Hmm... that was obvious - a fan that I am of Rowling's genius. Okay, no more further incantations . These are a muggle's 13 musings: 1. The Other Minister - imagine you are premier of your country discussing issues with your wizard counterpart.... Perhaps we can fancy the others for bridges collapsing, the H1N1 flu, or future pestile

Somewhere in the memes that I'm playing was a question about traditions. I answered that grace before meals is one tradition I am still following. To me it is never outdated. And I make sure that it's exactly what my kiddo does before dining. Lunch in a japanese restaurant last Saturday was no exemption. Cj automatically readied himself to say grace when our order started arriving. This time though he had a different facial expression. He either sensed the camera coming out of my purse and thought it should wait or he was just teasing me. Whatever it was, I hope the Giver of blessings up there didn't mind . Angie at 7 Clown Circus hosts Wordful Wednesday.

I was at Siam Paragon on Saturday afternoon (18.07.09). The main purpose was to watch Harry Potter 6 but while waiting around for it, I found what I thought at first were expensive toy cars. They turned out to be old cars from Thai businessman Jesada Dejsakulrit's once private collection of practically all means of transport. The decade-old collection includes "everything from a helicopter to a London Bus, and very soon it will have a Russian-made U194 submarine." Mr. Dejsakulrit enthuses, "apart from rare cars, I began accumulating other means of transportation such as boats and airplanes. At the time being we have about 400 cars, including an assortment of old tricycles from all corners of the globe, military and commercial aircrafts and land vehicles." These items are in the businessman's home province. According to the online source available in English (seemingly 98% are written in Thai), Mr. Dejsakulrit conceptualized Thailand's very first museum

There is a first in everything, or so at least it seems. In my kiddo's case Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is his first theatre experience. We arrived at Siam Paragon a little before 3 PM yesterday (18.07.09). Friends who came to the same mall for the same purpose were kind to book our Imax seats for 8 PM. So we loitered around the Pride of Bangkok for a few hours while waiting for our magical appointment. All the time I was wondering what would be Cj's reaction when he faces the big screen for the first time. Just as I suspected, Cj didn't want to go in. Well, who would when thunderous sound effects greet you at the entrance? I find them a little unsettling myself, no matter how used I am to them already. Having read reviews of the movie here and there, I already had an idea of what to expect. I sat on the front row near the exit, not my original seat, to keep track of my baby situation . Every few minutes I peeped through the glass, and observed Cj, milk bott

View more FFF participants at Living to Tell the Story What a week! These are my faves: 1. Scents . It’s in the morning when the lift in my apartment building becomes an open-close bottle of mixed perfumes. Residents start the day clean, fresh, and usually sweet smelling. On their way to work via the lift they leave traces of different scents: Christian Dior, Calvin Klein - must be the businessmen; Clinique, Chanel - must be the office girls; Versace, it must be me this week. It’s fun noticing a usually unnoticed detail in the bustle of life. 2. Jeans . One of my joys is simply wearing jeans after a hard day's work. 3. Neurosis . I found this book on a pile at Asia Books this week. For so much laughter it gave me, 178 baht ($5) is an unbelievable steal! The blurb: "...wonderfully funny..." - Chicago Sun-Times "Tasteful, fresh, and intelligent..." Library Journal "...gut-busting..." - Los Angeles Times 4. Colors . There's this tip from a Reader&#

It's random playing time here, picture-wise. It took me a bit longer to put together an entry for this week's theme. Most photos in Cj's albums are of him playing. " Damn indecision ," to quote MJ from his ' She's out of my life ,' (haven't gotten over him yet, btw) on choosing snaps to show off today. Cj plays in the water, on solid ground, and through the... ok, not another song, lol. He just plays virtually non-stop; I fuss about it sometimes. His Dad says, "Her Royal Highness, the Princess Mother encourages all children in the Kingdom to play, play, play while they are young. When they grow up, it will be work, work, work." Over at his Dad's place, which I call the Toy Jungle , toys are knee-high on the floor. I occasionally tread things I can't even identify, and I'm there only ten minutes max once a week. Sometimes I sit on a bench outside the gate and watch Cj play with the village kids. But once he threw his ball too

Cross-cultural misunderstandings are rife among gestures of beckonings and farewells in different parts of our planet. For example, the American gesture for "come here" could mean "good-bye" to Italians. Axtell (1998) observes, "the way people beckon one another around the world can be almost as diverse as the way we greet and bid farewell to one another." Today we look into popular hand gestures to signal farewells and to beckon. 1. In the United States , common gesture for getting someone's attention, as when calling a waiter is to raise a hand about head high with the index finger raised (exactly the girl's hand gesture on Samulli's header ) If an American used that gesture to a waiter in Germany , saying "Water please," the German waiter would bring two glasses of water In Japan it is rude; pointing a finger at anyone is considered impolite 2. Italians and Greeks will often wave goodbye with the arm extended, palm up,