a day of experiments

hubby dropped me off at the corner while he has to do his errand. i slipped into my favorite delicatessen (which moved to Molito from Festival Mall).

this branch is a roomy with more attractive displays. from a shelf of baking ingredients, i chose a bar of baking chocolate which will go well with my cupcake mix. i bought some halloween decals and some colored sugar from Gourdo's a few days back. I hope to master a basic cupcake recipe in time for Halloween.

There were also shelves filled with pastry puffs and boxed biscuits. I'm not confident i can make use of the pastry puffs so i threw a box of ready-made almond & walnut amaretto biscotti that would do well with my brewed coffee.

This branch can afford to have separate display cases for lamb, meat fish, cold cuts and cheeses. I went directly to the cold cuts section and bought a couple of Hungarian sausages. i have some garlic salt in the pantry that will go well with fried rice.

On my next visit, i plan to buy glazed apricots and dates to go with my cupcakes. i would love to toss in blocks of brie and cheddar cheese, but i decided to save them for another weekend.

For now, i will just prepare sausages for breakfast, and cupcakes for our snack. Wish me luck! i have a couple of guinea pigs eager to try my creations =)

a lovely morning

a few years back i gave up my 8 to 5 job. My present job has the flexibility to dictate my work hours. I can wake up a little late in the mornings and enjoy my brekky and sit beside Skid on the the kitchen steps.

Today was one of those days. We were seating side by side, munching on Pan de Leche (soft, spongy buns the size of your fists). From time to time, Skid would tear of a small piece and put in in my mouth. We were sharing a mug of tepid purified water.

We watched two white butterflies chasing each other.... red ants falling in line in search of food scraps... a spider slowly spinning its web. Skid got a white flower and hand it over to place behind my ear (such a sweet kid!).

I'm happy that that i can afford to enjoy my kid early years. I feel blessed that i can sit back and enjoy the simple things of life. thank you Lord for this lovely morning!

Things that make me HAPPY =)

Today is one day that I feel extra good I've decided to list things that i make me feel happy and blessed:

1. The Lord has given me a healthy and supportive family
2. I am surrounded with good and well-meaning friends
3. I have the time and means to do the things i love
4. I have purpose and remain hopeful; striving for the other things i still want to do
5. I can maintain a connection with good friends even if we are separated by time and distance.
6. I am blessed to do work that I enjoy and the fact that it complements me is definitely a PLUS!
7. I can eat three meals a day and have that extra coffee or snack as a BONUS!
8. We can afford to send our baby to play school while other kids cannot even afford a basic education.
9. I have a warm, safe home that fit us comfortably while neighbors squeeze themselves into one tiny room.
10. I am happy that I can appreciate things but see the bigger picture
11. I am happy that despite everything I remain sensitive to others and their plight
12. I am happy that I enjoy things and still maintain my privacy

I am happy that I stay happy and I pray that I can inspire my happy feeling to people around me.

Secret to our six years of marriage

Today is the birthday of Mama Mary but we have another reason to celebrate. Hubby and I are celebrating our sixth year of hubby-and-wifey. We have nothing grand planned for the day. We attended early morning mass and we plan to spend the day together as a family, eat at a special restaurant and enjoy each other's company.

The past six years hasn't been easy. We have our own ups and downs, quirks and "not-pleasant" habits. Yet we strive to love and respect each other and try not to change our significant other (much!!).

Hubby and I are not the lovey-dovey type. We would not always hold hands and kiss, but we try to do things together. We are each other's barkada. We find common interests that would not make life monotonous and boring. We found out that have the same passion for collecting Coke, we both like to read and we are both homebod(ies). Now that Skid is part of the family, we plan activities with him in mind but also make sure that other important things are not (easily) forgotten.

Weekday lunch is time for hubby and me to be by ourselves; share meal and have conversation. Evening after dinner and work is family bonding time. We play Hide-and-seek under the blankets, read storybooks, play with Skid's action figures. When Skid finally falls asleep then it's Me-time wherein we read by our ourselves, watch TV, do our own thing. Sundays are spend either relaxing or attending to activities of our extended families.

It takes a lot of effort, it's hard; but it's not impossible. It just takes a little more maturity, a lot of selflessness. It's not thinking of yourself as first but as second, third or fourth. =)