Rean…
The kids bug me from time to time about buying a Toy Story 3 video. They really ask for a blu ray DVD, they just want to watch the movie. I then go on my spiel telling them that the video isn’t out yet. While they can be quite annoying, I have to admit that they teach me a lesson about trust and persistence. At times we approach God as grown ups when He desires us to draw near with the trust and persistence of little kids. As he said, it is to these that He gives the Kingdom,
Rean…
The traffic along the Tagaytay-Balibago road in the past few days have encouraged us to enter SLEX via Eton city. It is quite remarkable that this company ambitiously intends to develop a project much like the UAE’s Palm or like NC Outer Banks homes. What concerns me, however, is the amount of water needed to maintain such a development. Where will the water be sourced, considering nearby creeks require rehabilitation? How about the displacement of the farmer communities nearby? These question need to be answered in any development project that is initiated.
Rean…
Tes has been working diligently on a couple of invitation projects lately. The challenge of invitations is the management of key logistical information to included in the document. Clients often forget titles of people, dates, times or even venues. The layout artist/printer has to ensure the client verifies the data before committing anything to print. It’s definitely much easier to do post card printing than to do invitations.
Space has always been a challenge in our home. We may think that we need to have new modern office furniture, but most of the time problems like these are solved by organization. We have a lot of things we have not used in years. So I guess the first step is to get rid of stuff we never use and give it to those who can use them. Next is to put things we don’t use frequently in a centralized repository while those that are often utilized are to be located near the point of use. Having done all this, we should set aside time to constantly restore items to their newly assigned locations after use. Being orderly should help gain space in the least cost possible.
Rean (again!!!)
After more than 10 years, Tes took her 1st ballet class last Friday. This intermediate level modern ballet session forced her to do splits, jetes and rolls she hasn’t done in ages. It was quite understandable that my dear wife was sore all over during the 2 days that followed. As this is only a temporary setback, I expect her to reap the long term benefits of this activity. The total body work out will definitely keep her fit as a fiddle. Perhaps it’s time for us to shop around for new clothes, lingerie, etc.
Once more Rean…
We are a happy for our friends who recently got paid by their pre-need insurance company as part of a settlement. What we found odd, however, was that they were paid in a USD check. So we asked a banker friend why this was so. His reply was that our PHP is doing well in forex charts that local companies have to put their disbursements in USD to cut costs. It is encouraging to see our economy boosted by the optimism of a new administration.
Rean again…
I recently discovered the fascinating concept of Church Health. Apparently, people in the US go around assessing churches to see if they adhere to best practices ensuring sustainable growth. The churches undergo audits in different areas of community life such as finances, ministry, etc. The thoroughness of these criteria is demonstrated in its approach to physical facilities. In this category, a church must demonstrate parishioner satisfaction, safety and security. Here, auditors and consultants look at the position of clocks, fire exits, the presence of an exit alarm and the like. I guess this is an area where one cannot overdo caution considering incident lawsuits that could happen in the US. It would be a shame for a thriving spiritual community to close down because of neglect litigations.
Rean here…
For the last few days, Tes and I have been eagerly anticipating her upcoming executive check-up in Las Pinas Doctor’s Hospital. Hospital stockholders like us enjoy free rooms, free professional fee and significant discounts on laboratory procedures. We’re expecting a battery of tests on critical systems like the cardiovascular. Gyne tests would also be of interest to us. Not that we’ll rush to the drugstore to buy prenexa but merely just to be aware of any abnormalities in the system. Our check-up is slated on Sept 10-11.
We had a reunion a few weeks ago with some friends whom we haven’t seen in a long while. We met up in church in Sta. Rosa, had lunch at our favorite country market eating joint and rendezvoused in Tagaytay for coffee and fellowship. We ended up in Taal Vista Hotel’s coffee shop that afternoon. We got there before the rain started to pour. Soon after, the fog rolled in. The nice part about it was that they lit the fireplace. aaaaaah, nice and cozy…. Curious cat that I was, I wondered if they used an electric fireplace insert. So I asked the head waiter about it. He said that it wasn’t electric. Anyway, I didn’t bother much about it anymore. It was just a great way to spend the afternoon with our friends…relaxing by the fireplace…catching up on where we left off… over a relaxing cup of tea and then some.
the view from where we sat
cafe on the ridge
hamming it up with friends
happy to be with good old friends
chillaxin’ : chika and relaxing (lol)
nope, i didn’t have that!
I had this… 
there was a wedding while we were there…
sizzle… crackle…crackle
Rean again…
Kids can be fascinated with things in amusing ways. My kids are no exception. Their latest fixation was with the iTouch. They wanted to buy 2 of these great iPods, one for each of them. So I asked them why they wanted these fancy gadgets. It was quite hilarious when my daughter replied they wanted it so they could call me and play games. I really didn’t have the heart to tell them that they really wanted an iPhone. I guess they’ll find out when they learn to read iPod reviews.
Rean here…
A fit body has always eluded me in the past. Although I had a few thin years , I never had what you consider a well chiseled physique. My condition became worse when the stress of industrial work encouraged me to bulk up to 208 lbs! I experienced pains in my back and at times elevated blood pressure. An offer to teach ballet turned the tide as I embarked on a daily regimen of demonstrating floor barre leg lifts for little kids. As my load increased, lbs went off , as well as, inches from my waist. I now weigh 178 lbs with a 34 inch waistline ( from my previous 36-37). Moreover, my abs are beginning to show and my chest becoming more defined. I realized that my lifestyle was so sedentary after losing 30 lbs when I got a physically demanding job. It’s also amazing to have achieved this without a dip station or a home gym!
I do a little bit of home-based printing on my printer and it can be very expensive even to print simple full-color pages in bulk. I usually run out of magenta ink. Stores usually run out of this color so I’m doing a little research on 108R00724 to see if I can use it as an alternative. I also converted one of our printers to CISS (continuous ink supply system) but I haven’t been using it for months because it died on me a few months back. I have to bring it back to the guys who converted it and it’s a lot of hassle. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to another system…maybe laser printing or one of those multi-function printers. There aren’t many choices available locally so I think I need to check the manufacturer’s websites to see what other options are available to me.
Rean here again…
When I learned that the book “Red Pyramid” was out, I was excited. The first installment of Riordan’s Kane Chronicles reminded me of thrills I had with the Percy Jackson series. In gratefulness to a friend’s son, who lent his Percy books to me and my kids, I took the earliest chance to purchase a copy for his birthday. The journey home was filled with anticipation of cheers from my kids, for getting their friend his much awaited book. Surprise greeted me as I found another copy on my kids desk, my wife took them to the nearest bookstore during the day. While it turned to be a blessing in disguise, an answer to my son’s prayer, I sure wished I called my wife before my copy passed through the barcode scanner.
Rean here…I’ll be your blogger while Tes is working on a project.
Ambivalence has floated around me in the past few days, as I learned at least 3 families close to us are moving. My brother-in-law and his bunch are off to Canada while our dear friend from Davao is embarking on a family exodus to Alabama. To top it off, our neighbors are now setting their sights on California. It’s not one of those Branson vacation packages but rather a more permanent arrangement. While I’m glad for the improvements in these families’ lives and wish them all the best in their new homes, the chats and visits will surely be missed. Hopefully we can visit them in the near future
This week has been relentless as far as news upon news of deaths and near-deaths reached us. A dear colleague of ours recently passed away because of the Big C. Yesterday, we went to the wake of the mom of one of our friends. There was also news earlier this week about one friend who had a medical emergency due to an allergy that almost ended in tragedy. We also got the sad news that our long-time gardener passed away yesterday due to a vehicular accident. He was on his way home from doing his gardening rounds in our village when he figured in an accident. The sad part about it is we never really got to share about God that much to him. Such is the nature of life. It is not ours to say how long or how short we shall live. A Medicare plan is always a good thing but this only takes care of the physical realm. It only addresses the realm that we see but what about the unseen realm? The word of God says that what is seen is temporal and what is unseen is eternal. I know that I draw comfort in the thought that our friends who have passed surrendered their lives to the Lord and that they are now in His loving care. I do have regrets though about our gardener. I know that we could have shared the gospel at least once. Unfortunately, the busyness of life got in the way. I have resolved since and instructed my kids as well to try to at least bless the water delivery boys who deliver water once a week, or the mailman or the cable guy collector whenever they come knocking at our door. A simple “Thank you. God bless you and Jesus loves you.” might not seem much but perhaps it might open up the opportunity for them to know the Lord as we know Him. You’ll never know…
Have a blessed weekend everyone. Go bless someone!
Scrapbooker. Layout Artist. Photographer. Dancer. Travel Junkie. Stage Mom. Homeschooler. Most of all, little lost lamb found.
