Music To My Ears: Making Room For Our Music CDs

Usually, I get rid of our old stuff every time I do some general cleaning. Clothes, shoes, bags, furniture, kitchenware. But during my last cleaning session, I took out our old original music CDs and found room for them to be displayed and to be listened to once again. 

I grew up exposed to music.

1. My dad is an excellent piano player.

2. Both my brothers are good guitar players, bass and lead. And one of them can sing by the way.

3. My dearest husband is a very good jazz guitar player as well as an over-all musician.

Other than these, with me, my brothers and my husband growing in the 90's, we got exposed to the sound of the Alternative genre. I had a collection of cassettes. Then, we slowly shifted to the era of music CDs.

Being with musicians, knowing some famous music writers and bands, we developed a relationship with the music industry with full respect and promised ourselves to buy original CDs both OPM and foreign. 

For the past months, my husband and I have been in search for original CDs. Hard to find Alternative albums. We met with several online sellers. Some offered a pretty nasty price for over-used CDs, with cracked CD casing and scratched discs. But there was this one seller, a collector of music CDs. He owns a total of 5000 CDs, not counting the ones he already sold. When we found out that he's a collector, we knew that the stuff he's selling are in good condition and we were right. His price ranges from 250- 400php depending on the genre, title and condition of the CD itself. Most of the CDs featured in the photo above were bought from this online seller. Feels like we hit a gold mine of rare music CDs or at least the ones that are not available in record bars anymore.

Right now, I'm still in process, making room for more music CDs. Writing a new list of titles to be ordered :D We're also in search of a vintage record player. We found one and it comes with cute set of speakers. Still thinking about it though...

Good Thoughts on Good Things

The other day and yesterday, I crossed paths with two meaningful messages that came from two important individuals in my life. The first message was from my sister- in-law's email to me and the second one was from a very good friend---Rach.

My sister-in-law is my big sister. I didn't grow up having an older sibling... having her changed everything. One of the things that we do keep in touch aside from our regular talk via Skype, is we email each other. We share stories, our own discoveries from our individual journeys, politics from both sides of the world, movies and even with the latest trends. Like I said, I grew up not having  a big sister whom I could have talked to and shared some of my secrets and stories with as a child and as a teenager. I vent out almost anything to my sister-in-law. She's like an angel who's ready to lend a helping hand and who will always be there to listen. In between, each email and in each conversation we have, my sister-in-law never fails to give encouraging words, inspirational stories, and lessons we can both learn from. Her words of wisdom is something I look forward to all the time.

I want to share it because it is something deep to hold onto and make life better. I did notice how time quickly permits us to get whatever we want. Our WILL to make things happen, sometimes does make those thoughts and things into reality. The whole message says that we should be careful on what we do and for things we wish for. May it be a material thing, thoughts we can't express, wishing someone well or looking into our paths to reaching our goals in life. It is best to think forward and to stay positive all the time, so whatever comes,  in the end, we bring peace to ourselves and we spread it to the people around us as well. 

The goodness radiating from us is enough to say that we have reached our dream, it doesn't matter if I'm poor as long as I make others happy. Did you ever experience when you wanted something so bad... but as went through the process of acquiring that thing, you helped someone else? Then suddenly, you forget about that thing you wanted? I did, and I'm living that situation almost everyday. It's one of the secrets why we, stay at home moms, are always happy, smiling even if we don't get anything in return. Even if we wear the same clothes everyday, even if we don't earn money, even if sometimes, we're taken for granted. 

Moving on, thinking of good things, will make losing, fear, defeat and sadness vanish.

This second set of inspiring words was from my friend Rach. I met Rach through my husband. Rachel is one of my most valued friends (I bet she doesn't know that :D). I share so much laughter with her, she's very honest, patient and of course sweet and nice. Rachel is a person full with goodness.

Yesterday, I saw this post on her Facebook wall. I come across this message several times, like, in my whole life. But everytime I see these words, it feels like it's always my first time to cross paths with it. Just a thought: maybe because everyday, we encounter different individuals that may cause damage to our lives. If there are people radiating goodness, definitely, there are those who look for mistakes and those who can bring negative vibes in full force. It's something we can't get rid of.

What can we do about it? For some, they will probably stay away from those individuals causing the conflict. Others, can simply dance around it and hold onto to those words above. Or, find something good in it, help those causing the trouble and spreading hatred. Respect each other.

I found being a full time mother a blessing. Socially, yes, I'm drained... zero. The good part, since I mingle with less people, I'm not expose to anyone who can bring harmful thoughts towards me and my family. At the same time, I still have friends whom I can trust and share some good moments with.

Something Funny or Something on the Head

Over the recent Holidays, one of the highlights of our celebration was to come up with something funny to wear or at least a hairpiece or something on the head. I gotta say this has got to be one of our hilarious take before 2012 ended. I was surprised with what my siblings prepared. I thought no one's going to exert effort since it was our first time to set a theme for our Christmas party. I gotta hand it to them, especially to Ella (angel) and Nino (Pinoy Superman).

Ella with her handmade angel wings.

My son Frankie and my husband who came as Ironman and Capt. America.

My boys were very lucky that some friends gave them some masks of The Avengers heroes. We didn't spend on anything. The Ironman chest piece of Frankie was a gift from his birthday last year.

As for me, I didn't prepare anything at all. I was very busy. Good thing that the theme tapped not only on  "something funny" but also "something on the head". I borrowed this Enchanted Kingdom hat from my sister.

My sister Les had something on her head too, and she made it.

My brother Ver captured everyone's attention with his funny glasses.

Lastly, the highlight of our evening: My youngest brother as a Pinoy version of Superman. I'm really proud of him because he didn't spend so much on his costume. He told us that he went through "tiangge" shops for cheap items. He also came up with old clothes and reused items. It reminded me of best penny stocks. In cases like these, we need to be resourceful. With amazement, we thought of following my brother's footsteps. On our next costume party, it's best to be creative by not spending too much. It's more fun and it's very rewarding to find oneself thinking that you were able to create something fun and entertaining by not shedding too much cash.

Celebrating Life at Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital

It has been a year since I gave birth to my second child and I haven't shared my extraordinary experience  when I gave birth to this lovable baby. With my first child Frankie, I was already blessed with a normal delivery. But during the process, I was completely dazed with the medicines and pain killer given to me in the hospital. I was half- awake when I delivered Frankie, but as soon as he was out, I fell asleep immediately that I wasn't able to hold him. It was my husband who held him first.

With my second son Mikee, my husband and I decided to move to a new hospital. My admission letter was addressed to the Labor room of St. Lukes Medical Center, but the day I was going to give birth, I decided to go to a different hospital. And I made the right decision, for I was given a different feel of giving birth with my second baby.

There's 1 reason with the sudden change of hospital:

*Since I'll be spending a short period of time in the hospital, I thought that it is going to be more practical if I get admitted to a private hospital that's not too big and can still cater to my needs and standards as a patient. We chose Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital.

Ever since, Jesus Delgado is known as a Maternity Hospital that has now expanded as a General Hospital. Aside from the fact that Jesus Delgado has been in service for decades, this hospital has been getting good feedback on their facilities and services. Plus, we have friends who highly recommends it. And my mom told me, that during her time, Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital was the "St. Lukes" of Maternity Hospitals. I guess even up to now, because Jesus Delgado is able to maintain that standard that gave me the best experience when I gave birth to my son Mikee.

In my opinion and with my experience, Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital specializes on "traditional" maternity care. I arrived at the labor room exactly 8:30 in the morning with 2 cm. Once they got my admission letter from my OB who's a very known doctor in the industry, the nurse aide immediately began preparing me. I was impressed with the process. It was fast, clean and efficient. And of course, the nurse aide was explaining to me everything in the process and the purpose of each. By 10am I was ready and waiting. My husband was outside waiting as well. My OB doctor dropped by to check on my condition and gave orders.

You know what's amazing with the staff of Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital? (particularly in the labor room and delivery room)  Everyone inside are doctors with nurse aides. So instead of getting a ratio of 1 nurse: 1 patient, it's 1 doctor: 1 patient, how relieving is that? It's something I didn't experience in my previous hospital. I was greatly secured because aside from my OB and Anesthesiologist, there's another doctor looking after me (bedside). They're very pleasant, they're very knowledgeable, they know the whole meaning of health care service.

Labor pain began around 3pm with 5cm. In a matter of minutes the pain went stronger---but--- for me, it was still bearable. Learning from my previous experience on giving birth, pushing while contracting eases down the pain. I was awake the whole time and without any pain killer.

In Jesus Delgado it's different. They will administer the pain killer on the go signal of the patient. Again, basing it on my experience, the doctors told me to give them the go, (as instructed by my Ob-Gyne) if I want the pain killer to be injected. We patients have options and our decisons matter. And I felt I was given value when they asked me to decide on it. By the way, the process with the pain killer was explained to me ahead, the moment I was admitted. Though, it became really, really painful,  thinking of the life that's about to say hi to the world made me endure everything until I reached 10 cm +2. Meaning, I was fully open, my water has broken and the baby's about to come out.
In my opinion, I guess that's how you give birth the traditional way. I pushed and pushed (minus the screaming and all the crying :D) while the doctors helped me get through. It was an amazing experience. I'm very proud of myself as a mom... After, I was able to hold Mikee with his umbilical cord still attached... It's just wonderful and rewarding once I was able to embrace Mikee wide awake.

I stayed in the hospital overnight. That's how fast I recovered. When my OB and the other doctors visited me in my room, they were amazed that I was already mobile and I even walked to the nursery to breastfeed my baby. The recovery was fast because I was well taken cared of. I was a first time patient in that hospital, but it felt so homey. I will never forget the kind hearts who gave me this experience. My Ob- Gyne... she's the best. I look up to her just like my mom. She never introduced or even mentioned C- Section to me even the first time we met. All she kept on saying was " Kaya mo yan mag normal delivery! Kahit 8- lbs pa yung baby" (You can do normal delivery even if the baby weighs 8-lbs). Of course in reality, if the situation asks for a C-section, then if it's for the best... But then again, it's all about the encouraging words to go for a normal delivery which makes it inspiring and that motivated me as a mother to do well and to give my best for the baby.

 Life is a blessed gift. Every individual brought into the world is bestowed with a unique characteristic.

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Thank You 2012...

Our New Year celebration was spent at my parents'. We arrived around lunch and spent the rest of the day bonding, preparing for our New Year's dinner. As we wave goodbye to a good year, we also welcomed a colorful one. One of the highlights everytime we celebrate New Years at my parents' is the display of fireworks that we don't even need to light our own because they're everywhere.

I've always look at fireworks as a symbol of luck, abundance and the fact that it is colorful, I interpret it as something pleasant---  I connect it as something positive that will make a person prosper.

2012 was too good that it's impossible to end the world just like that. It was full with adventures.  Part of that are the risks my husband and I took to improve our family life and to grow and be at our best as parents. With our second child around, life has given us a greater view on what it is all about.

I'm glad that we didn't go through anything that may have become harmful to our family. 2012 was all about giving and making sacrifices.

With those sacrifices, we ended the year with a big bang. I say BIG, something wonderful took place before the year came to an end. As much as I want to share it now, I've decided to wait until everything is all set, perfect for viewing ;D I sure got the most expensive gift ever ;D  I can say that yes, we have reached our main goal as we bid farewell to 2012 thankful and as we say hello to another year in full blast!

Our Christmas Story 2012

Instead of making individual posts of our activities from our Christmas and New Years celebration, let me sum up everything through this entry. 

  

Our whole celebration from the recent holidays was fun.  All fell into place, everything was amazing that I have to consider 2012 as the best year for me and my family. Let's start with the events we spent with our relatives and friends.

The People

With the previous years, we weren't able to gather everyone to celebrate the holidays with us. Maybe few of our friends and since my husband's family and relatives are all in America, a visit from one of them is a big blessing. 2012 became began by arranging a Christmas get together with my husband's only cousin who's here in the Philippines, Perry and his family. We had pot luck, enjoyed some wine and of course, exchange of gifts.

 

Then, on Christmas Eve, we visited Tito Mel, my husband's uncle, the younger brother of my late father- in-law. It's our first Christmas with Tito Mel, so every minute, every second and every hour spent with him is special. Tito Mel is like a dad to me and my husband.

 

On Christmas Day, my cousin Soqui,  I call her Ate Che joined our celebration. It has been a year since our last bonding time. It was nice to be with her again and as always, every moment with Ate Che is filled with laughter. Love you big sis!

 

After Christmas, we were able to spend some quality time with our close friends. The evening began with dinner, a long and meaningful conversation about life, family and faith, a quick food photo op I did for Ricky and Janel's food business, more wine and a fun game of Taboo.

The Feast
 

The Holidays is also about the feast we share with our loved ones. With our potlucks, my husband and I brought Pancit Malabon, Lechon Kawali and Roasted Chicken in most of the gatherings we attended. How I wish I was able to cook, but with the short period of time and of course we all end up exhausted, I had to skip and buy food instead.

For our Noche Buena, I prepared simple dishes (it's the picture on the upper left of the collage). My husband and Frankie requested for some Spaghetti with meat sauce and grilled liempo. Then I added some slices from the holiday ham we bought, our favorite Decadent Brownies from S&R and fruit salad for dessert. When it comes to preparing food on ocassions such as Christmas, I rely so much on what my family wants so we can all enjoy our food and at the same time, reward myself with their happy faces as they feast on their favorites.

On Christmas Day, we had a small celebration for Mikee's birthday. We cooked some Homemade Embutido, Breaded Chicken Cutlets, Filipino Style Spaghetti, some pastries and  Mikee's cake c/o his Lolo and Lola.

That evening, we  were joined by our relatives from my mother's side. Of course we feasted on more food. We cooked Penne Chicken Pasta, Homemade Embutido, Lechon Kawali & Tofu, 3 Mushrooms & Kangkong, Macaroni Salad, Fruit Salad and a cake this time for Jesus.

The Presents

Christmas will never be complete if we don't give and receive gifts. Most of the stuff we got are for our entertainment pleasures. As for me, I got an additional gift--- a nice set from the Marley Jammin Collection. I first saw and heard about it on The Ellen Show and that was back in 2011. When they've finally released it here, I know I'll get to own one, and my husband bought it for me as a Christmas present.

We also received some games to enjoy (in another post). My 2 little boys got so much, everything is piled up on top of the shelf. To our family and friends,  thank you...
 

0o0o

In Thanksgiving

 

As for me and my family... we will always be grateful for all the blessings that comes our way each day. From the simple dish we eat everyday, the moment my husband arrives to work and at home safely, for my children's milestones, a hug from our pet Beagle Emo, the smiles and hellos we receive... All these makes us feel as if we are in celebration everyday.

God is Great!