Family, Friends and Summer

A great vacation is best shared with our loved ones and close friends. Our Baler Trip was almost a year in the making. We adjusted to everyone's schedule in order to create a fun and relaxing trip. Yes, as a family (that's just me with my 2 boys) we can survive a travel with just the 3 of us. But as much as possible, a few more company adds entertainment and excitement to a trip whether it's long or short one.

With friends and family all rolled up in one event, it can sure make wonders and deliver an unforgettable set of memories. As a mother, I am grateful for each opportunity that comes along the way  for my son to be able to explore.

I find it extraordinary because at an early age of 6, Franky has already experienced so many things. How to trek up a mountain, enjoyed a giant waterfall and even saw his parents surf.

As a wife, it's a blast to share with my other half the very same things we both enjoyed when we were kids. It's like re-living our childhood memories and even better, because we have each other.

To our friends, with  Rach, Khams Bryan and Choy you guys gave a different meaning to what friendship is all about. Dolf and I were given the most down to earth, the most humble people, great personalities full of love. All I can say is thank you... I am very grateful to have you guys too. As always, being with these guys makes every moment of summer colorful and unforgettable.

I grew up with a closely- knit family. Even now, I carry that bond with me with my husband.  We consider our families as our friends and our friends as part of our family.

Girly Beach Essentials

With our trip to Baler, we officially started summer. I wasn't really aware of the beach essentials we girls need. I was too occupied of the things my little boy needs. Until over the weekend, my friends managed to put some things together and labeled it as Girly Beach Essentials.  Our girly essentials was assembled by my friend Janel. It just so happen that Janel was carrying her favorite bottle of C2 drink, her lovely beach hat, her stylish sunglasses, a small bottle of sunblock and of course, a nice pair of Havaianas. Janel was missing one thing though, a beach towel (which I provided). Actually it was Franky's beach blanket (lol!). But other than that, I guess everything we girls need is here. That's minus our gadgets by the way. I mean, we go to the beach with our tablets, mp3s or cellphones, that would be a little weird right? For me, once I leave city life, I make sure that not a gadget is brought to the beach except for a camera.

Let me know what else is missing so we can add it on our list for a fab summer! :D

Date Night: Friday Night Jam

Date Night is also considered as Me Time. Friday, my husband and I considered it as date night with a little parenting duty on the side.  At 6pm in the evening we attended a Parent's Orientation at The Piazza, Mckinley Hill Bonifacio Global City. Would you believe, one of the branches of my son's school is located along side with restaurants. Anyway, it was quite surprising for a school location. But that's not really the case, because my son's going to a campus 5 minutes away from our home.

After attending our orientation, my husband had to go back to work. From work, we had dinner at Sandwich Guy then off to the main highlight of the evening. 

Friday Night Jam at Pete's Place.

On date night, my husband would often take me to a restaurant for dinner then, if not a movie, we hop in a bar for the rest of the evening. Personally, I like hanging out in a bar and have some beer while listening to cool music than watching a movie.

Friday Night Jam At Pete's Place is an open jam session for musicians. We landed at Pete's through an invite from a very good friend. My husband told me that the last time he set foot at Pete's Place was back in 1998 or 1999. Pretty long time, no wonder he was very excited. Early that evening, we made plans of heading to Mercato Centrale for Midnight Mercato. I didn't mind if we didn't proceed with the Mercato plan, because I also wanted to hear my husband jam again.

The moment we arrived at Pete's Place, we knew that we made the right decision. Because that night, Sir Nitoy of The Jerks was also present to rock the rest of the night away.

One thing we enjoyed at Pete's Place was the Self Service Only policy. Pete has a bar. You pay and get a stub for your drink, and you get to be the bartender too.

Our date night was spent with friends, our favorite food, good music and in the warmth of each other's arms. 

 We seldom go out on a date, but when we do, we make sure to make every minute of it fun, extraordinary and memorable.

Express Yourself Responsibly

Freedom. With one delicate word out comes phrases and other words such as: Liberty, without restraint, independence, authority or power over... these give deeper meaning as we practice any of these in our daily lives. 

Freedom of self -expression is not forbidden, especially online. This why we're able to pour our emotions and put our thoughts into details for others to know. It is actually, an art. But everything goes wrong if one over- generalize statements or a certain point of view. Some are acceptable and understandable, but most are posted irresponsibly. I made this blog because I got insulted by a blogger's statement.

Just to clear things, this person doesn't know me, I accidentally landed on her page and it just so happen that I was browsing. I felt that I was a victim of a generalized shoutout. I thought it was an unfair judgment. For every shoutout we post online, whether on our blogs, twitter, facebook, plurk, anywhere! try to mix every word with respect and hopefully,  as authors we will be able to grip more positivity. Be sensitive of the impact a single word can do.

Try to be aware, use appropriate words and expressions. Freedom should be practiced with respect and great responsibility. Because clearly, anything that you feed from your keyboard to your computer system reflects the type of person you are in real life. What's with the 500 followers you have who thinks you're right, compared to the rest around the world who may  feel they're victims of such irresponsible statements.

I am just an ordinary person who just so happen to have internet at home, who managed to find time and browsed through some websites while sipping her cup of hot Cafe Mocha at home. To be honest, I seldom encounter unacceptable statements. But when I do, I voice my thoughts by making posts and  as much as possible I try to balance it out. Because in reality, our environment is already a mess, we don't want trash over the net too. Be wise on making shoutouts. Too much of these irresponsible statements might just get you into trouble.

Having A Cool Summer

So what have I been up to lately? But first let me tell you that I was caught by surprise with tons of activities for the past weeks.I never thought that we will be this busy.

Finalizing our summer getaway to Baler: We thought of a little adventure. We decided to bring the car and drive  all the way  to Baler that's why we're securing and shaping everything up.

Preparing for school year 2011-2012: This includes orientation, assessment and accomplishing school requirements. My son's school will provide the school supplies, books and my son won't be wearing uniform. With that, we're aiming to enroll our son by the end of April so coming May, we're free and we can enjoy the rest of summer.

In- between our busy lives, my family still has time to enjoy other activities. Just last weekend, we celebrated 2 occasions. My parent's 36th wedding anniversary and my mom's birthday.

And of course, we're very much enjoying as we witness Emo's growth and development. Our hard work  is paying off, (well just thinking of what happened to Coco) taking care of a puppy to a soon fully- grown dog is satisfying and rewarding.

To add with the growing load of excitement. We spent a lovely Sunday at Sta. Rosa Laguna and had a blast at Enchanted Kingdom.

To add, I've been visiting a dance studio with my sister and been doing some shopping too.  That's why today, I declare multitasking day. Will stay indoors and finish all the chores that went hanging over the past days.

It's been wonderful  for us. Everytime we go out, we're always granted with a fine weather. Most of the time, it's sunny and windy. You know it's summer because of the smell of the breeze with the Bougainvillea and Yellow Bells flourishing. Yes it's dry, but it's seldom hot and humid, this I must say is one of the coolest and loved summer for my family.

The Cute Culprit

It's one those days when I totally felt that it was okay to leave my favorite shoes out in the open. At home, ever since, we've been practicing on putting our shoes in the shoe cabinet the moment we set foot inside the house. Well last night I was feeling too tired and lazy to put my favorite pair of flats in. And when I got out of the room a few hours later, this happened. Dots all over.

It's not really seen unless you take a closer look at it. But just the thought that there are scratch marks and punch holes on my favorite flats, well, it's making me uncomfortable. All I can do was  stare and I was very disappointed deep inside. Clearly, it was my fault. I shouldn't have left my shoes  as a laying temptation for the dog. We all know that puppies are playful, they literally go through anything and bite whatever they can munch on. 

The Cute Culprit

Emo is just a pup, obviously,  it's my responsibility as a pet owner to adjust a little to the new environment of having a dog around. I love Emo. I can always buy a new pair of shoes, but one thing is for sure, I will never find a dog like Emo again.

Remember, never a dog should be spanked or yelled at.

Sayonara Coco...

It took us by surprise... Coco as our first pet made him the most wonderful. Coco will always be Coco, no pet will ever replace him being COCO. He brought so much sunshine in our home. As a Beagle, he's a rare kind. I've always wondered what will Coco look like once he has fully grown...

Losing Coco is like losing a special person in our hearts. I cried the most... I took care of him 24/7 when he was sick. I fed him like a child, I made it a point that he gets the nutrition he needs and his medicines on time. I tried so hard helping him to fully recover. But I failed... 

It was relieving to know that my son even took it more lightly than I did... I was scared that he might get badly affected, since Coco was a gift to him from his Dad. 

What caused Coco's sudden passing? It's Pneumonia. Puppies in general, are prone to all kinds of sickness. The first 3-6 months are known to be the critical stages. We thought that Coco was going to make it. Emo came...

Yes, one of the things that held me back from doing what I regularly do was taking care of a sick dog and nurturing a new one. It is an extraordinary experience and it's all worth it. I wake up at 4am in the morning just to clean their dog pan, because I want to make sure that they stay clean and if they're clean, there's less chance for infection. 

My husband and I got caught in some mixed situations that got us so confused. We even had doubts, because we were kinda observing the veterinarian too. There was a point when Coco's vet  was acting as if she was also clueless of Coco's case. It was really bad. Some pet owners advised us to see another vet provided, we get recommendation from Coco's original vet. Another, was the possibility that Coco was already sick when we bought him. Coco stayed with us for about a month. We were very excited because Emo was around. But Coco got terribly sick so they didn't have the time to play together. Kept the 2 dogs apart,  avoiding Emo to get sick too. The 2 dogs are far different from each other. Emo is a loud dog, he loves to run around and he's more playful. Coco barks, but not as loud, he runs but he 'd rather lay down beside his masters.

When Coco passed away, I gave him his pillow. I know that looking at Coco's pillow without him will only break my heart everyday... We never thought that losing a pet was going to be painful like we lost a family member... We went through the very same process, we took a moment of silence and remembered the days this dog made us happy. We grieved.

A friend told us: "That Coco may have been your Papa's (my late father-in-law) Dog from Heaven. He lent you guys Coco to show how much joy a dog can bring. But now, he needs Coco back..."

Our friends know how much we love our dogs. We inspired some of them to get their own Beagles. And it was a touching moment when they sent their comforting messages. It helped us with the healing process.

0o0o
 Emo is my husband's gift for me... Emo is a new phase in our lives.

We learned a lot from Coco.  I've moved-on with Emo. Like Coco, Emo is a pleasant dog. He amuses us, he makes me laugh by going after his own tail... Emo is a total angel.

To end, let me share a photograph I found online. I'm using it as my desktop wallpaper. Remember, when I shared that I'ved wondered how Coco will look like once all grown up? this photo also answered my thoughts on how Emo will also look.

-source-

Well, this image made me smile today... What do you know... we were given a chance to see the future of our Beagles. It's like Coco and Emo still  together...