KC on my iPhone=Love ( warning: Picture overload)

The sweetest embrace

Summer school for KC and Josh

Last Tuesday ( the start of heat wave), the kids started their summer school. This one is by the public school system so it is FREE! Oh, I love public schools! Since this is under Title 1 program, it is geared towards low income or the so called at risk population, to bridge the gap between communities. Apparently we live in a low income concetration part of Quincy, so the kids qualified. Besides, Quincy is an open enrolment city, which basically means that even if you reside in a different school district of the city, if you  wish to enroll your child other than the district you live, you can do so. I have a friend who transfered her kids to Bernazinni district, where most of the identified affluent areas are. The school never fails to top state and local tests. I contemplated for a little bit but I always believed that the students make the school, not the other way around. Plus, I have seen how the teachers and staff of Lincoln-Hancock work so hard to help each kid. The principal, Mrs. Witmer is awesome. The 3 times my kids were awarded for the citywide essay competition, she was always there. With the No Child Left Behind Program, the Title 1 is  reinforced more. Anyway, this program held in a school so close by us is geared towards math proficiency and writing skills development. If I'm not mistaken, it is from 1st grade to 5th grade.  It is awesome to see so many familiar faces in a different school. KC and Josh look forward to seeing their friends, but I guess there were not a lot of them. What surprises me is the fact that not a lot of parents take advantage of these free programs! These programs are either free or at minimal fee. Parents need to be more proactive to their child's education and not load all the responsibilities of educating the children to the teachers.  Remember, education starts at home. The only thing I could think of  why there are not so many participating is the lack on information to the availability of these helpful programs, but then again, as parents we need to seek all the help we could get and if that means asking the principal everyday for this kind of help, so be it!

Random things i should have posted

Hello. I know it's been a long time with no posts. No excuses here. Consider this a buffet of posts.

1. Saw this one at my work cafe and I praised the gods for reminding me to eat healthy.

... and then I saw this:

And so I was doomed. As always.

Father's Day 2010

I have been so tired this past month doing tons of overtime work. But I am not complaining. What suffers is my planning skills. It goes down the drain. Usually, I make a lot of funfare celebrating Father's Day. This year it was a little blah...

We were supposed to go to lunch but got lazy and ultimately just ended up staying in. In the evening, we went to my in-laws. The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is visiting us again from Montreal, it so happened also that it was my mother-in-law's birthday, so the whole family was there. As always, we had sumptous dinner but we were in a hurry because we scored tickets to the LA Dodgers vs. Red Sox game. Two things: it was my first baseball game and second, Manny was playing. I Love Manny Ramirez. Hate me all you can, but I love Manny. It was actually funny how I would cheer crazy when he is at bat and I was at the Red Sox dominated area. Talk about sitting on the lion's den!!! We did not have the best seats but it was so much fun. The crowd was great and I finally experienced "the wave". Fenway Park is the oldest ballpark, so as you can imagine----old, full to capacity and just plain Boston sports night----equals crazy. It was not hot and humid but it felt uncomfortable because the seats were so compacted that you basically have to stand up to let other people pass by or if you need to go sit. Mr. Hubbs got himself a Red Sox jacket , actually now that I recall, my 3 great companions (NOT) were all wearing Red Sox shirts and I was NOT. Wow... great, just great on my first Red Sox game. The traffic on Fenway area is unbearable after the game. But it was still a very memorable experience for me.

So, the kids got their Dad something special, of course. Karmina got her Dad this

It may not show very well in this picture but the necktie has all the Celtics great players--- Allen, Garnett, Pierce--- and of course Llaga. Sweet!

Here are the little inserts on the shirt's pocket. Some stuff they promise to do when Dad wants to "redeem" the coupons. I don't know about the garden part... we live in a condo! Hahahah.

Isn't she sweet. I literally cried on the part where she said " I'm glad I'm your daughter."

And here's the funny part. Those coupons expire... Dad needs to use it right away, right KC?

All in all, it was a very wonderful day. We all wore white, by the way! I leave you with some snapshots of my family on Father's Day.

Manny Pacquiao is part of Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Celebrities (Athletes)

O di ba? He was ranked number 57 in 2009, now he is 57th!

Here is Mr Pac-Man!

If for some reason, you want to feast your eyes on who made it this year for athletes, here's the link.

And yes, I know... don't rub it in... Kobe is on the list. Hmmmp!

Spoiler alert: Oprah Winfrey is number 1... again. Is that even a surprise?

Just what I need in a hot and humid day

And the economy is down! Come tech peeps

As Charice would say, " I can't bilibit! "( I can't believe it).

The line is long. Really long. This Apple store is in the suburbs, not in a big city at all, but see for yourself!

We were there at 10:45AM. Between me and Pits, we had 4 kids in tow. 

Two lines- one for advance reservation pick-up ( there was really no point, they still had to wait) and one for , you know, crazy people like me.

 At least, they had free bottles of water, chips, and the whole coffee shebang--- and oh, their staff is all pumped up too!

The line did not let up, we were done by 1430. At least this time, their servers did not crush but it was still a slow and painful process because there was just a high demand for it.

So, then off I got to my 16hr. shift. By the way, I did not pick up the powerful iPhone, I was there as motivating companion for Pits to buy the iPhone so she can finally join the rest of the world. I am happy with my SiPhone for now----until I can save enough or whenever my benefactor sees fit. Calling Chris Llaga.

School's off! School's off!

My morning routine is mind boggling, I can't even tell you. Since I work 3pm-11pm, I get home around 12am-ish, watch a little TV, mostly reruns of Law and Order, CSI, Bones and House. If not, I read some books which by the way is a monster backlog for me now. Sometimes, I eat. That's not good. I know that. But I do. Just last night Hubbs cooked this decadent braised beef and I can not resist it, followed with ripe Philippine mango and yummm! Before I get sidetracked with this post about my eating,. let me stop. Oh... no.. yeah, wait... I just need to tell you that I had yema balls too. Heaven.

Anyway, Hubbs wakes me up at 0530, I drop him at work, get back home about 0630, wake up the kids, prepare breakfast, make sure KC does not stay in the shower forever, insist on Pherry that putting on lotion is a must because he tends to have ashy skin even if he misses putting lotion just for a day, tell Josh that brushing his teeth is mandatory, tell KC that today is not appropriate to wear this/that clothes, ask Pherry if he comb his hair yet, assure Josh it's ok to wear shirts that are not ironed... blah,blah,blah. All this while I am preparing either oatmeal, sunny side up, corned beef or simple toasted bread.  Then I make sure their homework is properly done, ask them if there are notices I need to know, papers to sign and ... this is big... and make sure that they unloaded their leftover food and food containers from previous day. Believe me, you do not want to get in their bag when that happens. We then sit down together and eat. If everything went well with the above mentioned routine, we can at least have a leisurely breakfast. How often that happens in the school year, I can count fingers.... wait, I can count on my right hand fingers. Sometimes, I am combing KC's hair while she's eating, checking Pherry's project while debating with Josh regarding unironed shirts, telling KC that she does not have to stay in the shower for like 1 hour and making sure  Josh gets to drink juice and Pherry,milk. No matter what I do, KC only drinks water in the morning, which is good.

Now, the school year has ended and the kids are at home with me the whole day. I tell you, this--- now it is a different situation altogether. None of those routines above but not better. They have so much time in their hands that they get so crazy. CRAZY!  Pherry can't be bothered while constructing Lego, good luck to me asking him to eat. KC is insisting on a layered hairstyle ( she got it yesterday, thanks Ate Frids.), Josh is excited he is allowed to watch TV endlessly! Kidding! I have yet to pick up their summer reading books so for now, we are doing little bit of activities. Yesterday was the first full day off from school. Pherry cooked rice and bought strawberries for strawberry smoothie. It was yummy by the way. Josh helped me cook adobo. KC has been sick since Monday so she's not been excited at all.

I have planned little half day activities. We are going to the bookstore today to check on some books Pherry wants to add to his collection. I have to reserve his iPad too. He has been saving for it. He still needs a little bit more but he pledged his bday money for it, so I might just reserve it knowing that it is so backordered. I am actually glad he likes the iPad because

 1. I can borrow it. I can hear him saying, " but Mom, this is mine only."
2. Hopefully, I can save money by buying ebooks. I heard they are cheaper.

Gotta go peeps, I have 3 kids in my ward and I gotta keep up, less I will tire excessively just telling them to STOP FIGHTING!

So, yes peeps, no more school day routines but I am in for a new CRAZY! Too many kids with too much time, they FIGHT! Now, if only I can find a book that tells them to stop. Pronto!

What we do on weekends

Weekends are a precious commodity, a priceless gem that seems to evade everyone and if it does come, it slips oh so quickly. With this in mind, I maximize the weekends for my family and friends. I reserve it for family time. I have modified the concept of doing the chores on weekends. Why would I spend my only free time with the children doing laundry or scrubbing the bathroom? I do little things during the week so I do not have to devote the whole weekend to cleaning the house.

Let me share to you what our family does on weekends.

1. We go to the bookstore. A lot. I used to bring the kids a lot to the library but that got tiring when all the books they want to check out were either checked out or unavailble.  Plus, I love reading too, so I kind of something I love too. We used to go to the B. Dalton at the South Shore Plaza but it closed, so now we go to Barnes and Noble in Braintree, right beside the SSP also.

The kiddos laugh when I start shrieking when I saw these books. Hey, these series got me started, together with Sweet Valley High. I know, I am such an easy reader during those times.

                 

I say it again, we were poor growing up, add to that the fact that we grew up in a far away town where we can get our hands with newspapers only about 5 pm, where the bus from Manila will bring it. Therefore, my Tatang who I have always known to be a voracious reader even if he only got to 5th grade. Yes, my father did not even finish elementary school but that never stopped him from reading and dreaming that someday soon, never will his kids suffer the same fate. I have a very vivid memory of my father subscribing to the Mormon's and the Latter Day Church missionaries for their flyers and magazines. To him, those are free reading materials and free knowledge. So, we have English magazines and books in the house. It was therefore easy for me to speak and write English. Amazing, especially considering where we are from and how poor we were. Yes dear, knowledge comes easy to those who seek.

Mr. Hubbs checks out the sports section and his basketball card collection. He checks if Michael Jordan's rookie card has gone up on price or if his precious gold plated collection is really priceless as he thinks.

             

                

2. We go out and eat, to different restaurants. We try to expose ourselves to different cuisine but I'd love to believe we have a knack for finding out the most obscure restaurant that offer the best food value and character. Bottom line, we love to eat. We are avoiding buffets for now. But if i have to recommend a Japanese buffet, I'd say go to Minado. It is pricey but for the wide variety of sushi and sashimi you get, I say go try it. For reliable Italian fare, we go to Bertucci's. The best though, at least this side of the world is Alfredo's in Quincy.

                  

 They make their own pasta, they have the best and authentic Italian store, also in Quincy. For Friday eating out, wee go to Joe's American Bar and Grill or Cheesecake Factory. In Chinatown, I love Chou Chow, the older and smaller branch is better. I will do a separate post on the best places we go or should I say, our food secret.

3. We go to South Boston's Castle Island. This place is something I'd recommend for family, when you have nothing planned.  Fort Independence is for history buffs, you have Carson Beach, walking and jogging trails,  a playground and luscious greens. The concession store is open year round and mostly staffed by students. The food is a little bit steep, so grab a picnic basket if you can, anyway it is the perfect place to picnic.

Here are the kids last spring.

4. You all know we love water! We love going to the beach!  We go to Nantasket Beach in Hull, Falmouth at the Cape or  if we just want to linger in sand and sun, we stay close at Wollaston Beach. We live so close to Wollaston Beach but it is not a swimming beach, well at least for us. We like the oceans, the crushing waves and the long stretch of ocean sands. KC loves picking stones and shells, while Pherry likes to build sandcastle. Josh can stay in the water forever and he's all set. They all tend to burn a lot so I make sure they apply sunblock. I love Neutrogena, in case you are interested in a non stinging sunblock. It does not have any of those cakey feel either, so you can use it under those beach make-up. Back to the beach topic, I love being surrounded with water. Whether I am braving the cold water or just burying my feet on the sand ( to do my beach pedicure, all natural!), nothing beats that serenity I feel everytime I am on the water. The crushing waves soothes me, the glistening water from afar awakens my inner spirit and the seashells and stones bring me back to my hometown. And, oh by the way, I gotta tell you that in Falmouth they have pokpoklo. Oh, I love seafoods! This seaweed is a staple back home and I super miss it. The first time I saw it here, I was more ecstatic than when I passed Chemistry  in college!

5. We shop. Or should I say, me and KC shop? Yes we do! It's kinda a happy place for us. We live like 10 minutes away from South Shore Plaze and a good 25 minutes from Wrentham Outlets, so you can imagine my shopping habits. Did I tell you, Wal-mart is right across the street? I know, Wal-Mart is a complete shopping wasteland. You can go there and not plan anything and come out with a loaded cart. The array of choices is amazing.

            

Most of the time, my weekend calendar is full, sometimes I like to just chill. Those rare days that we got nothing to do, we go to the movies. We saw karate kids the last time. We are not moviegoers, we'd rather read. In this stage of my life, I like to devote most of my free time with family, although I have "friend dates" in between. It is comforting to know that I got friends who share a lot of my interest.

Did I tell you, we like to LAUGH?

How about you, how do you spend your weekends?

And so the great Celtics lost

Finally, my palpitating heart is going to rest. My Celtics lost! To the Lakers! In the seventh game! These are all records. The Celtics have never lost in a seventh game to the Lakers... ever.

Thank you to all my friends who were supportive of my undying fervor to the Greens. They either kept quiet because they were LA fans, changed colors because of my persuasive talk about how great the Celtics are, commented on every status change on FB or just simply dropping emails to cheer me up when the Celtics are losing.

But, many thanks to all the Lakers fans who put up a good fight! When every status update on facebook meant a rebuttal of sorts, when every "sarcastic" comment is met with a more sarcastic one, when stats are compared for the "great" players, when loyalty turns nasty, when being a fan meant like family... these makes for a great banter between friends, heartwarming teasing among family.

 Let me share you my observations, in relation to practical life.

1. This is where you can see how really knowing a person  matters. If you do not know your friends  well, you might find their obvious sarcasm to annoy you as offensive, but to a close friend, it's just that---obvious sarcasm to elicit witty sarcasm from you.

2. Who cares who you are? Or what you are, or where you're from?  Filipinos are so engrossed with basketball, it is considered the national past time. The Chinese knows Kobe, and so do the Kenyans. My 60 something year old  sis in law cheers to death for the Celtics thinking it is still Larry Bird's era. My kids are sad everytime the Celtics lose, my friends all the way from my coastal town Aparri screams "CELTICS Forever" in their Facebook accounts. In life, no matter your situation, if you love it, go for it. The zest of life should never fizz just because you are old, short or from a far-away island.

3. Team work. Team work, team work. Can I emphasize it more? More often than not, Kobe Bryant is criticized to be very "ME" player. This is not to say he is not good, he is awesome. But, basketball is not an individual sports. What I notice is that even with mere mortals like us ( yes, Kobe is baskeball god), we should also know how to be part of a team. Family is a team. Friendship is a team. Sometimes, we are so used to be THE head, we tend to ignore the other HEADS.

4. Loyalty is a virtue. We easily get swayed with the hype, we change loyalty in a millisecond. I have more fun exchanging comments with a known fan than someone who just wants to be different. Like, when everyone is for Celtics, they go Lakers, or if someone is cheering the USA, they go Canada. It's alright to show your true color. It is more fun!

And for that I say... Go Celtics!

Oh my, Oh, my! Charice on Glee

After faux paus of her ex manager announcing her casting in Glee last month, Charice is really gonna be in Glee!!!! Yes, my girl Charice will be in Glee! Don't say I did not tell you, because I am telling you now.

Boy, was I glad I heard this news today.

Thnak you Miss CVS for this early good news. This is the the real deal!  Entertainment Weekly and Eonline confirm this GREAT news! Woohoo! Brace yourselves Glee fans!

When you push yourself to the limit, your body gives up

I worked 2 shifts last Friday 3pm-7:30am the next morning, Saturday. I went straight home to take a shower because I promised Ice and KC I would take them to American Girl in Natick Collection. Anyway, Mr. Hubbs had a different plan, without telling ( what's new?). He was to go fishing with our good friend Eric. I got all too excited because you know me, I love the water. Falmouth have the best swimming waters. I asked if Sol ( my good friend and Eric's wife) would come and I'd go with them and we will go see the Nobska Lighthouse. I planned to tour the Oceonagraphic Institute. The fishing happened, the Nobska Lighthouse is breathtaking, but no more time for the last item on the list. Speaking of Nobska, it is beautiful. If you go atop the hills, you can see a scenery like never before. You are surrounded with water views and lush greenery and the breeze is as fresh as it can be. These pictures do no justice to this place. By then it was about 3pm and everyone's hungry. I read a little while ago about Lobster Trap being a wicked local favorite, and so we went. I was not disappointed. The food is great, good selection and a beautiful ambience. The prices are a little steep, kinda expected because of the location, the Cape. We went to checkout another fishing location in Wareham MA, but our fishing group has moved back to Falmouth. We went home and that's when I felt the need to rest. I had so much fun I forgot I have not gotten any sleep for the past 24hrs. The killer though is knowing I have to go to work at 11pm again.

So, let's do a review:

Friday- 3-11pm
            11pm-7am shifts
Falmouth- 8:30am-6pm
Holbrook- 7pm-10pm
Quincy-1020:1030 ( to take a very, very quick shower)
Boston-11:15pm at Children's Hospital Boston.
             friends, I am still here! Yeas, I am still here!

Oh , and by the way, I worked the whole week and accumulated 32 hrs OT from the last 2 weeks! Sarcasm to the max!!!

I am not complaining though. I still have a job, healthy family and wonderful friends. I have to save up a little bit of vacation money. We are going away for 2 weeks in  August. To where? Secret!

Happy Subday peeps!

Got my uber chic new ewwwglasses

...and they have transition lenses too!

Funny! Lego USA-England World Cup

Lego got it so perfectly, the vuvuzuelas and most of all the costly mistake of Rob Green... very nice work Lego!

Today

As yet again, I will be working 2 shifts, 16 hours. I am just doing it as a favor for someone... ME! Gotta pay the bills, you know. But let me tell you my day so far. Because I am already in this nice place called work, this time of day, I can say this is the end of the day for me, hmmp! To think that today is the only time Boston weather is getting better. This past week has just been a total blah.. I will be going home tomorrow morning... yes dear readers, tomorrow, and be back at 3pm to resume the day. I know. I know.

Fridah ( we lovingly call her Pits), called early around 08:30 to tell me she will treat me to brunch. I was then cleaning my external hard drive because I have been LAZY. I really need to consolidate and do some tagging. Anyway, I said okay but went on and continued my little project - watermarking my pictures, putting them in proper albums, adding labels and just pure catching up. By the way, this has been on going since April. I know. I know. No need to tell me I am so slow. Clatterbrained is who I am. Oh, oh... I just got an idea, I think my middle name is Clatter. So, Bernadette Cllater Ambiong Llaga. BCAL.