1 Out of 365 Days.

...now if only R would come into his senses. LOL!

www.babyblues.com

Mother's Day comes only once in 365 days. It would be nice to be able to take a break some time. Husbands, value your wives, and to you, Children, value your moms. You can never fill their shoes.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Sick.

Yes, I am sick. I've been trying to fight off this bug for a while. My brother had it for weeks, and about a week ago, I thought I was going to catch it. But I came out fine until last Friday, when I had to ride with my sick brother from EDSA Shang to the office - that's a good 30 minutes of cootie exposure. So yes, after trying to evade it, I finally caught it. Oh woe.

I stayed home yesterday to rest my aching back. All that coughing has taken its toll. Last night, I had asked Yaya J to give me a massage. Today, I woke up feeling like I got run over by a train. Yes, think finger-bruising all over my back - no thanks to Yaya's thin and pointy fingers (remind me never to ask her for a massage again). So here I am, sitting in front of my lappy, thinking how'd I manage to get sick. Nyar. I hate being sick!

What's a good antidote to a bad cough?

My friend C says to take a warm cup of water, half a teaspoon of non-iodized rock salt and 5 calamansi. The office peeps swear on ginger juice (ginger ale nalang, pwede?). I read somewhere that lemon or anything citrus actually induces coughing, so I guess this bag of kiat-kiat ain't helping? LOL!

Haay! I hate being sick. Much more because I hate spreading it to the kids.

Lord, can you please, please, please take my cooties away?

How do you fight the bug? Share them with me!

Exams!

It's finals week for my A, and I can already tell how stressful this week is going to be. But we're trying not to sweat it. Yesterday, we went on with our usual routine. One thing I've learned through the years is that you can't sweat the small stuff. Of course, education isn't small stuff, but I'd rather have a peaceful week than one riddled with the hee-haws.

There was a time when I'd really get stressed trying to get my daughter to breeze through reviews. I mean, I remember how stressed my mom used to get when it came to me and my brothers. But that's just it, I no longer want to sacrifice joy for anger and stress. I must admit that there were times in the past when I'd get furious because A doesn't seem interested in getting high grades. I mean, I always went for the gold growing up. I was an over-achiever. *facepalm*

But I realized that A loves school anyway, and she's really smart - although a tad lazy. She gets bored easily and would rather read and write. Come to think of it, she's so like me! Haha! Maybe I've been pushing her too hard...

So this week, we're taking it easy. Lord, extra grace, please? 

I couldn't find a strip with Wanda. But you get the picture. Credit: www.babyblues.com

Original Strip here.

Happy Mom's Day!

I started reading Baby Blues in 1991. Yes, Zoe is technically over 20 years old. LOL! My kids grew up to Daryll and Wanda MacPherson's parental wisdom and quirks. A has been reading my Baby Blues book collection lately and getting a kick at how much similar she is to Zoe (and RL to Hammie). And yes, she's been asking for a little Wren. O_o

Parenting is hard work. And moms get the hardest job of all! You are blessed, Mommies!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! You are loved!

W for White Hair and Wisdom

I stand in front of our living room mirror each day, checking out each strand of white hair poking through all the black ones and think, I am getting old. Two years ago, I would have thought I was lucky to be looking so young in spite of all the stress I've had to go through with my marriage. But now, I stare back at my reflection and sigh. This isn't me, I need a makeover. And my eldest daughter agrees, "Let's get you a whole new wardrobe. I'll choose your clothes," she says, "We'll use Ama's credit card."

Who says white hair were wisdom strands? I check out each one I've plucked and think to myself, "well, that's one more brain cell dead, rest in peace."

See, in my family, we've had history of Alzheimer's. I remember stories about my maternal grandmother washing herself over and over again because she's forgotten if she's done soaping herself. And it scares me. It freaks me out. And I make mental note after mental note, just so I remind myself to never forget. It has its downside though, especially when it comes to wanting to forget painful matters of the heart.

Forgiveness is a complicated matter. After reading an old post on forgiveness and remembering how forgiveness entails giving the other person a clean slate - forgetting the wrongs, I have once again been convicted (ouch!). You forgive AND forget. Not historical. Like it never happened.

Such simple words for something so difficult to do.

Ah yes, white hair. It is for every problem I've ever dealt with the wrong way. It may be genetic but true beauty emanates from within and dominates the outward appearance.

The joy of the Lord is our strength. It is by His Grace that we are made beautiful. My prayer today is that I learn to deal with each pothole in my life the way God wants me to deal with it -- overlook and overcome the pain by letting His grace overwhelm.