asher's dedication

Today's the first time I have ever witnessed a Christian dedication and stood as sponsor as well.

Leaving my class prematurely, I was still late as the ceremony was already well under way when I arrived but just in time for Pastor's challenge and prayer.

In the Old Testament, child dedication meant offering the child in the service of God like what Hannah did with her son Samuel. However, in the modern context, I think it meant establishing a partnership between the parents and the sponsors in passing on the faith to the children (I read this somewhere).

Pastor's words weighed heavily in my heart as being chosen as sponsor meant great responsibility. Will I be able to fill the shoes perfectly?

When it was time to lay hands on Asher, we were so crowded I elected to stay behind and stretch my arm as far as it would go. As the prayer progressed, I felt soft, tiny hands alternately grasping my pointer and middle fingers, apparently attracted by the ebony colored nails. Cute!

With my impending 2-day trip and innumerable deliverables this week, I regrettably left as soon as the ceremony and the brief picture taking was over. I'm sure life wouldn't be always this hectic and I may find time to exercise my duties as second mom to all my inaanak this decade: asher and ethan (this year), nikki in 2007 , boon in absentia and ethan (again or bella next year) Whew! This beats having kids of my own.

afternoon at the vet

It has been raining every afternoon all week but not today. We almost did not keep the appointment with the vet. At 2pm, the heat of the sun warmed the air that wafted through the kitchen door. It was a struggle resisting a nap so I took a really quick one.

The trip took 30 minutes and we were directly hit by the sun rays from the west. Pooh was hyperventilating from the heat as well as from trying to evade my grasp. Tara was stressed as well, apparently from the bumps on the road, she did her big thing by the clinic's entrance right after disembarkation. Quickly, a sample was taken for fecalysis. That has significantly reduced our waiting time and/or the possibility of her staying a night for the doctor to get a sample.

As expected, microscopy result showed a variety of parasite infestation including roundworms and hookworms. Deworming wasn't a big issue as Tara had no problems ingesting the orangey suspension. In fact, she wanted more. Unlike Pooh who had to stay at the examining table longer, Tara's shot did not even take longer than ten seconds to complete. The vet suggested I get lost while Pooh gets his shot. Minutes later, I took a quick peek at the glass panel on the door and witnessed the dog walking around the elevated table throwing menacing biting attempts at the good doctor. To get the job done, she enlisted the assistance of her vet husband to hold Pooh so she can make the shot. Success!

cuchi and tara turn one

it's not every day that a dog (or dogs) turns one year-old. hence, a party is in order to mark the day. for a carbo-packed afternoon snack, yaya pa prepared a modified penne in basil cream and yaya ne bought half a roll of marble cake from a local bakery.

Party hats and all. This is one of those days when I wish I have a better cam.

While the human enjoy their afternoon snack, belatedly realization sank in. No fancy food was prepared for the celebrants and their canine and feline friends :(

ICT Summit 2010 slash HP 7 weekender

After getting up so late, I have very little expectation from the seminar that awaited me at L' Fisher hotel. The Cyber Threats etc. track was already full at the time of arrival so the IBM track was suggested.

At Ricardo Hall, Cloud computing was wrapping up by the time the team was fully seated (moi, Bart and about ten hardware servicing students who chose to sit at the back most portion of the hall). It's no wonder as each speaker was alloted only 30 minutes to discuss their topic. If I heard it right, the system meant going virtual, cutting substantially investments on hardware, office space and manpower.

The second speaker was from down under and demonstrated the possibilities of utilizing social networking like Facebook as landing page for a host of other sites like banking. The innovation stems from the interesting fact that people around the globe are so into social networking sites (Philippines ranked 8 in the world for most visits made in Facebook per day and that users has increased by more than a thousand percent from last year).

The last speaker was from Cebu and talked about (promoted) IBM's Smarter System. It was pathetic. His lack of preparation was apparent in his presentation which eventually manifested during the open forum. The questions posed by one of the delegates was left unanswered re 'what is the carbon footprint of your products (with elaboration on how older versions consume more energy than what the competition does)? Anyways, Smarter system is about consulting IBM regarding creating a tailor made system (e.g. traffic, security, energy, etc). That aside, the contents of the presentation can be viewed online. Just search for IBM Smarter Systems and you'll get more information from a 30-minute worth of streaming than sitting in a roomful of people and paying much more.

My thoughts? Well, I realized my reluctance in getting out of bed that morning was not without reason. I might have unconsciously predicted that something like this would happen and I will find the meeting wanting. For a National Summit, it does lack something.

And so, to Harry Potter 7 I went after the short seminar. It was raining cats and dogs outside so it was imperative to take a taxi from the hotel to Robinson's. HP was showing in three cinemas, two offering free seating (one with Dolby Stereo sound and the other with Dolby Digital sound) at Php 110 each and one with guaranteed seats (all in, all out) boasting of 2D Dolby Digital at Php 180. While waiting for sis, I asked the cashier the difference between 2D Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital. She said something about the sound and picture being clearer with the former. I wasn't convinced so I took the cheaper deal. Inside, I thought what more can they add to the sound? I was perfectly fine about hearing cracks of wands, door creaks and warlocks wheezing by on broomsticks 'behind' me. There are some things that I didn't like though (like harry and hermione dancing in the woods...waaah). Sis didn't like it so much that she left before the screening ended.

sem-end evaluation

my first. i was hoping for the worst, thinking that the kids fail to grasp the meaning of my incessant nagging as well as maintaining an iron fist in running the class. well, i was grossly mistaken and now see them in a different light.

while taking a breather from a rather busy afternoon, i took advantage of the time and asked ms. jo if i could see how well i performed on my first assignment as a trainer in the eyes of the students.

the first paper was very encouraging and my heart won't rest unless i share my elation, so i quote (in several categories):

on competence:

"...is very good in Math as well as in English. she can solve problems with ease."

on technique:

"i love the way she teaches us the lesson. i can clearly understand what she says whether its in English or in Dialect. she's my favorite teacher. she made me love mathematics as much as i hate it during grade school and high school. you can easily approach her if you have questions. she's the best math teacher i ever encountered. she even teache us english grammar sometimes."

"...is a nice teacher in math. she teach us what process is short because "indi siya gusto makapuyan kami" (to make it easier for us)."

"i like the way she teach. she always ask questions to us regarding to our topic. she teache us well. she have patience to those students who are not well in her subject."

encouragement, suggestion, etc.:

"...give more attention to those students who do not catch up with her lessons."

"...is understanding and thoughtful. just stay what you are."

"tani di ka na mangakig (hope you wont get mad anymore.)"

"keep up the good work miss!"

wow! all the hard work that i have put in (taking the class on a short notice and preparing the lessons from scratch) seem worthwhile now. its the only push i needed to even do better this time around.

four highland legume stew

hungry and tired from work, i went straight to the kitchen, ladled a hefty serving of rice, forked a big slice of roasted chicken and scooped some vegetable stew into my rather small plate. what surprise was it to see that the stew consisted of pigeon peas, mung beans, lima beans and young pods of red beans. for the record, all four legumes were freshly harvested from the yard. my bad. i was too hungry to get a picture of the stew.