GRATITUDE JOURNAL

http://instagram.com/p/drDF0Jmse2/ Tomorrow is September in some countries, ahead of the rest of the world.  It's the start of the "'ber" months as we say.  This month too happens to be the time for the Mooncake fest, or the Mid-Autumn Festival. For this year, the lunar celebration is officially on Sept. 19. It's really quite early, but hubby, being Chinese, and I bought a sample of mooncake today.  We'll soon find out if it's any good.  *Excited*

http://instagram.com/p/dqoRZgGsXl/ Father and son match... better to play the real chessboard than the chess app on ipad.

http://instagram.com/p/dolQXLGsbT/ We were at Laguna Garden Ayala Terraces for their callos today. This is usually served as a snack item paired with bread. We ordered two of this for our early dinner. Hubby said, "Gone in 5 minutes!" My thought bubble, "Parang sininghot lang?"

http://instagram.com/p/doc8SCmsUO/ What we got for P130 - hot cafe mocha, cold cafe mocha and a cheap Fridate for me and hubby while the bub was at the toys shop. Bo's buy 1 take 1 promo using any BPI credit card is a good deal I look forward to. This is not a sponsored post, btw. Just sharing...

http://instagram.com/p/dnyVc2msea/ A healthy meal doesn't have to cost a lot. This fresh lumpia was bought for P50 and paired with a bottle of fresh lemoncito drink with honey for P20.

http://instagram.com/p/djl3BQGsWd/ A photo posted by Linnor🇵🇭 (@linnor) on Aug 28, 2013 at 5:01am PDT

http://instagram.com/p/djaGGUGsZT/ The son is now getting the hang of taking my pictures using my camphone... :D

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http://instagram.com/p/dgGgrhGsVT/ White connotes cleanliness (for clean intentions by those in power)...  White also shows the absence of "political" colors or affiliations.

http://instagram.com/p/ddxtLWmsT7/ #scrappork #millionpeoplemarch

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http://instagram.com/p/dbaMLQmsVP/ Jake's combo: apple, banana, strawberry, spinach, romaine lettuce and milk... My combo: wheatgrass and apple. Because Jake's was a cup of smoothie, he got his dose of fiber too. Son needs a bit of prodding though, but I'm happy that slooowly, this is getting to be a habit. Meanwhile, upon seeing my dark green cup of juice, hubby remarked, "That's a lot of chlorophyll!" LOL

http://instagram.com/p/dZurUFGscB/ I love Saturdates!  Saturdays allow us to stay out however late we want to, without being worried of sleeping in the next day. 

http://instagram.com/p/dZi_96GsWz/ Hubby and I very rarely go out after dinner.  The few times that we do would just be to treat the bub and the elder sons to dessert, a drive-through ice cream or french fries.   Tonight, on the instigation of my good friend D, we agreed to meet at 9pm for some catching up.  It has been quite a while since we last sat down to talk.  And, of course, it's always a great time spent with friends from way back.  :)

http://instagram.com/p/dY0h1BmsUN/ They were trying out the wheel pose, on the bed, while watching tv.

http://instagram.com/p/dX4PRkmsfc/ Namaste.  One thing I learned in yoga, you just have to do it to reap its benefits, regardless of how (awkward) you (may) appear.  Nobody's looking, because everybody's working on themselves anyway.  :)   That pic was during a hot vinyasa class a few days ago in the company of instructors, old-timer yogis and yoginis.

http://instagram.com/p/dWM5g5msTe/ That day the hubby was out of the country, the extended family (my 2 sons, my mother, brother and sis-in-law)  went to the beach...  Little did we know that something life-altering was about to happen.  A few weeks after that beach trip,  my pa, the kids' lolo was rushed to Makati Med for a quadruple heart bypass (which he survived, thank heavens!). That rocked our world and made us realize to appreciate every moment we have with each other.

http://instagram.com/p/dTmS9tmsbm/ Son no. 3, our youngest in the family...  He doesn't look like he only weighed 2 pounds when he was born months before this pic. 

http://instagram.com/p/dTQlJCmsXD/ These mini pancakes from Pancake House were shared with my yoga buddy and cousin M after our hot vinyasa session this morning.   Verdict: hot vinyasa = two thumbs up, key lime pancakes = waste of P200.

http://instagram.com/p/dSuZ4fGsR1/ My alarm goes off at 445am and every 15min after that until 6am, every school day.  In between, hubby, son and I rush through shower, breakfast and clean-up.  Then off to school we go trying to beat the rush hour traffic.  I'm sure this schedule is the same for most families with school age kids. :)   So now I'm early for yoga class.

http://instagram.com/p/dQfPnzGsSy/ It's good that more and more people are engaging in yoga for their fitness regimen. See the pics, even real men do yoga these days! On rare occasions, the only downside is having a lot of attendees in one session. Hehe. I guess it's because it's a holiday today and most found the 830am session the most convenient... not too early and not too late. Hubby (in blue) and I had a good ashtanga practice and proof of that is the pound of sweat I lost after an hour and a half. Namaste.

http://instagram.com/p/dON4m9GsZ6/ GOD bless our country and the people in this time of need.  Typhoon Maring caused torrential rains in unprecented proportions resulting to widespread flooding in Luzon. Through it all, the Filipinos go about their day with a smile and heroic display of resilience. photo reposted from gabvalenciano and wenchie318

http://instagram.com/p/dLxMYOGseK/ My brother took this shot during the summer of 2004 at the Maribago Bluewater resort. Son #2 seemed to be giving son #1 a sand shower. Son #3 was about 2 months at that time, so no pic out in the open.

http://instagram.com/p/dJjoz7msZ_/ Though I've always been a sucker for sale, I don't buy for the heck of it... except that time a few days ago. How do you resist that P295 price tag for a Promod top?

http://instagram.com/p/dHiq5QmsYO/ Tying my hair into a neat bun is something I have to get used to. I only know how to braid or tie my hair into a ponytail. This time around, I made use of a bun maker. It's not a breeze but hopefully it gets easier the more I do it.

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http://instagram.com/p/dBtJ4GmsXQ/ Throwback Thursday This photo was taken almost 25 years ago during our office party at SGV Makati.  Hubby and I were still single then. When hubby saw this pic on my Instagram, the first thought he had was about that tie in the picture.  He remembered buying it from St. Michael's for Php800,  at that time when we were making a "whopping" monthly salary of Php4000 each gross of deductions!  LOL Ah, those were the days.  

That Friday, we were very early in school, because hubby and I were both excited and curious about our special day as parent-teachers to our son's class. Several students out of 35 boys and girls in Jake's section were already in the classroom as well. I could tell the students want to come in early so they could get extra time to play with their pet "kisses" stored in water bottles... ... or drop to the floor on their hands and knees to play "dampa" with popsicle sticks... Hmm, no wonder Jake's hands and pants are grimy everyday. LOL The bell rang and everyone scampered to their respective places amazingly without tripping over the big roller bags in between chairs. Geez, these bags were little suitcases! Led by the prayer leader, the class recited their morning prayer, sang the Pambansang Awit, recited the Panatang Makabayan and Hearter's Creed. Then the adviser warmly introduced hubby and I to the class. We were greeted with a re

He felt slightly better after I gave him a sponge bath, a bowl of hot noodle soup and a dose of tempra, and after hubby gave him his jbee fried chicken for dinner.

Hubby will have an early meeting tomorrow so he won't be able to join me in my morning yoga sesh. Here he is demonstrating his side plank... while in his regular non-yoga clothes. :)

Another entry to my #linnorstoleherlook hashtag on IG. :)

Add to that "thinspiration" too. Next to her image, I look huge. Haha. Wait... I am huge. Yoga tomorrow!

Having an annoying cold is my perfect excuse to indulge a bit. So after dinner, we drove to La Marea at IT Park for their warm brownie cup. Hubby and I had half a portion each and mine was gone in 5 minutes. Ah sugar rush... I think I feel better now.

Jake belongs to that group of kids who think they derive their dose of veggies from eating French fries. He is the type who will pick on his food and take out the bits of onion, garlic and tomato. That's how much he doesn't want most of the veggies.  And the only veggies he would eat are squash and eggplant, and only recently, mongo. I think we just found a way to make him have his veggies. At the food market we go to every Saturday, we came across juiced veggies mixed with fresh fruits. Today we had stalks of organic "malunggay" (moringa oleifera or horseradish tree) mixed with a couple of fresh oranges.  Luckily, Jake loved it.   This should jumpstart Jake's appetite for leafy greens. We don't mind if it's a bit pricey. It's organic and fresh, and we only have it every Saturday and Sunday as a healthy treat.

We were invited to dinner last night at DuZ Grill and it was our first time to see the place / try their food.  Their burger was good and I liked the ribs too.  Plus, the tenderloin with spinach and their mango dessert weren't bad either.  :) We'll keep the place in mind for when we crave for their specialties. Because their prices are very reasonable, there will be a next visit soon.

Chorizo pasta and salad.

Skinny me in a dress sewn by Ma.  Photo was taken in the early 70s  in Surigao... #flashback

Previous answers on activity or test sheets are covered, each sheet is photocopied. Then, where necessary, I rewrite the answer choices (like in the photo above). And ta-da... It's a "new" blank review questionnaire for Jake.  Would you know of a faster way to do this? I've tried making reviewers from scratch, but it takes me a longer time to do so. I've tried retyping on the computer, but when there are illustrations, I hit a dead end. Erasing previous answers is a no-no, because the papers are collected near the end of the quarter for tallying of scores. Though very tedious, I find it less time consuming for us to cover and reproduce, until we come up with a better alternative.   Normally, this is done as soon as activity sheets or test papers are returned, so I don't panic and get overwhelmed when preparing for the quarterly tests. While doing it, I get to see where the son is strong and where he needs more help. Then we reinforce with more readi

When you have lunch or dinner with friends who shun photos (hihi), I just make do with a photo of my food. Meet the ravioli I had from Gusto Urban Cafe at IT Park. My verdict: thumbs-up for the ravioli, bruschetta and salmon pasta but prepare to smell like food when you leave the place. They seriously need to have a better exhaust system. Also, the place gets easily noisy because of glass walls. You will need to strain your ears during a conversation. And lastly, a little pet peeve of mine... there were flies hovering while we ate.