Happy Thanksgiving
There are thousands of things that we’re very thankful for but this one (that silly girl with the couldn’t-care-less expression) tops it all.
Happy Thanksgiving, wherever you are. Even if you don’t celebrate it, take a moment and remember all the blessings you received this year. No negative thoughts today please. Just like what Aggie said, choose to be happy. 
And while we’re being thankful, here are some of the things that made me happy last week:
Cheap, watched DVD movies that I bought from a friend
Great deals on personalized books. No need to decide what to buy for your favorite niece / nephew.
A surprise Starbucks treat from The Husband
My new laptop – so fast and powerful I could work all day without interruptions
A surprise bonus from my old company
Eating Banoffee ice cream for breakfast
Thursday Thirteen
13 Things I Love About Being A Mom
1. You have non-stop entertainment. Every little act, word that your child makes just makes you want to clap your hands or turn around to see if anyone else is witnessing the miracle.
2. You can shop guilt-free. I don’t go overboard when shopping for myself or The Husband but when it comes to Sandy, we’re all out. Too expensive is not in our vocabulary. We’re not filthy rich, we just buy her what we think she’ll like no matter how much it is. Of course, we’re doing this while she’s still young. When she gets a bit older, she’ll have to earn it if she wants to buy something.
3. You’ll never be alone again. Sometimes this is not a good thing but for me, this is a blessing because I’ll never have to worry that I will sleep alone at night.
4. You have a one-member fan club.
5. Mommies flock together. You’ll always have plenty of things to talk about. No awkward moments. Whether it’s parenting, buying items for the house like Kohler sinks, renovating or deciding between being a SAHM or WAHM, the time is never enough.
6. Arts and crafts. You now have a reason to paint again, spend time organizing photos, buy paper scrapbooking, etc.
7. Re-visit and rediscover old things from your child’s eyes
8. The excitement of dropping your child to school. Not mentioning the nervousness on her first day.
9. Experience Halloween, Christmas, New Year in another level.
10. You have a reason to slack off at household chores because you’re busy raising your kid. 
I do this all the time bwahahaha
11. You can be the boss.
12. You have the power to shape a person’s mind.
13. The thought that someone loves you unconditionally
Overspending
The Husband is all about spending. Here I am trying my best not to check out the Black Friday sales online and all he can talk about is what we need to buy this weekend. It includes a new DVD title, tv stands that can serve as his workstation/music area, new headset and USB keyboard vacuum. You see, we have this list of WANT items that we will purchase only if we have extra money or if there’s no planned expenses that month. We try to cross off items from the list as much as we can but I realize just now that it’s getting longer instead of shorter.
Good thing we don’t have to spend on diapers anymore and that we saved plenty of money for the past three years that I’ve breast fed. However, Sandy’s milk (Nestle Fresh milk) intake has increased lately so we’re adding about Php250-Php300 on our grocery budget weekly. Add to the mix her trike ride, tuition, extra curricular expenses in school, snacks and merienda at home. I told The Husband that we should cut back on our expenses but when we looked at the things that we spend money on monthly, we couldn’t find anything that we don’t need. Well, aside from Sandy stuff that is. So if you think about it, Sandy is really the culprit here. 
WW – The Big Whale
Weekend Update
Friday – Had lunch with my client at Circles. Got my laptop wahoooo!! Will blog about this in detail soon. I’m just glad that my client agreed to bring it home with him. He didn’t push through with his plans to take advantage of the 3-nights free stay at this hotel in las vegas so he arrived here early.
Saturday – went to UST for my mom’s check up. The Husband and Sandy came with us but since the hospital corridor was too crowded, they just walked around UST and ate at McDo until we’re done. My mom is fine except for her high blood. She needs to undergo some tests too just to rule out the major problems.
Went to the mall after that. Bought my Twitter "baby" her wishlists which took us forever to order. Bought myself some graphics software too just in case I can’t downgrade from Vista. Good thing Sandy fell asleep in the car so she was in a good mood. We decided to go ahead with our plans to watch Madagascar at Greenbelt3. It was Sandy’s first time and we were so prepared for her tantrums. She was soooo behaved thanks to her bucket of popcorn and strawberry lemonade. It helped that our seats were located in the not so dark area so she was very happy. She couldn’t sit anymore during the last twenty minutes though so I just let her walk around and dance. Had dinner at CYMA (gawd this place is fantastic) and ordered four courses. Servings were huge that we only got to eat the first two. A first for us
Sunday – we tried the newly opened Robinson’s grocery store near our place. It’s just a five to seven-minute ride from our house. As expected, the items are much P3-P5 more expensive but if the crowd is going to be like that all the time, then I don’t mind the difference. Spent the afternoon sleeping (yessss!!!!) and the whole evening installing Windows XP on my new laptop while teaching Sandy how to play Jumpstart on my old laptop.
I’ll Call The Nurse
This is what Sandy’s yaya tells her whenever she’s throwing a tantrum. As soon as Sandy hears this, she’ll stop what she’s doing and will try to behave. I always hear the two of them talk like this but I don’t tell the yaya to stop if that’s how she can control Sandy.
Sandy: Ate Arlyn, I’m angry!! Get that, get that!! You should give it to me or I’ll get angry. (not so sweet eh?)
Yaya: No, it’s not allowed. Mommy will get angry.
Sandy: No no no no. Give. It. To. Me.
Yaya: Hala, sige, I’ll call the nurse. Hello Nurse? (pretending to call someone)
Sandy: Nooooo. Sorry Ate Arlyn. Sorry, sorry. I will not do it again.
So you see? It obviously works. One time, I saw that her yaya is trying to annoy Sandy by pretending to sleep. Sandy was getting frustrated because she couldn’t wake her yaya up. The next minute, I heard her saying this –
Sandy: Wake up!! Wake up ate Aryln!! Sige ka. Naku, wait. I’ll call the nurse. I’ll call the nurse!
But her yaya remained sleeping.
Sandy: Hala ka. Wake up!!! Wake up. Mommy, she doesn’t want to wake up!
Then she stopped talking all of a sudden. When I looked at her, she was getting her cellphone then she sat on the floor beside her "sleeping" yaya.
Sandy: Nurse? Hello Nurse? Are you there Nurse? Someone is sleeping here. Her name is ate Arlyn. Maybe you should come and give her injection okay?
That woke her yaya up. Who wouldn’t when you have Sandy for a playmate
The Big Five
Just celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversay last Sunday.
Boracay 2008 – part II
3rd day at Puka Beach Because of the strong waves, we decided not to take the boat to Puka beach. We just rented a tricycle and had the driver pick us up after lunch. Puka is one of the many things that I like about Boracay. It’s always so quiet and peaceful and still have the island charm intact. There are plenty of locals there who are more than willing to help you find the perfect spot, lend you a beach mat, tell you stories, etc. Of course, one reason is because they are trying to sell their wares but I don’t care.
Staying/shopping at Puka is so much different when you’re shopping at Station 2′s D’mall. Plus I always love hanging out at the beach, either sleep, drink, read or eat. There are plenty of shades there too because of the trees surrounding the place.
The Puka Beach 
Me and Sandy 
More random photos
To see them all, visit Boracay 2008 set on my Flickr.
Boracay 2008
This post has been delayed for so long so I am just going to let the photos tell the story. The trip was planned months before our 5th wedding anniversary but a month before that, my brother-in-law and his family decided to join us. I was so happy about this because it meant Chloe, Sandy’s cousin will be there as well. When Sandy has a playmate, she seems to forget about me. I’m so looking forward to a couple of day’s rest and Sandy having someone to hang out with might just be the solution.
As per Jody’s suggestion, we stayed at Boracay White House resort at Station 1. It’s beside Two Seasons, Sur and Seawind. Station 1 is our favorite area of Boracay because the sand here is so fine and the beach doesn’t get too crowded. You just have to take a trike ride if you want to shop and eat at D’mall. That is, if you hate walking down the beach. It has been raining days before our trip so I didn’t hope for a good weather that much. Plus the night before our flight, I read from the news that there was a storm coming. I was really prepared to stay inside the room and waste money on junk food and drinks.
So here’s the first batch on our first day. (click any of the thumbnails to view the bigger version)
We were advised to hurry up at the Caticlan port because a storm was supposed to arrive in two hours. Just our luck eh? 
Inside the Family Room of White House Boracay resort. 
No storm yet. On our way to d’mall to buy some board shorts, have lunch and buy groceries for the kidlets. 
We spent the entire afternoon sleeping and drinking cocktails when the storm came. Happy Hours were from 7AM-7PM so we took advantage of the room service and ordered anything that we can drink. The kids had so much fun despite the weather. I brought loads of activities so they won’t get bored inside the room. I wanted to bring a laptop for myself but I was afraid The Husband might not be too happy about it.
Second day – Sun is up! 
At the pool / Breakfast at the beach cabanas 
More photos of Sandy taking car
e of her cousin Chloe (so ready to be an ate ) 
Part II up next.
Neverending sales
So many warehouse sale, so little time (and if I may say cash too). First, the Toy Kingdom sale at Megamall, then the Richwell Toy sale which I’m still planning to go to and now, the Gingersnaps warehouse sale in Pasig. You all know how I love the designs from Gingersnaps and although I think some of them are too pricey for a toddler’s shirt, I still buy them. So what more if they’re on sale right??? I promised I won’t shop anymore because I’ve already bought so many stuff online last October with the reason that they’re for Christmas. Yet here I am wondering how much I am willing to spend AGAIN for these upcoming sales. The Husband doesn’t really care unless he needs to drive me, which will be the case for Gingersnaps. 
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About Joy
I am Dzoi, a 28 year old Filipina who currently works as a web designer. I am a loving wife to my equally loving husband Sherwin and a mommy cow to my 2-year-old daughter, Sandy.
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