Fifty Times The Worst Book

I read books a lot. I use to feel ashamed of telling people that reading books is my favorite hobby because I do not want people to think that I'm a nerdy, boring, serious type of a girl. Good thing I learned to accept myself just as I am. I'm also glad that I am a bookworm. I know which book is good and which one is bad.

Speaking of bad. One of the worst books I read is the much-hyped, Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Yep, I read those three. It is not because of the content because I learned a few tricks and tips here and there. Ahaha! I don't really know if the book depicted BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism) itself since I have never been interested or even curious about that topic.

The plot is ho-hum. This is the reason why I seldom read pure love stories. My mind don't get stimulated. The characters are bland as well. I don't know. but they are just not that interesting. How can I forget the lines? "Stop biting your lips!", "Good point well made, Miss Stelle/Mrs. Grey", "Oh My!" These are almost present in every chapter. Ughh!

This book is badly written. The author has a writing skill of a novice writer. It makes me feel like I can make my own book and publish it to the world.  I don't want to criticize someone of how bad he/she is in writing because I know I'm not in the position to do so. Just look at my blog? I write things as I would say it. But if you're going to publish your book to the world, wouldn't you think grammar is as important as the story?

This is just my opinion. I'm sorry to the book's fans. I don't understand why a lot of girls would consider this a great book when clearly, it's not. I just hope the movie version would be a lot better.  For those who haven't read the book, I have an e-book (epub) I can share. Just leave me your email addrsss. Read it (if you can bear it) and tell me what you think.

I Want A Boy

Now that I'm a mother of a 15-month boy, the most asked question I get is "When will you plan on baby number two?" Then, a follow up statement of "You should have a baby girl next time. Para quota na." Well, if I get pregnant again, I will not care if it's a boy or a girl. I'll just wish for a normal and healthy baby - that's all. And I'd probably stop at three if it's up to me.

BUT. IF I HAVE A CHOICE, I prefer another boy. Sure, it's really fun to dress up a baby girl and to buy all those pink and purple girly stuff, but in my experience, baby boys are a lot sweeter than girls. Baby boys have a different kind of charm than those of baby girls. Maybe it's also because of the law of attraction. Contrary on what other think, I am actually fond of kids, so I babysat a lot of my younger cousins and even a neighbor in my teens. Boys tend to kiss and hug much while girls tend to kiss and smile a lot. I guess I'm a hug kind of person, huh? Or maybe, I'm just used to a dominantly-male family?

Another reason why I may prefer a baby boy is that baby boys are easy to take care. Not too demanding since they want to do things on their own (aren't girls are like this as well?) You wouldn't have to fuss about an insect bite that may ruin your baby girl's skin in the future, a dark complexion, or a big nose that might make her feel insecure, and so on.

www.123rf.com

Also, since I looove shopping, how can I possibly resist all the cute baby stuff I've been seeing online and at the mall? It would be better for my wallet and bank account if I have another boy in the future. What will I do with all those blue baby stuff in our closet? =) I also can't think of a cute name for a baby girl. I wanted "Ivanna" before but since a close friend named her baby Yvanna, I couldn't think of a girl name that I really wanted. On the other hand, I have already 3 sets of boy names I want to give my future baby. I know. I am that dense sometimes. =P

I wouldn't have to think about this anytime soon anyway. My husband and I have talked about this already. While we are excited to add to our family, we feel we still have to take and cherish our time as we watch Quino grow up fast and learn new things. That's why, we hope that we'll get visited by the stork again in a year or two. Who knows anyway? Just thinking aloud. 

I Miss Blogging

It has been almost two months since my last blog entry. Blame it to my new working schedule (nightshift) combined with my very active toddler (quino is now 14 months), blogging just turned out to be the last in my priorities.

 

Now I'm back. I have a lot of things to blog about but don't know where to start. (Pause) (After ten minutes....) Let me just list down what happened in the last two months...

 

• I stupidly slammed our kitchen door and caught my nails. Blood clot. Ouch! This started my fondness for Orly nail polishes
 
• My ezcema has gotten worse. I am now using oatmeal soap and lotion all the time. Hmp! an addition to my growing skin care expenses
 
• I discovered Paypal. Just now. =)
 
• Remember habagat last month? yep, my house was also flooded
 
• I booked a flight my family to Cebu at Cebu Pacific for a discounted price. But forgot my military time so I had to rebooked which was more expensive than the discounted price
 
• I'm feeling envious of my pregant co workers. Do I really want to have another baby this soon?
 
• Still obssessed with cloth diaper

Quino Turned Uno!

Two weeks had passed since my little boy turned 1. I badly want to create a blog entry but since Quino has learned to walk, but looking after him now takes a lot of my time. Add to that, I've been busy with my spanish class so the only thing I can put aside is my blog. Anyway, I'm back and I want to share my baby's first birthday.

June 17 was the day Quino turned one! Time flies os fast!I was looking forward to this day since like every mom, I want to celebrate every milestone in my son's life. We had a race car party at Max Restaurant for 60 people (plus less than 20 kids). This is just what we wanted - simple and intimate.

As usual, while planning this party, I had a lot of those "I want" moments. (Un)fortunately for me, my husband kept me grounded and would frequently point out what he feels like the essentials. So what's a mommy to do? Oh yes! DIY!! It started on our wedding and from then, I enjoyed planning and doing a few Do It Yourself projects. I regard myself now as a crafty momma. The picture below shows the box and tag I made. The scanned invitation, on the other hand, was our idea but the final output was enhanced by the layout artist who printed it for us. I wanted to do a lot of DIY decors that I painstakingly searched online but the husband insists on a budget for P35,000-P40,000 only. Oh well, simplicity is beauty anyway.

When the big day came, we went to the church and ask the priest to bless my baby boy on his birthday. The priest was so fond of Quino since he was smiling a lot and showed his tricks (beautiful eyes, pa-cute, bad small, flying kiss, etc.) I was also relaxed the whole time but still worried that no one will celebrate with us. Afterall, it was also Father's Day so I know the invited kids will celebrate it with their family. Good thing we are blessed with loving friends so the majority of the guests actually came but a couple of invited kids weren't able to join. Anyway, it was fun and surprisingly well organized. The host (provided by Max) seemed experienced enough and obviously handled a lot of parties already. I was also expecting to see the typical loot bags on a paper or plastic bag, but I was surprised again as the bag and the "loots" it selves don't look cheap. Not to mention, their party hats made of rubber material looked cute on kids. Having my son's first birthday here, turned out to be a great decision. I will definitely get them again for future kid's party.

Here's the breakdown our our expenses:

Max Restaurant (60 adults and 20 kids): Php30,000 (round off)

Quino's Attire: Racecar suit (Php1300) and Ferrari Poloshirt (Php250): Php1450

Invitation 25 pieces: Php650

Standee (gift from an officemate) : Php0.00

Giveaways: Ferrari Keychain (Php1400 at 40 pcs) and Foldable Fan (Php210 at 30 pcs): P1610

Box materials: Php345

Lootbags: Sweets and Notepads: Php525

Cake by Sid's Party Favor: Php2600 ===========================================================

TOTAL........... P37,180

So you see, I did stayed within our budget. It was actually less! I don't have anything bad to say about Max Restaurant except that the party started 30 minutes late, other than it is okay. My only regret as usual is my lack of preparation and convincing powers to hubby. I should have insisted on getting a photographer. I had a few names in mind already. My husband is into Photography, but I forbid him to be our official photographer. He said he asked his brother instead to be our photographer. I agreed because he's also into Photography too. The only problem was, he was late. Perhaps he forgot about his role or possibly my husband did not clarify it to him. Nevertheless, I am sure glad DSLR and handy digicams were all over the place. I get to grab pictures in FB from friends. As for the decorations, it was simple but I really want to have an elaborate setup. My son enjoyed the balloons hanging over the place as well as the lights, so it was okay, I guess that will count for something.

Hmm... next time. I'll make sure that my son's next birthday party (planning one his 3rd birthday) will be grand. After all, he'll be able to remember it.

Go, Go, Go! Buy Buy Buy!

One of my responsibilities as a wife is budgeting our finances, and I have been good at it. Being a natural stingy (kuripot), I can browse an online store or go malling half a day without buying anything. But lately, I can't help myself from doing the exact opposite. I'm blaming this for the love of my son. Hehehe! By the way, I seldom use my credit card anymore, I pay cash that's why I can hear the cry of despair from my wallet.

So what have I been buying? Like what I said, mostly for my son. Mustela products and cloth diapers. Since I have skin asthma, I am paranoid that my son inherited my sensitive skin. Therefore, I want to use the best hypoallergenic product available. My research points me to Mustela, which is freaking pricey! Arrgh!! As for the cloth diaper, I'm part of this facebook group called Modern Cloth Nappying Pinays, who uses cloth diaper for their babies. This group talks about cloth diapers and because of that, almost everyday, someone would host group buys (of cloth diapers, of course) from China or US websites. And that is the problem; I can't help myself from getting slots because I'm in love with Grovia and Bumgenius brands, which are only available in the US group buys (read: expensive). This group is very dangerous and addicting. Most mommies are in a constant state of panic buying. Hahaha!

it started with these two...

fresh from the laundry... some of my son's nappies

And what do I get to buy for myself? Nothing specific in particular. Just a few books, a few cosmetics from Mac and Nars, a couple of nail polish from Opi, and some stocks of my favorite stuff from VMV Hypoallergenic. Waah! My son's first birthday is coming pretty soon and I might have to serve pandesal with cheese and Zesto to his guests.