hiatus...

wow.  7 years.  my last post was 7 years ago.

Ramon was 15 y/o, going through a deep depression.  never-ending meltdowns that i thought will never end. almost daily summons to school to get him for being disruptive.  one of the toughest periods in our lives.  i thought things will never be better for him.

7 years later, he's now in college, attending a community school, and hoping to transfer to a university.  my Ramon has hurdled a lot of challenges in his young life but he still has a long way to go.  he still has so much to learn, so much to overcome.

i sometimes feel inadequate as a mother, feeling like i'm failing him, and still second guessing my parenting skills.  i guess i will always feel this way.  it is so hard being a parent.

7 years ago, Hillary lost the primary to Obama, which was really a bummer.  she should have won.  she would have been a better president, in my opinion, if i may stress that out.  i know there are a lot of haters out there, but i love Hillary Clinton!  i believed in her then and i still believe in her now.

7 years later, lots of buzz of her running in 2016.  i hope she does.  i supported her then, and will support her again.  but lots of challenges ahead.  her haters are in overdrive.  i hope she and Chelsea won't fuel the fire, and be more careful in choosing their words especially when talking about debts, finances, etc...  that comment from Chelsea just made me cringed.  she sounded out of touch, which i know she's not.  so...  just be careful.

a lot going on...

R had another meltdown yesterday in school... a huge one... he will be off school for the rest of the week... his teachers are very supportive, and that helps so much.

during the last session he had with his therapist last monday, he finally agreed to see a psychiatrist, and is now open to taking medication for his depression. that is really a big turnaround for him... his therapist assessed him as being extremely depressed. unfortunately, the earliest schedule we can get for a psychiatrist is in january yet. but with the incident in school yesterday, i'm hoping that R's therapist would be able to get an earlier schedule for us. i'm sincerely hoping, and praying for it...

amidst all these, i'm working on a new project, and studying two prospects, but i'm having a hard dividing whatever is left of my time... no question who my priority is, though... on top of it all, there's the usual housework, which if i would be in the Philippines, is not something i would have to worry about, and will surely be taken care of in a snap... that still does not make me want to relocate... not in 20 years maybe...?

but the real bummer is the snow... it's not heavy but it also has not stopped coming down since i drove hubby to the "T" stop this morning. there should be, at least, 3" of snow on the ground right now... ugghhh... i have no choice but to shovel if i want to be able to drive out later to pick up hubby... but i also don't want to do it too early as i may have to shovel again before 6pm. it is just before 2pm right now so i'm looking at doing it an hour later...

in the meantime, i'll post this now and tinker with my new project while worrying about a million other things at the same time...

uhhhmmm...

i don't know what to write about...
i'll put down whatever comes to mind...

a curfew was declared in metro manila for one night due to another coup attempt... hohummm...
obama is now leading hillary in the iowa primary race... grrr...
snow is coming our way tonight... double grrr...
i'm not ready to pick up a shovel...

i'm in a state of emotional and mental distress...
i sometimes wonder how i am functioning at all...
i need someone to talk to...
i badly need someone who will not only listen but also someone who will be empathetic...

right now, i'm just trying to push it back and bury it...
i don't want to shed anymore tears...
i can't believe how lonely i am...

so many chores... so little time...

been busy... although i spend time on my computer, i am working... dividing my computer time between completing trades at FLR and rewriting PLRs for hubby. on top of that, i do have household chores, as some of you may already know as i talk about them quite a bit. so this will be short... i'm busy...

woohooo...!!!

monday night football

• it was muddy
• turf was bad
• weather was bad
• players struggled
• in the end, my Steelers won!
• jeff reed's field goal, 3-0...

dancing with the stars

• marie & jonathan were fan favorites; they ended in 3rd
• mel & maks are good, technically; they were ahead in points
• in the end, helio & julianne hoisted the coveted mirror ball!
• they got both technique & charisma...

woohooooooo!!!

oprah factor...???

oprah on a campaign blitz for obama in iowa...
my thoughts... (not yours nor theirs)

oprah = "a million little pieces" by james frey
oprah = dr.(but-not-board-certified) jan adams
oprah = sexual abuse scandal in the oprah winfrey leadership academy for girls
oprah = "the secret" by rhonda byrne

and now...

oprah = obama

add that to the top of the list...

laundry, laundy, and more laundry...

another busy day for me. only time i sat down in front of my computer before now was this morning after i drove hubby to the "T" stop. i only checked my email and sent to my cousin in germany, a link to 60 minutes' Eagles' interview. her hubby is a big Eagles fan. after that, i loaded the washer again, and continued my ironing while waiting for the first load to finish. i also changed and washed towels and sheets, and right now have comforters in both the washer and dryer. i have not done any PLRs, but i'm hoping to finish one later ~ maybe... after dancing with the stars... it's the finals!!! i'm rooting for helio castroneves and julianne to win.

i'll jump in the shower before i pick hubby up at 6:05pm so... later...

hectic...

after breakfast, i spent most of my morning and early afternoon rewriting PLRs. badly-written PLRs. when you read one of them, it seems like whoever "wrote" them just strung along words, and passed them off as "articles"... there is no rhyme or reason to most of them... i finished 3 articles before i went to the grocery store. when i left, i saw neighbors from both sides clearing their yards of leaves. there were leaves all over our yard, too that's why i decided to clear them when i got back. besides, it will rain for the most part tomorrow.

i started around 4pm and stopped a little after 6. it was already quite dark that's why i decided to stop. took a quick shower before i started supper. prepared something simple and quick... i'm tired... after cleaning up, i loaded the washer, ironed some shirts while watching tv, and have just now finished folding the laundry.

i know. it was a hectic day... i squeezed a lot in a day when i had 3 days to spread them out to... that's me... super procrastinator...

i'm going to bed... g'night.

Hillary Clinton...

she's tough. she's smart. she's decisive. she's experienced.
she has a vision. she brings change.

she's a woman, a wife, a mother.
exceptionally capable and highly dependable.

Clinton may be her last name.
but she is her own person in each and every way.

gang up on her all you want.
she will never back down nor go away.

brace yourselves for a wild ride.
you're in for a big surprise.

this is the fight of our lives, and
we're in this to win and fly high.

go, Hillary!!!

i almost forgot... cyber monday...

we were watching the news last night, and all the newscasts had something to report & show about black friday. everybody took advantage of the special offers, what with the rising cost of gas and heating, the plummeting mortgage market, and the weakening US dollar, why not?

the upside to the weak dollar is the influx of europeans and canadians into US shores to do their holiday shopping. in fact, broadway's lights may be dimmed in NY due to the stagehand's strike, but the city and its visitors discovered other attractions ~ bus tours to various outlet malls or shopping trips, to put it simply. europeans are finding the best value for their euros...

one newscast also mentioned about cyber monday. an equivalent of black friday for online shopping. i almost forgot about it... i will surely check a lot of websites, and see if i'll get a better deal for a microsoft zune. i hope i also find something for hubby...

i started working on the 2nd batch of 5 PLRs again last night. one is so badly written i ended up rewriting it... i'll continue to work on the remaining 4 today but not before i'm done with some housework... i work on the PLRs 5 at a time... it takes off the pressure, psychologically...

by the way, i put a link to Hillary Clinton's website on top... i'm a fan, a supporter, and a believer... you can say all you want about her, but no one among the "boys" can hold a candle to her.

chaos continues... black friday...

i got up this morning with snow on the ground... it wasn't really much, dusting in some parts, but still snow on the ground... =(

before i forget, my cornish hen turned out good - tasty and juicy... we all had halves so there is still a half left. i also still have 2 crab cakes and a pot of the arroz ala cubana... lots of leftovers to choose from for dinner this weekend...

went out to get breakfast for saturday and sunday, but i didn't leave until 3pm in the hopes there wouldn't be a crowd anymore... wrong... the parking lot at walmart/giant eagle was still full... i found a parking spot almost at the farthest end of the lot. it was cooold... i went to walmart to grab the breakfast stuff, and also went around to check out the electronic stuff piled up on rows of aisle all over the store. there were still a lot of TVs, dvd players & recorders, printers, computers, etc... when you see that much people and that much stuff in a store, you wouldn't think gasoline prices are at $3+ a gallon, and rising... at least black friday pulled the stock market up, and hopefully did bring stores back into the black...

i bought a Christmas gift for R last night from amazon. a microsoft zune 30gb mp3/mp4 player... there were more good deals online than in stores, and the convenience is definitely a plus... i first saw the item at walmart's website, and found the price very reasonable at $99.99. i read the reviews, which were good, and checked the specs. by the time i was ready to order, the item is no longer available online but still is in selected branches, none of which is near our home... grrr... so i searched online and found amazon offering it for $89.99... but there is a catch - it won't be delivered until after Christmas... bummer... but i still got one because it was a good deal. it is a 30gb player!!! but i had to tell R he won't have his gift until new year's... =)

i still don't know what to give hubby... i hope my love and affection would suffice... =)

we give thanks...

from our family to yours, happy thanksgiving!

we got up this morning to strong winds and rain... blehhh... i was still aching from yesterday's yardwork... we had a late breakfast, as usual, then i prepped the cornish hens. i split them in half, rinsed them well, and patted dry. i placed each in cut foil and seasoned them with a mixture of seasalt, garlic powder, paprika and lemon&pepper seasoning. i wrapped each in the cut foil and refrigerated until it's time to cook them. they're now in the oven to be baked for 45 minutes or until browned. i'm basting every 15 minutes, and had just done the 2nd... the rice is also cooking right now, then i'll do the stuffing after the third basting. i hope the hens come out good... i did some tweaking on the recipe, which i always do so i'm not sure how it will be... hubby and R should keep their fingers crossed...

i'm goin'... enjoy your dinner, folks, and don't forget to give thanks...

leaves, leaves, and more leaves... criminal minds...

just as i wrote earlier, i raked and bagged the remaining leaves on our lawn. i didn't realize there was still that much because i filled all 10 bags, and still had to use one regular trash bag for some leaves i gathered at the back of the house.

i started just after 1:30pm and stopped at 4:20, and had about 2 10-minute breaks. one was when i crossed over to our neighbors, who were also bagging their leaves, to wish them a happy thanksgiving. next was when R came home from school. we had a small talk before he went into the house.

i didn't realize how tired and thirsty i was until i got inside the house. my backside was hurting. my arms were hurting; can barely lift them. my back was hurting. my shoulders were hurting my legs(knees) were hurting. i'm almost incapacitated once again... i also had 2 papercuts from the bags... one was between my thumb and point finger, and the other was under the nail of my middle finger... ouch!!!

when i went in, there was a message from hubby so i called. said he might come home earlier than usual... called back 10-15 minutes later to confirm he'll come home early. i told him i'm too tired and hurting to prepare anything for dinner and clean up afterwards. i suggested mcdonald's so off we went to mcd's after i picked him up...

i watched kid nation and criminal minds before i took a shower, which made me feel so much better, the shower, that is... tonight's episode of criminal minds was one of the best i've watched so far... love, love, love that show... i was really sad when mandy patinkin left the show. i thought he was a good fit and his character was different, but i'm starting to warm up to joe mantegna...

i'm so tired and sleepy... i'm off... g'night, people...

frenzy...?

there's been a noticeable frenzy at giant eagle and walmart since sunday. it was the start of Thanksgiving week so no suprise there... altho' i'm not a part of that frenzy, i love being in the midst of it. you'll see all sorts of shoppers, from the undecisive to the efficient and no-nonsense, to the hoarder...

i felt so tired and sleepy last monday so i went back to bed after i drove hubby to the "T" stop. i got up around 11am... i didn't do any housework but instead did some online stuff. i also cancelled the remaining offers i need to cancel to prevent charges on my credit card. i got some credits back from the cancellations so it was good.

since tuesday's forecast was warmer than usual, i decided to rake the leaves and pack them in brown compost bags. unfortunately, only 2 of the 5 bags were picked up since i wasn't done when the garbage truck came by. i actually needed more bags, too since there were so much leaves on the ground. some leaves that have been there longer and were rained on were already rotting when i raked them. it was kinda gross... i really am not a garden person but i have to do what i need to do... before i worked on our lawn, i went to 3 different stores to pick up some things. went to walmart, giant eagle and aldi's. oh. i also went to lowe's since there are no choices of rakes in walmart. i found a plastic one in lowe's, which makes more sense since it won't rust and it's teeth won't be bent. we already have a rake, which we got from qvc. it's not the the usual rake because it picks up leaves. the teeth are in a circular formation and you can "open-close" them similar to an umbrella. that's how you pick up the leaves. and since the teeth are in a circle, it's hard to use it as a rake versus one that has its teeth in a row.

i went back to walmart this morning to get more brown bags but they're out of it. good thing they have them at giant eagle so i got 2 bundles or 10 bags. i also bought a box of stovetop chicken stuffing just to try it. i'll prepare it as a side. i also bought a tub of bob evans mashed potato - already prepared so i don't have to. we don't need much anyway since hubby is not fond of it nor the stuffing. i just want R to have an alternative other than rice, to eat with the cornish hen. speaking of cornish hen, i hope my first attempt at it would be a success...

i'm just waiting for "the young & the restless" to come on at 1:30pm. i watch it everyday... one of my afternoon guilty pleasures... after y&r, i'll start with the leaves again. my arms and shoulders are still aching from yesterday's, but like i said, you got to do what you need to do...

y&r is on... gotta go...

my bad...

i have neglected my blog for several days now... my last post was wednesday yet, and there should have been another post that day(night) but...

i actually had a busy wednesday plus i was still kinda tired from the previous day's leaf-blowing task... my right arm up to my shoulder were actually sore. inspite of this, i was raring to go wednesday. it was a big day for me because...

last wedneday, i took oath as a new citizen of the United States of America. it was a very touching, emotional, and happy event. one of my most memorable alongside the day i got married and my son's birth. what usually is an event held in the courthouse was held that day in one of the ballrooms at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, thanks to the Rotary Club. the event was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, which they do every four years as part of their public service and community involvement.

there were close to 150-200 of us who took oath that day. a very diverse group of people... the ladies were each given a white rose, while all the new US citizens were given small American flags. i got very emotional when we sang God, Bless America and America, the Beautiful... i always do, anyway, everytime i hear these songs...

after the ceremony, hubby treated me to lunch in a nice restaurant in the highmark building. it was a wonderful event... a wonderful and significant day altogether.

the next day, i filled up the voter's registration form that was distributed during the ceremony together with passport applications to those who were interested. the passport application can wait but not my voter's registration. the primaries are coming up soon, and i can't wait to exercise my right to vote as a citizen of this country. and just so you know, i registered as a Democrat. even R was very excited about it...

i will always love my birth country, the Philippines, and i will always treasure and cherish its culture and tradition. i also love my adopted country for it is here where i experienced the true essence of freedom. this country has given me and my son so much in our 8 years of living here, and i am more than happy to give back whatever i can in return. words will never be enough to express my deepest appreciation and affection for this country.

on friday, i was a bit stressed out as the bathtub in our basement bathroom, which R uses, won't drain. i used the plunger on it but it didn't do anything. i called HSA Home Warranty that morning to get a referral for a plumber. after hours of waiting, back and forth phone calls, and to make long story short, a plumber finally came and fixed(unclogged) the drain. it's working fine now...

saturday is like any of our saturdays... laidback. i did a little bit of everything... did some ironing, checked on the status of my online project, which continues to be a disappointment to me, and i also started helping hubby again with revising articles, PLRs to be exact. i'd also like to learn how to create websites where hubby will put the PLRs i revised(rewrote). unfortunately, some PLRs are so badly written it's taking me longer to revise them, which also makes me spend more time than i would have liked to on them. that was one reason why i stopped revising before - badly written PLRs... (PLRs - private label rights)

today, another typical sunday... i set the alarm, which i always do on a sunday, so i'll get up in time for the cbs sunday morning show with charles osgood. today's show was all about food and thanksgiving. and speaking of thanksgiving, since we are not turkey-eaters, we always had ham. not this year. we're tired of it... since one cannot find a small-sized ham good for three, we always ended up eating ham for weeks on end, sometimes right up to a week before Christmas, and we don't want that anymore... so this year, hubby and i thought we should try cornish hen. still a bird, but a tastier, more manageable bird... =) i'll keep you posted...

i really don't want to dwell on it but will touch on it a bit...
you win some, you lose some... the Steelers lost to the "lowly" jets today - in overtime. 16-19. that hurts...

i'm going to bed...

the falling leaves... missing tuesday...

i've been thinking about using the leaf blower but can't find the right time to since it was either too cold or raining until...

tuesday morning... hubby told me that i really should use the leaf blower soon, and asked me to look outside. i was a little shocked to see our neighbor's driveway totally covered with leaves from our maple tree... i knew it was windy, and raining lightly when i drove R to school around 6:40 this morning, but i didn't expect that amount of leaves to fall on the ground... it was embarrassing, to say the least... so as soon as i got back from taking hubby to the train station, i took out the leaf blower and extension cord, and cleared the neighbor's driveway... i also tried clearing their lawn but i wasn't comfortable being on it so i just tried to pick up as much as i can... i think i used the blower for a little more than an hour... big mistake. when i finally decided to stop and put away the cord and the blower, i could barely lift my right arm without it shaking uncontrollably... it was from holding the blower so long without rest or any support... i practically didn't have any use of my arm unless i hold it up with my left hand or rest it on something to be able to have use of my hand. without support, my arm would just shake... it was so painful that i decided to take a muscle relaxant to ease the pain. it did help but it also made me so drowsy that i just had to sleep it off hoping it wears off sooner... another big mistake.

i'll spare you with the rest of the details. needless to say, i was incapacitated for the good part of tuesday, thus the absence of a blogpost. i was sorta, kinda knocked out...

one laptop per child...

this is a project started by Nicholas Negroponte to provide disadvantaged children around the world with an educational tool, and not just a laptop. the vision goes beyond a laptop, but starts with one... read more about the project here.

they are also currently running a program, Give One, Get One, for two weeks from november 12 to 26, and is open in the US and Canada. through Give One, Get One, the laptop will be made available to the public for the first time with a donation of $399. your donation will give you a chance to donate one laptop to a child in a developing nation and another one to a child in your life. learn more about it here.

a lot of big-named companies have followed suit in developing similar projects. i just hope they find a common ground and work together instead, and not compete in the guise of helping these kids, as to who has the better, more worthwhile project...

big props to Nicholas Negroponte and his team for sticking to his dream and making it a reality...

i just had to...

that is, say this...
i'm sooo sleepy... zzz... zzz... zzz...
g'night, people!
i am a happy girl. =)

it ain't pretty... the comeback kids...

as Ben Roethlisberger said, it wasn't pretty, but the bottomline is, the PittsburghSteelers won!!!

they were down 15 points in the first half, but came back strong in the second led by Big Ben, who rushed for 49 yards with 1 TD. did i tell you he is a QB?

cleveland had a chance to tie the ballgame, but kicker, phil dawson, missed a 52-yard field goal attempt... ouch...

final score, 31-28.

sweet! life is sweet.

that hurts...

with 2:37 minutes out in the 3rd quarter, i turned off the tv. it was painful to watch... in the first half, the browns had 3 TDs against the Steelers' 3 FGs, which translated into the score is 21-9... the Steelers failed to convert from the red zone three times(period)

so i walked away from the tv, turned to my computer to check on my emails, and get my mind off the game... but i just have to peek... so peek at yahoo sports i did... the score was 28-24 with 4:18 minutes to go. the Steelers has the ball IN THE RED ZONE!

i have to see this!!!