Sneaky

We've been trying to transition Swe-cha to use Playtex nursers (w/ the disposable liners) for our upcoming trip. We wanted to bring as few things as possible and the disposables will bring us so much closer to that goal.

It just occurred to me how sneaky manufacturers are. When you buy Playtex nipples, they come in packages of 2s. When you buy the extra retaining rings and caps, they come in 3s. See the difference ?

They pull you into a cycle of buying. You buy a pack of nipples and a pack of rings/caps and you end up with an extra ring / cap so you want to just buy more nipples w/c will bring you w/ an extra nipple. To end up utilizing everything you'll get pulled into buying 3 packs of nipples which will give you 6 and 2 packs of rings/caps which will give you another 6.

Sneakyyyyy!

Dream vacation

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Kissimmee Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having a baby changes everything - your priorities get jumbled around, your activities (especially those w/c last late into the night) get curbed, and now that I'm still breastfeeding, even what I eat undergoes careful scrutiny. One of the things that remains unchanged is my dream vacation to Kissimmee, Florida.

I've always wanted to go to Walt Disney World and Sea World and now that Universal Studios has that new Harry Potter theme park ? I'm even more stoked. In fact, I've wanted to go to Kissimmee for so long that I've discussed having this trip long before hubby and I had our son. In fact, I've been talking about this so long that it was probably even before we got married!

I've always envisioned myself staying at the Disney Magic Kingdom resort, but since seeing some pictures of my friend's stay at the Animal Kingdom resort ? I changed my mind and want to stay at the latter instead. My son, Swe-cha, would enjoy looking at the animals over our balcony. He would love watching the animals - those he has only seen in videos so far - come to life. It would be a sight the whole family would love and enjoy. Imagine waking up to a view of giraffes walking just below your windows and a family of them feeding a few yards away or how about being on a real safari and be able to see animals at close range ?

Wow.

I can't wait till my son is big enough to travel (without too much baby gear in tow) and appreciate these sights. I would also love it if my sister and her family (especially my nephews) could come along this trip with us. It'll be a riot!

Love declarations

A guy-friend and I were talking and he tells me that his girlfriend (his first, he started this relationship early this year, they are both in their 30s) asked him one day, "Hon, how would you feel if I told you that I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together?"

His response ? "Duh, dunno."

Needless to say, he spent the next few days trying to appease a very unhappy gf. He tells me that he should learn the art of pambobola lest he spend a significant portion of his life in the future trying to appease and/or get his lady to forgive him.

So this got me thinking... and I was challenged - and I do love challenges! How does one answer this question without compromising oneself?

Guy friend says, he should've answered back, "I can't wait to live with you," and that would've cut the conversation short.

And I tell him that while it gives the impression that he does want to marry the girl soon, it still does not sound right. And he expected the conversation to end at that statement ? On the contrary, that would've sparked even more conversation - one that leads to something he may not be ready for yet - because if I were the girl and I were in a mood to get a ring on my finger, I would've responded with a "I'm glad we're on the same page, I want to marry you and live with you too. Let's start wedding preparations," and with that sentence, he'd just (sort of) proposed because how many good girls live with their guys w/o the benefit of marriage ?

How would I have answered the question ? Guy is serious about their relationship and want this to end in marriage eventually, not now. So I would've answered with honesty but I would've thrown the girl a bone to make it less brutal, something like:

"You know that I've liked you for more than 20 years, right ? Every day when I wake up, it still amazes me to think that you and I are in this relationship. I still cannot believe that you are my girl, that I am your guy and that, finally, after all these years of quietly loving you, you now love me back. So please forgive me if my brain cannot process and answer your question yet, it's still trying to catch up with my racing heart.

O diba ? Mala-pelikula.

But girls... really, we should know not to ask leading questions like these unless we're quite sure of the response. Otherwise, you just might not like what you hear. Okay ?

Mommy is Sick

There is no reprieve for Mommy when she gets sick. Daddy tries to do more than his share of babysitting & chores, but when Mommy sees him get irate when baby is fussy, it's Mommy to the rescue again.

Sigh. There's no rest for the weary.

But I have to admit that being a mommy, even a sick one, does have its rewards. Last Thursday was when this all started and I felt the worst, Swe-cha cooperated with me and let me snooze a little bit more when he woke up from his nap. Instead of crawling away, as he usually does when he wakes up, he sat beside me and just played with his teether and pacifier. He would turn around to look at me and / or touch my face every now and then and make little mewling sounds as if to say, "mommy, hope you're feeling better". He did that for a good 10, 15 minutes before he decided that it was enough and he wanted to go crawling. By then, I had had a good rest and was able to go chasing after him until Daddy got home that night.

Teaching

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.

My career in software development has been hiatus for 9 months now and sometimes, I feel like I may need to consider a career-change and go into some field that is more stable, if not more lucrative. Times like these make me remember the career paths that I have considered when I was younger one of which was to be a teacher. I used to teach in my former high school as a scouting instructor and I loved being able to share and impart knowledge with my students.

I wonder, how about if I consider checking out the program information at USC Rossier School of Education MAT@USC and see if I can maybe pursue a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree online ? This school has been ranked #22 in the United States and #9 among private Universities by US News and World Report. They offer an innovative combination of highly-interactive online teaching techniques and local area experience. They also have a ground-breaking tuition fee reimbursement program for MAT@USC graduates.

What do you think ? Would you be interested in going for a teaching degree online ? As for me, I can be a teacher... I think. After all, I used to be the demo dolly (haha!) for our company a few years ago. I'd be asked to teach others - customers and our own consultants - how to use and set up our product and while it made me nervous to be in the spotlight, I did enjoy knowing that in the end, I was able to impart the knowledge to my audience.