I love my husband for a thousand and one reasons, but since it’s infeasible to put them all in writing, I just decided to list my top ten in time for his birthday;

10. He is a Clown. He can make me laugh even in my most worried/problematic state. Others may think that I play for laughs and he is the serious one, in real life, it’s the opposite.

9. Very generous (He should be thankful that I am not a shopaholic, haha!). One of the reasons why God has been showering him and his family with so much blessings.

8. He makes sure that we still spend time as a couple despite the busy schedule and having 3 kids. Our favorite thing to do? Eat and have coffee at Bonifacio Highstreet. Hopefully in the near future we’ll eat out less but travel more.

7. He is a loving, responsible and supportive father. He prepares everything for the kids’ future and gives them more than what’s expected of him.

6. He is independent, intelligent and street smart… a few of the reasons why I was so sure I should be married to him.

5. Unpredictable and risk-taker. Or else he would be boring.

4. He lets me see his vulnerable side (even Superman has kryptonite) and makes me feel needed.

3. He has taught me so much and made me realize that life is not a fairy tale. What we have shared together (trials, victory, dreams, failure, sickness, joy, tears, laughter, comfort, faith and so much more), as a whole, is irreplaceable.

2. He is very loving and sweet. No need to expound…

1. Most of all, he is God’s gift to me.

Lastly, quoting Roy Croft like he did more than a decade ago in one of his letters,

“I love you, not only for what you are
But for what I am when I am with you.

I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself,
But for what you are making of me.

…. You have done it
Without a touch, Without a word, Without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.”

Need I say more?

The Mercado that I am talking about is not a market place like how Cebuanos would call it. It is a restaurant inside Resort World Casino where my husband and I had lunch just recently. What’s special about it is that they’re offering their buffet lunch for only P188++ (Breakfast P88++). I remember as we were entering the buffet area, I saw the price and I was so disoriented that I asked my husband, “Is it in dollars?!” (While making peso-dollar conversion in my head) My husband said no, and I think so too or else it would be too expensive.

Food choices were not as fabulous as Sofitel, Circles or others of the same sort but definitely worth way more that P188. I was able to make myself four “courses” and they are as follows:

1. If others would skip the rolls section of every buffet table, I don’t. So I had an onion roll and a muti-grain roll from their bread section to match my mushroom soup.

2. Next, I prepared a small salad with balsamic dressing. What makes it different from other buffet I’ve tried is that their salad area comes side by side with their sushi section. So, beside my salad, I placed 2 california maki and 2 other sushis on my plate.

3. For the main course, they have 3 different viand choices (seafood, chicken and meat), vegies, rice and pasta. So I had very small servings of each just to know which tastes better.

4. Finally, I placed coffee jelly and 2 leche cakes on my dessert plate. I was actually waiting for creme brule but gave up because it took them too long to replace their empty tray.

With good food and casino-ambiance, my husband and I left Resort World with full stomach spending only approx P600 (inclusive of drinks).

I’ve read that the promo will run till Oct. 6, so you still have a few days left to try it yourself. It is in Newport City complex, infront of NAIA terminal 3 and beside Villamor Airbase. Btw, no reservations needed.

And Yes! It would have been better if I took pictures of it but I’m sorry CCTVs are everywhere. And when I say everywhere, IT’S EVERYWHERE!

When I resigned and left the corporate world last year, I actually started a new career (if you might call it that). Aside from becoming a full time wife and mom, I was actually earning online. Thanks to my husband, I was given the opportunity to write paid reviews and do some SEO stuff. I may have stopped getting continuous professional education as an engineer and a certified internal auditor but I was gaining knowledge on the online marketing side. Not so much though, but just enough to earn more than I did when I was still working.

People would actually ask me if I am not yet bored being at home. Why would I be? Aside from having 3 children to attend to, food and grocery to think about, bills to pay, errands to do, I was also busy working. My daily routine would start at 5:30am to wake up Marcus and be sure he’s ready when his school bus picks him up. By 7:30am I would bring Zach to school and fetch him by 10:30. In between I would either take few more hours of sleep, think about what to serve for breakfast, play with Lia and/or start working. By 11am I should have given Lia a bath, massage and her daily dose of vitamins. If Gary chose to work at home, I would think about what to serve for lunch, else I would tell my housemaids to cook whatever’s available in the fridge as I would be content eating wheat bread with either peanut butter or cream cheese on it.

With no appointment or errand to do, usually from 11am to 5pm you can just find me sitting in front of the computer busy working. Once in a while I would take a break and would take Lia from her yaya while we watch tv or just play together. I also would take the time to help Zach practice his reading and writing.

By 5pm, Marcus will be home and I would check his Diary for assignments, things to bring (which I hate because it would mean I would have to go to the mall looking for those stuff) or bad remarks (which Thank God he seldom gets now, whew!) By this time I should also be preparing for dinner. If I have exhausted all my efforts thinking about what to cook but cannot think of anything, that’s the time I would text our ever dependable club house.

When the kids are asleep, that’s the time I would go back to the computer and continue working. If I don’t have anything to do anymore, I would read a book or sleep early. (Sleeping early means being in bed by 11). If my husband is not so busy, we would have coffee at Bonifacio Highstreet, else I would make him brewed coffee.

This is definitely far from my home-office-home (sometimes with gimmick in between) schedule that I used to have. Others might find it surprising but I am enjoying what I have and what I am now. The only thing that bugs me though is having to choose between forever giving up my profession and embrace online marketing as my new field of expertise or go back to my comfort zone and continue working as a certified internal auditor. Well, I give myself until the end of 2009 to decide.

I received an unexpected message from a HS batch mate yesterday and I must admit it made me smile. She attached a video of me in I-witness featuring the E-heads reunion concert and said she was happy to see me there. The first time I heard about that 2-second or so video of me, I thought I was just being fooled around. But then I remembered the incident during that concert wherein I thought a camera man was focusing his lenses on my face but ignored it thinking it couldn’t be me. Two or more friends started texting me about it and that made me really curious. I searched it in youtube and yes, there I was, crying while watching my much awaited concert. Honestly I was not happy about it because I felt that they took advantage of that moment when I was too emotional about the whole thing. You see, since HS, I have loved this band and their songs. It’s like Frank Sinatra to my Lolo’s ears or George Benson to my mom’s. And now seeing the video again, I am surprisingly thankful that I’ll forever be remembered as someone who took part of that history.

See for yourself… enjoy!