Here is my artistic youngest child, designing her own Havaianas in an event we went to last year.

She didn’t win anything though but it would have been exciting if she did.

She’s here beside me now, bugging me and my hubby that the rains have stopped (sky still looks heavy with gray clouds though) and says “Can we go watch Kung Fu Panda 2 (not 3D because that’s expensive for a party of 5) or go buy a guitar at the mall?”

I’m guessing if we do go, she and the brother will ask to be brought to the toy stores to look at Beyblade, swords, marine binoculars and toy cars.

Ahem, we still have to purchase school supplies so “No can do right now on those toys”.

Zumba classes had Culminating Activity last May 21st. I can’t find the video where we were dancing, I must have erased it accidentally.

Anyway, one time, my eldest daughter looked at me and said: “It seems like Zumba didn’t help you lose weight. You stopped hulahooping and dancing here at home when you enrolled. You even stopped running and walking (this is debatable because whenever we ask them to go to where we do this, they protest and seem to drag their feet)”

I was definitely tempted to Google the top diet pills for women right there and then when she talked to me about not doing my usual “fitness” routine at home. But of course, mulling about what she said made me stop and think that yes, she is right.

Zumba classes will resume next week. I will enroll again of course and now that the children will be in school the whole day, I can go back to my “Dance like no one is watching” thing.

I have been busy with work lately. One of the things that keeps me busy is a writing job. Yes, it is a job because there’s a work contract involved.

The work seem fairly easy though it takes a lot of reading plus the topics are given a month before these are due. Have I ever been late in submission? I do get late right ed?

A funny snippet: My youngest daughter asked me one time: What is hemo rage black reviews? She was referring to the hemorrhage article I was reading, LOL.

Lately though the articles are a bit difficult because these have to be translated in the vernacular. Translating medical and scientific terms in the vernacular makes me definitely feeling stumped.

Is Pawis sweat? or Perspiration?

Yes, our Philippine National Hero Dr Jose Rizal is celebrating his sesquicentennial or 150th birth anniversary on June 19, 2011. To celebrate this 150th birthday, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has lined up a series of national and school-based activities. NHCP will spearhead commemorative programs in Calamba City (birth place of Jose Rizal),  Manila and Dapitan City in Zamboanga.

According to Maria Serena I. Diokno, a University of the Philippines professor and  Chairperson of the NHCP, “Jose Rizal is a very interesting character in Philippine history because he loved the country with a passion, wrote both fiction and poetry, practiced sports, and had his share of adventures from his extensive travels. In celebrating his 150th Birth Anniversary, NHCP aims to inspire a re-reading of his life, a little beyond what we have learned in our required courses in high school and college.”

Some of the events will have Cultural Center of the Philippines staging “Noli Me Tangere” with Ryan Cayabyab adapting Rizal’s Noli with the libretto by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera. Rock Ed Philippines in partnership with NHCP will have an album out entitled Rock Rizal.

NHCP in partnership with the Philippine Postal Corporation held a stamp design contest called “150th Birth Anniversary of Jose Rizal Postage Stamp Design Contest” where students, amateurs and professional designers participated by portraying Jose Rizal‘s ideals and role as a national hero and as a Haligi ng Bayan in line with the development of the country.

Rizal Award is now accepting nominations for Individual and Institution Award. Click here for more details.

Furthermore, there will be a commemorative coin to be made for this celebration.

There will also be celebrations and events in different countries like United States of America, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain.

For full information of Rizal@150, visit National Historical Commission of the Philippines website.

I have three less students this school year. They are all going to college. Two of them going to the same school and will learn about things that are digital in nature. One is still unsure whether he will take some time off first or consider getting online nursing degree or skill-based short courses.

I find nothing wrong with enrolling in online courses like online nursing degree because with the traffic situation in the city, commuting is really a headache. On the other hand, it helps if there is interpersonal interaction with classmates where they can learn more than just the subjects they are enrolled in.

These are the bittersweet teacher moments I wrote about months ago and it has finally caught up with me. They are a part of the reason I started this special education blog.

I will surely miss them because they were not just my students, they were like my family too.

Introspection makes me thankful for these experiences as these are preparing me for what will eventually happen when my on children get to be on that stage where I will have to “let go” and let them search for their own place under the sun.

The wonders of a digital camera in this digital age. As I’ve said in this other entry featuring a Fire Tree, there are times when my digital camera seems to be an extension of my hand. And who would have thought that it is possible to take photos of just about anything we see as beautiful, odd, funny and whatever feeling and emotion we feel when we took a snap or two because we can still take hundreds or even thousands more photos?

Here is a photo of dainty purple flowers in my MIL’s garden, where this curly fern was taken too. I don’t think I’d take notice of this and take a photo if I’m not using a digital camera.

We do not just do things virtually these days like pay bills online and chat with long lost friends, drivers don’t get lost because they have gps for truckers and homework has never been difficult because everything is just a Google away.  Yes, we have sort of made the world truly a global village.

In my several years of blogging, I’ve been to many different wonderful places through the photos my blog friends share. I’ve met lovely friends online and later on some of them I’ve met personally too.

A few became very close friends who are more updated about our lives than some of our relatives combined, LOL.

Thanks to the digital world, work seems easier than before. Maybe except when we have power outage and/or have intermittent internet connection.