29 October 2010: DAY 302 (WEEK 44)

i love bagels for breakfast... have i told you that?

but even if i had a good breakfast, the day didn't end too well... i lost my internet connection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i tried jump starting the modem and re-starting the computer but nothing worked. i called bell customer service just to find out that the reason behind this was the upgrade i agreed to 2 days ago. yup...2 days ago, a bell representative called me offering an internet upgrade for free because i have my cable and telephone with them. who would say 'no' to that??!! the lady on the other line said that effective midnight of october 31, i would be having BELL FIBE! but..but..but...she forgot to mention that because of that i would have internet interuption..or rather NO INTERNET until bell fibe takes effect!!! i couldn't deny that it was a really good offer but not knowing the consequences of that made me so mad! this was the day that i badly needed the internet because i had to talk to nitz because he was flying home the following day! i needed to talk to nitz!!! i was really close to tears when i was tallking to the technical guy who took my call. he wasn't too nice to me...then he told me to call customer service ( apparently the number i initially dialed was technical services..). i called customer service and they were nicer...forwarded me to another technical guy who would help me find another way to connect...through dial up. after a long discussion, it didn't work. but i was grateful for his patience and kindness. so there...no internet.


before i slept that night, i made a long distance call to my niece jake in NC and asked her to message nitz about what happened.
what a sad day....

28 October 2010: DAY 301 (WEEK 44)

sorry for being away for so long...
anyway, let me get to business...
when i picked up the kids from the bus drop-off point, i took some photos of the trees around our neighborhood-- such beautiful colors!


when we got home we decided to carve our pumpkin. i haven't done this before! but after i was finished with the pumpkin...the kids were very happy with my work of art...hehehe.


then we put it on our bay window and added some twigs and leaves...



...and voila!!! our very first JACK-O-LANTERN!!


kuya ed and ate mel dropped by that night to see our latest creation...hehehe! and then sofia asked my brother if he could read her a story... i sneaked up to take a photo of them. i did distract them a bit when i took the photo...hehehe.

27 October 2010: DAY 300 (WEEK 44)

nothing much happened today... but i noticed that today is the 300th day of the year! and 3 more days and nitz will he here...yipeee!!

i went out to take some picture of the trees around our house... they are all so beautiful.

26 October 2010: DAY 299 (WEEK 44)

rafael had a dentist appointment after school. my brother (ok...i call my brother kuya ed-- 'kuya' meaning older brother... and rather than always addressing him as 'my brother' let me just stick to 'kuya ed'). so let me start that sentence again... -- kuya ed picked us up from school to go to their house. i needed to leave the 2 girls with them while me and rafael visit the dentist. my kids are always excited when i tell them we are going to kuya ed's house.
on our way home we dropped by the grocery store to buy something...and while at the parking lot i took this photo. the trees are almost bare...


and then i took a photo of kuya ed's street... still green and the trees are still full of leaves.


when me and rafael got back from the dentist, we found the girls like this! i don't think they even noticed that we left and came back...hahaha.

25 October 2010: DAY 298 (WEEK 44)

its election day here! i honestly don't know anything about it and i am not interested in any of it. well, i am not entitled to vote yet so i guess that explains it. ( but no... i am not really into politics and i hate discussing about it). anyway, the day passed by quietly considering it is election day. (or maybe it is just quiet in my side of the neighborhood...hehehe). back home (i mean in the philippines...) when it is election day, there is a big commotion!!!--voting is difficult, counting is...is... i cannot even describe it! and when they come up with a winner, you will somehow feel uncertain/doubtful/suspicious about it.

i was surprised that the day went peacefully and the elected mayor of toronto is FORD!



well i just hope he is a nice and decent and honest guy... we will see what he will come up with for toronto.

24 October 2010: DAY 297 (WEEK 43)

this day didn't start very well...i woke up at 6am..and could barely move!!! i felt intense pain from my neck and down my back. i wanted to just stay still but i needed to go to the bathroom...so i slowly moved my body to the edge of the bed and rolled off the bed making my legs fall first. oh it was really painful but i was able to get on my feet. i made it to the bathroom..then tried to go back to bed. i did get to lie down again but once i had my back on the bed..it was more painful to move again. i stayed still hoping that the pain would go away but it didn't work..with or without movement i was in pain. i tried to sleep but couldn't...i was thinking of calling my brother but it was too early...so i just waited hoping the time would move faster.
around 7am i decided to stand up again (by slowly fallling of the bed..). it was a bit easier and less painful standing up than when i am on the bed. (but it really took so much effort to stand up.) i waited and waited...when it was already 8am, i called my brother. they came and they brought me to the hospital.
i didn't forget to bring my camera to the ER...hehehe. and guess what time the doctor checked me... 1:30pm. it was a very very long wait.


so it was muscle spasm according to the doctor...they gave me a shot for inflammation and pain, and another tablet for pain.
after more than 4 hours in the hospital, we went home.


the shot and the medicine they gave me did make me feel a bit better... so time for party! it was ate mel's mother's birthday that day...but the party was for her and miggy as well (the youngest son of my brother). miggy's birthday is tomorrow.
in the photo: miggy, rafael, jason, paul and ej


in the photo: miggy, mommy mely, grace, isaiah, tita malu, ate mel and kuya ed



the birthday celebrants - mommy mely and miggs with sofia..hehehe



by the way, i would like to thank my nephew, paul (the second son of my brother) for taking care of rafael, grace, isabelle and sofia while we were in the hospital. thank you for cooking and serving them lunch. i really appreciate it... i love you, paul! thanks!

23 October 2010: DAY 296 (WEEK 43)

we bought our very first pumpkin last thursday.... i only took a photo of it today. we plan to carve it next week... (that is if i know how to carve it...hahaha).

22 October 2010: DAY 295 (WEEK 43)

it was fr. anthony's birthday and we prepared something for him. i was a very simple birthday celebration...








happy birthday, fr! and we hope you enjoyed your celebration.

21 October 2010: DAY 294 (WEEK 43)

i stayed up late that night to bake some cookies for rafael's bake-sale the following day. his class ( and i think another 2 classes..) was assigned to sell some cookies and pastries to raise money for some school activities. so here are the cookies ...and the croissant at the bottom were bought from the grocery store...hehehe.

20 October 2010: DAY 293 (WEEK 43)

it was such a beautiful sunny day but i was cold. i took some photos of the trees near our house... here you can see how they leaves have turned into golden yellow...


and i changed the focus of my shot to focus on this tree (on the foreground) that has turned brown early.


and the leaves covering the our lawn...


and the most interesting story of the day --
i usually pick up the kids at the drop off point at 3:55pm... so me and sofia get leave the house at 3:50 (it is a very short walk to the drop off point). but at 3:45, just when i was still putting sofia's shoes, we heard a loud knocking at the back door! i was not expecting any visitor and usually if it is my brother, he would know lightly and then open the door because he has keys. hmmmm who could it be??? and when i looked out my kitchen window i saw rafael and isabelle!! hahaha... the bus came early and since they didn't see me at the drop off point they decided to walk home. i was really happy to see them. i grabbed my camera quickly to take a picture of them...and even sofia stood beside them pretending she came from school too..hahaha!


and that evening while i was preparing dinner, isabelle was trying to read her assigned book by herself. there were some words that she found difficult to read so i helped her..but she managed mostly on her own!

19 October 2010: DAY 292 (WEEK 43)

i went to towncenter (one of the malls around our area...you will be hearing that a lot from me now...hehehe). when i got off the bus. i saw the ambulance there and i heard from the police what happened. an old lady fell face down, broke her nose and needed maybe 12 stitches on her face. i didn't exactly see the lady but just knowing who was hurt made me ask 'was she alone..., why was she alone..., poor lady'.


whenever i hear news like this, it makes me think about my mom... and i always tell my kids to be more polite to old people, be more considerate, more helpful...they may not be our 'real' gramma or grampa but i truly believe that that good we do to them will be somehow repaid to our real gramma and grampa by some other people... (or maybe to us when we grow old).

i miss my mom...

18 October 2010: DAY 291 (WEEK 43)

rafael came home with a lollipop...he said their teacher gave each of them a lollipop because they participated well in class. he saved his to give to sofia. sofia was so happy ...! she did say, 'thank you, kuya'.

17 October 2010: DAY 290 (WEEK 42)

time to rake again all the leaves in our backyard...

i gathered them all to make a small mountain of leaves...and i let my two girls play with the leaves a bit. they loved throwing the leaves up in the air and pretend they are showered by leaves... it was fun to see them.

16 October 2010: DAY 289 (WEEK 42)

i love saturdays.... we don't have to wake up early (but rafael and isabelle still wake up early!!!). me and sofia get a little bit more sleep...hay.

we attended mass...and i took a close shot of rafael while walking down the aisle. you could see the smile on his face because he saw me pull out my camera to take a photo of him..hahaha. he wasn't very happy about it but he still gave me a smile.

15 October 2010: DAY 288 (WEEK 42)

i have a very interesting story today -- we missed the school bus!!
so this is what happened: the pick-up/drop off point is not too far from our house, it is just around a corner (2 minute walk i think). as we turned the corner, we saw the bus already there! ( it was early!!... we weren't late..it was early!). so we waved to the bus but i think it didn't see us..! since we know that it goes around the village and then stops again at the other street not too far...we ran to that point. we saw the other kids still there waiting..so we knew we were safe. but would you believe the bus didn't pass by that point?!! there were 3 other students waiting there...plus rafael and isabelle so 5 students! the mom of the other kid called the school and was informed that the bus was already there and was not coming back..grrrrrr! we had to walk to school. so i took all the kids to school..we were almost running to get to school! we made it on time. the bell rang when we entered the school gate. and when all the kids where inside, i talked to the principal about the incident. omgoodness...how can they forget a pick-up point?!! and kids were waiting!!
anyway, so i was keeping my fingers crossed that the kids would get home fine. i went to the drop off point at the usual time...and good thing the bus came. i saw the principal assisting the kids as they got off the bus... then instructing the driver where to go. i really appreciate what the principal did.

ok...here's what happened to the rest of my day....

friday is garbage day. and every friday i wake up extra early to take the garbage out. some of my neighbors do it the night before but i prefer to do it early in the morning even it means waking up extra early. only in the morning do i remove the lock of our green bin (the green bin where we put food waste). racoons are very notorious here and they mess up the green bin when they get the chance.
and here you see the garden waste we have collected!


and here is our backyard filled with leaves again!!! and everytime the wind blows i see the shower of leaves! it is a beautiful sight!...but it means more leaves to clean.


and this is the tree in front of our house. it is so beautiful it looks like it is glowing especially when the sun is shining bright.


and here is a closer look of their bright golden yellow leaves....

14 October 2010: DAY 287 (WEEK 42)

it has been a habit for rafael to do his assignment as soon as he gets home. i did buy them a table to work on...but i don't understand why he likes working on the living room floor..hahaha. i am proud of you rafael!! and i know you are a good brother to your sisters...

13 October 2010: DAY 286 (WEEK 42)

one of my daily therapy...bejeweled!! and i am just proud to share that i reached 500K!!! i can almost hear my husband say, ...'you must be so proud...hahaha!' i miss him saying that....

12 October 2010: DAY 285 (WEEK 42)

first day of the school week!! and this is our first time the kids is taking the school bus! the pick-up/drop off point was close to our house so no more long walks for us! but we have to leave the house much ealier because the bus picks up early.
so here they are..



then i picked them up that afternoon at the same spot.



what a good day!!