You Are a Total Brainiac

You're amazingly brilliant. Some would even say genius. You're curious, thoughtful, analytical, and confident. You take on difficult subjects because you want to... not because you have to. No field of knowledge is too complicated or intimidating for you. You've got the brains to do anything you want. It's possible you end up doing everything you want.

Are You a Brainiac?

I used to wear prescription glasses 12 years ago when I was still working at the office full time. I used to face computer everyday that I started having problems with my eyesight, had bad headaches and felt dizzy all the time. For 4 years I was wearing them. Of course, I liked to wear stylish eyeglasses but 12 years ago, not many stylish eyeglasses were available. Unlike these days when you see a lot of people wearing stylish prescription glasses.

For those who like wearing stylish prescrition glasses, check out $ 8 Zenni Optical Rx Eyeglasses. They offer high quality stylish frames. They're thin and light which has a 1.57 index lens. You will also be interested with the idea of it being anti scratch coating. This works best for those moms who have babies who like to grab everything, including what we wear on our face. They also offer quality hard eyeglass case. Again, we need good protection from those curious little hands. They do lens edge polishing and beveling and all the rx glasses come with full guarantee. All these description for $8! It's very affordable.

Zenni Optical is also available online. So wherever you are in this pasrt of the world, you can avail of its cheap prices. They are very cheap for the reason that they do their own manufacturing. So we don't need to pay extra for middlemen or agents just to get the product. They them out.

I was searching about red carpet photos and it led me to Yahoo OMG! red carpet photos. I saw Angeline Jolie and my how she captured my attention on her gown. It's a flowing brown gown and I just adore it. But of course, it's for preggies. Rumors has it that Angelina Jolie is pregnant for the second time.

There is this meme going on about your idea of something, blah blah. can't remember exactly what the meme is all about. but one of the questions was: do you have any resentments? and to my surprise, the majority of the blog authors said they don't have any. that's great if it's really true.

honestly, for me, if i said no, i know i would be lying. i had quite a few. some i have gotten over with last Christmas and some i still harbor the feeling. well, coz some of it just happened recently. what to do. i don't have a super power to erase it completely and i'm not God who can just forgive people straight away. although i really have to since i claim to be His disciple. and disciples should follow what the Master says.

i need to work out my feelings. i know for it takes time. but i'm really trying not to harbor any bad feelings towards my fellow human being. one of my resentments recently was that people can just forget what you did to them, especially when they knew they don't need you anymore and that they won't benefit from your friendship and help.

i know, this is emo time. i hate to read blogs who have emos... but here i am, emoting. well, there are just people who are so ungrateful. i know i shouldn't be feeling like this, coz of all the people whom they should be grateful with is not me, but God. well, as human being, we also need some kind of affirmation.

but sad to say, people just reject your friendship or very ungrateful or worse, become very rude when you tell them your honest opinion about their situation. well, i just leave them to God and let Him deal with the situation. better yet, let go of the resentment. i am letting go now. let go, let God.

i'm glad i just had McDonald's today for dinner. I had prosperity burger (beef). Prosperity burgers are only available during Chinese New Year holidays. so we took the opportunity to order it. They have home delivery and it's easy to order.

I got to attend a short course on photography and typography last week. These two are useful tools especially when you write newslettes and such. I love photography and I thought I take good shots... well, until last week. I made so much error in taking photos. When you take good shots, you have to be in a perfect angle to really get that great shot. I learned about the basic rules in photography.

Photography and typography go hand in hand in making newsletters or updates. I found that I'm already doing well in terms of typography.

I'm glad I went for that workshop. Now I know how to take right shots.

I just signed from for my first earn money to blog for this this. I like this service so much. Once you're approved, there are a lot of opportunities waiting for you to write your reviews about. Their payment is quite fast. I actually have done a lot of write-ups already for this service.

This service connects advertisers and bloggers together. Advertisers can promote their products and get buzzed up through bloggers. Bloggers in return can earn money through blogging about the products. This is called blog advertising. It's quite fun to blog for money. There is excitement in it. The moment I see opportunities to get paid by blogging, I grab it straight away.

Of course, there are offers that doesn't suit my principles. But it's okay. I can actually skip them and just try to stick to the ones that i believe and i endorse.

It is fun to get paid to blog about the things we love.

Today, I am missing Starbucks so much. I just missed my favorite frappuccino java chips. Hubby and I used to hang around Starbucks so much. When my two kids came, we seldom go there. It's hard to just sit and laze around having two active kids around.

Also, when you have no money, you're a bit limited to go to places you like. Sometimes, we have to wait for paydays to be able to go to where we want to go. Actually, there is a service online that does payday loans. It's very easy to apply. It's quite safe and secured knowing that after you apply and when you are approved, the money goes straight into your bank account. That is a cool thing to do. No more waitings for payday loans to get that extra cash needed.

Nowadays, it's very easy to apply for cash advance. You can do so at your convenience, by applying online, at home, office, or wherever you are.

I just saw the repeat of One in a Million today. My first time to watch for this 2nd season. It's quite different from the 1st one for a fact that there is really a competition. I like Sarah. She rendered the song very well. Very intensed. Powerful. She doesn't look pretty but she sings incredibly well.

I have been using Clinique products for my face for 5 years now. I have oily skin and I tend to have break-outs. Worse, it's acne prone. I used to have huge acnes when I was in college and I couldn't do anything about it. Washing of face so many times in a day didn't help. No matter how much I use acne-free products, still my face would be so full of pimples/acnes.

Later on, I used Nivea cream and my acne slowly disappeared. What I did was, because it was a cream and if I apply it on my face after I wash and tone, my skin would tend to get more oily. So I applied it on my face 5 minutes before I was my face. It really helped a lot.

My acne disappeared. But my scars are there... to remain forever. I had occassional breakouts due to the oils of my face.

Then I discovered Clinique. It's water-based so it has totally banished my acnes and pimples. My skin became smoother. I still got the scars but now it's not so visible anymore.

These are my favorite clinique products:

My daily skin care, 3-step process. Soap, toner, and moisturizer. I use twice daily.

I apply foundation before make-up... 5 minutes after I apply moisturizer. This way, it gives time for moisturizer to sip into the skin. This foundation is so light. You don't feel like you're wearing one... unlike using other oil-based products. When you apply foundation, your face seems heavy than usual. My color is the honey one. It just fits with my skin tone. I'm dark-skinned.Concealer. I usually put under my eyes, to cover whatever dark's in there. I got this tip from Bobbi Brown: Never ever leave the house without putting on your concealer.

Translucent powder. I used the cake powder last time... But then I tried the translucent once, I got stuck with it. It's better for my skin type

Eye brow definer. I don't have a perfect set of eye brows. So eye brow pencil is one of the most important make up that I must have. I used body shop too... cheaper than clinique's. But this time, I'm using Clinique, dark brown in color.

Last week, the Clinique shop in Subang Parade had a promotion. For a 310rm total worth of products you buy, you get a 6-piece giftwhich includes, repairwear, contourware, moisturizer, pink blush with blusher, city spf sunblock, and facial liquid soap. Quite a good deal. Hubby's treat.

I'm converting this blog as my beauty corner. I'm gonna post my beauty regimen and beauty tips from time to time.

Also, I wanna learn more about beauty stuff... so I'm going to use this blog as a tool to learn more.

I'm also including some fashion tips and what nots

This is where "My Beauty Corner" journey begins.

On my 37th week appoinment with my Ob/Gynae, she asked me whether our first one was born on the due date or earlier. I told her Schenker was born 3 days early. So she told me that it could happen to the second one again. Well, I thought… waiting for another 3 weeks was like… if you’re pregnant (or have been pregnant) and you’re in your last trimester… you could relate this with me… waiting for 3 more weeks seems like waiting forever!

So… that night when I was surfing the net, I decided to search for some natural labor induction. I didn’t know before that there was such thing as inducing labor naturally… but when I searched about it… there were lots of websites that tell you what to do to induce labor the natural way. I didn’t really believe but I tried anyway! What did I do? I ate lots and lots of pineapple. They said it prepares the cervix to dilate but not really to induce labor. (Probably it’s the reason why pregnant women cannot eat pineapple much esp on the first trimester coz it has enzymes that can efface and dilate the cervix). Well, I did eat lots! (Coz I was also craving to eat pineapple that time). But one week passed by and Samantha was still feeling comfy inside the womb.

That Sunday, (nearing my 38th week) we went to church. A friend told me I was gonna give birth soon coz I looked swollen all over. I thought, yeah yeah… two weeks won’t be long, right? And another friend told me I have to walk (or exercise) more. I actually felt very tired that day… in fact we didn’t finish the Sunday service. We went home, I took a nap and after that, I asked Peter if we could walk around the park. (There’s a park in front of our new house by the way). We walked two rounds.

That night, I searched again for another website that could give me details on how to induce labor naturally coz I was feeling really tired and sick of being pregnant. AND I saw one article that said ” If you wanna induce your labor for wrong reasons… then it’s not right. You could harm the baby.” I got scared and felt guilty. I asked myself, what was my reason to induce my labor? So that I’d give birth soon and I could entertain my parents and sister who were coming to visit us? Or was it for convenience? Whatever reason I could think of… was wrong! So I asked God’s forgiveness. And I also asked Samantha’s forgiveness. I told her that night I could wait for her own time. No hurry. If she was ready to come out, then she’s ready. If not, no need to come out soon. No need to rush!

The next morning, probably around 2 o’clock, I felt some kind of contractions in my tummy. But it was very mild… so I thought probably it was only Braxton Hicks contractions (practice ones). I slept again. At 5am, i felt the contractions were becoming intensed. So I started counting the time interval. It was only like once in 15-20 minutes. I actually got up and started packing our clothes. No! I haven’t prepared our hospital bag until that time only! (During my first pregnancy, I was ready for everything when I was on my 35th week!). After I packed our things, I went back to bed again.At 6.30, I was still timing my contractions, from 10 minutes, it went down to 6 minutes then to 3 minutes!

Could this be the true labor?! I woke Peter up. I told him… Dear, I think I’m on labor already. He asked me the time interval.. I said it’s a 5-minute interval already. I didn’t tell him it was already on 3-minute interval. He just said… it’s ok dear.. why don’t you rest some more. Let’s sleep again…The good thing was… I didn’t listen to him. I got up and showered! In the shower, I paused everytime I felt the contractions coz it was really becoming so painful! After I showered, I woke Peter up again and told him it’s time to call his parents to come coz we had to have somebody in the house to take care of Schenker while we’re gone. So he called his parents.

I went down the stairs… boiled water, made myself a cup of milk… and went to the living room and sat down… and waited for Peter and for somebody to come to take care of the boy.At 8am, my sister-in-law came and took the boy with her. That’s when we were able to leave the house. That time my contractions were really intensed…. so intensed I could growl! I literally growled. The breathing techniques didn’t help… the growlings did!

8 o’clock on Monday morning… we were on the road… I was growling in pain at the back seat. Peter kept reminding me to breathe properly - the lamaze way. I tried… really I did… but like what I’ve said the growling was more helpful.

It was a bit jammed (traffic)… coz it was a peak hour. It took us 30 minutes to reach SJMC the hospital where I was gonna give birth (which.. in ordinary times, would have taken us 15 minutes only). When we reached the hospital I couldn’t walk anymore.. so I had to use the wheel chair. When we got up (on the 4th floor) the nurses and midwife were waiting for me at the door, showed me the way to the delivery suite. When the midwife checked me, I was already 9cm dilated! Can you imagine that? I must have a high pain tolerance. I managed without any pain reliever at all! Well, they put me in laughing gas (which is their normal procedure).

At 8:30am, I was on the delivery table, waiting for my Ob/Gynae to come. She came after a few minutes only… and I started pushing. In the morning of November 27, 2006, at 8:46 am, Samantha came out! Peter had the honor (again) to cut her cord up. He cut Schenker’s cord when he was born. Actually Peter had a lot of “honors” that day. He was the one who saw her first, and he was the one who carried her first.

I felt so elated after I delivered Samantha. I was smiling from ear to ear. As soon as she was cleaned up, the nurse gave her to me and I breastfed her straight away. I wasn’t tired so Samantha stayed with me for the first 6 hours of her life. After that, they took her to the nursery room so I could rest.

I rose up early in the morning. At 6:30. I was excited. Anxious. Mixed Feelings overcame me. The feeling I felt when I was going to give birth to him. Once again, I turned to Him. Cried out to Him for comfort. Not for me, but for my son.

You see... I never really exposed him to different people without me or his dad. We were always there with him. I could only count the times when I left him to the care of other people. The first of which was when he was 16 months old. I left him to Archee aunty and my Filipino friends, Alve, Mian and Barbara. We went to Bali, Indonesia for 5 days. The next time we left him was a few hours only with Aunty Pauline and Aunty Jac, our Chinese friends. We went for a movie then. He was already 2 years old. The next time was only for 30 minutes with Joshua and Janke when his dad and I went to buy some things from Taipan. The next was last December, when hubby's parents came to take care of them and we went for a Movie (Beowulf - I need to write my review about this movie). And that's it.

So I literally cried our before God. No. I'm not exaggerating. I felt so nervous and excited at the same time.I showered. And I woke him up, showered him, and put on his first uniform. He looked so dashingly handsome in his uniform. I felt the pride swelled up deep within again. I snapped shots. Hubby and I took turns.Then we drove off to his school, which was a 2-minute drive only (10-minute walk). His grandmother came with us, to witness his first day of school, which was a bad idea (more on this coming up). I went with him inside his room. He was placed in the En-Beethoven class. The other class was En-Picasso. Nice class names they got.When the class was about to start, the main teacher asked the parents to leave. He refused to let go of me. And he started crying. My excitement and nervousness faded... Reality crept in.

My heart broke to see him crying like that, calling out for me. But I have decided to release him on that day. If I stayed with him, I felt that I would only make it harder and longer for him to adjust.The grandmother (as I've told you, was a bad idea) kept showing her face. She said if he knew we were there outside, he'd be comforted. I told her if he knew we were outside, he'd keep calling out for us. She sarcastically remarked "Ok. You know your son better." But she kept showing her face. I understood her, alright... being a grandmother, she just couldn't to bear seeing her grandson in such a traumatic situation.

Good thing I managed to talk to the main teacher (there's five of them in one class, one main teacher and 4 helpers) to talk to MIL to stop peeking thru the glass window. She stopped at first but later, she did it again, when the kids went out to the playground. She started talking to him and the boy wanna start crying again. The teacher told granny to go off it seems coz I saw it from a distance. That's why I said it's such a bad idea to have a grandma on the first day of school. I know it breaks their hearts to see their grandchildren cry out for people they're close with in such a new situation, new people and new environment. But we have to get used to it the sooner. Otherwise, we'd just make it harder for our kids to adjust.

This is just a quick tip to those parents who are sending their children to school for the first time: talk to whoever goes with you... and decide on an unanimous decision before going to school. or better yet, don't let others go with you. it spoils the plan.Anyway... when the grandma stopped peeking thru the windown, the boy stopped crying already. phew! When the class was over, each of them was given balloons. They have free snacks also, btw.

And when they came out, I was ready to receive him. I opened my arms wide and welcomed him, and congratulate him for his first day at school.We both survived! LOL. I hugged him and he hugged me back like crazy. When I looked at him, he looked like he was happy only... like he never cried at all. LOL. And I asked him whether he liked the school or not, he just said yes. And when I told him to say good-bye and thank you to the teacher, he did it also, without hesitation (which he normally does when he meets new faces). And when I told him to tell the teacher "see you again tomorrow," he also said that to the teacher. Hehehe.This is his after-school look. :)


So while we were walking home, I asked him what he did inside the room. He said he cried. And I asked him whether he would cry again the next day, he said no mommy, i will not cry. Hehehe. Talk only.We came home feeling very exhausted. We were there for only 2 hours but I felt like we were there the whole day. It wasn't a happy first day of shool... but what to do? It's pretty normal for kids like that who are so attached to his parents. I think Samantha will handle it better coz now, we knew better, right? Hmmm... I hope so...So, this was my boy's first time in school. I will write more on his adjustments and how he copes with school next time.