pang miss universe!

it was back to school night at michelle's school this evening.  we got to talk to her teacher for a little bit and she explained how the first few weeks of school has been.  


on the white board, the teacher wrote the kids' answers to the question, 'how can your parents help you do your best?'...below are the kids answers and i encircled michelle's response

BONGGA! pang miss universe!  kulang nalang, 'and world peace!'

Weight Watchers Mantra

Taken from the Weight Watchers Website....


“Steady and slow, learn as you go. Lose too fast, it may not last.” — Louise F. *

“It matters not how slowly you go, only that you do not stop.” — Julia B. *

“No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping the [person] sitting on the couch.” — Stephanie H. *

“I may no be where I want to be, but I’m better than where I was.” — Heather J. *

“You don’t drown from falling in the water, you only drown if you stay there.” — Barb L. *

“Success requires backbone, not wishbone.” —Debbie S.*

“If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of breaking them.” — Judy P. *

“Life has no remote…YOU have to get up and change it yourself!” — Tracy S. *

“The weight didn’t arrive from the Fat Fairy last night, and the Skinny Fairy isn’t coming tonight, either.” — Miscelena1.**

“Instead of a plate, reach for your mate!” — Frank E. *

“What you eat in private shows up in public!” — NicoleJuner1 **

“I’ve come too far to take orders from a cookie.” — Gina L. *

“If you kinda do it, it kinda works. If you really do it, it really works.” — Andrea G., Carol T. *

“If you’re driving and you get a flat tire, do you get out of the car and slash the other three? No, you fix it and get back on the road.” — Tanya S. *

“The scale is a weight loss tool – not a judge, jury and executioner.” — Brenda T. *

“Keep tracking, stop slacking!” — Holly L. * 

michelle's first day at school

last night, as paul, michelle and i lay in bed, michelle and i couldn't stop going over how her first day at kindergarten would be.  i told her that she'll meet a lot of new kids, make new friends and learn a lot of new and wonderful things.  i told her how excited i was to go to school when i was her age and encouraged her to listen attentively to her teacher and follow what she asks the class to do.  paul kept telling us to go to sleep and stop talking so we can all get some rest before the big day.  =D 

we dropped her off to kindergarten this morning.  it seemed like a momentous event - one that we parents will never forget. many of the kids in her class came from the same preschool so michelle will be seeing a lot of familiar faces.  michelle's always been comfortable around people so we know this new environment wouldn't be intimidating for her.  she was grinning from ear to ear as she said hello to her teacher and her friends from pre-school.  on one of her forms for school, the teacher asked for a few things that michelle finds interesting and i wrote - she likes craft, singing, and dancing...anything music related; she loves to talk so there will be a whole lot of talking and asking questions.  

michelle loves to ask questions about anything under the sun.  she's not satisfied with simple answers...she wants a full explanation of things that go on around her.  one perfect example is from the recent perseids meteor shower.  she saw me looking out the window and so she asked, 'mommy what are you looking for?'  i said, 'i'm checking if we can see shooting stars.'  she then asks, 'what's a shooting star mommy?' 'well, they're not actually stars sweetheart, they're meteors...rocks that fall from the sky,' i replied.  she paused for a little bit, as if to analyze my answer.  then she asks again, 'but where do meteors come from?'  so i had to answer her as best as i can.  she keeps quiet only when she's satisfied with the response...as i try to squeeze my brain to get all the astronomy information i have retained out of it, i was also silently hoping that the last bit of information i give her is enough to satisfy her curiousity because my brain could not give anything further on the subject.  she stopped asking any more questions and we failed to see any meteors so we turned to youtube so i can show her what they look like.  

i just got off the phone with her and she excitedly told me about her day.  she said she can't wait for me to come home so we can do her homework together.  i am thrilled for her as she begins a new chapter in her life.  i've always loved school and would like her to enjoy it as much as i did.  i am thankful that the Lord provides all that we need so we can send her to a small christian school where we know she will learn not just academics but also guide her throughout her christian life.  

Michelle's actual first day

meeting???

paul has a conference call at 9 pm Pacific with folks from either India or Israel (not sure).  dahil maingay sa living room (malapit ng maging adobo yung mga ibon namin!  jk!) and michelle and i are in the bedroom, he went to michelle's room...


michelle:  daddy, why are in in my room?
daddy: maingay kasi sa labas e dito muna ako.
michelle: (heading towards me)  mommy, why is daddy going to my room?
me:  daddy has a meeting, wag ka maingay.
michelle:  meeting?  he can't meet anyone there, there's nobody in the room!


walang meeting pag walang tao.  

breaking bad habits

if you read my blog regularly, you know that i have weight-y issues.  =)  i am back on the weight watchers program trying desperately to lose as much weight as i can so i don't lose on the bet paul and i had when we were on vacation in las vegas.  (christmas is my deadline).

in addition to watching what i eat, i have given up soda (all kinds! even diet soda) since the last week of June...so i have been soda-free for the past 6 weeks (going on 7)...and i miss it every single day!  yesterday, i was at outback steakhouse with chel, t, and michelle, and when the waitress asked for my beverage, i said, 'i'll just have water.'  and then i told chel and t that i haven't had soda in six week and they asked me why i gave it up.  i replied, 'i want to stop putting junk in my body.' wow!!!!  parang totoo!

yesterday, i decided to add to my misery healthy choices and give up chips, too.  urgh!  this is going to be very, very, very hard for me!!!!  i like to munch on chips all the time (obvious naman di ba?) and so giving this up would be so much harder than giving soda up.  the last time i gave up chips was for lent back in 2002 i think...40 days without chips....i was so glad when the 40 days were over! 

the amount of chips that i consume weekly really adds up and makes it harder for me to lose weight...so instead of eating chips, when i get a salty craving, i go to the fridge and get some parmesan cheese (i weigh each slice, portion control!) so i can easily add it to my weight watchers points tracker.  so far so good.

i've also been exercising on the elliptical again and have started playing tennis.  i know i've written about this battle so many times and i've lost most, if not all, of them.  now, i've ran out of excuses and have no one else to blame but myself if i lose this one again.  i don't plan on seeing anything drastic, but i am excited that i am being more aware and making better decisions regarding my health.  i'm not getting any younger and i want to set a good example for michelle.  that and i need to look good in clothes again! 

michelle-ism from june 30, 2011

Michelle wants her own tablet pc. I said, ' when you start working and make your own money.' She replied, ' I work at tselogs and one way. Ninang gives me money sometimes.' She has a point. So I just said, 'you're too young. Pag malaki ka na, pagusapan ulit natin.'

michelle-ism from july 15, 2011

Took michelle to her pediatrician for her vaccine and tb test (required before school starts). After the tb test she said, 'that's it mommy? i thought iwas going to watch tv and you'll ask me questions.'

michelle-isms

i keep forgetting to post michelle's funny remarks here...

the latest is this:

(scenario) at home watching discovery channel's shark week.

michelle:  shark week! hu ha ha! like in nemo mommy.

mommy: anak, it's shark bait hu ha ha. iba yun.