MIssing Mom on Mother's Day

Today is a very special day to all mother's in the world. This happens to be the first mother's day that I will not be able to hug my mom. Roughly a year ago, she left us to be with her creator. I actually made the video below as a gift to her on her 50th birthday last November 4, 2007. That was her last birthday with us and I could also say it was her happiest. There were a lot of surprises for her on that day. She was reunited with her long lost friends and all the person dear to her were there to greet her on that special day.



Nasaan ka man, Mama, Happy Mother's Day. I know you are still guiding us. Thanks for everything and I promise to make sure that you will always be remembered by your apo. Mahal na mahal ka naming lahat.

Mommy Moments: Happy Time

This is actually my first time to join in Mommy Moments. I stumbled upon Mommy Moments via Issa's About a Boy. For me, it's a good idea to blog about being a mom so here I am participating in this meme. ( Hopefully, I get to join in weekly.)


What good way to start by making you see the ideal mom that I have. This picture was taken on her 50th birthday, sadly it was her last. She died roughly a year ago because of a metastasized Primitive NeuroEctodermal Tumor. She battled big C for almost 6 years. She was the pillar of the family. She never fails to encourage us in giving out our best even at the times that she was sick. She was the epitome of a best Mom. I hope that my child will see me someday the way I see her today, a role model.

As for me and my son, we have a lot of happy moments. I can't pick on the best so I am sharing some of them here. Hope you like them.

Admit it or not, all moments with our little dearies are the happiest. Be it when they are grumpy or they are at their best. I am not an exception. I am a working mom so I make it a point to have quality time with my son. Be it at home or somewhere else. And as you can see, mababaw lang ang kasiyahan naming magnanay.

More Happy Mommy Moments here.

Sauteed Okra with Bacon Bits

I have a bunch of okra sitting in the fridge's crisper for days now. I honestly don't know what to do with them. Actually, super mura ang okra the time we went to the market and since I am scheduled to cook Pinakbet this week, I decided to buy a bunch of them. But the problem is that they are too many for the pinakbet so they have been there for quite some time. I already used all the bagoong alamang so there is no way that they will be dipped in that. I checked on my fridge and found some bacon. Naalala ko tuloy 'yung kinain namin one time sa Max's Restaurant na Asparagus sauteed in Bacon. I decided to cook the okra as a substitute to the asparagus. Hmm, weird as you might say because they don't even have the same texture. But then, I gave it a try. Much to my surprise, it did taste delicious, plus my son gets to eat his dreaded vegetable since it's cooked with bacon. The whole family agreed on this as well. So, if you want, you may give it a try.



Ingredients:
30 pcs. okra
5-10 bacon strips chopped ( adjust this to your preference)
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 pcs. tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp. butter
salt and peper to taste
water

Put the bacon in a pan and cook over low heat. Wait until the bacon sweats out its own oil. When the bacon is done, take them out of the pan. Put in the butter and then saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes. Add in the okra and put in a little bit of water. Put in the bacon and some salt and pepper to taste. (I did not put in any salt actually because the salt for the bacon is already enough). Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes and then turn off the heat. Enjoy !

Hubby turns 37

My hubby turned 37 last April 18th. We would have wanted to celebrate it some place special. There have been plans actually but we can’t go some place which will take hours for traveling. Instead, what we did was to go to the nearest park in our area. Walking under the huge trees of La Mesa Eco Park was a stress buster on its own. You can trail the whole park without feeling exhausted, must have been the oxygen from the trees. We were lucky to be gifted a nice weather as well. Another surprise was the Cultural show on the amphitheater of the place. Some cultural groups from different schools were there to perform their stuffs. One group caught my attention. They are from University of the Philippines. The name of their group was Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Kontra-Gapi). They played all sort of cultural Filipino music. We hear them played music from different tribes. It reminds me of the time that I still play the lyre (Yes, I did! way back in high school). The music was soothing and it was nice to dance with the tunes.

Indeed we would have enjoyed the day if it was spent somewhere else. But who says, we did not enjoy nature at La Mesa Eco Park. Well, think again!

Holy Tuesday Rain

Almost a week before the Semana Santa, PAGASA had already warned Filipinos that they will be having a rainy holy week ahead. As always, we just shrugged off any news about the rain and took the weather one day at a time. As Holy Monday came in, the heat was becoming unbearable that if not for what had happened a week ago, I would have asked Hubby to bring us to the nearest resort at least so we can dip and brush off the heat. I even can't resist turning on the aircon on that night. I wake up to another hot and humid Tuesday. I was actually wishing for the rain to come. And Lo and Behold, it did rain. Jian was begging to take a rain bath together with my cousins. Childhood memories dictated that I should give in. And I did! So, this is Jian's first rain bath, ever!

And he enjoyed it so much!

at nagutom ang bujojoy ko afterwards.

When was the last time you enjoyed taking a bath in the rain?