Posts from — September 2008

As we go into mid spring, the change in clothing has been quite noticeable. From fleece jackets, people have started to move to just t-shirt, shorts, thongs or sandals, a cap or hat, and a pair of sunnies. And speaking of sunnies, we have once tried to buy those no-name brands and ended up exchanging them because of some visual distortion. They say that known brands such as Wayfarer sunglasses will likely reduce the occurrence of such distortion.

During our recent house move, I used our luggage to pack some of our clothes. I think it is a good ‘tool’ for moving. It provides a good way for moving clothing (as against stuffing them into boxes), and also removes the need to move around empty cases. I noticed that one of our old luggage has one of the wheels falling off after just 5 years of ‘duty’. Had it been a Delsey luggage then it may have lasted longer.

We went to a couple of birthday parties last weekend. The first one was at the Clifton Gardens at Mosman. Weather was excellent with a nice mix of the warm sun and some cool wind. The place appeared to be a good spot for fishing. Anyway, we don’t have fishing gears so we just enjoyed the unending sight of sails passing by.

It has been about three weeks since we moved to our new place. We are just taking it easy but somehow managed to be close to declaring that we have finally settled down. The past weekends (including today) are quite busy so that may have somewhat slowed us down. But looking back, we were far from where we started. I can still recall the various preparations that we did: looking for boxes, arranging for utilities, picking one from a list of moving companies, etc. With the help of relevant websites such as Relocation.com, these activities had been a lot easier as we can get quotes and do transactions without having to make phone calls or leave home.

We’re not quite settled yet. But we’ll get there.

The kids after having a very tiring and busy day yesterday at school went to bed relatively earlier than normal. Though RD attempted to stay late to watch a movie, I guess she was too tired and found the movie boring and decided to sleep instead.

Now, as I was writing this post my husband and kids are still asleep, enjoying a much longer snooze. And I think that is okay to be able to have energy for another fun filled day.

Music plays a special part in lives of kids. It is an invaluable tool in the early stages of education. Even prior to going to formal school, most children would have a few songs in his or her arsenal. If we think about it, children actually start of really early with music. In my experience, I gave my kids a musical treat even when they were still in my womb by singing or even playing music. At birth, it is common to find musical mobiles hanging on baby cots or cribs. And of course, there is that lullaby hum or singing as a baby goes off to sleep. This is then followed by heaps of nursery songs, alphabet songs and so on. Once able to watch the television, the famous children’s shows do use the same music to tell kids stories or teach new things. And that is how our kids get glued to a particular show on and on and on. And because of that, we sometimes contemplate on getting some 8 inch in wall home theater speakers on sale to make the experience even better. What else have I got to say. There is just something about music.

Last week, RD’s school organized for the choir to sing at a nearby nursing home. As it is just near the school, they did not opt to hire a bus to take them there altogether. Instead, the teachers and some parents took the choir members to the venue in batches.

RD relayed how much she enjoyed the experienced. She has actually seen us parents perform in a nursing home in the past. But this time, it is her turn. And she is proud of what they are able to share. On going back to school, she asked the teachers that she go with the last batch of students that will take the ride back. This is for her to spend a little bit more time to interact with the kind elderly people they have met at the nursing home.

I am still not sure what the mechanics are for people choosing a nursing home around here. Anyway, it would be good to have directories or services that would allow people to browse about nursing homes such as the availability of homecare in Iowa City.

It is quite rare that we have to buy a newspaper. Sometimes it takes a special item giveaway that comes with these papers that would push us to head for the news stand. Why? It is because we get our news mostly from online sources. News from the internet is fresh, almost instantaneous. We get a dynamic up-to-the-minute events from literally any part of the world. There is also the option to get specifically the news one is interested in. With excellent search functions, keywords will be able to lead to exactly what is of interest. Of course, who can forget the fact that online news bring news of the hour as well as news yesterday, last week, last month, and so on. The pros are just too long to list.

I always tell my kids how important news is. The online news is a rich source of relevant information that affects the family directly or indirectly: weather news, election news, and finance, business or economy news.

Yesterday was another DVD movie night for us. We watched Nickelodeon’s The Spiderwick Chronicles. It is a film version of the book series. We haven’t really had the chance to read the books. Nonetheless, we find the movie to be quite amusing. I should say it was good that little CN already went to bed early as she may have been frightened by the scary villains creatures. RD apparently had a good time with the story line. The PG rating was quite accurate. It was rated as such for its fantasy theme as well as the scenes which may scare little kids.

A common expression here in Australia that is slowly being picked up by my kids are the words ‘I know’. I have been telling my children to use it sparingly. We remind them that learning starts on acknowledging that you don’t know something. Certainly how can one learn something that is already known? It is funny that another notable expression around here is that which says ‘I don’t know’. I guess it all depends on when or how these expressions are used. When I was trying to learn the mechanics of blogging such as web hosting, I tell myself ‘I don’t know.’ But with the help of relevant tools, I can now say, ‘I know’.

Today is the last day for the school term. As CN’s actual birthday falls on school holiday, we arranged for a birthday cake to be brought to her class for the traditional candle blowing. Sure enough, when we told CN this morning what is about to happen, she responded with a genuine smile. ‘Is it my birthday now?!’ From that moment onwards, she was just all bubbly, proud on the milestone she has achieved.

When I first thought of getting a web hosting service to be home to this blog, I was obviously faced with a long list of candidates. And since I was then new to this whole thing, making the right choice seemed to be a very difficult task. As some would put it ‘I had to do my homework’. Back then I did it the hard way, hopping from one site to another trying to make my own comparisons. Recently, I opened up my second blog. This time around, I simply had to go through host ratings and read through available articles on you may call one stop shops. Now that’s better.

My eldest daughter RD has only started learning piano formally last year. My husband plays the piano. He actually started to teach RD a few years ago. However that ‘arrangement’ did not work easily. Maybe it was a tough idea to convert a father figure to be that piano teacher (who, to some, may be an image of a person with a long stick or ruler ready to slap the student’s hands). As some would say, ‘black is black, white is white’. So maybe to RD, her father is her father. That’s it. Anyway, RD did get things going after working with another piano teacher. And she has already developed her focus and liking for the instrument, she is now back with her first teacher.

Tagalog Translation:
Ang aking panganay na si RD ay nagumpisa lamang mag-aral ng piano noong nakaraang taon. Ang aking asawa ay tumutugtog ng piano. Inumpisahan niyang turuan si RD ilang taon na rin ang nakalilipas. Ngunit ang ‘arrangement’ na yon ay hindi naging madali. Maaaring mahirap isipin na ang isang ama ay siya ring magiging guro ng piano (na sa iba ay isang imahe ng taong may mahabang patpat na handang paluin ang kamay ng estudyante). Sabi nga ng iba ‘ang itim ay itim, ang puti ay puti. Kaya maaaring para kay RD, ang kanyang ama ay kanyang ama. Yun lang. Anupaman, umusad din si RD sa kanyang pag-aaral gabay ng isa pang guro ng piano. At ngayong lumago na ang kanyang hilig sa instrumento, sya ay bumalik na sa kanyang unang guro.

The importance of the telephone cannot be overstated especially for families who live overseas. Though the internet adds up to the communication, it seems that the good old phone cannot be dismissed. We sure don’t want to miss a call from family. On the other hand, we also don’t want to receive calls from a nobody. Call Tracker facilities will allow logging of these unknown calls.

I was sorting clothes to keep some of the winter stuff and take out the spring/summer clothing. I came to a realization that the items I have kept have all shrunk. Fine, it was the kids who really grew up. That makes kids’ clothes literally ‘seasonal’ (as in good for one season and that’s it). My husband and I were discussing that the children’s clothing business here in Australia (or maybe any country with four seasons) should really be making good money. Anyway, I guess people have also learned to adapt to save up a bit through hand me downs. Passing on outgrown clothes is quite typical around here, at least within our circle of friends/community.