Category: Uncategorized

Twentysomething no more

Tomorrow, I will turn 30. I am quite happy about it, contrary to what people imply that “mawawala na ang edad ko sa kalendaryo,” or simply put, I am not getting any younger.

Why would I not be happy? At 30, I am raising a lovely family of three, sleeping in our own home, working from home while taking care of it, still actively serving the church. And I get to sing and teach again! Happy dance! And my family supports me all the way in whatever endeavor I take. Blessing upon blessing.

I made a life list back when I was in high school. Nope, I am not gonna share them to you, cos I have not ticked some of the items yet. Still praying for some things and I hope to reach them before I turn 40.

Tomorrow also, we’ll be having our first family trip abroad. Will tell about it soon. So may I ask for a simple prayer for this trip, that all of us will be safe, and more importantly, enjoy the experience of God’s creation in another country. Likewise, please pray for our dear country, the Philippines, and let’s lift it up again to the Blessed Mother.

I am so excited to ride the plane and live in a suitcase again, after all, it has been my life some years ago.

Forgive the birthday pause, too, as I might not be online in the next days. Will try to post in Instagram and Twitter (follow @touringkitty).

I shall say a prayer tonight for all my friends and family and everyone who gets to read this. May God bless you and your families.

~ Touringkitty

The best things in life are FREE: Online Courses

I miss studying in the university. I had the best time during college, even though I had to take leaves for whole semesters because of concert tours with the Madz.

Now that I am a full time mother, I still want to learn, and I do them online, through the free online courses offered by professors of major universities abroad. Sans the university credits, these absolutely FREE online courses offer the same quality education in an online platform and in shorter spans of time.

Recently, I completed my Crash Course on Creativity. It was my second attempt to take it, as I was not able to finish the first time I took it last year. This year, I was so proud to finish the course in between work and household management, and got this Statement of Accomplishment from a Stanford professor, Tina Seelig.

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This was designed by one of our online classmates. It folds up like an accordion, showing the creativity logo. How kewl is that?!

There are lots more coming up and ongoing! Check out Coursera and Novoed (which was formerly Venture Lab wherein the Creativity Course I took is in). At the moment, I enrolled in Coursera’s Crafting and Effective Writer, Survey of Music Technology, and Creativity, Innovation, and Change. I do hope to finish them all, though, else I’ll end up just auditing again.

Hope you also take advantage of technology and education. Best thing, they are all free. No need to fly out to have classes under foreign professors.

 

~ Touringkitty

Touringkitty Blog Giveaway for August – WINNERS

I am happy to announce the winners for the first blog giveaway!

Let these photos tell you how the raffling went. Super fun!

Aria picking out the first winner
Aria picking out the first winner
Reading the lucky name, haha!
Reading the lucky name, haha!

And the winner is…

BRENDA BARRIENTOS-VALLARTA!
BRENDA BARRIENTOS-VALLARTA! You get the cute bib!

Next winner is…

BILLY MEDINA! You win the hooded towel!
BILLY MEDINA! You win the hooded towel!

The last winner is…

VERONICA ANABO!!! You get the newborn set!
VERONICA ANABO!!! You get the newborn set!
Of course, she won't end it without making kalat! Outfit: Terranova (shirt and shorts)
Of course, she won’t end it without making kalat!     Outfit: Terranova (shirt and shorts)

BEANS Baby Store shall ship the prizes directly to you. I shall send you all an email or Facebook Message so I could get your complete mailing addresses. Thanks, BEANS Baby Store for your generosity!

Thank you SOOOOO MUCH for joining! Please watch out on the Facebook Page as I announce the next giveaway, probably in two months!

Happy Birthday, dear Ariadne!

~ Touringkitty

Touringkitty Blog Giveaway: Happy Birthday, Ariadne!

CONTEST IS CLOSED. WINNERS ANNOUNCED ON NEWEST BLOGPOST. THANKS FOR JOINING AND WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT GIVEAWAY!

Yes, you’ve read it right, here is the FIRST (that means, more to come soon!) Touringkitty Blog Giveaway! And I am soooo excited for this!

August is the birth month of my firstborn, Ariadne. She will be turning three on the 31st and that is why we have THREE prizes in store for your babies!

But before anything else, please welcome and thank our giveaway sponsor, BEANS Baby Store!

BEANS Baby Store is owned and operated by Jade-Ceres Dolor-Munoz, a veteran of E-commerce operations. She is currently employed as the Director of Operations of a European company involved in the travel industry. In 2012, she started her own events management business with the launch of Baby Carnival, a highly successful baby bazaar. Three months later, she launched Made with Love, a 3-day arts & crafts fair. She has established connections within the baby products industry over the last year, which prompted her to open her own retail store.

BEANS Baby Store is named after her daughter Jellybean.

Do check out her online shop at www.beansbabystore.com or www.facebook.com/BeansBabyStore

Want to win the following?

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Joining is easy-peasy, and there are more ways than one to join! Do one, or do all for more chances of winning!

1. On Twitter or Facebook (Follow me on Twitter or LIKE my Facebook Page FIRST before posting!): Post this: “Happy Birthday, Ariadne! I am joining the @Touringkitty Blog Giveaway for August!

2. On Instagram: Post ANY Hello Kitty item (a toy, notebook, etc.) you might have and make sure to tag “Happy Birthday, Ariadne! I am joining the @Touringkitty Blog Giveaway for August!”

3. Shoot me an email at touringkitty@gmail.com with the Subject Line: TK Blog Giveaway-August with your complete name.

Aria shall raffle off the winners on the evening of August 31, her birthday! Last day to submit your entry is on August 29, 2013, 5:00 PM. Winners will first be verified and BEANS Baby Store will directly ship the prizes to you!

Game is on!!!

~ Touringkitty

I Love August!

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It’s not my birthday month, but I LOVE August! Lots of things to celebrate, such as:

Birthdays of Papa Mario(+)-August 6, Mommy Luz- August 29, Lola Estela-August 21, Lolo Ernesto-August 30, and of course, my dear Ariadne who wanted to join in the August Birthdays-August 31.

Holidays on August 9-Eid’l Fitr, August 21-Ninoy Aquino Day, August 26-National Heroes Day. Mark your calendars and plot out those mini-vacations!

Breastfeeding Awareness Month. I am a strong advocate of extended breastfeeding, which Aria does practice still at three years. I am getting some disapprovals yet again and some applauses as well for reaching this far. Trust me, mommies. It is not hard unless you give it a try!

In line with the last item, there are month-long activities several organizations have lined up to further increase its awareness. Check out Chronicles of a Nursing Mom, Atty. Jenny Ong’s blog, which lists down all activities happening this month. I will be participating in some, like August 3’s Hakab Na and August 31’s Talk of Dr. Jack Newman, which the tickets for it I have won through Eliza Ypon of The Painter’s Wife. Thanks, Eli!

You need not be breastfeeding to participate in all these activities. We want to raise awareness by promoting, living, and loving breastfeeding. If you join, I’m sure you’ll be a bearer of good news when you share the info to your family and friends.

~ Touringkitty

Select, select, then ELECT

Three years ago, I was a beautiful pregnant mommy lining up the poll precinct to exercise my right to vote. Since it was National Elections, my husband and I made sure we voted for someone who could make a significant contribution to our society in the first six years of our daughter’s life.

Unfortunately, our presidential bet didn’t win. Nor did our vice presidential bet. A few senators got the yes of the entire nation. We didn’t mind that much the local officials, though, as we do not know them quite well.

That is why for the upcoming elections on May 13th, I have first researched on the profiles of the candidates especially on the local posts so we could choose who would best do the job.

We also relied on surveys, comments from other people, including taxi drivers, very opinionated TV personalities, commercials (yes so if you got a baduy jingle, we will not vote for you, haha, just kidding!), and most especially their stand on important issues. the last item though can make or break them, so we’d have to be very careful. We come at the time where one can be either lying or avoiding issues.

So just a reminder: select, select, the ELECT. Do not waste a vote that could change. Such powerful vote we could have.

And as close to this post, here is a throwback photo of preggy me, three years ago.

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Yes, dear readers. I used to be THIS beautiful! Told you, I miss being pregnant! *wink*

~ Touringkitty

Labor Day

Now that I’ve given birth, there are always two things that remind me of Labor Day: Holiday of workers (yay!) and childbirth.

Labor Day celebrations in our country traces back to 1903, where a rally was staged to fight economic rights. To this day, labor groups batlle the same battle–higher wages, lower prices, more jobs, less taxes. Year in, year out, nothing has changed. So today, everyone gets this day off to celebrate the success of each labourer and thank the Lord they have work no matter how difficult, risky, whatever it may be.

Now my own labor. I can clearly remember those nine grueling and life-threatening hours of labor. I was wide awake the whole time, even a couple of hours after, before I finally dozed off. If I can remember right, the midwife told me if I wasn’t feeling sleepy at all, since they injected something that was supposed to make me sleep. Nope, it was not epidural (read: normal, no drug birth, yeah, beat that!). My husband was with me during labor, except for the delivery where it wasn not allowed by the hospital. I find it crazy, but probably it had something to do with the hospital’s religion. And because of that unwritten rule that men weren’t allowed, I spent day one with a stranger aka my daughter alone with her, breastfed her, calling the nurses via intercom to assist in changing diapers.

That was my Labor Day almost three years ago. And well, okay, I shall celebrate it today, along with workers who celebrate the labor they do in their own jobs.

Happy Labor Day!

Waiting for tonight…or not…

The mind is willing but the body is not.

Before I fully snooze to dreamland (yes call me killjoy for not waiting for the new year countdown!), let me greet everyone who’s joining the countdown via social media a Happy and Blessed New Year! May this one be better than the last!

And to those who are working at this very hour (like the taxi driver where I took my ride home from church in, security, medical teams on standby), those who await the break of the new year with their families and loved ones even those who wait together via webcam or phone miles apart, those who will be born this year, may you all have a blast!

And for those who have not lived to see the new year (like our dear Fr. James Reuter), our departed loved ones, those who are seeking hope despite trials and calamities, those who are away from their loved ones (separated families, those in prison), those who are in the bed of sickness or at the dusk of their lives, may they be blessed by the love of the Father and the care of our Holy Mother who celebrates her feast day this first day of the year.

Happiest of new years from my family to yours!

~ Touringkitty