Saturday, August 25, 2007

Waiting...

My molar operation went well...much better than I expected. I'm recovering fast.

I have to go back next Saturday for the sutures to be taken out and to get the test results from my mammogram and ultrasound. Things will be fine though.

I can't believe I have to see 3 doctors on that day, lol....my OB, derma, and dentist Well, that's what I get for postponing my check-ups...I just hate hospitals.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

World Vision and UNICEF Help Quake Victims in Peru...


When I read about the UNICEF and World Vision efforts to help earthquake victims in Peru, it made me recall the intensity 8 quake that rocked my parents' place back home in 1990. Two well-known hotels in the area collapsed then. People we personally knew perished.

The whole city was totally cut off from any means of contact with the outside world for weeks. My brother was in a nearby town and was also cut off from any means of transportation to get back home. The roads were gone. The transportation available could only take him to a nearby town that was 3 hours away by ride from where my parents lived. He had to walk for several hours through the mountainous path amidst continuous rains and aftershocks that caused landslides. We had no news about them for about 2 weeks.

The emotional and psychological trauma are at times more difficult to cope with than the environmental devastation. Hundreds of quake victims in Peru must be going through the same or worse emotional and physical turmoil that my parents and similar earthquake victims have gone through.

For the moment though, the biggest priority is to aid the Peru quake survivors with the basic necessities such as food shelter and clothing...many of the victims still live on the streets. Many of them were among the poorest in the area.

World Vision and UNICEF have responded by providing clean water in the area, medicical supplies, clothing and other basic necessities. Both are coordinating with the Peru government for the long term plan to help the quake victims.

The quake survivors will now have to start the process of rebuilding their lives...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

On Parenting...

I'm probably just sentimental and restless the last few days. But today made me think about how good or bad I am as a parent.

I was out on Saturday to watch a movie with a friend who I know had been troubled and problematic lately. My kids stayed home. I can't recall when the last time we watched a movie in a theater as a family. It must have happened only once or twice and years ago when they were much younger.

Today, the kids' father went out with his friends to go to a party. Though he came home early, the kids and I stayed home. I brought them food from a good Chinese Restaurant after I went to church alone and we ate together. I somehow envy one of my Unit Heads at the office whenever she talks about going out every weekend for a family activity. It has been some time since we've done the same thing as a family.

We haven't been going to church together for some time either and to me that isn't such a good sign. My daughter especially only goes to church when she's in the mood for it, and usually when she knows we'd go to the mall afterwards.

We didn't get to go to the yearly family outing with relatives from the kids' paternal side, which is about the only family activity we get to have. There was supposed to be a system conversion for one of our overseas branches that weekend and I couldn't go. Though I told them to go without me, my daughter didn't want to unless we all went. So everyone stayed home.

These family outings are not what I've ever particularly enjoyed but the kids do, so I just quietly join in their fun until it's over. Except for one occasion, all these family outing activities somehow always tired me and made me uncomfortable. I wanted a real quiet family vacation where I didnt have to worry about cooking for more than 20 people or having to share a bed with several others in a room.

I have not been very expressive to my kids, neither is their father. I somehow lost that over the years and I can see how it has affected them. They are not expressive either. Though my daughter can be sweet at times when she wants to be, I can also see how hard and tough she can be...even tougher than her brothers.

My eldest is a bit aloof, but maybe more because of his learning difficulty which fortunately has improved and he now attends regular classes. His mouth quirks on the rare times I ask him for a kiss and I never get one.

My second son is the sweetest, but oh how he can test and challenge one's patience before he finally does what you tell him. I would think that the successive "whys" would be for kids 5 to 10, but nooo, at 15, he still does it and with all the reasons he can think of to question what you tell him. It's amusing at times though, but mostly not.

I know things are far from perfect, I am certainly no ideal parent that I've always imagined one to be. And I'm hoping that any decisions I make soon will somehow be for the better...

Saturday, August 18, 2007

A Call for Help...



Months back I wrote about a woman who I saw sitting at the pavement of the Main Highway's flyover that I pass through everyday. Yesterday, I saw a man doing this again...waiting for cars to stop to give him some food or money. Less than 50 meters away, another woman also was doing the same thing. She looked like the woman I saw months back. The black and gray checkered skirt she wore looked familiar.

There was a typhoon and there were strong intermittent winds and rains throughout the day. It again made me wonder why they were begging there and if people really stopped on the highway to help them. It stressed me that they risked getting ran over by vehicles for a few coins. I didn't see any vehicle stop to help them. I asked myself how they got there without any wheelchair or any support they can use to get them there. They could have gone to a shelter instead. They could get help there, maybe even be taught how to earn income and support themselves without begging.

The strong typhoon displaced so many people in low-lying areas. The World Vision has been soliciting help from donors for many flood victims in Asia. Some 30 million in South Asia have been affected by the floods from monsoon rains and typhoons. There's now a danger of epidemics starting due to lack of clean and potable water and poor sanitation.

The Charity Navigator has tips on how to give donations. Please check it out. Every little bit helps....even prayers.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

On Relationships...

I guess I stirred a lot of female friends' emotions a bit when I wrote about this. But I wanted to write about it because it too affected me somehow.

It was a bit surprising,even shocking to find out a male friend's view on love when we talked about his relationships with women.

He can love them all to the same degree??? but still not be committed enough to them...universal love he said. It's hard to describe, but the thought always disturbs me, especially when there are women who can actually settle for such an arrangement... going out with the same man, knowingly aware that they are "sharing" him in everything. But apparently, there are such women. At least he is forthright and honest in letting the women know he was seeing them all and having a relationship with them, all at the same time.

It makes me wonder though what kind of upbringing or environmental exposure he had to have such an attitude about relationships. To me it's a sign of the man playing safe...the more women you have, the less emotionally involved you are with them. And if there are women who can accept things that way, I guess most men wouldn't even turn that arrangement down at all.

I'm sure he's still just enjoying his bachelor days. But as I've more than once told him, when he meets the right one one day, he will have to fight for her...because she may totally not share in his beliefs. And I think he knows that only too well. That will all change when he finally meets the woman he wants to share his life with.

He's my friend and I'll always wish him the best, however warped or maybe unemotional his actions on women are. In the first place, it's the woman's choice to accept such an arrangement.

I can't imagine myself ever compromising that way. I'm a woman. I know how the other women will feel. Where emotional and physical intimacy come into play, to me there always has to be a level of commitment. I am just too emotional and sentimental not to get hurt in such a relationship.

Unfortunately, even with commitment, relationships still don't always work out. Sometimes we just have to move on, and it's always the first step that's so hard to take...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A Challenge of our Time...


Today I read about child prostitution when I visited Matt's Blog. Human exploitation has always affected me. I have written a few about them myself in this blog. I still can't fathom how people can be so inhuman and treat others without compassion or regard of human feelings or their well-being.

An international Christian organization called ZOE Children’s Homes was launched to proactively rescue children who are at risk of being sold into human slavery and/or child prostitution. Their first goal is to provide a loving and safe atmosphere. They then educate, motivate and model servant leader principles.

We can do our share to help stop human exploitation. For details, please read Matt's blog on Challenge of our Time. There are several other great topics you can read over at his blog.

Another Super Typhoon

There's a 170kph-strong super typhoon coming by tomorrow. But this morning the rains were already strong and several areas were flooded. The kids were sent home.

By afternoon I was worried. They said the main highway is flooded so I decided to just stay late at the office until the rains stopped and the flood subsided. By 8pm I was told to rush home while there was a lull. I was home earlier than usual.

Tomorrow will be worse. The typhoon is expected to be here. Classes in all levels have already been suspended but I have to go to work. I hope it won't be another storm like last year where small branches from trees hit my car windows and sacks of garbage from dunp trucks were strewn all over the highway.

The cool weather is nice though...