Pregnancy woe: gestational diabetes

When pregnant, I usually have complications. During Anya’s time, I was hospitalized twice for severe pain caused  by my expanding uterus, blocking my kidneys and then for preterm contractions brought by dehydration as a consequence of UTI. And Anya was born with Spina Bifida which is another story. This time, was a lot easier.  Mishka, my 29 week old baby, is free from congenital malformations as revealed in the Congenital Anomaly Scan.  However, when my OB asked me to do an Oral-Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), I failed. The test is done to determine if the pregnant is at risk of gestational diabetes.

After my failed test, I went to see an endocrinonologist – the doctor who specializes in diabetes and metabolism.  He advised me to completely ignore food with simple sugar (table sugar) and see a nutritionist to advise me on what to eat. Or else, if sugar levels will not improve, I would need to inject myself with insulin.  I am very much worried of injections and expenses. Oh dear.  However, the doctor told me that the main danger of having GDM is having a big baby, other fears such as abnormalities are not much of an issue.

Right now, aside from the diet, I drink malunggay juice and do pressure therapy which promised to be safe for pregnancy. I am not much of a fan of western medicine. If I would need to succumb to it, I make sure that I always have an alternative. Later, I will consult a scientific albularyo (very new age!) and I hope his advise would help me lower my sugar levels. I walk in the afternoons and do a lot of housework to compensate for physical activities.

I would have to say goodbye to sweets and carbs. I enjoyed them immensely anyway, but I guess this is goodbye for us.

LB Sunset on a Resurrection Sunday. 24 April 2011 on Twitpic

LB Sunset on a Resurrection Sunday. 24 April 2011 on Twitpic.

Les and I love watching the sun go down everyday.  As I watch it, the experience has always been different from each other.  The sunset, the cloud swirls and even the reflection of the sky on Laguna Lake showcase the real art of nature.

Women’s month

March is the month we celebrate “Women’s Month”. And March 8 is International Women’s Day.

And the Office of the Philippine President announces it this way:

My officemate, Gela Minas skyped this to me this morning and told me that it is alarming to read: National Womans Day.  The other day, one of my supervisors emailed me “the dying art of proofreading”.  The highest government office in the country should be aware that mistakes like this may reflect the real state of english proficiency in the country.  I am not saying that I do not commit grammatical mistakes, who does not?  But for an office which is supposed to uphold national pride and promote the country’s global competitiveness, it is just imperative to be careful and precise.

Now, this makes me more careful with what I do. Dang.

A fling-job

I like my job now. But this would not be for long. It’s just a five and a half month thing, then the one who is hired for this job will take it and it would be with her for good.

It is not so bad though. As I have said, I like my job, but cannot love it.  Might as well do the best that I can just to tell my job that I like it very much, and so the job would not forget me.

I am just thankful that I found this job, though it can be THE JOB, but it will not be THE JOB because the Universe just lent it to me.  I cannot hold on to it, but I can perform my role extraordinarily, and maximize my abilities.

Oh well, life is all that.  You cannot hold on to something that you like, and will be willing to love.  A job is a relationship. But only a few relationships lasts, those that have been tested through time and love.

So, for you my present job, I really like you.  But for now, we cannot be together for good. We still do not know what will happen next, but we will be good to each other while it lasts.

Job opening

A friend asked me to have this posted:
Urgent Job Vacancy

Admin Officer

• Administrative Assistance to Islandvibe, Islandsoul, and Islandsoul food
• Manage marketing and sales communications via email and phone
  Data entry work, transcription
  Research on the internet
  Field Research
  Make travel arrangements
  Posting of advertisements
  Other tasks may be required.

Qualifications

Good English conversational and writing skills
Able to work from home undisturbed.
Will be trained in Excel and Powerpoint
Willing to report to Manila office when required.
Willing to travel to Singapore in case such is required (must have passport)

Starting Salary is P12k to P15k plus commissions, depending on the skills and qualifications

Please send your resume to rojladaga at gmail.com

Trillanes has left Camp Crame

As of 10:00pm, Senator Antonio Trillanes has left Camp Crame. According to abs-cbnnew.com, Trillanes “was given a provisional liberty while waiting for the approval of his amnesty”.

Read: abs-cbn’s report here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/20/10/trillanes-given-christmas-pass

Case study: Cristine Reyes’s Twitter outburst against Sarah Geronimo

My family knows that I am a big (literally and figuratively), Sarah Geronimo fan. When I saw a Facebook friend’s status insinuating Cristine Reyes (a b-star sexy actress) throwing fits against Sarah Geronimo, I quickly logged on to twitter. It turns out, I am a Christine Reyes follower and my Twitter wall is covered with negative vibes against my beloved idol.

For six hours, Ms. Reyes twits whatever she has on mind starting with this tweet:
Cristine reyes
PilyangSweet Cristine reyes
I AM SO PISSED RIGHT NOW!

Followed by:
PilyangSweet Cristine reyes
Hindi ko gusto yun banat ng drama princess porket wala ako sa ASAP XV.akala mo ba e hindi makakarating sakin? Punong puno na ako sayo.

Cristine reyes
PilyangSweet Cristine reyes
Pagmamagaling magsayaw habulin ng mga babaeng sexy… FYI mali ka ng dialogue e baka habulin mo. Ikaw ang naghabol! binreak ka nga e!
23 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

So, according to my twitter research, it turns out that during ASAP rehearsals, Cristine was not there. Sarah Geronimo and John Pratts were teasing each other and Sarah said that if a guy is a good dancer, sexy girls chase after him (Pagmagaling magsayaw, habuln ng mga babaeng sexy). Cristine is seeing Sarah’s alleged ex-boyfriend, Rayver Cruz. In her twits, Christine wrote that Sarah was “naghahabol”, or was still going after Rayver despite of having Cristine as his girlfriend. The outburst went on and on until I decided to see the twits of John Pratts on Cristine’s allegations. Just this afternoon, I read this from John Pratts’ tweets, but cannot find it anymore: “wala akong nakitang masama sa sinabi ni Sarah.”, “it’s just a miscommunication, sana magkaayos na ang lahat”.

Social media humanizes celebrities

For a public figure such as Cristine Reyes, being on social media is both an advantage and disadvantage. An advantage because they can be close to their fans and followers, they can show who they really are apart from what is being seen on TV. Social media humanizes them. However, using social media should be under great care. What Sarah said was a joke meant solely for John Pratts, but Christine took it as statement meant to hurt her.  To vent out her anger, Christine used twitter, for whatever purpose she has.  Social media a good tool to vent out, as we usually do, but still with great care.

Personal space
Social media users should know that negative statements, especially around specific persons is not a good read. In twitter and facebook, the messages of friends’ or twitters whom one follows are shown on the wall. That is a personal space. A friend with a lot of negative messages can be deleted by those who find it harsh or bad. It’s a space, you can say whatever you want but a consequence is being unfriended or unfollowed. That is not good in the social media sphere.

Consequences

Just like P-noy’s speech writer who was criticized for expressing her thoughts on their official visit to Vietnam, Cristine will face some criticisms from Sarah’s fans and praises from hers.   Social media is a new social tool. Using it would eventually develop norms and customs.  Ones values and character will be revealed on how one uses this.  On this matter, grace and tolerance should be exercised so that clarity can be achieved.  Twitting controversial thoughts might give a person five minutes of fame or even achieve a trending status.  But what is more important is how one is going to be remembered as a social media user.

Do not underestimate the power of your thoughts.

good find: oryspa rice bran salt scrub

I do not really blog about products but this one is different. I would like to share my experience with Oryspa Salt Scrub. I am not much into bath products until I observed that my skin is getting a little dry these days (well, it’s true. I am near mid-30s and aging is catching up with me).

Everytime I feel tired and exhausted, I put rock salt in my bath water. I was advised that rock salt can renew the feelings of tiredness and exhaustion. There were moments when I feel that my energy is being sucked by X-men’s Rogue and this is the time wherein I would need to wash with salt water. I dunno what is with salt but this has been effective for me – in other words, i feel renewed.

And so I discovered Kutitap’s Oryspa Rice Bran Salt Scrub. When I bought it, I chose the smallest one sold in retail – for 90.00 bucks. I thought it was expensive and yet I would love to give it a try because it smelled nice – so Body Shop-ish. When I used it, it really smelled nice and when I rubbed it on my skin, I can really feel the salt renewing my body. It’s like a massage bath. No kidding. And this is not a PR article too — just a phenomenological account of a customer’s experience with Oryspa salt scrub. However, for a body with a big frame, the expensive small packed salt scrub could hardly last a week and, I would love to have more. Of course, the product is not perfect. The post-bath-oily-feel would need a little of being used to, but when you discover the cleansing power of this oil, then you will like it nonetheless. This product does not only renews the soul but also cleanses the skin by removing the dry skin (I really sound like a commercial).

the bath scrub

There. I am a very happy customer. I am now at my third pack – I bought the larger one for 160.00. And I think I would need to save to get their large bottle.

Kutitap is the company which manufactures the brand Oryza. They have store in Robinsons Town Mall Los Banos and in SM Calamba.

Snippets 11.2.10

An NGO based in the US, Sepsis Alliance, emailed me and asked me to write Anya’s story and her struggle against sepsis.  I wrote her story which can be read at their website – here.

I miss Anya very much. Since I don’t like crowds, I went to her grave and brought her flowers last October 31. Before, I would not want to go there because I would cry buckets.  After years of telling myself that I did not lose a child, instead, I gained an angel, I cried less recently.

I am still waiting for a job.  My husband encourages me to go back to work, probably because he can sense that I am getting frantic and useless nowadays.  Projects are over since the year is almost over.  My prayer before then was, “if projects stop coming, then, its a sign that I would have to go back to work.”  It has been less than a month since I said that and there were no offers yet, though I applied to several jobs already. I would have to be a little patient — oh well, I need a lot of patience.

During these moments of waiting, discerning what should be done is the better option than sulking and self-pitying.  I have gone through this one before and I know I can go through this again with a much better options.  If only I can blog about the books that I read or the movies that I have seen, then I can practice writing and see my weakness.  I would not make a promise of blogging often, because it has always been a broken promise.

I discovered Nintendo Wii yesterday. I had real fun working out with Wii boxing and tennis. Uh oh, my list of what to get next is getting longer, but still a new DSLR is my priority.

Nangangaluluwa po

This might be an early post for a Halloween post. However, I am in a middle of nostalgia, I might as well write something about it.

When I was a lot younger, my cousins and I looked forward to November 1 wherein we will visit our beloved who passed away.  And mind you, November 1 is definitely a major event in Batangas.  I always had issues of crown control in the cemetery, that is why I always tell my mom to have me cremated when I die because I do not want my love ones to suffer the November 1 cemetery crowd.

But more importantly, my cousins and I look forward to earning a little from “pangangaluluwa”.  It is the Halloween’s version of caroling. We sing a “nangangaluluwa” song which goes like this: Kaluluwa’y dumaraal sa tapat ng durungawan, Kampanilya’y pina…. ginigi-sing ang may bahay”. May bahay na natutulog, walang emek, walang ke-eslot….” (Souls pass by in front of your window. Bells are ringing, waking up the house owner.  There are houses that sleep, no sound, no movement) I forgot the other lyrics.

I am just a little nostalgic and we do not have anyone “nangnangaluluwa” here in Los Banos.