i am woman, hear me rawr!

Well, this was technically yesterday’s thought bubble, but my brain is kinda running a day late. I blame in on….welll….nevermind!!!

I swear every time I give in to my not-so-secret love affair, my thoughts get all tangled up like spaghetti, and not just while it’s happening, but up to a day or two later!!! To be fair, I can be able to do the things I need to do well, I just feel like I’m watching it on time delay. However, yesterday, I had to burst out laughing when one of the little boys in my class was trying to tell me a story and for the life of me, I couldn’t keep up!!!Although….my friend Jen says she likes that giddy, spontaneous Ria that emerges hehe.

20/365

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I’ve written about my Samsung PL151 several times already but I can’t help but re-emphasize how much I love the beauty shot feature this camera has. I think several other Samsung models have the same feature, but I don’t know about other brands.

What I like about the Beauty Shot setting is that it retouches and clears up your face a whole lot. And it auto adjusts to the lighting in the area so you are almost always guaranteed a good portrait shot. I like how it makes your skin look so flawlessly smooth and clear. It’s kinda like having a built in automatic photoshop program in it! Plus, since its automatic, it does it all on it’s own. I swear it makes your skin look so good, it would seem that you had airbrushed on your make up or had really good acne treatment products which cleared up your skin to the highest heavens! Take a look at some of these shots:

Nice, right? However, the downside to this setting is that it is quite sensitive to movement, especially indoors. It takes a long time to process the shot so since you tend to be holding the camera at arms length (using the front lcd for self-portraits) you often end up with blurry shots, such as the last one. It takes some getting used to it, but I found that setting it on a tripod or the table helps greatly, but it kinda defeats the some of the dual LCD’s purpose, right? Nonetheless, I still love my Sammy to bits!

Do I recommend getting this? Well, if you’re looking for a basic point and shoot with fun features, this is a good enough choice. Plus it’s generally affordable, ranging from 10,999-13,999 for the PL series. The touch screen versions of the dual lcd Samsung cameras run up to about 21,999 as of the last time I checked.

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photo credit: Jen Aspacio of  Marriage and Beyond

And so we meet again, my friendly foe This is soooo gonna be the death of my diet I swear. But as much as I am working on my becoming a Fat Girl No More (plus of course my Project Prettify Me!), this is the one thing I still haven’t found the heart to give up! Soda, gone. Rice, almost completely gone. Sweets, minimal if ever….but this…..I’m still in love. Even if I regret it the next day. Harhar.

19/365

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The kids I teach in preschool love it when the weather suddenly changes while we are doing our daily calendar. They get a kick of saying it’s a cloudy day when they first come in, then it becomes a sunny day, then not long after, it starts to rain and it becomes a rainy day!

As for me,  I HATE IT!!!

In as much as I love, love, love sunny days (so much so that without sunny days I feel like I am slipping into a state of depression), I wouldn’t mind a string of rainy days, as long as those days would be reflective of what a rainy day is. What I mean is I don’t like it when it gets so, so hot and then all of a sudden there’s a downpour. That really drives me nuts. Not just that, the sudden changes in weather never fails to get me sick. It triggers my asthma which soon escalates to the flu and before I know it, I am down with a bug that is so hard to shake off. My friends and family keep telling me that maybe I should bulk up on Vitamin C, or perhaps be more consistent in taking multivitamin supplements to help my immunity. I guess that might help, but what would really help, in my opinion, for the weather to behave!

Please, dear Mr. Sun, make up your mind if you’re gonna shine or not!?!

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We all know how much my Bubba is the highlight of my life, right? He makes all the tiredness, hurt, sadness and darkness in my life go away by simply being there beside me. I swear he’s super protective of me, and at times, kinda selfish. He hates it when I play with other dogs or things he thinks will take his place. For example, sometimes when I hug my pillow, he barks at it and tries to make siksik between me and the pillow. I promise this dog is so crazy!

Today, my cutie patootey niece Arianna was here at home again and although he and she got along just fine all afternoon, when Yanna woke up from her nap and came to me, he started barking!!! To be fair to Bubba, he never attacks, he just barks. Really loudly. Super seloso I swear!!! And so today’s thought bubble is dedicated to my Bugoy I bet that’s what goes through his mind whenever I show affection to something/someone else!

18/365

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For the first time in many, many months, I can say I actually look forward to Mondays. For one, it’s my free day  This term I don’t have classes on Mondays, so I don’t have to feel super rushed when we have meetings at our clinic. I no longer have to rush right after class and brave the traffic. Plus, now I get to do something extra fun on Mondays

Today, however, this happened:  margarita lunch + shopping x credit card = what was I thinking?!?! mwahaha.

Then again, it was super, duper fun. That is priceless. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Okay maybe two

17/365

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A few weeks ago my brother called me to ask about his college entrance applications. Sometimes I still get amazed that he’s already at the threshold of becoming a college freshman. I still remember him as the first grader I used to help with his homework! Now he is much taller than me and is quite independent in many, many ways. Anyway, we got down to the nitty-gritty of filling up various forms and I was glad to see how well he was able to manage these things on his own. Then again, I suppose it is really kind of like a rite of passage that we all go through at one point or another. He then asked me whether or not he should “study” for the entrance exams, or whether he should enroll in one of those tutorial or review centers that specialize in college entrance exams.

I told him that it would really depend on how he  felt about it, because people respond to these types of tests differently. For example, I survived on just going through some sample test questions in those sat/lsat prep courses online. I was able to try a wide array of tests which are usually asked in these types of tests, such as logic reasoning, verbal comprehension, and mathematical analysis. But, I told him, not everyone is suited for this kind of a review. Some need a classroom based, interactive session to get ready.

As a teacher myself, I do not discount the fact that these types of reviews help, but I also recognize that since these are typically intelligence and achievement tests, you do not really need to “study” for it. Perhaps practice is the more appropriate term for it.

For those who are gearing up for their college entrance exams in these coming months, good luck

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Today I was reminded about how much I love my job. Think of it: I get paid to play, have fun and be silly Woot. While there are some hardships that come alongside being a preschool teacher (especially waking up soooo early in the morning) the upside is that when I’m with the kids, I feel pure joy. And I am reminded of what is essential in life. I am grateful today that my passion for teaching has been rekindled.

16/365

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