Caroleen’s Treasures

She was over the moon the day when she first wore her GSP uniform.

We can’t believe how fast she is growing. We now have a Star Scout and soon she’ll be a Girl Scout. We attended her Investiture Ceremony last August 26 and it was something that she cannot forget. I remember when I was her age, Mamang has a salary as grade school teacher but she was frugal because life was hard. I was rarely bought new stuffs. I usually wear hand-me-downs and incomplete uniform. So when Ella told us they are going to wear GSP uniform, Donald and I (along with the little guy) went downtown to buy. She was even glad that I forgot to bring her extra clothes. We went buying some stuffs for the store after the ceremony and she was beaming with pride each time someone notices her uniform. I wish she won’t grow too fast because Donald and I dreaded the time when we will be shopping not for little girls clothes anymore but for prom dresses and shoes.

Wow it’s been ages since I last made a post. I was meaning to write about our little business that kept me and Donald away from the computer the whole day. We opened our little ukay-ukay store in Mintal market last August 29. To some of my few readers here are some photos.

We are on our 20th day today. So far so good and we are loving it. We are buying bales of ukay-ukay from the US. They are big sizes but a lot better than the ones from Japan and Korea not to mention the signature items we can find in the bales. What I love to open is the children’s summer wear bale where you can find baby clothes that are like new and brand new with tags. We are committed to bring to our customers great finds from the US at a fair price. So if you happen to visit Mintal market, please drop by and check what we have in the store for you. We are located at Santan St., Mintal, Davao City. Ummmm, we are easy to find. No one sells ukay-ukay as good as what we have so if you see a little store that has nice pieces, that’s us.

I just would like to drop by and say hello before I get so busy today. It’s 2AM now and I just took a break from sewing. I wish we have on of those contemporary sofas where I can sit back with my feet up during my breaks. That would be such a treat! I am finishing a couple of orders that will be shipped today to Manila. The power went off at around 10ish. Just when I was trying to topstitch everything. I am now back into sewing mode and I am loving it.

Oh how I love FREE food! WE had it again tonight at my sister and BIL’s place. What else but our all time favorite food – Spaghetti!!!! Manang Inday was also there to pig out. Cheche arrived and what should be a warm welcome turned into a long lecture from me and my sister Crislyn. She made a huge mistake of leaving without permission and not returning for over a month. Discussing it here will cause only stress on my part so I’d rather keep it private. She said she came back to get all her stuff because she was hired for a very low paying job in our hometown. We don’t want her to go. She has to be under the Martial Law and we have to be firm this time. I was really disappointed and she can tell it. If she leaves for Kabacan, she cannot return here and there will be no help from me. I swear!

So I have seen a doctor this afternoon. We went to Alexian Brothers Diagnostic Center. This is where the clinics of my cardiologist and former OB-Gyne. I said former because I opted to get seen by another doctor today. I had a bad experience giving birth with Eman, a near death experience and I blame it to her so I do not want to see her again. LOL I do not have a name in mind so we went clinic hopping in their new building. I wish I had the camera with me.

The waiting area outside the clinics is wider and more airy. We went inside one clinic and I got my name listed. I was weighed (97 lbs) and filled up a form. It was 12:30pm when we got there. The doctor will arrive in 30 minutes.  I asked the secretary my number. I was #6. We still have time so we went to the canteen on the same floor to get some lunch. I was impressed. It was also air-conditioned, bigger and a lot cleaner than before. I wished again I had the camera. After finishing our food and before Eman gets fussy over the hanging decor, headed out. He keeps saying “Bob…bob…” his word for ball and wanted us to get it for him.
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Yes, we did! Last Saturday was the first time I tried bowling and it’s Ella’s first try too. I was afraid I will just put myself in shame. I imagine myself getting gutter balls from start to finish but Ella was the one so excited about it. She keeps on bugging about when will we go there etc etc while we were still killing the time at the mall before the agreed time. LOL It was actually an activity of the youth group of our congregation. Donald and I are not youth members and Ella and Eman are not either but we just went anyway because we feel we still belong with the group. LOL

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Last time I blogged about Ella’s Nutrition Month Celebration at school that we missed because we are not allowed to stay during the duration of the activity. I was disappointed but I understood that the school is teaching the children to be responsible and independent. All I wanted was to take photos, if I cannot come then Donald will do it but the teacher said she will just take photos and will upload the photos in Facebook. So I went looking on FB of the name of Ella’s teacher and sent a friend’s request. It was just tonight when I noticed that Teacher Raceme is already on my friend’s list. I immediately looked for the photos that she talked about and its great to see how Ella looks like when she’s in school.

She’s the one holding the apple cardboard. Not very shy huh? This was taken before the start of their presentation where they delivered a poem about Go, Grow and Glow foods. Read more… »

Today I woke up with fever and chills accompanied with unbearable pain in my lower back that runs down to my thighs and an engorged breast. I had a feeling that I have mastitis on my left breast. Well I just diagnosed myself. LOL The lower back pain might be another case. I will have to see a doctor hopefully tomorrow. I had no idea why I have it. Eman is draining both my breasts well  and he is already 16 months old so this makes me feel a little bit confused. So I researched for more informations about Mastitis in eMedicineHealth. Read more… »

So it is Monday again! Whew! I am such a lazy blogger. I even cannot remember what happened the past days so I went to check the photos I took. Last July 31, we decided to cut Eman’s hair.

Although I don’t have problem with the hair on top and back, I didn’t like the hair touching his ears. So this time, I brave the feeling of missing his hair. The first haircut which was done at FunCuts went quite smoothly. No fuss, no tears on his part but I cried a river after realizing he is not baby anymore and I missed his hair so much. LOL This time I was okay with it but we had one wailing kid at home. Donald held him while we play UP, his favorite movie. I was in charge with the razor and it took us almost forever to get it done. He went ballistic probably because our razor makes a very scary sound. I do not know what the neighbors were thinking and if we live in the US, a social worker was surely at the doorstep in just a few minutes after we started cutting his hair.

So here is, back to his old happy self. I love his hair! He is so darn cute! I am looking forward to his third hair cut. And oh I also did Donald’s hair afterwards. They now have the same look.

We had free merienda and free dinner today! What a great way to live life. LOL Whoelse will give us free meals but our family. Thanks to my sister Crislyn for the Red Ribbon cake. I bought some jellos that I made this morning. Manang Inday was also there at my sister’s place chatting the afternoon away to forget about how she misses her hubby who just left last Saturday. We had no plans of staying until dinner but that is what happened. She sent us to buy fish and durian. Oh how I love the food tonight. She fixed delicious paksiw and steamed milkfish. I was so full and I will never mind having it for the next several days or even weeks!!!