A Determined Micah

I came home a bit weary from the day's work and preparing for our trip this Thursday to the province for my mother's 60th birthday. When my 2 angels saw me, they were delighted. They seem to cherish more my arrival these days probably because my husband, Mari, is away in Singapore for the GK summit - which, to my great happiness, was a resounding success! Hurray GK! Hurray to the service team!

I'm writing this blog because i want to make a mental (and i guess literary) note of Micah's progress. Micah and Pia were just finishing their dinner. When Micah saw me, she squealed in delight and began sauntering towards me in her mini little "duck walk" (she had just learned to walk independently) way - I didn't know that was even possible! I guess it's because she had on a pirate smile. When she reached me, she threw her whole body towards me, so obvious in her trust that i would catch her.
Then she made a motion, this new- found eager way of telling me that she wanted me to nurse her. I could almost hear her add, "this instant. Mama!". Since she was not yet done wid dinner (wanting to skip directly to milk and sleeping), i tried to distract her by swinging her in the air several times. The trick worked for a bit but when i put her down on the floor, she made a beeline for the door to our bedroom. I was puzzled. Until i realized that she wanted to get inside our room because that's where i always nurse her until she fell asleep! As the French would say it, "Incroyable!" Incredible, indeed.

Micah playing with Ate Pia's

fuschia boa - the drama princess taking after

the drama queen.

So I went to get the keys to our room from my bag and she followed me. I gave her the keys and she held the bunch in her tiny hands, a big smile on her face still. As we were near the door, she lifted her hands as if trying to place d keys in doorknob. I smiled at her and took the keys from her hands. She was willing to give them to me. I opened the door and i gave Micah what she asked of me that night. A loving time with her busy mom.

I love you, Micah.

A happy colon, a happy me

Tips for a better digestion: (I am currently trying my best to follow these tips) Source: Colonzone.org

1. Don't Eat Too Much

It sounds simple, but it's true.

How much should you eat? Well, only eat as much as you can carry using 2 hands. If you eat more than this, it can put a burden in your digestive system. It won't matter if you eat the most organic, natural fo

ods in the planet, if you eat too much it will cause more harm that good. Overeating is one of the main causes of acid reflux.

2. Don't Drink Ice Cold Drinks With Meals

In fact, I would not drink any liquids a hour or so eating. If you have to drink while eating, I recommend drinking just herbal tea or warm lemon juice. If you have poor digestion, drinking peppermint tea is also beneficial. If you drink while eating, it simply dilutes the enzymes in your stomach. The acid becomes diluted, and weak, and as a result your food can't be completely digested. This eventually leads to gas, bloating, and yes, a clogged colon.

3. Have Your Meals 3 meals apart.

I know everyone loves to have their snacks, but our stomach and intestines need time to digest your food. 1 hour isn't going to cut it. So, please cut down on those desserts, potato chips, and snack foods. Try to eat regular meals spaced apart equally throughout the day.

4. Eat in a Comfortable Atmosphere

Don't eat in a high stress environment. Eat at a place where you can be attentive to your meal. The environment should be relaxing - not tense. When you eat, chew your food slowly, and use your saliva! It's part of your digestive system too you know.

5. Don't Eat After 8 PM

Why? Well, our digestive system is usually weaker during the evening. If you must have a huge meal, eat it during lunch instead. A lot of people also force themselves to eat when they're stressed, but don't do this. If you're upset, or not feeling well, consider just drinking some soup or tea.

6. Consider Talking a Walk After Eating

I usually take a walk around the neighborhood for 20 minutes or so, after eating a meal. Walking really aids digestion, so I suggest you follow this.

7. Do Not Eat Greasy Foods. Consider Digestive Enzymes

Greasy, and fried substances are extremely sickening, disgusting, and deadly for your health. Avoid refined carbs. If you must have an unhealthy huge meal (like a Chocolate Sherbert cake), consider taking some digestive enzymes while eating. I know the Garden of Life has a good brand. If you have weak digestion, I would also take digestive enzymes, as they really help in breaking down those proteins, fats, and carbs! If you don't have sufficient stomach acid, consider drinking some lemon warm water 15 minutes prior to a meal. Alternatively, you can try taking some malic acid, or vitamin c instead.

8. Consider Eating A Little Spice Before Meals

Pickled cabbage and ginger are awesome choic

es, as are umeboshi and sunamomo. These fermented foods really help your digestive system, as they help increase the acids. Commercial products are not that good, however. If you want to aid digestion, I suggest making homemade fermented foods!

9. Take a probiotic

Probiotics are basically human strains of bacteria that you can take in a supplement. These microorganisms are beneficial bacteria that aid digestion. Unfortunately, we don't get a lot of these in our diet due to pesticides, refined sugar, and insufficient intake of greens.

10. Practice Food Food Combinations

Always eat fruit alone - don't combine it with other foods. This means not putting bananas in your cereal! Fruits are ok if you mix them with other fruit, but some fruits are just not meant to be mixed together. Don't eat any dessert after you eat fruit, and more importantly don't eat fruit after eating meat.

11. Limit Veggies to 4 Types in 1 meal.

I sometimes put all my veggies in a blender, and blend them together to make eating them easier. Try to eat cooked veggies most of the time. If you have a weak digestive system, raw veggies are a no-no. Some veggies make you susceptible to lots of gas, such as brocolli. If you eat them, try to cook them with spices such as ginger. Indian food really make great use of these spices with all of their foods (which is why I love Indian food so much !)

12. Increase Digestion with Spices/Tea

If you feel sluggish after a meal, you need to ignite your digestive system. To do so, consider drinking some spicy tea such as peppermint during meals. Don't eat until you feel hungry.

Hope this works out for me!!!

True Love

Somebody asked me, "What is true love?"

My answer: "True love is having a set of rules, foolishly trying to impose it on your partner, expecting him to comply with your set of rules, then when you yourself break one of your own rules, your partner forgives you."

(An answer based on experience.)

From Yellow to Orange: Our Country Wins!

No i am not shifting my support from newly-elected President Benigno Simeon "NoyNoy" Aquino III to his billion-spending ex-opponent Manny Villar. I just came from Congress this morning to witness the proclamation of the country's Pres and VP. From there, Mari and I headed imediately to Gawad Kalinga's monthly (2nd) Builder's Night at the Rockwell Tent. Yes. Believe it or not, GK's primary corporate color is orange.

My NOY bracelet. :)

The experience at the Congress was unforgettable. I was there to witness history unfolding. The proceedings went on smoothly. The only notable thing was the gusto that the crowd exhibited in showing their support for their winning candidates. On one side of the hall, were the yellow supporters of Pres Noy. Onthe other side were the distinctly massa supporters of VP Binay. It was almost like a meeting of the class A and B and the C, D, and E classes. Unbeknownst to many (especially the people occupying the floor in the middle, each with his or her own desk), there was a large scattering of people who were strongly for both President Noy and Vice President Jejomar, melding the two distinct segments. This is a winning mix of people - a phenomenon where the Philippines and the Filipino people come out victorious. This also spells a winning tandem between the pres and vice.

Imagine, with the top two men in the government pulling in the support of the people from across the social classes, they already have majority of the people's support. Now, with this in place, we only need a key to start the engine. To my mind, this key is the harmonious and supportive relationship between the two top guns. What will propel the whole vehicle forward is the passion of the volunteers... Without caring, passionate volunteers, our country will never move forward. If we don't watch out, our country might never hoist itself out of the ditch it has been stuck in for many years.

On to the GK event...

What is a GK Builders Night? It is a monthly gathering of passionate GK supporters where there is sharing of best practices, learnings and a consistent honoring of ordinary everyday heroes.

Smart's Mon Isberto talked about a concrete way of engaging a community and implementing socio economic projects.
GK Payatas 13's printing enterprise and fashion show.

Human Nature's Dylan Wilk: "I have nothing against those (talking about other Asian) countries, but the Philippines is my home." - Dylan on patronizing Filipino suppliers instead of the usual China, etc. More: "When minimum wage goes up, the economy of the country goes up. Money circulates fast, so (this means) more commodities, more jobs." Cited the budding Citronella production in Bicol. 

Here's more on how Human Nature does it the GK Way:

• As a social enterprise, we fund the expansion projects of the poor communities supplying us. Since we are buying all their products, we are duty-bound to support them.
• Lemongrass profits 1m per hectare while rice profits at 50 thousand per hectare.
• For rejected products, the cost is shouldered by the entrepreneur instead of the poor community so as not to discourage them. Php 700 thousand was lost and shouldered by Human Nature.
• My (Dylan's) sincere hope and desire: that the kids and grandkids of my employees from the GK community be born in the same conditions as I did.

Dino Pineda: "When things don't work out, don't give up. Don't leave the people behind."

Peejay Nobela: a GK resident; now a call center agent and enterprise owner.

Upcoming: First GK HOPE Ball a fund-raising/auction on October 8, Peninsula Manila. I met Belize Balkir (Chairperson for the Ball) and husband Jonathan Crooke (General Manager of Peninsula Manila).

Entertainment was provided by: John Lesaca, one of the country's premiere violinist.


End.

The Pia Butter

A letter to Pia:

Dear Pia.

This morning I break fast with you and your Papa in our brand new dining set, while Micah was in your bedroom playing. I saw with my eyes how you slowly blossom from a toddler into a little girl, your independence and maturity in place. After giving you your morning bath, toweling you dry, making you cry by refusing your pleadings to put on the dirty green dress that you are currently obsessed with, hugging you for comfort and sitting you down next to me at the breakfast table, you surprised me as you asked for the bread and proceeded to put peanut butter spread on it. I had gotten so used to preparing your food for you.

Pia having breakfast.

Papa and I exchanged glances full of emotions and veiled thinly with tears we were desperately trying to hold back... To top it, you exclaimed, "Pia Butter!" - Papa and I burst out laughing. With wise eyes, you smiled at the both of us, silently conveying, "I know it's peanut butter but i wanna call it Pia butter".

Pia's peanut butter (brand: Peter Pan).

Pangga, it is these little moments that i like to go back to when I am old and when my hair is white. Moments of pure joy mixed with a hint of sadness. Joy for the maturity you've reached every time and sadness for the loss of your dependence which falls from my hands in trickles. These moments are the butter to the bread of life... Did that make any sense at all to you, Pia? All I'm saying is that without the butter - without the Pia butter (and the Micah butter, too!) - life would be as bland as solo bread.

I love you, Pia

Mama

Silver Spoons

I woke up this morning with Pia gone and Micah sitting up on the bed looking at me in a quizzical way, uttering, "Owww???" This brought a smile to my face and the moment i hugged her, Che-che appeared by the door on her way to pick Micah up and prepare her for her morning bath. My morning was promising to be a blissful one!

I have this bad habit (some of you who can relate might not think of it bad though) of making absolutely sure that things that come in sets should forever remain in sets (for example, Pia's toy blocks - all 100 of them, Pia's Aquadoodle set, Micah's tipping Chicken Toy, Pia's marker, my plates set, etc.). No room for what-ifs. This simply means that I hate loosing any single item that is part of a set. So, imagine my ire when I found out that I was missing two teaspoons and one salad fork (or perhaps you can't! Hahaha!). I told my 3 angels that it is of utmost importance that these items be found! Or I would die in frustration!, I silently told myself...

Regimental Silver Spoon

About 20 minutes later, reflecting on my ridiculous behavior, I started to laugh at myself. Oh my God, Jaja, you should've seen yourself: ranting and raving on about the do's and don'ts of caring for things and the how-many-times-have-I-told-you-this-before's. My 3 angels (all of them from humble backgrounds) were staring at me as if I had just gone crazy! Trying to compose myself, I told them in a more quiet voice, "You see, when you all are building your own homes, you will understand why I 'almost' blew my top". Uh-oh, I couldn't be more wrong. These ladies didn't have the luxury of growing up with a silver spoon in their mouths (and neither did I) so they couldn't relate to the point i was driving at. For them, material things come second only in a list of priorities where happiness, a full stomach and sound shelter occupy the top three entries.

Lesson for the day, one word is not enough even for the brightest person. No one is exempted. Instead of focusing on the frequency of giving out the instructions, perhaps what should matter is this: where does it place in your list of priorities? Is it high up or down low. If it was the latter, perhaps more thought should be given on the matter first? If it was in the former, then by all means, rant and rave away!!!

Stones

I guess it is only logical that I baptize my blog by entitling my first entry, "stones", to sort of give light as to why this blog is called Balancing and Stones.

with Micah (in yellow) and Pia (in black)...

Coming from a restful and invigorating weekend with my family, where time was spent with God's creation, good food and new friends, I've decided to start a record of my life's stones, small or big. The fun that I had with husband, our two kids and my 3 angels in Lobo, Batangas will be etched in my memory forever. My Pia once again proved her prowess with swimming (actually, just treading) and wrapping her Papa around her fingers... My Micah displayed her new abilities in singing with actions as she pressed both her pointer fingers against each cheek whilst my 3 angels sang, "When you're happy and you know it, you clap your hands... and your face will surely show it.." My Mari, as always, kept clicking away with the camera that has been such a blessing to us since we got it from anonymous and very generous benefactors. My 3 angels, Che-Che, At-At and Rhoda, swam with us in the beach where the water was so cool and clean and refreshing, spending their hard-earned vacation in ecstasy. What would one do without the little angels in life?

my first stone ...

Stones... i hope to get a chestful of them at the end of my blessed life. This first stone will be the "forefather" of a "nation of stones", so to speak. Or should it be "foremother"??

carrying Micah with Rhoda, Che-Che and At-At (my 3 angels) behind me.

A blessing in disguise manifested itself while we were in the midst of the winding roads to Lobo, Batangas. Pia and Micah, both wearing matching brown shirts, started vomiting after getting dizzy from the roller coaster ride. So, we rolled down the windows to let the fresh air in and the sour smell out. Pia lips were ashen, and so was Micah's. So, my 3 angels helped clean up the two girls, put fresh clothes (matching still) on them and had them settled back nice and comfy. Unknown to us, round two was still up ahead. After round two and changing them into another set of (matching) blouses, I sent a quick prayer to the Lord thanking Him that we were using the car loaned from a friend while our car was still in the shop being repaired. If we had been using our own pick-up, I think Rhoda, Che-Che and At-At would also be retching their guts out along with Pia and Micah..

Left: Pia (turning 4 in July)
Right: Micah (one year and 4 months)

Not bad for a first stone. My husband, Mari, looking over my shoulder as I write this, asks, "What are stones?" I answer, "I'll let you know later.." It isn't something I would discuss briefly with anyone. The logical part of my mind questions me. How do I determine when a time in my life calls for stones? Somewhere inside of me a confident voice replies, "You'll know, Jaja. You'll know..."