Be Ready to Have a Baby

My mom has been asking me when will she ever have a grandchild from me. Well, that's a tough question to answer especially if I haven't even thought of getting married.

You see, it's not easy to become a parent. Babies need a lot of attention and tender loving care. Not only for a certain period of time within a day but regularly - yes, throughout the day.

To be able to fulfill their responsibility properly, parents need a lot of preparation for their baby's arrival. Just like any major step in life, like getting married or even putting up a business, one must first sit down and carefully calculate the expense. Raising a child, which is also known as a 20-year project or more than that, is a lot more complicated than running a business.

One must be mentally, emotionally, spiritually and most of all, financially ready before deciding to bear a child. Pregnancy can be a disaster to a lady if both parties are not ready. Thankfully there is an available Pregnancy forum online that can help young parents with all of the latest information regarding everything we need to know about pregnancy and what to expect, through to everything we need to know about raising a baby. If you are having a baby or planning to have one, you might want to register at BabiesBase. Registration is free.

This is a paid-post by BabiesBase.

The Dreamy Idealist Dreams of His Perfect Other

I finally took the courage to visit my blog and post a new entry during my lunchbreak. This will be a quick post but I believe it's going to be a long read. But I do hope you will still take time to read. hehe

I took this quiz on www.ipersonic.com and the result is I am a Dreamy Idealist.

The website says:

Dreamy Idealists are very cautious and therefore often appear shy and reserved to others.

I say: That's partly true. Some people thought I'm a snob or aloof but the mere truth is that "isa lang po akong mahiyaing bata sa personal!" (I'm just shy in person!)

The website says:

They share their rich emotional life and their passionate convictions with very few people.

I say: I agree. It takes time for me to trust someone and share my emotional life. naks! emo! hehe

The website says:

But one would be very much mistaken to judge them to be cool and reserved.

I say: That's true. Some people think I'm cool lalo na yung mga pinsan kong bata. hehe. But some people think I'm lame and boring. haha. I can't blame them. That's partly true. Well, as the saying goes, "You can never please everybody!"

The website says:

They have a pronounced inner system of values and clear, honourable principles for which they are willing to sacrifice a great deal. Dreamy Idealists are always at great pains to improve the world. They can be very considerate towards others and do a lot to support them and stand up for them. They are interested in their fellow beings, attentive and generous towards them.

I say: I agree. Naks! Seriously, I had experienced studying the bible with some preachers and I believe it helped a lot for me to develop the core skills that are needed for me to become a better citizen. Unfortunately, I've been having a hard time lately juggling between my working schedules and attending spiritual or Christian meetings.

The website says:

Dreamy Idealists prefer to motivate others with their amicable and enthusiastic nature. Whoever has them as superior will never have to complain about not being given enough praise.

I say: I couldn't agree more. *wink*

And my favorite part...

Dreamy Idealist on Love

Fantasies, dreams, and ideals, play an important role in your life. In your heart, you carry visions of a better world where the wolf plays with the lamb, and the creeks carry milk and honey. Naturally, this also applies to the subject of love. You are absolutely convinced that your perfect other half with whom you can merge into the perfect oneness, exists somewhere in this world. You are obviously aware that this extraordinary gift won’t just land in your lap, but you are willing to wait for a long time and sacrifice a lot, if necessary, to reach this vital goal. “Per aspera ad astra,” or “Through the night to the light,” is your motto. As all Idealists, you tend to raise your chosen partner up on a sky-high pedestal - especially at the beginning of a relationship. Essentially, you have excellent insight into human nature but when you are in love, you obviously throw all of that out the window. That can be the only explanation why you aren’t able to see even the smallest blemish on this person.


***
On Seeing the Perfect Other

I've read a story that reminds me of a certain girl to whom I fell inlove with but things were just too complicated. I met this girl some time 2 years ago. She was single back then, so was I. I thought we had a connection. I liked her, no, I was inlove with her, but for some reasons, at that time, I thought it just wouldn't work for both of us. And when the time came that I realized that she's the perfect girl for me, it's too late as she is already in a relationship with some guy.

So here goes the story, taken from "Haruki Murakami's On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning"

Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.

One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.

"This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me."

"And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream."

They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle.

As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts:

"Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily?"

And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?"

"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."

And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.

The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.

One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible inluenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank.

They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.

Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.

One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:

"She is the 100% perfect girl for me." "He is the 100% perfect boy for me."

But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever.

A sad story, don't you think? Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her.

PS: I was inspired to feature Haruki Murakami's "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" after reading Kris Canimo's entry entitled "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Boy."

I'm Sorry I Lied

This is just another story in a poem format that tells a moral lesson especially to teen-agers out there. I know this has been circulating on the Internet for quite some time already but for those who haven't read it yet, I suggest that you keep reading.

I'm Sorry I Lied

Jenny was so happy about the house they had found.
For once in her life that was on the right side of town.
She unpacked her things with such great ease.
As she watched her new curtains blow in the breeze.

How wonderful it was to have her own room.
School would be starting, she would have friends over soon.
There will be sleep-overs, and parties. She was so happy.
It's just the way she wanted her life to be.
On the first day of school, everything went great.
She made new friends and even got a date!
She thought, "I want to be popular and I'm going to be,
because I just got a date with the star of the team!"
To be known in this school you had to have a clout,
and dating this guy would sure help her out.

There was only one problem stopping her fate.
Her parents had said she was too young to date.
"Well I just won't tell them the entire truth.
They won't know the difference. What's there to lose?"

Jenny asked to stay with her friends that night.
Her parents frowned but said, "All right."
Excited, she got ready for the big event.
But as she rushed around like she had no sense,
she began to feel guilty about all the lies,
but what's a pizza, a party, and a moonlight ride?
Well the pizza was good, and the party was great,
and the moonlight ride would have to wait,
for Jeff was half drunk by this time.


But he kissed her and said that he was just fine.
Then the room filled with smoked and Jeff took a puff.
Jenny couldn't believe he was smoking that stuff.
Now Jeff was ready to ride to the point,
but only after he'd smoked another joint.
They jumped in the car for the moonlight ride,
not thinking that he was too drunk to drive.
They finally made it to the point at last,
and Jeff started trying to make a pass.
A pass is not what Jenny wanted at all
(and by a pass, I don't mean playing football.)
"Perhaps my parents were right. Maybe I am too young.
Boy, how could I ever, ever be so dumb?"
With all of her might, she pushed Jeff away,
"Please take me home, I don't want to stay."
Jeff cranked up the engine and floored the gas.
In a matter of seconds they were going too fast.
As Jeff drove on in a fit of wild anger,
Jenny knew that her life was in danger.
She begged and pleaded for him to slow down,
but he just got faster as they neared the town.
"Just let me get home! I'll confess that I lied.
I really went out for a moonlight ride."
Then all of a sudden, she saw a big flash.
"Oh God, Please help us! We're going to crash!"
She doesn't remember the force of impact.
Just that everything all of a sudden went black.
She felt someone remove her from the twisted rubble,
and heard, "Call an ambulance! These kids are in trouble!"
Voices she heard, a few words at best.
But she knew there were two cars involved in the wreck.
Then wondered to herself if Jeff was all right,
and if the people in the other car was alive.
She awoke in the hospital to faces so sad.
"You've been in a wreck and it looks pretty bad."
These voices echoed inside her head,
as they gently told her that Jeff was dead.
They said "Jenny, we've done all we can do.
But it looks as if we'll lose you too."
"But the people in the other car?" Jenny cried.
"We're sorry, Jenny, they also died."
Jenny prayed, "God, forgive me for what I've done.
I only wanted to have just one night of fun."
"Tell those people's family, I've made their lives dim,
and wish I could return their families to them."
"Tell Mom and Dad I'm sorry I lied,
and that it's my fault so many have died.
Oh, nurse, won't you please tell them that for me?"
The nurse just stood there. She never agreed.
But took Jenny's hand with tears in her eyes.
And a few moments later Jenny died.
A man asked the nurse, "Why didn't you do your best to bid that girl her one last request?"
She looked at the man with eyes so sad.
"Because the people in the other car were her mom and dad."

The One That Got Away

I got this from an office mate/friend and I am sharing this article as this has made an impact to me.



The One That Got Away

Source: The Manila Times
By: Mark J. Macapagal

In your life, you'll make note of a lot of people. Ones with whom you shared something special, ones who will always mean something. There's the one you first kissed, the one you first loved, the one you lost your virginity to, the one you put on a pedestal, the one you're with... and the one that got away.

Who is the one that got away? I guess it's that person with who everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person, there was no flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn't fall the right way, I suppose.



I believe in the fact that ending up with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little nice ties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without even realizing it? When you're not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn't matter who you're with, it just doesn't work. Small problems become big; inconsequentia ls become dealbreakers simply because you're not ready and it shows. It's not that you and the person you're with are no good; it's just that it's not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

........... Then one day you're ready. You really are. And when this happens you'll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest star of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it'll work because you're ready. It'll work because it's the right time and you'll make it work. And it'll make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you're finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want, and you've become ready because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there's no telling when this day will come.

Hopefully you're single but you could be in a long-term relationship, you could be married with three kids, it doesn't matter. All you know is that you've changed, and for some reason, the one that got away, is the first person you think about. You'll think about them because you'll wonder, "What if they were here today?" You'll wonder, "What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?"

That's what the one that got away is, the biggest "What if?" you'll have in your life.

If you're married, you'll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you're mature enough to realize that you're already with the one you're with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you'll think about him/her every so often, but it's alright. It's never nice to live with a "might have been," but it happens... Maybe the one that got away is the one who's already married. In which case it's the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you're old and gray and reminiscing. But if neither of that is the case, then it's different.

What do you do if it's not yet too late? Simple...find him, find her. Because the very existence of a "one that got away" means that you'll always wonder, what if you got that one? Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie, it doesn't matter if you've dropped in from out of nowhere. You'd be surprised, you just might be "the one that got away" as well for the person who is your "the one that got away." You might drop in from out of nowhere and it won't make a difference.

If the timing is finally right, it'll all just fall into place somehow and you know, I'm thinking, it would be a great feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone, "Hey you, you're the one that almost got away.