Want to Live Longer?

Sunday before last the whole clan went apple-picking as part of our annual fall tradition. The rain did not stop us from harvesting two bushels of golden delicious apples for my family alone. I guess that's what happens when you have three nature-deprived kids who were raised in the city. It almost looked like they were hunting for treasure instead of gathering crop.

Since then I've been finding myself eating about three apples a day-- one in the morning, one while driving to work at 4pm and another one on my way back. Although I know that's a healthy thing to do I am not doing it for health reasons but out of guilt for spending nearly $50 on apples!

But after reading this article by Dr. Maoshing Ni called Apples: The Live Longer Fruit today on Yahoo! Health I am mighty glad that I've been gorging on this fruit for more than a week now. We've all heard the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," but after reading this article you will come to realize that whoever started that adage literally meant it.

If slowing the aging process is not enough reason to start making apples a staple to your daily diet click here to read about the other benefits of enjoying this very much unforbidden fruit!

photo grabbed from www.whiteonricecouple.com

An Adviser for Chicago Shoppers?!

Chicago is the city that shops and that is why I almost found it funny that Chicago Tribune (web edition) would find it necessary to have a "Shopping Adviser." Shopping adviser or not, shopping I am going and so would a lot of women I know. But hey, how could you resist reading an article entitled, "Battle of the Mega-Discounters?!"

In this article Ellen Warren compares two discount chains that we all know and love (well, I'm not so sure about the "love" part for everyone) TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Anyone who knows me would say that I would never be caught dead carrying an inexpensive bag but when it comes to clothes I am always about getting a bargain. The author takes us to the said stores' downtown Chicago flagship locations, and scrutinizes everything from their selections, to the fitting rooms and restrooms, down to the checkout lines.

It's been a while since I last visited any of these two stores but I think I'm due for another bargain-shopping spree. And although the author had a preference for Marshalls over Maxx, a cow-patterned broom for $6.99 sounds very intriguing! When the hell is my next day off?!

To read this mega-insightful shopping advisory please click here.

How Was Your Day Off?

"How was your day off?" is usually the first question I get from coworkers the next day I come back after a so-called day of rest. The honest answer would be, "What day off? Moms don't get days off!" but instead I always opt for the simple "It was nice, thanks!"

It would've been okay if I didn't have to cook. Or hear all the screaming sounds that reverberate the walls of our tiny condo unit. Or maybe if it weren't so cold and I didn't have to chase Kai everywhere so he could put on layers of clothing. And if only my husband installed those childproofing things that you put on cabinet doors properly, so that my little rascal didn't empty those stupid cabinets all the time and pretend he's going in a dwarf house, then maybe, just maybe, I could actually say "It was nice, thanks!" with some sincerity next time.

I sometimes look at other moms and wonder if they run the same kind of madhouse that I do. Those moms who seem to feed their kids on time, read to them religiously, limit TV viewings to two hours a week, and send them to bed early. Would I be happier as a mom if I were more organized and followed these rules, wore unattractive clothes and running shoes, drove a van and adorned my hair with clamps? Do these moms ever feel they don't get any days off, and wishes so badly that they get at least one every now and then?

I wouldn't know, because I'm not like them. I just know that for now I'm going to pamper myself with my Sugar Face Polish by fresh and call it a night. I know I didn't have an ideal day off but at least I had this treat. Moms are pretty easy to please. Tomorrow my husband and I are going to see a movie, and maybe that will be a nice day off.

fresh is available on fresh.com and eluxury.com and I highly recommend it. Just don't blame me if you get hooked! Consider that a warning. Sugar Face Polish, 4.2oz, $55 (yes, it really has bits of strawberries! I tasted it one time and I'm most likely to do it again... sweet!)

I Am Super (Cleaning) Mommy

Ever get those days when you're just on a roll and you don't even know where the energy comes from? Well yesterday was that day for me.

To begin, I thought for sure I was working my usual 4-hour closing shift but when I look at the family calendar I realized Mommy was off that day. We have this lovely calendar that a good friend of mine, Therese, gave me (along with many other things) for Christmas last year. It has five columns with tabs for every member of the family so we could all see everybody's schedule. The kids also get to customize their own tabs ("Mommy" is built in!) and some months they go crazy, some months they're just boring. So already I felt I could do so much more... like someone magical and powerful just added 6 hours to my day (if you count travel and getting ready time).

So now the big question is, what to do with my 30-hour day today?!

My husband made it easy by nagging me about our piling dirty clothes-- he's out of socks! Before you judge me please bear in mind that we live in a condo and we actually need quarters to activate the washer. Me, lazy? Nooooh, just out of quarters!!! But no such luck, because yesterday we actually had enough quarters for two loads. So wet those clothes went.

Next thing I knew I was pulling meat from the freezer, veggies from the fridge, and spices from the cabinet. I was cooking, scrubbing, dusting, spritzing, oh and don't you forget-- I have clothes in the washer!

By 10:45 the place looked amazingly decent. In my standards, at least. Let's just say it's good enough to let close friends and family in because they know and understand what a slob I am.

It's barely 11:00 and they kids don't get out of school until 3:00. It's time for my favorite past time-- MY Internet time!!! So I sneak back in my room to turn the computer on.... AND WAKE UP MY 2-YR OLD!!! In an instant chaos begins and then it dawned on me: THAT'S EXACTLY WHY. Silly me, and I thought I had a visit from a magic dust-sprinkling cleaning fairy godmother!!!

photo grabbed from www.parentingissues.net

Facebook, Anyone?

It's been 9 days since my last entry and I feel so bad that I haven't written for that long! The culprit? FACEBOOK!!!

I learned, just a few days ago, that there is a certain group of friends of mine that I could only find here-- people I've been searching for for years via Friendster and MySpace but failed. They're the rich kids of Brent International School of Baguio, Philippines otherwise known as my high school classmates. And I am only saying that as-a-matter-of-factly. They're the golden kids and this is where they hide. But I sure am glad to be reconnecting with them.

But there's so much more! I know I may sound like a dork for discovering Facebook just now when it's been around for a while, when members have hundreds of friends and I have 32. I've been declining invitations from friends thinking it would, just like these other sites, take more time away from me performing the duties of a good mom and wife. Evidently, it also took time away from me performing the duties of a good blogger. But how can you not love Facebook, which, quoting my friend Les, is like a toy!

So what made me decide to join? Aside from my young 20-something-year old coworkers reminding me on a daily basis, I think I got especially curious when one of them asked the other, "Have you opened the Louis Vuitton gift that I sent you on Facebook? Did you like it?" I thought to myself, you could do that on Facebook?!

So here I am, telling everyone, Twitter style, how I'm doing right now. I've also been abusing the wall-to-wall feature, importing my blogs, became a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, and sending Filipino food (with balut being my favorite) along with my personal messages. The first day I saw my coworkers after joining I asked them, "So did you get my Hermes gifts?" Which of course, was overheard by another coworker, and judging from the reaction on his face, we could also now call him another Facebook addict waiting to happen.