Celebrating Life!

Today is a special day.

No birthdays or other usual occasions to celebrate, except that today marks the fifth year since my Dad had an operation to save his life from Cancer of the vocal cord.

We are celebrating life!

It has always been said that if a Cancer patient survives the critical five year period after surgery without recurrence of the disease, then he has a better chance of remaining Cancer-free for the rest of his life.

Whether it's true or not, we are just thankful that after five years, Dad is currently in good shape and responding well to treatment for his new condition, which is Congestive Heart Failure.

Memories of that painful chapter will always be kept treasured in our hearts, for it has made both our faith and family ties stronger in a lot of ways.

In a few days time, he will be celebrating his 72nd birthday. More than anything, we look forward to spending longer quality years with him.

Congratulations and cheers to great health and a long life ahead, Dad! We love you very much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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P.S. I made the personalized Time Magazine cover last year for his 71st birthday.

The Gift of Style

I’ve always been an early shopper. I take advantage of sales and stock up on gifts, months before Christmas. But this year, I decided to give gifts that are practical and useful for the intended recipient. Like for kids, in lieu of toys, I will invest on books, clothes or shoes.

On the other hand, choosing gifts for adults can be quite tricky. It’s great that I could always turn online and choose items that fit both my tight budget and preference. Currently, I’m setting my eyes on Holiday Glass Frames From Zenni Optical that would be perfect gifts for my parents and relatives as well.

The popular online eyeglasses shop offers amazing $ 8 Complete Rx Eyeglasses that are both chic and affordable. If you want to give a stylish and functional gift at the same time, their glasses are perfect to place under any Christmas tree, this holiday season.

Birthday Minnie

I haven’t been around for a while.

Basically, I’m trying to achieve some normalcy in my offline life when I took a little leave online. I’ve been an overflowing bag of mixed emotions lately and I’m trying to sort things out one step at a time. Yeah, some last quarter of the year drama, huh.

But let’s not get into that.

Today has been a tiring day. The Little Lady went to Girl Scout Camp in school, so we both woke up early on a Saturday morning. I left her in the school gym at 8:00 am; took breakfast at Wendy’s while waiting for the malls to open; did a little shopping for Christmas presents and art materials for both the Little Lady and I; picked up something at the printing shop; fetched her at 3:00 pm and grabbed some snacks at McDonald’s before finally heading home.

Around the same time last year, I’m almost finished with my Christmas shopping. But this year, my hoarding skills have been put to rest and I wonder why I seemed to have lost the zest for early shopping.

Hard times? Not really. I can always find an expensive looking present for a quarter of the price. It’s a gift that I believe I’m born with. :) So I guess this still points to the last quarter of the year drama. Oh, well...

Apart from whiling my time away at the mall, I was also there to get my pretty little niece, Gia, a gift for her 2nd birthday. It’s her birthday today, but she’ll be having a party tomorrow at Jollibee.

Yesterday, I made her this rush birthday Minnie Mouse tarpaulin that I'd like to share for Scrapbook Saturday (although this is not technically a scrap page, but I already missed 2 Saturdays! Sorry guys!):

Pretty babies Gia and "Ta-te"

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An Early Christmas Bonus

Christmas came early to this blog when Mark, the man behind Visual Talking informed me that I was one of the winners in the Run for Impressions contest they held recently at dNeero. He didn’t say which place I got, but I was thankful nevertheless!


Honestly, I never thought I stood a good chance because there were hundreds of participants; but when asked in the survey if I’m going to be one of the bonus recipients, I answered YES without batting an eyelash. Everybody who took part in the survey was given the chance to get the most number of impressions before 1000 hours or until October 20, 2008.

Prizes at stake were the following: ten bonus recipients! ... $1,000 at stake!! ... top impression getter will receive $300, the next nine will get, in order, $250, $150, $100, $75, $50, $30, $20, $15, $10.

I confirmed I won third place when dNeero transferred $167.25 to my PayPal account! I got the $150 bonus plus $17.25 from the past surveys I joined. Payments are automatically sent when a member reaches $20.

Well here's another $1.00 survey! Are you a member of dNeero? If not, join now, earn extra and take advantage of opportunities like this. All you have to do is answer the survey and post it to your blog or any social networking site. Click here to join now!

Sleepless Art

It was difficult for me to sleep lately, due to the bothersome cough that accompanied my aching throat. And during the wee hours in the morning when I can't sleep, I reach for my sketch pad to while the time away until my eyelids finally surrender.

I call this line my Sleepless Art; faces of women drawn from mere imagination on sleepless mornings. I love to draw faces just as much as I love to photograph them up close.

Soon I'll be putting them up for sale. I like the thought of people giving them a place in their homes, rather than keeping them all together in my lonely sketch pad. :)

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Once Upon a Halloween

The Little Lady spent her Halloween last year at McDonald's; the very same branch where she spent her two summers as part of the store's kiddie crew program. I couldn't get myself to dress her up in a scary costume, so I opted for the generic princess look that she enjoyed anyways.

The above photo was taken with one of her best buddies and co-kiddie crew member, Marianne.

Sweets and treats, everyone!

Graphic Elements by: FLASHGRAPHICS CREATIONS


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