last night's scare

Hi everyone!

Boy did Hubby and I have a scare last night. Actually, more me than him since he’s always so calm in emergencies. You see, last Thursday, Sophie started having cough and colds so we went to her paediatrician on Saturday who gave her some meds. Since then, although her cough never went away, she would have on and off bouts of fever and colds.

Last night at home before Hubby and I left for a KFC meeting, Sophie seemed ok. Jovy had already given her the prescribed medicines earlier so she was her usual kulit and bibo self.

When we got home later, we shifted her to her usual place on our bed beside me. She was already sleeping and Hubby and I were starting to doze off when I suddenly noticed that she was shivering. Even when we put on a pair of socks, covered her body with 2 thick blankets, and embraced her to keep her warm, the shivering wouldn’t stop. We didn’t know why. I checked her temperature with our digital thermometer but it said 37.1 degrees.

I was already starting to panic so I told Hubby we needed to go to the hospital right away. We left around 11:45pm.

On the way, I noticed that although her neck and forehead felt hot, her lips and hands were very, very cold.  Her fingernails looked pale and her lips were darker than normal.  I was so scared! When I noticed those things and she began closing her eyes (yeah, I know she was sleepy), I would try to keep her awake by murmuring to her or putting my cheek beside her cheek. I didn’t want her to sleep because I thought if she did, well…you know (just think of the worst that could happen). All the while, I was hoping and praying that it wasn’t anything serious.  I was trying not to cry at the same time. 

At the hospital, we were attended to right away. The nurse asked me several questions over and over (I guess to check my consistency in answering because I was really, really panicking by then) while checking Sophie’s weight, height and temperature…which had reached 40.1 degrees! Waaaahhh! Within seconds, she called the paediatrician on duty who told her to give her an Adol suppository, which she did.

A while later, Sophie’s shivering stopped. Then she asked for “dede” which either means milk or water. From time to time, she would drink water then give us the bottle, then ask for it again, drink a bit, give it back, ask again, drink a bit...well, you get the picture. At least she was hydrating herself.  She also began to seem ok by babbling and pointing to things she wanted to hold or see.

The paediatrician came down after a while and looked at Sophie. One of the culprits was a white spot on one of the tonsils which she showed me. The other reason was because she was teething. Can you believe that at 16 months, Sophie still doesn’t have any teeth all! Late last year, she had already undergone some tests to find out if there was anything wrong which caused the delay, but everything looked normal.  The doctor then proceeded to prescribe 4 medicines (3 of which Sophie was already taking at home) which Hubby collected from the pharmacy.

After 30 minutes, Sophie’s temperature was checked. It had lowered to 38.9 degrees.

Half an hour later, it went up again to 40.1 degrees.

When it was checked again after some time, it went back to 38.9 degrees.

In between, the nurse would wipe her with wet pieces of gauze to lower her temperature.

Finally after we had spent almost 2 hours in the Emergency Room, the temperature went down to 37.7 degrees and the nurse said we could go home. I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

However, the nurse advised me to book an appointment with Sophie’s paediatrician today as a follow-up check-up…which we did before leaving the hospital at exactly 2am.

I had to go to work today, but thankfully when I told my manager that I planned to take the afternoon off, he understood.

When I called Jovy a few minutes ago, she said Sophie felt hot again and she was currently checking her temperature. Haaay!  I really hope and pray she will get better soon.  If I could take the pain away from her and be the one sick instead, I would. Kids look so helpless and pained when they’re not feeling well. Nakakaawa talaga tingnan. At least if the parent is sick, they can handle it better.

my mini apple muffins at a breakfast buffet

While checking the contents of Caila’s school envelope a few weeks ago, I found a letter amongst her diary and homework. It was a invitation for the mothers to bring and serve healthy goodies for the FS2 Healthy Breakfast Buffet that Thursday. It wasn’t something that we had to do, plus it was a weekday, so I didn’t think about it anymore. However, the next day Caila told me that she really wanted me to participate. Yikes! A part of me didn’t want to give in, but then a bigger part of me felt guilty. Sure it wasn’t a major event and it wasn’t a requirement, but again, I kept remembering last year when Caila was disappointed at me and her daddy for not being at her very first school Sports Meet. Eventually of course, I agreed. My workload that week was manageable and I knew my manager would let me if I applied for a half-day leave from work.

Once that decision had been made, I asked Caila what she wanted me to bring from the list that was given. One by one I read the items, but out of the choices (almost all of which could easily be bought from the supermarket), she picked “mini-muffins.” Ohh-kay. The major supermarkets sell several types of mini-muffins; there wouldn’t be any problem in buying a couple of dozen packs. But when she said “I want apple muffins like the ones you make. I will help you, Mommy,” I knew there was no easy way out. I just HAD TO make these for her.

There was only one minor problem: I didn’t have a mini-muffin pan. I had a regular muffin pan, but the list specifically said “mini-muffins;” and considering these kids’ appetites, minis were the way to go to avoid wastage. So the following night (the night before the buffet) Hubby and I went to a baking supply store in Deira, but it was just my luck that they didn’t have any. We had already passed Carrefour and the traffic was getting heavier, losing us more time. Fortunately, after checking two different places, I managed to find the very last mini-muffin pan in Lulu Hypermarket hidden at the very back of the rack behind the rest of the baking equipment. Someone must have hidden it there and planned on going back to get it later.

We then rushed to get apples, pay for the items, then straight home so that we could have dinner and I could start baking.

Caila was excited the whole time I was making the muffins. She was very helpful too, handing me the ingredients and equipment that I asked for, mixing the batter, and saying “It smells very yummy, Mommy!” and then “Mummy, it’s very tasty and delicious!” after she finished a piece. She actually finished 3 that night =)

Since we didn’t have any liners, it was a good thing that I had printed out some school-theme flags earlier which I cut out and attached to toothpicks before sticking them into the muffins. The little toppers made them look more appealing.

I had managed to make almost 3 dozen mini-muffins (plus the 3 that Caila ate, 1 that Hubby tasted, and a few more for home consumption) to take to the school which I packed in aluminium trays. The following morning at the school, several mothers were already there waiting with their own goodies, and at 8am, we were asked to set up whatever we brought.

There were cereals and milk, yoghurt, juice, sandwiches, fruits, croissants, corn, and muffins of course.

 

After a while, the children began coming out. Kids of each section took turns in going around the buffet spread to take whatever they wanted, and then go to their assigned tables to enjoy their food.

I was sharing the “Muffins Area” with two other mommies who had brought store-bought muffins. Of course, since most of them were chocolate-flavoured, they were the first ones to run out. However, my muffins weren’t totally ignored because the little school toppers caught several kids’ eyes, making them reach out or ask for a piece.

Finally, just 3 mini-muffins were left on a tray and all the kids had finished eating. Suddenly, one of the mothers who had also been handing out muffins from another table approached me and asked if she could get one because she also thought the flags looked cute. Of course I said yes. When that happened, the mother standing beside me also took one. And then right after she put it in her mouth, another mother came and took the last remaining muffin. They all said they were delicious, and one of them even asked for the recipe!

simot!

the school principal thanking the mommies

So all in all, it was a success. Tiring, but definitely worth it. And to make it more rewarding, when Caila arrived at home a few hours later, she gave me this sticker which she got from the “Cereal Area” earlier.

When I asked her why, she said “Because you came to my school and you made my favourite apple muffins for my classmates,” topping it off with a tight hug and a “Thank you, Mommy.” Awww! Ang sarap, di ba?

I am sooo glad I took part in the buffet!

trying out the tweet life

Yup, I’ve finally joined the Twitter bandwagon…on my own. That means it’s not Hubby’s account, and it’s not shared (like what I’m doing in Facebook). Woohoo! Independence! Hahaha.

What made me decide to sign up? Actually, it started last Wednesday. I suddenly thought what I would tweet about if I was on Twitter. And then every day after that, my brain would automatically come up with sentences that I imagined I would tweet if I had an account. On the third day, I noticed it was becoming more frequent so I started typing them out to see if they made any sense (or rather, if they actually looked like tweets). Here they are:

17 January @ 1255hrs – At Mamzar Park with the other UAE KFC Coordinators for our Teambuilding Activity. Games have been exhausting but fun.
17 January @ 1800hrs – Just got home. Now rushing off to attend a birthday party, then having a prayer vigil later with ET. Kami na ang may toxic na schedule!
18 January @ 0930hrs – Please let the news be a bad joke. This cannot be real!
18 January @ 1200hrs – The BSB are coming to Dubai! I so wanna watch!
18 January @ 1405hrs – Had lunch with my sister and nephew. It was nice to bond and catch up as we shared a yummy meal.
18 January @ 1900hrs – Still in shock over the sad news. Currently with ET barkada…mourning and laughing while reminiscing.
19 January @ 1335hrs – The BSB have cancelled their Dubai gig. Waaaahhh!!!
19 January @ 1845hrs – Back at Mellow Yellow with Hubby and Mamu Chris. Disappointed that the cronuts don’t taste as good as I remembered.
20 January @ 0740hrs – Brrr! Is it cold or IS IT COLD?!
21 January @ 1730hrs – Thinking of baking banana muffins tonight.
21 January @ 2000hrs – I never thought I’d say this, but I suddenly realized that baking is therapeutic for me.
22 January @ 1000hrs- Goodbye to our dear friend and brother in Christ. You will be missed. Rest peacefully in paradise.
22 January @ 1500hrs – “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”- Winnie the Pooh

I know most of them have more than the 140 characters limit, pero may sense naman kahit papaano di ba? I’m still confused on when and how to use hashtags though, so it’ll take some time before I’ll tweet anything with them. Actually, it’s as if Twitter is a foreign language with all sorts of usage rules I can’t understand. That’s one of the major reasons why it took me so long to sign up.

Another reason was what I would use for my username. I was actually considering blabbersnthoughts, but I figured it was too long. Plus, I wanted something that described me or had my name in it. I finally decided on gutzytower which is a shortcut of my last name and the English translation of my maiden surname.

So yeah, I finally joined Twitter. I hope you’ll follow me!

the erik santos-parokya ni edgar-eraserheads concert

A concert where Parokya ni Edgar and Eraserheads perform back to back is definitely one for the books. So of course I was absolutely thrilled when I won a couple of tickets to this rare event. Although we liked both groups, I was more of a PNE fan while Hubby favoured the E-Heads more. Still, it was a great opportunity to watch them live, so in the afternoon of the 27th of December, we headed to the Meydan Racecourse for our date.

It said on the tickets that the gates would open at 4pm, but we were only let in more than an hour later. Good thing the weather was still cool. While waiting, Hubby and I took pictures.

And since the RJs of Tag 91.1 were also hanging out in that area, we took pictures with them too.

Finally, the organizers started letting the people in. We first had to queue in separate lines (men and women) according to the area specified in our tickets, have our bags checked, and were each given concert paper wristbands.  Then we took pictures again.

We were getting pretty hungry by the time we entered the grounds, so we went to the NKD Pizza booth to order pizza and bottles of water for ourselves.

my date while waiting for our pizzas

 After we had our fill, we headed to the area which had the perfect view of the artists who would be performing…right in front of the stage!

We didn’t have to wait too long because a while later, Louie Da Costa, Maria Maldita, Chikay, and Bob Kebab came out and started entertaining the crowd with their conversations and jokes. And then shortly after that, Erik Santos came out. I’m not a fan of Erik’s, but that night I realized that he actually has a nice and powerful voice. Sorry naman; I don’t get to watch ASAP kasi. And in fairness, ang gwapo pala nya! Hahaha! Being a balladeer, he mostly sang love songs and a few upbeat ones as well. My favorites were Miss You Like Crazy and Sana Ngayong Pasko. Nakakakilig lang.

When Parokya ni Edgar performed on stage, that was my favourite part of the evening. Chito was really funny and accommodating, singing most of the songs that the crowd asked for. He sang Bagsakan by himself, the original of which was sung with Francis M. and Gloc 9, and he also gave in to a fan’s joking request and sang Elesi, which we all knew isn’t theirs. Hubby was disappointed that they didn’t sing Ang Parokya, but I guess they didn’t have enough time to sing all their hits. Anyway, I really liked that Chito was game and entertaining, talking to the crowd in between songs, making jokes while lightly referring to his recent scandal, and thanking his fans for all their support.

Of course, the Eraserheads were the final performers of the night…well, the last ones that we watched. Compared to PNE, they were able to sing more songs in the time they were given onstage. I guess the major reason why is Ely didn’t really talk that much to the crowd. They mostly sang and played their instruments. Suplado masyado, but I heard that he’s really like that. Oh well. Basta kami, nag-enjoy kahit papaano.

In between the three Filipino artists, MC Jin (an American Chinese rapper) and Lira (a South African singer) also took the stage and entertained the crowd. Lira sang mostly soul and jazz music; and although it’s not particularly my cup of tea, she was ok. I also don’t fancy rap songs, but surprisingly, I enjoyed MC Jin’s performance. He was pretty cool and most of the messages in his songs had sense and meaning; not just about cars and the beach and other trivial things. He mentioned that he had starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious with Paul Walker, and rapped some lines as a tribute. When his crew were giving away his CDs, I eagerly managed to get one of them. That’s another advantage of being in the front =)

And to top it off, I won another treat from Tag that night! Some time in between performances, the RJs were playing the Bring Me game, asking the crowd for different items. Chikay was sitting on the barrier about 2 people away from me when she asked for a picture of at least one Tag RJ. I immediately whipped out Tisay, opened the Gallery folder and quickly showed her the picture of me with them which we had taken earlier. Panalo agad! She jokingly commented that they didn’t look like RJs because they didn’t have enough make-up on and they looked haggard.

our loots

Falling in love again, jamming, singing, and winning…all in one night. What a great way to celebrate our December monthsary.

 

gone too soon

It was all so sudden. Thursday afternoon, his wife had posted a picture on Facebook of him on a gurney; however, the caption sounded light so we didn’t think it was too serious. Thursday night, we found out he had a mild heart attack. On Friday, we were informed that he was at the Philippine Heart Centre. And then yesterday morning, we received the shocking and devastating news that he was gone.

He was one of Hubby’s original members in the Batch 23 of the SFC Christian Life Program back in 2006, and continued to be his member until we got married and he became a Unit Leader for another Chapter in SFC.

 

Our friendship with him and his then girlfriend (now wife) grew when our ET barkada was formed in 2007.

taken last January 2013

He became one of Caila’s godfathers when she was baptized.

taken during their wedding in 2009

He was also very active in the Kids for Christ ministry in Dubai, serving from the time they were still Singles. Like Hubby and me, they were Chapter Heads in the ministry.

He was only 34 years old.

They had just celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary last December.

He was still young and full of life. There were still so many things that he could have done and so many more lives that he could have touched.

But then God probably decided that he had already accomplished his mission on earth, so He called him back to heaven.…where he could always look over his wife, his loved ones, his friends, and his favorite ministry in the community.

We still needed him here, but heaven needed another angel.

Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Archie. We will surely miss you.

Rest peacefully in paradise.

christmas eve with the fajarians

We didn’t prepare anything for Noche Buena last year. Instead, we headed to Deira to celebrate it with our friends who all stayed in the same building but in different apartments. It was a potluck dinner, so we all contributed something for the special meal.

After we enjoyed the sumptuous food, fun games were played. And no, I wasn’t the game master this time =) Ana asked us to pair up (husband and wife, obviously) and gave us a couple of pen and paper games which she got from the internet…both of which Hubby and I easily answered and won (kinareer talaga!).

winners of the first game

winners of the second game

And then we were grouped in two teams (men vs. women). The first game was Charades, and the next was Pinoy Henyo. We all found it difficult to win points because beforehand, each team thought of movies/songs/items for the other team to act out or guess. So for sure, pahirapan!

 

 

Finally, it was time for the exchanging of gifts. Kids and adults all received something that night, and we all had a good time until the wee hours of Christmas Day.

Yup, even the kids managed to stay awake all night until we all finally left to go to our homes. They must have enjoyed playing amongst themselves as much as we did.

salamat, Fajarians!

*photos taken from Oliver's fb page