Sweet World of Joan

I stop celebrating my birthday a few years ago, preferring a quite/private dinner with my husband. It helps me reflect, evaluate and think about what have I achieved so far in life and what more I want to achieve. But this year was different for I decided to celebrate with family and friends. I wanted to share my blessings and showcase my skills in the kitchen. Turning 35 years old is a big thing to a woman, wrinkles, biological clocks and grey hair are becoming a normal part of day to day life. And this year I want to celebrate it with a BANG! It was so good to be surrounded with friends and family that you rarely see these days because of the busy lives you all live. I am so thankful that they all came. Seeing all of my friends together from college and high school made me giddy with joy. It was also a time to discover shared interests and business ideas. Everybody was happy and well fed, even taking home delicious food made lovingly by me and my family. As for me, I have big decisio...

It is so much easier to buy toys for babies, or even for toddlers. Any toy you give them is readily appreciated, but for children it’s a different matter all together. Children, I found out recently that they have certain preference and expectations when it comes to their toys. Lorenzo’s 6th Birthday is days away but my husband and I are still at a loss on what gift to give him. “Mommy I want a PSP for Christmas” My parents were puzzled on what a PSP is, a request Lorenzo made a month before Christmas. We were amazed on why would a 5-year old child demand a PSP, and what will he do with it. Investigating I found out that most of his friends, playmates and classmates have one and would often tease him when is would borrow theirs to ask his mother to buy one for him( whew! Talk about peer pressure). When I told my husband about it, he was already planning on giving our son an electronic gadget for Christmas. We decided not to give him the PSP for its not practical for a gadget that costs...

It’s my Birthday today, and I made the conscious choice of spending it with my family than at work. The lure of my work is really hard to refuse but at the end of the day what is more important is the family, the people you love most. This day we will spend it in Manila Ocean Park, a new attraction here in Manila, maybe a dinner in a restaurant as the day end. There are only two kinds of food that I usually like to have on my special day one is spaghetti and a cake with candles so that I can make a wish as I blow them. I don’t really have a wish list for my birthday for I don’t expect to receive any gifts but I have my secret hopes and dreams. I stopped expecting gifts from other people but what I would like is to accomplish and acquire my wants through my own hard work. It’s much rewarding that way. As I grow older I realize that I reflect more on where I am at my stage in life, what I want to achieve in a year, in five years time and what steps I would take to achieve them. This year...

Happy birthday, dearest one, Sweet child of my heart! We've become one family, Of which you are a part. And so I sing out equally To all of those who are Mine by blood or fortune blessed, No more, no less my star! We are one in love and joy, In fondness and in worth, And so as one we celebrate This day, your day of birth! As a mother I believe that we must also celebrate the day that we bore our children. It is a celebration for entering into motherhood as much as a celebration of birth by the celebrant. Words cannot express what I feel today, so much happiness, so much love. At this time I only have 3hours of sleep preparing for my son's birthday party held in his school but I don't mind. I would have made my own peom for Lorenzo but at this time words seems elusive. So I got this special poem from Nicholas Gordon for express what I feel for my son Lorenzo.

We are going to a birthday party this Sunday, he is a playmate of my son and is the son of my husband’s boss. My son loves to play with him and always asks us when can he play with him again. The only issue that my husband raised when I was thinking about what to give for a birthday gift is what do you give a child so basically have “everything”? or can have any toy he wants. Obviously we are in a dilemma then my husband suggested “why not give him one of your delicious chocolates? But not the ordinary ones, make it something special” So I decided to give him one of my chocolate bunnies, it is made of pure solid chocolate and what kid would not want to have a special chocolate just for him. The tricky part was, where to put it, so I looked around for a water bottle for kids and got just the right one, a Bugs Bunny water bottle. Everyone should be given special chocolates once in a while and to receive them on your birthday make it even more special.