He still won!

After 3 months of grueling practice and drills, endless whining with intermittent joys, and back and forth 'I quit!'/'I joined again!' drama sequences with Miro ...the Junior Sports Convention elimination round finally happened.

And as luck would have it, right on the day I had to work!

Distracted, I prayed that they make it to the finals.  Because I'm going to be there with pom-poms, giant thumbs up sign, and powerful lungs to cheer for my boy!  In the meantime, Miro's teacher, the coach, and even the school director were nice enough to keep me posted on the blow-by-blow of how the eliminations panned out.  I was at the edge of my seat!

Finally, the coach sent me this message:  "Ma'am, sorry, we lost 22-7."  But before I could feel a tinge of sadness, it was followed by:  "But Miro had fun.  He laughed and ran and was in high spirits the whole time!"

Well, that was enough win for me.  I know how this experience helped mature my boy (And his hair, I might add.  The school actually had everyone in the team sport military buzz cuts to the game.  And they paid for them!  Incredible!).  And for a first-time basketball player, the mere fact that he enjoyed every minute of the shortest basketball game in history was the best trophy.  I know this is the start of something good for him.
 

I'm so proud of Miro.  He's a changed boy.

No...he's a changed man.

Success, you say?

Since leaving the corporate war zone and living the calm domestic life, I have decided to be more involved in my sons' schools.  It was either that or be a couch potato.  Good thing I chose wisely.

I've helped put up a couple of their school events and I was so darn proud of those tiny achievements.  I never really thought I would.  I was always the type who looked at success as winning big business pitches and raking in the money.  But honestly...I'm realizing now that the real measure of success is seeing happy children thanking me for a job well done.  No monetary value attached.

That sounds so weird of me now, doesn't it?  Have I gone soft?  No, I've gone old and wise, I think.

Just yesterday, I helped out in Kenji's Circle Time.  Alpha was our show-and-tell material.  Kenji who was sat beside me, painfully shy at being put on the spot right in front of his classmates, was actually beaming with pride when the kids cheered at the close of our presentation.  And, I DID enjoy the presentation as well.  It was a far more fulfilling experience presenting to kids than presenting to too snooty clients who think they know everything. 

I was talking about pet care and animal health and Kenji was doing the demos on how to gently play with Alpha and how to properly feed her by hand --and the children watched and listened in total amazement!  Their attention was glued to us!  They clapped when they liked what we said, and laughed when we cracked a joke.  No hiding behind a corporate, poker face.

Right there and then, I knew children make a better audience than adults.  The fulfillment that day was just immeasurable.  It felt good, Kenji felt good, Alpha felt good, and the children and the teachers felt great!  Now that's real success.

Of Moms and Movies

I don't know it it has anything to do with regressing age (read:  second childhood) or just my dear, sweet status as a loving mother --but I'm so liking children's movies more now than the average adult flick.

I would like to think that nothing 'newsy' fresh out of Hollywood has come up to grab me by the tits.  But that would be lying.  There are a lot of good films that have come by.  But I don't know.  They just didn't get me enough to actually take the effort to get dressed, get out of the house, and watch them.  Odd.

However...

I am absolutely pumped to take the kids to movies like CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and PLANET 51.  And this I say with great pride.  I'm not even slinking in the corner for shame at being this thrilled to see a kiddie movie.  I've been like this even for G-FORCE.

Maybe it's the artist in my blood.  I've always thought CG movies are something to see because of the great art and effort that go into each production.  But then...there was Avatar, which catered to an older segment in the movie-viewing population.  That was CG.  And I didn't buy into that (see earlier blog).

So I have my keen maternal instincts to blame.  I think.  Lately, this instinct has kicked into full throttle.  I have been so in touch with my inner child that I get to second guess my boys now.  And I get to think like them, too.

I think this is a good thing, if you're a mom at least.  Heck, maybe even if you're not!  It's great to be in touch with your inner youth.  It keeps you fun and alive.  Not to say that adult movies kill the joy-joy in you.  But kiddie movies definitely lift those flabby smile lines into better shape than the average war flick, right?

aBASHtar!

"You have to watch it in 3D!  It's so worth it!", "Best comeback by James Cameron!", "I'm watching it for the third time!!!"

Blah-blah-blah...

Am I the only one who's not going gaga over this film?!!  I have absolutely no interest (or even the slightest curiosity) to see the film.  I know, people will be stoning me for that brazen, naive comment.  I'm honest.  Sue me.  Maybe it's plain ignorance.  I never really brushed up on the Avatar brouhaha.  All I know is that the movie has these annoying CG animated blue people riding flying dragon-like creatures in earthy tones.

My husband --who's more prone to peer pressure, I might add-- was quick to grab a DVD copy of the movie.  And he said the plot was actually good (despite the bad quality of his pirated goods).  He only watched halfway though and then dumped the film altogether because the fake copy didn't give justice to the original material's aesthetic value.  So...Avatar is actually 'dumpable' if it didn't have the high visual quality?  So what is it really?  A good movie?  Or a delightful eye candy?

Personally, I'm seeing it as a bandwagon thing.  People watch it because their friends have watched it.  It's the IN thing!  And you shouldn't miss it because you'd be OUT if you did.  That's my humble opinion, of course.  Feel free to denounce me as a horrible movie critic.  Like I said, I know nothing about the movie because it never really peaked my interest even with all the publicity.  And to me, if you didn't get my attention the first time, it means you must be excruciatingly uninteresting.

Plus, it broke my heart when I found out that this movie had nothing to do with Cartoon Network's Aang: The Last Avatar. :P 

MangoMarbleManiac

BOO-YEAH!  I just found the best cheesecake in the land!  

Secret Recipe's Mango Marble Cheesecake.  It's not new news.  People have been raving about this dessert for a very long time --being Secret Recipe's bestseller.  It's compact, moist, not too sweet, not too bland, just right.  You don't get this kind of balance in any old cheesecake.  There's the runny blueberry cheesecake that's bound to give you a diabetes shock in a few spoonfuls, there's the delectable-looking chocolate cheesecake that's as dry as the Sahara in the middle.  Honestly, most cheesecakes are just for-show cakes.  Pretty, great for photo ops cakes.  They look great, but for most, the proof of the pudding fails miserably.  

Secret Recipe's Mango Marble Cheesecake, however, wins all my cheesecake requirements with flying colors.  Looks fab on the outside, tastes glorious on the inside.  What really hooked me is the lovely creaminess that's so put-together, it feels absolutely... complete.  

Hard to explain.  Just drop by Secret Recipe.  This is one bit you have to sink your teeth into to believe.

Creative Consultant

Well, here's a snazzy title that's flying around the industry lately.  It replaces and glamorizes the old has-been title of Freelancer.  Reason being, the 'freelance' root word is a bit, well, demoralizing.  It tells you that the person is doing this because he or she has no job at the moment and possibly no career future at all.  Whereas, a Creative Consultant is someone an agency or a client calls on to 'consult' on various advertising problems.  The title makes one feel important, a cleaner, a person who comes to your rescue when your marketing plans have gone haywire.  The Creative Consultant is ...a hero. 

But really, 'freelance'...'consultant'...they're both creative and they do the same job.  They're both guns for hire.  They both work according to their own terms.  The only difference is that the latter earns more than the other (and by 'more', i mean 'still not much') simply because he or she was smart to use that kind of title.  That title screams superiority, almost a managerial stance --therefore, deserving more (but 'still not much').

So even if both bozos have nothing left to eat and not a career to speak of, the other one maintains at least a sharp, lavishly perfumed ego.

Signed,

The Creative Consultant

Puppy Love

There is nothing more touching than the bond between boy and dog.

Kenji and Alpha really hit it off great in just a few days (in just a few hours even)!  Now they're inseparable.  They sleep together, they wake up together, they play together...  

Ah, but it's just all warm and fuzzy until Kenji's Pet Killer instinct kicks in.

Day One:  He's locked Alpha in the toy chest.  

Day Two:  He's tried to smother Alpha with a plastic shopping bag.

Day Three:  He's thrown a giant marble right in the middle of Alpha's eyes, point blank, sending the pup shrieking and whimpering away!  (Kenji cried and apologized to Alpha for this one, by the way)

Day Four:  He's put scotch tape all over the poor animal's back.

Day Five:  He's covered Alpha in pillows and blankets and left him there trapped for a good few minutes until I heard muffled whimpering.

But no matter what, Alpha still loves him.  Sticks to him like crazy glue.  

That's love.  Or...maybe a death wish, I don't know.