transposable element

we’ve barely settled in from our last holiday and i’ve already been booking for the next one, this time for the christmas holidays. we figured there’s not much sense waiting for airfares to fall; most likely the prices will go up instead of down anyway, and since we are not that flexible with the dates (jan’s school starts on the first monday of the year), we’re can’t afford to gamble with last minute bookings. i tried to look for online coupons for airlines, but nada. we shelled out quite a princely sum and we haven’t moved an inch yet. but i’m sure this holiday will be oh so worth it!

you know you’ve had a revitalizing holiday when you come back eager to resume your life where you left off, even when it’s the same drudgery that awaits you. jan is back in school. mia starts tomorrow. hubby and i… we’re back in charge of our troop. life is good!

at what age does one start with those anti-aging creams? i was at the drugstore yesterday planning to buy one of those new-age regenerist wrinkle creams from olay as a pasalubong for my mom. but when i saw the print model and realized that she couldn’t be a day more than 25, i wondered– maybe i should get a jar for myself, too?

according to webmd, while some doctors also share the same skepticism, saying there are no published medical studies showing they work, experts involved in product testing say there is ample science behind the technology. and if you read the adverts, it’s almost convincing.

have YOU started using these fountain of youth “potions”? and? are they effective?

on and off for the last several months, i’ve been baking cinnamon rolls, using recommended recipes on the web. i’ve tried a number of them recipes, but none has given me the gooey cinnabon copy i was expecting (and i’m getting closer to needing a Lipofuze treatment in the process, ack!). maybe it’s me, maybe it’s my oven with its dodgy thermostat. i’ve finally created a recipe variant that actually tasted good, but made me frustrated because, well, because it’s just not it.

and then a couple of months ago, mcdonalds reintroduced their cinnamon melts and that was it. no more baking and toiling in my overly warm kitchen. mac’s cinnamon melts tasted like they collected the cores from cinnabon rolls, tossed them into a bowl and poured heavenly cream sauce over it. bliss!

but alas, some good things never last. the cinnamon melts are no more. they’re back to boring old apple pie for dessert. but ah, the recipe is plastered all over the web. i’ve finally gotten to bake a batch the other day and man, they are gooood.

out of the dozen i’ve baked, there’s one single tin left. not for long!

now that mia is 2, she’s no longer entitled to infant airfares, but thanks to budget airlines that fly within asia, it’s still affordable. however, for long-haul flights, travel for a family of four is no longer a joke, budget wise. some airlines still offer child fare, a discount of about 33%, but still, we now have to dig deeper every time we travel as a family. we can’t pack ourselves in stainless steel drums and sail across the ocean, can we?

i’ve known these ladies since we were pregnant, and have had many many play dates with our babies and toddlers over the last two years, but this is the first time we’re all going for a girls’ night out. yeah, we’re doting mothers like that, ha ha.

anyways, i’m mighty excited. it’s not gonna be a formal tuxedos-and-cocktail dresses gala at the esplanade, nor will it be a wild alcohol party at clarke quay. we’re just not cut out for those. but half a dozen girls at the mid-row of the cinema, watching sex and the city… we’re up to some giggle-gaggle filled fun!

sheesh. where did the month of may go? one lone entry for the entire month? i think this must have been my lowest batting (blogging) score.

the blogger’s paradox has hit me big time. and it’s a shame because this is one month where so many things have happened and i’ve captured none of them for posterity. yowza.

there was mia’s birthday, which she co-celebrated with 2 of her other girl friends since birth. it was a great get-together of the families we’ve gotten to know because of mia. i baked her birthday cake myself– a three-tier tower or princess lillifee mini cupcakes. thank you for the help, dr oetker.

there was our saturday at the national museum where where we caught ‘monkey-see, monkey-do’ as part of the children season. jan and mia still re-enact some of the spiels to this day…

oh there was the evening where i screamed in shock as jan shaved half of his eyebrows while he was in the shower. my beautiful son! now he looks like yoda’s human half-brother.

there was the day we received jan’s semestral report card. glowing accolades from his form teacher, marks for english and maths that were high enough to put him on “band 1″, or the first tier of students. he flunked his mandarin, though.

oh there was that saturday afternoon when i thought my heart would be permanently lodged in my throat as i navigated the tree top trails at forest adventure, zipping across land and water, with my life totally dependent on two hooks on steel cables. i should have browsed for insurance online. it was fun, yes, but once is enough, thank you very much.

and birthday party after birthday party for the last weekend of may.

i’m sure i missed a lot of little things– shuttling jan to guitar and tae kwon do lessons, mia’s pajama party at the preschool, our new dslr toy, my foiled attempts at job search, my shrek date with jan… and the hundreds of photos that are yet to be downloaded, ack!

it’s been a merry month of may, indeed!