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Ambience of Banana Leaf
Restaurant dinners continue to be the trend for us this week. Rustic charm has always been a big hit to me and Banana Leaf's got it. Buckets of real wheat, garlic and pumpkin hang adorning the wall. Plus the sweet and sour fish and chicken with cashew nuts and mushroom are a real pleasure.
J Lo LiveThis was a gift to me two years ago. Cj is too young to be choosy with scents. He smiles playfully when I spray it on him and I laugh inwardly thinking he is a boy wearing a girl's perfume. This week we both smell the same :)
Cyberbanking
I finally dragged documents and myself down K Bank to register for online financial transactions. Spending only what I earn suits me best as I avoid debts and the convenience of sorting expenses any time of day in familiar surrounding is always welcome.
Music in the air
Whatever happened to the PA system at work? An old song was coming off it this morning. The sound led my eyes to the open gym where members of the ballroom dancing club were practising slow dance steps to You Needed Me. It was an auditory treat to think that this PA normally trumpets off announcements like "those who have INCs in Taxation 101 please proceed to...."
Regency period delightI browsed sites about Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors, and found this very delightful thing. The post includes instructions on how to create it. Although I'm not baking anytime soon nor am I a huge cake eater, I'm blown by the loveliness of the idea that one day I will come up with this thing of beauty on my table.
You can read more faves at Living to Tell the Story ******************
Mommy Moments: Love Language
Please scroll up for Friday's Fave Five
Based on Chris's Thursday post about love language as described by Gary Chapman, this is how Cj and I communicate our love to each other:
• Words of Affirmation. People need to hear compliments. Simple "thank you" or "you look wonderful today" is important to this people.
Cj always says, "Thank you Mommy" everytime I give him his milk. I also say "I love you, Baby Pooh" constantly, besides affirmative adjectives when he shows me his drawings (eventhough I look like a dinosaur most of the time) or shapes he forms from his blocks.
Once in the Philippines I was curious as to who Cj was playing with outside the house so I went to check. As soon as he noticed me, he stopped playing, put his hand on the back of my legs (that's all he could reach at the age of 2) and addressed his playmates, "My Mommy." At first I didn't realize that he was introducing me to his friends, but when I did, I thought I just experienced one of life's greatest pleasures!
Now that I'm taking care of Cj singlehandedly, I get to do what I never did when a caregiver was around. I would be lying if I said that on top of my official duties outside the home, domestic chores do not tire me. They certainly wear me down but when Cj does what I ask him to do like, "turn off the light, please;" "hand me the spoon, please;" "go to the computer, Ceej and please play a movie," I am thrilled and ready to face another day.
Physical Touch. People need to be hugged, touched, or sit close together.
Cj gets this love in abundance; he responds well.
Receiving Gifts. People need to receive thoughtful, not necessarily expensive, gifts.
Check.
Quality Time. People equate love with spending time with them like listening to them, walking, talking and the likes.
*sigh* As a working single mom quality time seems to be my shortcoming. But I'm working on improving the situation.
Click here for more love language
CJ is one lucky little boy I tell you. Don't cut yourself short about quality time. Remember you being at work gives you the opportunity to provide him, and yourself, all the necessities of live, plus the long awaited trip to Disneyland. Thought I forgot? pffft...NEVER ROFLMAO!! So I think that counts as quality time myself. And you can tell from what all you write about him that he's getting everything he needs and wants and is given love, guidance and friendship from one fantastic lady :) Thanks for sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! I thought you'd never forget that, Thom eventhough sometimes I'm ready to grin that you seem to have :))) We had our flights confirmed and paid last week actually. Will that be ok? lol! We fly last week of April. In the meantime I'm up to my nostrils in work and research so better get back to reality now. But hey, thanks for the encouragement. I appreciate it very much.
ReplyDeleteLove languages are practical yet powerful way of expressing our love. You're trip to Disneyland will be a memorable quality with CJ for sure.
ReplyDeleteWonderful lines written Hazel
ReplyDeleteand so the Truth !!!!!
Cj is a WONDERFUL boy :-)
Don't mistake Quality time for Quantity time. You are doing GREAT with CJ! Children survive on a lot LESS Quantity - as long as there is Quality in what they do get! ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't even IMAGINE having the patience to create that cake! I CAN however imagine how YUMMY it tastes! ohhhhhh CAKE is my favorite food!
Have a great weekend Hazel! Full of QUALITY time! :)
Rossell, yes I guess (and hope too) that this Disneyland trip will be a memorable time for CJ.
ReplyDeleteAnya, thanks
Melli, I appreciate you pointing out quality and quantity, thank you very much. The nordic ware cathedral bundt pan to use for the cake is available on Amazon :-)
That cake looks gorgeous - I'd never be able to make it, but I'd have fun eating it, that's for sure! :)
ReplyDeleteCj sounds a cutie :) You are very lucky!
What a memory of your son introducing you to his friends! That is absolutely priceless!
ReplyDeleteAnd that cake? Oh my word. It is beautiful to behold.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend with your son!
I agree with Sassy Brit--the cake looks gorgeous but I would never be able to make it either. If you do, please post lots of pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteCyberbanking is the best--you'll be glad you went through the hassle to register for it.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Love goes a long way with kids. I appreciated the love language list with practical ways of affirming each other. Blessings on you as you keep up the hard work of being a single mom!!
ReplyDeleteHooray!!! Yup that's good enough for me. I bet CJ is soooo excited :) Good girl...Now get your work down at least to your waist LOL :)
ReplyDeleteOkay am I confused here or what LOL. I didn't see your FFF when I commented on the Mommy Moments yesterday and now it seems to be attached? Hmmmmm I couldn't survive without on line banking. I do nothing in the mail any longer. And hun, you need to get CJ MAN cologne. That is just plain wrong that he's smelling like ya ... I'm just sayin... Have a great Friday :)
ReplyDeleteThe Banana leaf sounds like a fun place to eat.
ReplyDeleteI like J Lo fragrances too. Nice to share with your son! :)
Aww, what a sweet boy you have.
ReplyDeleteI like JLo Live too. Lovely scent.
Sassy Brit, I'm planning to try making that cake when an oppotunity comes
ReplyDeleteCarrie, glad you thought the same about the introduction bit :)
Lisa, thanks for your thoughts on cyberbanking, and I will surely post pictures if I made that cake. If it's possible to DHL slices to FFF friends I will too:)
ellen, thank you very much
Thom, I wish I could keep work waist-level all the time then I'd be more free to do other things I'd like to do. You're right the FFF wasn't on this post early on Friday, but I've decided to publish all memes of the same day in one post.
Now... man cologne already at 5? Upon my word, the boy still has milk on his lips.... lol!!!
Brenda, your imagination of Banana Leaf is right
Susanne, sometimes I think this JLo live smells like melted sugar :)
Cj is adorable and sweet kid a simple thank you mommy kahit sinong mom ma to~touch and mag melt ang heart.Happy weekend =)
ReplyDeleteOkay just one point about doing all your posts on one day in one post. If you add some thing to a post that has already posted you might loose some readers because they dont' know it's posted.
ReplyDeleteYes 5 might be too early. But it sure beats smelling like a woman or milk for that matter LOL.
Beautiful cake and great FFF!
ReplyDeleteAnd such sweet moments between you and CJ.
Happy weekend!
Hay naku sis, wish ko lang na sana balang araw makakabake ako ng ganyan nyahahah!
ReplyDeleteJac, sarap nga'ng pakinggan kahit thank you lang ano? :)
Thom, you're right about losing some readers but it's ok because it's like this - Mommy Moments goes off Friday morning here in SE Asia, and Friday's Fave Five in the afternoon towards evening (morning or noon in the US). I post MM first then FFF later in the day because most of the time I can't complete both memes at once. I 'sandwich' blogging with work :) but I guess I am living in a time zone that suits my blogging pace and the times memes are published from their host country. And I'm just laughing again at a man's cologne beating milk scent or mommy's perfume rofl!
Laura, thanks a lot. a great weekend to you too.
simple gestures and sweet words from our kids really can melt our heart and make us feel stronger again :D thanks for the visit and the comment in my blog.
ReplyDeleteim sure you and CJ will have more fun times together..
ReplyDelete