easter treats

my lolo used to say that the most joyful and most important christian celebration is easter. he said it should be bigger than christmas.

me : why lolo?

lolo : because anybody can be born, but only Jesus rose from the dead.



and so, this year, true to my lolo's advice (one of the many) i went all out for easter celebration. by all out, i mean i cooked. Z came over Saturday evening so we can both go the Sunday service at my church.

in the kitchen i tried my hand at two new recipes : braised lentils with chorizo served with a slice of goat's milk as garnish. for easter lunch i made lancaster country slow cooker pork roast and sauerkraut on boiled potatoes. yummm.

czech boy liked both dishes, but liked the cocka (choch-ka), the lentils better. as cook, nothing brings me more joy than to see another person enjoying the food i prepared. Z was very appreciative so i am more motivated to cook for him.

after lunch, i suggested we take a peek at skype to see if his family from CZ are online. and they were :)). the pleasant surprise was, his whole family were in his parents house so we got to video chat with all of them, even the kids. after the chat with his parents, we called and had video chat with his uncle's family, my host family on my trip to CZ last christmas. we are both very happy to have had the chance to chat with them, this time Z was translating for me. i wish my mom is also hooked up at home so we can video chat with my grandparents and cousin and my two brothers.

things are cooking up relationship-wise. with God's grace, we might be preparing for a party when and if my mom can visit me this summer. yeah, it's that kind of party. :))

time to really shape up and burn more fat.

Hall of Justice

I had an encounter with a rude regular ed kid.

my kids put her straight.

at the end of period 2, i stood by my doorway to shoo away my period 3 students as i got ready for period 3. a couple of sophomore girls stood a couple of feet in front of me and one of them was giggling and pointing at the kids in my class room.

see, i have a special ed classroom, and i have very few students in each class. the biggest class i have is a class of seven.

every now and then some mean spirited "regular" ed kids would pass by, look from the outside and make fun of my kids, because they are in the "ED" class.

this really pisses me off.

it's not like they are much smarter than my students. i bet you some of my kids are probably better than some of them.

anyway, so i got miffed so i asked, "can i help you?"

mean girl : (distorts her face even further) what you screamin at me for? get out of my face.

me : i'm not in your face.

mean girl : get the fuck out, i'm not scared of you.

me : i'm not asking you to be scared of me.

mean girl: don't scream at my face.

she proceeds talking to her friend referring to me with "F this" and "F her"

me : you're still here, you get out of my door way.

one of my kids from last year, pacified me and said it's not worth it, the same mean girl got her ass kicked last week, by a boy. i listened and chilled.

I caught one of my kids to identify the mean girl because I was about to write her up. I had a hunch who she was, but i needed to be sure.

my student confirmed it. and asked me what happened. i told him the story.

three minutes later, a bunch of my kids came storming in all riled up. a couple other kids, who are not my students, but i'm friendly with came too, all vowing to beat up mean girl.

i laughed it off and told them not to get in trouble on my behalf.

a couple more came in. same story.

at the end of third period, one of my homies delivered mean girl, who at this time, looked as meek as a lamb,

homie 1: go say it.

mean girl : i'm sorry for cursing you out.

me : do you really mean it? are you sincere?

mean girl : yes, (some lame excuse as to why she was laughing) and i never apologize.

me : okay.

homie 1 : see, ms. A, i told you i got your back.

me : thanks, homie.

situations like this make the stress of almost choking some of my kids who are difficult, all melt away.

Thank you God, for my kids. They may be difficult, but I love all of them, just the same.

for real.

like a deer in headlights

yesterday, in the midst of two major grad school projects, i prepped myself for church. this timei went solo, as Z is in his own house. so i got to church early enough to get a parking spot on the street.

as usual, it was a great service. i had thought of joining the church's theater ministry, but with this week's sched, and with my looming midnight deadline, i couldn't stay another hour in church (our service lasts about 2- 2 1/2 hours).

i made my way out as inconspicuously as i could. i got to bruce and was about to open the door when one of my church mates called out. i don't know many of the members yet because i am pretty new, but i have seen this guy before and he even sat next to me once. anyway, he came nearer and asked me for my number. i thought "oh well, maybe he was the one assigned to get to know me since I signed up to become a new member of the church. so i wrote down my name and number on the piece of paper that he provided. then he asked for my address. he said he wants to send postcards to his friends. so, okay, i wrote that down too. he kept on talking and talking about his vacation (which was on august) so I started feeling a bit strange. So i told him I'm gonna go already and then he went on about how he wanted to tell me how pretty i looked, this, that and the other thing.



this is me : (eyes getting bigger by the millisecond, a look of panic and discomfort on my face)

uhm. okay, thanks. that's nice. God bless you.

what got to me was how i reacted. i was totally rooted on the spot, and i couldn't even think of something funny to say.

i was blushing scarlet my entire ride home.

i got so shaken up, i called the boyfriend right away, via Skype video chat of course...



Z: next time ask him for his number and tell him your boyfriend wants to have beer with him.


sigh. guys.


okay, siempre na flatter naman ako, pero hello sa simbahan ba?!

springing in

and now it's spring. it has been quite a long winter and i have had enough of it, honestly.

incidentally, spring also marks the last and third trimester of this school year. i am teaching writing strategies to my high school classes and we are well under way into finishing their 5 paragraph essays. if you ask me, i am a bit impatient or unsatisfied with the slow pace and the decrease in the material that we have covered in class, but it's okay. as long as the learning is going on, quantity should take a backseat over quality.

as for grad school, i really shouldn't be spending my time blogging as i have two major requirements due this weekend. ahhh, the procrastinator in me. it's amazing that it's already month 6 of my program. i'm halfway, baby!!!

and for the cherry on top -- i found me a church. i've been going to this church for several weeks now, and let me tell you, it just keeps getting better. i feel energized and inspired going to, being in, and leaving church every sunday. and through the week, i catch myself reviewing in my head the sermon of our highly energetic, entertaining, and humorous pastor. i am grateful that God led me to this place that I can worship and share prayers with fellow Christians. Z has gone to a couple of services and PJ also visited when she came over two weeks ago. i am thinking of volunteering my services and energy to their theater ministry.

health wise, i am enjoying spin classes in my gym. i wish i can discipline myself to stop eating so much. i have gained a few pounds and i am psyching myself for bikini season in the summer to motivate me enough to burn as much fat as possible. i've been on the fat zone and i do not want to go back to that, not if i can help.

i went to my first beer-fest in Atlantic City last weekend. i had fun, but going to the bathroom for a pee break was such a hassle. a drunk little irish lady told me to wear "depend" next year.

i'll post pictures as soon as beer david sends them my way.

let me get my butt back to work now,

gym face

i've been going to my real gym for more than a month now, and it amuses me to note how rich in wiritng material possibilities this place is.

before i got serious in changing my lifestyle, i went to an all women's gym. the arrangement worked out pretty well, but i foud myself looking for a more rigorous workout.

cut to my NYSC. this gym is serious. for a considerable amount of money, i signed up and decided to make my membership really work. i was excited to go to all the different classes i wanted to go, i like the machines, and hopefully, i can muster the courage to use the weights too.

my eagerness and happiness was put off balance for a while when i have observed the dynamics between men and women in the gym. man! my gym seems to be a hook-up place!i felt so self conscious for a while. i guess i was real slow at catching up. the deal breaker came when, in one of my dorky moods, i donned my charcoal colored aquaman t-shirt and my usual workout pants and sneakers. some snotty ladies in the lockers gave me disapproving looks. hey i didn't really come to the gym to make "porma" no! when i got to the main floor, some of the guys gave their initial once over looks and then proceeded to go on their business.

i looked at the women in the gym and realized how well dressed and well made-up the majority of them are. i almost fell off my stationary bike at my discovery.

the more i paid attention, the more things became clearer to me. a lot of these women actually put on make-up before working out. wow. they wear cute, coordinated sporty outfits and --- push up sports bra.

jane told me not to go overboard, but it may be a good idea to choose cuter and more feminine workout clothes in the future.

and that i did.

no worries, i still don't put on make-up before i work out.

jane's shopping spree, and my weekend of sorts.

< despite starting week1 of my Digital Media and Educational Applications class this month, the weekend proved to be a great one. Of course the sunny weather and a slightly less cold temperature helped in pepping up the weekend in the jersey area.

i tortured as usual. we're learning about africa these days. i can't complain because i never really had the chance to study much about african nations in school. social studies has been my strongest subject in school so it was a treat for me to study with V.

after almost a three hour session, i went to the gym to sweat it out a bit.

the good news is, i'm starting to make my way back into my old clothes again. gaining those pounds over the last month, i couldn't even button my pants! now they fit better, but i still have quite a belly and some fat that can and should be melted off.

i need a whole new post about the gym. one day soon i will.

anyway, so, i spent an hour and a half in the gym. according to the machines i burned a total of about 500 calories, so it worked for me. i used the stairmaster, "climbed" 33 floors (that's about 15 minutes). then i burned about 300 calories on the cardio- elliptical machines for another 30 minutes. took a shower, got another cup of coffee and went to the mall.

well, i had a fabulous time there and i scored me some colorful tops ready for spring. i also got me a pair of purple skinny jeans jeans : $13.50

i can't wait to have it hemmed and wear it. i also treated myself to a new silky night gown. in silk leopard print. fierce.

floral top : $ 19.80

slip set : $ 14. 80

this is jane's doing.

all these goodies i scored at forever 21, by the way.

since i was having a ball already, i went to Macy's' and got some cute intimate wear. and a corset. which i'm wearing now.

let me tell you. it makes a big difference. somehow i enjoyed walking the hallways today. tee-hee.

i went shopping again on sunday, but at a different mall. i suppose i was too tired to even bother looking for clothes so i ended up with just three items from H&M. a couple of cotton knit sweaters and a printed long sleeved top.

after this, i went home and did my homework like a good student should.

i can't wait to wear my new clothes!

simple joys

i had a great weekend. much better than the previous one when i spent most of it in bed, asleep most of the time.

my system seems to beat this virus that gripped me drowsy most of last week. i guess it was also a relief that another graduate class is finished, and the new one begins today. wow, this is already my 5th class. 7 more to go and i'm done, together with all my wonderful classmates who have been nothing but helpful and selfless. FSO EMDT October '08 batch-- we truly rock.

on to simple pleasures...

Z came over for the weekend. he was done with something last week too. good thing this weekend was on the mild side so we were able to go to the mall and to my local ikea. i got me an 5 quart aluminum pressure cooker for $24. Not bad at all. Then off we went to Ikea to look at bunk beds for Z, who wants to maximize the space in his bedroom. too bad the boxes won't fit in bruce.

in other news, i've been getting in touch with his family more frequently via Skype. just over the weekend, his dad had skype installed, so there's another family member of his in my buddies list :) . i think i better learn a few more czech phrases so i can talk with them more. i need to get passed "how's the weather there?"

how i wish my mom is tech savvy and can get skype too.

i put my cooking skills to the test with my new pressure cooker. i cooked a batch of czech beef goulash. the first time i tried cooking goulash, the meat wasn't so tender, and I am an impatient cook, so i finally got me a pressure cooker to cut down my cooking time. well, let me tell you that my goulash was a hit with my favorite czech boy.

the best compliment a cook can get is a an empty plate and a big smile on the diner's face. i now have three czech dishes up my sleeve. on to my next kitchen adventure.

a high school, friend sent me a link to a recipe for the best chocolate cake ever. i'm keen on starting this project, but i need to get me an electric mixer as well as some baking pan. the only experiment i've tried on baking was to make a carrot cake one thanksgiving years ago. i guess it's about time i clean the oven.

don;t worry, i'm not getting overly domesticated. in fact, i'm on my way to the gym after tutoring today. time to burn some blubber.