Ningxia Wolfberry Juice

If you are familiar with the Wolfberry juice or Goji berry, I'd like to hear from you. It claims to give you energy, increase mental clarity, relieve headaches and insomnia, maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels, prevent brain aging, and hundreds of other maladies.

I am on my second bottle of Ningxia Red. It contains the Goji berry (Lycium Barbarum). I must admit, ever since taking this juice on a daily basis, my hot flashes are gone. I used to have them many times a day and night. Also, part of the reason I am experimenting drinking this juice is due to family health history... high blood pressure and heart disease. That is why I am interested to know if somebody out there has a testimony about this product ... this juice is not cheap and I don't want to flush my dough down the drain. Or, is it worth it? Let me know please.

Best Friends Forever (BFF)

Do you have a best friend forever? What a silly question ... of course you do! :)
I met my best friend at a social gathering held at a mutual friend's house in the 1980's. I will not bore you with stories like "we've been through thick and thin, and going the extra mile to help", because she is all that. I will tell you though, that since then, our friendship is as strong as ever! We watched each of our children grow from diaper days to college years (this is showing our age, but what the heck) lol, and now one by one our kids are moving to a next level of their lives.

I would like to introduce to you my best friend's son, Bradley. As you would learn if you click the link, Brad (as we call him) is a very intelligent, focused, and well grounded young man. He took advanced courses when he was in high school and started college one semester ahead of his classmates. Way to go, Brad! :) One of Brad's childhood dreams is to have a platform online for people, specially students, to bounce off ideas, get answers, and for him to also share his knowledge on various events and developments. Over a month ago, he fulfilled his dream ... he launched his Totomer ... this site is a labor of love.... a lot of time, effort, and thought was put into this. And of course, he is also blessed with having strong, supportive, and caring parents who helped him along the way!
Please feel free to visit Brad's site, register, and share your ideas ... it might open up your eyes to many wonderful things out here in the cyberspace! Also, please note, this is a fairly new site ... be patient it will get there! We are so proud of you, Brad!

Award

Big THANK YOU mari for the award! It's a treasure and just in time for Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day my friends!

Memories of My Grandpa

At times like this where winter is upon us and there is not much outdoors activities that we can do (well, at least for me), I love to reminisce.

A lot of you probably agree that grandparents are a blessings. I grew up on a farm with my grandparents and, with that said, I have a lot of interesting and fascinating memories of them. One of my favorites is my Lolo (grandfather) telling us kids, his grandchildren, stories about the Japanese war. I am sure that there were a lot of exaggerations in his stories, but, at that time, we couldn't care less ... in fact we even asked him to tell us the same stories over and over because he delivered them with such suspense and excitement! He was a great story teller! Imagine, if you will, this scenario...

After dinner, he usually sat in his favorite rocking chair with his tobacco and try to take a nap (not a good combo) :) But, as a habit, I immediately climbed onto his lap and asked, "Grandpa, tell me a story please." I was probably 5-6 years old at that time.
"Hmmm ... let me see", he would say, as he scratched his head.
"How about the Japanese war you fought in!" I said, all excited.
"Japanese war? ... well, that was a long time ago ... I'm not sure I remember any of them", he teased.
"Oh yes, you do! ... please grandpa?" and I remember giving him that pleading look?
He laughed but at the same time he tried to get comfortable and I knew it then that I was in for a treat!

"One day, our troop was resting along a river", he began. "The Japs were camped across us behind tall trees. Then, suddenly we heard a rustling sound, we scrambled and started to reach for our weapons and positioned ourselves behind the trees. But then, we noticed something, the Japs were waving a white flag!" "Now, why do you supposed they've done that?" he asked.
"To trick you?" I proudly answered. Grandpa laughed!

He continued ...
"Hey, you want to barter?", called one of them.
"Sure come on over", we called back. There were five of them, and they quickly crossed the shallow river and we noticed that one of them was holding a sack.
"Can you guess what was in that sack?" grandpa asked me again.
"ahmmmm ... money?", I replied. Grandpa winked and smiled.
"Cigarettes and candy bars!" he chuckled.
"Now what do you supposed they wanted from us in return?"
This time I was so sure I was right so, exuding enthusiasm, I said, "Money!" again.
Grandpa laughed hard! "No, although that would have been nice, but what they've wanted from us was to give them a haircut!" "Haircut?" says me.
"That's correct, their hair was so long, so they badly needed a haircut."
While giving them a haircut we exchanged family stories. They missed their families in Japan. They don't want to fight in war but they have to do their duties for their country. After a little while, they slipped back across the river in a very good mood.

The next day, we were told that we were going into battle. Now that did not sit well with us. It didn't seem right fighting with the same Japs we'd given the haircuts to.
"So, what do you suppose we should do?", he quizzed.
In deep thought, I said, "Hide?" Grandpa burst into laughter! "Unfortunately, that was not an option" he said, "so we agreed to shoot over their heads!"

Nice guys, huh? :)

Fried Rice

One morning my son came to me and asked, "Hey, mom? ... do we have leftover rice, bacon, and eggs?" To which I replied, "Hmmm, that sounds like ingredients for a fried rice." No answer ... but he gave me that smug look that says, "Would you make it please?" I stopped what I was doing and said, "Ok, I'll go and make it for you ... now I know what you'll miss when you go to college ... " :)

Needless to say, my fried rice is one of my family's favorites. They think I make a mean fried rice. I suggested to order chinese fried rice once, and my son said, "It's not the same"... I took that as a compliment. :) He wants his mommy's fried rice! lol Is it the ingredients that I put together? ... is it the pinoy wok where I cooked it in? ... or is it the "love" that all mothers put in their cooking that makes it special?

Being a mom takes a lot of effort and you must have the ability to multi-task. It is a very demanding and tough job. You are expected to help with homework, support and attend their school activities, listen to their endless (it seems) instrument practices, and do the household chores while preparing meals. Our rewards would be to see them grow up making good choices, become good citizens with morals and values, and/or, in this case, hearing them say to their friends, "My mom's fried rice is THE best!" :)

Working Our Way Through

It all started when I received a call from our Medical Center Director's secretary. She asked if I'd mind covering for their phone because the other secretary was off, and she has to attend a video conference call. It was not a problem for me since I've covered their phone many times in the past.

However, as I headed back to my office, upon opening the staircase door, which I prefer to do, rather than taking the elevator, lying there on the floor was an outpatient being revived by EMT's. They were not getting any pulse. As I watched them do what they do best, my mind wandered to his family and to this helpless outpatient whom I am sure that when he woke up that morning, had no idea that today would be the day he would be called home. I pondered on that thought and it bothered me. It made me realize how fast life is taken away from us, our mortality ... our vulnerability. I did not sleep well that night. I felt the need to assess and evaluate my goals in life. My mind was in overdrive. Am I leading a worthy life? Is my life meaningful? Will I be remembered as plain Jane Doe or as a person who made a difference on the life of others? I will find out, I hope, once I am in that mansion in the sky.

Death of the people that we know or even people that we don't know is like losing a part of our body. It brings pain that is hard to understand. As Doris Sanford of The Comforter: A Journey Through Grief, writes, "Abnormal reactions in abnormal times are normal." As much as we don't like losing someone, it is inevitable and it is never easy. But as Rabbi Earl A Grollman says, "The goal is to strike that delicate balance between the past that should be remembered and a future that must be created." Let the pain go and keep the happy memories alive.

May God be with us and help us work our way through when we take that journey of grief.

Traditions

For my family, holiday cooking is about traditions. It is that time of year where family recipes passed down from generations kick in. One of them is my late mother-in-law's orange donuts. Although, these days, there are a lot of varieties of donuts readily available, I still make this recipe because ... what else, it's a tradition! lol My family agrees that it is the best!

Cut-out cookies is another recipe that is a must-have around Christmas. Even though I double the recipe each time, my family can not get enough of it. What makes it more fun is to have my kids get involved in the preparation. Below is my daughter rolling out dough and cutting them out using her great, great, grandmother's Christmas cookie cutters.



I used to take time and decorate them using my cake decorator... this season I got lazy and just frosted and sprinkled colored sugar on them. The finished product ...



And of course we always have deviled eggs, which is a fairly new tradition, since I started it myself. No family gatherings are without it ... they disappear like hot cakes! This season, I started teaching my son how to make them. This should be a nice memory for him, about his mother, that he can take pride in.



Now doesn't this tray look yummy? lol

Wondrous Gifts of Giving

Something I enjoy doing every time we have a holiday (Christmas, Thanksgiving and/or Father's/Mother's Day) is to cook something for our Pastor. Be it a complete dinner with all the trimmings or just a hearty soup, he is always so appreciative and very thankful every time I bring in a "surprise" for him and his wife. Today, Sunday, I got up early and baked them a chicken pot pie and assorted Christmas cookies in a hurry and brought it with me to Sunday service. My actual cookie-baking day is not until tomorrow but since they live quite a drive from us, I want to give him and his wife something for Christmas. His wife is quadriplegic and she can no longer do what she used to do. Seeing his face lite up when I tell him that "something" is waiting for him on his desk is more than enough reward for me.


Combined Federal Campaign with United Way

Over the years I have always found volunteering to be one of the most emotionally rewarding experiences. This season I was one of the few "Combined Federal Campaign" key players at work. Our goal was to raise $20,000 in three weeks. The money we raised will help transform the lives of families who are less fortunate here and abroad.

We exceeded our goal by the end of 3 weeks! Yeah! We raised over $27,000 and the highest fund-raiser beat me by only $200! Darn, oh well, I had fun getting the title of number one fund-raiser for over 2 weeks ... and there's always next year. There was an award ceremony attended by our Medical Center Director and as expected, I was one of the recipients. Although being recognized is nice, to me there is nothing like knowing somewhere in the U.S. and around the globe, CFC is helping a family in need and I am proud to be part of it.

I was asked to chair the CFC fund raising next year ... I might just accept it. After all, what would be a better gift to give someone in need than the wondrous gift of giving.

Be a volunteer ... it will do your heart good! :)

Blog of the Week

Good morning/afternoon friends ... i was nominated for the Blog of the Week award, so when you have a chance please vote for me Here and click funnfamily. Thank you much!