REST ROOMS

This article caught my attention:


By Ian Simpson VENICE, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Venice wants to make itself an easier place to go, so it is launching an online service to allow visitors to pre-pay for access to public toilets with the click of a mouse...Read full story: PAY VIRTUALLY AND PEE VIRTOUSLY IN VENICE.

Toilet facility shortage is one of the main problem of Venice specially during summer when almost 10,000 tourist flood the city in a day. Estimated 10,000,000 people visiting in a year is an overwhelming number for merely less than a dozen public comfort rooms.

WC -AMAV(Azienda Multiservizi Ambientali Veneziana) charges 1 euro per entry and may double for the city sanitation authorities' plan to improve their services. "WC" is the sign, by the way, for comfort rooms and always have coins ready for the loo in case you'll come and visit Venice.

When I was pregnant and using the toilet is an every minute necessity, going around the maze of this floating city would be an excuse to enter bars for a drink(water or anything), a meal in fast-foods restos(McDonalds, Spizzico etc...) and restaurants(on special days if the budget can afford). A bottle of water in a bar which is more or less 2 euros is not bad when you're relieved of "liquid retention". Quite practical than lining public toilets, I think.

I remember when we were still in Baguio City, Jollibee and McDonald's were more like "CR's" than their "intended purposes". I haven't checked the last time we went home if the public toilets of Maharlika and La Azotea Building are still there. Now, I'm making mental count on our public rest rooms. Not much of a handful too when its a very important basic facility that the city should address.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the comfort rooms of Center mall and SM have longer lines than the cash registrar to any of their stores.

SON OF DAVE

A touch of 21st century Blues. I love it! Find out more about "the man" here: SON OF DAVE (please click his biography). It all started one Christmas in Canada when his Daddy Dave gave him a harmonica and a shaker.

GIRL, WHAT'S UP?

Its not mine, I got the image above from amckerns site when I was googling images for "blog hiatus". I have to start this entry linking him or he will hunt me for posting this image with out his permission.

A friend emailed and asked if I lost the password of my blog. "Hey, update your site before I will stop peepin', girl!" she wrote.

Quite a childish reason why I stopped writing. I've been reading back some of my post and OhheeMGeee(oh my gosh), my grammar is so bad, it made me retreat into our duvet. Same words are being used every post and I'm afraid, I lack substance. With all these, "Hide me please!" my mind beckoned the remaining shame in me.

My blogs name added why I don't want to log-in. Its good the blog description: "trying hard try outs...try again" was there or I will really change the name of this site.

My friend read my reply and she wrote back, "Girl, are you on drugs or is it PMS?"... How I laughed while I told her neither of the two.

NO IDEA

Was there ever a time your instinct proved you right? What did you do about it?

This is not Teacher Julie asking the question. It was a friend who once caught her husband cheating. She said, at first she noticed how her husband's character changed. He was always quiet than the usual, always angry and he would always consider it nagging when his wife wants is just to actually talk. Their communication had obviously shut off and the husband could not stand being in one room with his family.

The confrontation was painful and all the lies were revealed. "Lies coming from another lie", said my friend, were what killed her a million times. But then, the husband asked for forgiveness and she gave him another chance. Besides, they have a daughter and she needs her father.

Time healed the husband's mistake though the wife said it was an everyday struggle to put the past behind. They survived how ever and had two more children.

Then lately, my friend said she saw those changes again. Changes that she once dreaded to admit. Instincts which are so familiar and those obvious lies being knitted were happening again.

Ease my burden folks, get some of it. Answer her questions for me because I really don't have no idea what to tell her.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

LUKIE'S 7th BIRTHDAY

At home, Lukie's "real" big day.

7 YEARS

Notice my Lilypie.com Baby days counters widget. Its Lukie's Birthday!

I have to start convincing myself that 7 years had passed since the doctor placed Lukie on my belly just after he cut my son's umbilical cord. January 21 2002, our baby was snugly wrapped with a green cloth and his face and head were still covered with blood and thick yellowish matters (vernix caseosa). I remember as I held him, he literally gave me warmth when my senses forgot about labor pains and was diverted now on how cold the delivery room was. Squirming, stretching and making baby sounds, I held our son tight.

Boogie was comforting me with his pats and stroking my hair as I lay there crying and sobbing and I don't care if I sounded like a cow. It was the sweetest cry I ever had. I finally met our son and the ordeal of giving birth was almost over. Seeing and holding him made me forget the "agony" of going through every excruciating pain of my 4 hours labor.

I told my husband, "karuprupa ni Pa!"(he looks like Pa)(my father in-law). Then the nurse took our son for his APGAR Scoring and bath. Boogie went back on holding my hand like he did when we were birthing. The obstetrician worked on taking out the placenta and I started to shiver when they were "already stitching me up". The additional blankets the nurse gave did a little help.

Adrenalin kept me fully awake for almost 5 hours after giving birth. The painless needle and the thread being pulled to repair my episiotomy were one of the worst for me. It doesn't hurt but I could feel my skin being dragged by the thread.

In the observation room where I have to stay for 3 hours before I will be brought into my room, they "loaded" my bed with hot water bags. Then I wasn't shivering anymore when the pediatrician brought Lukie for his first breast feeding.

Remembering all these will always lead us back to the five years of waiting before Lukie was finally conceived. Those years were painful thinking no children will bond our love more. Our OB-Gyne in Philippines, Dra. Solang, started us with fertility work out, sperm count, lab tests etc and it would always disappoint us when I get my monthly period.

Our "wanting" to have a baby was put on test when we decided to come here in Italy after working two years to a family in Malta. We came here as tourist and 25 days lapsed, we became illegal immigrants. We don't speak nor understand Italian and worst, we're jobless.

The very second day of our stay here, pregnancy test kits in this country proved us that it works "positive" than any other parts of the globe. We are pregnant! Lukie wanted to be made in Malta and preferred to be born in Italy.


LINK TO THIS POST: MY FIRST BORN AND HIS FEAR OF BOATS•

WEEKLY QUESTIONS 33 AND 34

Let's go back to blogging with Teacher Julie's questions from GreenBucks. Good enough I have these weekly "ask about" to answer weekly, big help when I'm running out of things to write.

If you were to “reinvent yourself” what would you do?

I wouldn't. I love what I had become. It had always been a smooth sail or things had always been easy for me. I never stopped considering myself as one of God's favorites. Cocky as it may sound, but for me, it is true because I do accept what ever comes with optimism, gratitude and laughters. Most of the time, things are far from how I want it to be, but I strive and work in making the best out of it. But if we're talking of weight gain, that's a different story.

With a long list of women’s health concerns, what is it that you dread to hear the doctor say to you?

Anything that would lead him to say I am dying now. I can't bare to even think how my young kids would live with out a mother. Its a sad and scary thought.