Exaggerating it may sound but you will turn yellow with jealousy if you see someone like my officemate walk by with white silky smooth skin.  Besides being young, she has this vibrancy in her that even her skin glows.   Well, even without asking you can tell that she is taking good care of herself, her drawer is almost full of beauty products; hand lotions, perfumes, make up.  She is indeed vain.

A fair and lovely officemate of mine

However, I feel perplexed why people put much weight on fair people than the darker ones. I think the problem is sticking to the older generation’s thinking.  Women are always seen beautiful on advertisement, media, etc so there is always pressure for other girls who are dark skinned.  The skin lightening industry currently spans the globe and more and more are patronizing whitening products that promises a fairer skin in just few weeks.

Everybody is beautiful in their own way and it doesn’t matter what the color of our skin are.    We just need to be contented and happy with what we’ve got.   And we should always remember that being beautiful is not only seen thru our skin color but with also with the heart and soul that make up the rest of our personality.

I am happy for my officemate.  She has good genes!

A pretty gift bag was neatly tucked in a corner of the desk I shared with my office mate and I was wondering what was inside.   I am pretty sure that it is something special because this officemate of mine really has good taste.   Even though I was busy transcribing a report dictated by my boss, my mind kept wandering and wishing my colleague will come soon to satisfy my curiosity.   I think I was somehow acting like a little girl very excited to open a gift box.  But I won’t dare touch that bag because I know by heart an idiomatic expression  ”Curiosity can kill a cat” and of course out of respect, I have to wait till my friend showed it to me.

It s  a silver bracelet!   This pretty bracelet will be added to her many collection of jewelries and accessories.  The bracelet has its modern and trendy design and I told her I also would like to have one for my daughter.   It would be a respite from wearing gold jewelries all throughout and this silver jewelry will make a difference.  It can perfectly match our office outfits.

Pretty indeed!  Now, our next assignment is to browse how to take care of silver jewelries because I will be ordering one for myself and my daughter.

Budget?  Check and balance tonight….

I always believe that acne and pimples are relatively common among teenagers and my children especially my daughter is not spared from the hassles of it.  She woke up depressed to find out a big pimple on her forehead and would not stop till  I said yes to her prodding for us to buy those pimple clearing solution in a nearby pharmacy.    So off we went and she took  assorted lotions like make up remover, deep cleansing lotion, toner, moisturizers hoping that her pimple will be gone in an instant.

I told her that no amount of lotions will surpass good hygiene; the usual keeping the skin gently exfoliated and hydrated , balanced diet, good sleep and lots of water to flush out toxins.  I advised her to avoid greasy ,sugary and salty food.   Come to think of it, if you will stay away from all those tastes, you will end up eating bland foods… But if it works, so by all means do it!  And we still keep in mind what our grandmother told us that we need to change our pillowcases often.

During my younger years, I only had occasional break-outs, maybe because I listened well to my Mom of her reminder to refrain from touching the  face with dirty hands and never ever prick a pimple because if you do, scarring will occur and its main effect is psychological, such as reduced self esteem and mostly depression.   You will tend to shy away from mingling with people (getting socially insecure) especially if you have severe case of acne. I don’t want my daughter to feel that way so early treatment is therefore needed to lessen the impact of her getting insecure about her looks.

I know  she is already getting bothered by them, so I promised her that we are going to get an appointment to a dermatologist so she will stop her whining.  I understand that she tried all sorts of home remedies, like ridiculous it may seem as  putting a toothpaste on the pimple and that she  believed it will help it fade away.

Some individuals can keep acne not only during their puberty but some even beyond their forties.   Ah, her pimples come and go…

Conspicuously absent during the Family day event was a close friend of mine.  Earlier on, I was looking for her but she was not on the list when I checked the Registration form.    She seldom attends outdoor activities like this because she doesn’t like sun exposure much more sunburn.  While us girls, we generously applied on our body a branded sunblock lotion with SPF 5o+ and the lotion is  known with very high protection and sun intolerance.  True enough, we hardly get burned during the event.

The next day, I found out that my friend really did not showed up because she got burned, not of  sunburn but a scalding pot of hot coffee.  She had second degree burns on her lower torso and she had to endure the swelling and intense pain.  Blisters readily developed and her skin is all red and with splotchy appearance .  I warned her to leave the blisters alone and not break a single one because it is prone to infection.  It is good that their neighbor who is a nurse run to her rescue during the accident.  She helped held the burned area under cool running water since she knew that cooling the burn reduces the swelling.   It is usually our instinct  to put ice directly on burn but according to the nurse friend of hers, ice on burn can cause the victim’s body to become too cold and might cause further damage.   Butter or ointments applied to the burn can also cause infection.   A professional help is really needed especially if it is a major burn.

Oh well, emergencies really do happen unexpectedly, so we should try to know by heart first aid so we can save not only our lives but also the lives of others.

Our big banner became a centerpiece for our parade.  It was conceptualized by a friend who had flair in designing logos and we beamed with pride as we displayed our Blue team banner.  It generated excitement and motivates our members to be livelier and enthusiastic about the parade.  It was almost 10 am when we lined up in the Philippine Embassy ground and the direct rays of the sun seemed to be piercing our skin but we continue on with our march with matching chants.  That was one rare chance that we were able to  gather a large crowd like that!

Advertising has come a long way… tarpaulin printing made a great impact in getting messages across.   Our logo was printed in vinyl material and it was durable since it is water resistant.  However, it was obviously oversized.  Anyway, the bigger the better, it can be seen from afar!

Everybody cooperated, they prepared their own “pom-poms and assorted cheering paraphernalia’s and potluck too!   The members gamely participated in the parlor games and supported their team members.   We had a great day last Friday!

The culmination of a month long preparation for the Family Fun day happened yesterday at Philippine Embassy ground.

This morning, I woke up with sore legs which  I believe is  due to long hours of standing, walking and running because being one of the organizer of the event, we can’t afford to just sit down and watch the event unfolds.  It was a big event, very well attended despite of our initial worries that the weather might deter the families from coming.  It was still hot at 42 deg. Centigrade at noon and the children are expected to become uneasy.  However, we were glad that many families stayed till the end of the program braving the weather.   I bet, most of them applied a sunblock lotion before the day starts and re apply every now and then.   Admittedly, I was one of them who dreaded the after effect of long sun exposure.  So, I prepared a wide brimmed hat, a light weight jacket to cover my arms and applied sun block lotion plus a bag full of mineral water to help replenish lost fluids.   Believe me, since it is dry here, I hardly experience any sweat at all despite our vigorous movements of running, jumping.

People started to come as early as 8:00 a.m. and program started with parade of colors. After the usual opening remarks and pep talks, the  fun began at half past 9:00 am.   The mood was festive and exciting!  The children and adults alike enjoyed the games!

The kids enjoyed the game except this little boy..  I guess he was bored and sleepy!

Obviously, the adults had their share of fun!

We retired to bed that night exhausted but fulfilled because the event was fun filled and people  enjoyed bonding with old and new friends.  We were thankful that no casualties happened and the lucky ones went home with raffle draw prizes.

Success we may call it!

We belong to a Filipino community that is family oriented and Christ centered since 2002.  One of our project is the ANCOP (acronym for ANSWERING THE CRY OF THE POOR) aimed to help the needy especially our fellow Filipinos.  We conceived a Family Fun day and it was on the drawing board for more than a month. The plan is to organize a gathering aimed to bond a community of families thru prepared parlor games, board games and entertainments.

As the day of the event drew near, we exhausted all our efforts to come up with an activity that everybody will enjoy, thus we have successive meetings.   Final preparation was discussed the night before the big day!

The activity was set Friday, 01 October 2010 at Philippine Embassy quadrangle.