Smokin' Tuesday

Yesterday
Mixed Polos
I had a bad headache in the morning. I thought it wouldn't go away. Maybe it's the neckstrain with the polos coz I felt it originate from the neck.

Today
I was at the pool early at 6:30am. Karen had an early practice with their Speech Choir piece. I guess this early hour is the time that some folks burn leaves (pag-sisiga). I realized that since it too early and the air still cool, the smoke doesn't naturally rise but lingers downwards. I don't notice the smoke smell when I come in like 7:00am or later. I suppose that at that time, either: 1.) the burning's done and the smoke's gone away or 2.) the air has warmed enough and the smoke simply rises above the pool. Anyway, I just didn't do much polos as I knew I'd be gasping.

This polo-type exercises are stretching my limbs. Even my thighs are getting tired when I attempt the eggbeater. The eggbeater style of treading is tough!

Sampayan

6 Polos 3 Sides
Today, I was early at the pool (6:00am) coz I took Sandra to school. Her club, the Homemakers, is sponsoring the Mass today. I cleaned both ears with Hyrdrogen Peroxide. At the pook, the inside of the ears felt sensitive when water splashed inside - but no pain. When I put on the eardrops after the swim, now that was a bit painful.

Tried something new today. The idea was not to stop swimming but use the elementary backstroke as a rest stroke. The pool boy was cleaning so I only had 3/4 of the pool. The workout was moderately intense as I did a polo on one length for each lap. As a cooldown, I replaced the polo with a sidestroke.

Here's a new tip I thought of to prevent molding on the sports towel. My towel has started showing signs of molding with the black specks. So today, I brought a small clothes hanger to hang the towel on to the rear bumper mirror at the back of the car. I'd do this maybe once a week just so it gets "some sun" and aerated. Hope no one tries to steal it though. The car is parked so that not many people will see it. So, here it is, my mini-sampayan.

Sandra's 10!

No Swim. Right ear still hurts.

I went to the doctor today for my right ear pain. I feel the ear pain only when burping or yawning. I found it hard to sleep last night and there was congestion that it felt like a cold was coming. Well, the doc said that blowing out the nose with both nostrils is not advisable and it's better to close one nostril while blowing out another! Hmmm, that's new to me. He looked inside the ear and said that the tympanic membrane was intact. There was cerumen though that needed cleaning with earbuds and hydrogen peroxide. All that was suggested was Neozep or decongestant. At least the pain now is not as bad as last night.

Christmas Greeting Cards

Che's been practicing for a couple of days now for their Speech Choir project in school and has been coming home late. While waiting for her so she could join in Sandra's treat, I decided to do this year's two Christmas Cards. So, finally, here they are.

This landscape version show below shows action shots and height comparisons with the kids standing. This card has the "politically correct" greetings message.


Faces haven't changed much in this portrait version which took me a while to complete to have the photo size just right for comparison. Which between the two cards looks better?


Sandra's Birthday

Finally, Che has arrived and the table is set. Sandra's cake is Rocky Road from Red Ribbon.


Sandra blowing the candles on her cake. Che and Karen have become impatient waiting for her to make a wish! Yup, grumpy AND hungry. But for little Renz, "This is the Moment."

World's Strongest Dad

I just had to put this in - a dad's extraordinary love for his son.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''
"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''



2006 Christmas Tree Pics

Pool was very clean today, Monday. I would've wanted to workout longer but I felt some soreness in my ears after blowing out water too hard. I better just 'bubbles' instead next time.

On the way to Festi yesterday, we heard over the radio that Manny Pacquiao won. Okay. And today, I heard over the radio that a couple of guys in Laguna died due to heart attack yesterday while watching the bout.

Anyway, Che wanted to buy some sequins and we looked for the cellphone Karen wanted but found that it was out of stock. Maybe next time. Che by the way is Top One in her class! Go Che! After coming home, I decided to take the Christmas tree pictures. Everybody still seemed to be in a good mood and Renz was still wide awake.


Here's the gang standing.


The pics showed their faces with shadows from the overhead light. And so I had another session but this time with some additional lights in front of them. Note that there are no more shadows under their chins.


Here's Manny PacPac being 'hoisted' by the adoring fans.

Che's Blowout

Overcast Skies
There's a slight morning breeze today and the sky just a bit overcast and so I skipped today's swim. Last night was a bit warm actually.
Some of Che's classmates were at the house for dinner. There's Jean-Rose, Johanna, Gemma and Gladys. The girls had special palabok, pichi-pichi and lumpiang shanghai (c/o Tita Gay).


There's Sandra helping herself with the palabok while Che enjoys the food.



The cake came very late 9:00pm (c/o DH) and so it was just us. Here's Karen with his trademark smile.



Karen and Sandra seem to be praying "Ama Namin" in the shot below with Karen appearing overly devout albeit smiling. No, they're actually singing "Happy Birthday" while clapping. Renz is really amused at the two.


I have to say that this is the yummiest cake I've tasted from Red Ribbon. Really! It's relatively new (at least for me) and is called Marjolaine. It's dense and not at all fluffy. It's got nuts, choco and tastes like Sansrival. We also had Pancit Canton which was very good. Burp!



Happy 14th Birthday Che!

Hapi Bday Che! Sandra is Model Pupil

A Couple of PolosI did a couple of polos today and whew! This stroke is a lung-buster! And I should do MORE of them. This'll really workup the stamina. Perhaps I'd do them one length and without stopping, follow with elemback to rest.It was Sandra's awarding day for Model Pupil so I thought I'd swim first then go there. Last year, the awarding seemed late as Sandra was awarded probly 8:30am so today I targetted to be there before 8am just to be sure. I got there at 7:50am. Well, I was wrong. As I got inside the school's gate, all the kids were streaming out of the gym already. Argh! Still, I was lucky in that the grade 4 pupils haven't passed me by yet. I saw Mr. Durante (Sandra's adviser) and asked if I could just have pics instead - just to save the day.


Apparently, they're much stricter with the time now (which is good) and they target to finish the awards at 7:30am. Ah well. Here's Sandra's certificate below. Congratulations, Sandra!


I didn't make it to Alvin's Despedida last night coz Jorge put on the louver for the car aircon, rear doorlock knob and door stopper. And after that we decided to put up the Christmas lights. Not a whole lot - just to feel the spirit. Here's our centerpiece, the capiz parol. It's been with us for more than 14 years now. Yup, older than Che! This lantern is quite durable as it's one of the original capiz lanterns that came out when they first became popular. The capiz shells in lanterns then were thicker and the craftsmanship was very good.

More Right Sidestroke

Yes, I'm getting faster now and feeling a little more of the right groove. Doesn't feel like a real sidestroke yet, more like a modified heads-up breaststroke with scissors, but it'll come. Today I also learned to position my goggles very slowly. Initially set on my forehead, I set them to my eyes, one eyepiece at a time, carefully as I'm dog paddling with the other arm. The trick is not to forget paddling and get a big gulp of air!

Yesterday Jorge took a look at the aircon problem and checked the actuator of the rear locking mechanism. Doesn't look promising, but we'll see. We went later to Festival for Karen's calculator and the to KFC at SLT for Che's blowout.

Here's a familiar sight every morning when we (Che, Karen and I) leave the house. Che keeps the dog (Snoopy) at bay while Karen opens the gate as I drive out the car. So what prevents Snoopy from rushing out the gate and scaring the kids outside? Feeding! That's Che (with the bruha hair in this pic) giving her dose of The Daily Bread - pieces of sliced bread. No wonder Snoopy's become fat.

Sidestroke facing Right

Right Sidestroke Tryout.
Most of the time nowadays, I do the scissors kick in the elementary backstroke instead of the 'book-prescribed' frogkick. Why? Well, with strict frogkicks the recovery phase creates waves and washes water to my face. The scissors kick, however, is lower in the water and doesn't disturb the water much. My scissors kick is with the right leg starting in front and the left leg at the rear. The right leg goes front and pushes back while the left leg goes back and whips back.

I thought of my Left sidestroke which required the reverse of the above scissors kick nad the result was pain on the right knee. So I'm guessing, why not a right sidestroke instead so as to do a pain-free scissors kick. Today I tried just that and it felt okay, but didn't really click yet coz I was panting after a length! Ahh.. meaning more practice.

As I left the pool today, I saw Christmas lanterns hanging overhead along the main street. All of a sudden I felt a certain nostalgia looking at this parols. The feeling wasn't sad but pleasant. I guess the cool morning air helped as I felt like this village put up their decors just at the right time.

Sandra was sweet enough to create her version of a Christmas Lantern. I thought it was for a school project or something. Nopes, just something she wanted!


Make Them Laugh

Well I finally bit the bullet and decided to go deliver a humorous speech. Entitled "Motel 101", it is the 3rd Speech Project - Make Them Laugh - in The Entertaining Speaker Manual. Did I succeed? I managed to get laughter so yes, I think I did. I've been THINKING of this speech project for quite a long time but it's only today that I got to write it in its entirety. Not only that, I only managed to practice the whole speech only today also! So even if I had relatively little preparation, I've been psyching up to it for quite some time now.

Here are the enthusiastic members of the KCPI Toastmasters club with TM Felix leading the Word-of-the-Day segment. This bunch has really improved and they're just in their 19th meeting.


Here's Pres. Jess giving a speech. That's TM Leonor near TM Hanika. She evaluated my speech. Way to go, guys!


See all my Toastmasters Speeches online here!

Cemetery Visit

We visited the cemetery (DH's side). There's still a few people coming inspite of the day being Nov.5 already. I saw probly close to 20 vehicles just in the general vicinity. Sam went with us. The aircon's not doing well and we had to roll down the windows.

It was rather late in the morning when we got there. We had puto, mangoes (from our tree) and bagoong. We brought Renz's remote control car but somehow it didn't work - maybe dead batteries.


Apparently Karen said something that sent Renz giggling.


Either Sandra's giving Renz a sermon, telling him a scary story or downright hypnotizing him. Whatever it was, Renz seemed mesmerized.


Renz ready to pounce on the ates? Nah, just putting on his shoes.


The sun was really up at 12:00 and so we decided to pack up.

Nice Swim

Half-length Polos and Reverses
Finally, a swim for the week. The pool boy was busy vacuuming today so I only swam half-lengths of the pool. I also learned to duck effectively the floating vacuum hose by diving and swimming just deep enough to clear it.

I've been on this after-six diet thing for a couple of days and it's a little rough. Because of it, I thought of laying off a little on the physical activities but the sun was up and today was too good not to swim. The pool was cool but good. Felt refreshed and light after the swim. Just what I needed after the couple of stressful days.

Christmas Decors Up

Bucked, chopped more wood. I don't know, sometimes, I just feel like I need some physical activity to start an otherwise boring day. We didn't have any plans for the day, so just stayed at home. Although we didn't go to the cemetery today, we still lit some candles at home. Here's the firewood bucket filled to the brim again.

"Roger on that, Control tower! This is the Champ. Enemy sighted at 2 o'clock! Mayday!" Renz, strangely looking like a fighter pilot on the Nebulizer. Ya, poor guy had a bad case of the coughs.

Well, the day wasn't totally wasted as the kids decided to hangup the Christmas tree and decors. That's Dada showing the Christmas sock with a bear on it. Karen assembled the tree, Cheche's decided to do the decorating while Renz is playing "supervisor".

I thought this wreath on the door is both simple and nice.