My precious. My inspiration. My life.

Being a mother is never easy. Though, I’m new to this role and responsibility, I try my best to find enough time for my son to make sure that I’ve provided enough love and care for him, time for my husband to be the good wife he deserves and time for my career since I need my job to provide for our family. Managing one’s time is never easy, so I’ve posted 10 tips on my blog on how to balance Motherhood and Work by Lisa Druxman (source: http://www.entrepreneur.com) for the benefit of all mothers whether employed, self-employed or housewives. I hope these tips can help mothers in any way it can or at least alleviate any difficulty in managing their time.

1. Get–and stay–organized. Your work time is precious and not as dependable as it would be if you worked in a traditional workplace. You can’t afford to waste time looking for files, sorting through junk mail or even finding a pen. Keep everything clean and organized from the start. Have supplies available and in a place where you know you can immediately put your hands on them.

2. Have a plan. Some mompreneurs use paper organizers and some use tech gadgets, but all of them use some sort of planner to balance their work life with their family life. (Personally, I love the “Chaos Companion” organizer by Mommy Hulabaloo. It’s a complete mom-inspired day planner.) Ideally, you should keep both personal and work appointments on the same calendar so you don’t overbook or double up. And while it doesn’t always work, you need to set aside hours for when you’re going to get your work done. If you just wait for it to happen, it never will. Of course, you’ll have to be flexible as your child-care provider will inevitably cancel, your kids will get sick and your spouse may occasionally need to work late.

3. Work with your family, not against them. When your children are little, make sure your office is kid-proof. Get covers for your computer and child-safe drawers on your filing cabinet, and keep your paperwork out of reach if you don’t want your reports and invoices covered in crayon. Some women I’ve spoken with set up a child’s office space within their office so that crayons, paper and activities are available to keep their kids busy. As your children get older, find ways to get them involved in your work. When they’re old enough, let them stamp envelopes, fold fliers or shred paper. Just never let them answer the phone!

4. Think nap to nap, not 9 to 5. Break out of the 9-to-5 office hours’ tradition. Your hours as a mompreneur might start before your family wakes up, continue during nap times and go on into the wee hours of the night. Prioritize appointments that need to be accomplished in person during the traditional day time hours. But understand that e-mail, filing, reading, and a lot of your other office tasks can be done at any hour of the day or night.

5. Stay ahead of the game. By the time evening hits, yes, you’re exhausted. But take a few minutes to set out school clothes, set up the coffeepot, prepare lunches and clear your desk. You’ll be so grateful to have a less chaotic morning if you do all this the night before. You might also want to consider getting up a little before your family does so you can exercise, take a shower or get some work done.

6. Suzy Homemaker who? You don’t have to be Suzy Homemaker to be a good mom. Let go of your need to be Martha Stewart. Your priorities are your family and then your work. You don’t have to be the mom that bakes the school brownies from scratch or hand-makes the costume for the school play. Choose your priorities–your kids will care more that you’re there!

7. Schedule a mommy day. Every Tuesday used to be so stressful for me because I didn’t have a nanny or my husband to help out at all. I prayed for long naps and few interruptions. Needless to say, most of the time, it didn’t happen. So I finally decided to make Tuesdays a “mommy day.” I worked more on Monday night and Wednesday to make sure I could have Tuesdays to myself. Now when I get work done on that day, it’s an extra perk and not a source of distress.

8. Stay focused, and don’t get sidetracked. One of the hardest things for work-at-home moms is getting sidetracked by children, laundry, dishes…well, you name it. Make a list each month of what you intend to get done. Then break the list down week by week, then day by day. If you stay focused, you can stay committed to getting things done.

9. Get help from your partner, then thank him for it. It’s very difficult to succeed without help, so communicate with your partner about how he can help you–you both need to remember you’re juggling two full-time jobs. Figure out how to parent and chore-share so you’re both on the same page. Then tell your spouse how grateful you are for all his help.

10. Take care of you. How can you work out when you don’t have enough time with your kids? How can you take a bubble bath when you’re behind on a report? Realize now that there will never be enough time in the day to get everything done. Your in-box will still be full when you die, so learn to accept that fact now. It may seem like a cliché, but in this case, it’s the truth: You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of your family, your business and your home. Just mark it in your calendar!

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

I’m in high spirits today. At last, we were finally able to watch the must-see movie Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen earlier today. The movie was shown here in Cebu last June 24th and unfortunately, due to the scarcity of time which is normal when you work in a call centre, we were only able to book a ticket online today for the movie. The movie was definitely awesome! I enjoyed the humour you’d witness from Shia LaBeouf’s character, Sam Witwicky, an average teenager with the same anxieties and excitement about leaving home for a chance at normalcy in college but found himself in the middle of a War between the Autobots and humans against the Decepticons, much to his dislike. In addition to the facetious characters in the movie would be John Turturro, who was the former Sector 7 Agent Simmons and Ramon Rodriguez, Sam’s self-absorbed roommate. Sam’s parents were also quite amusing as they are not the typical parents you know in reality. Let’s not forget Megan Fox who plays Sam’s hot and sexy girlfriend.

Val showing off our movie tickets!

I was astounded by the many robots and metals smashing against each other and of course, how the vehicles, trucks, planes, etc. transformed into huge Autobots and Decepticons. My admiration for Optimus Prime’s courage and determination to protect the Earth and its inhabitants also captured my interest. When I was younger, I used to watch Transformers in cartoons thanks to my brother’s influence and I enjoyed every single episode. My favorite were and are still Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. The scene with Optimus against Megatron and two other Decepticons was breathtaking. Its amazing how he tends to fight multiple enemies at the same time.

In conclusion, the movie was worth every penny and I would definitely want to watch the movie again if given the opportunity. I would also encourage those who haven’t watched Transformers 2 to find time and watch it on the big screen since it’s really different when you’re watching the movie at home and when you’re at the theatre.

Megan Fox and the rose boy Harvii

Just an update on Megan Fox and the flower boy during the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Premier in London. After Megan apologized during an interview with Collider.com and even ensured her fans that she would never have intentionally crushed the young boy by ignoring him intentionally. Megan Fox also stated during the interview with Collider, “I’m sorry, sweet boy. I would never do that to you, and I would gladly accept your rose if I see you again.”

Since then, Kodak issued a contest to track the boy during the Revenge of the fallen premier, offering a $5000 cash prize to those who can provide reliable information to make the meet up possible.

With the help of the media, an article in gawker.com stated Kodak received an email from a lady named Kim from Montreal who claims that the boy is on her Facebook. Kim also mentioned sending an email to the boy whose name is apparently Harvii. Pretty amazing! So I guess it was only a matter of time before Harvii would meet the stunning and gorgeous Megan Fox and finally give her the yellow rose!

But life doesn’t always seem to go as planned. As I’ve read a post from Perez Hilton, the meeting unfortunately didn’t happen. According to the post and I quote, “Kodak flew him to New York, hoping to get him an audience with Fox on the “Today” show, which had booked her for a segment Friday. But Fox was bumped after Michael Jackson’s death, and she’s since returned to LA. A source tells Page Six, “Kodak basically put this kid on a plane on the off-chance that he’d get to meet her. They never even confirmed with ‘Today.’ Now they’re offering him around for interviews. It’s exploitative and creepy.” A rep for “Today” says, “Harvey was never scheduled to appear and we don’t plan to have him on.”

I’m not really sure if there’s any truth to this article, but if there is, then poor kid. There’s nothing more hurtful than to be promised with something that would eventually turn out false. Well, Harvii, you’re not the only fan out there who’s been hurt and neglected by their favourite celebrities. There are still many out there who’s had tough and rather embarrassing experiences that were not publicized. I just hope that you’ll at least get the apology you deserve for being led to false expectations.

Perez Hilton gets punched in the face!

Perez Hilton, author of probably the world’s most hated celebrity website filed a suit against Black Eyed Peas’ manager. Last June 22, after attending an video awards show in Canada, Perez Hilton got into an argument with Fergie and Will.i.am at the Cobra night club.

It was reported that Fergie confronted Perez about his lack of respect for her after calling her “Fugly” countless times on his blog. The argument then escalated after Will.i.am also confronted Perez on his hateful posts about the Black Eyed Peas and his obvious disrespect for Fergie. After their altercation, at some point Perez screamed at Will.i.am and said “you’re not a f**king artist … you’re a f**king f*ggot.” Perez then allegedly received a punch from Polo Molina right in the face.

Check out www.tmz.com for a peek at the video footage of the heated confrontation between Perez Hilton and Will.i.am.

After the incident, instead of reporting the violent act, Perez posted the message on his Twitter account.

Perez Hilton's Twitter message

The following day, Polo Molina was charged by the Toronto police with assault after giving Perez a black eye.

As expected, Perez received no sympathy from some celebrities namely American Idol winner,Kelly Clarkson. During an interview, her comment about the incident were “I gotta be honest with you, he’s gonna get a lot of flowers – And I’m not talking about Perez, I mean the manager!”

“I don’t think violence is the answer but what did you expect? You can’t say that much crap about people without being able to take something”.

Kelly Clarkson also shared kind words to Fergie and Will.i.am by saying “It’s so funny because how beautiful did she look? Oh my God I would give my left arm to look that beautiful” she gushed.

“No one deserves to be punched in the face, but, it’s expected, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already!”.

Then in a fit of laughter Kelly blurted out “I’m thinking “how much did will.i.am pay his manager to do that?” coz you know he or Fergie wanted to!

Check out the video below to get a view of Kelly Clarkson’s interview.

King of Pop diead of cardiac arrest

TMZ and LA Times recently reported that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died of cardiac arrest yesterday at the age of 50.

King of Pop

LA Times also reported that Michael Jackson was no longer breathing as soon as the medics arrived at his home in Holmby Hills. They tried to revive him by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation but this did not help. Jackson was then rushed to the UCLA Medical Centre hospital where he eventually died.

Michael Jackson at 50

Michael Jackson was supposedly planning a comeback concert in London starting July 13 and been practising for the said concert for the past two months in Los Angeles.

Michael Jackson - the King of Pop

Michael Jackson - the King of Pop

Photo credits: www.tmz.com