what's with swimming [tb072710]

swimming has become wowa's  form of exercise. he started swimming as summer recreation course then he later shifted to advanced (more like competitive to me) course. reading about swimming, i found out that swimming (due to its low impact nature of the workout) is considered by many as a terrific exercise choice for not only healthy people, but also for those who face health challenges. wowa had recurring asthma attacks, since he started swimming regularly, we noticed that the frequency of attacks have went down a significant figure (2 in a month to 1 or even 0).

children like him enjoy the water (oh well, they were surrounded by water in our wombs for 9 months remember?). it provides gentle muscle training and  strengthens the heart and the lungs. and even if it is often an individual sport, kid swimmers can also join competitive swim teams (in gensan, they call the famous swim team -TORPEDO), making swimming a sport your kids can enjoy wether alone or as part of the team. and yes, not to overemphasize, wowa was somewhat overweight but since he found swimming to be a pleasure, he lost some of his baby fats without feeling weary and without compromising his diet.

but of course, parents should always be on guard and be aware of 'safety swimming' - give the kids proper coaching (lessons from a pro) to orient them on the swimming  gadgets (goggles, flippers, swim cap among others) and proper swimming techniques. parents too should be aware of the possible risks of swimming to kids like the possibility of an ear infection, (see related blogpost here-- http://sakura-withdrawalpangs.blogspot.com/2010/07/wishing-hed-say-goodbye-to-swimming.html ) which may be both painful and inconvenient to your swimming kid. this specific infection however may be treated with antibiotics and there are ways of preventing it such as the one given here --http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childrens-health/CC00003 . so there you go. swimming may be one of the best options for kids' health and fitness there is, worked for my wowa.

bored at work? been there, been that (throwback 2010)

we all get our share of those days when we feel oh-so-bored at work...sometimes there's a cause for it (stressor-boss, dead-end job and the like), sometimes, it just happens, as if it's a part of an unending cycle. here are 5 of the things i did before to boot me out of the feeling, might (fingerscrossed) work for you too:

1. following the advise of a plurkfriend, i tried getting enough sunlight, fresh air, and exercise before work. i also did brisk-walking (pretending i'm about to miss someone or something if i don't rush) in-between work and people-watching (best place to do this is a university park) after work.

2. 'coz it cured my boredom in the past, i tried helping a friend's organization- planning learning sessions and activities for out-of-school youth. i also did encoding for a citizens group, and packing of relief goods (among others) after-work time til after midnight. yeah, it's selfishness(and selflessness altogether). you may also want to go out and pick up trash in your community (did this with my playmates when i was 10)- and get fun not from picking trash but from the look on the people's faces wondering what you're up to. that gave me something to think about (other than work) while at work, and something to look forward to too.

3. oh this one's a sure hit- visit the library (or if you can't go out during work hours, surf surf surf) and check out some weird books (i read witchcraft).

4. i did something new! i tried learning japanese (used a book) then french (used an audio-book) then mandarin (used a book again) then spanish (this i did online) then german (attended saturday classes). didn't succeed at all of it but it sure did steal some of those boring moments (hopelessly trying to translate curses in my head). i tried learning the sign language (something to do with my fingers during dull moments) - i ended up to only learning words that are in two songs used by my teacher...i also tried to learn how to dance the way bollywood stars do just with a compilation of music videos from india (spent a lot of time imagining and laughing at myself while working)- whew! fun!

5. i re-decorated my fugly room (again, something to occupy mind and look forward to)! with magazines and newspaper first then old CDs and post-its. but if you don't want to or afraid you might feel depressed instead of just bored afterwards, just exercise-pushing furniture this way and that.

yeah, those are my top 5 attempts...as i stated in the beginning, some worked (for most, only for a while) some didn't but hey, nothing's not worth trying :) if one of these works for you, tell me about it...but if none, you can tell me about it too, let's share a good laugh and go back to spending/stealing some time of boredom at work searching for a new job. (lol)

dreams... personal vision

I am on an almost burned-out phase of my career now,
hence I am doing my best to fight this off
so I can continue with my mission
in serving the students of my country.
They, among others,
need a lot of help from academic people just like me.

Most people keep complaining 

about how poor Philippines is, 

how corrupt government officials are 

or how bad the environment (physical) is nowadays. 

But do I join them in complaining? 

Yes, I do, at times. 

I intend to stop however.

Years from now, 

I am seeing myself as the teacher I was 17 years ago-
cheerful, enthusiastic, open-minded
and always open to challenges.
My son would be in college by then,
and probably would want to have less to do with me.
By then, I can use my extra time in doing research
and giving short learning sessions to those who needed them.

Personally, 

I see my flower/vegetable garden to be looking better 

and more productive (in terms of harvest), 

and myself as 10 to 15 kilos lighter. 

I'd be busy sharing ideas with people of varied specialization 

when I am not in my yoga class. 

Most of all, I'd be able to resurrect my community paper
(Alitaptap) to help the stay-at-home moms
and nannies deal with their usual concerns.
Oh dreams... but hey, dreams do come true :)