Busy

What is this that I've been so busy that I haven't been able to blog? Well, for one, we decided as a family to better in our schedules. We want to get up early in the morning so we can avoid the morning "rush". Rush would mean, rushing to get up, rushing to prepare baon, rushing to take a bath, rushing to eat, rushing to get out of the house... the effect, STRESS and ACID REFLUX! Yes, I have always had acid reflux, the most recent of which brought me to the emergency.. remember? I hate getting stressed because I get miserable after. I get miserable because stress only has bad effects. I end up getting upset with the kids if they don't follow me and then I get upset with myself for getting upset. Oh my!

The real thing is, we just want to make better in our schedules by preparing in advance of the things that we need in the morning. That way, if we are able to prepare at night, even having to give the kids a bath at night, we are able to have a nice morning together. We get to have fun having our eldest get ready for school while the youngest can enjoy her favorite breakfast, then my husband and I can enjoy our coffee together. End result, we are get to work early too.

Ideas

It's lunch time and I wanted to relax, thanks to another blog, it gave me an idea... or ideas...

1. My uncle once: told me never to stutter when I'm on the microphone (yes I used to host all our family's parties, birthdays, weddings etc etc
2. Never in my life: have i tried drugs
3. When I was five: i accompanied my teenage cousin to Makati (I told her how to get to where we were going)
4. High School is: a learning experience, funny to remember
5. My parents are: wonderful people that have taught me how to be a good person.
6. I already met: my soul mate (he's my hubby now)
7. There's this girl I know who: got so drunk she got on the ledge, danced as much as she could until yes, her halter gave way! no, wasn't me..........but i was there.
8. Once, at a bar: my pal M came up to Ruffa Gutierrez and just casually talked to her and said, "you're so pretty!", but damn, my pal was so drunk!
9. Last night: my hubby and i cuddled and kissed, and kissed, and kissed and it was soooooooooo romantic
10. Next time I go to church: i know exactly what to pray for
11. When I turn my head left, I see: my daughter's drawing evolution
12. When I turn my head right, I see: my other daughter's drawing evolution
13. How many days until my birthday?: 30, 60, 90, hay, 4 months still!
14. If I was a character written by Shakespeare I'd be: Eponine
15. By this time next year: B & I will have been married almost 8 years (WOW!)
16. A name I've always wanted to have would be: Christine. But I did not name any of my children that. Maybe you know why.
17. I have a hard time understanding: ppl living in OUR country who just depend on dole-outs. everyone needs to learn that you need to earn a buck before spending it.
18. If I ever go back to school I: will obviously be insane.
19. You know I like you if: i call you all the time
20. If I won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: mommy and daddy
21. Take my advice: tell the ppl you love how you feel about them. NOW!
22. My ideal breakfast is: anything cooked and served by someone else
23. If you visit my hometown: you'll love it
24. Why won't someone: tell those ppl begging on the streets to find a job
25. If you spend the night at my house: you're welcome to anything i have.
26. I'd stop getting old: for nothing!! i know that with age comes wisdom. you just need to make sure you age with grace.
27. The world could do without: war and hate
28. I'd rather stay home than go to the mall and come home empty handed.
29. Paper clips are more useful than: pencil erasers.
30. If I do anything well, it is: love my husband and our children than i could have ever imagined.

Shower

Today, I had mixed feelings as a Mom.
My kids love taking a bath, be it morning, noon or night. They know that Mommy loves to let them play in the tub for more reasons than one. One, its really a "together-time" for the 2. This is one place where they started to play together, they learned to take turns with their bath toys, their bath pails, and recently, they've been playing Mommy to each other taking turns soaping each other's backs. Two, it is my opportunity to clean up their room, fix their clothes, or sort the laundry. Sometimes, it takes me too long, my older one would call out on me and say that their toes are all "krinkly" (wrinkly). Three, I just enjoy cleaning them up from head to toe. The "playing together" though sometimes gets too difficult to put an end to, specially when they have their enjoying their bath bubbles. So, the best way to stop them and get my little one out of the tub is to tell them that the older one will start rinsing off with the SHOWER. Oh, my little one would right away say "Mommy, take me out, take me out!" That ends the battle of ending the bath time routine. It's been like this for the past 2 years and it always works. But today, my little one, also ended that. My little one ended being our baby who hated the shower. When my older one was taking the morning bath in the shower, my little one said, " I want to take a bath too!" We all said, "in the shower?" Our baby (I guess, baby-no-more) exclaimed, "Yes, in the SHOWER!" Yes, my little one braved the shower! One, Mommy felt good that indeed, my baby is growing. Two, Mommy felt sad because baby is growing way too fast! Three, there goes my only tactic to ending their bathing together. Oh well.....

End of the Week?

It's finally Friday and I was just asked, "Are you ready for the weekend?" My response: "Oh yeah, the minute I put on my Friday dress-down outfit, I am all-ready for my weekend!" And who wouldn't be? Fridays are so-called the "end of the week", I guess moreso for people like us who work M-F, 8 hour days (when you're exempt that really doesn't apply, right?). Days can be long when you're at work, long because I continually long to be with my 2 princesses and of course my hubby. Days can also go by so fast specially when you're swamped with work to do, research to google, meetings to attend, letters to write....before you know it, day's over and you really haven't finished anything yet. In both instances though, you still get home, super tired! Yup, there are just days that when I get home, I barely could eat dinner, change the kids to their jammies, get in bed with my kids who are hoping to hear Mommy read them their night-night stories, but you see, I end up sleeping before my kids even fall asleep. Poor Daddy ends up taking it from there! However, when you think about it, Fridays are not really the end of the week... right? Tomorrow it will be Saturday and your days never really end. Saying end of the week, just seems weird because there are actually 7 days in a week, so where does it really end? Oh my, I guess my mind is tired, my body is craving for a spa massage. Do you think I'll get one for Mother's Day? Well, I hope so. Happy Friday!

No Windows

After 2 years of being a stay-at-home mom, we decided that I should go on with my career. At that time, I thought, "Will I be a good mom to my 2 toddlers despite the fact that I would not be at their beckon call anymore?" Well, really, it was more like, I needed to go back to work already! More than just for financial reasons of course. But you know, if you're living in the US, yes, you can enjoy the best life can offer, but well, you have to earn the dollars to spend too. So, that's the financial reason. Personally,I would love to stay home and be a mom all-day, but being a responsible wife, daughter and sister, entails more than just staying home. I wanted to jumpstart on my career so my husband and parents would be proud of my accomplishments. I wanted to continue to inspire my brother, so that he'll know that one can juggle family and career successfully. Of course, for personal satisfaction, it is good to know that I'm paying society back by being in the business that I'm in.So, I went, I am now working with a very good company. We're in the healthcare business and I do government contracts management with them. It's actually a job I've always wished for. Liaising, project management, legal research, communication and customer service rolled into one. It's with a company which provides healthcare management to the United States military and their beneficiaries. Like I always tell my Mom, God has really planned my life well. He is shaping it in such a way that I am always excited for every new day. Back to work, it is helping me quite a lot that our office is housed in a what used to be a government facility (or so it seems), get this, NO WINDOWS! Yup, no windows around me. You need to get out by the door or at least the lobby to see what the actual weather is. Sometimes we'd hear raindrops we'd all go outside by the exit to check and see. Like I said, it helps me though to concentrate on work (ok, sometimes I do blogging or googling too). It helps me focus so that while I'm inside the workplace, I would actually be doing WORK. It helps me get excited too for the end of the day, knowing that when it's time to go home, I will see the sun, shining on me. Outside, the air is fresh, the flowers are abloom, it gives me a new chapter to look out for. Knowing too, that after work, I will drive home to my toddlers who are anxiously waiting for me. When I get home, I will get their hugs and kisses and sweet whispers saying "Mom, we missed you!" So, its ok, having no windows 8 hours a day. It's ok. (Don't you just wish you see the same view in the picture here when you get out of your workplace?)

Emergency Room

Yesterday, after work, I felt a very uncomfortable pain in my stomach. I've had acid reflux in the past but this was so much different. My husband and I had to do some errands before going home so I just tried to rest in the car. However, the pain just kept growing and growing. I thought, "as soon as I get home, this will be more manageable as I can change clothes, lay in bed and sleep." Hoping that when I wake up, it will be gone. So, we get home, I told the kids that Mommy wasn't feeling good so I needed to go straight to our room to rest. My eldest wanted to help me get up the stairs and said, "Mommy, I'll take care of you." Boy, that sounded really good, having my little angel's love and concern already made me feel better. But that was emotionally. Once I got the my bedroom, and onto the bed, I thought I could sleep. Oh no, I couldn't get myself to lie down and get into a good position that will make the pain go away!It was so bad, I couldn't even lay straight, sideways, nothing worked! My dear husband decided to take me to the emergency room. The ride to the hospital was bad, so bad! But I said, "at least when I get to the ER, we'll know what's going on." Well, and so I hoped. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30ish. Not much people around. I got triaged pretty ok, around 7:30, then, wait. We waited and waited and waited. 10:30, nurse calls me. Doctor checks and asks and asks and asks. Diagnosis? They weren't sure. Could be gallbladder, gallstones, but wait, no symptoms really. They made me take Maalox, oh geez! And I thought peppermint mocha was good@$%*! Finally they run tests on my wee-wee sample and thought it could be bladder infection? Oh my gosh! Went home with antibiotic prescription and antacid medicine. Well, no wonder they kept us waiting, the emergency room's motto: don't encourage patients to come back. Keep them away from going to the ER! It's way better to call 911. At least I didn't have to wait until 12:30 am!!!!!

Un-jaded

Why did I use the term "un-jaded mom"?

"Jaded" according to Webster is defined:


To wear out, as by overuse or overindulgence. See Synonyms at tire1.v. intr.
To become weary or spiritless.n.
A broken-down or useless horse; a nag.
A woman regarded as disreputable or shrewish.
Worn out; wearied: “My father's words had left me jaded and depressed” (William Styron).
Dulled by surfeit; sated: “the sickeningly sweet life of the amoral, jaded, bored upper classes” (John Simon).
Cynically or pretentiously callous.

I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a friend. Never in my life would I like to be in any case --- jaded!

Un-jade-ism: My first thought

I've been enjoying reading other people's blog for quite some time now, but never really mustered the courage to do it myself. I've been putting off trying, maybe because I was not ready to share my thoughts to the public, or I was thinking, geez, when do they get the time? But on second (more like twentieth) thought, maybe it's about time I tried. I've always thought anyway that I was more of a writer than a speaker. My husband would disagree though because he said I was more the talker between us. Well, since I'm here now and I have my own space, I feel really good. More like, excited! As one blog I've read said, your blog is your own space, with your own rules. No body can tell you what you can or can't write! Actually, now that I'm here, I don't even know where to start. There's just so much to write about!