6 Quirky Things About Moi

This was a fun thing to do. Had a hard time thinking up stuff to put because I kept coming up with embarrassing things instead. Hehe. Thanks Marie for tagging me.

The rules:Link to the person that tagged you.

Post the rules on your blog.

Share six un-important things/habits/quirks about your self.

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let these random people know that they are tagged by leaving comments in their blog. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Unimportant things/habits/quirks about my self.

1. I took Hawaiian dancing lessons when I was 8 yrs. old.
2. I took piano lessons too but I didn’t really learn how to read notes very well. I just memorized the different positions of my fingers on the piano so I could play the tunes during class. Obviously, I didn’t like playing the piano at all.
3. I learned to ride a 2-wheeled bike only when I was 11 years old. Before that my bike always had the little training wheels attached to the back wheel.
4. I’m such a scaredy-cat when it comes to thriller/horror movies that after watching The Sixth Sense I slept over my friend’s house because I didn’t want to sleep by myself in my room.
5. I fall asleep faster and better if I’m lying down on my left side.
6. I took driving lessons twice but I still don’t drive. Didn’t really get to practice much, but still, how embarrassing noh?

I'd like to tag Tricia, Anna, Faye, Jen, Pat and Mari next!

Also, thanks to Anna for sending me this award.

I haven't really haven't had much time to check out all my blogger friends' sites but here are just some of the few I think deserve this award: Marie, Joy, Peachy and Tricia.

Laidback Sunday

We had a fun-filled busy Sunday. The three of us got up at about 10am and had a lazy brunch of last night’s leftovers. We dropped by hubby’s project, so he could check on the progress of the construction workers. It slipped our minds that it was lunch break and everyone was either out for lunch or taking naps under the shade. So off we went to hubby’s officemate’s apartment where a group of them were just about to have lunch. We chatted for awhile and then went to hubby’s office where his boss, John, turned over some work stuff to him. He would be the acting Project Manager while John went to Guam for a week.

The meeting took quite awhile and Raine was getting restless. I wasn’t able to bring any of her toys so we got an old folder and a pen and she started making squiggly lines across it. Hmm, I have a feeling that she might grow up to be a lefty. John’s wife, Lynn, bought some balloons for Raine and we blew up a few for her to bounce around. She soon tired of the game and I found her a clean paper cup, some bull clips and our house keys. She enjoyed putting her loot into the cup and spilling the contents on her chair again and again. It still amazes me how little kids take delight in the simplest things. After some time though, Raine got bored of the game, drank some milk and promptly fell asleep in my arms.

We still had to go to the supermarket and we were wondering how I would carry Raine around while we did the grocery, we had left her stroller at home. The moviehouse is right beside the market and we noticed that Jumper was still showing. Since Raine usually naps for about 1 ½ to 2 hours we decided to catch the afternoon show, at least that way we wouldn’t have to carry her around the store as she slept. Raine however woke up 10 minutes into the movie but was surprisingly behaved. It was her first time to watch a movie and we thought she might be afraid of the dark. But she seemed to be comfortable. She got antsy only twice during the whole movie. Rynor and I took turns going outside with her. When it was my turn, I bought her popcorn and she was a happy little baby.

We went home to deposit the groceries. We were going back to our friend’s apartment for dinner so I didn’t have to cook. Rynor prepared tuna sashimi and fruit shake while I washed Raine’s bottles and gave her bath.

We had a nice dinner and Raine had fun playing with Tintin’s dolls. (Rynor’s officemate has a penchant for collecting Barbie dolls.) All in all it was a great day spent with family and friends.

Fake Yayas & Answered Prayers

I would just like to share with you an unforgettable experience I had that started on Raine's first birthday last November 4th.

My whole bag was stolen during my daughter’s first birthday party! In the bag was about 45,000. I was going to pay the party venue, the party needs supplier & later that week I was planning to get hubby’s laptop w/c was under repair at Acer. So as you can see, the money was already allotted for very important stuff. As I looked at the pics of the party afterwards, and after talking to my best friend Hazel, the last person I was with before it got stolen, this is what most probably happened:

Hazel & I were talking while the programme was winding down. I noticed that I was about to get called for my birthday wish for Raine so I reached into my bag (which was on my lap) to check my face in the mirror. Suddenly, my brother was calling me to go up on stage already so I hurried to the front & placed my bag at the first chair on the front table, beside my niece's diaper bag. An officemate & my siblings were seated on the table across the bag. I carried Raine & everyone stood up & sang her a happy birthday. After the candle-blowing & everyone had seated again I looked in the direction of the bag. My heart skipped a beat, it wasn’t there! Only about 5 minutes had passed since I had put it down. I called to my yaya Sarah if maybe she got it but she hadn't. I was in a panic, I was hoping maybe it fallen under the table. While I was giving the lootbags, I felt a cold sweat creeping down my back. My bag & everything in it: cash, credit cards, cellphone, and other valuable personal items were all gone in just 5 minutes.

The assistant of the party-needs supplier said she had noticed a 40-ish woman dressed in a yaya's uniform earlier while they were setting up. She asked what time Raine's party was. Of course she must've read the welcome banner by the entrance & the happy birthday sign on the stage. Later, my cousin also noticed that this "yaya" seemed to be going back & forth from the other party beside ours. At the time my cousin thought nothing of it cos she could've been 1 of the yayas of the kids, she just thought maybe she was bored & was checking out the other parties in Dad's. Later, my cousin said she had bumped into her again & saw her with a black bag! Waaaaaaaaah!!!! That was mine!

My Dad paid for the party & had to withdraw some cash to pay the party-needs supplier. (Apple, the party supplier, was very business-like throughout our negotiations but she was genuinely sympathetic when it happened. Her hubby who was the photographer immediately downloaded the pics to check if maybe a pic of the thief could've been taken. When they left she even hugged me.)

Needless to say my Dad, brother & friends helped me call up the credit card companies and my mobile company to block them all so that evil woman wouldn't be able to use any of them. I felt so bad. I felt violated, helpless, defenseless, exposed. This was a whole bag w/ a lot of money! Hubby who was working abroad had just sent that money the other day. Plus it was Raine's 1st bday, one that almost didn't happen because of the Glorietta Mall blast. I kept thinking, I should have just stayed put w/ my Glorietta reservation or I should have just moved the party back a week or I shouldn’t have had the party at all.

It was my first time to be a victim, and I felt sooooooo bad. I couldn't sleep Sunday night.

Monday, I filed for an affidavit of loss. Thankfully, we have lawyers at the office so I didn't have to go to a Notary Public. I spent most of the day securing permits for replacement of my IDs, ATM, SIM card. Everyone was so sympathetic.

Tuesday, was Raine's interview at the U.S. Embassy. I had to set aside my bad feelings & focus on the interview at hand. If Raine got denied I'd go crazy! Even if we had an appointment we still had to stand in line to get a number for the fingerprint scanning for 2 hours. Yayas were not allowed inside so I was carrying Raine the whole time, her in 1 arm & my bag w/ all my supporting documents in the other. Add to that, there was no airconditioning in the Embassy Pavilion, only fans, so it was pretty hot. Thankfully, she wasn't cranky, just super malikot. At about 3pm we finally got into the aircon room for the interview, my sked was supposed to be at 1pm. The family before me was grilled. The American consul barked such questions as, “What is your job? How much do you earn? Your salary cannot cover a plane ticket to the U.S.!”. I was really nervous, I looked at the consul & started praying the "Anima Christi".

When it was our turn, it was as if something came over the consul, he smiled at me & Raine. I told the consul that I was getting a visa for my daughter & that I had one already. She asked how old Raine was & I said she turned one just last Sunday. She greeted Raine a "happy birthday". I asked him if he wanted to see my own passport & he said no. He asked me also where I worked, how many kids I have, when was the last time I was in the U.S. He asked where my husband was. I explained about his job & asked if he wanted to see Rynor's papers. He said there would be no need. He stamped Raine's passport & told me to proceed to Delbros to pay for the delivery of Raine's visa! Raine was given a 10-yr visa. I was so happy! He didn't even look at my own passport or any of the supporting documents I brought! Hallelujah!

Tuesday night, Nov. 6 I got a text that my IDs & cards were found in a paperbag in Magallanes MRT station! I was at first suspicious, what if it was a trap? I called the number, he said he was a janitor at the station & found a wet paperbag beside the escalator containing all my cards. He said he suspected that I had been robbed & the thief must've dumped all my identification in that paperbag. I wondered how he got my cellphone number because it's not in any of my IDs or my calling card. I realized that the janitor saw my cellphone number in Raine's invitation! I went to the MRT station the next day. Puro IDs, credit cards & my baby pictures. No wallet, no bag, just the small leather case where I put my IDs.

I learned 2 very important things during those past 3 days: 1) that even if there are heartless people in the world who would steal during a children's bday party, they are outnumbered by kind & good people and 2) never underestimate the power of prayer, I prayed hard that my IDs would be returned somehow & I prayed hard that the consul wouldn't bombard w/ me questions & both my prayers were answered!

Time's up already?

Don't you ever wish there were more than 24 hours in a day? Or that maybe you could be at 2 or even 3 places at once? Or how about if you could freeze time for a few hours while you're working on something so that you have more time to do other things?

I thought being a stay-at-home-mom would allow me a little more time to do the things that I couldn't do when I worked full time with, but I was seriously wrong. Just getting all the housework done and taking care of Raine takes up a lot of time so that "me-time" almost always takes a backseat.

I try to reserve Raine's afternoon nap for my internet time when I can answer emails, blog, surf the net and do some reading. But more often than not I make use of this quiet time to catch up on my chores. Actually, more like rush thru them. Raine is like my little shadow. She follows me around the house constantly. When I sweep the floor, she would walk behind me really closely and stare in awe at the broom. For some reason, she seems to be amazed by dirt and dust. She has a habit of touching it all the time, much to my dismay. As a result, I try not to clean when she's awake because we end up with more mess than when we started. I can't get any ironing done either for fear that she might yank on the iron's cord or something.

Hubby got pretty sick last Wednesday with fever and diarrhea so I had to take care of his needs too. It was a bit of a challenge to be both nurse and nanny especially when both hubby and Raine called for me at the same time. Thank goodness hubby got well after a full day of rest (Am I good nurse or what? Hehe).

We've been here in Marshall Islands for 2 months now and I still have so many things to learn as a new SAHM. I think the most important of all is time management.

Learning to cook well, keeping the house clean, teaching my growing toddler more than just the ABCs, these are just some of the many things on my plate. Let's not forget quality time with my hubby. And time for me too. Balancing everything is one big juggling act I have yet to master.

Kudos to the stay-at-home moms out there who seem to do it all effortlessly. Someday I hope I can be just as organized and put-together.

My First Tags

First off, thanks to Pat for sending me this award. You made my day! I'd like to send this to Mec, Tricia, Leah and Agnes.I will shamelessly admit that I'm such a novice at this blogging thing that I didn't quite know what to do when I got tagged. I'm not much of a techie really, hehe.

A big thanks to my dear friend and kumare Tricia for this really cute domino tag.

I'd like to tag my new blog friends Mari, Faye, Marie, Eileen and Anna.

Eyes Wide Shut

Ever since I found out I was pregnant I knew there were certain things I’d have to give up to make way for having a new person in my life. One of those things was getting in 8-hour snooze fests. I’ve always been used to sleeping late, like past midnight, on a daily basis. But the moment Raine came even that went out the window.

I knew that I wanted to breastfeed Raine for at least 6 months. That meant getting up at odd hours of the night to get her from the crib and nurse her. I was like a zombie for the first month of her life. Raine cried for milk almost every hour on the hour. I hardly got any sleep then. As the months passed though and my milk supply increased, the 1 hour turned to 2 and then 3 and then 4. At last, I could sleep for 4 hour stretches, right? But I had gone back to work and to keep her supply up, I would still get up every 2-3 hours to pump in between baby Raine’s feedings. It was so tempting to take the easy way out and just give her formula then but I wanted to stick to the 6 month period I’d originally set. If I hadn’t gotten sick and had to take a heavy dose of antibiotics Raine would probably have been breastfed longer.

Raine’s sleeping habits gradually changed. Soon she only woke up twice every night to ask for milk. Hubby and I would take turns getting milk for her. Although most of the time I was the one who got up, for some reason I’ve become a light sleeper since I gave birth and have been really sensitive to Raine’s cries. I even hear her turn over in her crib. Needless to say I haven’t had uninterrupted sleep since I gave birth.

My officemates and I went to Boracay for 3 days and 2 nights when Raine was 8 months old. I almost didn’t go because I felt guilty leaving my baby behind. But honestly, I was also looking forward to the 2 nights of undisturbed sleep. Unfortunately, my roommate got drunk and although she passed out at about 2am I couldn’t sleep soundly lest she wake up in the middle of the night to throw up or something. Our second night in Boracay, we stayed up until 4am but although this time my roommate didn’t get drunk I still couldn’t sleep well because I missed Raine. It was my first time to be away from her ever and it was an unsettling feeling.

Today, Raine is 15 months old and she usually only cries for milk once at night. I still get up to give her some. It might be quite awhile until I’m able to sleep for 8 hours straight again, but watching my baby sleep peacefully with a smile on her rosy cheeks gives me enough energy to last me thru the night.

It's the thought that counts (really)

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Being far away from the Philippines on days like these makes me miss all things familiar so much more. After the Christmas decorations are taken down, V-Day is considered the next “big” holiday in Manila. Concerts on every stage, prices of flowers double or even triple in cost, malls adorned with hearts and bows.

I will shamelessly admit that I’m a romantic. Thank goodness so is my husband. Hehe. Usually on this day he sends pink roses to my office and we go out to dinner. Our first Valentine’s as a married couple he surprised me with a dinner-concert at the Westin Philippine Plaza (now Sofitel). It was really nice as it was right by the bay. The hotel is special to us since this is where we held our wedding reception. Little did I know that at that time I was already pregnant with our daughter Raine.

Last year, we simply spent Valentine’s at home. Our baby girl was just a little over 3 months old and we didn’t want to leave her behind. This year we are in Marshall Islands where there are no concerts, no flowers for sale even. But hubby still found a way to commemorate the day by giving me a lollipop bouquet. He even got Raine a little stuffed toy. Later that night, we had dinner at the MI hotel with some friends.
No matter how or where you spend Valentine’s Day, what’s really important is that you get to spend the day with the one that makes your heart beat just a little bit faster.