The Journey. It’s Mine. [My personal take on love, life, parenting and blogging.]

Time flies and I’m still technically living in a suitcase. Now I know why God gave me many good friends who are practically family — because this day will come.

The family I’m staying with right now is spending their Christmas vacation in Singapore. They’ll be back after the New Year. Now I have their whole house to myself with a ‘very maasikasong yaya’ to boot. How cooler can things get than that?

Though I found the perfect room for rent (read: decent and affordable), it’s only going to be vacated by February. The current occupant is leaving for a scholarship in Belgium. The said room is currently on-hold for me and the nice lady who owns it used to work with my ex-employer here in LB. It’s certainly great to have old connections still intact.

Got an invitation to spend Christmas with my oldest bestfriend in the whole world and Raine isn’t crying anymore when I talk to him on the phone. Stuff are starting to look up, that’s for certain.

My only niece (only — at the moment) turned 1 last Saturday.

She’s just the cutest! My mother kept saying I looked a lot like her when I was a baby. Furthermore, her personality is so much like me. Oh no! Ha ha ha.

Ayesha Gale (a.k.a. Potie-Potie), I know you don’t remember much of it…you sure had lots of fun on your 1st birthday. And I have the video and photos to prove it to you when you are older. Mwah!

Raine and I finally made it back home on Friday morning. Our supposedly 3 days in Los Baños turned out to be an 8-day stay. I went down with low electrolyte levels while Raine was bugged down with typhoid fever. We didn’t get to see and meet those we were supposed to see and meet, but ended up confined at St. Jude Family Hospital instead!

Though the past week has been rather ‘unpleasant’, it was an opportunity to bond with friends and family that took care of us. You know who you are and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. My mother even had to go to LB as well to bring us home.

Tomorrow, Raine is going back to school. I’m still a little light-headed but Raine and I are taking it easy while getting back to our normal routine: school for Raine and work for me. I just hope the next time we try to visit LB, we won’t get sick anymore. Next time…

Raine and I are still in LB. We both got sick and were both confined in the hospital. We’re being discharged later today though. Thanks to everyone for all their love and support.

It’s now official… I’m coming down the boondocks on July 9.

To attend the UPLB-IC Grand Alumni Homecoming in it’s celebration of 100 years of existence.

Of course I’m bringing my derivative: Raine!

But Raine is more excited, because he want to go shopping again. Gosh, I don’t even know If I can insert buying an ls4278. Well of course, I’m just too happy I can see my friends there again.

Excited na kami… 6 na tulog na lang!

Yesterday, I had the longest day ever! It was really crazy… Because I slept early the other night while putting Raine to sleep, I was wide awake really early the following morning - at 3 am! So I decided to go ahead with my online stuff, thinking that I’ll be able to accomplish way much before it’s time to prepare Raine for school at 6 am.

So when 6 am came, I took care of Raine, helped him prepare, brought him to school and I got back excited to get back to writing. However, less than an hour into it…I ended up voice-and-video chatting with a long-lost friend of mine. Before I knew it, it was already time to get ready for Raine’s lunch break.

After lunch, my brother was buzzing my computer when I got back here. He wanted to chat too. So we did. For more than 2 hours! I told you…yesterday was indeed chika day! He he. Anyways, I was able to insert some more blog entries after chatting with my brother. Then it was again time to pick up Raine at school by 4 pm. When we went home together, I still had to take care of Raine first for various things. After which, I cooked/prepared dinner while hand-washing the laundry. Talk about multi-tasking, right?

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Good thing I got up really early today and got a head start with publishing blog entries. Little did I know that my day would be spent chatting away! A huge chunk of my morning was spent video-and-voice chatting with a long-lost friend now working in Qatar. It was really, really nice reconnecting with her. Before I knew it, it was time for Raine’s lunch break.

Then when I got back home after our lunch, my seaman brother was online and wanted to chat as well. So we then spent more than 2 hours of continuous video-and-voice chat on YM. It was really a lot of fun! If only my brother isn’t always too busy we could do this more often. Good thing he got a few hours of break earlier before his night shift.

Now, I should get  back to work! He he.

It has been awhile that I haven’t talked about nor taken a picture of our house, where bulk of my blog money went into at that time when blogging money was at a sky high and we’ve been struck by several typhoons. There was no choice but to build and reconstruct.

We’ve been living at the said house even though it isn’t fully polished yet. Different storms struck us, the boys went back to school and Raine started the big school. The American Recession came and blog money went into a plunge. We had to tighten our belts. Besides, we just gotta eat and send the boys to school.

Miracles happen. After a series of trainings and loans my seaman brother is now a 3rd mate. That wasn’t easy, my mother has to suffer no allotment for six months. Angels came into our lives and helped us survive the trying times. We paid the loans (some we are still paying, but we’re getting there) and tighten our belts some more.

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Indeed better days are over. Starting tomorrow it’s back to my daily grind of waking up very early and preparing Raine for school. Not that I’m complaining. It’s just funny how time flies. Our 3 weeks of vacation is finally over.

What did I do without getting bored you might ask? I read books, novels. IN BED! Ha ha ha. For me that’s just the most blissful thing to do on a vacation, not even staying in cancun hotels will lure me out of that particular “vice”. Finally I had the time to just  read and read without minding the time. As Raine’s been busy with playing and other stuff that kids does on vacation while my mother whips up food in the kitchen. For once it is good to not think of what to eat next nor whether I will prepare the said meal or just eat out.

The highlight of our vacation is of course Raine’s 7th  birthday last December 29. (Pssst mga ninong at ninang, mga tito at tita…wala pa kayong gift kay Raine! He he he. Puede namang ipadala na lang, o kaya email me, laging naka-ready details ng bank account ko. Ha ha ha!!)

But then the summer vacation is something to look forward to as well.

Today is officially Raine’s last day of formal school this year. Tomorrow will all be merry making: Christmas parties and stuff. He doesn’t even have to wear a uniform tomorrow. Just one of his casual clothes.

While this blog don’t get updated in the next three weeks (classes resume January 11, 2010), that means we are having fun having a quiet holidays in the barrio.

So if I don’t get to greet you, I’ll do it already: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. All my best wishes through the coming new year.

Being sick was a blessing in disguise.

Even though we’re broke, I’m at my happiest with my family and my friends.

I wish the victims of Ondoy will find their happy times too even in the midst of a twin-typhoon threat.

We found happy times after milenyo.

On October 16, our family was blessed with this little bundle:

My first niece.