What is the new normal???

Since we moved into the new house last year, it's been a whirlwind of chores -- all the stuff that we had to fix while moving in. It took us the better part of three months to get all of the stuff into the house and out of boxes. The last bits stayed in the garage for months before I mustered up enough energy to finally tackle what was left in those boxes (bits and pieces of cloth left over from my grad school project, Christmas decor, more clothes). 

I can say with pride that we are now in a place where we have fully moved in. We haven't had any household help for years now and so all the chores are done by us. Kids clean and maintain their own respective rooms plus helping out in mopping the common areas and bussing duty for meals as well as taking out the trash and caring for the puppy. Jun is the master of the robot vacuum, our sanity saver. I do the laundry twice a week and just leave the clean clothes in the laundry cabinet for everyone to pick up and bring to their rooms. There is a certain rhythm already, with a few tweaks every now and then.

The current pandemic makes everyday a bit the same. Work and school on weekdays, with the occasional cooking and cleaning up. Cleaning chores on weekends. Repeat. I'm sure things will get shaken up when the pandemic lets up and things get back to normal. But what is normal? Isn't our life now our new normal? The pre-pandemic life doesn't seem real anymore. When it's safe to go out, I won't be at work everyday. I can't go back to the commute. The kids will certainly go back to school but Josh and Faith will be in college and might move out for that. That leaves me alone in the house during the day. There is no going back to the old normal. We'll have to forge a new one in a couple of months, until we all get vaccinated. But in the meantime, I will relish these days when everyone dear to me is with me everyday. This is the normal I love.

Update 2021

So my kids, who are now 19, 17 and 12 years old, have just discovered my blog.  We were in our bedroom chatting about random things before our nightly prayer time when my husband just mentioned that I had a blog.  

Right there and then, they started checking it out.  I have to admit I felt a little embarrassed that they were reading things I wrote about them a long time ago. But turns out they enjoyed reading about their childhood antics.  

I actually spent the better part of the night reading my blog entries from the very beginning.  Finally stopped at 11:03pm because I have work the next day.  But had a hard time falling asleep in spite of the melatonin pills I took because I was full of thoughts.

It's been so long since my last blog post! 2014! Seven years.  So many years.  The kids have grown quite a lot since then.  We've also been through (and still going through) COVID and lock down. But my gosh, am so grateful to my past self for documenting those early years with blog posts.  

Rediscovering those little stories of what they used to say and do brought me so much joy. It was like reliving their childhood all over again.  Remembering those hard sleep deprived nights but also immensely grateful at getting to remember.  I have been keeping a written journal on and off the past years but it simply does not compare to my old blog posts.  They are more poorly written, for one thing.  LOL.  A lot of stream of consciousness rambling.  I guess writing blog posts that other people might read kept me more accountable to at least try to write coherently.

I have to figure out how to save my posts as well as the photos.  I'm still on the fence about continuing to write in this space. Guess we'll see.

Hello Again

Yes, it's been that long.  This is us now.  A lot older.  A little wiser.  And a lot over Facebook.  

I was in the middle of cleaning up my email when I thought of visiting my blog.  I read my old posts about the kids and was amazed to rediscover details that have slipped my memory.  Funny anecdotes about Josh and Faith growing up.  Everyday details that made up my life.  And I found myself wishing I could do it all over again.  So here I am.  

I'm doing this again mostly for myself and family.  I am reluctant to share a lot of my life over Facebook which is why I don't post often.  It amazes me that a lot of people are so into posting every minute detail of their lives for everyone to see.  And I suppose that's fine if that's the way they want it.  I prefer not to though. So it's nice to visit people on Facebook but I wouldn't worry if it suddenly crashed and nobody would ever be able to post again.  

So anyway, I will try to post here more often.  So I have a place to remember.

Birthday Post

By a funny stroke of fate, all my children's birthdays fall during the month of May.  Their birthdays fall on the 9th (Lucia), 15th (Faith) and 28th (Joshua).  Unfortunately this year, it coincided with an important business trip which meant I had to miss the two girls' birthdays.    What a guilt trip!  It's so hard to be a working mom.  I had to be gone for 10 days so I made sure we had a mini celebration on the weekend before I had to leave.  I bought a small cake  and their presents and we all sang happy birthday.  

Good thing that the advent of technology still allowed me to be with them virtually.  I was on skype on the actual days of their birthdays while they blew on the candles of their respective cakes.  Lucky Joshua who was the only birthday I was actually home for.  

So birthday number three is over and I can now focus on the coming school year.  Only a couple of days left of the summer vacation.  It's been rainy and gloomy alternating with intense heat.  Not a very ideal time to be outdoors.  

This year, Lucia will be going to nursery school.  Where did all the time go?  My baby girl is now a preschooler!  Lots of luck to whoever is going to be her teacher.  Heh heh.  I have never met a more strong willed little girl who manipulates adults with her smile and sense of humor.  

Pictures soon!

This year is turning out to be a travel year for the family.  We just came from a trip to Hong Kong with the gremlins and I've booked us a flight to Bohol sometime August.  Thank goodness for Cebu Pacific promos! 

After a tiring trip to HK, I promised myself the next family trip will be all about relaxation.  I didn't realize how tiring it would be to visit amusement parks with three children in tow.  I realized HK is not a very child friendly place to travel to especially with a toddler in a stroller (a 38 pound toddler).  We stayed in Sheung Wan which is just one stop away from Central Station but the darn MTR entrances didn't have any elevators.  Just stairs and scary fast escalators.  Which is a no-no if you're carting along a toddler in a stroller.  So it was an endless process of getting the diaper bag off, getting Lucia off (it was doubly hard if she was sleeping), folding the stroller, and...you get the drift.  The stroller is MUCH lighter than Lucia, by the way.  A fact I realized on our last day when I asked the hubby to carry her when she was sleeping while I lugged the stroller and diaper bag.

So it was the usual hectic and physically tiring (walking all over and dealing with meltdowns) vacation.  The kind where you need a vacation after the vacation.  So yeah, am looking forward to three days of sun (crossing my fingers), sand and surf!

I totally blame Pinterest for the lack of blog posts.  Ever since I got signed up, it's been pinterest every spare minute of time I have.  It's a fantastic cornucopia of a lot of things -- design ideas, food, clothes, etc.  I get especially hooked on decorating and organizing ideas for when I get a chance to build my dream home.  I've repinned some awesome library ideas and kiddie bedrooms.

Apart from that, weekends have been pretty busy of late.  February is when all the Family Day activities in school are held.  Then the Father-Son Camping (which I wanted to crash! boohoo!) and then exam period.  We were homebound this weekend due to the long tests scheduled this week and then the kids get a break with a family trip.  Needless to say, packing for 5 people one of which still needs diapers and formula bottles isn't the easiest thing in the world to do.

Lots of last minute stuff to take care of for work and then packing the rest of the things needed for the trip.  Later!

New Style Peg

Tilda as the White Queen in Narnia

I first saw Tilda Swinton as the White Queen in Chronicles of Narnia and thought she was so cool in costume.  In real life though, she has a very masculine style  and can look androgynous even.  Then I rented the movie I Am Love on iTunes and fell instantly in love with the look.

The film is set in Milan where Tilda plays the Russian immigrant wife of a prominent and wealthy Italian family.  She later falls for and runs away with the chef.  There's a bit more to the movie than that but it's not what I want to focus on on this post.  Unfortunately, the movie was never shown in Manila and I have not seen it in any of the DVD stores hence the rental.

What she wore to lunch with the equally chica  mother in law. 

She wore this with a very light white cardigan. Wish there was a shot of the back of the dress available because it has a  low square back. Very sexy and feminine but not at all slutita levels.

She wore the above ensemble while going around the city doing errands -- picked up the dry cleaning, etc.  Totally un-Manila like.  But super love it!  

Evening gown. Sigh.

Very cool and classy.  Makes me think of Grace Kelly.

 

Casual look

A lot of women can take a lesson in dressing appropriately for your age from this movie.  There's nothing worse than a woman in her fifties trying to look like she's in her 20's.  It IS possible to be that age and still look classically beautiful and well put together.  I think it's great that this classic look epitomized by Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Onassis is making a comeback thanks to series like Mad Men.  At last a respite from the Madonna, Lady Gaga, Nicky Minaj styling.  No offense meant.

Walking Dead

We are right smack into the terrible twos.  This one, kept me up the whole night.  And on a go-to-work day too.  I blame the loopy DVD player.  

First I found her drinking her milk from the bottle cap like an 18 year old drinking beer from a mug.  She had CHEWED through the bottle nipple (it was raggedly cut in half with a small sliver of silicone attached) and was oh so casually pouring milk from the broken nipple into the bottle cap.  All while watching a Barbie Princess Charm School video for the nth time.  So I washed her sticky hands and brought her back into the room with a warning not to chew the bottle nipples (she had already chewed through 5 nipples this week). 

I then realized that the movie had been looping over and over again.  It would reach a certain part and then go back to the beginning of the video.  So I turned it off as it was bedtime.  That's when it all started.  She cried so hard she threw up.  I got her to the bathroom in time, so, okay, no biggie.  But the crying brought on a very runny nose and she woke up intermittently every 10 minutes or so to get me to wipe her nose.  The.whole.night.  She finally stopped at 4:40 am.  I know because the hubby got up to go to the bathroom and I asked what time it was.  Sleep deprivation is the pits when you have to get up at 6am to go to work.  

So if you see a half dead person with sunken eyes staggering into Starbucks for a cup of coffee, yeah, that would be me.

Score!

Yeah, yeah. I know.  I just wrote about my New Year's Resolutions.  BUT.  This one was 85% off.  Are you kidding me????  From PhP8850 to 1650.  Seriously.

2011 Revisited

Photos!  Just some highlights from the past year. 

2011 Family Photo shoot

 

Wacky shot!

Everyone's playing nice

Faith celebrated her 7th birthday

Another birthday shot with her cake

Last year's attempt at Home Organization culminated in the cleaning up of the second floor toy area.  It took four full days (long weekend in August) and another extra weekend where I did nothing but sort and clean up.  

Before

After

I also turned the big 4-0 last year.  No big celebration (yet! ha ha!), just a simple dinner with the people I love.

Posterity shot for my 40th birthday dinner

The hubby and I managed to travel together for a quick vacation with two of my friends.  Turned out to be quite memorable since he got the flu and stayed pretty much in the hotel for the duration of our stay.  So here's a shot of myself in Macau, sans hubby.

Note to Self: Bright red bags work really well in pictures!

Faith participated in a ballet recital of the Sound of Music late in December. I just love this stolen shot of her.

Stolen shot of Faith during their recital photo shoot

I also saw Wicked in Singapore! Love!

Just a random New Year's Eve picture I thought I'd throw in.  Lucia was crying, as I remember and didn't want to go with anyone else. 

I had a really nice holiday season and I'm obviously still in withdrawal.  Lots to look forward to this year.  We'll be visiting Hong Kong again but this time with the kids.  Lucia will be starting pre-school in June.  Another year of milestones to look forward to.

On technology and the Tooth Fairy

My kids wholeheartedly believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  I actually go to great lengths to perpetuate this belief because I think this is one of the most enjoyable things about being a child.  Last year, they got a personal video message from Santa.  There were also email exchanges and handwritten notes from the Tooth Fairy.

Sadly, the advent of technology also translates into more smartass sophisticated kids who question everything.  Case in point, Joshua had a friend over for a play date a couple of days before Christmas.  He very excitedly asked me to show the video from Santa to his friend and so I did.  Imagine my dismay when while the video was showing, said friend told my son in a deadpan voice -- "you do realize that people make this up, don't you?".

To his credit, Joshua stood up to his friend and said no, it's real.  Gulp.  To end the magic for Joshua would mean ending it for Faith and little Lucia too!

So my son is a little bit naive for a 9 year old.  He doesn't get to surf the net (only for homework and he is supervised).  He plays computer games but with limits on time and what kind to play.  He doesn't have a PSP or a WII or whatever techy gadget kids are into these days.  Most of the grown ups in the family own an iPhone and/or iPad which the kids can borrow for limited periods.  But that's it.  I suppose, compared to his friends in school, Joshua is still a little bit sheltered.  And I like it that way.

I don't know how long I can keep this up but I'm hoping for a few more years.  I've already told Joshua that I think Santa stops giving presents to kids when they reach the age of 13.  I still don't know how I'm gonna go about it but there's still time.  Meanwhile, I'm already bracing myself for a slew of visits from the Tooth Fairy this year.  

Pretty Baby

With Daddy at the company outing

In one of her Halloween costumes last year

My pretty baby at her cousin Sophia's birthday party

Playing with her zhu zhu pet from Tita Lara

I've written a couple of times on this blog about my two older kids but not much about my third.  Poor Lucia! Apart from the birth post, I don't think I've written much about this little girl of mine.

She's growing up to be quite a character, this one.  The naughtiest and funniest of my brood.  She makes me laugh without even trying and is a joy to watch.  When you find yourself bored, just quietly watch her play and be entertained for a good long while. 

A very good eater (16+ kilos and counting!), she eats by herself and chooses her own clothes (most of the time).  Loves wearing pretty dresses like her older sister and likes sharing Mommy's lip balm.  She's stubborn and very articulate and can understand Tagalog very well.  Loves babies and kittens and Goodnight Moon.  A chocolate monster after mommy's own heart. 

Has all the members of my family wrapped around her little finger, especially her kuya Joshua.  She's also half toilet trained by now, which, according to my mom, happened when I was away on business travel. So, fine, maybe another ten days in Singapore and she'll be fully toilet trained mommy?

Maybe it's the birth scare, the thought that we almost lost this little one, that makes me want to hug her all the time.  I cannot imagine our lives without her.  Out little family has grown thanks to her and it's not always easy to manage three kids and a full time job but so totally worth it.

Post Christmas

Pardon the bedraggled look in this photo.  This was taken after a swimming session at a get together with friends.  This was one of my favorite days in December -- it was the day after the last day of work for the year and was mostly concentrated on spending it with the kids.  So apart from catching up with good friends while they were swimming and enjoying their presents from their titas and Tito Maroy, it was a completely gremlin inspired day.  We had ice cream before I let them play some video games.  Then Lucia happily hopped into the carousel.  We ended the day with the light show at Ayala Triangle.

It was still a busy holiday season though, with all the get togethers and ballet recital for Faith.  Thankfully, none of the kids were sick this year except for a little sniffle or two.  New Year's Eve was a fun filled videoke night. 

I didn't get to reach my reading goal of 150 books for 2011 but I came pretty close at 130 books.  I don't think I will do this again this year -- I much prefer not having any pressure to finish a book.  Plus one of my 2012 goals is to take up something creative like knitting or crochet.  Other goals --  think of a possible business venture.  Get more healthy. Spend less. More quality time with the gremlins.  Play outdoors. 

Seems like I'm being tested on my the strength of my New Year's resolutions as we speak.  I just got a confirmation from a friend that the Zara sale is starting tomorrow.  Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!  Hyperventilate.  Deeeeeeeeeeep breath. 

I can do this.  (I think).  Help me God!

So just learned that you can no longer import your blog posts in Facebook.  What a relief! I went into FB today to figure out how to stop that from happening.  I can't remember the number of times I've thought about posting only to stop when I realized it would go into Facebook.  And yes, I turned on that feature months ago but the thought of bombarding everybody with my musings put the kibosh on possible blog posts for a while.

Now I realized it's been months since my last post.  Think that's the longest I've ever gone without writing anything. It's almost Christmas and I am currently working from home.  In a few minutes, I will be cooking tuna pasta for the kids to eat at snack time.  Lucia is about to wake up from her nap, Faith just got in from her ballet rehearsal and Joshua has a playdate with his best friend.

Work isn't as crazy anymore as more and more people are going on leave.  I just have a couple more things to take care of and then it's freedom! At least for a couple of days.  Christmas presents are more or less completed, get together schedules straightened out, ballet rehearsal skeds marked and I am officially ready for the holidays!

Am I old or am i old??

Age is just a number, right? That's the fashionable adage that women in their late thirties or entering into their forties like to say.  You don't hear young people say that. Well, unless you're a 16 year old begging your mom for a tattoo.  So yes, it is a number.  But nothing that should stop you from having fun, living life to the fullest or from being fabulous.  I wouldn't trade myself now for my 23 year old self.  Except for the waistline.  Sigh.

Why the thoughts about aging you say?  I've been through a couple of grade school and high school reunions in the last couple of weeks.  Our 30th homecoming for our high school batch is coming up in 2013 so there's been a spate of planning and meetings for that event.  Yeah, 30 years.  Kind of freaks me out a bit.  A lot of my colleagues at work were toddlers while I was in high school.  I am still in touch with a lot of my high school friends so the shock value of seeing most of them again wasn't that big.  But grade school??  That's another story.  The two get togethers so far have been so much fun.  I'd forgotten how nice it is to be surrounded by people who have known you since kindergarden.  It gave me so much insight of how much we have grown since we last played patintero in the school basketball court. And yet it was comforting to see the little bits and pieces of the kids we once were and to realize that hey, I know you. You're not a stranger.

Date a girl who reads

A friend of mine sent me this link today and I was so glad I read it.  Something I wish I had written because it felt like the writer was referring to me.  Uhm, except for the closet full of books (mine has clothes....aaaand more clothes...and shoes).  But still, my books are scattered all over the house instead, and the car.  Anyway.  Click on the link and read.  NOW!  I'll wait..

http://themonicabird.com/post/3273155431/date-a-girl-who-reads-date-a-girl-who-spends-her

All done???  Now then, wasn't that nice? 

Jun will so be able to relate to this.  He married one, after all.  I can't remember all the times he has caught me crying over something in a book I was reading.  And he never once laughed at me or called it silly or stupid.  But he does give me funny looks when I suddenly laugh out loud while reading.  He's also used to being ignored over long periods of time when I am engrossed in something.  Like the Stieg Larsson trilogy or when Mockingjay came out.   Now the kids are zoning out on me and I completely deserve it.  I think I also read while breastfeeding.  ha ha ha!

Last night was game night -- Josh and Faith have been bugging us to play Monopoly Deal since Tuesday.  We each had our game face on as we played on the floor of our bedroom while Lucia flitted around, alternately hugging me and Jun and trying to swipe the cards we put on the floor.  We only had time for two games though as we started at 9pm.  First round was mine while Jun took game two with a deal breaker card that stole MY set, the rat!  (Thanks Irish for the xmas gift! We are really enjoying it!)  We all love that freaking card game.  Josh is now asking, so when can you teach me to play poker mommy??  Ha!  Then I remember that mommy taught us to play pekwa when we were little kids.  And Blackjack (no money involved though, just bragging rights).  I have very fond memories of those fun times.  Maybe next summer then.  Note to self: teach Jun how to play Pekwa.

On summer reading updates, Joshua is on his 15th book.  Faith is on her 6th which is ok since she's only 7.  I promised them some Timezone time if they read at least 10 books this summer.  Television's not too much of a priority nowadays in the household.  The kids actually BEG me to get a bit more reading done before bedtime.  Can you imagine??!! 

For the rest of the summer, we've still got Faith's birthday party and Joshua's birthday to celebrate.  May is a huge birthday month with all the gremlins' birthdays.  Lucia looooves birthdays.  She made us sing three times just so she can keep blowing her candle.  There are also four huge water guns with our names on them that we ABSOLUTELY have to try before the summer ends. 

Random Things

Yesterday I wandered into my favorite store and realized that there was nothing I was even remotely interested in buying.  Either I've gotten the stuff that I really want or am just bored.  Maybe both.

I've been meaning to get Faith a "hip" outfit for her Club Princess bday party next month (she's turning 7!) when I walked into Gap and saw this gorgeous confection of a dress.  It's peach, it's floaty, and oh so soft! Goodbye hip, helloooo princess!

Do you ever feel relieved to be alone with your hubby and get a short break from the noise and the fighting only to miss your gremlins so much it aches???  You don't??!!!  Me too!!!  ha ha!  Joke!!!

I am at a stage in my life where I literally could not ask for more.  Except for carbs. I waaaaaannnt rice dammit!!!

The lack of sugar is making me CRANKY!

I've read a total of 40 books so far this year.  Was doing 12-13 books a month in Jan-Feb but slowed down a bit since March.  So I am eating my words.  I love ebooks na! 

Getting a free lunch is always nice.  But a surprise free lunch is even better!

What if I stop buying clothes until I lose 20 pounds??  Who wants to bet I can do this???

Gremlins, come home na!!!  Promise I won't sing the Big Bad Wolf song!  Cross my heart!

Am in the mood to play a trick on someone but the hubby isn't home.  Rats!

Been busy with...

Home Organization.  My small home office is done and I am loving working from home around twice a week.  The inner OC in me is filled with glee. Am loving the fact that there is a place for everything -- school supplies, important documents and files as well as pictures, board games and yes, even scratch paper!  You know how when you have kids and you find crayons everywhere BUT the box? Well now I've collected all the loose crayons, put them all in a big box and whip it out whenever Lucia feels like drawing.  I am finally getting the most out of the iHome that the hubby so thoughtfully got for me.  I figured out that I can link it to my iPhone via bluetooth and voila! Instant speaker phone!  I can take my phone meetings at home in a very quiet place.   

The other half of the room (it's a really small room) has a place for the printer.  I have one big window which provides a lot of natural light in the daytime.  And because the room's small, just one stand fan makes it comfortable enough to work in.  The window seat doubles up as a place to put files in -- I saw this in a magazine and decided I didn't need to buy a mobile drawer which looks too "industrial".  This has a LOT of space inside where I put half used school notebooks for scratch paper and other school supplies like folders/brown envelopes/etc.  And, oh yeah, that window seat is also good for naps!  Ha ha ha! 

On the right, I had a narrow shelf made to put other heavy business books (Jun has lots!) interspersed with decorative boxes which holds loose photographs which I have yet to put in albums and other important keepsakes (Joshua's first communion kit, etc).  And, of course, the board games I am currently collecting.  They used to be everywhere and we could never find one when we wanted to play.  It figures I have two Taboo! games -- I bought a new one in desperation for an out of town trip because I couldn't find the previous one I got.  I just got Jenga today to replace the one the kids messed up when they were little.  I know I have Word Factory somewhere but I haven't seen it lately.  I'd like to add a really nice Backgammon game to the collection soon. 

It took me and the hubby two weekends to get this small room in shape when the carpenter and painter were done but it was worth it!  The whole first floor of the house is fixed.  Used up four XXL trash bags for all the useless stuff. 

 Lastly, this is my new shoe and bag closet.  Not quite Carrie Bradshaw standards but I love it just the same.  My bathroom's all organized after about two trips to Muji.  Now it takes about one third the time to get the bathroom all cleaned up.  This exercise also forced me to edit a lot of things.  Am thinking of holding a garage sale or something.  But only after I've tackled the nightmare of the kids' toys which are all in the second floor of the house. 

After all this activity, I got sick for a couple of days.  Still don't know when I can get to doing the second floor and the bedroom but maybe next weekend since the kids are on summer vacation and there's no need for homework supervision next weekend! 

Faith moment

Joshua was at a classmate's birthday party and I was preparing to go to the concert when Faith decides she has had enough of being by herself.

I was in the bathroom putting on makeup when she starts making kulit -- endless questions about what time I was gonna be home (she's worse than my mom!), who I was going to be with, what's the concert about, who is Janet Jackson.  Then she asks if it was the same music like the concert in church (Bukas Palad) and I said no and did she want to listen to the music I was going to listen to at the concert? Yes daw. 

I made her listen to parts of Together Again and she goes, "I want to come with you Mommy!"....uh oh.

So I said, you know what? Come over here and play with mommy's make up.  That kept her quiet for a while. 

Then the tears started when I was about to leave.  She calls me twice on my cell phone while I was on the way to the concert just to tell me she wanted to be with me.  This despite being with her the whole day today. 

Then I thought, I am going to remember this moment when she's sixteen and I'm the one begging her to  spend time with me.