In my daughters' old school where the annual parents' orientation is mandatory (former co-parents know what I'm talking about) there was one session when the nuns asked us, what were our hopes and our fears for our daughters. And I thought long and hard about that. I remember standing up to share that I hope my daughters grow up to be good, and ( Read more... )

Every day I am tired. I complain that I am tired. My feet hurt. My brain stops working. My back kriks. I've only been working full time for less than a year and a half but every day I am tired.

Every day I am also thankful. Thankful that I live and work in a place where there is no traffic and lots of nature. Thankful that my children are growing up ( Read more... )

I have this little rule. Don't blog about work. It was in place from when I started my blog back in (ahem) 2002. But at the time I started my blog because I was far from home and I didn't want to email the world to let them know I'm ok. I set up the blog so that my mother (and other potentially interested people) could just drop by to see what's ( Read more... )

This wasn't the plan.

The original plan was, live in Merville forever, the girls will study in Assumption San Lorenzo, the boy will study in Xavier. Mike will be the primary breadwinner, and I will stay home as long as we don't need the extra income or until I find work that I really want to do. And I mean really really want to do.

Then we heard of ( Read more... )

When I was little, my very first ambition in life was to be a ballet dancer. My mom loves the ballet, so she excitedly enrolled me in ballet class at the top floor of SM Cubao. Two months later, I quit. I remember being so bored, and that we never actually got to dance. I wanted to be a ballerina because I liked moving to music (even when the music ( Read more... )

I love Christmas! I've mentioned it on my blog before, Christmas is a big deal to me. Normally I set up the tree on November 30. In the past, it was the no classes/no work day I could set aside exclusively for decorating the house. This year, when we got back from Punta Fuego on Nov 4, the tree was already up, with a star on top, but no lights or ( Read more... )

I consider myself fairly well traveled. I am by no means a jet-setter, but I've been around, in my lifetime, I've been around South East Asia, Australia and Europe. Which is probably why people are always surprised when I tell them I've never been to the States. It's almost ironic, given that most Filipinos first destination abroad is the US. Well ( Read more... )

I've been meaning to get regular exercise for the longest longest time. I'm skinny so I don't need to lose weight. But I am also weak. And that is neither good, nor fun. When I am pregnant or nursing, these are my excuses to not exercise. But in reality, I can exercise despite these conditions. In the past years, I've found that the only motivation ( Read more... )

Five years ago, Lia was born and my world turned upside down. I was 26. Not too young to be a new mother, but no one close to me was a new mom back then. I was the first in my family to get married and have a child. All my friends were single, let alone having babies. And I felt severely disconnected from the rest of the world. It seemed no one in ( Read more... )

Sometimes, in the calm before he falls asleep, Ramon lies beside me, quietly staring off into space. And I wonder, what is he thinking about? The expression on his face is serene but serious, he looks like he's pondering the mysteries of the universe. And even if I am the typical biased mother who thinks all her kids are geniuses, I know this isn't ( Read more... )