Monthly Archives: July 2008

gold investment

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My dad will be going home in a few months and he told my mom that he was able to buy gold jewelries for her. My mom has a liking for jewelries and despite not having any other investment to her name, she considers her stash of jewelry her investment. She’d often say that she only have to know the price of gold to know that she’s got a good investment with her. My sister and I would often tease her that her investment would be divided between the two of us anyway and that it’s a good idea to ‘invest more’. Seriously though, not counting the sentimental value of her collection, I think she not to wrong in deciding to invest in precious metals like gold. Who knows, she might start buying gold ingots.

growing up

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I guess my generation is really at the weddings and baby showers phase. A friend recently had her baby shower and I realized that we’ve grown so much from being giggly high school students to excited mommies. Nowadays, all we talk about are pregnancy and baby stuff. We didn’t think we’d be so excited to receive a breast pump, rompers, a Bugaboo stroller, and other things related to pregnancy and babies. Once in a while, it’s nice to look back and reminisce about the good old days when we were young and carefree.

excited for his 2nd

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Last week, there was a power interruption in our area amidst the strong rains, thunder, and lightning. Naturally, we had to bring out the candles that we rarely use. Mateo initially enjoyed looking at the flames of the candles especially since those were our only lights that night. He then got interested in blowing them out. He’d reach the tantrum point whenever we refused to light the candles again. Everyone in our household would even sing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song and he’d wait for the song to finish before blowing them out. I told Ramil that he seems excited to have his 2nd birthday party. We have six months to go so we better save up for a good one.

centennial date

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Ramil and I celebrated our 100th month as a couple last July 7. We initially wanted to go for a vacation somewhere even if we just stay overnight. Since we’re both not fans of bringing luggage, not to mention our tight budget will not allow it, we’ve opted to have dinner at a small, quaint Swiss restaurant nearby called Vieux Chalet. We had fun especially since it’s been awhile since we went out on a real date. The food was a bit expensive but it was worth it because it was really good. We had shrimp ravioli which costs around 400+ and is good for 3-4 persons.

This pasta dish was way better than what I was expecting. I was about to go for the safer Fettucine Alfredo but decided to be more daring and try their shrimp ravioli. I was so happy that we got to try it.

We also had beef tenderloin in mushroom sauce which was very pricey at 700+. Although the dish is good for 2-3 persons, it didn’t come with anything else except for a few leaves on the side. The sauce was really good, very similar to Razon’s sizzling bulalo sauce which Ramil and I love very much. I would have liked the beef to be more tender though.

For our drinks, we both ordered lemonglass cooler. It was a refreshing, cool drink which we’re sure to order when we come back for another visit. Since we felt that we spent a lot already on that restaurant, we opted to have our dessert and coffee in a coffee shop on our way home. All in all, the date was a great one especially after a very long date hiatus. We only wish we could do this more often.

in defense of myself

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Just a few weeks ago, I made one of the biggest decision I’ve ever made as a mother. It was a decision that I’m sure many mothers out there had to make. It was a decision that made my heart break into a million pieces. Looking back, it was a decision that was necessary and I hope the decision I made was what God wanted me to do.

I’ve officially left the ranks of stay-at-home-moms (SAHMs). Not that I was a 100% SAHM in the first place but I barely considered my 10-month stint as a part-time teacher a job. Nevertheless, I’m a 100% hands-on mom. Even Ramil, despite having a regular, full-time job, was a hands-on dad. Even before I gave birth, I knew I wanted to be the one taking care of my baby. When I gave birth last January 2007, it was natural for me not to go back to teaching anymore. It was just Mateo and me for five months. No yaya. No grandparents. No relatives.

The next schoolyear brought me out of being a full-time SAHM. I decided to try teaching part-time, not really for the money (though we need money too) but because I felt that I needed to go out of the house from time to time. So for 10 months, Mateo will be left with the yaya for three hours from Mondays to Thursdays. It was perfect for us. I get to do everything for him as a mama and yet I still get to enjoy what I like doing, teaching.

This year I was bent on teaching part-time again. However, a lot of math teachers from last year left and I was given a load that’s appropriate for a full-time teacher. Unlike last time when I would just be asked to report to school during times when I have classes, this year the principal asked five hours a day from me and was actually trying to persuade me to go full-time. Since five hours is a considerably long time, Ramil stepped in and told me to just choose between going full-time or staying at home altogether. Rather than a five-hour part-time work, might as well stay an additional three hours everyday and get the benefits of a full-time teacher if I decide to keep working. So we worked something out with the school. We’re allowed to bring Mateo and the yaya. Ramil and I have ‘shifting’ schedules – he starts real early and goes home early too while I start a bit late and goes home late too. That way, we get to limit Mateo’s time in school.

I prayed hard for it and tried to consider a lot of things. I ended up saying yes to a full-time teaching job. The day Ramil and I gave our answer was a day I think I will remember for a long time. I cried buckets that night and for many nights after. I wanted to go back and take back what I said. I cried for my time with Mateo that will be lost. I cried for all the things that I will not be able to do for him. I cried for all the things that I will not be able to teach him. It was a total guilt-trip, not to mention a not-so-mild case of separation anxiety. I kept asking Ramil whether we made the right decision or not. I asked him whether Mateo will be able to understand in his own way why everything has to change. Why I will not be able to spend time with him like I used to. Why he has to stay with somebody he doesn’t really know yet. Why we won’t get to do things like we used to.

If I was able to find somebody to handle my teaching load, I would have swallowed my pride and decency and quit as fast as I could. But I think it God wanted me to stay put because no replacement appeared no matter how hard I prayed. The whole thing from the dilemma to the way I felt about it might be too melodramatic for some people but if you’re a mother like me, you’d know what I mean.

There were only three things that will make me feel that we didn’t make a mistake with our decision. These are Mateo’s health, development, and behavior. Unfortunately, after a week of going to school with us, his amoebiasis recurred. It was good that Ramil and I were able to act quickly so he only had diarrhea for two days. He’s still undergoing medication right now but he’s on his way to total recovery. We only hope that this time, we totally eliminate the amoeba. One thing that I think won’t suffer is his development. He still gets to interact with a lot of people so his mind is also continually stimulated. He’s also been given permission to sit-in with the toddler class so he’d surely learn a lot of things. I’m also particularly concerned with his behavior. Mateo has a tendency to be strongheaded and I’m afraid that if I lessen my presence then I lessen my authority too. So far, I haven’t seen anything that would indicate that he’s negatively affected with the arrangements we’ve made. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Right now, I’m just letting go and letting God. I’m a believer of karma too and I believe that taking good care of my other kids (my students) and loving them would make sure that Mateo gets the same from his yaya and from other people around him. I know he understands. I actually tried explaining it to him even before I committed to a full-time job. Everything is going great right now, we’re very lucky to find a yaya who’s good with him. I still get that guilty feeling every now and then though, I just need to remember that Ramil and I are doing as much as we can right now.

So is this post in defense of myself? To myself, yes. I just have to read this again when guilt strikes.

celebrating our centennial

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Ramil and I will be celebrating our centennial monthsary on Monday, July 7. It’s been 100 months since we officially became boyfriend-girlfriend. Ever since we had Mateo, we don’t really celebrate our monthsaries anymore. However, we wanted to make an exception for our 100th month. Since we won’t be able to celebrate our centennial anniversary anyway because we’ll both be long dead by then, might as well take the next best 100th.

To commemorate the day we committed to each other, Ramil and I have started a new blog. We already have our respective blogs and we thought of starting a new one, a shared one. Hopefully, we get to update it more often than our own blogs.

Despite our plans to make an exception for our 100th monthsary, a dinner at Vieux Chalet is enough for us. It’s already such a treat considering that we barely had any real date with Mateo around. So on Monday, we’ll leave Mateo with his yaya and my sister. I’m thinking of planning something more but I have to see if we could still afford it. Haha!

pass it on

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My mom has a supplementary credit card from me. I gave her one when she couldn’t get her own credit card. For the longest time, what she would do is to pay me whenever the bill comes. For the past few months though, she’d pay only the minimum so that her balance is now bigger than usual. I told her that I could apply it for balance transfer so that she wouldn’t have to pay a high interest rate. I’m just waiting for her to give her go signal so that I could apply for it. At least that would free up my credit limit a little :)