They say that Christmas is for the kids and with the gifts that Mateo and Anika received all the way from Pinas, I’d say that the saying is really true. Ramil and I bought several pieces of small stuff so that I can wrap them up and the two kids will have several gifts to open. While some people did some major shopping that could have busted a few Epson TM-T88V receipt printers, we only wanted them to have the enjoyment of opening two or three gifts. Little did we know that there were several gifts as well sent through my sister’s fiance.

So yes, our Santa came in the form of my sister’s fiance who brought with him two big balikbayan boxes filled with goodies from my parents and other good friends back in Pinas. We are very grateful for the gifts and yummy food we got! Although we were happy and thankful, we still wish we were able to celebrate Christmas with them instead.

Anika is growing up fast and I am happy that Mateo and her are becoming bestfriends fast. I guess it is inevitable since they only have each other to play with most of the time. However, I guess it is also normal that they will get on each other’s nerves. I only hope that despite these episodes, they remain the best of friends.

We have been visiting some houses for rent the past few days. Although we are not actively looking for one right now, we are still on the lookout for a bigger house that we might be able to move to in a few months’ time.

Right now, our 2-bedroom rented house is just right for the five of us but my sister’s fiance will be arriving in a few months and they prefer to stay with us after the wedding instead of finding a separate house for the two of them. Since we do not have any other family here, we are all happy with that arrangement. However, it means looking for a bigger place for us. Since we will be sharing the rent between us, it still seems like a good idea.

The other day, Ramil and I visited a 5-bedroom house which seemed too big for us but will cost us only the price of a 3- to 4-bedroom house. Since we could get someone else to get one of the rooms and contribute to the rent, it seems like a great deal. The house looks really great and there are lots of space everywhere. The kitchen has big undermount stainless steel sinks and spacious counters. There is more than adequate space in front of the house and it has a gate which means we can keep a dog if we want!

So even if the house does not match our current needs, we are hoping that there will be a vacancy in the other houses when we do need it (it is among a row of houses which are being rented out).

Written by Sherri Hicks

Every Sunday in the Fall, my husband watches hours and hours of football. He spends the whole morning setting his line up on his Fantasy Football teams. On Sunday afternoon he flips back and forth between all of the games. Then, on Monday night he has to watch the Monday night football game. I get so tired of watching so many football games. We end up arguing over who gets to control the tv. Finally, we decided to get Direct TV. We fortunately have more than one tv also. I am now able to go to our bedroom and watch the shows I want to watch, like “Desperate Housewives” on Sunday nights. My husband stays in the den and continues to yell at the tv. I am starting to wonder if he knows that none of the players can actually hear him. The only problem is that my our big tv is in the den. I guess we will have to start taking turns watching our shows in the den. At least we are both happy that we can watch whatever we want to on Sundays.

One of the advantages that we get now that we are here is the free healthcare that we get. Granted that I still think that the level of medical competency is higher in Pinas, it is still a huge relief knowing that we do not have to spend a lot of money if anyone of us needs to see a doctor or even get hospitalized.

Babies get free regular monthly check-ups which includes the necessary vaccinations. If we ever get sick, we pay a minimal consultation fee and we get free medications as well. In the next few days, we plan to have Ramil’s cyst on his nape removed and although we do not know yet how much we will have to shell out, we know it will be a very small amount.

So we will be seeing nursing uniforms again this week, although not as stylish as those from http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/. Anika is also due for some of her vaccinations so she will be getting those as well. There will be a lot of clinic visits for us the next few days but it is relaxing to know that it will barely make a dent on our budget.

It is school break for Ramil and my sister for the whole month of December. It would have been great if we were able to go back and visit Pinas. But since we are not able to, we are stuck here for four whole weeks.

With almost nothing to do but to watch downloaded movies and TV series, I have planned on taking advantage of this time to do some general cleaning. Even though we have been here for only 11 months, we have accumulated enough junk deserving of Shenandoah Junk removal service. So my plan is to get rid of the junk before another school year starts. We have piles of paper and reports from Ramil’s students. Since we tend to keep stuff in the hopes that we might be able to use them in the future, we also have empty boxes, jars, and other containers.

Once the school year starts, I know that more junk will be coming our way and cleaning will be so much more of a chore. We will clear out the junk little by little during this school break. Let’s hope I succeed at this before December ends.

Anika has been amusing us a lot the past few weeks. She loves watching Glee and singing along. She particularly likes Rachel Berry’s “Firework” and she loves singing it whenever she feels like it. Because of this, I am seriously thinking of buying her a microphone.

Right now, she would ‘sing’ using her index finger or a pen if she could find one. I figured that it is not too early to indulge her in her interest right now even if there’s a possibility that she outgrows it in the future. I’m sure she will be more thrilled if she can sing with a real microphone so she can hear her own voice on the speakers.

So I am on the prowl for an affordable but durable microphone that we could give her as a gift for Christmas. I know it might be too early for a real one right now but who knows, we might have the next singing superstar on our hands.

It is now Christmas in our home! We chanced upon a department store selling cheap Christmas trees and we jumped at the opportunity to get one. The tree is a far cry from our tree back in Pinas but it still brings the Christmas air so we do not mind at all.

We were also able to visit a Kiwi who lives nearby and is going back home for good. She has started selling some of their stuff and she has lots of Christmas ornaments and decors. Her items are not cheap but most of them were bought elsewhere like in the US, London, New Zealand, and she even has a few angels she bought in the Philippines. I bought some Christmas ornaments and they are now proud residents of our humble tree. We were also able to get two Christmas socks together with a sock hanger and they made Mateo want to start putting in his wish list for Santa.

The tree still needs a few more ornaments and I plan to buy if I see some interesting ones. Otherwise, it is good enough for us because it really makes us feel Christmasy already. It also makes me want to start shopping for Christmas gifts. Some items on my list are books, toys, and other keepsake gifts we can send back to Pinas with my sister’s fiancé when he visits us this December. I am very excited for Mateo and Anika! I am set on making the holiday season significant and memorable for us.

Here in Brunei, the weather is not so different from Pinas except that the sun is a a little bit hotter and there are no typhoons. It does not mean though that we do not have any need for heated gloves because rains are also frequent and they can be very heavy. 

The past few weeks have been very rainy. Although we would often have scorching sun during the day, it often gets dark in the late afternoon. Once it gets dark, there would often be rain and it would continue intermittently until morning. We’re guessing this is how the weather is here towards the end of the year and it only means that we’re in for a rainy December.

It’s baby boom in our many circles right now. A lot of our high school friends are either expecting a baby soon or have recently had one. The same goes for our college friends and even a few of our former and current colleagues. Whenever we hear of a couple expecting a baby, we get excited ourselves especially if they are first time parents.

Nowadays, soon-to-be parents are well-prepared for their babies. From pregnancy diet, exercise, infant care, toddler care, and so on, it can be very easy to educate oneself on a lot of things. Right now, we are once again in the midst of the toddler years and it is not the same even if this is our second time to have a toddler. We’ve been worrying about cord management and other ways to baby-proof our house because Anika is a bit more difficult to manage than her kuya.

Still, the many baby pictures that we have been looking at are making me wonder if we will have a third one in a few more years. I can’t help but smile whenever I think about it.