MOVING ON

I'm probably on week 6 in my pregnancy. But I've yet to get an ultrasound to confirm that. I'm making a guess. Work has made me so busy I hardly have time to homeschool the boys. But of course, we still manage. Other than that, I've stopped crocheting, watching my shows because after I get home from work, I'd be sleepy and then it would the boys' naptime at 3pm. I feel so unorganized.

Anyway, I'd be done with work on Friday. Many of the students are flying back to Korea this month. One of my students already went home last Sunday, 2 will leave tomorrow and my last student will fly home on Saturday. I don't mind ending my stint with the school. I had fun and I learned a lot. But only those were the positive perks. My pay was measly. I earned only P280 (approx. US$6.11) a day because they only paid me P70 (approx. US$1.53) per student. Early January, I asked the head teacher if the P70 pay was fixed and she said it wasn't and depending on performance, I could get an increase. But I don't see that happening now with most of the students leaving. So I'll end my work on Friday and just think of a way to earn while at home. It'd be so much better and we'd get our homeschooling back in order.

There. I feel so much better already.

.....

I feel so awfully fat. But so far no one has guessed that I'm with child yet so I think I should be thankful for that. But this time, I want to make sure that I don't get too big. I hope (I said "hope" instead of "want") to exercise in the mornings by walking around the subdivision. I would love to do that anytime everyday if it wasn't for the fumes from tricycles and vehicles around the neighborhood. Carbon monoxide really irritates me. Anyway, I hope to be able to do that regularly every week...

And I'm still wishing for a girl...

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I miss Japan a whole lot. Ever since I went to that country, I just wish my family could live there already. I just love Japan and its people. It's such a wonderful place and I miss it like crazy. I wish I could see Japan again soon...

JEEPNEY DRIVERS

I commute to work everyday now and I can't help but observe the many jeepney drivers that ply Dr. A. Santos Avenue daily. I am simply amazed at how they multitask. Unlike bus drivers who only have to pay attention to the road and drive, jeepney drivers have to do a whole lot of things. They have to:

1. drive
2. collect the fares (which are passed to him by passengers)
3. compute payment/fares from one point to another and then return the change to the passenger/s (which is passed from the driver to the said commuter)
4. keep watch for commuters eager to ride (unlike buses, jeepneys have no designated stops)
5. take note of passengers who don't pay

If I were a jeepney driver I would probably go crazy in a week or get into an accident. I mean, who could do all these things and still manage to drive straight for goodness' sake? Some drivers however have a companion who collects the money and computes the fares. Then all the driver'd have to do is keep his eyes on the road. This is probably safer for jeepney commuters.

Anyway, despite my misgivings, I have no choice but to ride jeepneys to work still. It's convenient because jeepneys abound the avenue, it's cheap (I only pay P8 or approx. US$.17 and taxis would cost sooo much) and it's fast. But maybe I'd have to hold on to my seat (and say a litany of prayers) while drivers do what they do best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUTHER!

The birthday muffin :)
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Ethan sings "Happy Birthday" to Daddy...
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Nikki's birthday card.
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Ethan's card for Daddy.

BIRTHDAY

It's Ruther's birthday today! He's now 35. Wow. How time flies.

It's a good thing our birthday cards arrived today and on time. When Ruther was home from work, he messaged me that he got the cards. Whew! Nikki and I made a cute card that looked like a DSLite. Ethan's was like a shirt and tie. Ruther liked them and I was glad.

We got him a birthday muffin and blew a candle for him. The boys enjoyed that. Hopefully, future birthdays will be spent together.

.....

Well, in my case, still the same. Still pregnant. I could feel my waist thickening a bit but I'm hoping it isn't so. I mean I'm just on my second month for goodness' sake. Other symptoms are breast tenderness (and I mean ouch!), sleepiness and allergies. My skin has this tiny bumps that are just so darn itchy! So far, my allergy has been the most uncomfortable experience yet. Sigh.

And yes. I still wish we're having a girl...

I AM

Is it gross that I put this here? It's just that Jan 21 was the time I knew for sure I was pregnant and this proved it!

I WANT A GIRL

I know that sounds selfish. And so un-Catholic. I'm half expecting lightning to hit me anytime soon.

But I do want a girl. I would love to have a girl in the family. Especially for Ruther. I'm sure he would love to watch her grow and see all the differences raising a girl is from raising boys. Besides, I'm sure I could balance being a mom to both genders, you know? And also, I never had that pregnancy glow that everyone talks about. When I had Nikki and Ethan I looked like I had a terrible allergy attack. My face was all swollen, my neck turned black and I looked like a monster. I'm not kidding. I still can't look at my photos then! I was really hideous! I hope that this time, I could be glowing and pretty and not (too) fat. Sigh. Is that so selfish of me?

It would be great to have a girl. Aside from Nikki's wish would be granted ("I want a sister because I already have a brother"), it would be nice to see him and Ethan interact with a female sibling. I'm also thinking this would be the last time I'm getting pregnant because it would just be too difficult for me to have another later on in life. So I'm really really really hoping that we're going to have a girl this time around.

If the Lord would be so kind, of course.

.....

Now that I'm pregnant I feel that everytime I'm out of the house I'm on Mom alert. I always cover my nose so I won't inhale fumes from vehicles and smoke from cigarettes. I used to be careful not to show my displeasure at fumes and smoke but now that I know a baby is growing inside me, I don't even have to think twice. It's so weird. Well, maybe not so weird.

I also noticed that I'm always hungry these days. And it's bothering me a lot because I don't want to get too fat (it happened when I was pregnant with Ethan). I try to moderate my eating but after a couple of hours or so, I get hungry again. Ruther teased me that maybe I'm carrying twins. Well, I hope NOT! I'm currently 150 pounds heavy and based on my reading, I want my weight to increase g r a d u a l l y. Hopefully, watching what I eat will do the trick.

.....

I started reading What to Expect When You Are Expecting again. I read the book once before when I was pregnant with Nikki and when I had Ethan I thought, "I still remember pretty much a lot of it" so I shelved the book. This time, after 6 years, I have to read it again just to remind myself of some of the important prenatal details. It's amazing reading all the text I highlighted then. (I know, I'm weird like that.) It was like looking at myself through a time portal.

Anyway, still got to read a lot but I've got 8 months so I guess that's not going to be a problem.