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...

.....

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.

TRYING TO BE

As I thought, Ruther was excited about the baby when I told him I was pregnant. He reassured me that having a baby now, while I'm in my early 30s, would be better (and safer) than having one later on in life. I suppose he has a point there. But I still can't figure out how I feel about the whole thing. I guess I'm a lot like Keri Russell in the movie The Waitress. She wasn't ready to have a baby too. But that doesn't mean I'm not doing what I can to keep the baby safe and healthy. I take my folic acid, I drink milk, I make sure I stay away from people who are smoking and for the first time in 6 years, I am going to start reading What To Expect When You're Expecting again. I just wish the future was not so uncertain, you know.

I'm scared that I'm going to get real fat again. It's been hard losing weight after I had Nikki and Ethan. And I'm sure it'll be even harder this time around with my even slower metabolism. Sigh.

I'm scared that we won't be financially stable or prepared for the expenses that another baby will bring. I suppose this is typical for every family with another baby arriving but I can't help worrying about vaccinations, hospital bills, the birthing, the layette, etc. I KNOW I'm getting ahead of myself but it's a really daunting thought.

I asked Ruther that we talk seriously about making plans for the future. I told him that I will simply NOT allow him to leave me after the baby is born. No more separations and leaving me to take care of the kids alone. I suppose he realized that I've had enough and he agreed to make plans with me.

Sigh. I wasn't this paranoid when I had Ethan. I mean, sure, I worried, but I wasn't this worried. I suppose I should stop doing this to myself until I make my appointment with my Ob/Gyn. A fetal heartbeat might just be the thing I need to snap me out of this weird thinking.

BREAKING NEWS

I might be pregnant.

Well, after 2 pregnancy test kits screaming "positive" at me, I guess I can't deny it any longer. I just have to say it matter-of-factly. But I'm not sure I have the strength to do so.

2009 was a difficult year for me. I just don't want to be emotionally stressed and overwhelmed this 2010. I just feel so unprepared. It's not that I don't want to be pregnant. I was just taken by surprise. Ethan was a surprise as well when I was pregnant with him but he's such a joy, I can't imagine life without him. I suppose I want our next baby to be a girl because I think this will probably be the last time I'd want to get pregnant again and I SO want to give Ruther a baby girl. I've been asking myself, if it's another boy, will I still want to get pregnant a few years later? Probably not. I mean, we have to be practical. It's not cheap raising a family. Not unless Ruther finds a really great job or we migrate to another country where we could live and grow together as a family with both of us earning, having a fourth baby will just be so difficult.

I have yet to tell someone. I'm telling Ruther tonight. I'm sure he's thinking already that I'm pregnant because I've been lamenting these past few days that I haven't had my period yet. I wonder how he'll react.

I don't know what my mom will say. A couple of years ago she was sort-of saying that having the boys is enough because it would be hard to have another child. Well, I'd have to tell her sooner or later. Maybe later.

I have to tell my in-laws too I guess. But I'm just not up to it right now because I'm sore about something that transpired a few weeks ago. I'll let them know when my tummy is showing.

I suppose Nikki is the most excited about having a new baby sister or brother. But he'd rather have a baby sister, he said, because he already has a brother. Sigh.

I guess this means I have to start crocheting baby stuff now...

CORON DAY 2 CONT...

Okay, let's continue... :D

After Banol Beach (and eating a hearty lunch) we then proceeded to our next stop: Skeleton Wreck. Here's a description of it from pacificwrecks.com:

12-16m deck, 25m bottom, Freighter, Length 137m. Possibly the Taiei Maru, lying on its starboard side in Coron Bay. This is a beautiful wreck dive site where you can observe groupers, sweetlips, occasionally turtles and sea snakes. Hard corals cover the port side, which is only 12 to 16 meters below the surface. Many scorpion fish hang out around the wreck area. The big cargo rooms and the engine room allow easy penetration of this wreck for Wreck Diver Certified divers. If you dive from 10 AM to 2 PM on a sunny day you get a cathederal like effect from the beams of sunlight entering the cargo holds through the holes in the port side. The two massive boilers in the center of the ship are a big attraction on this dive. You can pass behind the boilers and see the damage resulting from one of the bomb strikes that disabled the ship. It is possible to do a swim-through and pass from bow to stern without exiting the ship.

Makes me wish I knew how to dive. It must be really exciting to see the ship up close - as long as there aren't any sharks of course. Anyway, at the site, I couldn't dive down because of my life jacket but I was able to take photos of some parts of the boat/ship. The way the ship looked creeped Ruther out a bit. Well, it did look creepy so we focused on feeding the fish (again!). The boys meanwhile just swam away in their floaties.

After Skeleton Wreck, we then headed to CYC Beach. CYC stands for Coron Youth Club. It had white sand on the shore and looked nice as we approached. But I was so disappointed when we neared the beach because there was a lot of trash lying about. I hated that. I found out that CYC Beach was open to the public and I just wish some people would be more consciencious about where they throw their trash. For goodness sake it doesn't take a lot of effort to bring your trash home! Argh! It just makes me so mad! Anyway, we were still able to take good photos of the area (minus the trash) with some mangrove trees. Suffice to say we didn't stay very long at that beach.

Our last stop was at Twin Lagoon. From travelandleisures.blogspot.com:

The Twin Lagoon nestled in the largest limestone formation which is called the Calis Mountain, which is actually the Coron Island. The Twin Lagoon is divided by limestone wall and is connected by a small and narrow opening. The inner lagoon is only visible and can only be access during low tide. One must have a diving skill to get to the inner lagoon during high tide.
The outer lagoon has a number of sea urchins and the temperature of the water is a little warmer compare with the inner lagoon which is cooler and deeper and more serene.

The water in this area is brackish, our tour guide said. He told us that fresh water usually floats on top while the salt water stays below. When I looked through the camera lens, the water appreared blurry. The guide said that's how it would look when the fresh and salt water mixes. But he added that about a meter below the surface, the water would be clear again. The temperature of the water was also weird. There were areas where it was cool but other areas were cold! Again, the mixing of the waters. Anyway, when we got to Twin Lagoon we were pleased to find out that we could swim below the wall to get to the inner lagoon because it was low tide. If it was high tide then we would have had to climb this ladder to get to the inner lagoon which would have been not as fun as swimming underneath the wall. It was so cool swimming through the gap. It was like going through a small limestone tunnel. We had to be careful though because the rocks were sharp! Only Jojo, Ruther, I went into the inner lagoon. It was majestic. It was like a secret place for mermaids. Really wonderful. The boys stayed in the outer lagoon with the boatmen who kept them company. Ethan did yell for us to come out NOW! Sigh...

Anyway, Twin Lagoon was our final stop so we then headed back to Coron tired but happy. Even the boys found the experience fun which is always a good thing. :D

Day 3 tomorrow!

CORON DAY 2

Day 2 started at 7am with breakfast. It was covered in the package and we had a choice of a Filipino set breakfast or an American one. We got 2 Filipino and 2 American set meals. Yummy and filling.

We left the hotel at 8am in a tricycle and headed to Lambingan dock where our banca was waiting for us. Our tour guide was with us all the way. While at the dock, Ruther and I took photos while our guide readied everything for the trip to the islands. We finally left after a few minutes and headed to our first stop: Siete Pecados. Siete Pecados (or 7 sins) represent the 7 small islets surrounding the area. It's actually a marine sanctuary, I found out later. I was the first in the water (after asking my guide about sharks which he said there weren't) and once I put my head underwater there were so many fish!! They were just swimming all over me. It was amazing. I love to snorkel so I just snorkeled away and took photos. Once, our tour guide (named Jojo) dived a few meters below me and brought up these big triangle-shaped fish! It was amazing I just had to try it. Since I had my life vest on (and I can't swim well), I couldn't dive down to the area where the fish were. Finally after much coaxing, I managed to feed a few!! I was scared it was going to bite my finger off I quickly let go of the bread before it snatched it away. But it was so cool. Good thing Ruther took a photo of me feeding the fish. Anyway, after an hour or so (couldn't really remember), we went back to the banca and headed for our next stop.

Kayangan Lake is "a fresh water lake hidden behind limestone rocks amidst small mountains". We actually had to climb these steps up and down a small hill before getting into the lake itself. In other words we did a mini-hike to reach it. I was panting a bit when we reached the beautiful lake. I thought at first "this looks pretty plain". But was I wrong. Underwater, I found the most amazing rock formations. Since the water was fresh, it was so clear. I took Ruther's photo and it looked like he was flying over mountains of rocks. It was so cool. Then Jojo told me that there was a small cave on the eastern wall of the lake. Of course I had to check that out. It was cool. The cave entrance was small (one person could go in and out while avoiding the rough walls) but it was cool and wider inside. When you reached the inner part and looked up, you'd see a hole above where some light could pass through. I felt like a mermaid. :P Anyway, we didn't stay too long at Kayangan lake and headed to our next stop: Banol Beach.

Banol Beach is "just one of the many white sand beaches you can find on the island of Coron, Palawan. It is a small, cozy beach" and there were less than a dozen small huts along the shore which you can rent (but that's covered in our package). We also stopped here for lunch which is again, covered in our package. It was a buffet lunch with rice, barbequed chicken, roasted squid, ensaladang talong (eggplant salad) , crab, bananas, sodas and bottled water. It was a yummy lunch and I don't usually eat eggplant like that but I didn't want to offend our tour guide so I tried some and it was surprisingly delicious! I had a few more spoonfuls after that. :D Anyway, the boys didn't feel like eating but after a while, Nikki came out of the water and ate lunch. Ethan, as usual, didn't want to eat rice. Sigh. After resting a bit, we headed back to the water while tourists (mostly Caucasians) sun bathed. We then took more photos and then headed back out once more onto our banca.

more stories tomorrow... :D

BACK TO "NORMAL"

Well our vacation is over, Ruther is back in Japan and I'll be going back to work on Monday. So I suppose everything is back to "normal".

.....

We had a lot of fun at Palawan this past week. There were some minor setbacks (like the travel agency did not inform the hotel shuttle that we were arriving but fortunately when we arrived at the airport there were other passengers booked at the same hotel so we hitched a ride) but other than those, it was still a pleasant and wonderful experience.

We arrived at Busuanga around 1020 in the morning. We had to take a 45-minute ride to Coron where the city proper was located. Along the way there was nothing but grasslands, mountains in the background, cows, and ranches. Reminded me of the outback (seen from movies of course). We got to the hotel and after a few minutes of waiting our room was ready. We rested for a bit and then had lunch. Since we slept pretty late the night before, we all took a refreshing nap to prepare ourselves for the afternoon tour.

We started at 4pm. You'd think it was pretty late but it was hot that day. We went around the city (running tour) and realized how tiny it was. We saw the dock, the Catholic church (only one), the public market, the plaza and the city hall. We then proceeded to the foot of Mt. Tapyas, the tallest hill/mountain in the island. We had to climb 724 (or is it 726?) steps to get to the top. It was such a relief to finally get to the view deck after pausing every other flight of stairs to catch our breath. The view on the top was spectacular. Really great to see the water, the islands scattered about with the sun setting behind pale blue clouds. We asked our guide to take our photo with the huge cross in the background. It turned out great!

After going down Mt. Tapyas, our next stop was Maquinit Hot Springs, which was around 15 minutes away. We got there at dusk. It felt sooo good soaking our tired muscles in the hot water but Ethan kept on yelling "OWWW! OW! OWWWWW!" everytime he tried to put a toe into the water. *roll eyes* Well, it was pretty hot. I read that the temperature of the water ranges from 38 - 40 degrees C. I guess that's why it's named Maquinit (which means "hot"). Hmmmm... I smell a redundancy there... (Maquinit HOT Springs?) Anyway, I also read that the entrance fee is P100 per person but our tour package covered that as well as dinner that night. We stayed for a couple of hours then we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next day.

second day report continues tomorrow... :D

A NEW YEAR HAS DAWNED

It's the new year, everyone!!

Been so busy these past weeks. As expected. Mama's helper went home to the province for the holidays so I had to take care of chores around the house, not to mention attend to my family's needs so I was pretty much on my toes most of the time. Not that I mind.

Things are starting to slow down now that Christmas will be officially over on Wednesday. (Jan 6 in the Philippines marks the end of Christmas festivities, being the Feast of the Three Kings.) But I still have work tomorrow and from Tuesday til Thursday we'll be going to Palawan (woohoo!) and then Jan 8, Friday, Ruther will be flying back to Japan. Sad. So yeah, it'll still be pretty busy this week. But definitely exciting with the trip to Palawan... Can't wait!

.....

Work has been great! I started with 2 students. Ha Jung, a cute 8 year-old girl, is my 9-11 class. Chang Min, 12 years old, is my 11-12 class. Then last week, I was given another student, Hyung Jin, for my 8-9 class. So I have 3 students. The lessons are okay. I've learned to adjust to each student's personalities and quirks. Ha Jung is smart but get tired when I let her read all the time so we take shorts breaks in between readings. Chang Min always thinks his lessons are difficult (which in my opinion is somewhat advanced for him but we have to follow his reading material) so I have to create lessons or reviewers that are not too challenging for him and yet allows him to learn the vocabulary words. Hyung Jin is the smartest of the 3 but he's somewhat aloof and moody. The other day he refused to read the story he was supposed to learn. I would ask him questions and he would not say a thing. Finally, I asked him what the matter was and why he wasn't talking to me. He still didn't say anything. I prodded and told him we can't do lessons if he won't talk to me and finally he told me he was feeling hot in the room. I told him to tell me these things because it's not nice for him to ignore me like that. Sigh. I did not lose my temper or anything like that but the OC in me would want our lessons to be smooth-sailing, ya know? Anyway, I hope not to have episodes like that anymore in the future.

Going back to work, I find it nice and fun. I suppose that's probably because I decided to work part-time and this way, I'm not too stressed about lessons and I could focus on my 3 students very well. I guess I would want it to be like that. I want my work to be fun, especially since I would want to go home from work in a happy mood and not all cranky and surly. So yeah, I suppose this is a nice thing for me to do at the moment... :D

.....

So far the new year has turned out nicely. Ruther being home is a big part of it, naturally. I still don't know what's going to happen in the next few months, what more the rest of the year, but I hope that this year will be better than last year. If I could have that, then that would be enough for me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Welcome 2010!! :D

GONNA BE BUSY

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, I'm sure. Firstly, I start work tomorrow!! I'm both nervous and excited. I was supposed to start yesterday but we had some scheduling problems which were ironed out today so I get to start tomorrow!! Yay! I am SO freaking nervous! But I can't wait to begin! Do I sound so weird? I don't even know how I can sleep tonight! I hope I hope I hope things go well tomorrow. I'll do my best not to make my students hate me, that's for sure. Anyway, will update you with news after my first day tomorrow!!

.....

Christmas is just around the corner. Can you feel it? It's a bit strange but perhaps it's because of how the year turned out, or maybe it's because people are more hard up these days but Christmas is a bit less jolly this year. There are even less carolers now (but then again that could also be because of stingy neighbors). Anyway, jolly or not, as long as my family is complete, I'm content. That is after all, what truly matters...

.....

I am still unsure as to how next year is going to be but I promised myself that I'm going to take it a day at a time. I mean, what else can I do? I just wish it weren't so stressful (for me) trying to be content with today (or everyday) because I prefer my future to be somewhat planned out, but then again there's only so much I can control. Sigh...

.....

The boys, Ruther and I are scheduled for an out-of-town trip early next year. We're all booked so all we need to do is fly there via Cebu Pacific. The boys are already pretty excited. The last time we went to the beach was at La Luz in Batangas and they had loads of fun. Hopefully this trip will be another fun family get-together for us. I think it'll be a nice way to start the year, don't you think so?

PHOTOS, PHOTOS

I'm going to post some photos to let you know what we've been up to lately...

A watermelon bag. I didn't use a pattern for this but I was happy with how it turned out. :D

I used up all my blue yarn for this. But I think it's pretty. Might give this to one of Ruther's cousins' kid. :D

This was taken in Makati last month when Ruther came home for a few days. I just love spending time with him...

The boys love Sharkboy. But my sis and I are Team Edward. We (sis and I) watched the movie on the first screening day and we enjoyed it a lot. :D

Getting his anti-rabies shot at the nearby hospital. My poor boy... :(

Christmas decors. This is the nearest mall from our place. We're here most of the time. Almost always... :)

One of our trees at home. Yup, that's a wrapped toilet paper roll you see there. We're going green this year. For wrapping paper, we used pages from a Japanese magazine and for a gift tag, we used some leftover construction paper clippings from Nikki's scrap box. Hey, as long as it's colorful, we really don't mind. :D

SOOOOO SORRY

Okay, for the nth time... I'm sorry!!! Things have been sooo crazy these past weeks.

Firstly, Ruther and I have been trying to fix the minor difficulties in our relationship. As of today, we're getting better so I'm hoping by the time he comes home on the 23rd, we'll be right as rain. I know that being apart makes things a whole lot harder to fix but we're taking it a day at a time. I just wish we'd just have some permanency in our lives, you know? It's just really tough being and living like this all the time. Sigh. Anyway, we're trying our best to work things out so hopefully when 2010 comes around, we'll be having a smoother and calmer relationship.

.....

A lot of things have happened lately but I'm going to start with: Nikki had to get anti-rabies shots. One of the pups nipped him when he carried the little bugger one day and he got a 2mm open scratch on his left forefinger. I was on the phone then but my sis was with him when the incident happened and doctor-mode kicked in and she insisted that Nikki get anti-rabies shots because 1. the wound was open (which means, the skin broke); 2. the pups did not get their shots yet; and 3. it's standard procedure whether we want to or not. So off we went to the nearby hospital and Nikki was so worried. I told him not to play with the pups anymore until they get their shots and he agreed. Anyway, Nikki got his first shot then (out of five) and he also has to take oral antibiotics (a preventive measure). Sigh. He got his second shot last Saturday and has 3 more shots to go. Good thing my sis got the medicine cheaper at their hospital. I paid P1900 for the first shot but my sis got 3 ampules for only P1000 each!! What a difference! Anyway, 3 more shots to go and we're in the clear...

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I'm still crocheting but I've slowed down a bit because we've been neglecting our homeshooling for some days because of the busy-ness around the house. (Bad Mommy!) My mother-in-law asked me to make cellphone pouches to sell to her friends and I thought that was a good idea. So for some days now, that's all I've been doing. But once I get more yummy yarn, I'll do more of those creative projects. :) Will post some crochet creations later...

.....

I'm going to start work soon!!! Yup! The boys and I were at the mall last week and I saw an ad on a bulletin board. It was looking for people who were interested in teaching English. What's more, it stated "previous experience not necessary". So I decided to give it a shot. Last Friday, I went to the place with my (almost extinct) resume and was interviewed, took the test which included an essay and a teaching demo. And I passed! I start work on Wednesday, the 16th but I decided to apply for the part-time work only because I didn't want to neglect the boys' education. So I'll be working from Mondays to Fridays, 8am-12noon. Not bad, right? I was thinking, 4 hours of daily work wouldn't be too stressful. And besides, I already know I like teaching because I do it with the boys. :D Anyway, we'll see how things turn out on Wednesday. I'm so excited!! :)

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I'm so looking forward to Christmas. The year was so bad for me, I just want it to end right. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I just want to forget all the bad things that happened in 2009 so I decided to make Christmas really nice for us. It'll just be family of course, but still, I want it to be really fun and happy. Sometimes, I wish I could just "go Haitian" (from the tv series Heroes), you know? Maybe it would be so much easier to let go of sad and hurtful things...

NIKKI IS 8

Nikki's birthday is over but I still can't believe he's 8! It's pretty scary thinking that in a few more years he'll be hitting his teens!! Yikes! Don't want to think about THAT!

Anyway, it was a fun day for the boys. As planned, we just invited some family over. The boys got to play with some of Ruther's young cousins and everyone had a blast. I guess that's what matters most. :D

Here are some photos from yesterday...

Mario party

I just love Nikki's cake! :D

DVDs from Daddy

Our boy is 8!

Mario hats! :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI!!

It's Nikki's birthday today!! And he's 8!! Can't believe he's not a baby anymore. I still remember the first time I saw him at the hospital. He was so tiny. And now he's such a big boy. Sigh... I wish time would move slowly sometimes...

.....

We're not going to have a party but we're definitely inviting some relatives over for some merienda. We're going to the mall in the morning to buy some food and to get the cake and then for the rest of the afternoon, the boys are free to do as they please. Of course, can't do away with the picture-taking. :D

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I've been crocheting like crazy for the past weeks. I started slow coz I needed to relearn the stitches but now I'm getting the hang of it. I just have to remember to keep the tension equal so my work won't look weird. I've posted some of the crochet stuff I made in Facebook and my friends liked them! I was happy when they said they wanted me to make stuff for them. Wow. I still need a whole lot of practice so you know what this means... more yarn, more patterns, more happy crocheting... :D