so why a British employer huh?

Nowadays, I have been staying in front of my laptop longer than I used to. Well, it's because vacation has began since Monday and stress (mostly due to waking up very early everyday) has also lessened. My problem now is I am gaining weight. grrrrrr. Oh well. Can't help.

This week, I have also started reading forum on expat woman site. During our preview trip in Dubai last January, I was advised by our travel guide to browse this site as often as I could so I would have an idea of how it is to live in Dubai. I immediately went to Maid Classified Ads and see if it's easy to find a maid in Dubai. And this is what I found: 

Dear Sir/Madame,

To GOd be the glory!

I AM LOOKING FOR A LIVE OUT FULL TIME JOB as a home helper for a BRITISH FAMILY, I am (name), from Philippine, 37 years old, married, have a 2 years old daughter in the Philippines, I am staying here Al Jafiliya near satwa roundabout, I worked before in one of the prestigious cleaning company here in Dubai.The Helpers Cleaning Company, I worked there as a company cleaner for almost 3 years, I do cleaning, washing,ironing and some household work and some times baby sitting. If you are interested this is my contact number (mob.phone) .... thank you and have a blessed day to all!!

Regards,
(Name)

Wait! She is not alone. Other Filipinas want to be hired by American family or European family. Not by Asian nor by Filipino family. :) I wonder what could be their reason. Low salary? Minimum benefits? Or could it be that Western employers are kinder and more considerate? If this is the case there, then maybe I could just expect getting a Sri Lankan or an Indian helper.Or I couldn't hire anyone coz the latter also prefer Western employer. Oh so sad.

Last night, I told hubby to consider staying on a flat (condo unit) instead. Villas are hard to maintain if you don't have someone to help you. He is not cool on my suggestion. I guess he still wants a "feeling of home" after a long day of work.

So for now, let us wait and see. I better go back to sorting our clothes for next week's packing. Maids can wait.

Sarah is not coming with us (and it's breaking our hearts)

The original plan was to bring our Sarah with us to the UAE. We immediately started the procedures by implanting microchip to her. According to the Wikipedia, a microchip implant is an "identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog, cat, horse, parrot or other animal. The chip, about the size of a large grain of rice, uses passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, and is also known as a PIT tag (for Passive Integrated Transponder) ". In other words, naka barcode na si Sarah.

The next procedure was blood collection for titer test, a requirement for pets entering the UAE from the Philippines. Unfortunately, her veterinarian informed me that her blood is hemolized even she centrifuged it four times. Although the blood collection can be repeated after a week, we already lack the time. Assuming Sarah passed the 2nd blood collection, it would take a month to obtain the clearance since the result still has to be sent to the US. 

Every time I think of saying goodbye to Sarah, I cry. Whenever I watch heartwarming stories of pet dogs on TV I couldn't control my tears. My relatives asked me to consider selling sarah but it was never my option because for me it was like selling my own child. 

(Our Sarah will be adopted by our neighbor who has two shih tzu dogs)

Nowadays, sarah often spends time with her two shih tzu playmates in our neighbor's house. This will also lessen my separation anxiety come April 1, when we have to say goodbye to Sarah.

We will miss her.

No, I am not planning to get another dog. It is so heartbreaking to say goodbye.

musing

an early morning drive to XSN always gives me a different kind of adrenaline rush. it doesn't only give me the energy but it also makes me feel happy. This, despite having to wake up earlier than my usual 4:15 am. Driving along Nuvali road gives me this feeling that I am communing with nature. Morning mist on my windshield, green fields, trees everywhere, morning enthusiasts (bikers, joggers or just leisurely walking) and sunrise. I don't know, but I feel lucky to be one of those who still have the luxury of appreciating the beauty and miracle of the morning sun. 

One more week and my XSN routine is over and oh how I'm going to miss it. 

My Date

Guess who was my date on this lovely evening?

who else but my first born

(Mother &Son/Daughter Date in XSN)

in control

Let's face it. When you are a working mother the tendency is to depend on your helpers a lot. I should know. I was like that. I remember filling our cupboards with supplies good for three weeks, and refilling it every two weeks. As expected, canned goods, bottled juices, soup, flour, pancake mixes and meat breadings would expire without us even knowing it. And often, I would discover hotdog, ham and bacon buried under the freshly bought frozen deli. Not mentioning anymore rotten vegetables and fruits.

(http://www.thekitchn.com)

When my helpers left for good, I checked my cabinet of non foods and lo and behold, I was shocked to see bars of soap, boxes of floor wax, dish washing liquids and glass cleaning materials pushed at the darkest side of the cabinet. And this one upset me the most --- bottles (BOTTLES) of Sarah's multi vitamins and coat shine supplement were still sealed and untouched, meaning, Sarah was not getting her supplements for a long time but we kept on buying assuming that vitamins are faithfully administered on schedule. Tsk tsk. 

Now that I am in control of the household, I keep my supplies to the minimum. There is no reason to buy a lot since I could easily go to the nearby groceries and wet market if needed. There is adjustment, yes, esp. for hubby who delights on seeing cans of spam, luncheon meat, corned beef and frozen foods on stock. 

I am glad we have now greatly lessened our food wastage, we have also lowered our electricity (from Php7k to Php 5k) and water consumption (from Php1,500 to Php700.00). This, of course is still incomparable to the loss income due to my resignation from work, but at least I am in control of what's going on in the house. 

Household helps are angels, no doubt about it, but if we depend on them too much we will never know how much we are losing unnecessarily. :) 

What's up Valentine?

That day went by while we were in DepEd Region 1V A in Cainta explaining very hard to the Records Head our purpose of going there. Oh yes, we we failed big time. :( Anyway, we saw a ray of hope somewhere so let's see.

Hubby and I had our late lunch in our favorite restaurant, saan pa kundi sa Contis. Sarap kasi, reasonablly priced pa. Why go to fancy restaurants where you'll just have to pay dearly for the ambience, pero nganga naman ang tyan? :) Napawi lahat ng bad trip ko sa DepEd ng ako ay mabusog. 

And who says Valentine is only for the lovers? Hindi kaya. It's for the kids too because when I got my chocolates, suddenly naging Math wizards silang lahat, nag divide divided by 3 na sila agad agad. Ferrero is not my thing, but it's the ultimate for my kids aside from popcorn.

Eto talaga ang pa Valentine sa akin. hehe.

we laid to rest our reliable but aging 13 year old LG Washing Machine. Gagawin na lang namin syang ref ng basahan. :) We bought the same brand so it would be easier for a techie challenged like me to operate it. Basically same functions, same buttons and same pindot pindot except for its 16 kls. capacity, physical "beauty" and some added innovations and energy saving technology. It's still  top load due to our limited space in the laundry area. 

Ganito na siguro talaga pag homemaker ka, happiness lies somewhere else. :) 

Seize the day! Take care.

my own secret dream

Wherever life may take us in the next years one of my long term dreams is to have an American inspired house like below  with my own little flower and vegetable garden.

(Georgia Club house, Sta. Rosa)

 And since I am scared of worms, I will just hire somebody to take care of my plants. I could imagine myself wearing a wide hat on a nice summer dress walking down my garden while smelling my sampaguita and checking on my tomatoes and red bell pepper. My house will be filled with flowers in every corner

(all the photos of flowers are from jenniepperson's blog.thank you)

And on cool afternoon, me and hubby would be with our friends enjoying my finest selection of tea served in my intricately designed tea cups.

(copied from www.jenniepperson.com)

I hope when that time comes, we are not diabetic so we can still enjoy my freshly baked chocolate cookies :). That's how life ought to be enjoyed right? Not much complications, serene, contented and grateful.
But of course reality check ten years down the road we see ourselves and my kids still like a nomad, moving from one country to another chasing better opportunities :)
So for now, I will just content myself building my own secret garden. :)

Oh by the way, yesterday my neighbor gave me her harvest from her farm in Calamba.

 Upo and big tomatoes. Last time it was ube. Ahay. Inggit much.

So I had a hearty breakfast of tinapa, kamatis and pinakurat. Heavenly.

God Bless everyone. Stay safe.