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.

A quick visit (part 2)

Aside from the palaces we could also see the tallest building in the world from our terrace.  

 sunny but chilly.

Boys' room

 aw! jacuzzi. a little luxury.

we visited 4 schools and we narrowed down our choices into two.
This is the 2nd most expensive school (GEMs World Academy). The most expensive school (American School of Dubai) already informed us that they dont have seats anymore. It's fine. They are not IB anyway, but I heard it's a good school and one of the first IS in Dubai. Oh well.

great facilities.

 REPTON School (our other choice). REPTON School has more or less same tuition fees with GEMs. The school environment will take you to Harry Potter the movie. Good feeling. Personally, this is my choice. i saw lots of Filipinos and they were all warm. the students looked disciplined and well mannered. But let's see.

We were also toured by the relocation team, just a quick view of the residential houses. I requested for a 3 - 4 bedroom villa, but a 3 bedroom is more likely. Can I clean a 4 bedroom house? OMG! think again.

despite their busy schedule, Shervin, Fudge, Sharon and Amir managed to visit us in Dubai. They are staying in Abu Dhabi. Thank guys. See you again soon.

Mercato Mall. Had one of our after school tour lunches.

 Dubai Mall. HUGE! Hubby bought me my LV "starter set" hahahaha! Oh by the way, LV is cheaper in HK. I checked my bag in the internet and I got upset when I compared. shootsssss!

So this is it. When we finally settle in Dubai, I plan to begin my travelogue. Naks.Hubby and I are looking forward to an annual trip since Dubai is somewhat in the middle and traveling to other countries is relatively easier and shorter.
Thanks for dropping by. :)

our quick visit (part 1)

Days flew fast. Those five days in Dubai seemed to have passed by so quickly. In a snap of a finger we were back. Basically, the trip was just to find a school for the three. It was cold. It reminded me of my Seoul trip in 2007. It's biting and you would just like to stay home stay under your blanket the whole day.
We traveled business class as a policy. :) so I had to remind the kids that if ever we have to go on vacation to another country it would already be our expense and we will travel economy. A violent WHAT????

there i was talking with my mother. Business class lounge in NAIA. A lot of room for improvements.

Business class lounge in Dubai Airport. wow! Not much pictures, obvious na first timers.

I don't like economy. weh! Di nga?!

 Never a dull moment for the two during the nine hour trip.
Appetizers.

Main course (three choices actually)

dessert (again three choices)

 fruits.

 i skipped the wine.
Noodles can be ordered anytime. They also have kids meal but have to be arranged a day before the flight. Great!
Our view from the 29th floor. we are lucky coz we had the view of the palaces of the sheikhs and the track where the ruler does his horseriding routine. Nice view.

 our apartment hotel was spacious. three bedrooms with bathroom each. with a maid's room, laundry room and a guest toilet downstairs. oh wow.

almost done for tomorrow

almost all my major to dos in my checklist for tomorrow's flight is complete. We are all set. Well, 99%
Our luggage for check in:

 We can't afford an LV and I don't think we would ever purchase one. The price is sending me goosebumps. :) (sour graping lang po)

This might be for handcarry.
I spent one whole day reading forum on how to dress appropriately in the airport particularly if it's a long haul and if you are in a business class and almost everyone says you don't have to be dressed to the nines if it's a long flight. Smart casual will do and more importantly you must feel comfortable through out the flight.
So I got myself a knitted turtle neck, cotton cardigan and leggings. I expect to use this jacket and legging again in Dubai.

Abi is wearing cotton long sleeves. He likes being warm.

 Anjo insisted on wearing a scarf. I bought her one in neutral color.

DJ can wear just anything. He doesn't care.

Hubby is a frequent traveler so it's up to him to choose what he is wearing tomorrow.
From tonight, we will entrust Sarah to our neighbor who also owns shih tzu, she has two cutie cutie dogs so she welcomes Sarah warmly. We will all miss her :( sad. sniff... sniff...sniff.. Only for one week. :)