Wishing for Relaxation

It’s been such a hectic week and there’s more to come. Let me tell you why.

We have a huge workload at the office that is likely to extend for two more weeks. Husband and I would like to catch the movie Battleship but when I checked out the movie scheds at the malls closest to us, Battleship isn’t being shown anymore! Too bad, we’ve heard great reviews of the movie. One more thing adding up to my stress is our anniversary which is coming up on May 8^th. We still have nowhere to go. I finally decided to ditch the idea of going to Tagaytay. I cannot, for the life of me, travel on motorcycle in this heat! The plan of savoring the cool winds of Tagaytay City on hubby’s motorcycle does not sound great anymore with the high temperature we’ve been having the past few days. I’m scared I would pass out while riding.

Also, Johan’s been overly active the entire week. He wakes up the same time I do and follow me around while I prepare for work. He’s still awake when I come home and demands attention from me – read: dance alongside him to the Mickey Mouse Playhouse Hotdog Song.

Ah, I am so tired. I wish I could just have a few hours to relax, read a very good book, inside our air-conditioned room, smelling the clean scent of aromatherapy oils coming from the vaporizer pipe.

One could wish, right?

Am I Ready? No, Just Planning Ahead

With both my husband and I working, we’ve been talking about investing our hard earned money. We have a few extras now that Johan’s not going to school yet and we thought it’s a good time to make a few investments. We already inquired from insurance agents and we are currently studying a few that made some policy drafts for us. So far, we haven’t made a decision yet, hopefully soon.

Also, not to be morbid or anything, I am seriously considering purchasing a memorial lot for myself and for my husband. It’s not like I am planning our deaths but it’s more like being responsible and being prepared for whatever will happen. I don’t want to be a burden to the people I will be leaving behind and let them shoulder the costs of my death, my funeral casket and my burial. That would be asking too much.

Anyway, my mom and my sister are now paying monthly dues for their own memorial lots and it’s not expensive at all at only Php 500.00 per month, I am definitely thinking about it. Even my mom is now convincing me to do the same, “just in case”.  I just have to talk it out with my husband who kept on telling me, “you don’t plan things like these, it’s as if you’re calling out to the universe that you are ready to die.”


Am I ready? No, I'm just planning ahead. J

Grooming my Nails

Maintaining well-manicured nails is a must for both men and women. For women, yes, it may be of vanity but still clean nails are signs of a well groomed person. I, honestly, hate going to the salon to have my nails done. I don’t exactly have the patience to wait in line and sit for at least an hour. It only differs if I already have an appointment or if I have somewhere special to go to that would require me to bare my feet and show off my hands.

For every day, I do my nails myself. I’m not sure if I’m doing an awesome job but it works for me. I love wearing nail polish. Though, I only wear them on my toes because for some reason, I always ruin my newly manicured hands so I opt to just have my toe nails done every time. My all-time favorite nail color would have to be brick red but I am currently in love with the shade sapphire.

Now that summer has arrived, I’m also planning of having my nails done in bright summery look – like yellow, orange and green nail colors. I already bought some new shades and I can’t wait to try them all!

Wider Grounds

Johan loves to walk, run actually. He has a scheduled time when he will be allowed to play outside. It’s usually around 7-8am so he can have a dose of Vitamin D and then again at 4-5pm when the sun is just beginning to set. He loves to play hide and seek with whoever’s watching over him. Sometimes, he’ll be riding his toy car in our backyard and after a while, he’ll be pushing or pulling it instead. It's no surprise that he always have some abrasions on his legs whenever I come home from work after all the playing he’s done outside.

It makes me wish that our backyard has grass instead of cement. All of Johan’s abrasions on the knees are all because of that hard cement he falls on. If he will be playing on grass, I am sure he won’t have those minor injuries and his legs will remain spotlessly smooth. However, I don’t have the energy to maintain an entire backyard with real grass and besides, with this heat, I’m betting the grass won’t even last a month even if I install a sprinkler to keep it hydrated.

It is a good thing that synthetic turf is already available in the market. That way, we won’t have to worry about huge water bills, mowing the lawn, keeping the grass green all year round and other maintenance costs. For a fraction of the cost, I can have an expanse of “almost real” green grass that my son can safely play on.

I Love Me!

I wonder if all kids go through the same phase as my son, wherein he has this certain fascination with mirrors.

When we were in the mall last Saturday and after I put him down on the floor, he immediately ran away from me and look where I found him:

Johan talking to himself

After that he ran around again and then did this:

Kissing his reflection

Isn't he cute? =)

Family Day + Johan's New Look

Having a kid's haircut is expensive, no? Imagine having it monthly, it's even pricier than mine and hubby's haircuts combined!

Yesterday, we scheduled a family day for just the three of us: me, hubby and Johan. We went to SM City Dasmarinas for Johan's third haircut since he turned one. Hubby and I decided to cut Johan's hair really short to minimize his trips to the kiddie salon and also because this summer is ultimately the hottest, with the temperature hitting the 35 degree mark last Thursday. Whew!

I also allotted some 30 minutes of play time for Johan inside one of those play areas inside the mall. The little boy sure had a lot of fun and Mommy sure became really tired when the 30 minutes was over. Hehe!

Here are some photos:

A final photo of Johan before his haircut

He behaved pretty well as always

Then asked to be carried by Daddy after a few minutes. He probably got scared
of the sound from the razor.

My Little Shaolin Kid

Playing with cars and trains inside one of the play areas...

and instantly met a playtime buddy!

Going up the mini stairs...

...to slide down. This is his favorite!

And then he got tired and just laid there on the mattress. The other kids can't slide down
because Johan refuses to get up.

It was a very tiring but very good day for us. 

Today's Sunday, we already heard mass at our usual time of 6am, hubby and Johan are both taking a nap and I'm here typing away this entry #bantaysalakay. Hehe!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Anniversary Plans: To Go or Not to Go?

Our 3rd wedding anniversary is coming up in a few weeks and I really, really wanted to spend time with hubby.  This year I want to celebrate the day in Tagaytay where we had our honeymoon.

I'd love to order a huge bowl of steaming Bulalo while enjoying the picturesque view of Taal Volcano, I'd love to go to the Pink Sisters Chapel to say thanks for yet another year of wonderful marriage bliss (and more to come!), I'd love to head over to Mushroom Burger for merienda and Amira's to buy boxes and boxes of Buko Tarts and finally, I'd love to spend some quiet time alone with hubby over a mug of hot chocolate and a slice of Blueberry Cheesecake from Bag of Beans.

But, I just cannot accept the thought that my son will be left at home while me and hubby are having a great time somewhere else. I know that I can bring Johan with us but the means of transport is one huge problem. Most probably, hubby and I will go there on commute or ride hubby's Suzuki Mio. Johan is one hyperactive toddler and I'm sure it'll be difficult to bring him by commute.

I am definitely torn as to pushing through with the plans or just go to a nearby mall so Johan can come with us. I know that husbands and wives should take care of their relationship and take some much needed quality time together. Hubby and I needed that because we don't see each other that often, except during weekends, since I started working. But, I am overridden with guilt to leave Johan at home.

I still have a few weeks to decide. Help?

Summer Outing 2012

Crying Johan during 2011's Summer Outing

Mommy and Johan spending quality time in the grass

This was Johan last year, he's so scared to get into the water so we spent the entire day lounging at the grass in the resort's garden. Wondering how he did in this year's outing?

Warming up

Splashing water, yay!

Into the pool he went where he wanted to stay all day!

Family photo in the pool

My not-so-picky-eater enjoying a stick of hotdog

This are some of the photos from our annual family outing which happened last Easter Sunday. I am so happy that Johan got to enjoy the pool and played with his cousins. He showed a huge improvement from last year's pool drama and we are just so proud of him for braving the cold pool water.

I should receive a pat on the back for exerting just a teensy little effort for this huge change. I did this on Good Friday and Black Saturday to prep Johan up for the outing on Sunday.

Practicing on a giant "palanggana"

I would have let him bathe in his small inflatable pool but I wasn't able to have it inflated hence the "palanggana". But still, my effort proved to be quite effective because Johan had a fun time swimming in an actual pool.

Now, I can't wait to bring him to the beach! Will he enjoy as much?

Tidying Up

A few weeks ago, I decided to clean up and pack some of Johan's small clothes and shoes. They're taking up too much space in our already small storage closets. While doing this, I also noticed his Silver Cross Dazzle Stroller under our bed, gathering dust.

It's been a long time since Johan rode his stroller and now that he's already running walking, I thought it's time to bid the stroller goodbye and pack it properly for the next cutie who will own it.

Here's Johan the first time he rode his Dazzle

I wasn't able to buy huge, clear plastic bags for the job and I only had a couple of extra large, black garbage bags in hand. I hope the black won't mesh with the red color of the stroller, sayang naman.

Anyway, here's a photo of the stroller, all packed up and ready for storage.

While I was busy with the packing, my son was also busy doing something inside our bedroom. Here he is crying his lungs out when he saw me putting his stroller inside the plastic bags. 

Believe me, he cried even harder when I took his Dazzle to the other room and kept it there. At his early age, my son already developed an attachment to his Dazzle. 

Johan, we're keeping the stroller for your future little sister, who hopefully will arrive in four years, the soonest. =)

Terribly Busy

I can't believe I've neglected this blog. It's just that since I started working again in February, I find it hard to write when I get home at night. It's as if my brain cells won't work and I've been mentally and physically exhausted. All I want is to snuggle next to my baby, since he's already sleeping most of the times that I arrive home or play with him during those few times that I catch him still awake.

I promise that I'll start blogging again soon. After the long weekend, probably.

For now, may we all have a blessed, meaningful holy week ahead.