I used to love it when it rains, but not anymore.

Photo Credit: Google Images

With all the things needed to be done concurrently, I can’t afford to be lazy. There’s simply no room for procrastination. Sometimes I wish I had extra hands and could be at two or more places at a time. But you see, I could only do so much.

Last Saturday, I had three appointments. I promised my mom I would take her to a beauty salon for a rejuvenating diamond peel treatment, then go to a business meeting afterwards. But on the day of my appointments, I had to cancel both. I learned the night before that there’s a PTA meeting at my son’s new school.

The PTA meeting was scheduled at 8 AM, but since I still had a lot to do in the office, I asked the school owner if there’s another schedule. She said there’s another one at 10 AM.

So all the way from the office, I had to fly to my son’s school to catch the 10 AM PTA meeting (I was 15 minutes late) — only to find out as soon as I arrived that I couldn’t join because the said schedule was only for nursery and kinder parents.

I wanna cry.

Things can really be frustrating sometimes. *sigh*

My son at the nursery. Seeing him for the first time was priceless! My jaw dropped in awe at the sight of this cute baby boy.

The first time I saw my baby girl at the nursery. I was on a wheelchair, 3 days after my CS operation. I could still barely move then, but I gathered all the strength I had just to see this wonderful gift from God.

Isn’t it funny how time flies right before our very eyes? My son is 5 years old and now in preparatory; my baby girl is 1 year old and loves “reading” books — in a language only she can understand, that is.

It is very true that to a child, LOVE is spelled T-I-M-E. It is my sincere prayer that every parent in this world would realize the true essence of spending time with their children no matter how tiring and busy their day had been. After all, our kids won’t be kids forever. They grow up fast. Unless you have the power to turn back time, then maybe you can procrastinate.

Every time I look at my kids, I can’t help but ask myself, “Am I giving them enough time despite my busy schedule? Am I doing a great job as a mom? Am I living out the values I want them to live by? Am I building their character through moral feeding?” And the list goes on…

The truth is, for now I have no means of knowing whether I am doing a good job or not. I would only know the verdict once my kids grow up to be the kind of man/woman that God wants them to be. I am thankful I still have several years to train my children in the way they should go. By God’s grace, I know raising godly kids is possible in this generation! Amen? Amen!

Okay, enough of this cheesy-ness!

All I wanted to say was, Christmas is just a few months away! I need to learn how to make photo holiday cards as soon as possible. Can you recommend any good software to use?

Photo Credit: Beauty Fashion Tips

Since high school up to this very day (I am now a proud mom of two), I do everything I could to protect my hair from any kind of damage so I always make sure that my “crowning glory” gets all the pampering it deserves. But since I already have two kids, it is my personal choice not to regularly go to salons anymore because it’s costly. Now I prefer doing my “hair spa” treatments at home (except hair rebonding) with the help of my dear husband. I get the same results anyway.

I just noticed that with my two pregnancies, I was prone to hair fall. Now my hair has become thinner. I just couldn’t imagine myself going bald so I had to learn more hair loss products!

**(Correction: learn more about hair loss products)

But I guess one of the reasons why I haven’t resigned until now is the fact that our company pays well and provides benefits incomparable to other call centers out there. Insurance coverage (accident, death, disability insurance, etc.) and health benefits are great.

Above all, I have a great boss too! I love her just as much as I love my teammates. The thing is, they’re not just my colleagues — they’re my dear friends!

One day, I’ll be saying goodbye to the corporate world. But for now, let me enjoy these “sweet benefits”.

Baguio Trip – May 2009

Anyway, allow me to share with you the highlights of my long hiatus.

- Had my much-awaited trip to Caramoan, Camarines Sur with my friends in the office last June 17-19.

- I dropped our precious Nikon D40 camera (DSLR) on the way to church on Father’s Day. It’s only 3 months old! We haven’t had it fixed until now. *sad, sad, sad* We’re back to using our old Samsung S630 digicam temporarily.

- As usual, our workload in the office seemed to double-up. And what’s sad is, the attrition rate went up. Almost every one I talk to wants to resign and find an account or company that would give them the work-life balance they deserve. *sigh*

- Attended the “Raising Godly Kids” seminar conducted by our church for two Saturdays. I learned a lot! I’ll be sharing with you the details of this life-changing seminar on my parenting blog when I have enough time. I look forward to attending more seminars in the future!

- Finally, my husband and I now belong to a small group in church that meets every Tuesday morning after work. Since we both work in a call center (same company), it was very hard for us to join a group that usually meets in the afternoon or evening. Thank God for the countless answered prayers!

- Had the outside of our house re-painted. Guess what the color is? Violet! Hehe. Nice one!

- On July 10, we officially dedicated our baby Ayesha to Jesus Christ. We only had two weeks to prepare for this special event, but I’m so glad it turned out fine. Click here to view the photos.

- I recently attended the 2nd PTA meeting at my son’s new school. For some weird reason, one mother nominated me to be the President. My opponent and I initially had the same number of votes. So to break the tie, I voted for my opponent. Haha! *big grin* I thought I was free from the responsibility, but the same person who nominated me as President nominated me again for the Vice-President post. And this time, I won! Waaaaaaaa!!!!

I think I have more to include in the list, but I can’t remember them all now. (sign of aging?)

Okay, there ‘ya go. It’s time to hit the sack. God bless you!

My fellow QAs prepared a welcome tarpaulin for me. They hung it at my station. How sweet! Thanks, guys! It really made my day.

Proverbs 22:26
Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he’s old he will not turn away from it.

Two weeks from now, my 78-day maternity leave will come to an end. I can’t help but feel a little melancholy. I know I’ll have a lot of catching up to do in the office and I’ll probably be very busy. I am scared to lose time and energy for my little angels. Part of me just wants to stay at home and take care of the kids, do a little ministry work in our church and put up a small business. But the truth is, I don’t have the guts to do so. I know in my heart that being a stay-at-home mom is a luxury that I can’t afford right now.

I need to help my husband reach our goals. After all, it’s for our kids’ future. All we want is to give them the kind of life they deserve.

My wonderful children, Greg (4 years old) and Ayesha (1 month old).

I only hope and pray that God would help us raise our children well while working earnestly for their future. Child-rearing is not an easy task. You don’t instantly reap what you sow. As parents, we are bound to wait years till we see the real fruit of our hardwork. One day, I want to be able to give myself a pat on the back and say, “Honney, you did an excellent job raising your children!”

Aside from island hopping and snorkeling (yes, I finally tried snorkeling for the first time and I soooo loved it!), what I enjoyed the most in Puerto Galera is SHOPPING!!! Beach dresses, t-shirts, board shorts, swim suits, sarongs, beach bags, slippers and all sorts of souvenirs are cheap there. So I went shopping until I dropped! Hahaha!

Here are some of my favorite photos taken by my husband.

More photos here.

Travel tip:
Always stay at a beach front resort especially if you’re traveling with a big group so you’ll have a quicker and easier access to the beach. In my experience during our recent stay in Puerto Galera, some of my team mates spent an ample time sleeping/staying in the room because they’re too lazy to go out. My god.

I had fun, sure, but too much time had been wasted.

Have a nice day!

Anyway, I’m going back to work tonight and I’m quite sure I have a lot of catching up to do so I’ll be very busy till the end of January. I’ll be fixing this site as soon as I can and will be blogging about our vacation in Bohol. We took more than one thousand pictures! Hahaha!

By the way, it’s my 28th birthday tomorrow. Tatanda na naman ako! Hay….