Independence Day Holiday

It was declared earlier on that June 11 instead of June 12 would be a non-working holiday. Thus, Independence Day is 1 day earlier this year. It means we have a 3-day break. So here on my 3rd day, I found an extra time to blog.

I wrote about the boys' 1st time to try badminton last time over here. I mentioned about 3yo Jake not being able to get to try. However, last Monday, Jake finally got his chance. He was able to play. I was amused at how untiring this boy was at 9pm... See for yourself...

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Tonight is badminton night. We reserved 2 courts for 3 hours each. There are 10 of us from work who are going. I'm thinking whether to bring the boys again or not. Hmm...

Perhaps I would...

The Big Reveal

Late last year, while skimming the classifieds, I came across an ad about a townhouse in Lahug that was for sale. It was a few minutes from work, near Matt & Kyle's new campus, near Jake's nursery school and near my MIL's.

It was timely that our Tuscania condo (in Guadalupe) had a serious buyer. It was actually because we were able to sell it for a good price that Jerry & I decided to put an offer for the Lahug property.

To make the story short, we sealed the deals for both the sale and the purchase of the 2 properties. After a few months of renovation and finishing and putting together the designs I've chosen from numerous magazines, we finally decided to invite my MIL for the "big reveal". Think ETC channel's Merge or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's kind of house make-over. :D

Mommy would usually just stay home to relax. She's not one who will be easily invited to eat out or to go places. However, when Jerry called in the morning to invite MIL for some PM snacks, Nurse Cathy (Jake's former nanny) said MIL accepted the invitation.

We didn't actually tell MIL that we were showing her our humble place. So when she arrived, she was visibly impressed. MIL came on her wheelchair. But she was too determined to see the upstairs rooms that she asked Nurse Cathy to assist her as she walked on the way up. It was unbelievable that she did that. I was touched.

All I could hear were positive comments down to the smallest detail. We were excited to tell her how we managed to put everything together no matter how limited our resources were and even if Jerry spent half of his time at work shuttling between Manila and Cebu. I guess she must have been really happy to see her son, Jerry, doing good after all.

The big reveal wasn't just about the new house. It is not an imposing piece of structure with luxurious interiors. In fact it is just modest-sized and cozy, nothing extraordinary about it. The big reveal was more of an inside look at how we have been all this time and thus putting to rest whatever worries MIL might have about his son and his family.

Here's a short slide of MIL's first visit to my casita...

Fender-Bender (Well Almost)

See the blue paint on the right part of the bumper?
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I was bringing my boys to school a few weeks back, Kyle for his theatre practice and Matt for his basketball. We were running a bit late. And the traffic light on that intersection along Gen. Maxilom Avenue and D. Jakosalem Streets has just turned red. We were the second car on our lane.

I had my foot on the brake as I talked animatedly with my boys. I didn't shift to "neutral" nor to "park" as I knew this stop wasn't going to take long. Then I felt the car inching forward. That's the trouble with automatic, The split second it took me to realize what was happening seemed forever. And before I could do something, I instinctively stepped harder on the brake.

"SH*T!!!* was the only word I managed to blurt out when after I stepped on the brake, our vehicle lunged forward to "kiss" the small blue pick-up in front of us. Matt & Kyle sat stunned and couldn't believe what just happened.

We just hit a car! *Groan*

Major Accomplishment

taken at the i2 roofdeck after a successful event
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Because of collective efforts from the Cebu, Manila and US teams, this is probably our biggest accomplishment for the first half of 2007 - the expansion of the IT office we all work in. And May 24th was a red-letter day when we had our office blessed, conducted press briefings, and introduced our new IT visions and programs to the academe.

Though the real hard work brought on by expansion is looming right in front of us, thank God we're finally over this one. The preparations leading to this day were just daunting but we happily culminated the event by spending time with counterparts for a night cap.

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For the first half of 2007, is there something you have done (in school, at work or at home) that your are extremely proud of? I bet you have. ;)

Last Day of Vacation?

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Tinkering with the lego is one of the things they do on their free time.
(Photo taken using a Sony T100 on soft-focus feature)
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Classes started for most schools today. Not for my boys... Their school will open on June 27, so that's more than 3 weeks of free days up ahead.

I look forward to June 27 when my boys start being active again academically. I look forward to July when Jake starts his nursery school. On the other hand, I dread the traffic that goes along with the season.

For this new school year, what do you look forward to? What do you dread, if there's any?

Cebu Auto Craze

Among all the cars on display, Jake liked to pose with this one!
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Last May 30, Jerry and I knocked off at 1130 am to bring the boys to the Cebu Auto Craze auto show during our lunch break. That's the nice thing about being in Cebu, not much lunch traffic and you get to spend time with your kids in the middle of a work day.

So anyway, there were not much flashy cars on display. However, Jake found a good one for photo op. At his age (3yo), he could already tell a good car brand apart from the rest. He took after his Papa and elder brothers obviously as I'm just clueless with cars...











Auto-crazy boys
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If you're not as clueless as me, here are some car questions for you:
1. Do you drive?
2. Which do you prefer, manual or automatic transmission?
3. What's your dream car?

Seeing Myself After 20 Years...

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One busy day in May, about last week, my parents and relatives paid me a visit. It was a pleasant mini reunion of sorts as I don't get to see the Espiritus that often, them being in Manila and myself being based in Cebu.

We spent lunch together at Abuhan where Pa wanted to treat us all to pochero. I was the only one in the group who wasn't actually watching my diet. Oops. Though the choice of food wasn't really on the healthy side, all of them were consciously picking very small portions for consumption.

Pa and Tito Roby were talking about their quadruple or triple bypasses like they would talk about car models. "Payabangan" sila. Hahaha! And Ma & Tita Celia would compare how many medicines or how often they took a certain prescription like they would talk about shoes, bags and shopping! I was amused listening to all of them.

Then when we were all done with the dessert, Pa called on the waiter to ask for the bill. When it came, everyone was fumbling for his/her wallet. I thought they were racing against each other as to who would be the fastest to whip out the credit card.

But no...

I was utterly amused when all of them handed their Senior Citizen's ID! Hihihi!

That same night, Aunt Didi joined the group and treated us all to dinner at Laguna Garden Cafe. And the whole experience would be repeated....

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I am grateful that I am still surrounded by loved ones who are in their prime years. I could only pray that they stay as lively and as healthy as they are for as long as possible. To achieve even half of what they have is already a great blessing.

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On another note, I hope nobody gets offended (about age), but when you get together what topics do you usually talk about with your peers?