We sent off the last of our turista (my sister) who came here for summer to the airport this morning. Waaaaa! Thank God we said a hurried goodbye coz she only had 15 minutes left to run to the boarding area. I don’t like long goodbye’s actually coz I might get emotional and cry, so that was okay.
Waaaaaa!
Anyway, as we were driving home, M asked me “so, what shall we do now?” I told him I’d rather stay at home. Even if Accuweather forecasted today’s weather to be sunny and nice, I didn’t want go out. Being constantly on the move for the last 5 months, our things needed to be arranged and put back in place. There are a lot of things to do! Or I might sleep. That’s what I thought. BUT half of the day has already passed and I still didn’t do any of those. I’m feeling lazy and already missing my sistah! Waaaaa! Who knows what I’ll think next, I might scour the net for some cheap air tickets to Asia for December to be with the family again or browse on New York City Tours for the next summer.
I dread facing next week when it’s just me and little C left at home when M goes to work. I’m sure the little tyke will notice someone is missing here. Waaaaa!
The birthday girl.
Yesterday was little C’s first birthday. We’re overjoyed as to how this baby turned out to be. She’s such an amusing little girl! She’s very playful lately and teases us a lot. She’d also melt our hearts with her abundant smiles and giggles. Many times I had to bite my own tongue instead of her. Weeeeee!
The pretty bouquet from Marielle.
Anyway I was surprised to receive a bouquet of mixed flowers from a friend. It wasn’t my birthday but I got a present from her! She said it’s a gift for surviving my first year as a mom.
I’ve got plenty to say about how I survived the ordeal in a foreign land but my mind is pretty much drained right now to form my thoughts in a comprehendable fashion. All I can say is, compared to other mother’s experience, thank God little C had no serious health-related problems or accidents that could have worried me to death.
To end this post, let me send out my BIG thanks to ALL – our family and friends who have helped me get through the first year most especially to M, for being such a good dad and husband. We made it! Cheers!
I’ve been meaning to write about our thrilling and dramatic trip back to Praha but as always here I am with the same excuse, I’ve been BUSY! Okay, we left Manila on May 17 on board KLM in the morning via Amsterdam. WE were expected to arrive that evening in Praha. WE would be my dad, my mom, little C and myself. Yep, I brought my parents back with me to Europe!
Anyway our flight was delayed so we arrived in Amsterdam 30 minutes after our plane to Praha left. Waaaa! Unfortunately, it was the last flight to Praha for the day. There was no other choice for us but to stay in Amsterdam for the night courtesy of KLM. We were billeted in Van Der Valk Hotel Schiphol A4 Amsterdam, the sanctuary of airline passengers who had missed or cancelled flights! We met some Filipinos who were also on the same flight as we had from Manila to Amsterdam. We arrived in the hotel only a few minutes before they closed their restaurant. Dinner was buffet style but I was very tired to even enjoy the food.
Van Der Valk Hotel Schiphol A4 Amsterdam
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Geeee! It’s my first mother’s day! It feels good to be part of this prestigious club hehehe. It’s the most tiring and demanding work, but also the most rewarding.
Anyway, I’d like to greet all the moms out there especially my mom and maminka. Happy mother’s day to you!
My two moms and my baby:
my dearest mom and little C
maminka and little C
Not all parents are capable of taking care of their kids personally. Sometimes both mom and dad have to work hard to provide for the needs of the family. Leaving their kids in the care of a nanny is their only choice.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but with many cruel and bad nannies around (they got caught with nanny cameras!), parents should be vigilant and careful in choosing the person who’ll take care of their kids while they’re away.
Need a nanny? Got some tips for you before you hire one.
Check out the records of the nanny you’re hiring. Does she have a good record as a nanny? How long has she been working as one?
Hire only from reputable agencies. They screen the nannies before sending them out to work.
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He’s gone! And all I have left are the empty cans and bottles of the various beers he tried. I think I know now where little C took her hyper trait, from the dad! He arrived in Prague Sunday morning. After dumping his things at home and taking shower, he went straight to his mom’s house for a chit-chat, joined his friends for a soccer game in the afternoon and spent the whole evening with his dad till 1am. Quite a hectic schedule considering it’s his first day of arrival from a long trip, a total opposite of how he spent most of his time here… vacation means relaxation and that’s what he did. He wakes up late in the morning, “wasting” half of his days in sleep.
Shhhh… if I don’t get a comment from him here then he’s not reading my blog. But to save my face from shame, let me tell you this, the guy has only a week to do lots of things: process invitation for my family’s Euro trip, had the broken window of our dining room fixed, send the car to repair and of course, his colleagues are only too happy to have him back and is already loading his time with plenty of work. Then on Sunday the guy will fly to Uganda.
Happy Easter everyone! 
It was an extra memorable day coz we arrived the Philippines on Easter Sunday and celebrated it with a sumptuous welcome dinner (sea foods galore!) with the family. Despite the lack of sleep and one very tiring and long trip, the food managed to perk me up for an hour. Yum!
Anyway, it’s good to be back home!
Enjoying a high income as a professional (doctor, lawyer, surgeon and the likes) isn’t what most families have. If your family is among the lucky ones, chances are you’re living a comfortable and secure life, or so you thought.
What if suddenly something bad happens like an accident which will forever affect your capability to earn and provide for the family? Will they be able to live as comfortably as before? It’s a sad truth to accept but it can happen. How do you protect yourself and family from such sorry state?
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It was our 4th year wedding anniversary yesterday. We were able to leave little C with my mother-in-law. Luck was on our side coz she didn’t have anything planned for that night. When M asked her the day before if we can leave little C with her, she readily agreed. Since her birth, little C has been with us wherever we go. Don’t get me wrong, we love our baby but having time for ourselves is such an unusual treat that we were both overjoyed after dropping off the baby with her grandmother. Finally few hours of freedom!!!
The decision where to dine out was the next task to tackle. On Christmas day, dad treated us for lunch in a hotel near his office. Business establishments are closed on Christmas day in Czech Republic but this hotel named Astra was open. The place, service and especially the food appealed to me. I ordered rabbit meat wrapped in bacon then, which was really, really good. So when M asked me where I want to go, I immediately chose hotel Astra. Wow, what a great choice! When we arrived there, the well-lit dining place was empty except for the lone waiter who welcomed us. We had the whole place to ourselves; we have our own waiter and our own cook!
Before going there, I already chose from their website what I’ll order. This time, I had provencal lamb steak in red wine with American potatoes while M ordered what I had before, the rabbit. Another great choice for me. The meat was tender with little fat and the wine did a nice job of making the meat tasty. We also had ratatouille, mainly out of curiousity how this dish tastes like. The ingredients weren’t really special. I saw mushrooms, aubergine, bell peppers and tomatoes there but the way it was cooked was also delish. Dessert was hot raspberries in vanilla ice cream. Yummy!!! Read the rest of this entry »
We have a visitor from Ukraine tomorrow. She’s actually my brother-in-law’s girlfriend. She wants to meet me and see little C that’s why bro sort of invited themselves to come over at our place. Hehe M has already met her before; few times when he spent holidays in Spain (where she and bro resides) and once when the she came over Praha for a visit.
We shopped earlier for the munchies that we will be serving them; they said they’d come over for coffee but coffee at 6-7 in the evening doesn’t sound appropriate. M and I decided to serve them something else.
It’s nice that we’d finally meet each other especially that we plan to have our family Spain holidays hopefully next year. It will be their turn to play hosts. They live in one of the bustling cities in Spain, Barcelona where there are many tourists’ attractions such as the Casa Mila, the Rambla and the famous work of Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia Church. Wonderful!
