Happy ThanksGiving!

My facebook feeds are full of thanksgiving memes. And even if we don't celebrate that in the Philippines nakigaya na din ako. Lol 

This year is indeed a roller coaster ride for me, but amidst everything, I still have alot of things to be thankful for. 

I thank God for letting me meet daddy R. He may not me a perfect husband, but he is willing to love me beyond my imferfections. Thats all I need to keep going. 

I thank God for a lovely family. My life may not be as good as what others have, but we are happily contented. Thats all that matters. 

I thank God that I wake up every morning to see how beautiful life has to offer. 

And most of all, I thank God for all the provisions that allowed me to be a blessing to my family. 

Happy thanksgiving folks! 

G, 

My Eye Glasses from Paterno St. in Quiapo

Since college, I was prescribed to wear eye glasses, but the pasaway in me always get away with wearing one. I had different glasses before, even contact lenses only to wear them not longer than 2 weeks. Hindi talaga kasi ako sanay, and I don't really feel the need to wear one, until last July with frequent migraines and itchy-dry eyes. I really need one. 

So the search for a comfortable, stylish and  yet reasonable priced eye glasses begun. A friend and officemate told me about Paterno street in Quiapo and I quote  her "Sa Quiapo, madami dun, makakapili ka and mura pa!". 

I am working in Manila for more than 6 years now, but I still don't know how to go to Quiapo alone. Hindi ko alam bakit haha so I tried to look at possible ways. 

1. If you are from North or Quezon City, you may take UV express, Jeepneys to Quiapo and alight at Chowking just before the Quiapo Church, and thats the Paterno Street na!

2. You can also take LRT line 1, Paterno street is just walking distance from the Carriedo Station. 

3. If you have friends na alam pumunta Quiapo, pasama ka nalang!

And since I have a very supportive husband, sinamahan nalang ako ni daddy R, who surveyed the street before bringing me there. 

As daddy R said, "Masusuya ka sa dami ng salamin dun!" and the Paterno Street didn't disappoint me. The whole street is lined with different shops with thousands of styles you can choose from. Not the tiangge style that my parents and I envisioned. Nakakatuwa magsukat-sukat, just make sure din to tag-along someone para may kasama ka pumili, because if not, hindi ka na makaka-alis dun lol. 

Frames ranges from as low as P450 to P7,000 depending on the style you will choose. Some offered free lenses with the frames, some as separate and may require additional fee for specialized lenses. Eye examination is also free if you will purchase the glasses with them. As for my case, I had my prescription with me, so I gave it to them and waited 30-45 minutes for my eye glasses to be done.  

Wide selection of eye glasses. Nakakasuya talaga! lol

After shop hopping, I settled with this blue frame worth P800 including the lenses. I just added P200 to make the lenses multi-coated for computer exposures.

Super sulit for me. I got compliments with the glasses, and what I love most is that super comfortable to wear, even in my budget!

G, 

Mommy Sweetie is back!!!

I know! I've been MIA for more than 2 weeks and forgive me for my negative vibes last post. Work and school was hell. Now I understand the sentiments of parents working hard to send their children to school, working students who wish for more extra hours a day and of working mothers. At kung ang drama ni R ay "ang hirap magpaaral ng matanda" ako naman ay "anghirap mag-aral ng matanda ka na!" hahaha. R sent me to school and because my semester is officially over yesterday... I am now waiting for my reward, my Tory Burch Bag! I worked hard for that, yan ang motivation ko everytime pagod na pagod na ako from work at may papers or exam ako haha #kababawantalaga.

I am now so near, yet so far in my impulsive dream. When I was young, I really wanted to be a journalist specifically a broadcast journalist yan talaga ang ultimate dream ko. But when I entered college I realized I wasn't for that field and enjoyed being in Development Work. I envisioned myself leading an organization where I can help and empower Filipinos makabayan talaga ang peg ko. But fate has other plans, just before my graduation, my family needed me to support them financially so I need to look for a job immediately and landed to a position in training/hr function and the rest was history. I realized that training has a lot of opportunities to offer, but it needs constant improvement, there will be a time that you need to reinvent yourself so you will always have the competency. At dun ko na naisip and impulsive dream ko, to be a licensed teacher. And let's see what will this new field has in store for me. For now, I am waiting for my grades, and then I'll see if I should take the LET exam this January na, #prayinghardforsign.

Anyway, why is my last post so negative nga ba? this blog is supposed to be full of positive vibes and full of happy memories of my family and baby D. Ayun na nga, I'm back to travelling again, well I like to travel, thats why I love my job pero iba na pala if you are a mom na. It's so hard to leave baby D even if 2-3 days lang, specially when he's sick. I felt so bad that I wasn't there to comfort baby D in times that he needed me most and sobrang nakakaguilty when I went home with a pattottie baby and muntik na ako hindi makilala #workingmommyblues talaga. Iniisip ko nalang, I need to work to provide him all he need and all he want. Yun lang, we know naman that material things are not enough so I made sure that every weekend or nightime is a quality time with baby D. Minsan lang sila dadaan sa cutest stage na yan, and I don't wanna miss it kasi i'm studying, kasi i'm working, kasi i'm tired ayoko ng gnun so now I'm really.. really learning how to handle everything and muntik ko na nga makalimutan may asawa din pala ako haha buti nalang mahal na mahal ako ni R. (love you babe..!)

The last 2 weeks was so eventful, I had a lot of learnings, realizations and cute stories of baby D that I want to share. And sana the long weekends coming and my migration to another lappy will enable me to update this nearly forgotten online diary of mine. I have a lot of plans. Sabi ko nga, I need to reinvent myself, haha sana naman this is not yet a sign of midlife crisis. No not yet.

Today, I realized that we all have the power to say no if we feel or know that we have reached our limits. We are just humans that has limitations and we should know when to stop.  Kagaya ng pagkain sa eat-all-you-can dinner, you should know when to stop even if there are a lot of food choices that you wanted to try. There will always be another time and one should know how to prioritize, kung ayaw mo magsuffer ng impacho haha. Seriously, we can only take so much within our plate, and getting work more than your limit will just compromise other work. So we should learn how to say NO.

Laters,

G

Best Gift for Baby D

(Series of Learnings from our resource speakers)

I have been doing trainings with my current employer for more than 3 years and conducted hundreds of trainings nationwide. Am I bored? Nah.. What I love about my job is I get to meet a lot of people. I am surrounded with people from all walks of life, wearing different hats and with different kadramahans. But what is the best about it? I get to learn. Yes, learning is a never-ending process especially in real life.

Last Thursday, while waiting for a delayed flight to Kalibo, Aklan (Always delayed!), my resource speaker and I for a particular seminar is having a usual chat about my son. And she said, “You know what is the best gift you can give to your son?” I said having daddy R back in manila, (I thought having a father figure everyday will do). But she said “No, it is showing your son your genuine love with each other everyday until forever”.  I asked why and how.

She said “The love that your son feel between you and his daddy will make him a better person, will make him secure and will make him be able to love genuinely in the future.  Love starts at home and if you do not love your partner truly, you will not be able to withstand the struggles of in-laws, personal differences, cultural backgrounds and other marital problems that lead to separation. A broken family, a loveless home will also make a broken child. “

I feel those words. From a child who grew up with my grandparents because my parents separated, I feel what she said. I also felt the brokenness, the emptiness and the search for love. It’s not that I grew up not loved, Lolo and Inang showered me with genuine love, like I am their youngest daughter, without their guidance, I maybe nothing. Well that deserves another post. But amidst all, something inside is missing. My parents and I still see each other, they provided everything I need and even my wants, but not a family.  So that explains a growing teenager always looking for love. Ako na talaga ang nagka-first bf ay grade 5 pa lang!.  Now I know why, I have been looking for love to other people.

And I don’t want baby D to experience that emptiness. I am sure I love daddy R and I am sure daddy R feels the same. All people who got married are in love. So my next question is “How do we sustain love until eternity?” “How can we stay in love after 50 years?”.

She said “When people get marry, what they feel is more on romance, not pure love.  More on wanting to be together, clinginess and adventure. So when the baby comes, plus the in-laws and imperfection comes, the marriage fails. What they miss is to love and accept the individuality of their partners. They fail to love and accept their partner as a person with imperfections and the rest of his/her baggage in life. And they fail to have faith and make God as the center of their marriage. “

Those words hit me again. I did mention that R and I mastered the art of compromise, and give and take. Most of the time we know which battle we need to fight on. Yes, in 4 years and so… we have learned a lot in handling each other’s imperfections and we are still learning. And I agree that marriage is a never-ending process of learning and discovering ways to love your partner. We are in love everyday, I just don’t know until when. And that’s my greatest fear. To wake-up one day, that R has fallen out of love. And fear for baby D and our family. And knowing that the best gift to my children is “LOVE”, I swear that I will do anything to make the “LOVE” flaming until eternity.

You may say who am I talking about my genuine love to R and baby D for in my early years I am an empty person? Well, I found the right ingredients, the missing part of my life and the last puzzle when after 14 years, my parents reunited. So now that’s what I call true love. And that’s the reason I know that I am capable of loving. Genuinely. And I know this will last until eternity.

All is well.