our second home

Right now, I am on the floor in my husband’s bachelor pad. He is not a bachelor anymore (LOL) but the company he works for provided him a place to stay every time he has to work here in Fontana, Oberwaltersdorf. He has to work here three days each week and the remaining two weekdays are spent in his office in Graz. Commuting to this town from Graz (where we live) takes about an hour and a half so when he is working here, he stays the night here. Earlier, he stayed in hotels but this month, they gave him this pad. It’s great. I mean, it’s not a big place but he can call it his. He can leave his personal stuff here (unlike in hotels where he takes everything with him when he checks out). He can personalize this place. He can cook. And he can take us with him here without worrying about us going through the hassles of staying in a hotel.

This week I brought some of our things here. We have to cozy this place up if we want to make it our second home. It’s my first day here and I like it already. It’s small and the furniture are mismatched but the location is just great. It’s inside a country club and the surrounding is really beautiful and well kept. Today little C and I had lunch in the country club’s restaurant where we had a nice view of the lake. My husband said, we also have access to all the amenities here. Great! I could get use to this kind of living—LOL!

early dinner with C

This place is also just an hour away from my in-laws. That means, it is easier for us to visit each other. In fact, they are coming here tomorrow to help clean up this place and after that, C and I will go with them to their place to spend thanksgiving there. Hubby will follow us there.

Anyway, once we are done rearranging and beautifying this pad a bit, I am going to upload some photos so you could also see it. Right now, please be content with this photo of C playing on the floor.

C's little corner in his Papa's pad.

starting a routine

I should start blogging again because there’s a lot of things that happened already and if I don’t write about them soon, I might completely forget them. In fact, I think I already forgot plenty of them.

As many of you know, it’s been a month since I gave birth and I am dying to blog about the development of my son and my new life as a mom. Unfortunately though, I am not blessed with time. It’s really different if you have a baby. Your time is not your own anymore.

I am not complaining. Being a mom and having a baby is the most wonderful thing that happened to me aside from meeting and later, marrying the man of my dreams. If I would live my life twice, I’d live it the same way.

Back to blogging. I did read the blogs I follow during the entire time of my absence but when it comes to updating my own blogs, I failed. So right now, I am trying to pick up my blogging routine, or rather start a new one that is in compliance to my baby’s time. I hope I can cope soon.

I would like to be able to update each of my blogs once a week. I think, that would be possible if things ease up a bit around here. Difficult. But possible. If only there’s just the baby to think of, I think I can update my blogs more often because at this point of my baby’s life, he’s just sleeping most of the time. But there are house chores to think of and of course, there’s an endless line of visitors who would like to see our little emperor. It could get really hectic around here.

I hope that the news about us having a baby will become old news soon because that will mean less visitors, more time for other things.

feeling lifeless

There have been many nights when my sleep is interrupted by the urge to go to the loo. It’s not the most pleasant thing but at least I can fall asleep as soon as I climb up back to bed. Yesterday, I woke up at 4am for no reason. I didn’t feel the need to go to the loo. I am just awake.  I tried to fall back to sleep but I was not successful so at 5am, I stood up and go about my day. Today, the same thing happened. I was wide-awake at 4am and can’t sleep anymore. It sucks because I didn’t sleep early last night so I really can’t figure out why I am well awake so early.

As a result, I feel so tired during the day.  I feel so weak and cranky so I don’t get a lot of chores and work done. It’s frustrating because I am really wasting a lot of time sitting around and feeling weak when I am so desperately wanting to do some things before my baby arrives.

I initially planned to do a lot today—a bit of ironing, de-cluttering, and probably do some baking but I don’t know…. right now, I am not up do to any of those things.

Another thing, the weather is great but I also don’t feel like going out. Crazy! If this is one of those things related to pregnancy, I hope it goes away ASAP.

mixed emotions on something

I don’t know exactly where this came from but I remember being told that if I tell somebody about my dream, I will sort of jinx it. So it’s like, if you have a bad dream, it’s better to let a soul knows about it so it won’t happen. The same goes with plans and what might happen in the future so I am going to tell you something in the hope that it won’t happen.

Of course, nothing is fixed yet. This will just happen if all the ifs happen first so it is not really concrete yet. But anyway, the thought that we might be moving to Munich, Germany is something I just can’t smile about now. First, I like it here. I am already adjusted to the life here. Second, we just bought our place last year and with all the hard work we put into this place, it’ll be a shame to leave it now. Lastly and the most important one, we are going to have a baby and I just don’t like all the hassles of moving to another city with a baby. I think that’s a lot of adjustment for the family. Also, I’ve been to Munich. It’s a place to see of course but right now, I just can’t imagine living there.

It’s really crazy how often we moved from one place to another in the last four years. At the beginning it was fun but I now reached a point where it’s all too tiring for me. I can’t do this over and over again.

BUT in the case of my husband’s job, this kind of move means a lot to our finances so it can’t be that bad. It’s actually good. I am just getting all sentimental and panicky. Maybe it’s with the pregnancy.  Maybe I just really like it here. *Sign, why can’t we just stay here and just get the money we would get if we would move to another city?

the closest thing to exercise

No matter how busy I am and no matter how much work I have in front of the computer, I make sure that I find the time to move around. Being pregnant and soon to be giving birth, it is necessary to move my ass every now and then. I am thankful that the weather allows me to take walks now. Most days, I just walk around the neighborhood but if I am feeling overly zealous, I walk to our community’s center (plaza). It’s about 20 minutes walk from our place but since I am pregnant and I walk slow, it takes me around 30-40 minutes.

When I reach the plaza, I sit for an hour or two in a coffee shop. Sometimes I order a yummy looking cake but most of the time I just get me four scoops of ice cream and savor it slowly. I take walks alone (when hubby’s at work). In the community where I live, I really don’t know anybody who I am comfortable having coffee with. Most of my friends are living in the city and I am just too lazy to drive there and meet them. For small walks (i.e. exercise or moving my ass a bit), I rather do it alone.

four scoops of ice cream

My number 1 craving right now: ice cream

mac in a coffee shop

I bring my MAC with me or sometimes, I bring a book.

happy april fool’s day!

It’s the first of April. That means, April fool’s day jokes are rampant today and I got mine from my husband this morning. I was still half asleep when he pulled up the blinds and exclaimed, “Oh my God, it is snowing!” I went like, “What!?!” Then I stood up so fast to look out of the window. Knowing how crazy the weather gets in April, I swear, I believed it for a brief moment. Snow in April, that is nothing special (so I am not naïve), but it’s significant to me because I don’t like to see snow anytime soon. That is the very reason why it was easy to fool me about something like that. Anyway, after I had stood up my husband said “April, April! Happy April fool’s day!” That was a simple joke. I even doubt if that was already his April Fool’s day joke, I think he just wants me to get out of bed.

So anyway, I am not so big on April Fool’s day. I don’t remember making AFD joke on anybody. But I remember that back home, we always say don’t lend money to anyone on this day. So people, joke all you want but don’t lend money to anybody today if you want to see your money back.

almost Paris

Hubby flew to Paris tonight to attend the JEC composite trade show tomorrow. Not having been to Paris, I wanted to go with him. Since this is a business flight for my husband, the company he works for pays for everything, and if I would go with him, we would have to pay for my plane ticket ourselves. At first, it was a very brilliant idea. We just have to pay for ONE rountrip plane ticket! We don’t have to pay for a hotel accommodation because the company he works for covers that.

The plan was, while he attends the trade show, I could go and roam around Paris. Then when the day is over, we could go back here in Graz together (it’s just for one night and one day). Brilliant. But the thing is, the cheapest roundtrip plane ticket we can find is 571Euros (graz-vienna-paris-vienna-graz). The fact that there are no Graz-Paris direct flights could be the reason why it’s that expensive. So…I think, I would be plain crazy to spend that much for just a day in Paris.

Then I got the crazy idea to go ahead and take the train in the morning and meet my husband in Paris when he arrives at night (around the same time I will be arriving with the train) but because I am very pregnant, there’s no way my husband is going to allow me to take such a long train ride alone. My husband can’t ride the train with me because he has to work during the day. Sad to say, there’s no way this crazy idea is going to work.

So I am home alone tonight because I am a stingy rat. I’d rather save the 571 Euros for future holidays that will give us ample time to see and enjoy a place. Heck, I am not going to spend that much just to go pee in Paris. LOL. Paris will always be there and there will be still plenty of chances to see it.

dreams slowly coming true

There was a time when we (my mom, my two older sisters, and I) were living in a 2 bedroom rented bungalow in Baguio. Then, when my mom and my eldest sister went to work in Tarlac, they rented another house there. My second sister and I stayed in the rented house in Baguio because were still studying that time.

That was around 11 years ago and some things changed since then. Now, we each have our own family and I am very proud to say that each of us is doing okay. I may sound like I’m bragging (maybe I am a little bit) but I am not bragging about me. This post is not about me at all. This post is about my family back home and how I am so proud of them.

My mother is a working mom. She started as a factory worker in a garment company. With no tertiary education to boast of, she started at the very bottom. Gradually, her work ethics and abilities were recognized so she slowly rose from being a humble helper to a production manager. Then seven years ago, she decided to start her own small garment company. Until now, her company is still small but it gives her and my stepdad (whom she met while working in Tarlac) a decent and steady income that enables them to build a house and buy another secondhand car. The house is still unfinished and the cars they have are secondhand but that’s a big improvement from having nothing.

mom and stepdad's house

mom and stepdad's unfinished but already habitable house

mom and stepdad's cars

mom and stepdad's cars

My eldest sister is a B.S. Psychology graduate and is now running the company alongside my mother and my stepdad. She has two boys and her husband is a mechanical engineer who is working in Dubai.

my eldest sister's unfinished house

my eldest sister's unfinished house

My second sister is a public school elementary teacher. She has one son and her husband is working as a teacher too in the same public school where she works.

my second sister's unfinished house... still has a long way to go.

my second sister's unfinished house... still has a long way to go.

Their houses are still unfinished and it would probably still take them years before they can finish their houses but all the same, I am happy for them. They don’t have to rent anymore. They have a house they can call their own. I am really proud of them, of their successes and accomplishments. My sisters and I have different personalities but there’s one thing we share in common and I am quite sure that we got it from our mother: we depend on our own capabilities to bring us to where we want to go. We don’t depend on other people (they don’t make “asa” to me because I am abroad). We are all very independent.

And look, my grandma (my mother’s mom) is also upgrading her house.

my grandma's house

my grandma's house... i think she has the best :)