Semi-Hiatus

It’s been a whole lot of fun - the beach vacation. We spent 4 days and 3 nights by the beach and we have the tan to prove it. The Fisherman had a great time fishing whenever he felt like it. He was rewarded with 25 pieces of blue fish that are now comfortably encased in gallon ziploc bags, waiting to be devoured by the family.
We went with another family which made it more fun and cost effective. We brought pre-cooked meals that we can just microwave whenever needed. I baked enough cupcakes, bread and pastries enough to food an army. Soda, juice and milk and some wine and beer washed ‘em all down and we were content and happy. At least we didn’t have to think about what to cook for the next meal, nor did we spend time making them. Instead it was all a walk to the beach, the kids catching the waves and me and my Mommy friend soaking up the sun underneath a beach umbrella. The sand in our toes, me and my straw hat and a bottle of ice cold water. We took in the scene - young men and women parading in their bikinis and surf shorts, all tan and buff. My friend and I looked at them and reminisced about the days when we were just as fit and trim. Ahhh, youth.

Going back home, we were bombarded with the reality of life once again - SOLs, housework, office work and what-have-yous. We once again fell in the routine of our daily lives. And looked forward to another vacation in the distant future.

TheFisherman and I decided to forgo with our home improvement projects. We opted to build memories instead. And so yes, the money that would have gone to the projects will now go to vacations and spending time with the family. It’s a better investment that a beautiful patio or a flagstoned stoop.

School will be out for the Tweens in just a few days, June 12th to be exact. And they are counting down the days while I am still reeling from the fact that school lets out early this year.

The MIL’s visit has been postponed due to a health related cause. And now it looks like my BIL might come with her too.

Overall, it has been crazy in our household lately. I wish I can crunch more hours in a day. But for now I will survive. And brace myself for what is to come.

I might not be able to blog a lot, if at all, for a while. I will try my best. I miss “visiting” my blogger friends and reading about their lives and stories. I will do so one day once the craziness has died down. For now I will be on semi-hiatus. Hope y’all have a great summer!

I Will Survive

Christmas has come and gone and I still feel like a train ran over me. That week before Christmas has been horrible. I had a sinus infection where I felt like an anvil has been sitting on my head forever. FH had bronchitis, his hacking cough felt like a train screeching to a halt on Union Station. G had a sinus infection as well which prevented him from going to school for the last week before the holidays. Which meant I had to stay home with him and cancel my Christmas shopping. Thank God for the stash of gifts I have lying around in my dresser. You see, sometimes bargain shopping does pay off. I shop every-time I see sale items and hide it in my dresser so that in case of emergencies like last minute birthday parties and such, I have the dresser to shop from. And so that’s what happened during the last week before Christmas. I was busily shopping for gifts from my dresser. And thank God for last year’s gift bag off season sale, I had enough gift bags for everyone.

My sister and her family came over and so did my Mom. We had a great time bonding amid the wrapping papers and food. And speaking of food! We had food enough to feed an army! I managed to cook and bake and spruce up the house a little bit for the guests. Guests did come bearing food too. Desserts mostly, but it did help a lot. I think I gained 20 lbs over the holidays once again.

I did not get my iPhone. But it’s okay. Our finances isn’t as good this year and I insisted that I receive no gifts from Santa (ahem, FH!) What was important was that we all got better just in time for Christmas.

I was glad I survived Christmas and had enough energy and was in good spirits to party for the New Year.

Away and Out of Love

It’s been less than a week but already, DH and I logged on more clock hours than a regular workweek. Talking on the phone, that is. Thank God for free mobile-to-mobile minutes, we can talk on the phone anytime we want.

The kids are missing him terribly. And so am I. This is the first time ever that we’ve been apart this long and it’s been lonely. Sure the babies are keeping us occupied and we love spending quality time with my sister and her family but we miss DH a lot! It just isn’t the same without him.

My oldest son, who’s the more sensitive one told me while we were waiting at the airport: “I miss Dad already”. To which I said: “but it hasn’t been 10 minutes since he dropped us off”. He just gave me a sad face. I turned away because I was getting choked up. No use trying to be emotional in front of the kids or it’ll be a crying fest right there and then.
And then today, my youngest son was eating Hershey’s kisses and one of the paper things had an “I miss you” written on it to which he exclaimed: “we should send this to Daddy”. My older son then gave his to his brother. It read: “cheer up”.

Going Away for a Va-cay!

I will be away on a va-cay! The boys and I will be visiting my sister and my nieces in Florida. Yup,  sunshine state here we come! And while we’re excited to be swimming every day and playing with the babies, we are saddened by the fact that DH will be left behind. Only for 2 weeks though. And then he’ll follow us there where he’ll stay for one week with the rest of the family. This is the first time that we’ll be apart for this long. The longest time we’ve been apart has been 3 days. boohoohoo

It’s bittersweet really, this vacation. We’re so excited to see the babies but at the same time we feel sad that Daddy will come home to an empty house. But it is only for 2 weeks. So wish us luck!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

image credits

DH surprised us yesterday. He called me before he went home and told me that we were going to watch a movie. I didn’t know that Harry Potter was out yesterday so I thought we were going to watch Transformers instead. He told me not to tell the boys as it was going to be a surprise. So I played along. I told the boys to get dressed because we were going grocery shopping when Dad gets home. They complied. Then I secretly stashed my backpack with some chips, ginger ale and Gatorade. And then we got to the movie theatre. DH and I were telling them we were going to watch a love story. 10 (almost 11) year old: “Aaargh! I don’t want to watch a love story!” DH: “well, we have no choice, we couldn’t leave you at home”. So it went until we got inside the movie theater and DH was printing the tickets he paid for online. I looked at the billboard and saw, gasp! Harry Potter. “What? It’s Harry Potter! It’s showing!” But DH didn’t mind me. As we were walking to the cinema, I wanted to tell DH, can you exchange the tickets? let’s go to Harry instead of Transformers! Until I saw DH smug and collected. That’s when I knew - he tricked us! We were going to watch Harry Potter all along!

We went inside the theater, and found good seats. We went in at 4:30, show starts at 4:45. Why the last Harry Potter we went to, we had to elbow our way into finding 4 seats! Where was the crowd? Has the audience lost their interest in Harry? Well, I found out the answer soon after the movie. There was a long line outside for people trying to get in on the next showing, Turns out we came just right on time! Score for DH!

So did we like the movie? DH liked it, C gave it a 5 out of 5 stars and G said it was the best movie ever. It was alright for me. The effects were good and the actors were consistent. Harry delivered with typical teenage angst. I hated the Dolores Umbridge character, sympathized with Harry and loved the Hermione-Ron dynamic. Younger kids might not like it due to some dark, sinister plotlines but for adults and kids 9 and older, I think they’ll like it. The movie seemed shorter too. Turns out they did shorten it up due to some concerns of losing the audience’s interest. For me, as long as the kids liked it, I’m fine.

Note: we watched the movie on opening night but only got to write about it now. Weekend visitors, ’nuff said.