renewal

It is time to renew the little man's health insurance. I received a letter from the insurance company telling me I need to renew soon for the continuation of my son's health coverage. I know I should have done this weeks ago to get it out of the way but I did not so here I am trying to get forms ready so we can mail it tomorrow. I hope there will be no problems after that. I will try to get to the insurance company's website to see what else needs to be done. I have only visited that website a couple times to check about the little man's health insurance and to see if they offer life insurance quote just out of curiosity. I did not even bookmarked the page. I don't know why I am so scatterbrained lately. But I have to do what I need to do for my child's welfare.

home at last!

We are home! Safe and sound. Thank you, Lord. What was supposed to be a ten hour trip stretched into being a four day event. I know I whined so much online and I am not happy about it but I hope you understand that was the only way I had to release all the stress and worry. I sure did not want to aggravate the husband and the little man knowing they were sick. They actually are still not feeling better but I know I can take better care of them here at home. So, we are here and everything looks the way we left it, only a little dusty. I am happy and thankful for the safe trip. I know we will be staying home for the next few days :)

if only

My family is not feeling good. It has been like this for almost a week now. The little man has been sick on and off. The husband is still sick. And I thought I might be feeling better but I am not, I feel funny. I just hope we are home because I can deal with things like this when I am on a familiar place. As it is we are still hours from home. Laundry is piling up and we are running out of clothes to wear. I am starting to get annoyed for being coped up inside this small room where I have not had decent meals for two days. My patience is running thin and I am not liking it. If we are home I could deal with all these problems better. There I can do laundry anytime I need to. I can cook food when I need to eat. And I can turn on the dehumidifier if that is what it takes to make us all feel better. Although I doubt the solution will be as simple as that. I hope we will be home today. That is all we want at the moment.

food cravings

I am feeling better now. Thank goodness, the bout with the stomach virus is over. Now I am hungry all the time which is not doing me any good since I don't have access to the food I want to eat at the moment. But I know I will somehow. Perhaps tomorrow if I am lucky. I am craving for pancit bihon right now. It is so bad I can almost taste it. And marinated pork or beef, home-cooked fried chicken, and hot steamy rice. Oh, the rice. I would eat rice even if it comes from a buffet right now but just my luck I don't see any Chinese restaurant where we are at. I hope the husband will feel better soon so we can go home. I can't believe I will miss home this much but I do. Must be the food :)

afraid to eat

It has been days that I am not feeling good. I thought it might just be a case of being car sick but I realized that it is something more severe. I have the stomach bug. I might have gotten this from the little man who is also sick. I have been throwing up since yesterday, nauseous, and basically feeling like crap. I have not eaten since lunch yesterday and I am so hungry but I am not eating anything because I am afraid I might just throw it up. Besides, nothing appeals to me at the moment. It is awful. But then maybe something good will come out of it. Perhaps I will lose weight after a few days if this keeps on. This sure is one of the best ways to lose weight which is good if you discount the fact that I feel miserable. I look miserable too in case you are interested to know. I hope to feel better soon. And the little man as well. I hope the husband will not get what we have because there is no way we all could take care of each other if we all are sick.

treatment

For months now I am using tea tree oil to rub on my hairline after I take a shower. This is because I have noticed my hair thinning in that area. Not only that, the scalp is also itchy and flaky much to my embarrassment. It is not something I am proud of. In fact, I don't like it one bit hence I use tea tree oil to supposedly moisturize the scalp and to help with. This I am hoping to work because I cannot afford to go to a dermatologist who may prescribe a hair loss treatment for me which I doubt I can afford. Home therapy sometimes work and I am willing to try other options if this one will prove to be fruitless. I really hope my hair will grow back because it is embarrassing for a girl to be sporting a bald spot especially if she is not even thirty yet.

unwell

I don't feel good today. I don't know what is going on with me but I just feel like I am nauseous and dizzy. I hope this is not because of the stomach bug or else I will be in trouble. The little man is already sick and I cannot get sick or nobody will take care of him. The husband is not in good shape either. My family has been sick on and off this winter that we all lack energy to do anything else but laze around the house most of the time.
Anyway, I am itching to watch Ugly Betty for days now. I have to do it online because I missed it last Wednesday but our internet connection has been pretty bad lately. I cannot do much but check my mails and my blogs and that is it. I still have a million things to do and a deadline to catch up. I hope I will be able to do everything prior or I will be in trouble.

pretty busy

I have been pretty busy lately. Running from one place to the next doing things, things that I cannot tell anybody yet. I have not slept good because of it and it is already taking a toll on my body not to mention my face. I am tired and I yawn all the time. My face is littered with pimple that if I will not slow down I may have to buy the best acne treatment to get rid of these ugly bumps. The consolation is that I think I am doing a good job and that things are doing great despite the lack of rest. So it may be bad physically but it is rewarding as well. I hope this translates financially. A girl can hope you know :)

the switch

It is almost midnight here yet I am still up. I have had a busy day and I am supposed to be sleeping soundly but I am not. Lately, I have had bad dreams and I have not been sleeping good. I blame it on the kind of reading materials I keep. I am into suspense-thriller and some books are really bad that it makes me jumpy. Every little sound I hear I wake up. It is getting ridiculous so I switched to feel good stories anymore. Why, what else but romance, lol. I buy and read historical romance and some contemporary romance. The good thing about these books is that you are guaranteed a happy ending most of the time. The bad thing is the plots seem to be similar. But at the risk of taking even natural sleep aids I will continue reading these books instead of my usual choice. Maybe it will get rid of the nightmares and will keep me in a romantic mood which should be good for somebody here :) I know he is not complaining when I said I need more books. He always gives in anyway to make me happy. And to avoid arguments. He is a smart man after all. He knows how to make his wife happy.

fried chicken

We had Cornish hens that we bought on sale and I had run out of ideas to fix them so I thought about frying a whole chicken. The husband was not sold out with the idea because I did not plan on using the deep fryer. I was going to do it (and I did) my way, in a pot with enough amount of cooking oil in it. That is almost like using the fryer, right? What I did was I marinated the whole chicken in vinegar, garlic, and salt for about thirty minutes. I made sure the oil was ready and drained the chicken so as to avoid oil spills. I also had to turn the cap on low after I put the chicken in the pot so the oil will not boil over. Once it settled down I turned the cap on high and let the chicken cook until it was brown. The result? Very tasty, very moist, and well-cooked fried chicken which the husband devoured. He said he had never had chicken like this in the picture but I told him it is because he has never had a Filipina wife before, lol. He asked if I could do it again for him which I did and he still raved about the result. I know he was telling the truth because he ate most of it and left me with the parts I like which was not much. The second time I did it he shared it with his son and I was left with nothing but bones. Well, there is nothing better than to have somebody appreciate your efforts :)

other people's house

We were driving around the neighborhood just looking at houses the other day. No, we are not going to buy a house because we do not have the capacity to do so. We just enjoy this diversion when we are bored staying inside the house. We admire houses. I like log cabins while the husband admires houses because of its architecture. He used to be a carpenter so he can tell if a house is sturdy or not. He would tell you too that mahogany shutters are better than plastic shutters. And that the secret to an energy efficient house is to make sure it has good insulation. We talk about other people's houses because we don't have our own. Are we pathetic or what? Lol. Anyway, by looking at other people's house we also talk about what we want when we have the money to build our own house. Yes, we will build one from the ground if we get lucky to ever own a house. What better way to know what we want but by looking first right? Besides, this short trips calms the little man and sometimes even make him sleep. It serves it purpose most of the time :)

fried marinated beef

I have been craving for something filling lately. Whenever I eat I always have this feeling of dissatisfaction. My stomach might be full but my body craves for something else. It is annoying not being able to find what I want simply because I did not know I want. Crazy? That is me. Anyway, I went to the grocery store yesterday and I had every intention to buy tuna steak so I can make kinilaw (a salad of fresh fish in vinegar, lemon, salt, tomatoes, onions, and ginger) but as luck (or lack thereof) would have it there was no seafood counter on that store I went to. So I just grabbed a pack of beef roast which I did not get around to cooking until now. I cut the beef into smaller, thinner slices, marinate it with soy sauce and lemon with crushed garlic for about an hour then pan fried the lot. It was so good with rice and for the first time in weeks, I am finally satisfied with a meal. To think that it was just a simple fare. I thought about fresh sliced tomatoes which should have been a good side dish but I did not have any so I had to make do with what I have. I still have plenty left of the cooked meat and my rice cooker is on for more rice. Maybe I will find tomatoes tomorrow.

body shaper

I was hit by a brilliant idea the other day while looking at my reflection in the mirror. I thought why not wear a girdle to hide the bulging tummy? I mean, I do have two girdles somewhere in this house if I can find them. In fact, I used girdles when I felt like it the year after I gave birth but somehow I quit. I thought it was bothersome at the time but right now the bulge has to be hidden especially since it is getting warmer everyday and I cannot wear jackets all the time. I may have to buy new ones though so it will be more comfortable. A kymaro body shaper is what I have in mind. If I can afford it. I want something that starts from the hip then goes up to the bustier area. Maybe I will be lucky and find what I am looking for within my budget. It is hard to be fat but then I have nobody to blame here but myself.

online shopping

I was at Buy.com the other day to look for unlocked cellular phones. I want to buy one I can use to put a sim card with a roaming number in so I can send text messages to my relatives in PI for just a peso instead of paying twenty cents per outgoing and incoming text messages. I found a few that are promising but they are still on the higher price but then it is not surprising considering I am looking for a quad band phone. So I will have to save a few more dollars because what I have right now is already appropriated in bills and savings. While I was at their website I read about their "green study" where a study claim that shopping online consumes less energy and reduces carbon monoxide emission. I don't know if this is true but I do shop online and I hope I am helping in my own little way. But, it does not solve my immediate problem, money to buy the phone I like to own.

we cancelled

We were invited to attend the stepdaughter's son's birthday party today and we talked about going but decided to cancel at the last minute. We had things to do and a cranky child to appease so it was not really wise to go. I really wanted to go though for the little man because the party was at Chuck E. Cheese. Well, maybe we can go on the child's next birthday. Today was just not our day to attend a party.

just married

A cousin got married about a month ago and I only knew it when I found her pictures in Facebook. When we get the chance to talk I asked her why out of probably over a hundred wedding invitations nothing came in our mailbox. She said if she sent us an invitation we would not have attended anyway since she was married in Antipolo in the Philippines while we are in the US. She did have a point. I was just teasing her though and I know she knew it. She had a dream-like wedding in white and green and her siblings and their mom were present. The rest of the relatives were not able to attend though because of the distance but I am sure she enjoyed her wedding day. Perhaps we will invite her when the husband and I decide to get married again in Leyte where relatives and friends will serve as witness.

dilemma

Because of my plan to lose weight and a dream to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans, I spent weeks looking for a fitness equipment that is well-suited for my plan. I did it online and in stores. I had to compare specs and prices and personal preference and before I even decided for one ( I was partial to the tread mill) the husband and I decided to get pregnant again. Now I might not even buy any no matter how I want it because I don't think I can use it until after I give birth. Well, maybe I can use it while waiting to get pregnant but I don't know how it will work yet. I may have to ask my OB when I visit her. It is a dilemma I have right now. What to do? I just hope I can control myself and not gain too much while pregnant or else that will be double the pounds that I have to get rid of. The weight loss plan has to take a back seat for right now.

giveaways

We are asked to go to the stepdaughter's house to get the bedside table she wants to give us. We will get it because we know she will throw it away should we take a long time to claim it. She bought new furniture so she is either giving away or throwing away her old stuff. We will see what else she has got for us. We never know, she might give us one of her tv stands which we can use for the little man's room. I don't mind using somebody else cast-off as long as it still look decent enough. And knowing the stepdaughter, the furniture should still be in good shape because she has a tendency to buy things when she wants them not because she needs them which is an advantage for us :)

it came!

My passport is here! It came five weeks and three days after I submitted the forms. The husband and I are happy. Now we can start planning our next step. And now I can stop complaining about the people who work at the embassy, lol. What we need to do now is save up enough money so we can visit my parents in Leyte. I hope we will get to use this passport this year. If not then maybe next year :)