Overdue Vacation

I, myself, couldn't believe that I've let so many years passed before taking that flight home again. For four longs years, I haven't gotten home and the two months I've stayed in the province never seemed enough for the people back home.

We packed a lot for that vacation that we paid over a thousand bucks for the extra luggage. We got three balikbayan boxes and one big, heavy leather bag that needs to go home to the owner. Nope, those are not stuff we needed for the holiday. Those are stuff we no longer need here at home that needed disposal. It was like donating to the charity, you know. One of the boxes got old but still nice rattan placemats given by my brother-in-law a few years back, all our used clothing to be given out to my yaya's family, my maternity dresses which I am passing on to my sister hoping she'd have a new baby soon, a few pieces of the ukay-ukay stuff left behind from the first shipment, our working clothes and footwear, baby stuff, an inflatable pool and food.

The trip was smooth except that baby Joseph was fussy during the entire flight, probably due to cabin pressure. Thanks to my new Treo 650 that got his favorite Barney show which provided entertainment for a few minutes. It only took an hour and twenty minutes for the flight. Thanks to my sister who was able to borrow transportation from a friend, we got a nice ride home.

It was my first time to see mama's house which by the way, instantly got tiled because we were coming home. No, not for me but for baby Joseph. We were able to trick (not a very good term but that's what we really did) Mama Che to hasten the tile flooring, who in turn was able to get financial assistance from Papa Boy. It felt good to be "home".

The entire summer was spent rather simply. Most of the time we stayed home only, with the kids having fun time taking a dip and learning how to swim in the 10-foot diameter inflatable pool. Even my little boy and adults alike loves to swim in it. It's where Josh advanced his swimming skills.

It was also after four long years that I got to meet old friends. We had a few gatherings which somehow made me updated on how they were doing with their lives. Some still remain childless after years of marriage. Some had gotten married already. So much had change nonetheless I still felt the warmth of the same old, genuine friendship.

The reunion would not be perfect without the little disagreement we had with mom over her "precious" plants. There was a dispute whether to transfer the santol tree farther from the house, then the heated discussion to Lola Luz's cutting the Lansones tree. It made the vacation spicy, we were like a family, hahaha!

Well, it was my sister who got the first prize when it comes to events and highlights for that vacation.

Double Time

I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog, perhaps, forgotten a lot already on what I am supposed to document. It's been quite a while, things just gotten out of hands (lame excuse, of course). But I simply cannot run away from it, I stopped writing journals on my precious notebooks so I have to do this so that I have something to look back to when I grow a little older.

I don't know where to start again but I guess I'll pick up from my last post here. Happy blogging again, myself!

My Macaroons

Same day that I made my first chopsuey, I baked our favorite macaroons. Unlike most macaroon recipes, I do mine with freshly grated coconut instead of dessicated coconut.

Mom said that this recipe was an award winning recipe way back in the 80's. Thank goodness my mom loves to bake. I only learned to bake a year ago. Nonetheless, I can do better in baking than in cooking. I only made half of what the recipe called for. I was able to make over 60 pieces. I love my macaroons when they are golden brown on top but kuya loves it just lightly golden so I have to make sure that he gets his share too.

I used to sell macaroons in the office and my officemates just loved it. When that new oven lands here in June, I will definitely sell some again. I just have to come up with a nice and a bit sturdy packaging.

Ambitious Cook

Being a full time mother and wife, I can now at least say I have learned to love the cooking trade as opposed to what I was before, a mere "devourer".

I don't used to like cooking although I could cook very simple recipes that don't call for more than 3 ingredients. Among those that I could do without even looking at recipe books are: fried fish (fresh or dried), tinola, utan law-oy (stewed mixed veges), and sinugba (grilled).. and adobo, too. Well, at least I can make good adobo. It trapped my ex-boyfriend into believing I am a good cook that he ended up marrying me, hahaha!

Since the time I achieved my long time dream of being a full time home manager, I became a bit interested in cooking. Well, I know this is not by choice. I have to do it, otherwise, my family will get bored eating the same thing everyday. This is especially, when our certified cook is not around to do the cooking for us. For nine years, I had depended on my ex to cook for us when it calls for food other than fried stuff.

I seek refuge from internet recipes especially from www.pinoyfoodtalk.net and recipe exchange forums.

Just a few days back, I cooked my very first chopsuey, recipe courtesy of a fellow Girltalker. I altered the recipe though because I am selective with vegetables I eat. Sadly, I don't eat carrots (unless they are grated in some recipes). So my chopsuey only contained my favorite cauliflower, broccoli, sayote, baguio beans and chinese cabbage. I was very proud of my finished product. The picture may not look very appealing but I tell you it tasted so good that I told my husband he will never cook chopsuey again to rival with my version. Well, the secret was with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom condensed soup. It had to taste good because that chopsuey was a bit expensive because of the ingredients. As always, I gave out some to our neighbor, not to brag about it but because there was just plenty of it for just the three of us at home.

SAHM

I love being a stay at home mom. This has been my dream job ever since, believe it or not. I can honestly say, I don't miss my corporate life. Yes it is tiring but it is very rewarding and fun. I just love every minute of it.

I, though, feel guilty about it. Guilty that I was not able to do it for Joshua. If only I had a choice at that time.

Nonetheless, I believe everything happens with a purpose.

Life and Death

November 30 - My sister and her beau arrived from Dipolog. They were here to be my sitters for my baby boy. I was scheduled for a C-section December 2. They brought an abundant supply of food with them: shrimps (superbig), tablea for tsokolate, budbud, bulad (cebuano for dried fish) and some herbs supposedly for tinolang manok :) . Later that day, we had to have a quick run to Market Market. We need some slippers. It was really quick.

At bedtime, I was kinda interrogating my sister how does a "labor" feel as honestly, I was not sure if I know how to identify one. I also told my sister that before the big day I will be indulging in those huge shrimps and a lot of puto-sikwate. Unfortunately, it had became a dream only as that night (or dawn), I sorta felt those contractions as described by my sister. I immediately got up at around 2AM, took Duvadilan as prescribed by my doctor a week earlier to avoid pre-mature labor. But I panicked when I noticed I had spottings before I went back to bed. I texted my doctor who advised me to go to the hospital already.

December 1, 4:43 AM - Joseph clinically came out of my tummy. I heard him cry a few times. I was waiting to see how he looked like but never did. I started to wonder and asked questions. I knew they were suppose to show him to me like when I gave birth to Joshua. The only answer I got everytime I ask about him is, he is okay, that he has to be rushed to the pedia because he was not able to cry immediately. In the afternoon, the pedia came to me to tell me the bad news. My little angel was in the ICU and was being endorsed to a specialist because he had a "little problem" as she called it. But as I was listening to her, it dawned my that the "little problem" meant that my little boy was in a critical condition, in a battle between life and death. They could not even give assurance that he will live. They simply said that it depends on how his little body will respond to the medication.

Joseph had severe sepsis and pneumonia due to meconium staining. They couldn't or maybe would not want to explain why. He was not overdue. I did not get sick except for a simple cold days before I gave birth, my blood pressures were constantly normal.

The day I did manage to get up and take a walk, I got to see my angel for the first time. I couldn't help buy cry. He was so helpless with tubes being inserted to his lungs and stomach. He has to be in a respirator because his lungs were not functioning. He was not breathing on his own. He depended on the machine to do it for him. My poor little boy! What a sad sight. I thought I'd lost him.

Dra. Corpuz told us that the first two days was the most critical, she couldn't tell yet if Joseph will make it. She could not tell at what percentage will he survive. She couldn't tell how soon he will have progress.

December 2 - Nurses said he was improving a bit. He showed signs of his own little breathing. That gave us hope but it had not stopped me from crying everytime I think of him. Daddy was scheduled to come home then. It was supposed to be in January but we needed him now more than ever. To kuya, we explained things on why he couldn't see his brother yet. He understood and as he has always a positive outlook on things said, he was gonna be okay.

Indeed he was. On the third day (December 3) when I went to the ICU, I came looking for my baby. I was not able to recognize him. He was so beautiful. All the tubes were gone!!!!! He no longer needed the respirator. Nurses said he just need a little oxygen. I was ecstatic. My blood pressure shoot up. I did not mind. Iwas just too excited. If only I could run upstairs to my ward to tell my sister the good news. We were all ecstatic.

He made it past the most critical stage. He was meant for us. We asked him from Him and He gave him to us.

Thank you Lord for such a wonderful gift.