It's not easy...

It's been a long while since I visited my blogs and the reason is, I was and still am busy. I used to feel bored with my life before, with nothing else to do but the household chores. My long-time blogger friends will perhaps remember that we were planning to open a small business of our own that could, with God's grace, become a "fallback" in case my husband stops working abroad. And now, we are able to achieve this dream.

The first shop that we opened was a gaming shop, a small PS2 arcade. We started with three(3) units and now, we have six and one xbox. Then we opened an internet cafe starting with eight (8) units. Now, we have ten. Starting a business is never easy. Investment is high and with this type of business, you continue to upgrade. Although it is hard to stay afloat despite the competitions, it is nonetheless satisfying to be able to count the daily earnings when you close shop every night. To succeed, you have to give one hundred percent dedication to the project and spend enough time to check on it daily. Huh! Smart talk from a neophyte, some would say. But believe me, it's true. When you set your mind to do something, think of it as reachable, never impossible. It may not be easy but then again, it makes it much sweeter when you get there.

FINALLY, A SHORT BREAK!

Hello again, my blogging friends! I'm so sorry for being out of the circulation for almost two months. The reason is we started a little business which took almost all my time.

Remember when I was asking you guys what business is better, a transport business or an intenet? We sort of decide on the former but ended up with opening the latter. So now, we already have a place but it's not in full swing yet. We're still waiting for our own power supply meter. However, the Playstation Games are now ongoing.

So I hope you still have time to visit my site once in a while. Promise I'll pop up whenever I'll find time ...

Miss you, my blogging friends...

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Have you ever wondered how moms do everything in so short a time? Have you ever thought of how they manage to prepare the breakfast on the table that waits for everyone when they wake up? Have you ever noticed how clean the house is even when you kids are out to school or just merely lounging around in front of your computers or televisions? Were you ever grateful for the freshly ironed clothes you're wearing? Did you, for one moment, appreciate how easy life is with your mom around?

These have all occupied my time for the past number of days. I was busy doing things around the house that I no longer have time to sit down and do my blogging. Previously, I had some free time to do whatever I want even for just a couple of hours because my helper was regularly coming in. These days, she has been reporting on and off, so instead of waiting for her to do the cleaning and washing, I do them myself. When she decides to come in, there's nothing much to do anymore because I usually do these things early in the morning. I wake up at 5:00 AM and she comes in at 8:00! You can just imagine the work I've put in for the three hours before she comes in for work! My husband wanted me to look for someone else but the truth is, it's hard to find someone you can trust and someone who can take care of my invalid father-in-law. So I still keep her despite the constant absences.

At times like this, a mom can only imagine how her children and her husband might fare in case she leaves them for good. I often wonder if they can manage well. True, they will try to do the things that I may have done but not as good as I did. So whenever my children are free, I let them help me with the chores.

On weekends, I divide the housework between us and I let them watch me cook, patiently teaching them the procedure of cooking good meals. I teach them how to do the laundry (white things go into the washing machine first, light ones next and dark ones last), I tell them what fabric should be hand-washed, what can be folded right after they dry, or what should be ironed first before folding or hanging them in their cabinets. I teach them how to get rid of dust, how to get under the furniture, and where to put things. I teach them to give our four dogs a bath twice a week, what to feed them, and getting them outside after meals.

Yes, they are starting to learn how to do things but whenever our helper is around, they don't attend to the chores. And whenever mom is around too, they just take it for granted that I will do everything that needs to be done. After all, aren't moms superheroes?

A Rainbow After the Storm

I'm dragging myself back to blogging today, after days of going around the house and doing whatever comes to my mind. I finished reading three pocketbooks, and spent hours watching shows on cable. Sometimes, I sleep the whole afternoon and lie awake at night. Today, I woke up refreshed and decided to visit my sites. Thank you guys for the regular visits, though I was inactive for quite some time.

Although I still feel lonely for losing Elaine, I feel that God has always been with us. And after the loss, God delivered another gift to us, one that reminds me that life just has to go on.

My husband called me early Sunday morning (that was Father's Day). I felt excitement in his voice, though he tried to sound casual about it. He said he just got a promotion, he is now the manager of their company's new network program. Previously, he was the network administrator but now, a new department has been launched solely for their JD Edward program, and he sits on top of it. I know this didn't come easy for him, he had to attend seminars in different places like Johannesburg, South Africa and more recently, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I am just so happy for him because the truth is, I had been hoping for such a promotion years ago. Honestly, I lost hope because there has never been a Filipino manager in any important department of their company. I think he is the first ever! So I believe that the company truly sees his loyalty and capacity to manage his own department.

The news is like rainbow after the storm in my life. It gives me the strength to move on, it makes me realize that my family is still here, needing me to keep them together. Storms could shake our lives at times when we least expect them, and they could damage us to some extent, but all we really have to remember is that they always pass. All we have to remember, most of all, is that there's a rainbow after a storm.

GOODBYE

Yesterday, I had a wake-up call from my nephew, Elaine's brother. She passed away, the doctors tried to revive her when they brought her to the hospital but they failed. She's gone and I feel a vacant spot in my heart for the closest niece that I ever had.

Looking at her, I came to think that perhaps she stopped fighting for her life because she can no longer bear her pain. I was there the day before she died and I witnessed the unbearable pain that she felt during her spasm. I can't help thinking too that maybe, God heard her prayer, because she was asking to end it all.

We will be laying her to rest tomorrow afternoon and it would be the last time that I will be able to see her. I hope she will have the eternal peace and that the rest of us who are left behind, will continue to cherish the memories she has left deep inside each of us.

To my favorite niece and my best friend... Goodbye!

Life is full of surprises!

I went to the bakery shop of my sister the other day because I missed eating her dice hopia filled with black mongo. Since my sister got bedridden, her youngest and only son takes over the management of the shop. While eating, we talked about a lot of things, trying to fill in the gaps of family news since we last saw each other. Mostly, we talked about our dogs (they have 11!). My son and my nephew compared notes about buying and selling breed dogs.

Suddenly, my nephew dropped a bombshell when he told me that his older sister, Elaine, who happens to be the closest niece I ever had (because she is only a year older than me), has cancer. The news shocked me because I never thought of her being sick. She has always been healthy, although a bit overweight. He said that she underwent a surgery on her gall bladder last month and they thought everything was fine after the operation. On Mother's Day, while she was having dinner with her children in a restaurant, she had a sudden stomach cramp and started vomiting so they rushed her to the hospital. More tests revealed she had cancer.

I wanted to see her, hug her, and comfort her. But what can one say to a dying person? When a person is sick, you visit and tell her that everything will be alright. But what if she's dying? How can you comfort a person who knows that she has only a few months to live? Would she like me to talk to her about her illness? About death? About religion? About life after death? About her children who will be left behind? Honestly, I don't know what I might even say when I go visit her.

So this morning, I just called her up. I told her that her brother told me she had a surgery and that I just wanted to know how she is now. She said she's fine and she sounded really fine, rather cheerful by the sound of her voice. Perhaps she was faking it, or perhaps she still is in the stage of denying how ill she is. Whether she is putting on a strong front or denying, the fact is, she doesn't want me to talk about it. It's so surprising that at times like this when you want to reach out your hand to comfort her and offer your shoulder to cry on, she chooses to ignore them. One thing left for me to do is pray that if there is indeed a miracle, I want her to have it. After all, God works in mysterious ways.
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College Scholarship

My daughter took the scholarship exam last year for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) dependents. They told us the result would come out last April but it didn't. Finally, they uploaded it on their website last Thursday, May 22. Unfortunately, my daughter did not make it to the top 100. I just recently knew that there will only be a hundred slots for OFW dependents nationwide.

Can you imagine that? There are thousands of overseas foreign workers who are pouring in dollars in remittance to the country and they could only afford a hundred scholars? Call me a sore loser, but I thought that anyone (regardless of how many) could avail of the benefit as long as they pass the exam. Since it is a requirement for those who may want to take the exam to have good grades, I thought all those who qualified and took it and passed, can have the scholarship. But no, since there are only a hundred slots, naturally it follows that only those who are on the top 100 examinees will be taken. It should have been fair is to set a margin, an actual passing average for the test and all those who garnered the average score can avail of the scholarship, no matter how many.

The scholarship program offers PhP30,000.00 per semester for each scholar. This is more than enough to pay for one student's tuition fees alone. This could also cover the books and the allowance. It would have been a big help for us but what can we do? It's the way they run things, and like it or not, we cannot avail of the benefit. Guess I have to stretch my budget again with another child going into college when school opens this year.