It’s New Year’s Eve and time to make a rundown of the blessings I received this year:

I turned another year older. Forget the fact na wala na ako sa kalendaryo; it feels good to be alive and kicking! What more, all my loved ones, friends and other people I hold dear, got a chance to celebrate another birthday this year. That’s a great blessing already!

My family’s basic needs were met. Just this morning while I was taking a shower, it struck me that I’m so lucky to enjoy enough water–clean water, if I may add– to use for my bath. It’s one of those seemingly trivial stuff that I often take for granted but is actually one of the great blessings I receive everyday. One serious look at the situation in the evacuation centers & I am instantly reminded to be grateful of the food, water, shelter and all the basic things that keep my life comfy.

My family continues to survive on a single income. I admit, making ends meet is a monthly nightmare for me, especially when there’s a delay in my hubby’s sales incentives (boohoo!).  But we get by anyway and I’ve learned to stop questioning how that happened. I just focus on being grateful for God’s abundance and for other people’s generosity. My hubby works hard to provide for us while I do my share in running the household and raising our son well. I’d like to believe that God remains faithful in providing for our needs because my hubby and I are also faithful in fulfilling our respective roles. I do aspire for something better for my family but I’ll work on it in such a way that will not distract me from my primary responsibilities of being a wife and a mom.

My son excels in school. He got a medal last March when he finished Nursery and he continues to do well in his academics this year. More importantly, he has learned to better relate with his peers resulting to less petty fights in school. Plus, he’s slowly coming out of his shell. My ultra, mega shy kid bravely danced and performed to a big audience in his school Christmas program.

Less trips to the doctor’s clinic this year. This is particularly true for my son. He didn’t take any antibiotics this year, hooray! His Pedia-Pulmo is truly heaven-sent! On my part, I haven’t been as lucky but I consider it a personal achievement that I’m no longer overanxious about my health concerns.

My hearing ability has improved. My bout with German measles 7 years ago left me struggling with a weakened hearing ability. During the last 4 years, my condition worsened, from partial to almost severe hearing loss. Doctors told me it’s incurable and I accepted my plight without putting up much fight. It was only this year that I tried to seriously pray for my own healing. When I took another hearing test last month, I was amazed to know that my hearing improved a notch! God is really good! I may not be completely healed yet but I’m still a living proof that miracles do happen!

The South Feast. I have always acknowledged Bro. Bo Sanchez’s strong influence in my spiritual growth in the last few years via his inspirational books, blogs, audio and video preaching. But he has blessed me even more when Bro. Bo (through his Feast builders) brought the Kerygma Feast here in the South last July. Because of the South Feast, I was able to draw my hubby closer to God. We both believe that our marriage and our family life have been doubly blest ever since we started attending the weekly prayer service. We also received physical and emotional healing through the South Feast. Now that my hubby and I are more or less on the same page when it comes to our faith, I am more confident that we’ll be able to better raise our family together.

More ME time. I’ve resolved to love myself more this year. I finally found time to read some books, exercise more often, subscribe to a DSL connection, go out on Saturday night dates with my hubby, laugh & forgive more, and criticize less. Sadly, blogging took a backseat, but I promise to make time for it again next year.

Negative stuff became blessings too. Feng shui experts warned those born under the year of the Snake against possible burglary in 2009. My hubby and I both lost money to some criminals in separate incidents this year. We were also burdened with so many work-related expenses that put a huge dent to our monthly budget. But the good news is, we came out of these negative experiences with a better attitude and stronger faith in God. We’ve learned to be extra careful & discerning when dealing with other people. Even if my family wasn’t badly hit by the typhoons, the recent tragedies also taught me to enjoy life more and prioritize my family’s basic needs over our whims.
I’m expecting bigger blessings to come my way next year. As early as now, I’m claiming those blessings because I have a BIG God who loves me more than anyone else.

Happy 2010! Cheers!

It feels good to be working out again.

For the past four years, my definition of exercise includes doing my mommy chores, carrying my son, typing on my keyboard, pressing the keys on the remote control, and strolling in the mall with my family. Fortunately, I don’t eat much so gaining excess weight isn’t a problem. In fact, I’m always underweight.

After taking my recent blood test which showed higher than normal cholesterol level again, I knew I already have to give up my sedentary lifestyle and take my doctor’s advice seriously: go on low-fat diet and EXERCISE. Otherwise, I’ll have to start taking maintenance medicines. Ouch!

It would have been nice if I just joined my mommy friends in their thrice-a-week early morning dance sessions in the parking lot of SM Southmall. But since my hubby usually leaves the house around 5AM everyday and I couldn’t just leave my son in the care of our helper to be away for more than an hour, I was left with no choice but to do exercises on my own.

The other day, I pulled out my running shoes and workout VCDs from the closet. I had planned to start my workout regimen yesterday but I was too lazy to do it. I should have done it a month ago when my blood test showed my cholesterol level was shooting up. But it was easier to resort to delaying tactics. But now I don’t have any choice. I certainly don’t want to start taking maintenance medicines… I’m too young for that stuff!

I promised everyone that I’ll do it today. Last night, I slept earlier than usual and this morning, I woke up around 6AM. I put on my sneakers, loaded the Hip Hop Aerobics VCD into the player, and sweat it out for 30 minutes. I didn’t do all the dance routines, but I made sure I did the warm up and cool down exercises.

My muscles are feeling a bit sore now, and I’m feeling a bit worn out. But I know I’ll feel less tired as my body gets used to working out once more. I’ve been a fitness buff before… I know I can get used to these routines again.

Last month, I paid off all my credit cards’ outstanding balances. When I checked my SOAs for the month, it’s so refreshing to see my bills devoid of the usual finance charges. After many years, no more extra charges to pay for my credit card bills. I finally did it! Woohoo!

Having said that, I am not yet totally debt-free. Aside from the monthly installment fees I still have to pay for some gadgets, I am still swiping my darn plastics for my family’s needs. I don’t think I’d be able to do away with my remaining credit cards anytime soon; it will come in handy whenever emergency arises.

When I paid off my current bills yesterday, I still shelled out a good amount of money. But without the finance charges to worry about, it felt very liberating. Being able to settle my debts in full every month is sure one tough act, but at least I get consolation from knowing I’m only paying for the amount I charged the previous month, and that I’m not getting myself poorer for making credit card companies richer by the day.

Have you ever wondered why you’re always out of cellphone load credits when you’re not even a heavy texter, doesn’t make calls and not the type to download ringtones and other stuff? I’ve been wondering about that for 2 weeks now. When I was still using a postpaid line, I used to be a heavy texter but that’s no longer the case when I shifted to a prepaid account early this year… tipid tipid to the max na. Hence, I was really perplexed when I realized I almost used up my 300 Globe load in less than 15 days last month. What is going on???

That made me so O.C. about my actual usage. Last week, checking my balance at the beginning and at the end of each day became a regular habit. When I was so sure that Globe deducted 5 credits from my load when I know I only sent 3 SMS the entire day, I immediately complained this to their hotline. The customer rep couldn’t give me a valid explanation so I requested for a load reversal. After 2 days, they gave me back my P2 credits. I was pleased of course, but got dismayed too soon after I found out later that I was again overcharged by 4 load credits!

I started thinking for some logical explanation for this. One theory I came up with was the possibility of Globe charging me more than P1.00/text, depending on the length of my text message. Surprisingly, when I raised this to a customer rep, he told me that I was right on the mark: Globe charges P1.00 for every 160-character SMS, even if the sender and recipient’s respective mobile device can support messages 4x longer than that! Any excess of 160, even just a single character, is automatically charged another peso. All along I thought I was being wise in maximizing my phone’s capacity to transmit long messages in one click. Mas magastos pa pala yun… kainis! I asked the customer rep if they have made this fact crystal clear to each and every Globe subscriber on this planet. He can’t tell for sure. But this I can tell: magnanakaw sila, they’re no better than their rival network.

It’s okay if their system isn’t advanced enough to support a “P1 per concatenated message sent” charging as opposed to the current “P1 per 160-character message sent” policy. What’s not okay is misleading subscribers into believing that they get charged only P1.00 for every text message sent, regardless of the length. That is cheating, and they’re stealing Globe subscribers’ precious money! I don’t know if they have issued a disclaimer for this because I haven’t seen one yet; if not, I think they ought to make one soon and make that clear in all their ads and user’s guides. There’s nothing wrong if this is the only way to charge us for our text usage, but please, let the subscribers know and understand the rule!

The term short message service (SMS) has already evolved given the advancements in mobile phone technology over the past five years. Almost all phone units now can support messages way beyond the 160-character limit that used to hound older models. It’s high time that Globe exert more effort in improving their system to keep up with the changes… and forget the seemingly useless 3G enhancements for a while (not everyone is using 3G-enabled handsets, so focus more on the basics, please!). Masyado na nating pinapayaman ang Globe, don’t we deserve better services and transparency from this company?

Nowadays, I always glance at my message window counter to check if I’m still within the 160-character limit being imposed by Globe. Thank God, I haven’t had any discrepancies with my load credits ever since I started making the counter useful. Talagang short messages na lang ako ngayon.

I now appreciate my Sun Cellular prepaid account more than ever. Even if the signal is not that great around our house, at least I don’t feel cheated, having known and accepted this signal issue long before I subscribed to Sun. My best friend and I would text-till-we-drop and I only shell out P150 a month for this one, no hidden charges… now that’s value for money. Sun’s unlimited text still rocks!

For my first blog entry for the year, I’d like to start it right. And what a better way to begin the year than to count my blessings for 2008 and make my wish-list for the New Year.

For year 2008, I’m thankful for the following blessings:

•    My family is intact and complete. I thank God everyday for this wonderful blessing!
•    Strong support group. Having a steady set of loved-ones, relatives and friends who provide spiritual, emotional, physical and financial support is something I can’t trade for anything.
•    We’re still living in the Metro. Early last year, I thought my family would be uprooted to Palawan because of my hubby’s work. That gave me a good scare.
•    I had a smooth D&C procedure. My endometrial polyps were finally removed and thank God, they’re all benign. Gave me quite a scare, too.
•    Matt is enjoying preschool. I’m truly happy to have found a good school for my son within our village and even happier to know that he’s thriving and having fun!
•    Having old and new friends. Through chat and networking sites, I’m able to reconnect with more old friends last year. Friends are definitely something I treasure and I’m glad to have gained new set of friends from hanging out in the school daily, and through blogging.
•    Additional source of income. We were finally able to get a tenant for our old home late last year. The additional income gave our monthly budget ample breathing space.
•    More funds for gadgets. For more than two years, I set aside my addiction to gadgets simply because it’s the wisest and most practical thing to do. But last year seemed the perfect time to give myself the well-deserved break. So I finally got myself a new mobile phone and upgraded my desktop into a notebook. Plus, I gave up my dial-up internet connection for the faster wireless broadband connection.

And here are my wishes for year 2009:

•    Love, happiness, good health and a safe place to live in for all my family members, relatives and friends.
•    Stronger, smoother and more loving family ties.
•    To finally get the inspiration and the will to start my own home-based business.
•    For my hubby to experience less stress at work.
•    To have an opportunity for a family getaway, preferably in a nice beach down south.
•    For Matt to learn to speak the Filipino language (so he can get along better with his peers) and overcome a big chunk of his shyness.
•    To have more time for blogging and reading books.
•    To finally learn to truly forgive and forget, and spare myself the unnecessary heart palpitations and migraine attacks.
•    To have a deeper and more meaningful spiritual life.
•    For love and peace to reign all over the world.

Have a blessed new year!

Modern technology is such a big part of my life, especially now that my social life relies mostly on mobile technology. Nowadays, I could never leave the house without a mobile phone and rarely a week passes by when I don’t surf the net.  But since times are harder now, it’s wise to make my techno-related expenses lighter on the pocket. Here’s how I do it:

Subscribing to Sun Cellular. I’ve always been a Globe subscriber. I maintain a Globe postpaid line for more than a decade now, and it’s not something I intend to give up in the near future (see my earlier post on this topic). But since I’m a heavy texter, I often find myself exceeding my 500/month free SMS.  Limiting my text usage means less access to my friends and risk dying of boredom! Mid of this year, a mommy encouraged me join in her Sun network.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think of using a Sun sim, but the unlimited calls and text was indeed very enticing, so I bought one. The first few weeks were terrible; I always had to stay near our front door to get a good signal. But after a month, I was immensely enjoying doing text marathons with some mommy pals.  Enjoying Sun-to-Sun unlimited texting with free 4 hours of Sun-to-Sun calls for a price of just P150/month, is a steal!  Happily, the signal strength has significantly improved the past couple of months. To maximize my Sun sim, I registered it for my one-sim, load-all e-loading business. Soon, my hubby and my best friend also joined in the foray. With two of my “lifelines” already in my Sun network, I found myself using my Sun sim more than my Globe account. Now, I don’t worry much about exceeding my Globe G-Text limits every month.

YM-on-the-Go. Who’s not addicted to chatting over YM? Chatting compensates for my lack of social life nowadays; I get to reconnect with relatives and friends in and out of the country even without leaving the house. However, since I spend only a few hours a week going online, I get so bitin when I use YM using a PC. When I found out that Sun Cellular offered unlimited IM services via mobile phones (it works similar to sending and receiving SMS), I wasted no time and tried its service. P20 for whole day unlimited chatting isn’t bad, but the weak signal in our house can be a nuisance. So I got thrilled when I learned that Smart and Globe was offering their own IM services to their subscribers. Smart was first to launch Uzzap and Globe followed suit with its Unlichat; both are offering free trial of the service for the time being.  Initially, the Unlichat service had very few compatible phones so I downloaded the Uzzap application instead. But since I’m not really a Smart user, I got to use the service for less than 5 times (but I can say the Uzzap app works better than its Globe counterpart). After knowing that my mobile phone was already compatible with Unlichat, I immediately downloaded the app and voila! I’m logged on to YM almost 24/7! Unlichat’s free trial has been extended twice already and I’m not about to complain. I love freebies!

Prepaid Wireless Broadband. To this day, I’ve managed to resist the temptation of signing up for a wired broadband connection. But since my dial-up connection has been severely testing my patience the past couple of months, I finally bought a Smartbro prepaid kit for my broadband needs. The price of the modem is still hefty at P2.5K (bought the unit while they had a 2-day promo; original price at that time was at P3.8K, but they dropped it again to P2.5k as of this writing). I figured it was better to pay such amount than to subscribe to a wired one and get stuck with a one-year (2 years for some) lock-in period and be forced to pay additional P600 or more every month for a broadband connection that I may not be able to maximize considering my very limited hours for surfing the net. Though I have more to rant than to rave about Smartbro’s performance, it nevertheless satisfy my need to get a faster connection for uploading and downloading files, something I don’t always have to do anyway.  I’m planning to get the Globe Visibility version since my hubby often bring the Smartbro modem to work and I’m hoping that Globe Visibility will finally make my netsurfing a breeze.

Buying 2nd-hand items. I’m a gadget enthusiast, so it’s not surprising that a big chunk of my savings goes to my gadget luhos. But I’m well aware that investing on expensive gadgets that easily depreciate is not a smart move, so I try to find ways to reduce the costs while still able to get the gadget that I want. Two of my heavily-used gadgets, my digital camera and my mobile phone, are both 2nd-hand items (2 months old and below at the time of purchase) which I was able to buy at a reasonable price over at eBay. I now use a Nokia smartphone and it cost me just under P9K when it’s being sold at the black market for more than P12k! Pretty cool, huh?

The long wait is over… my new baby has finally arrived! Except that it’s not a human being… it’s my new lappie!

After more than a year of collecting countless pricelists and product flyers from various computer shops, I finally fulfilled my long-time wish of having my own notebook computer. Woohoo!

I’ve been using a desktop computer for the longest time, and honestly, I can still live with it. I’m home-based so using a desktop shouldn’t be a problem. Owning a laptop started to become an obsession only last year when I got so hooked on blogging. Since my desktop computer was situated in our guest room, I was eternally torn between watching over my son in his playroom and updating my blogs or doing other computer-related activities in the other room. It came to a point when I had to give up blogging because my son was pleading with me “not to work anymore” so I could spend all my free time with him. The mobility of using a laptop was indeed very enticing, but I didn’t have the resources to purchase one. Being a mom was of utmost priority, so I gave up blogging and social networking for a while.

But God is really good… He makes things happen. Someone got interested in renting our former house, so that means additional income for our family. I was still hesitant to use the extra funds for my gadget “luhos” but considering the support I got from my family (my parents included), I eventually took the plunge. To appease my “guilty“ feelings of spending so much on a gadget in these times of global economic crisis, I decided to sell my desktop unit and some other unused stuff in our home, so I could use the funds to partly cover the cost of the laptop.

For about a month, I languished over what brand and model of laptop to buy. Cost was a major consideration, but I also didn’t want to scrimp on the features considering I’ll be giving up my desktop computer. I wanted something that could function just as well as my old computer did. I was really tempted to try out those cute UMPCs like the MSI wind, but I didn’t want to strain my eyes even more given the reduced size of the display. Plus UMPCs aren’t ideal for the multimedia activities (photo and video editing) that I intend to do.

After some careful thought, I decided on getting an ASUS X80N notebook. It took several days to install all drivers since I decided to use Windows XP for my operating system. The package came with Vista-compatible drivers but I read from a forum that XP works better with this model, so I patiently waited for the computer shop to provide me with the complete set of WinXP-compatible drivers for my notebook.

I’ve been playing with my new baby for about 2 weeks now, making sure that everything is functioning well. I can definitely say I’m happy with it! Now I can look after my kid and work for a few hours on the computer at the same time. Just what I wanted!

Now, if only I could afford to get a good broadband connection. But that’s another story…

Now it can be told: I’m a huge fan of the Eraserheads, the great alternative rock Pinoy band of the 90s.

I’ve always been a fan of the group ever since the release of their Ultraelectromagneticpop debut album; but I’ve not been vocal about my admiration for them, except with my family and some very close friends. Maybe because my circle friends were not into that type of music… listening to E-heads music was a bit too baduy and jologs for their taste.
Luckily, my sister and I both adore the band, my sister being the most devoted to their music. We bought all their CDs, even the storybook they released with the Fruitcake album. We tuned in to almost all their radio guestings and recorded their live performances at NU 107. We also attended quite a few of their gigs, especially their performances in the UP grounds. My sister, with the help of her college org, even mounted a concert at the UP Sunken Garden featuring different Pinoy bands… with the E-heads leading the pack, of course. The most exhilarating concert I’ve ever been to was Combo Nation, a joint concert by the E-heads and True Faith. My sister and I (with an older male cousin who gamely acted as our chaperone/bodyguard) braved the head-banging, slam-dancing and bottle-throwing crowd in front of the stage just to get close to where the real action is. We were pushed forward, backward, sidewards… it was definitely one crazy evening, but we had so much fun!

The reunion concert by the E-heads staged last Saturday brought sweet memories of those days. No, I wasn’t there at the reunion concert, but I how I wish I was. To this day, I can always rely on the mp3 file of their song Magasin that I always save in my mobile phone if I needed something to perk me up. That song, for some weird reasons, has this magical effect on me. I would have loved to see the E-heads perform that song again together on one stage (apparently, Magasin was part of the second set of the reunion concert, which as we all know didn’t materialize due to Ely Buendia’s poor health that night).

Nowadays, I’m not so much of an alternative rock fan anymore. When the E-heads disbanded, my interest in the music scene also waned. I know there have been a couple of good Pinoy bands that have sinced spiced up the Pinoy rock music scene… but I guess most E-heads fanatics would agree that no band have come even close to what the E-heads had achieved. Ely, Buddy, Marcus and Raimund are not the best Pinoy musicians that we’ve had; in fact, in every gig, expect several “out-of-tune here, out-of-sync there” moments. People who are used to the seamless performances of Side A or South Border may easily get turned off by the E-heads’ seemingly lack of vocal and musical prowess. But in my humble opinion, I believe their magic lies on the fact that they (particularly the great poet Ely B.) are great storytellers. Storytelling, injected with good sense of humor, is in the core of their music. Everyone loves to listen to a good story… and probably that explains why The Eraserheads’ music is still very much ingrained in the hearts of those who cared to listen to their songs… even if the band members had long went their separate ways already.

To borrow a line from Alapaap… “…buksan ang puso at isipan, paliparin ang kamalayan…” It’s never too late to appreciate their music. Who knows, you could be the next E-heads fan.

About two weeks ago, I went back to school – driving school, that is. I’m quite embarrassed to admit that this is actually the 3^rd time I took up driving lessons in a span of nine years.

The first time, I was still very eager to learn. I’ve practically memorized the Eraserheads’ hit Overdrive (“Gusto kong matuto mag-drive…. Kahit na wala akong kotse…”). But only after a few sessions, I was already feeling disheartened. I never thought that driving a car can be so physically demanding! It required great deal of focus and alertness, strong reflexes and good muscle coordination…. qualities which I haven’t been abundantly blessed with. It didn’t help that my balding instructor wasn’t too keen on helping me learn and gain confidence on my driving. I remember being allowed to drive outside the village only once, and I was on primera mode 90% of the time! After my lessons, I still didn’t have the nerve to practice my newly-acquired skills and risk smashing my dad’s car. My interest in driving began to wane.

After I got married, my hubby expressed his interest to study driving, and he encouraged me to take a refresher course as well. My dad was willing to lend us one of his cars so we can bring it to Ortigas where we both worked. Reluctantly, I took that darn refresher course. I had a better instructor and I got to drive outside the village a couple of times. But I was faced with the same issues with my footwork, steering, maneuvering and calculations. I finished the course with only a slight notch above my previous confidence level. Nonetheless, I applied for a non-professional driver’s license and got to practice my driving skills 2-3 times within our village. But when I got frustrated parking the car in front of the house one fateful night, I finally gave up on any hope that I’d be able to drive a car on my own.

My hubby, on the other hand, took his lessons very seriously, so he was able to drive the car to office immediately after he got his license. It was more or less a walk in the park for him. Since he’s already a capable driver, I didn’t feel the need to hone up my driving skills anymore. I was contented being his passenger, and I didn’t mind taking the public transport when he’s not there to drive me around.

The notion of getting me behind a steering wheel was revived only recently – 5 years after my previous attempt — after I enrolled my son to a preschool within our village. My family saw a good reason to bug me into refreshing my driving skills… so I can drive my son to school instead of riding a tricycle back and forth (which I don’t really mind doing). Against my will, I gave in to what they wanted. I renewed my long-expired driver’s license and enrolled, yet again, for a refresher driving course.

I finished my lessons last Sunday, and thank God, they gave me a passing grade, though I was still bothered by the usual problems on my steering, calculations and muscle coordination. But I’m happy to note that I’m a lot more confident now than 5 years ago. I’m still very anxious about driving alone or getting myself into any vehicular accident, but I guess these first-time jitters are really part of the learning process. I haven’t been driving since my last session, but I’m now more willing to practice my skills until I get the hang of it. With much practice, I know I can also achieve what my hubby describes as “being one with the car.” “Lakas ng loob” is not something I can learn or buy from driving schools, but something I can eventually acquire through constant practice. As in the case of parenting, practice makes permanent!

I’ve just had one helluva week. Our reliable househelp went home to Bicol for her yearly weeklong break, which means I had to personally take care of every chore in the house. Thankfully, we hire another person to do the laundry and she showed up as scheduled last week.

The Sunday before I had to plunge into my chores, I finished the first session of my driving refresher course. That was quite a workout, but miraculously I still managed to get up from bed as early as 5AM even if my arms and legs were aching all over. I prepared some breakfast, washed my son’s clothes and did some little cleaning. My hubby offered help in washing the dishes and looking after our son while I get busy with other chores. But once my hubby left for work, I had to jump from my cooking chores (not an easy task for me since I seldom cook) to keeping our house in order, and then jump again to attending to my son’s needs. After I’ve put my son to bed at night, I had to clean up the mess he made the whole day, and then wait for my hubby to arrive and wash the dishes after he’d finished his dinner. After that, I’m practically dragging my feet towards the bed.

By middle of the week, I may have perfected the art of cooking rice sans a rice cooker and have been successful in cooking dishes such as nilaga, sinigang and tinola. But I was also dead tired already. My son has started to become cranky for having forced to play by himself most of the time while mommy is busy in the kitchen. That’s when I decided to ditch my chores for a while and brought my son the mall to have lunch at McDonald’s. The following day, I skipped my cooking chores again for one meal and bought Jollibee meals for dinner.

I hardly took a break. Even while watching the AI Season 7 finale, I was simultaneously doing two or three tasks. By Friday night, I felt like I was bound for sickbay. So imagine my shock when my hubby came home that night and told me he has sore eyes. Lucky me!

Over the weekend, I had to juggle my time more because I have driving lessons to attend to, and I had to guard my son from getting too exposed to his sick daddy. I’d bring my son to my folks during my driving sessions then pick him up again after. Back home, I’d attend to my chores again like a robot. I refused to sit even for a few minutes because that’s when fatigue would start to set in, and I couldn’t afford to let that happen until my chores are done.

When I finally went to bed on Sunday night, I thanked God for helping me get through the week. I also prayed that our helper would keep her promise to come back by Monday morning. When I heard the alarm the next day, I jumped to my feet to start my day. After a few minutes, my prayers were answered. Our helper walked back in, and I’ve never felt more relieved! Though I was tempted to go back to bed at that instant, I went on with my chores to allow Manang to freshen up after a long trip. I can take enough rest later.

The week that was made me ponder about how lucky I am to be living here in the Philippines; only here can I have the luxury of a reliable househelp who takes care of majority of the chores while I take care of my son, and of family members who would willingly babysit for my kid when I can’t be around for him. It sure is tough living abroad without these special people lending an extra hand.