Mi Cuarto

I started cleaning up THE room. There is something exciting in getting your own room. Your own space. It became more exciting when Jombit floated the idea of repainting it. I selected "Simply Peach"!! It is not yet done as Jombit will apply two coatings. But after the first coating, it looked darker than what I thought it would be.

I will miss the minute by minute update on what is going on - after all, I am currently seated at the "heart" of the office. Where I see and hear all the action :) North and South, East and West!! Oh, the lengths I go to in order to maintain focus! Having my own room means I will get more work done because I will have less distraction. And I want that. Teacher concerns are multiplying by the second and in less than 2 months, the interview season begins again!!

Babysitting "The One"

It was a surprisingly good experience to babysit Keanu. He was trying his best to be funny! He really was! He laughs a throaty kind of laugh to elicit laughter from us. All took turns to look after him and I didn't have to ask. He just walked around the house, to all of our rooms, ate biscuit and when it was time, napped.

I loved him more when he seemed to like my sinigang na baboy!!! He ate and ate and ate until I was afraid he might be too full! Susette and Marco arrived at about 8pm with a box of doughnuts from Dunkin. I was happy that Keanu looked happy with his stay here. Migo, Nica and Noy were happy because they got $15 for babysitting. All agreed to use it as gas money :)

Drive to Virginia Beach

We got a 15-seater from Budget Car Rentals. Boy, it was BIG! Virginia is an 18-hr drive from Springfield and Migo was already geared to face the challenge of being our ONLY driver. Armed with Red Bull, Gatorade and lots of rap and soul CDs, we started out at about 9am, Wednesday (Aug 17). The trip was uneventful except when the teachers saw a "house" wrapped in plastic, being carried by a truck. Cracked me up when they said "house for delivery". Migo drove until 8pm and we spent our night at Super 8 in Owingsville, KY. The hotel smelled new and I was happy with my choice. The next morning, we woke up to get our free continental breakfast. We had a feast!! Picture below is one taken at the Super 8 Motel in KY.

We went off to an early start. West Virginia is breathtaking! The mountains and valleys, the luscious greens! I am amazed at how they carved out roads in the mountains and maximized the beauty that nature had to offer. At times I thought some parts resembled Kennon Road of Baguio; when it was still passable :(

I was happy that we got to Virginia at about 6pm without incident on the highways. But we got caught in traffic and managed to be at the Mante's house just before 8pm. Freaking hungry and tired! Fabian and Arlene (Mante), Sharon (Reuyan) and Perlita (Gallosa) graciously treated us for dinner at a chinese buffet. I felt so welcome with the warm lingering hugs and all were so ready to help our new batch of teachers. What surprised me was Fabian. This was the first time I really got to talk to him and I immediately felt his sincerity. He is the kind who will do anything without thought of repayment. And I thought his kind does not exist anymore :) !!! Below is the VBCPS family at the Mante's residence.


To reward Migo, I picked out a hotel near the beach front. I thought I got a good deal with another Super 8. Turned out a stinky, dirty hotel and I was so tired to even think of changing hotels. In the morning, we took some pictures by the beach then off we went to do a courtesy call to Bernard. Bernard is hands-down the funniest guy in the universe. He cracks me up without even trying :) Sweet too and so not hard to please.

The teachers already shooed us to get started for Springfield after lunch (Sharon cooked shrimp!!) and we willingly obliged. As we drove further and further away from Virginia, I thought, "I am leaving teachers who will be a blessing to their students and who will make good their promise to make us proud." Corazon Delima and Flor Apape. I never got close to teachers as well as I did with them. They had me as their "caretaker" for 2 weeks! I will miss sweet and lovable Colin. Kung lahat ng apo kagaya niya, penge na ng isa (hehehehe JOKE! as in capital J) And oh, I will also miss getting a kick out of calling Blas, "Mr. Pogi" and seeing that embarassed but knowing smile :)

The trip back was tricky because Migo had been driving long hours for 3 straight days now and John Legend, 50 Cent and Gin Blossoms had gone hoarse ... in my mind, that is. To keep Migo awake, I asked a lot of questions about his vacation to the Philippines. After the trip, I felt like I was vacationing with him the whole time because I got all the details!! I mean, only those which he was willing to share, of course. We spent a night at Comfort Inn in West Virginia and had a REAL good night sleep after getting him baby back ribs from Friday's.

We got back at Springfield just before 7pm and it was good to be home - as it always is. That was 4 days on the road .... STRAIGHT! I got to give it to Migo. I never heard a complaint, not a teeny tiny bit. Hey, that is my son!

Again

I get this feeling every month. Some months are better because I easily sleep it off. This month is one of the bad ones.

Thoughts running in my mind ... about Papa and Mama. Their health and how I want to help them financially. About work and finances. About my visa status. The grass in the lawn. Cleaning up the garage, my closet. My files at home. The stiffness in my fingers. Where is my passport? My children. Roly.

It is so overwhelming ... I am nauseated and want to throw up.

Migo is Home

Yipeeee!!! Migo is finally home and he got me pulvoron :) I love the goodies that Abi and Minette sent. Nang Linda is such a sweetie that I felt guilty for not sending her anything tuloy. Same with Jay. Migo talked non-stop about how he enjoyed Jay's company. He talked about how Minette would remind Jay to take care of his "panganay", Migo. About Nang Linda, being his midnight-snack-buddy. About Edmund taking him to play golf.

Migo's stories about Papa and Mama and Cyn and Ira were all depressing. I wish there is much more I can give. If only I could, I would free them from all their financial worries. I am so angry at myself for not providing enough for Ma and Pa. I hope to do more for them starting NOW. I am praying for this.

I invited some friends to a thanksgiving party. I was expecting the teachers and my officemates from the staffhouse but they were not able to come. I did not want to delve into their reasons ... but somehow, I felt offended. Was it my cooking? Well, I try!! HARD!! hehehe ... Felt good that Gin and Edmond came. Also Marta and Sherree. Marta's peach cobbler was muy delicioso!! So happy that Rina, Aldrin, Pearlie, Marco and Susette seemed to like what I served - crispy pata (sarap!), pansit bihon (napagod ako dito .. never again!) and buffalo wings (from Tyson). And I requested Gel to bring lumpiang sariwa (heaven!)

Gabby and Geri slept over while Nyke and Gel enjoyed a night together ... just the two of them :) Both were well behaved and I didn't have a problem keeping them entertained. Teka, ano kaya ang kakainin nila sa breakfast?

Mommy Thoughts

Teachers for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools are restless. They want to travel to Virginia Beach before the week ends.

My boss feels more confident for Migo to drive us. This means I will travel to VA next week with Migo and the teachers. *sigh* I just want to be home and bond with my kids!

Ms. Velasquez, the Prez of Cebu Normal U and the guest of my boss, is very charming. The picture above is one of those I took with Ms. Velasquez, EQ and the VB teachers. Taken at EQ's living room.

Nica is enjoying her CA trip. She is not going to Los Angeles anymore because Tisha will go to San Francisco instead! She is actually happy that she will get to spend more time in San Francisco :) Hmmmmm ... and a double Hmmmmmmmm???

Learned from Abi that Migo met Micah last weekend. What the!!!! Micah, the girl who cut out my face in every baby picture of Migo (so evil!!) , the girl who made us realize that Migo is not a baby anymore. At 17 years old!! Waaaaaaa!!! I will have to reserve my comments when I get to talk to Migo about this. What worries me is that when Migo told Abi that he will be spending 2 nights with his Marville friends, she suspected he might be with Micah!!

Noy is out again for their Wednesday thing. I hope this does not continue on when school starts. I just feel that some of them overextends the welcome that I give. And I have low tolerance to people who abuse my "coolness"!!!

Realization 101

Have you ever prayed so hard that you tightly close your eyes so can shut out the world and not see what will happen if your prayers are not favorably answered? I did just that as the days drew closer and closer to THE date. I never frantically sought for Divine intervention as I did for Migo to pass the embassy interview, never asked so many people to pray for him. The odds were stacking up, even if I did not want to admit it. He did not have property titles to show and the entire family is listed in the form, all in the US! And all with pending applications for immigrant visa. So bad I thought were his chances of getting the visa that I was already praying that both Migo and I will have the strength to accept a denial!

At about 8pm I received his first text: Make a guess
To which I interpreted as positive!! I sent my reply: You got your visa!!!
But just as my reply was being sent, another text message from him: Tawag kng pde
Then I thought - I might have misinterpreted his first message. No. Please God NO!
As I was shaking while looking for his Globe phone number so I can call him, his reply to my message came: Yahoo!!!

I am happy beyond words. Sooooo happy. Realization 101. Prayer IS powerful.