Blog on Hiatus?

The hammock by the rose bush.

I know that I haven’t blogged much when my older sister in Sudan called me and complained that I haven’t been updating my blog.

The week before last week, I concentrated on Spring cleaning our neglected home office(while doing more paperwork). I spent most of the time tackling the paper filing system. I was 6 months behind and there were boxes of stuff(that’s with the junk mail weeded out) that I had to go through, shred and dispose. Our home office is in an unfinished basement and it’s easy to neglect a space when it’s out of sight(out of sight, out of mind), a good excuse also would be- it’s cold in the basement during Winter. But eversince my 6 year old laptop went bonkers(screen needs to be replaced), I had to use this desktop in the basement. I couldn’t help but notice the “for filing” tray was quite stacked-up high and was getting to me. I don’t know why I let the paperwork pile on me like that but I guess, it really hasn’t sunked-in quite yet that I don’t have a personal assistant to do the clerical work. I have never imagined myself having the need of a full blown personal paper filing system, complete with filing cabinet, folders and fasteners. I can always just stick the darn stuff in boxes but it’s a pain in the tuckus when something needs to be dug up. When I was single and living in the Philippines, I had to keep tabs with rent, utilities(water and electricity), bank statements, phone and cellphone bill- all can be neatly stored in an accordion envelope. Now, I always wonder how people with families with both parents working keep up with all the mundane and time consuming filing to be done. I realize that there is a high price to pay to live in a first world country, all the conveniences of life being offered has a trade-off. The only way to simplify life in a complicated world is to find a cave somewhere and hide!

The same week, we took our dog C for a biopsy for the mass encircling his intestines and subconciously I wasn’t much in a blogging mode while we waited for the results.

Last week was also a busy one, highlights:

Monday: We attended a BBQ lunch hosted by the preschool that my daughter attended. It was the last day she was going to see her schoolmates and we wanted her to say her goodbyes. My husband even took off from work that morning to join us. It’s was fun. It was a potluck deal and we brought kosher hotdogs to make things simple. We brought a picnic blanket and were basking in the sun in no time. I like these types of get-together since it’s so relaxed. Where else can you socialize and lay around on the grass at the same time? They hired a singer who catered to kiddie parties and he was singing while the children were participating by dancing and singing. We left 30 minutes early before closing time so that my husband can go on a client call. Little K had a fit at home when she realized that we ‘extracted’ from the dance floor. She was telling me that it’s not nice for us to interrupt her while she was having fun with her friends(in her version of a stern voice with matching eyebrows meeting) .

Tuesday: Little K had an informal recital at the dance studio. They have the fancy recitals every other year. It’s quite expensive to have them every year and would be financially burdening to parents. She was indepently practicing her steps at home and showing me what the terms meant. I couldn’t keep up with her Adagio, Chassé, Demi plié, Echappé, Frappé, etc. The steps are complex and I’m impressed that she can actually store all those information in her pretty little head. She did well with a few lapses here and there, I was more into ‘being in the moment’ watching my 5 year old show-off what she has learned in the last 7 months than counting her mistakes. Her expression on her face shows how she took her presentation seriously.

We brought some of fresh picked strawberries(more on this in the following post) , angel food cake and whipped cream for the potluck reception. I’m glad we did because store bought cookies, brownies and unripe cantalopes weren’t that all appealing. We received so many compliments on the strawberries. I was kind of embarrassed from all the attention, it took just a little bit extra effort to make the semi-homemade treat(the angel food cake was store bought). When most of the potluck brought are calorie and hydrogenated oil laden baked goods, anything fresh and vine ripe is gourmet.

Of course instead of blogging that night, I watched American Idol.

Wednesday: I was doing laundry while patching the lawn[lay the soil down then grass seeds and cover with hay]). It’s like this in America, menial job labor is not as as affordable like in the Philippines to working middle class and so time for DIY(do-it-yourself). The monthly salary for 2 helpers in the old country is only enough to pay for 1 helper for a day here. So if you’re a stay-at-home-mom, you better be a Jill-of-all-traits(childcare provider, cook, driver, gardener, office manager, housekeeper, handyman, painter, etc, I think you get the point).

Little K is officially on summer vacation mode and I had to come up with activities to keep her entertained. She was used to being at pre-K for 2 and half hours doing something fun. Her pre-K time was my 2 hours of solitude(the half hour is used up dropping her off and picking her up).

American Idol finale, no blogging again.

Thursday: I took Little K to the library. It’s so cool how she perceives going to the library as a treat. She will ‘clean up’ her room to go to the library. Her eyes light up with awe whenever she looks at all the books. We walked to the library and we had to bring home only what we can carry.

Thursday night we went to the other side of the bay early to beat the Memorial Day weekend traffic. It’s officially the start of the beach season and the Bay Bridge traffic can be jammed packed with beach crazed crowds that we want to avoid. According to recent statistics, our area ranks 4th in the most road rage incidents nationwide. We really don’t need to be driving around people who are prone to road rage.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday: Off on vacation. Driving on open country roads. Waving at nice country folks passing by. Firing up the grill, eating fresh picked asparagus, stopping and smelling roses, gorging and picking strawberries, hanging out in the hammock. Having our own taste of simple life in our own little piece of paradise.

Oh yeah, I also had a hair cut, haven’t had one for 6 months. My usual hairstylist left for Canada and the lady who took-over didn’t do a good job and I refused to have a haircut unless I found an afforable but with quality work hairstylist. I got tired of my provincial looking ponytail. Three inches was cut from the longest side. I am very happy with the work and Michelle(hairstylist) definitely knew what I wanted. I hope she doesn’t go away anytime soon. So how much is affordable you ask, it’s $25(to put you into perspective -a cheapo cut is $20, nice salon $40, I heard some ladies say that $60 is reasonable, gosh I have to be personally making six figures to be able to say that; of course you have to add tip too.)

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On Memorial Day, we remember and thank all the men and women in uniform for their sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedom we have now.