LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES!

It is supper hot in the Philippines right now. It has been like this for a couple of months. Some people are very thankful for the full blown sun since they heard that the COVID-19 does not survive on high heat. Well, I am telling you guys we still have COVID-19 cases here and the number is still going up. I do hope that we are all trying to be safe and healthy and are following the proper protocol to avoid the virus to keep you and your family safe. Hopefully, we will get over this very soon and we can get back to our "new normal life" since COVID-19 has done a lot of changes in our life both good and bad. Let us all stay positive and embrace the good changes and learn from the bad ones. For now, I am just thankful that our water supply is back. And that I was able to do some laundry. Oh boy! I forget that in the Philippines, water supply is not that consistent or stable. For two days we suffered for an "on and off" water supply that even flushing the toilet was an issue or washing our hands. Thanks to the many bottles of alcohol we have at home. I told hubby that we should get some buckets for storing water to prepare for the next one. 

Anyway, I was just finish doing my regular morning routine which is cleaning the house for the most part, then Facebooking, singing/listening to music and feeding our dog. Oh, one of these days, I will tell you more about our dog. Then at 11:00am, I watched my friend's live on Facebook where she reads the bible and shares her thoughts and her experiences. She is a good friend of mine who still resides in the U.S. I  have been her regular viewer for quite sometime now. It is nice. It is a positive experience. So, I will continue while I still can. I have no job yet and just chilling at home. Oh gosh! I am hoping that I can start working soon and earn my own money. I am telling you, it is so nice to be near my family and to see them more often but I feel guilty seeing them when I can't even offer them money, especially my mother. It is hard when you are not earning. I am just thankful that my hubby helps them a lot in terms of food and paying the bills. I thank you God! I am praying that this COVID will pass, that things will be back in place school will operate and maybe there is a job waiting for me. Please God, heal everyone! 

Anyway, I will talk to you later. I think  my hubby is awake now and needs his coffee. Just so you know, he goes to bed at 4:00am and gets up around 1:00pm. 

Bye guys and see you later!

LONG, LONG TIME!

OMG! I cannot believe that I have forgotten this blog. It's been a decade ago since my last post. So many things have  occured in my life since then! I remember being so busy with work, taking home unfinished paper work, preparing art for the children for the next day, making lesson plan, just busy fulfilling the responsibility of a childcare teacher. Plus, doing sideline jobs here and there, moved to different job a couple of times and accepting more responsibilities. In short, work kept me busy and for that I did not have much time to write until I lost interest of my blog. I just can't believe that I found it!

The latest and the biggest transition my husband and I made is.... we finally decided to move to my country, the PHILIPPINES..... Yes! This has been the plan all along. We arrived here in September of 2019. We live in a town called Liloan in the province of Cebu. We bought a house here 5 years ago. My husband wanted to fully pay the house before moving here. Guys, we are not rich! And there is no way that we can finance the house without working hard in the U.S.. So, it took us 5 years to really own it. And now, here we are! I think the lesson here is, if you want something, you have to work for it. Sometimes, you have to work extra hard depending on what it is you want. Right? Comment if you agree. 

So far, beside being hot and sticky, we really love it here! My husband really loves it here too. He is enjoying his retirement alright! According to him, everyday is a weekend. And as for myself, I love being near my family, especially, my mother. I get to see her, my borothers and sisters and my nieces and nephews whom most of them are not little anymore. I get to see them anytime I want. Well, except right now with the COVID-1,9.

Anyways, it is past midnight right now in the Philippines and I think I am ready for bed. I will tell more of our stories and more updates of our new life here. I just needed to post something here, a way of expressing my joy and excitement that I rediscover my blog. And for those who read and commented in my posts, thank you all! Keep safe!

NEW YEAR!

It is almost New Year in the Philippines! Another year is about to be over and a new one to start. This year has been good to my me and my family. I can't thank God enough for the good health that we all received this year and for the courage and strength that He provided to overcome all the trials that we've encountered. Thank you Almighty Father for all the wonderful blessings. My family and I are praying for more blessings, good health, love and happiness for this year to come,not just for this family but for all the families. Thank you for the food that they are preparing right now. I may not be with them right now but I can feel their joy as they are gathered together. It is enough for me to feel their happiness. Thank you! 

Happy New Year everyone! 

THANKFUL FOR ALL THE BLESSINGS!

I am very thankful to the Lord above for all the wonderful blessings that I received especially for this month. There are so many of them both material and non-material things. I just celebrated my birthday, another year older and I am happy for this gift of life. I received a wonderful gift from my husband, a very nice bracelet. Then, more gifts for me for Christmas, a pair of Ugg boots ( I love Ugg boots) and plane ticket to visit my family. I am looking forward to this trip. I miss my family. Great presents! And most of all his love for me. I feel so lucky to have him in my life. He is such a great guy who has a great heart!

Yesterday was his birthday! Happy Birthday my dear. I love you more and more everyday! Thank you Lord for giving him good health. I am praying for more birthdays to come for him!

CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is almost here! I am not really sure of my feelings right now. I love Christmas!  This is my most favorite holiday. But in these fast few years it brought me joy as well as sadness. I spent my Christmas during these years with my husband. I love him so much but I miss my family. He tries so hard to make me happy during my favorite holiday but somehow something is still missing. A piece of my heart is lost somewhere. I guess there is no place like home during this holiday. I miss my family especially during this time. We are very poor. We can not prepare tons of food like others, no presents, no new things and yet we make this a very happy and a memorable one. I wish I can go home and spend my Christmas with them. Someday... someday...

Merry Christmas to all. Give your family a big hug. You are fortunate because you are with them on this very special day!

SUE!

Today is Sue's birthday. We used to work together. She is very dear to me. I am always thankful to God for giving me a friend like her. She is very genuine, very sweet, very thoughtful and very caring. We have been working in different places now for almost two years but she is still there for me. We still communicate. I love her. She is like my lost sister. I sent her messages today for her birthday. And I hope to see her soon. People like Sue is so hard to find. So I cherish the friendship that we have together. And I hope you guys do the same. We are lucky to have a real friend that we can lean on and count on. A friend who is always there for us in the time of need and not just in the time of happiness.

Happy Birthday Sue! I love you!

GOOD EVENING ALL!

Did everyone have a great weekend? Mine was fine. I spent my Saturday doing laundry while watching the TV show Bones. Then babysat the twins at night. It was really fun! It was also nice to earn extra money. I just realized how much I miss those kids. They are getting bigger, smarter and funnier. I took a couple of videos of them with their silliness. It was such a quiet night for me and I love it that they were listening so good. I am looking forward to see them again. My Sunday was just pretty normal! My husband and I did a little bit of grocery shopping. He spent most of his Sunday with his car, doing some stuff on it. I also had to finish my laundry. I was able to watch movie. I have not seen a movie in a while. I have been watching a lot of my TV show. The movie was a nice change. It was a good movie too. And today, ahhh.. so tired again! I spent my day with the one year old kids running around with them. I had so much fun though. My boss is trying to convince me to work in this classroom. I don't know if I want to. I know this age is such a fun age but I could not decide right now yet. It sad though 'coz I came home with a headache and the back of my neck is aching. What a life. It is not easy to earn money.

That is all for now! I hope we all are going to have great week!

READY FOR THE WEEKEND!

Two days in a row that I was working over time. I am feeling so worn out right now. My whole body is aching. I was feeling dizzy today too. I don't know what is going on with me. I am just glad that the week is over. I am so ready for the weekend. Although I have to babysit tomorrow but It won't be bad 'coz it is in the evening. Earning extra money is nice too. Plus, I miss these two girls so much. It has been so long since the last time I saw them. It would be fun for sure. Hopefully, my husband will drive me there so that I don't have to drive myself. I am a little nervous since I forgot the place. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. But right now I just wanna crash and sleep my tiredness away!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE!

SUPER TIRED!

I got home from work and my legs started to hurt. I guess the extra hours of work today was making me so sore.Huh chasing those little ones was so much fun that I did not realize how tired I was until I got home. I wish today was Friday and I can just relax and not to worry about work the next day. The best thing that did not happen today was the dizziness. Thank you Lord for that. I guess I should go to bed early. 

Have a good night everyone!

HAPPY MONDAY TO US ALL!

I hope we are all enjoying our Monday. It is a little bit crazy at work because we are low on staff but we are moving along. We are patient enough to adjust our breaks to help the management. I don't have any problems taking my lunch break late. I actually like it ' coz then I have a short afrenoon. But this is not always the case. 

Anyway, yesterday my husband finally found the car that he wanted to replace his totaled car due to the accident a week ago. He is still a little bit sad that he lost his car which I understand. The very good thing is, there was no serious injuries on both parties. He was not hurt at all but me, I got a huge bump on my head. You can tell me that I am crazy because I did not see a doctor. I still get dizzy and everytime this happens I get so nervous. But I am positive that I will be okay. Thank you Lord! I realized that no matter how careful you are with your driving but when others aren't, you still get into accidents. It is scary watching those people putting their make-up on, talking on their phone or texting while driving. I hope before bad things happen to them or to other people because of them, they come to realize that it's just wrong and dangerous. Eyes should be on the road at all times.

Anyway, have a good afternoon all!

HELLO MY BLOG!

I know it's been so long! There were so many things that have happened and so many things have changed during the time of my absence. Some were good and some were not so good. I have changed job and I have been working here for almost 2 years. I am so glad that I found this place. I tell yah! This place is so much better than the last one. (Big thanks to this wonderful parent who recommended me here.) I am more relaxed when I get home, watch TV, facebooking, chit chatting and all that. Plus I get to work longer hours. No need for me to work part time somewhere else which I kind of did when I just started in this place.Yes, working longer hours everyday sounds exhausting but hey, I need the money. I have a big family to support, nieces and nephews to send to college. So yeah, I have to work hard---er.

But anyway, it is nice to be back here. This blog was/is actually my place of comfort. And it is nice to have that old feeling back!

Have a great weekend everyone! 'Til next time! I know I have a lot of things to write but that's all for now.

BAD DREAM!

I was at the funeral with my husband, mother, uncle and sister. But for some reason all of us including the dead body ended up in the middle of the road. The body was out of the coffin. It was embalmed and yet still alive. I was not sure if he was my father or my uncle. But he looked at me so angry. Whatever I have done to him, it must be pretty bad. The look in his eyes was as sharp as knife. I was so scared and I was hiding behind my husband. Then, the body started to smell. My mother and my uncle decided to burn the body right there in the middle of the road. The hungry fire ate it for only a very short time. But my sister was mad. She wanted to tell everyone what my mother and uncle have done. So, I was following her wherever she went to convince her not to tell anyone since our mother was involved in it. We were on the top of the building and on the top of the tree (I was a pretty good climber, I guess), and walking on the small branch of the tree trying to talk to her out of it. Then I heard a sound, it's getting louder and louder and louder. Then, I opened my eyes. It was my alarm clock waking me up.

Ahhh... Thank you God. It was just a dream. It was scary.

I got up scared and was still shaking up when I was taking a shower. My dream was still playing in my head. I tried to think what made me dream like that. Then, I realized yesterday I had so many things going on which bothered me mentally and emotionally. I went to bed with my mind and heart not in peace.

I hate bad dreams.

BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS!

The phone rang at around 3:00pm. I did not pick it up thinking it was some kind of tele-marketing since it was too early for my friends to call. But I was waiting just in case the caller will leave a message. And she did. "Hello! This is Liezel from the Philippine Consulate. This message is for Gerelyn Tundag." Huh! I was so scared. The moment I heard the Philippine Consulate, I knew it was about the processing of my Passport Extension. My hand was shaking as I picked up the phone. I was hoping it was not a bad news since my husband had already bought the tickets for our trip to the Philippines. Then she started explaining..... gosh, I thought I was going to faint when she told me she can no longer process my application because my passport was already expired. I have to renew it, they need my appearance and the process will take 6 weeks. How in the world can I do that in 6 freaking weeks? We will be leaving on the 9th of April. I wanted to cry and scream. I honestly told her how frustrated I am since we already got the tickets. I know it's my fault and not hers. She said she is going to send my papers back. "Okay!" This is what I said. What else can I say? So, we said our goodbyes. I felt like my heart was about to explode. I wanted to cry but tears won't come out of my eyes. I was frustrated, mad and sad not to anyone but to myself. So, I picked up the phone again and called my husband at work. Maybe he can calm me down. I thought. But I did not get hold of him. Oh joy! Whatever. I decided to continue doing my stuff.


Few minutes later.....

The phone rang again. I picked it up this time expecting my husband's voice. No, it wasn't. It was a woman's voice. It was Liezel from the Philippine Consulate. She called again to deliver a good news this time. Oh, thank you God! This time it is a good talk and a good news. She said she will consider processing my application since we already got the tickets with conditions. The conditions are not the hardest thing to do. So I gave her my word. I am so grateful that she considered it. Now, I am relieved. I just have to do those things that I needed to get done and fax them to her to complete my application.

Liezel, may GOD bless you. It is really nice to know and meet people, people like Liezel who is understanding and considerate.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Hello everyone! Happy Valentine's Day. Did you spend this special day with you love ones? If yes, good job. As for me today is just an ordinary day. But I got some gifts from our nice parents at work. Thanks to them by the way. I felt guilty because I did not make gifts for our parents. Our kids at work had a little party. They really enjoyed. They ate so much. It was fun. I had fun.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

LONG DAY!

Working long hours is not fun, especially when it's not counted as overtime. Today I had to work 11 hours straight. I am so tired. I was already falling asleep on the bus on my way home. The energy left in me was only enough to cook for my husband's food for him to take to work. That's all. I had to order food for my dinner and for my stepson's. It does not make me happy everytime they schedule me this way. It's not very often though. It's hard to say "no" because first, I want to have a good review. And second, they asked me nicely. So I said "okay". But with all the cleaning and stuff I am doing in my room alone, working more than 8 hours is way too much. I will be sent home 3 hours early tomorrow for the 3 hours of overtime today. I'm thinking when I get home, I'll go straight to bed and sleep. Yeah right! As if it will happen.

Anyway goodnight everyone.

BYE WEEKEND!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. My weekend was a little bit busy. I had a really good sleep from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. I mean I did not sleep the entire time but I slept most of it. Friday after work I was so tired. I guess my job is really burning up all my strengths. Sometimes, I really, really wanted to just raise my arms and surrender. But I can't. I need money. So yeah,just keep moving. Then Saturday from 6pm to 12 midnight I was baby-sitting. Extra money for me. Plus I love these twins so much. They are supper cute. And I had fun. Then Sunday I slept almost the whole day. Damn! I was a little bit sad because I did not get to practice my driving. My husband said he was tired. I have nothing to argue about that. I wish I am allowed to practice alone. I probably have my license now. But unfortunately I can't. So I have to depend on my husband. But it's okay. It's better to take it slowly.

I have to stop for now. I have things that I needed to do for work.

Have fun all!

WEEKEND IS HERE!

I am hoping that everyone will have a good weekend. I had a long week and I'm glad it's over. I will try to have fun as much as I can this weekend. And be ready for the week ahead. I'm hoping that it's going to be a better one next week. I had so many things going on this week. And most of them were not good. But I did not have time to share it here. Or may be it was a good thing not to share it here. But I made it to the end of this week. It's a good sign. Anyway, if I can't visit here this weekend, which is normal, I hope you guys will have a good weekend. Stay safe.

SUCCESS!

I'm sorry I was gone for few days. I mean I was not really gone but my blog was left behind. Well, Friday I was so tired after work. I took a catnap for few minutes. And then, I decided to watch that movie "Toy Story 3" when I woke up. I needed to since I don't have time to watch it during the weekend and I had to return it to the owner or her kid will kill me. After the movie, I had to do a little cleaning, just a little bit. I was just making use of my time while waiting for my family to arrive at the Internet Cafe. Friday night is our date night. We chat for a long time. And it was fun.

Anyway about my "Spring Roll Party", it turned out great. I had fun and I'm sure they had fun too. All we did was just eat and eat and eat. Instead of watching movie which was the original plan, we were just talking and laughing. That was how we consumed the time until they realized it was time for them to leave. They were so happy to come over and very thankful for the food. I was happy too and thankful for the fun I had with them. Maybe there is next time. Maybe.

SPRING ROLL PARTY!

Okay, my friends at work are coming to my house tomorrow. They are so madly in love of my homemade spring rolls. I brought some to work on Christmas Eve for my awesome co-workers. And phewww, spring rolls were gone in 60 seconds. I felt bad 'coz a lot of them did not get to try it. So, since then they keep bugging me when to bring more spring rolls. This one co-worker, every single time she sees me, she talks about spring rolls. "I want your spring rolls Gerelyn. When are you going to bring more?" I just usually give them my cutest smile. But now I have enough. So, I decided to have a Spring Roll Party tomorrow at my house. This made them so happy. And me? Nervous! I am not a good host. That's what I thought of me. But part of the plan though was to watch a scary movie. So, I think I'll be okay. And I will make some fruit salad and order some Thai Food.

Let's see if it's gonna be fun tomorrow. I promise I will let everybody know.

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

It is almost the middle of the week which is good. Today was rough day at work. Although it is almost like this everyday, I am still not use to it. It is hard. This is the reason why I am always looking forward to the end of the week. I wish I only work on the weekends and earn the same amount of money as I work during the week. But, ugghh it's impossible. I still love my job though. I love my kids though they drive me nuts most of the time. Ahhhh work work work..... gotta love it.