My First Big Girl Moment

I remember the day when I felt I finally grew up. In September 2006 I flew by myself to the US for training. I was so overwhelmed and tried hard not to cry once I stepped out of the airport. It was the farthest I traveled by myself. I've always gone to the US with my family. 

It was evening when I arrived in SFO. It was very cold when I stepped out and everything looked massive. I felt very small and told myself, "This is it. You're a big girl now." I took a deep breath and looked for the van that would take me to Mountain View. 

That was the moment that transformed me to become a big girl. I was still overwhelmed for the rest of the trip. My manager said he was surprised I was very quiet the whole time I was there. It just took me awhile to take everything in. It didn't help that everyone towered over me. Everything looked huge. It's probably what Alice in Wonderland felt when she stumbled into another world. 

I grew in the few weeks we were in the states. I eventually started to blossom. I felt different when I got home. My perspective of the world changed. I was no longer just "the child of" but I had come into my own. It was then that I felt I was finally in-charge of my life. 

Have you experienced a similar transformation?

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely   

Adulting 101

To be honest, I only learned how to manage a home when Sweetie and I got married and moved to our own home. I remember I was shocked when Sweetie said he preferred not to have househelp. We always had helpers at home which meant I focused more on my studies/work, other activities than learning how to cook and home management. 

We had a lot of misadventures when we moved to our first home. We shared this on our "Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal". Our brand new washing machine almost blew up. Our sink billowed white smoke. The worst was the septic tank incident. My Mom eventually took pity on us and got someone to help clean the house and do ironing once a week. I think she got worried we might eventually end up hurting ourselves trying to learn the ropes of home management. 

Here's what I learned through the years:

1. Pay your bills on time. Aside from utilities, always pay your credit card bills in full. That also means do not spend beyond your capacity. Save if there's someone you need to buy. 

2. Invest in good appliances. I learned this from my Mom. Her appliances really last a long time (her Whirlpool fridge is as old as Miggy!). The Union fan I brought to Singapore ten years ago, came back home with me. 

We used our first washing machine for 9 years.
It was still working when we gave it away because we decided to get a bigger one.

3. Your first home may not necessarily be your last. This was advise given to me by my Ate. We've lived in 8 different homes in the last 11 years. We moved based on need and our lifestyle. Now that we're permanently home and we won't be traveling we'll be settling in a permanent home now.

4. Budget to save, work to be financially free. I set aside money for savings before I spent it and eventually adjusted it based on the goal to be eventually financially free. I'm not financially free yet and still working on my strategy. 

5. Enjoy the chores. Yes, you need to embrace the fact that chores will always be waiting for you to do. I enjoy doing the laundry and have a science on how I do it. I feel so satisfied when I'm able to complete it. Sweetie took over it the past year, but I started doing it again yesterday. I ended up feeling unwell though, haha, but I was happy I was able to do it again. 

6. Get help where you can. You can't possibly do everything. We continued to have someone come in once a week to do cleaning and ironing for us. Before we went home last week we had our place deep-cleaned. It would have been dreadful if I ended up inflamming my sinuses with dust, hehe. 

7. Ask for help if you need it. It's been very useful for me to check the posts of our neighbors when they need help for something. I normally check previous posts first on our group before I ask questions or I ping a friend or neighbor to ask directly. I needed to have our sliding door fixed and easily found recommendations on who to contact. It's fixed now, yay!

8. Think twice before buying home items. It takes me years before I finally decide to buy something, i.e. my KitchenAid stand mixer. I always ask myself if I'm really committed to it and I set goals I need to meet before buying something. I'm also changing my grocery buying strategy since we ended up throwing away a lot of stuff before we went home. I will strictly adhere to my meal plans to make sure I only buy what's needed. I'll also probably put in an inventory system so we don't duplicate stuff. 

9. Do tasks by parts. What worked for me was setting tiny home goals per day since I have to manage my energy. I would set one reachable home goal a day. This way I don't end up procrastinating, haha. Give yourself a treat when you complete the task. 

10. Stay healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Too much of anything is bad for you. Don't forget to love yourself. 

Remember, there's no formula to be a perfect adult. Just do what you think is right for you. Our parents had to help us in the beginning to show us the way. Eventually my Mom said we were already doing well and she believed we could do anything now. I still ask my Mom things when I'm in a bind hehe. 

#Home14 #NewG230 #Xmas38 #StayHome #BeKind  

Eighteen

OMG, I just realized I haven't blogged for almost 2 months now! I've just been so terribly busy. :(

I definitely need to make this post though since it's a major milestone in my life. My son, Miguel, turned eighteen last week! Time flies so fast and it seems just like yesterday when I brought Miguel to this world on a rainy day. I remember classes were suspended due to a typhoon (I think Typhoon Gading) and I only had my relatives visit me at the hospital.

I labored for about 18 hours before my 5.6 kgs., 18 inch boy finally decided to come out. Doctors were already considering doing a cesarean procedure because Miguel was distressed, but alas just before 8 in the evening my toes wiggled and the doctors did a dance of joy. They said that it was a sign that the baby was ready to come out. It was really hard and the doctor had to help push him out by massaging my tummy (I had some black and blues after) and out he went and cried loudly. They counted his fingers and toes and said everything was alright and he was healthy. The big surprise though, the baby was a boy.

I didn't really want to know the gender of my baby, but during an ultrasound someone said that a baby girl was coming. Apparently they read it wrong so unfortunately the quilt blanket I worked on was pink and not blue (haha). I was just happy that despite all the stress that I went through during my pregnancy my baby was healthy and peaceful.

I don't really talk much about Miguel here in blog because I don't want to encroach on his privacy and so he could make a mark on this world on his own. I'm really lucky to have a very intelligent, loving, understanding, simple and dependable son. I just wish sometimes he wasn't so shy, but I guess he'll eventually outgrow it (just like I did) and be more confident with his abilities. I'm going to stop here before I start embarrassing my son (haha). Just wanted to say that I cannot imagine my life without him. He's been my rock and my inspiration to do well and as one of my former bosses said, "The best achievement one can have is the accomplishments of your child."

Happy birthday Miguel. Welcome to the adult world :)