Chronicling My Two-Week Absence

I missed blogging.. I really do...

It's unbelievable how I couldn't find the time to write what's been happening to me. That's how busy it was for both my personal and work lives. I admire those who have been effectively managing their time well and finding time to do as much as they could.

To make it easier for me to recall what had preoccupied my time, I thought about writing a sort-of-timeline --

June 23

Jed & I had dinner with my grade school friends at Mamou in Serendra, composed of three newlywed couples (Tammy & Mon, Joy & Joel, and Jed & I) and one feisty lady lawyer (Rita). It was an evening of sensible & witty conversations and reminisce of our embarrassing years in St. Paul. I cannot believe I had known these people since first grade and I am very happy that our friendship is closer than before. The new milestones in our lives made it possible to see more of each other. And I'm thankful Jed also enjoyed their company. Dinner time was not enough for us non-stop talkers; we moved to Miss Desserts for, of course, desserts and some light conversations. We did miss having Sam & Rob with us.

June 28

I promised Jed that I'll treat him to lunch buffet at Spiral of Sofitel Philippine Plaza when I receive my overtime pay. The buffet price was pretty steep (more expensive than Circles) but it was worth it. I implemented this systematic way of eating so I could try a couple of dishes from each of their themed stations. After lunch, we met with Jed's former colleagues who jumped over to the Sofitel fence. We had the opportunity to see the newly renovated suite, and we were both in awe checking out the state-of-the-art room.

Late afternoon and evening were spent shopping! It was our first to have shopped that way. We both blame it on the Zara sale. We capped the day catching the last full screening of Wanted.

June 29

The day of the Pacquiao vs. Diaz match. Got a text message from my brother that Pacquiao won. Filipinos are happy.

June 30

My best friend Mia's birthday!

I finally attended a Body Combat class at the gym, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I've never been in a class with that many attendees. I guess people were inspired by the Pacquiao win. Body Combat is the 4th class I've been going to at the gym. The other three are: Final Cuts, Body Attack and Body Balance. I've reached this point that working out alone is boring me. With group classes, I only need to show up and follow the steps of Fitness First's very able instructors.

July 1

It's Canada Day so I have a day off from work. I had too many errands to do. And I finished them all. My siblings invited themselves over for dinner. I prepared a lasagna for them from Edna's recipe book.

July 2 to 3

I had to travel to Cebu for the launch of the Canadian Food Festival at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu. As the event is held in Marco Polo, I did not have the time to leave the hotel. So I dined in the their restaurants Café Marco and their newest baby, Blu.

On my last day, I surprisingly found the time to work out, enjoy a breakfast meeting, check my e-mails and go for a foot spa. I've never had this much time to use the hotel's facilities.

July 4

I am back in Manila! It was a short time at the office as the team headed out to Chelsea in Serendra for the boss' despedida treat. We enjoyed our sumptuous meal of cheese fondue, three kinds of salad, two kinds of pizza and pasta. For dessert, the table was overflowing with slices of cakes. I had been wanting to try the Nutella Dome Cake so I had that and shared with the rest of the team.

My small group was resurrected. The last one was with Sam back in May. Malou led our very small group with only her, myself and Lynn. I missed these girls. I'm very proud of Malou for leading last Friday's meeting. Our topic was praying for our husbands. It actually is very timely for me.

week of July 7th

Jed is in Hong Kong attending a workshop. He left last Monday, and would return tomorrow.

So what do I do keep myself busy and not miss my husband?

A lot, actually.

I met with Cheryl for early dinner at Café Via Mare last Monday. Then my evenings are spent cleaning the house and keeping it in order. Household chores are an effective way to eat up time.

I don't have Jed to drive me to work so I have to wake up extra early to avoid the morning rush, and get a cab stress-free. I don't mind getting to RCBC an hour early as it gives me time to hang out in Starbucks for a cup of coffee and pastry and catch up on my reading. I've just started on Paolo Coelho's Brida.

Thanks to PLDT Budget Card, I get to talk to Jed every night and it costs us so little. Roaming charges are insanely expensive and too much on the budget.