A new week ahead . . .

It's Monday again! Hope this week will be a better one for me and my family. Less stress for me at work and at home. I hope we can find a replacement for our yaya # 2 since it's quite difficult to have one yaya around with two active kids at home. I'm just thankful that hubby's lola is with us to take care of JM when Kaila and the yaya is in school.

Happy Monday everyone!

84th Season of the NCAA . . .

Last June 28, the whole family went to Araneta Coliseum for the opening ceremony of the 84th Season of the NCAA. Of course all of us were in red! It was JM's first time to watch the opening ceremony and the ballgame. We are all eager to watch and cheer for our team. Go San Beda! It was just kinda frustrating since they were leading all throughout the game so there was no thrill at all . . . he he he . . . Here are some of our pictures:

Charice Pempengco for the National Anthem . . .

Sam Concepcion . . .

The future, the present and past players of the NCAA . . .

Me and the kids in the audience . . .

Half time cheer by the little Indians . . .

Half time score . . .

Go Pong ! ! !

The future player of San Beda . . .

Last few minutes of the game . . .

The final score ! ! !

Best player of the game . . . Sam Ekwe

Go San Beda ! ! ! See you in the championship!

The little girl is in the mood to strike a pose !

My little girl . . . soon to be a flower girl

I'm back after the long holidays. It was just a quiet vacation for us. We just stayed at home though we went to Cavite on Good Friday and went out to the mall on Saturday.

Yesterday was a lazy day in the office. It's so difficult to get back into the mood after a long vacation. I almost forgot to blog that Kaila will soon be a flower girl to a friend's wedding. I've been helping her out with her wedding suppliers and it was only about two weeks ago when she informed me that Kaila will be one of her flower girls. Of course the stage mom that I am, I really got so excited since it will be her first time. As a matter of fact, we already bought her shoes and stockings last Saturday when we went to Festival mall in Alabang. It was only last night that we went to the dressmaker for her measurements. I can't wait to see her in her gown! I'm also thinking what I would do to her very long hair? Hubby was telling me the other night to use the hair jewelries I used during our wedding but that might be inappropriate for her age to use it. Baka matalbugan pa nya ang bride. he he he . . .

Yaya's Passport Issue

We've been stressed with this issue for the past weeks. We were still hopeful that it will be settled just in time for our HK travel next month. But with the recent developments, I don't think we have enough time to process yaya's passport.

Just as a background, our yaya was married to a policeman. They are already separated when we hired her. According to her, ex-husband is already with another woman and even got her pregnant. So there's no chance for a possible reconciliation already.

When our yaya learned that we'll be travelling to HK by February, she expressed her intention of coming with us. She is very much willing to shoulder a part of the travel expenses. So, we asked her if she has a valid passport. She said yes right away. So without even checking her passport, we booked her immediately to avail of the Cebu Pacific Promo. The following day, she took a day off so that she can get her passport in her house. It was late Sunday evening already but she hasn't returned yet. When we texted her, she informed us that she cannot find her passport already. Eventually, she learned that ex-husband forcibly entered their house to get her passport and birth certificate.

This was the start of our struggle. Week 1 ( week of Jan 13 to 19 ) she tried to contact her husband. She was able to confirm that the passport was with ex-husband already. At first, ex-husband doesn't want to return the passport. He was blackmailing her not to sign the check of her monthly allotment ( a percentage of husband's salary is given to her ). We told her that it can't be the case since they have an agreement with this and she has a contract to prove her claim. Yaya has relative who is a high ranking official in the RDO. She texted the issue to him and given her several options. She was scheduled to go to Camp Vicente Lim to report the issue last January 18. Thank God that I have no work that day.

We went to my parent's house in Canlubang since Camp Vicente Lim is just within the vicinity. Ex-husband was there because he was told to report there. They were able to talk and she learned that the passport will be used by the "new girl" to apply for a work abroad. The other girl can’t have her own passport because she has another person with the same name and with a case. So, they agreed to return the passport to our yaya. The agreement is that husband will return the passport in Camp Vicente Lim and the passport will be sent through courier.

For week 2 ( Jan 20 to 26 ), there were recent developments already. Our yaya learned that her passport was already with a recruitment agency in Manila. I already have the guts that her passport has been tampered already. By Friday, yaya and ex-husband was scheduled to meet so that he could return the passport. She went Friday evening and met her husband. The passport was not with the husband. They scheduled to go to the agency the following day.

She left early and was out the whole day. I was yayaless again but it was ok and fun to be with the two kids. I was asking hubby for the developments because he was the one texting our yaya for the updates. Indeed, the passport was tampered already. Her picture was replaced by the picture of the other girl already. So I told hubby to inform our yaya not to go home without the passport. He texted our yaya but got no reply. Hubby even called her but she didn't answer. According to her, she was afraid to use her celfone in public. So, she left without her passport.

Again, she reported the status of the case with the relative in RDO. Her husband was asked to report again in Camp Vicente Lim. But as of to date, husband is nowhere to be found. The husband is AWOL already. Our yaya was trying to call him but the celfone is already off.

This can only mean two things. It's either the husband is trying to fix the passport before he reports to his superior or he has the intention of running away from the issue. While waiting for any developments, we are trying to figure out ways how to resolve the issue.

The easiest way to resolve the issue is to replace the picture of the other girl with our yaya's picture. The problem with this is that the passport is not with us and we don't have any contact who would do the deed. Second option is to do the legal way. File an application for lost passport. But according to the DFA website, there will be a fifteen days clearing before processing. So that means it won't make it to our scheduled trip already. Hubby asked their messenger to look for a contact who can process the lost passport without the fifteen days clearing. They found one but was charging a hefty P8,000! ! ! Passport processing is more expensive than our round trip ticket to HK.

With barely three weeks to go before our HK trip, we don’t know what to do. We'll just wait for any developments from the ex-husband of our yaya. I can't finalize our bookings because we're still waiting for the issue to be resolved.

JM's Passport

Finally! We already got JM his passport. It was delivered last Saturday, January 26, 2008. Two weeks after we had our personal appearance in DFA Manila.

Now I can vouch for the services of Teleserve for passport application because we are very much satisfied with their services. You just apply online, have your schedule for pick-up of docs and personal apperance, they'll pick-up the documents, have your appearance in DFA and the passport will be delivered right in your doorstep.

It was very efficient specially for us who are working. We were able to schedule our appearance on a Saturday so we don't have to go on leave anymore.

Now, we are very excited for JM's first out of the country trip next month.

A productive day . . .

I was on leave yesterday for a check-up in Asian Hospital. I had this "mass" in my upper left chest way back in college. Medyo namaga lang sya this past week that's why kinulit ako ni hubby na ipatingin na. When my mom saw it as well sabi rin nya ipatingin ko na rin daw. So, I took a leave the whole day while hubby reported to work. So, iintayin ko pa sya matapos with his stuffs sa office.

Early morning, I went to this school near our place to check if it's within our standard of a pre-school for Kaila. We've had our rounds about two months ago with some of the schools and none of them passed our standard. Actually, hubby wants to enroll Kaila in CSA but I told him not in her pre-school years since she'll be travelling from Cabuyao to San Pedro. I think that would be too much for a three year old kid. So basically, I want a pre-school just within our area.


So I went to this school ( St. John's Wort Montessori ) and inquired of their pre-school program. The school is just 5 to 10 minutes from our place. I was accommodated by teacher Riza. I asked all the questions and concerns I have in mind at that time. I also took a peek in their kinder and prep classes at that time. I can say that I'm quite satisfied and excited at the same time. Though we are still on debate when Kaila will start schooling. Personally, I want her to start by January so that she'll have a feel of it by June. My parents wouldn't want her to go to school yet because JM will be left out at home. But I this is my concern as well. I even asked if they would accept a 2 year old in their nursery class so that Kai and JM can go to school together. They said that it's too early for a two year old. They can consider a 2.5 year old though. Let's just see what will happen by then. At least I have already chosen a school for the kids already. I'll just bring Philip and the kids the next time I visit the place so that they can sit in in their class.

After the school, I went to LTO Biñan to get my student permit. I was supposed to have my driving lessons in A1 last September but I couldn't sqeeze it in my schedule. It took me about two hours to have my student permit since a lot were applying for their licenses. Anyway, at least I have it right now so what I have to do next is have my schedule with A1. I just don't know when will I be able to have it. Hopefully I can schedule it and finish the 10 hours within 2007. Para naman may accomplishment ako for myself this year. :)

After LTO, I dropped by in Jollibee Olivarez to buy some lunch. Philip texted me that he still has to finish some work so he asked me to buy my lunch because he knows that I'm hungry already. Ayaw nya magutom ako at baka mag-away lang kami. Weakness yata naming dalawa ang magutom. :) Pareho kaming nag-iinit ang ulo kapag gutom na.

So I was in his office just in time for lunch time. I ate my food already because I am really hungry. Philip was still working at that time. Just before 1pm we were able to leave and head for Asian Hospital in Alabang. We were lucky that there was no traffic that time. We were there in just 15 minutes.

We went straight to the HMO coordinator since I will be using my company health card. I asked for the accredited surgeon and it's Dr. Pagdanganan. His schedule is at 3pm. So we still have more than an hour of waiting time. Philip asked me if I wanted to go to Festival Mall first but I declined. I'm so tired already for the past days due to my work load. We just waited in the waiting area of the fifth floor while watching a movie in HBO channel.

It was past 3pm and the doctor is not yet in. I went to the clinic and check with the coordinator and she said that he's on his way already. Around 3:20 pm the coordinator already called me. In the clinic was a lady doctor. I thought Ernest Padanganan was a "he". Medyo naconfuse tuloy ako. Then she explained that Dr. Pagdanganan is out for a convention so she's taking his place for awhile.

She started to ask me of my condition why I'm seeking for a consultation. I showed to her the "mass" in my upper left chest. It's like a big pimple na super namamaga na medyo red na nagviviolet yung ibang area. The last time kasi na namaga sya ng husto was in June 2003 while I was on vacation in Canada kaya memorable sya. The doctor immediately knew what it was. She calls my condition as "sebaceous cyst". Nothing serious and nothing to worry about. The sebaceous gland was blocked that's why there's a mass formation already. It will be my call if I'll have it operated or not. Syempre I asked if it will have a scar. She assured me na parang line lang naman daw. Di naman ako keloidal eh so minimal lang daw yung magiging mark.

Hubby asked yung procedure for the operation. It will just be a 30-minute out patient operation. Pero natatakot pa rin ako. Sabi ko nga kay hubby mas gusto ko pa manganak na lang ulit ako kesa magpa-opera. But since namamaga pa yung mass she prescribed an antibiotic kasi di sya pwede operahan ng ganun. Healing will take longer daw pag ganun. So I just have to go back pag wala na yung maga. Hopefully by next week ok na sya. Right now kasi magang-maga pa rin. Parang walang effect yung antibiotic. Although nung last time na namaga sya eh wala naman akong ginawa. Kusa lang na nawala. Yun nga daw yung risk or disadvantage kung di ako magpapaopera. It will be recurring.

After the consultation, we went to Festival for a snack. Hubby will treat me daw kasi masaya sya at nothing serious yung condition ko. We just ate pasta and pizza sa Sbarro. We went around sandali but hubby needs to go back to work. Medyo critical kasi since nasa transition phase sila from EPCI to BDO kaya maya't maya may tumatawag sa kanya. Sabi ko iwan na lang ako to buy some stuffs for the kids.

I went around for a while but I went home din around 6pm. Hay, at least marami akong na-accomplish that day. Thank God that I'm ok and healthy.