The hardest job is the BEST job

Jeric sent me the most touching commercial I've seen in a while ... it's for the upcoming Olympics and it honors not just the athletes, but their MOTHERS.  It documents their journey and how pivotal (and sometimes forgotten) the role of their moms played in their life.  By the end the commercial, I was balling my eyes out.  It was a great reminder to me and to all the moms out there that, while our jobs may seem tiring and down-right overwhelming at times (or all the time, in some cases) it's the best and most rewarding experience we will ever have.  The look on the mom's faces at the end say it all ... Our lives are so much richer by being someone's mom.  I can't even count all the little things I do for Zoe every minute of every day ... all I know is that I play a huge role in making her life a happy and complete one ... and for that, I will be forever grateful to have been given such a task.  God has deemed me fit and ready and perfect to be Zoe's mom ... so even if I doubt myself, all I have to do is remind the doubting me that I was chosen by God to be a mother to this child.  The hardest job, is the BEST job.

Girl's weekend!

This weekend was me and Zoe's first "girl's weekend".  Mike went with Jay to a 3-day bachelor party cruise to Ensenada for Tee.  I had no qualms with him going -- especially with the stressful plate he's been balancing for the past few weeks.

Friday, me and Zoe got a lot done together.  We went to Pasadena to return some gifts she received for her birthday (yes, it's just now that I've found time to do this).  It was nice driving around Eagle Rock, Glendale and Pasadena with Zoe.  I really miss living down here ... Oxnard is just different and doesn't feel like home (yet).  I liked going to my familiar places with Zoe.  Once Jeric got home and I put Zoe down for a nap, I snuck out to get a much needed pedicure from my favorite nail salon in Highland Park.  I even got my eyebrows waxed (gooooo me!!).  Once mom and Tita Bot got home, me and Jeric went to the galleria to return a couple more things and also to get our friend Nelson a birthday present.  It was nice just hanging out with Jeric ... it has been way too long.  When we got home, I put Zoe to sleep and watched an Aga Mulach movie with mom and Tita Bot -- just like old times!! The movie was decent, but what I really enjoyed was getting to watch a Filipino drama movie with them ... it's the little things that I miss most ...

The next day, I decided to dedicate the morning/early afternoon to ME.  I have been needing to update my wardrobe for a long time now and haven't been able to shop while toting around Zo-Zo (and I just don't do well with online shopping).  I left around 9:30 am ready to spend mucho $$$ on some new clothes.  Fast forward almost 5 hours later and I come home with just one bag ... with only three puny items to show for it.  I went started in Glendale ... made my way to Pasadena ... then to La Cresenta ... then to Eagle Rock and still no luck.  I hate it when you try to shop for stuff you never find anything you really like ... but when you don't plan to buy anything, all of a sudden there's so much stuff you NEED to buy!  Grrrr.... I was soooo ready to come home with bags and bags of amazing clothes and came up pretty empty-handed.  I'm not sure if it's just the current fashion that I'm not feeling or if I'm getting too old for my "usual" stores ... or if I'm seeing clothes now in a whole new light ... i.e. Will this get dirty if Zoe's shoes get on them?  Do I have to iron this?  Is is machine washable??  Oh motherhood -- you strike again!! Lol!  Better luck next time, I guess!

Later in the evening, me and Zoe went to the Yumul's home to celebrate Danrochelle's 32nd birthday.  It's her first birthday with a baby so they kept it pretty low-key. I was excited to see the college fam ... it feels like it's been a while since we've all been in the same place.  It was the first time I ever went to a get together with just Zoe and no Mike.  It kind of felt a little weird but I was proud of myself for doing my thing without him.  Yes, of course I missed him and would much rather have him around, but every now and then ... it's good to know I'm still the strong, independent woman I used to be.  Sometimes, when you're married and you have a baby, you get so used to just "going with the flow" and letting your husband lead the way that you forget that you still have the same skills you had when you were single =). Zoe had a good time hanging out with Jax, Lia, Phoebe and Gerard ... when we got back to Sunbeam, she was treated to a bonus "bubble session" out on the deck.

The next day, Zoe, mom, Jeric went to mass at the Cathedral followed by another birthday lunch celebration for mom at CPK.  This time, it was Jeric's treat =) ... Zoe enjoyed the restaurant (as usual) and kept flirting with the hostess (I think she was secretly trying to get us a free meal).  It was nice to go out with just mom and Jeric.  I can't even remember the last time it was "just us".  The only person missing was Jay and we would have been "complete" again ... later that day, Zoe and I went to Nelson's 35th birthday party.  Again, it was slightly weird going to a social function without the hubby (especially since a lot of our CCC friends were there) but it was still fun.  Zoe LOVED playing with Samson the dog and Grayson.  The only downer was that I didn't get to enjoy the delicious food as much as I would have liked to ... when Mike's around, we can at least take turns eating.  Even though I always end up eating less that I'd like, tonight, I ate even less than that!  I was too busy chasing Zoe around (who was busy chasing the dog around).

All in all, it was a great girl's weekend!!  I missed Mike a lot but was happy that both of us got our much needed unwinding in our own ways.  I felt so blessed to be able to spend extra quality time with my mom, Tita Bot and Jeric.  I have to admit I took a lot of those times for granted and now that those moments come far and few between, I really do cherish them!! I also feel blessed to be able to hang out with my friends and with my daughter.  I kind of felt like a "single mom" this weekend but instead of feeling sad about it, I felt empowered by it.  I was talking to my mom about it and she agreed that weekends like this -- where I can be a great mom and be independent and "on my own" actually makes you feel stronger.  This weekend reminded me that I can do this on my own should I ever have to (God forbid something happened to Mike).  I was affirmed that I could survive and be happy if I ever had to do it all by myself (not that I'd want to, but you know what I mean ... ).  Nonetheless, I can't wait to see Mike tomorrow!  I'm sure we had completely different weekends but I know that it was exactly what we needed. Thank you God for bringing me back to my old self and also bring me to the present/future self that I sometimes forget about =) ...

Here's a picture of Zoe's bonus bubble session!

I can't get enough of her "wow" face!!! Lol!

This picture is the coolest ever!!!

Straight up amazed.

Yes, we're wearing matchy-matchy denim jackets =) ... that's how we roll!

How cute is this outfit?!?!

Mom's 60th birthday!

Today is my mom's 60th birthday!!!  It's hard to believe she's 60!!! 60 is the age I will forever place my Ima (I think that's when she helped raise us) so it's hard for me to believe that my mom is now 60 years old.  She doesn't look anything like 60 ... more like 40 I think =) (please God, give me those same genes!!).  As fate would have it, Mike, Zoe and I headed down to LA tonight (Thursday) since their bachelor party cruise left early Friday morning.  The timing couldn't be more perfect!!! Since we were coming down, Tita Bot decided to throw an impromptu birthday party (Costco style, baby!) followed by a visit to Holy Family's 24-hour Blessed Sacrament chapel.  It was a nice way to celebrate her special day!!!  After dinner we unveiled our gift for her ... an Ipad!!! I can't believe my mom beat me to getting an Ipad =).  Even though she's not a big tech person, she IS an FB person ... so now she can FB her little heart out =).  We also made her a picture book full of Zoe and Maymay photos for her "showing off".  

It was a fun night and I was so happy things worked out so we could all be there together.  My mom is an amazing woman and is someone I strive to be more like everyday.  When things feel difficult or scary or overwhelming to me, I always think about how my mom would handle it ... on how much strength and faith my mom always draws on to get her through even the most challenging things.  I am so blessed to have someone like her in my life ... there are endless things she has taught me and doesn't even know it ... I hope one day, Zoe will feel the same way about me =) ...

Thank you God for the blessing of my mom!!!  She has impacted so many lives in such a beautiful way and we are so fortunate to have her in our lives!!! May she have continued good health and more opportunities to spread her love and Your message!!

RCFE Certification Course, Part 2

We finally completed the second half of our course!!!  This weekend's classes were less "doom and gloom" and focused on employment laws, etc.  I've been praying a lot this past week trying to figure out if I could really be an RCFE administrator and be happy.  By God's grace, I slowly started opening my heart more and more and found myself visualizing like crazy on how awesome our facility was going to be.  I found myself worrying less and less about the "emotional baggage" and instead on the positive experiences me and Mike could offer someone at that stage in their lives.  It IS an honor to take care of someone who's lived a full life and is getting closer and closer to being with our Savior.  Since I was filled with less worry and more excitement, I took that as God telling me that I could do it.  That I was strong enough to play that role for other people.  I found my heart was no longer heavy every time I thought of someone with deteriorating health and more hopeful about what kind of happiness I could provide for that person.  At the end of the course, I felt READY to take on this challenge and Mike and I spent the ride back home exchanging our ideas on how we can make our RCFE awesome.  It was exciting (albeit a bit scary as well) to think about how we will be in control of our future (with God's help, of course).  I've never really wanted to run a business before (that was always Mike's vision for himself) but the idea that I could run a business and still have the flexibility to be a great mom to Zoe was so very appealing to me.  The next steps now are to get through escrow ... pass the certification exam ... move out of our home and into the new one on a temporary basis until we get the business part going ... annnnnnndddd GOOOOOOOOO!  Sounds like a lot and so out of the blue but it seems to be what God is asking of us, so we'll just ride this wave (like we always do) with faith, hope and love!  Exciting times!!!!

Zoe did so much better this weekend that last weekend. She no longer looked for us and was totally fine with taking naps without me (just not her night night sleep).  I was relieved to know that she was finally ok with taking naps with someone other than me!!! Progress!!!

Here are some cute pics and video from Zoe's weekend:

Zoe LOVES bubbles and always makes this "wow"
face each time she's around bubbles!

She also had a blast playing "football" with Tito Ton/"popsi":

I LOVE that she's heading toward the tomboy route =)!!!!

As an added bonus, on Saturday night, we all took mom out for her birthday at the "Las Vegas Buffet" in Glendale.  Since her birthday fell on a weekday and Mike and Jay would be out of town on a bachelor party cruise the following weekend, we decided to celebrate it all together on April 21st.  We all chowed down and had a great time as always =) ...

Sisters????

Are you sure she's gonna be 60???? I hope I look this good when I get to 60!!

RCFE certification course, part 1

Since Mike's job is slowly winding down (we think around August or at the latest, December) we've been "brainstorming" on possible business ventures we/he can pursue.  One of the top things on our list is to open an assisted living facility or an RCFE (residential facility for the elderly).  Mike has been doing a lot of research and it looks like with the baby boomers getting older and older, the field that should show a lot of growth and boom is any services catering to the elderly.  I think he read somewhere that every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65 years old.  Crazy, right?  We also figure that providing such a great service would be a wonderful way to share God's love with others ... it's a great opportunity to be stewards of our time and talent.  What an honor it would be to be able to make a difference in someone's life right before they meet the Lord ... Another plus to this business is that it would allow us to also invest in property at the same time ... not to mention it would allow me as the administrator to only have to "come in to work" 2-3 days a week and still be able to take care of Zoe (and any future kids).  Sounds ideal all around, right?

Since neither Mike or I know anything about the health services field, we decided to take an RCFE certification course.  We figure it would be a great way to learn more about what goes into running a facility and if we do decide to pursue it, we'd already be certified to be a licensed administrator of our very own RCFE.  The course iteself is 40 hours long and I found one that took place over the course of two weekends in Montrose.  This weekend was the first of two weekends and it was pretty mind-opening.  Our teacher, Mike Goryan, made sure not to sugar coat anything the first day.  He basically said we were all crazy for wanting to do something like this and that there were tons of liability on top of everything else.  Needless to say, day one was rough!  Mike and I kept swinging back and forth as to whether the RCFE business was for us ... by the end of the day, I was definitely leaning more towards "nah" than "yah".

However, day two went a lot better.  Our guest teacher was a former nurse who is currently running two facilities.  Although she, too, said this business was tough, she did an amazing job in inspiring us to do it.  She said it was extremely fullfilling and that as long as we were professional and organized and capable of managing people well, we should be ok.  My only concern after day two was whether I was strong enough to handle the "emotional side" of the job.  I was confident I could do the business-side really well but I wasn't so confident I would be able to be happy being constantly surrounded by death and deteriorating health.  I mean, one of the main reasons I didn't become a nurse was I knew I'd be crying everyday with my patients.  I wasn't sure if this was for me.  When Mike asked me on the way home whether I thought it would be fulfilling, I told him I'm sure it would be but I'm so very fulfilled in my current profession as a homemaker and mommy.  I guess that's why I'm not rushing to trade in that kind of fulfillment with a different kind of fulfillment in running an RCFE.   I told him I'd pray about it very hard this week to discern if this is what God's calling me to do.  I told him I'd pray that God somehow makes more room in my heart to handle the emotional side of this business.

So that's where I stand right now ... oh -- did I mention we put in an offer for a great home in Oxnard?  It was kind random how it happened.  As we were talking about starting up an RCFE, Mike went online to see if there were any homes in the area that were selling at a good price.  He found a five bedroom ranch-style house that said it was taking "back up offers" just in case escrow fell through.  On a whim, we decided to stop by the open house just to check out the property.  We were amazed at how perfect this home would be for an RCFE.  It was five HUGE bedrooms, plus an amazing kitchen and other bonus rooms, plus a large back yard.  It was a GREAT home (if it was in LA I'd say it would be OUR home to grow old in ... ).  We loved the house so much we decided to put in a back up offer "just in case" ... even if we decided to not pursue the RCFE route, we could at least rent it out at a good price and use it as an investment property ... a few days later we found out that escrow was fallen through and that they were willing to accept our back up offer.  It all happened so fast!  Since we hadn't taken the RFCE course yet and still were unsure about the whole RCFE thing, we figured we'd move forward contingent upon the house passing a thorough inspection once they completed their final renovations (they were still in the process of upgrading the bathrooms, etc.).  We figured that way, it would give us a few more weeks to take the course and decide what we wanted to do .  So yah ... as of now, we're still in escrow and we're still deciding what to do with the house (God really really really has a crazy plan for our family. He has a great way of constantly keeping us on our toes!)

This weekend was the first time since my surgery that I was away from Zoe for a long time.  On Saturday, while we were in class, mom and Tita Bot accompanied her to Nathan's baptism at the Cathedral (Zoe has her social obligations to keep -- with or without mommy and daddy!).  Afterwards, she went on an adventure through DTLA with maymay and wowa.  This was their first time taking Zoe out on their own and they all had a blast.  They also took her to mass with them Saturday night since the 6:30 am mass Mike and I would have to attend on Sunday would be way to early for her.  When I got home Saturday night, Zoe gave me this long, serious and somewhat disappointed look.  It was like she was saying "Hey mom ... it's about time you got home.  I had a great day, but I'm disappointed in the fact that you weren't there for any of it."  She had never given me that look before and my heart completely sank.  It took her about 5 minutes to let me carry her and then she got over it.  She was hooked to me once again.  I kept explaining to her that I was in class from 8 am - 6:30 pm to figure out what we want to do about our future.  She didn't seem to care. Hahhaa.  Tough crowd!!!  Sunday was better ... she seemed to understand the concept that even though I was gone for a long time, I'd always come back for her.

So I guess this week will involve a lot of prayers ... discerning is so difficult!  I keep going back and forth, back and forth.  I just have to trust that God is leading me and all I have to do is keep my eyes, ears, and most importantly, my heart OPEN.





Here are some pics of Zoe's weekend without us:

Nathan's baptism

Zoe and her friend Ava

Ninong Kevin, Zoe and Maymay

Tour of DTLA -- courtesy of the experts, Wowa and Maymay
(they've worked in  DTLA for 20+ years!)

Lunch at the Bonaventure Hotel

Zoe also got to visit Maymay's work! 

They even took her to the Central Library!

Nap time!

Zoe coloring with the cool toddler crayons Uncle Jeric got her

It was really cute to hear (and see pics) of all the bonding mom and Tita Bot got to do with Zoe.  Seeing her in DTLA kind of made me miss working there (kind of).  I'm glad she had a fun adventure with them. The only "minus point" they got was they didn't change her diaper enough ... when I got home on Saturday night, she had diaper rash (her first time).  They got so caught up with playing with her then letting her nap then playing again that they didn't realize how long it had been since the last diaper change. And, since Zoe LOVES walking around with a full diaper (it will NEVER come from her to have her diaper changed) it was kind of "easy" to overlook.  They felt really bad but I just assured them Zoe was just teaching them a valuable lesson =) ... a little Desitin did the trick and she was fine the next day.

Here's a funny video of Zoe eating cheese and rocking out to TFC: