It’s been six weeks since I last posted an entry on this blog. SIX WEEKS. I didn’t mean to be silent for a long time, but my offline life had been more demanding than ever.

Anyway, allow me to share with you the highlights of my long hiatus.

- Had my much-awaited trip to Caramoan, Camarines Sur with my friends in the office last June 17-19.

- I dropped our precious Nikon D40 camera (DSLR) on the way to church on Father’s Day. It’s only 3 months old! We haven’t had it fixed until now. *sad, sad, sad* We’re back to using our old Samsung S630 digicam temporarily.

- As usual, our workload in the office seemed to double-up. And what’s sad is, the attrition rate went up. Almost every one I talk to wants to resign and find an account or company that would give them the work-life balance they deserve. *sigh*

- Attended the “Raising Godly Kids” seminar conducted by our church for two Saturdays. I learned a lot! I’ll be sharing with you the details of this life-changing seminar on my parenting blog when I have enough time. I look forward to attending more seminars in the future!

- Finally, my husband and I now belong to a small group in church that meets every Tuesday morning after work. Since we both work in a call center (same company), it was very hard for us to join a group that usually meets in the afternoon or evening. Thank God for the countless answered prayers!

- Had the outside of our house re-painted. Guess what the color is? Violet! Hehe. Nice one!

- On July 10, we officially dedicated our baby Ayesha to Jesus Christ. We only had two weeks to prepare for this special event, but I’m so glad it turned out fine. Click here to view the photos.

- I recently attended the 2nd PTA meeting at my son’s new school. For some weird reason, one mother nominated me to be the President. My opponent and I initially had the same number of votes. So to break the tie, I voted for my opponent. Haha! *big grin* I thought I was free from the responsibility, but the same person who nominated me as President nominated me again for the Vice-President post. And this time, I won! Waaaaaaaa!!!!

I think I have more to include in the list, but I can’t remember them all now. (sign of aging?)

Okay, there ‘ya go. It’s time to hit the sack. God bless you!

I was a little reluctant to go back to work. But I don’t have a choice, do I? LOL.

My fellow QAs prepared a welcome tarpaulin for me. They hung it at my station. How sweet! Thanks, guys! It really made my day.

It took me two hours before I recognized this thing above my head though. LOL. By the way, this blog is now hosted at 3ix. I love their 24/7 chat support! They made things easier for me. But my other blog is still hosted at O2g . I can’t believe their server has been down for almost a week now without notice. When their server is finally up and running, I’ll transfer it to 3ix.

Proverbs 22:26
Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he’s old he will not turn away from it.

Two weeks from now, my 78-day maternity leave will come to an end. I can’t help but feel a little melancholy. I know I’ll have a lot of catching up to do in the office and I’ll probably be very busy. I am scared to lose time and energy for my little angels. Part of me just wants to stay at home and take care of the kids, do a little ministry work in our church and put up a small business. But the truth is, I don’t have the guts to do so. I know in my heart that being a stay-at-home mom is a luxury that I can’t afford right now.

I need to help my husband reach our goals. After all, it’s for our kids’ future. All we want is to give them the kind of life they deserve.

My wonderful children, Greg (4 years old) and Ayesha (1 month old).

I only hope and pray that God would help us raise our children well while working earnestly for their future. Child-rearing is not an easy task. You don’t instantly reap what you sow. As parents, we are bound to wait years till we see the real fruit of our hardwork. One day, I want to be able to give myself a pat on the back and say, “Honney, you did an excellent job raising your children!”

Before I pursue blogging about my six-day adventure in Bohol in January, let me just tell you that I was in Puerto Galera last week with my team mates. We were all very stressed out so we agreed that a memorable summer getaway would undoubtedly ease our stress away. I brought my husband along with me since he hasn’t been there too. We had a lot of fun!

Aside from island hopping and snorkeling (yes, I finally tried snorkeling for the first time and I soooo loved it!), what I enjoyed the most in Puerto Galera is SHOPPING!!! Beach dresses, t-shirts, board shorts, swim suits, sarongs, beach bags, slippers and all sorts of souvenirs are cheap there. So I went shopping until I dropped! Hahaha!

Here are some of my favorite photos taken by my husband.

More photos here.

Travel tip:
Always stay at a beach front resort especially if you’re traveling with a big group so you’ll have a quicker and easier access to the beach. In my experience during our recent stay in Puerto Galera, some of my team mates spent an ample time sleeping/staying in the room because they’re too lazy to go out. My god.

I had fun, sure, but too much time had been wasted.