Toronto, Canada

So I've been here in Toronto for a couple of days now. Yesterday was busy with work, we were in meetings from 8am, and of course I had to meet Renee even before that so we had breakfast in the lobby at 7.

What can I say about the city? Really have not seen much of it except the 7 blocks we walked from the Novotel Hotel to Sheppard Ave. It does have the look of being provincial but not really, if you know what I mean. Today I'm meeting Renee at 8 for breakfast so I better get going then.

I did talk to Lyn who I haven't seen since college. She said if I wasn't doing anything on the weekend, they'd like to show me around. Tita Norma remembered me from years ago and I heard is also excited to see me. That's nice!

I'll blog soon enough.

Christian in the office

I'm in the office today, second time this week since I have been keeping strange hours the past few days because of this crazy work schedule that has fallen into my lap.

Anyway, Christian, Diana's 4-year-old came to the office with her. So we were having fun, and I guess we got pretty loud because Michael had to shut us up. Haha.

And I suddenly felt this urge to blog and only then realized that I haven't in such a long time. So you've been missing a lot of what has been going on in my life lately, I guess. I hope to be able to get the time to get you caught up.

Let's see. Last Friday, Gabriel spent the night at Joel's and I heard it was a blast. Jojo and I, in the meantime, had a great time at Diana's party and I get to try some new stuff that I've never before tried in my life. Well, there's always room for a first-time, right? Like I already said, it was a great party and we met a few cool people over there too. No time wasted.

Saturday, Joel and Paolo decided to come with us to see Gabriel play soccer. Their team lost but the important here is the kids had fun. So, we tried to tell Gabriel that. The kids played some at home before going home.

On Sunday after church, we bought some fish and crawfish and liempo, so we had a feast over at Anne's. We truly enjoyed it. It was my first time to like eating crawfish. One batch we cooked using the boil we bought which was a Louisiana favorite. The other batch we cooked in gata. Yummy!

And then the next update is, I will be going over to Canada on Sunday for a 2-week client workshop. It will be a long one and I will truly miss my boys. But I'm thinking there will probably be more time to blog over there than here. So see you again soon.

A phone call can change your whole schedule

So it has happened again that a phone call completely and drastically changes the day, or in this case the evening, for us. I just received the good news that Jan will now be able to get out of the hospital. In the meantime, his kids are at home on their own, so they asked us if it's possible to go and accompany the kids while the nanny goes home for the weekend. I readily agreed, of course, knowing that some of the other plans that we now have will get affected by it. But, I'll do what I want to do, and this time, I want to help out in as much as I can.

I'm right now waiting outside of Gabriel's building while he finishes his violin lessons. Then the fun starts! We'll take him to Joel's for the sleep over and head on out to Frisco. Hopefully, we'll still be able to make it to Diana's birthday party in Plano, but it won't be a big problem if we don't. Besides, the party doesn't start till 8pm, and there's plenty of time between now and then. I heard Jan is just waiting for paperwork to get done, and then he can leave. All is set.

I'm so happy. This is after all, good news. I'm sure Jan won't be back to work soon, but I know his recovery will be fast and smooth.

I was at Kohl's yesterday buying a present for Diana (yeah right, ended up buying a present for me!). Suddenly, they was power outage and after about 10 minutes, we were all asked to leave the store. There were real nice about it though, so there was no cause of complaints. Only that I left the store empty-handed. Haha.

By the way, since I want to say that the battery power of this Dell latitude 620 is better than my last one. It probably lasts a couple of hours at least. Still, this is a loaner laptop and I shouldn't get too attached.

Finally, last night we received word that Jojo's uncle, Tito Nonie, passed away while at the hospital. It's a difficult time and Jojo knows that my sympathies and prayers goes out to the whoel family.

Too tired and beautiful

I'm swamped! It's 11pm and I'm still working, what's wrong with me?

But it's never-ending work in sight and I need a break!

I guess I just wanted to tell you that.

No coke on Dell laptops

So one morning, I was working from home and drinking coke. I accidentally spilled it on my laptop and guess what? My laptop died. Like instantly. I immediately unplugged the power cable and Jojo tried to help me dry it, but didn't work. That same day, I found myself using a loaner laptop and having no access to archived email and no back up files from my hard drive. Shannon said that she'd had water spilled on laptops before with no problems, and I told her, if it's any consolation, it's diet coke.

I'm still using a loaner laptop. And it does seem like I'll be using it for quite sometime, until I get my upgrade. I hope it will be soon as I want to customize the settings and what-have-you to suit my taste. I did get my archived email and some back up files though.

It has been a relatively relaxing weekend. We were able to bike around White Rock Lake again and it was pleasant, except for the little body aches. I have to say, I like biking. Wish there are more days. My only complaint now is the grip and hopefully we'll find some type of gel-solution to wrap around the handle without affecting the gear control.

Well obviously, we worked up an appetite after the workout, so I hurriedly cooked dinner for us three. I asked Jojo to put the quail in the oven, and sauteed some shrimp with coke. Gabriel loved the shrimp and ate almost the entire serving. I on the other hand, feasted on the quail as usual.

I got a call from my aunt today who lives in New York while we were out visiting with Jan in the hospital. It was nice getting caught up with family.

To end the day, I baked strawberry cheesecake. Hope it's good. I'll let you know.

Gate F79, Tampa Bay Airport

I was waiting in line in security, thinking whether to take out my laptop first, or my ziploc of cosmetics. The kind of troubles you face when you travel, and you never get used to. Or maybe it's just me. I think to myself whether, 30 years from now, I'll remember this feeling of routine as I go through the motion. Take out my shoes, my coat. Get my driver's license out, but remember to put it back in. Check out the gate I'm departing from before wandering off. Hearing the plane's engine as it pulls into the gate. Looking at people - blank stares, chatting on the phone, reading a book, sleeping.

Attention please, this is your final boarding call...

I travel a lot. Maybe not as much as some people at work, but definitely more than most people I know - family and friends included. Sometimes I ask myself, do I like to travel? And always the answer is yes. But sometimes, the yes is followed immediately by I'd like it better if I travel with family.

When I travel for work, I seldom get the chance to bring my family along. I actually kid myself. Only once did it happen that my family was with me, while I happen to be traveling for work, and that was when we traveled to Phoenix. I'd like for that to happen again, but it's not common and not inexpensive. And there's Gabriel's schedule to consider as well. So no, it doesn't happen often.

My plane just arrived and I look at the people getting out. Anxious, smiley, serious faces. Jeans, coat and tie, flip-flops and high heels. Strollers, wheelchair, elderly, teenagers. The business man, a family going home (or vacationing, I don't know really). People on the phone.

I'm so used to it now. It's common. But I wonder, will it be something I will miss when I travel no more?

Time to board. I'll see you soon.

Not just April, also the weekend

Happy birthday, Ate April!

Wow, I have not blogged for quite some time. That wasn't a plan, it just happened like that. And in the meantime, there's so much that has happened so let me tell you before I forget.

Last weekend, Friday night, Vangie and the kids slept at our place. Jan had to go back to get intensive care and so we tried to make it up to the kids and have them play the Wii. We also sampled Diana's macaroni with ham and cheese, and it was ok. Not as tasty as I would have liked though.

Saturday, Gabriel had another chess tournament and he won second place. Another trophy for him, yehey! He's really doing a good job, and we certainly know now how serious a player he is. Even with the knowledge that there are 4 kids in our house whom he can play with the whole morning, he chose to compete. We're so proud of him. He knows his priorities.

After the tourney, we went to his soccer game. They lost but no biggie. I'm just glad he's enjoying himself. And because he's been wanting to go watch Horton Hears a Who forever, we went to Studio Movie Grill both for the movie and the food. I liked the ribs better than the movie, is all I can say.

Sunday, after hearing mass, we accidentally bumped into Anne's family in Linens N' Things. As we were on our way to lunch then, they decided to join us in Best Buffet. Then, we talked about trying out the bike trail in Rowlett Creek Preserve while the kids play Wii. I liked the trail, at least what little I saw. I only did Loop 1 because Aileen wanted to go back feeling that her bike is not up to par to mountain biking. We went home after dinner and had a wonderful time just spending time with them.