A whole new different schedule

The past few days were like completely different from the regular days I used to have. I would consider myself conscientious, but just yesterday, I missed a call that has been sitting on my calendar for the longest time. The Pub meeting. It just totally slipped my mind.

And today, after one of the participants dropped from a conference call, I asked out loud who dropped out, knowing full well that it's highly unlikely that person will be able to answer. I had to laugh at myself. I knew others were laughing at my stupidity too. But I don't mind, I'm not myself.

In the meantime, there's work to be done. More work than I bargained for really but there's no getting out of it. I can only do my best and pray for success. I need to be working with a bunch of people I've never worked with before so I am being very cautious about it. And the right-hand-not-talking-to-the-left-hand is totally not working for my benefit. But it does seem that this is the way they're doing it and I just have to make sure I know both sides of the story. No, I don't want to be caught in the middle, but I do want to keep my eyes open.

I wish we can get away for a few days and get some sun. I feel exhausted. I'm thinking the whole emotional rollercoaster ride is getting to me after 5 days. I'm thinking about my son who must be tired to be going to the hospital all the time.

But here's a diversion. Tomorrow is Elastic Day once again and for the first time, I'm bringing something I'm making. That should give me some sense of relaxation after all that we've been through these past few days.

I know, even my writing is affected. You're bored. You want to see some action and perhaps a little bit of fun.

I want that too.

Patrick's last day

And so we got on Diana's car for lunch and headed to Angry Dog. To be expected though, the Dog was full and we decided we couldn't wait and ambled on to St Pete's Dancin' Marlin. I had fish and chips which was forgettable. Diana said the tuna steak sandwich was very good, so I sure know which one to try out next time.

I need a visa for Canada so I will take care of that first thing next week. Looks like the rest of the month (March) and April will be full. Such is life, eh? See, I can do the Canada accent already!

I managed to get a lot of things done today, and I'm glad. I'm still singing the song from watching the Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon video clip, so that certainly puts a smile on your face. It's just so hilarious. I couldn't still make up my mind which one is funnier - that or the response by Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck. Find it in YouTube if you're interested. It will make your day.

Knock, knock. Who's there? I'm Fu. I'm Fu who?

Time for Tiff's Treats now. So I'll see you again later.

Uploaded new photos

I finally did it, I uploaded new set of photos from Houston, Galveston Island, Arizona, and a couple ones from MystiQal - the Dallas premier Mardi Gras. Now I haven't gone through each one and did not add any caption yet, so please bear with me. I won't be able to add them today so please don't expect. And oh by the way, I've uploaded tons of pictures so prepare to spend some time going through them.

So yes, definitely we had a lot of fun.

What else has been happening? We've been busy hanging out with friends mostly. We truly enjoy the company and Gabriel is able to spend more time with kids his age (more or less). He's still bugging us about getting a baby brother or sister for his 8th birthday, which at the rate of things, is not going to happen. But it will in a couple of years, I hope.

We're double-booked for Mar 1st, which isn't pleasant and I kinda have a feeling we'll be missing one of them. We agreed to a game night at Patrick's (a colleague) prior to being invited to Joel's (Gabriel's best bud) 8th birthday party. It's tricky because Joel's party starts early (5pm) and Patrick's at 7pm. I don't think we can wiggle out after 2 hours, but we'll do our best, for sure. Gabriel has already asked me to tell Pat to re-schedule the game night. Haha, like that's ever gonna happen.

Photobooks

I've been waiting for the photobooks to arrive the whole day, the suspense is killing me. However, it's the end of the day and still the UPS guy is a no-show. So I should take this as a sign and accept that I will get the books tomorrow, not today. And I was so looking forward.

Today is a happy day, I was able to catch up with 3 of my colleagues early in the morning, and in the afternoon, I was able to chat with Madie. It's always a pleasure and I hope we'll get the chance again sometime soon. Thank you for your time, Madie!

I also got an offline message from my sister in New Zealand who I haven't spoken to for quite sometime. The message, although very brief and made no mention of how she was doing, was so welcome since it reminded me so much of the way she is. Which reminds me, I still have not responded to my other sister who also left me a message on my phone. I should be doing that now.

(Postscript: Btw, the photobooks arrived past 6pm.)

Income tax filing and surf & turf

For the third year in a row, I have completed my US "resident" duty in filing my annual tax returns. This year was different though since my family was with me the entire year, and we are able to file as a family unit. Once our residency here is more permanent, in other words once we get our green cards, we will need to revisit the previous years to make sure we are in accordance with the IRS regulations.

I am cooking halabos na hipon and in about 20 minutes, the baked ribs will be done. For dinner tonight, surf and turf it is! I am expecting the two boys anytime now since Gabriel's private violin lesson finishes at 6pm. So they should be on their way home.

Finally, I had time to print some photos for the frames on our coffee table that have been sitting empty for quite sometime (I picked one from Sedona and the other from Grand Canyon). We've also got the large prints going, and I am thinking that this week, we'll have them hanging on our wall. I will take a picture of this new project of ours so you'll see them soon.

And I know, I have constantly said I will add more pictures here - and I fully intend to fulfill this promise. Very soon... please be patient. There's just so many things to do and not enough time.

I'll see you later.

Creating a photobook

I've decided to work on a new project: creating a photobook. Jojo had already created one for our Michigan trip and I used that as a pattern of sorts to organize our photo collection in San Antonio. I've actually thought of buying a scrapbook (I've more than toyed with the idea, I bought a scrapbook only to return it the following day). And then realized that the times and the technology have changed, so I should be more adaptive to using them to my advantage.

And I have. I've created one for San Antonio (took me all of 3 days) and today I started working on Galveston Island and Houston.

I'll just order them at the same time. Once I receive the photobooks, I'll share them with you. Don't worry, it shouldn't be long now.

(Postscript) I've already ordered the 2 photobooks, but as I've only selected standard shipping and processing (cost-effective), it will take at least 10 business days to deliver.

Biometric scanning and the weekend

Last Friday, I took a personal leave. This I would consider a milestone in our plans to secure a permanent residency status here in the US. We picked up Gabriel in school midday and went straight to the recommended agency right here in Dallas. We didn't have to wait long, after taking digital fingerprints and pictures, we were done. Biometric scanning... check! Now we wait for the next process - the interview.

Anyway, I also want to tell you that Jojo bought 3 Schwinn mountain bikes. They're great, although we probably won't have the chance to use them until Spring. Now as soon as we figure out where to keep them (the patio seems too small), I would be happier. The last thing that we really want is to make a storage room out of Gabriel's bedroom. I'm still harboring this thought that soon, Gabriel will want to sleep in his own bed. (Yes, he still sleeps with us.)

We went to a Mardi Gras party in downtown Dallas yesterday. If you know, from tradition, what a Mardi Gras party is about, then you'd know what to expect in said event. However, since the organizers banned nudity, it was rather conservative. Until, just as we were leaving the party, I saw this pretty girl walking about with both boobs sticking out - breathing open air. Yep, I'm guessing she didn't think too much about the ban. This tells me that next year, we won't be bringing Gabriel, if we ever decide to go again. That girl has set a precedent, and soon more will follow. Mark my words.

The night turned out to be busy for us. Gabriel came down with high fever, and we pretty much had to stay up all night round the clock to make sure it didn't worsen. Luckily, Gabriel liked the sponge baths and the medicine, so he didn't put up a fight. And thank God, by 5am, he's feeling better and the fever has gone.

Okay, I've had a lot to say after missing a couple of days of blogging. And I need to prepare anyway to go to Jan's and Vangie's superbowl party. So off we go.

Come back soon.