What are you gonna do with your days now?

Gary asked me that question the other night now that Megan is back at school. I really don't know what I will be doing with my days. I planned on going back to work when Meg goes back to school but now that we're planning to go to Davao for Christmas, going back to work just to quit in 3 months time seems pointless.

On the other hand, I can't bear to think that I'd be idle all day! I need something to do, something productive. I have volunteered to help at the school library but I need more.

I don't know...

Our first project: tiling the entry.

1. Pull out old flooring.
2. Lay-out tiles.
3. Cut tiles.
4. Grout.
5. Clean.
6. Enjoy.

We're happy with how it looks and now we don't have that strip of carpet that was catching all the dirt. It's so much easier to clean tiles.

I have a change of heart.

After working however many hours on a new layout, I didn't like it. For now, while I work on a new layout, I'll just use this one.

Summer is the season for thunderstorms.

We've experienced some thunderstorms here. It could be nice and sunny outside then all of a sudden these massive dark clouds come heading towards you. Thunder rolls and lightning flashes, soon a heavy downpour will follow. After a few minutes, it passes. Megan is very concerned with thunderstorms.

The other day, at around 5 in the morning, I woke up to a very loud thunder. Megan is in my bed. She said, the thunderstorm is really freaking her out. I couldn't blame her. Now, this is a thunderstorm. It was just really loud and bright. Buddy then woke up and started whimpering. We came to get him and he was trembling.

Megan will not go back to her bedroom. Buddy's too agitated. We all ended up sleeping together. Times like this, I wish I listened to Gary and bought a king size bed.

PS

Happy Birthday, Mommy! We hope we could be there to celebrate it with you!

These past few weeks I've been busy with sewing projects and slowly sorting and organizing. Our bedroom is almost done just a few more things to sort. We've organized our closets and it looks really nice! Megan's bedroom is still such a mess. She just have way too many toys. I don't know what to do with them. The guest bedroom also houses my arts & crafts center. The whole closet in that bedroom has been designated as arts & crafts center and I still have to sort and organize that.

The living areas are done. Yes, we are company-ready, too bad we're not expecting anybody. The basement which is also our family room needs a lot of work. It became the dumping ground. Anything that doesn't have a place is in here. The computer, the keyboard, the dollhouse (which is still unpacked), the futon, the lounge chairs, on top of the new couch and the new chair with the ottoman, TV. This is where we do everything. Watching movies, playstation, computing, magic-singing, and this is also where Buddy sleeps. I am overwhelmed when it comes to making some sense in this room, just like I don't know what to do with Megan's room.

At the end of the day, when I've crossed something off my never-ending to-do list, I'm satisfied. After I've finished organizing then maybe we can move on to upgrades. That's another long list, it's mostly kitchen & bathrooms. Change countertops for the kitchen, while we're at it, change the sink and add back splash. For the bathrooms just tile the floor and change the light fixtures. We also want to extend the hardwood floor from the kitchen to the dining room. The entry is also hardwood floor so we want to do the same for the stair steps and the landing leading to the garage. Another thing, almost all rooms have ceiling fans which is fine, I just don't like them that much, so those will go as soon as possible.

Whew! Just blogging about them is overwhelming! Wish me luck!

So, last week I was so excited.

Finally, our stuff's here. It was delivered last Friday and we've been unpacking since then. Right now, everything's unpacked, it's just a matter of putting them away and we're working double time since mom-in-law is visiting us. She's arriving on Wednesday and staying for about a week.

It's funny how everything fit in the tiny house back in England and now that we are in a bigger house, I'm having trouble finding a place for everything! How did that happen? I've always thought we don't have a lot of stuff but, I don't know, maybe I'm just a little bit overwhelmed. One thing's for sure, it's beginning to feel like home now.

Last Saturday, coming out of a store, there was a bunch of cop cars outside. A little kid was locked inside a car. It was just so scary. The mom was trying to get the kid to unlock the car but the kid was just to young to do it. The cop was trying to unlock the car, finally, a kid-rescue truck arrived and got it unlocked. The little kid came out okay, she was probably 3 or 4. They got her in an ambulance for first aid. What happened was, mom opened the car, left the key in the ignition, put the kid inside, closed the door and went to put the stuff in the back of the car but before she could open it, the kid took the key out from the ignition and that automatically locked the car. That was scary and it was so hot, too.

Yeah, it's been so hot since Thursday. It was 90 but feels like a 98 and on Sunday, they said it was 108. Today, it was a little cooler but they forecasted Wednesday to be between 110 to 115. That's HOT! It's been so hot that if you step outside and even if you just stand there, you'll be sweating.

Megan and Buddy cannot seem to play nice! Most of it is Megan's fault. She just loves to tease Buddy. She thinks it's so funny when Buddy gets agitated and when that happens Buddy fights back and starts biting, then Megan yells, "BUDDY, NO BITE!" I keep telling her that if she just stop teasing Buddy then Buddy won't bite her. (Most of the time, the bite doesn't hurt that much.) She also loves to hold Buddy, when she's watching TV, she'll pick Buddy up and just cuddle him but Buddy doesn't like to be cuddled for too long. Anyway, Buddy is going to a puppy school starting Friday. Megan will be training with him, hopefully, this will teach them both how to play nice.

Happy 4th of July!

It felt like New Year in Pinas though with all the fireworks. Most of our neighbors were out in their driveway with fireworks. It was fun watching it but it was hell for Buddy. He couldn't go potty. He was very vocal about all of it, he barked at it like crazy which is funny since he's so small.

Well, Dad and Pogs came to visit us, too bad they were here for just a couple of days, no matter, it was still great to see them. Thanks for coming! We hope you'll come back and see us again and maybe next time you'll stay longer.

Buddy's doing great, he's eating a lot now. We're still have accidents but now it doesn't take him forever to go outside, just a day. He's doing good in the morning, he'll go as soon as I put him down. It's the rest of the day that we're having problem, I have to constantly watch him when he's not in his crate. (He loves his crate by the way). One thing that we're trying to break a habit of his is biting. Sometimes when he's very excited he tends to bite harder than play bite, he actually broke skin once.

Tomorrow, we're picking up the Gary's Land Rover, 6-hour drive. I don't know how Buddy will take it. Megan hates long drives. Which reminds me, I better recharge her gameboy. Most likely we'll stay the night and come back home the day after.

Home. It doesn't feel much like home yet. It's so empty. Our beds are still on the floor. The frames and other stuff haven't been delivered. We borrowed Pogs TV so it's a little bit bearable now, Megan's glued to the TV now. Our dining table is a patio set.

I have a new favorite store, Hobby Lobby. It's an arts and crafts store AND they sell home accessories. Lamplights, side tables, mirrors, garden stuff, etc. I love it. I refrained myself from getting anything. I have to wait for the rest of our stuff and see.

That's it for now.

Meet Buddy!



He's a fox terrier/pomeranian cross.



Isn't he sooo cute.

It's funny how it feels like we have been here longer.

It hasn't even been a month yet! OK, for the past 2 weeks we've been staying at Holiday Inn and since the room doesn't have a kitchenette, we've been eating out. I was so happy when we finally found a pinoy restaurant. Tomorrow we move back to the Base Hotel. And next week we finally move to our house. I can't wait.

Megan has been doing pretty good with her swimming lessons. She can float on her belly and on her back. She can hold her breath under water for 12 seconds. OH, Meg and Gary went fishing twice now. OK, I hate worms and she used to hate it, too but ever since she started fishing she doesn't mind it. She actually put a worm on a hook. So gross! And, yes, she did catch some and fishing is one of her favorite pasttime now.

Today, we're hanging out at the Library. Right now we just have 1 car so we took Gary to work at 1:30 and now we're just waiting for 4:30 to sign Megan up for the next swimming session. It's almost 3 so another hour and a half. I've read almost all my emails. Unfortunately, the base computer prohibits instant messaging so no chatting.

Yeah, I can't wait to move to our own house, sleep on my own bed with my pillows. I can't wait to cook and use my stuff. I miss my stuff so much.

Ay na lang!

We're staying at Holiday Inn now. The base hotel was full and they only reserved our stay for 14 days even though we're allowed 30 days. I am so sick of eating out. I just might convince G to look for a pinoy resto so I can have my rice. Chinese food just does not fill the craving I have.

Megan has swimming lessons in the morning and she's not too afraid of the water. I mean, she likes the water as long as it does not go over her head. Now, she's doing good. She had 3 classes so far and I think she'd be able to swim by next week.

Holiday Inn is yuck! We made reservations for 2 adults and 1 child and what do they do, they give us a king-size bed which will not work. They cannot move us to another room, they're booked. All the hotels in the surrounding area are booked. Something to do with the NCAA world series (?), I'm not sure, I'm clueless when it comes to sports. So, back to Holiday Inn, they gave us a roll-away bed instead which made the room really tight. One good thing, they have an indoor pool. It almost makes up for everything but not really.

We're still trying to get back on base hotel. We still have 2 weeks left before we close on the house.