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There are days when I feel like a robot. As much as I like having a routine, I do like to break out of them once in awhile. However, being a parent, it’s easier if you have a routine. It helps everyone with expectations and also, things go a little smoother than if you just do things randomly. That may have worked when you’re single, or a couple without kids but right now that’s what works for us.

Maybe it also depends on what your situation is. Since both the hubby and I work full time, we have a schedule and we have limited time with our son after work. Of course, my preference would be to maximize my time with our son but sometimes that’s not possible. There are chores to be done, school assignments to deal with, not to mention doing your own hobbies.

I read an interesting entry from an online friend about how she doesn’t want to be like Frank and April Wheeler from Revolutionary Road. I don’t think we’re like them even though sometimes their lifestyle kinda reflects ours. When we moved up here, I already expected that communication with old friends and family will decrease because of the distance and with schedules. Moving to suburbia was always my plan. As much as I love visiting cities, I’m so used to living in suburbia. I know some people don’t like it but we’ve adjusted well to it.

I still wonder sometimes if we should stay here long-term. For now I think we are. Our lives, my life, was so much different 5.5 years ago before we moved up here. Would I change what I have now? Probably not. I already know that I don’t lead an exciting life compared to some of my friends down South but now that we have Connor, I am actually finding more and more family-friendly things to do. I’ve gone to more places in the Sacramento region in the past year and a half than the whole 5 years we’ve been here so that wasn’t such a bad thing. I have to admit, it takes work to make everyone in the family happy. Although now we’re still at the phase where Connor can’t really complain yet but I know in time, we will have to go to places where HE wants to go.

Before I begin I have to warn you that this is going to be a shopping post so if you’re not into that just skip this entry.

I feel a little guilty spending money last Saturday but I think it’s because I don’t normally drop down money like that in a short time. It just felt like I haven’t shopped for clothes in ages. I’ve actually had some pants that broke on me because I’ve had them for years, since grad school actually so I thought it was time to buy some new office wear. Whenever I buy clothes now, I make sure that I can wear them to the office, to church and just going out. That way, I can make the most out of them.

So where can you find great deals and still have a variety of things to choose from? We went to the Vacaville Premium Outlets. I think out of my purchases, 1/3 was for the baby, 1/3 was for me and 1/3 was for our home. We scored some great clothing and shoes for Connor. Robeez Tredz for $15.99??? Where else can you get that? We bought him some summer clothes at Carter’s too cause the one he had last year are getting small. I stopped by PBK before we went to the mall (so I can check out the new Apple Store) and I got Connor some clothes and crib accessories too. They were having a good sale there as well.

The best deal that I got from our outlet jaunt was my precious 4.5 quart Cherry Red Le Creuset French Oven. Le Creuset was having a 40% off sale and I got it for less than $115 including tax. I couldn’t believe the price. This was my ultimate dream—to own a Le Creuset round oven. I can’t wait to try out new recipes with this baby starting tonight. Besides that, I got some baking utensils from the kitchen store.

Another great deal I got were clothes from Ann Taylor. Like I said, when I shop, I make sure that they fit right, they’re versatile and they’re a good deal (natch). I shopped at Banana Republic but I honestly kinda regretted buying them but they were still nice and they were cheap too. Anyway at Ann Taylor I was able to get 2 tops and 2 pants for $55. I’m sure if you’ve shopped there before, a pair of pants can cost that much regular price so I was happy at how much I saved. We stopped by a couple other places but those two or (3) were the highlights.

I felt like Suzy Homemaker yesterday because I actually made red velvet cupcakes from scratch. That’s why I had to buy the piping stuff from the Kitchen store cause I wanted to use that. It was fun but messy. I think they turned out good but it will be awhile before I make cupcakes again. However, I did get a bundt mold so that will probably be my next project. I’m salivating just thinking about it. hehehe…

Yesterday also, our church did something different. We celebrated mass at the park. It was a little windy but otherwise, it was perfect. I also cantored that day and thank God I didn’t embarrass myself. After mass, we had a big picnic. I ate sooo much. That probably explains why my clothes felt a little snug this morning. It was a fun experience but if you’re playing, it was a bit difficult dealing with the wind.

So that pretty much summed up my weekend. I think next weekend should be a little more chill.

I am chatting with a good friend about how people nowadays are on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, etc. Now I’m not exempt from those things since I’m on them myself but when it comes down to it, I still prefer your old-fashioned phone call or even a date with a good friend. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s really neat that we can communicate up-to-date info with anybody but I think it’s kinda made us lazy about really communicating with other people.

I know it’s hard to believe but I miss the old days when I sat by the phone waiting for my husband then boyfriend to call. I still prefer phone calls over text messaging. Sure, I text people but not as much. I know I live far but it’s kinda sad that the only way I can keep up with people I know from high school and college is through their blogs. Whatever happened to sending an email to say hello?

I honestly want Connor to grow up getting to know people through actual human contact and not through text, blogs, email, twitter or what have you. Sometimes I look at old high school and college pictures and I get sad and nostalgic. We didn’t rely on any of these technologies to keep in touch. Why do we need to “stalker” apps to find out where our friends are? Can’t we just call them?

Anyway, I don’t even know where this came from but I’ve been feeling this way ever since we moved up to NorCal.

I’ve always been a proponent of higher education, especially in tough times such as right now. If you’re in a situation where you’ve been laid off for quite some time and having no luck finding a job, it may be time to think about going back to school. Just my opinion though. Anyway, I’ve been feeling a little frustrated with my current situation. I want to move on but it’s just not happening. Maybe I’m just not trying hard enough or maybe there are other forces that’s preventing me from moving on. I’m playing with the idea of “maybe” pursuing a doctorate degree. I know that after I got my master’s in 2003, there was no way in hell I’d go back to school again. I didn’t want more loans (which I’m still paying now) and I’m done with going to school, doing homework, papers, etc. However, is my current degree and experience enough? I just need that one step to move further. I think when I get my foot in the door, things should be a little easier. However, I may need that extra leverage.

I admit, I’m lazy. Sure I don’t get the summer and winter breaks that students get but I enjoy my freedom. Going back to school now means a major adjustment. Since most, if not all, doctoral programs in my field require you to be physically present, it means being there, being close to the school. Do I want to move? Is going back to school overdoing it? I know I have the qualifications to thrive in the job I wanna be at, all I need is for someone to give me the chance. What I don’t know though is if that particular position I’m aiming for is already set for someone else. I’ll never know.

For now though, I need to weigh my options. I would like to give Connor a sibling around the next year or two so going back to school will take too much time. Also, I really love where we live. Plus, there’s the issue of selling or renting the house. You know how *fun* that could be. Right now though, I can still count my blessings for having a stable job.

Don’t get any ideas. I’m not pregnant…yet. However, the thought is always swirling in my head. People constantly ask when we’ll have that 2nd child and I’ll give you this, we will probably start trying next year. As for the getting pregnant part, that’s really up to God when he’ll bless us with another child. For now though we are enjoying Connor’s company. I’m not one of those moms who constantly talk about my child online and offline. I enjoy listening to other moms tell me about how their kid is growing and all that but unless I get asked first, I don’t usually say anything. It’s not to say that I’m not proud and excited about all the things that my child is able to do now. I am, but I don’t know how each person will take my continuous mutterings about how my child did this and that. I encounter those types of people who talk nonstop about a particular person in their life and although I’m able to take a *little* of that, I wanna say: “can we move on to another topic?” sometimes but never have the nerve to. That’s pretty much the main reason why I don’t inundate them with extraneous info about my family and otherwise.

So anyway, I have a plan of action in the next year or so about family planning and all that but I want to get things out of the way first. Ever since taking this online course, my nights are being taken up by that, plus this stupid online traffic school is getting on my nerves so I’m trying to get that out of the way as well. I am thoroughly enjoying sleeping through the night for the past few months now and that’s probably one of the things that I appreciate more than anything out of this having a baby thing. If you’re one of those moms who have a baby that slept through the night since they were in the first few months of life, consider yourself very blessed. We didn’t get a constant sleeping schedule until the baby hit a year old so I’m still in the honeymoon phase. So pardon me if I wanna wait awhile to have another child.

I have some friends that are already well on their way to having that 2nd child. I sometimes feel a twinge of jealousy but at the same time, I’m relieved that I’m not going through pregnancy right now. Some people prefer having their children close in age to get it over with but I prefer having some type of gap between them. I really would like Connor to be fully potty trained when our next one comes. That way we won’t have to buy diapers for both. I honestly think that it’s up to the parents and what they’re willing to work with. We only want to have 2 children so I’m in no rush to have that 2nd child. However, I know for sure that I want 2 and only 2. Hubby and I made that clear to each other from the beginning.

It’s fun to think of how things would be when we have the next one. I’m also aware that when that happens, our family dynamics will change dramatically, just as when we had Connor after being child-free for 5 years. Being a planner, I have to think about the things we need to prepare for another child. I don’t think we’re ready at the moment but I think we’re ready emotionally. That’s a start. Until then, I have my Brazilian vacation to look forward to.

I guess this question can apply to many different things. For awhile now, I’ve been doing things like a routine. I really don’t mind most of the time because I like following a certain rhythm during my daily activities. It’s not that we don’t plan to do anything fun but your usual work-home activities, I pretty much follow a certain flow. Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more about different aspects of my life: family (my side mostly), work and finances.

My family, I can’t change. It’s a slow process but I’m accepting the fact that my mom and dad will never be the type of parents I wish they could be. They will never be the grandparents that I expect them to be so it’s better to just go with the flow and just appreciate the fact that they’re there.

Work, well I don’t wanna go into too much detail since after all this is the internet which means ANYONE can read it. Let’s just say a lot of things need to be re-evaluated. I’m thankful though that I’m still employed and I’m still doing meaningful work.

With finances, it’s getting better I think. I mean I don’t have $20,000 in my savings or anything but I have something that I can use for about 3 months in case of anything. We will look into getting our home loan modified to lower our payments. We just need to work on other things to get to that. I am looking forward to getting a new car in 3 years. Once the Jeep is paid off, it’s bye bye to my darling little Honda Civic. I’m about 95% sure that we’re taking out our cable TV and landline when the contract ends so that will help me pay for the rest of my bills.

For now though, I can’t help but feel this uncertainty with some things. I have so many questions in my head but I think I’m just thinking about too many “what if’s.” I should just relax and enjoy what I have at the moment.

***I have to apologize first. I know some Firefox users probably notice the big black band on top. I think this is a Firefox 3.0+ issue. I will try to resolve it this weekend. It doesn’t seem to be an issue with IE, Camino or older versions of Firefox though**

Brazil has always been on my “must visit” list. We are seriously contemplating going there next year for our next trip. This time around, we are planning to go just the two of us. We’ve tossed around ideas of where else we should go. Japan and Spain were also considered but last night, we happened to catch an episode of “1001 Things to see before you die” on the Travel Channel and they featured Brazil. They showed areas such as the Amazon and Rio. I’m not really keen on visiting the Amazon because of the usual assumptions a foreigner might think. Do I really wanna stay at the jungle? I don’t really want to see crocodiles and all that in the Amazon River but after watching last night, it doesn’t seem so bad. I would love to stay at Jacques Cousteau’s Ariau Towers. That place looked unbelievable! I’m pretty sure it’s expensive as hell but I was pretty impressed.

However, my favorite part was when they were in Rio/Copacobana area. I just really like places that have great beaches and warm weather (who doesn’t?). I love Brazilian culture as well, especially their music, food (and drinks) and their language. Portuguese sounds so sexy to me. hahaha… I love listening to bossa nova just so I can hear them speak it. I may even be able to convince myself to go hang gliding. It looks like fun but a little nerve wracking at first I’m sure.

So I think that show finally convinced me that we should go to Brazil next year. It gives us time to prepare for it. I have a whole year to look like Gi.se.le Bund.chen (hahaha). I’m just kidding but it would be nice to be able to wear a bikini just like the locals right?

This time last year we were busy planning and preparing for Connor’s baptism. I’m glad that we’re not really preparing for anything big this year. Expenses is something that we really try to cut down on, not because we’re forced to but moreso because we want to be prepared just in case bad things happen. We are currently looking for ways to decrease our utility bills. We are seriously thinking of taking out the cable TV and the landline (which is no big deal). I am sure gonna miss our cable TV but I will be happy when I see that extra $70+ in my checking account every month. My shopping habits have changed and I haven’t been going to the mall that much unless it’s for something we need. We still eat out once in awhile but we still cook and eat at home majority of the time. I bring my lunch about 95%-99% of the time so it’s not a big deal to me.

Rumblings at work about the possibility of furloughs and layoffs got me thinking about being ready in case my hours will be reduced and I’d like to get my practice in now before it actually happens. We still need to beef up our savings some more and in a few months we will think about modifying our loan. I really hope that goes through cause that will help us tremendously. So, there are positive things to look forward to. Got any tips on cutting down costs?

I take lots of pictures of my child. That is pretty obvious but I know once in awhile I get a little paranoid about who really looks at these photos. I know you can’t really stop pervs out there but you can minimize them.

I’m not saying that you should do this and that but with me, most of Connor’s pictures are friends and family only. This was actually backed up by my mother-in-law as well because she had the same concerns as me. At the same time, I like to share photos of my child with the world. After all, I think he is darn cute but finding that happy medium is my main concern.

In Flickr, I try not to join too many groups. I have been tempted though to join a lot of those children’s group because I’d like to showcase my pictures but as one of them said, be wary that many people view those photos and not all of them have good intentions so I just refrain from joining. I take photos not because I’m a good photographer but I like my subject (my child) so I do it. I just tell myself that I take pictures for me and my family’s benefit.

Just thought I’d change my theme really quick to reflect the current season. I love Spring since all the bursts of color finally come to life. Living in NorCal at least gives me the opportunity experience all the flowers in bloom.

Even though the time change is *still* dragging me down most mornings, I just know that our daily activities will start to pick up because of the prolonged sunlight. I love it!