Yeye Viray

Author: yeyeviray

  • A Typical Day

    When I resigned and left the corporate world last year, I actually started a new career (if you might call it that). Aside from becoming a full time wife and mom, I was actually earning online. Thanks to my husband, I was given the opportunity to write paid reviews and do some SEO stuff. I may have stopped getting continuous professional education as an engineer and a certified internal auditor but I was gaining knowledge on the online marketing side. Not so much though, but just enough to earn more than I did when I was still working.

    People would actually ask me if I am not yet bored being at home. Why would I be? Aside from having 3 children to attend to, food and grocery to think about, bills to pay, errands to do, I was also busy working. My daily routine would start at 5:30am to wake up Marcus and be sure he’s ready when his school bus picks him up. By 7:30am I would bring Zach to school and fetch him by 10:30. In between I would either take few more hours of sleep, think about what to serve for breakfast, play with Lia and/or start working. By 11am I should have given Lia a bath, massage and her daily dose of vitamins. If Gary chose to work at home, I would think about what to serve for lunch, else I would tell my housemaids to cook whatever’s available in the fridge as I would be content eating wheat bread with either peanut butter or cream cheese on it.

    With no appointment or errand to do, usually from 11am to 5pm you can just find me sitting in front of the computer busy working. Once in a while I would take a break and would take Lia from her yaya while we watch tv or just play together. I also would take the time to help Zach practice his reading and writing.

    By 5pm, Marcus will be home and I would check his Diary for assignments, things to bring (which I hate because it would mean I would have to go to the mall looking for those stuff) or bad remarks (which Thank God he seldom gets now, whew!) By this time I should also be preparing for dinner. If I have exhausted all my efforts thinking about what to cook but cannot think of anything, that’s the time I would text our ever dependable club house.

    When the kids are asleep, that’s the time I would go back to the computer and continue working. If I don’t have anything to do anymore, I would read a book or sleep early. (Sleeping early means being in bed by 11). If my husband is not so busy, we would have coffee at Bonifacio Highstreet, else I would make him brewed coffee.

    This is definitely far from my home-office-home (sometimes with gimmick in between) schedule that I used to have. Others might find it surprising but I am enjoying what I have and what I am now. The only thing that bugs me though is having to choose between forever giving up my profession and embrace online marketing as my new field of expertise or go back to my comfort zone and continue working as a certified internal auditor. Well, I give myself until the end of 2009 to decide.

  • Good Education is Expensive!

    Any idea how much it cost us Marcus’ enrollment, school supplies, books and uniform? It was in whopping 6-digit! That’s how much Gary and I value education. We are willing to give the best that we can and even sacrifice some just to be able to enroll our children in a good school. One thing that frightens me though is the thought that my children will think that we are rich when in fact we’re not. This fear heightened when I attended the New Parents’ Orientation. I was with parents who were either foreigners or coming from a well-off family. I was not insecured, but my son could be with these wealthy children around. How will I explain to my son that he’s already lucky being given the chance to be enrolled in that school and living the life as these people do is another story. If these parents can give their children P500 or more daily as allowance, we can’t and we won’t. How can we convince Marcus to get the most of what that school provides in terms of learning when all he could possibly see and hear is that his classmates, even buddies, are fetched by expensive SUVs, provided with up-to-date toys and gadgets, lives in Forbes or Dasma and travels to different countries every vacation. I can’t help but ask, have we really made the right decision? Well, I am hopeful. With me and Gary around to monitor our son’s every move, I think we’ll be able to guide him and instill the values that we would want to impart. Besides, once in a while we give our children what they want and let them experience good things in life just as long as they are responsible enough to do the things expected from them. Above all, we continuously seek God’s help in all our decisions and in everything that we do. So for new parents out there… start saving now! :D

  • If I win the jackpot price

    The last time I heard about it in the news, the approximate winning amount for lotto is P180 million and though I don’t buy lotto tickets, it just occurred to me what would it be like winning the jackpot. My son would always ask me what I plan to do just in case I won millions of pesos and without giving it much thought I would always give him this answer, “I’ll buy whatever I want.” He would then ask me with a wide grin, “Aren’t you going to give me some?” I can imagine my son day dreaming about the toys, books, psp games and a lot more that he plans to buy just in case his mom won millions. And that gave me an idea of making my own wish list just in case I won the P180 million jackpot price.

    Here’s my list:

    1. I’ll buy my parents a condominium unit – P5M

    2. We’ll build our dream house in Pangasinan where we already bought a land – P10M

    3. We’ll settle the remaining payments that has to be made in our condo – P2M

    4. I’ll buy Gary his dream car (The Hummer) – P5M (I really don’t have any idea how much it costs but maybe P5M is enough… hehe)

    5. Hello Dra. Belo (hahha!) – P1M (This is not a one-time visit though…)

    6. I’ll buy myself an SUV – P2M

    7. Budget for Around the World Travel – P10M (Do you think this is enough?)

    8. Shopping, shopping, shopping – P5M

    – watch out LV and RL stores for my bags!
    – I’ll buy a new celphone (haha… babaw)
    – I’ll let my kids get all their dream toys
    – more watch for Gary
    – La Coste and RL Shirts in all colors… haha!
    – Books!
    – Laptop each for my kids
    etc. etc.

    9. Charity (For Children who are sick especially of Cancer) – P5M

    10. A million each for my parents, siblings and In-laws – P10M

    11. I’ll buy our ancestral home in Cagayan de Oro (they are selling it now) – P5M (Is it?)

    This is getting more and more exciting…

    12. I’ll deposit P10M each for my children’s savings account – P30M

    13. I’ll buy a parlor and fast food franchise – P10M

    14. We’ll get a town house in Mahogany Place in Taguig – P10M (including home furniture and interior design)

    15. Another Church Wedding – P1M

    16. Balato – hmmm… bahala na magkano. (haha!) But for sure my yayas will get their share.

    The rest will still be on investments and savings. Huh! I just realized it’s tiring to be too rich, but I am not complaining. :D

  • Another year worth celebrating

    Last year I celebrated my 30th birthday and it was really worth celebrating because of milestones I have set for myself and successfully achieved, not to mention the blessings that God has showered us with – big and small alike. And now, celebrating my 31st birthday, I would just want to make a list of all the major things that happened to me while being 30.

    1. I left International Container Terminal Services Inc. (the last company I was in) to become a full time mother and wife.
    2. Few weeks after I resigned I learned that I was pregnant. (And six months after, I learned that we are having a girl this time)
    3. While being jobless and pregnant, I was reviewing for CISA (Certified Information Systems Audit) Certification. I finished the review but I postponed the exam.
    4. I started getting busy blogging for money… and inviting friends to write reviews as well.
    5. I finally learned how to drive.
    6. We paid all our credit card dues and other liabilities in full, except for our condo which we still have to pay for monthly.
    7. We bought a land in Pangasinan where we could build our dream house in the future.

    Looking back, it was indeed not a boring year for me. Being jobless and all, I realized that I – together with God and my family – still had a fruitful year. It is really true that dreaming together as a couple could make wonders. It did work for us and I thank my husband for being a great dreamer dragging me where we are right now and where we will be in the future… heheh.

  • Hawaiian food this time

    Let me do a restaurant review this time.

    Last week my family and I decided to have dinner at Serendra since we haven’t tried eating there as a family. Well, I have tried Conti’s, Duo and Mary Grace already so I was hoping none of those will be my husband’s choice. I was somewhat hoping we could try Polu Kai Grill but I was actually open to any of his suggestions. Luckily, it was also his choice, without me saying anything or giving out clues. Hehe…

    So we ordered the following:
    (1) Seafood bucket which includes lobster tails, fish fillets and fried calamari served with tartar sauce.
    (2) Giant Squid Steak
    (3) Aloha Rib and Chicken, and
    (4) Hawaiian Keiki Pizza for Zach

    I don’t know if it’s pure luck or this restaurant just serves all good food because I have to say I loved everything we ordered. The squid were soft and easy to chew, while the ribs were juicy and very tasty. The chicken though was not as fabulous as the rest but still good, so maybe you can order just the ribs instead. The iced tea tastes good and not the usual Nestea flavored served in other restaurants. The place is not intimidating and is really good for bonding with family and friends. I must say I would want to go back to this restaurant and try the other food on their menu. I suggest you do the same.

  • EK then and now

    As I aged 10 years more, Enchanted Kingdom has surprisingly maintained its features, rides and attractions. It was the very same place I saw a decade ago, except for the kart track, paintball and some additional food stalls. I was a month pregnant then, though it was not a disadvantage because I don’t really like those rides much due to my motion sickness. Funny how the baby in my stomach at that time turned out to be my opposite. I can’t help but feel dizzy and really worry as I watched my 10 year old son ride the Flying Fiesta 4 times, Anchor’s Away 7 times, Jungle Log Jam twice and all the other rides once. Yes! He even tried the Space Shuttle and was really relieved when he learned that he was tall enough to be allowed to. Huh?! As for me, being 7 months pregnant this time, I was again saved from the pressure that my husband, kids and siblings could have given me just to try those attractions that I won’t dare ride even in my wildest dreams. All in all, though we missed Mabelle and her family, it was a fun experience and I am just glad that EK has successfully preserved their park grounds and attractions so that my children were able to see, experience and enjoy them more than I did a decade ago.

  • Reunion and Death

    “There’s no such thing as accident” they say, but if that’s the case, what do you call those 2 deaths happening a few days before the Eheads reunion concert? The first one happened last year when the first reunion concert finally pushed through. Everything was about to go smoothly until Ely Buendia’s mom died. I thought the concert will be canceled or at least postponed, fortunately (or unfortunately) it did not. A few months after, with Ely’s condition a lot better, the 2nd reunion concert which they call the ‘final set’ is about to take place tomorrow. Again, rehearsals and preparations were doing great, as confirmed by Raymund Marasigan’s message in Sandwich’s yahoogroup, not until this afternoon when Francis Magalona died. Well, the death of the master rapper would not really affect the concert to a big extent, though he was supposed to be a “special guest” in the concert, doing the rap part of the song “Superproxy.” More than being a guest actually, have you given this question a thought, ‘who is Francis M to Eheads?’ I think it was like asking who’s Ely’s mom to the group. I do want to play innocent and treat it as something which is just ’scheduled’ to happen. Period. But I just can’t help but wonder why there should be a death of someone close to Eheads happening before their two reunion concerts. Does that mean that the final set should really be the final set? Or is that again a warning to Ely and his health? Did Francis M saved Ely from death this time like what could have happened when Ely’s mom passed away? All I can do now is pray that the concert will finally reach its end successfully, even if I won’t be there this time because I am 7 months pregnant and obviously not allowed to watch the concert. To Eheads, break a leg! To Ely, good health! To Ely’s mom and Francis M, peace! Amen! Tiyak yon! Amen!

  • Early Nativity?

    Last March 1 was my eldest son’s 10th birthday and much to our luck (which turned out to be the opposite), it was the same day for Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival. From Pangasinan where my husband had a previous engagement, we packed our things on Feb 28 and went straight to Baguio. Our first stop was Mine’s View because I was hoping I could get some Ube Jam at Good Shepherd and eat my favorite grilled corn. And because the traffic was terrible, my husband was forced to just park the car elsewhere thus we ended up walking up hill. Next stop was Camp John Hay. We did a lot of shopping there and finally had our dinner. Have we thought of accommodations? Yes, we were planning to get one after a few more shopping at Camp John Hay. Finally, we left the place and started looking for a hotel. One by one, we went to all the hotels that Baguio has to offer. And one by one they refused to accommodate us because they were already fully booked for the upcoming festival. Being pregnant and all, I felt what it was like when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place that could accommodate them for the night. With my stomach bulging and my husband at my back, I was asking each receptionist if they have available rooms where we could spend the night. Getting all negative answers, we finally gave up and decided to just leave Baguio and go back to Pangasinan (at Gary’s family house) where we could spend the night instead. Frustrating and tiring it may seem, we still did enjoy the trip and hopefully next time we could get an early hotel booking.

  • Blues with no Clue

    My fifth month of pregnancy is almost over and I think I am being hit by prenatal depression. Most of it actually involves patience. Like for instance the gender of the baby. I can’t wait for a couple of weeks to know if our baby’s a boy or a girl. This hinders me from experiencing the excitement of finalizing a name and from buying baby things. Well, actually I do have a female name in mind and I plan to tell Gary about it as soon as we learn that we really are having a baby girl.

    Next is my growing fear of not being able to go back to work without me being able to do anything about it. It’s because I don’t think it is advisable for me to go through the hiring process with my stomach bulging. That means I have to wait a couple of months before I can seriously start looking for a job. Yes I love staying at home, attending to my family’s needs and believe it or not earning big (though big is a relative word), but then I realized I am more productive when accompanied with all of those, I am still pursuing a career. Besides, my social life is dying, though I am not really sure if it’s because of literally staying at home and not going out of our condo or because of zero SMB lights nights due to my pregnancy.

    Another frustration is not being able to do my beauty regimen. That includes hair relax, body spa and massage, facial and a whole lot more that I am not willing to divulge. (haha!) Imagine I can’t even wear my favorite perfume because I hate the smell of it now. Not even my favorite St. Ives facial wash. I am just so thankful that my nose hasn’t ballooned yet, no pimples showing and my neck hasn’t changed its color. But then again, I don’t feel confident about myself.

    This baby is really teaching me the value of patience and has been keeping me on my toes for what could happen in the near future. As of now, all I could really do is WAIT WAIT and WAIT and have the most of what I am enjoying right now… which surprisingly is a bit depressing.

  • Should I lose my grip?

    It’s a little bit weird seeing everyone so busy buying items for exchange gifts and preparing for Christmas party while I am busy paying bills, thinking about what to serve on the table and buying what my children and husband needs. Well, you see, I have been a corporate slave since 2001 and my body seems to be looking for that Christmas rush. I may still have a couple of things to buy this Christmas like gifts for family, relatives and godchildren, not to mention Santa Claus’ list for Zach, (Marcus already knows about it so he just gets a gift from me) but there’s no rush for it, knowing that I have all the time in the world.

    This made me realize that being a full time housewife is a lot more serious decision than I thought it would be. Being at home and not knowing when to be back in the corporate world (that is if I’ll ever be back), the world I have known for many years, is like losing that grip of who I am as a person. Or should I say who I used to be for so long. I did not realize that changing careers would be like changing personalities.

    Staying at home is a lot more complicated, though compensation is beyond monetary terms. You don’t get any appraisal at the end of the year, meaning you don’t get any feedback of how you are as a mother and wife. I guess those can be realized after you see your children grow up and learn who they come to be in the future. Risky, yes, but when they start telling stories to you like a friend does to another or just kiss and hug you for no reason at all, it all becomes worth it.

    I am now in the midst of thinking if I should not lose that grip of being a corporate person or finally accept that my future is geared towards serving my kids and husband’s needs full time. I don’t have any answer yet, but I know God has been leading me to where I should be. I guess it’s all a matter of patience and acceptance.