Oh the things that we can’t buy

Daddy H, Olive, me and Yaya Jane are all tired tonight. We went to SM (SM City Cebu) to canvass a laptop and digicam. The laptop is a replacement for Toshi (Daddy H’s 4-year old Toshiba laptop) who retired last January. We’re eyeing for a Lenovo Thinkpad. The specs are compatible for Daddy H’s work related requirements. Meanwhile, we’re hunting for a Lumix LX7 to replace his old digicam so we could capture Olive’s growing up moments more dramatically. We’re opting for the LX7 because of its semi-DSLR features.

 

image from http://tech.gaeatimes.com/

image from http://www.geeky-gadgets.com

Fortunately and unfortunately, we came in time for the last day of mall-wide sale. It was great that there’s so many tempting bargains and we’re both armed with our credit cards. Unfortunately, there were so many people (more than the crowd at the Ayala Mall sale I went to last Thursday) that it killed the mood for me to enjoy window shopping. The people made me nauseous along with the fear of losing the sight of Olive and Jane from the sea of shoppers. Despite that, I think Olive enjoyed seeing so many colors around. She was never irritated all the while. Just sobbing a bit when she’s beginning to feel hungry. We bought her glow in the dark stickers of celestial bodies and a few scrapbook picture frames. Later, we had snack at Starbucks using the GCs Daddy H won from the Emerson event.

Prizes from Emerson’s Product Launching Event 🙂

So after whirling around the mall, we found our target gadgets on display at several retailer stores in the Cyberzone and at the SM Department Store. They’re available for purchase on 12 months zero interest installment. The sad thing is that they’re also offering the items with a bigger discount if paid in cash. *SIGH!!! So much savings if only we have cash!

I used to believe that its wiser to buy anything in cash than in credit. Never buy something you can’t afford. THEN CAME MY CREDIT CARD. I have my BPI Edge Mastercard for more than a year now and it has been my friend in times of need. The most desperate moments were during my pregnancy and after having delivered Olive. Thank God I’m not that much of an impulsive buyer. I have this constant fear that we might not be able to pay the next month’s bill. Luckily, we haven’t been able to miss a due date. I always see to it that we’d be able to settle both of our credit card bills. My husband has Metrobank with double my credit limit. Oha! Daig ako! The laptop, digicam, the LED TV, and a new airconditioning unit were large eye candies for us. But mentally summing up all of them, I know we’d be in debt for 100,000 pesos. Divide that by 12 months and that’s more than 8,000 pesos on the credit card bill. Ansarap bigla umuwi. I know of a few stores in Manila where we could buy the Lenovo and the Lumix for almost half the mall prices. But of course, they wouldn’t offer installment options.

 

A parody of mall sales as depicted in the movie Zohan. Clearance sale ang peg ng mga Middle-Eastern immigrants. XD image from http://www.movie-censorship.com

I know this is another price to pay since we had a baby in the family. We couldn’t just buy anything at a whim without considering the next month’s checkup, her vaccination schedules, milk and impending baptism. We have to have a purchase plan. This is also the main reason why we as parents are driven to work doubly hard. The gadgets, a vehicle and a house – we need everything but we know we can’t afford to get them all at once. I could double my earnings as a freelancer, but that would need me to stop being a mother. And that is not an option.

We’re not even halfway through Olive’s vaccination checklist @_@

Again, I remember when someone told me “your baby’s gonna be a handful”. I didn’t expect that I’d be almost paralyzed from working. I was even a bit proud to decline my mother-in-law’s offer to send a yaya immediately after I gave birth. I am now thankful that she did. Otherwise, I’d be crazy right now. And even if Olive has recently been sleeping through the night, I could still barely manage accepting new design projects. Add to that my memory gaps – side effects of the general anesthesia administered to me.

Slowly now, I’m like a car being overhauled and tuned up in getting back to work. I wish and pray really hard that this year wouldn’t be as tough as the last financially. I know with faith and action, it will be!

Strolling at IT Park

A whole new world.

Facebook Status – Monday, July 9, 2012

seven months after, i feel as if i’m totally a different person in different place. all the stress, hate and angst are part of a history that only made me see things in a larger perspective. and its a whole new world!

Could not have felt how time flew by so fast…

My last WP entry was May. And by then there were so many interesting turn of events I wanted to write about. In fact I have my list:

1. 20 Reasons why I love Cebu – sprung after an American Expat was criticized for hosting a controversial video; I was also intending this to be a comparison of Cebu-Manila and Cavite in terms of implementing social order, traffic management, politics, affordability of commodities and lifestyles.
2. 20 Reasons why I hate Cebu – inspired to be, well, an express of support to that American Expat who spoke what’s grossly true about our state.
3. Promoting slavery in the corporate world – after how I found out that one of the companies I applied for had pending labor lawsuits and how we should fight for what we deserve in this business called life.
4. A trip to Cebu City Hall – noting how a city hall should look like a city hall and how happy I was from the Cebu City Government’s public service. No irate government employee encountered!
5. Things I miss from Dasma – mainly the food, some family culture and just being home

In the past months, we followed the historic impeachment of the Chief Justice of the Philippines, watched Mon Tulfo beaten to a pulp by the Santiago gang, how Pacman was ROBBED of his title, got elated and then bored at how ABS-CBN is prolonging Walang Hanggan, missed the ASPIN Day held at Plaza Independencia. I mentally took note of details, saved pictures and planned at how I’ll make time each day to write about everything.

Then came a surprise for me and Mr. H. We found ourselves pregnant with our first baby! And yes, I’m on my third month as of this writing.

I wouldn’t want to blame it on the baby, but the morning sickness and a multitude of pregnancy ‘norms’ I’m experiencing until now, kept me from working comfortably time. Its not an excuse that I sleep longer and more frequent than usual. I feel tired if I can’t. The horrible moments of puking and loss of appetite almost drove me nuts. Thank God I have such generous in-laws who send us supplies of fresh fish, vegetables and tasty lechon!

But the ultimate gift is having a husband who’s dedicated in supporting me all throughout the cravings, left-overs, running errands on a whim, cooking and washing the dishes especially when I detest the smell of food around. I could not have been more happy that I’m married. ^_^

It must be really God’s fate on how we’re keeping up with our lives…

Our pregnancy is an added toll at how we’re still establishing our business. We have larger bills to pay with the company’s overhead costs, my prenatal care, lab tests, vitamins and supplements. We’ve been quite frantic when we’re busy, double so when we’re not having sales. I’m still working as a freelance graphics designer while my pregnancy hormones are keeping everything in my physique unstable.

In spite of these, we still have time to watch Prime Time Kapamilya (lolx), splurge gastronomically on our wedding monthsary, watch downloaded movies before bedtime, fool around in bed and laugh at the silly things we notice from each other. And no, we’re not taking life as a joke. In fact, we’re looking forward to the birth of our baby. We have this virtual procurement plan for him/her through improvements with our business combined with my freelance earnings. We’re excited to show him/her off to family and friends and welcome him home.

Its really a whole new world, and I could not have imagined surviving if life wasn’t miraculously setup this way now. The rush of temper is often controlled now. In fact, I haven’t been agitated for quite a while – everything seemed forgiveable. Although I do miss nagging at some delinquent people at times, everything seemed so in the past.

And next month, we’re going to revisit that place, not to recollect history, but GORGE. YES GORGE IN FOOD! I’m so craving for home-made food back home!