As of late, my mornings revolve around counting stars.
Stamped stars.
It’s a Philippine pre-school thing. A visible “Good job!” remark, stamped on students’ wrists by the teachers after an activity in class. Every time I fetch her from school, I find myself comparing the number of her stars with that of others. If she’s got less, I question her. I probe.
Then in my head I go, “What have I become?!”. A student’s mom, that’s what.
Tropical coastal town Cardwell, northeastern Queensland.
Since owning a shack (which we snagged on a spur-of-the-moment decision because we’re the type), we’ve sorta sunk back into the “real world”. You know… Mortgage, monthly bills, car maintenance, cooking shows on cable telly, snoopy neighbors, grocery shopping as therapy, Zumba as family bonding, and as previously mentioned, stamped stars.
Our long honeymoon/babymoon/familymoon seemed over. Oh how hard I tried to channel my inner domestic diva which I have come to believe is nonexistent. And the universe might have sent me a sign saying this is indeed a fact via an oven glass door explosion while I was baking a french toast casserole at home.
The real world has a charm of its own. Has a fun of its own. It’s quite depressing to realize that this world just isn’t ours anymore. Because truth be told, there are days that I really feel like a foreigner to my own society. My opinions sound askew for them. And the rules I create appear out of hand.
Sometimes I fear of me not belonging. Of my daughter not belonging. The hubby has always been socially awkward so he doesn’t give a dang.
2014’s second quarter was rather sleepy for I took these fears into consideration in laying out our April, May, June plans. We spent more time growing roots than spreading wings. Here’s what went down this second quarter:
First week of April saw us traversing Queensland and New South Wales, Australia aboard a hired (almost for free) station wagon.
Mini reunion with the hubby’s Persian family in Australia. Luna did Easter egg hunting for the first time in Sydney.
Built new partnerships with New York-based lifestyle brand Yak Pak, casual footwear manufacturer Scott Hawaii and DTC Mobile.
Visited the sister in Singapore with an itinerary that’s solely concentrated on food. Did a side trip to Legoland Malaysia.
Was invited to the Sarangani Bay Festival 2014, the biggest beach festival in Mindanao. Not only did we party for two nights, we also had the chance to do the white water tubing in New La Union, Maitum. I now know how it feels like to be in a washing machine.
Received the awesome news that my piece Sulu Sojourn: Reconnaissance won as one of the finalists of Wego’s “Life Changing Travel Story Contest”.
Staycation with me mum at The Linden Suites. A quickie “vacation” she longed for and deserved
In June, we enrolled Luna in kindergarden (she managed to skip nursery after a quick assessment conducted by one of the teachers) primarily cause she said it herself, “I want to go to school.”. We thought it would be great for her to learn discipline and to acknowledge the authority of others. Good to know she’s able to keep up with the pace. Unfortunately, just a week and a half into her schooling, she’s already bored of it. Lucky for her, she’s only doing this for a month. Why?
Because this is what we are up to…
The hubby’s got a business conference in the United States and Luna and I are going with him. It’s just a two week trip, but we’re joining anyway so that we could do a little exploration within the region. As for Luna’s studies, well, she’s gonna be roadschooling (just a term I use which basically means homeschooling without a ‘home’) for the next two to three months. It ain’t so much of an issue for us because in Australia, where we intend to reside 2015 onwards, school officially starts in the sixth year of the child’s age.
We got plenty of time to diddle daddle.
And we can’t wait to tell you more stories of diddle-daddling.
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oh the snoopy neighbours. I’m excited for mine lol, if they snoop I will let my casserole explode on their faces. hahahaha
Hahahahaha! Tsk, oor neighbors. That’ll definitely teach them a lesson.
“Mortgage, monthly bills, car maintenance, cooking shows on cable telly, snoopy neighbors, grocery shopping as therapy,”
Welcome to the club, dear. Lalo na sa snoopy neighbors. Haha.
Hahahaha!
Your post reminds me so much of A Map for Saturday. Especially that part where one long-term backpacking guy says he feels alien even to his own family when he comes home from trips. He said something like, “when someone from back home asks you what it’s like or how it’s been, you wonder how can you even start explaining a life of everyday Saturdays for 6 months in a language they can understand. How you can compress that life in a single sentence or two without getting awkward stares. And then you feel this isn’t a world you fit in anymore, because the lifestyle, the world you know is being out there on the streets everyday, with fellow backpackers who know everyday Saturdays is the only way to live a normal life.”
Sorry to blabber. I do this a lot. LOL.
I don’t remember that… At all. Hahaha! Was it the American film maker who said it? Anyhoo, I remember the British(?) girl saying she bought a house or something when she got back because that’s just “what everyone does”. And the way she said it, it sounded really sad.
Well, he didn’t exactly said it that way, but sort of like that. Haha. He wasn’t part of the main ‘cast’, may snippet lang siya dun sa ending. I think the bloke is from England or Norway.
Belonging and acceptance by society are overrated. You do what everyone does and for what? Approval and validation? In the end, it’s your life, your regrets to live.
Wow, pare…angst. LOL.
wow, lots of activities… how do you manage your life and things to settle from ph to overseas in your timeline
Hahaha! I dunno how I do it. LOL. It just happens 🙂