my job interview.

i’ve always pictured myself as a working girl. new york city, dressed to the 9s, stilettos, weekends at central park, soho and meatpacking district, loft apartment in downtown manhattan. i guess you could say i’ve done everything but the loft apartment. i loved my job! i mean how can you not? company paid lunch with clients, hanging out with ceos, meeting celebs and politician, closing deals, happy hour. the next thing i know i’m a sahm. in florida. supporting husband at work while i stay home and make a new recipe for dinner and decorate the house. nothing bad about that. it’s pretty darn good thing to be out of the workforce. and what's more awesome is that i get to spend all my time with sophie. no complaints here.

but then last week happened. i got a job interview. phone and face to face. the first one in years and i’m talking about a decade. i started to think maybe i could get a job, maybe i could use that 10 years of experience for something else besides homeschooling sophie,  maybe this is my chance to have a career again.

it took awhile for my mind to adjust and see myself as someone other than an awesome mom. (because all moms are awesome lol) the idea of working again. it’s just that i knew from the moment i resigned that I will be back working again. eventually. and unconsciously i’ve been scared of that day to come.

the phone interview was so unexpected. seriously. some of the questions were: tell me more about your work experience. specific questions about my work experience. where do you see yourself 5 years from now? what are your plans in life?

then I was scheduled to have a face to face interview. 3 people interview me. give me some examples where you were creative and went beyond your position as a…. what can you offer our company?

then i was taken to the actual work floor to have an idea of what my typical day to day will be like and to get a feel of the work environment. then onto to the next interview. why should we hire you? what can you offer that other candidates don’t have? why this position? what is you ideal job? they made me sell some random things on the table (uniball and nail cutter) what do you think is the most important factor to successful in this position? weakness? what do you know about our company. if we call your former employer right now give me 5 words that he would use to describe you. what if we call him right now and he says 5 different words, how would you react?

the whole interview took 2.5 hours and these questions are probably just half. i seriously don't even remember anymore. after the interview i came out of that building with a new found confidence and big smile on my face. job interviews are nerve racking! which is part of the reason why i've gone m.i.a. from blogging and all that for nothing. i thought i did great! of course i prayed like crazy in the car and sure enough god never fails. 

i wish i could tell you that i got the job and i'm now a working mommy but i never got a call. i'm not going to lie and say i'm not disappointed. but what can i do, it's not meant to be. like my hubs always say god has a better plan for me. you hear that??! a better one! in fact i'm happy that i did good. after all i really wanted that job and i can't begin to imagine what could be better than that.

check AYAZINE to see what i wore to the interview.

cup of jo series: balancing work/life motherhood.

one of my favorite blogs, cup of jo has a new series where she'll be featuring other awesome moms (aren't we all moms awesome?) and will be talking about balancing work, life and motherhood. i love love love her introduction post! i've always thought she was one of the "other" moms who had it all figured out but coming from her "we're all in the same boat". it's always good to read an honest good blog!

trip to the er.

yes, that's right to the emergency room. a little accident in the bathroom happened today. not #1 or #2, a real accident. sophie slipped and got a boo boo on her chin. my stomach is still turning just thinking about it. just like all accident it happened so fast. a split second. but in my head it's in slow motion on repeat. aaaah! i was right next to her! i was right there!
a lot of things were going through my head. 1.) i didn't know where the nearest hospital was 2.) we don't have insurance 3.) how on earth am i going to drive with her crying and bleeding in the backseat. and mind you while all this was happening, i was soaking wet and had nothing on but a towel.
so what i really did was 1.) pressed on the cut to stop the bleeding 2.) called my husband to tell him to come home asap 3.) called 911.
i was panicking inside but stayed calm for sophie. i think that really helped a lot. she stopped crying and we waited for the paramedics? i did not know who to expect. apparently the cops came, the fire rescue and emt. total of 6 people. and they came so fast - less that 3 mins i think. anyway, as soon as they saw her, they were like "oh she's fine, just take her to the er" and i was like "how does this work? do we go in the ambulance?" i know, silly me. their response was, "do you drive? the hospital is located...."
we waited for i would say 2 hours at the er for sophie to get the stitches. and let me tell you, my baby is one brave 3 year old. she didn't even cry one bit throughout the whole procedure. i could tell she was very scared because she was shaking. i have no words to describe how proud i am. like i am so proud of her. the attending doctor and nurses were all impressed. she was the best patient they had all week. i even received some words of praise myself. (there was a voice inside me saying "oh yeah, i'm the mama!") after 7 stitches later, we were finally outta there. sophie got 6 stickers for being so good. 5 for her, 1 for me and 1 for daddy.

 and here she is having a milk shake (we promised her ice cream). good as new!

on an airplane no less.

sophie got her first salon haircut today!!!!! complete with a hair keepsake and certificate! awesome! after the haircut my baby told the hair stylist, "i want make up next". awwwww.

so this is us.

clueless at toys r us. for some reason this is sophie's first time at toys r us. i know!??! just scared that she might want to take all the toys home. but not bad. i was worried for nothing. looks like it's going to be a monthly thing. she ended up getting play-doh. (yikes!)

day at the playground.

these are some of the pix from yesterday. i think the breakfast themed playground is adorable. i forgot to mention on my previous post a trick that i came up with (i think i came up with it ahaha) that helps a lot. the concept of minutes - time out for five minutes, we're leaving in 10 minutes, you know what i'm saying. i just tell sophie "we're leaving in 10 minutes" and then i leave her be, come back and tell her "10 minutes is up, time to go". viola!
now that the discipline issue is over with, there's another new one. well this is more an issue for me. i noticed most of the kids at the playground are boys. nope that's not the issue. sophie is used to that. her cousins in new york are mostly boys and the kids at our ny church are mostly boys too. it's when a girl arrives a the playground, naturally sophie will try to play with her. what do you do when they don't want to play with your child? nothing, you can't do anything. btw, sophie is so cute when she waves and says "hi, i'm sophie, do you want to play??!" that's my baby! anyway, kids are kids. i think other parents know that too. they don't take anything personal. right????
but what if they are rude and unfriendly to your child? now what do you do? i'm talking about a five year old ignoring my daughter's "hi, i'm sophie, do you want to play?' sophie even said "i like you shoes" and then only to receive a rude "no!" along with the hand and sticking her tongue out. like what the..... my heart was crushed.
but anyway, sophie didn't care. that's why i said in the beginning it's not an issue. sophie went back playing with the boys.

diciplining and what really works.

so sophie is all of a sudden three years old. although it's so much easier now, no more potty training, no more lugging around a big diaper bag filled with baby food, milk and diaper, you don't have to watch their every step and all that stuff, i still find myself faced in unfamiliar situations and new challenges.
disciplining a toddler has to be the most challenging and most important phase in a person's growth. i'm talking about my growth. just kidding. not really. for both moms and kids. how in the world do you discipline a child? better yet, your own child.
before anyone thinks sophie is a problem child, i'd like to say for the record that i'm so lucky that she's a good baby and compared to all the stories i hear, i would say she acts like a three year old.
lately, she's been throwing tantrums - crying and screaming until she gets what she wants. i know it's common but not for sophie. i don't know if it's because of all the changes - moving to a different house, not seeing the rest of the family anymore and all that stuff. it started around the time j left (j left new york for miami a week before us).
stuff like that freaks me out. why? if you really think about it, it's really scary for moms. my sis always says, if you can't control them now, wait until they're in their teens. not that i want to be in control or anything but i do want sophie to listen to me.
when i was pregnant, i said to myself, i'll let my baby run wild and free. ahaha. that doesn't sound right. what i mean is to let them be more carefree. discipline by explaining instead of reward-and-punish. i have been but what i didn't include in my "master plan" are the other people. i'll be the first one to admit that sophie is pretty much sick of me by now, because i'm with her 24/7. so naturally, when there's other people around, i won't be her first pick.
so anyway, i've discovered that sophie isn't scared of anything or anyone. she knows all about jesus of course and not so much about "hell" or "not going to heaven" (i grew up so scared about going to hell but then again i grew up scared about a lot of silly things). bottom line - it's so freaking hard to explain the concept of consequences to a toddler. i saw an episode of john and kate + 8 once where if kids didn't finish their food, they'll just let them go hungry until the next meal. like i don't think i can do that. if the kid's hungry, the kid's hungry. right???
i have also tried ignoring her when she's throwing a fit. i hear that a lot. "just ignore her and let her cry". but what if we're at the mall or at the park. 
so anyway i find that the best way is the time out system. now that's makes more sense. actually the combination of time out, ignoring the cry and explaining the consequences of her action. i hate watching sophie cry for 5 mins. but it works!!!!!!!!
every child mom is different i guess. i am not the scary type. i mean i try to be but i'll leave that up to j. he can be the scary parent. ahahaa.
the whole reason behind this post is a result of a good day at the playground. every time we go to this new mall, it's always a battle how to get sophie out of the playground. get her back in her stroller which by the way she hasn't used in so long. the malls here are huge!!!!!! but today was just good.

from florida with love.

yes we've officially relocated to miami! whew. so much to do and so little time. i only have time to update Ayazine so check it out to see what we've been up to.

today, 2 years ago.

read about my ramblings today.

big announcement.

we are moving to south florida!!!!!!!!!! how's that for adventure?!
this is why i haven't been blogging lately. we just found out last thursday that we have to be there in 2 weeks. two. weeks. everyone's excited! i'm so excited!
we went apt. hunting over the weekend. and it's not as easy as we thought it would be. no one wants a short term lease. or it's not pet friendly. i'm still looking. or else we're going to be homeless in miami!
wow relocating is tough! although i am very curious to find out how many boxes and suitcases it will take to fit our lives in. because i'm pretty much packing everything we own. and i mean eh-ve-ry-thing. how crazy is that!?
since thursday i have been super happy and excited to being super scared and then excited again.... and now i'm super stressed because i'm packing everything to destination nowhere!
anyway, here are some pictures from last weekend in our fancy smanshy suite.

photos from last week.

styling angel's hair for prom expo

all smiles for winning big at a slot machine. fyi, that's 4 didgits before the cents. hubby's amazing at taking pic.

can't wait for summer to use her new swim suit.

sophie meeting her aunt ailyn form canada. p.s. new backpack and it's empty but wore it anyway.

helping kuya matthew blow candles on his cake.

like mother like daughter.

when sophie saw the hydrant, she immediately started posing. and demanded "picture me, picture me". she's so funny. what's with the hydrant?

kingdom heart conference.

yesterday i attended the kingdom heart conference and was lucky enough to hear Lysa TerKeurst speak. i came there with no expectation at all. just an open heart and open mind. i am so glad i did! her testimony is crazy. my challenges are nothing compared to the trials that she's faced. it's actually embarrassing that i consider them challenges. the message she delivered was so much that when j asked me what i learned. i didn't even know what to say. my actual answer was: "i learned so much but i just just can't tell you" which really bothers me!!!!!!! i hate it when i can't share something amazing. well it's still processing in my head. today at church i was asked to share my testimony about yesterday's conference and hopefully i will be able to do it properly. it's such an opportunity to spread god's message.
i am also loving my new leather bracelet that i got at the conference! it says "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"

bloggers day of silence.

http://www.forjapanwithlove.com/

word of the day: him.

sophie and i went to see my dad yesterday and what a perfect day to learn some new words. on our way to papa, i heard sophie say the word "him". at first i thought she said something else. until i asked her "what are you going to do when you see papa?" (my dad just arrived from the philippines on monday) and she answered in her cutest little voice "i'm gonna bless him, and kiss him and hug him". and then later on she said "i want him here." gosh she's talking sentences now. sometimes i can't even believe she's actually talking. she's growing up so fast. yikes!

staycation.

last weekend, daddy-oh was staying at the maritime hotel in the city for work. on saturday, sophie and i went to visit him and boy was it an adventure!
we were planning on leaving the house bright and early at 8:00am. it's either i slept through my alarm or it wasn't set up properly. we ended up leaving at 9:30am.
we drove all the way to my sis and mom's apt in sunnyside to park the car and take the train. after a quick hello we headed for the 7 train. and of course 7 train wasn't running. had to take the Q32 bus. and of course we got on the wrong bus. luckily, the driver was so nice and he let us off at the subway stop to take the E train. and of course there's no E train so we took the R train instead and the only transfer we can make is at times square!! my biggest fear! sophie is 3 and she doesn't use a stroller anymore. that was the longest transfer i've ever done in my life. so many people!!! and everyone's so fast! we were like dumb and dumber holding up traffic. (scooter scene)
finally got to 14th st. and on our way to the hotel, right in front of us, we witnessed a car accident involving 3 yellow cabs - nothing major but still just weird. so happy to see jay! he had a big breakfast waiting for us.

 

after a lot of goofing around, we went to the highline park.

and check out the amazing view!

then went to chelsea market for some gelato and made a wish on the well.

we passed by the apple store and the line was so long like two blocks! had turkish food for lunch. and yes we took a cab home.

 

i had a blast!! tiring but oh so worth it. just wish i was able to take more photos. it's like impossible for me to let go of sophie's hand. love our pictures at the hotel. i think it is perfect for this week's mamma in focus.

pray for japan.

i was shocked to hear about what happened in japan. today i'm devastated. my heart is crushed and i feel small and useless. and stupid for having a good weekend, missing church and having time to blog. i've been staring at the computer for a while now and i'm at a loss for words. i don't know anyone in japan but i can't help imagining losing a loved one or suddenly being homeless. i know it's like million miles a way and it all feels like a bad dream. like i'm screaming "make it stop" but i'm on mute. and tomorrow when i wake up it will not be over. i can't stop watching or reading the news. my heart goes out to japan and will be in my prayers.


"god is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." psalm 46:1-2

- text redcross 90999 to donate $10
- google person finder: 2011 japan earthquake
- and if you haven't seen enough already. here's another video.
- interesting article: japan earthquake shifte coastline maximum of 8 ft
- articles on how you can help: cnn, yahoo
- satellite images of japan disaster

photo challenge: peaceful.

i love this picture. this was taken when sophie was 15 months old. sitting by the front door with max on a crisp sunny day waiting for daddy to come home from work.
i came across danielle's my paper heart blog today and every week she has a photo challenge and this week's photo theme is "peaceful" and i immediately thought of this pic. i'm glad i came across danielle's blog just in time.

momma in focus.

casey from one day at a time had this great idea for a link up where moms are encouraged to take more photos with their kids. read more about it here. i have tons of pictures of sophie but not a lot with me. i'm the "photographer" in the fam so i'm always left out of the pic. and like casey, i don't have a lot of photos with my mom because our house burnt down when i was like 10. all our photos were lost in the fire.

lego madness.

do you remember playing with legos!?? o.m.g. whoever thought of that is genius. over the weekend, we bought sophie the ages 4+ legos (yes the smallest ones) set with the horsie and the girl. in pink! i know she's 3 already! time goes by so fast! anyway since then, i've built we've built 2 cottages (one with 2 floors), a ny loft, a sailboat house, a tree house and a picnic scene. which means i've had my d.n.d. sign on my face the last few days. i'm also happy to say that i am now a registered lego vip. yey yah! i mean sophie is. on that note, sorry for the photo overload.