I went for a run

I went for a run today. It was almost around quarter past 10 in the morning already but still I went out for a run. It’s nice out so I could not let this day pass by without doing my regular routine. I took the same route.

I went for a run today with my step-son. It was not really the daily “run” that I usually have every morning. With my step-son in tow, it was more play and exploration. I watched him picked up sticks and flowers and leaves along the way.

It was fun. It was different. It was not just a run.

MAINe Survival Kit

Tomorrow, I will celebrate my 1st year anniversary here in Maine. I survived 4 amazing yet unpredictable changing seasons. I endured a year of recurrent homesickness. And I underwent a series of cultural shocks too.
Living in Maine is a transition. Being in Maine is a life-changing. Accepting Maine is a test of survival.

I am still in the adjustment period. For how long? That I do not know. But what I know is… I am taking one step at a time. I am making progress each day. And I am having fun most of the time.

Being a Mainer is not easy. I had to adapt to its erratic weather. I had to deal with the annoying bugs during spring and summer. I had to deal with chilly days on fall. I had to deal with bitter cold on winter.

Being a Mainer is fun. I had to go camping, gold panning and tourmaline hunting in summer. I had to enjoy deer watching in our backyard on fall [while hubby goes deer hunting]. I had to go ice fishing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling on winter. And I had to go fly fishing in the rivers on spring.

Being a Mainer is cool. I had to do a lot of things that are new to me. I had to adapt to the lifestyle. I had to live like a Mainer.

getting around

My 6-year old step-son was sick yesterday. His teacher called and told me that he had a bad headache and crying. She was wondering if I could pick him up to bring him home. I can't.

That is one of things that really frustrates me here. It's so hard to go around in this place without a car. Places are too far and not in a walking distance unlike from where I came from. There is no public vehicles that I can take to be able to go from one place to another. But this is something that I need to get used to. I live here now to I have to learn to accept it.

Well, my step-son's teacher called my mother-in-law and in a couple of hours he was home... jumping, running and bouncing around. Hmmmm... sick, huh.

between chores and constant ranting

I woke up with a bad headache this morning. My hubby thought it could have been the pollen. This is my first spring and I am still in a culture shock. I have survived 3 seasons so far and spring is the last one that I had to survive just yet. Beside the bugs and my on and off sinusitis attack, I guess spring is just fine.

Despite my regular rant about my daily routine and chores, I was able to accomplish what I expected to accomplish today. And that is a big relief for me. Tomorrow… that’s another issue or another post, perhaps.

As a housewife, doing chores is a life-style. It’s in our DNA [the moment we said our “I Do” to the “love of our life”] so there is not much we can do to change it. People we love will die of starvation, deprivation, negligence, and even constipation if we try to alter that. We are the super heroes of the Super Heroes, so to speak. But only few people realize that.

romancing the laundry

I broke my record today. I had only 2 loads of laundry today and I am so proud of myself. What? So shallow? Well, you are not a housewife if you think so. You don't know how it feels to out-do yourself and emerge victorious amidst a mountain load of dirty laundry. You don't know why it feels good to out-beat yourself and rise triumphant over a chaotic mess in the bedroom. And you don't know what it takes to out-grow yourself of all the boring routine of doing house chores.

I am totally in 7th heaven today because I have more time to blog. I have more time to update my blog sites. And I have more time to blog hop. What? So ridiculous? Well, you are not a writer if you think so. You don't know how good it feels to be able to write a master-piece (Duh!). You don't know why it feels good to be able to see a change in my blog sites. And you don't know why it feels good to blog hop and meet other bloggers. It's a bloggers' thing, so if you are not one, you don't know anything.

Well today, I have only 2 loads of laundry. It means a lot to me. It means that I saved a lot on laundry soap [so it helped the family budget as well]. It means that I also saved on energy and carbon emission [so I was able to help mother earth too]. And it means that I saved on time folding them and putting them nicely in the bureaus [so I was able to do other things that I like also]. See, isn't that amazing? Oh, well, you don't know anything [if you are not a housewife].

tick-ing... bugging... annoying...

Hmmmmmmm, it's another ordinary Monday. My step-son got into the bus with no struggle, resistance and opposition. The sun is out and the bugs are too. It is a nice day for my regular run but I hate bugs, they are always bugging me. (Duh!) They are too annoying and I just hate them. I guess the frogs in our backyard pond are not doing a great job. They supposed to be out catching bugs but then what are they doing? Just playing in the pond and croaking all night to my dismay. Oh well, I have no choice but to use my creativity.

Coming from a tropical country where bugs are as many as the country's population, I am aware of what they may cause me and my pocket. But even with the rising epidemic of dengue or malaria here and there, I was not even scared at all. Why should I? I had never caught one before. The mosquitoes are my friends and they don't bother me. Or perhaps, they are afraid to bite me. More so, they don't like the taste of my blood. Whatever.

Coming to Maine, I realized that bugs here are not familiar with me yet and they are more curious to know me than my next door neighbors. To my surprise, bugs really like me. They don't even bug my step-son... just me. Poor me. That's what I hate about spring and summer... the bugs! They like the taste of my blood. Those suckers... they scare the hell out of me!

But if there is anything that really scares me about bugs are the ticks. My hubby, my step-son and my mother-in-law all got bitten last year and they were under strict observation for fear of getting a lyme disease. They were all closely observed for any indication of bulls-eye rash , which is a common symptom of lyme disease.

Well, I really don't have any idea about lyme disease because I have never heard about it from where I came from. But what I know is that, I don't want to be bitten by tick, so I need to have my insect repellant all the time.

surviving Mother's Day

Hubby and I went fishing last weekends. We had fun going from one bridge to another trying our luck with some river trout or bass that might bite our freshly dug earthworms. We stopped by every bridge that we found going up north and he would cast his fishing pole under the bridge while I just hangged around taking pictures. It was fun as always. He caught a river bass but let it go after I took the picture.

My hubby is a loner. He enjoys doing things himself. But when I came into his life, he enjoys doing things with me. I enjoy it too even if he wouldn't talk and would spend hours waiting for the fish to bite. He is not really a talker too so I couldn't complain. But since the miscarriage, hubby didn't want to leave me alone with my thoughts because he knows that I would cry anytime. And I did when we were under the bridge while he was just about 30 feet away from the boulder where I was sitting on. He came back after 45 minutes and found me crying. So we packed up and we drove home. He told me to get our "get-away stuff" and off we went back up north.

We spent the night in a hotel in Augusta, Maine's capital city, about 3 hours drive from our place. I drove. It was the day before Mother's Day and he knew it was a very critical day for me. All his kids were with their mothers and I have no one. So he knows that staying at home will be a bad idea. I enjoyed the weekend with him. We visited the State's Capitol Building and parked our car at the Legisleture Parking lot. I enjoyed the thousand colorful tulips lining the Capitol Building's stairway.

This is my first Mother's Day as a married woman. And since that I am still grieving for my recent loss, it was so difficult for me to face the day knowing that kids have prepared something for their mothers on this day. But then, I had to accept the fact that this is my reality and I had to move on. Life is beautiful and full of mystery. Maybe next Mother's Day... it will be different.

I still feel a bit of loneliness inside me but with my hubby's love and care, I am doing alright now. I am moving on. And I am getting all the love I need to carry on. As they say, there is always a second chance.

God is good and with Him... hope springs eternal.

driving hubby crazy up Augusta, Maine

Yesterday, Hubby and I went for a long drive up to Augusta, Maine's capital city. When I say "long drive" I really meant it that way. I need to brush up on my driving skill because I need to get my Driver's License soonest. So everytime we need to go down to the store or run errand, I am always behind the wheel and behind my will, quite literally and figuratively.

Hubby is not always in the best of his mood everytime I'm behind the wheel. And yesterday, I really drove him crazy. I broke all the traffic rules there is and no hugs and kisses can cool down his head. What do you expect? I'm a first timer. Am I, really? Oh well, I learned to drive in the Philippines where there is only one traffic rule... dare if you can.

Anyway, these are the offenses that I did yesterday that might have caused my driving permit not only suspension but might have banned me from getting a real driver's license - beating the red light... driving 60 mph in a 50 mph speed limit or 40 mph in a 50 mph speed limit (either way I could have caused us or other motorists an accident)... not stopping in a STOP sign... swerving... forgeting to turn on the blinker when turning left or right... not yielding for other motorist when entering the highway... not looking in the side and back mirrors... and jamming the brake (this one is not about the traffic rule, it's more on the care of my new car).

I am guilty beyond reasonable doubt. But then, I have an alibi. I wasn't paying attention. (Nah, that's not a good one.) I thought it was OK to follow the car ahead of me. (Duh, the guy is breaking traffic rules too.) I'm new and I do need a practice. (Hmmmm... not too convincing.) I do make mistakes but now I learn my lesson and I know I will not do it again. Of course, people learn from their mistakes. I am not really proud of all the silly things I did but one thing is sure, I know those lessons will remain in my mind. I don't want to ruin my car... much less kill myself or end the lives of other innocent people.

A driver, once he is behind the wheel holds not only his own life but the lives of other people he finds along the way. And it is his responsibility to be a responsible driver. I have learned a lot of lessons from the mistakes and experience I had yesterday. Hubby was not really happy and "Patience" is not his middle name. I know I am a tough student to teach (maybe because I was a former teacher, does it make sense?) But then, I have to admit, I need to really focus and concentrate in my driving lesson. Life is always at stake everytime I go out and I have to be careful.

Well, tomorrow I will be driving again. But I am not worried anymore. I will be more careful now and all those mistakes I made will not be committed again. Promise.

organizing blues

I have been planning it for weeks. The piles of of winter clothes on my dresser are beginning to be an eye sore if not an annoyance. I am not really a clean freak but, I just wanted to see, find and get the things that I need (e.g. lotion, razon, make-up kit, cotton, Q-tips and God-knows-what) in its places rather than digging them up from towering mountain of clothes that needs to be organized. Finally, I got the time and the guts to clear up my mess.

This is what spring is all about, so to speak. To clean up the mess. We started it last week. We raked the yard because the snow finally melted away. And the dried leaves from last fall were liberated from the frozen ground. Now, I got these bulky winter clothes that I need to organize and keep away and store in the cellar.

It's time to bring out our spring/summer clothes. Oh what a relief. I don't need to dress in layers anymore. And I don't have to have full load of laundry too. Isn't it lovely?

Oh well, next in line... organizing the cellar. When can I have a vacation?

crawlers took over my diet

I had a very nice weekend despite the wet weather. After a week of nice sunny days, weekend was really wet and cold, very "un-spring-like". Oh well, my only consolation was that, I had a wonderful lunch of yummy lobsters. You see, being in Maine, I had to live like a Mainer. And Maine lobsters are the best in all of the United States, if not in the world.

Hubby brought home two plastic bags of these crawlers last Friday. He bought if from a lobster fisherman from where he works. It was cooked by my father-in-law in the usual way, boiled (together with some corns). I had a couple and a corn on the cob both dipped in melted butter. It was really yummy-licious.

Who cares about diet? At this point in time, I couldn't care less. I enjoy running 2 miles every morning anyway. And that.. I think will give justice to my indulgence.

A Kid's question to you

I been tagged by Pinay Jade from Life and Me.

Copy here:
1. Answer the Kid’s Question by Gregory Stock, PH.D. Remember: Don’t respond as you think others want you to. Respond the way you actually feel!

2. Add your name (linked to your blog)

3. Tag everybody else!

Kid’s Question #1: If you were the ruler of the world and you could have anything you wanted as well as have people do anything you wanted, do you think you would get greedy and mean or would you be a good and fair ruler? Please answer the question and put your name and link after.

My Answer:
Wow, this is a tough one. Coming from a kid, this is a challenge. Honestly, being a ruler is a tough job. You are given the power to be able to lead people and make a difference. I guess, if I will be given that power, I would use it for the best of my people. I don't think I would be greedy because greed will lead me to my downfall and neither would I be mean because I know people will be thinking of assassinating me. If I have to lead the people, I must learn how to be a follower so that people will learn by my example. As what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker (a.k.a Spiderman)... with great power, comes great responsibility... I guess I will have to borrow that guiding word so that I will always remember to be grounded. Ruthi



Now, I am passing the tag question to :
Dana
Mylou
Ruby
Maureen
Kero
Liza