Time, don't be too much in a hurry!

This photo does not have anything to do with today's post but I'm posting it for lack of something better.

I must admit I have been delinquent with my blogging these past few months.  Honestly, it's not only with blogging I've been delinquent at, but also with taking pictures.  I don't know why or how it happened.  It's  just that  suddenly I don't look for "things" to capture anymore.

We are currently planning two trips out of the country.  I have told you how excited I was about the Hongkong trip.  It's our first family trip outside the country.  Everyone is going this time so that makes it exciting.  I was thinking of the trip earlier today, I got all excited about it again and then suddenly, I felt sad.
I wanted the months to hurry but I realized I shouldn't want them to hurry.   The days are passing by so fast as it is.  My parents are getting older and older. My husband and I are ageing so fast, Toots is growing up so fast and too soon.  I am afraid of all these changes and of all the changes that they would eventually bring.

I want to keep my parents with me.  I want Ruel and me to stay young and strong enough to work for our family.  I miss my little boy.  I miss his innocence and his joyful chatter.  I miss his sweetness.  I realize that I spent too much time with other things when I should have spent time savoring each moment I had with him when he was little.  Today I look at him and I try to see the chubby little boy I used to know and I cannot find him.  He has changed so much, not just in terms of his baby fat but also in  other aspects of his personality.   I don't want the months to pass by so quickly. I still want to enjoy Toots while he is still young. Soon, he will be in college, graduate, have a career, fall in love, get married and I won't be able to see him as often as I do today. And that scares me.

When I was younger I never felt like this.  I think this feeling is one proof I am indeed getting older.  It's true what they say, "Time is our greatest enemy."

What happened in September

Since I didn't get to post much this September, let's all have a look back at some of the things that happened last month.

I finally had my surgical procedure.  I think this pic was taken after the surgery.

This was my breakfast the day after the procedure.  To be honest, I enjoyed it.  I fasted for 15 hours before the procedure and didn't eat till five hours after the procedure.  So, even if I already had dinner the night before I still felt famished the following morning.

Multitasking a week after surgery: breakfast at Starbucks, making my lesson plan and waiting for my doctor's clinic to open.

I couldn't resist taking a pic  of this blackboard.  I got a very warm welcome from my students and when I entered I saw this.  Since I wasn't their adviser, their gesture touched me so.  It seemed they missed me after two weeks of not seeing me in school.

Dinner with a former co-teacher at Ramen Bar.  Had so much fun just chatting and catching up!

One would think that the hardest thing I  did last September was to undergo the surgical procedure.  Surprisingly it wasn't.

Last Friday, my son went on an out-of-town field trip.  At first, I couldn't decide whether to allow him or not.  They were going to Mt. Makiling and go trekking there. I didn't exactly know how far up the mount they would go plus I searched about the place online and I read that there were snakes and a lot of leeches there. The fact that the weather forecast was not a good one made everything worse. I was afraid of landslides and flashfloods which I read often happened where they were going.  My son was also not the athletic type  having been raised mostly by women.  I was afraid he wasn't strong enough, not ready to go out there on his own yet, etc. etc.

In the end I knew I had to let him go so he could experience going out of town with his friends the way I did when I was his age.   I wanted him to enjoy what his other classmates were bound to enjoy and so I let him go.  And that was the hardest thing I did last month and probably the hardest I have ever done since the time he was born.  

I know mothers would agree with me when I say that letting your kids go is never easy.  We are so used to just being there for them, always making sure that they are safe and protected.  But there will always come a time when you know you  have to let them go and let them explore the world on their own, when you know you have to let them make their own mistakes, allow them to stumble a little so that they could be stronger.  And when that time comes it would be so hard you could get a headache from thinking about it but you'd have to do it anyway because you know it would be the right thing to do for your child.  

That's exactly what happened to me.  I just resigned myself to the reality that my boy is now fourteen and that I needed to trust his ability to take care of himself.  I trusted him ( I had to) and I trusted God to take care of him.  

He enjoyed his trip and came back home to me safe and sound.  God is good!  

Saturday Shopping

I spent almost the whole day out today.  First thing on my itinerary was Ateneo de Manila University.  I had to file a leave of absence as I couldn't take any of my MA units this year. 

Ruel and I went to Greenhills afterwards, as I wanted to mail something for a friend who lived in Scotland.  Unfortunately, the post office was closed.  We ended up shopping instead.  I bought a couple of shirts, and some cute items for my "good-behavior" store.  

I also bought a gift for my German friend, Maike.  Her birthday is coming up and I bought her these lovely placemats.  I don't know what kind of dining table she has but I hope it's glass because I think these would look great on a glass table. :) 

Here are other pretty things I saw while shopping.

These coasters would have been a great gift for Maike but I had already bought the placemats when I saw these.  Anyhow, I loved the placemats!

I read in one blog that e.l.f. was a nice make-up brand and I wanted to try it.  I bought a liquid lipstick with a pretty Pink Lemonade color.  I was so excited to open it when I got home.  I didn't read the instructions anymore.  I was supposed to twist it 10-12 times before first application.  I twisted it I think twenty or more times! Needless to say, I broke the applicator!  Oh well....

I really had a nice time today.   I even got a bar of Toblerone from Ruel.  So sweet!