Sick baby

As much as I want to get the chance to jump-start my career and go back to work again, there are days such as today that make me thankful that I still get to be a SAHM.

Daycare called me at 2:30p today and told me that Swe-cha had a bad episode of diarrhea - it was running down his legs! - and was crying almost non-stop since morning. He ate lunch and finished his bottle (milk) and did not have any fever but they were concerned because he would hold his tummy every so often and would kick his legs, they think he is having abdominal pains.

I called his doctor and was told to observe him and bring him in tomorrow if he gets worse. There's nothing to be concerned about for now because it was just the 1 episode of diarrhea and that he has no other symptoms - I have yet to see him hold his tummy when he feels the abdominal cramps. I'm thinking that his crying at DC all day has something to do with me and not really because he is in that much pain, he just wants to be with me because he's not feeling well. In fact, he stopped crying immediately and started waving bye-bye to everybody as soon as he saw me walk through the door.

He had another episode of diarrhea (so there's really something going on in his tummy) as soon as we got home but he did not show signs of being in pain. We even sang a few songs and played tickle-cuddle games with each other before he settled down for his nap.

Anyway, he's napping now and I did give him Florastor (probiotics) with his milk as per the clinic's instructions. I'm relieved that he finished his Florastor-spiked milk w/o any complaints as he would sometimes spit it up when he's not in the mood. Aside from wanting him to finish the Florastor so he will get well ASAP, I don't like to waste it since it is on the expensive side and is not

Obviously pinoy

I decided to bring the SUV to the car dealership to get it serviced. We skipped the 7500 mile service (tire rotation) and it was due for an oil change.

After I dropped the car off to be serviced, I walked over the a nearby Chinese takeout place to grab lunch and when I walked in, a guy having lunch smiled at me and said "Kumusta ka na ?"

I was surprised.

My usual get-up is obviously non-American (I never really adapted to US seasonal fashion, I usually just go out in jeans and a shirt) but I look more Oriental than Filipino so I'm usually mistaken for a Korean or Japanese, even on flights headed towards the Philippines.

Weird lang. So anyway, he started doing small-talk. I was aloof and opened my book to signal that I wasn't interested in chatting, I was wary and didn't want to be recruited into listening to a sales-talk, seminar or some multi-level marketing thing. Most of all, I was afraid that he was going to try and sell me insurance (heehee).

I wolfed down my lunch as soon as it was ready and rushed out. On my way back to the dealership, I passed by this salon that opened yesterday. They had an opening special for eyebrow threading - $2.99! This was a huge bargain from the usual $8++.

I checked out the SUV, it still wasn't ready yet so I went back to the salon. When it was my turn, the lady asked me "you want original ?" I pointed out to my eyebrows and said "oh no, I want new and improved version". She laughed :) Glad I made someone smile / laugh today.

I received a call from DC a few minutes after I got home, Swe-cha had diarrhea earlier and then threw up everything that he ate later so they ran out of clean clothes. When I got to DC, he was cranky. I was told that he's been cranky the whole day and had not napped yet and since it was almost 4p, I decided to just bring him home and hopefully, it wasn't too late for him to take a nap yet and he did! DC thinks that he might have a stomach bug again. My guess is that his diarrhea might be due to teething (yes, again) and the throwing up could be caused by his cough (he has trouble expelling phlegm).

Hope he feels better tomorrow.

Happy easter, everyone!

Interview

I have a job interview tomorrow.

This will be my 3rd ever job interview in my whole life, my very first job interview in this country and my first in over 14 years. I guess I could spout out a few more statistics but they'd only make me more nervous than I already am so I won't.

For now, I'm just trying to relax and not to be too nervous. After all, this is a first try. If I don't get the position, it's not like it's a big loss because at the worst case, I get to practice my interview skills.

It scares me more to think about the possibility of actually getting the position. I've technically only worked for 1 company since I started my career, I have not worked at all in over a year and I have not worked in an office setting in 4 years! Eek... again, not a good idea to be spouting statistics / facts.

I have not even begun to think about the changes that Swe-cha will have to go through. Hopefully, this shouldn't be too difficult for him as he already goes to daycare full time now. For now, I'm thinking that the only change he'll be aware of is that he either gets dropped off or picked up at daycare by his Dad instead of me.

Please bless me tomorrow, Lord.

---

Edit: *whew*

The interview went well in the sense that the guy asked some technical questions that I was able to answer so I didn't leave the interview feeling like an idiot (the interviewer may have thought differently but at least, I didn't feel ignorant afterwards).

As for the possibility of getting the position, I don't think that I was a good match for what they are looking for. I went in thinking that I had just the right mix of technical and management experience but it turns out that they were looking for someone really technical, innovative and able to think of new features and innovations for their products - yes, I asked :)

I get the impression that this company is looking for a product manager rather than a development manager.

Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from the recruiter who is waiting to hear back from the interviewer. It would be interesting to find out what he (the interviewer) thought of me, it would be helpful to find out what he thought were my strong and weak points (for future employment opportunities).

Finally!

Finally, there is someone who makes sense!

Here is a snippet of the email that the contractor sent to the property manager regarding his inspection of my window.

Property Manager,

As requested, I met with owner of Unit #### on April 14, 2011. I visually inspected the existing window from the interior and from the ground on the exterior. I believe that you had explained to me that the reason for the requested window replacement was due to a leak in the unit below. I am not convinced that the leak into the unit below is caused by the window. I would perform the window replacement if desired, but I could not offer any guarantee against stopping the leakage below.

[letter snipped]

In the rest of his letter, he proposes to conduct a water test to try and cause the leak to happen and only then will he be able to propose a repair to the leak and offer a guarantee for the repair.

Now, I tell hubby, I feel much much better because we're finally dealing with someone who (seems to be) is objective and does not start with the assumption that my window is the cause of the leak. Now, if after this test, it does come out that my window is to blame, then I have no issues about bearing the cost of the replacement. An expert opinion was all that I wanted and have been asking for all this time.

No better time than now

I updated my resume & profile on a couple of job sites. I'm also in the process of setting up a LinkedIn profile - yes, I am a bit of a late bloomer.

Swe-cha is thriving in daycare - he is napping, sleeping, playing and is happy - and while he is still picking up a virus or two every now and then, he seems to be coping quite well and we have not had a high-fever scare in a while now.

While I'm quite happy and would love to continue with my full-time-mommy and SAHM stint, I do feel the urge to spread my wings again and pick up where I left off, career-wise. Being a full-time mommy has its moments and rewards but I recognize the need for me to go back to work again if we want our family to become financially stable and get Swe-cha's college fund going.

Anyway, I sent out a few applications today to job postings that seem most ideal to me location and compensation-wise. If I get a nibble, then good.

I also just heard back again from that client who is interested in hiring me. He still has not managed to get a position approved but the good news is that he is still working on it. Unfortunately, the salary that he might be able to offer (if & when the position does get approved) is much lower than what I was previously getting. I sent word that I would be very much interested in checking out the overall package, if and when this materializes. I do recognize that some work benefits are better than cash (i.e. work from home, etc).

Lord, please bless this job hunt and lead me to where You want me to go.

Everybody lies

I don't like our new property manager.


She lies.


In fairness to her, she took over the management of our condo building at a difficult time. The person who used to manage the property before got seriously sick and was in and out of the office and for some period of time, there were too many people covering & pitching in for him and you know what they say about too many chefs ruining the soup, right ? So, now, Z comes into the equation and has to sort through all the issues that have piled up since K (the previous manager) got sick.


Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to hear about the decision that the board has made on our alleged window-leak issue. On 4/1, we were talking on and off the whole afternoon trying to sort things out. She would do some research, ask people and then give me a call back and let me know what's up. I'd have a question or I'd point out an inconsistency and she would do more research and would come back to be again with her answers. I thought we had a pretty good start then.


Unfortunately, she had also told me that she would be sending someone over to come by the house the following Wednesday (4/7) and that she would let me know what time he will be coming over. This is where our troubles started. By Monday, I started calling her office to ask if our Wednesday thing was confirmed or not. I couldn't reach her and left her a voicemail so I tried calling her again on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. By then, I gave up. Z finally calls me back on 4/13, exactly 12 days from when we last talked and wanted to send someone over that same day, stating "we really need to move forward on this". This p*ssed me off big-time. She takes 12 days to call me back and then puts the pressure on me to accomodate her on the same day ? I tell her that and she denies that it has been that long since we last talked and says that she still has that email I sent her when we talked and she can prove that it has not been that long. DUH, I have the email too.


Anyway, I shift some things around and got something scheduled with her guys.


Last night, I attended the condo board meeting to find out what's up. When I asked the board of directors what the decision was on this issue, I was told by the president that "the board will be deciding on that tonight". WHAT THE ? On 4/1 ? Z told me (verbally*) that the board had decided to shoulder the window replacement expenses and charge me for it if it stops the leak below and if it does not, then I do not get charged for it.


I was miffed.


Z lies. She lied about the 12 days that has passed before she calls me back. And the rest ? I don't know who's lying or who's been giving or has been given the wrong information. But the communication obviously broke down somewhere along the line. If the board has not made a decision as of the start of last night's meeting, why did the property mgt company send me that letter on 3/23 (received 3/31) ? Why did Z tell me that the board has decided to go ahead with the window replacement ... blah blah ... on 4/1 ?


Something tells me that none of the people here can be trusted. Not even if you get something in writing. As Dr House says in his show, "everybody lies" or it could also be that they are incompetent.


Pick one (or two).


--- * note that what Z has told me verbally is the opposite of what a letter I received from the property management office says. The letter (signed by yet another property manager) states that my window is faulty and it is my responsibility to fix it, they will look for a subcontractor to complete the job and I will be assessed the fees.

Food poisoning

Yesterday, I had the worst case of food poisoning (that I can remember in my whole life). Without delving into the details and being too graphic, let's just say that by afternoon, I wanted to just LIVE in the bathroom and by evening, I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it out alive. *wince*

Hubby has been such a trooper. I called him up in the early afternoon and asked him to quickly come home. I was about to pick up Swe-cha from daycare and I was feeling so weak and didn't know if I was going to be able to keep from expelling things out of my system in the short time it will take to drive the 2 blocks to DC.

Since I also wasn't able to cook dinner, he prepped some macaroni soup for me - but I had no appetite for it until this morning - and gamely had some leftover spaghetti (from last week) and feasted on a giant ensaymada that we ordered from Keyks.

Swe-cha missed me so much because I wasn't able to spend time with him that he refused to sleep unless I was holding, hugging and patting him and since I couldn't last more than a few minutes w/o the urge to expel something out (remember, I wanted to just stay in the bathroom ?), it took a while before he fell asleep too because he would cry whenever I had to run off.

I learned my lesson, huwag matakaw. I should not have had that 2nd and 3rd serving of sago.

And lastly, yay for free water! I've been flushing and flushing all day and not have to worry about our water bill.

Spring has arrived!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Spring has finally come. It sure took its sweet time, teasing us with nice warm days and then just as I've laundered and put our winter jackets way, we get a blast of snow on a cold cold day.

In any case, our days are starting to warm up now and I can't wait to tear off this plastic sheeting that is covering our windows and doors right now (to guard against drafts) and finally let the spring air in and the stale indoor air out.

I've also been planning out my patio garden in my mind and thinking about what herbs, plants and flowers we should grow this season. I'm also thinking of finally replacing our outdoor patio furniture or possibly just getting a new set that we could put in the balcony off of our master bedroom. I hear that Pier 1 has a nice new outdoor furniture collection available this season and they might be worth a look.

This Papasan seems like a good item for our upper balcony, Swe-cha and I would sure enjoy curling up in there while we watch the birds and squirrels out in the courtyard. This also seems like a good place for me to curl up in with a good book (or that Kindle that my brother promised to gift me) and when winter comes around next year, we can just move it back inside the house and it'll fit right in with our other furniture. What I like about Pier 1's furniture is that they can be used both indoors and outdoors.

As for our main floor patio, a set of outdoor stacking wicker arm chairs would be a good buy - perfect for entertaining during the summer and since they stack up on top of each other, storage should be a breeze when we're not using them. 

I also love the look of this beehive drink dispenser, perfect for serving ice cold lemonade during outdoor parties or picnics, no ? Then, some bug yard stakes and a butterfly windchime should complete the look of our outdoor patio garden-cum-outdoor entertainment area.

Check out Pier 1 Tweetups for other updates :)

Updates

Do you ever get the feeling that when something goes wrong, then a lot of others follow in its wake? Fortunately, the same goes for good news because lately, it seems like when I get a bit of good news early in the day, I can expect to get more later.

This explains why I've been sort of going through an emotional roller coaster lately.

Swe-cha has been alternating between getting sick and getting well and his appetite is suffering most of all. He's still picking up all sorts of bugs from daycare, poor baby! At least, he seems to be happy there. When I pick him up, he's either playing by himself, running around with the other kids, or being held by one of the staff (he tends to get clingy when he is not feeling well and I'm very thankful to the DC's staff because they seem to care).

Window-wise, I'm still up in the air. One week, we're waiting for the other unit owner to cooperate and the next week, my window has been pronounced defective and I am responsible for replacement costs. When I called up the mgt company to ask when and how my window was suddenly declared defective, they got confused as well. Someone thought that a technician had already been sent and done an inspection, someone else says that the guy in the unit below has decided to sue the condo board and they're running scared.

Whatever it is, communication has broken off somewhere along the line and I'm not getting any news. Last I heard, the mgt company was going to send a contractor over to replace my window, the board will cover the cost for now and if it is proved later that the leak is still there (ergo not caused by my window), I have zero responsibility.

Said contractor was supposed to come today and mgt company is supposed to confirm the schedule with me prior to today. But here I am, sitting here and wondering if and when the guy would be coming. I've been calling and calling the mgt company since Monday and nobody seems to know when my contact person ever comes in to work. I keep getting her voicemail and when someone does answer, it's to tell me that "can you try calling after lunch ?" or "she's coming in 20 minutes" and when I call back again later, their office is already closed. Nyek.

On a brighter note, I was able to book affordable tickets for my brother and parents. They're coming to visit us in the summer and I can't wait to see them!