Terribly Sorry

Hi all!

We're terribly sorry for not having been able to update this blog as we had planned. This week has been really busy for all of us. For me, I'm still in the process of getting adjusted to a whole new work schedule. My mom in law has been busy reviewing Keisha for her mid-quarter exams which will last until Friday, and Henry's away on a trip and will hopefully be home tonight.

To be honest, I haven't had the luxury of getting enough sleep recently. I guess being used to a certain shift for almost 11 months can get the best of you, and this new shift of mine has been driving me nuts. Imagine, I've been late twice in a week! Grrr!

Oh well, moving on to Keisha...As I've said, it's her mid-quarter exams for this entire week, and my mom in law has been reviewing her well. They focused particularly on her Reading class, and I hope her grades will be better this quarter.

I am amazed at how time flies. Imagine, just a couple of months ago I was teary-eyed to see her off on her first day at school, and now the school year is almost over. I guess I really am getting older.

What We've Done

Leslie already went ahead and made the changes to Keisha's blog even before her birthday. I guess she's right, we'll be busy making preparations for Keisha's birthday and we won't be able to remodel the blog on the very day of Keisha's birthday. We chose a pink colored three column template, and I was the one who chose the new name for the blog. I think Life with Keisha is a great name, as it's really life the way we see it with Keisha.

Since it's only a matter of days before she turns 5, the previous name of the blog didn't seem to suit her anymore. I'm wondering if Leslie will also start a blog about Nicole. I think it's just right that both the kids should have blogs of their own.

Leslie also decided not to make any more sponsored posts on this blog. We're focusing on making the blog all about her and nothing else. We'll still sell ad space, but no more sponsored posts. I wonder how long it would take to regain the PR this blog previously had.

So there, welcome to the new A Day in the Life of a Four Year Old, now known as Life with Keisha. Cheers!

More on the Link Request

I just got an email today about the link request, and I'm glad that the price had somehow increased. The guy who was emailing me offered me a package deal for all three blogs at a reasonable rate. I couldn't pass up the chance and I had to accept.

So there. I hope I get more link requests soon!

Daddy's Home!

Henry came home last Sunday and Keisha and I are just happy. Even Nicole seemed to miss her dad a lot as she always smiles at Henry and wants to be carried by him all the time. He came home around 1:30am and Keisha and Nicole was already asleep. My mom in law woke Keisha up so she could see the goodies her dad bought for her but she was too sleepy and didn't even remember the following day that it was her dad who tucked her in when he came home.

I'm glad he's home.

A Link Request

Yesterday I received an email from an advertiser requesting to place a link on this blog for a year for 30 GBP. Converting it to my currency, it would sum up to about Php 2,400. I am just concerned that since this link is supposed to be live for a year whether the price is reasonable or not.

To satisfy my doubts, I sent an email to the advertiser asking if that was their best offer considering the link should stay on my blog's homepage for a year. I am waiting for their response and hopefully it will be a favorable one.

The Day Before Her Dad Leaves

Today is the day before Henry leaves for Ilocos. He'll be gone for several days, and I'm wondering how Keisha will do. When Henry left for a long trip last year, Keisha had a hard time sleeping as she was waiting for her dad. I am hoping that since she has school to keep her busy and her mind off of things, she might be a little bit better this year compared to last year.

Henry's on another daily tour today, and I'm not sure what time tomorrow he'll be leaving. But I hope I'm here to see him off. With the work I have which makes nights into mornings and Henry's work that eats up most of the day, we rarely get to see each other during peak seasons. It makes me sad, but I just shrug things off and breathe, after all, we're doing these for the kids.

I'll miss him terribly, an I know Keisha will too. I just hope he stays safe all the time.

Mid-Quarter Exams

Keisha will be having her first ever Mid-Quarter exams on July 23 - 25. I'm not sure yet what the exam will cover, but my mom has been extensively reviewing her daily lessons at school. I know Keisha will do well, as I have complete faith in my daughter's academic skills. But since this being her first school and technically speaking, her first ever mid-quarter exam, I just can't help but be nervous and excited at the same time.

On a side note, Leslie also has some things of her own going. She's applying for a higher position at work, which I am also keeping my fingers crossed for. There's just so much going on lately. Whew. I think I need to sit back and relax. These girls are making me tense. Lol.

Bloggerwave

I've been blogging for almost a year now, and I would have to say that I am excited to receive my first sponsored post from Bloggerwave. Bloggerwave lets you blog and make money at the same time. Bloggerwave aims to be Europe's biggest advertising media and by becoming a blogger for Bloggerwave, we can help the site grow and hopefully, more work for bloggers like us will be available.

People at Work

Here's our original team (minus Zhey, Mae and Shirley) before we got reshuffled at work. See if you can find me!

A Pink Beach Ball

My officemates and I had to decorate our stations with a summer theme, and since the judging is over, I decided to take home (with the consent of my team leader and approval of my teammates, of course) the small inflatable boat and a pink beach ball. I had to deflate these items after blowing and blowing really hard, since they wouldn't fit in my bag and I wouldn't want to ride the bus carrying all of these.

When I got home, I showed them to Keisha and proceeded to inflating them again. Keisha is really happy about the pink ball, although she plays with the boat as well. Whenever I come home from work, she always asks me to play catch with her, something that I really like since I get some time to play with her.

I hope that we will be able to buy the house and lot that my husband and I are dreaming of. It would be a great place to celebrate Nicole's first birthday on June and Keisha's fifth birthday on October.

Time with Keisha

Right after I got home from work, Keisha and I went to buy a couple of things that we needed. I brought the kids their lotion and cologne, my pills, and my deodorant too. Keisha miraculously settled for a Fruitella bar instead of the regular big chocolate she normally gets whenever we're at Mercury Drug.

I wanted to spend time with Keisha after work, and that's what I was able to do tonight. She's sleeping right now, and I'm glad I was able to fulfill one of my promises to myself and to her.

Ranking at Rankrz

Honestly, my wife got me to check this site out for her blog. I have to admit, I created an account for her at Rankrz so that I could provide her feedback on the site for her blog, but I ended up exploring the blog, updating my account, and answering comments as I updated the tags or words to describe her.

I created my own ranking easily by clicking the Rank! icon with the red crown (well, it does look like a crown) and I started a rank about the best Mel Gibson movie. Her favorite Mel Gibson movie is Braveheart, and she has never liked any other Mel Gibson movie as much as this one. Sure, she liked the Patriot and the M. Night movie with Mel Gibson, but not as much as Braveheart. I'm sure she'll be glad to see her favorite movie rank in her own rankings. All I need to do for now is to wait and see if other Rankrz users add more movies to her ranking, while I busy myself browsing other rankings as well.

Kids and Work

Whenever I feel the urge to not go to work, I always remember what our CST Trainer Donna said, "You can't have a career and be a parent at the same time." I'm beginning to think she's right.

I can't afford to stay at home for another year for a lot of reasons. One is Keisha's going to attend school in a matter of months, and I want to enroll her in a private school, which translates that I need money. Second, we still have quite a few debts to settle, and I want everything to be cleared before the new year starts. Third, Henry's trips are coming to a close so most of the expenses will be shouldered by me for the time being.

I'm thinking of getting a new job since I saw this really close call center for me to work at, so I get to save not only on fare expenses, but the center being close means I also have more time at home, since I won't have to worry on travel time as much as I do now. But the hassle of applying for a job is something I don't want to get myself into at the moment. But if I've decided on not going back to eTel, then it's a reality I'll need to deal with.

I'm only glad that Keisha seems happy I'm home, and I also get to spend some time with Nicole (why her name changed from Simone to Nicole I promise one of us will get onto that). It's something I seriously miss while at work. I guess the only thing left for me to do is to discuss how I feel with Henry and take it from there.

Keisha and Sleep

I don't know what's gotten into me yesterday but I felt like a dead cow after I got home from work. I slept right when I got home, woke up for lunch, and resumed sleeping after eating lunch and I didn't wake up until Henry came home, which was around 11:00pm or so.

Keisha was trying to wake me up repeatedly, and I remember she was saying, "Mommy wake up!" or "Mommy please wake up!" but I just couldn't bring myself to open my eyes for anything longer than 10 seconds.

I don't know why she was waking me up, but when I finally did, she was already asleep.

Yesterday was Great!

Since I started working again after almost a year of being a stay-home mom, I once again have this nagging feeling inside me that I'm not giving Keisha and Nicole enough time. Due to my shifting schedule, I try to squeeze in sleep, household chores, blogging, and playtime with my kids in the 12 hours or less that I have when I get home around 6:00 am, since I leave around 6:30 pm for work.

But yesterday was different. It was literally a great day for me. Since I spent a couple of hours sleeping at work (yeah, I know, don't ask me how and why) and I managed to get some shut-eye on the bus while I was going home, I didn't fall asleep until around 1:00 pm. I had a lot of time in my hands and I took advantage of it. I finished all my paid posts around 9:00 am, went to the market, cooked lunch for everybody, helped around the house, and I had a lot of time to cuddle and play with my two kids.

Keisha loves playing pretend, and we spent a lot of time doing just that with Nicole. And I have to admit, when Nicole peed on me, I didn't mind the least. To be honest, I missed that. I missed cleaning her bottom as well when she has poop, and taking baths with Keisha as well. And Keisha even sang me a song to sleep around 1:00 pm and stayed by my side until I fell asleep.

And what's even better is that Henry came home really early yesterday, around 4:00 pm. Although I barely had three hours of sleep, I felt like I've had more than eight. I was really glad that all of us were there, and he even brought me my favorite snack, Pringles in Sour Cream and Onion flavor.

I didn't get any sleep after Henry came home, but I didn't mind. I still went to work last night feeling refreshed and great. Although Keisha wasn't able to walk me down the street with her dad where I'd ride the bus to work, I was able to kiss her goodbye and she still saw me off the door.

I wish I had more days like yesterday.

Sleeping Beauty

Keisha's still asleep as I write this, although when I went upstairs to change from my work clothes she opened her eyes and accompanied me to my room. I got a few good minutes of snuggle time before I took her back to her grandma's bed to complete the rest of her sleep. It was still too early, anyway.

She specifically requested for another bag of Oishi's Ribbed Cracklings in Salt and Vinegar flavor which I did get her, in addition to a chocolate donut from Ministop. I also have two pieces of the red candy she likes eating, mainly because it colors her entire tongue red.

I'm not sure if I'll still be awake when she wakes up and eats all of my presents, but I know that when we see each other later this afternoon, I'll know how she felt.

Chocolates and Mentos

While I was at work today I tried as hard as I could to keep my mind off of junk food and save my money until I get home so that I could buy Keisha something good as a present. I ended saving more than half of the money I took with me, as the only things I spent on while I was out was for five pieces of candy and my fare.

So when I got home, I got off at 7-11, not where I usually get off the bus on the way home. I initially wanted to buy her something from Jollibee, like a breakfast meal or something, but the store was still closed so I went to 7-11 instead.

I ended up getting her a Hersheys Cookies and Cream bar and a Mentos tube, grape flavor. She absolutely loves Mentos, although I was a bit hesitant to buy her cookies and cream as a flavor for Hersheys. She's used to the regular brown colored and dark colored chocolates, so I didn't know what her reaction to white chocolate would be.

After I walked Henry to where he'd ride the bus, I was surprised to find Keisha up and awake. I gave her my presents, and she smiled, although her eyes were still half-closed. She ate the Hershey bar instantly and said she'd eat the Mentos later. I was really happy that she liked the cookies and cream flavor, although she noted that it was a bit crunchy, because of the cookies and all. Right now she's upstairs with her godmother, grandmother and Nicole, just playing around. When I wrap up my blogging for today, I'll join in the fun before I sleep and take on another night at work.

A Present when I Get Home

Keisha has this way of either bluntly stating that she wants me to buy something for her when I get home from work, and when I say bluntly I mean she literally says, "Mommy buy me a Hershey bar later, OK?" Now when she's trying to be subtle, she pokes around my bag, asking what this and that is, and then puts the bag away with a pout and doesn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

Last night, she and her dad walked me down our street to where I ride the bus to work. I really felt bad when I got on the bus because the moment I did, she shouted, "Bye bye Mommy, take care," in such a sad voice. I took a couple of seconds to turn around and wave back at her before the bus driver moved the bus forward.

I kissed her goodbye before I got on the bus I a couple of times, but somehow I still felt bad about leaving her. In a way, I'm glad that I'm on the night shift since she's asleep when I'm gone, and when I get home she normally wakes me up or just snuggles with me while I sleep. I know this for a fact because sometimes, I wake up and I find her beside me, just staring at me.

Keisha can be a brat sometimes, but I guess all kids go through that phase. But what I love about her (aside from everything) is that she makes up for all the tantrums she's thrown during the day with a kiss or an embrace, or even a simple, "I'm sorry," that just melts my heart and makes me forget whatever she's done.

So tonight, she specifically asked for an Oishi Ribbed Crackling snack. Although it's junk food (I know, I shouldn't be feeding her this but it's just a treat) I still decided on buying it and we'll dive into it probably later this afternoon when I wake up, unless she's already beat me to my bag and ate it all by herself.

Peace of Mind

This week, I'm glad that I don't have to feel bad or uneasy whenever I leave for work. Why? Because one of Keisha's godfathers and his wife are staying with us over the week. I'm glad that my mom in law has someone with her to accompany her whenever I'm asleep during the day and when I leave during the night.

I'm glad that Keisha will have someone to play with while my mom in law is busy doing something else, or whenever she's busy attending to Simone (aka Nicole, which I'll need to explain in a later post).

At least I don't have to worry about how the kids will be whenever my mom in law attempts to do laundry during the day while I'm asleep, or how they'll be during the night while I'm gone. As I said, I'll have peace of mind for this week.

The Pictures will have to Wait

Sorry for everyone who's looking forward to pictures from Keisha's birthday. As I'm currently having trouble with my mobile phone, I'll have to wait for some time until I can figure out a way to upload pictures from my phone to the PC. And given my current shifting schedule at work (for this week it'll be 11pm-8am) I just might not have enough time to look into it.

Hopefully Henry will have some time to spare to sort things out, or we'll just resort to sending pictures through MMS one-by-one. Sheesh.