Eat, Pray, Love...NOT

Setting:
 Deerbrook Mall, 08-19-2010, 6:30 PM

I met up with my friends at our local mall to watch Eat, Pray, Love which we have been planning to see since last week. So we grabbed a quick dinner at the Food Court, lined up to get our tickets, and (drumroll)...found out that AMC was not showing Eat, Pray, Love at 7:40. Great...just great!

Anyway, we all headed to Coaches, our local bar, to have a few drinks. Luckily, my friends' hubbies were also there so it was another good laugh. Since it was my husband's turn to watch the little man, he wasn't there to join us which I would've enjoyed more.

Ended the night with two cups of coffee and a glass of White Zin.  As a result, I'm still awake (in other words, my night never ended as I watched it turn to day).

By the way, it's 1:45 PM of the following day and I still haven't slept.  I'll try to watch the movie next week.

Share your comments about the movie, please...

Step 1: Please Stop Whining

Wonderwild

Visit Wonderwild

Last Friday, my son and I had a Playdate in Wonderwild. To get there from my location, one would take the 59 South, take the I-10 going to San Antonio,drive through road works, and pass through a bunch of warehouses. I couldn't believe that just to reach the place, one would go through a maze of warehouses. Not that I didn't like it but more of a "really...a warehouse? I didn't see this coming" kinda thing. As you enter, there's a soft, yellow, swiss-cheese semi-sorta sofa that's so cute and a bubbly lady at the front desk (not really, the desk was on the side). Before entering, you need to sign a waiver saying that they are not responsible for any misfortunes you'll be encountering during your stay. Then you realize your son is already dashing to the play area and is so, so excited (there goes the waiver).

Taken from Wonderwild Blog

Okay, let me give you a run down on how the place looks like. So to your left, there is an eating area, in front of you, there is an indoor playground, and on your right is a gi-normous,inflatable slide...at that point, my son was majorly distracted with all the things he wanted to do. There's an area suitable for babies and young toddlers. Although that part was packed, my son and his few playdates were so gung-ho with the pool of balls. Also, I observed that my son knew what to do while playing in the kitchen. Hah! That's probably what he sees all day...Mommy preparing food and picking up after him. Behind the huge indoor playground was another gi-normous, inflatable pillow. A lot of older kids loved this because they could jump to their heart's delight. It was more like a trampoline that looked like a pillow.  I can't believe that my son had the courage to do a few jumps. Despite his numerous falls, he still stood up and continued to jump.  He was really having a blast. Also, there's a hand-powered train that children could ride on. This is designed for kids who are doing quite well with their eye-hand coordination because they need their hands to spin two handles in order for the train to move. I loved watching a lot of kids go for it. I can see my son enjoying this when he gets a little older.

In general, the place was okay. The place was packed and their cooling system just wasn't cooperating.  Even so, my son couldn't get enough of the place. 
My advice is that you go there as early as possible to avoid the crowd or wait until school starts. I know I'll be back one of these days for that train--- but for now I am quite happy going to my town's local places for playdates.

Have any of you ever been to Wonderwild?  What's your review?

Happy Housewives for a Dollar

Taken from Happy Housewives Club

Last Sunday, my family decided to go to the mall to check out a few things. We passed by Walden Books and saw that they were selling a few books for a dollar. While browsing through the stack, there was one book that caught my eye. Yes...the title of the book is Happy Housewives. While reading the back cover, it said that it was a modern-day guide to keeping house, raising kids, and loving life. Aside from that, the book said that we can ALL do it in 10 easy steps. I got the book, went to the cashier and saw a mom from my old playgroup. HAH! It must be a sign!

Anyway, I decided to write about the book because reading it made me feel good and actually inspired me to write this blog. The author, Darla Shine, is funny and a little bit "in your face". I loved how she has a love-hate thing with the show, Desperate Housewives. She hates how extreme and desperate the housewives are and yet encourages ALL of us to look exactly like them.

I currently am reading the third step and has made me check the mirror a few times today. Let me just say that there will be a few mothers and homemakers out there who will be offended. Well, doesn't the truth hurt at times? When I'm done reading all the steps, I will carefully reflect and share my experiences with you.

I will send Darla Shine an e-mail and tell her about my plan. Do you guys think she'll respond? I probably am like the hundreth, hundredth...um... tenth (there...is that better?) person doing the same thing.

By the way, tomorrow is Step 1...

Introduction

Why is TODAY so important? Today, I am celebrating a year of my being a stay-at-home mom. Today, my ex-colleagues start work for this school year and today, I have decided to start a blog.  It took me a lot of time to realize and accept that I am not a working-person anymore.   At some point, I felt that my time was wasted staying at home taking care of my son knowing I could get paid if I had a job.  I became whiny to my husband and somewhat desperate.  Desperate in the sense that I joined every playgroup found in my area , checked school websites daily for job openings (take note---checked and not applied), and kept ranting about how I felt being trapped inside the house.

So what changed?  After figuring out the reasons why I am still jobless, it suddenly dawned on me that staying at home and taking care of my son was what I really wanted to do.  Why else would I pass up three interviews, refuse a friend's offer to recruit me, complain about the inefficiency of Job Fairs, complain about the location of each workplace, complain about work conditions, and quit a job with a lousy excuse that I'd miss the World Cup's Germany vs. the Netherlands game?

I am in the stage where my priorities have changed.  I have accepted that I can't have everything in life but am quite lucky that I am given the chance to stay home, be with my son, and spend quality time with my husband.  Wait a minute,before you kill me...I'm not saying that working mothers don't do these things.  I bet they do--- but all I'm saying is ,what we do as stay-at-home moms is not as easy as you think.  We are not at home polishing our toenails, thinking when our next shopping trip will be, nor do we sip tea and gossip every afternoon (we just gossip, we don't sip tea---LOL).  We make it a point that everything's under control in our headquarters (that means the house), we make sure that our kiddos are not bored and are given proper stimulation for learning, and to top it all, we make sure that our husbands come home to a calm, dinner-ready household!  Am I right or am I RIGHT?    

Exactly who will read this blog? If you are a stay-at-home mom, you'll probably know what I'm going through. It's either you'll find the blog amusing and entertaining OR you'll doze off and not even finish reading this. If you are a working mom, you probably would be bashing me right now. If you are single and you see yourself in my shoes in the future, then be my guest and hopefully in the long run you can get a few tips. Lastly, if you're a guy reading this blog...hmmm (scratching my head)...it's either I'm connected to you, was connected to you at some point, or you are having gender issues (kidding!)

Tell me how you feel...