I’ve recently committed myself to cycling to and from work. In fact, since the start of February, I’ve ridden my trusty mountain bike to school in the morning and back to the house in the afternoon.

It took a few days for my muscles, though, to adjust to the terrain. You see, the route I take isn’t exactly flat. In fact, it involves several uphills and downhills. After, all the village isn’t called Beverly Hills for nothing.

Anyway, I figured it’s about time I got back into shape. I haven’t played basketball for more than a year and I haven’t exactly been joining my students in soccer practice as well. I need some form of exercise to keep myself fit since I’m not really into taking diet supplements nor do I have time for jogging or going to the gym. And since I sold my motorcycle already, and thus have limited ways of going to work, I figured what the heck. Let’s try biking.

It gives me a practical way to go to work. It saves me money from commuting. It doesn’t require a lot of time away from work or family, nor does it need a special place or enclosure like a field or a court. The only setback, if ever, would be the price of the bike that I’d buy.

To solve that particular concern, I went out and bought myself a relatively cheap but good enough pair of wheels. It’s not much compared to the 15k to 20k kinds you see in trails, but it’s good enough to get me to work and back, and good enough to give me a sweat. At the moment, I’m still familiarizing myself with the gears, the parts, and the feel. So far, I’m liking it. In fact, I have a swollen kneecap to prove it. (Darn bully tricycles! Fell down in the gutter after being cut by a stupid tricycle! Lucky for him we were going uphill so I couldn’t catch up.) I guess this really means I’m into biking now!

Every  year, in school, there’s a week when we drop all school materials and play to our heart’s content. More popularly known to the students as the sportsfest, the intramural this year will happen on the 16th to the 19th of February.

Once again, there will be four teams competing for the title of best group for the year – the Red Minotaurs, the Blue Harpies, the Green Hydras, and the Yellow Djinns. The colors basically remain the same but the names of the teams change based on a yearly theme. This year’s theme is mythical creatures and unfortunately I was selected to head the Green Hydras with the help of my co-coaches, Teachers Ayi and Erik.

I don’t know how things in the intramural are going to turn out. I’m still just thankful that the Science Week is over and we were able to pull things off. I plan to take it easy this time and let the high school students and my co-coaches take over the supervision of the team. I’ve given the kids instructions on how to manage themselves and given them some tips and strategies for the games. I hope everything works out well. I don’t want the sportsfest week to be as draining as the previous week. I’ve had enough alli diet pills in the form of schedule conflicts and last-minute finding of judges in the Science Expo. I’m not gonna make myself any thinner, at least not that way.

I’m vowing to enjoy myself this time. Winning would be the icing on top, but a break from all the work is rewarding enough.

Recently, we’ve had a chance to look at a house for rent in the subdivision where we work at (a 2-bedroom floor to be exact). The area of the whole floor was big, enough to accommodate a small dining area, a small kitchen, and a huge veranda aside from the two bedrooms. To top it all off, the place had 2 pools – a full-size adult swimming pool and a wading/kiddie pool – a real piece of work (the kind that is sure to have received a couple of home insurance quotes).  And it was even being given to us at the same rate as the house we are currently renting. But we turned it down.

Why in the world did we do that? Well, for one, the bedrooms were only half the size of the ones we’re currently occupying. The whole veranda was bigger than the two bedrooms combined. That’s a major concern because andrea is less than 6 months away from giving birth to our second baby. What we’ll be needing more by then is bedroom space and not a veranda – a bedroom with enough area to accommodate our queen-size bed, mateo’s sofa bed, and a crib. We can’t exactly spend the night in the veranda. Hello?! The second bedroom will be occupied by their tita so that’s not an option  either.

Second, the place is not exactly the safest area to raise children for various reasons. REASON #1: Pools are hazardous and mateo is not exactly a timid kid. He’s not afraid to try the water nor is he the type that would stay put inside the house if the doors are open. REASON #2: The whole place may be protected by 2 dogs, but it is not at all secured. From our last visit, I remember seeing several areas where robbers could easily have access to. The lot  is surrounded by trees from neighboring subdivisions and is not secured with grills nor do they have any other security measures aside from the 2 mutts. REASON #3: Although I have little problems interacting with other people, I don’t find the thought of sharing your home with other people comfortable, especially with a stranger. Since the Australian owner of the house is staying for 6 more months, we’ll be sharing the space with him till he leaves. We may be occupying two separate floors but we’re still just a floor away from each other. I’d like to keep my privacy.

In the end, we thought it best to stay put. We may still be a subdivision away from work, and pool-less but we’re still safer here than anywhere else. I’d like to keep it that way at least for a little while longer.

As far as I could recall, I’ve always been a computer game enthusiast. I remember my dad getting us an ATARI at first, and then a family computer before I graduated from elementary. However that was the last gaming console I would ever get.

When I got to high school, my parents bought me my first desktop – a 486 (for those who are still familiar with the early PC models). Then, before I graduated from college I got my second PC, a Pentium 4 (which at that time was one of the fastest), both of which I don’t consider to be gaming units, although the latter I loaded with Warcraft. But I never had another game console.

I do, however, try to keep myself updated with the latest happenings in the gaming world. Sometimes I would catch myself drooling over the latest ps3 games, or the latest psp craze. I would browse the most popular game titles and watch clips or screenshots of the top so and so games. But I would never again get a gaming console. I can’t afford one and mateo is still too young to play one… at least for now.

So at the moment, I do the only thing I can do. Watch, wait, and be patient. Sometimes I still play with my laptop, but I still miss the real thing. Mateo’s already turned three so we’re he’s only a few years short of a PS. Just a little bit longer… I hope… Hehehe!

Our quest for a home has a taken a backseat once again. With andrea and I expecting someone by August, we’ve changed priorities yet again from saving up for a house to saving up for a hospitalization.

In fact, we’re now considering moving into a house for rent somewhere near our workplace to cut back on a few more expenses such as travel and snacks just so we can have enough by the latter half of the year. Heck, I’m even entertaining the thought of going for motorhomes if it would make things a little easier financially, at least.

It’s extremely difficult makings ends meet, especially with a baby on the way. What more if we go for a house of our own now?

Sometimes I can’t help but envy those people who have more than enough money for everyday needs. Seems unfair right? huhuhu!

Health insurance plans are a tricky business. For one, it’s not age-appropriate, in terms of client-understanding I mean. Why, because most people, especially at their younger years, would never consider availing one due to the illusion of fitness. I know because the same thing happened to us a few years back.

You see, before we had mateo, I used to believe that nothing in the world can harm me. I was 26 years old when we first attended an orientation regarding health insurance. And back then, I thought that no dreadful or serious-enough sickness can scare me down. Oh boy, was I wrong. The worst part about is, when I found bruises on my body (the sources of which I could not remember getting), mateo was already around. I was so scared not just for me, but for mateo and andrea. If the bruises were caused by some serious condition, I had nothing in my savings account to leave my family behind with in case I met the worst fate.

It was only then that the reason behind health insurance became apparent to me. Health plans are not just for the plan holder, but also for the security of those that he or she loves. These are realizations that do not come easily to younger ones, hence age-appropriateness.

Second, health insurance plans vary in terms of extensions, hospitals that recognize them, monetary compensation, and several other technical details. For people that are not familiar with the inner workings of health plans, they seem to be nothing more than money-making schemes of large insurance companies.

These are the two primary reasons why health insurance plans are generally tricky. These should also be the selling points that health insurance agents use. Those that know these two aspects are the ones that become good agents like Jerry Ballard, the 6-year top insurance agent of Blue Cross Blue Shield NC.

As for me, as soon as I’m financially capable of availing one, I’m getting one with or without agent.

Whenever andrea and I look back  at our miscarriage, we can’t help but wonder what happened. Were we too careless with our movements? Is there anything we did wrong or did not do? Is there anything we could have done to prevent what happened?

As far as I know, we’ve done nothing different from the time when andrea was still carrying mateo in her womb. As far as rest is concerned, she was even working full time when mateo was still inside. She’s working part time now. In terms of vitamins, she was given practically the same regimen of vitamins as before. Heck, we even consulted sites such as prenatalvitamins.net to check her prescriptions. She did not contract any sicknesses or ailments or meet any accidents. She was healthy and happy.

According to the gynecologist, it was a cord coil accident. The mark on her neck region seems to confirm the doctor’s theory. And it was something that we could not do anything about. Either her umbilical cord was shorter than supposed to, or by some stroke of bad luck, it just happened to coil around her neck.

It was an accident. That’s what we were told but I still can’t help but feel paranoid. How can the next one be spared? How can we make sure that it doesn’t happen again? Because I don’t think I can handle the same thing again. I just can’t.

When I was still taking up Biology in college, we were required to take an Organic Chemistry course. It was probably one of the most relevant chemistry subjects that I ever took up because most of the things I learned there, I can directly connect with real life. Not to mention, I’m teaching the same lessons to my students now.

It was really memorable and, I must say, really well-taught because I’m using the same techniques that I remember being taught with and my grade 5 students seem to comprehend, if not totally understand, what I’m saying. In fact, for the past few meetings, I’ve been using complex terms and acronyms such as CLA, TCA, and ATP and the responses and questions my students give suggest they’re getting the idea.

Looking back, I just wish all my other Chemistry subjects in high school and in college were as nicely-delivered as my Organic Chemistry class. But then again, maybe it’s the content that made it easier to swallow. I do hope I’m doing well enough for my students to consider my class as memorable.

Who needs sleeping pills when you’re a teacher?

They’re the least things that we would want. Especially now that Science Week is less than a week away, all the preparations and paperwork that need to be done are piling up. I need even the nights to finish all the planning and logistics.

What I do need is a way to squeeze in a few more hours in a day, or the photocopy machine and all the printers to work, or for all the science teachers to rest and recuperate for next week’s activities. What I need is coffee to get me through the night of extended planning and paperwork. I need inspiration. I need a sign to tell me that everything is going to work out fine next week. I need to stop worrying!

I need to sleep! Oh, perhaps I do need a sleeping pill after all! Hehehe!

Mateo has just turned three last Friday, January 15. To celebrate his birthday, we ordered two trays of baked macaroni and some chicken fingers from the canteen, bought a Backyardigans cake from Red Ribbon, and purchased some popsicles from Shopwise. Then, during their recess in school, we went upstairs to distribute food and gifts to his classmates.

It was the first time I saw mateo at work (or more appropriately in play) with his classmates. It was also the first time I saw how small my little big boy is in relation to his preschool friends. He’s barely half the size (and not just height) of the biggest boy in their class Yugi. And even the smallest girl in class is still an inch or two taller than mateo.

I keep telling myself that it’s his age that’s working against him when it comes to size, but I can’t help but worry. I know he’s going to catch up to his friends too, but I’m just not sure when. Let’s face it. Size is an advantage when it comes to so many things – sports, recitation, and even in presentations.

If he does make it to the next level and move on with his classmates, he’ll still be more than half a year younger (and smaller) than them. Should I make him stay in the same level for another year just so he’ll be with kids of the same age and size? Or should I just risk it? Is is time for him to take human growth hormone supplements or do I just wait and see if he catches up in size with his friends? How long will mateo be my little big boy?