Yup, everybody at home is a little concerned about weight gain. Since the sun has been furiously pouring it on the past few days, we’ve basically not done any exercises at all, well except for those few times when we waded in the pool. And because summer is not showing any signs of letting up, I’m guessing we won’t be doing any exercises at all for the next few days.

The only things we do at home at the moment, are sleep, watch, and surf. In between all of these, we eat. Sad, isn’t it? But what can we do? It’s too hot to play outside. It’s too hot to even move around so much. Eating, surfing, and watching are practically the most entertaining activities available. So it’s not really surprising that everyone is worried about the extra pounds.

What’s even sadder is that we can’t exactly do anything about it. I mean, who would want to starve themselves at this temperature? Or who would dare play under the sun? Doesn’t it seem more sensible to just look for the best diet pills and take them instead of pitting yourself against the summer heat like a person with a death wish? Honestly, before this, I didn’t think summer heat could lead to weight gain… Huhuhu!

My original plan of getting fit this summer is slowly starting to go awry. I haven’t played basketball for more than a week already and the most exercise I’ve gotten is a 15-minute biking to-and-from school last Tuesday. I haven’t exactly been controlling my food intake lately so I’m guessing I’ve put on some extra pounds already.

Sure, I’ve gone to the pool for some swimming but it’s not exactly an Olympic size pool and we’re not exactly doing laps when we swim. It’s mostly fun wading with mateo and a few rounds in the pool every once in a while, but that’s it. If this keeps up, I think I might just have to start considering taking weight loss diet supplements, just to be fit for work when classes resume.

Of course, as much as possible, I’d like to do it the natural way, but my choices right now are limited. The people I play with are also currently enjoying their vacations so I’ve got no one to play ball with. (Mateo’s shots can’t reach the basket yet.) The sun too, isn’t exactly holding back so moving around is not such a joy to do.

I do hope something comes up before the start of classes so I’d get a chance to work out before that. Otherwise, it’s back to diet…

Aria, our golden retriever, has just turned 1 last March. She’s now fully grown, complete with a nice flaming mane, and a whole lot of slobber. In terms of dog years, she’s technically like a 7-year old child – a kid that sheds a lot of hair and drips pails of saliva.

She’s not lost her playfulness yet and still manages to throw mateo off balance when she runs around the place, however she’s showing some signs of being house-trained already (finally). She now follows (although not automatically) verbal commands and shows effort in controlling her urges. She doesn’t chew on slippers anymore, and she now recognizes authority and emotions in commands.

I plan to continue training her till she gets 100% house-trained this summer because our baby girl is due this July so she needs to be calm and obedient by then. I don’t want andrea getting stressed out taking care of mateo, anika, and aria all at once.

I’ve been sleeping really late this past few days because andrea and I have gotten back to watching some of the TV series that we used to watch before like Lost, Chuck, and Grey’s Anatomy. (one of the many perks of summer vacation)

However, I just discovered recently that our late night marathons are taking a toll on my skin. I’ve been seeing some pimple on my forehead and face again – perhaps because of lack of sleep, or rather late sleep. It’s a good thing though that I’m way past the age of acne breakout, so  I only have a few ones to worry about. Besides, acne treatment nowadays have gotten to be almost completely non-invasive. In fact, I came across an online article discussing some sort of acne light to address acne problems. Talk about technological development!

Anyway, I guess I’ll just have to put mateo to sleep earlier so we could watch and sleep earlier too. That’s probably the best compromise since I don’t want to give up our series marathon time until work resumes, but I don’t want an acne problem either.

I grew up in the suburbs where the nearest beach is about three to five hours so I never really had time for swimming. It’s also why I never learned how to, and I never really cared much about it. It was only when I got a lot older that I realized just how important and how fun swimming really is.

You see, recently, we discovered that the clubhouse in the neighboring subdivision had a swimming pool. The subdivision had very few occupants and the clubhouse seemed regularly empty so we decided to try out the pool a few weeks ago. We’ve had four visits ever since.

The kiddie pool is just right for mateo (about neck-deep) and we more or less have the whole place to ourselves everytime we swim. Everytime it gets too hot inside the house, andrea would suggest swimming and mateo would just eagerly agree.  Now, the whole family is addicted to swimming and I’m sure it won’t be long till we have another visit there again.

One of the hardest tasks of a teacher is planning. Of course, the students don’t really know this, because to them, it’s the delivery and the exams that make the teacher great or ineffective. It’s not something they see.

In actuality, it’s effective planning that gives way to excellent delivery and exams. The more detailed and accurate the plan is, the more entertaining and educational the delivery and exams get.

And as I said before, planning is surprisingly an extremely difficult task. The kind of planning teachers do is not similar to the kind of planning in other fields of work.

For starters, the plans we make in summer encompasses a whole 10-months worth of preparations, paperwork and execution. We don’t just simply set the topic for a particular day or week. We plan the whole 45 minutes (of each meeting) into bits and parcels of the topic and the activities that come with the topic. How much time should be spent in motivation exercises, lecture, drills, and enrichment? How should each question be asked in order to relay not just information but substance and value as well? We have so many moving parts to consider for each meeting, for each class, for the whole 10 months.

Second, with all the moving parts, we still have to plan countermeasures to account for both expected and unexpected interruptions.  We have to consider week-long celebrations of each subject (Math week, Science week, Humanities Week, etc.). We have to account for sat preparations, college entrance exams, and official holidays. There will also be suspensions brought about by typhoons and other (not to totally unexpected) calamities. Because the truth is, no matter how many interruptions happen in a school year, we have to continue making the children learn. For that, we have to plan contingency measures – assignments, quick catch-up lessons, independent studies (regardless of how many class suspensions we experience).

Lastly, planning involves taking your target students’ readiness into consideration. You see, there are bound to be years when you will have to face very capable students (sometimes too capable as a matter of fact) and there are years when you’ll have to deal with strugglers. How do you deal with the students then? The methods that would work and challenge one might not work for the other (and vice versa). This means that you don’t make just one or two plans. You make several. And you have to be able to easily recognize when to switch from one plan to another in class  depending on how the class reacts.

This is what planning means to a teacher. You think it’s hard to deliver lessons and make exams? Try planning first.

I’ve never really enjoyed summers. That’s because I usually take summer classes so I don’t really get enough time to enjoy myself.

Imagine my surprise when I was finally given a real long summer vacation.

Yes, this is my first time to experience a summer vacation after a long time. In fact, it’s been so long that I’ve already forgotten what I did the last time I had one. At the moment, I’m still figuring out a routine (a mix of house chores, internet work, playing with mateo, etc.) to put a little structure in the time that I have. Pathetic right?

But that’s how it is. I’ve been so used to routine work for the last how many years that I’m having a bit of difficulty adjusting to the free time I have on my hands at the moment. There’s no need to worry though. I’ll figure out something, because I have every bit of intention to enjoy this summer vacation. After all, I don’t know when the next one’s gonna be.

It’s part of the annual practice that everyone in school participates in a graduation committee. It doesn’t matter what role you play in school, whether you are a part-timer or a full-time faculty member or personnel, each one has to join (or more accurately be assigned) a particular group for the graduation.

This year, I became part of the invitation committee – actually, to be more specific, I was one of the two members of the invitation committee. Yep, we were only two in that group, but at first, I thought that was just fine. I was confident in my skills in the computer and my eye for beauty. With my partner promising to help in the cutting and assembly of the invitations, we were basically set, or so we thought.

You see, weeks before the graduation, I had the basic outline, the format, and the general idea of the design. The only things lacking were (1) the list of awardees, and (2) the cover art. The first one, we couldn’t have until all the grades have been passed, and all the deliberations have been done. We had no choice but to wait till the last  few days for the list to be finalized. The second requirement, however, we had no idea how to make.

The cover art had to match the theme of the commencement ceremony and the theme was quite abstract. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you. We had the extra burden of coming up with an original art composition that both suits the theme but doesn’t conform strictly to religious interpretations.

Quite frankly, it would have been a hell of a lot easier if we were making photo graduation invitations because if that was the case then it would have been a no-brainer. We had lots of pictures of the kids and we were fine with Photoshop. However, that would was not the road for us. We were specifically asked to come up with a new concept and to stick to the theme.  Thank goodness for Sir Seth, we were able to make one before the deadline.

However, just when we thought that the rest was nothing more but menial work, the printers decided to gang up on us. We had three printers in school but somehow, on the day of the printing, only one would work at a time. Once another printer comes online, the two would bug down. In the end, we were able to finish everything but not without stress. We had to get a lot of extra hands to help us out, sacrifice lunch, and tinker with printers and the photocopying machine to accomplish all the invitations.

What exactly did I learn from all of these? Well, for starters, I don’t ever want to become part of the invitation committee again. Second, plans don’t work. Even if you plan ahead and take lots of considerations, luck has a way of turning things around. (Darn printers!) Last, no matter how desperate things get, help will always be there. You just have to recognize it.

There is a certain freedom that comes from staying up late without actually working. Perhaps it’s because of the lack of worry for tomorrow’s wakeup time, or maybe it’s just because of the absence of everything else you worry about during the day (like mateo running around, washing the dishes, arranging everything, etc.).

I’m glad I was given no load this summer because I’ll get to enjoy more late night freedom like this. Woohoo!

I have been feeling a lot of pressure lately because I have recently had more time to think about family. And with our current situation, things are not looking up.

However, despite problems and other worries, I have always had andrea behind for support. She’s been providing me with unquestioning help and continuous support even though she herself needs it. She’s currently on her 5th month of pregnancy and yet she’s been nothing but active and tenacious in looking for ways to augment our income. In fact, she’s pursuing several online prospects for several days now and have gotten 2 more job opportunities for us.

I, however, have given her very little in return. Especially now that summer has come, and my pay has been reduced significantly, I can not provide the same financial assistance that I’ve been giving for the past 10 months. She, on the other hand, without blaming or complaining, just takes over and fills the gap that I left. For that alone, I’m already incredibly grateful to her. She continues to love us unconditionally and for that I’m even more grateful. She’s the strength behind our family. I am very much aware of that, which is why I must make it up to her somehow.

This summer, I plan to be the ultimate housekeeper to take some responsibilities off her shoulders. Of course, I will be helping her out with online work as well. My biggest question now is how to earn a few extra so that I can buy her something this coming mother’s day. You see, all the gift ideas for mother’s day that I can think of cost a bit and I have very little left in my wallet as of the moment. Anyway, I’ll just think of something while cleaning the house.