What have I been doing this past few months?

Aside from taking care of the baby, mateo, and the house, I’ve been helping andrea write articles for several people. Basically, she would be assigned topics to write compositions or articles about and a deadline to finish all the said work. To make things quick though, she divides the assignments in two and gives me half of the topics to write about.

It’s not exactly an exact substitute for teaching, but at least it keeps my mind active. In fact, there are days when I enjoy reading reference materials for the topic and find myself happily surfing for more. It also helps me learn about interesting things I wouldn’t normally look for in the net like quick weight loss tips or diets.  However, there are days when the topics are just too difficult or boring that it takes almost the whole day to finish a piece or two. But, I cannot really complain.

Writing keeps me on my toes, constantly provides me with information, and practices my grammar and composition skills. On top of these, I get to work at home, spend some time with my family, and be more of a dad to mateo and anika and a husband to andrea. Not such a bad trade off… for the meantime.

With nothing but freelance work to keep us afloat, andrea and I have decided to go hunting for hotel coupons for our fifth wedding anniversary this year. We’re a bit more motivated because aside from the fact that this will be a special day for us, we have never brought mateo with us on an overnight stay at a hotel before. In fact, we’ve never had a hotel stay with just the three of us (me, andrea and mateo), so our little boy’s first would be with anika already (sorry kuya).

Also, we’re thinking of this as our special family bonding time before I go away on the 29th.

Thankfully, andrea is a very resourceful wife. She’s already found us some so we’re looking forward to it.

Although freelance work has its own advantages like staying at home and having complete control of your working hours, it also has its own drawbacks. You see, aside from not having a consistent income, I also can’t qualify for a payday cash advance … or at least not anymore.

I remember relying on these for several occasions before when lots of unexpected things came our way – car repairs, emergency visits to the doctor, house repairs, and all sorts of emergencies. In the end, it took us 5 years to realize that despite meticulous budgeting and rigid spending, there will always be things that we can’t plan for.

So now, 5 years wiser and several times poorer, we rely on luck and caution to keep the unexpected things from coming our way, because for the moment, freelance work is all we have.

Plans have been changing so fast lately that it’s become a bit confusing to keep up with everything – flights, celebrations, everything. And since we’re also scheduled for a lot of things this month – vaccinations, baptism, medical examinations, we’ve decided to put our plans on hold for a while. I thought it would be best to handle things one at a time.

First, baptism. We’ll have one in combination with three birthday celebrations this Saturday. We can’t really be picky anymore since we’re running out of time and money.

Second, invitations. Since we’ve been invited to quite a lot of events this month, it’ll probably involve a lot of transportation arrangements, planning, etc. So depending on how much money and energy we have left, we’ll try to attend as much as we can.

Third, vaccinations. Both anika and mateo are scheduled to have their vaccinations next week. That’s gonna be a huge cash out too.

Fourth, I need at least 6k for the medical examinations that the employers are requiring me to take.

So unless some gold bullion miraculously finds its way to us, we really don’t have much of a choice but to take things one at a time. Huhuhu!

Going to Brunei is a huge risk for all of us. Aside from the fact that we don’t know how difficult it would be to earn there, we would also be too far from relatives to ask for help. However, because I still can’t help but think of a backup plan, I’ve been up at night everyday considering the alternatives. So far, here are the options I’ve thought of.

A. Going back to my previous school and salvage what I can.

B. Teach somewhere else and start from scratch.

C. Shifting to another field of work still starting from scratch.

D. Open up a small business and manage my own business.

E. Just save enough to buy Outer Banks foreclosures for our own residence or a place of business.

Of course it would be great if staying in Brunei pays off. That would still be my primary goal. But just in case things don’t work out, at least I have a plan.

Can’t help it…

Another restless night…

Another one of those that’s filled with a busy silence…

Silence that keeps your mind racing with thoughts about anything and everything…

Is it because of the coffee…

I wish it was, but my heart lies still…

Troubled but still…

I wish for sleep and reprieve… come to me now…