It’s been, what, 3 weeks? since I posted something here. Well, with the exception of my usual letters to my son, that is. It has been a pretty busy and hectic three weeks that I wouldn’t even know how to begin.
I should be sleeping now. I have only about 3 more hours to sleep, supposedly, before waking up to start preparing for our trip home. Yep, we are going home again today. But for some reason, I couldn’t sleep. My son is sound asleep beside me and my sister has already turned in as well. And here I am, decided to blog instead.
So… I am bored. I’ve been quite out of sorts for the past several weeks now and the feeling is like going-back-to-square-one-but-with-a-plus-one, if you know what I mean. The restless soul is starting to wake up and is itching to do something, go somewhere.
I hate this month. It is the shortest month of the year and yet it feels like it is the longest. Seriously, what is wrong with this month??? This week felt like going through two weeks already. I just wish this month would fast forward to next month.
I don’t know how my cousin does it. Go home every weekend. I’ve been going home every week since the start of this year and, heck, it ain’t easy. Well, the situation between the two of us is a little bit different since my son travels with me back to Manila every other week for his doctor’s consultation. And this I tell you, long commutes are not easy with an infant. I am just one of those lucky Moms who’s got a son who enjoys travelling so much. Little Z loves roadtrips that it lulls him to sleep. LOL! So, basically, he is asleep most of the 6.5 hours commute to and from home.
Last weekend was the first time that my little Z traveled at an early morning trip. Given that it is again the month of the Flower Festival back home, every weekend is a pain to travelers going home. Chance passenger lines are waaaaay too long and ticket reservations are already full for most weekends, especially on the final weekend of the month (it’s when the grand street and float parade are happening). Let me get back to the early morning trip first. I had to ensure that my little warrior is dressed warm enough for the freezer-like bus air conditioning. I also had to bring a fleece blanket for added warmth just in case. So, Z’s outfit that night was a long-sleeved onesie overlapped by a short-sleeved onesie, a jersey-lined jeans on top of knitted leg warmers, hooded fleece jacket and a bonnet that by the time we got home (to my apartment, that is), he was already sweating. Hahaha! But then, again, sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to ensure that your kid’s warm enough and comfortable enough for a trip in the middle of the night with chilly wind blowing outside.
So, the temperature rose drastically over the past few days. I bathe little Z upon waking up (which happens to be at around lunch time – for the three of us, my sis, my son and I) and not yet five minutes out of the tub, he starts to sweat. Earlier this week, he was already starting to complain, I think because of the heat, that we have kept the twice a day bath schedule and sponge bath if needed. Oh and given that he appears to have been exponentially growing for the past few weeks, he’s starting to run out of clothes. His 3-6 mos clothes now fit him perfectly and a few already too small for him, he’s been wearing 6-9 months clothes earlier this year and now, some of his clothes that are meant for 12 months now fit him. Yep, my baby is indeed a big baby. And sometimes I wonder how he’d grown this big after his second confinement when he appeared way too small for his age. It is indeed a wonder.
So, going back to the Panagbenga 2014 (Baguio Flower Festival). It’s been ages since I watched the grand street and float parade. I think the last one that I’ve watched was way back college or probably after-college/still-in-Baguio days. This is the 16th year (?) or so I’ve heard. Up until now, I can say that the first five years were still the best years of the Panagbenga festival. I may not watch the parades anymore but I do miss the food trips during Session Road in Bloom where they close the whole of lower Session Road and set up booths for food and other what-nots. Although now, you don’t really enjoy strolling up and down Session Road during this time due to the hoards, and when I say hoards I really mean HOARDS, of people going up and down the road. During this month, the city that was built to only accommodate about 60,000 people, which now houses about 300,000-600,000 – majority of which are students from outside of the city – becomes a whole lot more smaller because of the number of visitors that visit the now-ravaged mountain city. Only last December, there were about more than a million visitors who stayed for a vacation to experience the cold weather. Traffic jams were everywhere, even on roads that didn’t normally experience traffic jams. No taxis available because almost every cab you see is occupied. For this month, I think the estimated guests of the city would amount to around the same number I guess. It has been that way for the past several years. And that is one of the reason why I don’t go home during this month. I go home after the parade itself but it is still expected to have a lot of people traveling there. My only reason for going home to Baguio during this time for the past few years was the food trip and free concerts during the last week of the festival. That was it and that was all.
Now, I have already decided not to go home after the 16th. Well, I have to go home on the 15th to get my son for his doctor’s appointment again and he will be staying here with me for the next three weeks. I’ll bring him home after all the festivities so as not to have too much of a hassle in terms of traveling.
Hmmm… Remind me again why I said I didn’t know where to start blogging? Geez. It seems that I have been blabbering too much for the past hour or so already. LOL!
One more thing. I just remembered something so I might just as well include it here. I am currently planning my little Z’s baby dedication (do you say ceremony?) Well, I’m no catholic so we don’t call it baptism as baptism is practiced when you are a bit older. I am not going into details of that now. So, anyway, baby dedication is similar to christening in terms of being a rite of passage. However, baby dedication is (and I hope I do explain it correctly) thanking God for entrusting the child to you as a parent and at the same time, dedicating the child to God that He will provide the guidance in raising the child. Did I say that right? I do hope you get the idea, though. I have already been a non-practicing Christian for so many years to be honest. But I still believe that a child should have to have faith as he grows. My son may decide to join a different church when he grows older and it wouldn’t really matter to me because that is his choice in the future but I would still want him to start somewhere and see where that would lead him. So, there. I may not be a non-practicing Christian but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that my son would be, too.
So, going back. Baby dedication. My original date happens to fall on the holy week. Not sure if there would be an available place that will be open to accommodate an event. At the same time, I don’t think a few of my close friends here in the big metro would be able to go up to Baguio during those times. So, I am thinking of having it either before the holy week or after the holy week. Note to self: need to check work schedule in the next few months. So, on the checklist:
- finalize date
- find an officiator
- find location
- find caterer (if location found doesn’t serve food)
- create invites
- schedule photo and video
- cakes and cupcakes supplier (is Sweet Stop still in the business? I do love their banana cupcakes)
Basically, I haven’t started yet. Geez! Goodluck to me on how I will make things work and pull this off. Long distance events planning again we go.
So, it’s been almost two hours and I think I really have blabbered enough. (I do look like someone in need of someone to talk to, don’t I? LOL). So, let me put an end to your misery for now and end this post. Haha! Gots some Mommy duties to do now. And it’s already 4:36 am this side of the world. Yep, insomniac, alright.
