Davey and Spiderman

A short story written in 3rd person...

While waiting for my hubby, I saw Claire, my neighbor, going for a walk along with her two-year-old son Davey.  They were heading to the playground in the nearby park. When they reached the area, a four-year-old boy named Johan approached them. Davey suddenly burst into tears and held his mom tight. He got scared because it was his first time to see someone wearing a Spiderman suit. He must have thought he saw an alien. To distract her son, Kate opened her bag, took out the bubble maker and started making bubbles. Johan wanted to borrow the bubble maker and play with Davey but the latter continued to cry out loud. Kate told Johan nicely that he could borrow the toy if he would take off his mask. The boy agreed and took it off. When Davey finally saw Johan’s face, he began to smile and talk. Johan got what he wanted while Davey happily played with him and tried to chase the bubbles up in the air. That day was a start of a friendship between these two adorable boys in our neighborhood.

My Place

Since we moved in to our new house, I’ve been able to sleep better at night because the neighborhood is quieter and safer, so I have enough strength to look after my baby throughout the day.  Security is so tight that whenever we have unexpected guests, we are assured that we know them personally because the security personnel verify all necessary information before allowing guests to enter the community premises.  The guards on duty, who are really nice and reliable, accompany the couriers making parcel deliveries to make sure everyone is safe and secure. Amenities such as swimming pools, basketball courts and children’s playgrounds are available for tenants and guests though these are occupied most of the time especially during weekends and holidays.  I cannot forget the time when I first got to see this place, water fountains were up and porch and patio lights were all lit inside the community that I thought I was in a park, and I even dreamed of living here one day.  In addition, these adorable pets that are accompanied by their owners enjoy going for a walk every morning and afternoon. 

 However, there are few things I don’t really like here in our place. During summer, disease-carrying mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere, so you need to use insect repellent for protection.  Completely ignoring the community rules, some pet owners leave their pet feces on conspicuous areas.  The only place that multitasking moms and house helpers find it hardly accessible is the laundry area, a small cage-like room located on the building deck.  To better manage stress, unit owners have to keep few things in mind.  To counter the odor caused by the nearby stagnant lake that sometimes stinks, one has to close all the doors and windows and be ready with an air deodorizer.  To avoid hassle due to unknown guests stealing your allocated parking space, you should put a signage on it all the time.  

Furthermore, always be prepared during rainy season. Imagine this scene as if you are watching a movie; blowing fiercely during the storm surge, the strong wind rips your porch cover apart and uproots some trees around you.  Just a few days ago, thunder roared loudly after lightning seemed to have struck an object near our house.  Confused and scared, my two-year-old boy ran quickly towards me and cried out loud. 

Got His Visa. What's Next?

As planned, my husband will go first to NZ by February next year. If he immediately gets a job, my son and I will follow after 3 or 4 months, that will be around the month of May. For now, we need to convert some of our stuffs into cash by selling them. My hubby needs to bring pocket money for housing, food, fare, utility bills, etc. to NZ in addition to the cash from our savings. The 13^th month pay he will be getting will be used to purchase his ticket. Per immigration, he needs to bring around Php100,000 to sustain himself for at least 3 months, so that will amount to PhP300,000 for his 9 months stay. It's a huge amount of money, so we really need to get our stuffs sold. Part of my hubby's 13^th month pay will take care of our son's milk and other needs. To free ourselves from accommodation, utility and food expenses, my son and I will stay in my parents' house. I asked my sister to temporarily help with other expenditures, if she can, so we won't be a huge burden to my parents.


This is going to be a huge risk to take. If we back out and not do anything about our financial goals, we'll remain in status quo and won't be able to achieve our future goals like education for our son, our retirement fund, and, of course, assistance to those in need which includes our parents. Prayer and moral support of our families are the most important things we need at the moment. We believe that it's better to act now than be sorry later when we're no longer able take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us. Some people do not succeed because they are afraid to take the risks. They'd rather not do anything and remain idle because they are afraid to lose what they have, afraid to try and fail. I love what I read that said “Failure is not you, it is an event”. We are not afraid to face the challenges and even failure than not doing anything at all. After all, God is with us and He is ahead of us. He knows our future and He is already there waiting for us. After all, there's nothing to lose. We wouldn't know what's in store for us if we won't try while the opportunity is available. Not everyone has the qualifications (in terms of health or skill needed) to apply for immigration. Grab it while you can.

NZ SMC Visa Application

Our case officer's decision arrived yesterday via email. Feeling a mixture of emotions, we didn't know how to react but just opted to offer a thanksgiving prayer to God. Thankful and happy because my husband's visa was granted, better than getting rejected. A bit disappointed because my baby and I won't be able to join my husband in NZ because he got a JSV (Job Search Visa) or Work Visa – used to be called WTR or Work to Resident Visa. We learned that a partner used to be granted JSV as well. That is no longer the case now.

Same CO who reviewed our application granted the same visa type to a friend of mine who's single. She's now in NZ and has been looking for a job since July of this year. We heard that most families get RV or Resident Visa but recently COs are limiting provision of RVs to applicants. We think we answered well during the interview and submitted complete documents. My husband who is the primary applicant is an Application Programmer and has been in the IT field for 5 years now.

Could it be that COs base their decision on NZ government's list of current and urgent job vacancies that needed to be immediately filled in? We'll see what will happen but I guess the momentary separation is beneficial to our marriage. As always, we need to look for the silver lining in every circumstance.

Postpartum Blues

Now that your little angel has arrived, you're supposed to be filled with happiness. But why is this unexplainable sadness? No worries, you are experiencing this so called "baby blues". During this period, your husband becomes your object of anger (poor dad). Irritability & confusion set in and crying becomes your favorite hobby. You're afraid that you will practically lose your insanity. Sometimes, you'd think you will transition from reality to illusion so you would try to stay away from dangerous places or harmful objects so you don't get to harm yourself or your baby. It is important not to watch bad news on TV or absurd or disturbing movies like Black Swan. Kidding aside, it is beneficial to be aware that you're going through this temporary ordeal.
So how do you deal with it? Let me give you few tips based from my own experience.
- surround yourself with optimistic and happy people and stay away from the negative ones
- spend time with your loved ones
- eat nutritious foods,exercise & drink plenty of water
- read or research about postpartum depression to educate yourself and increase awareness
- pray
- discuss with your spouse
- watch comedy films or shows

Doctors' Spiel

When you're ill and doctors could not come up with accurate findings, they give you any of the following reasons:
- it's genetic or hereditary(based on family history or if someone in your family has that ailment as well)
- due to aging (if you're 30 & above)
- stress
- psychosomatic
We cannot deny the fact that medical science is still limited despite the state of the art technologies & inventions.
During my pregnancy, my amniotic fluid was at borderline level. There was no leak whatsoever so I was told it was because of late pregnancy. After a week of hydration using IV fluid, no progress occurred. I was sent home & advised to just take complete bed rest and drink 3 to 4 liters of water since there was nothing else that could be done. After few weeks of water therapy, my amniotic level went up from 6 to 16 - almost 300% increase!

Reaching our Milestones

Thank God we're done with our interview with the NZ immigration. Once again, we're reminded of valuing hard work. No pain, no gain. All questions were answered to the best of our abilities. Yet that does not guarantee a positive result. Our friend was right. Waiting for the result is the hardest part. And the journey has not yet started. My husband and I agreed that no matter what the outcome will be, nothing is going to change. If we get denied, we'll move on and start working on plan B. We will set our expectations low yet remain positive.
I'm glad that as a couple, we don't stop dreaming. The desire to go out of the country started long before my husband and I met. Same goal, same country. Unfortunately, this American dream ended when the US economy started to fall apart. Another door has opened after we got married and we want to take advantage of this new opportunity.
Many friends wonder why we need to leave the country since my husband got a good job in a prestigious company. Yes, our daily needs are being met somehow. But nothing is left for savings despite our efforts in budgeting our expenses. Materialism is not part of our family's culture. We do not have to keep up with the Joneses so using old cellphones and having no new gadgets every year are fine with us. As early as now, we want to save money for our son's education and prepare our retirement fund. We do not want to end up broke and poor when we reach the age of 60 and pass all the burdens to our son. Yes, there are lots of options for us to achieve our goals. But this is the most viable at the moment considering the skills and health requirements in applying for NZ's SMC visa. We'll start with what we have and we are not going to waste time.

Vision

Having a vision in life is very important. Short or long term goals and everything we do should revolve around this vision. Absence of vision in life means not knowing your purpose of existence here on earth. Constant awareness of your vision will keep you focused, else we'll end up lost,distracted and living a meaningless life. 

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Hello Again

I finally got back to my blogging "business" after several years. Now that I'm happily married with a baby, I hope I could share a lot of my experiences (and unsolicited advice haha) to my readers. One way to know you`re getting old is when you realize you love to share your experiences and knowledge to people. I used to get unsolicited yet helpful advice from old folks. Now I couldn't help but share what I learned in life to help young people live life to the fullest and avoid the same mistakes that I did in the past. I regret not being able to find more people, experts and mentors that could have helped me in my journey while I was younger. But thanks to my parents and those people who made a difference in my life. I`m not an expert but I hope readers will get something from my posts-things that are usually neglected or taken for granted because nobody told them what it is like and how it should be.