pregnant with pharyngitis

I just came back to work from 1½ days of sick leave. My throat suddenly started to hurt from Monday night whenever I coughed and swallowed; Tuesday morning when I woke up to get ready from work, I felt a bit weak, but still felt I was well enough to go to the office. By 9am, I was coughing non-stop (and my throat hurt every time), so I scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist, and informed my bosses and colleagues that most probably I wouldn’t return until Thursday.

tasting my first grapple

I’ve never heard of this particular fruit, so of course I never even knew it existed. That is, until we went to Spinneys and saw several packs of it in the fresh produce section.

I admit that it intrigued me. Who wouldn’t? According to the label, it crunches likes an apple but tastes like a grape…that’s like two in one. So I took a pack and placed it in the trolley.

he brought me to you

happy 7th (gg) and 4th (wedding) anniversaries, mahal!

In search of my life and my one true love

I prayed to Almighty God above

And His masterful voice directed me to

The many things I was destined to do

So I sailed across the mighty sea

Pursued knowledge of the highest degree

Took to learning new skills

Experienced new thrills

Felt my life was completely fulfilled

At the end of my amazing quest

After proving myself by achieving success

I hoped to find the prize so rare

A priceless treasure beyond compare

For God promised He would bring me love

A love without measure, trusting and true

And behold, my dear Sapphire

He brought me to you

He brought me to you

In search of my life and my one true love

I prayed to Almighty God above

His compassionate voice directed me to

The many things I was destined to do

And in my private reverie

I read of lands across the sea

I imagined enchanting hollow and hill

Worlds beyond my window sill

And through all of these my fancied quests

I cherish the secrets held close to my breast

I hoped to find the prize so rare

A priceless treasure beyond compare

For God promised He would bring me love

A love without measure, precious and true

And behold, my dear Christian

And behold, my dear Sapphire

He brought me to you

He brought me to you

My heart knew this without a doubt

That's what destiny's all about

God promised He would bring me love

A love strong and true

A promise He fulfilled above

He brought me you

He brought me to you

He brought me you

He brought me to you

What is this I feel

Is this for real

A longing inside that I just cannot hide

In search of this feeling they all call love

How could I’ve known somewhere up above

I’d find this rare and priceless treasure waiting

This isn’t a storybook fantasy

It’s as real as his love for me

The feeling is true

What I feel for you

And I promise I will come to you

glucose tolerance test

According to babycenter.com, the Glucose Tolerance Test (or GTT) is usually taken between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy; but during my appointment with the OB two weeks ago, she recommended that I take it, even though I was just 20 weeks along then. I’m guessing that it’s probably because I have diabetes in the family (Papa had it), so she wanted to know the results as early as now. However, I didn’t take the test right away. The laboratory was open 24 hours anyway, and I was told that I could take the test any time, as long as I took it before my next OB appointment. So I decided to take it after 2 weeks, when our Thursday night and Friday morning schedules were free; which is why I took it yesterday. I had been instructed that I should fast 8 to 10 hours before taking the test, so I made sure that the last thing I put in my mouth on Thursday night was at 9 o’clock (it was a glass of milk); and at 6am the following day, Hubby and I were on our way to the hospital.

my new debit card

Last week, I received an SMS from HSBC saying that my debit card was being issued and would be delivered to me shortly. Since I didn’t receive any e-mail message from them recently and I don’t recall ever requesting for one (I’m content with my one and only ATM card), I just ignored it and figured they made a mistake. Then last Sunday, I received a call from a courier company saying that my card was with them and they just needed to confirm the delivery address. Still confused, I gave it to them and they told me I could expect to receive it the following day, which I did.

bu qtair restaurant

Having no plans at all one Thursday night, our family decided to try a restaurant near Jumeirah that our friends recommended which was a mix of a carinderia-type place and the restaurants in Dampa, similar to the ones in the Philippines.

Upon arriving at Bu Qtair Restaurant, we saw that there were already a lot of people sitting on the plastic tables and chairs outside, having their fill of the food they ordered. Considering it’s practically a shack, I had expected to see only Indians and Pakistanis as the customers, but surprisingly, there were Serbians, Russians, and Koreans there as well. It was still pretty early, so even though most of the tables were full, we were able to get a table as soon as we arrived. Hubby then went inside the portacabin and ordered half a kilo of shrimp and a fish. Then we waited for his name to be called, which took about 30 minutes. Our food was cooked like all the rest of the other diners’ food: deep fried.

the avengers

Saturday, 5 May 2012

Just me and Hubby, after dinner at Dome

Dubai Mall

If it weren’t for Chris Evans, I wouldn’t have agreed to watch. I already wasn’t in a good mood because I felt guilty leaving Caila at home while she was taking her afternoon nap. My mood became worse when, upon arriving at the ticketing counter, we found that the only seats available for the 6pm show was right at the front (which I absolutely didn’t want) and the next show was at 7:45pm with seats five rows from the front at the extreme right side! Feeling my mommy-guilt grow by the minute, I wished that Hubby would feel the same and just reschedule our date, but since he was so excited to watch it, I just stayed quiet and watched him buy our tickets for the 7:45pm show.  After that, since we had loads of time to waste, we ate at Dome before window-shopping around the mall.

job secured

It’s no secret that although Dubai is reviving, there are still some companies out there that are forced to terminate employees’ contracts or delay giving the staffs’ salaries for several months. And although the company I’m working for has somehow managed in spite of the crisis since 2008, my colleagues and I were worried that if we don’t get a project soon, we might not be as safe as we hoped we were.