Just Me

Summer - No Time for Diet

During Winter, one cannot help but long for Spring and finally Summer to come. It's not just about the warmer weather that Spring and Summer bring. It's also about the fruits that come into season. Specifically.....the berries! First come the strawberries, followed by the raspberries, then finally the blueberries. My in-laws also told me before that there's another raspberry season in August. Sometime in late June, you will see cherries in the market too. (There are other kinds of berries that come into season. I just don't know their English names and they're not as tasty as the others.)

A few months ago, Tomek and I were already thinking about making strawberry shakes, strawberry cocktails, and making this strawberry/blueberry dessert with cream (smietana) and a sprinkle of sugar. Yum! Late May finally came and Tomek made good on his promise to makes all those. It's not a surprise to see 1-2 kg of strawberries/blueberries every day in our home plus cherries in the fridge.

I was very close to my pre-pregnancy weight 2 weeks before the strawberry season began. Now, I'm too afraid to step on the weighing scale. By far, my favorite dessert is strawberry/blueberry with cream (18% fat!!!!) and a sprinkle of sugar. It's just too hard to resist.

Aside from the fruits, the hot weather makes it very easy for one to crave for..... ice cream and any cold drink with lots of calories. Summer is bad for dieting ;)

But I'd rather have my warm weather, sunshine and long days (till 10 PM!) than my pre-pregnancy weight.

.....at least for 2-3 months in a year. ;)

Euro 2008

I just finished watching the quarterfinals match between Russia and Netherlands. I'm quite sad (even devastated) at the outcome - Russia 3-1 Netherlands :( Poor Rud, one of my favorite strikers. Ever since the Netherlands won vs. the last World Cup finalists, Italy and France, I had been been rooting for this team. And now they are going home... :( huhuhu... Oh well... There's going to be Euro 2012 (which will be held in Poland and Ukraine, btw) and I hope they fare even better.

Earlier in the league, Poland and France lost in their groups. I was, of course, cheering for these teams. So, 3 of my teams are now out. Tomorrow, Spain will be playing vs. Italy. Very exciting match it's going to be. I can't wait to watch it. Just less than 24 hours of wait.

In the meantime, better luck nex time for Poland, France and the Netherlands. I do hope that England qualifies next time. That will make the Euro even more exciting and full of drama :)

Sigh...

This too shall pass...

The Weekend That Was

We had a busy but fun weekend.  :)  Last Saturday, we took Andrzej to one of the summer classes of his future pre-school for 2 hours. The little boy had so much fun playing with the toys (sp. the cars, trucks and balls) and going through an obstacle course (he’s a pro!). He also enjoyed playing with water, with bubbles and with the usual slide. He wasn’t crazy about painting though. He preferred to ride on this crocodile ride. ;) The first time there was a group activity which involved some singing and going around in a circle, Andrzej didn’t participate. I told hubby that we should participate nevertheless so that he would see us join in the fun and maybe give it a try. Eventually, he joined the group activity. :)

After going to the pre-school, we went to the annual picnic organized by hubby’s company. They always have it on or close to Children’s Day because the annual picnic is meant to be for kids. There were so many activities similar to the pre-school but larger in scale, i.e. more complex obstacle courses. There was a mini-zoo and Andrzej enjoyed looking at the chickens and the rabbits (“babet”). For the parents, there was yummy grilled food ;) and my now favorite Polish soup – zurek :)

Sunday, we attended mass where our friends’ daughter had her first communion. She looked so pretty in her white dress and flower wreath that I found myself longing for a daughter ;) hehe… To celebrate this event, her parents invited the guests to lunch at a Chinese Restaurant.  The company and the food were great :) It was nice to see and talk to our Filipino friends again :)  We’d been missing in action for quite some time due to illness.

So, that’s how our weekend went. Next weekend, we will be heading to the seaside where we will be staying for the entire week. I’m on vacation mode already. And it’s only Monday ;)

First English sentence (sort of)

We took Andrzej to this really huge park.He saw a girl sit on a lion statue that he sat on earlier and then said, “Lion sit girl.” Needless to say, that made this Mommy’s day! :D

I *Heart* Vienna

The city is: very clean and very green, super-duper
organized, has many interesting attractions, very rich
in history and culture, has beautiful old buildings,
is very spacious.

Hubby and I would love to live there one day :)

Hubby made the mistake of getting my expectations
really high. He kept telling me to be prepared to be
impressed. With that conditioning, I couldn’t help but
compare the attractions in Vienna to other attractions
in other European cities I’ve visited (and the museums in Washington 
DC and New York).

On our first day, we went around the city and later in
the day, we went to Kahlenberg to have a good view of
the city. Commuting in Vienna is very convenient. Like
in Paris, the metro has a very wide coverage. I like
the metro in Vienna even better because it takes you
almost at the foot of the tourist attraction. For
instance, as soon as you exit the metro on
Stephansplatz, you will see the Cathedral right away. 

We also went to this museum which showed some
treasures belonging to the royal family and some of
the robes that they wore (and a pair of boots that
looked like they were made of silk – at least the
outside). Really extravagant. But must've been really
uncomfortable wearing those heavy-looking robes. ;) 

In Kahlenberg, there are restaurants situated near
vineyards. They are also overlooking the city so I bet
a dinner in one of those restaurants would be very
romantic. A lot of tourists go to this area to dine
and to try local wine.

On the second day, we went to Schonbrunn. Schonbrunn
looks very much like Versailles in France. Huge.
Grand. Rich. Those royal families surely lived in
style and splendor. I think that the garden outside
Versailles is much bigger and nicer than Schonbrunn. 
But if we talk about palaces, I still like the style
of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain (or the Real Alcazar
in Sevilla, Spain) over Schonbrunn and Versailles. And
the gardens in Alhambra definitely are much more
beautiful compared to Versailles and Schonbrunn…
combined.

We spent the entire day in Schonbrunn. It was very
relaxing. I wish we lived somewhere close to a castle
like this. Would be nice to jog, read a book under the
shade, or stroll or just talk and admire the scenery
like what a lot of people were doing there.

On the third day, Andrzej and his grandparents went to
the zoo (the boy LOVES animals!) while hubby and I
went to see the Arcimboldo Exhibit in the National
Museum. Very interesting paintings - he painted
animals, fruits, vegetables which also formed the face
of a man. There were also other paintings in the
museum including several paintings by Rembrandt. This
museum is not superior to the Louvre in France, the
Picasso in Barcelona or the Van Gogh in Amsterdam. But
still, I enjoyed looking at the paintings.

Hubby also took me to the neighborhood where he used
to stay when he was living in Vienna. We then went to
the Cathedral at Stephansplatz. There were soooo many
tourists there. Hard to say a prayer. Thereafter, like
the first day, hubby and I went to have Italian
gelato. Really good. Yum! Afterwards, we went to a
park that has a golden statue of Johan Strauss. Yeah,
we did a lot of walking this day that my legs hurt
like crazy the following day. I also slept like a baby
that night – out of exhaustion. 

On the fourth day, we watched the Spanish Riding
School perform. It was really amazing to see such big,
muscled stallions perform a number and look so
graceful. We learned it can actually take up to 8
years to train a young stallion to perform. The riders
were oh so graceful themselves and looked really
dashing in their riding attire.  Andrzej and I did not
watch the entire performance though because somebody
started to get really restless and noisy. ;)

Is it worth to pay EURO130 for such performance? It
depends. If you get the seat where you see everything,
then, yes. Unfortunately, such seats are limited that
there’s a good chance you’ll end up not in the middle
part but on the sides. Standing during the performance
wasn’t bad at all. The only problem was, if you
weren’t standing in the middle, you would not be able
to see everything. Most of the audience was actually
standing coz there simply weren’t enough seats.

The Spanish Riding School is the oldest riding school
in the world. It started in the 16th century – the
same century the Philippines was discovered.

If we don't end up living there, I would love to visit
the great city again to visit other attractions and to
watch an opera there. And to dine in one of those
restaurants in Kahlenberg (wouldn’t hurt to have a
huge budget for this too ;)). Ah, I would also love to
watch musicians/orchestra perform Mozart or Strauss.
On our last day, there was a public show with
performers from all over the world singing opera.
Truly music to the ears. Hmmm… let me visit youtube
now to listen to Carmen’s Habanera – the only opera
I’ve every seen (in Bratislava, Slovakia).

On Andrzej

When you give him something like food, he will ask and then answer his own question (in Polish) "Whose is this? Mine." haha..

The other night, when he was watching his favorite cartoon Kuzco while I sat beside him, I decided to get up to go to the bedroom. As soon as I got up, Andrzej said, "Mommy! Sit!" LOL.

I hope he's on his way to having real conversations with us soon. That will be interesting. :)

Permanent Resident

That's my status now in

Poland

. :)

We got the decision today giving me the status of permanent resident here in

Poland

. It was favorable as expected. After all, I am legitimately married to hubby (No, I didn't pay him to marry me :)) I can now say goodbye to answering silly questions ("What is the brand of your vaccuum cleaner? Where do you keep it? What color is the wall in the toilet? What do you see on the left/right/in front of you when you enter the bathroom?" Yep, these were some of the questions asked in the past :) ), and I can forget about the visits from my friends - the neighborhood policemen - to check if I really live in the same flat as my alleged husband :) They also check after I arrive from a trip abroad. It's so annoying to be the subject of such scrutiny and I thank God it's over :))))) Yeah!!!!!

To get the decision, hubby and I had to wait for 7 friggin hours! (We eventually had to call and inform our respective managers that we had to take the day off.) Hubby lined up starting at 7 am and I joined him at 7.45 am. We got called at about 12.30 and were told that the decision wasn't there yet. My ever efficient hubby called last week to confirm that the decision was there so he informed the lady (who was already trying to get rid of us by asking if my existing temporary residence permit was still valid - if yes, then, no need to rush, come back later) that it was already there. She checked in the adjacent room and indeed the decision was there except that it was not registered yet. Perfect. She then told us to come back an hour later. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant (that served really good traditional Polish food btw) and went back to the office at about 13.30. Finally, the registered decision was waiting for us.

Unfortunately, the process does not end there. We need to go back on the 27^th to get my card. We’re going to take the day off again. I’m just soooooooo glad this is the last residence permit process I have to go through….

Getting there

I am 3.5 kg close to getting to my pre-pregnancy weight! Woohoo!!! We plan to go swimming and jogging so hopefully I will lose more weight. I hope my Filipino friends get back to playing badminton every Saturday again so I can join and lose more weight in a more fun way (vs. exercising which I hate doing).

Trip to

Vienna

Will blog about this soon. But I can say this for now: The city is beautiful! Hubby and I would love to live there! It definitely made it to my top 3 fave European cities J

Birthday Party

It finally happened: a birthday party for Andrzej with friends. It took place almost a month ago - the Sunday after Easter (somebody's been lazy - or too busy :( - updating this blog) at our friends' flat (thank you Don and Che!).Most of the people we invited were able to come. We requested two of our Filipino friends here to prepare the food (I don't have the talent ;) nor the time) and the food was great! I took some dessert to the office the following day and it disappeared VERY quickly. hehe...

We enjoyed celebrating the special day with our mostly Filipino guests. :) I love Filipino gatherings here - makes me feel almost as good as being home and the Filipinos here are very nice (and a lot of them have the talent to sing! I have yet to choose the right song for my videoke number ;)).:) Andrzej, for the very first time, was not glued to me! Unbelievable. He mingled with the kids and didn't demand that his mother stood somewhere nearby. Toddler independence. Sniff... sniff...

Hosting a big party is quite stressful, I must say. Tomek and I are used to inviting a family (at most two families) to our home but never a big crowd. We were worried that we would run out of food and already planned on what and where to order in case that happened. In the end, people ended up taking home food :) What a relief! :)

Let's play/collect Lego!

Andrzej and I are hooked on Lego - him on playing with the toys and me on collecting the toys for my son. He received several Lego toys in the party. He also got a Lego toy as a birthday present from his nanny (who could not attend the party). Incidentally, it was also the nanny who gave him his first Lego toy as a Christmas present last year. Anyway, each Lego package contains a catalogue of other Lego toys and... I got obsessed with getting him all the Lego Duplo toys. After the party, I got him 4 more Legos (and got 4 more catalogues! Arggggh...). After my last purchase, I found a Lego stall in the mall with a broader catalogue...

Two incidents made me take a break from buying even more. First, I was searching the Internet (curious if there were even more and nicer Duplo stuff not included in the big catalogue ;) can you tell I was obsessed?) and found the Lego website and discovered that they were being sold here at 3x the price compared to US prices. Second, I recently shopped for bedsheets, pillow cases from IKEA and found out that a set, composed of a fitted sheet, one pillow case and a cover for the comforter, costs equally the same as one Lego toy. Yikes! 

So now I'm waiting for hubby to go on a business trip to the US. For sure he knows what I want him to get for Andrzej. ;) For now, since these Lego Duplo toys are for 2-5 y.o. kids, I will try to wait for another year (optimistic estimate ;)) before adding to Andrzej's collection.

Speaking of birthday presents, hubby and I got Andrzej a bicycle (with 2 supporting small wheels for the rear wheel) for his birthday. My son seems so big/old now that he has a bike. Sniff...

Somebody freeze the time please....

Vienna, here we come!

2 more days before we leave for Vienna. :) I'm excited :) What makes this trip even more sought after is the fact that my small family of 3 recently got sick from different types of viruses and has been pretty much stuck at home recuperating and this trip kind of ends this involuntary confinement and marks the end of the "dark" days. Yeah!

Hubby already did some preliminary packing. This is necessary when you are travelling with a toddler ;) By preliminary packing I meant packing Andrzej's necessities - diapers, wipes, snack and meals. we're not even talking clothes for him yet.

We've already booked our hotel and got tickets to see the Spanish Riding School perform. The tickets with seats for the show were already sold out at the beginning of the month! Only standing tickets were available. I'm still not sure if I should be glad about this or not. The standing ticket costs EURO25 each while the other kind of ticket costs EUR130 each. I guess the verdict will be out after we watch the performance :)

I also borrowed my colleague's (he was in Vienna in January) museum brochures and a city map of Vienna. He also gave me his buy 1 take 1 coupons to museums. There are so many places to visit there. I also want to eat authentic Austrian food. I can't wait for Wednesday to come!

Re sickness

Three weeks ago, I was on sick leave for an entire week. I had laryngitis and tracheatitis. I completely lost my voice for a day or two. I went back to work two weeks ago and Friday that week, I was down with tonsilitis. Ufff... Not fun at all. I was on sick leave again the entire week last week and was prescribed antibiotics to be taken for a week. I felt a lot better by Wednesday afternoon. Hubby also took antibiotics. Only Andrzej was spared of the antibiotics. He was sick for about a week only. He's still coughing but this is just an aftermath of the infection.

I felt so relieved after visiting the pediatrician today and having him examined. I knew that I'd spend a lot of the time during the trip worrying in case he still had an infection. Thank goodness the pedia said he had no more infection and that this cough should disappear soon.

Reading Update

"Shopaholic and Baby" was ok. I shouldn't have read it after "Holy Cow" coz the former definitely pales in comparison to the latter. I then read "Tuesdays with Morrie." Good book. I never think about dying. I feel that I still have 50 years ahead of me to live that thinking about death seems useless. I guess I need to reconsider. Life would probably be well spent and memorable if you lived each day like it were your last.

I am currently reading "Love in the time of Cholera." I need to visit the American Bookstore after our trip from Vienna. I have one other book to read after "Love in the time of Cholera." Unless my colleague's books get delivered soon....

HBD!

This month, hubby and I turned 32 and our little boy turned 2. :( He's growing up so fast. :( I wish I can keep him at this age for a little longer. Forget the terrible twos. I just want to enjoy this time with a toddler longer.

On a brighter note, he's so much fun to be with now. He's still testing our limits and challenging every "No" he gets from us but he's more fun, more talkative, more creative, and more interactive now. I enjoy watching his pretend plays and all the "conversations" he has with his "lala czapa" (dolls with caps).

He's so into trucks, cars and dogs right now (and I'm learning to appreciate playing with these toys). He's also into his Mommy. I don't know how many times he calls out "Mama" or "Mommy" whenever I'm home. Hubby also tells me that he also looks for me when I'm at work. I just love this age...

Holy Cow!

I enjoy reading this book and I'm actually sad I will be done reading this in about 3-4 bus rides :(

MY colleague who let me borrow this book assured me he's got 2 other similar books that are on their way to Poland. I can't wait to read those books.

The next book I plan to read is "Shopaholic and a Baby." I hope this will be a good read too.

Road trip

We were planning to do this with my elder sister and her family, my younger sister and her husband, and my brother when they come to visit us. (I am also waiting for my Law School friends to come and visit us so we can take this road trip together.) Since the date of such visit got moved, we were not sure if we should go ahead with it.

We celebrated Easter with my in-laws and when we told them of our plans, they told us they wanted to go. Instead of the original road trip with more countries/cities to visit, we will be going to only one place: Vienna, Austria. We've planned it for next month-beginning of May when we will have a long weekend.

I'm really excited :) Vienna is in one of hubby's top 3 cities in Europe. He stayed there as an Intern at the UN and while staying there, he got to visit a lot of great places. He's been wanting to show me this place for quite some time. (It's not high in our list of places to visit during the summer. Ranking high in our list are the hot countries during summer. After a long cold winter (even a "warm" winter), we just want to go to some place really hot.)

I can't wait for April/May to come :)

Autumn in Winter, Winter in Spring

Talk about strange weather.

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, we had a strange winter here. According to our neighbors who were in Warsaw for the entire Winter, it snowed 3-5 times only.

It was like having a colder than usual Autumn in Winter. Sometime in February, they were saying that Winter had ended and Spring had started. Well, days after that announcement, it snowed. Over the weekend, it snowed again and just yesterday it snowed the entire day. In Spring.

I just hope this is not how we'll be experiencing Spring this year - with snow.

Argh...

I can't wait for my commute later. I finished reading "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" last Tuesday and started reading "The Alchemist" yesterday morning. It's a great book! I wish I can have a few hours to read the entire book uninterrupted. It's so good that it's hard to put it down. SInce yesterday, I continued reading even after I got off the bus and just stopped when I got to my desk and had to remove my coat ;) hehe...

Can't wait for 16.30 to come.....