this month

We got a house early this year and we are working on it day and night. We have to finish at least the most important parts of the house before the 28th of February because we should be able to live there by then. Our contract on the flat we are living in now will expire at the end of this month and we decided not to extend it anymore. We only have three weeks from now until we move in to our new house and we are not even done with the painting!

Our target is to finish the painting, the bathroom, the toilets, and the floors before we move in. We also want to finish the kitchen but unfortunately, it will only be delivered and mounted on the 8th of March so for the first eight days, we will have to eat out or be contented with home deliveries.

My father-in-law will come sometime soon to help us with the work because there’s no way that my husband and I can do it before our target date. We need some help. My brother-in-law is already 15 years old and physically, I think he is able to help us but he can’t miss school. And on the other hand, he’d rather spend his weekends driving his new motorbike. He got it on his 15th birthday and he’s really crazy about anything motorbike. He actually already listed things like fox motocross jeans, motorcycle jackets, motorcycle helmet, and other motorcycle accessories on his wish list for the coming Easter.

The house still needs a lot of work–hard work. But to tell you honestly, I don’t mind doing the hard work. I am actually very motivated to work on it because I am already excited to move in!

repairing my car

Since I got my car last October, I had two accidents. The first one was not serious. I got a few scratches that are not really visible from afar. The second one came as a shock to me. I was not hurt (thank God) but my car spinning and hitting a post is not really what I’d call fun. I honestly thought I died.

It was my first time  to drive on a snowy/icy road and it was really weird and difficult for me. I didn’t feel that my car has a grip on the road so I remember being really careful but although I exerted extra caution, my car still slipped and that’s when it happened.

My car made a semi circle then it hit a post.

Luckily, only the number plate was damaged (and a few negligible dents): nothing we can’t take care by ourselves.

So instead of getting my car fixed by mechanics in super expensive car repair shops, my husband consulted some auto repair shops online and repaired the damage by himself. That saved me some bucks.

Luckily, I have a husband who is knowledgeable with automobiles and luckily too that  he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty to do some manual works especially if a work has something to do with cars.

happy holidays y’all!

I know that it is too late to send out my greetings through my blogs but I think that I gave out greetings to most of you through Friendster, Facebook, YM, and chikka already.

So anyway, here’s a quick update about my holiday.

We spent our Christmas at my in-laws. I’ve got some really interesting gifts and my favorite is one of the gifts I got from hubby: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I also got the Hobbit from him and so the next few weeks will be spent reading these books.

The days between Christmas and New Year were spent visiting friends and relatives and of course, shopping. There are just too many post-Christmas sales happening around so it’s really a good time to shop.  I’ve already spent most of the Christmas money I received.

Countless hours were also spent telephoning with my friends and family back in the Philippines but of course, it is not the same. I truly miss all of them and I hope to see them all soon.

I will be going back to work on the 7th of January. I will be going through a minor operation before that and I hope that I have time to heal before I go back to work.

So that’s pretty much it.

By the way, while writing this entry, I notice that Google PR has updated again and this blog still remains PR 0.

an evening alone

Hubby is working until 9:00 tonight. It sucks because it is a Friday. He’s supposed to be home early. According to him, they’re done with the prototype of a certain MINI car and they have some VIPs and photographers to take a look at it. The event will go on until the last VIP left but he said he’ll try to sneak out at 9:00.

Even if his absence gives me a time to blog, a time to read books, and an excuse not to cook, I’d rather have him here. I am not used to eating dinner alone and there’s no point waiting for him now because it’s an event, there’s a catering so he would have eaten something by then.

He said he felt bad for letting me eat dinner alone so he promised that he’ll make it up to me tomorrow by inviting me to lunch and by accompanying me to shop and spend some of the money I got as gift for my birthday. *wink.

This thing doesn’t happen often and I hope that it will stay that way because I get lonely if I have to spend the time alone when I am supposed to be spending that time with him. Of course I don’t mind being alone sometimes but it is a Friday night and he’s supposed to be home early, we’re supposed to have a quiet dinner, and after that we’re supposed to cuddle comfortably on the couch while we watch TV.

It’s just 6:00 pm here. I still have three hours to be alone…. sigh* I’m too dependent on my husband, am I not?

today is wednesday

99% of the working population hates Monday because it is the start of another tough week of working. My husband is a good example because he so often complains about Mondays every Sunday night.  He’ll go on and on about why does Monday come too soon and why does it keep on coming.

I personally don’t like or hate Mondays. For me, it is just a day but same is not true with Wednesday. I hate Wednesdays because it is such a difficult day for me. I wish that I could skip two of my three classes on this particular day because these classes have kids who are just too damn impossible. I wish that I don’t have to teach in three different places on this day. I wish that I my students on this day were respectful and disciplined children and not the rich, bigheaded brats that they are.

Sorry. That is very un-teacher-y but I suppose it happens to every teacher. I love teaching and I like most of my groups but there are just some groups with students who have no positive chemistry to me and to each other at all.

Anyway, those are just too many wishes so I will summarize them in one final wish. I WISH I COULD SKIP WEDNESDAYS.

I am swamped!

I don’t like to sound like I am complaining because I wanted to have this job in the first place and I do really want to keep it.

Teaching is a lot of work. I have a minimal number of classes per week but the amount of work is tantamount to having a 7-5 job. I used to have more classes per week in China but I was always relaxed. I had time for other things like meeting my friends, chatting with my family back home, and partying. Right now it seems that the time I have is just enough for lesson planning and making props. Other tasks like most of the housework are postponed. The pile of clothes waiting to be ironed is incredible… I don’t know if I can ever iron it all to the last piece of clothing.

Hubby understands that since I am now working, he has to help me with the housework and that’s what he is doing but I never dare let him do the ironing (he can’t do it to my standard). I still do the cleaning but at least he tries so hard not to make a mess.

He cooks sometimes. He likes doing it and I let him because he’s a far better cook than I am.

The work brought so much adjustment to our household. I still do most of the work but I noticed that when hubby can help it, he tries to minimize the housework for me.

I did it!

I was not able to sleep well last night. I was so anxious about my practical driving exam. I drifted off at around 1 AM only to be wide awake at 5 AM. I didn’t dream about anything in particular. I just had this ugly feeling that I’m going to fail my practical driving exam… AGAIN! I had forced myself not to think of the exam by diverting my mind to happier thoughts so I was once again able to dose off.

At 7 AM I woke up because my husband’s alarm went off. Usually, I stay in bed and listen to him take a shower but today I got up and went straight to the kitchen to have a cup of strong coffee.

Nobody knows that I signed up for the practical driving exam today. After failing the first one, I learned to keep my mouth shut about it. By law, I am allowed to a retake after 2 weeks provided that I took additional lessons in these 2 weeks. I did that and although I didn’t get a green light (again) from my instructor, I pushed through with it.

I took the exam today and I am glad I did it.

The exam started at exactly 12 noon and although I got this funny feeling in my stomach the whole morning, I can’t complain about it. I PASSED the exam! The hell I’ve been through feeling that I need to use the toilet every other minute is forgotten. When they told me I passed it, I felt relief and gladness then after that I just felt sleepy.

So I napped first before writing all about it. :)

Driving sucks big time!

I got my last driving lesson today and my instructor said I will definitely need more. Urg!

This is the driving lesson set (6 hours driving) I paid extra right after I failed my first practical exam. I had like 25 hours driving before that… so all in all, I have like 31 hours. To cheer me up a little bit the instructor told me that not a lot of people make it right after the minimum hours (13 hours). But I did 31 hours already! And how many lessons did I pay extra? 3 sets (18 hours extra) and that cost me 756Euro plus the basic course price 968 (13hours driving lessons + theory lessons + exam fee + entrance fee) and yet another plus 205 for doctor’s fee (eye and general doctor) and the book. And because I failed the first practical exam, I have to pay yet another 139 for it (second exam sometime next week).

If my computation is right, I’ve spent exactly 2,067 Euro for this. Hey, that’s about the price of a secondhand Ford KA already (not my dream car but ok). I could have my car for that money!

Driving sucks! And it is sucking me off my money!

It doesn’t help that I got 100% in my theory exam. I still don’t get a license!

I can drive. I know I can drive but the city traffic here in Graz is just too complicated for me. There’s just so many one-way-streets, tramways, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian crossings, etc, etc… sigh*

Maybe I should just accept the fact that when it comes to driving… I am a total moron.

It sucks!

And to cheer myself up, I just think about Einstein and how was also NOT able to drive a car PROPERLY even if he was a genius.