Passionista

Just a wave in the ocean, crashing and coming back in a never-ending cycle.

[raechristia]

I recently found myself in the same room as someone I used to care deeply about. It was difficult, knowing that only I knew what I know, that he and I shared a light a long time ago… a light I had dismissed as “nonexistent” just to close off any further discussions among those involved.

A wave of feeling’s coming over me and I’m not quite sure how to handle it. As a current mom of 2 beautiful children, I can’t help but wonder, what if our light had the opportunity to shine? How bright must she have been?

I still think of you, little one. My little star. ⭐️

[raechristia]

Life amid the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic put the entire world in an unsettling pause - with everyone, literally everyone, not knowing what will happen in the coming months. As if being under quarantine wasn’t enough, we muggles also have to deal with rent, utility bills, and groceries, on top of the crippling fear and worry over how in the world we could keep ourselves and our families safe from such a hard-hitting disease.

Our household is probably one of the lucky ones. My husband, though a medical representative who is supposed to be out of work, is being well taken care of by his company who keeps sending their employees financial assistance for as long as their resources allow. I, on the other hand, got lucky and found myself hired by OkayRelax, a 100% remote company that offers virtual assistant services, prior to the lockdown. It was only a little over a month since I gave birth to my daughter, who is now three months old, and I hadn’t expected to find work so soon. So overall, we are doing fine financially - a little tight, but we’re safe, we’re healthy, and we’re never hungry.

That’s not to say, however, that we aren’t currently struggling. The cost of staying at home has been greater as opposed to our usual spending habits, and this has caused us to be behind on a couple of bills a few weeks back (thank goodness we’re back on track now, though). With the fear of the outside world crippling us, we had to delegate and hire a personal shopper to do the grocery shopping for us. This additional expense didn’t seem much of a big deal at first, but we found ourselves spending much more than usual as each grocery run would cost us roughly 10%-20% of our average grocery bill. That means that for every four to five grocery runs, our delegation budget would have already cost us one grocery run’s worth of money. Moreover, the necessity of having face masks, alcohol, and other disinfectants have caused an increase in our shopping bill. However, this is something we can’t scrimp on for fear of contracting the virus. So there’s not much we can do about it but accept that this is our new normal, that everything will have additional fees for delivery if we want to stay inside and stay safe.

Considering the struggles we’re facing these days, we can still count ourselves blessed. Unfortunately, this is not so for many Filipinos who don’t get to serve food on their table if they don’t go out to work. The uncomfortable truth here is that people will inevitably suffer, one way or another, until this ends. The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) we are currently under isn’t something we all want, but is something we all very much need. However, all the suffering caused by the ECQ would have been for nothing if the Philippine government doesn’t implement mass testing aggressively. We are behind on numbers, and the scary part is that we may think we’re about to flatten the curve but the truth is that we might be facing a second wave that’s even deadlier than the first. I sure hope I’m wrong, and I am fervently praying that we all survive this pandemic and live to tell our stories. But the fact of the matter is that our lives are in this government’s hands, and the only thing we could do is hope that they really did mean it when they said that they are doing their jobs to be of service to the Filipino. I guess all we can do now is wait and see if they’re telling the truth.

[raechristia]

Why I Choose to Speak Up

My husband would always ask me why I’m highly opinionated, even at the risk of getting hurt by those I speak against. He told me I could always fight for whatever I believed in in silence, by letting my actions speak louder than my words. At the risk of being vulnerable, I‘ve decided to share this with everyone now. I speak now because as a kid, I never had a voice. For many years I had kept my mouth shut, and it was only when I got married to Paolo that I had finally gathered enough courage to tell someone about my experiences. My husband was the first to know, and I haven’t even told him all the horrifying details because it’s just. that. hard. I had always been a bubbly kid. I was always eager to go out and explore, to act, sing, and dance, even though I was never really good at any of these stuff. I wanted to put myself out there because I wanted to do a lot, and I wanted to be someone someday. I was so outgoing and always smiling that no one ever realized how traumatizing a few of my tween to teen years had been. I don’t even remember which came first. I just remember the older men and where the traumatizing events happened. There were three, among which was an old man who lived in the same village as ours who would sell us some eggs. The latter was probably the scariest for me because he was a complete stranger. Whenever my mom would ask me to buy something from the sari-sari stores near us, I made it a point to avoid the old man’s store at all costs. But he was so nice to us and would even give us free calamansi, and I couldn’t bring up the courage to tell my mom how scared I was of this old man that I would still go back, scared and always trying to bring someone else with me just so he wouldn’t do anything while I bought whatever it was that I needed at the time. Even as I write this, I’m shaking and can still feel the fear I had felt then. This same feeling crept up every time I saw these older men, these predators who would act normal and pretend to be such nice people when in front of family, friends, and their community. It was nauseating, so disgusting to see them. And the worst part of it all was that I couldn’t even tell anyone because I was so scared. So scared that I just opted to act as if nothing ever happened. The earliest age I could remember when such events happened was when I was 10 years old. Fucked up, right? These events haunted me for over a decade. I never told ANYONE, until Pao. My friends have always thought it weird of me to be so apathetic towards things when I should be feeling angry, to be acting all nonchalant when someone would do something so terrible to me but I would just shrug them off. It bothered me to no end too, knowing that they were right. It felt weird and it WAS weird, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care. My defense mechanism turned me into a robot, and it didn’t feel right, so then things went haywire and I didn’t even know how to react to things properly anymore. The horrifying things these older men did brought along some sort of domino effect on my life, that everything just started falling in a downwards spiral. I don’t ever want something like that to happen again. And hell, I will NEVER let something like that happen again. So I choose to SPEAK NOW. Against oppressors, against those who try to fuck us up, against those who use us as pawns for their own fucking pleasure. It’s the least I could do for my younger self—and for my future self and our kids, too. Never let ANYONE silence you. If you must, SPEAK UP. Even when it’s scary, even when you think there is no one, trust me when I say that someone will always be there to listen.

[raechristia]

Review: Bonjour Baby Mix & Match Playmat

Just last week, a much-anticipated delivery arrived at our doorstep: our new Bonjour Baby Mix & Match Playmat set in grey and white! It was something my husband and I had been looking forward to since December of last year, and both of us even thought that it might have gotten lost during the delivery process as it’s already been two months. Fortunately for us, this wasn’t the case.

Two days after receiving the package, my son and I decided to finally open and set it up. Each Mix & Match Playmat set included 40 triangle mats and 30 edge pieces, which were all 1-cm thick and made with high quality EVA foam.

It took me a while to properly set them up because: 1) there were just so many patterns to choose from, and 2) my son kept lying down on the mats as I worked.

What I liked about the Mix & Match Playmat set is that the triangle mats gave me the leeway to create various patterns that’s simply not achievable with the traditional square mats. However, it didn’t even matter which pattern I decided to go with, because the mats were specifically designed to complement homes with its neutral and baby-friendly colors. The edge pieces were a big factor to this as well, as they gave a clean look to the mats once they’ve been assembled, unlike traditional mats with uneven edges that seem out of place.

While the brand promised high quality EVA foam that was supposed to cushion your child’s fall and minimize bumps, scrapes, and bruises, we didn’t know exactly how to test this. At least not until one morning when I woke up with a loud thud, only to find my toddler lying down on the mats, sleeping without so much as a peep after falling from our bed. We suppose the EVA foam was indeed an effective cushion! During the previous times my son fell off from our bed, he would cry out loud and turn red all over; fortunately, none of these happened during this particular fall, thanks to the Bonjour Baby Mix & Match Playmat.

Overall, we’re happy with the mats so far with its well-delivered safety and comfort - and, not to mention, how aesthetically-pleasing its design is! But the most important part is that I am worry-free while my son enjoys and plays in it everyday - and that is just priceless.

Get yours now! Visit their Facebook page here or their Instagram profile here.

Sponsored post.

[raechristia]

When losing your job may just be exactly what you’d prayed for

Well, not exactly. I’m not saying that losing your job is a dream come true, that’s definitely not it! To some, losing their job may just be the single worst thing that has ever happened in their life.

But sometimes things come with a silver lining. When I lost my job at this private ad tech company from where I was working remotely, it opened up the doors to exactly the things I’d always prayed for. I mean, who ever imagined me in a company doing complicated ad tech stuff anyway?

Well, data entry, PubGuru configuration, and a myriad of other projects weren’t really too complicated, but it kinda was for me since I wasn't - and still am not - exactly a tech kind of person.

But that's not the point. Going back to the story, it hasn’t even been 48 hours since I got sacked, and one of my college best friends chatted me up to let me know that her mom wanted to offer me the Marketing/Social Media Manager post at their company.

Marketing + Social Media + Work-From-Home + Office visits once a week + Proper salary and benefits from a Filipino company = could this be any more perfect?

But it’s not just the amazing job offer that I’m thankful for, but the people around me who showed me what true friendship and love were really like. I must have been a saint in my past life, because I honestly can’t figure out what I’ve done in this life to deserve such a blessing very few are given.

So let me write another equation:

An amazing and faithful husband + a very active yet very charming and sweet son + very few but very amazing set of friends who love me unconditionally + amazing parents and siblings = these are basically the most important things in life, and I am so grateful that I had been given this wonderful life I’m living.

So to everyone who is having a difficult time right now and have just experienced major rejection, sometimes doors close on you to open better windows of opportunities--and sometimes, these opportunities may just be the perfect ones for us.

[raechristia]

The Real ‘Real Love Revolution’

What is love? This question had been bugging the minds of people since time immemorial. Different perspectives by different people… this topic is actually very debatable. But what could be a universal definition of love? What is it, really? Simple: God. Nothing else can be a more perfect and accurate definition of the word. God is not just the epitome of love; He is Love Himself.

Proof of this can be seen through The Passion, a film portraying God’s immense and perfect love for humankind through Christ’s passion and death. For man has sinned, God sent His only Begotten Son to become Man and bring forth salvation and redemption for all. Although He could have chosen not to push through with the sufferings (He is God, after all), Christ still went on with it because of His love for us. He had been whipped, scorned, mocked, ridiculed… yet He still stood firm and saved us. If that is not love, I don’t know what is.

The film covers the last 12 hours of Christ’s life here on Earth, beginning with the Agony in the Garden where He wept and told God the Father,

“Father, if You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; yet not My will, but Yours, be done.”

This scene shows the human side of Christ, Him having His own will but still choosing to follow the Will of the Father, as He is perfect man. The film also shows a brief depiction of Christ’s resurrection.

In the Agony in the Garden, Christ’s passion was first suffered in His mind before He suffered it in His body. The beginning of Christ’s passion, therefore, was not when the high priests captured him, but while He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. What was the most painful thing about all that had happened to Him was the one thing that human beings very much fear: rejection. Christ had been shunned by the high priests, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter thrice, and left by His apostles… almost everyone who had close ties with Him abandoned Him during the most crucial stage of His life. As if these were not enough, those who wanted to kill Him also wanted Him to suffer. To these people, Christ was worth nothing. In fact, they wanted Him to be less than nothing, if at all that was even possible. Christ was not numb – He felt all this, and it was the most heart-breaking suffering He had to endure, much worse than the physical torture that He had received.

So to Him we owe everything. He saved us not just by any easy way – He saved us by becoming what we are, and sharing the human journey with us. He saved us by going through the same sufferings we endure, plus a whole lot more. He experienced hunger, thirst, fatigue, drowsiness, all at the same time… He shared with us our sorrows and spared us from eternal damnation. And most of all, He saved us by choosing to experience the one thing we humans dread the most.

When Pontius Pilate condemned him to death by crucifixion, the crowd saw Him standing in the praetorium in absolute disgrace – but what God the Father saw was different: Christ, in fact, was standing in absolute glory. His Divine plan was about to be fulfilled and all humans will be saved – including those who rejected Him and put Him to death. God was performing His last Act, and the curtains were about to be drawn.

On the cross, Christ kept on fighting. He never felt anger for the people, and even prayed for them:

“Father, please forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

His Great Love for us overflowed even in this moment of pain and despair. After three hours of enduring this pain, Christ drew His last breath… and in doing so gave us Life. This is the greatest moment in history: the salvation of all men that transcends time and space. By giving His Life up, Christ gave us life: He gave life to the men of the past, His present, and those to come. For man has sinned, Christ came to redeem us and bring us the gift of everlasting life. Thus we say,

“We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You; because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.”

[raechristia]

#WAHMProbs: No Job, No Dough

If you know me personally, you must already know that I’m a work-at-home mom (WAHM) of a 19-month-old (that’s 1 year & 7 months), and that I have no house helpers or a nanny to help take care of my son.

About two months ago, my husband and I decided to split the bills between us both as sharing our money only made us spend a lot. He handles the mortgage and our debts from when I was pregnant and we both had no jobs, and I handle all the utilities and needs for the house such as electricity, water, association dues, groceries, laundry, internet, landline, and our weekly trips to the mall. This worked well for the past couple of months until two nights ago, when I found out I had just been laid off.

This was hard-hitting news as I basically pay for almost everything at home. This would cause a huge dent on our budget and everyone knows how much I love having milk tea everyday! Kidding aside, this was terrible news for us both. This would set us back big time, and I’m not particularly excited about the coming months, what with my and my son’s birthday coming up, plus the house and fire insurance bills due in a few months.

If you live in the Philippines, you’ll understand how difficult it is to find a job. It took me a long time before I landed one the last time I was unemployed, and it wasn’t a great feeling being unproductive. I felt so useless, so pathetic. I mean, I wasn’t contributing anything at home! I was no longer an asset, I was a liability and I hated it.

I understood how I’ve matured over the course of two years, though, when I got off the call with my supervisor who had just told me I’d lost my job. (Well, what would you expect from a company with 100% remote workers and a contract that states you’re merely a consultant, right?) I no longer felt useless, nor pathetic. I no longer felt I was a liability, even though I wouldn’t be able to contribute to our expenses this month (salary deductions are such pains in the a**!).

Instead, I applied for freelance projects right away. I went on different platforms: Facebook job hunting groups, JobStreet, Upwork, LinkedIn, and messaged friends who may be able to help me with my situation. The result? I got a few people who replied back, I have interviews for the week, and a lot of new opportunities are opening up. The best part of it all is that these opportunities are for writing, marketing, and social media management gigs--and I love all those and believe I am quite good at them!

Losing my job may just be the best thing to happen to me this year. And while I know it’s too early to tell, being able to pursue what one actually loves doing is something very few are blessed with.

So if you’re in the same spot as I am, get up and don’t worry about anything. Challenges come and go, but it’s how you react to them that defines the person you’ll become in the future. Every decision you make with your reactions can make or break you, so instead of losing hope, take this as a sign from the universe that it’s your time to explore and dive into what you really want to do. Who knows? It just might be the career that would help you give your family a good life. After all, what else is there to lose?

[raechristia]

To new beginnings

I just lost my job.

But hey! This isn’t a post written out of contempt or sadness or anger. This is a post written out of gratitude. Yes, gratitude! Even I’m surprised about it.

I’m grateful for many things that surround this life-changing event:

- I’m grateful that God allowed me to veer away from something that’s not for me. I’ve always known this deep inside, but never really took action because I didn’t want to lose my source of income.

- I’m grateful for the new opportunities coming my way. It hasn’t even been 24 hours since I’d been let go, and I already have a few interviews underway for jobs that I actually like! Maybe it’s time to finally take my writing seriously and turn it into a career.

- I’m grateful that I now have more time to focus on my son and teach him many things. I’ve slightly neglected his educational development these past few months and didn’t set aside time to teach him new things and play with him. Losing my job was a wake-up call for me to focus on what matters most, to focus on what’s permanent--family.

- Most importantly, I’m grateful for my husband. He has been nothing but supportive in all my endeavors and even when I felt so ashamed for what happened, he understood that things like this really do happen to anyone and that none of this is within our control.

What we can control, though, is how we react to the things that happen to us, and that’s what my husband taught me. He taught me how to be mature enough to handle sensitive situations such as this, and I learned from him that all it takes is a little change in perspective to see that everything has a silver lining--that even bad things can lead to great things ahead.

I have never been lucky with my choice of partners before. But I see now that God was only preparing me for someone so perfect for me, and only allowed me to experience trials and hardships with my past to prepare me for a mature and happy relationship with the best husband ever. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the type of relationship you should aspire for: a healthy one.

You must grow together, and pull each other up. Otherwise, both of you will be stuck in a rut, and who wants that?

To cap this off, allow me to share a little surprise note my husband left me tonight when he got home from work. I’m so proud of my life partner, and I’m even more proud to call him my husband. :)

“Don’t stress yourself too much. Kaya yan (we can do this)! I love you! :P”

[raechristia]

On Girls and Matchsticks

Just my two cents, so bear with me.

This has long been a norm in our society, an issue among partners, and despite all the rants we post online, we'd have to admit that we've learned to accept it. Can't say I can blame those girls who rant mercilessly, though. It indeed is infuriating to know that we are used as pawns, and much worse, treated as a hobby. It's true, though, isn't it? Men - no, let me correct that - boys often come together with the following in mind:

- Computer games (DoTA, LoL, Counter Strike, etc.) - Alcohol (”Tol, tara inom maya!" - everyday) - Basketball ("Hoops maya, bro? Sali tayo sa liga!") - <insert hobby/sport here> ("Pre, <hobby/sport> tayo sa weekend!")

Or, what often comes to their minds first, something they don't even have to think about but just do, something they smile so mischievously about every single time...

- Girls + Sex ("Pare dude tol broooo daming chicks dun sa <bar/club/village/whatever goddamned place> ano, tara?!" - and everybody cheers and chimes in with a resounding "GAAAAMMMEEE!!!" or the pa-simpleng "Ayos yan!" or the very typical and much-abused phrase "Yun oh!")

If you'd look closely, you'll notice that girls are among a list of past-times, mere hobbies, objects of somebody else's fascination... simply put, just objects. Is this all we've boiled down to? Gee whiz, no matter how much we express all the pains and frustrations of being sex objects or eye candy or trophy girls, none of these will change anything because of the sickening mentality most men now have. The mentality that tells them that it's okay to objectify women, because they're fun. They're fun when they're convenient; they're fun when they're the apple of everybody's eye in a certain place and you get to have the honour to escort them; they're fun when there's no exclusivity; they're fun when they allow you the leeway to do whatever the hell it is that you want to do; they're fun when they touch you or you touch them; and most especially, they're fun in bed. But that's where the line ends. Goddamnit, that's where most of you assholes draw the line, and that is just not right.

I am not a boy. So, I don't know why you do what you do. What I do know is that there are men out there who may have the same libido as you do, who probably share the same interests that you have, but choose not to treat women like heroes or champions in a game, heroes you can control, do with as you please, regenerate when they lose energy, and replace when you get tired of them. In the end, it's not how you were designed that matters, not how you were physiologically engineered, but how you decide to do what's right and not waste time being insensitive, inconsiderate, little pricks who can't seem to grow out of being lazy, shallow-headed, immature nincompoops for the rest of their godforsaken lives. You boys should know by now that playing doesn't make you cool, nor does it make you attractive. You can't always rely on us to tell you what to do, much more so tell you to grow the fcuk up.

After all, we girls are not meant to put out the fires kindled by boys who can't control their matchsticks.

[raechristia]

World, Meet #LucasCaywalker

On May 20, 2017 at 10:49 P.M., my little Lucas Caywalker was born.

Words couldn’t express how happy I was to finally see my little boy in the flesh. This little man actually came from my belly! This tiny creature is my son... everything is still so surreal that I feel like I’m in a wonderful, delightful dream.

Just look at that heartbreaker!

The first few days of motherhood/parenthood had been tough. I’m grateful and blessed that these past few days had been somewhat smooth-sailing (mostly thanks to my dear brother Eira who had been helping me around the house so I could focus on my little Luc) and I’m slowly getting used to the daily routine of motherhood. I used to believe that I wouldn’t be able to get by without some house help, but with my brother being away over the past two days and me being left alone in the house with my son, I found out that when there’s a will, there truly is a way. I’m able to do house chores, albeit being slow-moving since I have to interrupt myself every now and then to attend to my baby siopao. Slow-moving I may be, but at least I get things done around the house!

I used to see motherhood as a scary stage in life. Upon experiencing it firsthand, I can say this early on that though it really is one heck of a challenge, it’s far from scary. It’s a huge delight, no matter how difficult things may get. Just one look at your little tyke and you’ll realize that every hardship - yes, even the pregnancy and giving birth! Oh man, giving birth really hurt! - is well worth it.

[raechristia]

#PregnancyProbs: On Work & Being Pregnant

The biggest struggle of being pregnant for me so far is not the nauseating feeling I get each morning, the heavy weight of my extra large stomach, nor looking like a waddling penguin whenever I go out. No, those are things I had eventually gotten used to. What frustrates me the most is that, as much as I would love to get a new job and work for my family to help my husband save for Lucas’ arrival, I can’t.

It’s a real bummer not being able to help, and it irks me to no end knowing that I am capable of securing my family financially but can’t. It would take me a while to get myself back up on the corporate world, and it’s devastating. I want to be able to provide well for my family, most especially since this is my first child. I want to provide only the best for him and my husband but at this point, I can’t. And that’s very, very, very devastating.

Over the past few months, I’d tried my luck on various companies by applying - just to see whether it would be possible for me to get myself back on track. Unfortunately, though I’d had numerous offers and even found myself being invited by multinational companies where many would have loved a chance of getting in, I was immediately put on hold right after I’d told them I was pregnant. Though it hurts me to know that pregnant women are “discriminated” in this way, I also know that this is something I should have expected in the first place. After all, in this fast-paced world, a company urgently looking for someone to fill a post can’t afford pauses. If they hired me, they’d have to provide maternity benefits for me and of course, why would they do that if they could hire someone with the same or an even better CV than mine - and who’s not pregnant and in need of maternity benefits?

For all mommies reading this post, I would very much appreciate a good, sound advice on what I should do to motivate myself each day. I hope someone could help me out on this because at this point, I only feel useless and it’s not doing my family any good.

Praying for positivity and a good future ahead.

[raechristia]

Update # 1: On Government Offices and Maternity Benefits

If you would read my last post, you’d see how much of an ignorant, clueless cat I am when it comes to all things government-related. Most especially benefits! Goodness, I didn’t realize how helpful they can really be until now.

Going back to my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to visit the PhilHealth office to inquire about the process of claiming maternity benefits. Over the past two days, I was able to visit not only that, but also an SSS satellite branch. Yay! Here’s how my visits went.

PhilHealth

My husband and I are slow pokes when it comes to waking up in the morning, that much I can admit. All the more in this heat! (Have you heard that we’ve gone past 41 degrees already?!) I find it difficult to move around, what with me being pregnant and all. (We get even hotter quickly than when we’re not bearing a child - no pun intended.) My husband Pao, on the other hand, is a darling! He makes sure I don’t have to move around unnecessarily, and wives - don’t you think that’s the best of all foods? :)

Long story short, we arrived at the Local Health Insurance Office in Imus at around 4:30 in the afternoon. Pao was highly doubting that we would be accommodated, let alone let in, but lo and behold! This particular PhilHealth office has the nicest, most polite government workers we have ever encountered. To think it was already EOD! They must have handled so many cases already, and yet there was no sign of grumpiness on anyone’s face - from the guards as we went in, the people who assisted us, and even down to the cashiers! To top it all off, we had sooo many questions to ask. You’d expect annoyance or apathy from them, but they were doing their jobs very well and had on very pleasant faces that smiled at us and such friendly vibes while assisting us properly all throughout.

Going back, this is what we learned from our inquiry.

Apparently, we are only allowed to use one account to avail of the maternity benefit once I give birth. Both my husband and I had our own PhilHealth accounts, but since my last contribution had been September of 2016 (Ladies, best not to overlook your contributions! They can be such a pain.), we decided to use his and update his profile to list me in as his dependent instead. This way, my account would have to be deactivated and we won’t have to pay for my unpaid contributions over the past few months which would amount to PHP2,400.00!

After processing everything, they provided us with a couple of documents which we’d have to surrender to the hospital where I am to give birth. These documents include the following:

1. Claim Forms (one for me, and one for the little one) 2. Official Receipt of Updated Contributions 3. Membership Data Record (MDR)

I’m not sure if I missed anything out, but these are the most important ones!

SSS

If you’d read my last post, you might remember me saying that it would be impossible for me to avail of my maternity benefits from SSS because I’d missed the deadline for submission of the Maternity Notification (MN) form to said government agency (which, I believe, would have to be within 60 days after conception) - I was wrong! I’m due to give birth in a few weeks and I was still allowed to accomplish the form... and it was approved!

Thank goodness I got a tip from a friend whose wife gave birth recently that I should still try to go for the application at SSS. So today, Pao and I ended up at Robinsons Place Imus to figure out how to go about the process of claiming the maternity benefits from SSS.

We were able to find it, but it was a small booth included in the Lingkod Pinoy Center (which can be found in select Robinsons Malls nationwide). This little service area is actually pretty convenient! Not all Lingkod Pinoy Centers are complete with the list of agencies above, but they do have the most important ones. For Rob Imus, though, payments are not accepted at the SSS so if you have to pay for anything, you’d have to head on over to the Bacoor branch instead.

Anyway, when we got there at around 4:30 in the afternoon (again!), there were very few people around and most of them, I think, were only seated there because they had nowhere else to sit around the mall. So my husband and I went straight to the counter and inquired.

Profile Updating

Since I haven’t updated my profile yet after getting married, I had to accomplish a form changing my surname, address, and list of dependents. It was a quick process. Along with this form, I had to submit photocopies of the following documents:

1. Valid ID (I used my Driver’s License for this) 2. Marriage Contract

Yup, that’s it! Once submitted, it was quickly approved. What a breeze!

Maternity Benefit Application

Once the update was over and done with, I immediately took care of my maternity benefit application. For starters, I had to accomplish a Maternity Notification (MN) form and submit photocopies of the following requirements with it:

1. Valid ID (again, I used my Driver’s License) 2. Ultrasound

I tell you, the process was quick and painless. After submitting all the necessary documents, I was given back a copy of the MN form and was provided with a Maternity Benefit Application form which would have to be submitted to SSS Bacoor after I give birth along with the following documents:

1. Lucas’ birth certificate registered with the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) 2. Certificate of Separation from Employer (since I’m now considered a voluntary member) 3. Duly accomplished and approved MN form 4. Complete Obstetrician Records (a form provided by SSS which your OB would have to complete) 5. And a bunch of other documents such as the Operating Room Record (ORR) if you’d undergone a C-Section delivery.

And that’s it! What a piece of cake!

It may or may not be a factor, but I am sure glad I now live in the province. Processing government-related transactions are such a breeze, as compared to transactions done within Metro Manila!

I may have to accomplish a few more things as we go along, but for now, boy am I glad I can sleep well knowing that we won’t have to break the bank once my little light comes out. I just hope and pray it won’t be a C-section operation!

Til the next #momventure!

[raechristia]

The Force Awakens: The Preparation (a.k.a. Preparing for D-Day)

So I’ve probably already mentioned that my little jedi will be named Lucas to give life to my and my husband’s juvenile dream to address him as our beloved Lucas Cay-walker. Silly as it may seem, it’s actually pretty thrilling! Imagine waiting for the force to awaken and once Luc is born, we can finally declare that our son will be bringing back the balance!

All joking aside, if there was one thing I learned over the past few months, it’s that preparing for a child could be so taxing. That’s not to say that each taxing moment was or is a miserable one, but they could have been/could be better. What consoles me is the fact that everything I’ve been doing is worth all the trouble since they’re all for my little light anyway.

Now what exactly are these taxing moments I speak of? Benefits.

Who knew that such a word could produce such frustrating moments! I’ve been researching on the www for instructions on how to claim maternity benefits from the government, more specifically from SSS and PhilHealth. Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. There is just so much to do. Worst part of it all is that I am quite the dummy when it comes to all things government. No matter how you try to explain it to me in writing, I would never understand completely until someone discusses it to me personally using layman’s terms. Anything government-related just gets me soooo sleepy and uninterested.

However, since the situation calls for it, I decided to break free from my preconceived perception of government-related information and give the www a shot. Maybe I could finally get that tinge of interest - just enough of it - needed in order for me to understand what I should be doing in preparation for my delivery, which will be pretty soon, if I may add.

SSS

So apparently, from my understanding, my registration or claim or whatever you would call it would be denied by the SSS. Therefore, it seems like I won’t be receiving any benefits from them for this little guy’s awakening.

Why?

Well, from what little I’ve read about the process, it appears that I should have submitted a maternity notification of sorts to SSS or to my employer (who would then relay the notification to the government agency) within 60 days of Lucas’ conception.

Given how big my tummy now is, I think that’s one impossible feat now, don’t you think? Unfortunate, though, since the benefits I would have received would have been much larger than the amount covered by PhilHealth.

Again, how come nobody told me about this earlier?!

PhilHealth

As for this one, no notifications are necessary, although I should have been an active contributor for the past 3 to 9 months - this is still a little confusing for me, since my mind juggles up all the words in the website whenever I try to understand what they’re trying to say.

Unfortunately, my last contribution was made September of last year.

So what now?

That’s what I’ll try to find out tomorrow (or today, rather) when I visit our local PhilHealth office. I hope they could shed some light on how my husband and I could work our way around the months when we had contributed zero. (That’s another problem! My husband’s contributions stopped December of last year.) From how I see things, I think we’re in for a storm as we might have to pay quite an amount just so we could avail of the benefits. It would be worth all the trouble, though, since my OB advised that we’d be saving so much (even up to PHP30,000.00, if I remember correctly) if we were updated on our PhilHealth contributions.

So, tomorrow we find out.

I’ll be posting yet another one of this soon for updates on how my husband and I have managed to fix this issue - if there could still be any fixing done!

Gawd, I can’t wait for Luc to bring back the balance.

[raechristia]

Guess who’s back?

Hey there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I’m not sure how long it’s been since my last blog post, but a lot sure has changed since then! Here’s a little list to help you catch up:

1. I’m married! Yes, since last December to my best friend and the love of my life. You know what that means: no more heartbroken posts for me here. I’ve finally put an end to it, and found someone who wouldn’t cheat on me and would love me as much as or even more than I love him. I’m one blessed girl!

2. I’m now a Cay! And I finally have a middle name, thanks to this dashing senator over here. Check this Paogi out on Instagram. ;)

3. I’m pregnant! To a baby boy named Lucas, whom I already love and adore to bits. You’ll be seeing a lot of photos of my young padawan soon enough - that, I am perfectly sure of. ;) Here’s to bringing back the balance soon, my little Lucas Caywalker!

4. I’m a Caviteña! From being a Lagunense to a Manileña, I am now officially a Caviteña. I honestly didn’t expect it, but I’m beginning to love the province! Guess that’s what getting married and starting a family does to you. You learn how to settle, and be content with everything amazing that you have. :)

5. I’m an editor! God has been generous enough to grant me the honor of being After Six’s Editorial Head this year. This website, founded by Kassy Pajarillo and Francis Miranda, aims to be an inspirational hub for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs once it’s launched (hopefully within) this month. Apart from loving what I do for the site, I also get to learn a lot along the way! This is like hitting two birds with one stone, and I’m loving every bit of it. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!

So that’s basically it, so far. Here’s to hoping I get to post here again more often, as this is one platform I’m definitely not ready to give up yet. Tumblr is where I began - this is also where I’d experienced quite a lot of challenges, which eventually taught me to grow. So, no thank you! I won’t be giving up this platform any time soon - or perhaps not even in the future.

Oops. Well there goes my trademark blabbering again. Haha! It’s 3 A.M. so I suppose that should be enough reason for it. But then again, no excuses!

Here’s to looking forward to more good changes to come!

Cheers!

[raechristia]

Chasing Storms

I’d always been comfortable with chaos. I loved the idea of it. I loved the adventure, I sought for it. I knew that we only have one life and that we should learn to live it everyday, over and over again, so why choose monotony? Thrill saves you from the terrifying thought of stagnancy, and it gets you so high.

That’s probably why I kept on attracting trouble, madness, different kinds of mess. The biggest one, as we speak, had just become dormant.

Well I’m actually the noisy one. I kept on looking for ways to draw him back to me, but somehow, some things come up that prevent such a thing to take place. It seems we’re just not meant to be, and that’s fine.

I’ve written songs about you I’ve sung many songs for you I’ve written poetry for you I’ve shared poetry about you I’ve written stories about you I’ve lived stories with you

But in the end, all of these are just words on paper and nothing more. We seem decorative on the exterior, but there’s just nothing left underneath. I would have loved for you to stay, I would have loved to spend the rest of my days with you, but knowing now how impossible that is, no matter how beautiful the idea may be, I finally concede. They say when you love someone, you have to let them go.

So... You win. I win. Love wins.

[raechristia]

First and last hello and goodbye

Mommy, hello! I feel you now I don't know how, but I do somehow Does daddy know that I am here? Oh, I hope that I could bring him good cheer.

Mommy, I know you've already told You need my daddy's hands to hold But where is he? I hope he's okay I hope news of me has made his day.

Daddy, there you are! At last I feel you But why are you sad? And mommy, too? I'd hate to see the both of you cry Why are you sad? Please tell me why.

Oh... Now I know what caused your frown I never wanted to let you down I love you both, as you can see But mommy, daddy, don't you love me?

I only wanted to see you smile I thought I'd make your love worthwhile But it hurts me now that I can tell You don't really love each other well.

I know that I was never planned But daddy, will you hold my mommy's hand? It's nice to feel that she loves me so But for the both of you, I will let go.

Mommy, daddy, it's time for me to leave I guess I'll never know how good it feels to breathe And though this is deeply breaking my heart I love you, mommy and daddy, so I won't tear your dreams apart.

[raechristia]

Honesty

Hello, my dear, how are you? I hope you're doing fine. I'd ask you how your day went, But then I don't have the time.

I ask you why you bother-- We can't salvage this anymore. Then I turn my back and leave you Watching me walk out the door.

You say you bother because you care, Because you want our love to flourish. You say you're terrified of what may come, But you still gather up the courage.

But I always shrug you off, And tell you that I don't get How you'd managed to cough this up, Why HAVEN'T you left me yet?

Yes, I know just what I'm doing, But choose to remain the same. I just don't value "us" enough, So I just treat this like a game.

But you love me too much to mind, And it makes me wonder why, But I know you'd do anything for me, So excuse me while I kiss her goodbye.