Category: Everyday Life

The Joys of Motherhood

Published on by Grace3 Comments

If I were to describe my role as a mother, I would say I am a transformer.  One day I’m an airplane, next day I’m a dog, maybe tomorrow I will be a horse.  As my son is getting more and more active these days, I constantly need to find ways to keep him entertained by playing whatever game he feels like playing at the moment.    Plus, I have to get him out of the house twice a day to get him tired so he will be able to take his nap or sleep at night.  It is tiring, I tell you and it has a lot of quirks too.

One day while having lunch with a friend and her daughter, Jakub shouted “Kaka” (Czech word for “poop”) in the middle of a bustling restaurant.  Now that I have started potty training him, he has figured that the best way for him to get released from his seat is to shout the magic word.  I felt a little bit embarrassed, but I guess people treated it like a regular thing because nobody seemed to mind.  On another instance, while walking on the streets, Jakub pointed to a guy’s truck and said “garbage.”  It was because it resembled a garbage truck and he loves watching the garbage truck from his bedroom window.  I’m not sure if the guy understood.  I hope he didn’t.

Yesterday at Sokol, as we were exercising with the other children and their mommies, he collided with another child. They both cried and they both had noticeable bumps on their foreheads. The irony was, I had Jakub wear a shirt that says, “I want to rock.” The other child on the otherhand, had a shirt that says:  “Here comes trouble.”  The other mom and I just looked at each other and sighed.  That somehow explained the whole situation.

Tell Me How Your Weekend Went and I Will Tell You Who You Are

Published on by GraceLeave a comment

It is pretty interesting how different cultures spend their weekends.  In the Philippines, most people flock the malls.  Our main activity is going shopping  or going to the movies.  Growing up in the countryside, I used to look forward to Saturdays because that meant going to the big city for our big shopping day.  I remember being excited by the hustle and bustle of the city.

In California, there is a good balance between those who prefer the malls and those who prefer the outdoors, be it at the beach or in some hiking trek.

Here in Czech, the cities and towns are mostly abandoned during the weekends. Most Czechs prefer to go to their weekend houses or spend their weekends in a cottage in the woods.  This past fall as we were visiting my in-laws for the weekend, I was really amazed at how they love to spend time in the woods. Instead of going there for an hour, we spent 3 hours.  Since it was a good season for mushrooms, the short walk easily turned into a mushroom picking activity.

mushroom, mushroom, where art thou

Given this, I am easily able to predict how my son will spend his weekends.  One weekend he will be at some mall.  On another, he will be in the woods.  We’ll see.  Maybe he wants to go to the beach or to the desert.

It’s All Relative

Published on by Grace2 Comments

We have been having great weather these past few days. The ice has melted and the ducks and the swans are out.

We still have low temperatures (zero to 10C). Albeit, after enduring the sub zero temperatures of winter, bright and sunny days are a welcome reprieve.

It’s interesting how 6 centigrades already feels warm.  I guess that after enduring -18 centigrades this past winter, anything higher than zero is warm enough.  It’s all relative.  I have acclimatized.

Wafers, Anyone?

Published on by Grace5 Comments

When it comes to food, the Czechs are never outdone in terms of flavor.  Among all the dishes I’ve tasted, there is not one dish that I didn’t like.  But I would say that their best specialty is in baked goods.    I love their cakes, pastries and biscuits.  However, this good flavor comes with a price — a good load of calories.

One weekend, my boys and I were taking our afternoon coffee and it was then when I realized how much calories those good stuff contain.  Take for example this tiny wafer, which is almost the size of a quarter, has a whopping  200 calorie load.  They come 5 in a pack.    Two packs of this and I’m done with my calorie requirement for the day.

"sinful" delight

When I was in California, I was working for the top producer of baked goods.  No bias, but we/they do make the best baked goods in America.  Hoho, one of our/their top-selling line, has 330 calories in a pack.  Size wise, the cake is twice the size of this cookie.  We almost got crucified for making a product that is loaded with too many calories.    Back there, never mind the taste.  It is the calorie count that matters.

Albeit now that I am here,  counting calories is not one of the things I consciously do.  When cooking or baking,  flavor is all that matters  ….  no wonder I am not losing weight.

Adventures in Czech Language

Published on by Grace7 Comments

If I were to describe the Czech language, challenging is an understatement.  It is totally different from the languages that I know. They have words without vowels.  My first encounter of a challenging Czech word was with “zmrzl,” the Czech word for frozen.   With the difficulty of this language and the sub zero temperatures we’ve been getting, I’m zmrzl.

When winter came and the air started getting dry, I went to an electronics shop here in Kolin and went looking for a humidifier.  With my limited Czech, I asked a salesperson if they had a humidifier.  I didn’t bother to find out what the word for humidifier was because I thought it would be the same thing.  The sales person didn’t know what I was talking about, so I went on to explain: “voda na vzduch” (water for air).  Still didn’t get my point across.  Maybe it was my accent.  I went home frustrated and explained the whole situation to my husband.    He said he’ll buy it for us.  As it turns out, there is a Czech word for humidifier: “zvlhčovač.”  Who would’ve thought.

I’m glad that my worst mistake in the Czech language happened in a private conversation with my husband.  In an effort to help me learn Czech, he would oftentimes speak to me only in Czech.  One day after coming home from a trip, he asked:  “Honey, mame jidlo?”  (Honey, do we have food?)  I cooked lentil soup that day so I replied. “Ano, my mame kočka.”  (Yes, we have cat).  My husband’s expression was beyond explanation.  The Czech word for lentil is “čočka”, and because of the similarities in pronunciation, I said cat instead of lentil.  When we discussed it later on, he jokingly told me:  “I knew what you were talking about but I wanted to make sure. You told me that in the Philippines, you guys eat dogs.  So I wasn’t sure what else you eat.”    I guess he does have a point.

LOVE

Published on by Grace6 Comments

The One

I knew he was the one when he patiently took my hand as I was nervously getting down from that waterfall I once bravely climbed. I knew he was the one when we passionately talked  about six sigma, lean manufacturing and all other Quality tools without ever getting bored. I knew he was the one when he played the guitar and sang with it. I knew he was the one when he ran and exercised with me. I knew he was the one when he ate rice, adobo, afritada and mangoes with much gusto.

I know he is the one when I can just talk to him about anything under the sun. I know he is the one when he knows when to push me when I’m slacking off. I know he is the one when he comforts me when I’m at my lowest point.

I know he will be the one when we watch our children grow. I know he will be the one when we grow old together.

I knew he was, is and will always be Muj Milacku.

The Miracle

I didn’t know it was possible to love somebody else more than myself.  I didn’t know how to be a mother until I had him.  I wasn’t sure miracles still existed until he was born.

I Can Skate….Finally

Published on by Grace3 Comments

So we did it. We finally took the trip out to Stara Lysa yesterday. It was great! The place was beautiful. Our friends brought us to an artificial lake which stretched out to almost 2km. Everything was frozen, so it was the perfect skating spot.

One of the areas that people converted into a hockey court.

Prior to going on the ice that day, we had lunch at our friend Hanka’s place and I had 2 glasses of wine.  It must be the wine, but when we went there, I felt braver than usual and immediately went on the ice with Hanka.  After skating hand in hand for about 1km, she finally let go of my hand and voila!  I skated by myself.

Jakub was very curious to see mommy skating.....those magic shoes.

Jakub himself had a lot of fun in the snow too.  His daddy was pulling him on a sled.

Having the time of his life.
Jakub with Majda on a sled.

Hanka’s husband Marek was kind enough to clear out a space for us.  So we had our own skating spot.

Now I know why Czech people love snow.  With good food, good friends, good wine and a perfect pair of skates, even sub zero temperatures can’t prevent them from enjoying the outdoors.

Pre-Valentine Surprise

Published on by Grace8 Comments

I am quite anxious to go skating tomorrow. Due to the extremely low temperatures, the lakes, ponds and some rivers in CZ are frozen. To take advantage of this natural phenomenon, we have planned on going to Stara Lysa to go skating with some friends.

I don’t own skates simply because I couldn’t skate. Prior to having Jakub, we used to go ice skating at the Pasadena Ice Skating rink with some friends.  All I can remember was I fell so many times.    If not for my husband’s presence I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.  I only managed to go through the rink a couple of times since Jiri was always holding my hand, or I was always holding the rails.

Back then, I looked like I knew what I was doing because Jiri was holding my hand.

The other day, my husband gave me a pre-valentine gift by buying me my own pair of skates and some winter sports gear. It is such a pleasant surprise.

Somebody's more eager than me to open my present.
My brand new skates
More winter snow gear for other snow related stuff. wink*, wink*

There will be no more rails  to hold come Saturday. I’m praying that my legs will hold me steady enough not to fall so many times. Otherwise, I may depreciate the value of these items long before I enjoy them.

Betty Crocker meets Bob the Builder

Published on by Grace4 Comments

As I was discussing house designs with my husband a few nights ago, I noticed 2 admirable traits of Czech people.   The women are domestic divas and the men are builders.

The women do amazing jobs at home.  I attended a birthday party once where the woman of the house cooked/baked everything that was served in the party, including the birthday cake.  I think that is just amazing considering that she has to keep the house clean, prepare utensils and decorations for the party, and souvenirs for the attendees….all by herself.  I don’t know how she did it, but it just simply blew me away.

In our old place, we once had a neighbor who did a major renovation for his mother’s house.  Day and night, he would go there and work till the sun settles.  At first I thought he lived there, but there were days when we saw him  drive in with his bike at 6am, then leave at 8pm.    He insulated the whole house and made a balcony complete with French windows.  I thought  that was awesome but little did I know that my own husband, my father-in-law and my brother-in-law did the same.  My husband insulated the house and rebuilt the garage.  My father-in-law built a room and a garage in his house.  My brother-in-law renovated his whole house.  And they did these with little to no help.

This terrace was built by my brother-in-law. Just a sample of what Czech men can do.

I realized all these because when I told my husband I wanted a Japanese style door, but not sure where I can get them, he simply replied:  “Oh, I can make them.”  Hello, Bob the builder!

Love Month

Published on by Grace3 Comments

It’s the love month!   Love is the theme.  If you still haven’t gotten any ideas about what to give your special someone this Valentine’s Day, click on the link below for some suggestions:

Shop Amazon – Valentine’s Day Top Gift Ideas