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My Birthday Getaway (Part 1 of 3) – Escape from Reality

Did you ever come to a point when you are overly stress and that the only thing you wanted to do is to vanish?  Well not literally vanish and it requires an extra super power anyway.  So let me just say that I wanted to temporarily disappear.  And that’s what I did some few years back during my birthday.

I was so burnt out and overly stressed back then juggling from a double job, wife hood and mother hood.  Well the double job was not intentional.  I was quitting from an old job and was planning to be a full time mother and wife.  However while I’m in the process of resigning from my long time job, an online/‘Work From Home” (WFH) job offer came.  I grabbed the opportunity because I was thinking then that I might get bored with the sudden resignation from regular job.

But things did not work the way I expected.  My company could not find a suitable replacement for my position resulting to my resignation taking longer than usual.  Not only longer but the longest I should say. What happened was that I’m still reporting to my supposed-to-be-ex-job while working online plus wife hood and motherhood and they are all FULL TIME!   Back then if you ask me what was the date I will not be able to provide you the the correct answer.  Aside that I am working 24/7, I am also working in different time zones – Manila time and the US/Canada time. When somebody wakes me up and tells me the time, I would automatically asked “AM or PM?”  Jeez!

I was eating a lot and my sleep was irregularl which are both unhealthy.  My body is not used to such life style.  Prior to that period I was doing regular exercise.  With that kind of load I can’t spare some time for fitness activities.  In just a short period of time I gained weight.  I am a picture perfect example of a burnt out person.

And because I was so caught up with my hectic schedule I also avoid going out for fun. When my birthday month came, my husband kept asking me “What is your plan on your birthday, our friends are asking?”  My answer was always “Dunno”.  The truth was that I  really don’t feel like celebrating during that time.  I don’t feel like I can entertain people and I also don’t feel like being entertained.  It was like if you ask me what birthday gift I want to have my answer would be rest, sleep, peace and the likes.  You can not blame me for feeling that way.  I have two mobile phones from two different providers which are ringing like 24/7 for my office job then I’m online at home 24/7.  Though my WFH job is for 8 hours a day only.  I was on a flexible schedule and being online 24/7 is helpful to my kind of job.  The consequence is that I also feels like I’m talking to people 24/7 be it on phone or online.  And the worst part is that I am working at home where I'm supposed to be resting and relaxing.  During that time the idea of home visitors is not very pleasing to me because it's either that they will catch me on work time or rest time.  And I don't want to be disturbed on both times.

Now did I mention that I have LOTS of friends?  Friends that are so thoughtful and sweet to the point that they show up to our door step on my birthday with or without a party (or invitation lol).  Sometimes some are just dropping by to simply greet me or surprise me.  Some just to drop off a gift and some are to ambush me to an instant party that you can not say no!   That is apart from the SMS and calls, online and social media greetings.

Then one Saturday that hubby was looking on a calendar near the dining table where I was eating in a zombie-like-mode (lol), he pointed to me that day after tomorrow is already my birthday.  It falls on a Monday (Sunday in US/Canada).  Hubby suggested that if I really want to have a break and a HUGE peace of mind we should go out of town. That would be his gift to me.  I automatically said yes then followed by my usual “what about the kids they have school?” What about the reservation?  What about my works and your work?  In which he automatically said “Relax, we have the Sunday to work things out.” And he asked me if I want to leave on Sunday night or early Monday morning.  I chose Sunday night thinking that when I wake up on my birthday I am already away from my overly stress world.  That’s how desperate I was to have a temporary peace of mind.

Leaving on Sunday night did not work.  Let me see if I can share the reason on the next two parts.  Early Monday morning, 15th of March my birthday, we put on our back pack and head out to an unplanned road trip.  Our goal is to wherever our back packs will bring us to.  One thing that my husband made sure of before I close my back pack is that MY LAPTOP IS NOT COMING ALONG ON THIS TRIP!

First stop – THANKSGIVING.
Image00001
St. Joseph Parish Church/Las Piñas Bamboo Organ Church
  Want to guess where our back pack brought us?
***
For the complete series of this posts you may want t check:

Comments

  1. I wont guess, hope you tell us:)
    Anyway, I was like you once because I studied and work at the same time and took care of my daughter here and supported my kids in the Philippines. But thanks God for helping me through. Its where our help comes from:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha ha I will Joy on the next post :)

      I'm just glad I was able to get out of that situation slowly. Grabe ang hirap ng ganun :(

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. THANKS Arvin I was at your site too :) You seemed busy lately - taske some time to relax :)

      Delete
  3. just reading what you have been doing made me tired.... we all need a rest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly Jonathan! I'm not liking my life back then. Feeling ko pa ang panget panget ko :(

      Delete
  4. mejo naguguluhan ako sa timeline haha late post ba to?
    kasi bday mo ee, ehh parang kelang lang ung celebration natin ahh!
    hmm nice nacurious nman ako sa work mo, walang nahanap na kapalit agad?
    sa dame ng naghahanap ng trabaho!
    well mas ok na nga mag full time mommy ka na, mas magiging healthy ka pa at magigin masaya with your kids!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ha ha nalito si MEcoy (skip reading? lol). I mentioned it was some few years back - ni-BOLD ko tuloy yung "some few years back" ha ha.

    I will PM you my work before :) Bumalik din naman ako sa pagwo work medyo hindi na lang ako workaholic tulad noon :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Relate ako sa working in different time zones!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ang hirap ano Super M? Salamat sa pagdaan :)

      Delete
  7. Heh, swap those jobs with coursework, exams, and papers and that sounds like much of my University life.

    I still don't eat or sleep well though. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaaw it's not fun right?

      You're lucky that it didn't cause you to indulge in food as an outlet. Unlike me I became an overweight for just a short period :(

      Delete
  8. Oh my God. Umuusok yung ulo ko when I read a summary of your life. It's not even life at all. My God hindi naman siguro kayo naghihikahos para patayin mo ang sarili mo sa trabaho? Grabe, ma stress talaga ako. Ot jist reminded me of my previous life. Oh, it is also my present life. And to think na single ako at waang pamilua. Paano pa kaya kapag meron na?! Moving on to the next entry...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aray ko sapul! Oo nga eh it wasn't even a life :( Hindi ko naman talagang sadyang magka-ganon and eventually I was able to get out of the situation before it kills me.

      Eh ikaw din naman pala eh... ha ha excited ako sa next comment mo...

      Delete

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