This has been a most interesting week, and I'm not just referring to the outcome of the US election. Interestingly enough, our baby's first birthday coincided with the election. We held a barbecue party earlier last Saturday.

We hired a party coordinator who provided a bouncing castle with a slide, that our young guests had so much fun with. He also brought along a cotton candy machine, a clown, a magician, a face paint artist, and DJ. The last two were free add-ons, which indicated we should have haggled some more with the price. But as first time parents who can't remember the last children's party we attended, we just wanted this party to be fun and memorable for the guests. We had a feeling we succeeded when we ran out of food and guests were raving about the tasty 4 kg. opera cake that we ordered from Islamabad's remaining five-star hotel, the Serena Hotel, as James' birthday cake. We didn't mind splurging, this is only the second party we hosted in our four years in Pakistan.

My online classes are giving me more work. One class is about visual and media literacy, and I got behind the assignments to create lesson plans and storyboards on video production. The other class is about Web 2.0 tools and we had to open accounts on various sites like Classroom 2.0, Voicethread, and Wikispaces. Then I got carried away and volunteered to do a Web 2.0 presentation at school. So I got behind my assignments again while putting together the Powerpoint and handout materials. But I enjoy keeping myself busy this way, even if my wrists hurt from clicking and typing too much.

Brian has been busy as well. With the reduction of students and teaching staff he has to plan rehearsals around the next class schedules for his first school musical, "Santa Sings the Blues" this December. He lost half of his after-school all-girls choir and is down to 12 members as well. He remains confident that things will work out, and he'll still have enough students who will travel to Muscat for the festival of choirs in March.

We still don't know where we'll end up teaching next year. We've been down this road before, making up lists of schools and cities/countries we want to go to. But the fact remains that it's not easy finding a school that needs a high school choir teacher and computer teacher. Truth is, of the 30 schools that have so far advertised openings in music, only one fits this "criteria" and the music position is tentative. With the right schools -- and there are two in our mind -- it's alright if only Brian is hired. Better for me to enjoy another year as a stay-at-home mom. But the question is, will these schools hire a teacher with two dependents?

So we're slowly coming to the realization that we need to attend at least one job fair to get all these questions answered. This would be the ISS recruitment fair in Bangkok this January. Wish us luck!

Well, we already sent our application to seven schools. Now we're just checking the website for announcements of vacancies. Every time I see one for Music or Computer I would look up the position description, compensation package, school website, reviews about the school, reviews about the city, and maybe a couple of travel sites. These days remind me of the time when I was a grad school student preparing for recruitment fairs. On top of the assignments I have to complete for my two online courses I am also surfing the web for information about other international schools, cities and countries. Things are starting to get warm even as Islamabad is cooling down for the pleasant Fall weather. Two weeks ago the ads for openings for the next school year were so limited, I started to feel depressed. This week the number tripled, and we continue to receive e-mail notices from TIEOnline, a website where international schools post ads and teachers post their resumes.

We're not the only ones. Many of our friends here and in other countries are doing the same. Sometimes it's nice to share information and find out where everybody else wants to go, although my husband likes to remind me that job hunting is competitive so we may not want to give away too much. But really I have trouble keeping things to myself, surprise.

At the first two job fairs I attended in Iowa almost 10 years ago I hung out with teachers who have no or little experience teaching overseas. Back then we would tell each other "I want to live in this country" more often than we'd say "I want to work at this school."

But we quickly learned as a teaching couple during the first Bangkok recruitment fair in 2005 that our number one criteria should be "which school has openings for both of us." Before we registered for that job fair we had a shortlist of schools we were interested in, all in Southeast Asia and China. But none had vacancies for both of us. Instead we interviewed with schools in African, Middle East, and Pakistan -- where we found the best fit.

We never regretted our decision to live in Islamabad, notwithstanding all the alarming news that Pakistan regularly generates. In fact we learned that things can often be deceiving, and it's best to communicate with teachers and people who have actually worked or lived here, instead of just relying on travel sites, CNN, or the CIA World Factbook.

So where are we off to next? We don't know. There are a couple of schools we're interested in, but we're not telling a lot of people -- only those who can give us honest advice about the school, city, or country in that order.

I can tell you that our criteria and priorities have changed since we had a baby. Number one, we both want to teach full-time (and if God answers my prayers, I'll be teaching Social Studies for the first time) at an international school with 700 or more students. We want to continue achieving professional growth while enjoying ample personal time for family. Second, we want to save as much as we did here in Islamabad, while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle which includes a competent nanny as well as access to good medical care for our precious toddler. This probably means no European or small, remote developing countries. Lastly, it should be in a city and country that we can call home for the next five years or more. So as you can see, we're not simply job hunting to get out of Pakistan. We are seeking professional growth and a good environment to raise our baby.

I'm not sure anymore what is normal in this town. We hoped, but knew it was not possible to return to normal after the unexpected two-week holiday. It can't be normal if we can't go to our favorite restaurants anymore, or if there are more roadblocks, checkpoints, and detours around the city. It can't be normal when you have battle-hardened soldiers aiming their guns at motorists around government and diplomatic facilities. Yes, it's been upsetting and depressing since the Marriott blast. All our assumptions about what is safe and secure have changed considerably.

But living under the cloud of more threats and heightened security has not dimmed the dazzling smile of our baby, who remains the sunshine and center of our universe. He will be a year old soon. While he's still underweight, his development is on schedule and even advanced in some areas. He knows how to get down from a bed and couch. He can open his books to the right pages if you ask him to show you the duck, sheep, tiger, or puppy. And he can also pick out the duck from his toys. His hand-eye coordination is amazing. Minutes after getting a new toy he was already putting the circles through the pegs even though the holes were less than an inch in diameter. He can say Dada and Ayah, too. He will cover himself with his favorite sarong or clothes to play peekaboo. And he'll wave hi and goodbye. He loves the water very much, and instinctively starts to swim or float even when he's on his tub. Maybe he'll be walking soon, but we're not encouraging him. He's already giving us a lot of work whenever he climbs stairs, which he loves to do every chance he gets. He understands the words no, stop, wait, dirty, and dangerous  ... it doesn't mean he will obey. He will in fact repeat what he's doing -- like pluck and eat leaves -- to see my reaction, then do it again while giggling.

Here's his latest video, taken this weekend:


So what's going to happen next? We don't know. We are currently looking up vacancies in other schools in other countries. But our decision to update our resumes took place months ago, and we sent expressions of interest to a handful of schools the week before the Marriott blast. Do we really want to leave Islamabad? Not entirely; but we knew vacancies for music and computer teachers don't happen often, so we're just being proactive. We love our students because we've had them for years and know them rather well. We've just gotten comfortable living in Islamabad with our baby, and we hate packing and starting all over again. And taking two online courses that make me review the standards, technology resources, and priorities of schools make me proud of mine. Compared to some of my classmates' schools in the US, we're doing very well with Smartboards, wireless Internet on campus, as well as regular workshops and stipends for professional development. This just makes it harder for us to find similar schools that will hire us as a teaching couple ... A school in a city with minimal pollution, lots of parks, competent nanny, and good health care for James ... which Islamabad is.

But, as we love to remind our family and dearest friends: just keep praying for us if you want to stop worrying about us living here.

It was a blast that everyone in Islamabad heard. Many Muslims were in the middle of Iftar, the feast to break their fast. We just came from the park beside Serena Hotel (another hotel frequented by government officials and foreigners), enjoying the absence of traffic and the quiet sunset. Except for a group of security guards who were having their Iftar on the lawn, we were the only people at the park at that time.

On the way home we decided to stop by Illusions, a DVD store in Super market. We wanted to know if the latest season of Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal were already available. After making our purchase (including some audio CDs) we stepped out. I lingered for a few seconds by the Afghan jewelry stall outside the shop, but Brian was in a hurry as usual. He fumbled with the car remote, while holding James, and after three tries finally hit the right button to open the car. I got in and took James from his arms.

That's when we heard two explosions and felt the shockwaves. I looked up just in time to see all the windows on the second floor of all the shops shatter (I would have been seriously hurt if I was still admiring the Afghan jewelry). People started running out to see where it came from.

"Is it Illusions?" I asked.

Brian said, "No, but I don't want to know right now -- let's just get out of here!"

Driving home we saw people everywhere on the streets, obviously alarmed and wondering where the explosion is.

It just so happened that I didn't bring our mobile phone. So when we got home it was the first thing I checked. There were messages from a fellow teacher and a student, both wanting to know if we were okay. For the next two hours we alternated between answering and sending calls or text messages, and checking the news on the Internet. For once we regretted not having a cable TV.

We're thankful for the lines of communication that enabled us to assure our family and friends we were okay, and to find out that our colleagues and some students, too, are alright. I appreciated Facebook most at this time because I was able to chat with several students. As one can see, many of us posted "we're ok" on our status within minutes. We even found out through Facebook that all teachers were safe.

We still need to wait for pieces of information to come in. More important we need to know what's going to happen next. Stay posted.

If you're wondering why I'm still talking about food, well, as a stay-at-home mom in Islamabad there isn't much for me to do. I would love to go out and take James to some parks and playgrounds, which are plentiful in this city, but I feel exposed without my husband. There have been times when we did go out and attract some Pakistani men who want to take James' photo with their mobile phones. On other occasions, well, they can't resist touching him because Pakistanis love babies, particularly boys.

I hope this does not sound like I'm complaining. In addition to cooking dinner and James' baby food, I also workout to lose weight, look after the herbs I just planted last month, and surf the net. I read articles on weight loss, look up reviews about exercise DVDs,  or download recipes for low-fat, low-cholesterol, tasty dishes.

There was a time, like during our first year here three years ago that US brands of groceries are ridiculously expensive and expired. It still happens, but there are also many items now either made locally, imported from neighboring countries and even the Philippines. So yeah, buying glass noodles or fish sauce and shiitake mushrooms are not a problem anymore. This is another reflection of the expat community in Islamabad, where there are more Asians than Westerners. I am even more pleased that a couple of vegetable shops also sell bok choi, fresh basil, spinach, cilantro, and even the occasional red and yellow bell pepper. The only hitch is there are still no refrigerated shelves except for Metro, the Costco equivalent, which is too far. So we just buy the veggies the day or day before we need these.

As a stay-at-home mom I'm enjoying the extra time to finally do some of the things I've only fantasized about -- like starting an herb and salad garden. I brought some seeds from Thailand and the US, and so far the chili, basil pesto and sweet basil have been cooperative. We just bought more pots yesterday so I can transplant the seedlings. Am still waiting for the oregano, parsley, and spearmint. When it gets cooler I'll start with the bok choy, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Why the interest in gardening? Part of the reason is I gained so much weight over the summer, I was shocked to find out before we came home that I weighed the same the week before James was born. It's a good thing I also brought some "Flat Belly Food" recipes in a couple of Prevention magazines. While looking up the calories of my dinner I also stumbled on http://caloriecount.about.com After entering all the pertinent data: height, weight, age the website advised a daily limit of 1,200 calories if I want to lose 30 lbs by February.

Well, my goal is to lose all that if not more by December. We're going to spend Christmas and New Year in Thailand to commemorate our 5th anniversary, so I better look good in a bathing suit. So I started working out two hours day and dieting in Aug. 7. I got reacquainted with my old pals Jane Fonda, Kathy Smith, and Pinkney Callan. Using their exercise videos I alternated 40-60 minutes of high impact cardio exercises with muscle workouts like a hundred counts of contractions and stretches.

The results have been encouraging. In three weeks I lost 11 lbs and 3 inches around the waist. Ironically, so did my husband who does not exercise everyday. It seems unfair, until he pointed out that I'm free from stress and don't do much after these workouts. Like playing and carrying our 10-month old baby does not count. But I admit I tend to spend more time napping with James.

What this all means is that the diet definitely works, because we both lost the same amount of weight. My husband does eat bigger portions and may have some lunch or snacks at school. But overall we both benefited since we ate healthier foods, using canola oil-based margarine, unsweetened soy milk, whole grain cereals, brown rice and wild rice, etc. Trust me, we still love to cook and eat -- another dream that came true for me -- and these new recipes are yummy. Brian loves the pasta with walnut and pesto made from fresh basil. My personal favorite is the sweet corn and tofu chowder, although I also love the Vietnamese beef salad. The dishes in these photos are spinach with ground roasted sesame seeds and soy sauce, the pasta with pesto, broiled red snapper with tomatoes and black olives tapenade, and shredded beef with bean sprouts.

Bon appetit!

After traveling to Bangkok, the Philippines, Vancouver, and Washington state we made it back to Islamabad two weeks ago bringing an older and wiser baby. It's amazing how much he grew and developed during the summer: gaining two teeth while we were in my hometown of Surigao and learning to crawl while in Brian's hometown of Chelan. He was baptised in both places, with a Catholic and United Methodist ceremony respectively.

It was indeed a summer full of milestones and numerous firsts: eight plane trips totaling over 40 hours of flying time, two boat trips totaling 20 hours, and who knows how many hours and miles of car travel going from Seattle to Chelan, then Vancouver and back, Chelan to Wenatchee, Marysville, Seattle and Tacoma, and so on.

James began to use his fingers to pick Cheerios and feed himself. He spent many hours on the walker, and finally sat still long enough to be fed in high chairs. He played with battery operated toys, using his hands and feet to push the buttons that played different music and sound effects.

He met and played with his cousins and other children. He enjoyed different variations of peekabo, with him hiding under his favorite rainbow colored sarong. During playtime he demonstrated he knew the concept of sharing and trading toys. He imitated others. So if other children squeal, he'd start squealing for days, too.

He saw and petted horses and goats. He tried to go after birds, too. His favorite animal seems to be dogs, maybe because his grandparents' sheepdog Trajan is so gentle and doesn't mind James pulling his fur.

We took him hiking and showed him around. During those days he was hardly in a bad mood, especially in Vancouver when we went out everyday. He has never been happier and more excited than when we went to Mt. Rainier. We also took him up Silver Falls in Entiat. He absorbed so much and learned a lot.

He also learned that if he cries for an hour he can sleep with his daddy and mommy, instead of the crib or playpen. That's alright, cause his mommy also loves to cuddle with him. But he wakes up at the same time every morning, and will tap on his daddy's shoulder when he wants to play. Cause he knows mommy is the one to snuggle with, but daddy is the fun parent who will play with him.

He had fever and diarrhea on some days. Bumped his head, banged his knee, and got mosquito bites on others. But he always smiled whenever we took him out and he met lots of people.

James got to see snow in the Canadian mountains in the middle of July! He saw a rodeo, went swimming in pools and a jacuzzi, and ate pasta and noodles.

He gained a pound or two, and of the suitcase full of clothes that we brought only three remained on our return trip, because he outgrew everything -- even the ones he got as a present in Bangkok.

He turned nine on the last leg of our trip to Islamabad. Dani was right. Nine months is a fun age. He's unstoppable now. In the last two weeks he also learned to sit up and stand, blow a flute, play the xylophone, turn around when he reaches the edge of the bed, and go down the bed or couch feet first.

Am so glad I'm not working this year. I get to spend more time with my baby and watch him grow and learn new things everyday.

To view photos: Click on the + sign on the right, or click and drag the slide bar below the photo strip

We finally joined the ranks of overseas parents who travel with their babies to other countries! For J's first flight we give his performance a B and ourselves a C.

He went to sleep at his usual time in the evening and remained asleep on the way to the airport at 9:30 pm, but woke up as soon as we got out of the van. He was bright-eyed alert since, drinking every scenery around him. When we finally boarded the plane at midnight he was tired and fussy again. Because he hates sitting and not being able to see much he started fussing and began crying when the plane engines came to life as we started to taxi down the runway. I raised him up as he usually likes to play "up and down," and when he saw the other passengers behind us, particularly the guy in the next seat he started to chuckle and calm down a bit. He was okay when the flight attendants finally brought out the bassinet. J played with the lock for another hour then fell asleep.

We had about 15 hours to kill in Bangkok so we promptly checked in Novotel Suvarnabhumi airport hotel to get some much needed sleep. We all loved the big bed and soft sheets, even J. Then it was time to meet some of our former students and colleagues for late lunch at a nearby restaurant. J started to get bored and fussy again at the witching hour, between 6-8 pm, during which time we were at our old favorite hangout, the German Bier Haus for wheat beer and pork neck with Viennese sauce (for Brian) and yam plamuk or spicy squid sala (for me).

J was more relaxed and slept during the flight to Cebu. We're not sure if the Panadol we gave him earlier made him drowsy or maybe he was just tired. But we still didn't get much sleep on the plane because Cebu Pacific does not have bassinets. Luckily for us it was not a full flight so J was able to lie down on an empty seat, while we took turns keeping an eye on him.

In Cebu we stayed at the Cebu Midtown Hotel. Because we arrived at 5 am they didn't have a room with king size bed available for us. We were so tired we accepted the only available room and pushed the couch against one of the double beds so J could and I could both sleep. We were at least able to move to another room, which was smaller, but had a king size bed, after lunch.

After that we were all okay. We had fun taking J to the mall and showing him off to relatives and friends. Eating out was a bit sticky because he hates sitting down, gets bored being indoors, and gets cranky from 6-8 pm, always. At least there are restaurants that have couches, soft chairs, and high chairs where we can give our arms some rest although he still prefers to be walked around.

The latest ordeal came when it was time to take the overnight ferry to my hometown of Surigao. Three months earlier I e-mailed my family requesting for a suite with a king size bed and private bathroom. But the shipping company changed the boats that week. The only cabin available was no bigger than a bathroom, with two bunk beds. Even after we left our bigger suitcases with my brother who was sleeping in another section, our carry on bags left us with maybe two square feet of open space, so the door can open. Brian slept on the top bunk, J on the bottom one, which was practically on the floor, and me ... well, I tried sleeping sitting up, lying on the floor, and sidways next to J. It didn't help that the light and AC didn't work at all times. Preparing his milk and changing his diaper in the dark at 3 am was a new challenge. He freaked out when he opened his eyes and couldn't see anything familiar in the dark. And because our cabin is right by the 3rd class section, we had the privilege of hearing a pre-dawn concert of all the roosters on board the ship at 4 am. I can't believe we left the comfort of our hotel room -- which was cheaper -- for this!

Needless to say I was cranky when we arrived until I got a few hours of sleep in my old bedroom. J, at least, was fine and enjoying himself. We'll be here for a week, probably long enough for us to recharge our batteries until the next leg of our trip comes: the flight from Manila-Taipei-Seattle. The main thing that kept or keep us going is the look on the faces of our parents and relatives when they see J for the first time.

We're leaving Islamabad in four days. It will be a great relief to us and our loved ones. The load shedding seems to get worse as the temperatures rise. Hopefully the daylight savings time that took effect on June 1st will ease the power demand.

The car bomb attack on the Danish embassy was too close for comfort. One of my students live just a stone's throw away, and narrowly escaped getting hurt because she was sitting by the window seconds before the blast. But she got up just in time and when the blast shattered all the windows and some doors in her house, there were pieces of broken glass on her seat. The blast also shattered the windows of our fellow teachers who live a block away, but luckily they were at school during that time.

Authorities arrested a dozen suspects caught with over a thousand kilos of bomb material in two Land Cruisers and a Toyota Corolla in Rawalpindi Thursday night. Who knows how many attacks are being planned.

On the bright side, our baby is literally an active bundle of joy. He is so much fun to have around because he loves to play and is often cheerful. He loves any word or syllable that starts with "b" and enjoys playing peekabo and bouncing.

It all started when a couple of senior students visited James. We offered them some freshly baked cookies, which they refused at first because they just had dinner. I also suspect they felt shy around my husband. A week later they were still talking about how much they liked the chocolate-chip cookies, and were surprised that it was Brian's recipe. And since these girls always come to my room during their free time to check if I needed help with anything I declared Wednesday as Cookie Day.

Since then I would bring cookies or muffins or cupcakes to school. It was something they all looked forward to. Their favorites were the butterscotch and chocolate chip cookies. But they also enjoyed the lemon cupcakes with poppy seeds. And because I usually have more than what they can eat I also started sharing some with the three students in Accounting class.

Cookie Day sort of became our special thing. When I didn't bring any to school once one of them groaned, "I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to come to school today, but I did because it's Cookie Day!"

They reciprocated by giving me some chocolates. I was touched when one baked blueberry cupcakes with frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

And the days seem to go faster. I get excited every weekend because it means two full days with James and another week closer to the end of classes ... my last days of teaching because I'll be taking the year off. When misbehaving students get on my nerves I just remind myself that I won't have to deal with them anymore.

But something happened this week that made me realize that I should savor these last remaining days with the students, especially the seniors as I am one of their advisers. Two of our boys had a car accident, and one is still in ICU after undergoing surgery. The other one -- the one who said he only comes to school for the cookies -- was the driver. He came to school today with his left hand in bandages, showing scars on his right hand and his forehead. After he narrated what happened I couldn't help giving him a hug. They're lucky to be alive, as none of them wore seat belts and were going 80 kph when they car hit a rail and flipped.

It was easy to see how these affected their friends. They were noticeably quiet, even subdued, during class. Some huddled in corners speaking in hushed tones. Certainly not the kind of behavior one would expect when graduation is just two weeks away. One of my cookie girls said she couldn't sleep for two nights thinking about the boy who is in the ICU, and how they grew up together. She came to school today with cupcakes that she baked for his friends. She used colorful icing and proudly presented it to them after school.

"I want to cheer them up," she said, "they've been through a lot, worrying about him especially before and during his surgery."

And so when I think about cookies and cupcakes now I marvel at what they represent: comfort food that means someone cares.