Senseless Dressing.

We are finally getting snow. Although winter doesn’t officially start until next week, it’s been slowly getting colder as the days go by. I can’t complain though because it stayed relatively warm during all of fall and the temperature only started dropping to the negatives last week. Hey, I’ll take what I can get!

During this time of the year, I find it puzzling and amusing to watch the way some women dress themselves even though it’s freezing cold outside with risk of hypothermia. The other day, Steve and I were walking down the street dressed in our warm clothes with our boots on and a heavy jacket on top and we saw this woman frantically waving down a taxi and she was wearing a mini skirt... a MINI skirt! The kind that when you sit, you can practically see everything. The weird thing is, this was at 10:30 am. I can somewhat understand if this was in the evening because maybe she was on her way to a club or a house party or something. But where does one go at 10:30 in the morning wearing skimpy clothing in -3 degree weather? She wasn’t even wearing any tights or leggings or even a pantyhose to keep her legs warm. I had layers of clothing on me and I could barely stand being outside for more than 15 minutes!

It’s really bizarre how many women would rather look “hot” than be comfortable. I often see women walking by wearing clothing that you know isn’t geared towards keeping the “wearer” warm in any way. I always see women in high-heeled shoes walking down a snow or ice-covered street. It’s an accident waiting to happen. It’s funny how some women dress themselves with every intention of looking like a runway model except that it somehow doesn’t fit the picture because as they’re “strutting” their stuff down the street, there’s strong gusts of wind blowing and snow all over the place. You can see white smoke coming in and out of their noses as they inhale and exhale the ice-cold wind.

Some people are just impractical I guess. Well at least they look good.

Loving this song right now.

I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you're not scared of anything at all
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay
But I know I had the best day with you today

I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you

There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
For staying back and watching me shine
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today


The Best Day
- Taylor Swift

Hey new Dell! Welcome!

My new laptop finally arrived last Friday! Yay!

I must say I love Windows 7 so far. Certainly better than Vista in my opinion! I don’t really know it well enough yet but I like what I see and the little new features that are available. My laptop is a 15.6 widescreen and I ordered it in Cherry Red (which I adore by the way). I would have purchased a better laptop (maybe a Mac or a Sony Vaio) but since the laptop got stolen unexpectedly and we weren’t really planning on buying a new one so soon (wasn’t in our budget), we decided to go with a Dell which is relatively more affordable compared to the other brands. I know most people would cringe (“What?! A Dell??”) but it really is good enough for what I use it for. I don’t really do any sort of programming on it (unless you call changing my blog layout “programming” and neither do I do anything considered to be “heavy” on the machine).

I was pretty thrilled that it was delivered so shortly after we made the order. It would have sucked if we had to wait several weeks for it to arrive. I love having a laptop and since Steve and I both use the computer at night, it really is convenient having 2 computers at home.

Now all I have to do is to make sure I get all my programs installed and find the files I lost. I’ve already asked my dad for a copy of the wedding photos he took with his camera. It’s a good thing he has a back up of some of my files from my former laptop (he reformatted it about a year ago so he made a backup of it then) and so I can just hopefully put it all back in the new one. I am a bit worried though about the songs I purchased through iTunes because aside from my iPod, I don’t really have a backup for it. My brother has a CD that lets me rip songs from the iPod back to a computer but when I spoke to him last night, he said he ran an update for it and now he can’t get it to work. I am hoping we’ll be able to figure out a solution because I would hate to not be able to get the songs out of my iPod and re-purchasing all those songs is just not an option for me.

I wonder what the thieves did to my former laptop. Did they sell it already? If they did, to who? How much did they sell it for? What did they do to my files? They probably deleted all the files and just reformatted the computer but I wonder if they looked at them first before getting rid of it. Don’t they realize that those files were important to me?! How do these people sleep at night (oh wait – it probably doesn’t bother them anymore... Mine was probably not the first laptop they’ve stolen and I’m sure they’re pros considering the manner they opened the car – swift and skilfully I imagine).

Although I am happy that I have new hardware, I still can’t help but feel sad for the one I lost. It had some nice features to it that I would miss, it had all my photos and important files and it was the first big purchase I ever made with my own hard-earned money.

But what can I do... there’s no point in crying over spilt milk.

New Moon - Yay!

As usual, the weekend flew by in a blur.

I finally saw New Moon on Friday night with a couple of girl friends. It was a girl’s night out at the movies while the guys spent their evening with chicken wings, beer and video games.

I personally liked New Moon better than the first movie. I guess having a new director and an increased movie budget helped. The special effects were great! Of course, I still think the books are 100 times better than the movies but I enjoyed watching it nonetheless.

There were some things I found frustrating in both the first and second movies like how exaggerated Edward’s make-up is. I know they’re supposed to be somewhat pale – being vampires and all – but I honestly think there’s too much powder on him (look at Jasper!). I also feel like they didn’t really do him justice in the movie… there’s so much more to him other than his good looks and I feel like they focus too much on the fact that he’s hot rather than his personality, the complex relationship he has with Bella and his internal conflict.

I liked how they developed Jacob’s character in the New Moon movie because you can see why Bella would have conflicted feelings for him and Edward. To be honest, when I was reading the books, I envisioned all the characters looking differently and Jacob wasn’t that hot in my imagination. Admittedly, he’s gorgeous in the movie and I can’t help but swoon when he finally appears on screen with short hair and a buff bod. Don’t worry, I didn’t squeal in the theatres like a schoolgirl although the tweens sitting in the row behind me were beside themselves with sheer delight (it was quite annoying – you’d think it was the first time they saw a hot dude on screen). Despite how loveable Jacob is in the movie, I am and will always be pro Edward.

I liked it when Bella says in the movie, “Please don’t make me choose… because it’s him. It’s always been him.”

Ahhh… I love love love this book!

My laptop

got stolen today. Huge bummer.

We had planned to pass by the mall today after work since there was a lamp I had seen on a website that I wanted to check out. We eventually did buy the lamp together with a few other items, had dinner there and when we got home, I noticed that my laptop bag wasn't in the car anymore where I left it. Out of panic, we decided to drive back to work and see if I had somehow left it there by accident. I knew I brought it with me but since we lived only 20 minutes away from work, it wouldn't hurt to go and see if it was there. Turns out I was right, I did in fact bring it with me and it was in fact gone.

I gotta tell you, whoever stole it knew what he was doing. Somehow he was able to open the car doors, take the bag and locked the car again. We didn't even notice it was gone until we got home!

I can't tell you how bad it feels to lose something so personal as a laptop. I invested quite a bit of money on it when I bought it 3 years ago. It had all my photos, music and various files. The laptop itself is replaceable but the contents aren't so easy to get back. Thankfully, I have back-ups of our wedding photos and my dad has a back-up of most of my photos on his computer (I don't know why he has them but he does). My brother has a software that allows me to grab the songs that are in my iPod and put it back into a computer so I can always give that a try. I am just a bit perplexed about all the other pictures that I may not have a back-up of and knowing that someone else has something that rightfully belongs to me is unnerving.

A laptop is something I consider personal and I can't help but feel somewhat violated. I know there are people out there who have no qualms about stealing but it doesn't make it right.

Farmville Rocks.

I’ve been playing a game on Facebook called Farmville and I am totally addicted to it. It’s amazing how hooked I am to this game considering how boring it must seem to other people. It’s exactly my type of game and I could spend hours on it planting, harvesting and buying different things for my farm. My cousins were the ones who got me to play it and I’ve been playing so much that I’ve pretty much surpassed them in level. Steve says that these days when he finds me sitting in front of the computer, it’s always Farmville that’s on the screen. That and my hotmail. I’ve actually started playing some other farming games on Facebook like Farm Town and Li’l Farm Life but Farmville is still my primary focus and my favourite.

I was so excited this morning when I found out that Zynga (creators of Farmville) has just recently made the farm expansion to 22x22 available plus the ability to gift chicken coops which produce mystery eggs. I have been waiting for this farm expansion for the longest time and it’s finally here! I didn’t even bat an eyelash when I happily spent 250,000 coins for additional farm land. I was also happy to have received a chicken coop from some of my farm neighbours (thank you!). The only problem is, I’ve been experiencing a lot of connection issues with it and it’s really beginning to annoy me. I’ve been trying to send a chicken coop to my neighbours with no success whatsoever. I’ve also been trying to acquire a mystery egg and some fertilizer bonus and again to no avail.

I also found out from the forums (yes, I actually read this too) that apparently if you harvest flowers, there is a chance you might be able to purchase a garden shed. I haven’t been offered one but I definitely want it. It sucks that it’s not available for purchase at the market. I don’t know why they don’t just add it there so everyone can have one. Soooo annoying.

As you can see, I really am hooked on this game.

Dedication

When you’re about to read a book, do you read who it’s dedicated to?

I always do. I always wonder who the author is dedicating the book to or who he/she is thanking. The ones that I love to read are those dedicated to the author’s parents, spouse, and children. I find those the most touching. I think it’s really thoughtful and sweet when an author writes even the simplest of poems to express the amount of love and gratitude they have for their loved ones.

Today, I opened a book and this is what the author put:

For my husband, Ian
My heart, my love, my home

For someone to have so much love and respect for one’s spouse is truly magical and special.

Tid Bits of the Day

It’s Monday morning and I’m sitting at my desk at work trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do. For some reason I feel lost today. I know I have a call at 11 am to try and resolve an issue a client is having. But other than that, I have no clue if I’m supposed to be doing QA or trying to do some research for my boss. I asked my manager if she needed me to do something for her but she said she doesn’t have anything that she specifically needs me to do so I am free to use my time with whatever projects I have on the go. This is one of the things I like about my job... I have the flexibility to use my time however I want as long as I am able to submit my deliverables.

I think I’m going to do QA today since it really is my primary responsibility right now.

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We had a bright, warm, sunny weekend which is rare for this time of the year. I spent my Saturday morning doing some chores around the house while Steve worked on an assignment for his CGA course. Then, we took my mother-in-law out for lunch at the Danforth. It would have been nice to be able to walk around for a little bit after lunch but we were rushing because we had dinner plans with a friend for 5.30 pm. So we practically had to scoot out of there right after eating.

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I’ve been meaning to clean our bathroom for several days now and I feel bad that I still haven’t done it. I hate having to procrastinate on chores. But I’ve been busy doing other things and by the time I actually have time left to do the bathroom, I’m always so tired. So I tell myself I’ll do it the following day and the same thing happens and I just keep prolonging it. It also doesn’t help that cleaning the bathroom is my least favourite chore to do. But I have to admit I always feel better after I’ve scrubbed it clean all around.

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I finally got my hair coloured and cut again! My gray hairs were beginning to be a distraction. Every time someone talks to me, it’s as if they are trying to figure out why I have so many gray hairs when I’m only 26 years old. They eventually say something like, “Wow, I didn’t realize you had so many gray hairs!” or “How come you have so many gray hairs? You’re so young!” which then prompts me to explain that it’s hereditary and that I’ve had it since I was fourteen. It really isn’t as bad as you think it is... most of my gray hairs are hidden but I still prefer to get my hair coloured every now and then. It’s also a good excuse to get it trimmed since I’m already at the salon. The only problem is, it gets a bit pricey especially since I have long hair.

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I want to go to Ikea.. we were there last week but we went an hour before closing so I didn’t really have enough time to look around and there were a few things I wanted to get. I enjoy shopping at furniture stores and I especially love cute and unique items that are affordable. It’s just finding the time to actually go around and having the money to be able to buy things... is the issue. Ahh money, where are you?

What's up.

We are back on Standard Time which makes it a 13-hour difference between Canada and the Philippines. I don’t know why but I always keep the time difference between Canada and the Philippines whenever we switch time zones. The Philippines seems to be my point of reference... always.

We were lucky last week because it was relatively warm. By saying relatively warm, I mean to say that the temperature stayed somewhere between 5 degrees and 10 degrees. I heard it will be cold again this week which means we’ll have to bundle up... which reminds me, I have to look for my gloves. I can’t remember where I put them (I think it’s somewhere in my dresser). I don’t particularly like wearing gloves unless I really need them but I like to keep them in my purse anyway just in case it gets cold enough for me to want to wear them.

Steve and I had a somewhat busy weekend. On Friday night, we went to Mississauga to check out the Homesense store located at the Heartland Centre. A co-worker gave as a Homesense gift card as a wedding gift and we haven’t used it since so we thought we’d go and see what they have. We’ve heard good things about it from some of our friends but when we checked it out, we weren’t too impressed. It felt like shopping at Winners. Piles and piles of random things that were neither nice nor unique. Maybe we just happened to go to a bad Homesense location. Sabi kasi nila, every location is different. There’s good ones and there’s bad ones. Maybe we went to a bad one. But we also checked out the Homesense store along the Queensway and we didn’t like that one either. Two bad stores in a row?? Parang unlikely.

Anyhow, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant with Steve’s cousin on Saturday night and the food was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! Just remembering how good everything was is making me salivate. I don’t have a high tolerance for spicy food but I really like Indian food. Yummy yummy! My favourites include samosas and butter chicken. I also like the chicken biriyani and nan bread. The restaurant we went to is relatively new and I wish they had better signage in front so that more people will see it and more people will eat there and they won’t close. I hate it when we find a good place to eat and then they close after a few months because there’s not enough business.

I am back to my “let’s-furnish-the-apartment” mode. We already have the big items we needed to get and now we just need to paint and decorate the place a little bit to make it cozy. We’ve been concentrating on other priorities so we put it on hold for awhile but now I’m eager to get back to it. I always enjoy shopping for our place (come to think of it, I enjoy any type of shopping really). We’re trying to keep our spending within our budget (it’s super hard!) so we have to be careful with what we spend our money on. So far, I have been really bad with saving. Kawawa naman si Steve, lagi nalang siya ang nagbu-budget.

I received an email from a friend last week about the difference in symptoms between the cold and the H1N1 (swine) flu. I think I may have had the H1N1 and just didn’t know about it. My symptoms were very similar to what was in the email. But I’ve heard so many different things about it that I don’t really know for sure. I should have gone to the doctor and had myself checked when I was sick. Now I won’t know what I had. There’s such a huge demand for the flu shot and I’ve heard that a lot of the health centres have to put a limit on how many they can accept since there’s just an overwhelming demand for it. I’m a little wary about getting it since the swine flu vaccine is so new.

Edward's Perspective

I’ve been reading the Midnight Sun draft from Stephenie Meyer’s website again these past few days. Even though I’ve read it a few times before and even though I know the story inside and out, I still get hooked on it once I start reading the first few lines. I still feel disappointed that the draft stops at 264 pages and that Stephenie has decided to put it on hold indefinitely. I understand why she would be upset about the draft being leaked on the internet but I wouldn’t have even known about the leakage if she had not posted anything about it on her website together with the draft. So a draft was leaked... she did mention that there were several versions of the draft... but because there was no confirmation of which version is true and accurate and since it isn’t finished, she could have continued writing it and fans like me would still be waiting for the real thing to be published so we could eagerly get our hands on a copy and read it. Sometimes I even wonder why she bothered showing some people the draft to her book which led to the leak.

I loved reading the book from Isabella Swan's perspective but I would equally enjoy reading the entire story again from Edward's perspective. To learn the reasons behind his gestures and facial expressions. To gain more insight on his character. It would be nice too to look at Bella from his angle when you're not as privy to her thoughts.

I realize I’m being selfish about the whole thing. I’m just really disappointed that there is a huge possibility she might never finish writing it and hence, I will never get to read it. It just feels so unfair to be denied that privilege.

Nakakainis talaga!

I saw...

... this on Post Secret today:

-----Email Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:50 PM
Frank-
I am typing this to you at the library because I cannot afford a postcard and stamp. My family and I are living in a self-storage unit illegally. It's getting so cold at night. I want them to know I'm sorry, it's my fault, but I can't say it.

I couldn't help but feel sad knowing that there are people out there who don't even have the most basic necessities. It's so easy to take for granted the things we have and we often forget that there are others who don't even have food to eat, water to drink or have a house to sleep in.

Flu

I’m just at the tail-end of the flu and I was finally able to go to work today. It’s literally been a week and thank goodness it was the Thanksgiving weekend so we had the Monday off for the holiday. At least that didn’t count towards my sick days. The past few days had been filled with on-and-off fevers, headaches, soreness, coughing, a few tears and lots of Advil. I’ve consumed more Advil in the last week than I have altogether within the 5 years I’ve been in the country. It’s totally ridiculous.

I can’t remember the last time I had the cough. I always get the cold but very rarely do I actually get the cough. It’s been so long that I can’t even remember what it felt like until recently. I think having the cold is much better than having the cough. My throat and abs hurt from coughing too much. Even when I’m sleeping I wake up because I’m coughing. My poor Steve had to sleep through all that coughing. It’s funny though because every time I cough, he would wake up, look at me and then fall back to sleep. Half the time, he doesn’t even remember waking up.

Although it was nice having a valid excuse not to go to work, it got a bit boring staying at home all the time. I just want to feel normal again. Healthy and no coughing.

Paint

I saw The Proposal last night and I loved it! I heard it was good but I missed it at the theatres so I only saw it last night on DVD. I have a huge crush on Ryan Reynolds now.. dang he’s hot! Steve’s pretending he’s jealous which I find quite adorable.

We are thinking of painting our apartment starting with the living room. The problem is, we can’t seem to find the right paint color. About a month ago, we picked up a couple of paint samples so we can try them on a wall in our living room. We realized that neither of them looked good with our furniture so we decided to go paint-shopping a second time. This time, instead of just buying paint samples, we decided to just go ahead and buy 2 gallons of paint. BIG MISTAKE!! We painted a section of the wall with it and it was UGLY!! It doesn’t even look like the paint sample on the picture! We were sooo disappointed. So we’ve decided to put our “paint project” on-hold until we are ready to go paint-shopping again. I find it a bit challenging choosing paint because it looks different on the paint swatch and it’s different when you put it on the wall. Plus, lighting affects it a lot so you just don’t know how it’s going to turn out. I don’t know how other people do it! It seems so much easier for them than it is for me! I am amazed at how some people can just pick a color, go home, paint the walls and voila! It’s perfect.

I was toying around with the idea of hiring someone to paint our place but after checking out the paint services on the Home Depot website, I’m having second thoughts about even inquiring. It says on their website that you basically book an appointment for a consultant to come over, do an assessment of your place and then they give you suggestions on what needs to be done and then I’m assuming provide you with a quote after. The whole thing just sounds expensive so maybe that idea’s out the window. I was just hoping we could pick out the paint color and let the professionals do the job. But I was hoping the professionals would do it for an affordable rate.

I’d love to have some fresh paint on our walls to make the room cosier... it’s just a matter of actually getting the work done. It just sounds so tedious!

On repeat.

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I still feel you here ‘til the moment I’m gone

You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your reign

Set me free, leave me be
I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
I’m just the way I’m supposed to be
But you’re on to me and all over me

You loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone

Set me free, leave me be
I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
I’m just the way I’m supposed to be
But you’re on to me and all over me

I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you’re everything I think I need
Here on the ground

But you’re neither friend nor foe
Though I can’t seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know
Is that you’re keeping me down
You’re keeping me down

You’re on to me, on to me and all over
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long.

Gravity
- Sara Bareilles

I recently came across a new TV series called Vampire Diaries. I have only seen two episodes so far and I haven't really decided on whether I like it or not but I am intrigued. Paul Wesley who plays Stefan Salvatore is absolutely heart-melting.

Anyhoo, whenever there's a scene between Stefan and Elena, this beautiful song is playing in the background. It's the same song that was playing on So You Think You Can Dance for the "Addiction" routine that was choreographed by Mia Michaels (I think?). I downloaded it on to my iPod and I just can't stop listening to it. Sara sings it so beautifully.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I finally saw the Time Traveller’s Wife two weeks ago with Steve and my sister-in-law. I thought it was great! Very well done and stayed close to the book. Obviously there were some scenes in the book that didn’t make it to the big screen but nothing that you’d miss. I loved the cast (I think Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana were awesome for their roles) and the chemistry was believable to me.

I often get disappointed with books turned into movies because I always feel like it’s not even half as good as the book itself. But I wasn’t disappointed with this one. I really, really enjoyed watching it. I even cried twice! I thought I’d be immune to it, knowing the story already and everything. But man, it was good.

I am going to buy the DVD when it comes out. It’s def going to be a part of my Sappy DVD collection.

A Few Updates.

Back to work after the Labor Day weekend and I’m playing catch-up with my Farmville and my blog-reading. I’ve been so pre-occupied with playing Farmville that I haven’t posted anything new here since. My cousins have been talking about it so much that I decided to try it out. That probably wasn’t such a good idea because now I’m hooked on it and I can’t stop playing the darn thing. It’s the first thing I check in the morning and the last thing I go on before jumping into bed at night. It’s absolutely ridiculous but I find it so entertaining. My brothers tease me for playing games that are somewhat childish but it’s these simple games that I love the most.

Work’s beginning to pick up so I’ve had a few hectic work days. Nothing too crazy although I was pretty frazzled one morning last week. I had run out of patience and it was phone call after phone call after phone call. I really should be used to it by now but I was just out of it that morning.

Steve and I went to Naigara Falls for the long weekend with his cousins. We stayed at a hotel with a water park so his nieces and nephews could play in the water. Steve was just as excited as the kids were. It was quite adorable actually. He couldn’t wait to pack and go. We forgot to bring toothpaste in the process. It was a good trip... we spend our Sunday afternoon at the water park then had dinner at a restaurant close-by. The next day, we had breakfast near the falls then headed to Buffalo to do some shopping. I’ve never been across the border so it was a new experience. We didn’t go around much and only stayed in Buffalo for a few hours. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (food was great and the cheesecake was just FABulous!) and we are definitely coming back for more.

The long weekend turned out to be expensive but we both had fun. Shopping in Buffalo is definitely something we’d have to do again. I didn’t take a lot of pictures... there wasn’t much to see where we went.

I’m already counting the days till the next long weekend.

A Case of Verbal Diarrhea

I feel so sleepy and I have a training session starting in half an hour. I am not looking forward to it at all. I knew it was a bad idea to go out for gyros at 10:30 pm last night but it was a last minute invitation from a bunch of friends to celebrate one of the guy’s big mile stone. So even though Steve and I were already getting ready for bed when we got the phone call, we decided to go anyway. I didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before either so all I feel like doing right now is jumping into bed and just sleeping.

Our CEO and his wife just had a baby – their firstborn – so Steve and I decided to get them a present. I had just finished wrapping it the other night, complete with ribbons and all, when I realized that I had actually wrapped the card with the present. So dumb of me. The plan was to leave the gift on his desk but since stupid me decided to wrap the gift with the card inside, now I have to personally hand him the gift and explain that the card is wrapped inside. Ugh!! I can only imagine what he is going to think of it. I can’t even wrap a present properly.

I am considering having a physical check-up one of these days. I suspect that I have low blood because I keep getting bruises, I am always tired and I get dizzy really easily. Every time I mention these symptoms to anyone, the response I often get is the “are you pregnant?” inquiry. I know I’m not but people always give me that quizzical, are-you-hiding-something-from-me look. Like I would hide that kind of happy news! Crazy!

Being a newly-wed, I always get asked “how’s married life?” and I always reply with either “It’s good, pretty much the same as when we were dating except we see each other all the time..” or “It’s okay... it’s good.” Let me tell you, apparently replying with the latter is not good. I think the expected reply is “It’s GREAT! I LOVE being Married!” where you proceed to jump up and down gleefully and clap your hands like an excited little girl. Hehehehe! Just kidding. Seriously though, I don’t know what people expect to hear but when I say that being married is okay and that it’s good, they look like they’re expecting more. But in Filipino, when someone asks, “kamusta ka naman?” and you answer with “okay naman” it’s usually a good thing. I guess when using the same expression in English where your reply is a mere “okay”, it’s worrisome. Truth is, I love being married. Yes, there are things that didn’t change from when we were dating and there are things that are new and require some getting used to and there are things that are worse and things that are better. But that’s married life.

The other question I get asked often is whether I like kids and if we’re going to have some. I love kids and yes I would love to have some. Then before I can continue, someone will interrupt and say, “I think you should wait before having them.... it’s a lot of responsibility... wait till you are ready, are stable, when you no longer want to party,...” yada yada yada... it always annoys me... just because I said that I love kids and would love to have some doesn’t necessarily mean I’m trying to get pregnant now. Sometimes I think it’s a trick question you know? It’s like there’s no safe way of answering it without getting some form of lecture or advice. I think next time, I will begin by saying, “We’re waiting to have kids for now but yes I would love to have one when we are ready...” The funny thing is, I know that the closer I get to thirty, the more pressure we’ll be getting to have kids. I’m telling you, you’re either too young to have them or you’re getting too old and you should be thinking of trying to have one. It’s like when you’re engaged and you hear people saying you’re too young to get married or when you’re not in a relationship and you hear people asking you why and then telling you that you’re getting older so you should be thinking of settling down soon. It’s as if you could will your future spouse to come at the right time when people feel you should get married. “Um, do you mind coming into my life when I’m 26 years old and then we can date for about 2 years and then we can marry by the time I’m 28 because that would just be perfect.”

Aaannnyyyhow, I’ve had mixed feelings about the weather lately. I’ve always said how big of a fan I am of warm weather and how I’d rather be hot than be freezing. But it’s been so humid and hot these past few days that it has made sleeping at night a bit uncomfortable. We don’t have airconditionig in our place so it does get really muggy really easily. As a suggestion (if anyone could actually suggest weather and temperature conditions), I would prefer to have hot days and cool nights. Not cold – just cool”er”. That way, it would make sleeping a bit more pleasant.

We were invited to a BBQ this weekend and have been asked to bring meatballs for at least 100 people. So we’re probably going to be spending our Saturday afternoon up to our elbows in ground beef, flour, eggs, mint, onions and breadcrumbs. I’ve never made 100 meatballs before so it should be quite an adventure. I hope we don’t show up for the event smelling like cooking oil!

A Sad Passing...

I had to work during the Civic Holiday so I get tomorrow off instead. Yay! I’ve been meaning to do some errands and catch up on a few things so I’m pretty happy about getting the day off. The only downside is that Steve doesn’t get it off with me so he’ll be stuck at work the entire day. Bummer.

While on MSN the other day, I came across the sad news of Cory Aquino passing away. I am always stunned when I hear about such a prominent and influential individual passing away. I was surprised when Francis M. and Michael Jackson died and I got that exact same shock when I found out about Cory. I can’t help but feel that they were taken away too soon. I remember my dad telling us about the EDSA revolution. I was only a few months shy of being a three-year old at the time and my brother, JR, barely a year old when it occurred. As no one knew how the revolution was going to turn out or what it would mean for the Filipino people, my dad was apparently very worried that it might mean hoarding of goods and supplies and shortage of food. He was particularly worried about the possibility of the shortage of milk – being a dad to two very young children. So he had taken all the money he had with him to the grocery store and bought all the baby formula he could afford. My parents had bought enough baby formula to fill up a small cabinet. They wanted to be sure that if anything should happen, we wouldn’t go starving. Yes, it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things but I love knowing that my parents always put us first in every situation. It’s one of the many sacrifices they’ve done for our benefit which is why I love my parents very much.

I saw an eighteen-minute snippet of Kris Aquino’s speech during the funeral ceremony and I couldn’t help but get a bit emotional. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a parent. I don’t even want to think of it.

I look forward to a time when death will be no more.

As Revelation 21:4 says:

And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.

All I Can Say Is...

... this movie better be darn good.



I saw a movie poster for it the other day while Steve and I were in the car and I started pointing and squeeling at it like a maniac. Steve started panicking because he was driving and he thought I was pointing to a bug on the windshield (I kinda react that way towards bugs) or something alarming. I told him no, it was just a poster.

I really do hope this movie does not disappoint me. I promise to buy the DVD if it's good so let's make it happen people.

Too much television.

I’m glad this season of the Bachelorette is finally over and we get our Monday evenings back. That’s the problem with having a show you like watching, it tends to take over your time. I’m still a bit disappointed that she didn’t pick the one I wanted but Ed isn’t so bad for her. They do look legitimately happy and he does seem to really love and adore her. Steve and I were saying how obvious it is that the producers of the show really make an effort to make the bachelor/bachelorette look extremely good for the show. Not to say that they don’t look good naturally but you can tell they had to work out to get a toned body. Not only that, but they always look so fab during the show. Just look at their clothes, hair and make-up!

I didn’t get a chance to watch last night’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance because we were busy preparing dinner for some guests we are having tonight and also because I was busy cleaning the bathroom. It took me 2 hours again! Ugh. At least this time I didn’t have to do the laundry at the same time since I already did it over the weekend. I saw the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance last week and I was so disappointed with Katie Holmes’ dance. All she did was lip synch to a song and do some really basic dancing (if even that). They made such a big fuss about it that it raised my expectations only to be disappointed. It kinda sucked. I think she’s gorgeous though – with long or short hair.

I am still bummed out about the fact that both Jason (there goes Mr. Cutie) and Janette got eliminated last week. To be honest, as much as I like Evan, I think he should have gone home. As for the women, I think Melissa should have been eliminated. She’s beautiful and she’s a terrific dancer but she’s not as versatile as the other remaining dancers. I thought she bombed when they did the cha-cha or rumba was it? I can’t remember. But her and Ade didn’t dance it very well. I hope Brandon and Kayla make it to the end because they’re really strong dancers. Kayla, I think, lacks personality but she’s got the technical skills.

When So You Think You Can Dance is over, I’ll probably try watching Wipeout. It’s on the same time slot as So You Think You Can Dance which is why we never see it but I’m hoping that whe SYTYCD is over, we can begin watching. It’s hilarious! I always find it funny seeing the contestants tumble their way through it. I don’t know if they get hurt when they bounce off those giant red balls but it sure looks painful the way they hit themselves and fall sometimes.

TV can be soooo addictive.