Back to routine...

It's the first Monday of the year 2009 and I'm back to my morning routine :) Woke up earlier than usual (before 430am!), because I felt the urge to pee, LOL! Ane went back to work yesterday but my routine officially starts today only since he allowed me to sleep longer yesterday. Bless him! I'm still sleepy now but I'm trying to stay awake until about 10am. I'm scrapping some pages, you know, so I can have a photobook printed soon. I now have about 8 pages done, 4 of which I finished during the long break. That's productive, eh? Considering I average about 1 page in two months, LOL!

I went to my OB last Saturday. I'm officially 36 4/7 weeks today. That visit prompted me to panic! Doctora said she will already perform an IE on my next visit on Friday so that means I will give birth anytime soon! She even gave me the admission instructions slip already! I'm ready to give birth, I'm not even afraid of the pain. What worries me more is the fact that I'm not done preparing stuff! :D

Here's my to-do list for this week, in no particular order:

1. Wash Baby Dot's crib sheets and some recent purchases. I scheduled to do it today but the ward isn't back from her extended vacation yet (argh!) so there's no one to assist me.
2. Iron Baby Dot's clothes.
3. Wash and sterilize the bottles and nipples.
4. Prepare Ane's hospital bag.
5. Prepare a list of "bilins" for Ane for while I'm in labor.
6. Buy some more stuff for the baby, I made the list yesterday.
7. Pay the PCCI annual fee.
8. Bring the carseat to a shop for re-upholstery.
9. Scrap!!!
10. Do breathing exercises.
11. Practice pushing.

I'm sure this week will just pass like a breeze 'coz I'll be busy :) Have a great week, you all!!! :)

Long Weekend

It is indeed. It's not over yet as today is a holiday (and it's our monthsary, too!! :)) and I'm already deadbeat (tired is an understatement). I'll do bullets first and expound later on. I can't sit long 'coz I've been getting cramps on the legs from too much sitting!

Thursday:

• Late night movie with Ane and Brother R at the Promenade. We watched the LFS of Twilight and I'm glad the crowd is manageable for me :)
• Was home just before 1am and I had to do my night rituals before going to bed.

Friday:

• Woke up at 6am to prepare breakfast. It was Ane's restday so I got to wake up later than usual.
• Left the house around 830am, dropped my LBB at the MRT station and brought Mom to work.
• Was at SM North at 9am! had to wait for an hour before the gates opened.
• Was done baby stuff shopping just after 11am. TG for lists, although we were still confused finding some of the items. First time jitters? ;) We only got the most basic layette stuff for the hospital bags and some home necessities like baskets and containers and diaper bag and..you get the picture,
  
• Had lunch and looked for items in the "mommy list" but found nothing.
• Went home and realized I could do some BF Digi Shooping :) So instead of napping, I browsed the net! Ugh.
• Rotary meeting at night.

Saturday:

• Was on the road at 9am to meet my college girlfriends in Megamall by 11am. We opened the mall, again, coz we there before 10am ;)
• Lunch was care of our wedding Ninang Nana (Rissa's mom) at Dad's. Thanks!
  
• It turned out to be a mini baby shower for Baby Dot! Yay! :)
• What was supposed to be a lunch get-together extended until 5pm! Yeah, six hours of non-stop chatting. Was lotsa fun!
• We dropped by QC to get Ane's badminton gear and I went with him to Greenhills.
• I braved the crowds and got myself a new blouse and three house dresses I can use while in the hospital (yey, I can prepare THE bags now! after the stuff are washed though).
• Was done in thirty minutes and I just watched the games at the courts.
• We had late dinner with Mamita and Papita at Flapjacks in Theartermall (will do the review later) and a coffee cap-off (for them) at Starbucks afterwards.
• Was home by 1am (talk about abusing my body, eh?)

Sunday

• Ane allowed me to sleep longer. So he woke me just in time for lunch :)
• Lounged the entire day until, net browsed.
• Took a nap and then prepared self for 630pm mass.
• Dinner out (Jabi lang naman :)) because the in-laws weren't back yet from a reunion, so we didn't have food hehe.
• Ane and I were on 'autistic modes' after. He played online while I finished a scrap page.

Monday

• Started the day late again :)
• Lunch at North Park with the in-laws.
• Now blogging ;)
• Later, napping :)
• We're going back to QC after dinner tonight.
  

Someone made a booboo this morning...

I've been up since 515am, and everything has been pretty okay. The usual, I prepared breakfast and packed lunch for Ane and Bro, and sent them out. I ate. Then, Mommy requested me to do some editing of the brochure she made. I said I'll do it later, because I'm still sleepy I could not think.

But since Ivy is already turned on, I decided to do the editing stuff, just to get over it. And then here comes my brother, telling me that Ane mistakenly brought his car keys when Ane switched cars this morning. LOL! Yes there is a duplicate but the remote is low on battery, we can't let Tisay's alarm activated or the neighbors will complain!

So Mom went to work in a cab, and someone isn't in the mood anymore he decided to go back to sleep, and another in the office laughing at his own embarrassing moment :D

As for me, I'm done with the publication, emailed it already and is ready to hit the sack again :) Later I have to go look for bathroom vanities inspirations.

Bedtime

A meme snagged from Mai.

1. What time do you usually go to bed on weekdays?

As early as 9pm and not later than midnight. I need to wake-up just before 5am to prepare breakfast and Ane and LBB's lunch baon.

2. Has anyone ever told you about bad habits you have during sleep? (Snoring, talking, kicking etc?)

I talk in my sleep. Sometimes I would stand up and talk nonsense. Ane sometimes need to hug me so I won't go anywhere, LOL! Nowadays when I need to pee in the middle of the night, he would ask me where I'm going just to make sure I'm awake!

3. Do you prefer your sleeping environment to be warm and snug, or cool and crisp?

Warm and snug! I need to have a blanket all the time lest I won't have a restful sleep (yep, even when I take a nap in the afternoons!!)

4. What was your favourite bedtime story as a child?
I don't remember being read to.

5. Is there anything unusual that you often do while in bed? (Unusual meaning something other than sleeping, reading, naughty fun etc.)

Play (Sudoku, phone games, IPod games). It relaxes me so I could sleep. I do the same thing when I wake up, because the activity perks me up. Weird noh?

Weekend Round-up (Oct 31 - Nov2)

Nakikigaya...hehehe

Oct 31 - It's Ane's day-off!! I woke up later than usual at 6am to prepare breakfast because he won't go to work anyway, and my LBB has no classes on Fridays too. By 8am, Ane and I were off to Makati to do an errand for my parents, a 9am appointment. It had to be us since the transaction is under Ane's name and we have a deadline to do it. It's been a while since the last time I went to Makati! Glad traffic wasn't that terrible. We found the building and was able to park at 840am (that's a breeze of a travel coming from QC, huh). We photocopied some documents first and bought pineapple juice from Jollibee 'coz I felt I needed some sugar-rush.

We went to the building and got to our floor at exactly 9am. Guess what? There was no receptionist in sight! Gah! And when she came, she wasn't even smiling! And the person we needed to talk to didn't come out for about ten (felt like more than ten to me) minutes. I was getting annoyed, really. But you know what? Being pregnant made me more patient. Ask my husband! :D Our transaction didn't last five minutes (but we have to return in a week) and we were out of Makati less than an hour after we went in. Lugi sa parking fee and diesel, hehehe.

Then we went to Puregold San Juan to pick up some grocery stuff I forgot to buy the other day. We already knew what we needed so that didn't take time too.

We were back home at 1030 and I immediately fell asleep. Woke up for Lunch at 1230. I'm so glad I went for a nap earlier because I wasn't able to rest anymore for the entire day. Lounged a bit after lunch while watching "Made of Honor". Then while watching I started marinating the porkchops for dinner and cooking the munggo beans for ginisa. Just before the movie ended, the guard called to say that my Aunt and cousins are already at the gate! It was just a bit after 2pm! So we all scrambled to get ready and be presentable heheh (I was still in my jammies!).

So happy to see them visit! We invited them over so Tori can experience her first Halloween party and Trick or Treat. Mommy Ellen helped me make some banana-Q and camote-Q. Yum-yum! The boys played Rockband while the girls, of course had fun chatting :D By 5pm, Tori, our Princess Mumu, was ready for the party to we went out to the clubhouse and joined the fun. There were games and prizes and some food. Afterwards, the kids went around to ask for candies. Even if it was raining, the kids were all so hyper going house-hopping.

We went back home and saw that Mom and Mom Ellen weren't done yet preparing dinner so we decided to check out Tori's loot. Man, she got a lot! We joked that having dentists as parents, we all doubted she would be able to eat all that stuff, LOL! And then dinner was served.

Tori kwento: I am so amazed by this little girl who's about 20months old. She eats veggies! She even loved eating munggo even if it was her first time to eat some! Her mom says, Tori eats even ampalaya and just about any veggie! And she looks forward to her teeth brushing routine! She was supposed to take some meds for coughs too, and her parents didn't have a hard time making her take it. She even said "more!more!" after she has taken her dosage. Amazing! I wish I can train Dot like that :D

After dinner, we prayed the rosary together. And then we were on the road for home. I was too tired by then but I wanted to watch Bubble Gang so I tried to stay up. It was a long day that ended around 1am!

Nov1 - Ane let me sleep in until 1230pm! Yay! But I still felt tired and bored and lazy (bad combination, I know!)! Refer to the previous post, I needed to do an assignment so I was able to blog that time hehe :D When Ane left around 5pm for the cemetery I got even more bored! I just read the Yes! magazine I borrowed from MIL and tried my best to finish the layout I started days ago. Here it is. Afterwards, I just sat in front of Ivy refreshing my browser every now (and not getting anything!) and then until Ane was back (Oh I had dinner alone pala!). Pathetic, I know. Slept around midnight.

Nov2 - Ane filed for VL today. We woke up just after 8am. We were scheduled to hear mass at 9am. When we went back, we realized my FIL is going to use Espee. So he just brought us to the church and left us there. Since we were commuting anyway, and we were already hungry, Ane and I decided to go to the nearby Jollibee to grab some food after the mass. He also got me my vitamins from Mercury. By this time, my mom was corresponding, asking us what time we are to go back to QC (she had a 2pm appointment with my brothers). I said we still didn't know because we had no idea what time FIL will return. We decided to stay home all day. I was getting ready for my nap at 1130 when we realized FIL was already home! So I called my mom telling her that we can travel earlier. And she agreed to ride with us. The problem was, I was still not done fixing the house! Our laundry was all-over the place and my MIL sent us lunch. I had to fix everything in less than an hour!

We got to QC just before 2pm. Ane and I decided to join them in watching the V-league at The Arena. The games were scheduled as: 2pm - Benilde vs. FEU, 4pm Adamson vs. UST. The first game was so-so, FEU won. The second game has more action, though. Adamson won 3sets to 1. Even if the stadium was roaring with fans, I was too sleepy to enjoy the game.

We got home around 630pm, had dinner. And would you believe I was already snoozing on the bed by 830pm?!?!? That's how tired I was. It was a tiring weekend (yeah, even doing nothing tires me!!).

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This turned out to be a long entry. I just kept on typing! If you're still reading, thank you! I'm sure I bored you!

It's Monday! I hope it's gonna be a better week!

ps. Did you notice I didn't shop even if it's the Digital Scrapbooking weekend?!?! Yay to me!

Today, November 1.

I'll do this in bullets. I'm not feeling really well. Woke up past noon. Sheesh. Maybe I'll elaborate when I'm feeling better.

• I'm staying home (Malabon) all day today. We already prayed for our dead relatives last night before my Aunt and cousins went home.
  
• They (Aunt and cousins) went to QC to attend the Halloween party and Trick or Treat, the first for my niece Tori. She had a blast being "Princess Mumu", more like Black Bride to me because they did not put make-up on her anymore :) I still think she should have won the best costume award, hmp. Will look at and post some pictures later.
• It's good that the weather is cooperating. Not too hot, neither too cold. It's always like this every year at this time on this part of the world. (side: Our friend Mae is experiencing her first winter season, rather early snow in Fall, in NJ. Hey girl, you ready with your UGG Boots, yet?)
• We had Kare-kare for lunch, courtesy of MIL. Yum.
• Today is our monthsary -- as Hunnies and married couple. I already stopped counting the number of months, LOL! We count annually na (yata). Nothing special to do. We're both stuck sitting in front of the PC (him) and Ivy (me), not even talking LOL! I hope he'll bring me home ice cream later, hehe..
• He's going to the cemetery later with his parents to visit their dead relatives' graves. Won't go with them anymore cos they might stay late outside and it might rain.
• Today is Digital Scrapbooking Day. I'm trying to snub the digiworldwide sales this weekend. I need to save. I just bought a grab bag (which includes a gorgeous kit, no regrets!) the other day. Shhhhhhhh...
• I wanna scrap!!!

TTFN, I'm trying to clear my head...

Lumpiang Hubad

This post isn't about a particular food or porn. Wala lang ako maisip na title and since I haven't organized my thoughts, this is gonna be a messy entry. LOL!

I realized that I have so many things to share that aren't worth sharing anymore heheh. I nearly composed an entry yesterday then I got hungry. We went out for a quick merienda and then when we got home came that realization :) Anyway, it was a nice merienda because we went to my childhood lugawan place, Nena's in Bulacan!

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Ane haven't felt Dot's kicks. Because everytime he stops whatever he's doing and tries to feel my tummy, Dot would stop moving, LOL!

I'm big now, at least the tummy! Time for another bump pic. I didn't see my mom for a week and when she came here, she was surprised how big I got hehe. Even my MIL gave the same comment.

I wore my maternity pair of shorts yesterday and I almost didn't fit! Argh! It was only the second time and I'm glad I remembered to wear it yesterday. I probably won't be able to use it up to full-term. Sigh. Ane suggests I wear it while I can, sayang ang pinangbili! Thankfully I can still wear the pair after giving birth.

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I didn't have to wake up early yesterday because we were in Malabon and Ane had no work. But guess what?!?! I woke up at 530am even without the alarm! Talk about getting used to the daily routine my mom imposed, huh? But of course I went back to sleep hehe.

Or it could be that I am really having a hard time sleeping nowadays. I really have to sleep sideways and there must be a pillow behind me.

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And the lower backaches!! It's starting to bother me now. I can't stay seated (when seated, I need to be reclined and again, a pillow to support) or standing up for long periods of time.

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Ivy fell AGAIN from the collapsible table this afternoon!! Glad she's still working. And I noticed that the "fan error" never occurred again after the first fall last week. At least something good came out from my clumsiness.

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That's it for now. Gotta go down in the kitchen and prepare tonight's dinner. I realized I love cooking and I enjoy feeding my family (as long as everything I need is available), kahit minsan palpak ang luto ko! LOL!

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I wanna eat some cake and ice cream. As in now na! Sigh.

Flood...

in this blog. I have assigments to finish and there's no other time to do it but now. I was supposed do everything last night but the internet connection conked out just when I had the groove to think. Sheesh. And besides, I could not stay up to late coz I know I'll be in the gym today. I didn't plan on passing out while on the treadmill, hehe. Plus, tonight is the schedule for the album layout...haven't finished it yet, I know. The list of pictures to include in the album was sent only the other day. Need to finish it badly before I start with another project.

There, I was blabbing again.

Weekend recap

Hehe, it's Tuesday and my weekend recap is late. Anyway,

We practically stayed in the apartment, sleeping, on Saturday. We brought li'l brother to a school function in AFP Theater (El Fili play) just after lunch and picked him up around 5pm. The traffic was terrible that by the time we got back, I had to rush and ready myself for a dinner with my college galpals at Shang Mall. It was actually a welcome-back-dinner-get-together for R & R. The couple got there earlier and I joked that they've become 'americanized' since they usually come late. Hehe. Dinner was at Krocodile and we had coffee afterwards at Starbucks. I missed the girls! And the little girls, too! Waiting for Ris to upload to pics, and I will share some here. :)

Sunday, brothers & I picked some boxes in another WB branch, met with a crew member in Caloocan, had late lunch in Tiendesitas (discovered peeled Suha! Yum!), then later coffee at Kopi Roti in Katipunan, while waiting for D and B. We scheduled to visit the wake of Mommy C's dad in Lagro in faraway Fairview, hehe. Later, D & B dropped me off at SM North where I tasted an Almond Milk Tea from Bubble Tea (more yummy than CK's nan chai). And then I closed the store.

Weekend was long, this entry did not justify how tiring it was. Hehe. I was asleep the whole morning yesterday coz I felt so restless!

Dropping in.

Just got back from four sets of badminton game and dinner with the E's. Fafi J and Mamita brought us to this Chinese Restaurant (Mien?) in Granada. It is the first time I ate there. Ane was not able to join us because he was too sleepy (got home late last night after attending a friend's birthday party). The food was delicious and cheap too! (I only paid P140!) We ordered some Chopsuey with pork (turned out to have some seafood too) and the spicy fish fillet and tofu. Yummy yum yum!

I don't think I'll be sleeping early tonight (it's midnight!) because I slept the whole day (!) and I have to do this design for my sister :) I just hope I won't have to drag myself from bed at 9am later, must be awake by then.

Avenue Q, Amici, Three-day malling and a new book

The past few days found me sleeping early at around 1am (early pa yan!) and getting up later than usual (read: noon or later!). Is that being lazy or what? I dunno, I just feel that my body is tired. Yesterday, Ane was waking me up at 930am for our errand but since it was raining, he let me sleep until 10am. Later we had lunch at Jabi coz I as craving Chicken Joy which I did not finish. We got home around 2pm, with me planning to go to work, but I fell asleep again! Sheesshhh.

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Anyway, I have a lot to share. My weekend was packed as well as the days that followed. Think of it as having a very long weekend. And since I need to note it down for the sake of my memory, here goes (I will try to make it short and precise)...

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Saturday was Avenue Q day!!!! The show was at two pm but I have an appointment at 8am in Ortigas that day. My meeting ended just before noon. Mitch was there to ride with us to Makati. We did a short stop to Mercury Drug to get my vitamins/some meds. Lunch was at World Topps in RCBC Plaza where I had Thai Bagoong Rice (oh I missed this, since the place closed down in Greenhills...I was however disappointed with the smaller serving and miniscule amount of mango strips). Around 1pm, Ane stayed at RCBC to wait for the others (remember there were 16 of us) while Mitch and I took a trip to MMC ER (nothing serious!). We got back to RCBC just in time for Starbucks green tea frapuccino samples before the show.

We entered the C. Romulo Auditorium and the Balcony is literally up there! It got me nauseous, really. The show was excellent. I found myself singing along, I had to keep it down! Rachel Alejandro did a very good job playing Kate Monster and Lucy. Trekkie Monster was a R-I-O-T! Aiza as Gary Coleman was a revelation, at least for me, as it was the first time I saw her perform on stage. There was something lacking about Frenchy Dy's portrayal of Christmas Eve I cannot really pinpoint, but her voice is powerful (I like her wedding gown! Haha!). You know, listening to the songs have always been enough, but seeing the actor's facial expressions as well as the puppets' actions (again, Trekkie!!!) made it even more wonderful for me.

There was a short meet and greet after the show (aawww the pictures suck, I used my mobile phone):

And then there was a booth to buy the program, the button (Team Kate), and the pink shirt that says 'It sucks to be me'. Teehee. Mitch and I wore our shirts to the badminton later that night.

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Some of us braved the heavy traffic just to eat at Amici de Don Bosco in Makati. One question: Why didn't I discover this place earlier? I was missing a lot! I had an order of Lasagne (too rich but yummy yum yum!) and their thin crust pizzas are to die for (wow, exagg). Never too full, I had some mint chocolate chip gelato for dessert. I brought home some chocolate covered cream puffs, hihi.

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The next day, the brothers and I were in Glorietta after mass (ane had work). We had a little bit of weekend money to spare but for the first time, we did not splurge on food! We had a simple lunch at Kaya (beginning to be a fave!). We did buy a pair of Havaianas each (yay!), a CD for Li'l Bro, shirts for the two of them, and I got Ane and myself a book each. We capped the day off with Starbucks caffeine fix each, the usual thing we do before going home on days like that. We didn't go straight home, we delivered a Bizu cake to our wedidng Ninang in Greenmeadows because it was her birthday :) The brothers were supposed to bring me where I can ride an FX to work but since Ane was out at 6pm (ordinary time 830pm), I waited for him and we went to the garden together.

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On Monday, we were up early again. We drove my FIL to his HQ in Libis. It was also important that we start the day early coz we had three banks to go to. It gets crazy every Monday not to mention that the 15th fell on a Saturday. After dropping FIL off, we grabbed some breakfast and our bank hunt started afterwards. We started along EDSA, then in Mandaluyong and finally finishing it off in Makati. We should have gone directly to Makati as the bank rows along JP Rizal are the ones that didn't have long lines. Sheesh. Then off we went to Mall of Asia to have Ivy, my laptop (yeah, I just gave it a name!) serviced at Lenovo. Just before we left for our vacation, I noticed an ugly vertical line on the monitor. I was resigned to it not being fixed anymore but Ane insisted that Ivy is still within the three-year warranty. I was corresponding with the technician last week and he assured me that if we go on Monday, the parts will be available. Why MOA, you ask? Well I already had a problem with the laptop six months after it was purchased and it was fixed in G3 but that outlet closed down this year and the person who fixed it is already assigned in MOA so obviously, we'd want him to take care of my problem once again. So anyway, Ivy now has a spankin' new monitor and am grinning from ear to ear :) The service and labor were free. To show our gratitude, we bought some coffee buns and cheeserolls from Delifrance :) I brought the boxes back to the store and it makes me happy to see people smile at me :)

Our MOA adventure didn't end there. It was still too early to go to Greenhills to fetch li'l bro. We grabbed some lunch at David's Tea House. The food seemed expensive but since the servings were big, it was alright. We weren't able to finish everything, so the food was wrapped and later was on the hands of the sampaguita boy (who has no feet and has only one arm, no kidding!) on the intersection of Ortigas and Granada. I swear, he smiled! My heart ♥ goes to him. :) We didn't leave MOA right away, as there was a lot of time to spare strolling. And stroll we did. We were looking for a sturdy table to place our CPU on (so it doesn't sit under the table) but in vain. But my Ane bought me a collapsible study table (so I can use Ivy beside our bed)and a table lamp (so I can use the desktop even if Ane is already asleep at night).

I was supposed to play that night but my legs were about to give up on me after two days in the mall! (Hi Donna! You weren't jinxed, dear, heheh, hope to play with you next monday!) Ane still played and he brought me Buco juice that night :)

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Can you believe that on Tuesday, we were at the mall again?!? This time, it was SM North/The Block. We finally found a nice table (and within budget, hah!) and later we did some grocery shopping for the garden. I went to work while Ane went to his Badminton Training. :)

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The book that I got on Sunday is the book the my sister recommended. It is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It talks about a Bengali couple who migrated to the United States and their two children were born there. It talks about the struggles they had to go through and teaching their children the Bengali culture even if they are half a world away from their roots. But it proved to be hard for Ashima and Ashoke since their children grew up in the harsh realities of their surroundings. The story focuses on Gogol, their first child, who felt imprisoned by his own name. It is a good read. I'd recommend it as well. I finished reading it on Tuesday evening.

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There, if you got this far, I salute you! My eyes are hurting and I am hungry. Hehe. TTFN!

The place that made me wanna go corporate again.

Tuesday saw Ane and I in Ortigas Center early in the morning. I had to wake up early so we won't be stuck too much in rush hour traffic. We should have gotten to our first activity at 8am but since I asked for a few more minutes of sleep, we got there just before 9am. Which was fine because the person we were seeing arrived at 9am. Hehe. Our little meeting ended a few minutes after 10am and we were strolling Megamall by 1030. We walked right away towards Chocolate since I planned early on that I will buy this month's Havaianas fix. But guess what? They're closed for renovation when I was there last Friday and they were still open. Sigh, I hate disappointments. We paid some bills and then we were off to Mami C's office right behind the mall. Ane and I were scheduled to collect payments for the Avenue Q tickets.

So the title of this entry really pertains to the place Mami C works in...that is ADB. The minute we walked in the reception lobby, that has AC btw, I felt different. It doesn't matter that they have x-ray machines for bags, just like in the airports, I simply liked it there. Mami C met us there, we were given guest passes with our names printed on them...and then we entered a totally different world. I may be exaggerating but I do love order, and that's what they have there.

We entered the building and passed through another security check (for "pre-boarding" as Mami C says heheheh). Mami told us to wait while she withdraws from the ATM and my eyes grew big when I saw that they actually have their own Citibank and Metrobank inside! They even have payment windows for Globe, Smart and others! Whoah! We then took the stairs and up there, I saw a well, a nice lobby and a Figaro! Their cafeteria looks like a hotel, even with low ceiling, the lighting fixtures are beautiful. They have a full meal worth 100 bucks, because the food is subsidized yet you can have other options if you have more budget. We ate Mongolian BBQ. We had a happy chat during lunch. Mae was there (Oh I suddenly missed our lunch sessions in Makati) but Mitch was kinda sick she failed to show up. After lunch, Mami toured us around a bit, showed us where they play badminton. Going there, we passed by the seminar rooms and when we peeked inside, the rooms may pass for hotel ballrooms. Do they rent it out for weddings?!?! Hehehehe. They even have big staircases perfect for pictorials, haha. They have a zen-like garden just outside the cafeteria and the fountain near the ADB Ave entrance was huge. Later, Mami showed us her workstation and it hit me. I never really had a chance to work in a corporate setting. The corridors and offices overwhelmed me. I actually liked it there. But going corporate is not in line with what I currently want. I wanted to go back to school and study something related to the Arts.

Given the chance, I would want to be employed there. It's a totally different world in there (they have their own gasoline station for the blue plated cars, for Pete's sake!). It's like when you go out of the compound, you're stepping off the street gutter and you suddenly get hit by an incoming vehicle! To sum it all up, the experience of visiting the place is, as Mae put it "nakakaCulture Shock" :)

Ps. Thank you Mami for treating us to lunch! Can't wait to go back!

We deserved a Mcdo Float each :)

That is, after being stranded at home for about 36hours :)

I do not mind staying home for long hours as long as I am given the option to go out ANYTIME. But that wasn't the case. We could not go out because it rained nonstop since Tuesday evening and the tide was high early yesterday (and today). A wall near the river collapsed which made the entire situation even worse. The flood was almost knee-high this morning, deeper down the street. Welcome to our world. Welcome to Malabon. Hehe.

I am just glad that even if we do not have cable tv at home, I had Ane with me (on his rest days) and the DSL & electricity cooperated. Worse, we only had water and ice inside the refrigerator, and oh rice, a bag of Cheetos, 2 cans of sliced pineapples, and 4 pieces of bite-sized chocolates! We always forget to buy groceries since we got back from the long break. I should be grateful for what we had though...others had nothing to eat. And besides, our Bong was more than willing to brave the flood and buy things for us. I had her buy some Coke Light this morning because not having any made me all the more depressed of our situation. Hehe. Not having any Coke Light to drink was more depressing than seeing boats outside our home. Exagg. Hihi.

Around 5pm, Ane looked outside and the flood have subsided a bit. Thank God it stopped raining. We decided to leave and let Espee, the Sportivo, tackle the water. The water was up to 3/4 of the poor truck's wheels. But we got through. The minute we stepped on Valenzuela, we realized that life beyond Malabon was pretty normal!

We drove thru Mcdonald's on our way to QC and got ourselves some Twister Fries and Float. Comfort Food! :) We got to the apartment and caught the news. Apparently, the City council of Malabon declared the City in a State of Calamity since 60% of the area is still under the waters! If you saw the news this evening (24Oras), the scene with boats was shot along our street! It was that bad. I am just too glad we were able to evacuate or we might be stuck there until tomorrow.

And in case you wanna know, there were no damages to our home. I am just sad that others were not as lucky as we are. Flooded houses are in fact already a way of life out there. Nothing to do but accept their circumstances :(

PS. Another underwater county, Obando, was also heavily flooded. Our coffee shop and pizza parlor's stock and freezer area is currently submerged in water. It's good that our crew was able to transfer what needed to be transferred. I hope everything gets back to normal tomorrow.

Family time is important.

Sundays are important. It is a time to spend with family (after God). Too bad, Ane has to work on Sundays until I dunno when. It is on these days that it shouldn't matter whether we have extra money to spend or not. Eating at fastfoods and nothing fancy would oftentimes be enough, heck, eating at home before going out is usually better on those days. Coffee and desserts sessions (what we call "Starbucking") are amiss. As long as we are together, we are fine. As long as there are no business and work talk, we are fine. As long as we don't talk about our current circumstances, even for just a couple of hours, that is enough.

Like yesterday. The two brothers, the 'rents, and I were at Rockwell. We were able to squeeze in the budget for a movie. Later, I realized we should have gone somewhere else (but not SM! hehehe arte talaga) because the movie cost P161...where was I when this happened?!? Hehe. Or maybe, back in the days, it didn't matter how much a movie costs? Hmmmm.

While everyone else (the lines were loooooooonggg!) were lining up for Ratatouille, we had tickets for The Simpson Movie. The rat movie is pretty nice too (saw it in the States) but the Li'l bro wanted Simpsons, him being a fan. Mom was apprehensive when she realized we were watching cartoons but later, while inside, we could hear her laughing out loud. That's what the movie is. Full of laughter from start to finish. The humor is not for kids though, with it's PG13 rating.

I suggest you watch it too. If only to forget about life (and it's troubles) for a moment. Cheers! :)

**picture from wikipedia

It's a Sunday and I am at work.

Ane is at work (days-off: Fri & Sat). I am at work. It's always stressful when I am here. You just do not know how stressful it could get just to be here. I hear voices and I'm not hallucinating at all, believe me. It's been a struggle just to be sitting and hearing two people exchange/throw childish remarks at each other. Enough.

I should be happy. The past few days were happy. Except for Wednesday.

I'll make this Wednesday kwento short. Ika nga ng matatanda, ipagpasa-Diyos na lang natin. My mom and I took the first flight to Cebu at 430am. We planned to go to the Requiem Mass for Ana, my sister's college barkada (she also grew close to our family), at 9am. Before Ane and I left for Manila, we received the sad news that she was on respirator after she committed the unthinkable. When we arrived here on Sunday, my ate said that she passed away. Of course we were all sad. She was too young to die. When we (mom and I didn't know we were on the same flight with some college classmates and a prof) arrived in the funeral parlor, we were able to talk to Ana's cousins and we were enlightened a bit. The mass was a very emotional one. Immediately afterwards, her body was taken to the crematorium. I took some photos. Her ashes was to be thrown to the sea, so there was no point really to stay longer. Later, my mom's friend picked us up and showed us the city (it was my first time to be in Cebu)...more like a joyride I'd say. Since the trip was totally unplanned, mom's friend wasn't able to clear her sched and we spent the entire day in her car. The trip was really short. We were back in NAIA by 9pm, same day. I plan to visit again some other time.

Thursday was a busy day at work.

Friday, I was at the cafe early to take care of some money matters. By lunch time, Ane was back from renewing his driver's license and went to pick me up. I went with him to his HR Department then he dropped me to my Rotary Meeting at Heritage.

Yesterday was my Hubby's birthday. He is now three-oh years old and he surely doesn't look like one. We didn't do anything special. When we woke up, we had the urge to watch the new Harry Potter Movie. So off we went to Rockwell with my two brothers. The theater disappointed me because the seats and carpet looked dirty, hay. Powerplant cinemas are my fave cinemas pa naman. The movie was okay except that it got dragging at some parts and the climax was, oh well, too quick it did not sink right away. We had lunch afterwards at Kaya. Later, we were found at GHBC playing with our badminton buddies. I had five games and you bet my body is aching as of the moment. Dinner was at 4xforce. Oh, I certainly missed our Saturday after-play food!

Today, since Ane is at work, we (my two bros and parents) celebrated his bday without him, hehe. We had lunch at Healthy shabu-shabu at SM North The Block and had some desserts at Cerealicious (yummy!). And then I am here.

It is almost closing time and I need to end this now. ;)

Entries in one.

Our flight is tomorrow. From monday til today were busy busy busy. Am doing this post while we are packing so,

I'll do bullets for updates (so I won't forget...):

• Monday - Lunch at Cheesecake factory and Malling at Valley Fair with Marijoe and Lira. :) Bought a few things.
• Tuesday - Stayed home and did the laundry whole day. Went out for a while for lunch and to buy Ane's PSP. In the evening, Ane and I were picked up by the same couple friend we had dinner last week. We caught the 1130pm showing of Transformers (ang danda danda danda!) at Cupertino AMC. Libre :)
• Wednesday - 4th of July. Malling at Oakridge. Ane bought me a watch, a book, a mag and two blouses :) At night we tried to catch a fireworks display but we got there a minute too late, oh!
• Today - Was out the whole day. Our to-buy list is crossed-out except for one (we'll try to see tom). Ane bought me a tote laptop bag (yey!) and a wallet. Dinner was with Jo, her husband Ryan, and Lira at a Chinese Restaurant in Milpitas. Starbucks afterwards.

Ciao for now hehehe...

Joaquin is 4!

When I woke up this morning, I greeted my fave nephew (there is no other nephew! heheh) a Happy Birthday. But before I was able to kiss him, he brushed me away saying that it's not his birthday today. I think he is in denial and is waiting for his party on Saturday. It can't be his birthday today because the party is not today. You can't be right with him, I tell yah. ;) He wasn't really in the mood because he was feverish his morning but he went out with the boys. We were thinking he might just need a little bit of fresh air and some sun.

So yeah, the lone girl left (that's ME, my sister had to work) stayed at home the entire day. I was supposed to meet up with M and L for a fun day-out but L had some sort of an emergency at work so she could not take her off, of all days! I spent my day in the net, just bloghopping. Am still my lazy self. I cannot believe I am taking opps now when I should be getting ready for bed. I am not sleep deprived but my body feels I am. I told the boys to bring me some burger (I was craving for burgers for the last four days but haven't gotten the chance to buy one). They got me a double double cheese cheese & bacon from BK. You know what I did after I wolfed down that sinful sandwich? Took a nap!!!! I bet I'll be huge when we return to Manila. Thanks to Ris who decided to call and cut my trip to lalaland. :)

My sister got home from work and we all went out to celebrate our baby's day. We went bowling near Oakridge and J had fun doing his mom's game :) We were supposed to eat there but decided against it since the mall is just next door. We got some yummy garlic fries though. Haha buti na lang. My sister missed the sign that the shoes were to be rented (at $5 each!). So when the bill came, her eyes widened. Hihi. Oh well, anything for the boy, she says. She's glad the birthday boy had a blast even if we only played one game. :) We don't want to have body aches, do we? Dinner was simple. We just grabbed some chinese food, stayed a bit and strolled until it was time to go home.

Hayyyyy, the boy is growing up fast.

A quick one

I consider it still early (been sleeping past 1am for three nights!) yet I am already very sleepy. I feel so tired. So this will be short but contemplative :)

I am sad. And I dunno why. I always always find myself feeling so low with no particular reason. I also feel lazy and bored...I just wanna lie on bed.

Anyway, we went to have my sister's car checked this afternoon (maintenance routine) and while waiting we strolled in Valley Fair. Bought a few stuff to be brought home (Manila-bound in 1.5 weeks!). We dropped by the Discovery Channel store and this Life is Good shirt caught my attention (Ane bought it for me and it is also 30% off!):

And there's another label that says:

I realized everything boils down to the choices I make, ain't it? Makes me wonder: Have I made all the right choices? At the moment, I would have answered: "Not at all". But since God sent me a message today (Life is good!), I will have to sleep for now and maybe all the negative vibes in me will go away when I wake up tomorrow.

But before that, I would like to share with you the conversation we had upon leaving the house earlier. Ane and I saw this outside and it sparked the exchange:

Ane: That's ampalaya! (bittergourd)

Me: No that's patola! (vegetable that makes a loofa..dunno the english word for it hehe)

And then Joaquin came out with his dad, shouting:

J: Hey that's a pickle!

And we all laughed :) Smart, this kid is! But of course it was not what we said it was, those are budding flowers :) Sigh, I miss him already and we are still here! One last thing, if my brother G is reading this, he'd probably be so happy to know that today, we got him this:

It is the latest Paramore CD "Riot" and am sure he can't wait to get hold of it :)

There. Notice I actually uploaded photos, these are from my mobile phone. Hmmmmm...gotta work on the trip pictures soon!

Tata for now.

Today's happenings

What a boring title, I know.

Anyway, I woke up late this morning on the wrong side of the bed. I had an issue with Ane that I'd rather not discuss here. So I skipped brunch altogether. Although, I was sooooo hungry! Sheeesh. We cooked pancit bihon last night, and I ate a lot but that didn't satisfy me because it wasn't rice. Yeah, I was mad at someone and I punished myself. Well, that statement alone got me thinking: Huh?!?

Good thing we went out to canvass something that RL wants from here (for his baby car!) and Kuya J dragged us to Pick up Stix to grab some Asian food. Whew! We found out that the thing RL wants is cheaper than when ordered online so after we texted him, we paid for the DP already. :)

Then we dropped by an electronics' store but we haven't been there long when Joaquin decided he needed to poopoo! Now this boy has been potty trained pretty well and we are so proud of him. But his timing can just be sooooooo untimely? hhehehe. He just can't do it at home (well, he does most of the time). It's either he really can't control it or we spend too much time outside. Hehe.

A weebit later, we fetched Ate from work and we headed to The Winchester Mystery House, a tourist landmark here in SJ. Ane and I joined the 430pm tour. It would have been a very informative one but the family who joined us kept on cutting the tour guide so the poor guy seemed lost in his own words. The Victorian mansion was very interesting, though, and very eccentric at that. Afterwards, we walked through Santana Row, a very impressive upscale street that can be compared to Greenbelt :) We just pretended we belonged there, hihihi. Then off to Valley Fair mall for dinner and I also got this kikay stuff to add to my small BE possessions. :) I got it for $10 less courtesy of my sister's frequent buyer card. I am a girl! :) We also spent a few minutes at the LEGO store (man, those toys are really expensive huh? but fun to play with).

We got home before 9am and I started surfing the net. I'm still a bit disappointed at Ane but when he agreed to let me subscribe to this for a year, I can't help but smile. Nasusuhulan din naman ako. Now if only I can make him let me get this, this and join this, then I would be the happiest wife, for now. Hahaha!

And now, it past midnight...I need to get some Zzzzzzz's now. Need to be up early tomorrow for another day of escapades! :) But before that, I'll share this:

You Are 70% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

I just found it funny that I had a hard time answering Mami Carmie's tag when I am 70% weird according to the quiz. Hehe. And another:

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need. You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law. While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top. You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

Ain't that that nice to know? :) Haaaayyyyyyy. Good night!

Stumped!

Hehe, I am stumped and actually don't know what to share! Isn't that kinda funny? For the last few weeks, I couldn't keep myself away from the internet because I had too much to say. And now, this. Hihi. So forgive me if I end up blabbing.

I wasn't able to blog yesterday because 1) I did our laundry, just a small pile this time; 2) Ane and Kuya J was fixing the local network so the printer will work with the laptop, they took too much time; 3) We went out to buy some stuff for Joaquin's birthday party on the 30th; and 4) I had a blast downloading things/freebies that I lost track of time and actually slept at 130am!

Ane wasn't happy. He hates it when I forget the time. Can't blame me, I was stuck in my own world.

Anyway, while out yesterday, we passed by Barnes & Noble in Eastridge, well just to check the place out again (Joaquin also wanted to play in the Kids' area so we gave in). We found the magazine my FIL wanted us to buy for him, although we got him the latest one. He wanted us to get him even just the backissues, but they are only sold in CD's. And then my sister came rushing to show me the latest issue of Digital Scrapbooking mag. I just had to buy it! Believe me, Ane wasn't able to stop me. Hihi. The mag was for $6.99 and guess what? It included a coupon over at Scrapping Garden for a mega kit worth $9.99! What a steal, don't you agree? So while downloading the kit, I remembered to hop on over at Ikeagoddess...and that's when I forgot about the time...one blog led to another, one freebie to another awesome freebie (yay! I just exposed myself -- a freebie sucker!!!!)...I can't believe I missed a lot of things in just a month!

Whooot I just remembered to share this trivia (I keep on cutting myself!): Did you know that the designer of the new Scrapping Garden logo (not the current one in their website,I guess they haven't updated the blog yet) is a Filipina? Ate Jen is a fellow Bebot, and a real talent. I saw the logo in the magazine, and I told my sis about the story. Can't help but be proud. Hihihi. I've met her once before during the Bebot's EB :)

There. I wasn't as stumped as I thought I was. Hehe.