The Wifeyteria Chronicles: Something Fishy

Okay, so the beefsteak made out of rock cod fillets didn’t quite work. 

Foodie (hubby) threw a fit.  He came home from a hard day’s work…I grumped him out by REFUSING to drive my BMW –after he had put a lot of work on it (just because I’m so scared I’ll scratch it, curb it…or creatively find new ways to “hurt” a car with it…WIMPO!), short of saying, “I want to crush hubby’s feelings, I’ll let the garage use it for a long, long time.”  Duh!

Okay, so here’s how the rest went.  Foodie went straight to the kitchen with Chefie (me). Foodie checked out what’s for dinner.  And Foodie saw the fish slices lounging on the pan, submerged in sauce with onion rings, pretending they were beef.  (Hey, I truly had no intentions of deceit, oh common now!) I just thought an occasional healthy substitute wouldn’t hurt – has anyone ever tried eating Tanuigue Steak back home? That’s what it was! It’s a legit dish in every right!!!

So Foodie threw a fit.

Let’s put it this way. 

Foodie doesn’t like fish.

No, Foodie HATES fish. 

And Foodie HATES store-bought frozen fish.

Maybe Foodie wants Chefie to go a-fishing before each crooked plan to shove a fish dish down his throat. 

So Chefie told Foodie, he could eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

If he could please let her eat her fish dinner, in peace.

Then Foodie ended up starving.

But hard-headed Chefie wouldn’t budge an inch.

So upset Foodie ended up eating Chefie’s fish dish.

-THE END-

*bow*

Wifeyteria

It never dawned on us until one typical afternoon, hubby called me at work like he usually does to ask what I was making for dinner.  His co-worker blurted out, "You're talking about food again!!!"

Okay, so here’s the usual scenario:

            Hub:                What’s for dinner?

            Wifey:            (thinking) Uhmm…I’m making Afritada tonight.

            Hub:                No, I don’t feel like having Afritada tonight

Wifey:            How about Adobo? Or Sinigang?

Hub:                We had Sinigang last week!

Wifey:            Uhm…Caldereta? Kare-kare?

Hub:                You’ve been making so much Filipino stuff lately.

Wifey:            Sukiyaki?

Hub:               Neh.

Wifey:           Okay, I’ll make baked Cajun Salmon fillets, served on a bed of greens.

Hub:                I don’t feel like eating fish.

Wifey:            Uhm…my stuffed Crimini mushrooms with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce?

Hub:                Nope.

Wifey:            (ah yes! the magic word…) You want Fried Chicken!

Uh-oh wifey realizes she doesn’t have enough chicken left in the freezer…

Wifey:            Ooops! (thinking fast) How about Corned Beef…uh…er…uhm…Canned Tuna? Top Ramen Instant noodles? Uh...SPAM? @#$@!#*(&*!!!

            That’s how it usually goes.  If for 50% of the households, wives resort to microwaveable food or husbands buy food-to-go, in our case my hubby ORDERS ……from me.  Like I’m a 24-hr restaurant or cafeteria of some sort.  It’s kind of nice, since we both love genuinely hot home-cooked meals and I enjoy the thought of knowing in my heart that I know how to cook even if some tactless peeps once thought I won’t survive in America because I can’t (still an issue with me, isn’t it?)  For the record, I can cook, I do cook, and boy how I love it!  Hubby thinks I’m such a good chef.  But hear this: he thinks he’s an excellent food critic! (“maybe next time add a little more paprika…or marinate this in spiced olive oil longer yada yada yada… ”) When actually, he only has one seasonful of TV training from Top Chef, Iron Chef America  and “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” tucked under his belt, plus bits and pieces of Anthony Bourdain’s thoughts in No Reservations. Foodie, baby!

I made my usual and personal version of Shepherd’s Pie two nights ago (thanks to cousin Joy for the original recipe). This time though, I decided to shift from ground beef (read: killer red meat) to ground turkey --being the health-freak wannabe that I am at this phase in my life. A dash more of chili powder I hoped would mask its true identity and roll through my dear foodie’s tongue without an issue.  The Shepherd’s pie didn’t make it to the pie form, by the way. Hubby came home famished from a hard day’s work (plus a little extra hours spent for my “new-old” car…which I still don't have a name for), dove into the pot of my newly cooked secret meat and dumped a shovelful of it on top of his steamy rice (that’s how people get fat, you know!)  After trying it, he exclaimed with theatrical gusto, “Oh this is soooooo good. I love beef very very much! Ohhhhh it’s hella good”. Hahahahaha.  There you go.  Foodie my *bleep*.   In my Wifeyteria, the Special of the Day isn’t always what the menu board says it is.  You’ll never know what you’re sinking your teeth into --literally.

I'm making beefsteak (lemon, onions and soy sauce) out of rock cod fillets tonight.  Boy I can be evil, really evil!  With a cause though. *wink*

Gratitude Weekend

             This weekend was fun, but real tiring.  Friday night, hubby and I went to…hold on, what did we do? Too much stuff going on the last couple of days gave me transient amnesia. Oh yeah, Friday.  I remember now.  I stayed home and hubby worked late on my “new-old” car.  It was raining real hard and I just warmed up all the leftovers for supper. Lazy a$$!

            Saturday, I went to our hula workshop to solidify my knowledge of the dance…March 1^st is fast approaching! And it’s official, I’ll be performing in the show.  It feels kinda weird inviting people to watch since there’s a $30. fee, and I’m not sure if I’m worth 30 bucks!!! The others are anyway so…I’ll take the chance to invite some folks over. Hhmmmm, on second thought, maybe I’m worth 30 bucks…even for a laugh, lol.

            The rest of the weekend was spent, as it unintentionally turned  out, “repaying” special people who have done so much good things for me.  It gives me a refresher course on generosity and initiative --something I need some work on, especially the latter.

I got paid last Friday so I took hubby out for some sushi and shopping!  I’ve been craving for Lion King (Baked California Roll topped with Salmon and Fish Roe …yummm!) and Crispy Roll (Deep-fried battered sushi…yum-yum!) for the past weeks anyway. I was just so pleased to see hubby give me that little-boy-look, a pair of pants and a shirt in hand, saying “Can I get these?” and I looked and said “Yes! I love the color!” (even if it seemed like the same color as the rest of his wardrobe) and then I went ahead and paid for it. So…this is what he always felt like (shopping for me and stuff)! Sweetheart!

            Then we took my hubby’s cousin, Captain P, around or wherever he wanted (just the mall, actually),  He’s an international pilot who flies here to California about three times a month.  He gave me a 2008 Starbucks planner from the Philippines , woohoo!  Eversince I moved to the U.S. , I‘ve stopped dreaming of filling up a Starbucks planner, which I’ve always had in the past, but they don’t have it over here!  That melted my heart since you have to get a frequency card all stamped-out in order to get one.  Imagine that caffeine overload!!!

            Lastly, I bought perfumes for my mom and dad to send through Captain P.  Mom’s was a belated birthday present, and dad’s was an advanced birthday present.  My parents have been so busy during the holidays and were also hit by an avalanche of holidays and fiesta expenses, but they didn’t miss on sending me something for my birthday last December.  Compared to the 2006 birthday present I got which was a $400.-worth fully loaded Magic Sing Duet Karaoke microphone (ofcourse, every pinoy in the US of A should have one!), they sent me one silver-colored plastic bracelet/bangle (gilded with glitters) which my mom wrapped in clear plastic that she sealed with a masking tape and where she wrote over “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ate! Love, Mommy and Daddy”.  It might not be worth a fortune but receiving it warmed me up all over…perhaps a gazillion times greater than the microphone ever did. They didn’t have enough time to find something, and perhaps didn’t even have enough on the budget to buy me the world BUT it’s something worth far more than all the presents in the world put together.  I’m ditching my Chanel bangle for it.  I hope my perfumes will make them smile.  Their birthday gift hugs my right wrist snugly most days now. It’s a constant reminder of their love for me.  It also reminds me how much they are aching for mine. I’m happy, so ever grateful, and proud!

Find your Green

         The weather has gotten cold and gray again, perhaps it’s what has dampened my spirits.  I found myself staring at a small crumpled candy wrapper here at work, which I must tell you, has been sitting under my desk since the first day I colonized this cubicle.  It’s sitting in one corner close to the base of the divider and is well beyond my reach unless I try to curl up under the desk hopefully successful enough to squish the belly flat (tough feat…).  Secretly though, I want to see how long it’s going to keep sitting there without getting vacuumed off by the cleaning lady who comes here twice a week.  2 years? 5 years? Let’s see.  So far…today is Day 318. I’m not joking! And OGK how long it has been sitting there prior to my reign. That, folks, together with how many times in a day I will get electric-shocked by touching a paper clip (the bzzzk punctuated by a thhhkk! ---have you ever had one of those?) so far takes over my mind when there aren’t interesting things to think about.

          Maybe I shouldn’t even write today.  Aside from utter nonsense leaking out of my brain, my heart is leaking out depressing stuff. My supervisor’s dad just passed away, and so she had to leave today and will be out the rest of next week.  She was talking to me about my health concerns yesterday when I had to take a half-day off for a doctor’s appointment.  But that’s another issue.  While we were at the subject of health, she shared that her dad was very sick and she needed to fly back home to see him before he got any worse.  Apparently, she never made it to his sick bed.  Boy was I praying so hard last night she would.  Her dad passed away before she made tonight’s flight.

          Work has gotten pretty slow, as if in total sympathy to the grim atmosphere around here.

          And then my health issues. I had some minor health scares recently which pushed me to make the trip to the doctor’s, finally. It’s just scary when you’re faced with your own health threats.  Sort of like rubbing it on your face that you’re not Wonder Woman (though I wish I was!), nor will I live forever, while at the same time you’ve got people around you with so much faith that you can be both no matter what. *SIGH* A bit disheartening, ain’t it?

          It’s true that like attracts like.  And while I’m at rolling this growing snowball of depressive thoughts, might as well pee it all in one go. I’m exposed to the internet everyday at work. And so in between bona fide work, I surf. I don’t know why today, of all days, I come across photos, blogs, literature and other media forms that remind me of things I don't have and I wish I do… a smiling toddler or two in my arms (mine), a warm, small, simple but cozy, neat and tidy home in our name, with a picket fence and a dog in the yard heeheehee (will the California real estate situation please make it easy to afford a house already!), having my parents close to me (I miss them not because they are not here for me…but because I’m not there for them---that breaks my heart everyday),  maybe a higher paying job or a fatter paycheck, I wish I pursued the thought of being a nurse...or a doctor which I kind of wanted but never acknowledged and which I knew I was capable of, and other trivial things such as , believe it or not, wanting to have my very own Christmas Tree with my own handpicked ornaments. What's with this self-pity drama going on.  It's the heavy rain outside, I bet!! I guess it really depends on your emotional temperature.  If I was happy, I would be gleefully tuning out stimuli that make my emotions do a nose-dive.  Instead, I would unconsciously spot happy things that bring only happy thoughts.  You attract what you think. So it boils down to one tried and tested way of changing the song: play the changing perspectives track.

          Maybe it truly is the insatiable characteristic of human nature, to always seek what we don't have and not see what is within our grasp.  We always think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But once we hop on to the other side, we see that it is the same kind of green, perhaps even browner, we just didn't have a chance to look closer and zoom in to the details.  More often than not, we would even want to go back to where we've always been.

        There might still be a lot of things that other people have which my heart still desires. But just a week ago, hubby surprised me with a BMW parked outside.  It’s a '93 granite-silver two-door 325 champ, and it’s mine.  I have a wonderful husband who takes care of me, pampers me with everything his side jobs can afford, feeds me like there is no tomorrow (uh...elgk!), someone who is proud of me and protects me like I'm the world's greatest treasure ever found, stands up for me and supports me in everything that I do.  Aside from that, I have friends and family that keep me close.  I have nice housemates who are willing to break bread with me anytime (...or ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise...), or give my laundry another cycle in the dryer if it's still damp. I do have a wonderful job that touches people's lives while keeping me stress-free and letting me spend a decent amount of time with hubby and  family. We don't have really fat savings yet but we're able to tuck away enough regularly for a rainy day -- and some occasional splurges.  AND! I think I'm beautiful enough, inside and out.  PLUS!!! I'm going to Philippines soon to visit my parents and my sister, family and friends. So woohoo!  I do am blessed a hundredfold! I have a lot to thank God for. I am abundant with basic needs and beyond other people don't even have!

        So while at one point or another I would catch myself wishing I'm in other people-with-better-lives' shoes, I'm pretty sure a lot of people are dying to be in mine.  And it doesn't stop there.  I'm sure, a lot people would die for a chance to live the lives of people who, on the other hand, would want to drop their current situation in exchange for a taste of my life.

         From whining to being grateful.  Neato! Have you counted your blessings yet? There are many less fortunate people in all aspects (marriage and other relationships, friendships, family, finances, health and even basic needs) who are yearning to be in your shoes.  While we are unfortunate in some aspects, we are gifted in some.  And while some people are unfortunate in aspects we are blessed in, they can be lucky in those we're not.  The truth is, we really can't have everything. Whoever programmed that in our heads is direly misinformed.  Life really isn't supposed to be perfect, so let's not grieve when it's not.  We often need to put ourselves in check. 

        Your grass is usually green enough inside your own fence.

        Which reminds me....mine is!

FIND YOUR GREEN.

Ichi Ban

Last night was a trip. Twas hella fun.  Hella funny! J

Here are some bits and pieces I want to remember for a long, loooong time:

1. Edna’s Ichi-ban Library: a Filipino Comedy Bar and Videoke place in Daly City –“Little Philippines” of California. My first time to ever come to a place like that. I wouldn’t even be caught dead in one in the Philippines .  WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT???
2. Two bottles of beer…the ol’ reliable San Mig Lite (1 year and a half since I had the last one in the Philippines ) That, aside from other stuff truly made my day!...Tokwa’t Baboy and Sisig served on a sizzling plate (the lemon in lieu of calamansi was a party pooper though) 
3. Two funny gay performers/singers, one looked like Andrea del Rosario, the other like Sharon Cuneta (sang like her too it was sooo creepy!) plus a little dirty humor peppering the show here and there but decent enough to tolerate and make you laugh til your sides hurt.
4. Colin, the young American guy on the table to our left with his fellow nurses/filipino friends.  He was so game he brought the house down when he danced and sang with Andrea look-alike, “Hit Me, Baby, one more time”.  Such a great sport!
5. My husband, being picked on and singing ONSTAGE for the very first time ever in his life! (He doesn’t even sing in the shower.  Thank you for going with him, J!!!)
6. “ALWAYS” – the song hubby sang with J…the one that goes “Girl you are to me…all that a woman should be…and I dedicate my life, to you always”.  And he, pointing and winking at me, while this gay performer was clinging on to him like an undernourished Koala bear.
7. The special brotherhood/bond my hubby shares with the guys he supervises in his team at work.  All the Filipino guys in the team were there, and brought their wives too!
8. Jeff, the wheelchair-bound guy from the table to our right.  He went onstage several times to sing, AND DANCE! (He did upper body dance moves while rolling his wheelchair around, dancing like he had a pair of perfectly functioning feet)  What a joy to see!
9. Hanging out with simple people who were out to have a great time, the nobody-really-cares-if-you-sing-monotone unadulterated kind of fun…
10. Hanging out until 1 am…ON A THURSDAY NIGHT – like how I used to in the Philippines .   It’s something you don’t get a lot here in the U.S.

WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT?

…that something I used to turn away from in the Philippines , would make me feel so “at home” away from home…a place whose reputation and safety I even questioned at first...

…it spoke of familiar things…the pinoy beer, the tokwa’t baboy, OPM, pinoy slang I already need to catch up on, brothers and sisters working here and shining through –- a foreign land to us still, no matter what…

…then throw in an inspiration or two…

Being far away from home makes one feel forever-nostalgic and craving for things that remind us of our land, our culture, our own people. Talk about appreciating the things you used to take for granted...

And they say you are truly homesick if you start salivating for “WOWOWEE”. Well, I don’t exactly swear it off, but it still doesn’t appeal to me at all (please don’t be quick to judge! it’s a matter of distinct personal interests among different folks).  But after this, who knows… 

For the Comedy-Karaoke bars and the like though…I’m not exactly a big fan yet too, I suppose.  But I really look forward to the next one!!!

This Weight Thang

         I got scared as hell last night at Tahitian class. I almost passed out.  I did have to catch my breath a few times after a grueling bout of drills…but I’ve done that before! I’ve pushed myself even harder in my jazz and hiphop classes in the past. I told myself, perhaps the culprit is the several rounds of squat-walking across the dance floor while keeping our back straight, hands on the sides (way to go, thighs!) That was undeniably a sweat-breaker.  What I do know is, my heart fluttered for what seemed like 10 seconds or maybe less and an aura of tiny shooting stars filled my peripheral vision.  It felt like the world was turning the lights out on me.  And so I panicked, but with the mind-over-matter mentality that I have grown to acquire through time, I fought it with deep breathing and coughing (hey didn’t I read that somewhere?) Ten minutes after that, my body let me dance like nothing threatening ever paid me a visit.

        I think it was lack of oxygen because I didn’t do enough warm-up stretches before class.  Or maybe I’m pregnant? (wishful thinking…) Or possibly I’m too old to dance? I’m only 35 and if Madonna, Tina Turner or some other ab-gyrating momma past her golden years can still pull it off, I will keep doing it!

        Or perhaps it’s because I have been starving silly in the past couple of days…. 

        Ahhh this weight thang.  There is a gamut of resolutions most of us have made in time for New Year’s.  I didn’t even bother with a list because every time I try to think about mine, there is only one prominent and life-consuming desire that pops up. TO LOSE IT.

        Those who know me would know. I have been through this journey several times before.  As a matter of fact, I have been through this too many times over I’m so getting sick of it!

        It all started when… *sad background music please* (JOKING)

        I was born as a 8.5-lb baby and I have always been a cute and chubby little girl in my childhood.  My baby fat loved me so much it got so clingy that it stuck around until I was old enough to have my own baby!!!  Growing up, I always had weight issues.  THOSE WEREN'T EVEN MY PERSONAL ISSUES, FOR PETE'S SAKE!  These were issues shoved down my throat by people around me.  “You’re getting fat!....Oh wow, you got skinny…You’re so big!...How's Clarisse? Guess what, she lost a lot of weight! or How's Clarisse? She's fat and chubby right now etc etc”.  A lot of people I see around here in the U.S. would complain about what I am ranting about.  In fact, at work, they want me to be in front when we take photos because they say I'm the skinniest girl around... when I was in the hospital, the nurse remarked "you're so petite, let me put this IV in your tiny wrist".  Okay, so I am not morbidly obese, I don’t need two chairs to accommodate my tushy, and I don’t look like a walking whale (at least that’s my personal opinion of myself), but I got these issues, big time.

        All throughout my life, some of my accomplishments were defined by others as how many pounds I gained, or how many inches I lost.  A lot of people, most likely with the right intentions though, would comment on my weight as if at that moment, I wasn’t exactly the same person they have known before, or that I wasn't the person I was supposed to be.  Like I wasn't supposed to be chubby. Maybe some caring ones simply hoped I would look better in a size 0 because I was blessed with a pretty face. Hello!  At least I had a pretty face!!! (hahaha) Perhaps, they had this expectation of me. Like I'm one movie star who's supposed to be perfect and look good for others, all the time. But I was me and I truly didn't care. In my heart, I was confident about how I looked and in fact, I thought I was pretty hot at times.  (That's probably why...dang!) Sometimes, I think I was born in the wrong period.  I could have easily fit in one of them Renaissance artworks! Their women had the guts and a GUT! And they looked sexy and hot just the same.

        There are some days though, when I would check out my candid pictures randomly taken at different angles and reality would sink in.  I am fat.  I won the battle of the bulge twice in my life.  TWICE.  Once, I Iost 30 pounds really easy.  I set my goal and went for it.  I was doing it for myself,  but looking back, my dark shadow was doing it to spite other people, or make their jaws drop to say the least.  An ego trip, just to finally have the last laugh, after all these years of torment.  But! I'm only human.  As if I haven't been happy enough, I had to do it one more time, on a replay.  I let it go and gained weight again.  Then, shed off a lot of pounds again, dramatically, perhaps to spite these critics one more time...as if the first time wasn't satisfying enough. But that wasn't the real reason.  I just let it go, just like that. And with my innate metabolism the speed of a turtle, of course I was headed for doom!  I knew that. 

The point is, am I ready to go to face my third battle? Perhaps, I can ignite that kind of determination again, and fuel up my courage to win this one more time, for keeps.  This time, I know it will help me to think about health reasons --hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes..all those ugly threats, my hubby, being healthy for our future together. They said it is also easier to have a baby when you're skinny.  How true, we'll have to wait and see. 

        This is an uphill battle though.  They all say when you gain weight, that means you're happy.  It's true.  But that doesn't pass as an excuse I guess, huh!  It's possibly why I starve myself silly during the day.  Right now, dinner time is when hubby and I eat together, update each other on how our day went, and that is when we share a common passion...cooking good food and eating. It is a wonderful time we both look forward to coming home to.  It's one of the things that tie our hearts together.  I am not about to give that up (or maybe I'm not ready to compromise my appetite?).  My mom told me one time "Tell Aldred, if you really love me, don't feed me."  Why? That's going to be a lot of tough love on my plate right there.  At least my husband feeds me! There's a lot of miserable women out there whose mates don't care. But yes, this is a lame excuse!!! 

        We just have to make better choices, and healthier options this time around. I still don't have any plan of action at this time.  I've designed my game plan down to the most trivial detail during those times I succeeded those first battles.  I'll perfect my game plan one more time.  And you know me, I'll do it.

        I promise.

Moe`uhane

I moved to Tuesday Intermediate Hula Class now.  Tonight’s the first day of class. Woohoo! I know it’s going to be a whole lot harder but I’m ready to struggle. Our dance school moved too! We now have a studio at Webster St. It's closer to home, a short walk or bicycle ride away  --maybe in the summer when it's not too freezing for me.

And oh, I received this email from my kumu today , I think I’m gonna give it a try...(*/me smiling*)

---

Aloha kakou!

If you have received this email, it is because I am confident that you will be an asset to our performance on Saturday, March 1st, at the Santa Clara Convention Center (in the theater). So first and foremost, if you are interested and available, please let me know ASAP. Originally the keiki were suppossed to dance with us, but because we don't have live drummers for the ote'a, the producers of this event have requested the wahine only.

The production is sponsored by Pumehana O Hula (POH) of Santa Clara , and they have invited E Honu Iti E, Maori Mo Ake Tonu (MMAT) and Halau Makana (HM) to participate. The event is a fundraiser for POH and MMAT to travel to Kaua'i at the end of March to participate in another benefit production for the LeFrance Foundation. (I am a member of MMAT, and we perform the dances of New Zealand . I will be traveling to Kaua'i with them.) We will need to be at the theater in Santa Clara for a technical rehearsal in the late afternoon, and then the performance begins at 7pm.

HM wahine will be doing two Ahuroa (tahitian dances that 'look like hula'). The first one is "Taura O Te Here" (the dance we've been working on for the last month), and the second one is "Horoa I Te Here" (starting in Jan). Costume for the dance is also called Ahuroa (long dress with ruffles). A picture of the dress and pattern are attached. (On the pattern picture, we will be making the orange dress with sleeves. Our dress will be red with tiare prints. We will make the dress a little longer and add ruffles.) I am available to sew for those that don't know how to sew. We will also be having costume workshops for those who would like to help out or are brave enough to try. (It really is simple...don't let the ruffles scare you.) The cost of the fabric is approximately $20 per dancer. Besides the fabric, you will need to purchase lace ruffles and a zipper. Cost for me to sew the dress is $100, but if you help out at a costume workshop (cutting, hand stitching, 'pulling' ruffles, etc), your cost will be reduced to $80. This dress will also be used in our annual Ho'ike (recital) and other upcoming performances as well.

We have 8 weeks to polish our performance pieces, so don't feel nervous...yet. There will be a couple of extra rehearsals between Jan and March so that we can practice, in costume, in a large space similar to the stage area. You can go online to see the theater at the Santa Clara Convention Center .

Cost for tickets is $30. I don't know yet if dancers have to buy tickets (I hope not). I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

This is an awesome opportunity for HM to be in a major production in a professional theater. I look forward to hearing from each one of you.

Mahalo!
Kumu Lani (aka Auntie Lani)

Severe Weather Alert

319 PM PST THU JAN 3 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS ISSUED AN

* URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR SAN FRANCISCO ...SAN      

  MATEO... ALAMEDA ...CONTRA COSTA...SANTA CLARA...SANTA               

  CRUZ... MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY      

  EVENING.

* VALID FROM 4 AM PST FRIDAY MORNING UNTIL 10 PM PST FRIDAY EVENING. \

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS

AFTERNOON...

            It’s pouring today. Awesome bed weather! I wish I was home since work practically went dead after lunch.  It’s okay. Yesterday, I snuck up to my bed as soon as I got home while hubby was working late.  I had the bed all to myself, nice, soft and cool, turned the TV on and parked at a 90210 rerun.  I didn’t get into the story because Brandon, Dylan, Brenda and Kelly simply crossed over to my dreams (or their voices at least).

            The forecast says it’s still going to keep pouring.  It would be a bummer if it still rains tonight since I've got plans of seeing Eye-Eighty in concert at the Maxwell’s Lounge in Oakland . My sister-in-law had been talking about it for the past days.  Her husband’s second-cousin’s husband (my that’s long) is the lead singer of this new all-filipino R&B/Soul group here in Northern California .  I heard they’re really good. It took a while for my hubby to say yes (coz he’s more of a hip-hop fan) but he said yes anyway.  I hope we can still go. 

This crazy weather made me realize a couple of funny things about me.  First of all, I’m still a hard-core F.O.B!  Yesterday, I wore my new brown soft leather jacket, because it wasn’t raining yet when I was leaving for work.  I didn’t bring an umbrella either even if hubby’s last words before he took off was “Don’t forget your umbrella, it’s going to rain”.  It started drizzling in the afternoon and then I realized I should have brought my raincoat instead.  I cleverly shoehorned the leather jacket in a tiny stretched out plastic bag and carried it as I tippy-toed the puddles on the parking lot. Straight up “iskwating”, yo!

Second of all!!! I still don’t pay attention to weather forecasts! I usually forget to base my clothing decisions on it and well, I just still don’t believe or trust weather forecasts, period! After three decades of growing up with Philippines ’ PAG-ASA, my brain is not trained for basing my decisions on weather forecasts! Imagine having to go to school early, braving gusty winds and floodwaters under looming dark clouds, then sitting on your school desk sulking in your wet shoes and doing nothing but wonder when the weather bureau was gonna stop vacillating on whether to call classes off or not. Only to find out that you guys were going to be sent back home anyway except that it’s too late to go back home…the street is flooded, and traffic ain’t budging an inch. Or how about this: You wake up the next day to the sound of the AM radio announcer advising everyone to stay home as classes are still called off and the weather still bad.  So you go back to sleep, and wake up by lunchtime, only to find out that it has been really sunny and dry outside, the sun is shining-almost smiling- at you making you feel so darn guilty about not being in school and it’s not a weekend.  So tell me, I do have an excuse about not having my brain trained good, right!?!

I was glued to the TV early this morning, paying close attention to the weather. I wore hubby's rain jacket which he said his ex-girlfriend used to borrow too (Sisterhood of the Travelling...Rain jacket")  and I put on my old Nikes. I think I’ll get used to it.  One thing that’s really nice though, is now, when I hear FLOOD, they mean 3 inches of water, not 3 feet.  I think I’m going to be okay.