A Terrible Birthday Present

I got it while going to work this morning.

A SPEEDING TICKET.

Me?

I'm proud... I know I should be sad, but I'll work hard for the fine. *I'm sorry, hubby!*. But I think it's an award reminding me how things have truly gone for the better (Click to read an ancient post). Perhaps, I've even unconsciously wished for one   I had this sheepish grin on my face when I got pulled over.  I know...sick, huh! Well, it's something to scratch off the long bucket list now haha! I don't want to get another one that's for sure.

So don't get me wrong. This shoudn't in any way justify such a legit example of irresponsibility.   It's just that, this means something else for me at this point. And like all others, I should definitely be more careful next time.

I will.

What I did last weekend...

I blew birthday candles on my cake. It's mah birthday! Wanna know what I wished for?

I didn't really have that much birthday "desires". Hubby and I usually keep a wishlist that each other can work on. As years passed by though, I found the list getting shorter and shorter. As I grow older, I just eye material stuff less and less. Not that I ever truly hinged my identity on expensive stuff anyway. Though I've been a pampered (not spoiled, just pampered) wifey and have been showered with quite a share of signature purses, shoes and all, I have always exerted effort and consciously worked on NOT being defined by these things. I have met and been around some whose lives were dictated by the latest Louis Vuitton collection, the cutest Coach purse (which I never truly liked ...I think it's over-rated) and they have been really annoying. (Well, uhm, except for my sunglass collection. I need good sunglasses. But I want them not to flaunt them. I get headaches with "generic" ones. I always get headaches, period. So please, let's not go there!) Last year, hubby got me Chanels, with my much-desired mother of pearl logo.  This year I wanted something so much less expensive and I got what I wanted! Ray-ban's Aviators! I was disappointed that hubby didn't find a Crayola Glow Station to go with it. Nonetheless, I'm still holding my breath for it this Christmas.

So wait, where was I before my thoughts ran away again?

Oh, MY REAL BIRTHDAY WISHES:

I think my real birthday wishes are really more precious. This morning at church, I made these three wishes:

1. For my parents to be healthy and strong for a long time.Tell me where I can buy Time. I'll hoard all of it for them.  I pray and wish that my mom will fully heal from recurring localized breast cancer and for my dad to be fully healed of prostate cancer. I wish they will both be cancer-free. Not being there for them at this point consumes me. So, hoping and praying that they will be well is the best I can do for them (and for myself?) for now.

2. For hubby and I to have another baby. I think I'm ready. Yes, I think I'm slowly being ready again, emotionally and everything. If it doesn't happen naturally, we hope to make time for it in 2009, seek medical help perhaps. Our third bedroom is waiting to be a nursery. Right now it's a room where we pile junk and other stuff. It's like a gaping hole in our house, similar to the one in our hearts. Hopefully one day, it will find itself teeming with toys, kids bedroom furniture (I adore wooden children's furniture), kiddie clutter, a Kids Desk down the road to replace my old oak one-- hubby whispered to me at the church this morning, "Here's where we can send our kids to school, Private, Catholic"...that was truly encouraging. We're ready for one. Yes I am!

3. Financial stability, not only for us but the rest of the world as well. Improvement in the economy and better lives for everyone. Most of all, WORLD PEACE, which must begin with each one of us, from within ourselves.

I really have nothing more to ask.

Holiday Stress

The holiday stress is getting thicker and murkier by the second.  Last night, I went to South Shore and attempted my very first 2008 Christmas shopping ever! But a drive to South Shore also meant: Post office, Safeway and Walgreens. And that meant: Mail, Grocery, Drugs (not that I needed any). But I had to make a mental note to myself: TOOTHPASTE! Hubby and I have been squeezing the life out of our last tube for a week now...stamping on it with two feet had been futile, cutting it apart with scissors and scraping the remnants of the gel didn't quite work either...

So first stop...POST OFFICE. I really wanted to  get rid of all my local holiday mailouts and I only needed stamps (since I didn't finish writing addresses for the international ones that needed to go through the counter...what a waste!) but since I'm usually lucky with random cosmic mishaps, yesterday...was the day...the city pulled out the vending machines for stamps! So off to the counter I went. I could be a pushover dingdong like that.  By the way, I like to buy those "Forever" stamps that don't go up in price. *Does that mean if I hoard a truckload of them I'll be done for life?*. The long line at the post office had eaten me up alive and after 5 years and 3 seconds, I finally emerged from the counter with two books of stamps in hand and a purse a pound lighter from discarding all those holiday photo cards with the good samaritan who saved me a trip to the row of blue mailboxes around the corner (which is really a drive-through where I would usually attempt to line up in between the cars, with my nose straight into a smokin' muffler and my butt kissing someone's headlights while waiting for my turn).

So...

By the time I was done with that first chore, I was already half-dead.

And then I dashed to Safeway. I had to buy ingredients for the Onion Pie I promised everyone for Saturday's party at my cousin's.  I don't know why I thought of it. Food Network has dunnit again! But since I'm unofficially the official "bringer" of a vegetarian dish, I believe an onion pie would be something new for them. I'll make a second pie with bacon bits, of course! Don't think of it as dessert.  Think...quiche. Right now, I'm already barraged by emails from the cuzzos, "Are you sure???".  YES, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO SURE!!!

It was so cold strutting to the parking lot to put my grocery in the trunk that by the time I was done with this second chore, I was officially a zombie.

And then I finally went shopping. But I wasn't in the mood anymore. I have a long list for hubby's five million relatives and my own close to five million family members, not to mention the fact that I'll be working on a self-inflicted go-with-the-times budget that's good to stretch for about 3 special people. Okay, 3 and a half people. It's really not the money part (though it really is too!), but more of the legwork that sucks out my energy. I've been telling myself each year that I'll start shopping online. BUT I ALWAYS END UP SIDETRACKED BY BLOGGING!  I'm starting to loathe shopping. What's happening to me? I finally picked up a set of wicker stick diffusers with different scented oils but I think those would end up in our house.

Then hubby called to remind me to slow down and not run over two dead racoons he saw (he knows me very well, I have the uncanny ability to double kill something) on the way home. HOME. I wanted to throw a fit, cry like a baby and demand to go home.

SO I did (go home, I mean).

And I remembered not to run over the racoons. But I forgot all about the TOOTHPASTE.

Because the bad boys cried wolf...

You tend to hang up the phone even if it's the real one calling. 

Even if it's the President-Elect of the United States of America.

NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!



When the President-elect called Ileana Ros-Lehtinen she hung up on him. Twice. Thinking that the call was a hoax, the Republican congresswoman greeted him the first time, saying: “You know, you’re a better impersonator than that guy who does Obama on Saturday Night Live.” When he insisted that he really was Mr Obama, Mrs Ros-Lehtinen said: “You’re so good, but honestly I’m too jaded for this. It’s a great prank. I love it when they do it to everybody, including me. Thank you very much.”

According to the account by Mrs Ros-Lehtinen, Mr Obama persevered, saying: “How can I convince you that this is Barack?” She replied: “Yeah, sure, have a great day.” Then, she said it was case of “Plunk, I hung up”.

I really thought that was hilarious!

Second Call.

A few minutes later Mr Obama tried again through his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who told her: “Ileana, I cannot believe you hung up on the President-elect.”  The Miami Congresswoman remained suspicious, however, refusing to believe that he really was Mr Emanuel. Then Mr Obama, who has been calling Congressional leaders to congratulate them on their reelection, came on the line only to be told: “Guys, it’s a great prank, really. I love it, but I’m not falling for it.” Then hung up.

Third attempt.

Howard Berman, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, on which she is the most senior Republican, telephoned urgently to inform Mrs Ros-Lehtinen that she risked offending Mr Obama. Even then she was skeptical, asking him to recount a private joke. When he passed that test, Mrs Ros-Lehtinen said: “I know this sounds very presumptuous, but please tell President-elect Obama he can call me now and I will take his call.”

Really hilarious. She had been a victim of a crank call before. And so is the rest of mankind.

I was laughing out loud when I learned about this.

But it makes you realize how the world seems to be more paranoid and distrustful these days. All because we are in the age of crank caller radio stations, prank callers in general, identity thieves, swindlers and mother frauders.

We trust less, we watch our backs more. We are less secure. We are scared more. And the vicious cycle goes on. We're doing it to ourselves.

What have we done?

How do we stop this?

Are you special too?

I find it really amazing how once in a while, you find yourself discovering that someone else wants the same exact quirky thing that you want: dunking almond biscotti on a cup of...NOT hot coffee...but ice cold and fizzing diet orange sunkist (my friend Flo and I); or liking diet coke not because it's "diet" but because you both think it tastes better than regular (I forgot who that was but I'm a big diet coke fan not because it's a "diet" drink);  or trying to paint with coffee (I thought I was the only one who thought of that -- apparently not); or wishing you can buy rubber gloves for barefeet because you both like stepping into the tub while cleaning it with clorox (my sister and I, and we didn't even find out about it until last week!).

So yesterday I was looking online where I can buy black chalkboards.  I want a big blackboard for one empty wall of our garage and one menu board for my little red italian kitchen. I found one that makes custom-made ones for those in the food business.



What I was really looking for are those plain ones that I can work with, draw on with colored chalk, and change at my every whim. Blame it on the active child within me.

It's just amazing how one search came up with a girl who had that same thing noted down on a wishlist online. You'd know it's important because it was the #1 on her wishlist.  What I'm driving at is...well, I would understand if we were surfing for let's say, sunglasses or some popular fashion trend or household commodity.

But a big school-standard sized chalkboard for personal use? TO DOs, reminders, drawings, grafitti, doodles and all. 

Sorry to burst my own bubble.  But then, wanting a chalkboard really isn't that strange, quirky, or special. But if you're a 35-turning-36-this-year woman who would like to receive a Crayola Glow Station for Christmas over maybe a Hermes or Louis Vuitton purse (I am!), please raise your hand!!!

Well, sometimes we think we're too special. But it's nice to "ooh", "aah" and "wow" when we discover that someone else shares the same uniqueness (which ironically makes stuff not so unique after all). That won't really make one "not special"...in fact, that makes two special. Or three. Or a hundred. Maybe thousands.



Tell me, what do you think makes you special? Don't be shy...

Wifeyteria Chronicles: Thanksgiving 2008

-written on Black Friday-

Thanksgiving slash Housewarming dinner at our house last night was a blast. We had family and friends come over and food became a problem -- it was way too good...way too much!

APPETIZERS: Italian Salami, different cheeses and crackers, Grapes, Prosciutto and capers, Nachos and baked Jalapeno Artichoke dip, and fresh Oysters.

SALAD: Potato Salad and Caesar Salad

MAIN DISH: Two Turkeys (because it was hubby's first time to use his Bronco rotiserrie for a turkey and wasn't sure how it would come out -- I ordered another one from Safeway!), stuffing, cranberry relish, gravy, Mashed potato, Sweet potatoes, mixed greens, Roast pork (because hubby insisted and ordered it with or without a party...like 5 million years ago), Wild rice, mushroom and spinach casserole...and here's the Filipino touch: someone brought Pancit (chowmein noodles) and Enpanada (meat pie)

DESSERT: Pumpkin pie, warm homemade apple pie (to die for!), vanilla ice cream

BEVERAGE: Red, Blush and White wines (a very special bottle that my sister accidentally opened for a quarter cup that she needed for .... gravy!)

Last night was fun. We all ended up taking turns playing Dance Revolution in my Wii.

Last night was all about family too. Warmed up the house real good.

Last night was truly something that a Thanksgiving is supposed to be.  In the real sense of the word.

It's a Sign

I always see this billboard for a fastfood on my route coming home from work. It says, "STOMACH GROWLING?..."  It always nails it! I'm always hungry coming home and I bet so are the thousands of other commuters who pass that sign. And the food on the photo appears to be the only fast solution in a world of the starving working class.

Two weeks ago, on a stoplight, a guy came down from his car (that got me scared) and started knocking on the window of the truck beside him. They had a short talk and the driver of the truck gave something to the guy before the light turned green. It was a business card. I figured the guy was interested in plumbing services. It was on a ad wrapped all over the truck.

When we used to live in the other house, I would pass by this corner before the bridge. It had some railings with ever-changing signs everyday. Banners, some digitally printed, some handwritten...for instance saying, "Happy 18th Birthday, Kylie!", "Congratulations, Dorothy!", "ANGIE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" Here's a phonecam shot of the spot:

I just looked around me and it dawned on me how much our world is governed by signs. Can you imagine going into the men's room if you're female (though, I've done that several times in my life at the University, accidentally of course -- I could never seem to memorize where the designated toilets were especially inside the library!!!) Can you imagine driving into a One-Way path, especially counterflowing on a freeway entry? A Dead-End? Stepping into carless elevator? Can you imagine a world without street signs? (I'm already having a hard time navigating through a well-mapped area...so much more turns and alleys and streets that have no names?)

I mean, how will the world be without signs?

Chaos, right?

 

So...how will our spirits be without taking some time to rest, pray, listen with our hearts

and receive the most important of all signs?

Miracles Happen

...even to dead car stereos.

Mine went kaput on me a month ago and I've been driving in silence for a while (well, not really because my thoughts is one big rowdy party). Lo and behold, the aliens decided to give me back my stations this morning!

The first sound I heard? "....

*static*

*chop* 

"...THE KINGDOM OF GOD...."

*chop*

 

Hhhhmmmm....See?

Duane Chapman: A Study in (Ikea) Pencil

This is why IKEA, a jacket pocket and I shouldn't mix.

I "accidentally" bring home that little shopping pencil (which I adore) everytime, and end up doing crazy things when deprived of a main source of sanity that is called...LUNCH.

Oh, Bob!

I should have held a contest to pick the Best Response to a line in my An Old Friendship, revisited post:

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum

I've gotten 7 responses in there so far. And each one is unique, surprising and so human and beautiful in their own rights. Everyone won in my heart.

One response that had hit me hard though was Bob's. She said:

answer a question nobody has asked me?
Do you need some help?
YES YES YES YES!!!!

It's so beautiful, humble and honest.

When was the last time we ever asked someone if they needed help? How many resounding YESes do you think are we going to hear?

When was the last time we were really honest with ourselves?

When was the last time we were humble enough to admit our needs?

These little questions won't be a waste of breath.  I believe that if we start shooting these questions, it will pave the way to A Million Good Things for all of us in this world, in our lifetime, and the next. And then the next.

My two cents. 

An Old Friendship, revisited

Somewhat.

He's only an imaginary friend I adopted in my younger years the moment I got my nose stuck in his first collection of essays, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (1986). His collections that I've so far chewed, digested, inhaled, guzzled, read over and over until the corners curled with folds collecting potato chip crumbs, pages greased out by butter and dotted with coffee stains include:

• It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It


• Uh-Oh


• Maybe (Maybe Not)

Then, 120 million new authors and pseudo-gurus later, the books have gathered dust in my old shelf back home, most likely forgetting the sensation of being held and leafed through by eager hands. His name, obstructed by cobwebs woven in my head through years of unending busy days.

Until I came across one of the JOTW winners this week Links - A 50 year old guy blogs .  I read his posts and gave an impromptu comment "You are like my favorite author, Robert Fulghum".  I was surprised I remembered. I was surprised that even rolled out.

I believe everything happens for a reason. You have no idea how bad I wanted to cram through the rest of the collections I've missed:

• From Beginning to End -- The Rituals of Our Lives


• True Love


• Words I Wish I Wrote


• What On Earth Have I Done

I fell in love with the first book because it expounded his down-home philosophy of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. There we go. He still sits in one dark corner, hidden in the deep recesses of my subconcious after all -- serving as that one unacknowledged spiritual guide. Still a big influence, no less. In my blogs, in my way of thinking, in my attitude towards the nitty-gritty of life.

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum
My answer?
Yes. I wish I'd grow up[old] to be like him...think like him, write like him.

"Answer a question no one has thought to ask you." - Robert Fulghum
It's your turn.

Dr. Karim

One of my favorite clients, Dr. Karim, called two weeks ago while he was in one of those trade shows that the nutraceutical company I work for always joins.  He said he expected to see me there. Unfortunately, I am a mainstay in the office. Though I would be interested to travel to different states and have fun meeting different people, doing luncheons, power-dressing, swapping business cards and practically jetsetting...I've done that before and I'm happy with my life here in my cube, blogging on my coffee breaks and swapping cheddar, salami and crackers with Monica *burp*.  I did hear some horror stories regarding crappy hotel accommodations.

Anyway, Dr. Karim, as I later found out from our representative, has put in some good words about me. Our rep said there was no way anyone can pry him away from his business relationship with me. I'm just really happy because I have been really nice to him.  And in my heart I know I can't take all the credit because the more I ponder, the more I realize that it was primarily because he had been really nice and putting all his faith in me first. If he had been irritating and distrustful, I wouldn't have been as motivated to deal with him. We normally develop an aversion to annoying and stressful stimuli. But he has been trusting and easy, there's no way you'd want to hurt that. I probably will never see him in person, he's in Florida and I might not be qualified ever at all to represent this multi-million company even in the least anticipated trade show of our nature. But that was a huge pat on my back that he did. It should be a pat on his back for an attitude well done.

We usually reap what we sow. It's true that random and cosmic bad things still happen to good people, but the general theory is we still court better chances in society if we play our cards well...and that is by trying to do the right things all the time. That includes also paying back and paying forward the right things that have been done to us, with the others paying back and paying forward the right things that we have done to them. It's an interactive chain reaction of good deeds, not the bad.

Doable, right?

ooops

just random stuff tonight...

it's 6:26pm and i'm watching FRIENDS. it's been a while and after all these years and a million loops of reruns, they still affect me in a really good way. we're visiting my cousin at the hospital later. she gave birth yesterday. hubby's trying to drag me to black angus for some steak dinner...maybe.

i'm so tired. i had a hard day at work yesterday, had a very soap opera-ish management meeting followed by a negative buzz thereafter about the new manager at work (who we are still trying our darnest to like) and how my name was dragged into a small issue somehow.

long story short, i wrote him a very diplomatic letter this morning, airing out my sentiments about what transpired yesterday and cc'd the president.  i like to be straightforward with my thoughts especially if there's a bit of injustice. i hate fakers. i hate scheming wackos,  people who twist truths around to save their own arses. i always work with the truth. i'm an advocate of truth. i think that's why i'm a free soul.

well anyway, we finally resolved it, i finally clarified things with that man whose office is across the hallway from my cube... in a diplomatic way, with me talking and doing some hand gestures to stress my point, gathering all my wits to put him to his place in a gentle way while i stood in front of his desk, trying to look as firm, professional and confident as i could be.

i came back to my cube victorious, satisfied with the peace that has found its way into my heart.

then i sat down and discovered my fly had been open all the while!

*boink*

 

Thought for the Day

"The grass isn't greener on the other side . . .

It's greener where you water and fertilize it."

Happy Halloween

I lost in the Pumpkin Carving Competition, yeah it's sad but I'm still happy and proud of my pumpkin. I'm going to submit it to extremepumpkins.com.

My Ms. Universe costume plan didn't pan out. As it turns out, my long evening dress doesn't fit. There's a 2-inch gap in the zipper!!! Neither did Arwen of LOTR. I was so tempted to come as a pregnant woman, that would have been a breeze...just my old maternity dress and a pillow on my tummy.  I was going to borrow hubby's uniform at work and then we both agreed on his softball uniform, plus the glove and ball. It was fun. The potluck was a good turn out. It was a very filling halloween lunch. Here's the bunch o wackos at work. Steph was a pixie, Anna a Black Widow, Mo a Mad Doctor, Jon...uhm...I don't know what his wig represents, and Mark aka TopGun. Oh and me, the softball player...little league baby!

Trick or Treaters will come knockin' soon and I hear a frog ribbitin' somewhere. In the fireplace? Scary. Well, Happy Halloween, world!

Monday Night

Last night was pretty spontaneous.

I started making some really sour and spicy sinigang because I was feeling a bit cold but hubby came home and pulled me out of the kitchen, convincing me to abandon my pork friends in the pot of half-done sinigang and brought me to Walmart. It's our favorite store for household supplies now though hubby hates the crowd. But he decided to soldier on last night, woohoo!!! We bought our favorite chips, the Lay's Maui Onion and some soda, he also bought those $5. old DVD movies.

Then we stopped by Nation's to grab some burgers and fries! I settled for the Alaskan Salmon sandwich because I'm trying to stay off meat as much as I can (oops, didn't I just say I was cooking some pork? *liar*).  Hubby even bought me a slice of apple pie!

Then when we got home, he put a movie on. It's called "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise and this little girl who acts like a grown up Dakota Fanning. We stayed glued up to the last scene and then we were ready to go to bed.

I thought that was really fun. The movie was scary though. It's like, hey wait a minute, when a calamity or national emergency like that strikes, how do I find you??? He said we can call each other's cellphones. But how about if all electonics are zapped to zilch. Oh well.

He said he'll always find a way to find me. I trust that.

Old Flame

"A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets." -Old Rose, "Titanic"

 

I had a stange dream last night.

It's about an old flame...an old friendship that had a lot of potential for romance but never blossomed into anything more.  Yes, it pretty much tiptoed on thin ice at different points in our lives (think YEARS in between those sporadic tendencies) but with every instance being dropped like a hot brick each time by either one of us. It was a secret even my BFF would have never guessed.

I think it's because his name came up in a conversation hubby and I were having with my sister and her husband yesterday, he didn't make it to our wedding inspite of being invited together with his entire family. The last time we were actually together was a MILLION years ago in our hometown, one late night in his red Ford after sharing one cup of Mocha Java, just driving around the city and waking up the neighborhood with loud...very loud singing on a microphone, with music blaring from his car stereo, we were throwing all our worries to the wind and having a blast. That was it. I remember crying buckets thereafter over such an inexplicable after-effect of the event. That was a million years ago at a different phase in my life.

I can't even fully remember what was in the dream except for the knowledge that it was an ordinary slice of life setting and old flame was part of it. It's funny how a strange dream can get you waking up nostalgic and feeling funny in your heart. But it's always deceiving so one shouldn't really get carried away with what a recollection brings. While the heart can do something to the brain, the brain is also capable of doing things to the heart.  They play tricks on each other. The memory of old things and old feelings is entirely different from the actual ones during the time when they still existed.

Anyway, the odd and funny feeling lasted for just a few minutes. It simply started rolling away, fading right along with the very little remembered details of the dream. You realize you're not in trouble when you simply let it fade away, not because you want to try to stick to your morals, but because it just isn't significant in your current personal scheme of things anymore.

duh

guess what tagged along to the office inside my purse yesterday!



OUR HOUSEPHONE !!!

 

Please don't ask me why...

Monday Malady

-written yesterday at Coffee, anyone?-

It's Monday.

I pressed the snooze twice on hubby's ancient Sony clock radio. Hubby always rises half an hour before I do and he willingly-- or mercilessly?-- resets the alarm to my waking up time. Could it be a form of torture? An indirect way of plotting his revenge at me for hogging the bed each night? I know that it indeed is one of his ways to show that he cares. I do have a special skill for running late for work. But for whatever it truly is, the blaring music from the clock radio this morning seemed starkly ruthless and inhumane. The green digital display showed a blinking 7:12 and I knew that was the dead end of the bargain. I crawled out of bed to get ready. I managed to get the dressiest casual wear I could dig from the closet: a black tank top,  a white hoodie over it, a pair of jeans and a pair of black ballet flats. DRESSIEST. Good thing they're not very strict at work. I would be written up for each Monday that I show up garbed as if the weekend's not over yet and looking like I'm about to launch a lifelong rally to reverse the rule, turning the weekend into five days, and shrinking the work week into two.

It was also too late to shampoo my hair so I put a headband on with my bangs parted in the middle and I put on red lipstick to make it seem like yes, I'm enthusiastically dumping the weekend --- yeah, right! That's the best I could do and now that I see myself occasionally from the mirror next to my computer monitor, I realize I'm  channeling Morticia Addams of the Addams family, two weeks too early for Halloween.



Even the drive to work was a drag. Vehicles were running 35 on a 50mph road. It just dawned on me that perhaps every bay area folk slows down on Mondays. Perhaps it's the weather. The temperature's finally dropped a tad colder making it more undesirable to crawl out of bed by 7am. Or perhaps it's just my brain interpreting everything in blurry slow-mo. It's just me. The universe decided to immigrate it's ever proverbial gaping black hole right into my very skull. I'm now officially the walking blackhole.

I should have called in sick and went to my friend's wedding today. They're getting married at the cityhall in SF. It was a freaking short notice so I didn't have time to work out my schedule. Gay marriage...It's not that I support it. And it's not the I don't. It's a little battle between friendship and values. I'm raised Catholic but it's not only because of that kind of upbringing that there are so many values that I feel strongly about. I just do. But then, I wanted to be there too to support my friend's pursuit of happiness. I respect other people's rights, I always respect other people's thoughts and opinions even if in some instances they conflict with mine. The couple has always been there for me. Why can't I be there for them on a very important day in their life?

But the fact that he told me in such a very short notice and I already took a sick day off recently makes it harder to play hookie at work today. Who doesn't want to keep their jobs in this dwindling economy! That sort of solves my dilemma. Maybe being unable to be part of it due to cirumstances at work is the most convenient thing for the loving friend and open-minded person in me who wants to be there so bad but is restricted by my traditional and conservative side that is equally strong. *wuss* When you're a bundle of contradictions like me, it can get really hard to make up your mind.

Adding the fact that it's a Monday spells disaster. How can you expect someone to make a stand if she can't even find where her head is.

What would you have done?

For an Idol

Fairly recently, I got bored and dipped the other end of my pen on my leftover coffee and drew some lines on scratch paper.

That was one of those face-flushing, blood-rushing, heart-thumping, lightbulb aka EUREKA! moments for me. I brought my paintbrushes to work the next day and started painting with coffee on the  5x7 sketchbook I have on my work desk. Sketchbooks are part of my First Aid kits!  But then some brushstrokes bled on the paper and I wasn't sure what to do. The aroma was also overpowering-- I didn't say bad! So I wondered, will the artworks last?

I researched online for the best watercolor paper and fixatives, keyed in COFFEE PAINTING FIXATIVE and found several helpful tips. Apparently, I wasn't the first one who thought of using coffee as a medium.  There are quite a lot of professional artists with websites featuring their coffee painting!

I was overjoyed eventually though because I stumbled into SUNSHINE PLATA and what do you know, she's FILIPINO, a true-blooded kababayan! I just wanted to go down on my knees in worship. So there, that's the birth of my new idol, and my new joy that is painting with coffee. Please check out her website Kapeng Mahiwaga ng Isang Diwata. Truly awesome and wondrous works!!!  I'll start featuring her paintings here but I still need to let her know. I sent her some messages on her website and she's so far paid two friendly visits in my Coffee, anyone? website and left messages too (I'm floored!!!) Just dig in my tagboard.

I've been vascillating if I should start posting my works. I didn't feel quite ready yet but here's a phonecam pic of the very first one I made because Sunshine wanted to see it!

Here's my first:  



It has dots of ground coffee that I couldn't get rid of. The paper's also a bit warped, I must have gotten it too wet. And the brushtrokes bled into the paper.  It also still smells like coffee (must be good to lick on caffeine-desperate days). But it's made with love, so to me it's beautiful.

I have an inspiration in this craft now. Hopefully one day, I can inspire other budding artists too.

Ideas, anyone?

The year flew by me like an F-16 breaking the sound barrier and I felt the sonic boom today! Well, Halloween is just around the corner and I'm stressed out because I haven't gotten my ideas together for the Pumpkin Carving Competition at hubby's workplace, which I won last year. That was simple and easy, almost elementary. But that sparked everyone's desire to win this year and so I'm pretty sure standards are raised several notches up. I wonder what other contestants will come up with. I still don't know what to create and I want to uphold hubby's reputation and pride. Plus, I was able to buy a really reliable pair of black BCBG high heels at Nordstrom with my prize last year that another one this year will surely be most welcome! I'm also trying to brainstorm on my costume at work. We always dress up (the works) at work. Last year, I was a confused daemonette who could have easily passed for one of The Incredibles.

 Yaaakkkkkk!

This year, my cousin suggested that I come in PJs, bunny slippers, old woman eyeglasses, big hair rollers, a roll of newspaper, and white powder on my face. It sounds appealing but I wasn't sure if I can pull that off knowing that I have to walk through the front door and past managers' cubicles. And what if I simply get so mixed up with the dates that I come to work dressed up too soon --I always have that horrific notion in my head!

Anyway, I need ideas, ideas, ideas. Especially for the pumpkin carving contest!  HELP!

I'm thinking of drilling thunderbolts over the Golden Gate bridge with my hubby's dremel tool.



I think it's too ambitious. But I'll see what I can do.

Usually, it helps to pretend in our minds that we can do difficult things. I usually do. Most of the time, we end up actually accomplishing them and thinking, "Wow, I FAKED it!". But then later on we'll realize that we're able to do the task anyway...so what's the difference?

Wifeyteria Chronicles: Party's over...let's dance!

The baby shower was a huge success!

There was a lot of cooking and and prep time involved on Friday night and Saturday morning. My sister and two cousins slept over to get the place and our props ready and we stayed up until 4am! A tough feat to do since the baby shower was set at 11:30am Saturday. Our work slowed down because we also had a movie marathon going: Back-to-back Tagalog love story-comedies! I can get used to that...John Lloyd and Sarah Geronimo, I mean. I can't remember the title but it was so cute. So cute we all started trying to do the "sundance" from the movie. It wasn't even tacky at all! It's so  hilarious, refreshing and funny. It simply takes the stress out of you. Hubby watched it 5 times already, even more than I did.

Saturday morning, it was a mad house trying to finish all the cooking before the guests arrived. My cousins and my sister weren't even dressed up when the first one came (BECAUSE they woke up late!). All the games were fun too.  These are the big hits: Pin the Pacifier (like Pin the tail of the Donkey); Pass the Soiled Diaper Around (I poured coffee and some melted chocolate on it) where the the person holding the diaper when the music stops will be out; Guess the size of the tummy (we used TPs).

We had a lot of guests and we were just worried about the new carpet, especially since we had a chocolate fountain going!!! But at the time of the party, we thought it was better to have a warm and festive place, than a cold and restrained one. So who cares? But Hubby and I were so beat last Sunday cleaning up and trying to switch back the ambience of our home into its brand new status. It wasn't that hard, just a little bit of putting things back into place, vacuuming, and counting cutlery and silverware (I'm very anal when it comes to that) .

We realized that eversince we moved to the new house, we've been spending weekends throwing small parties and miles and miles of entertaining. Hubby already has two projects in mind. These are: putting concrete on our patio (I prefer terra cotta tiles), and secondly, switching the living area downstairs into hardwood floors. Since that entails money, we need to hold our horses for a bit.  Meanwhile, we'll beat the bleep out of our lawn and carpets.

Our house, china and silverware are back to being immaculate and squeaky clean now, except for the refrigerator. It's bursting to the seams with leftovers, like this pan of hardened chocolate from the chocolate fountain. But I'm happy because I have enough food to feed hubby and I need not cook this whole week.

That will give me more free time to perfect my sundance.

Klutz Factor

The "klutz" factor runs in my family.

You won't be able to imagine how much time, money and emotions we've spent on appliance replacements, furniture repairs especially back in the Philippines where warranties don't pour as easy as here in the USA. Especially the girls in the family, we're all Calamity Janes reincarnated. Cute clumsy girls out there to rock your world, literally.

I remember my cousin, Dr. R.  She's a doctor now...very smart, very simple, yet very destructive too.  She once blew up an aunt's brand new "imported" stereo by plugging it directly to 220v on that same day the stereo arrived and the aunt needed her help to set it up. I also blew up our first IBM PC (back in those days when screens were still monochrome green). I don't know how I did it, I just did. It started smokin' and smellin' like burnt rubber and suddenly it went kaput on my project. A few years back, I accidentally knocked over a glass of iced tea on my co-workers freshly printed marketing proposal on the last minute that it was supposed to be submitted (*sorry, Rufo, I really didn't mean it*)  My sister T, she was looking at my new tiny Mini Cooper Model (a gift from hubby), tried to open its tiny trunk and doors and tried to wiggle the side mirror and it broke on her, just like that. My mom, she slammed the car door shut upon getting out without thinking that I was following her with my right leg already halfway out. That left me looking all bruised up and bumpy as if I went through some hard sorority hazing (can you imagine that and gymn shorts for PE at the university?) My other sister, the lawyer (usually smart a$$ but nice and sweet), just tripped on her OWN FOOT at the BART station in San Francisco last month, falling face down flat on the ground and leaving the korean lady behind her in a state of shock (how on earth did she do that?) Well, we all would trip on cables while walking, knock down things and appliances and eventually, we got used to it and didn't care anymore, muttering..."there it goes..."

The last casualty in my family is a brand new laptop that my parents bought so they could start emailing and chatting with us. Just when they are finally getting over their fear of computers (fear of the unknown actually since they never dabbled on it faithfully), my mom was ultra-careful one late night to pack up and she forced it shut, not realizing that there was a small bunch of cables sandwiched inside. She forced it shut anyway and ended up with a cracked up screen.  The only thing you can get out of it now is a flickering faint blue light on the display when you boot it up.

Other things in our RIP list (expired before they got outdated):

- 1 Betamax unit

- 3 Sony Handycams (back in the day)

- 4 film cameras

- 2 digital cameras

- 2 cellphones

- 1 electric fan

- the neighbor's dog (courtesy of an uncle in a 10mph street)

Some of these darlings are supposed to be foolproof these days. I guess they need to start including the "klutz" factor in the quality control department. Hubby buys the warranties for things he buys me now sans second thoughts. He calls me his Conan (the Destroyer). Trust me, the knack to find creative ways of destroying something is in our genes. It's innate. You know how we always say complicated people should come with a manual? He always says I should come with a Danger Sign sticker on my forehead.

My Daughter and I

My stepdaughter came up here for a short visit last weekend.  We flew her in so she could help warm up our new house and feel like she's part of this new home even if she's mostly away at her mom and stepdad's down south.

Hubby was young when they had her and after that, both of them moved on and eventually got married BUT not to each other. But it's not my story to go through details about. The nice part that I want to make a note of, I guess, is that at this very moment we all feel so blessed. My stepdaughter's mom is one of the first real people that I got acquainted to when I first moved here. We'd hang out everytime we come and visit down south or attend school affairs together, or when the whole family comes up north to visit common friends. It's not just a civil relationship, in fact, it's way deeper than that. I know it's strange, but that family is actually in my favorite people list. I'm blessed because they have been real nice to me as much as I've been nice to them, without sugar-coating  unpleasant things needing disclosure to each other too when it's necessary of course, and thus, there is no thread of fakeness in this web that we all belong to. It's all good.

Hubby also keeps saying he's blessed because her mom and I get along. I think we're friends! She and I were just talking last month about how blessed we are that our husbands love us (we were talking about weight gain). Her mom is blessed because I'm not a wicked stepmother. I'm blessed too because she's a good person and doesn't give me a headache. She's a good mom and ergo, She is a good daughter. I'm blessed that she's a very good stepdaughter. She's a good student, with straight As most of the time, she's into dancing just like me, a little sensitive sometimes but always fun to be with. She never built a fence around her from the very start and opened herself up to me as if I had been there for her since birth. I must admit that it was a little awkward at first but she broke the ice by calling me "Mom" when all we were hoping for was "Mommy C" at least. So who am I to build a fence around me? Why would I pay good with bad? I still have a lot to learn about being a "mom" but I'm trying and giving my best. I guess, with that, She's also blessed. One time, she sent hubby and I a text message saying how happy she is that she has all the four of us in her life. Loving parents and double the treat! I'm glad she sees it as that. Other kids go astray with the same situation.

Last Saturday, she and I were up surfing online and talking before she slept in the same bed with us at 2am. (maybe she's not used to her new room in the new house but I think it's something more special than that) She's now slowly dipping her toes in the puddle of career options and other educational programs (nursing? or medical/technical or the arts? education?) She's turning 16 this year and college will be just around the corner. It's as scary and uncertain for us parents as it is to her. We hope to be able to give the best we can within our resources. We're saving up and asking around about grants, scholarships and other financial assistance every student needs here in the US. Last Saturday, she had a lot of questions but hubby was sound asleep and I was the only parent around. She had a lot of questions about this college board website, what sort of programs she can get into to get the job she wants, most of which I couldn't answer fully because I'm not yet familiar with the information I needed as a parent of a near-college student here in America (If it was the Philippines, no problem!) I haven't even raised a preschooler yet! But she thought I was a lot of help with the little info I gave.

If I want to be a real mom-mom, I have a lot of homework to do. And I'll do it because I'm blessed. And I want to keep everyone else blessed too.

Wazzup Wazzup!

***I've been talking to my parents everyday. They seem to be very busy with their life, plus the spoiled dog (don't get me started on that 3rd birthday party...and how he gets served food in front of the TV, I'd better come back home and switch places with him, but well, I doubt if hubby will like that) My dad's going to undergo his external 15-minute radiation daily beginning today.  I wish I was there although they seem to be fine, or at least trying to be. They've been going to shows and musicals lately. They're going to watch Paul Potts in concert too.  I can't believe they're seeing him before I do! But that's one reason for everyone to be happy.

***We've been doing miles and miles of entertaining in our new home. The house seems to have lost it's "new house" smell already. Is it just me or what? Or is it the colossal garlicky whiff of adobo clinging for dear life to the new carpet? We're hosting a baby shower for my cousin this Saturday!!! I'm very excited. Rattles, bottles, diapers and pins...this is where the fun begins!

*** My Citrofortunella microcarpa aka Calamansi tree is bearing fruits! And oh did you know (I didn't know) that you can freeze the juice in ice cube trays and dunk the juice cubes in half a glass of water for instant lemonade anytime?

*** I had experienced some slight "frustrations" --to be gentle about it -- over a bunch of people lately...but then I realized that it's not the kind of stress that should be sitting on my shoulders. For a while there, I think they were barking at THE WRONG TREE aka "moi ". Sometimes the messenger indeed takes the bullet. But I will never allow bullets to pierce through my ballistic vest! No wonder I've been having nightmares about vultures lurking over a square-shaped carcass, with me turning into a raging pitbull on steroids (an endearment by hubby on days when hormones go haywire and decide to possess my usually calm spirit) and then handcuffing them all to drag to this TV show called Judge Hatchett , the lady with the glossy burgundy lipstick who is fearless in putting someone to his place. So yeah, I'm done with it as far as I'm concerned. I'm hoping for the best. Who doesn't want to have peace and love to reside in his heart? I still trust that people will stand up for this.

*** Lastly,  in view of recent disputes involving possibly "puzzled" individuals, I adopted this old and popular mantra for my personal depository of mantras (yes, there's such a thing)-- it should be a lesson to everyone, yes, including THE WRONG TREE:

THE FOURWAY TEST (my special thanks to ROTARY)

1.     Is it the TRUTH?

2.     Is it FAIR to ALL concerned?

3.     Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4.     Will it be BENEFICIAL to ALL concerned?