Don't you just love after-christmas sale!

All christmas decor were on sale for 75% off and so we stocked up on christmas lights. Yes, our Christmas will be very bright next year. I just love that thing at the bottom where it says "total savings" and it's a whole lot more than what I paid.

Not only that all clearance items have an additional 75% off. Too bad, there were not a whole lot of choices but I found this really cute skirt and just paid $5 for it and it was originally $40. Makes me wonder how the sale are back in the states and wondering about it is making me wish I was back in the states.

so spooky...

I'm here upstairs surfing the net, M is sound asleep, & G is at work. I hear something coming from downstairs. It sounds like the DVD player is on. I thought to myself, did M wake up? No. Did G got home early? No. I went downstairs and the DVD player is on. I wonder if this house is haunted.

A few months ago, they unearthed 5 skeletons in an area not very far from where we live, about a 5-minute walk. They said it was about 4,000 years old! Shortly after that, other stories started circulating around. I know this 2 cleaning ladies who work at the high school building and they both swear that it is haunted. Strange noises would be heard in the middle of the night, like doors banging & all that other creepy stuff.

Apparently, the older houses in our area have this weird thing. The attic door would suddenly open by themselves. And they tend to do that during stormy weather when the wind is blowing outside, perfect for a night of haunting.

Why is it that in horror movies, they always feature a rickety old porch swing slowly creaking thru & fro in the middle of the night while a leafless branch taps the upstairs window.

I hope I can sleep tonight.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to G's holiday party.

I don't like going to these kind of functions, mainly because I don't know anybody and the reason I don't know anybody is because I don't like going to these kind of functions. A dilemma.

We got there and I knew it was going to be a long night. It seems like all the other spouses have their own clique. We headed towards the bar and G got his first drink of the night. I looked around, there was a lady sitting by herself. She caught my eye and smiled, so I smiled back. G took forever to get his drink. The lady motioned to me to join her and have a seat and I did.

We started with the usual small talk. Another problem I have, I am no good with small talks. She asked me if I wasn't drinking and I replied that I really shouldn't I'm driving but I really need one. She said same thing with her but as soon as she walked in, she said she needed a drink. We started talking about how everybody was dressed. See the thing was, it was supposedly semi-casual but for some reason, a lot of the spouses were wearing something that I would say semi-formal. I thought she didn't looked too bad, she had some dress pants on, a red top and a black jacket. What it boils down to is... I felt under-dressed. Don't you just hate that. She asked me where I lived and she said that we're practically neighbors, her house is the first house in our area. That's when I realized who she was.

She's Chef's wife. They arrived here the same time as we did and while we were in temporary housing, they lived across from us. I admit, I have this thing, I am big on first impressions and the first impression that I have on her was not positive. I thought she and her husband were too loud and I thought her husband was obnoxious.

She then proceeded to say that I should get a drink and we'll just share a cab home. I walked over to G and talked to him about the plan and he agreed. I was amazed how this lady took the effort to include me. Maybe, she too was feeling left out, I don't know but she came with another spouse, who incidentally also got here the same time frame but they actually bounded and remained friends. All in all, the night turned out pretty good.

I see her around a lot now and when we do run into each other we try to catch up. Too bad that we only have a few more months left here. The point to all this is...
I shouldn't be judgmental. If I actually made the effort to talk to her back then who knows, we could have been very good friends by now.

Dear you,

Merry Christmas!

Hope you and your family have a wonderful christmas. We wish you all the best and hope we were there with you.

Love & kisses,
MGM

I have a dream.

I dream that one day, G & I will live by the sea in a nipa hut but a little bit bigger and with flushing toilet. It will have white curtains everywhere. Everything in the house, from the table to the bed is made out of native materials, bamboo maybe. We will wake up to the sound of the lapping waves and eat breakfast in the garden surrounded by exotic flowers & palm trees. At the back of the house, we will have a small orchard or a vineyard (not yet decided). We will then spend the rest of the day just lounging around, or maybe have family & friends come over. At night, we will have a bonfire by the beach, roast some hotdogs or marshmallow, or maybe grill some bariles or whatever G caught that day if he went fishing.

Maloloka talaga ako sa mga kababayan natin dito.

"Are you Filipina?", "Do you speak the language?", dyan nagsisimula ang lahat at kung sasagot ka ng "Oo". Patay kang bata ka! Susunod kasi ang "Tagasan ka sa atin?" na tanong. Ang madalas na sagot sa tanong na yan ay - "Ipinanganak ako sa kung-saan-probinsya, pero lumaki ako sa kung-saan-lugar-sa-metro-manila." Karamihan dito, ewan ko ba, tinatago nila ang pinanggalingan nila. Bakit? Hindi ko alam, basta ako hindi ko ikinakahiya na taga-Davao ako. Ipagsisigiwan ko pa.

Baka kasi, nilalait ng iba ang mga taga-probinsiya kaya hayan tuloy ayaw nila malamang probinsyana sila. Ano naman ngayon kung probinsyana ka talaga. Ano bang masama doon? At sino ba sila na para laitin ang mga promdi! Meron ding iba na mga laking-manila na hindi na kunyari marunong mag-bisaya pero nakakaintindi naman daw sila. Tigilan mo ako! Ang tigas-tigas ng dila mo, baka madapa ka dyan at mapa-"agay" ka at mabisto ka tuloy.

"Punta ka sa bahay, birthday ng anak ko, may konting kainan, tayo-tayo lang." Ano ka! Halos di na magkasya ang mga bisita sa bahay nila, inimbita na yata ang buong pinoy community dito. At ang pagkain, umaapaw. Syempre, andyan ang ever-present lumpia with matching tatlong klaseng pansit at kung anu-ano pa. Hindi ka talaga magugutom. At naku siguraduhin mong bongga ang gift mo at baka ma-tsismis ka at hindi ka na ma-imbita sa iba pang birthday party.

Mag-ingat sa "Oy, atin-atin lang ito ha pero si ano..." at meron pang pahabol, "hwag mong sabihin kay ano ha." Pero kinabukasan, makikita mo silang dalawa magkasama ulit. Ano ba yan?

"Anong ginagawa mo? Punta ka dito at nagluto ako ng...", ang totoo nyan, hindi naman talaga ang pagkain ang habol nila sa'yo. Kadalasan meron silang bagong binili at gusto lang nilang ipagyabang sa'yo. Pwede ba, kung sinigang or pansit ang niluto mo, marunong din akong magluto nyan. Buti sana kung bulad or lechon yan, pupuntahan talaga kita. Ang sama ko, ako na nga ang inimbita ako pa tong nagrereklamo!

Kaya nga minsan tuloy pag may nagtatanong sa'kin na pinay ba ako, gusto ko nang sumagot ng hindi.

PS
Loko lang to, wala akong maisip na matinong topic. Wala akong kaaway dito. Mabait kasi ako eh.

monay

Well, I did clean-up M's room and I did try to bake pan de sal yesterday.

And I got monay instead. So, now I know how to make monay.

Ingredients

2 packets rapid yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup warm (100 - 110 degrees) water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Add 2 packets of yeast & 1 tbsp sugar into the warm. Stir until dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes. The yeast mixture will become foamy the same consistency that of hair mousse.

2. Add remaining sugar, vegetable oil, salt & 1 cup flour. Mix. Add remaining 1 cup flour. Mix again. At this point, the dough becomes difficult to mix and somewhat flaky.

3. Knead. It took me about 30 minutes hard-core kneading to get the dough somewhat soft & supple.

4. Place dough In a lightly greased bowl, turn the dough to get the other side greased. Cover with damp towel and let stand for 1 hour in a warm place. If using oven, towel needs to be borderline damp/wet.

5. After an hour, the dough will rise but the volume is not about double of the original size. Divide into two. Roll to a log & cut into smaller pieces. The dough, at this point, feels fluffy (I don't know how else to describe it.) Ball smaller pieces of dough.

6. Bake at 325 or maybe it's 350 (my oven is weird) for 15 minutes.

Goodness, not another I'm-bored-post again.

I really am, though. G took that trip, he's probably at some supermart store right now stocking up on socks & briefs. M is still at school. My schedule dictates that I should be doing something worthwhile right about now but I don't feel like it. Two things I could do right now, clean up M's room (Lisa and Jonjon are coming over - what's the point, they're going to mess it up anyway) & I could make pan de sal.

Instead, I'm sitting here, staring at the computer, thinking of posting something but nothing comes to mind. In the last hour, I've checked for updates on my frequently visited blogs, nothing. I wonder what everybody's up to. It's 11:30, I'm getting hungry. I should change my time setting. I don't know what time zone I'm at but it's wrong. It says that it 3:18 am. 8 hours behind. Hey, that's Cali time.

I think my phone just rang. I'm so lazy right now, I don't even want to get the phone. Anywho, it's probably just some telemarketers. I hate telemarketers. I know they're just doing their job but it's so annoying. I got a call from them a while back at 9 in the evening. WTF!

"Can I speak to the bill-payer?"
"It's 9 in the evening! What are you doing calling us up at this hour?" - then, hung-up.

A while back, we got a something-gram in the mail. It said something like "We've been trying to reach you. Please give us a call at this number" It was a 1-800 number. Thinking it was probably something important, G called them up, only to find out that we're eligible for some sweepstakes. G was really upset.

"I'm paying for this call so you can tell me that we might already have won something?"
"It's a toll-free number sir, you won't be charged for this call."
"If I'm in the States, yeah, but I'm not!" - the rep went on to say something and G was, "I'm hanging up now, I am not paying another cent for this call."

So, remember Strawberry Switchblade?

I didn't think I have any SS but the other day, I discovered I have one song, "Since Yesterday", and then I remembered I love "You Let Her Go", so surfed and found this site and they have downloadable rare tracks. =) And rediscovered another song, "Who knows what love is".

And if you're a big 80's fan, listen here, currently playing "don't put another dime in the jukebox, I don't wanna here that song no more."

Yes, I have plenty of time in my hands.

I've wanted to create my own skin for the longest time (creative daw kuno). Finally found something I could use. I changed M's, too. It used to be just a simple kiddie art but she saw this one and wanted hers just like mom's but she wants it pink cause "Pink is my favorite color." And so pink it is. I went crazy on hers (I think). Very pink indeed.

This is it for this blog but I just might add some more stuff to M's.

"Hey, hun, bad news... they want me to go on a trip" G says, but I'm suspicious, I bet he wants to go.

"When does it leave?" I'm just worried, Christmas is fast approaching and although we have no plans, it would be nice to be spending Christmas together this year.

"Thursday, for 5 days, I should be back on Tuesday." They (meaning supervision) always say that but most of the time, it gets extended. Long pause. I'm getting annoyed now because G never thinks about these things.

"What do you want from me?"

"I was just wondering if we had plans that I forgot about." He wants me to think that he doesn't really want to go and maybe he can get off it if I can think of reasons why he can't go. Long pause.

"Well, you have those things on EBay."

"That's right. Maybe, I can just tell the buyer to pick it up next weekend." I knew it! He does want to go.

"On Christmas weekend???" I'm just being difficult now. He should just have came out and said it in the first place. How hard is it to say, there's this trip and I want to go. Of course, I'd get all upset but it won't last long.

"I don't know." He's just being petty now. Long pause.

"Never mind." He's sounding all annoyed. Like, it's my fault that he can't go. He such a baby sometimes.

"Never mind what?"

"I'll talk to them and see if they can stick somebody else."

"Where are you?"

"At work." I checked the time, it's 9:30, he gets off work at 7:30.

"What are you still doing at work?" I hate it when he stays at work longer than he has to. It's not like he gets paid overtime! See, if he left at 7:30 like he was supposed to, then, supervision wouldn't have found him just hanging out there. They would have called him and I would have been right there when he took the call and I would have said, hey, you got those things on EBay and he would have told them so and they would have found somebody else to go take the trip. BUT...

"They asked me to do some stuff on the aircraft, I should be home in an hour." More like 2 hours.

"Is there anything else?" Now, I'm really irritated.

"No, that's it. I'll see you in a bit."

Maybe, I'm just being such a brat.

Don't get me wrong, I love my G5 (yes, it's officially mine now) but...

It has this white indicator light about the size of a dime at the bottom right corner that comes on when you turn it off and when you put it to sleep, the light pulsates. Not a fast blink, about a 5-second interval blink, it goes dark then slowly brightens up. The problem is when I it's bedtime. Man, oh man, It's very annoying! (Yeah, I find digital clocks annoying too with their bright red or green LED lights.)

I guess, I wasn't the only that got all bothered about this since about a couple of months ago when I checked for software updates, there it was, the solution to my problem. I quickly downloaded the upgrade and now the indicator light dims at night time! Now, I can have a good night sleep. It's kinda funny how they released an upgrade for such a minor thing but hey, who am I to complain, now I don't have to prop a CD case in front of it AND I have a night light now.

Good night.

Wake up at 7:00. Take M to school at around 8. Get home by 8:30. Do chores. Play Katamari. Sing. G gets home. He sleeps. Look for something to eat for lunch. Try and do something productive (?). Pick up M at 2:30. Home at 3 pm. Get ready for M's activity for the day. Cook dinner. Supper at 7 pm. Get M showered up. M at bed by 9. Fall asleep with M. Wake up at 10. Online. Sleep by 11:30.

A typical day.

sugarpie, honeybunch, you know that I love you...

Another pointless post. I'm bored. Waiting for G to get home, it's his birthday today. Got tired of singing. Don't want to play katamari, I got a headache. Nobody online! Nobody that I know of. This headache is killing me. I had it last night but since it was so close to bedtime, I decided against Tylenol. I woke up with a heavy head, my neck hurts.

So, what is everybody doing this Christmas? I can't believe that same time last year, I was so excited to go home to pinas, seems like yesterday, which means sis has been married almost a year now! Happy Anniversary, A & M! Just got a ping from a friend. It said "www.winterrowd.com/maze.swf <--- try this game para malibang ka..... tell me ano prize mo after..... bz pa ako masyado eh!" ---> go ahead, try it, you might get a prize, I didn't get any, I kept bumping into walls.

It's almost lunch time. Got no food at the house. Need to do groceries. What's up with my sentences? Who cares.

red red wine, goes to my head...

visibility: 0

It's been really cold for a week now. Every morning we wake up to frost everywhere, it almost look like snow but, nope, it's just ice. So, this morning, it was pretty much the same, the roads are real icy. By midmorning though, there was fog. A blanket of fog descended upon us. When I went to pick up M, I couldn't see the school, that's how foggy it was.

Since she has ballet on Mondays, we drove over to the youth center and along the way there was an accident. We tried to figure out how it happened but couldn't. Car 1 was on the side of the road and car 2 was in the middle of the road. (They were still there on our way home.) Traffic was bad since everybody slowed down to about 30 mph.

It's 8:43 and it's still foggy outside. I hope weather tomorrow will be better. M has a thanksgiving play and luncheon and she's very excited about being the narrator.

*sigh*

I can't sleep. I usually talk to G before I go to bed, that clears my head, but he worked this weekend and he's been asleep since 5. We woke him up for dinner though and he was falling asleep at the table. Now, I have all these thoughts in my head and might as well post about it.

1. Merry Christmas. I'm kicking myself for not getting my christmas shopping done at the last bazaar. I was so busy looking at furnitures that I forgot all about presents. Let's see: in-laws, the women are done, just need something for the men & B; I know what to get A & M, P prefers cash, that leaves mom & dad. No idea what to get G; stocking stuffer for M's friends; which reminds me, I need to mail out christmas cards soon.

2. I saw a sign for "The Nutcracker" show. 40 pounds per person. Too much. But, I did say we should see a show before we leave UK and I want M to see "The Nutcracker", maybe it's worth it. Better check online first and find something cheaper. I am such a ...

3. It seems like yesterday that I posted about being SOOO excited to go home for A & M's wedding. Now, I can't wait for January for sis-in-law's wedding. I'm going to Cali. I told G, I don't want any christmas present. I'll save the money for shopping. =)

Hey, I think I can sleep now. Goodnight.

My neck is missing!

It's gone, half of my neck is gone. It became part of my chin.

Widgets

I am mad about widgets.

They're these really nifty things that you put on your desktop. I have a lady bug that just crawls everywhere, the 5-day weather forecast, not that it's accurate, but still... I also have the mastermind game, a memory game & word flashcard (for Megan). And a to-do list.

I'm still looking for more but I don't want to clutter up my desktop.

I haven't had a proper kitchen for 2 months now.

I finally got everything sorted out in the kitchen and I was ready to cook. I made pan de sal and it came out almost perfect. (I haven't figured out how the timer works on the oven and left it baking 5 minutes longer and it came out too crusty at the bottom.)

First meal I made was baked spaghetti. G has been asking for one and I finally made it last night. Of course, it was really yummy. I don't know why but M doesn't like it baked. I have to set aside a portion of regular spaghetti for her. I guess G & M are tired of eating out cause when I asked them what they want for dinner for the week, they just went on and on.

So, although I am not too excited about our new house, it's good to have my things around me. I'm back to being online 24/7. I don't have to watch TV to kill time. I can finally sing again without worrying that the occupants in the next room can hear me. I can start working again on my doll house.

Finally...

We have a house. Yes, once again, we moved. And this time the house is very small. It's a 2-bedroom house and I don't want to whine about things but just this once, let me just rant about this house.

1. It's so small that you have to walk with utmost care or you'll end up bumping into something and sport a scratch or a bruise for a week or so. Sitting in the living room is an art or you'll hit the coffee table with your sheen and that hurts. A lot!

2. I don't have a spot to put a trash bin in the kitchen. Have you ever seen a kitchen without a trash bin? I have a plastic bag hanging over the door know, that's my trash bin.

3. Can you say cold? It's soooo cold in this house. In the morning, our window gets all frosted, from the inside!

4. The water pressure in the shower sucks big time. It takes forever to get my hair wet. No kidding.

5. This house is so poorly planned. The cable outlet is in the dining room and that's the only one it has. The phone outlet is by the stairs. We will have cables and wires running everywhere in the house. (Right now, I'm sitting on the floor and the laptop is on the chair. The only way I can have internet access.)

6. The dining table and the chairs - that's all that fits in our dining room. Goodbye china cabinet.

7. There's a small room off the master bedroom but since the master bedroom is so narrow, we decided that will be M's room instead, anyways, the small room is so small that it's M's playroom.

8. G is hating life right now. He doesn't have room for his junk.

That's it, I guess. I'm off trying to make sense of this house.

Just got back from driving A & M to the airport, (M, success ang upload), my head feels funny, I guess driving for 5 hours (half of which I was by myself) does that to you. So, since I felt so alone during the drive, I switched from the radio to CD and sang along at the top of lungs with the 50 First Dates soundtrack. Lips like sugar...

That's it! It's been sooo long since I last posted! Nothing to post. Right now, I'm at the roofless house. The roofer is finally fixing the roof, but we're not moving back into this house. We're moving, AGAIN (that's move number 4 in this country alone)! 7 November is our move-in date. I miss being online 24/7. I have a TV-overdose. Not good!

Unbelievable!

Friday, Sep 9, mom and I went to pick up M at school then went to M's gymnastics class. On our way, there was a thunderstorm that seems to come out of nowhere. Thunder and lightning, winds were kicking in, rain started pouring. It lasted about 30 minutes and just as swiftly as it came it was gone.

The streets were flooded and Mom said that back in the days, when it would rain that hard, she and dad would jump in the car and drive around. I remember when we were kids we would be so happy when streets were flooded. Washing! Washing! we'd chant.

We stopped by the kebab place to get dinner and I got a call from G. He said that the landlady called about the powerline in front of our house. He got disconnected so I thought maybe we don't have electricity in the house.

As I entered the driveway, I was surprised that G was parked in the middle of the driveway, I parked at the designated visitor's area and started walking to the house. What I saw was something that I was not expecting. There were debris everywhere. Pieces of what looks like a roof was on the ground. One of our neighbors was talking to our landlady and G was on his cell phone looking all stressed.

The roof of the back part of our house was all gone, blown off. The debris everywhere, that was our roof. M started crying, she was worried about her toys. I didn't know what I was feeling. All I know is I don't want to go inside the house, I didn't want to see the extent of the damage. G said that with the roof being gone, water got in our house and it looks like everything in our bedrooms got wet.

Mom said that she needs to use to bathroom so we went inside. I just started crying when we got inside the house. The beds were wet, the carpets, it looked like everything got damaged. We started talking about what we need to do. We packed for the night and started moving stuff that are important. The landlord offered a part of their house to store some of our things that didn't get wet.

The next day, we came back to get the rest of our stuff. The damage wasn't to bad. The carpets and the beds got wet but we've been meaning to buy a new bed, so no big deal. The carpets, we can just get it cleaned again. The rest of the bedroom furnitures were fine. The living room didn't get wet and that's what I'm most thankful of, if the living room got wet, we would bo looking at a bigger damage.

Right now, we're still staying in a lodging facility on base. The landlord said, hopefully everything will get done by the end of the week.

Finally, I got a mini iPod.

I've wanted an iPod for so long but I kept telling myself that it's too much money. Then, I thought a mini would work but I still thought it's still a lot of money. I guess a shuffle would work. It's compact and affordable but G said it could only hold so much. So, I've been debating between a mini and a shuffle. I guess G got tired of listening to me weigh the pros and cons that he got me one for my birthday. It's very pink!

I'm so in love with it. Now, I don't have to take my bulky cd case whenever we go on a road trip. I still need a car kit so I can recharge it while on the road and also an RF transmitter so I don't have to buy the casette adapter. Hmmm... need more money. I also need the dock with speakers so I can listen to it in my bedroom.

Since I don't want to buy more accessories, I've been browsing around to see if I can transmit using the iMac, seems like I need to buy the airport express to do this. Why can't people just make something that is everything without buying more accessories! I would love to see that. Like a portable gameboy or playstation that is also a phone, at least 4.0 mp camera, holds 6 gb of music, gps, and a pda, the size of a packet of gum. And most importantly, affordable, like 200 bucks!

unbelievable

I weighed myself today and I gained 9 pounds! Now, I need to lose 30 pounds. 30 pounds! How am I ever going to lose that much. I had a hard enough time as it is losing that 4 pounds. Oh well. I just have to work out, eat healthy, and drinks lots of water. As if it was that easy! How do they do it. I'm talking about celebrities, one minute they're pregnant and the next time you see them, they're slim as ever.

I'm just ranting here. I knew I gained weight, I just didn't realize I gained that much. The prize I have to pay.

Happy birthday to me!

I love birthdays. I love the greetings, the presents, & eating out. This year, to celebrate my birthday, we went to South Wales. We walked around Cardiff and the next day went to the beach. I was a little bit disappointed with Cardiff. Dinner was great, we stumbled across Old Brewery Quarter Yard. It's a small open-air food plaza. We decided to eat at the Spanish restaurant, La Tasca.

G bought this book, hidden wales, and I wanted to go to the photo on the cover. We got there but according to the lady manning the car park, it takes about 20 minutes to get from the car park to the beach and that we're better off heading out to Oxwich Bay. So, we drove down the road, missed the turn, turned somewhere else, found ourselves on a really narrow winding road but we got to the beach.

To everybody who remembered, thank you.

leche flan

I love food.

Mom and I are making leche flan. Yummy and soooo easy to make. For my fellow frustrated cooks, the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 dozen large eggs
1 medium can condensed milk
1 medium can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract.
brown sugar
lime

1. Seperate the yolk from the white. MIx in condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract with the yolk.
2. Mix water and brown sugar in the "lanera" (in my case, tin foil pie pan). In medium heat, let sugar mixture boil. In other words, carmelize brown sugar.
3. When sugar mixture is cool, add the egg mixture. (Argh! I forgot the term) Finely grate (I just wrote in grate and G corrected me -- "finely grate") some lemon skin on top.
4. In a double boiler, boil water. (Since I don't have a double boiler, I just use my wok, put a small bowl and voila, I have a double boiler). Steam the mixture for 15 minutes.

To serve, put a plate on top of the pan and in a quick motion turn the pan over, catching the flan with the plate. (Hmmm, I hope I explained that right or else you'll be moping the floor.)

Bon Appetit!

I have a theory.

People who sing are happy people. So, let's all sing and be happy. =)

dollhouse

dollhouse
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

And here it is! 3 weeks... That's how long it took me and it's not even done yet. Notice the missing door. I'm still undecided on what to do with the door. Should I just stain it or paint it? And I'm not too sure about the roof, I think it's too reddish. Mom says it looks good with that color. I don't know.

So, still need to work on the door and it actually has a small front yard that I have to work on. I'll work on the inside today. The lights are up. The floor is down. The trims still need staining and attaching. Forgot, still needs to buy the stain for the trim.

What to write when you have nothing to write about?

Random thoughts... A friend from Mapua sent me a song, Circle by Edie Brickell. We love this song. D, J, W, and me. 1988. That seems like a long time ago yet it feels just like yesterday. When, after school, we'll jump into W's ride and go to Makati most likely and just hang out or play billiards. Or just chill at "up-up", what we called the Intramuros Wall. Looking back, life was so easy but during that time, we were so angst-ridden. Feels like the whole world is against us. What with school getting in the way of our chilling out. Or parents, aunt in my case, not understanding how tremendously important it was for us to be together 24/7. And then, we have to worry about things such as reports and exams.

We had this discussion once. About why parents are the way they are. Didn't they went through what we're going through? Why is it so hard to understand? Somebody said that they won't do whatever injustice it was that we felt were being done to us. Somebody else said something like, "It's easy to say that now but who knows what will happen when we get older." We'll probably end up doing exactly what our parents did. So, we vowed to meet again in the future, when we have our own family and our kids are at their teens and see if somebody turned out to be their parent.

We set the date and the place. It will be 5 years from now. I wonder, who will show up?

And being alone
is the best way to be.
When I'm by myself it's
the best way to be.
When I'm all alone it's
the best way to be.
When I'm by myself
nobody else can say goodbye.

BOO!

Been a long time since I posted something long here or here. I guess nothing much to write about. Ooohhhh... So, over the weekend went to London and rode the London Eye. I really was not too keen in doing this since it's really big and soooo high but mom wanted to, so we did it. Absolutely nothing to be scared of. First, it moved ever so slowly you can't even feel how high you are. No stomach doing the tumbles or whatever. The capsules are big and substantial. It's fixed and it doesn't sway. So, there, sis I think that you could absolutely do this one.

The doll house is taking forever. I thought last week that I was almost done but a week later and I'm still not done. So, I've been working on this for 2 weeks now! What else needs to be done? I have to stain the roof. For the past 3 days I've been gluing the shingles. The windows need to be installed. Lots and lots of sanding, since the windows do not fit into the slots! The doors needs to be finished. I still don't know if I should just stain it or paint it. I ordered the lights today so it should be here in a couple of days. Hopefully, Saturday but most likely Monday. Yes, my dollhouse will have working lights. When the lights are up then I can finish the inside. Wallpaper, flooring and finally molding. And after that, I can work on the front yard. I have a small strip in front of the house. It comes with a white picket fence but I'm not putting it up. I have to sand and paint every... single... post/stick. Then, finally, we can decorate. AND, oh my gosh, some of this itty bitty furniture costs like real furnitures. I was looking at the catalogue last night and found a doll house for your doll house. hahahha.

Aside from that, nothing else is going on with me. I'm working on the dollhouse from the minute I wake up and G have to pry me away from it to go to bed. M is complaining that I don't cook dinner anymore. Lola's been cooking.

My arms are all scratched-up!

Thanks to the doll house I've been building for M. And I have a splinter in my right middle finger. It hurts when I bend it so I'm typing with my other 9 fingers. Why is it that really minor injuries hurt as much as a major injury! OK, that's exaggerated but this splinter is making normal chores difficult. And, it's so small, I can't see it and take it out. Argh!

Back in the old days when I was still working, one of the things that ALWAYS happen to me is ... paper cut. I HATE PAPER CUTS! I'd rather get cut by a knife than a paper. I don't see how an almost invisible cut hurts so much. And if it happens to be in my finger, I don't use that finger when I wash my hair. Reason being, a strand of hair always manages to slide into that almost-invisible-cut. Awwww.

I hate being in any kind of pain, no matter how big or small. If I stub my toe I would scream like a whole house fell on my toe. I don't know why. Maybe the screaming helps ease the pain. OR, maybe I'm just a big baby.

The Contest

Discovered this feature in Magic Sing yesterday.

It chooses 3 random songs for you and you go head to head with each other. So, yesterday, mom and I tried it. First up was me and the first song was No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley. I got a 92. Mom's first song was Wind of Change by Scorpions. She doesn't know the song but still managed to get a 92. My next song was Merry Christmas Darling by Carpenters, the chorus is familiar and I got a 93, again. Mom's next song was Love Me Tender by Elvis Prestley, she got a 94. Mom's on the lead now by a point. My last song was Under My Thumb by Rolling Stones.

Since we were using the Amateur scoring, it's not that difficult to get good scores. All you really need to do is keep up with it. It doesn't really matter how off-key you are. I got a 98, I'm thinking, yeah, I'm gonna win. Mom's last song was I Will Survive, mom was groaning and I was laughing. First I was afraid, I was petrified... Oh, by the way, it has a real-time scoring, meaning you can see your score as your singing and mom was hitting the 100. I'm like, NOOOO!!!! But as she got to the fast part she was basically just mumbling the song and she was still getting 100. Finally, she took a breath and her score went down to 99. Her final score was 99.

My mom beat me at karaoke!

roller coaster

adventureland
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

WOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!

Why is it that as you grow older you become scared of more things? I get really queasy easy. That's why I usually stay away from rides that just goes round and round, roller coasters are another thing. But... as soon as I get on one I start thinking to myself why, why did I get on this one. And all kinds of terrible thoughts start flashing in my head.

It's all good. The adrenaline rush is great!

I got my Magic Sing yesterday (thanks, bro!).

After dinner, I asked mom if we should play tennis or sing. We decided to sing instead but felt guilty about skipping tennis, after all we had deep-fried pork belly for dinner (I know, very nutritious, hahahaha!). But, it turned out that singing was a great workout. I was sweating like a pig and I sounded like a pig being gutted as well.

At one point, mom asked me to sing Dancing Queen and when I got to the part where it goes, "you are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen" I might as well just have squealed. Who cares, at least I'm one happy pig. =)

P.S. Mom is, at this very moment, singing.

It's been almost a month that I haven't worked out.

And with Mom here with us, those 4 measly pounds that I lost are back and they brought friends with them, too. I'm hoping to play tennis regularly with Mom to counter it but the weather is just not cooperating. It either rains a lot or it's too hot to play. Excuses, excuses.

During this time of the year, we see this sign everywhere, PYO (then a picture of a strawberry). When we first got here, we were wondering what that sign meant. Finally, we realized it meant, pick your own. We've been meaning to go there for the longest time and finally, last Saturday, we went.

It was fun! The strawberries were really juicy and sweet. We picked a whole bunch. M had loads of fun picking them. G made some strawberry shortcake. Mom made jam and we still have half of the basket left.

Sooo...

Mom's here, G's back and we went on a trip. First stop was the Uffington White Horse. That was a waste of time and energy! You can't really see the whole white horse in any angle (except, maybe aerial). Next, we saw the Stonehenge.

The next day, we went to Bath. Rode the red bus and toured the city. Of course, M wants to ride the boat, too. Our third day, we went Blenhiem Palace, spent the whole day there. Our last day, we went to Stratford-Upon-Avon and just walked around. A lot of history here.

Photos in my flickr more in yahoo!album.

Airports Part III

I think M had a premonition that this will happen. When I was briefing her that it will be just me and her going to Davao, she asked "where are we gonna sleep?". I explained that we'll sleep on the plane and not to worry what happened the last time was just an unfortunate event. Was I wrong.

We checked in and the lady behind the counter said something like, here's your boarding pass, you'll be boarding at gate #, you'll be arriving at Amsterdam at 6 PM and continuing on to Manila the day after at 7 PM. I said, "No, not the day after, tonight." I showed her my E-ticket. She looked it up again and said, "I'm sorry ma'am but there is no flight for Manila tonight. We have you booked tomorrow night." I am not willing to move away from the counter, "Are you sure?" She looked it up again and no luck. She suggested that we talk to the ticket counter and they might be able to help me.

So, we got to the ticket counter, explained my situation, she said the only thing she can do for me is to rebook my flight to Amsterdam for tomorrow afternoon. This would have worked except G is also leaving for the states in the early hours of the morning and I still have to pay the rebooking fee or whatever so we decided to not change anything. The ticket person goes, I'm sorry but somebody has taken your spot. I'm like, "WHAT!!!" She goes, I can get you in in an earlier flight. So now, instead of the 25 hours lay-over, it's now 26 hours.

9 Dec 04

1:39 PM

In an event you get stuck in the airport, things to do:

1. shop
2. eat
3. sleep
4. shop
5. eat
6. read
7. shop
8. shower
9. eat
10. write

Must have:

1. toothbrush
2. toothpaste
3. lotion
4. underwear
5. socks (during the cold months)
6. stuffed toy
7. chapstix
8. comb/brush
9. MONEY

Been sitting here in the airport for 22 hours. I should include Holland on my list of countries visited. Too bad, it's foggy. Can't see anything looking out the window. I don't know how else to kill time without spending money. At least Megan's having loads of fun. I just wish I have something else to do. Maybe a laptop, a game boy or even a book. But, I don't want to buy another book.

I've been looking at this Aqua Massage for I don't know how many hours and I want to try it but I think to myself, I'll just wait until I get to Davao, chances are the price for 10 minutes is the Aqua Massage is enough for the whole spa treatment.

5:30 PM

Sitting at the food court, people-watching. Almost everybody has a cell phone/mobile. The lady in fornt of me withe her dyed hed hair is texting while reading a magazine. The Japanese tourists have on them their fancy ones. The 2 businessmen in their suits are talking away in their's. It's funny how sometimes the ring tone does not match the owner. It's not ringing to the default tone so obviously they changed it to something they like. Like this big burly man's ring tone is "The Entertainer".

Been staring at this chair for 2 hours decided to sketch it!

PS

Wish I had the camera with me. There's a bird inside the airport. It looks like it lives here.

Airports Part II

December 25, 2003. M and I are on our way back to UK from CA. The first leg of the trip was uneventful. We got to North Carolina, our stop-over, just fine. We boarded the plane and then nothing. After a long wait, the captain came on the PA system, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Unfortunately, blah blah blah. Once again, sorry for the inconvenience." We waited some more and the captain came on again. He said that the ground crew is fixing the problem and we should be able to depart in 30 minutes. 30 minutes after we're still there. Captain said another 30 minutes. Again, nothing.

At this point, Captain said that they don't know how long we will be there and that we are allowed to go back to the terminal, although, it being so late and being a Christmas Day, absolutely nothing is open. But, I am not sitting in my seat for another second, I headed up to the door among a handful of people. As we were walking out, the other passengers are having a fit. Saying something like, when they do get the aircraft fixed then they're gonna have to wait another 30 minutes for everybody to board the plane.

But, the plane did not get fixed. It was announced after an hour that everybody will have to get off the plane. And that the estimated departure time will be 6 AM. Since everything is closed, giving us food vouchers is useless, they will, however, give us a room at a nearby hotel. Why they wouldn't just give us the meal that they're supposed to serve us for that flight is beyond me.

It's 2 AM. I'm thinking with the long line to get a voucher and the wait for a hotel shuttle, by the time we get to the hotel, it will be time to leave. I don't want to miss the plane, I'll stay here. And it wasn't just us, a whole lot of people did the same thing.

Mommy, I'm thirsty. We headed to a vending machine and the vending machine will not take bills and I don't have enough change. Somebody was kind enough to give some change and even added, "Get her something to eat, too." I tried to give him a dollar but he wouldn't take it.

This is the worst part, just as we were trying to go back to lounge area, the airport staff said that they have to close the lounge area and we have to wait downstairs. I heard this really loud lady complaining to some airport staff but they could not do anything about it. So, everybody headed downstairs. I tried to find a spot for me and M so M can have some sleep.

Mommy, I can't sleep and I'm tired. Can't we just call P to pick us up? How I wish we broke down in SF, then we could have called my brother to pick us up.

Finally, around 5, they opened up the lounge again but we have to get new boarding passes. We finally got out of there and I swore I will never ever fly with Continental Airlines. When we got to UK, when they said the usual thank-you-for-flying-with-us speech, everybody was hissing and booing.

Airports Part I

"Love Actually" movie said something like you only have to go to an airport to see that love is actually all around. To me, airport means good-bye. And it also means long agonizing wait. I have 3 stories about airports.

The first story is back in 1997. I'm fresh out of tech school and on my way to my first station. I got in Oakland International Airport at around 10 or was it 11 AM. To my dismay, nobody was there to meet me. I just thought, maybe they're late. An hour later, still no sign. I am now beginning to fret. No big deal right? So, nobody came to pick you up, big deal. It is. If, when minutes before boarding you realized you lost your wallet. Yes! I lost my wallet. And of course, your wallet has everything that you need. Money. ATM card. ID. Luckily for me, I have a 20 in my pocket and that's all I have.

I waited another hour, this time crying. Who wouldn't be? I'm in this city, I don't know a single soul and apparently nobody knows I'm here. I asked information if there's a USO in the airport, and there is but it's on the other side of the airport. A very long walk. I would have gone but I have 2 luggages with me and since I didn't have quarters I can't get a pushcart. I was hoping somebody will leave their's in front of me and of course that didn't happen.

I finally got an idea that worked. I called the travel agent and they were able to help me. They called a taxi service to pick me up and said it would cost 20 and will be there at 2 PM. Only another hour to go.

3 PM rolled around and still no taxi service. At 4 PM, I finally called the travel agents back. The taxi service was stuck in traffic and will be there in another hour. Did I say, that I didn't have breakfast and it's now 4 PM, I couldn't get anything to eat since my 20 is now alloted to the taxi. Finally, the taxi showed up.

This is not the end of the story, I still have one problem. I don't have any sort of ID. How am I going to get on base without an ID? We got to the gate and everybody else in the taxi started getting their wallets out for their ID except, of course, me. The cops are checking IDs now and they came to me and I have to explain my story. I have my paperwork with me but it's sealed, the only people allowed to open it is personnel. They let me in.

Now, we get to the billeting. And, once again, I have to explain about my missing wallet. They let me stay the night but they said, this needs to be sorted out first thing in the morning. Oh, this happened on a Sunday, the receptionist had to call her supervisor on what to do with me and the supervisor had to come in to work at 7 PM on a Sunday for this.

Finally, I have a room. And that's all I have. I am so hungry now. I stepped outside. I must have been looking really lost cause this guy asked if I was OK or maybe he was just being polite but I went ahead and told him what happened to me. Luckily, he asked me if I was hungry. I AM. He fed me.

The last embarrasing thing. The next morning, I realized I didn't have any toothpaste. I knocked on this guy's door, toothbrush in hand and asked for toothpaste. And then he helped me look for the place where I was supposed to work. Yeah, the work number that I have was in my wallet, too.

Wait! I forgot. After dinner that night, my phone rang. It was DAD.

ME: How did you find me? (relieved that somebody knows where I am)
DAD: Where's your address book? (sounding pissed)
ME: My what? (thinking to myself, why does he want to know about that???)
DAD: Your address book, where is it? (he's sounding really pissed now)
ME: Here, somewhere (bewildered)
DAD: Go, look for it (still pissed)
ME: Huh! I can't find it... (after looking for it)
DAD: You left it on the phone booth!
ME: How did you know? (amazed... my DAD has ESP!)
DAD: Cause I called you back at that number you left and somebody else answered it.

In my desperation at the airport I tried to call people, how they're going to help me when they're in the east coast and I'm in the west coast is beyond me but I was running out of ideas.

M and I went to watch The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants today.

We got to the movie house 30 minutes early and it was dead. I began to think I must have read the day or time wrong but there it was up on the marquee. So, I got it right.

Got to the ticket booth and asked, "Is it that bad?" and she laughed and said, "No, I think it's just such a nice day." (It got up all the way to 78 degrees. I don't know what it is about here but 78 just feels like 90.) She added that it was cute from the little that she saw yesterday.

Then, we got our popcorn and drink and the guy behind the counter said, "From the look of things, you guys will have a private screening." I was like, "NO WAY! Nobody's in there?" And, yep, nobody was in the movie house, just me and M. So we chose the very center of the movie house to sit in. I know it's the middle cause I even counted seats.

But, it didn't turn out to be a private screening. 3 girls showed up. Then a father and a daughter. I wonder if it was the daughter's treat, today being father's day. So, the final head count was a grand total of 19! I kid you not.

The movie was OK. It was cute, not in the teeny-bopper sense. It was like a coming of age type movie. I didn't like Carmen, though, she's such a whiner. And there were a couple of tender moments but not enough to make me cry. I would recommend this movie as a "wait for the DVD to come out".

I started writing about a story I know but changed my mind. It's not my story and since it's too personal, I think I shouldn't write about it.

So, now, I don't have anything to post. The weather's nice. Finally. And, I read this book but that's about it. I could write something from the past since absolutely nothing worthy of posting is happening right now. But...

I know, where would I rather be right this minute. The weather is nice as I was saying, the sun is out, the sky is blue. Just a couple of clouds here and there. Makes me think of the beach. That's where I would rather be right now! The Beach. If I could, I'd go to Punta Linaw and just doze under a coconut tree and feel the breeze and hear the gentle lapping of the waves and taste the salt in the air. I can hear the voices of my cousins playing around me and aunts getting lunch ready and uncles getting drunk. I smell lechon. What I would pay for a bite of the crispy lechon skin. Or kinilaw. Or kilawin. While drinking out of a coca-cola bottle! Wait! I'm way past legal age now, I can ask for a San Mig light.

I absolutely love San Mig Light. I used to drink like a fish. Ask any of my friends, I could outdrink any of them. After my pregnancy, I became a social drinker. I thought I finally got over my drinking, (The truth was, I was beginning to think I was becoming an alcoholic, an aunt of mine said, it seems to run in our family), but in Davao, I realized I could still drink like a fish. I just didn't have anybody to drink with. It's no fun drinking alone. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT miss the throbbing headache in the morning or that dry throat or the unquenchable thirst or even that yucky feel in your tummy the day after. Like absolutely every food is gonna make you puke. I hate the "I wish the ground would stop moving for JUST a second" or "I think, I'm gonna have to sleep on the floor".

But, I do love that state where you feel the "buzz" and you can't help smiling or laughing even though nothing is funny and the only thing that is actually funny is that silly grin in your face. Or when you can't stop giggling over some lame joke.

Oh, man. Here I go again, reminiscing.

Since I'm in the mood for recollection, here's the story behind the explosion.

I was in my 3rd year high school. For the life of me, I can't remember my section. I know the rest, 1-Gold, 2-Green, 3-_______, and 4-White.

I want to say it was during Practical Arts. I'm not sure but it was definitely the last period before lunch. I don't know who started it but we have a dare: throw a triangle (fire-cracker) at the quadrangle. I was saying that it's pretty easy, all you need to do is take the paper around the wick and it will not explode right away. We excused ourselves to go to the bathroom, we unwrapped the wick in the and on our way back to class, we threw the lit triangle.

It worked, we were sitting in class when it finally exploded. It took too long to go BOOM! that we too were surprised when it finally did. We were saying it was not loud enough (we used a 3-star), so we decided to do it again later.

After lunch, I had a 5-star with me. Again, we unwrapped the wick. Using a gum, we stuck it behind the rail on the stairwell close to the clinic. It took forever to go and when it did, it was LOUD! Maybe the stairwell helped, but it was really loud.

The bell rang. Fr. L, our CLE teacher, who was acting-Prefect, came in and said he'll be right back but he needs to go around the classrooms for an inspection. This gave us time to hide incriminating evidence. We moved the platform and threw everything in there. But when Fr. L came back he said, they found a freshman with firecrackers on him. We sighed our relief.

Fr. L went on ranting about the dangers of explosives. He went on to say that another priest was pretty upset since it disturbed the afternoon mass. Somebody asked what's going to happen to the freshman, and Fr. L said, he will be suspended for 3 days.

That would have been the end of it but Richard M, the class president, bragged about how he knew who really was behind the explosion. Unfortunately, he bragged to the wrong guy. He was the freshman's brother and the brother went straight to Fr. L and told Fr. L that Richard M knew who did it.

The sacrificial lamb was RJ M. We talked about this and RJ said, he'll confess and we don't need to worry about it, he'll own up to everything. It was a real surprise to me then when Monday rolled around.

Fr. L came bursting into our classroom, pointed at me and boomed, "SINUNGALING!" If you know Fr. L, you know how scary that was. I felt so small. The bell rang for Monday general assembly. He then said, "Wait for me at the Prefect's office." I was so scared. Everybody else was walking to the gym while I was walking to the Prefect's office. I felt like crying. I sat in the office, I could hear from the PA system the assembly and before the School song, I heard RJ apologizing.

Fr. L came to the office and started his sermon. I don't remember all of it, I was too worried about how he's gonna call my mom. I do remember him saying, "santa-santatita, demonyita pala" and calling me "palestinian terrorist". He asked me who else was involved and I could have given him the names of the rest but I saw no point to that. It was Donna G, Jerome R, RJ M, Richard M and me.

I got suspended for 3 days. I cleaned the library (stole a book, too), the chapel, the faculty room, the girl's bathroom (the big one, the one on the ground floor). One afternoon, Fr. L told me to go to every classroom and collect the trash. I also had to sweep the gym, what made this even more humiliating was, I did this while one class was practicing for the choral speech fest. Finally, it was over. Or, at least I thought so.

The next Monday, Mr. P was back. After the assembly, he announced for me to report to the Prefect's Office right after the assembly. And I got another earful. He said he knows that it was me who's been signing his announcements on the bulletin board.(He used different colored chalks and I have access to it, my geometry teacher uses different colored chalks for illustration and she always asks me to get chalks). He said if I do it again, he's gonna make me erase all the little MD's that I've been vandalizing all over the campus.

After that incident, Fr. L was very aloof towards me. He seldom calls me in class. But at the last mass for the school year, I did caught his eye during the "Kordero ng Dios" song and when I did, I gave him the "V" sign for peace. I wonder if he ever forgave me. I wonder where he is right now.

2 things that I wanted to do but I never did: steal the prefect's sign over the door and ring the school bell 10 minutes early for lunch.

Do you believe in ghosts?

When I was growing up, the older cousins used to tell us ghosts stories about Aunt P's houses. Aunt P's houses are really spooky. Maybe it's because they're so big and it has just have that eerie feel to it. People spoke in hushed voices even if Aunt P's not around.

The house in Lupon. They said that doors open and close on their own and footsteps can be heard upstairs. They said that, sometimes, you can hear a baby cry in the middle of the day coming from the downstairs bathroom in the movie house. The theory goes that it used to be a clinic and maybe a baby died there. A house guest even reported hearing this unearthly scratching in his door and when he opened the door, he saw a wrinkled hand with very long nails.

The house in Sikalig. The workers said that often they see Uncle B looking out of the window (what's spooky about this is, of course, it wasn't Uncle B) and most times they say that late at night they see a lady dressed in white walking around the grounds.

The house in Davao. My favorite story goes, they would hear a knock on the door around 6 PM. Upon opening the door this headless nun would ask if she can have something to eat. If you open the door wide enough, the nun would walk in and simply vanish. How's that for spooky?

I don't know if the stories are true. I lived at Aunt P's house in Manila for a good many years and I have one story that is kinda spooky.

Back when I was still studying in Mapua, I spent long hours into the night on school work. Sometimes, if I need a bigger working space, I'd head downstairs and work on the dining table. It happened in one of those nights where I was in the dining room. I woke up to this tap on my right shoulder and realized that I fell asleep in the middle of my assignment. I woke up and finished up. As I was putting away my stuff, it dawned on me. Who woke me up? Everybody was asleep. I tried to remember just what woke me up. Was it a dream? And as I closed my eyes trying to recall what happened, I remembered. I remembered the tap. That spot on my shoulder felt heavy like a hand was still there. I told myself, "Don't be scared, just relax, it's just your imagination" over and over again. I pretended to yawn and said something aloud like "I'm so sleepy.", slowly walked upstair and when I reached my door, I ran to the bed and put the covers over my head. Even today, much as I like to think that it was just a dream, I think it really did happen and even as I'm typing this, I can still remember just how that tap felt.

Mom is an experimental cook.

Meaning, she likes to experiment in cooking much to Dad's dismay. One day, she made sinigang with potato. When we asked her why the sinigang has potatoes, she replied because there were no taros (gabi). The next day, she cooked nilagang baka and when we asked her why the nilaga doesn't have any potatoes, she sheepishly replied because she used up the potatoes in the sinigang.

Look at that, 2 posts in 1 day. I am so bored.

Oh, man, I didn't sleep well last night.

I woke up at somewhere around 11, then 3, then 4 then 6, finally the alarm went off. I had 4 different dreams but I could only recall 2.

OK, so me and G (it supposed to be G, but he did not look anything like G) were walking by the beach (somehow the village where we live has a beach) and it was gloomy (that's how I know we were still in England) and there were a lot of people by the beach when all of a sudden the waves starts getting bigger and bigger and finally it was gigantic and I thought to myself "Tsunami!" but it wasn't. This one guy got dragged into the sea and when the waves crashed into the beach the guy was nowhere in sight instead there was a piece of an aircraft's tail. We walked up to the tail and people around it were not interested in it but they were still looking out to the sea. I followed their gaze and the rest of the airplane was there out on the sea. There were people in a lifeboat and a whole lot of other people rescuing them. I asked somebody if they saw the airplane crash-landed and they said "yeah" and all I could think about was "Man, I wish I have my camera with me." I said something like, "At least now I know an airplane CAN land on water." (I don't know why I said that) Then, one of the lifeboats got to the beach and we started clapping our hands (apparently, he's the captain of the airplane). He asked somebody if there's a phone somewhere he could use. And that's all I can remember.

The other dream was, I was back in school. (I'm not sure which school it was, it didn't look anything like any school I've been to). We were at the gym but not like a gym in school but a gym for working out. I was there with my AMA friends using the stationary bicycle except for Chona who was doing the Hoola hoop (?). When we were done with the bike, I looked around and Chona was nowhere to be seen so I asked Girlie if Chona went home, she said that Chona went to Room 2 (again, ?). I went out and saw Russell and his kid and it was raining. I said something like, I'm gonna go get Chona and went to Room 2. But, to get to Room 2, you have to climb into a WINDOW, so I climbed into this window and Miguel (he's not from AMA but Mapua) wouldn't let me. He was scrubbing the floor (using a lampaso, hahaha) and he was hitting my hand with a broom (not the walis ting-ting kind, the other one). And, the teacher was asking Miguel to stop it and let me in since rehearsal's gonna start. And so I got in, and we started rehearsing this dance. And Irene is my partner. I don't know what kind of dance it was. It was weird. I'm still at Room 2 and it's very big. And on the other side of the room, I caught a glimpse of my crush back in college. He was faceless but I knew it was him. I can feel myself waking up and I don't want to wake up cause I want to see his face. I kinda forgot how he looks. But, I woke up yet again.

I tried to go back to the dream but I ended up dreaming a different dream.

Excuse the rant.

I am SO mad at G last night. He's been gone for 4 weeks now and he hasn't called or emailed me. I just thought that maybe he doesn't have access to a phone or computer. But, I checked his email last night and ARGH! he's been checking his email and from the looks of it, he has enough time to browse EBay since there were 2 unopened messages from a vendor about a question of his regarding an item. I read the other messages, the ones he has opened, there was one from his teacher in high school. G wrote to him about how's everything going and he was surprised to see the school's website. SEE, he even have time to browse whatever. And their was another one from some Land Rover group. He'll be home in two weeks in he'd better have a VERY good excuse why he hasn't called or at least drop a line on how he's doing!

Deep breath!

I grew up surrounded by cousins.

Eversince I could remember, my cousins were my playmates. There were 4 of us. Portia, Ian, Junjun and me. We were pretty much together all the time. From the moment we wake up, walking to school (our houses are literally a stone's throw from each other), in school, walking home from school (my older cousins would have Queen on the stereo really loud), and we're still together after school, we part when it's bedtime only to see each other again the day after. We even have the same friends.

I have a wonderful childhood. Most nights were spent in the movie house. They would start showing movies at around 6 PM except on Sundays where if memory serves me right, it would start around 10 am, maybe 11. I remember we would go up to the stage, before the movie starts, and we start dancing. The most memorable song would be El Bimbo and we would dance the cha-cha.

We'd sit in the very first row and narrate the whole movie. I wonder how the people around us felt back then. We would run around the movie house not a care in the world. We would go to the operator's room and see how it works and one of the thing that always interests me is when they have to fix the reel. They would cut out a strip that's giving them problems and connect them together again using colorless nail paint.

We climbed all sorts of trees back then. Guava and Mansanitas are the most favored trees. It's just too hard to climb on a Santol and with Mangoes, you're better off throwing stones at the fruit and hope they fall off since Mangoes usually have a lot of ants.

The beach holds a lot of good memories, too. I don't know just how often we went to the beach but special occasions are usually held at Punta Linaw and usually on a Sunday. We'd head out pretty early in the morning and come home late in the afternoon. Why is it that Coke tastes better at the beach? Is it all that salt on your lips?

Sometimes, the older cousins would let us play with them. And it's usually hide and seek. It was unfair though cause there were no boundaries, the whole town is the hiding place. Or, maybe they just want to play hide and seek to get rid of us. I can't remember how it would end.

Of course, we would have our little fights, too. I remember one time, we were building miniature town, and I don't remember why but me and Portia ruined Ian's town when he had to go home for lunch and then we left little puppy paw marks all over his town so he'll think it was the dog's fault and not me and Portia.

Me and Portia had this huge fight, too. And since we have the same friends, I think we made our friends choose which side they wanted to be on. That was so silly. I don't even remember how the fight started.

But, all good things must come to an end. When I was 11 or 12, we moved to Davao.

I'm so happy that I can't stop crying.

So, I weighed myself last Monday, actually I weigh myself every Monday, and I lost a grand total of 4 pounds. It's more like 3.8 pounds, but it's close enough. And that's why I'm so happy. 20 more pounds to go.

I have a problem though. I go to the gym in the morning after I drop off M at school. School ends next Thursday and so now, I can't go to the gym. Kids are not allowed inside the gym. There's a track that I can do my walking, but my problem with that is what to do with M. She HATES walking. My other thought was to pitch her half-tent in the middle of the track while she plays her gameboy while I do my walk but I can just see it now, somebody's gonna come up to say that, pitching tent in the field is not allowed.

It will only be for one week. When mom gets here, we could all walk and when they tire, mom & M can go to the playground and I'll finish my walk. I just don't want a break in my workout though, I've reached the level where going to the gym is part of my day and I'm afraid that a break would ruin it.

Anywho, I'm so happy that I can't stop crying. That's a song, by the way.

I need something new to occupy myself.

Or else I'll die of boredom. Eversince I found out that mom will be here with me soon, time seems to crawl ever so slowly. I'm so restless and nothing I do is enough to keep me occupied. I'm tired of playing Harvest Moon. I can't concentrate on the book that I'm reading. Cleaning the house doesn't yield much joy. And, it's still a good 2 weeks before she'll be here.

What to do with myself?

chatty

Maybe it's because I miss adult conversation.

I find myself responding to small talks that I absolutely hate. It used to be just hi and hello, how's it going, see you later but now it has evolved into a full conversation.

I found out that Austin, Megan's classmate is moving to Georgia soon. So is Ryan. His mom is a Filipina who I've said hello to since we moved here and now she has invited us to her other son, Nicholas' birthday party on 25th of June. They will be going to Texas on August.

My grocery boy/bagger is going on a paintball thingie over the weekend at Thetford. It costs 10 GBP per person and he said it's really fun and I should try it sometime.

Things like this never happen to me. I'm not a friendly person, I'm almost a snob. I guess, the only thing that stops me from being categorized as a snob is I DO smile. Mom, on the other hand, is exactly opposite. She'd be anywhere, just give her 5 minutes and she can befriend anyone. Up to a point that after their chat, she'd be able to tell you the history of that person. And sometimes, mom would say, yeah, that's my cousin or we're related by however many degrees.

Maybe, I'm turning into my mom.

double life

The other one being my virtual life.

Right now, I'm a farmboy trying to save my village from being turn into a theme park. What the heck am I talking about? A game. Harvest Moon. I bought this for M but as usual I'm the one playing it. I've been playing it for a week straight now, hence the absence.

The thing with me is I get so into these games that my life is on a stand still until I finish the game. I'm functioning at a minimal level. The only things that will take me away from my game are the basic necessities of life such as sleeping and eating. I've been sleeping for at the most 4 hours a night and I'm a walking zombie right now.

I've finished the game on Thursday BUT there are 8 other alternate endings to the game. So, I'm still playing. So far, I've done 3 endings and I'm on to my 4th one. The only reason why I'm able to post right now is I'm making dinner and I'm waiting for it to boil so it can start the simmering and then I'll continue playing.

I should be back for good next week.

My mom would be so proud of me.

I'm not a big fan of pancit but I haven't had one in 5 months so yesterday I tried to cook some. Anyhow, I looked for a recipe for pancit canton and found one. Hmmm, it needs chicken. I don't have chicken. Maybe, I can use ground beef. I don't have cabbage or celery. Wait, I got carrots, maybe that will work. I wonder why we need to soak the noodles? Oh well, don't have time for that. I don't have chicken broth. I guess, I just have to add some water and soy sauce. Viola! I got me a pancit canton with ground beef and carrots. Tastes like Mami. I should have put eggs. Yep, my mom would be so proud of my experiment.

But, my dad would say, "Ano to???"

Maybe I just miss my brother.

I saw Jet Li's Hero on the rental shelf the other day and decided to rent it. Last night, I watched it. It's a beautiful movie. Watching that movie, reminded me of my younger days, when we'd go to my aunt's movie house and watch chinese movies, subtitle and all. Although, in the old chinese movies, they would call out the names of their move when they do it, like, "crouching tiger" or something like that.

Towards the end of the movie, when Snow killed Sword, I could almost hear my brother say, "Praning!"

I miss blogging.

It's not that I'm running out of material. At night, before I go to sleep, I think of things to post but when it's time to post, my mind just goes ... blank. I wonder if that's what happens when they say they have writer's block. I really don't want to say I have a writer's block since I'm not really a writer, a blogger's block then.

I am so out of loop when it comes to celebrities going ons that I was so surprised when I saw Tom Cruise kissing Katie Holmes' forehead on the cover of the magazine. I guess, they're an item now. Yesterday, at the gym, they had the Oprah show on and Tom Cruise was the guest. And, he was just jumping up on the sofa everytime Oprah mentions Katie's name. Anyways, so I was watching the show when all of a sudden, the TV lost the signal. And I kid you not, there was a collective "argh" in the room. I guess, I'm not the only one watching it.

And speaking of celebrities, there is this celebrity here in the UK, Abi Titmus. I saw her a week ago on a documentary entitled, Abi Titmus: A tale of morality. Apparently, a year ago, she was on one of those reality TV shows and after the show, a sex tape of hers came out without her consent. And then she just went on to become an instant celebrity. I heard on the radio, that she is the most pointless celebrity. She's not an actress, nor is she a fashion model, and she's not really a porn star since she just have that one tape. But she graces the tabloid frequently. Yesterday, the radio station that I listen to asked their female listeners to text in the most annoying celebrity and Abi came out as the no. 1 most annoying celebrity. Right now, she's on TV, another reality TV show. Celebrity Love Island or something like that.

I really don't know the point to the paragraph above.

After reading Red Dragon and Silence of the Lamb, I read Hannibal. I've read it before. I don't recall reading it. Am I getting old?

I got the scare of my life, Sunday. I was standing on chair, looking at the pantry for something to make for breakfast. I stepped down from the chair and that's when it happened. I twisted my left knee. AGAIN. I've always had problems with my left knee. Anyways, I am so traumatized with my left knee that whenever something's off with it, it just buckles and gives way. No way am I going to put pressure on it if I think that I'm going to twist it.

So, I fell. And my left knee was just way too painful. So, as I'm laying there. Megan comes running to the kitchen and asks me if I'm OK. And that's when it hit me. What if it was worse? What am I going to do? I could ask M to call 999 and then what?

So, after I got up, the next thing I did was connect the cordless phone. I was limping the rest of Sunday. Good thing when I woke up Monday, it was just a little sore.

I'm reading Thomas Harris' Red Dragon and Silence of the Lamb.

I get spook really easy. I don't watch horror films. I try not to watch suspense thriller by myself. And yet I find myself reading this book. I think reading a book is way much better than watching a movie. The book takes you inside the character. It tells you how they feel, what they're thinking and so on. A movie, however, is subject to the actors', or screenwriters', or directors' interpretation of the book. I sometimes think, it's been tainted of what they think versus what the author's thought was in the first place.

I've seen Silence of the Lamb. Anthony Hopkins potrayed Hannibal Lechter really well. You can just feel how evil Lechter is. Hello, Clarice. Now, that I'm reading the book, I picture Dr. Lechter in the movie.

Anyways, I read before going to bed and then step outside when I'm ready for bed. For the last couple of nights now, as I'm sitting outside, my imagation starts working overtime. I start thinking about the characters in the book. What if they were real? What if one of them is out there watching me? Planning to kill me? And then I run inside the house. Lock the door. Check it twice. Leave a light on and sleep with M in her bedroom.

Reading this book while G is gone is not a good idea. But, having started reading it, I just have to finish it. That way I know that in the end, they got caught and now they're dead or in prison. And so, there's no way for them to be out in the yard, planning to kill me.

Name the song title of these lyrics.

1) all the things you do to me and all the things you said

2) don't think that we don't know, don't think that we're not trying

3) In my life, why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I...

4) I dont know where I am but I know I dont like it, I open my mouth and something spiteful

5) remember that piano so delightful, unusual, that classic sensation, sentimental confusion

6) im not sure all this people understand, it's not like years ago, the fear of being caught

7) i get out of bed at half past ten, phone up a friend who's a party animal

8) if you think i'm magical, cause roses bloom with my touch

9) having learned my lesson I never left an impression on anyone

10) I want to be with you be with you night and day

11) there's a little black spot on the sun today, it's the same old thing as yesterday

12) days become years, years become tears, inside this maze, I've lost your choice (?)

I found a product that's really good for the feet.

It's Earth Therapeutics' Tea Tree Oil Foot Repair Balm. I've been using it for almost 3 weeks and now, my feet are all nice and smooth. A couple of years ago, I developed these unsightly cracks at the ball of my foot, and now they're almost gone. But then again, it could be because I don't walk barefoot around the house anymore. It's one of Fly Lady's thing, to wear shoes around the house. Something to do with if you have shoes on, you tend to be professional or something.

I weighed myself today.

And, yipee, I lost a WHOLE pound. If you missed it, that was dripping with sarcasm. But, after endless hours of reasoning with myself, I actually felt good about that pound that I lost. I kept thinking that I only lost 1 pound since I said that I was going to lose weight which was about 5 weeks ago but I'm thinking, I weighed myself last week and this week I lost a pound. I just reread what I wrote and it didn't make sense.

Anyway, I lost a pound.

Third time's the charm.

I'm talking about the pan de sal. My second batch came out so very wrong. It wasn't even edible. But the third batch, it wasn't perfect, it looked like dinner rolls, but it was good. I used the same dough to make french loaf and it somewhat looked like a french loaf but it didn't taste like one. Well, enough with the buts. It was good. M had 3 rolls before dinner and she barely touched her spaghetti cause she keeps asking for more bread. G said it was good but G always says it's good, no matter what I cook.

Talked to mom couple of days ago, they're not coming to visit us on May instead they'll be here around October. And now, G is going on a trip for 45 days. Argh! Oh, well, part of the job. At least, it's only 45 days. But still 45 days is very long. He's leaving on the 14th of May, that's next weekend. And, he's working this weekend.

Anyways, I'm thinking of going to Cali while G is gone, once M's vacation starts but that would mean we would only be there for a couple of weeks. I know my dad will say, I'm wasting money by just staying there for 2 weeks. But I really want to come back when G gets back from his trip. This may not happen at all. Maybe we could take a hop to Cali. That would mean I won't be wasting my money, so dad will not have any reason to say something about the length of my vacation, anyways, we'll be seeing each other again when they come to visit us. It's not really me that my dad wants to see, it's M. Hahahaha.

Last night, I baked pan de sal.

It was pretty good. It didn't looked or tasted much like one but as a bread it was pretty good. M and G said it was OK. I'll try again later today. This time, I will follow the instructions to the dot. G said when will I try making a loaf, I said, when I'm satisfied with my pan de sal, I'll move on to a baguette.

Speaking of food, I weighed myself yesterday. ARGH! I didn't lose a single pound! But, I have my fingers crossed (it's that time of the month), I'll check again next week. I'm still exercising, that's the important part. Right? Right!

It's funny, I don't know where my free time went. I barely have time to mess around in the internet, I haven't started reading the book I borrowed from the library last Friday and I still have a movie I haven't seen that I got last Saturday.

The other night I dreamt I couldn't sleep.

I remember telling G "Back to back". This is one of our sleeping positions if I have problems going to sleep. That's all I remembered. But, apparently, it didn't end there. According to G, this is what happened.

He was turning over when I said "back to back" and so he turned his back to me. And then I said, "This is not working, we have to switch sides. Trust me. I'll make it worth your while." So, he got up, sat at the end of the bed and wondered to himself what I'm thinking. I rolled to his side of the bed and by the time he laid down, I was snoring. That's when he realized, I was talking on my sleep again.

Last night, G said that when he came home, he heard me singing in my sleep. And it wasn't just a line, I was singing when he opened the door, got changed, and he could still hear me singing when he went to M's bedroom to kiss her good night. I must be dreaming I'm in a concert or maybe a karaoke bar.

The reason I haven't been posting as much lately is...

... my new schedule. I've been driving M to school instead of her taking the bus to school because 1. she doesn't have to wake up at 6:20 instead she can wake up at 7:00, 2. the bus picks her up at 7:23 and school starts at 8:10, thats 43 minutes travel time compared to 20 minutes if I drive her. (It's about 15 minutes but with the line at the gate makes it about 20.)

And since I'm at the base, might as well stop by the gym and workout. Yes, I've been working out for 45 minutes since Monday, everyday. I get back from base around 9:30 and by the time I get done shower and change, it's time to do some chores and then lunch and then my spanish lessons.

Another reason why I don't have time to mess around the internet lately is, I'm helping G with the land rover. He's repairing the bulk head and I'm helping him. =) You should see me, I have cover-alls, gloves, & headset (since were drilling and just protecting my ears). I look like a real mechanic.

Last reason, M has been playing in the computer when she gets home. She kicks me out of the computer. The only internet time that I have are spent checking email. I have to pencil blog time in my sked. Hahaha.

Just our luck!

I came home from grocery shopping and found a guy in suit walking around, voice recorder in hand and camera on the other. He looks very much like a realtor to me. I asked G if he knew about the guy and said that our landlord was just talking to him and asked if the realtor can come inside our house and take some measurements.

We asked the realtor if our landlord is planning to sell the house. And he said that they are thinking of selling the property but since it's such a unique property that it would take longer than usual to sell it. And that we needn't worry as it will be sold as a business. So, if somebody does buy it, chances are we could stay.

There's a lot of cons to this. 1) We don't know what the future landlord will be like. 2) What if they decide to increase the rental and so on and so forth. I shouldn't think that far ahead but I can't help it, we still have a year left here in UK and we have moved 3 times as it is. I really don't want to move again.

I like compact multifunctional gadgets.

That's why I love my laptop. It's almost everything in one. You got a CD player, a DVD player, a computer and of course your window to the wide world of web. It can be your radio, your newspaper and even TV. I could spend hours in the internet.

I would have bought a PSP when it came out, unfortunately, it doesn't come with a camera, if it did, I would have been first in line. But if it did, it's perfect. Imagine, a game console, an mp3 player, you can even watch movies on it. As long as the screen size doesn't bother you.

G on the other hand wants a gadget for every function. He's got a digital camera that plays mp3. He has a Zire and it has a camera and plays mp3 but he said that camera doesn't really take that good of a picture and the battery life is not really suitable for playing mp3s. Thus, he needs an mp3 player, he's got one but I'm using it since I don't have a portable mp3 player. I do but it's not compact, it's about a size of a CD case. Actually, it's a CD player but it plays mp3s.

I wish there's an mp3 player with at least 10 gig that's also a camera with 3.2 megapixel and a cell phone about the size of a pack of gum that costs about $250. Now, THAT'S wishful thinking.

Being a parent, I've always thought that I won't push M, that I will not project onto her my frustrations. But, sometimes I wish my mom did push me, piano lessons, dance and tennis. I remembered my cousin, she would be playing the piano while the rest of us were out playing and I never thought about her missing out on childhood and I never thought to ask my mom if I could have piano lessons but I didn't and so now here I am wishing I did.

So, for M, I thought that I would show her what's out there and if she wants to do it, well and good but if she doesn't, she doesn't. Right? But how much motivation is enough motivation. Or I should say, when does motivation stop and pushing begins? It seems a very thin line to me. She's been saying she wants to quit gymnastics and I said after this month you can stop. But, I still keep asking her if she's sure she wants to quit. Seems like a shame if she should stop now.

I had a dream last night.

I dreamt that I was writing something but I can't seem to recall what the dream was about. I read somewhere that some people would actually have a pen and paper by their side so that when they do dream about something, they write it down so as not to forget the dream.

I've also seen this documentary about this man who wrote an entire novel based on his dream. It didn't happen overnight, it was a series of dreams, I guess. I just remembered the novel, it was Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll.

And speaking of documentaries, I was watching this one about the American Spelling Bee. There was this girl and I forgot her word but as soon as she heard her word her eyes starts welling up. You can tell, theat she doesn't know the word. And the harder she thinks of the word the more she looks like she's about to cry. By the time she was spelling she was crying. Not sob-cry but more like tears-streaming-down-her-face type. I felt so sorry for her. Just looking at her gave me an idea of the tension inside her. She wants to get the word right so bad. She got that word right but later on she got disqualified. I wanted her to win so bad.

Another thing that made me feel so sorry for her was while the other contestants flew in to Washington with their family and staying at a hotel, she just took the subway to get to the venue by herself. How sad is that?

Whew!

I'm back on track. I've been sick last week and it was a challenge trying to blog. Anyways, M was always on the computer, too and trying to kick her out of it is just way too much work. She's back in school and I have the computer all to myself.

I've been ripping my CDs, I don't have a massive collection but still it's taking forever. I'm currently at letter S and I have a lot of artists that starts with S and of course, there's Sting. What else have I been doing last week? Nothing much, mostly just sleeping. I can't read for too long or watch movies. I did watch probably 1 movie per day.

My currently-working-on goals got sacrificed big time over the week so this week I start yet again. Number 1 priority is losing weight. I've decided that it's high time to crank it up a notch, starting this week it will be hit the gym and work out 3 times a week for at least an hour. Wish me luck!

I hate being sick.

*sniff* *cough*

I found this website. It's like a support group for SHEs (Side-tracked Home Executive) like me. It's pretty interesting. If you sign up with their group, you get this reminders of things that needs to be done, i.e. where's your laundry. I admit, I'm a procastinator. And the biggest thing that side-tracks me is the computer, so now, when I'm messing about the computer, I get these reminders.

Among other things, it asks you to make a before bedtime routine and morning routine. The one important thing in the before bedtime routine is to shine your sink. I've been doing that for 3 nights now and it really does make a lot of difference to the kitchen. My kitchen looks immaculate. (Well, half of my kitchen, the half that is visible from the living room.) Plus, the other day, when M got home from school, she said, Wow! This looks really nice. Even G is making an effort not to mess up the kitchen, and I didn't have to ask him.

AARRGGHH!!!

Yes, I'm really mad. We got our utilities bill today and it's way sky-high. It's highway robbery. Our gas consumption from the time we moved in to the end of March is 173 pounds. And that's just outrageous. We've talked to everybody concerned and it boils down to this, we used up that much for last month. Time to change our way of life. I just can't have the heater on all day. But this house is SOO cold, though. At least, spring's here and summer's just around the corner. We checked how much we've used up since last reading and we used up 13 pounds worth of gas, and we're only 7 days into the month. I guess, we're just gonna have to turn off the heater and wear sweaters inside the house.

BRRR.

I think I have a lot of time in my hand.

In my goal list, I am actively working on 5 goals and that is 1) Take a pic and post to flickr everyday for the whole month of April, 2) Watch top 100 movies 3) Lose weight, 4) Save money and lastly 5) Be more organized.

For #1, the hard thing is finding a subject, but I'm glad I'm doing this. I am constantly on the look-out for something to photograph and I am noticing a lot of things around me.

#2, I'm forcing myself to watch movies that I would never watch. I am partial to feel-good movies and try to stay away from heavy drama even though I know they are good. I haven't seen Schindler's List and The Pianist. I stayed away from Cast Away even though I like Tom Hanks.

#3, no need to elaborate on this one.

#4, everything is in place, all I need now is time.

#5, the procastinator in me is making this goal unachievable (is that a word?), I only have one area in my house which needs work on but I'd rather sit right here, typing away.

Happy April Fool's Day!

I thought I'd mess with G today and so when he got home this morning I told him I bought a PSP and his reaction was, Which 2 games did you get? Not the reaction I was hoping for and so I said, also I finally got that iPod. Still, no reaction. And I bought that Zire 72 with GPS pack. Now I know you're lying. What? He continued with I know you will not spend that much money on one day.

I have to think of a better prank for him.

However many years ago I joined the Air Force.

To finish the basic training you have to pass the fitness test which is run 2 miles in 20 minutes, I forgot how many push-ups and sit-ups in 2 minutes but it was a lot. I am not a very physical person, I was confident with my sit-ups but I was worried about my push-ups & the run.

I'll walk 5 miles, man, I'll walk 10 miles just don't let me run. But run I need to do, so for the next 6 weeks we were running 3 times a week. I managed to skate the running thing, I'd walk most of the time and start jogging if an instructor is nearby. This did not help me at all for the fitness test.

The day came and I still could not run the whole 2 miles, let alone make it in 20 minutes but I tried. I can see the finish line but I just couldn't do it anymore, I started walking and then this booming voice came out of nowhere. He wasn't yelling in my face, it was more like encouraging, C'mon, you can do it. We're almost there. You'd better run. Well, I made it in the nick of time.

For the push-up, this girl in my flight advised to do wall push-ups every night and I should have no problems passing the push-ups. And I did it. The biggest surprise came and I failed my sit-ups. I have to re-test night before graduation, if I still fail it, I will be recycled. This means I have to join another class and add another 3 weeks to my training. I didn't want to do that.

For the re-test, somebody will hold your ankle down and count how many you can do in 2 minutes. A minute has probably passed when I felt it. Deng! I need to fart real bad. I was holding it in and it was kinda hard to do, holding it while doing sit-ups. I paused for a second and the person holding my ankle down said, Don't stop now, you can do it. I replied, It's not that, I need to fart real bad. And then she said, Then do it. Fart. I just couldn't do it. I just can't fart in your face, I said. Do you want to get recycled? Fart now or fail this. It better not be stinky or I'll kill you. So, I did my sit-ups and it came out with it.

G said I am such an indecisive person.

And it's true. I realized that now. I've also noticed that I'm asking M a lot to decide. What to wear the next day, what snack she wants, if she wants lunch ticket or lunch box. I even ask her what she wants for dinner.

On weekends, we're usually out and about, we usually eat out for lunch. I live that to G & M. If G asks me for I want, my response would be, It doesn't matter or It's up to you, guys.

I leave everything to chance too when it comes to shopping. What am I talking about? If I see a purse or shoes I like and I can't reach a decision to buy it or not, I would walk away from it thinking, If it's still here the next time, then it's meant for me. I've been meaning to buy a new purse since January, and I still haven't bought one. Every single weekend, I go to the purse section, look, and walk away empty-handed.

LSS

Girl you know it's true
Ooh ooh ooh
I love you!

Now, kill me if you please.

I've added lose weight in my 43 things.

I didn't want to add this because I guess I was afraid that I won't be able to cross it out. I just need to do this. I'm beginning to notice that it's affecting my self-confidence. I keep looking at how other people look and comparing myself to them. I know that we are our biggest critic but really, I am over my max ideal weight by 24 pounds. Sounds a lot and if I don't watch it, it'll go higher and higher. Time to take control of my weight.

I guess it's the show that we watched last night, too. I should really do this. My plan is drink more water, eat more fruits, exercise for 30 minutes instead of sitting here staring at the computer. As a reward, when I'm 24 pounds lighter, I'll buy me a whole new wardrobe. Since a whole new wardrobe costs a lot of money, I am going to pay myself everytime I stuck to the plan.

Wish me luck!

Something happened at the grocery store which reminded me of this embarrassing moment that happened to me awhile back.

First, what happened today. As I was pushing my cart, I pass by a lady who was scrutinizing the products, up ahead was her husband also doing the same thing. As I pass the husband, he walks along with me and said something and then looks at me. He then blushed and said, I'm sorry I thought you were my wife.

Now, for my embarrassing moment. We were looking for movies to rent. G was holding a movie in his hand reading the back-jacket. I took the movie from him and gave the one I was holding and said, What do you think of this one? And proceeded to read the back of the movie that I took from him. I don't remember the movie now but it was kinda lame, I don't know it sounds lame, but if you want to watch it... At this point, somebody came up to my left and asked me if I have decided on a movie, I looked and saw G on my left. Now, if G is on my left, who's on my right? A total stranger and he just had this amused look on his face, You thought I was him, huh? I apologized and walked away smacking G on the arm. Then, I realized, I still have the stranger's movie in my hand, so walked back to him, Uhm... Yeah, did you want to rent this?

I am soooo hungry.

It's like all day, the whole day, all I want to do is eat. I'm craving for something and I don't know what it is. Usually, chocolates would do the trick, but not this time, not even chocolates curbs the craving! And this is not good. I'm trying to lose weight here! Enough about food. Moving on...

The weather's funky. It started out Friday, we went from Winter to Summer. It was so nice last Friday. It seems like everybody ditched their jackets & coats. By mid-afternoon, some were actually wearing shorts. OK, it's not that warm! But, it was nice. We decided to have the car washed and a lot of people have the same idea. Saturday was still nice although it was breezy. Sunday, we were back to ugly grey weather. Monday was great. Tuesday was rainy. Today, it's so nice. I can see blue! Tomorrow, we're expecting thunders. Ugh!

Still, spring is here, spring is here, it's the best time of the year!