Work in Progress

I managed to do what I set out to do last weekend and that was clean up the room and organize the second floor bookcase. This is part of my ongoing effort to fulfill the 10 things I needed to get better at (sorry Ces!). So, for the past two weeks I have not bought a thing for myself from the shops, and I have already cleaned up our bathroom (and it's still tidy! Yay!).

We share a bedroom with my two kids, so it is almost always filled to the brim with whatever toys the kids play with. Add to that two adults with the predilection to buy lots of books and magazines which are piled everywhere there is a free surface and you get the picture of the state of our bedroom. Unfortunately, in my eagerness to get right down to it in case I get cold feet and decide to just go watch a movie (we haven't seen Eragon yet), I didn't pause to take pictures.

So by 10am on Saturday morning, I instructed the maid to take out all the toys from the room and place them in the play area in the second floor. After that, we dusted and swept and mopped and moved furniture (or rather, my husband moved the furniture). Once I was satisfied with the arrangement, we tackled the tv stand next. It was a jumble of VCDs and DVDs which were not in their proper cases and lying around on top of the tv and dvd player thanks to the kids and their nanny, tons of children's books that were haphazardly stacked and were spilling out the back.

We called it a night at 9pm so we could get the kids ready for bed. The next day was spent organizing the books and drawers and then fixing the second floor bookcase. This is what we ended up with:


The shelves right next to the closet used to overflow with books, magazines, papers and two Santa hats. The floor was where we used to keep our supply of diapers and a huge Toys r us plastic bag filled with Joshua's power rangers. The tv used to stand where the couch is (have to remember to have it re-upholstered -- someone went gaga with a marker) and I've repositioned the green rocker (I spent countless hours nursing Joshua with my feet up on this rocker!) where we can actually use it again instead of being used as a repository of freshly ironed laundry. And that's Faith's yellow duckie plush chair which was our Christmas present last year.


The other half of the room where the bed used to be. Joshua's chest of drawers used to be at the opposite end and on top of it rested his dinosaur collection. And on top of his dinosaur collection were bits and pieces of toys, Faith's barbie dolls, a doll house and some dvds. Then that's Joshua's froggie chair, a partner to Faith's yellow duck.


The tv stand, for lack of a better term. Took us a long time to sort through all the vcds and dvds and try to put them all in their cases. I never realized how many Sesame Street vcds we had. Have to watch all of them again (I grew up on Sesame street!). I've also fixed the books -- wonder how long it'll take before it gets "re-arranged"?


Ah, the bookcase. I removed all the books I didn't want and put them aside for donations or a future garage sale. The books on the floor are my sister's medical books, Jun's finance books and other reference books which are intended for the office bookshelves on the first floor. This will be a project that needs to be scheduled for when my sister is home (and not lightheaded from night duty) since she also has a lot of stuff stored in that tiny place. And because I do not want a fight when I inadvertently throw away something she still needs.


Above is next weekend's cleaning project. Tons of toys to sort through, put away (all the baby stuff), throw out (the ones with missing bits and pieces) and give away. I fell in love with a toy organizer I saw at the mall last night. It's a bit expensive so I will have to look around for a cheaper alternative. Below is the rest of the second floor which I will re-arrange once all the sorting out and cleaning is done.


I had such a sense of satisfaction and well-being after this weekend. All the mess was beginning to get to me. I can't say I enjoyed it but it was worth it. However, I did enjoy pawing through my bedside table drawer where I found treasure: letters from my mom and sister given to me after my wedding day *gulp*, a pearl necklace, cards from my hubby during the early days, checks that were used to pay for our wedding suppliers, and our boarding passes from our honeymoon in Thailand. I'd forgotten that's where I put them. Oh! And I found an illustrated Kama Sutra and another illustrated guide to sex book that were gifts from my bridal shower! I guess I hid it so well even I forgot all about it!

One last bit, it is the the 10th anniversary of our blind date and we are going out tonight. My sweetie of a husband still has the restaurant receipt from our first date. :D

Sleep? What's that?

A gentle nudge on my leg from my hubby wakes me up. Time to get up, shower, and get ready for work. I get up slowly, carefully untangling myself from the small arms and legs that are draped on me. Blearily, I collect my towel and trudge off to the downstairs bathroom (where the heater is). As I take my clothes off and turn on the shower, I hear a loud thud from upstairs followed by running feet and then a loud combination of wailing and sobbing from the stairwell, "mooooommmmeeeee!!!!!". I sigh. It is 5:55am and Joshua, on cue, is already awake and screaming for me. This is how my weekday starts.

There are variations. Sometimes, he goes straight to the bathroom, clutching at my waist and sobbing uncontrollably, "mommy, *unhunh* *unhunh* please, I want you to stay with me *unhunh* *unhunh*. I don't want you to leave, please sleep with me pa." Sometimes I make it back to the upstairs bathroom where I dress before we do the please-don't-leave-me routine. Sometimes I open the bathroom door to find him sitting quietly in a chair, waiting for me. The routine doesn't last long though, after about 5 minutes, he calms down and starts playing or chattering to me, as if nothing happened. Lately, it struck me --- Joshua seems so grown up already, very independent and not wanting to be babied. But in those moments between sleeping and waking up, when he cries out for me, then I get my baby back. It only lasts five minutes and believe me, in the middle of it, I am wishing that he is still asleep. But a teeny, tiny part of me realizes that this will not happen for much longer. And I think I will miss it.

Faith, thankfully, usually remains blissfully asleep the whole time. This one has a night time routine as opposed to Joshua's early morning one which usually involves talking non-stop even if everybody else is asleep (or almost asleep), trying out different positions (on top of me, head on my stomach, feet propped on the couch, etc.), and eventually prying my eyelids open insisting that I wake up and look at her while she falls asleep. Sometimes, she gets up on my back or she makes me sit up cross-legged on the bed while she puts her head on my lap until she falls asleep. Only then can I carefully move her to the pillow and fall exhausted into bed, only to be woken up at 3 or 4 am by an insistent Faith, wanting to sleep on my lap again.

It's weird to be a mother. I am always torn between complaining about the lack of sleep/lack of privacy/etc and regret that when they grow up, they will not need me as much. Torn between being happy that they are getting independent and feeling a twinge of sadness at yet another sign that they are leaving their babyhood behind.

I wonder how it feels to them, to sleep beside me. They both take possession of my hands, each of them running my fingers all over their face until they fall asleep. They refuse to sleep with their grandparents when they know I am home. I think it's because I am their parent but they do not act that way with their dad. It's only with me.

So I wondered. Then I remembered how it felt like to sleep with my mom. I used to be afraid of the dark because of all the scary stories of local lore that our maids and grandparents fed to us when we were kids. But I remember thinking one time when my mom gave me permission to sleep beside her, "Ah, now I can think and remember all the scary stories that I like! I won't be scared." And I wasn't. And I always think of where my mother was sleeping as a place where it was always clean and the pillows smelled nice (always nicer than mine).

Now I know.

All in a day's work

I enjoyed seeing Caroline's, Leo's and Marie's super neat workplaces so I thought of showing mine. I realize it's cheating a bit because it's not the one I have at home. But really, I don't work there. At home, I usually just park myself somewhere the kids won't try to punch letters on the laptop while I'm writing: on the bed, on the couch, the dining table, or sometimes, I lock myself in the bathroom. So the above is my real workplace.

Over on the right is my little zen fountain. It was a present from my youngest sister two years ago. The sound of the flowing water soothes me. Near it is where I keep my three cellphones. Yes, I have three (one for work, one personal and the other one, well, it's a long story). That's why I need someplace to put them all in, otherwise I will lose one or two. And my post it notes which I love.

You can see it's pretty neat which is how I like to keep it. And this will puzzle you if you see the one at home. Because it is so far from this. I cannot think properly if I am surrounded by clutter. That's why I stay away from the desk at home.


This is the other half of my desk. There's nothing much on this part except for three pictures I keep in a cool plexiglass frame, the Beauty and the Beast coffee mug souvenir I bought for Jun after seeing the play in Sydney (which he stopped using) and a Starbucks water mug which was a Christmas present two years ago from a former office colleague.

This coming weekend is going to be clean up day at home so wish me luck. I'll post some before and after pics...maybe.

My 10 things

Why is it possible to have so many things swimming in your head that you want to write about and then when confronted with blank space you don't know where to start???!!!!

There are lots of things going on at Blogworld Road. I really enjoyed doing the How evil are you quiz I found over at Marie's. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was only 36% evil. And now I'm surprised that I'm surprised (does that even make sense?). Because it means I think I am more evil than I really am, at least, according to that quiz. But maybe it's more of a funny bitchy evil than an evil evil kind, you know what I mean?

Anyway, then I went over and did the Muppet quiz from Caroline. And I'm Kermit the frog. And since there can absolutely be no stench of evil whatsoever in Kermit and he is so sweet and gentle, what does that say about my thinking I'm more evil than what the quiz says? That I'm totally clueless? Or that I really need to do something more constructive on my lunch break so I can stop thinking about connections between Muppet personalities and Evil quizzes.

And that's why I will now just write about the ten things I need to improve this year (not quite the verbage that Ces used but close enough).

1. Stay away from ZARA.
2. Stop eating junk food.
3. Give away junk food sitting on top of desk.
4. Keep repeating the phrase, "Clothes are inanimate objects and do not say, BUY ME!"
5. Ditto on shoes.
6. Stop talking about wanting to organize the house and start doing it.
7. STAY AWAY FROM ZARA
8. Eat to live and not live to eat.
9. Save more.
10. STAY AWAY FROM ZARA

There, that's much better.

Oh, did I mention that we went to the zoo last weekend? It was just the local zoo in Manila -- there are other zoos we can go to that are nicer and with more things to see but we wanted a quick outing and weren't feeling up to a long drive and day trip. The kids loved it and, I must admit, I felt like a kid again despite the rundown condition and the obvious lack of animals. It's really true what they say when you see things through children's eyes. It was Faith's first time and I thought it was funny when I asked her what her favorite animal was and she said, "the sheep." I freaked out when we passed by the kiddie zoo and saw a little girl get hoisted on the back of an ostrich. Ewwwwww! *shudder* Yuck!!!! Gross!!!!!

The Alphabet Tag

My first tag of the year from Leo!

A is for age: 35. I'm going out on a limb here. I realize I just announced my age to the world.

B is for beer of choice: Ugh! Can't stand the taste. I go for Bailey's or tequila

C is for career: HR practitioner and mom. Frustrated supermodel.

D is for favorite Drink: It's a toss-up between coffee and diet Pepsi

E is for Essential item you use everyday: moisturizer and lipstick

F is for Favorite song at the moment: Spirit by Chicane

G is for favorite Game: Poker, Taboo and Scrabble (but only when I'm beating the hubby)

I is for Instruments played: Used to play the piano but wasn't very good at it and hated practicing

J is for favorite Juice: Orange, no pulp

K is for Kids: A 4 1/2 year old son and 2 1/2 year old daughter

L is for last kiss: My husband, before dropping him off this morning

M is for marriage: 6 years and 2 months

N is for full Name: Maria Felisa Craig Jackman Routh Villaluz

O is for Overnight hospital stays: Twice when I gave birth. Hated it both times -- only the lifestyle channel kept me sane.

P is for phobias: Birds or Chickens

Q is for quote: "I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent, or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been dealt, and accessorize what we've got." Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

R is for biggest Regret: Not wearing a bikini when I was younger and much much thinner.

S is for sports: Tennis and I think I'm going to love watching the World Cup next time it happens

T is for Time you wake up: Quarter to 6 on workdays and depends on how long the kids leave me alone on weekends

U is for color underwear: Usually neutrals with the occasional pink stripes

V is for Vegetable you love: Ugh!

W is for Worst Habit: reading the ending of a book first and wanting to know how a movie ended even before I've watched it -- I like torturing people about movie endings

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Every time I get my annual physical exam and once when I got pneumonia while I was in grad school

Y is for Yummy food you make: crabstick and mango salad and a spicy sinigang (pork broth)

Z is for zodiac sign: Virgo

Holiday Moments

I don't have pictures to share at the moment because the camera chose this auspicious time to conk out. I'm at that in between place I go to after long holidays, torn between feeling sad that Christmas is over and relieved that I can finally stop and do nothing if I choose to. There are presents to put away, toys that still need to be sorted to make room for the humongous amount of new ones and I still haven't done the cleaning I needed to do. Oh joy.

However, I did enjoy the holidays. It was hectic, it was noisy, there was hardly enough quiet time (unless I count trips to the bathroom), and not nearly enough sleep (my skin is a testament to this). But, oh it was fun. It's impossible to cram a whole two weeks worth but here are the moments I remember:

...we had a japanese sushi buffet and steak for dinner at my aunt's house before trooping to church for midnight mass. It was a beautiful night for the short walk to church and back. Then presents galore and Noche Buena (midnight feast). We finally went home at 2am, the kids were wide awake after the short nap on the trip home and we opened their stocking gifts. A totally unexpected gift from the hubby *smile*

... the kids' delight at opening more presents on Christmas morning. A late night scary movie (which had us laughing our socks off) and burgers at midnight to cap off Christmas day.

... out of town house party of around 30 relatives, a hilarious and competitive game of Taboo, first time I played bowling, fresh roasted lechon, and staying up late scaring each other with ghost stories.

... poker game after dinner on New Year's Eve (no money, just chips), tequila shots and dancing at midnight, some quiet conversation with my sisters while waiting for the cousins to arrive for a sleepover

...Quiet beach on New Year's Day, floating on my back while looking up at the sky and hearing the wind while the kids played in the surf

I'm still a bit lethargic from the lack of sleep and the post holiday lull. But things are slowly getting back to normal...unfortunately.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Pre-Christmas checklist:

1. Wrap remaining gifts and place in bags organized by family. CHECK
2. Trip to grocery store and deli for Christmas Eve food. CHECK
3. Quick trip to the mall for five more gifts. CHECK
4. Lovely black crocheted bolero type sweater for self that screamed "Buy ME! CHECK.
5. Phone call to cousins to confirm that since they are unavailable to go to the mall today and tomorrow morning, it is perfectly ok for them to receive a post Christmas gift. CHECK.

Just another night and it's Christmas Eve. The presents have been wrapped and tagged and bagged. Apart from some mild sniffles from Joshua, it looks like we are through with the bug this Christmas (fingers crossed!).

I was expecting today to be a very stressful one but to my surprise (and delight!) it wasn't. Even an afternoon trip to the mall and the grocery didn't bother me in the slightest. I came home to see my dad preparing an outdoor dinner and we spent most of the evening talking outside while listening to Christmas songs. What a perfect, perfect way to officially herald the Christmas celebration.

I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful, wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. To my blogger friends, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have "met" you. You guys have made this year extra special for me. Here's to more celebrations at Blogworld Road!

Four Things Meme

I've been tagged by Maysha for this. Whew! This week has been all about tags. But I like it -- it eases the stress of the workday and preparing for the holidays.


Four jobs I've had:

Well, I've only ever done HR work so here are the HR positions I've held:
- Career Management Assistant (my first job out of college) in a bank
- Human Resource Consultant (where I met some of the most fabulous people with whom I am still good friends with. And yes, this was with Maria! And we had so much fun!)
- Organization Development Consultant
- Compensation and Benefits Manager

Four Places I've Lived:

Again, I've only ever lived in two places in the Philippines, both in the city. I'm a city girl through and through. Oh! I forgot I also live in Blogworld Road!

Four Favorite Foods:

- Prime Rib (I'm a carnivore)
- Pasta (And I love carbs so I am doomed!)
- Chocolate
- My mom's Pavlova -- It's made out of egg white meringue topped with cream and lots of Philippine mangoes. It is out of this world!

Four movies I could watch over and over: Oh, this was hard!

- Indiana Jones (any of the three)
- Ever After
- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - I loved the battle scene in this movie. It conveyed a sense of hopelessness that was lacking in the third installment.
- Pretty Woman

Four TV Shows I enjoy:

- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Sex in the City
- The Amazing Race
- House

Four Places I've Travelled:

- Costa Rica
- Shanghai, China
- Bangalore, India
- Phuket, Thailand (my honeymoon)

Four Places I'd like to visit:

- Tuscany
- Paris
- Greece
- Jerusalem

Four Websites I go to Daily:

- my blog and blogroll
- Pink is the new blog - great celebrity website
- Amazon -- not daily but fairly regularly
- Oprah website

As easy as 1-2-3

Maria tagged me to do this meme and it's easy as 1-2-3!

All you have to do is:

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123 and go down to the fifth sentence.
3. Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Name the book and the author.
5. Tag three people.

I smiled from ear to ear, as i jumped into her arms and held her tightly. As she ran her hand through my hair, I began to cry. Mother cried too, and I began to feel that my bad times were finished.

From "A Child called It" by Dave Pelzer

No tags, just do it if you want to. :D

Take a Break

Someone sent me this bunch of cartoons over email. Thought I'd share it.







"Damn contemporary bullshit architecture!"

Five Things for Christmas

I've been tagged by the adorable Samson and his mommy Juliet. A very very Christmassy tag! So to take away the building stress of not having enough time to complete the mile long (well, not really but it feels like it) list of things I haven't done before Christmas, here's my list.

Five things I would like this Christmas:

1. I would like to officially stop shopping for Christmas presents on the morning of the 23rd. That is absolutely the last day -- I have to take my cousins shopping for what they want for Christmas. Because they're picky. Nah, just kidding. They're home from the US visiting after 10 years and I have no idea what to give them that they don't already have. So I am taking them around and buying them presents. I'm killing two birds with one stone. That's two things off my list.

2. I would like my kids to enjoy the holidays and share their toys.

3. I'd like some free time to myself to read a book for a while.

4. To eat carbs and chocolates on Christmas day.

5. A massage and at least 8 hours of sleep.


Five things I would really prefer not to contend with this Christmas:

1. Anyone in the family to get sick. (Please, please, please, please.....)

2. After Christmas clean up.

3. Traffic.

4. Traffic.

5. Traffic.

I'm tagging: Irene, Maysha, Steve

Just a quick one

Tomorrow is my son's Christmas program in school and I am keeping my fingers crossed. I am hoping that this time, he will actually do something more than just stand on stage and stare at the crowd. Oh I don't berate him or anything. I know it can be quite overwhelming for a child to stand and face an audience of beaming parents. But tomorrow, I am really hopeful. He's got a lot of roles to play. They have a short skit which is like the night before Christmas (and he has lines!). Then a song and dance number. And then another class is borrowing him to play Joseph in their skit. And tonight he seems relaxed about everything. So hope with me, ok?

This is going to be a quick one, I wanted to write about something else but I got distracted by what I read in one of the blogs I consider a favorite. Plus, I stayed up till midnight last night wrapping gifts and was up by 5am for a 7am meeting, AND I STILL HAVE A COUGH. Aaargggh!

And oh, in case you're interested, head on over to the Book Bitches blog (just click on their link on the right) and see the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie trailer. It is awesome!

Hokay, gotta go. My two year old daughter is playing with a certain part of my anatomy while I am typing. I gotta nip this in the bud.

Bookworm Tag...Again

I was reading Caroline's post about The Adoption by Dave Hill and got interested in the book. Which led me to thinking it would be nice to pick up some books to read from other people's favorite list. So I am resurrecting this book tag and I am tagging the residents of Blogworld road: Maria, Ces, Kj, Leo and Maysha, Caroline, Marie and Cherrypie.

No hurry...it took me a lot of time to think about my answers. I am so looking forward to your choices!


1. Book/s that changed my life

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery -- I read this book when I was young and was totally blown away. I love the way it is so full of insight and how, every time I read it, I get hit again and again by the truth it reveals about human nature.


Animal Farm by George Orwell – I will forever be thankful that I had the brilliance to take an English Lit class as one of my electives in UP. This book was a reading assignment and to put it simply, it really bothered me. The premise was simple and yet the imagery and the message, was so powerful.

2. Book you’ve read more than once – Since it is a habit of mine to reread books when I get bored, this one was so difficult because if I listed it all, there would be more than a hundred of them.

Mythology by Edith Hamilton – There was an old worn out copy in our house and in a fit of boredom (I was 10), I picked it up. That started my fascination with Greek Mythology. I read this book over and over and over that I almost memorized it. I wasn’t surprised when I aced the Greek Mythology part in my fourth year high school English class.

The Arabian Nights – This book was a really thick Reader’s Digest children’s version that I borrowed (and never returned) from my aunt. I still have the super dog eared copy in a bookshelf, saving it for when the kids are old enough to enjoy it.


Doctors by Erich Segal – I read this when I was in UP. I was curious about Love Story (didn’t see the movie) and after reading it (too mushy), thought I’d try another one. I would read this every time I was in between books and read it cover to cover without getting a bit bored. It offers a fascinating insight into the lives of four Harvard Med school students. It was like reading Gross Anatomy (movie with Matthew Modine) only ten times more riveting.

3. Book you’d want on a desert island – That would be any one of the books in #2.

4. Book that made you laugh

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella – She had me at the first page. Every girl has a Becky Bloomwood inside, just roaring to be let out. Shhhh, I keep my inner Becky in tranquilizers.

Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding – This one doesn’t need any explanation. I never anticipated a movie version more than this one (except perhaps Harry Potter) and I wasn’t disappointed. The movie was as funny as the book.

5. Book that made you cry

Baby ER by Edward Humes– Perhaps because of Joshua’s premature birth (see blog post My Happy Ending), this book really ripped my heart out. Almost every chapter reduced me to tears. It’s a documentation of the heroic efforts made by a medical staff in a hospital in the U.S. that works in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (a place where the really sick babies are kept). Each case was poignant and heartbreaking and includes several chapters that discuss the history of treatment of preemies. It was particularly heartbreaking to read that doctors in the past often performed surgery on premature babies without anesthesia in the assumption that their nerves were so underdeveloped that they couldn’t feel pain. It was only years later that studies showed that preemies could feel ten times more pain – for most early preemies, just the brush of a parent’s finger on the skin would cause extreme pain. (Ok, I’m getting emotional again. Have…to….stop…now.)

What Remains by Carole Radziwill – I read an excerpt of this book from Oprah’s magazine and haunted Powerbooks until I had it. The author, who was the wife of JFK Jr’s. cousin, wrote about her and her husband’s very close relationship with John and Carolyn Bessette and how she dealt with the tragic accident that caused their deaths and then losing her husband to cancer a few weeks later. Reading about her husband’s last moments in the hospital made me cry. I remember Ernest Hemingway said that all love stories end in tragedy because someone always dies. *sniff*

6. Book that you wish you had written

Necroscope by Brian Lumley – I’ve always admired writers of good fantasy books because of the imagination required to create a world that captured a reader’s attention. This book is part of a horror/sci-fi/fantasy series made up of 10 (I think) books (and I have every one of them). It’s about vampires in an alternate world and a British intelligence agency (like the CIA) that’s made up of “gifted” agents. Fantastic series and really gory.

Harry Potter – no explanation needed.

7. Book that you wish you had never been written – For the life of me, I can’t think of a single one. There are a lot of books that I wish I didn’t buy or read but I think they were so forgettable that I just can’t remember the titles. Except for the book in number 11. That would probably be it.

8. Book you are reading at the moment -- Just finished “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Philippa Gregory. A brilliant historical fiction book based on the Boleyn sisters (Mary and Anne) and how they seduced King Henry VIII to gain power for their family. This is now being made into a film starring Natalie Portman as Anne and Eric Bana as Henry VIII. Scarlett Johannsen plays Mary.

9. Book you’ve been meaning to read

One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- I have the copy, I’ve always been curious about it, just haven’t gotten around to reading it.

10. Book you read in one sitting -- In my heyday, I could finish 2-3 books in one day. Now it takes me about a week.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – I first found out about Harry Potter when I read a short blurb about it in Time Magazine (it wasn’t a sensation yet) and I thought, hmmm…children’s book. Am I glad I decided to give in to my curiosity and got a copy. I should also add that when I read this, I didn't have kids yet so I had the luxury of sitting down and not getting up for two hours.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud -- Again, I stumbled on this one while browsing through Amazon and the comments made me interested. It’s a three part series (Bartimaeus Trilogy) that is guaranteed to cure your waiting for the next Harry Potter itch. It has the same elements that the Potter series has but with a totally different (and fresh) angle on magic. The “hero” is a djinn with a smart mouth reminiscent of Robin Williams’ genie in the animated Disney film, “Aladdin”. His comments are documented in footnotes and are laugh out loud funny. Read this while the kids were taking a nap -- not really in one sitting but finished it within the day.

11. Book you didn’t quite “get”

By the River Piedra I sat down and wept by Paulo Coelho – Ok, sorry to all the fans out there. I’ve been hearing all praises for this book and finally got down to reading it. I am so glad I just borrowed this book and didn’t buy it. I thought it was weird and creepy.


12. Three authors whose books you will always buy or read, no questions asked

Sophie Kinsella, J.K. Rowling, Jane Green -- Chick Lit and Children's book authors. These are the only ones whose books, in my opinion, have never missed. Sadly, a lot of the authors whose books I read and (used to) patronize, are hit and miss. For instance, I loved the Tom Clancy series about Jack Ryan but his recent books have been a disappointment.

13. Forget the book and just watch the movie

Lord of the Rings – Yes I know it’s supposed to be a classic and I really tried to get into it but it bored me to tears.

Weekend blues

I didn't win the trip to Australia at the Christmas party. In fact, I didn't win anything which should not come as a surprise because I never win at these things. But I'm still wickedly disappointed. On the other hand, the presentation went really well so I have to be thankful for that.

The kids are both sick with a runny nose and a bit of a cough. I hate, hate, hate it when the kids are sick.

Now I've got a doozer of a sore throat. It hurts to talk, it hurts to eat.

Oh I am so much fun to be with today.

Five Fave Christmas Songs

Oooh! I've been tagged by Ces! How fun!

So here are my Five Fave Christmas Songs:

1. The Christmas Waltz -- versions by the Carpenters and Frank Sinatra. As a teenager, I've always daydreamed about attending a fancy dress ball and dancing the waltz to this song with the snow falling outside.

2. O Come All Ye Faithful -- any choir version. It just sounds better to me if it's sung by a choir.

3. Hark the Herald Angels Sing -- again, any choir version. I love it when this song and number 2 are sung by the choir during midnight mass.

4. Sleigh Ride -- best version by the Carpenters. She sings it in such an upbeat way that I love singing along.

5. The Christmas Song -- Nat King Cole. Absolutely nothing beats this.

No tags, just do this if you feel like it.

Postscript to Checking in

I finally got my picture up. And I think I've figured out why I can't post comments on some blogs. Since I transferred to the beta version, I am having problems posting comments to blogs that have not transferred to the blogger beta version. Sigh! To the others who are on blogger beta, am I right in my assumption??

Checking In

I can't post comments. I keep getting an error message.

There's something wrong with my picture -- it doesn't show on my profile.

I can't post pictures.

Doesn't work in Firefox either.

On the bright side, I am so, so, so happy! My books arrived in the mail!!!!!! All twelve of them!!!!! I am in book heaven. I don't know where to start.

And the complete season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been crossed off my list (Yay!). Yes, I am a fan. Now go snicker somewhere else. Where I cannot see you.

P.S.
I will be performing at the company Christmas party on Friday together with all the new hire suckers. Wish me luck.

Kinda early for a Christmas party, huh?

Scenes from a Weekend

I am supposed to be sleeping but I CAN'T SLEEP. So here I am hunched over my laptop inside the bathroom, not caring that I have an 8am meeting tomorrow and will have to be up by 5:30am to make it through the rush hour traffic.

Some highlights of the three day weekend I just had:

1. First off, The Dora the Explorer Sing along fiesta at the mall! Woohoo! You can see the kids look positively thrilled here. No, really, they loved the show but refused to smile for the camera. Rats! I didn't see much of the show...I was too busy watching my daughter watch the show and say..."Swiper no swiping!!!".

2. While driving home from the mall Sunday night, my mom, husband and I were talking quietly when Faith (who I thought was busy guzzling her milk) kept saying "Yikes!", or so I thought. After about the nth time she said it, I turned to her and asked, "why do say yikes, sweetie?". She just smiled at me and said it again. I realized after passing a brightly decorated house and she said "oooh, yikes!" again that she was really saying "Lights!"




3. This is why I think my daughter will never be a wallflower. I just saw these pictures and was so amused by them. This was taken during the big school assessment (which they both passed!!!! Yippee!). Faith nonchalantly sat a little distance from a group of older girls in uniform. Five minutes after and she was the center of attention. Wish I made friends this easily when I was a kid.

4. A recent conversation with Faith while she was doing number 2. She kept saying "yuck!" and "gwoss!!!" I couldn't stop smiling. It was the most enjoyable 10 minutes I ever spent inside the toilet.

5. Bedtime conversation with Joshua while Faith was busy trying to make me smell her toes and winking.

- Mommy, who will I marry?
- Um, who do you want to marry?
- You?
- Nope, you can't marry your mommy.
- How about tita (auntie)?
- You can't marry her either. You can't marry someone who's related to you.
- So who will I marry when I grow up?
- Well, what kind of girl do you want to marry?
- (Thinks hard) How about you choose for me, mommy?
- What?!!
- When I grow up, you choose the girl I'm going to marry.
- OK!!!!

I can't believe he gave me permission. Years from now I'm going to let him read my blog entries and remind him that he gave me carte blanche. HA HA HA!!!

On a side note, what in the world is wrong with Internet explorer???!!!! If I open blogger, I can't post pictures and can't see a preview!! Grrrr....

Friday 13

It's been a peaceful day so far. I am thankful that the typhoon passed over the place I live. It's very windy outside but the weather's cool and the kids and I just woke up from a very long afternoon nap which I will probably regret later tonight. It's a long weekend for us which I hope will mean the Christmas gifts will get wrapped and the kids' old toys and clothes organized to give away. The hubby is spending the entire three days working which means I will try very hard not to distract him (I promise not to make faces while you're working, cross my heart!). So while the two of us are on the couch, typing away, here's my thirteen list.

13 Things I look forward to every Christmas season

1. Making my Christmas list. It's in excel and has my lists since 2002. It has everybody's names on it classified by immediate family, relatives, friends (college, grad school, office, etc), gift ideas, budget for each. Then I fill in the actual gift I bought and how much it costs. It is probably major OC for me but it helps me prepare myself during the holidays. (And the hubby's list is also included).

2. Buying gifts. I especially love thinking about what to give to very close friends and family. I like looking at people as they open their presents and knowing that the gift made them happy.

3. Wrapping gifts. There's something relaxing about doing something mindless and repetitive every once in a while.

4. Cool weather. December - January is about the only time during the year when we get moderately cool weather without the rain. Although, now there's a typhoon.

5. Christmas carols.

6. Spending time with close family. This year, my aunt and cousins who live in the US are coming over. The last time they went for a visit was 10 years ago. I visited them last year in San Francisco on my way to Arizona and realized how much I missed them (my cousins were still little kids when they left). I can't wait for them to arrive and spend some time giving them the tour.

7. Midnight mass. Every year, we gather at our aunt's house (my dad's sisters and brother), have dinner and then wait for midnight mass where we all troop to church.

8. Noche Buena. After mass, this is the traditional Filipino midnight feast. We gorge on ham, cheese, and whatever it is my aunt serves while everyone distributes the gifts. As a kid, this was the part I liked best.

9. This is now my favorite part. We go home then it's our turn to give the gifts. It's just us, my parents, sisters and brother, the kids and Jun and I. When the presents are everything you said you wanted, and then we talk and laugh until 3 am, or until the kids are so exhausted they fall asleep amidst the Christmas wrappers.

10. Reading my husband's Christmas card.

11. When the kids are safely in bed and Jun and I just talk quietly, going over the year and the funny highlights of the night.

12. Getting up really late on Christmas morning and having a lazy, lazy breakfast while the kids are preoccupied with their new toys.

13. New Year's Eve. Just me and my siblings at home, playing really loud chillout music and dancing till midnight. A little wine and a lot of food.

My house at Blogworld Road

It's official! I am now a resident of Blogworld Road. I count myself very lucky to live in a place where all the neighbors are fabulous and there are no invitations necessary. It's the only place where houses don't have to conform and you are limited only by your imagination.

Up there is my house. It's really the house where I live but since I love it so much, I decided to have it replicated at Blogworld Road. It is my dad's work of art, the place where my children are growing up and where I prepared myself to marry the man I love. (Yes, that's me in the wedding gown with my brother and sister)

I've made a few modifications in the Blogworld Road version. There are lots of guestrooms where people can stay, a playroom filled with toys so Caroline's children can play (and the others too, of course). It has an immense library with a lot of comfy chairs overlooking the garden where one can spend hours buried in a book or just daydream. A dining room with lots of room for people to eat, and meet and talk (and even dance!).

Oh, and a huge playground at the backyard -- so the children can run around (and where all the playground mums are nice).

Lastly, it's a place where you always feel comfortable to be yourself. Come on over. I'm having a party.

On the way to the farm

I had every intention of having a good time at my son's field trip , I really did!

Went on leave from work to go with my son to this field trip. There's always a trip every month and I've been sort of relegating this to my mom since I started my new job. Instead of meeting up with the others in school, I'd planned on going straight to the farm. Joshua and I left at around 8am which was right on schedule and I was just congratulating myself at getting out of the house on time when I checked my phone and found an SMS from the teacher. Could one of his classmates and his nanny hitch a ride with us. Sure, I said, I just had to make a gas stop and buy bottled water and juice at the convenience store. No problem, she says, hardly anyone's there yet, they're running late.

Loooong line at the gas station then major quick trip in and out of the store for the water and juice and we were on our way again. Teacher calls again to say they were all loading and were on their way. Luigi and nanny went with someone else. Ok, cool. It was just Josh and me, happily chatting on the highway when he had to go to the restroom. I had visions of all the parents and their kids impatiently waiting for the farm tour to start, fuming at the dumb mom who was late. Hating myself for even thinking about it, I stopped at the next gas station.

Five minutes later, we were stuck in traffic. After twenty minutes, we finally reached the farm. Hokay, no big deal, other parents are still arriving. I realized I was stressing myself out for no reason at all and decided to relax, chat with the other moms (who were really nice!) and take pictures. Mr. Horsie was the first one we met. He kept immersing his head in the tub of water and splashing everyone. The kids were enchanted.

Then came the cart ride at the back of the cow. You can see they were all smiles, heck, I wanted to ride in the cart. It looked fun. There was a curious cow who kept poking it's nose at us, begging for her picture to be taken. It was at this point (10 minutes before 10am) that I checked my phone. Big mistake. I had two missed calls and one SMS telling me to call the big boss (the boss of my boss). I called and he needed a file which, because of my sheer rotten luck, only I had access to. He needed it for a meeting with the owner at 10 am. I wanted to wade into the duck pond and kill myself. Except there were ducks in it. And some geese. "You don't have your laptop with you, right?" Uh, no. Then silence on the other end. The kids were leaving the horse paddock and walking toward a small building. I was sweating already both from the heat and the tension. Then I remembered my brother was still home. So I told my boss I'd have the file sent to him right away.

I never saw the inside of the building. I think there were rabbits...or chickens. I was on two phones, one calling my mom and the other one with my brother. I saw a turkey and a goose waddle over to the path I was standing on and I got the hell out of there before I started shrieking and giving the farm hands some entertainment. I owe my brother one for sending the file (and going thru all my excel spreadsheets, trying to find the right one to send) but I also missed a large part of the tour. Joshua was too excited about everything he was seeing but I somehow felt I let him down. *sniff*

The rest of the tour went ok. The kids went fishing, Joshua didn't catch anything (I was still on the phone with my brother). I was able to sneak in this picture but this is pretty much it (Joshua's the one standing in the blue cap). We had a picnic in the tree house where we had spaghetti, hotdogs, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and pound cake. Josh drank too much grape juice and threw up in a corner of the tree house. There was egg hunting and some photo ops on the back of a farm truck and a rope web thingie the kids all all wanted to climb.

Joshua wrote his name and got a goose feather which I gleefully told him to give to my younger sister as a surprise. She freaks out at feathers even when they're not attached to an animal. Joshua once chased her around the house with a feather duster. I wonder if she'll be home tonight. Tee-hee!

My NEVER List

First off, I'm so glad to be back home. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night when I was away. Was so happy that I've got this meme to do (thanks a lot Caroline! You just made my evening!). :D

Top Ten Things I will NEVER do.

I will NEVER

1. ...touch an animal (alive or dead) that has feathers. I'd rather be shot. (I am so deathly scared of feathers!)

2. ...eat liver and ampalaya (bittermelon) willingly. You will have to shove it down my throat, or kill me. (my mom used to force us to eat this. if we were having it with fish, my sister and i would stuff the vegetable inside the fish's mouth)

3. ...put my kids down or compare them unfavorably with others. (it's just not fair)

4. ...stop loving my husband. or get a divorce. (this one's for keeps)

5. ...stop reading. (i might as well stop breathing)

6. ...wear pantyhose or stockings with open toed sandals. (just a personal fashion preference)

7. ...like getting shots.

8. ...paint my nails red. (it's just not me)

9. ...shave off my hair. (i am much too vain for this)

10. ... say never to chocolate.

Ramblings

What a stressful day. The work I had to do took longer than I expected and I ended up still doing it while the kids were taking their nap. Am going out of town for the next two days and I still have to pack, buy stuff I need for the trip, get the kids ready for mass, wrap a gift, and my nails are a mess.

So here I am with gunk on my face and instead of fixing last minute things, I am writing. And visiting my bloggerfriends. Can you tell I am giving myself a time out? The kids are all around me, alternately yelling at each other, watching a Disney movie, making a mess, and trying to punch letters on my laptop. What can I say? They're very energetic. Weird, but it's like I'm in a bubble. I notice them at the edge of my consciousness, but I am still calmly writing.

Forgive me if I'm rambling. I just need to do this now. I am worried about tomorrow. I know I will miss the kids and the hubby. I hate sleeping in strange places. I hate missing the kids' big school evaluation tomorrow.

And now I remember the face gunk is only supposed to stay on for 1 minute. Darn it! Ok, deep breath. What's another minute when it's been on for the last 10, right?

(*Smile* I just asked my daughter Faith to kiss me and she didn't even hesitate despite the white gunk on my face. I just love her!)

Now she's putting (and removing) stickers on my shoulder and climbing up my back. That's my cue. I gotta go wash my face before it peels off.

10 minutes later...

Whew, I still have a face I can show in public. Note to self: follow directions on labels of cosmetic products.

And I am still rambling...

Kids are wrestling and trying to bury each other with pillows while screaming at the top of their lungs (I can tell they're getting on their dad's nerves :D). Think I'll go and join them and bury myself under the pillows. Or maybe scream a little. Yep, things are looking up.

Whoopee!

Oh wow. One whole Saturday free. Kids are with my parents out of town (again) and won't be back till tomorrow. I've got a bit of work to do but nothing that I won't finish in a couple of hours. A movie date with my husband and some time to leisurely go around the mall to scope out more possible Christmas gifts (I'm almost doooone!) and a nice dinner out. What more could I ask for?

I'm supposed to be working but I'm going crazy in bloggerworld, visiting my favorite bloggers and some new ones. I rarely get the chance to visit other blogs and read so this has been a real treat for me. So to the ones I've visited -- i'm saying hi again.

I've also gotten word from my fellow bookworm friend whom I haven't personally met yet (but I love her already!) that the 11 books she's found for me were finally delivered and I will be getting them on Friday! Heaven. I don't think I can wait that long. It's like Christmas already!

I'ts been a really lazy morning. Gotta get to work and finish. Only...I miss the kids. (I'm pathetic, I know)

Conversations with Poop (Revisited)

This was one of my earliest posts. I read it again while I was going through my archives and thought I'd post it.


The absurdity of what happens in the course of being a mom sometimes astounds me. Like last night's conversation with my three year old son, Joshua. He was on the potty with me holding him up and keeping him company.

Me: So, are you going to make poopoo now?

Josh: It's coming, mommy, it's coming.

Me: (after 2 minutes) is it coming out already?

Josh: talk to my poopoo mommy so it'll come out.

Me: (to the poop) Hey poopoo, come out now before I give you time out!

Josh: (as the poop) Yes, mommy. Do not give me time out.

Me: So, is it coming?

Josh: It's eating chocolate. (he ate 1 piece of chocolate after dinner)

Me: Oh, ok. (after 2 minutes) is it coming out na? (I was getting a little tired of hanging out in the bathroom by now)

Josh: yes, it's brushing it's teeth.

Believe me, this was an actual conversation. And quite a lengthy one, mind you. I didn't include the references to hatching and other whatnot. And let's not even talk about the time I actually SANG to the poop. (to the tune of twinkle, twinkle little star)

That is what I go home to every single day. Different levels of absurdity but who cares? It's one of the perks of being a parent. Free comedy entertainment to chase the stress away. Now, if I'm feeling generous and only if you've been a good boy/girl, I just might invite you one of these days to come over and have a conversation with the naughty B_og_r.

Boxing anyone?

Violent sports have never been my interest at all. As opposed to Jun who adores watching boxing and the for real type of wrestling which never fails to amuse me every time I catch a glimpse of it on TV. He loses his concentration once I start making brokeback mountain like jokes ( hello! almost naked men all tangled up on the screen -- how can you pass up something like that??!!!!). My only request is for him not to watch those things where the children can see them. I don't think I can survive it if Joshua starts to seriously wrestle -- he's too rambunctious already as it is.

But yesterday, that's another story. I don't think I ever enjoyed a boxing match as much as Manny Pacquiao's fight against Morales. It was inspired...much better than the Rocky movies (do you know there's gonna be a fifth installment??!! Duh!). I never thought I'd say this but the fight yesterday left me disappointed that it ended at Round 3. I was just really getting into it (actually screaming my head off) when it was over.

I also never realized how good looking Morales is -- in an earthy, boxer type of way. (ha ha!) Can't wait for the next boxing match. I think I've been converted.

Here it is!

Ok Ces, you dared me. So here it is. Told you I could do it. Freakish huh?

Friday 13

There are pictures and there are pictures. For this installment of Friday 13, I chose photos that are close to our hearts. Not because they're perfect. These aren't even the kinds of pictures you keep in an album to show your guests. But I love them anyway -- they are snapshots of our occasional (or everyday?) insanity.

1. Joshua was a little over a month old here and when Jun took this, we couldn't stop laughing at how scary he looked. We were trying to get a photo of him to send to our friends through email. Needless to say, we decided to wait a couple more weeks before taking another photo.

2. I loved the look on Joshua's face here. I think my sister (whom he adores) came out of the house just when the photo was snapped. (I also think he kinda looks like a girl here)

3. Jun took this photo while Josh was in the middle of doing number 2.

4. Likewise, this is Faith, also doing the number 2. (and looking like a boy)

5. Taken during my birthday last year and Joshua made a face.

6. So of course, it was my turn.

7. We couldn't get a decent smile out of Joshua that night. This was one of the mildest faces he made.

8. Um, I just thought it would be fun to make faces in front of the mirror while I was distracting Joshua from flicking toothpaste in the mirror. I had to help Josh a little bit with this one.

9. I really don't remember this one. It's part of a series. I could tell Jun was having fun here.

10. Fooling around in the hospital while Faith was confined with Kawasaki disease. It was like a mini party every night when my parents visited with my siblings and Joshua. We never had to settle for just hospital food.

11. Taken only last weekend. Faith was fooling around as usual. I did not, repeat, DID NOT, teach her to do this. She's perfectly capable (and frighteningly proficient) at coming up with her own faces. Jun is constantly amazed.

12. This is how we are at night before bed. The kids just don't leave me alone. That's me (taking my turn at scrabble) with Joshua squishing me while watching cartoons. Faith's actually lying on top of me. Jun just had to take a picture.

13. Finally, I realized almost all of the pictures are of me and the kids so I thought of including one of Jun. This is NOT because he is the only normal one in the family.

Living in constant fear

Last Saturday, as I was preparing Joshua's stuff for an overnight trip with my parents and sisters, it hit me again. That paralyzing fear I feel every time one or both of my children go places without either me or their dad. It's completely irrational and ridiculous, I know but I can't help it. It's the constant fear of losing them. I torture myself with thousands of scenarios running through my mind. And all the while, I stroke and kiss and hug Joshua, constantly telling him I love him and I'll miss him, even if he'll only be gone for a day. Maybe he senses my anxiety, for he looks at me strangely, then takes my face between his hands and tells me he's going to be allright. And I'm still thinking, what if I never see him again? How can I bear it?

Then I do what I always do everytime this happens. I ask Jun, "He's going to be ok, right?". And his response is always the same. "Yes, he will." I keep quiet then and bring Joshua to the car where everyone was waiting. I kiss and hug him goodbye and then I pray. I once asked Jun in a fit of depression and anger after Joshua's birth because Josh wasn't well and couldn't go home for a month, "Why are you ok? How come you're not as sad as me?" His answer was so simple yet it struck me speechless, and, I admit, with a little bit of shame. He said, "Because you have to believe that your prayers will be answered." And so in times like these, I ask him for reassurance but all the same, I don't think I completely breathe until I see Joshua again the next day. My Dad said the first thing Joshua says when he wakes up the next morning was, ''Grandpa, can we go home now? I miss my mommy."

It's a terrible way to live, I know but I have a feeling it will always be this way for me no matter how grown up they become. I mentioned in a previous post that having children means having your heart walking around out of your body. And while it means living with constant fear and worry, it also means experiencing the greatest joy. And I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world.

This Guy's in love with you

I'm obsessed with this song. It's by Burt Bacharach and it's an old song I recently discovered in one of those Starbucks compilations revived by a group called Fastball. I've been playing it over and over for two weeks now. It made my heart catch when I heard the lyrics and of course I immediately thought of the love of my life (um, yes Jun, that would be you). It goes like this:

You see this guy
This guy's in love with you
Yes, I'm in love
Who looks at you the way I do
When you smile
I can tell
We know each other very well
How can I show you?
I'm glad I got to know you cause

I heard some talk
They say you think I'm fine
Yes I'm in love
And what I'd do to make you mine
Tell me now, is it so?
Don't let me be the last to know
My hands are shaking
Don't let my heart keep breaking cause

I need your love
I want your love
Say you're in love
In love, with this guy

If not I'll just die

Jun is currently learning it on the guitar so he can sing it to me. Ain't that sweet?

5 things -- People Collection List

My friend Maria tagged me for this meme. Took me some time to think about what to write (that I haven't shared before) but I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

1. I am a fix-it person. I enjoy assembling toys and furniture. The more nuts and bolts there are, the more I like them. I've assembled cribs, toys (love those Ikea ones that have lots of parts!), and once Jun and I raced to assemble two bedside tables for our apartment. He finished first but the back part was inverted, HA!

2. I am an introvert. People call me a liar to my face when I say this but it is true. While I can be animated and talkative around people, it usually drains my energy. When I was younger, I used to bring a book during family parties and would be perfectly happy just sitting in a corner. I thought it was shyness at first but the word didn't exactly fit. It was only during a work session facilitated by my friend Lara that I finally realized what it was.

3. I love to read. I would go crazy without anything to read. I learned how really read when I got curious about the Tagalog comic books that our maids used to read and leave around the house. There was no stopping me after that. I own over 2,000 books -- don't know the exact number since I stopped making catalogs after reaching 1,000. That's Josh in the picture, by the way.

4. I can bend all my fingers backwards and make them touch the back of my hand. This totally freaks (and grosses!) people out. For obvious reasons, I have refrained from posting a picture of this. Just take my word for it.

5. I like writing by hand. Anything that involves or needs writing -- making lists, filling out forms, signing documents -- I'm your man. Completely baffles my husband. He bought me a palm pilot which I seldom used except to play games with.

Who's counting?

My husband and I recently celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. Hard to believe it's been six years. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday when Jun lost his wedding ring during our honeymoon. But more often than not, it feels like we've been together forever that it's hard to imagine my life before I met him. Hmmm...now that I think about it, my life before Jun consisted of reading in bed during weekends and Friday nights, cursing the fact that I did not have a boyfriend. Yeah, call it pathetic if you must but I dare any single girl (or guy) out there to deny that the single life is mostly spent on the pursuit of (or the search for) THE ONE. I'll be honest and admit I wasn't one of those independent single girls who are totally ok about being single.

I've had my share of dates from hell, lousy pick-up lines and met enough date 'em and leave 'em types to last me a lifetime. It was at the end of a dating frenzy that I finally decided to put a stop to the madness. I was tired of the never ending cycle of dating a guy, the getting to know you better phone calls, and the effort to be interested in what they were saying. And it was in the middle of the self imposed exile from the dating scene that I found him...or did he find me?? (Actually, our friends set us up -- such good friends I have! -- thank you! mwah!).

If I had a glimpse of how much fun married life was going to be, I would have gotten married when I was 16 (and given my parents a heart attack!). Seriously, I had my own pre-conceived notions of what being married was like (all in the romance department, of course!) but what never figured into my girlish fantasies was the fun. And if someone were to ask me to describe what my life is like with Jun, I would have to say that we laugh a lot -- at ourselves, at each other, at the kids. We'd laugh till tears ran down our faces and then start all over again.

Sigh! I just have the best time when I'm with him.

Sleeping Arrangements

For the past one and a half years, the whole family’s been sleeping on the floor. It’s the only way I can sleep with a measure of soundness without the fear of hearing the sickening sound of a small body hitting the floor. Every night, we put together two mattresses so the four of us can fit. I told Jun he can continue to sleep on the bed but he insists on sleeping on with us.

We started doing this after Faith fell from the bed when she was around six months old. She’d been sleeping in a crib but after an exhausting night where she kept waking up, I finally transferred her to the bed at 6:30am, and wedged the crib right next to the bed as a precaution. Joshua was still asleep and Jun had moved to the couch when I got up. I had planned to stay awake but I dozed off so to make a long story short, Faith woke up, crawled all around the bed and I was slammed awake by a big thud. We were lucky there was no (lasting) harm done except for her crying bloody murder (thank goodness for wood floors!).

It’s actually more convenient since I never have to worry about anyone falling off if they wake up before I do (which is usually the case). However, they never seem to want to just walk over to where the toys are and play quietly until I wake up. Oh no, they just like to drive me crazy. When Joshua wakes up, he’ll either want to engage in conversation in a loud voice or tell me he needs to make poopoo (still in a loud voice). Faith used to poke me in the face (and shove her finger up my nose). Sometimes, they’d plop down on your tummy and take a horsey ride or, ask for milk at which point I either give up and get up or, tell them to ask their Daddy (teehee!).

Lately, Faith’s been keeping me awake again. For the past five days, she’s been waking up between 2-4 am, coughing up a storm. It’s the dry kind of cough, making me suspect an allergy. Poor dear, she’d keep shifting her position – trying to get back to sleep only to be beset by another round of coughing. She also tries to sleep with half her body draped over the couch only she keeps sliding back to the mattress (it’s actually funny to watch whenever she does this – I’m so rotten to find something funny in all this!). I know there’s nothing much I can do, except to rub her back and chest and pray for it to stop. Time to bother the pediatrician.

I figure this is what I get for sleeping till noon when I was single and BK (before kids). I warned Jun when we got married that he would have to fend for himself in the morning because there is no way I am getting up before 11am on a weekend. Good thing he used to just take oatmeal for breakfast.

So most days, I go around with half my brain fried from lack of sleep. Who knew a human being could still function – coming up with coherent things to say at work, running errands, driving – with less than four hours of sleep? Think about it.

In the meantime, I think I’m going to ….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Friday 13

1. I have finally organized our closet! Of course, I’ve only done the folded clothes portion and managed a “mini-purge”. Not quite as ruthless as Ces was but at least there’s a bit more space until the next time I go shopping. Ha ha!

2. Fixed my shoe storage system – now I can find exactly what I want to wear without opening half a dozen shoe boxes in the morning and sneezing to death from all the dust.

3. I realized my feet have grown humongous after having two babies. I went from a size 7 to a size 9. The only thing good about this is that my size is always the one available in a shoe sale. So there!

4. Replenished my “To be read” book pile. It used to have 50 books which I’ve whittled down to around 20 and then it’s up to 40 again. Yay!

5. I’ve submitted all the requirements for my kids’ big school application. Now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed and pray that they get accepted.

6. In light of the past typhoon which caused a lot of damage to the steel structures where advertising billboards are posted, the MMDA are taking it out. Traffic’s been horrendous the past few days, I’ll be glad when everything’s back to normal.

7. I won the most recent scrabble game with Jun. Our current game’s almost done – only 17 tiles left and I’m around 30 points behind. Help!

8. The kids’ trick or treat costumes this year have been settled. Joshua is a recycled Superman (thank goodness the costume still fits) and Faith is a fairy (c/o of my aunt who so thoughtfully sent over a fairy costume from the US),

9. I’ve also fixed the kids’ closets – only the toys and old clothes left to organize for donation on Christmas.

10. Apart from the Halloween costume, my aunt also sent Ghirardelli chocolates! I’m in heaven.

11. It feels strange to be in a new office with a lot of new faces. I’m slowly getting used to it but I miss my old officemates terribly.

12. My aunt also sent a black robe with a cowl for Joshua which is a bit too big for him. Last night my dad put it on along with a freaky shark hat and went outside to the terrace to scare the maids.

13. Only 75 days till Christmas!

Not my day

Jun and I met up with a friend of mine and her boyfriend for lunch at Rockwell last Saturday. I brought the kids with us – figured it’s been a while since we spent time at the mall just chilling. After lunch, browsed (and shopped!) at Zara where we said goodbye to my friend and we proceeded to the bookstore.

After paying for my books, I went straight to the Customer Service counter to borrow a pen and fill out some raffle coupons while Jun brought Joshua to the men’s room. Faith and I were heading out of the bookstore when I realized that I left my purchases at the cashier. Whew!

We passed by a display of Porsches and of course Joshua thought it was Lightning McQueen. I placed the shopping bags in a chair by the display while the kids posed with the cars. I was just about finished with grocery shopping half an hour later when Jun asked where the bags were. Whoops... I left it in the car display. Jun hurriedly went back for it while I paid for the groceries. After paying, I spied Jun walking back and was relieved to see he got the bags back. We were on our way to the parking lot when our yaya pointed out the grocery shopping bag I forgot on the counter. Ay talaga! I was worse than my grandmother. And the piece de resistance, I was laughing my head off at something Jun said while we were walking back to the car when I tripped and fell on my left knee. I was so stunned at finding myself on the floor that it took several seconds before I got up. I now have a large bruise.

Really, when it rains, it pours.

Friday 13: Doing the Movies

Oooh! That time of the week again. I’m really thankful to Maria and KJ for initiating this Friday 13 thing. It’s something I look forward to every week. My last one was about books, this time, my friend Irene got me to do one about movies. Of course, I had to add a few more to get to 13. So here goes:

1. The last movie you saw in a theatre – My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

2. Current release movie you still want to see - Brokeback Mountain.

3. Last movie you rented/purchased for home viewing (and actually watched). I have to add this last part because I buy DVDs and never get to watch them. So for this one, that would be Underworld II.

4. Movie that made you laugh out loud – My Super Ex-Girlfriend. That first bedroom scene was hilarious!

5. Movie that made you cry – Passion of the Christ. I have yet to meet someone who did not get affected by this movie.

6. Movie that was a darling of the critics but you didn’t think lived up to the hype – American Beauty. Really now, the actors were good but the premise and the message wasn’t good enough for and Oscar Best picture.

7. Movie that you thought was better than what the critics thought – Can’t think of any

8. Favorite Pinoy movie – That would be the second part of the first Shake, Rattle and Roll movie – the one with Herbert Bautista and the manananggal. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

9. Favorite animated movie – The Emperor’s New Groove (super funny!) and Beauty and the Beast.

10. Favorite movie musical – Phantom of the Opera. I didn’t think they would be able to replicate the magic of the play, but they did.

11. Favorite Disney villain – Esme from The Emperor’s New Groove. She’s not totally evil and she and her sidekick made the movie so, so funny!

12. Favorite movie remake – Sabrina. Loved the story and they cast Harrison Ford. How could I not love it? Also Father of the Bride. I actually like the remake than the first version with Elizabeth Taylor.

13. Favorite movies of all time. I base my choices on movies I could never get tired of and watch over and over and over again.
** Ever After – I watch this every time I see it aired on TV. Cinderella story and fabulous
ballgown I wish I wore to my wedding (minus the wings, of course!)
** Father of the Bride
** Gladiator
** Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers. I like this better than the Return of the King
because of the battle scene. You actually didn’t think they were going to win – I think
they portrayed the sense of impending doom very well.
** Indiana Jones Trilogy – I luuuurrvve Harrison Ford.

Quick Update

It feels good to write again after an almost two week hiatus. I mentioned that I was going on a week long vacation and was so ready with my list of things to do. But you know what they say about the best laid plans.

My maternal grandmother passed away last September 24 (Sunday). We had just spent the weekend at our house in Tagaytay and were coming home from lunch with my in-laws when my mother called with the sad news. My lola had lived with us ever since my lolo passed away more than 10 years ago. It was a good move for her in a lot of ways. It allowed her to be close to where all her children lived and also afforded her the companionship of her sister, who’s lived with us since I was a baby. We were able to get to know our lola better – since we never got to spend extended time with her except for summer or weekend visits to the province.

So it was a really sad time for the family. My Lola Mary will be sorely missed – even my kids know she’s gone.

Day after the funeral the typhoon hit and we lost power for three days. Everything was at a standstill. We had no power, no water and then Faith got sick. Imagine trying to sleep during a power outage, the occasional rain not giving enough relief from the heat with a feverish toddler tossing and turning and dripping with sweat that I felt so sorry for her. I think my upper arms got toned from all the paypay I did during those three days.

I’m back at work this week at my new job. The past week was very stressful and I’m looking forward to the next couple of days hopefully with nothing majorly stressful. We’ll miss our Lola forever but the power’s back on, Faith’s recovering, I’ve got an exciting new job so there’s no way to go but up from here and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.