I solemnly swear that I am up to no good

For the past seven months I have somehow managed to:

turn a year older (a year wiser is debatable)
drive 11 hours to Chesapeake, VA (we got lost)
sign my son up for taekwondo
sign up for gym membership (and stick to it)
open a savings account for my son
deplete my savings
not see Fantastic Four, Transformers and Harry Potter on the big screen (I'll be damned if I don't see the Simpsons movie)
reconnect with old friends and make new ones
get drunk once
start taking baby steps to getting an MA
be in a love-hate relationship with my brother
not cry each and every single time I speak to Beb
miss out on a lot of my daughter's firsts
still be at my job
not speak Tagalog na may slang
lose my tongue ring for the nth time (don't ask me how)
not see how my kids are growing up so fast (too fast)
not go home to be with Beb

Pretty tame stuff.

Boring.

I need to do something else. That's seven months that just went by like *snaps* that. Totally unacceptable.

I read this article in a magazine about doing what you love to do. And about how you're the only one stopping yourself from doing just that. The article said that a lot of people get stuck doing something they don't love because they set boundaries for themselves. They often use time, money or both as an excuse to stop them from taking that first step. Why do something where success is not guaranteed? Why not just stick to what you have? Is it worth it?

I think the main reason why I'm not pushing myself into action is fear. I'm scared. Scared that I might fail. Scared that I will be thought of as selfish for putting myself ahead of everyone else.

It's so easy to say, "Go for it!" But it's just so hard to put yourself out there, be vulnerable and exposed, and just do it.

So tell me, when is it okay to stop putting my dreams on hold? After my kids are done with school? I don't think God gave me children just so I would learn not to be self-centered. I think He gave them to me so I would strive to be a better person for them. Am I just justifying myself in thinking that pursuing my dream will also benefit them?

I keep going back and forth. Each time bringing up reasons not to, then contradicting myself minutes later with reasons to.

What do I want to do? I want to write, to travel, to work in media. I want to get my Master's. There are so many things I want to be and here I am, 27, still trying to figure out what to do with my life. I know I can be more. I want to be more.

I wish I could be like him. He did it. He took the plunge and he's now going to do what he loves. People like him are lucky. Or just plain determined to make something more of themselves.

Sana ako rin.

In other news

Happy 15th birthday PJ! Birthday punches!

Holiday schmoliday

Ho ho ho to everyone and all that.

Like I said before, it doesn't really feel like Christmas when you're spending it away from home, away from family. But since I have a little guy whose eyes light up when you mention Santa Claus, I have to act all excited about it too. Did I tell you that he wants a laptop and a cellphone for Christmas? Dios mio.

We didn't have a Christmas tree this year because:

1. We don't have anywhere to put it in our apartment.
2. It gets so frustrating sweeping up the needles everytime someone makes even the tiniest movement near the tree.
3. We didn't feel like it.

So I had my son do a paper Christmas tree with glitters and stuff and hung it on the door.

We wanted to get a wreath but we couldn't find time to go out and get one, what with all the holiday shopping we needed to do and the issues that arose and the near-freezing weather.

The Friday before Christmas, I decided to share a holiday drink with Hayden. He was still at work and I had to convince him to sneak out (not that he needed a lot of convincing). Hayden's one of my best buddies here. Cheers to the laughs, the videos, the girls with issues and the T2 scan!

It was pouring by the time we finished our drinks and since I didn't listen to my weatherman Mike, I didn't take an umbrella with me and got drenched. I had fever and chills by the time I got home and had a sore throat. I guess all that overtime and lack of sleep finally caught up to me. It's a good thing that I was off for one week so I figured I could at least get more rest.

The only problem was, I had to prepare everything for Christmas Eve dinner: two kinds of pasta, baked ham, a chicken dish and dessert. So I had to drag my sorry butt out of bed and cook. I swear, the food tasted awful. Well, okay, not really awful but it didn't taste like my normal cooking. I guess there must be some truth to what they say about cooking with love.

So after a so-so dinner at my aunt's, we headed back home and exchanged presents. I was too tired to even open my gifts so I just hit the sack.

And that, my friends, was how I spent Christmas: sick and tired.

The nice thing about it was that I got a new iPod from my sister. The not-so-nice thing is that it was a Christmas-slash-birthday present.

So now that I'm feeling a bit better, here's to good life, good health and sexy times. Great success!

Back from the grave

I'm back from a two-month hiatus.

I spent that time getting an apartment. Not because I have a lot of money to burn but to get away from the self-righteous deluded maniac who hears voices in his head. Scary.

I would love to have a place in the city, with fantastic views of the skyline, but it's gonna cost me both my kidneys, two arms, two legs, an eye and whichever organ I can spare to be able to afford it. Ugh. Maybe someday.

I'm living in a two-bedroom apartment above a laundromat. The closest I can get to a skyline would be the neighbor's Christmas lights. Oh, and the laundromat's big ass neon sign right outside my bedroom window.

It is at this time that I've fallen in love with Ikea. I could spend hours in that store, looking at all their stuff. So we got the usual new place stuff like a couch, beds and kitchen stuff. We also got a 103" LCD HDTV. Good stuff.

Not!

We couldn't afford a $70,000 TV, so we settled for one of its babies. I love being able to buy things. If I was back home, I would probably still be saving up to buy a 2GB Nano.

So now, my sister and I are pretty much up to our necks in credit card bills. Sigh.

I also got myself a new job. You say, "Na naman?!" Yeah well, it pays more and I have lesser hours. I need the money so I can go back to school.

I've gotten in touch with two old friends, one in Cali and one right here, and said goodbye to Melizza. She moved to LA to...to...to...Why did you move to LA nga ulit?

Everything else is pretty much the same.

Holiday funk

I don't like the months of November to January because they're the holiday months. And holidays get me in that usual funk of being depressed and missing everyone and reexamining my life.

Sure I've made a couple of friends here but as San Mig says, "Iba ang may pinagsamahan." I miss the friends I've known since grade school, my work friends, my family, my beb.

And it's so hard to push them out of my mind because holidays mean family. I've been here for almost one and a half years and I have to wait three and a half more before I go back home. Sigh.

Next month, I'm turning another year older. And my life is still where it's always been. And I'm scared that I'm running out of time. I feel that I'm supposed to be doing something more. That I'm supposed to be out there, doing something that I love, moving forward, achieving something. But it's just so hard to get things started because of all the other stuff that I have to do and all the people that I have to put first before myself. I'm just thinking, when will it be okay to put others on hold and start making things move for myself?

In no rational order:

I'm saving all that I can spare so I could have enough to put down for a house. I'm hoping I could do this in three year's time.

I also want to:

Get a car.
Go back to school.
Roth IRA.
Get a 6-digit salary.
Be with my family.
Get married.

I've been naughty and nice

So I guess I can still send Santa my material wish list:

A 30GB iPod.
Marc Jacobs and Kate Spade handbags.
A 15" MacBook.
An N93.

Or he can just give me the winning numbers to the lottery.

Not for the weak

Melizza and I went to see Bodies...The Exhibition at the South Street Seaport in Downtown NYC.

When I received her invite I thought it was to see a show with naked men prancing around and gyrating their gleaming bodies, much like a bridal shower or a gay bar. Well, I haven't really been to either so I wouldn't know exactly but you know what I mean when I say that I was both excited and hesitant at the prospect of some yummy male specimen dancing in front of me.

So Melizza the research queen said that I should Google it so I would know what it was about.


Oookay...I got the male specimen part right but, erm, yummy?

It kinda reminds me of beef tapa. Or bulalo. Or steak.

So anyway, cameras and cellphones are not allowed inside the exhibit.

The reason why we wanted to go in the first place was so we can take photos of the cadavers and blog about it, duh! I mean, what's the use of going to an exhibit as awesome as that without pictures? Heller!

Eh pasaway kami ni Meme so we still took photos:

First try, medyo sablay.

"Darnaaa!"

Kaya pala may Oblation Run...

Face off (and skin and bones and guts)

Muscle man

We weren't able to take photos to our hearts' content because there were security people roaming around.

I just have to mention the circulatory system part of the exhibit.

They were able to extricate the veins and arteries and preserve them in glass containers. They made it so that the veins were shown as they would appear inside your body.

Think of corals in a glass aquarium. That's how they looked like.

Then they had a disclaimer in one of the sections that goes something like, "This section shows disturbing images. You may skip this part of the exhibit by going to the left."

Putting a disclaimer like that only makes me want to come running and see what the buzz is all about.

Ano kaya yun?

Grotesque disfigured bodies?

Bodies with birth defects?

Neither.

It was a whole section on this:

Fetuses.

Siamese twins.

Babies.

It wasn't really disturbing. Well, it is if you think about how they were able to get those fetuses at various stages of development.

But it was more fascinating than disturbing to me. How something that small becomes a human being.

The miracle of life.

And I have two of those.

But I digress.

At the end of the exhibit, there's a guy who has preserved brains and stuff lined up on a table. His job is to educate you on the wonderful world of preserving cadavers so you may finally realize that your one true calling is to become a celebrity embalmer.

So I grabbed half a brain and picked it up.

It felt like it was made of wax. But at the same time, it felt a little sticky. Like it had varnish. And it was a sickly shade of grey.

I had to ask the guy if it was a real brain because it looked fake. And he said that I really was holding a human brain from China. I almost had to check if there was a Made in China tag on it when he said that.

According to them, all the cadavers were from hospitals in China.

You can tell that they were because of the shape of their eyes. But I thought it strange that they put blue eyes in some cadavers. I don't think I've seen a Chinese with blue eyes.

And, their penises were of Asian size. All except one. But I don't think that he was Chinese. He might be some guy who died in China who wound up in the exhibit with females ooh-ing and aah-ing at his size.

Back to the brain.

I sniffed it so I would know what a brain smelled like. Much to my disappointment, it didn't smell at all.

And we couldn't take a photo of me acting like Hannibal because the guy was there. It was so frustrating!

As we were crossing Broadway on the way to the Path, I unconsciously put my hand on my cheek and suddenly realized that it was the hand I used to hold the brain! Eww!

Ang weird no? I didn't feel squeamish at all inside the exhibit but the thought of that brain coming in contact with my face freaked me out. Ugh!

Lesson of the day: Bring hand sanitizer.

Thirty nine thousand seven hundred sixty one

Ticket(s) courtesy of Melizza, the nosebleed section queen.

Baseball, baby!

Okay. Let me state that I am not a baseball fan. I know zilch about baseball players except maybe Joe Di Maggio because he was married to Marilyn Monroe. Oh, and Babe Ruth, because his name sounds like a candy bar (which I know isn't named after him).

Anyone care to tell me why he was called Babe Ruth?

And please, don't burn me at the stake for not knowing their stats. Like I told you, I am not a baseball fan. But I do agree that Derek Jeter has a really sexy ass.

So anyway, Melizza, my brother and I went to watch the game at Shea Stadium in Queens.

The weather was fine, a bit cool but not chilly. Until we applied the law of altitude: the higher you go, the colder it gets.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...really really really bad angle PJ.

Melizza and I were doing fine because we had our coats with us. Now here's my I-just-broke-up-with-my-girlfriend-of-two-months-and-got-myself-a-new-one-fifteen-minutes-after brother trying hard not to look like his butt was freezing:

Hah! Bad angle right back at yah!

Let me give you aerial shots of the game:


Aaah, the wonders of digital zoom. The players evolved from white dots to half-centimeter white and blue dots!


You see that weirdo with the wig? He's got gorgeous hazel eyes. I was trying to discreetly take a picture of his eyes but I don't want to be accused of being a pedophile. The kid was probably around thirteen, sariwang-sariwa pa! Hahaha, kadiri.

Sooo...at the bottom of the ninth (naks, parang alam ang pinagsasasabi), the Mets won, 9 to 3.

Melizza and I didn't even realize that the game was over because we were too busy doing the wave, watching the Kiss Cam (where the camera picks out couples in the crowd and they either kiss or try to eat each other alive) and eating exorbitant baseball food (a small bag of tortilla chips costs $5.25).

But to stick with tradition, pinatulan na din namin. Hotdogs, nachos and a beer (for Meme). I don't know why but I half expected coins and bottles of mineral water to be thrown at the field. Hahaha, UAAP, is that you?

Maybe the reason why they call it the nosebleed section is not because we were seated so high up the stands but because people get nosebleeds from the unbelievably jacked-up prices of food.

Which makes me wonder: If we got really good seats (meaning the dots moving around on the field are not just blobs of color but are actually humans), would the food be a lot cheaper since we paid more for the tickets?

The game ended at 10 and my brother and I ended up getting home at 1:30 am. We got lost in the subway. Ang labo kasi nung nagbigay ng directions eh (ahem, Melizza). When I saw that we were on 21st, I thought lumagpas na kami. So we went to the MTA lady and asked how to get to 34th. The fucking bitch looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "Read the signs."

She should be thankful that I was taught to respect elders so I bit my tongue and just walked away. But not without performing a voodoo ritual in my head to make her lose her ability to read. A curse on you and your family! Nyahaha!

No, I didn't do that at all. I am a Catholic school girl after all and my mother has brought me up well.

*****
Melizza just came back from Amsterdam so she brought me pasalubong. Thank you, thank you!


Chocolates, Belgian waffles, a trinket and a keychain (not in picture). I know, bad lighting. I was in a hurry to eat the snacks to even bother about lighting. Buti nga nakuhanan ko pa eh.

Here's what the chocolates look like:



Astig.

My brother said that's how the blacks, Pinoys and whites do it. I was about to tell him that Pinoys can do all of them and are very creative (at least I know I am) when it comes to that but I didn't. Baka mamaya subukan pa nya, nalintikan na.

If any of you are planning on going to Amsterdam, drop by Priscilla's and bring me something back. Here's the information again:


Ganda ng nails ko no?

The best Valentine's day yet

I think Valentine's is overrated.

It's just a day when guys shell out a lot of cash on enormous bouquets and fancy dinners. And possibly everything else that would help them get laid by the end of the day. Guys, let me tell you something: you can get laid anytime by just making her drunk. It works almost everytime.

Erm...Sorry about that. Must be the V day bitch attacking.

I see Valentine's as a big competition. Like who gets the most flowers, the most number of guys grovelling at your feet, the most number of V day cards. And the winners are usually the "in" girls.

And just so you know, I was never one of those girls.

Whatever.

I got myself one and a half invites to go on a V day date:

One was from Peter, who wanted me to go with him to a lingerie fashion show in Manhattan. Eh di ang haba ng hair ng lola nyo. As I was about to launch into my I'd-love-to-but-I-can't-because-I'm-engaged-and-have-two-kids speech, he told me that he needs me to be there because he doesn't want to talk to this girl who forced herself to be his date on Valentine's. So when the girl tries to be intimate with him, he's going to politely ignore her and have a conversation with me.

Nyek! Gamitin ba ko? Why is it so hard for guys to turn down a girl anyway? Lame.

The half invite was from Joseph who found out that I wasn't married and so proceeded to ask, "So...what are you doing on Valentine's?" (while raising one of his brows ala Mr. Suave)

So yeah, no Valentine's date for me. The offers weren't as irresistible as doing my nails.

But this is the first V day that I had two guys asking me out! Please disregard the fact that they weren't serious about it because technically, they were asking me out. Sabi ko na nga ba makamandag pa din ang alindog ko eh!

The happiest part was when Beb called me. He rarely calls because it's cheaper if I call him.

"Pwede ka bang batiin ng happy Valentine's?"
"Oo, pwede."
"Happy Valentine's Day mahal."

Ang babaw pero nakakakilig. Or maybe it was made more special by the distance between us. Whatever it was, it really made my day. Sigh.

*****
Did I tell you guys that I was fired from my job? First time. Okay lang. I am just not meant to be a receptionist. And no, I am definitely not sour-graping.

It is so hard to be an OFW. You have a lot of things to prove and the competition is fierce. Look at it this way, if I was an American employer, would I choose a Pinoy over my fellow American? And the advantage definitely goes to someone who has a US college degree and has local work experience.

Believe me, all that stuff about EOEs and D/F/M/Vs are just letters written on websites. Racism and discrimination is still a big thing here, though it is not as prevalent as a hundred years before.

Then there is also the pressure of making it big. I never really understood why people back home think that if you work in the US, big time ka na. They think that working here is the ultimate solution to everything.

I might be earning dollars but I also spend dollars on basic utilities and stuff. So to them, a hundred dollars may be P5,000 but to me, it is still a hundred. And a hundred bucks does not really go a long way here.

It is really difficult to make a mark here. Hindi kagaya sa Pinas, where going to a top university almost always paves the way for securing a good job with excellent pay. Ang laki kasi ng Amerika. And I am just one of the millions of immigrants wanting to make it big.

Here, I am a nobody.

But that does not stop me. Para saan pa at naging Pinoy ako kung susuko din lang ako di ba?

This post is brought to you by Para Sa Yo, the hit single of Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao. Lagi kasi pinapatugtog sa TFC eh. Leche.

*****
I read The Notebook last night (I have not seen the movie yet) and lumuha ako ng dugo.

I visited her blog and I was pleasantly surprised to know that she blogged about it too. I guess we are a couple of romantics.

I do not think I have cried that much over a book or a movie. I shed a few tears when I watched Bambi and Land Before Time (theme song pa nga nun yung If We Hold On Together) but not the hagulgol-tulo-pa-uhog cry.

Oo na, iyakin na kung iyakin.

Malibu Bay Breeze, sexy nails and a bad ass watch

I was never a party girl.

I don't think I have what it takes to wear four-inch heels while gyrating my booty against a random hot guy's groin and looking at him seductively to see how much I can turn him on.

No, wait.

I may have done that several times during college. I'm not really sure. Hindi ko maalala. May tama na kasi ako nung mga panahong yon. I am innocenth! Hahaha! Nagmalinis pa talaga!

Sige na nga, I was a party girl. Emphasis on was.

It felt good to know that you can manipulate (tsk, such a strong word) someone to do whatever you want just by making him think that you want to have sex. Kahit na in reality, gusto mo lang naman talaga malibre ng drinks.

It felt good to have that power. But I don't miss it. I've grown up.

Anyway, I better stop myself before my kids read this and think I'm a manipulative bitch.

So my company had a launch party in celebration of the Lunar New Year (hindi naman pala uso ang tikoy dito). I didn't really want to go because I just started working for them and it feels awkward to hang out with people I barely know.

A launch party. Red carpet. Cameras. Celebrities. Eh ano ngayon? I'd rather stay home and get a good night's sleep.

But my boss told us that we had to go to help out. And she also thinks that it's a good idea for me to mingle and get to know everyone. So all thoughts of trying to weasel my way out of it went kaput.

I didn't have anything decent to wear and frankly, I wouldn't spend money on clothes that I'd probably get to wear only for that party and perhaps a funeral (I wore black because I'm boring that way). But I also didn't want to look like someone's maid so I had no choice but to buy a sheer sexy top, booty-hugging pants, sparkly accessories and strappy stilettos.

I also had my hair curled Monday night because my sister (who works in a salon) pulled strings to have my hair done for free. The party was on Wednesday so I had to be extra careful that I don't get my sexy, just-out-of-bed look messed up. If I have it done on Tuesday kasi, may bayad na. Feeling ko tuloy nag flashback ako to the 80's because of the amount of hairspray that was used to make sure my curls held up. Fine-resistant daw kasi ang hair ko. When I was younger, my mom had my hair permed. Pero after a week, I swear, stick straight na ulit sya. So I made like a geisha and slept with my head up.

Hindi ako masyadong nag-abala. Ayoko talagang pumunta. Napilitan lang ako.

Party day comes and I had to stay in the office until six because I had to man the desk. The party starts at seven. Not enough time for me to change into my party-slash-funeral clothes and put on make-up. Kaya ang lola nyo, humarap sa paparazzi na walang make-up. Natural beauty kunyari. Sabi ko na lang sa sarili ko, "It's all about the attitude!"

I shouldn't have worried too much kasi I was there to work, not to party. I don't think anyone was interested in what a plain Jane employee was wearing. Except maybe a crazy guy who finds engaged single moms of two kids very attractive.

I guess I wanted to look nice because a part of me wanted to know if I still have it.

Besides, everyone was too busy ogling the celebrities. A-list daw. The only person I know is Brook Lee, Miss Universe 1997, and that's only because Peter told me who she is. A-list nga. A-list ng mga Asian-American. Nyek. And I thought I would finally be able to make Brad Pitt realize that he should be having babies with me.

Since the night was young and so are we (hindi pa ko lasing nyan ha), my friends decided to raid the bar. Narinig kasi nila ang magic words: OPEN BAR.

And that's when I realized how utterly ignorant I was. When Michael asked me what I wanted to drink, I told him to get me anything. Like, I don't care what you get me, I'll drink it because I'm a party girl.

Pero sa totoo lang, hindi ko naman kasi alam kung ano ang mga tawag sa mga drinks dito. First time ko makapunta ng bar dito eh. Nakakahiya naman kung sabihin ko na gusto ko ng Blowjob or Sex on the Beach. Baka iba ang isipin nila. Baka pumayag sila at mag enjoy pa ko, mahirap na.

Back home, my friends and I only know Cuervo, Absolut, Strong Ice and Light. Malay ko ba kung ano ang Malibu Bay Breeze? So I tasted (and loved) five different drinks. I just can't remember what the other four were called.

I so wanted to drink more but I know that I have to be responsible and not get myself drunk. I get horny kasi when I'm drunk. Heck, I'm horny even when I'm sober. Year of the Goat kasi ako. Capricorn pa. Horny talaga.

So I'm proud of myself for being a mature drinker, a responsible parent and a faithful lover.

I miss my bad girl days. Tagal ko na din hindi naka-gimmick. Sana next time, si Beb naman ang kasama ko. Then I'd show him just how a Capricorn really parties.

*****
I finally succumbed to my curiosity and got my nails done. I now have seductive French-manicured acrylic and crystal nails.

I've always wanted to know what it felt like to have perfectly shaped, strong nails. Nakakatuwa! My nails have always been paper-thin so I couldn't grow them long enough to have them French-tipped.

I'll post how-to pictures next week, when I get them re-done.

*****
I finally got myself a bad ass watch courtesy of my second paycheck. I've always wanted to own a guy's watch.


Di bale Beb, I'll give it to you pag nagsawa na ko. Ganyan kita kamahal. Promise.

I've been a very bad girl so go ahead, spank me

I've neglected posting stuff in here for the last month and a half because:

1. I was so depressed during the holidays that I let myself be sucked into the black hole of self-pity. The -ber months mean something more to me than Christmas shopping. Beb and Alyssa celebrate their birthday in September, Bom's birthday and our anniversary is October, November is Thanksgiving and December is Christmas.

It was my first Thanksgiving and I burned my hand on the grill while roasting the turkey which was so big I could've sworn it was a baby ostrich. It took us eight days to finish it off. Turkey salad, turkey sandwich, turkey wrap, turkey rice...I don't think I'll be able to eat turkey at this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

It was also my first Christmas here and I missed the bibingka and the puto bumbong, the simoy ng Pasko (there really is such a thing pala) and the tiangges. The good thing was I finally got free from all the pesky neighborhood kids singing Jinggam Bells.

2. I was busy with Alyssa and my future mother-in-law (FMIL). The whole thing with FMIL staying with us for a week because she hated staying with her brother and his wife and going on a long drive to Connecticut just to see a hospital has pretty much eaten up my time. For those of you who don't know, FMIL and I aren't really on good terms. We get on each other's nerves. And that's the polite me speaking. If you think I'm a bitch, just wait, you haven't heard nothing yet.

3. Most of my time is spent going to New York everyday for work. But it's all good because I'm having a blast. The people are fun and the workload is mala-mala. And get this: I wear jeans and sneakers to work! Cool huh?

4. We're having immigration issues. Most of it has to do with how Americans define middle name. You know how Pinoys like giving two or more first names to their kids? Mas mahaba, mas sosyal ka. Well, being sosyal won't do you any good because they'd consider your second first name your middle name. Now, take a deep breath and read it again. There you go! So, Gianna Alyssa P. Del Pilar is Gianna A. Del Pilar to them. Ang labo no? Now I have to go through all the trouble of letting them know how my kids' names should appear.

There's also the thing with my brother's application to adjust his status. All his documents got lost the day before his immigration interview. Unbelievable. My sister is now working to get his case reopened.

5. I was left to run the household while my aunt and my sister enjoyed Vegas and California for eight days. Inggit! They took Alyssa to FMIL kasi kulang ang 24 hours para magawa ko ang mga kailangan kong gawin. I had to wake up at 4:30, cook breakfast, get my brother, my cousin and my son ready for school, get myself ready for work, arrange for someone to pick up my son from school, rush to work and do whatever I have to do, go home, clean the house, cook or buy dinner (depends on how exhausted I am at the end of the day), make sure everyone does their homework and finally, sleep. Add the stress at work because I just started and was still feeling my way around. Yeah, New Yorker baby!

Whatever time I have left on the weekend was spent catching up on sleep, doing laundry and preparing stuff for Monday. Grabe, ang hirap! I didn't even have time to call Beb or my family back home.

The whole ordeal made me appreciate my mom even more. Mahirap pala maging superwoman.

That pretty much sums up everything that's happened during your idol's absence.

Launch Party and office tsismis coming soon.

All I want for Christmas is you

Marshmallows, stubborn dad and tsismis

First snowstorm of the year (it's not even officially winter yet) and I did nothing but take pictures of the trees,


of the driveway


and of our front lawn.


Then I got tired of taking pictures of the trees and decided to take pictures of my family instead, so I can send them to my mom back home.

They were having a snowball fight so I decided to throw a few snowballs of my own. Yup, four against one. But I was using the camera as an excuse for them to stop throwing snowballs back at me.


I love how winter is the great equalizer. Everyone looks like marshmallows. Plus, everyone is fat. Yay!


I know, this is not much of a blog entry. I was really too busy dodging snowballs and making a snowman (which ended up looking like a little old lady) to take blog-worthy pictures.

And, I'm busy rearranging furniture in my room and packing my dad's balikbayan boxes. My dad is going back home for the nth time, which really pisses me off but I don't want to discuss it because it's a hopeless case. He's stubborn kasi.

I'm having coffee with Melizza tomorrow so we can talk about other people's lives. Haha! Tsismosa ako eh, bakit ba?

Anyway, I can't wait for next year so Beb and I can be together!