Nap Time Rocks!

our matriarch

my mom can rule a country. seriously. she’s the best dictator while micromanaging. there’s some sort of ={ and >=( there, but this week has been nothing but realizing a lot of stuff about being The Matriarch of the house.

i think almost all mothers — who were born in an era when courtship didn’t mean just sending text messages (in shrtct txt lingo), everyone knew the value of hard earned money because they actually worked for it, and Values isn’t a subject — are like that.

when my mom got confined at the hospital for dyspepsia and gastritis (because of the gall stones i think, forgive my lack of medical knowledge), i had a taste of that. it was difficult, really, to take on all the responsibilities of having to cook pinakbet only to fail miserably, do the laundry and find that the washing machine hates me, keep the house in order, and make sure mom had what she needed in the hospital.

i realized she gave so much of her time to make sure we had everything we need. and with it came so much pressure, so much stress, so much sacrifice. no wonder she gets grumpy when we forget to pick up after ourselves or during the weekend when i fail to take over the kitchen. now i know, because i was almost like that the past week.

my mom’s home now, but still confined to the bed and the couch. on another note, i thank God for family. these are the times that you’re thankful to have a big clan who’s always there to check on you and help out. i thank God for my brothers (one of which is even handier at home than i am) who willingly help out around the house.

so mom, even if you can’t read this, i still want the rest of the world know that you’re appreciated, you were missed, and that i will now try to cook during weekends even if i have much to learn.

i’ma easy riding rush-seeking vulture

well at least that’s what my Visual DNA says about me :

in the pink corner….

tomorrow, tuesday. Patty and I will start on this “visual adventure” as she calls it. and because my mind’s dictionary is malfunctioning right now, i’ll let the photo speak for itself.

just not in the mood

i was supposed to come up with part 3 of my Sg trip, try and look for something interesting to blog about, and rave a bit about my National Geographic Store spoil, but i’m just not in the mood.

where’s that muse when you need her?

oh, and before i forget…

The Graveyard Book

this just made my day. working with my earphones on just made all the difference even if the rain was raging outside our building, i was hours away from home and i knew that i was going to be stuck in horrible traffic on the way home.

and then there was rain

i was fighting sleepiness while driving in horrible traffic (what’s new) in SLEX, northbound today. my eyes were really getting heeeyveee… and any time i could really doze off because we were just inching forward, sometimes not at all for a full minute.

i’ve turned up the volume on my radio, sang to it (even if i didn’t know most of the lyrics, so what if i looked stupid nodding and tapping away on the wheel), and even attempted to dance. nothing worked, i was still sleeeepy.

and did i mention it was scorching hot outside? i just came from calamba because of work and it was unbelievable that only a couple of hours before, it was pouring. the heat did not help at all.

i already had some brilliant ideas to keep myself awake, which i’d say, aren’t as brilliant really, but i had nothing else. i considered calling an ex but thought that was a bad idea even if he was the one who came to me first (and i said no excuses, what the hell was i thinking?) and was already contemplating on scrolling down to the-one-that-got-away’s number, when i prayed out loud, “Lord pleeeease. don’t let me get sleepier.”

and then there was rain. hard-pouring, pounding, visibility-up-to-50-meters-only kind of rain and i literally had to keep my eyes open to watch out for any road object (which include cars without their hazard lights on). i got home and immediately fell asleep as soon as i hit the bed.

talk about sense of humor. if there’s anyone who knew just how to amuse me just when i need it the most, it could only be Him.

One of those ads again

you can tell this is going to be a quick ad-bashing post again.

ever seen the new Bench billboard ad towering above the Buendia flyover when you’re coming from The Fort? it’s Jay-R, posing in tidy whities and a nice big smile.

WTH. that was a good wake-me-up sight. or not really. i mean, who poses for an ad wearing white briefs and smiling? has ‘awkward’ written all over it.

and the worse thing about it is that it was a back-to-school ad.

(who has been directing these Bench photoshoots!??)

“Intexticated”

i hit a motorcycle last tuesday morning.

i picked up my phone to dial a number when this motorcycle suddenly became an unmoving fixture just about a foot from the hood of my car. i stepped on the brakes hard and soon enough, but not hard enough. so his rear end hooked onto the front of the car and saved his life.

i could’ve killed the guy.

it’s funny that same morning as i was leaving the building of our (ex)distributor, i read (glanced is more like it) a snippet of an article posted on the bulletin board that said, “Don’t be intexticated” and had a photo of a wrecked car. so yeah you guessed it right, it was a reminder not to text and drive.

funny. that was a premonition, i guess. kind of like when i wrote this short story, and a few weeks later i find out i was expecting.

funny. that i knew at some point a car accident will be the cause of my nonexistence. and i didn’t take it seriously. i know i’m a good driver, but i didn’t have to let it get into my head.

so thank you, Lord, for waking me up at the right time. guess it served its purpose. i’ll be more careful this time.

maybe i won’t have that dent on my hood fixed just yet as a reminder.

happiness mo, aksyunan mo!

haha. (this is the slogan of the enervon billboard i pass by at EDSA almost everyday. what can i do, it’s stuck in my head like bad LSS :p ).

so i printed some of them already.

and i get to hang them on the wall with these!

found them at Fully Booked Gateway, priced at P65-P75 per set. wish they had more ’serious looking’ kinds of clothespins. these are all kikay! pano na yung monk shot ko?

i must say, Pating, the idea is really good. hehe. bakit di ko naisip yun dati? pero eventually i want some to be framed, para naman malagay ko sa baba.

6 photos down. nylon string nalang.

will post the finished wall soon! so there, my happiness, i finally did something about it. what have you done about yours?

Everything Everywhere

I envy this guy. I think bestfriend P will too.

Everything Everywhere: Around the World Travel Blog

Sold his house, put his possessions in a storage place, and booked a flight to see the rest of the world.

Envy, envy.

3 prints down…

… hundreds more to go!

now to find nice photo frames, or a brilliant idea on how to frame my pictures without spending too much… any ideas?

things i should remember when the right time comes

Note to readers: this post is so important i made a page solely for writing down things i need to remember.

–

1. “Lucky” (Mraz/Caillat) will be part of my walk-down-the-aisle playlist
2. I should be able to complete at least 50% of my travel bucket list
3. Get some of my photos printed out and have them framed
   • print 3 photos
4. Write letters to Mia in long hand
5. Compile all the short stories and whatnots I’ve written and publish it somehow
6. update this list every now and then
7. watch Star Trek, Transformers 2, G.I. Joe the movie

what’s on your list?

Poor Dora

Having a conversation with a toddler is like having a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
–
Me: Mia, where’s Dora? (expecting a smart answer)

Mia: Atay na! (*patay*)

Oh no!

Travel (wish) List

I’d like to see the world, one place at a time. You can consider this my travel bucket list, in no particular order.

• Camiguin (”Island Born of Fire”) and its sunken graves, falls, hot and cold springs, white beaches (of course!), and Mantigue Island
• Palawan and its underground rivers (the last time I was there I was ’stranded’ in an island… a very beautiful one)
• Pagudpud
• Batanes
• Bohol and its beaches
• Kota Kinabalu, Borneo and its beaches
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Paris, France
• Italy
• Greece
• Singapore
• Hong Kong and Disneyland!
• Caramoan, Camarines Sur
• Cairo, Egypt
• Sydney, Australia
• Tywyn and Wales
• Anchorage, Alaska
• Spain
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Cayman Islands
• Georgia, the country
• Edinburgh, Scotland

I guess I’m really just a free spirit. Will update this from time to time.

Beeing Well

This could not just be coincidence and might be God reminding me more to take up that long stalled promise to myself. Everyday (or at least every week) I vow to allot at least an hour to jog again. I was already successful last year but guess what, work happened.

I know no excuse will hold up if I really, really wanted to. But hey, we’re all allowed that little wiggle room, right? Mine just had to be justified. *sheepish grin*

But anyway back to the impending signs of health and wellness, Bumble Bee Foods made a commitment to donate $0.15 for every mile that a runner logs into a website. The project is called BeeWell Miles and the donation goes to the Breast Cancer Network of Strength, . (I wish there were more companies with advocacy like this, so it’s not just all marketing and profitability). And if I’m not mistaken as of now there’s about $1,500 worth running/walking miles up for donation already.

If you know a breast cancer patient/survivor/victim, you can also dedicate miles for them. It’s really a very meaningful cause and you don’t just get to Bee Well yourself. I need to spread word around (and maybe gain a jogging buddy in the process?) about this. In fact, I know a couple of joggers and health buffs who might be interested in this.

So it all comes back to committment. Truth be told, my mom and I have been getting into bouts of argument because of this since she’s been pushing me to “go excercise!” or “go jogging!” for the past year. And frankly, I’m hating all the nagging. I know what needs to be done I just lacked the motivation.

This should be enough of a sign.

Customize it

Now how come we don’t have customizable plans for landlines, cable tv and internet here? I’ve come across this service provider (in the US though) called Charter that offer customizable packages for all three which makes it easy to save a lot and just get what service you need. Maybe we do have it but I’m just not aware?

I’m having a bit of a dilemma again with our cable and internet service providers. Our current cable subscription gives us too many channels we don’t even get to watch and it doesn’t have the one I want (Playhouse Disney). But if I upgrade to get that, it’s too expensive. Plus, our internet provider sucks, even if it’s for free (thank you wifi router). Cable internet would definitely be great.

I won’t miss out anymore on Heroes, House MD, GG, Prisonbreak, or Grey’s. Right now it seems like I’m living in a cave. Haha.

Here, cable tv/internet service providers have yet to take advantage of these gimmicks. It’s not really a surprise though since a large part of the tv-watching population hasn’t hooked up to the cable networks yet. There have been some promos but not as big as this one from Charter. Oh well, research time.