to someone November 19, 2009

dear someone,

you are really testing my patience.  this is already the 2nd time that you have placed me in a tight situation.  i have no qualms with anything but just don’t (beep)-up with me.  if you want to be popular, then by all means GO!  no one is stopping you.  just make sure that it’s not at anyone’s expense.  especially mine.

i so want to strangle you for being such an ass.

breathe lovella.

gedemit.

But…

Be thankful that i practice yoga

And that i am a mother to two wonderful girls.

Otherwise, I would have been violent and aggressive.

so instead, i shall bite your head off and skin you alive.

awkward November 4, 2009

so i went to jollibee with my officemates earlier today(you know our office building is one of those that has call centers, ergo there’s jollibee) and i saw a girl trying to look like this:

nice right?

but…

she walked like this:

paris isdatchu???

wannabe…

lesson learned:  if you want to look fasyonable, walk and wear it well.

i should have taken a stolen shot of that girl.

nevermind, it would have been a great insult to penguis.

gotta go home now! (yes, i am blogging this from our central pc in the office while waiting for the fafa to get me), it’s raining, so deal with it.

mataray lola niyo today.

ondoy, ondoy… October 14, 2009

this may be a bit late, but, this is what happened to our condo and most of our neighbors’ cars when ondoy “happened”:  www.rayaflood.tk

the fafa said that God really loves me as we were spared.  i ask him why me lang, his reply:  “because among the two of us, you are more prayerful”.

my reply: ” nope, God knows that we don’t have money to have the car fixed had we been flooded.”

so there, being stuck on the road for 5 hours was actually a blessing.

my question is:  WHAT NOW DMCI?  I am utterly disappointed with you.

semi-domesticated October 8, 2009

so i am now back in the corporate jungle.  so far so good.  and the great thing is:  i got the shoes that i wanted!!!

banena was all too happy when my first paycheck came, as i promised her that i will buy her new havaianas.

koala is now a mini-school girl and now sings “tinkel tinkel titel staaa, aw ay ander at ow aah…”  hahaha!

shoe-whore August 27, 2009

who isn’t???

every girl loves shoes, bags, shoes, shoes, shoes…

lately, as i prepare to re-enter the corporate jungle, i have been scouting for really nice shoes.  as in.

so i found these in the aldo site:

i sooo love this shoe, and it’s on sale!!!

this is cute too…

it also comes in taupe

hay buhay!

missing mama August 27, 2009

i miss mama.

i feel like it has been ages since i last talked to her.

i just spoke to her yesterday actually.

well…

mama and i used to have this really tough love-hate relationship.  but as i matured (not necessarily wiser), i have learned to appreciate and love her more (shucks, now i’m teary-eyed), especially when i had my girls.  it was then that i told her how much i understand and appreciate everything that she has done for us and called just to say sorry for all the hurt that i have brought her.

now mama and i talk. a lot.  sure we still  argue or get irritated with each other, but my day is never complete without her calling to tell me how exciting or otherwise her day was.  even the animalets know that it’s nana who’s calling at a certain time.

i really miss her, sob!

she is away on a much needed retreat with papa and brother dear and will be back on friday afternoon.  i guess cellphones were not allowed as cel and i were texting each other whether mama has texted back.

i miss her.

i hope it’s friday sooner.

cuties i found while surfing the net… August 23, 2009

these are cute!!!!

Oo nga naman, if you can’t buy or have these wall abubots, why not improvise???

yes, those are  key holders.

this i loooove….a cassette tape dispenser!!!

manong, mabigat ba?

when i get married in church, i would like to have this:

…i meant the waistline.

well, as long as i am wearing these underneath the gown:

o divah? ganda ng lola mo.  Di baleng malapad ang waistline, basta kikay ang shoes!

and then, as the queen of my abode,   my  portrait will be something like this:

reminder:  this is my blog so agree ka na lang.

Notes from a very unhappy zookeeper August 14, 2009

I’m a very unhappy zookeeper today.  My animalettes were not at their best.  They were, a  combination of  a tsunami and a tornado.  Both were equally loquacious, quarrelsome and just being the kids that they.  I do understand them and I do pray to God every single day to grant me extra tons of patience.

First, Nina didn’t take a nap, so since it was a Friday and she didn’t want to watch tv, I made her use the computer  and feed her virtual pet, Banenarama.  She made ice cream sundaes for the two of us.  She was such a good girl and cleaned up her mess.  But since she was so into Banenarama already, she threw her empty water bottle amidst the clean clothes that are on her bed(our temporary cabinet “expired” and the real cabinets are to be delivered this weekend, that’s why our clothes are on her bed -mabuhey! finally! after more than one  year, we will finally have decent cabinets), I earlier remprimanded her for not flushing well and for leaving a very slippery bathroom floor.  Then during dinner time, her entire glass of water spilled on the table and unto our abacca rug.  After a few minutes, Koala had the same incident.  You might say that these were such minor incidents.  They are.  But after a whole day of telling them to stop quarrelling, changing and cleaning after their mess, I just had too much.

I started feeling edgey yesterday, that’s why I booked a massage for the fafa and I late in the evening.  Now I think I need another one.  Yesterday was a series of never ending cleaning up.  I was barely done with one chore, when I had to start with another or forego one more just to change koala, make sure that banena took a bath properly , make their merienda, wash dishes, have them take their naps, review lessons with banena, bathe them, cook dinner and wash dishes again.  hay!  It is a never ending vicious cycle of domestic tasks.  At the end of the day I felt I have lost my steam and  I smelled like a hyena.  Not that I have smelled one but I reckon it was as stinky as me.

Banena is usually asleep, at the latest, by 9pm on a school day.  So the three of us (the fafa wasn’t home yet) were already in bed by 8:30pm.  Koala slept, until about 10pm and was up until about 3:30-ish am.  She wouldn’t sleep!  No matter what I do.  She finally succumed to the sandman on my third try of lulling her by the balcony.  The first two were such flukes. Just when I thought she was happily in deep slumber and lay her down beside dad and ate nina, she would wail and wake up and look for “mooooommmmyyy!!!” So on the third try, my feet were really hurting and my back was aching (I forgot I just had a massage), that I just sat on their Little Tikes stool and cuddled her.  I felt so tired and alone that I cried.  I  cried so much that I just let huge tears roll down and sting my eyes.   That  scene would have beaten any  telenovela.

I cried because I was really very sleepy and emotionally worn-out.  I wanted to talk to the fafa earlier about something really crucial but he was already snoring the night away the moment the masahista was done.  I also cried because I felt bad that I was cross with nina and then now I was being impatient with julia.  I hate it when I am in such a foul mood with my children!

I felt like fate was taunting me like an annoying clown.  This circus can drain you of everything  yet can  sometimes become so inhibiting.  Whe I find myself having such  negative self-evaluations, I remind myself that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, my house is currently a mess, clean, maybe,  or it is just chaos.   I sometimes sing(in my mind) Alicia Key’s  Superwoman(“Cause I am Superwoman, yes i am!”) when I’m in daunting situations.

I longed to sleep my blues away, but it was such an extremely uncomfortable sleeping arrangement that I was unable to do so.   We have an ample queen sized bed.  But(in actual order) from the left, Dad, Julia and Nina.  Where is mom?  Curled up at the foot of the bed.  No wonder my back ached so much.  I had a talk with nina about it and told her that it is time for her to sleep in her room already and so that koala willl emolate her.  We ended our talk with a symbiotic agreement, thank God.

So, in as much as I want to be in a jovial mood and look good, this is how I look at the end of each day:

I am a full time home executive

But tonight, if ever I do cry again (it is my outlet so sue me!),  I will make myself a cup of honey-vanilla chamomile tea (thank you sister dear) and sip my blues away.  For tomorrow is another crazy  day at the zoo.

UPDATE:  The fafa just got home and got me a long stemmed pink rose, wow! with a card that I have yet to read…shucks!

to hire or not to hire… August 14, 2009

A house help that  is!  As if trying to be “Shakespearean”  would help…

I was reading Daphne Osena-Paez’ “Yaya Diaries” the other night.(http://daphneosena.livejournal.com/37345.html) and I can truthfully understand what she felt.  As any momma would, naturally.

Not counting the time when ate Inday was here, or  Criselda’s isang linggong pananatili(1 week stint), I have basically been  “on my own”(pretending he’s beside me..hahaha! naging Eponine ako for a moment!), since mid April.  And as I have previously posted, MAYHEM!  Kim and Aggie might suddenly knock, with boas and all…scaaary!

How Clean Is Your House Love?

Now, I have been thinking of the pro’s and cons.  Allow me to enumerate by category:

Utilities – When we had a helper our average Meralco bill was 5k.  Yes.  I don’t know considering that we live in a 62sqm condo unit.  Maybe it was the tv time when the kids are taking a nap.  Or when the kids are watching tv, the radio was on all the time…Now our average bill is down to 2.5K.

Grocery-  Take our rice for example, we used to consume 5kg rice in less than 2 weeks, or in Criselda’s case, 1 week.  Now our 5 kg rice is still halfway consumed and I bought it more than 2 weeks ago.  I also noticed that I frequent the grocery 50% more when we have househelp.  Well they have to eat too you know.  It’s just that whenever it is just the koala and I at home, we consume very minimal rice and eat whatever is extra from dad’s and nina’s baons.

Gasul – We used to buy every month and a half.  Now, the current tank was bought last May 26(yes, I am that hands-on, I take note of when everything was purchased, I do have a budget to keep you know!)

Among other things, our expenses obviously shrunk.

Laundry – Now this makes any  househelp’s job abreeze:  we have laundry service, all the helper has to wash are our kitchen towels.  However, from an average of 800 a week (including towels, bedsheets), we now pay at least 1k.  That’s ok I guess considering that now we have our kitchen towels washed by them.

Me – The downside is, I am always exhausted.  Yes, crankiness is my middle name.  I try to have a manageable housekeeping schedule.  I do try to finish all chores before madam koala gets up.  But for example,  window cleaning is no easy feat, mind you!  I have perennially aching legs, back and feet!  But at least I don’t have to stress over the help’s qualms.

I do have errands to attend to  so I leave the koala in day care (We love you teachers missy and malu!) and we hurry home just in time for banena to arrive from school.

I don’t know.

I sorta lika the privacy that we have, yet I am craving for that extra help so I can be saner and less exhausted and ergo have more quality time with everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, we treat our househelp really well, regardless of the “dramas”, if they were indeed real dramas.  We give 13th month pay, contribute for their SSS and Philhealth, paid vacation leaves, weekly days-off(Cris was the only one in our condo who had that!), transportation allowance of 200 a week,  they get to travel with us and we pay for their passport processing.  Cris was able to get all our old kitchen ware, cd player, cellphone, and 14″ tv among many things.  Yet she was vague when she told us why she was going home.  I found out later from my “reputable sources”  that she had eloped.  That really angered and hurt me because we treated her well and she was dear to us.  Yes, we are appreciative and generous, sad to say sometimes  to a fault.  If only she was honest with us.

On the other hand, the kids will be grown soon.  Nina is even adamant to help me with the dishes.  I choose not to buy a dishwasher, though it makes life easier, but like reading and writing letters, I want my girls to learn to do tasks the old-fashioned way.  In that manner, they learn to be appreciative of the other comforts that life offers and learn to be patient along the way.  I do have a reliable vacuum cleaner though and Nina is starting to vacuum the rugs.

Anyway, the koala will be going to toddler’s class soon,

I guess everything will fall into place.  God will take care of everything.

breastfeeding doll August 13, 2009

This is from Cafe Mom:

“Many baby dolls come with baby bottles and some moms object to this—they think that the bottles are sending a message to their little ones that babies should be bottle fed. Other moms worry when their kids pretend to breastfeed. Now a Spanish company is selling a doll that promotes breastfeeding.

Bebe Gloton is a doll that comes with a colorful vest that has flowers over the nipple area, which the little “mommy” wears. When the baby doll is lifted to the flowers it makes a suckling motion and sound. The doll is the average length of a real newborn, and it comes in baby boy and baby girl versions.”

WASH THE FLOOR!!!