Wednesday, April 30, 2008

last day of holiday


i am going to bed as soon as i post this. got back from vacation at 2 am yesterday. called out from work from monday til today. i don't even want to think what my kids have done to the substitute teacher.

i had a fabulous time with my high school girlfriends. i am indeed blessed with the best friends in the whole wide world.

equally fabulous and sweet was a visit from Z after my vacation. he was so excited to see how much i have "tanned." he said he expected me to be much darker. his boyish grin accused me of using too much sunblock. of course virginia. if i soaked under the sun i might end up darker than my shadow. had dinner at tocino grill, hung out at home, checked out the new chicken wings resto next town then recapped my trip.

tomorrow i go back to school.

noo-ni-noo-ni-noo


Friday, April 25, 2008

day 2 southbeach

and so i woke up at 6:30, and naturally the girls are still in dreamland. they got back at the hotel at 1 am. i took an early walk down the neighborhood since the sun is already up. it is a beautiful day here in south beach.

last night was just beautiful. we wined and dined at a trendy resto called wish. with aileen as somalier, we had about 4 bottles of wine to share. there was a lot of laughter and sighs. several toasts to good health and thanksgiving for the friendship we share. candy led a toast to knwoing all of us since she was twelve. our waitress was blown away when we told her that we have been friends since high school and we are here for our reunion/getaway.

plans were made to visit home next year, hopefully in february. me being in the education business, it's quite tricky to get a break during the middle of the school year, but feb '09 just might work. i can go home in time before my mom's 50th birthday.

i'm going back upstairs to wake up the girls now. there's a vote to try south beach before we board the ship this afternoon. london-based aileen is craving for steak and eggs.

i just hope orca won't show in the beach to get me.

inay.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

miami

turns out our hotel has some free internet at the lobby. i'm being a grump and stayed behind as the girls went for a lounge. lil ol me is niursing an upset stomach -- 'di kasi sanay sa haute cuisine. will go to bed now and wake up early tomorrow to see south beach in the morning.

we will embark on the cruise ship tomorrow noon. took lots of pictures from our dinner.

got picked up by an italian whose lame pick up line was "are you alicia?"

me : no.

italian dude " where are you from?"

me : (patay) and lubs just giggled like crazy.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

commercial muna




jane will be temporarily unavailable for a few days.

she will join her high school girlfriends for a much deserved all-girls miami-bahamas beach bum holiday....

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

laundry list tuesday

yes watson, it's 6 am and i've been up since 4:30. it's officially day 4 of ze srping break and i am wide awake. why's that? because i don't want to spend my spring break sleeping that's why.

so i got out of bed, cleared my dining table, put on a gigantic flower print table cloth, readied the vase for tonight i shall cook dinner for two. and you know what virginia? i'm a little bit nervous because i haven't cooked in a looong time. what's for dinner? a skirt steak recipe courtesy of alton brown, a light salad, some potatoes, a faux strawberry shortcake and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from jacek.

but this morning i'm going on a power walk with my friend cleo. then head to trader joe's for ingredients for dinner. make an appointment at the nail salon for girly stuff, head back home and clean my place. maybe we can go to the city tomorrow or go to the park to run.

thursday i leave for miami to join the girls for our much anticipated beam bum holiday...

have i packed? heck no....

Monday, April 21, 2008

what's in your fridge?



i like to know what's going on with my friends and family. what they've eaten for lunch, breakfast or dinner. i know my mom is always curious about how my apartment looks like. because i know she'll have a fit at how messy i can be, i'll only show you and her a peek at my fridge, or how it usually looks like. on my door you can see a variety of condiments : catsup, spicy catsup, a couple kinds of hot sauce, a bottle of wine,salad dressing, seltzer water...

then i have fruit and veggie juice, a liter of cider vinegar,soymilk,a couple of salad dressing sprays, little containers of caesar salad dressing from quizno's which i use as dipping for their flatbread. on the middle level i have a motley of jello, pudding, home made tuna salad. at the bottom i have a tub od whipped butta, a can of sliced peaches, bottles of wine, a bottle of tabasco and some chocolate chips from waay back (that i would toss out tomorrow), a tub of hummus.

and on my freezer, it's just ice cream...

what about you, what's in your fridge?

quite an intrusive exam

music : 1234 by feist


so i went for my "annual" physical exam today. i am scared of doctors and dentists so today's appointment wasn't exactly exciting. when i arrived for my physical, i was a bit comforted by the fact that the attending medical assistant was filipino. well, comfort my eye! by the time i left the doctor's office i wanted to scream at somebody.

just like most respectful pinoys, i was raised to respect elders (to the best of my ability). and so after the usual questions of which part of the philippines we were both from, manong medical assistant then proceeded to ask me questions that were not health related. how old was i? how come i don't have kids? how old is the husband? this that and the other thing. i politely answered his questions without being rude. i said to myself. manong medical assistant is very old school, must bite your tongue and don't say anything rude. he told me the best thing about being married/the purpose of being married is having children. gee, watson, i wonder why i am single again.

and so i sauntered off the good doctor's office, making a mental note to make sure manong medical assistant won't be assisting me next time i go back there.

i

Saturday, April 19, 2008

on the road again

background music : i wanna be sedated by the ramones

yes virginia, it's 4:45 am and i' about ready to hit the road with bruce. ideally i am supposed to be in dreamland at this very moment enjoying a couple more hours sleep before officially starting the day.

i was supposed to be in the beach late afternoon, but bruce had some trouble. so off to his clinis we went. fan belt. check. went home like a spoiled brat and told Z i'll come today.

and so this....

IT IS OFFICIALLY SPRING BREAK.

SSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

no more classes
no more books
no more edd box students
dirty look
yip yip yip



Monday, April 14, 2008

10 things i know about me, (but you probably don't)

swiped this from my gorgeous cousin trina, but tweaked it a bit.

–Then at the end you tag 10 other bloggers to keep the fun going.
– Each blogger must post these rules first.
– Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
– Bloggers who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
– At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
– Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

here it is :

1. i used to pee standing up once in a while because the toilets in school were always dirty. until it got too complicated hitching up my school skirt.

2. i did not know that men can pee sitting down and can pee without an erection until i was 31.

3. i used to soak in a big bad ass batya waiting for my fingers to get all pruney. then i would play with them and pretend i have 10 chewbaca finger puppets.


4. i intentionally left my pink hello kitty school bag in the jeepney because i was so embarrassed with the dumb girly shit in the first grade. unfortunately, a wise ass do gooder returned it to my school. wah.


5. i have a habit of naming inanimate objects that mean something to me. ny car is bruce, my laptop is boo, my gps navigator is amy, and my phone's name is ube.


6. my all time favorite comfort food is puto.


7. when i order at restos and starbucks, i tell them my name is jane.

8. i do not like my coffee hot. i like it warm.

9. i eat green apples, strawberries and watermelon with salt.

10. i do not know how to ride a bicycle.


i'm tagging malatemail,panaderos,pinkfish, iggy, lemonpassion, svelterouge, shmoo,esti,gitay and jerrold.








Sunday, April 13, 2008

weekend wrap up

background music : a lesson learned by alicia keys

this weekend has been restful and a bit productive by my standards .

yesterday, i went to target to pick up a few things for our upcoming barkada vacation.
across the universe cd and alicia key's latest cd , sunblock,SPF facial moisturizer, a tankini and bikini top to match an Hand M bottom i scored on friday. grabe, career-in ba ang pag be-beach?

i also finally dumped half a year's worth of old newspapers and magazines.

blogged galore.


today i started my day with the early morning mass at my local church.

had a leisurely breakfast of freshly baked cinnamon bun from my neighborhood bakery, and a cup of joe from my neighborhood 7/11.

called up bunso to greet him a happy birthday.

called up joycee and chatted with my beautiful neice, aire.

cleared my "dining" table. i can see the bottom again, tee-hee.

watched "hitch" and fell in love with will smith all over again. he's just so cute. he's handsome, looks like he smells good, a great smile, very funny, and very fit. nuff said.

listened, head banged and sang my lungs out to some of the songs from the across the universe soundtrack. loved "i wanna hold your hand" by tv carpio, come together by joe cocker, and don't let me down and dear prudence by dana fuchs. am not really thrilled by evan rachel woods voice, but no biggie. incidentally, while listening to "come together" all i did was daydream of a possible reunion/jam session with briggs and slouch ton-ton and if they will be in the philippines when i visit goodness knows when. rock en roll!!!


sat down to face the book. man, i'm telling you. i needed every ounce of supergirl strength to read through the important chapters while trying to keep a straight face. and like the dork that i am, the blasted book is riddled with post its, little flags and highlighted passages. this week will be dedicated to filling in copies of the forms, so help me God. whew.


read through the last two issues of glamour magazine and lucky. and again, like the dork that i am, i armed myself with the lucky stickers and a pencil and a pad to keep track of items that are noteworthy and worthy to be added to my wish list.

joined glamour's body by glamour to pump up my kick ass/get fit goal for this summer. i'm looking into losing 10 more pounds. i am now "officially" a size 4.
i wrote officially with " " because we know that clothes manufacturers have been appeasing buyers into thinking that they are not that big. so let me be deluded for a while and say i am a size 4 in most clothes. in H & M, which "runs small" by US standards, i was pleased to find out that i fit into a size 6 but with old navy, a size 4 jeans is already loose. j crew says i'm a size 4. watch, when i go to manila and try on clothes i probably fit into medium or large even.
not a big deal? it is if you've been a size 12, and you consider a size 10 as your "thin" size. yep, i'll probably post some before and after pictures soon, but that's another post altogether.

right now i have to fold and sort my clothes and iron a few pieces for this workweek. cheers to warm weather. i can finally stop wearing sweaters.

enjoy your week dear reader.








Saturday, April 12, 2008

maritess and supergirl

with a lot of chores to do in my apartment, i decided to rebel against my two other selves and swipe this survey from manfred.

i know there was a reason why i bought those supergirl panties. but i thought i would be wonderwoman. oh well, it could be worse...

Your results:
You are Supergirl
























Supergirl
78%
Wonder Woman
73%
Batman
65%
Superman
60%
Hulk
60%
Spider-Man
55%
Robin
53%
Green Lantern
50%
The Flash
40%
Catwoman
30%
Iron Man
30%
Lean, muscular and feminine.
Honest and a defender of the innocent.


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

a premature ode to my blue jeans

background music: "come together" by joe cocker from motion picture soundtrack of across the universe

warning : this is one of them mindless posts. skip if you have something better to do .


i've a love affair with denim jeans since i hit freshman high school when we can wear "civilian" clothes every friday for school. heck, 11 years of wearing school uniforms, i swore i would never wear a skirt when i get to college.

and i don't think i ever wore a skirt to class in college, until graduation.

you probably have that one pair that you love. the one that looks good on you no matter what top you wear. i've had two other fave jeans of past. one pair i got from my friend PJ as a present from the US. it was a faded button fly gap jeans that i wore until i couldn't fit into them. the other one, a pair of moonwash black levis jeans,of the 90's grunge era. i wore them jeans everyday in college. my friend "slouch" had a pair he wore almost 24/7 in college. we used to tease him that his jeans can stand on its own because he never washes them. gritty.

i have five pairs of blue jeans that fit me, but there's this one pair that i just love. i got it summer of last year. my friends ria, lubsi, and candy encouraged me to invest on a pair of expensive jeans because they really fit better. as i was looking for that perfect pair, i went through about 4 other pairs from old navy. moonshine's face was a keeper because she said i've had about spent as much on pair of designer jeans with my three or four pairs from old navy.she's right of course.

and then i hooked up with joe's.   this is taken from their website (of course, my hands are not gnarly like that, tee-hee) .  this is their provocateur  fit especially made  for  short women like moi. 

it was a heavenly match i tell you. it was worth every single penny. i wore my joe's on my first date and my first road trip, and all the road trips after that. it was my own personal tape measure to record my little triumphs at losing weight. it's a bit loose now, slouchy if you may, and frayed at the hem, but i still wear it as much as i can

then one day, in one of my numerous pee breaks, i discovered that my joe's had suffered a major lesion on the left thigh area. so much for distressed wash. i'm distressed! oh no! is this the end? call modista 911!

my local modista stitched joe up and we were quite happy for a couple of months. until last weekend.

my favorite pair is undergoing surgery again. i was blushing when i promised my modista that this will be last time i'm bringing them in. if my jeans rip again, i'll have a funeral for it.

meanwhile, my four other pairs are happy to be taken out of the closet.



bunso

background music : landslide by fleetwood mac

dear jay,

it's your 27th birthday today. another year huh? this is the 7th year i am not there to celebrate with you. know that though we are thousands of miles apart, my love and well wishes go out to you, especially today.

i know it has not been easy for you, but today, i hope you will take the time to give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given you.

of the many things i wish can change in the past, it is the wish that i could have been a better big sister to you. i wish i had given you more time and attention. i wish i spent time listening to your dreams, joys and pain. i wish i had given you more encouragement whenever you felt defeated by life's many obstacles. but i was too wrapped up growing up myself and licking my own wounds. i did not notice how much you were hurting too.

although those are my wishes, i feel happy knowing that i can do all of those things right now. and i will try my best to be the sister that i should have been to you.

whenever i miss you, mom and jaypee, i do a little slideshow of memories in my head. and for your slideshow i remember these...



you at around 3 or four with the signature grin on your face, covered in mud after playing in the backyard chasing after frogs.

the look on your four year old self when you were scared shitless to pee. all because kuya jon or kuya jim told you a stupid thing about how your "bird" might fly if you pull down your shorts should you decide to pee. you painfully crying out loud "baka lumipad, mommy!" ("it might fly away mom!")

little 6 year old you banging the bathroom door, and i on the other of the side of the door yelling for mom to intervene. i don't know what i said to upset you, but it must've been very bad for you to be pissed off like that.


12 year old you taking care of your prized rooster, prepping for a day of cockfighting at the local coliseum.

25 year old you smiling broadly as we walked along the beach in donsol on my last trip home.

and last year, the sound of your voice, full of concern for your broken hearted ate. thanks bunso for thought. it means so much to me to know that you got my back during those times.


i heard from mom that you are doing well these days. i hope everything goes well with your assessment and paperwork. i am excited that you are going to be a professional soon. do not forget that we always love you, even though we are not the showy kind of family.

hopefully, next year i can come home for a visit. i intend to spend more time at home with you, mom and jaypee. with God's grace, this wish can be a reality. we should go visit lola nene's grave and maybe we can grab a couple of beers at LB square, just you and me.

chin up little brother, you are stronger than you think you are.

take care bunso, and happy birthday again.


love,

ate




Thursday, April 10, 2008

drag test

what, it's only wednesday?! gah!

i can't say i hate this week because we've been testing the past couple of days. good for me since i don't really have to teach anything this week, but my kids hate testing twice as much as the regular ed kids. sitting on their asses three hours the past couple of days is unbearable to them. torture for me. with nothing better to do, my kids turn their attention to li'l old me...

student 1 : miss, you got mad small feet!
student 2 : yeah i heard they tie their feet in china


student 3 : miss can i get a drink from your water bottle?
me : no! i already drank some of it.
student 3 : it's aiyt, if i drink it, that means we kissed.


student 4 : miss, how do we tell one asian from another?
me : rolls my eyes and secretly wish i can slap this child silly



when will the hurting stop?

Monday, April 7, 2008

500



background music : 500 miles by the proclaimers


hep. this is not some partial sequel to the spartan movie. this is the number of miles i logged in to and from my weekend trip with Z. i swear. when i parked into my little spot here at home, my trip odometer read 500 miles.

and to think a year ago, i was terrified to even venture out of my town's main roads. these days, 100+ miles roadtrip is like going to the grocery.

the weekend was awesome. weather-wise, it could be better, but i am very excited at the prospect of warmer and sunnier weekends. here's a rough weekend backtrack :

arrived thursday night.

friday : post office, home depot, public library, a look see at BJ's warehouse
you know how it is with women and clothes shopping? i think there is some sense of parallelism here with guys and shopping at DIY stores like home depot or lowes. Z was like in a candy shop when we went to home depot. it wasn't that much fun for me, but i understand since i am like that when i'm in a comicbook store or a toy store. while Z was busy going through aisles and aisles of cabinets, toilet bowls, tubs, metal fixtures. i was taking note of the men to women ratio in the store. note to single ladies : home depot is a pretty decent, non alchoholic place to check out guys, if you are into the DIY, boy next door, handy man kinda guy. the guys there were pretty decent.

after home depot, we checked out their local BJ's warehouse club and took advantage of their free trial offer. it was so-so. i like costco better.
we picked up a tv /lounge pillow and headed home. talked ti' our ears bled.

satuday was philly day!!!it was a spur of the moment decision brought about by hunger and the unwillingness to stay home and watch dvds. the sun was out so we headed off to see this polish supermarket/bistro for lunch.here's our yummy sauerkraut soup


followed by the main course. polish meatballs in creamy dill sauce with potatoes, fried beets and a side of sauerkraut and apple salad for me ...


and for z, goulash in potato pancake with mushroom sauce and  a dollop of sour cream    that was a great lunch.  we took home some polish candies and polish donuts.   we had originally planned to get a couple of drinks at one of the local bars but we both decided against it after realizing we were both exhausted.     i was in for a surprise  the next day.  while i was told to stay put in his bedroom, look at what Z prepared for me for breakfast...happy girl  after a leisurely breakfast, we headed back home and had lunch at out favorite filipino resto.  we took the next bus to NYC to catch the 6pm service at times square church.    that was the end of my great weekend.   when i got back to school today, my kids scolded me for leaving them.     but that's another story altogether.    

Sunday, April 6, 2008

about a boy

swiped from timmi while i was told to wait inside the bedroom while Z was preparing breakfast.



should he be handsome?
- not really a must, but that would be a great bonus!

smart?
-yup.

Preferred Age?
- i would like him to be a yaer or two older, but then...

Preferred Height?
- much taller then me... hobnit na nga ako eh.

How about sense of humor?
- a must.

How about piercings?
- it's okay

Accepts you for who you are?
-definitely. but i also want someone who will encourage me tobe a better person

Mushy or no?
- sweet, but not mushy.

Skinny? Fat?

- lean. a bit of muscles ut not too much.

Moreno or Chinito or Mestiso?

chinito? chek. tisoy naman, nyahaha

Long Hair or Short Hair?

- hmm, no more long hair for me. blond pwede?

Plastic or Metal?
- metal

Smells good?
- ay oo naman! numer one yan sa listahan ko.

Drinker?
- not so much

Boy-next-door type?
-uhm, depende sa neighborhood.

Musically inclined?
- that would be nice.

Plays Guitar?
- aray.

Plays Piano?
- uhm, pwede

Plays violin?
- anu ba?! ang OA na ha?

Sings very good?
- o wrong grammar pa. sings well, ate!

Vain?
- di naman, basta mukhang disente

With Glasses?
- pwede

With Braces?
-nope, masakit yun.

Shy type?
- slight.

From what school?
- of rock

Active or Passive?
- active

Sporty?
- that would be nice.

Singer or dancer?
- poet na lang..

Suplado?
- mukha lang.

Hiphop?
- lord, waag po!

Earrings?
- pwede

Torpe?
- ay sus, lahat silang nakilala ko torpe, i swear

Mr. count-my-ex-till-you-drop?
- no!

Dimples?
- yezzzz , malalim, ate

Bookworm?
- yup

Mr. Love Letter?
- pwede

May goatee?
- nope.clean cut

Flirt?
- no

Poem writer?
- doesnt matter.

Serious?
- yup

Galante?
- pwede rin.

Campus crush?
- nope

Painter?
- yes

Religious?
- definitely

Alaskador?
- yup

Computer games geek? Or internet
freak?
- di naman

Speaks 20 languages?
- four lang po

Loyal o faithful?
- loyal and faithful please

Thursday, April 3, 2008

i'm cutting class

tomorrow.

im running a mental list in my head of stuff to bring to Z's place. clothes, shoes, books. recharged GPS navigator, camera, and mp3 player? check.

gotta gas up and clean up bruce.

it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow so i'm making a headstart for my roadtrip right after school.

some of my boys are not amused that i am leaving them with a substitute tomorrow. i told them they are not the only ones who don't feel like coming to school sometimes. i'll take that day tomorrow.

here's some early weekend good vibes to all of you.


Tuesday, April 1, 2008

it's one of those days


when a woman's hormones go bombastic and all of a sudden i am in a roller coaster ride of tears and confusion.

i've been sleeping a great deal the past few days, and today THE tide came. along with this tide is a couple of hours worth of mind blowing physical pain. a couple of ibuprofen pills can slow it down but it punches hard anyway.

it's a good thing i know what these blues and grays are related to -- the usual blasted cycle that i can not stop.

i tried inducing the tears. i can not believe they are that difficult to summon. am i really healed? probably not. watch, one day it'll just sneak up on me and bam!

or maybe not.

either way i will just wait here patienly and wait till this tide is over.

i am thankful that i can always talk to people who always make me smile.