Uneventful but still nice :)

Well, I'm officially 30. I don't feel any different, and hopefully don't look any different.

Christmas Eve was pretty normal. Dinner here, visitations there. It was nice. My kids got TONS of presents. I don't even know where to put all of them.

But the most special part of Christmas Eve for me was the gift my hubby gave me, 15 minutes before midnight. Thanks sweetie! I love you very much! :)

The next day was pretty uneventful. We had lunch at home and then went to Fairview to visit Jerome's relatives. They were playing mahjong when we got there, and we just pretty much hung out.

Jerome and I went to the mall for a while to get some ice cream, pizza, and a case for my new phone.

Then we went home and I took my family out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

That's it. Uneventful, but special because it was spent with family. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Blech!!

That's how my day is going. Which SUCKS bigtime because it's only 2 days before my birthday and here I am with a headache, a heartache and no will to do ANYTHING.

Hope this shitty feeling doesn't last.

PostSecret

I saw this link in Angge's blog and I really liked it. It's going to be one of the regular blogs I visit from now on :). It has all these pictures that make you think, laugh, smile, etc... an example below that I thought was hilarious!

Then and Now

Where am I?.... moved on :)

For Caspers

It's always sad when you lose touch with your friends. You always promise to keep in touch, and you do, for a while, then it just fades away. This happened with my high school friends. Although sometimes there's an email or two.... a forwarded email about friendship.... it's not the same. We all get caught up with our own lives, that we forget to keep in touch. Especially for me, now that i'm in a whole different country.

Then I met a new set of friends here in the Philippines. Back in '96. These girls became my closest friends.. We've been through a lot. "Tambay time" at Jon's house, fighting and making up, billiard days, casino days, joan's house party (hehehe), Jill's fainting spells, Jon getting drunk, Kong scaring us half to death, Jill's "hiphop" hands... and a lot more! :)

We also had our share of bad times... Kong's son's death, Belai's crying spells because of... well, all of them, Jon and I fighting.. we got through this with our friendship still intact.

Now that I've moved on... these girls and I still manage to keep in touch. Lady lives in the States, Bel pabalik-balik sa states, Jill is in Site 2, Joan unreachable, and Vee... well.. actually sawa na ko sayo :)

I've promised myself to never lose touch with these girls. Especially now that Lady will be godmother to my baby boy, and Belai's and Vee's kids are my godchildren. It's good to know that even though I left the group because of unforseen circumstances (:P), know that I will always be your friend.

LAB U!

Friendster pics

Very deceiving....

Everyone does not look that good all the time. I've seen people who look absolutely FAB in their friendster pics, but see pics of them in their friend's pages looking like hell.

Funny how friendster makes everyone so vain. Yours truly included, of course. You take several sets of pictures with your phone, deleting the ugly ones, and posting the best one, then putting some lame caption like, "bored". It's a sickness... an addiction... and i'm sad to say the country is infested.

Friendster brings out the best in friendships! (pls note the sarcasm) Posting a pic that only YOU look good in! It makes me laugh!

While we're on friendster pics, i HATE it when girls post/take solo pictures of themselves making a funny face. They obviously think they look cute making that face and expect everyone else to think it too.

I rant about friendster, but i am a devout member. Ever since my friend Vez invited me way back in 2002, it was a way to keep in touch with all the friends i left behind in the US. Use it as something to update your friends on what you've been up to... places you've been to... I just hate it when people use it to make pa-cute.

My opinion. Pakelam mo!

My crazy daughter

Life during the weekend, Gabby escapades.

Saturday.

Jerome, Gabby and I went to Greenbelt. We haven't taken Gabby out in a while so we went to Timezone. We met up with Jay and Cath. They stayed with us for a few minutes but then left to have dinner.

That's when we decided to have ice cream. I got vanilla, jerome and gabby shared chocolate. Gabby was getting all messy so I told gabby that the ice cream was all finished and she can't eat anymore. She looked at the half full cup and said, "Meyon pa, ice cream, BEH!" sticking her tongue at me! Jerome just laughed! We really can't fool her anymore.

Sunday.

I don't know about everyone else, but I felt sorry for Morales. The way his face looked at the end of the third round. Just sitting there, looking at his dad, shaking his head. It was the look of accepting defeat. After all the shit talking he did before the fight, I think that was pretty hard to swallow.

Oh well, someone had to lose....

I got a text from Cookie at 6am this morning asking me if it's true that Pacquiao was disqualified because they found drugs in his urine.... It reminded me of fake text messages I got while I was watching the non-important fights. Did anyone else get those bogus text messages about how Manny won, the Madam Auring version? Funny. :)

Anyway, the rest of the Sunday, we went around Timog avenue looking for a restaurant where we can hold Javi's baptism celebration. I think we've decided on a Chinese restaurant. My mom treated us to dinner there and we were stuffed.

Gabby was with us and she is getting so smart! At one point when we were eating, she was using her hands and Jerome told her that eating with her hands is not allowed in the restaurant. She looked at the other table and saw another girl using her hands to eat bread. She said, "Ayun o, kamay!" while pointing. We all laughed.

Life is never dull with Gabby around. :)

funny

grrr!!

Sometimes, I really want to delete alleged "friends" that I have in friendster!!!!! argh!!

The act itself would be pathetic....and that's the last thing I wanna be.

Guess i'll just have to wait for enemyster.

For You

There comes a time in a woman's life when you have to make choices. The most important one is the choice to get married. Some women prefer a career first, maybe set up a "nest egg" before getting married.

Some, intoxicated by love, jump into marriage without even thinking. Others get married to escape their parents, while some get married because of duty.

Different reasons, different excuses. But all scenarios can have a happy ending if you're married to the right man.

Life is funny. We don't really end up marrying our own version of Mr. Right. Instead God gives us someone who is right for us.

THANK YOU for giving me my happy ending.

Happy Birthday sweetie.

He's getting married (Youngblood, Philippine Daily Inquirer)

This made me cry :(

TODAY, I will attend an execution: my own. I will watch it with both eyes open and I will not cry. I will not break down just because the man I have loved since forever will marry someone else. I will watch him promise himself to a woman who will never love him like I have. I will watch them bind themselves to a vow I should have taken.

I have loved Oliver almost all my life. I have known him since I saved his six-year-old hide from a bully named Ricardo who wanted to rid him of his two yellowed front teeth. I was five at the time, but having grown with five older brothers and a hellion of a sister, ''Totoy Cardo'' was a piece of cake.

Oliver was so overcome with embarrassment at having a girl to protect his scrawny neck that from that time on he made it a point to be the rescuer, not the rescued. As time passed, muscles filled out this lanky frame and those two front teeth began to sparkle. He combs his hair, and he takes a bath daily now. In short, he has become a fine specimen of manhood.

The best part is, he lived up to his promise: he became my self-appointed guardian (well, I don't know if that's the best or the worst part). He was just always there, sticking to me like glue. It used to drive me nuts that he never let me out of his sight.

When I was 12, I ran from the infirmary on my way home. I had found out in the most humiliating way that I had become a woman: there was a big red stain on the back portion of my skirt. The jeers and the taunts followed methrough the school corridors. Oliver dashed after me and offered to accompany me home. I declined, of course. He seemed to understand my discomfiture and promised to drop later with the things left in school. When I reached home I was told that I needed to jump three times on the stairs (which I did) and to wash my face with my blood (which I didn't do).

Oliver dropped by in the afternoon, sporting a black eye and a bruise on his arm. When I asked him what happened, he said he had walked into a closed door. I believed him. But a few days later, minus the dysmennorhea, I found out that Oliver got into fisticuffs because some guy made a disgusting remark about me.

Nobody had ever fought for me before that. And when you're 12 and discussing in class how King Arthur and fairest of them all, Lancelot, fought for Guinevere's love, you tend to get ideas. I loved Oliver then.

When we were in high school and I found out that the school's heartthrob and one of my most ardent suitors, Richard, was involved with a bustier girl, it was to Oliver that I ran. When I didn't graduate as valedictorianand I got so drunk, it was Oliver who took me home. He didn't even mind that I barfed all over his dad's car (which he borrowed without permission).

When I decided to go to UP and he went to Ateneo, we celebrated by partying. When I lost my mom in a car accident, he took care of everything. When my dad followed my mom less than a year later after a heart attack, he was there again. By this time he was an appendage of my life. He used to check out the guys I came to know. Nobody dared to get serious with me--not when Oliver had a black belt.I didn't know how to define our relationship.

I didn't know what we were. We definitely were more than friends, better even than best friends. It was like we were a couple, but formally not one.

We did all the things that couple did like hang out and neck but always stopped when things got too hot. Since we never defined what we meant to each other we never said ''I love you'' or whatever serious couple told each other.

As a result, I remained a chaste princess while my prince caroused and sowed wild oats, but still had the energy to monitor my movements. I didn't mind. After all, I was so sure we'd end up together. I always thought that in the end, it would be us. I loved him. I managed to convince myself that he loved me (what else could it be?). Little did I know that love doesn't conquer all, it only conquers the weak.

I didn't think he'd be so stupid as to get a girl pregnant on the same night they met at a party. I didn't think he'd be so stupid as to forget to use some form of contraception. After all, he had given me a lecture on safe sex. And I didn't think he'd be so stupid as to marry the girl. But maybe I forgot that after all he was a man, and men have been known to be stupid about these things. Their brain is located in a region other than between the ears.

What could I do? Kicking him in the groin and punching him in the eye seemed like a good idea then. Don't blame me; he was the one who enrolled me in a self-defense course. But I did not feel better. Seeing him bent over in pain only made me angrier. I wasted my life for this lousy excuse of a man? I could not believe it! I wanted nothing more than to run to him and beg him to wake me up from the stupid dream. I wanted him to take mesome place where we didn't know anybody.

No pain, no memory, no humiliation. I wanted to just forget it ever happened but since I flunked in the School for Martyrs, I couldn't, for the life of me pretend, it didn't happen. I couldn't pretend he didn't hurt me.

I couldn't pretend everything was fine and dandy and exactly the way it was before. We didn't talk for a month. For both of us who were practically inseparable, that was like an eternity. I ducked into corners whenever I would see him. I wouldn't take his calls. I wouldn't see him. And for some time hate was my reason for getting up in the morning, for breathing, for living.

Hate and I became good friends.

"God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them but to cleanse them," somebody once wrote. I didn't want to be cleansed. I just wanted to drown in pain and misery and utter desolation. I wanted to wallow in the dark and deep pit of despair. I know a thousand and one cliches that say this can be a blessing and that I should be thankful. But thankful is the last thing I'm feeling right now. I've always thought that there are three kinds of women: those who break, those who mend and those who are broken themselves.

Before this hit me, I assumed that I belonged to the first or second category. Now I know I'm in the third--so hurt and broken up inside. My grandmother used to say that there is nothing you can do about pain when it gives you a silly grin except grin right back. All I could manage was a wry smile, a killer headache and the worst hangover the day before his wedding.

Evidence of that is the disgusting sight of mashed potatoes and barbecue, thrown up not three meters away from where I was lying prostrate on the floor and the awful stench of cigarette on my hair. Frankly I don't want to go. I want to wallow in misery in my messy room, crying, retching and stinking, surrounded with Michael Learns to Rock (whose songs are dedicated to the broken-hearted) CDs. But I have to go and attend the wedding. I haveto bathe and prepare and put on that atrocious peach (it's not even my color!) gown.

I'm not doing it for the groom, my one true friend and love, Oliver. Neither am I doing it for the bride, my younger sister, Sandra who needs me. I'm doing it for my unborn niece who has the great fortune of having me as her aunt. Call me stupid, but I've always known my place. If it isn't beside the man I was destined to marry, if it isn't behind my sister, who will take his name, wear his ring and bear him a child, then it must be with my niece, cradled close to my heart so that she will know both of our love.

Words to live by...

Who the hell do you look like?!?! :)

just wanted to write....

Ignorance is bliss, they say.

When you're in a relationship with someone who treats you right, you would think that everything is great. Unknowingly, that same person who treats you like a queen, has actually cheated on you 2 or 3 times. But being the great person he is, he has never left you for these girls and continues to love and treat you the way you deserve to be treated. You never find out about these other girls. Even now that your relationship is over.

On the other hand, we have this someone who does not treat you as well as you would like, but has been absolutely faithful to you and loves you very much. You two are totally in love.
I wonder who I'd rather be with?

The 1st case would make me look like a TOTAL idiot. Having no idea that my so-called perfect boyfriend was actually a DOG.

The 2nd case would make me look like a STOOOOPID martyr, so insecure that I don't have the courage to fight for what i'm worth.

The person i'm describing is actually someone i know VERY WELL (wink wink). He used to be case number 1, now he's case number 2.

My question is, has he changed for the better?... hmm...

Words really cannot describe how I feel about my kids. I love them to death. To the brink of obsession! Ok, that's scary. I'm just trying to show how intense the feeling is. Anyway, this is the latest pic of me and my baby. Taken by my hubby. :)

final interviews

Doesn't it seem harsh that a person's life is sort of in your hands when doing these things? I know how important a job is to a person, and having that much power to affect a person's life is really scary.

But of course you have to be realistic. At the end of the day, it's a business, and you have to take care of that business. You have to get people that you know will work with you in acheiving goals.

I hate parasite agents who just jump from call center to call center. To them, their job is just a meal ticket. That, if they have enough money, they won't go to work or just slack off. Milk the company for whatever it's worth and apply at another call center again to do the same thing.
Haaay. What do these kids want to do with their lives? I know they're young and want to have fun... but I had fun when I was young too but I didn't fuck up my job.

Ok, I'm ranting now. Didn't mean to do that at the start of this blog. I guess I see a lot of potential in young people that is totally wasted.

Sigh. If only we could see this during final interviews... my life would be SO MUCH EASIER.

Let there be light

Sometimes, life gives us dilemmas we think we can not survive. Although at the back of our minds we know it's only temporary, I usually say, "That's nice, but what about NOW? What do we do in the meantime?"

We're now in the last stages of our "dilemma", and i'm seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Although we're not there yet, we're close, and I can't wait. In the meantime, I thank God for all the support we've gotten from both our families. Without them, our problem would've been unbearable and traumatic.

Here's hoping it doesn't happen again, right Jerome? :)

Something is keeping me up nights, and it's not even final yet. Sheesh! I worry too much.

Haven't updated in a while... been busy taking care of the little one. Although I've gone back to work, I still take care of little javi at night. So i guess you can call me a full time mom and corporate slave :) oh well...

Javi is growing fast, and so is Gabby... I can't believe I have 2 kids already! Life is good. No, life is GREAT.

Javier Luis Q. Romanillos

Born: July 18, 2006

:)

2 more weeks... or maybe more

I just had my check up today... My OB said that if I wanted, I can have my baby in 2 weeks! But of course, I'm gonna try for a normal delivery this time... i'm scared and excited at the same time....

Well... ok... MORE SCARED than excited :p

Gabby is getting bigger.... and more annoying by the minute!!! She is so spoiled!! Ugh. Anyway, here's a recent pic of "ate" ... ganda no?? :)

Recharge!

I get to rest!!!! Ever since I turned 7 months, i've been having a hard time moving and stuff... Now i get to rest for 4 days!!! yipeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Then after that, it's back to work! !@#$%^&*!

2 years ago today, a wonderful gift was given to us.. her name is Gabriella Marie Q. Romanillos. We love her SO MUCH, this makulit little funny girl.

Happy Birthday Gabby baby! Mwah!

Anxious

We are to have a REALLY hectic 3 weeks ahead of us...... I just hope i'll be able to keep up... I get tired so easily...

Nice...

"Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous"

I just had my ultrasound today and Jerome and I were so pleased to learn that our baby is a boy! Of course it would be ok if it was a girl, but we were hoping for a boy :)

Looks like all the "hard-work" that I went through during the 1st trimester was worth it...

Well... we're waiting for Javier Luis Q. Romanillos to come.....

So damn tired...

I dunno what the hell is wrong with me.. every little thing gets on my nerves. For the past few days I have been a bitch. Yes, I admit it. I know what it is... it's WORK. I feel bad for all the people that have experienced my wrath... THANK GOD i'm going on leave! Hopefully i'll come back refreshed...

Happy 2nd year anniversary Jerome :)

Aaaawwwww

Haven't updated in a long time... I am proud to say that my battle with morning sickness has finally ended! I'm on my way to full weight gain now, with no hindrance... yikes!

I've been pretty busy with work, work and nothing but work...

Gabby is growing up to be a beautiful girl.. and hubby is still the same...

I got a new haircut... I promised myself that I will not post a picture of myself anywhere on the internet until I have given birth :)

So here's one instead of my baby girl...

Oh, WHEN WILL IT END?!?!?!

There are good days and there are bad days...

Sometimes i think that this bout with "paglilihi" is going to be during my whole pregnancy. But then there are days when I don't even feel like wretching. Which is like once or twice a week only :(

Today is NOT a good day... the minute i got up from bed i started to feel sick. How can that be?!?! I haven't even done or eaten ANYTHING yet!!! Aside from that, if i DON'T eat i feel sick... if i DO eat, i feel sick! ARGH!!!!!!!!! tangina ayoko na talaga!!

ok. i'm done venting.

Anyway, it's 730am... i'm here at the office.. not supposed to be here til 9am...

I need a life... or maybe my own car.

I've learned..

Thanks for this, Minette :)

I’ve learned – that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned – that no matter how much I care,
Some people just don’t care back.

I’ve learned – that it takes years to build up trust,
And only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned – that it’s not what you have in your life
But who you have in your life that counts.

I’ve learned – that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes.
After that, you’d better know something.

I’ve learned – that you shouldn’t compare yourself
To the best others can do.

I’ve learned – that you can do something in an instant
That will give you heartache for life.

I’ve learned – that it’s taking me a long time
To become the person I want to be.

I’ve learned – that you should always leave loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned – that you can keep going
Long after you thin you can’t.

I’ve learned – that we are responsible for what we do,
No matter how we feel.

I’ve learned – that either you control your attitude
Or it controls you.

I’ve learned – that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first,
The passion fades and there had better be something else to takes its place.

I’ve learned – that heroes are the people who do what has to be done
When it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned – that money is a lousy way of keeping score

I’ve learned – that my best friend and I can do anything
Or nothing and have the best time.

I’ve learned – that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re done
Will be the ones to help you get back up.

I’ve learned – that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry,
But that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I’ve learned – that true friendship continues to grow,
Even over the longest distance. Same goes for love.

I’ve learned – that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them
Doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I’ve learned – that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had
And what you’ve learned from them
and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I’ve learned – that you should never tell a child that their dreams are unlikely or outlandish.
Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I’ve leaned – that your family won’t always be there for you.
It may seem funny, but people you aren’t related to can take care of you,
Love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren’t biological.

I’ve learned – that no matter how good a friend is,
They’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned – that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I’ve learned – that no matter how bad your heart is broken
The world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned – that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
But we are responsible for who we become.

I’ve learned – that just because two people argue,
It doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.
And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I’ve learned – that we don’t have to change friends
If we understand that friends change.

I’ve learned – that you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret.
It could change your life forever.

I’ve learned – that no matter how you try to protect your children
They will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I’ve learned – that your life can be changed in a matter of hours
By people who don’t even know you.

I’ve learned that even when you think you have no more to give,
When a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I’ve learned – that credentials on the wall
Do not make you a decent human being.

I’ve learned – that the people you care most about in life
Are taken from you too soon.

I’ve learned - that it’s hard to determine where to draw the line
Between being nice and not hurting people’s feelings
And standing up for what you believe.

Holiday season recap

Well, it's over! Back to normal life again....

I think this is one of the best holidays i've had in a long time. I got to spend Christmas Eve with my family... and New Year's Eve with my new one.

Christmas Eve
My cousin and her boyfriend came home from the states so we had a small reunion of sorts at my aunt's house in the South. It was fun... lots of gifts and with lots of FISH to eat! hahahahaha!

My cousin's boyfriend Ralph knew how to speak Spanish so my husband was...err...forced to speak to him. Jerome's not very confident when it comes to speaking the first language he learned as a child. Oh well... i think he did very well :) The highlight of my night was when I learned that my aunt had a magic sing! Well, let's just say it was a solo mini-concert. :)

New Year's Eve
We arrived at abuelita's house at around 6pm. We had spaghetti on hand which I didn't know was to be the main course for dinner. Lala's cooking was to be after midnight. Gabby was the star of the show! My bibo baby showed her talents almost the whole night long to the delight of all her lolo's and lola's.

Thanks to everyone who greeted me on my birthday and new year's eve! :)

next year...

There will be 2 more additions to the family... hmm... i guess playground na kelangan!