2011 in retro

11 Yays on my 2011
1.  Got accepted in the first job i applied to last august
2.  ELAH now reads better.  i gave up on drilling her to read and use phonics and just let her be.  now she actually loves reading and likes to show off. Uno now walks and talks and does everything cutely.
3.  First family out of the country trip last april.  so happy the kids had their first flight out.
4.  ELAH finally participates again in the school programs.  though she still moves little.  but atleast there's no more crying and just standing like a wallflower on stage.
5.  Uno's party was a total success.  so happy with the outcome.  despite the heavy rains, people actually had fun.
6.  My parents are home for the holidays.  its the best treat ever!
7.  our short boracay vacay.  2days of leave without pay was worth it just to lounge at Sur all day and getting drunk on vodka.
8.  My team are finally warming up on me.  though i still dont have a constant lunchmate, im happy that i can actually share a few laughs with them and talk nonsense sometimes.
9.  i am back to reading.  i actually got farmville and television detoxed.  i just drown myself on books every night.  which is good coz i think im building up my vocabulary again which was stalled for a while.  though my books are piling up.  they wont fit anymore in the bookshelf.
10.  the condo renovated.  atleast my kitchen is not falling anymore.  :)
11.  i am surrounded with awesomeness.  my kids and husband are good pretty much throughout the year.  my parents are awesome sending us everything we could possibly need and not possibly need.  my brothers are to the rescue when i need them and they happen to be available.  friends are forever friends.

11 Boos on my 2011
1.  I was told last november during my 3rd month evaluation that i was recommended for early regularization.  but i'm still waiting to get regularized til now.  an officemate got her early regularization on the same day of her 3rd month evaluation.  can't help but be a bit bitter ocampo.
2.  Uno's skin problems from skin ashtma to the very stubborn impetigo
3.  Uno's very obvious resentment with me since i started working.  adjustment period hasn't ended yet.  he still likes yaya better since i started working.  i have to bribe him with ipad and cellphone to be able to get him at night
4.  i gained 8lbs since i started working in august.  my clothes dont fit anymore and i refuse to buy more big clothes since i hate looking at my closet filled with L and XL clothes.
5. My brother wasnt able to pass the medical board this year.  hopefully next year he gets it!  he is a really good doctor.  its just the test scores dont give him justice when he is in action doing his doctor thingie.
6.  My silent wish for more money.  If only i can poop money, i'd rather stay home with my babies than leave them with my yaya in pekpek shorts.
7.  My ever stubborn skin problems as well.  comes out from stress and weight gain.  sucks really.
8.  some arguments that i wish never happened.  still makes me sad when i remember them.  what can i do, theyre inevitable.
9.  i literally wreaked havoc in the Terminal 2.  i unleashed my inner annabelle rama when cebu pac wanted to bump me and hubby off the flight.
10.  uno lost his left thumbnail.  everyone assures me that it will grow back.  but its been a month now and still nothing.
11.  for all the sickness and the sleepness nights the kids went thru.  it was hard and theres more years ahead of us worrying but hopefully the worse will never come.


12 things to look forward to for 2012
1.  my regularization.  if i wont be granted early regularization, its still coming on feb.  ill just wait i guess.
2.  ballet classes.  i would really love to make time and attend ballet classes again.   or maybe try the aerial dance when the studio opens in strata.
3.  enrolling elah to ballet class.  i get pressured by all the ballet lolas to enroll her.  she just wasn't ready last year.  hopefully this year she is ready.  i need not enroll her with HCSB necessarily, though i would love for her to see the school where i spent my last 20 plus years with and see my old photos, but HC is a bit far and will be a bit of a hassle if i take her there the whole summer.  hopefully toni lopez-gonzalez rates are good.  i think thats where ill take her.
4.  elah's bday party in school.  she had been thinking about it since forever.  everytime she hears i am buying cake, she requests for a huge disney princess themed cake, thinking that its her birthday already.  i hope to make a really happy girl out of her on jan.16.  lola will be there attending too.
5.  uno completing his immunization shots.
6.  jun's regularization
7.  kuya pau hopefully making it to the board exams. and ziggy talking clearly
8.  happy home with zero away.
9.  finding a good school for elah by 3rd quarter of 2012 so that elah reserves a spot for grade 1 in 2013 school year.
10.  uno growing/maturing a bit so i can get more help from yaya.  right now she just watches uno mainly.  and cleaning a little and ironing a little.  if uno wont be a handful anymore nextyear, i would love for her to cook a little too.  it would be nice to come home with cooked food for dinner already.
11.  me trimming down.  i swear i will shop till i drop my skinny ass when i trim myself down.
12.  my parents visiting again next year hopefully.  it really just feels different when they're away.  this year our celebration is simple but everyone is so happy theyre back here.  my dad finally got to meet the 2 baby boys. and elah is spending her whole vacation with them and sleeping beside them at night.


sharing a glimpse of my Yays for 2011....

dalagang filipina

Dalagang filipina was choreographed for me and our whole QCB batch by Tony Fabella back when i was in 3rd or 4th year highschool.  it was our most cherished dance ever.  until now it is still being performed by the QCB after more than 5 batches/generations after us.

proud to say we were the original cast.  we mounted the dance en pointes.  Tito Tony was a total genius.

other ballet schools tried to copy it.  some schools also requested for tito tony to choreograph for them a different version. well, we don't care about it.  we just love the dance.  no comparisons necessary.  until now after  more or less 15years, we can still dance it right on, just not on pointes.

kc found the music in an mp3 website months back.  i couldn't share their joy then because the site was blocked here in my office.  i discovered just today its not blocked if i try accessing it via google chrome.

so now, after waiting for the download to finish for more than 10mins, im listening to it.  and it really brought tears to my eyes dancing it in my head right now.

in this video im one of the blue (luzon) girls.  at the latter performances, i get to do the lead blue also when ate grace was not available.  

http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=qai2ChrcHJc&feature=related

you may see me clearly on the following times:
5:33 to 5:52 - im the blue girl in the middle
7:46 to *:00 - im the lone blue girl in the group part

Presents i got this year. for christmas only!

• technomarine watch
• fitflops
• tory burch bag
• kindle touch
• books

hopefully next year i get the prada bag that i am soooo drooling on for months!  

will i be getting presents for my birthday???  yes nagpapa rinig ako!  :P

Surprise!!!

Yesterday afternoon 5PM Manila time, I received an email from my dad with the subject "HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM PALM DESSERT, CA".  As i saw my email notification at the bottom of the screen pop up with that, I got a little nervous and excited at the same time.  i had a feeling my dad was onto sumtin.

well in the first place, he was supposed to be fast asleep then because it was 1AM California time.

so when i opened my email, i got this...

He meticulously did the font color thingies, which i have to give him props for since he is not that much of a techie.  he must have spent a good 20mins doing just that.

but its not the greeting i was ecstatic about, it was the really small text at the bottom of it!

right then when i read his email i told my boss i will not be reporting for work tom.  its been 2 years since i last saw my dad.  he and my mom left day after the ondoy!  and since then it was only my mom who has been visiting manila.  my dad had been working straight.

god bless his boss bill who let him go on vacation!  i just dont know how long he will be here in manila.  last i heard, he'll be lucky to get 14days maximum for a vacay.  but thats pushing the envelope.  most likely and realistically because of the boss' demands, around 7days.

well, we will take the 7days to see him!

after i took a bath this mornign i found elah folding colored paper into paper boats.  inside she had written our names.  one for me, for her and for lola.  i asked "how about lolo?"  she said "oh yah i forgot.  because i havent seen lolo for a long time.  i just miss him and miss him".  made me decide not to tell her about lolo arriving.  thought it would be nice to give  her a shock tom when lolo comes inside the door!

so i just told her i have a surprise tom.  she asked what it was, i told her i cant tell.  and she said "oh its a secret?" i said yes but i promise it will be really really good!

ELAH's Turkey costume

in my previous post, i showed teacher's email of the sketch of the turkey costume needed for the reading recital.

good thing the recital was moved to dec.17 from dec.3.  gave me ample time to tahi tagpi!  i spent 5hours sewing the wings.  i used 3 layers of felt cloth.  then i attached to it layers and layers of tulle to make it fluffy.  i made pleats with the strips of tulle to make it a little like tutu at the back.  

you can still see my stitches in the pic above.

the flesh leotards and tights, red boots and red bonnet were all store bought.

i made the bib and the beak and the other felt details on her costume.

I was so pleased with ELAH's costume.  may i say she had the best costume in the group of gobbling turkeys? sorry for the yabang.  some had theirs made my a tailor, but it wasn't in any way near from what i created.  the other mothers used cardboards for the wings, but then they didnt follow the color scheme and the design. 

i intentionally did not talk to the moms about elah's costume days or weeks before the show.  i didn't even ask them who will make their kids costume nor ask what materials they were using.  i kept my mouth shut this time to make sure there will be no copycats.  

this is out of topic but i hated a certain mom for deliberately stealing my idea the last time the kids had a project.  earlier this schoolyear during buwan ng wika, the class had a bahay kubo project.  the kids were asked to make their own bahay kubo in 1/4 illustration board using popsicle sticks and other art materials.  elah and i used clays to make some vegetation around her bahay kubo.  we had string beans, kalabasa and others all made from clay. elah and i made it TOGETHER.  we formed clays together, glued the popsicles together. ELAH painted everything for the background. anyways,  so there was this one mom who i was talking to the day before the deadline. she said they made their bahay kubo yet.  she asked me how elah and i did in the bahay kubo, so i told her about the clay part.  the next day, she and her son went to school and i saw her son's project tadtad with CLAY vegetation!  she even proudly admitted to me that my idea was good and she copied it!!! her son didnt even help her make the bahay kubo.  she made it the night she talked to me!   at the end of the month, the projects were judged and her son's bahay kubo with MY vegetation idea won.  her son even got additional grades for it.  and some toy prizes.  i thought it was unfair.  though i didnt tell teacher about it anymore.  im not stooping down her level.

and so i learned my lesson.  after that, i literally shut up when we talk about our kid's projects and whatever.  so this idea stealer mommy turned up last saturday with her son's costume looking crappy.  i was happy it looked like crap but i was irked because her son kept on pulling elah during the performance.  so elah was so confused as to which one was her partner because of this boy who kept pulling elah to his side. ugh!  i am so praying that he transfers next year because he is totally over age anyway!  he is turning 6years old on january!  i have so many things to tell about that boy being such a bully and everyday all day irritating, but lets save it for another entry...  

im still waiting for hubby's pictures and kuya's video of the performance.  but ill share one picture of elah as the gobbling turkey....

  

tagos to the bones

the question "buntis ka ba?" really hits me... tagos to the bones.  except that its hard to salat my bones with these fatties.

while waiting for the elevator, an officemate (who tried to strike up a conversation with me for the first time, and not just our usual hi's and hello's; props to him for even trying) asked my most hated question "buntis ka ba?" and i politely said no.  but he insisted and insisted til the elevator arrived, and when we were on our way down from the 35th floor.  i finally just have to say, "taba lang talaga to..."

i cant blame the people asking because i guess i just really look it...

in the MRT, there are still kind-but-mistaken souls who give up their seats for me.  i on the other hand, just politely accept and thank them.  i'm sorry if i take their seat even if im not pregnant.  i'm just saving myself from more embarrasment by admitting to the whole commuting population that i am just fat, and not pregnant.

i just wish the fatties will go away.

i know i know, i need to work out... its just that my UNO still hasn't adjusted with me working.  he still clings on to  yaya whenever i get home.  so i savor the weekends where i can spend a few hours with him and him smothering me.  because on weekends and at night, he favors yaya more than me.  so i swear, once he starts loving me again regardless what day or time it is, i will go back to my true love, ballet.

really i just need to dance.  its not like i've been making lamon on lechon everyday or something.  my food intake isn't that bad.  ive been walking to and from work everyday (from shaw blvd to emerald ave) but that is just not enough to trim me down.  not even my 1 year old kulit who i run after all the time while were in the mall can give any deduction to my weight.

now im starting to reminisce the good old days when i was thin...

• i look good in anything
• i fit in a size S or M
• i feel really good about myself
• i look like a prima ballerina even with regular clothes on everyday
• stiletto heels are my staples.  i never wiggle in them.  i can wear them day and night

i really want to be back to the thin me again.  much more than my husband/mother/friends/whoever want me to.

below are the pictures of me some 30 or 40lbs ago...

My Little King Corn

Months back he discovered corn on the cob...

and now he found popcorn yum!

he can finish half a bag in one sitting!  Popcorn Monster!

wishlist

DLSU Centennial Jacket; FitFlops; Watch; Kindle; Lisa Harris' Princess at the Ballet album.

ELAH the turkey

teacher sent me via email elah's turkey  costume sketch.  so lets see if my tahi-tagpi skills are still intact!

her reading recital is on dec 3!  i promise this weekend i will be making tahi tagpi all day all night!  :D

EDSA to Cory Aquino Ave? Seriously?

but why?  is that congressman from bohol cant think of something else to do?  publicity stunt ka sir?

imagine how many millions will the government spend on changing all the road signs if this bill gets passed?  filipino's taxpayers money yan oy!  dear congress, don't the taxpayers get a say on this?  please check twitter and see all the hates and the rants!

oh if this gets passed, whats next for the aquinos?  BALLSY International Airport perhaps? oooh no... i gave them an idea to rename! naku pow!

what do i really want for christmas???

Hubby wants to give me this...

my daddy wants to give me this...

add up the values of the watch and the purse, i think i can get

problem is, im too shy to ask my dad to get me this and have hubby pay for the bag.  also, hubby doesnt like the monogram.  he always prefer damier ebene like my speedy.  so its like 3years ago, when we were in the store and he was about to buy me already.  but we couldnt agree on the style.  i wanted the neverfull and he wanted the batignolle.  so now, i want a montorguiel in monogram but he frowns at it so again i cant get a new LV. 

so should i settle for the watch and the tory?  but i am not very fond of hobo bags.  i prefer the robinson tote. my dad got that purse for my mom.  but im not sure why he wants to give it to me?  im really not sure if i like it.

i better make up my mind soon before my mom's flight to here and before hubby spends his budget on his gift for me!  

well to top of my dilemma, i still dont know what to get him.  a kiss wont really do it this time because im working again and all. hehehe

becky terminologies

my friends and i have been using these terms ever since forever. end of highschool or early college?  more than 10years ago...  as in when they were still not popular among the becks.  the oldest ones weve been using are the ff:

CHANda Romero - malaki ang tyan
PAGODa Cold Wave Lotion - pagod

my friend nini had been saying David HASSLEhoff for more than 5years now i think.

and now, anywhere you go, you will hear people using celebrities' names to refer to a feeling to sound amusing.  so im listing below our barkada favorites.

AFRAIDy Aguilar
HAGGARDo Versoza
BITTER Ocampo
STRESS Drilon

(picture from Google.  sorry Ces...)

Tagaytay... no boys allowed!

KC treated the barkada to a night's stay in tagaytay.  one cardinal rule though - No Boys Allowed!

even with husband protesting, nope he couldn' t join.  and days prior to the trip i thought i was going to miss it.  Uno had ashtma attacks and impetigo.  oh the horror of seeing your child wheezing hard at night and the terrible terrible manifestation of impetigo.  thank god his skin started healing after all the antibiotics both oral and topical. and the wheezing was only for that night.

And so off we went to tagaytay last saturday.  we had a little car trouble on the way.  it wasn't major.  but we saw instead a lot of majors and other men in uniform while having the car fixed at the gasoline station. the Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas' bus ride was having troubles as well. hahaha!  they couldnt help but notice our entourage.  found out from Misty's driver that the major guy approached him and was crushing on misty. He asked mang pido if misty is married or still single.  Mang Pido forgot my friend is single AGAIN! hahaha!

anyways, we went straight to antonios.  ran into our friend charmaine.  ordered plenty.  tambay and talked A LOT!  took pictures ofcourse (thats a given, all of us are camwhores).

We checked in at View Park Hotel.  all in all the hotel exceeded our expectations.  The hotel staff were all nice and all men (we didnt see even one lady staff).  They are always more than helpful.  The extra bed, which we expected to be a small extra matress to be put on the floor, was actually an actual twin bed.  The room service was speedy.  They even recooked our adobo baon!

The best part about the trip is the girls.  chikahan was nonstop.  True enough, like what my husband and their boyfriends noted, theres no dead air when the girls are talking.  theres always a new topic.  everyone comments.  everyone gets everything!

Til our next destination.  kc wants it sabaw in a beach!

Cold feet

i put in my YM status message "Cold feet" coz literally my toes are now freezing here in the office.

and within a few seconds, my team mate YMed and sent me a picture of this cutie.

i remember... nothing

i saw that my favorite author nora ephron has a new book out titled "I Remember NOTHING" (cant wait to get my hands on 'em)

which brings me up to my husband's longtime peeve on me.  he says, how the hell can i remember the date when he bought his first iphone, or remember what he was wearing the day we met or remember the food he ordered on our 2nd date, but i dont remember what he said that is totally 100% important 10mins ago?

and then i will answer back with conviction "ikaw ba ma caesarian 2x!  imagine ang anesthesia na tinurok sakin ng bonggang bongga?"

no but seriously, i can still remember these random weird things:
-what my friend wore to her friend's brother's wake 15 years ago, but i dont remember what i wore.  (she wore her RL collared light pink shirt tucked in a jeans)

-i cried in nursery class when my classmate pointed out i colored the whole page wrong.  the instruction was to color only the things that can be found inside the house.  and i colored the pig black and the car red. but i dont remember being told by the teacher of the instructions (i guess i wasnt paying attention)...

-i used to sit under the barre and outline with my finger the seams of the tights of the bigger girls when in line for corner exercises.  i remember they would all get tickled and be surprised to find me hidden there under the barre.

-it was in ciara's house where i first ate sineguelas. i remember also we even ate a lot of pineapples.  we ate lunch at her house.  i just dont remember what viand we had.  we definitely had rice ofcourse.
-i remember my brother getting mad at me for jumbling the questions in his reviewer (he memorized the answer in sequence kasi)

-my mom got mad one time when she was putting baby oil at my brother's back, because the bottle was filled with water (and i filled it.  i never admitted it was me)

-i remember Myra, the lady who owns the salon in my hometown, where my mom used to take me to have my curls done.  (i was jealous of my friends with curls daw.  but i dont remember ever telling her i was jealous of anyone's curls...)
-i remember that the cousin of my neighbor lent me my neighbor's stationary set.  i remember they were blue with flower design and scented.  she handed it to me early morning.  by the afternoon she said my neighbor was looking for it.  so i tried and tried so hard to look for it.  i never found them.  i was so sorry, i gave her a different set of stationery.  and she got mad at me.  for weeks i really tried really hard looking for them, but i never found them.

-i lost a ring my mom gave me when i was in gradeschool.  she accused me of giving it to a boy i was crushing on.  the thing is, i was really really bad at remembering where i put things before.  i always lost a jewelry, a headband, a one week old guess watch (which was really IN back then).  i never gave any of my stuff away.  i really really lost them. i regret losing them til now.  like the charriol bracelet i bought with my salary.  i lost it when i left it on the floor in the studio during a shooting for a tv show.

-i remember random dates of events
            -like when my husband bought his iphone (it was dec13 2009);
            -when we  went to enchanted with my daughter and i was pregnant (dec 18 2009).  i was 2 months pregnant.  my daughter and i took a cab to my husband's office in valero.  the cab's meter read 179, super overcharging.  i was so mad but i still paid for it anyway.  i thought i was gonna be short for change so i asked my husband to wait for us outside his office.
           -when we went to see narnia when we were still dating (jan 12 2006)
           -when i first learned i was pregnant with elah (may 29, 2006)
         
isn't my memory weird?  usually when my husband and i talk about some random past, i would just blurt out, "oh you were even wearing this... it was on MM/dd/yyyy" and he would just give me a look with a gigantic "?"

i can still restage some dances i last performed 10 or 15years ago.  i can dance them full length in my head right now.  my friends say my brain is a total dance database.  :)

back when...

pics below were taken back in 2003. during the time when i was working from 6am to 2pm in makati, then will go straight to quezon city.  will be dancing from 6pm until maybe 11 or 12midnight.  then off to a bar somewhere.  go home at 2 or 3 am.  sleep only for 2 hours then the cycle goes on.

on some days will be in the theater maybe the whole day, just dancing and dancing and dancing...

explains why i was so thin.

im still thin.  the thin me is still here somewhere, hidden under fatties.