MEComposing

Ugh.

Suddenly I want to be living in Lipa where houses have dirty kitchens with tungkos (cooking stations using logs and sticks for kindling) because there just isn't any gas (LPG) to be bought here in Manila!

Arrgh.

Our electric bill is sure to soar, what with having to boil water for two babies' baths and sterilizing their things. And I hate being unable to find the plug for the rice cooker. We're down to one tank of gas which will last us one week at best.

Sigh.

And I can't help but panic... and believe that powers that be ARE hoarding the tanks to sell them at higher prices. I know there isn't any gas crisis right now because gas prices are being lowered again! It may be a crude deduction but surely they'd be increasing the prices if there really is a shortage.

We can't cook using charcoal where we live! It would cost riots in the neighborhood if all the washing ends up with soot. And buying food from carinderias and restaurants IS costing us already.

Ugh.

My head aches.

Gas! Where are you?!

And just when i'm into cooking too!!!

Generally, am not a Japanese food person. And usually, am a tuna sashimi girl. But right now, i've been on a california maki binge. I just ate eleven of these babies. This one is particularly good, I was surprised that the sprinkling of sesame seeds lended it a richer taste.

I hate some shops that go overboard with the vinegar when they cook the rice.

And yes, I love the mayo they use.

*~*

Am also particularly craving crabs. And I was bent on going to Batanes when I found out you can eat coconut crabs there. But the P12k Seair round trip fare (per person) is just too expensive for a time of recession.

But i'm still craving crabs! Crabs cooked in coconut milk with lots of squash. Yum-yum.

... I actually wanted to entitle this post "Rape Me in my Thigh" because that was the more laughable line, but I didn't want to generate uhm, the wrong traffic.

Anyway, am really curious if the karaoke lyrics provided the guy are also wrong, because he's pretty consistent in what he's singing, so it's not just bad English diction/accent.

Enjoy!

Times like these, I can't help but miss Py. I guess we will perpetually wonder how things would be if he's hovering over his brother and cousin.

But anyway, Yakee and Ice are growing just fine. They like playing together even if one or both end up crying, from fighting over toys. We're also doing our best not to hurry Ice to crawl and walk and it's really great that Yakee doesn't bully him. He cries instead when he sees Ice has gotten one of his toys. See, he prefers it if he's the one handing the toy to Ice.

Hopefully, they will grow up, not just as cousins, but as friends as well. Hopefully, they'd be closer than Ice's father and I am. Hopefully, they will see each other through good times and bad.

*~*

Ice is exactly 10 months today while yakee will soon be 1 year and 4 months old.

I'm not a fan of Barack Obama, maybe because I really don't know much about his politics, and mostly because he seemed more like a mascot of a representative than a true beacon of hope to me.

But his journey has just begun, as a President.

And I wouldn't mind being wrong about not being in love with him already right now.

However, I am aware of WHO he has become for the people, not just the Americans, but everybody else. In him lies a hope that mankind has indeed walked its first step towards a greater tolerance for differences. So I wish his government well.

And if he really has the backbone to make the tough decisions just so we'd all walk a straighter, more righteous, more considerate path again... well then, the better for us.

I wish him well. And his family well. The hope of their nation lies in their shoulders.

And I wish America well. It would be stupid not to, knowing how other nations depend on it, are affected by it. I should like to see morality and a great sense of family go back to their dictionary.

This video was shared to me by Tin :)

And I guess the lesson is a pretty grim one... to get a boy to marry you, you'd have to be better and smarter than him :D

And yes, God helps those who helps themselves. Hehe.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?

Enrolled in a distance education program.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I've forgotten what I resolved to do last year... but hopefully i'd keep my resolutions for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My sis-in-law! My CWL friends! My cousin-in-law! My former boss!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No... thank God.

5. What countries did you visit?

None :(

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

More money for vacations. More savings. Better eating habits.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 28, because I finally got to celebrate my wedding anniversary and it's the third one already!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Not going crazy from parenthood.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Lack of time management that made me decide to drop my masteral studies eventually... and now, am kinda bored without it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope. More feelings of low self-esteem as I adjusted to not earning my own money and second-guessing my own self as a mom.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I didn't buy it exactly but am loving Hedwig, my DSLR!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Yakee... for sleeping through the night most times.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

A lot of politicians. My brother. Some friends and family members.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Food. Treats.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Planning my son's Harry Potter-themed birthday party :D

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

You're My Number One (?) from the Nido commercial

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? just the same... i've gained back the pounds i've lost so am now back to 140 lbs. (i look less bloated I think)
iii. richer or poorer? poorer materially, richer intangibly :D

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Slept better?

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Binge Eat... and I half-wish I didn't find that choco chip cookie recipe that had me addicted

20. Did you fall in love in 2008?

with the men in my life... over and over again

21. Who got together and who broke up?

Some friends got married. Some friends got separated.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Gossip Girl :D

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Hate is such a strong word, one I feel I can really only use for my beloved ones :D Not that I don't perpetually hate trapos and deadbeat dads and philanderers and similar jerks

24. What was the best book you read?

The Family Almanac and The Tales of Beedle the bard!!!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

That I can learn to love nursery rhymes :D

26. What did you finally throw away after years of safekeeping?

A lot of books and bridal magazines, old shirts and tops dating back to my HS days :D

27. Where did you planned to go but failed to do so?

Dapitan/Dakak with the family, due to lack of funds.

28. What did you want and got?

A closer, happier family life... and general good health.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Juno?

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 31 and we ate at dampa with my family. I also had my very own Alex Franco cake.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If I had travelled somewhere and used a plane to get there :D

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Frumpy Mommy. :D

34. What kept you sane?

My darling husband, son, family, Harry Potter :D

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Chuck Bass? :D

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Obama's presidency run.

37. Who did you miss?

my gimik buds

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Abbie, new sis-in-law

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

"Deprived" is a relative term.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I can't remember when you weren't there (Through the Years)... pertaining to son and husband

A friend texted me last night, asking me if i'd seen the latest McDonalds commercial inspired by Ang Huling El Bimbo (a song by Eraserheads). I didn't embed the video here because it wouldn't fit right so just click the link.

In the same message, my friend also said, "Sigh. I can't wait for you to teach your kids about love." :)

And then we at the hospital got to see the commercial... and all sighed accordingly and said, "Aww, sad."

But I realized later on that though that song will always evoke sadness in me, and friends (childhood or otherwise) who had feelings for each other that don't end up together will always be a sad love story... there is a sort of upside to all that. For somehow, you get allowed an extra (albeit silent) love or lover. Someone who can love you without selfishness and expectations. Someone you need not fear you'd ever lose. Someone you need not worry will betray you.

Surely, there is some sort of happiness to be had in that.

After four years... some of us have married. Some have even separated. Some have remarried.

Some of us have become first-time parents. Some have added to their brood. Some have seen their kids grow up, graduate and leave home.

Some of us have changed jobs. Some of us have moved states, homes or countries.

Some of us have lost dear friends. Some of us have lost beloved family members. Some of us have felt lost. Some of us are still finding ourselves.

In four years, we found new loves, new hobbies, and new favorite foods. In four years, we've been privileged (and confused sometimes) by several point-of-views. We've also been enriched by each others' experiences... it's like going through childhood, adolescence and other phases at least 20 times.

And we've all experienced the world without traveling it (at least, not as often or as much as we'd like), and we've all went on the same journeys without being physically present.

We have bonded closer. We have fallen out.

We have made mistakes. We have been strengthened by our imperfections and limitations.

It's been a privilege knowing the Berks, what more, being a part of it. They're the best thing the internet has brought into my life...

I can never be thankful enough of how much my life has been enriched by their friendship, their humor, the reality checks (or alternate realities) they provide.

Here's to many more years of learning from each other and being there for each other over distance, time and space :)

I am one.

Heaven help me, no matter how much I love the one doing it, and no matter the circumstance, when someone heaves... I heave with him.

When my Mom was recovering from the anesthesia after a tonsillectomy, all those times that Pyro vomited from his chemo treatments, and especially now that my son seems to have gastroenteritis... I retch and heave and feel nauseous and my stomach feels clammy and keeps turning and I feel faint.

I'm a sympathetic puker.

Heaven help me.