Yesterday morning found me feeling a little sick to my stomach. I thought maybe it was the chicken caesar salad I’d bought at Safeway the night before. As time went on, I started getting chills and every part of my body was aching. I wanted to stay in bed all day (I was so cold!). What a way to start the week, eh? Add to that I had Erynne, who insisted on playing horsey-horsey (“gi-yap mommy, gi-yap!” = “giddy-yup mommy, giddy-yup!”) every time she found me laying down, be it on the couch, her bed or our bed. I thought the day would never end. I even called her dad, hoping he could come home early. No such luck. I finally popped two tylenols into my mouth mid-afternoon (I hadn’t eaten anything until then) and it was only a few minutes before E came home that I started sweating out whatever fever I had. Yeck.

Happily, I’m better now and ready to start my day. I hate the feeling of being sick, don’t you? To the point where your bones ache so bad, you don’t want to move and even though it’s a beautiful hot day outside, you’re inside the house wrapped around a thick down comforter (I’m talking like winter comforter here guys). And let me mention again, when you’re feeling all that and you still have to tend to a little girl who wants to eat, play, horse around (and nurse!) like there’s nothing wrong with mommy at all…

Priceless.

1. Book and pay for cruise

2. Redeem air miles for free air tickets (SFO-MIA/MIA-LGA)

3. Purchase one way airline tickets MIA-LGA

4. Purchase Broadway tickets for Les Miserables

5. Finalize hotel for Miami and New York using timeshare points (BIG, BIG mula saved here!)

We’re almost set. Just have to decide which hotel to stay at in Miami and NYC. I’ve been on Tripadvisor for days and I can’t seem to make up my mind. I am in awe of how costly it is to stay in NYC hotels. 2 nights stay is practically half of a plane ticket to Manila (but a plane ticket already when you can get really cheap tickets from SFO on promo). I never realized this as we’d always stayed with my grandparents in Newark. Woooo, imagine if we’d stayed for a week? We’d be eating and drinking only water (or maybe not even that!). Unfortunately, our timeshare property in NYC is booked up until May of next year. But no complaints as we’ve still lucked out by being able to use our points for hotel accommodations—thank God. Otherwise, 2 nights in NYC is more than we would have paid for our cruise alone (and that’s already including port charges and all taxes!). DUUUUDE! And the only reason I added NYC to our vacation plans is because I realized we’ll already be on the east coast as it is, what’s a hop and a half to NYC to watch Lea perform (and eat at Serendipity)? I had to take advantage as we were already getting free air tickets with air miles to get us to Miami. And again, not having to pay for a hotel stay in NYC because of timeshare points, it would have been ridiculous to just head back to California right after the cruise. (But it’s really thanks to Abby that a light bulb went off in my somewhat deteriorated little brain that I even thought of all this–I left a comment on her blog about how we cancelled Broadway for our cruise only to realize and question myself why I couldn’t make both happen on the same trip. Thanks Abby ).

On a different note, I’ve been grappling with the idea of possibly bringing Erynne with us afterall. I’ve been explaining to her that mommy and daddy will be gone for a while but that mama and papa (that’s what she calls my parents as my mom claims she’s too young to be called “grandma” or “lola”) will take care of her. Her response is always, “Nooooooo,” followed by a tight hug. Then she’ll tell me, “Noooo mommy! Bring me, Erynne!” She even points to herself, isn’t that heartbreaking? And then I’ll go running back to her dad and I’ll start toying with the idea of bringing her with us. He starts to melt too but then my mom interjects each and every time insisting we wouldn’t have a good time at night on board the ship if we have to tend to a little girl who sleeps early (not to mention, what about running around NYC?). So my mom has a point. Deep down though, my mom just isn’t comfortable with Erynne out on the high seas for 4 nights (the 4-night cruise was only a few bucks difference from the 3-night cruise so I grabbed it). Our next cruise—together with Erynne—will be onboard a Disney ship. Erynne will love it so much! In the meantime, this trip will be just for her dad and I. We need this time together anyway. Nothing like 24/7 food, a little dating and dancing under the stars (literally, woohoo!) to put us over the moon, right? And to be quite frank, hubby deserves my undivided attention. Ever since Erynne came into our lives, my world has revolved around our little girl. Her being so young and small, I tend to drop everything around me when she comes calling for me. It’s pretty bad and I know I’m just being a mom but…. –I want E and I to get to the point where we prioritize each other first before our kids. Much as I love Erynne (and would die without her), I want my husband to always be my first priority. Easier said than done but ultimately, I’d like for this to happen. Afterall, this is what we promised each other even before Erynne came along. I just haven’t made good on this promise.

Again, easier said than done—unless I’m taking my mommy role much too seriously (is there really such a thing? No). Still, my heart hurts knowing I have to leave Erynne behind. But this will be good for everyone. And who knows, Erynne just might get that playmate she’s been yearning for .

We’ve had the luxury of eating danggit for the past two days — straight from Cebu (my cousin’s wife is from there and they came back not too long ago). I have a strict rule in our home that we cannot fry tinapa, danggit, pusit or any other type of fish no matter how much I we love to eat it. So when my mom offered to fry up some danggit for us one morning (at HER house), Eric jumped at the chance.

Fast forward to today, specifically less than an hour ago (his lunch break). Lunch today consisted of rice, danggit and leftover sinigang from last night’s dinner. Guess what he did? And please know that a lot, if not most, of hubby’s coworkers are puti. He warmed up his danggit in the microwave. Imagine what this did to the break room. Us being pinoy, not a bad smell at all, right? One puti came walking in with her food only to be welcomed by ‘the smell,’ making her comment that, “oh, it stinks in here.” Naturally, hubby got embarrassed as he didn’t notice anything (or if he did, he was just deadma). I guess the puti told someone else the lunch room had a smell so together they ate in the back.

We both laughed. But the result? He’s going to bring the one last crab sitting in the freezer to work on Monday so he could nuke it in the microwave. I hope he doesn’t go back and claim it.

LOL.

Whole Foods Market was selling it for $15. They are available nowhere in the state of California at this moment. As in, nowhere. But oh how I’m determined to get my hands on one. EBAY! Oh yes. I’ve become lower than scum by scurrying off to Ebay to grab such an inexpensive bag that is now well over 6 times its selling price (I’ve read it was also sold as low as $6.75!). Only a brat like myself would act this way, really. Hubby didn’t hesitate once and immediately told me to grab it if it’s really what I want. And in all honesty? I’m not chasing this darn grocery bag because it’s everyone’s dream bag, trust me. I’d read in someone’s blog just the other night how these “Anya totes” were the latest craze but I didn’t know what it looked like (and didn’t care). So imagine my surprise when Van suddenly gave me a link to a picture of the actual tote the next day (that being last night). Minutes later, my mind started playing tricks on me and I could swear I’d seen these somewhere — in person, not ON a person (I just can’t pinpoint where or if I was just dreaming). So call it me being curious as to what the hype is about, call it being intrigued or just call it plain, “sayang! I’d seen this already few months back somewhere….” or that I love how it’s ugly and awesome AND it’s a freakin grocery bag — call it what you will — I love and want this bag!

It’s perfect for storing my junk and Erynne’s junk when we’re out and about. I mean, look at it. I can trash it around without feeling guilty. It’s ugly (and remember I love ugly bags!), somewhat obnoxious and snooty and perfect enough that I don’t have to be gentle with it. However, I think it’s sad that I’m falling for this little trendy bag — but I can’t resist it. I mean, this grocery bag over Louis Vuitton? GROCERY BAG, HANDS DOWN!

Which brings me to say, I totally shouldn’t have bought that damn Speedy bag in the first place. It just sits in its box (only because my mom got tired of seeing it sitting on the dining table for almost 3 weeks collecting dust). I totally should have just spent extra money for my Chloe bag. I’m positive I would have loved it more. Poor Speedy.

I can’t wait for my grocery bag. Thanks to you Van, I’m a hundred bucks poorer .

Suppose we hadn’t made the move over to the States and we had remained in the Philippines. What would have been of our life? I know for a fact I’d still be a SAHM and the idea of a hiring a yaya would be completely out of the question — even if practically everyone in the country has one for their child. And this I have no problem with. I don’t know that I could trust my child with a maid/yaya/nanny anyways.  And it’s not that I’m looking down upon those who choose to entrust their babies/children with hired help cuz man, God knows I wouldn’t mind having one myself sometimes (I’d probably be a better wife, in all honesty).  Besides, when hubby and I explored the idea about hiring one (if we were to remain in the country a little while longer), my inlaws freaked out at the idea (something about me speaking English and not being a ‘local’).

But really, where would we be living? House? Condo? Apartment? I particularly enjoyed living in the condo we rented while I was there, and I did see a few kids in our building with their respective yayas playing near the pool/garden area but honestly? I don’t know that we would have continued living in a condo with Erynne. Sure, we lived in the condo for the first 5 months of Erynne’s life but that was only because we knew we’d be on a plane bound for America soon.  If we had continued living in the Philippines, we’d probably be living in Tagaytay where the air is fresh and I wouldn’t always freak out over Erynne playing outside. I miss living in Manila sometimes, if I can be honest. I may have bitched many a times during my short-lived “adventure,” but you know how it is when you no longer have it — you miss it. I’ve asked Eric many a times why we don’t go back and live there. His response is always consistent: there are no opportunities there for us right now. But even if there were, would I really want to live there? I don’t know; I’m not “cowboy” enough. I’d have to live a certain way and even just saying this (or imagining it), I’m already trying to be humble. I might come across negatively by those who might be reading this, but I think it all comes down to the fact that when I think of the Philippines, I think of it only as “a good time,” — an everyday vacation, if you will. Our funds would be wiped out — over and over again. Then I’d wish we were back in the States, where somehow, I seem to have more discipline in my actions — and way of thinking.

And I think that living here really is best for our marriage. I’m not so limited. And by “limited,” I mean I can jump into a car and pop Erynne into her carseat and off we go. When we’re in the Philippines (not that I’m complaining towards those who fuss over me and Erynne, etc), I’ve always got someone guarding me or making sure I’m fine, Erynne’s fine, etc. I have no freedom there. And for someone as spontaneous like myself (with a bratty attitude at that), this is a bit of a problem for me. But I understand where everyone is coming from with their concern and actions (and I love them for it); still, it’s hard to shake off sometimes and well, to keep the peace, that’s just what you have to do, isn’t it? Imagine how difficult that is for someone like me — you tell me I can’t, damn right I’ll show you I can (gaah, I couldn’t in the Philippines though haha!).

Life is funny, isn’t it?

I was tagged by Lene.

1. In highschool, almost every night, my mom would check up on me to see if I was in my bed. I’d lock my door but she’d still find a way in, just to peek to make sure I made it home on time (this was in highschool when I started driving hehe) and I would get sooooooooooo annoyed. Where’d she think I would go?!

2. Without fail, every Saturday morning (sometimes Sunday), my mom would vacuum the home at 8:00. This was in highschool. Weekends are to sleeeeeeepppp in. I’d scream hell each and every time this would happen.

3. Without fail again–and without asking her–my mom would come barging into my room on the weekends around 7 or 8am to collect my laundry. I’d be livid.

4. My mom and I didn’t see eye to eye much when I was in highschool (can you tell?) but I considered her an absolute hero. I lived for no one but my mom.

5. I have the best mom. Really, I do. She may have her quirks and abnormalities and set old-fashioned ways (of thinking), but I am really blessed to have someone like her. She is beyond giving — doesn’t matter if she leaves nothing for herself, as long as her brothers and sisters and children have it all.

6. My mom is superwoman. She worked 2 full-time jobs AND tackled every task of a normal SAHM.

7. My mom is retired but she still works as a caregiver in her home care. She can and will never, ever just sit and do nothing. Drives her completely and utterly nuts.

8. I can say my mom and I are actually friends now (I don’t know if that’s because I’m a mom now and I fully understand her or she’s just proud of me for sticking to my guns about my beliefs and wants in life).

9. My mom has been married to my dad for 33 years. They came from the same town but their paths only crossed in Manila when she was still in Nursing school (my dad had already graduated from college and was working).

10. My mom has an extremely hilarious way of thinking. Case in point: browsing through LV bags, she saw it was “Made in USA.” She raised her eyebrows and told the salesman that she didn’t want an imitation bag. BWAHAHA. My jaw dropped and I’m sure the salesman’s jaw wanted to too. He wanted to kill her. I just love my mom, I tell you.

Share a few things about your mom too! This was fun .

My daughter may not know her ABC’s from start to finish, but I am proud to know that she can tell you her full name, her dad’s name, her mom’s name and her home address. With all the missing kids out there, I’d like to think my little girl will benefit from knowing these things in case she were to ever get lost (not that I’d be neglectful enough for that to happen). I once got lost in a department store during a blackout when I was about 3yo and legend has it that I went up to the cashier lady and told her my name was “JJ” (I guess my full name was too difficult for me–initials were all I could handle). In the small town where I grew up (you could stand at one end of our so called mall and see right down the other end without straining or squinting your eyes), getting lost is nothing compared to here–I was claimed within seconds of the cashier’s page. One can never ‘get lost’ or ‘be lost’ in Juneau. This is a town where every person knows you, they know who your parents are and well, in all honesty, they also know what you smell like. But all that is another story in its entirety. Maybe some other post.

So home phone number next. And then we’ll get back to them ABC’s hehe. Or would making her also memorize mommy and daddy’s cell phone numbers be information overload for her 2yo brain?

A, my dearest college friend, is due to give birth on March 23rd! That’s literally days away from Erynne’s birthday — wouldn’t it be fabulous if our kids shared the same birthday?! I’m so happy for her! We don’t have the luxury of seeing each other much and we hardly ever touch base via phone unless something fabulous is happening to us (which is kinda sad but it actually works for us), so I had this tiny inkling of suspicion after hearing her voicemail that she was going to tell me something major. This girl doesn’t just one day call me out of the blue for nothing, I promise you. So right as soon as I got her on the phone, all she had to say was, “Guess what?” I KNEW! I mean, she has the perfect husband, perfect house, perfect dogs (well, not necessarily the poodle), perfect lawn and she’s a SAHW — what would be next if not a baby, right? As us girls are wont to do (or is it just me and my friends?), we screamed, laughed then screamed some more *LOL*. And it’s funny because when we started our conversation, I was whispering because Erynne was being put down for a nap. That all changed when I got all hysterical on her hehe. She had to remind me to be quiet.

I am really so happy for her, you just don’t know. Be reminded that A was the girlfriend of George back in college. We went through so much together, her and her sister and I. A was the coffee freak (she couldn’t function and go to class without her heavy dosage of caffeine) and also G.I. Jane of our group (tell me what girl runs 6 miles a day to train for boxing???? Well, wait, what girl wrestles and boxes?!?!), her sister was the serious, hard, pretty, smart, mataray-looking, sharp-tongued (in short: SUPLADA) kolehiyala and I, well, who knows what I was except for being fat and crazy and the laugh of every party haha. Needless to say, we balanced each other extremely well.

Congrats T and manang B (short for “Manang Biday” — our pet name for each other since way back college)!  After the birth, let’s leave the husbands at home with the kids and plan a girly vacation

I can’t lie. Not only was it extra money for me us, I think I just miss being one of the Payperpost’s hungry wolves. I haven’t quite reached 90 days yet on my other home so paid blogging has definitely taken a back seat for now. I figured I can treat this “down” time as a leave of absence, so to speak. LOL.

Friday night found me craving for crepe’s from Todai’s. Oh yes, of all places in the Bay area to crave for crepes, eh? Because we wanted to squeeze in a matinee movie (I think you all can agree with me that going to the movies can really wipe out your wallets), we settled for the Todai’s in Daly City the next day (the Century 20 theaters are right next to it so it was perfect). I so was not looking forward to that Todai branch as we’ve been there before and the food was hardly enticing, let alone fresh-looking. Something about dry food and not having the variety I wanted got me vowing I wouldn’t go back to that Daly City buffet — but the maarte-ness in me kept quiet to keep the peace beautifully alive (craving for crepes at an Asian buffet wasn’t E’s idea of practicality hehe). But holy cows, people. The presentation was way better, food was fresh and everybody’s mama and their ten brothers and sisters were seriously there. Daly City Todai’s had it going on! Naturally, I was happy to be there. But just my luck; when I went up to get my crepe, it took almost 10 minutes for the Salma Hayek-slash-Tatum O’neal lookalike to get her groove on. She kept messing up and/or the crepe cooker/stove/grill/whatever wasn’t hot enough. 3 little girls in front of me gave up and settled for ice cream. Oh heeellll no, not I. After trekking all the way from San Mateo and paying well over $15 for these babies, you can bet I waited. But you know how crepes usually take but practically a few seconds? Well, my crepe took like 5 mins (thus was almost rubbery). And I could totally see Salma Hayek/Tatum O’neal swearing — I think she was so desperate she asked a dishwasher/food preparer to help her out (but he didn’t succeed either and since I totally need to brush up on my Spanish, who knows if they were talking about the fat cow in front of them who’s so desperate to wait for a 5-minute crepe HAHAHA). Patience pays off as I was finally able to return to our table (right in front of the action, I might add — best seat in the house!). I was almost thankful Erynne insisted she have my crepe because I made E go back and get me another one when he ordered his own. Apparently, the crepe maker was finally working correctly and let me tell you, h-e-a-v-e-n. It was cooked just right — I had the blueberry crepes, in case you’re wondering. The whole experience at Todai’s, because of those crepes, was well worth the travel. I am no longer scared of Daly City’s Todai.

From there, we proceeded on to the movies to watch Transformers — with Erynne. I think it was a bit too much to take a 2yo to, what with all the action and all, but knowing how much she loves going to the movies, there was no way I was going to leave her with my mom. She did well though I was distracted a few times, but no worries as the movie is soooo action-packed, you really don’t miss much. Transformers was good! My only negative comment is that the sounds were a bit louder than I’m used to — I can’t imagine what it would have felt like had we been in the really front row seats. Also, I really do not appreciate the Daly City Century 20 theaters. That said, I will never go back there. Bathroom was dirty and it was just too big for them to keep clean on all floors. Plus, the auditorium we were at was a lot smaller. Don’t know if all of them are that small. In any case, it wouldn’t matter as again, E and I both agreed we’d never watch there again. Dirty! And not that I’m anti-Asian, but wow, there were a ton of Asian people. But duh, we were in Daly City .

On a different subject, all weekend I’ve been studying cruise itineraries, different ports to pick up a ship, and cruise ship reviews for our Labor Day getaway. Our choices were a 3-night Mexican cruise (out of San Diego and visits only Cabo San Lucas) or a 3-night Bahamas cruise (out of Miami and visits Coco Cay and Nassau). E has requested for us to go on a Bahamas cruise. I don’t mind even though I’ve already been to the Bahamas twice. What’ll be different this time is that E will be with me and we’ll experience it together. That said, I guess it’ll still be a first for me. Nassau is nothing spectacular, quite dirty if you ask me, but seeing the Atlantis resort again won’t be so bad. The last time I was there, it was the month of April and as gorgeous as the waters were (we snuck onto the beach!), it was somehow colder than we expected (even though weather was perfect). Just as I told myself I’d book and pay our cruise tomorrow, I finally received a notice from my bank saying I get to avail of my free companion ticket that I had posted about a few months ago. So it wasn’t a scam . This works out perfectly and hopefully, when I call into their travel agency, the dates I want will be available and we’ll have saved ourselves a whooping $388.

And if that’s not good enough news for me, remember that free Las Vegas trip E availed of on the radio? I said something about free $200 playing money once we booked our hotel. Well, I was able to sucker them for $600 slot machine money, a $100 gas card, 2 tickets to a Riviera something show, 4 buffet tickets at Monte Carlo, and a room at the Monte Carlo (there’s normally a $79 upgrade fee to get into a strip hotel but I was able to get out of that too yaaaayyy!). The location of the hotel works out perfect as I’ll be giving the accomodations to my parents and they can do their own thing and gamble their hearts out when we head to Vegas for my sister’s graduation next month. And I’ve already asked my mom to reimburse me for the $600 in cash and she can have my slot machine card — she said fine. And seeing as how E and I aren’t gambling fanatics, we’re $600 richer for our cruise a few days after Vegas. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve all this but I’m pretty thankful and I’m very happy. Yes, still happy even though I have to attend some silly timeshare meeting for 2 hours. In the grand scheme of things, what is 2 hours in terms of all those freebies?

And last but not least, remember this post? O is 100% cancer-free today. Just beautiful.

God is good. Life is good.

PS. I lost a pound at Saturday’s weigh-in .