Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Greetings!


Another year is about to end. A new one is coming. We celebrated new year's eve with a fancy dinner - Steak and Seared Scallops with Manhattan Sauce. Yum! The afternoon was spent tidying up the place that's why I am in my polka dot jammies. Pardon me for wanting to be comfy while eating my fancy meal. Good thing my date didn't complain! He even paid for the meal! I ended up doing the dishes though. :-)

A new year, for me, signifies a new beginning. Another chance to make one's life better. Another opportunity to attain our goals, dream some more, love and live!

Happy New Year, Everyone! Cheers to a great year! Wishing you happiness, good health and abundant blessings for the days to come!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas!

Life in the Fast Lane

It's weird how I have been feeling rushed all the time. The whole month of December has been a big blur. Early in the month I have to prep people at my morning job for the week that I will be on vacation. Had to update inventory, balance the bank and made sure everything is in it's place so that they don't have to worry about finding stuff. It was good to know that they didn't have a problem while I was gone. Makes me worry a little, but otherwise, proud that teaching them did pay off.

A week has gone by since we came back from our vacation. Not a day was spared to relax. We jumped right back to work. Had payroll, auditors and doctor's appointment to deal with. Our house was a mess! Dirty laundry over flowing from the hamper, mementos from our trip all over the place, and the cats had been digging in the plants! But no time to clean. Had to keep working, day and night. It was hard catching up at first, specially with auditors always asking for reports. But in three days my inbox was all empty! Laundry was done by Rick since I was gone most nights to work. A little tidying here and there, and now our house feels like home again! Somehow I don't feel as rushed anymore either.

Our trip to the Bahamas (Freeport/Lucaya area) was fun. Although we were off to a rough start with a bumpy flight and choppy boat ride. But once we finally got to our destination, it was relaxation haven. The place was really nice. The rooms were comfy, surroundings were clean and most of all, the people who works there were really friendly. The buffet wasn't disappointing either. We didn't have the greatest weather. It was cloudy, windy and a little bit chilly, specially at night. Rick kept complaining about how there's no sun. But I was secretly cheering for its absence. The Filipina in me still cowers from the harsh rays of the sun. I really want a lighter skin complexion. Don't ask me why. The resort offers a lot of fun activities like trapeze, dancing lessons, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking and many more, but with strong winds and the fact that not a lot of people were there, most of the activities were cancelled. So for five days all we did was eat, lay by the beach, and drink cocktails while laying on the beach or by the poolside. It was paradise! An alcoholic's dream world! Booze was free-drink all you can! Too bad I am not a big drinker. But I was happy to try a few concoctions they had. Good food, free alcohol and the relaxing atmosphere made up for the crappy weather.

All in all the vacation was okay. It would have been great if we did more stuff rather than sit and be merry while gaining 20 lbs! But it was worth the trip. Rick and I deserved it. Even if it was just a little sun, we still came home with a tan. :-) Conquered my fear of boats with the help of a little tiny pill! I am really glad though that the boat ride and flight back home was smooth, or else I would never step inside a boat or a plane ever again! We were jolted back to reality the moment we stepped out of the airplane. Vacation was officially over. We came home to below zero temperatures and almost a foot of snow. Worst - no food in the fridge! Like I said earlier, it's been over a week since we got back, but we still didn't have the chance to do some grocery shopping. Frozen pizza is our best friend right now. Both Rick and I are so busy, we hardly see each other. Yesterday, I mailed out the Christmas cards. Today, we bought, then wrapped the gifts. Tomorrow, we head out to my in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner. Now, that's what you call Christmas rush! It's sad in a way we don't get to savor the beauty of the season. We don't even have a tree! Now we know not to plan another vacation around Christmas time!

When are we going to have a day to ourselves? Soon I hope...

Friday, December 05, 2008

Whew!

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing is going right? Well, my whole week had been like that. We are currently redoing our bathroom and so our patience as a couple has been tested again. Rick and I have been butting heads since Monday because of this ongoing remodeling. Our frustration gets the better of us, so we end up blaming each other. Like when the texture painting idea didn't work. Or when sanding the newly texture painted wall became too messy. I guess the root of all our problem was the textured paint. Imagine, we had to drive two hours just to get that special paint. At that time, the idea seems brilliant and doable. But two days of making that stuff work was torture! Online tutorials looked so easy but no matter what we do... it just wont work! It does not look like the picture! I don't easily give up on a given task, so I kept redoing it until the can was empty! Yah I'm stubborn and I hate defeat. But I admit it, I failed. Big time! Our cheap way of fixing things got way off hand and we ended up spending more. Frugal me hated the whole process, while my hubby just wanted the job done no matter the cost! After three days with no sink in the bathroom and the toilet paper mysteriously disappearing, I waived my white flag in surrender and gave up the fight. A new wall is up. Might be done tomorrow!

To make things worse, things didn't go well at work either. For some unknown reason, orders just kept pouring this week! My usual boring mornings, turned into a zoo of invoices and packing slips. The busy-ness robbed me of my zen moments - online shopping! I don't know why, but browsing pretty clothes, shoes, purses and sparkling jewelries, makes me happy. Pretty things makes me happy... So my week was basically a cycle of arguments, sleepless nights and busy mornings. But I survived. Rick and I survived. Things are back to normal now. I am back to experimenting in the kitchen and shop online for bathroom accessories. We even have a sink in the bathroom now! The weekend looks really promising... two parties tomorrow and a movie date with my Richard on Sunday! I can now breath a sigh of relief... bad things do come to an end!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

My Eyes!

not me

Had an eye exam yesterday. Wore glasses for a while in college but all the optometrist did was let me read the eye exam chart then gave me my glasses! I have been getting really bad headaches lately and that prompted me to see the doctor. Little did I know that an eye exam here is way too different from that in the Philippines. The test lasted for more than 30 minutes, so many questions and bright lights were involved! The worst part was when he dilated my pupils. Two different eye drops, one to make my eyeballs numb and the second one to dilate my pupils. Scared me when he mentioned the numbing part. Thought he was planning to scratch my eyeballs out! Whew! Got out of the clinic and I couldn't see a thing! Everything was a blur. I was glad Rick was with me because I don't think I would have been able to drive. The evening plans were canceled because my painful eyeballs. Had a headache all night as well. I kept looking at my eyes in the mirror and I was horrified at how big my pupils were! Thought I was bitten by Edward Cullen! hehehe... Whined all night because of my pain. Rick, on the other hand, who had the eye exam as well, was fine and laughed at me for being such a baby. I swear I was really in pain...

My eyesight is back and no more headaches. Will get my prescription glasses in a week or two. Will post a picture of the "smart" me soon. :)