First of all, pardon the prolonged hibernation of this blogger. The only excuse I could think of right now is my unsuccessful attempt to juggle between motherhood and career.

Anyway, despite being cheapskate that I am, I sometimes manage to buy items from friends that are within my super strict budget but very nice. Did I mention that we have a little twitterafia and some ladies sell LV/Gucci/Longchamp bags, michael kors watches, etc etc (which simply means too many to mention, and trust me, too many). And well of course, some sell, and others buy.

The excitement starts when an item is announced as for sale. And it builds up little by little until one is confirmed to be the first and therefore the lucky buyer. The fun doesn’t stop there as we meet up for these loots! Just like we did last Oct 21st at Chili’s.

A college friend buzzed me over at YM asking me about disability insurance. I was surprised that she asked me, for I’m not the type of person who knows a lot about insurances, and she knows that. And then she told me, she simply asked everyone who was online at that moment. Haha.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I have previously shared/blogged about this. Way back, this college friend and I, with all our other friends, had a vice. We saw our fortune teller friend once a month, or sometimes more than that. This went on even after college. I only stopped this vice in 2003. We got so addicted to it, and visits to her place had become part of our bonding. We didn’t even make use of the predictions. We just enjoy hearing all the possibilities and hopes we got everytime.

Then in January 2010 (or was it Feb?), this college friend went to visit Manila, and met with us. And since our fortune teller friend is, like I said, part of our bonding, she invited her during our meet-up. For some reason, I went to see another fortune teller in August last year, who predicted I’d get pregnant again in October and it will be a boy this time. Well, yeah, she was right. I discovered I was pregnant in Oct and we now have a son.

This I’m telling because, yesterday, a friend told me she went to this same fortune teller last week, and my name came up. And that my previous pregnancy won’t be my last. Stresssssssss!

It’s Saturday and I was feeling sad that the husband didn’t allow me to meet friends in Makati. He wanted me to stay within vicinity of QC so if in case I start labor, I can go to the hospital soon enough. I understand his concern but I know myself, I can go on labor for hours before I finally give birth giving me enough time to take a shower, shave my legs (hahaha), and calmly go over my checklist and hospital bag.

Around lunchtime, he asked me if I want to have lunch at Technohub with some of our HP friends. I agreed because I was craving for Mr. Kebab. But we had to buy daughter’s snack box and hot shots from KFC first, which got me full I wasn’t able to finish my Special Cielo Kebab. My daughter who is afraid of fountains, was relatively calm today watching the kids play around them. Still, she did not dare go near the fountains.

I remember that there’s a National bookstore so we bought items that the daughter needs for school. I was happy because this branch has so few customers (maybe because of its location) and buying was comfortable and fast. The only catch was they have limited items. But I only have 2 items that are yet to be crossed off my daughter’s list.

We went to Starbucks next and smelling the coffee was just heavenly. I had to order something, I opted for strawberry and cream. Bad decision because it made me feel even more full.

As if we haven’t had enough, we went to UP for “isaw”. I don’t eat isaw, I prefer fishballs and tukneneng but these ones I had to skip. No plans of throwing up today. Note: Mang Larry has relocated. He is now situated near their competitor (which is our favorite) just a block away from the church.

We went home to change clothes. (It was so hot in Technohub and UP, I was feeling sticky even if I’m wearing a tube dress.) I managed to check emails and twit.

Then off to Trinoma to watch a movie with our couple friends, different from the friends we were with earlier. They haven’t eaten yet so yes, we had to eat first at Cafe Breton before the movie. I had Hamburcrepe and mentally told myself that should be the last meal of the day.

Our original plan was not to watch in 3D. We can save almost half from its price, plus, it wouldn’t be too dizzying. When we got there, there was only 1 cinema showing Kung Fu Panda 2 and it’s in 3D. So I suggested XMEN which I heard is good, but everyone seemed to think so too because 3 cinemas were showing XMEN and tickets were sold out! So yes, we ended up watching Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. Mikee had fun, talking and laughing through the movie without taking off her glasses (this is her 2nd time to watch in 3D).

One thing I noticed about the Trinoma mall today. IT WAS SO FREAKING HOT!!!

What is it about today’s date that people are raving about? I must admit that it amuses me as well to see 10.10.10 as the date because it looks binary, close to my heart. It is so amusing that my friends and I agreed to meet online with webcams and all. It was fun seeing my friends from different parts of the world. While I was fanning myself trying to cool down, one friend was all wrapped up in her electric blanket. It is nice to talk to friends that even if you haven’t talked in years, you talked as if you just met yesterday and continue chatting from where we last left off.

So let’s just wait for next year’s 11.11.11, shall we?

Coming from the MBAPs party, we were supposed to go to two more dinners. One with a relative celebrating that passed the nursing board exams, while the other with friends one of whom is celebrating his birthday.

But just after our first commitment, the streets have flooded. No car can pass through and people have been stranded. Some business has closed down early, well except for fastfoods. I wonder if flood is covered by business insurance.

Anyway, we just head off for some coffee and tea. My daughter had an oreo cheese tart which made her so active and funny. I think I won’t let her eat that again beyond 6pm. Ok, noted!

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday I was surprised that most of the MBAPs made it to the party. I thought everybody will be stranded somewhere along the way. Good thing though, we didn’t, or we would have missed the fun get-together with these ladies. But at the back of my mind I was thinking hard if I was able to tell the help to put the motorcycle covers over the bike. I just had to call home just to make sure.

Anyway, I really had fun meeting up with these ladies again.

I just noticed one thing though. I don’t have much pictures of myself!!!
Calling Alpha, Kelly and Joy! Ahem! :p

I have a guy friend who co-owns a shoe store in the provinces. I must say he is quite successful. I asked him why not have a branch in the metro. He said they have done more than that. They now have an online store that ships to anywhere in the world! It may look easy to put up an online store that you’d think you could do it on your own. When in fact, he said they owe their online store’s success to an ecommerce fulfillment program they have invested on.

Well, for a non-business person like me, I always thought those online stores were so easy to put up without knowing you really need experts to succeed. Now I know better.

This weekend is so unpredictable. Hahaha.

First, husband and his team mates will have an outing. Husband says if they will stay overnight, he can’t bring me and Mikee along. But if it is just a day trip, my daughter and I could come. So there, that’s one possibility.

Second, if it is indeed an overnight thing, Mikee and I will attend a swimming party instead. It is a birthday celebration of her cousin, a daughter of hubby’s cousin. Although we’re not sure how we will get there.

Third, a mexican night with friends. This one I think Mikee and I will surely attend. Unless my daughter gets too tired from swimming or from being out with daddy and mommy the whole day (possibilities 1 & 2)

I sure hope even just one of these three gets realized.

Wow, my first post for the year.

Anyway, remember the ranting that I did last week (uhm, last year)? About wanting to go back to embedded systems engineering. That same day, I met with friends for coffee. They were my former officemates from Fujitsu. Unlike me, after resigning, they continued on embedded systems specializing in automotives. (Note: we used to do firmware for car audio-visual systems)

Two of them are working in Japan while one in Singapore. They were telling me about the global recession and how it has affected the stability of their jobs. You probably heard about GM. It’s as simple as if no car is sold, who needs a car radio (doesn’t matter much if you can plug in your i-pod or your thumb drive on it)?

So yes, it got me thinking, I love and need my current job.

The other friend who came an hour late isn’t in this picture.

As I have previously blogged, we were to attend a wedding. I tried curling my hair but couldn’t. The (xtenso) treatment had been making my hair straight defying any heat to curl it. It shouldn’t be a surprise since I don’t normally comb or brush my hair after shower and yet, my hair is straight all day.

Anyway, I sought the help of a friend who lives beside our house. She decided to just pull my hair in a half-pony. And she had done a great make-up too. All these for free!