"Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry..."

Two days and two hours before this year ends and a new one begins.

I was driving today and thinking. I do my best thinking driving or in the shower.

I was thinking about what happened 8 days ago when we were celebrating Rich's birthday at Wolfgang Puck's with my parents and his parents. At the end of the meal my parents took the check and started to pay when his parents said that they wanted to pay and then there was a brief discussion which ended in a decision to split the check between the two parties. There was a talk between my parents in hushed tagalog about making sure everything was even.

A quick background to this is that our families rarely see one another. The only times they met was when I first moved to college, when I graduated college, when we got married and Rich's most recent birthday. I think growing up (in my household) there was a slight unease towards anyone not of Filipino descent. "Other" people were something to be wary of so that their anger or uncomfortable display of emotions were not brought forth.

I'm not sure yet as to what bothered me about this. Could it be the fact that each party does not know one another well and to watch their interactions makes me uncomfortable, the accents make it harder for each to understand the other? Maybe it's just the pre-existing wariness I could sense from my parents towards non-Filipinos? I'll have to ponder this further.

Listing Out


Wow, it's been a busy and stressful few weeks with looking at new condos, hoping everything goes well, debating which place to go with, parents visiting and birthdays, signing papers, and packing and moving for four days, then unpacking and shopping for new furniture, writing and thinking, dreaming and cooking, wrapping and unwrapping, Christmas and singing carols and sleeping on air mattresses! Whew!

So we're living somewhere new, bigger and quieter. The neighbors are much nicer and lots older. Still at the same town but more secluded and upscale. I have a little nook to call my own and my kitchen is more open. The tub is separate so I can take tubbers in peace and I'm starting to feel like home. It was both good and bad to move during the holidays because it feels like a gift to come home to a nice new place but not so much when I need a new mattress and library and the stores are crowded or closed.

We celebrated Christmas last night with prime rib and roasted potatoes and veggies, ziti and cheese (my version of mac and cheese), homemade croissants, chocolate pudding, and orange cookies and an apple. We ended it by watching "It's A Wonderful Life" with me falling asleep at the last part of it. Went to mass this morning and felt goodly.

I'll write about the year for my year end review in a few days. For now, merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

I'm Just Saying...

I don't think Rihanna can sing, and her voice cracks when she does.

A glue gun can make me look like Martha Stewart.

I hate stacked washer and dryers.

Getting a balcony for my plants makes me feel like "yay!"

80 degrees thirteen days before Christmas is yucky.

Having my parents come down before Christmas means presents earlier and free food! Mmm

There are celebrities that I wouldn't want to meet because whenever I see them on I always think that they have bad breath...

Going around town, into other peoples' homes, to see their decorations is fun and you get to meet all the creepy people that live nearby.

Not having my brother come down for Christmas makes me sad.

Finding out that earth, not water, is my lucky element makes me relieved because now I don't have to carry a heavy-ass bottle around with me everywhere.

If I love wrapping presents so much, why did I buy decorated tins this year?

What is up with the bad music nowadays?