Annoying Gatecrashers and Other Stories

Every muscle in my body is aching! It's 6:20 am here, I only have 40 minutes until work starts (my work starts at 7am and ends at 3pm), and I'm still here in bed with Yuri. At least I can still work with me in bed. #perksofaWAHM

The reason why I'm so tired (as well as everybody in the household - actually, almost everybody active in this village) is that we came from the beach yesterday. We had fun, yes, but sadly, because of some reason, our day also quickly turned sour. Let me rant a little and share with you what happened.

Annoying Gatecrashers

The activity at the beach yesterday was planned as an R&R slash team building activity for everyone who worked hard to make last week's fiesta (our village's first fiesta slash foundation day ever). It was planned among the village officers as a treat to themselves and the youth who laboured really hard for days and even went home at dawn just to finish everything that needed to be finished. 

Obviously, the event should be just for the officers and the youth who call themselves "Cecilia Boys." We cooked our own food and paid for our own entrance fees etcetera. The boys used their prize money from the basketball game they played in during the fiesta. And we had fun.

Including this kiddo

Until the gatecrashers came in.

Ultimate Summer Trip (Day 5): Highway Robbery in Vigan

Read about the entire 6-day trip here.

Nothing much happened during Day 5. We checked out of our hotel in Vigan early in the morning, at around 4:30 am, and we found ourselves traveling back to Manila.

But here are the more interesting stories of how we got ripped off in Vigan.

VIa entertainment.desktopnexus.com/

Carinderia Scuffle

I believe I already told you about the first time we got ripped off  (yes, there's a second time!) - in less than an hour after arriving in Vigan. Because our rooms in the hotel were still being fixed and we wanted to try "authentic" Ilocano dishes, we decided to give the nearby carinderia a try. The place was really sparse - there were only monobloc chairs and even these were lacking - but I guess the adventuring spirit really kicked up in us because we eagerly took our seats and ordered the Ilocano fare we were hoping for.

Lo and behold, we were given below average-tasting dishes with a few pieces of meat tossed in. When I worked in the office 4 years ago, we sometimes ate from a very little carinderia where the taxi drivers eat, and the food we bought there was delicious. What I mean is that eating in a carinderia doesn't mean eating a poor excuse for a dish. Even their pinakbet has cabbage - who puts cabbage in their pinakbet?

Worse, the servings were very little. And worst? The owner of the carinderia increased the prices of the dishes and drinks every time. For example, when we first asked one of the "servers" the price of family-sized soft drinks, she said P25. Then the owner would insist that it is 35 or 40. Everything kept getting more expensive!

We paid more than P500 for 5 cups of rice and 4 measly platitos of ulam.

(Actually, the worst thing about that carinderia is how their food sent me to the emergency room! That was one of the few times I thank God Yuri is picky!)

Tricycle Kafuffle

Speaking of the emergency room, before we were actually able to check out, my mom had to take me to the hospital because my stomach pains (and nausea and diarrhea again) came back and were even more terrible than the first time. We asked the front desk for the nearest hospital, and the ladies pointed us to "Lahoz Clinic and Hospital."

A photo posted by Marie Angeli Laxa (@maanlaxa) on Mar 25, 2015 at 2:16am PDT

Yes, it was very near (just 5 minutes away from Green R). Yes, we immediately discovered that it was also a rundown hospital. The funniest thing about that hospital is that everyone is asleep - even the guard. If I didn't have a bowling ball for a stomach then, I would've laughed loudly. But it's fine; I was given acceptable service. And it was not in the hospital where we got ripped off.

No, it was the tricycle driver who did the honours. When we came out of the hotel, he and his tricycle were just by the front door so naturally, we approached him. We requested to go to Lahoz Hospital. It was already 2am, so we asked him if he could wait so that we wouldn't have any problem going back to the hotel.

When we emerged from the hospital, instead of going back to the hotel, we asked to be taken first to another hospital nearby, which is Metro Vigan Hospital (which is the better hospital) since the medicines we needed to buy were not available in Lahoz. Off we went.

Finally, after buying the medicines, we asked to drop by a 7-11 on the way back to the hotel to buy Gatorade and some food. Then we finally went back to the hotel.

On the way, my mom and I decided to give the driver P200 since they charge P15/person - we had a total of 4 stops (including the hotel) but thought to pay the driver extra for his time. When we handed him the payment, he looked at us incredulously and said, no, he's charging us P330.

P330 for a tricycle ride. In a small town. At 2-3 am when there weren't even any other passengers who could have ridden his tricycle.

I mean, he even knew I was very sick, but he still demanded his fee. We didn't want to start a fight with this potentially dangerous stranger in the middle of a strange town so, while mumbling to ourselves, I handed my precious P300 to him. Huhu.

Then I thought of the tricycle driver who kindly gave me a tour of Vigan museums, did not charge an exorbitant fee, and even volunteered to take our orders for longanisa (which he promptly delivered to our hotel while we were still in the hospital - I hadn't even given him payment yet!). What a difference! I just feel like I need to say this to clarify that I am not generalizing Ilocanos from Vigan.

Please tell me honestly as we are not from Luzon (in Davao City, tricycle fares start from as low as P5 and rude drivers - jeepney, tricycle, taxi - are actually a rarity): did the second tricycle driver charge us fairly?

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Why I'm Never Buying from Lazada Ever Again

UPDATE: Lazada offered to give us a full refund and, at the same time, replace the item. However, we declined the offer, so they are going to give us a full refund instead and let us keep the item. (More about this here)

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 27: No refund has been given to us nor is there apparent intent from them to do so. We'll charge this to experience.

Good morning! I'm so tired, the happy kind of tired! We just arrived from a mini-adventure at Mt. Apo (well, one side) last night and my muscles are sore! I'll tell you about it soon.

For now, let's talk about this shopping website that stressed my poor Mama.

Source: imgkid.com

Two years ago, I discovered Lazada, and during that time, I just gave birth so online shopping was truly the way to go. I used to love it not only because of the free shipping (no minimum cost at that time) and the discount coupons (no minimum cost, too). I used to order to my heart's content.

It wasn't until last year when I noticed their services (at least to me) were becoming more and more flawed. In other words, palpak!

For example, one time, I ordered Tiny Buds supplies from them, and the liquid bath soap came to me leaking! As in natapon na yung ibang laman inside the package, which also damaged the packaging if the other content. I know it's not the courier's fault because the packaging should be overlooked by the seller to make sure di matatapon ang liquid. I order liquid stuff from Human Heart Nature all the time and walang natatapon because superb ang packaging. But I just let it go and charged it to experience.

Then, another time, I was still looking for a camera. I saw a camera that I really really like on Lazada, but since I have a question about it, I emailed the customer service representative first. I don't remember the first response I got, but it didn't have anything to do with my question. Yes, the problem with their CSR is that they only send canned responses (proven and tested). I emailed again and waited for a response. I got no response, and soon, the sale was over. Bumalik na sa original price ang camera so I was never able to buy it. (I just bought a Samsung WB150F instead.)

I don't remember the other experiences, but I have long decided that I will never order from Lazada again. However, last month, my mom made lambing to me because she wanted the Happy Call cooking pan. In hindsight, had I known it costs the same in other websites, I should have bought from them instead. But I didn't know that so I took another risk with Lazada.

The Snubbed Blogger and Other Stories

My Sunday was a mixture of ups and downs, but thankfully, there were more good things than bad things. But before I talk about it, here's what we wore (hahaha):

Doesn't he look like a fashion blogger? What happened to my 2-year old?

On Mommy: Zara tunic | F21 jeans | CLN shoes

On Baby: Carters shirt | Baby Mossimo jeans | Elle/Chicco shoes

Yes I need to lose weight. Now, about our Sunday, there was only one bad thing, but it almost ruined my day. It was because I was a...

THE SNUBBED BLOGGER

A month ago, I was invited to attend this particular event of a huge company. I said yes. I was even required to wrote a pre-event post as a "partner blogger," the PR person's words, to invite participants.

The venue was an hour away from home. Since we had to go to church first, we had to wake up extra early. Also, we had to plan our day around this event so there were many changes in our usual, comfortable Sunday routine.

To say the event was a disappointment is an understatement.

Yesterday Was Not My Day

Disclaimer: I wrote this post last night when I was still feeling bad. I feel a lot better today, but I still think I should post this. :-)

I had a bad day yesterday. Well, it's not like something major bombed or failed. It was more of a nothing's-going-right kind of day, a series of little failures that piled on top of one another.

And I don't do so well with pileups. My temper is already short to begin with, so with each minor problem, my fuse gets shorter.

Despite feigning positiveness, the truth is I was really in a bad mood yesterday. I just couldn't wait for it to be over. However, the thing about me is that to cope with something negative, I need to share it with someone. I wasn't able to last night (see no. 5), so if you happen to be reading this, I apologize in advance for making you my shock-absorber.

1. I woke up late (read: 8:15am), and when my schedule messes up, I become a mess myself.

2. The internet connection was sooo slow. With the kind of work I do, this connection is virtually my lifeline. I wasn't able to do several things because of this. If only some people were mindful enough to not use the connection for Facebook while I'm working. Hay.

Yaya Woes: Disrespectful, Ungrateful

I'm supposed to blog about my birthday today but couldn't because I'm in such a high negative emotional state.

Anyone with a yaya or a maid will understand the "woes" that come with their service. I have a fair share of these woes, but I don't usually air them out here on my blog because I want to keep it positive and God-glorifying.

Also, I'm generally a forgiving perso. I don't like to hold grudges. Offense now, forget later. That's what I do to avoid stress and to try to please God. But this time, it's different. The things and values that I so uphold are compromised.

Photo: http://meetville.com/

Before I rant and before you judge me as a really strict and inflexible employer, let me give you some background.

First, Yuri's yaya is not a "full-time" yaya. I'm the one who feeds Yuri all three meals. I'm the one who bathes him. I'm the one who makes him go potty and wash him after. Sometimes it's also me who washes his soiled undies. I'm also the one who gets him to take a nap in the afternoon and cleans him up at night.

His yaya only takes care of him from around 8:30am - 11:45am and 3pm - 5:30pm. You read it right. She's completely free from lunchtime to 3pm. And when Yuri has to go potty during her "shift," I take over.

Second, even if her absences are frequent, there never was a "bawas" in her sweldo. Heck, I don't even subtract from her salary what I lose in mine due to the absences.

I hope you see that she has a lighter workload than most yayas. I treat her sooo well. I couldn't understand why she doesn't reciprocate.

Allergies? Seriously?!

I've never had allergies growing up.

Nobody in my immediate family has allergies. The closest relative I know who has allergies is my cousin; he's allergic to shrimps and shellfish (sad!), but I assumed he got it from the paternal side of his family. Aside from that, I've never had close encounters with allergies.

Until one day, when I included cooked gabi (taro) in my lunch salad.

I don't think this was the offending salad, but for posterity's sake, let's assume that it was.

All of a sudden, had a feeling of itchiness inside my mouth. Even my throat was super itchy. Now, I've been eating gabi all my life and I never once had a reaction to it. I thought my lettuce leaves were already bad, so my immediate reaction was to throw my salad away and to eat a lunch of rice and viand.

A few days after that, I encountered yet another dish with gabi. Again, I innocently ate the vegetable/ root crop but then, I had the itchy sensation again. This time, I was sure that it was the gabi that caused the reactions, but I was still surprised to develop a new allergy so late in my life. It turns out there is such a thing as adult-onset allergies. Sorry, I was not informed; I didn't have the need to inform myself about it.

I found this interesting, but even though I like gabi, I wasn't so bothered about it because I have the choice not to eat it.

Then I had a new allergy.

My right eye has been itching since last weekend. As in it's really, really itchy at certain times of the day, especially during at night. The itchiness level is the same as when I have pink-eye or sore eyes, but I know I don't have this because my eye is not red at all and there's no puss (sorry, TMI). It's just really really itchy and it feels sandy inside.

A quick Google search revealed that I must be "suffering" from an eye allergy. The problem is I don't know what's causing the allergy! Any ideas?

So , after growing up completely allergy-free, I now have two allergies, one of which I am still not sure of. Life has a funny way of surprising us, doesn't it? :-)

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3 Things (And More) You Can Do During Brownouts

If you guys are bemoaning the weather, we got one more reason to be twice as cranky: rotational brownouts!

We Davaoenos get really smug whenever we're asked about our beloved city. I know I'm guilty. In our defense, mapagmamayabang nga naman ang Davao City. Security, tourism, traffic, cleanliness, shopping destinations - you name it, we have it! It's truly close to perfect. Chos!

Seriously, though, I love living in my city. However, these past months, in sync with the extremely hot weather are, what else, rotational brownouts! Gah, just perfect!

It began as once-a-week 1-hour long brownouts. Then it became twice a week. Then it became 2-hours. Now it's 2 hours and 30 minutes of beautiful power interruption several times a week.

I work from home full-time so this is actually terrifying. It came as a double blow to me because my laptop's battery recently died on me, and I've been told my laptop's model has been already phased out, so chances of buying a new battery is close to zero. Ayayay!

Worse, we don't know when exactly our power would go off. We're given blocked scheduling, but we don't know the exact time of brownouts. There are even times when our power goes off beyond schedule. So basically, I'm like a mad woman saving her files every single minute.

But we do need to cope, right? I mean, we don't know until when this would last but we can't proclaim our hatred toward Davao Light on Facebook every single day (though I love reading funny rants - a nice breather from The Legal Wife reactions!).

So how do you cope? Let me tell you what I do to stay sane during the brownouts:

1. To-Do List: Brownout Edition

Since brownouts are bound to happen (in Mindanao anyway), prepare a list of things you need to do during one. For me, these are the household stuff that gets thrown to Priority: Low. Since my laptop completely turns off and I can't work at all, I have no choice but to tackle the chores during power interruption.

Just this morning, for example, we experienced a 3-hour brownout, so I finally got to do the laundry. So the next time you experience brownout, spend just a minute moaning over your unfinished work and get productive right away!

2. Smoothies, fruit juices, and ice cream are your friends.

Unlike the lucky ones, I cannot just eat ice cream whenever I want to. I need to watch my calorie intake. However, I can't survive this intense weather - tapos brownout pa - without a cold treat. That's why in my spare time, pag may kuryente, I make smoothies etc. so I'm ready for power interruption!

Papaya-prune-rolled oats smoothie in my new mason jar ;-) 

At least I can fight the heat and my hot head. And it's yummy.

3. If money allows it, buy a rechargeable electric fan - and a TV-phone if you must.

We already have a couple of emergency lights but light is not much of an issue for me. I can tolerate darkness. However, humidity is another thing! It's a terrible foe when you're alone so just imagine how it feels when you're sleeping with a pawisin toddler who absolutely hates humidity? Help me, Lord!

Thank goodness for rechargeable fans! I spotted a few people buying those USB electric fans, but they simply aren't fit for a toddler-mom like me. I need something like this:

Firefly rechargeable fan, Php 1700

The funny thing is that before, people here would just snub these stuff kasi walang panggagamitan. Brownouts used to be rare then. Malls would put them on sale at 50% off or buy 1-take 1, but dedma lang. Now, they're in demand! Nagkakaubusan ng stock!

It's Back to Work Monday!!!

Image from Google

Wow, it's Monday! Gah! Did you also have a long vacation? How did you spend it? Mine was spent just at home. We didn't go anywhere because of my father's arthritis, so I have nothing exciting to share. But I will still blog because it's been days since I have last written!

Like you, office-going folks, I also had a three-day vacation last week. It's actually unplanned, and I would still work if I could, but the yaya requested for a vacay so...

Her vacation started on early morning of Friday and I was excited to be a full-time mom to Yuri of course. She was to return on Sunday evening.However, she did not go back last night. She actually sent us a message asking if she could return on Monday instead, but we firmly said no because we know Monday's going to be hectic. I expected her to follow our instructions, but she did not. Instead, she disobediently returned just this morning.

Actually, she even requested to go home on Thursday afternoon. Hay naku, ano ba?

It's just sad that even though she had a long vacation, she was not grateful to have it, and she even went against our request. By the way, just to show you that we're not super strict employers, she already had a 4-day vacation last January. The law states that they're entitled to 5-day vacation leaves per year. Plus, she always uses her day-offs (Sundays) to the max as she doesn't go home until around midnight.

Hay.

It just made this Monday, when I have too much to do, more stressful. But I can manage with God's grace. Thank you, Jesus! And thank you for conquering death and sin more than 2000 years ago. Victory was, is, and will always be yours! You've never been dead since then; you are alive and I proclaim you the Son of God, the true Christ! I will always be singing you praises!

PS: I have sooo much blogging to do! Hopefully, I can publish all of my pending drafts as soon as possible.

PPS: Have you seen the movie, Son of God? I saw it last Thursday, and so far, it's my most favorite film about Jesus. It may not be 100% accurate, as all movies are, but I like it because it gave the message that the Resurrection is not the end of Jesus' mission but only the beginning. Isn't that just wonderful?

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Gratitude, Happiness, and Diamonds

I felt like crap yesterday.

And to be honest, I still feel a bit like it today.

In hindsight, when I broke the bathroom's lavatory faucet early in the morning, I should have known more "un-pretty" things would happen. But that would be very superstitious of me, and that wouldn't please God, so let's just chalk it up as the first "un" event.

I wasn't able to do all of my tasks because certain issues were pulling me down.

First, I lent a friend of mine a sizable amount of money more than a month ago. I know, I just don't know how to say no. And I'm confident she'd pay me back until she was hospitalized. She tried paying me half the amount she owed, but her office-mate, whom she asked to deposit for her (since she's in the hospital) took the money away. I'm feeling so bad for her, but at the same time, well, I need the money because Yuri's birthday is coming.

Next, I had a bit of trouble transacting with the human resource personnel of my employer. Uh, no, she just made it clear that I'm not employed under them as stated in the contract. That's not the point since I knew that from the beginning. All I needed was a piece of paper signifying that I'm "working" with them for a bank loan. - INSERT LONG STORY HERE-- Anyway, she didn't need to imply that she doesn't have to procure papers for me because I'm only a "service provider" (all tutors are) because I already know that. That's why I'm very apologetic and not demanding at all. All I needed was some compassion and a clear explanation, but I didn't get them. I know it's not her intention to do so but she made me feel un-valuable to the company.

(Disclaimer: I do enjoy working for this company. This is just an isolated case and I believe it's caused by stress from both parties.)

Long Day Friday

On Thursday night, I prayed to have these things in my heart: patience, wisdom, understanding and compassion. To be honest, I pray for these every night (more often during workouts), but I didn't know I will be fully tested come Friday.

1. Yaya Woes

It started  during the morning, when it wasn't 9:30am yet and I have already "spoken" to Honey three times. I do not really scold her (I leave that to the elders), but I do make "sermon." The first one was when she took forever in the bathroom taking a shower. She's really vanidosa, and I've come to accept it. The problem was that we were alone in the house, and I tried to teach Yuri to pee in the bathroom. Inevitably, he peed on me. We couldn't change because all our clothes are upstairs and we were dripping wet. I called to Honey and told her na bilisan ang pagligo.

So after around 40 minutes, she finally came out of the bathroom. I thought we could change na. Hala, she took another 20 minutes upstairs. What is she doing? Fixing her hair? Doing her makeup? Haller, andito lang kami sa bahay. I was really exasperated because Yuri and I stunk with pee already, and she, the yaya, is applying creams whatsoever pa on her face. Lord, help.

The second time that morning that I sermoned was when she ate all freshly cooked chorizo, while the rest of us ate the leftover pancit from last night's dinner. I left some pancit for her, but yes, she chose to ate the freshly cooked food which was supposed to be our lunch. The third time she got another sermon from me because she and the neighbor's yaya spent maybe around 20 minutes chismisan. I looked out the window and saw that she just carried Yuri over her arm and her entire attention was directed toward the other yaya. I didn't want to scold her right then and there para hindi mapahiya. Hay Lord!

2. Neighbor Woes

Some of you might have already known na kontra ko talaga ang maingay. I understand if it's noisy in school, inside the classroom, in the mall, or where else, because noise is perfectly acceptable in these places. However, I really get irritated when people bawl out at the karaoke in the middle of a guarded subdivision. I even wrote about this before. The problem with before is that the people singing (or just plainly making noise) lived outside the subdivision, so I couldn't do anything about it.

Yesterday, though, the noisy people lived just on our street. In fact, they live just after a vacant lot beside our house. Naman, tanghaling tapat, they're singing their hearts out to music like Pusong Bato. And it's Yuri's siesta time, so the Tiger Mom in me was really irritated. Actually, I felt insulted because these people have no regard for other people. Worse, they don't even live here. They are just visitors of the woman married to this foreigner.

I called the guards first. I told them of my complaint, and would you believe the guard who answered me only said, "Ma'am, wala pong nagvi-videoke." Can you believe that? May CCTV ba kayo sa bawat bahay? My gosh! I didn't have a choice but to take the matter into my own hands. I went to the neighbors' house and told them that we get disturbed by their singing, and it would have been okay, but my son is already sleeping. Keep in mind that I spoke to them in a very reverent manner. Just when I was about to return home, somebody made parinig. I didn't really understand what she said, so I'll leave you to your imaginations with that.

Of course, I called the guards again and told them they should not have dismissed my complaint so easily when my complaint was true after all. Hay Lord. However, they did quiet down after I went to their house, so all's well that ends well.

After that, I was so stressed that I resorted to eating this fruit bar:

My only consuelo was that one bar has only around 80 calories. Say what?

3. Teeny-Bopper Woes

All Sorts of Things Come in Threes

I have been faithfully blogging 6 times a week since last month - well, until yesterday. I was just too stressed because I had my personal Mercury retrograde.

Yes, I really did check whether we're having the Mercury retrograde. Not. Turns out it's just me and my rotten luck.

So what's it about Mercury retrograde and bad luck coming in threes? Look at this photo first:

Images from Lazada.com, Geniusnet.com, and HP.com

By now, you probably have a good idea of what happened yesterday. But since I love dwelling in my problems (kidding), I will tell you in detail what happened.

At 8 am, Yuri finished the last serving of his papaya smoothie. I had a couple of mangoes and cups of yogurt, so it's time to make a fresh batch. I already sliced the mangoes and poured them and the yogurt into the blender, and they didn't blend. The frigging blender wouldn't work. And it was working perfectly just the day before!

The bad thing is that while I bought it October of last year, I only got to use it recently. Inevitably, instead of a smoothie, Yuri has a "fruit salad" now. Which is fine. I could live with that, so I proceeded to work.

At around 10:30 am, I noticed that my mouse was not highlighting the words I meant to highlight. Worse, it was highlighting words I didn't meant to highlight. Even worse than that, the mouse was cutting and pasting on its own! It minimized the essay I was reviewing and kept opening a new window!

In other words, nagkaroon ng sariling buhay ang mouse ko. Nakakaloka! And it was working fine minutes ago!

I persevered working despite the difficulty of not having a mouse. Then, before lunch time, my mother summoned me into her "office."

Trauma-rama Tuesday

No, nothing traumatic happened today. Nothing traumatic will happen, too, I declare. I just remember one of my Clueless books (yes, I have the series). Diba yesterday was Manic Monday? I got that from Cher in one of the books. Her next day, she called Trauma-rama Tuesday. Wala lang. Haha!

But seriously, I slept and woke up in a glum mood. That was because last night, my parents implied that I should be working harder to supply Yuri's needs. Of course, I want to supply Yuri's needs, and to be honest, Job and I can. Frankly, we earn enough. And I'm glad that I still have time to play and bond with Yuri before and after work. However, my parents think otherwise.

I know they have good intentions. I know they want us to give Yuri the best life ever. And that's what we want, too! Duh! But I do not want to live to work. I want to just work to live. I don't want to work in every waking minute and not even have time to play with my little boy.

Should there be a compromise? I mean, he can't see his daddy na nga, pati ba naman ako wala rin. In Job's case, he feels pressured to work night and day because he's supposed to be the provider. That I understand. I know he will just "make bawi" to Yuri once we become stable and financially independent. However, that means that I'm the only parent Yuri sees now. Should I spend all my time working instead of being with him?

That's all, folks.

Pieces of advice are welcome, pero as much as possible, positive vibes na lang please.

I hope I did not sound like a spoiled brat. Because I am not.

PS: I already found my positive vibes by reading through Scary Mommy blogs. I'm currently reading this, and I'm laughing out loud. Okay, maybe not so loud. Maybe I'm not even laughing at all. Just smirking. The yaya will prolly think I'm crazy if I really laughed out loud. Hahaha! Maybe later I'll have a dose of Natalie Tran videos to up the GV factor.

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Terrible 18s?

It's barely 9am and I'm already exhausted. I actually wanted to take a day off from work today, and I could, but as usual, I chicken out. The funny thing is that when I was still working in the office, I did not think twice about taking leaves from work. Pero ngayon, it's different because if I don't work, I don't earn. Also, I'm not in the mood to tackle household chores.

So why am I so tired so early? Well, first of all, Yuri refused to be seated in his high chair. Then, he refused to eat breakfast. He barely eats! He doesn't even take one spoonful of food, and I don't breastfeed him before mealtimes so dapat gutom sya. But no! I even tried making a face out of his food:

Scary no? Hahaha. Yuri didn't get scared, though. Pero di pa rin sya affected. No appetite pa rin. Should I give him appetite-boosters?

Today, we had oatmeal, which he did not eat even one spoon of. Yesterday, I prepared a fruit salad out of bananas, watermelon, and honey. He took a few spoonfuls of it, and I was thankful:

His demeanor improved when we washed the dishes - actually, I washed the dishes with him on my left arm (that's one mean feat, I tell ya).

I thought the fussiness was over, when it was time to take a bath. Normally, bath-time is Yuri's pinakamaligayang sandali. He looks forward to his baths and won't get out of the bath tub without a fight. However, last weekend, we attempted to snip some of his hair while he was taking a bath. Sobrang galit.

Worse, na-trauma ata. For the next days hanggang ngayon, he would cry during bath time. At first, okay lang. He steps into the bath tub fine. Pero by the time I'm soaping his body na, warla na. Huhuhu pano ba to.

Good thing he drinks a lot of milk (aside from my breastmilk):

Yuri is normally an okay child. He has a mean temper, but he's normally in control of his feelings (chos). But now, he throws tantrums over the littlest of things. And he's only about to turn 18 months tomorrow! Please tell me. Are we fast-tracking into the terrible 2s? :-(

Hindi ko na alam anong gagawin!

Suddenly, taking a day off seems like a good idea.
____

On a completely different note, I bought Yuri honey last Sunday. He's been coughing on and off kasi and I don't want to give him medicine anymore. I know babies older than 1 year could already take honey, so I bought a bottle.

I gave him a teaspoon of honey before bedtime. Well, the good news is that nawala na agad ang kanyang ubo right from the first night Yuri drank it! Amazing! Goodbye, OTC cough syrup!

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The first time I gave someone flowers

...was just last week. Remember this post about my former dormmate in UP, Hazel? Her mother recently and unexpectedly died due to lung cancer. Even though I'm sure she understands it, I feel guilty because I've never gone to her mother's wake and even to the burial.

To make up for it, I wanted to send her flowers. Not to send a message of condolence because the flowers are not to remind her of the pain. I've no doubt about it; in fact, she's handled the ordeal so strongly. Wala lang, I just want to tell her that I care and that she can call me whenever she needs me.

Together with my partners in crime, Teena and George, I was finally able to send her roses last Monday. Actually, I placed the order last Friday, and they arrived at her home just this Monday. I'm pleased to know that they made her smile (and even laugh!). Hahaha! Here's the photo from Hazel's Instagram:

We used the acronym, MGT, so that it sounds like management. Hehehe. Anyway, we were pleased with how the flowers looked like. It wasn't until yesterday when I noticed something might be missing.

You see, along with the flowers, we also ordered a small teddy bear. Where is it? I think Hazel would've included it in the photo if the teddy bear was there. So I asked her. She told me na walang teddy bear sa package. Uh-oh. I reviewed my receipt to make sure I ordered the teddy bear:

Obviously, we did pay for a teddy bear! Where is it? We ordered from Island Rose, and I immediately contacted them of this problem. Hello, kahit na P250 lang yun, we still ordered it no! More importantly, Hazel should have received the bear. Our reasoning was nalalanta yung flowers eh, at least the bear would be a long-lasting remembrance. Pero nasaan?

I received a reply yesterday. The CSR said that mini lang naman yun, and it was in the box. Miss, the size of the bear is not the problem. Wala nga eh. I verified this through Hazel, and wala daw talaga. I sent another email today:

Hi, I followed up with my recipient and here's what she said:
"ako jud mismo nag-open sa box while nagatan.aw c auntie. It's the flowers lang jud, then sa flowers may card na nakaipit, Yun lang."
If you don't understand Bisaya, that means she herself opened the box and there were only flowers inside with the card. That's it. There's something wrong with your system, miss. Please fix this because I did pay for that teddy bear.
Maan Laxa

I'm still waiting for a reply. Gosh, kastress.

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A Short Rant About Unbelievable People on Facebook

You can count the number of times I rant in this blog in one hand. Di ba? I usually refrain from writing about negative stuff because they bring bad vibes into the day. However, there are times when you just have to let it out, right?

I'm usually online in Facebook. While I don't always post, people can usually count on me to be online whenever they need to talk to me. I don't know if this is good or bad. After all, I've gotten a few blogger invites via Facebook messages. However, the number of times I get chatted because another person needs something from me is no joke.

Several times, I've gotten chat messages from old friends from college - mostly my brods from the fraternity and sisses from the sorority. At first, I take everything with a grain of salt. That used to be fine. Walang kamusta-kamusta, they go straight to asking what they need from me. Sometimes, it's help with career and related decisions (the kind of help I prefer giving), but most of the time, it's utang. Take note that this is from people whom I haven't seen in 3 years or so, and I don't really know when I will see them again.

Then again, I understand how it is to be gipit. The kind of financial status where you just have to swallow your pride. I've been there, so I try not to take offense.

But yesterday, a new level of UNBELIEVABLE happened. Believe me, I slept over it to prevent myself from making rash reactions. Now that I read the message again, it still feels so weird!

Yesterday, I was online, talking to some friends regarding other stuff. At the same time, I was working. Suddenly, a new chat window appears, and I saw my classmate from high school. I haven't seen nor talked to this girl in (counts 1, 2, 3) almost 10 years. That's right - freaking ten years. Here's what she told me:

So honestly, the answer I gave her is quite harsh. But can you blame me? This person suddenly talks to you, out of the blue, after +-10 years ha, and asks you to help her do her niece's assignment. Actually, she wanted me to do the assignment myself. Seriously?! She didn't even take time to ask about me, the person she wishes to ask for a favor. Just a simple "musta" and "dats gud" and expect me to do her a favor?

It makes me bristle, knowing how other people don't even think twice about asking another person they barely know to do something for them. I can't imagine doing it myself.

And we weren't even close back in high school. I don't even know her niece/nephew. Ugh!

#endrant

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Noisy, Pesky Neighbors!

I rarely rant on this blog, but forgive me for doing so now kasi hindi ko na keri! As in! I'm not exaggerating!

A few days ago, I posted some photos of our neighborhood. Some commented that our neighborhood looks so quiet and peaceful. Well, it is, most of the time. There are times when a few neighbors get loud, but that's it. However, we live right next to another village, and near another house from that village.

Sometimes I wonder where these people come from. Where did they come from? Okay, literal hahaha. But seriously! They have rows and rows of chickens on the vacant lot right next to our house. Chickens! And they're sooo noisy, especially when all of these chickens crow at the same time. Kaloka!!!

But that's not the issue today. Hindi ko alam kung fiesta ngayon or birthday pero ang ingay-ingay!!! Last night, they slaughtered a pig. A pig! Okay, so that's forgivable. Eh sa maglelechon sila eh. But this morning, we woke up to the sound of another pig being slaughtered. Ilang baboy ba kailangan mamatay para sa kalokohan nila?!

But wait! There's more! While we were eating lunch earlier, OMG, pinaandar na ang videoke machine!!! Super ingay!!! As bad as it sounds, nagsisigawan pa talaga ang mga bata sa microphone! Merry-making talaga at its finest!

As of this moment, I heard eight renditions of Pusong Bato already!!!

Sorry naman sa quality. That's the best my phone can do. Super zoom in talaga to capture the partey.

I'm going crazy because Y has not taken a nap this morning, so he really needs to sleep now. What I did is close all our windows and doors to minimize the sound. Ang init, buti sana kung centralized aircon kami!  Worse, tagos pa rin ang Pusong Bato!

Kaloka our neighbors. Where did these people come from?!

I'm not trying to be high-and-mighty here. I do enjoy a good round of videoke - only in the appropriate places, like karaoke bars. I just hate insensitive people, and I - honest to goodness - hate noise pollution.

Unfortunately, I cannot complain because the polluters are not from our subdivision. *sigh*

PS: Pardon the napakadaming exclamation points in this post. Expression lang ng nararamdaman.

PPS: Suddenly, umulan! YES!!! Rain on their parade, bleh!!!

PPPS: OMG! Hindi nadala sa ulan! This time, Amazing Grace ang kinakanta (take note: pasigaw ha). Jusko!

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