waffle weekend

I have been wanting to write what Buboy and i did on my bday and the waffle-cooking trial we did last sunday but i got so busy. Anyway, here it is...

My birthday
Buboy picked me up before 3:00pm and we went to Market!Market! We ate dinner at Giligan's and bought bday cupcakes from sonja's cupcake at serendra. Before going home we dropped by bookworm to browse. I started reading the orange girl by jostein gaarder and Buboy bought it for me as a present. Then we went home. It wasn't much when you read it like that but it was really a wonderful day for me. I mean being able to cut work and slip away with my hubby:0)

orange girl & me ;0)

Waffle-cooking
Well, it's a waffle feast because we cooked so much waffle we weren't able to finish them all:) It was really a bit crazy. Mox, Buboy and I met at galleria to buy the stuff we need then we went to Mox's place to do our thing. We tried (i think) 5 recipes including the control (ready-mix pancake, i forgot the brand). It was sooo hot and the kitchen sink cannot be used so we had to wash the dirty dishes and stuff either outside or in the bath. But i think that was a pretty successful activity. We learned the trick to make the waffle full and not hollow inside and we discovered that we'll need a squeezer so it wont be messy, among other things. We identified a recipe that we all liked and we know we can modify to perfection:0) We will be meeting again next week for the second run of the waffle-cooking trial.

our first waffles!! yum,yum!!


-chebong

it's my birthday!

Yep, today is my birthday. This is my 3rd birthday here at JSI and i managed to keep it a secret until my lady boss from the other company learned about it. Oh well, it'll be my last bday here anyway.

Last night we slept past midnight and my hubby showered me with birthday kisses before we sleep and again this morning before he leave for work. I slept soundly last night that i woke up late! Good thing i was able to catch the ride from bf resort. When i got here at the office, i saw a big green bouquet of flowers and a small figaro chocolate cake. It's from Jane. I'm touched. She always gives me flowers on my bday.

I was receiving sms bday greetings since this morning, but i got bothered by a message from an old friend whose eldest sister died recently. He said they still have an outstanding hospital accountability of more than half a million and he's asking for help. I wanted to help and i said so to my husband and he agreed. It'll be like my bday gift to myself, help a friend in need. Besides, knowing this friend, he has not hesitated to give help to his friends in need also. But we can only give a small amount.. plus prayers. I hope it will be able to comfort them through this.

Buboy will be picking me up early today. I still don't know what we will do. I don't even know if he has a plan. With or without a plan, i know i'll be happy with just being with him today early.. and i have been counting the minutes since i woke up too:0)

-chebong

baby to complete me? nah!

My cycle has been (as usual) erratic, two cycles after we quit the fertility workout. On the 25th day of my latest cycle, i had a very light bleeding. Both my husband and i were surprised because my cycle has always been not less than 30 days and this was too short since the last. This light bleeding has been going on for six days now. From my previous research (and God knows i did a lot of research) on pregnancy, one of the symptom may be light bleeding or what is called implantation bleeding. Me, being me who is so very much still hoping that i'd get pregnant really soon, has been playing with the idea that i might be pregnant. I haven't told this to anyone, not even Buboy. I plan to have a pregnancy test tomorrow, my birthday.

Then i received a call from my insurance agent. She is a very nice lady. We updated each other, she telling me that he annulment has just been approved by her church (she's christian) and me telling her that i'm not yet pregnant. Then she told me that i should not be obsessed with being a mother. That i am a whole person on my own and i don't need a baby to complete me. Makes me think... is that the reason why i want a baby? to complete me? I don't think so. But then again, it gave me something to ponder on.

Oh and by the way, after that talk i went to the rest room for the pregnancy test. The result (as usual) was negative.

-chebong

nice to feel warm

My husband was the sweetest last night.

We got home a bit early last night, before 9:00pm. And Buboy said "let's not watch a movie (vcd/dvd) tonight, i'll just read to you." He's been reading the book stardust of neil gaiman to me for a few nights now. He reads a chapter or two a night before we go to sleep. Last night he read three or four chapters. In the middle of his reading, he stopped and said "ito ang pinakamasaya sa araw ko" then he kissed me and went back to reading the book. I was really moved.

And today, i was going through the blog of my best friend and found several posts she wrote about me. I am so touched.

Wala lang... i feel warm inside and i want to remember how this feels always :0)

-chebong

nostalgic cubao

Yesterday my husband and i went to cubao buy a pair of boots for Buboy or have one made if we can't find any. I know shops in marikina shoe expo accepts made to order shoes so we set up a schedule to go there. We did found a shop (solimman) for boots and they accept made to order. The man in the shop said if there's a particular style we want copied, we have to leave them. Only, Buboy is wearing the boots he wants to be copied so we'll just have to go back some other time. I'm not initially into the pair of boots my husband obviously love, but it was the shoes he wore on our wedding day so it has become special for me too.

The place, marikina shoe expo, has a kinda nostalgic feel. It doesn't have a lot of shoe shops anymore like i bet it used to. In fact a lot of the spaces are closed down or under renovation. Shoe shops have been replaced by thrift shop, book shops specializing in old books and memorabilia, coffee shops, art and exhibit studio and antique shops. It was fun going through the shops, looking at vintage items, books, arts and the sorts. I noted to Buboy that life seems slow there. It's like being in another time or place, not cubao in 2007. But it felt nice.

At the back of the square inside marikina shoe expo is an old italian restaurant. I noticed it before when i had my wedding shoes made from one of the shoe shops there. I didn't pay attention then. But my husband who is an italian food lover wanted to try their food. And so we did, for dinner last night.

We were surprised to find out that Bellini's, the italian restaurant inside marikina shoe expo, is a fine dining restaurant. Well, a bit rugged type actually because they have a solo folk singer who wear a mullet hair, long sleeves t-shirt and a pair of jeans who sings filipino and italian folk songs. Anyway, the waiters are friendly and efficient and the place was packed. We noticed an old italian guy busily attending to customers, clearing tables or just checking if there's anything else the diners needed. He was friendly too. We were seated behind a wall full of framed pictures (old and new) and newspaper clippings. Looking at the pictures we realized that the italian guy was in those pictures or he took them. He was a paparazzi in his younger years. Buboy noted that he must have lead a very exciting life and i said it must be interesting to talk to him and listen to the stories he has to tell. And since we didn't get to have gelato for desert (supplier was out in cebu), Buboy said we'll definitely have to go back;o)

These things Buboy and i do together (which is basically try out new places to eat, watch movies, buy books, comics and videos) are the things i'll definitely miss when i resign. I know we'll not have much money for these activities anymore when he's the only one earning a regular income. But i also know that we'll find other ways to keep us busy:) and other interest to pursue. Sometimes we need to boldly welcome change to discover other opportunities, and i'm hoping this is one of them.

-chebong

pop! goes my heart

It's been more than a week since i posted here. I want to believe that a lot has happened to me since then... but i'm afraid my life isn't that exciting ;o)

Right now i'm listening to the soundtrack of music and lyrics via my ipod. I love every song in that movie.. and i love the movie too. Actually i adore drew. I love all her movies since she came back sober (i hope!). And hugh grant is just adorable:) Anyway, we've watched not just music and lyrics the past week but 300 as well. That movie is also great though of course no one here in the office can appreciate that kind of film.

It's getting harder and harder to work now.. It's hard to wake up knowing i'll be going to the office and upon arriving i find it hard to concentrate on the things i need to do. For several days now all the work i did were the daily issues that were sent to me. I have a list of things i should be doing but i just can't seem to get the energy to do it anymore. I know i will be cramming to finish all of them though. sigh.

But i'm really getting more and more in love with the idea of starting and managing a business. pop! goes my heart!! I just can't wait!

Well, putting up a business is not Buboy and i's only plan.. See, whenever we go to a mall the first thing that we'll look for is a bookstore and a video shop. We love movies as much as books. And we have a list of old movies that we want to have copies of. Unfortunately we haven't have the luck to find some of it like dogma and clerks among others. And i just got an idea of putting up a specialty video shop of hard-to-find movies, including indie and alternative films, classic and comtemporary. I told Armand we can have the video shop side-by-side his comic shop. It's not gonna be a shop that we expect to earn, it'll just be like a hobby shop for us where we can spend our retirement years:)

Haay... sarap mangarap!

-chebong

pursuing self-employment

I've been having a hard time focusing on work lately. I guess the 2-year tenure (i never last more than 2 years in a company/job) that i thought i've beaten with Jupiter (i'm currently on my 3 year and 5 months) is finally catching up on me. And i need to get out really soon or i'll lose my mind... not that it's not yet happening:) Buboy is supportive of this. He even said i could resign immediately if i want to. But of course i don't want to just dump him the burden of our financial responsibilities... with the lot and my insurance we're paying among other things. So i made up my mind of resigning by middle of June, effective middle of July, instead of immediately. This should give us sometime to save some more and prepare for our plan.

Buboy and i came up with the idea of starting a small business, foodcart, which i will work on. Who knows, maybe it'll work out. He too doesn't want to work for someone else all his life so we need to start thinking and working on alternatives. Though what he wants is a comic book shop, which is totally different from a foodcart business, we know we'll learn a lot of things through this experience.

I've spoken with Mox, my bestfriend, to ask her if she wants to partner with me. You see though i'm quite confident, i'm kinda scared to do this alone. Of course i know Buboy will always be supportive, but i have to let him work sometimes:) Good thing my friend agreed to work with me. I know i will push through this even if Mox will not join me, but her presence gives me a powerful sense of confidence. I am really excited and i know this venture would work out well for both of us.

-chebong