The Gift of An Ordinary Weekend #12

Let me pretend that I don’t have backlogs and blog about last weekend.

Something funny happened in the office last Friday. I had this nagging headache the whole day. Silly me, I only thought of taking a medicine by 3:30PM. So I went to the office clinic and asked for a pill. By 4:30PM, my eyes felt weird. When I looked at the mirror, my eyelids looks 3x larger than usual. I did not mind it until my friends told me to go the clinic ASAP because the allergy could go down my throat and lungs. When the nurse saw my eyes, she told me that I need an anti-histamine shot pronto. After the injection, she said I should stay because the med will make me groggy and sleepy. I have taken  anti histamine meds and decongestants before. Those medicines had warnings that they cause drowsiness but I never felt that effect on me. I told the nurse that I had an important meeting. It is not everyday when 3 directors from ops go to our office to specifically talk to me so I really can’t miss that meeting. By the time I arrived in my workstation, my eyes have worsen, the directors were there already and the drowsiness is in full effect! That was the closest that I have even been to being high on drugs. In fairness to me, I was able to present a 15 slide powerpoint impromptu while fighting the sleepiness.

Saturday started with a movie. Because Aki loves the Cloudy with Chances of Meatballs book, we bought the DVD. Turns out, the story of the movie is way different from that of the book. Thanks to the movie, Aki now dreams of being an inventor. Here is the Sabog Robot that he invented. You just need to press a green button so it will start cleaning the house. Why the name Sabog Yowbot? I don’t know either.

In the afternoon, after our daddy came back from his jujitsu training, off we went to our favorite mall, Waltermart/MCS. Aki had his Moving Up Day last week and even got a glamorized Most Talkative Award, so we wanted to give him a reward —- his first movie house experience. The movie did not start for an hour so we went Timezone, my boys’ idea of heaven. We are glad to report that they have fixed their GogoBalls game. There is a new game that Franco and I like. My highest score in the target shooting is 97/100 (7 perfect shots out of 10). Franco’s is 99.

We prepared Aki for his first movie by telling him what to expect. We told him that there will be really really big TV and that the room will be really really dark. To make him more comfortable, we bought lots of food. We had bread from Pande Manila, hotdog sandwiches and nachos. Aki was brave the whole time. My only concern is that he kept asking questions. I don’t think the other people were bothered since their kids were not quiet either.

We went to the supermarket to buy corn kernels for my corn experiment, snacks for Ate Dorina’s kids (Ate left for Quezon yesterday. My fingers and toes are crossed that she will be back on Sunday). To our dismay, Waltermart has stopped selling our favorite hotdog brand. Grrrr! That I think was the lowlight of the past weekend. If any of you guys know where we can buy Mother’s Best hotdogs, do let me know.

Dinner was at Ed’s house. Ed is Franco’s bestfriend since their high school days and is one of our 5 wedding bestmen. We wanted to stay longer but Aki who did not nap the whole day, was terribly cranky. Eat and run as we like to call it.

We dropped Aki off with Ate Dorina. Franco and I capped the night with a massage at Dona Soledad Wellness Center (Thanks, Macy, for the reco!).

The next day, Aki had a makeover c/o the neighborhood barber. Kuya Doods has been cutting his hair since he was a baby. But before we left the house, Aki invented a new game.

From crazy long…

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Aki and His Beyblade Obsession

Aki’s current obsessions are

1) Dinosaurs
2) Shells —> Please donate to Aki’s shell collection if you have shells that you want to dispose
3) Turtles

Before those, Aki was crazy about Beyblades. For a month, he reminded us everyday, at least 5 times a day that he wanted one.

It all started with a trip to the toy store last November. Franco and I have this agreement that we will never buy any toy from a toy store when Aki is with us. This is so the little one will not get used to asking us to buy him toys. He can touch the toys in the store but he knows that those can’t be brought home. Until…..

Until we went to Galleria last November and we saw kids having a Beyblade competition right inside the toy store. It was a great marketing ploy and parent trap. The kids were right by the entrance so everyone could see how much fun they were having.

The Beyblade rack was beside them so envious kids can easily grab a set and beg their Mamas and Papas to let them have one too. I learned from a friend that toy manufacturers don’t stop the brainwashing marketing there. Not only is the Beyblade commercial ad regularly shown in the cartoon channels, there is even a show for it!

My poor boy was jealously watching the kids in the tournament.The whole time, he was holding a Beyblade toy that he wanted us to buy for him.

We had to leave the store carrying a crying boy. He was not wailing or kicking. He was just sadly crying because he really wanted that toy. This made it even more difficult for us.

Akisms

Aki is sooooo talkative now! And he is so funny without even trying. I wrote some of the funny/interesting things that he said in a piece of paper and lost that paper. Aaaaaaargh!!! I hate myself! I should get a tickler notebook where I should write everything.

———————-

Land of the Dead

1)

We heard a baby cry

Me: Bakit kaya umiiyak yun baby? (Why is the baby crying?)

Aki (without blinking an eyelash): Patay na mummy niya

2)

I was pretending to be sleeping…

Aki: Wake up! Wake up!

I still wasn’t moving

Aki: Oh no! My mummy is dead!

——–

 Know Your Colors

Aki: I want a red bike! Pula! Pula! Like Jayden (the red Power Ranger)

Me: Ano sa Filipino ang blue

Aki: Di alam ko

Me: Asul. How about green?

Aki: Di alam ko.

Me: Ang green ay berde.

Aki: How about pink?…. (before I could answer)… How about grey? Vahwn (brown)? Ano? Ano?!!

Me: Di alam ko!!

We had to ask for Mr Google’s help. In case you don’t know, pink is rosas. Brown is kayumanggi and grey is kulay abo.

———–

Wanted: English Teacher

1)

Me: Aki, please be careful

Aki: I’m carefulling, Mummy.

2)

Aki ( talking to the aircon cleaning guy): What’s you hawak-ing?

3)

Aki woke up at 4AM and saw me typing on my laptop.

Aki (referring to the laptop): It’s so lightly

——-

Tsk Tsk Tsk

1)

Aki suddenly stood in front of the TV while we were in the middle of a very exciting movie

Franco: Tumabi ka

Aki (walk out with crossed arms and goes straight inside my closet): Sometimes I hate my mom and dad…

2)

Me: Stop kicking now!

Aki: Hindi kick yun. Foot massage yun!

3)

Me: Stop that now. That hurts.

Aki: I’m so soli (sorry), Mummy. My hands are schong and denjoyus (strong and dangerous)

4)

Me: Dito ka. Lalagyan  kita ng gamot

Aki: Ayaw ko!!! Time-out na lang..

Tuna Rolls in Mango Cream Sauce

Summer is not complete if I don’t get to sink my teeth into a cold juicy Philippine mango. Now that it is summer, Aki and I eat mangoes every day.  To my non-Filipino friends, if you are going to the Philippines, make sure you include “Eat Philippine Mangoes” in your to-do list. I heard other countries sell Manila Mangoes but I don’t know if they are the same as the ones that we have here.

Here is a recipe that I got from a Libre newspaper  back in 2009. We have been making tuna rolls in mango cream sauce every summer since we moved in.

Ingredients

Mango Cream Sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup onion
1 pack All-purpose cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup cheese
1 pc mango, diced

– Saute onions in melted butter until translucent
– Add cream, sugar and cheese. Simmer then remove from heat
– Gently fold in diced mangoes

My Poor Husband

I read somewhere that you are the average of the 5 people you spend most of your time with. I think there is some truth to that. If you surround yourself with people who always complain, you will get more negative. Last year, the 5 people I spent most of my time with were 1) Marge, my seatmate 2) Rosie 3) Aki 4) Ate Dorina and 5) Franco. In terms of fashionability, I was indeed the average of them. Margie, I’d say is a 10/10. She has nice clothes and wears make up all the time. When I sat beside her for the first time, I thought I was with Maui Taylor. Rosie is an average. Maybe, she’d be around 6.  She is not fashion conscious but she is always presentable. Then, there is Aki. What can I say about his fashion sense? He is still a baby. He does not care what he wears. Let’s give him a 0/10, shall we? Ate Dorina, although she does not earn not much, makes regular trips to the ukay ukay. Maybe she is around a 2. As for my Franco, he is the un-vain-est person I know. He’s a negative 3 in the fashionablility scale. I actually like that. One of the first reasons why I fell in love in him was that he does not really care that much what others people think of him. To my husband, functionality comes first before aesthethics. I really like his confidence but I hope he’d be more conscious.

Example number one

Until I discovered it, this was the lunch box that he was using. He has been approached several times because his officemates thought he was giving away ham.

We had a petty fight because he wanted to go to work wearing his favorite shoes.

Packaging tape has many uses. Aside from packing and holding old beaten up shoes together, it can also be used to hide scratches in your car.

Practice Makes Perfect

Sorry if this photos seem gross to some of you. This is one of the small achievements that call for big celebrations in our family.

A Lazy Gardener’s Update

When was the last time I blogged about my garden?

I can’t even remember.

Here is what is growing now

I have a citronella plantation. Hehe. I think we have around 8 now.

Aside from the kangkong patch, we also have a talbos ng kamote patch.

Look, we have ampalaya again. I miss Manang Lydia.

Question of the Day

Aki: Mummy, what is energy?

 

Me: Good question. Let’s ask Teacher Tina tomorrow.

 

WHERE DOES MY THREE YEAR OLD GET THESE QUESTIONS???

 

Weekend with the Nevalgas

One of the highlights of our November was the weekend we spent with my paternal side of the family in Calamba. I blogged about fun reunion we had in the cemetery here. We were supposed to leave for Bayog at the end of the day but decided last minute to spend the rest of the long weekend in our family house. I realized that I missed my Nevalga family so much. We live in different parts of the globe now. Some in the US. Some in San Pablo. Some in Calamba. Some in Guam. Some in Paranaque.

We also had one more reason to stay. Our not so little girl, Jasha, turned 13! Oh my! We have a teenager now.I don’t think I will ever be ready to meet her first boyfriend.

Can somebody tell me where did our baby girls go? We use to put them all together in one crib.

I have 4 tubs of icing from Aki’s uod party. As soon as the party was done, I checked with Kitkat if they spoil easily. Thankfully, after weeks of hibernating in the freezer, the icings were as good as they were the day we got them. I was so sure my nieces and nephews would enjoy decorating cupcakes. I did not have time to bake cupcakes (who has by the way??!) so I just bought individually packed cupcakes from the grocery.

When the kids were done, it was time for the adults to convene, judge the cupcakes and give the cash prize to the best cupcake decorator.

This side of my family is also notorious for obligating the kids to perform. I hated this tradition when I was young but was glad that my cousins would happily perform and and prepare for the next performance.

I was expecting that Aki would also hate performing but no. As soon was Gangnam Style was playing,  he got into a trance and danced with his cousins without prodding. I was sooo proud! At that time, I had not seen the music video and had no idea why everyone was into it. To my surprise, Aki knew the steps and has a thing for break dancing.

Guess who turned three? {Plus a giveaway .. sort of}

Our little family’s online diary turned three today! Yey! All this time, I thought my blog’s anniversary was Friday last week until WordPress notified me this morning.

I made these really yummy, chewy, kinda salty choco chip cookies this morning. In my almost 3 years of baking, this is the best batch of cookies that I made. Even Franco, who is not into sweets, liked them.

No mushy post today unlike last year. Just want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog regularly or irregularly. Thank you for celebrating my successes with me and for the cyber moral support whenever I was feeling down.  And to my online friends who take time out of their busy schedules to leave a comment, I love you!!!!!!! I read a lot of blogs too. About 90% of the time, I really want to leave a comment but there is always something more urgent to do like, hmmm, let me think, oh like  go to work. In my defense, I only give myself an hour everyday to be online, usually from 5-6AM. In that hour, I blog, I stalk other blogs, check N@w, check my emails,quickly browse Facebook and dream that I have more time to comment. By the time CAPTCHA tells me that I typed in the wrong code for the nth time, the water that Ate heated for my bath is already cold. Anyhoo, thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me.

I was in Booksale  this afternoon and guess what I found? Two copies of Someday by Alison Mcghee. I wish I could give a copy to everyone who left a comment on my Someday post. Unfortunately, I only have two.  So if you want a copy, all you have to do is

1) Share this post via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn

2) Add me in Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

3) Lastly, leave a comment with your full name plus a haiku that you made on any topic of your choice..

That is it. Easy peasy, right?

Just kidding. If you want a copy, just leave a comment saying that you do.