Jun & Gail Ties The Knot

Yesterday, Nards and I took the, more or less, 80+ kilometer drive from QC to Ayala, Alabang to attend Jun and Gail's wedding. Theirs is a love so pure and deep. I know that Gail has been planning her dream wedding even before she met Jun. I also know the extent to which she has gone to take care of all the details, and the time and effort she has put in to make it joyous and memorable. Even if Nards and I didn't know anybody at that wedding (that had more than 300 guests) except the bride and groom, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It was perfect.

St. James the Great Church
Ayala, Alabang

The Beautiful Bride
Glowing with Happiness

Bridal March

The Cake
Yes, her motif was apple green and pink

Cake Topper
(replicas of June and Gail complete with Jun's favorite bowling bowl and Gail's favorite hand in poker)

Gail made every one of her guests special by writing personal notes on their place cards.
She's just too sweet for words.

Having fun!
Ha. ha. Was the only guest wearing red. Also reason for not being able to take photos. Was afraid to trip and fall on my floor length skirt; and that I'd make one crimson spectacle in the midst of the celebration.

Photos by Nards
5 January 2008

Happy New Year

It didn't bode well that on the 31st of December, my throat was itchy, my nose painful and my body tingling with the onslaught of flu and tonsillitis.

It was a very busy week for me from the 26th all the way to the last day of 2007. The day after Christmas, I went out to buy ingredients for cookie orders in January and to buy or have a formal dress made for Gail's wedding. Of course, my parents wanted to come along. (This made me a nervous wreck because they can be totally disagreeable in the mall i.e. they want to stay and shop whereas I want to get my errand done in record time and high tail it out of there.) It was a full day, and despite the two of them on their respective iPods (which meant they were on high volume the whole day), I was able to get what I needed. The following day was the trip to Tagaytay. The 28th was spent catching up on email, processing photos, blogging and vegging out in front of the TV. The last Saturday of the year was spent with Birthday Boy, although I went to our blasted family reunion in the evening. Sunday before the new year, Beng and I went to G Spa for the works. We got back to my parents' house at nearly midnight.

And then on the 31st, I got sick.

So the first day of the year was spent in bed, stoned on antibiotics and cold medicine and wrapped up in flannel boxers, my brothers bulky sweatshirt and my sister's thick blanket.

Here's to a rocking 2008.

Theatre Night

It was awesome!!

Details to follow.

Circuit Breakers

It was all very sudden.

I was standing in the middle of the kitchen dicing potatoes and slicing wedges of cabbages, while keeping an eye on the simmering pot on the stove. It was a bit dark, and I reached over and flicked on the light switch, when I heard a pop and the bulbs on the counter went out. I quickly turned off the light switch and unplugged the mixer, blender and toaster.

When Nards arrived, I let him look at the non-functioning counter overhead lights.

"The bulb shorted." He was examining the bulb closely.

"I agree with you."

"I'll fool around with the circuit breakers and see if we can get the other light." He opened the panel and started flicking the switches.

This is where the fun began.

Switch #1, turned off all the electricals in the living room including the computer. (There goes torrent. *Sigh*) Obviously not that one.

Switch #2, turned off the stove exhaust, and half the lights in the kitchen.

Switch #3, turned off all the electricals along one wall of the living room. (TV, radio, DVD player, playstation)

Switch #4, did nothing.

Switch #5, did nothing as well.

Switch #6, turned off the exhaust and the lights in the bathroom.

Switch #7, turned on the other bulb over the kitchen counter. Bingo. I was offering Nards a Sharpie and masking tape, so that the circuit breakers could be properly labeled. But he declined.

After all of that was taken cared of, I told Nards that the beef stew is simmering and we'll have dinner after I take a shower. I went in the bathroom, turned the knob that would activate the heater in the shower, and turned on the water. The water was cold. The heater wasn't working. I asked him to look again at the breaker box.

We repeated the circuit breaker exercise. Again, I offered the Sharpie and masking tape, but it was declined once more.

When we couldn't trace which circuit breaker to switch on to power up the water heater, we transferred the socket where the heater was plugged. It was back to normal.

We ate dinner, and after the dishes were cleared, Nards went to the laundy area on the balcony, to put on a load. The washing machine won't turn on.

Again, we repeated the whole circuit breaker exercise. After several attempts, Nards plugged the washing machine to another outlet.

I wonder if we have to repeat this whole exercise, when I turn on the stair lights to go to the second floor....



* Just realized this is my 200th blog entry*




*

No Good Plan Goes Unpunished

Needless to say that I woke up at ten am stressed out to the roots of my hair. When I got down to the kitchen to start on the first order of the day (measure out ingredients for cookies), I was wont to enter the kitchen. The smell of the last batch of chocolate chip cookie was still in the air, and I warily sat down on the couch where I promptly dozed off.

I was in no mood to bake at all. Or to even run the errands I've mentally listed. So instead, I bailed on the Lantern Parade. The grade sheet can wait until next year and they paycheck is something to look forward to on the new year. I was so lazy and incapable of doing anything remotely related to a cookie that I holed up in the bedroom instead.

I will not be attending the party later.

If there's anything I've learned in running a sideline like a cookie business, a lot of your leisure activities (i.e. attending parties, hanging out with friends) take a backseat. Instead of eating, dancing and listening to Noel and Vin sing tonight, I will be holed up in the kitchen, baking. I don't think I'd make good company anyway, I'm exhausted, and my body just wants to crawl in bed and sleep.

I want to wrap Christmas presents, but that too has grudgingly slouched off in the backseat.

Stresssssss.

Must Sleep

It's 4:30am and I can hear the church bells. It's Simbang Gabi time. I haven't attended dawn mass for the Christmas novena since 1992. For a few seconds, I was actually tempted to take a quick shower, dress up warmly and join people walking in the chilly morning to go to church. But I stay put, and just listen to the bells.

I've been up since 2am and haven't been able to go back to sleep. This is such a drag, especially since it's going to be a full day today. There's a new batch of cookie to be measured out and mixed; a trip to the Apple store to buy something for Papa; a trip to the college to sign the grade sheet and get my paycheck (very important); dropping off of receipts to the office for my reimbursements (again, very important); watching the Lantern Parade in UP - and if there's time, a quick turn at the bazaar; and the Rock Ed year end party at mag;net cafe (Gang is wondering if we can all be there early for a family/class picture).

Must sleep.

Bi-Polar As Opposed To A Manic Monday

This morning I woke up early to put together my brother's cookie order. He ordered 30 half-dozen boxes of chocolate chip cookies, which he'll be giving away to his work colleagues. The original plan was for me to go to his office Tuesday (that's supposed to be tomorrow) morning to drop off his complete order. So what I did was market for all the ingredients (including the other cookie orders) last week. Then I spent Saturday morning doing baker's math (i.e. multiply my recipe originally for 24 servings to the amount I needed for the week. Divide it into manageable batches, relative to my available mixing bowls and fridge space.) Sunday, I mixed ALL the cookie dough: chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, and white chocolate chip oatmeal. (Would you believe it took me the entire day? I missed Sunday Silence!! Shet.) I would work on the oatmeal raisin cookies for Nards' family next week, since he was planning to give it to them on Christmas day. Then today, spend all day baking (marathon baking that is) and packaging them in dainty Christmas boxes.



Leave it to my brother to derail my well laid plans. What I thought would be a leisurely baking pace today turned to a frenetic one. I had to do marathon baking for two hours straight just so I can deliver half of my brother's order today. (I need them today, Te, they'll be on leave tomorrow.) Then I had to drive to his office and drop them off so that I can return home before the coding window closes at 3pm. (I can't pick it up because my car wouldn't start this morning so I had to commute to work.) On top of that I have to measure out, mix and bake a whole lot of additional cookies today because he increased his order. (Te, sorry, I miscounted and didn't update my list until this morning. I'll order 10 more boxes. But I might still add more tonight.) WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!



Now, it's the calm before the storm. I have to rest and regroup myself before I start mixing another hefty batch of dough and baking. I need to finish everything tonight. So that I can work on the other orders tomorrow. I desperately need to talk to someone to bounce off my thoughts and to de-stress from this morning's agitated baking. But everyone is busy at work because it's a Monday. Twitter is offline so I couldn't text Mitzie who's not on YM.



And my heart is going haywire with palpitations. I need to unwind and take it easy. My doctor said I shouldn't get stressed out because of the whole your-left-ventricle-is-weak business. It's quiet and I need to talk. I know I should start on those cookies now. Or else I'll be up all night. And I have to get up early tomorrow to deliver cookies. (One order, all the way to Fairview. I asked my Dad to deliver it for me, but I wasn't comfortable asking him to do it, so I told him thanks but I'll do it instead.)



AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!



Breathe in deeply. Count to ten. Exhale slowly. Repeat process several times. Put on the first two episodes of The Starter Wife. Watch and relax.



After that, go back to the kitchen and start on those cookies. It'll be better after this week.



There. I feel just a tad better.

My New Addiction

Click here to find out what it is.



Photo by Aggie

Tanga

That's what I wanted to scream at her.



I just keep remembering that it's not nice, and that's what stopped me. Otherwise, not only would I be screaming that but I would also throw in a few expletives as well. I wanted to smack her at the side of her head to knock some sense into her.



She was on her cellphone, yapping away with this stupid grin on her face, while driving. We were all at a busy intersection. Two lanes only, and all the vehicles, including tricycles converged at that place. I was one car away from the intersection, where I was planning to make a left turn. She was coming from my right, in her huge space wagon, and she was making a left turn to go into our lane.



I was watching her (no tints--so you can see her fashionista flygirls-kind-of shades, her huge mouth talking on her cellphone held on her left hand, her right hand on the steering wheel) make that turn. She wasn't able to turn that wheel as she should have, because (duh!) she was only using one hand. So her fender swiped the sidewalk. We (and I'm talking about being in an air conditioned car with the cd player's volume cranked high) heard the sickening sound of metal as it scraped concrete. She stopped. I saw her one free hand put the car in reverse and, without looking at her rear view mirror or her side view mirror, backed up her car. And she inevitably crashed against a tricycle, who got pushed so far back by the strength of the impact that he also crashed into the other tricycle behind him. In addition to that, she also nearly amputated a guy pedaling on his bike. Please note that she HAS NOT STOPPED talking on her cellphone THE WHOLE TIME. She quickly parked the car and hid. She waited for all the angry drivers to pass. Or she was finishing her phone call.







Ironically, she was at that corner where there was a sign that says "don't use your cellphone while driving."



My sister summed up the whole thing in three words: "Gaga Dat Gurl."

Coca-Cola Commercial

Who remembers this? :)