MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

While helping out at the store, a very well-dressed lady came in. She was looking at the magazines and started talking to me about random celebrities. She seemed very nice and friendly. There was nobody at the store so we started talking about random stuff- including family.

I mentioned to her that I have 2 beautiful girls at home. Then she asked me how old I was. I told her I was pretty young when I had my 1st one but everything turned out well for me. Then all of a sudden, she changed from this sweet, pretty lady to this horrible, monstrous witch (with a capital B)!

She started lecturing me about life and about being a young mom. The whole time I was thinking, "Mahn! The words coming out of her mouth are worse than what anybody else (my parents included) has ever said to me. Who the heck does she think she is?" And her tone was very condescending.

I just stood there speechless and pissed beyond pissed. She kept on going on and on until she mentioned that she was 45 when she had her first child and that she wouldn't have changed a thing. She said she's done everything she wanted to do- get a job she likes, travel around the... not the world... Caribbean, go on cruises, had a nice white wedding, etc...

I honestly don't care how old anybody wants to be when they want to have children. If they wanna have it when they're 20, 50 or even 80... I DON'T CARE! That's their own decision. If they don't wanna have any children, that's up to them too. I don't think I'm entitled to judge anybody for the decisions they make.

So anyway, back to the female dog, she said to me that I must be so ashamed going to my daughter's activities at school since the other parents and even teachers may be talking about how old or should I say, how YOUNG I am.

This is when I decided to stop biting my tongue. I turned to her and said...

"I actually like volunteering at my child's school. I don't care what others say about me. I WOULD RATHER HAVE THEM TALK ABOUT HOW YOUNG I AM THAN TO BE MISTAKEN TO BE MY CHILD'S GRANDMOTHER! Oh, and about the stuff you've already done... getting a good job, touring the Caribbean, having a nice white wedding... I've done those too! Not the cruises yet though. I'm waiting til I'm YOUR age to do it. Anyway, you should get going ma'am. You're grandchild... I mean, your child must be waiting for you at home. BTW, I'm 25 and my mom's YOUNGER than YOU! Have a great day! "

*For the curious ones, I was 18 when I had my first child- not that it's any of your business.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Remember my little debit card incident? That day I was supposed to meet up with a friend and pick up a VIP ticket to see the love of my life, Piolo Pascual. I was really iffy about getting it because I felt really bad spending $150- that's about a couple of months worth of groceries! But the hubby knew how much I really wanted to go (again) so he told me to go ahead and buy the ticket. So it was set. I was going to be $150 poorer over some stupid obsession.

But then my little 'incident' happened. I lost $500! I called up my friend and told her I wasn't gonna get the ticket until I got my money back. I was a bit upset but surprisingly relieved.

The following day, I got a call from my FAIRY GODMOTHER saying that she might be able to get FREE VIP TICKETS for the same concert. Well... that 'might' turned into reality and I am now a holder of a VIP TICKET (with a meet and greet) to see My Piolo! And the best part is... I got it for FREE!!! LUCKY ME!!!

*A big THANK YOU goes out to whoever stole my money (I already got it back, BTW). If it weren't for you and what you've done, I would've sooo WASTED my $150.

JUST WONDERING...

The hubby and I had this conversation before: Being an immigrant here in North America, when do you know you truly are 'North American'?

Being our silly selves, we came up with two things.

a) When you think in English.
b) When you dream in English.

HA-HA

How about you? What do you think?

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOP-A-HOLIC

Ever since my bestfriend, Tiara, got me hooked on the Shop-a-holic series a few years back, I wished and hoped that they would make a movie out of the books. And they did. Finally! It will be officially showing on February 13th but since Tiara has crazy hook-ups, we got to go to the pre-screening earlier today at the Scotiabank Theatre.

The movie was pretty well done considering that it was based on a novel. It was a little different from the book but it worked out pretty well. It wasn't disappointing like most of the other movies based on novels. Isla Fisher was perfect for the part of Rebecca Bloomwood- the main character.

I cracked up so many times since I can totally relate to the character. You guys have to see the movie to understand what I'm talking about. HaHaHa. But I'm sure those of you who know me pretty well will understand just after watching the trailer. Enjoy!

SALE

I used to be a shop-a-holic. When I went to school downtown, my friends and I would walk to the nearby mall during our breaks to "see what's new." But there was never anything new because we never gave the stores a chance to get something new. We were there almost every single day- and every single day, I never came out of the mall empty-handed! Be it a new pair of shoes, a pretty top or even underwear, I always came home with something new. I would even buy Kyla random stuff that she probably didn't even need. Don't worry, I never bought anything that wasn't on SALE but it came to a point where I had to stuff my purchase(s) in my schoolbag so no one will bother me about it when I got home. Even though I only had a part-time job then, I didn't find it necessary to quit my not-so-bad habit.

Fast forward to the present.

I can say that I have a pretty good and somewhat secure job but... I DON'T GO SHOPPING ANYMORE. Every time I go to the mall and attempt to buy something, I'm like a new immigrant converting how much it would really cost me- but this time it's "how many hours do I have to work to pay for this?" Most of the time I could never justify working a full 8-hour shift just to pay for a pair of Aldo shoes. So now I've been walkin out of the mall empty-handed.

Now why didn't I have that mentality before?

*I finally bought me a couple of tops last week- only because they were 2 for $10! YAY!

MY LITTLE SUCKER!

Baby Kae is a big thumbsucker! I don't know if it's because she's teething but we've been having a hard time taking her little thumb out of her mouth recently. We've made it to a point to try to take her thumb out every time she starts sucking. We've also told big sister, Kyla, to do the same. So just a few minutes ago, Kyla was watching Kae and she was surprisingly quiet. We figured, "She must be sucking her thumb again." Boy were we wrong! She was sucking something even better...



And Dadddy was there to capture the oh-so-yummy moment! Kyla was just sitting there letting her little sister nibble on her baby toe- it's keeping her quiet.

*Notice how we managed to take a picture? Instead of taking Kyla's toes out of Kae's mouth, I got Brice to take pictures while I started writing this blog!

IMAGINE?!

Thank God I won't have to worry about this happening to me!!!

Can't wait to watch this movie...

BACK TO REALITY

(above: bumming around, karaoke-ing, eating, chatting, and more... all at the same time!)

Spending the New Year with our closest friends and families was the BEST way to start the year!

It was only a couple of days ago when we left for London (ON) to ring in the New Year at the Gonzales' but it seems like we were on vacation for a long time. It was nice just sitting around, eating LOTS of GOOD FOOD and just catching up with everybody. It was almost like the good ol' days back in the Phils although now I didn't know if I belonged in the Kids section or with the old... i mean, cool moms... oh my! I mostly spent my time with the mommies since all the cool young'ns were mostly chillin' in the basement which I found a bit too cold for me (I guess I AM getting a little old- yikes!). But I had tons of fun discovering a lot of VERY interesting things about my titos, titas, MOM and etc. I also introduced them to my buddy Happyslip. Maybe Happyslip will be invited next year as Tito Bong's new friend. HE-HE-HE. KIDDING! I'm sure she's not a homewrecker! BUWAHAHAHA!

Anyway, we really had so much fun the past couple of days and I wish we could get together like this more often. They are MY FAMILY here and I can NOT wait til NEXT NEW YEAR! For now, I need to burn off all the 'excess baggage' I brought home with me from London! And what?! I actually have to cook our meals now?! *sigh*


**Thanks to Tito Erv for teaching us yet another English term of a Bisaya word I haven't heard in a while- very FLATTERING indeed!

X-MAS SHOPPING NIGHTMARES

I was at the Scarborough Town Centre this afternoon to do some last-minute shopping. Mahn, oh mahn! I totally forgot how hectic it gets in the malls around this time of the year. My Christmas shopping is usually done by the end of November since we always go south of the border during their Thanksgiving weekend to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. But this year, thanks to the low exchange rate, it was bye bye Black Friday shopping for me :-(

So as I was saying... I went to the mall today with the hubby and the girls. Just turning in to the parking lot, I already knew I was gonna have a bad day! Even the farthest parking spot was taken. But I still decided to see if the Customer with Child spots were all taken. As I was nearing the spots, I saw the spot nearest to the entrance empty. I signaled to make sure other drivers knew I was turning into that spot even though I was still a few metres away. I was almost there when this car turned in and parked in MY spot! HELLLLOOOO?!?! I SIGNALLED FIRST! But he wasn't gonna give up the spot. He turned first! *rolling my eyes* UGH! $%#^%$#! Fine! Then there was another spot on the other side. So I hurried but again, somebody got there first. The pretty Asian lady got out of her Honda Accord and... ran straight to the mall entrance! Wait a minute. Why'd she run off?! She parked in the 'Customer with Child' spot but she ran off without a child! What the...?! That's when I lost it... I couldn't even scream at her cuz she ran in to the mall so fast since she probably knew what the other drivers would do once they realized she didn't have a kid with her. But I was sooo pissed off that... I RAN AFTER HER! Yes, I did. I put the car to park, turned on my hazard signals and RAN AFTER HER. She was still walking so fast even inside the mall. I was a few metres behind her but I didn't wanna scream, "Hey You!" So I followed her... to the BATHROOM! I thought, "Perfect!" As soon as I went in, I said, "Excuse me? Was that your Silver Honda Accord parked just outside the entrance?" And she replied, "YES." I smiled and said, "You know that's a spot for 'Customers with Children,' right? It doesn't look to me like you have any AND I have 2 with me! Guess what this lady did?! She shrugged her shoulders and went inside the bathroom stall! Like, really! GGGgggRRRRRrrrrr... *&%$$#%$&^*&^(*%^%$@#$!^&^*&(* !!! My heart was beating so fast that I thought I was gonna explode. I went back to the car, dropped off the kids to the closest entrance and left to find a parking spot. I ended up parking in an uncovered area and as soon as I got off, it started to snow! (It's just my luck, eh?) But oh wellz... At least I got a spot.

The mall was so crowded and a lot of people were rude and impatient- including mall employees! Geez... Now I remember why I HATE doing last-minute shopping. For next Christmas, I'm starting my shopping on Boxing Day this year! I'll be done my Christmas Shopping even before this year ends! And... I'm taking the TTC! TAKE THAT!

SMIIIIIILLLLLLEEEEEE :-)

My sister got braces! Am I jealous? Yes... a bit... Maybe if she had it 18 years ago (not that she was born yet), I would be SUPER JEALOUS! As a little kid, seeing people with braces made me want to get my own. It seemed like the cool thing then- pretty much all "cool" kids, or should I say "teenagers" I knew, had them. This was when I decided that I will get them NO MATTER WHAT. I wanted to be one of those cool chicks with multi-coloured braces. I would change the colours whenever I want- from hot pink to blue to yellow to whatever! I heard about all the pain these cool "braces-wearers" had to go through but I didn't care. I will go through whatever I have to go through to have shiny, colourful things on my teeth. But the problem was... MY TEETH WERE FINE! The dentist told me I WILL NOT BE NEEDING braces- not even retainers (which I was willing to settle for- they're still shiny)! "Oh no! What do I do now?!" I thought of ways to make my teeth "not fine" so then my dentist will eventually change his mind and give me the braces anyway. "I GET WHAT I WANT." So I put my oh-so-BRILLIANT plan to work:

EAT LOTS OF CHOCOLATE, CANDIES, CAKES- ALL THE SWEET STUFF that's supposedly not good for you, especially your TEETH... THEN... DO NOT BRUSH YOUR TEETH AFTERWARDS! HE-HE-HE...

I swear! I was sooo smart! This plan was surely gonna make my TEETH "NOT" FINE anymore. Then, I'll get what I want- BRACES! buwahahaha...

So... that happened when I was about 6 or so. I'm 24 now and I NEVER got braces (not even retainers)- never NEEDED them, so the dentist tells me! But guess what I got instead: CAVITIES galore and ROOT CANALS!

hmmm... can you say, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR?

**I now brush my teeth as much as I can.
**I think... no, I KNOW... my dentist is wondering how I could have done such damage to my teeth? (sigh!) If only he knew!

And to my sister, Issa... I AM STILL SO JEALOUS that you have those PINK and SILVER stuff on your teeth! Whenever you feel like complaining on how uncomfortable or painful it is, just think of me. Tell yourself you have them on for me since YOU WERE BLESSED with the NOT-SO-FINE TEETH I'VE ALWAYS WANTED!!! ENJOY THEM! :-D

F-O-B

I am currently in Ajax at my parents' place and I don't know how it all started but we started talking about random stuff- including MY FOBBY moments. And now, my MOTHER AND HUSBAND wanted me to share my VERY EMBARRASSING moments to the whole wide world!

-I was on my first few shifts at McDonald's (my very first job) and a customer asked me for something... I couldn't understand what he was saying at all. It sounded like pure mumbling to me although that 'something' he was asking for sounded familiar. After he repeated himself so many times, I started to panic- I still had no idea what EXACTLY he wanted and he was getting really frustrated with me. And I was already trying my hardest to lip-read! I thought I was gonna cry but since I thought I knew what he was asking for I said, "Oh, that!" I can see the relief on his face while I started to walk to the side- going to the ice cream machine getting his 'something.' I walked back to the customer with a huge smile on my face and handed him the MOST PERFECT VANILLA CONE I was capable of making. The customer looked at me like I just did the STUPIDEST thing and said, "What's this?" I said, "You wanted *me mumbling trying to make it sound like whatever he said*, right?" At this time, a good friend of mine (who happened to work with me and was working on the next till) was looking at us trying to figure out what was happening. When the customer shouted, "I want some S**V****ES!" I was almost in tears, then I saw my friend walk outside to the condiments counter and got him a whole bunch of napkins. She then walked up to me and said, "He was asking for SERVIETTES!" (To all you Filipinos out there: get it? SERVIETTES? SORBETES? And I wasn't even sure what SORBETES meant. I just remembered seeing that word on some ice cream container in the Philippines so I assumed it meant ice cream!).

-Same setting: McDonalds. A man came up and asked for some 'chips.' I was very apologetic when I said, "I'm sorry, sir. We don't sell chips here. This is McDonalds. The convenient store is just around the corner." He looked at me and pointing to the fry machine he said, "What are those then?" FRIES!

At least when the incident above happened, I finally realized that it was okay to order 'Fish and Chips.' I never wanted to order it before cuz when they say 'chips," it's usually Lay's or some kind of potato chips which I don't really appreciate much. And besides, why would you eat fish with CHIPS? Fish and Fries sounds more appetizing!

-I was doing some shopping and when the cashier handed me the receipt I looked at it and looked at her in shock. I walked back and said, "How'd you know my name? I never told you my first name, did I? By the way, it's misspelled." Then I left staring at the receipt that said, "THANK YOU, MERCI!"

And lastly...

-We were at Fairview Mall earlier this evening and I volunteered to order the food. Brice wanted something from Grill It Up so I decided that I'd get something from there too to save time. I ordered Tandoori Chicken and I specified that I wanted it mild. When the guy handed me my order, I stared at it surprised (again!). On the container was scribbled, "TAN, M"- my last name and first initial! I guess the guy saw my expression cuz he then said, "That's what you wanted, right? TANdoori Mild? I just smiled like an idiot and left.

Mahn! Even after being 'Canadian' for a while now (over a decade already!), these things still happen to me! But now, I can finally laugh it off and say, "I AM SUCH A FOB!"

It's okay, you can laugh WITH me :-D

HA - HA - HA !