Brice and I went to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button earlier. It was a little long (166 minutes to be exact) but I found the premise of the movie to be very interesting. It's pretty much about this guy who ages backwards. The main role is played by Brad Pitt and he did really well in this movie. I normally get turned off when critics give a movie a pretty high rating because from previous experiences, those movies usually require a bit more thinking than I would like to do. So when Brice told me that one of those 'hard' critic dude gave this movie a 4.5/5, I told him I wasn't so sure if I still wanted to see it. But we went anyway and I was not disappointed. I don't wanna say more about it because I don't wanna give away too much of the story but I really do recommend that you go see this movie. Not only did Brad Pitt look UBER-GORGEOUS (he can still pull off a teenager's role!), the story really made me think... What if some of us really did age backwards? What will happen to us and to the ones we love?
But like Cate Blanchett said in the movie, "It doesn't matter. We all end up in diapers, anyway."
December 26 is "Boxing Day" for us Canadians. It's supposed to be the best time to go shopping in Canada- like "Black Friday" is for our friends south of the border. But no way you'll see me shopping today! Why not? Aside from the crazy crowd and crazy parking, you see, the 'sales' actually get better AFTER Boxing Day. So if you're not exactly looking for anything in specific, then wait a week or two and whatever is 50% off now will be 60-70% off then. Trust me, I worked in retail for a bit plus I used to be a big shopper so I learned these things. Take note: used to be. :-)
But for those of you who wanna purchase electronics, this is probably one of the best times to get a deal on whatever it is you wanna get. But... don't be one of those lining up outside Best Buy/Future Shop at 4a.m. so you can be one of the first people to get in and maybe, just maybe, you can get your hands on whatever it is you wanna purchase. Why not just go on their website and purchase it there? It's for the same price and shipping is usually free! And the boxing day deals usually start on the 24th if you purchase online. If it's sold out online then wake up early in the morning on Boxing Day, bundle up, get a nice, warm cup of coffee then LINE UP outside the store a FEW HOURS before they open.Well... HAVE FUN SHOPPING! and remember, PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.http://boxingday.redflagdeals.com/index.php/flyers/
Looking at all the presents each of my girls got, I realized that not in my entire life did I ever get that many presents for Christmas! At the "Annual Tan Family Christmas Party," during the distribution of presents, we needed 4 garbage bags to put all of the girls' presents into! All the kids there had such huge smiles on their faces- so happy to get all those gifts and so excited to open them. But the most excited out of all them was my beautiful, Kyla. She wanted to go home ASAP to open up her presents and to see if Santa had already dropped by to bring what she had asked for. So we left the party as soon as we could and dropped by at my sister-in-law's place to... yes, GET MORE PRESENTS! -at least they got to open them right there and then. But Kyla still wanted to go home already to open up the rest of her presents. So we did. She had to change into her pj's first to get comfy (actually, I didn't want her dress to be ruined- such a mom!).Anyway, after all the presents were opened, we finally got her to go to bed. Then Brice and I had a conversation about how Christmas is really for kids. Aside from celebrating the birth of Jesus, it's also something that children always look forward to. When you're young, you look forward to getting lots of presents from your family and friends. But once you get older, those presents seem to slowly disappear and you find yourself the one to be giving out presents instead. Mahn! I'm really getting old! It didn't matter that we didn't receive many gifts as long as the kids were happy that's all that matters.
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!
This 11-year cutie is so talented. He is such an old soul! He's a little Sinatra/Buble. I love his English accent, too! And the best thing is... His mom is Bisaya! Magkasinabot mi! So... Charlie... Take your pick: Kyla or Kaelene ?
