Weekend Happenings
Spent the weekend in Martinez visiting my sister and family. Twas nice to spend quality time with everyone. Helped my mom and sis replant some orchids...I never said I had a green thumb, so I was prepared. Just slipped on them gloves and made sure none of the soil got on me! Don't like dirt. Tis gross to me. I have this thing with getting my hands dirty...ugh, and getting them dirty with black potting soil? No way. Even having the leaves all up in my face...I imagine these eensy teeny bugs gettin' on my skin, goin' places where they shouldn't be goin' and all that other lovely stuff...No thanks. I'm sure it's due to some kind of compulsive disorder or some kind of phobia. It probably started with working with kids. You gotta wash your hands ALL THE TIME! Ain't no tellin' what germs these lil' rugrats are harboring...your hands can never be too clean! Hah! Anyways, while mom and sis worked on orchids, my niece Sabrina and I happily defaced the driveway with some sidewalk chalk. Imagine a grown woman drawing stick figures and her beloved palm tree with coconuts next to a 6-year old kid...can't get any sweeter than that!

Shopping Spree
So there was this huge sale at Macy's this weekend. Us women (plus kids) decided to hit the mall. Sunvalley Mall was crowded, but not painfully so. While I'm keeping my niece company, my mom is pushing me to look at the clearance racks. Kept pickin' tops/pants/whatnot up and saying, "Here! This will be good for you!" or "How about this?" or "What's your size again?" So, I finally get into the mood, pick out some clothes just so we could all do the trying-on-clothes together ritual. We're moving on to other racks and my mom says to my sister and I, "By the way, I'm paying!" Eh?! My sister and I do a double take...did she just say she's treating?! Mom continues," Well, since I'm paying for your Dad's surgeries (totalling close to the ungodly number of $200,000!), I could go on a shopping spree!" Well, okay then! If I had known that Mom was going to pay, then I wouldn't have wasted all that time playing around! Mom paid about $140 for the three of us...for a total of 12 items, that wasn't bad. Twasn't bad at all. Looking back at that Saturday, I was thinking about what might've been going through my mom's head that day. I can't remember when was the last time my sister and I went shopping with her! With me leaving the City for Minnesota soon, I think that it made her happy that she could buy those clothes for us AND simply, just spend time with her kids and grandkids. Thanks Mom!

So-en vs. Victoria
For those who don't know or who haven't had the "pleasure" of wearing So-en...these are underwear from the Philippines. It's your basic cotton panty that comes in different colors AND different designs- mainly floral. It's one of those "gifts" that everyone gets when someone comes back from PI. When someone comes from Hawaii, they bring gifts of chocolate covered macadamia nuts or puka shells...when someone comes from New York, they bring gifts with the Empire State building or Statue of Liberty...when people come from PI, they give you So-en underwear! Well, I had sworn So-en underwear off when I started working and vowed I'd never own a pair as long as Victoria made hers...

So my mom calls out, "Myra, what size panty do you wear?"
I hesitatingly answer, "Um, why?" but really knowing and dreading what's coming.
Mom comes into the bedroom with the recognizable plastic..."Oh, your Tita Vicky sent some."
"Give it to Ate..she'll wear those," I tell her.
"She already got some. Here take these."
"I don't wear those anymore." Really. I swore I'd never wear them again!
"Bakit? It's just for everyday!"
She hands it to me with this look that only moms have that means that I SHOULD take it.
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
It's not like there's anything wrong with them...they're the basic cotton kind...nothing fancy...BUT just more on the grandma type of underwear you wouldn't be caught wearing! Haha, it's cool...and like Mom says, "it's just for everyday!" Alright Mom...I'll take them, but I won't guarantee that I'll use them...