Gallery Launching!
Hey ya'll! Hubby got my gallery up and runnin- check it out! There's a few pics of our new place and of the lil' dinner get-together we had last Sunday. Also, check out the Kim Taylor Reece original piece artwork. It's the one that hubby got me for our first year anniversary, signed by da artist himself. We tried to do a close-up, but that's the best we can do. Can't quite see the protruding nipple, but it's there. Hahaha, that's the artist's trademark, y'see. I'm just glad most of his models are women...if y'know what I mean! LOL! Also, take a look at the guest bathroom and tell me what you see on the shower curtain...yup! Palm trees! Got my palm tree theme goin' in there and although it doesn't show in the pic, even got a garbage can to match. =) Been tryin' to scan more pics, but something's wrong with the scanner- all our pics are coming out too light. Boo. I've been wanting to put some pics of family, friends, homies, etc, on it. Wanted to include the Fernandez wedding and some of my students from last year as well. In the meantime, hubby is workin' on his gallery thang, too, so do check his out.

Mud-dobbers
So ya'll have heard about the whole ladybuy invasion...let me tell you about mud-dobbers...ya'll will like this one. Well, the cold weather that we've been experiencing finally made its way through our sweats and sweatshirts. We finally decided to put up the heat in our apartment. 'Tisn't seems like a brain surgeon kinda task, right? Switch the thermostat to heat and crank it up. Easy. So we hear the air comin' thru the vents, but what the heck, it's cold air! Hmm...did we forget to switch it to heat? It's not on "cool" or a/c, right Ran? Hubby checks it again. Nope. Turns it off and on again. Same thing. Aw man...I guess we'll have to tell the leasing office 'bout it. Fine. Later on in the evening, our maintenance guy comes in and checks out the problem. Nothing was wrong with the vent itself...it was what was IN the vents that was a problem. Turns out there was a hive of mud-dobbers, A HIVE, in there. A HIVE?! Now thank goodness that I didn't actually see it, but according to hubby, it was more like maggoty-creepy-crawly things that was preventing the vent from starting up. Maintenance guy said 'tisn't a big problem- it's just the larvae that was left, no adults hanging out. All he had to do was remove them. Simple. Um, remove them and put them where exactly? In the toilet? Man, I just cleaned the loo, too! Dude said that this was his 4th call on these mud-dobbers. Mud-dobbers, btw, are ground bees. Said that he wasn't sure if that was the technical name for them, but they're basically bees that dig themselves in the ground. Ew. Whatever. Don't mind me as I do my bugs-freak-me-out dance...you know, the one where you try to swoosh away the imaginary bugs that are crawlin' on your body and flap your arms wildly about the buzzin' around your head and saying, "ewwwww!" really loudly to make 'em go away. Ya'll know the dance that I speak of. I am NOT the only wuss who creeps out over these bugs. First ladybugs, now mud-dobbers. Ain't lookin' forward to what else'll come our way...

Snow Flurry
No, not the McFlurry from Mickey D's, but actual falling snow! I haven't seen my first flurry yet, but apparently since the weather and ground aren't cold enough, the snow just melts. The forecast right now is rain all over the state of Minnesota. Freezing cold rain, that is. The rest of the week is calling for rain mixed with snow- and in northern parts of MN is already expecting few inches of snow by tonight. The cold is a different kind of cold. It goes straight to the bones. Locals keep telling us that the past few winters haven't been that bad, mild, was the word they used. Although it's gets to about 30 below zero, it's really about bundling up. Hubby was reassuring me that it won't be as bad as I'm suspecting. (Yah, I'm thinking HELLA cold! Anything below zero is just TOO cold!) LOL- 'tisn't like we have to walk 10 miles anywhere! True dat. Still though. So since they've had mild winters, some are thinking this is going to be a long winter. Long. Long as in snow starting in October and not melting til about April! Aw man, I tell you...if we can get thru this winter without any loss of limbs from frostbite or any major sicknesses, I'll be one happy camper.

DigiCam
Yay! We finally got one! Hubby added another gadget to his pile of toys. On our drive back from church, I took the liberty of shooting the scenery and although most came up blurry, there were some cool "artistic" shots. Artistic = clear, not blurry, somewhat decent for 1st time digital cam user, cool pics. Hubby is working on a gallery link on his blog. Hopefully ya'll will be able to see pics of our new place soon. Check out Doh-boy and click on gallery.

Dinner Party
Last night we had our first visitors! This is a big thing since we finished cleaning up our place- 'member the whole kalat issue? Well, kalat no more! Actually, we were supposed to have our small group meeting dinner at our place last Fri. But get this...originally it was supposed to be 8-10 adults with 4 kids altogether. 4 kids. 4 jumpy, loud, hyper, kids who run around and don't seem to listen to their parents. Great. So hubby and I braced ourselves (and our place!) for these lil' rugrats. We get an email a few days before and we learn that another family is going to be joining us. A family with 3 more girls! So if my math is correct, that is 7 kids.....all under the age of 7 years old! Um, okay, as much as we'd like to have people over, our place isn't designed for 7 kids. So we skipped out on having dinner at our place. Last night, we had the DeJesus fam over. They're the fam from Southern Cal and honestly, they're the coolest people we've met thus far out here in MN. They've got two lil' kids, aged 10 and 6, and they reminded me Bina and Nico. 'Twas probably the age gap between the two and how well they get along. We were all talkin' about the whole Pinoy issue out here- meaning, what's up with all the Pinoys we've met so far?! Not that this is a majorly big deal, but most of the Pinoys here in MN are straight from PI... fresh off the boat...whatever you want to call it. I don't say that in a demeaning way. I mean, hey, my parents and the rest of my family were in their shoes once. Plus, more power to them for making their way to the States after a long, hard struggle back in PI. Ain't nothin' wrong with wanting the American dream realized, right? But the people we've met here are, well, gee, I don't know quite how to explain it. There's always been the American-born vs. PI-born issue. I feel that our fellow brutha and sistas over here "look down" on us....y'know, 'cuz we're not Filipino enough...'cuz we were born in the States...'cuz we don't speak the language...'cuz we don't cook Filipino food. Who says how our Filipino-ness is determined? Just 'cuz I don't speak the language and wasn't born in PI?! I don't think so. Some of the most Filipino people that I know are also the whitest people- straight coconut: brown on the outside, white on the inside. Whatever. I'm tired of tryin' to explain- "I was born and raised in San Francisco and although I don't speak the language, I can understand it." And on top of that, I was raised in the culture, brought up to appreciate my heritage, can fully understand what it means to grow up Filipino, and consider myself Filipino. I wish these people would get off our back! And you wonder why Filipinos are not a united people...

Missin' Home
I try to call the family back in CA at least once a week to see how they're doing. Talked to mom and pops earlier in the week. Dad is practically back to his old self since his surgeries. Does his own rehab by walkin' the threadmill daily and thank God, he hasn't smoked. 'Twas about to say thank God that he hasn't gotten "the urge" to smoke, but changed my mind. I'm sure the urge is there, but good ole' mom will make damn sure that doesn't happen. Did I share that my mom actually brought her camera on the day of his open-heart? Once Dad was in ICU, she started snappin' away! Her plan was to capture how my dad looked with all these tubes down his throat and IV's stuck all in him that whenever he'd get an urge to smoke, she'd "remind" him why it was a bad idea. Smart lady...so far, the plan has worked! Anyways, talked with mom a bit about the weather and school before she morphed into lecture-mode about staying healthy amid the cold and eating better. "Yes mom. Uh huh. Yah, I bring my jacket with me. No, I haven't bought any thermals yet. Oh, they're on sale at Mervyns? Okay, I'll check it out. Yes mom, I already trim the fat off the meat. No, I'm not using too much salt. No, we haven't been eating out- haven't had McDonald's in a long time." (um, doesn't need to know the truth about that one!) After about 5 minutes of that, she hands the phone to my dad. Now, my dad isn't really one to talk for so long. Usually when he answers, he'll ask, "Hello? Who's this? My daughter, which one? hahaha! Oh? You're doing okay? Rando is fine, too? Good, good! Okay, here's your mom." Very typical conversation. This time, we actually talked about other things. Since they were about to have dinner, we said our goodbyes and right before he hung up, he said, "Okay, I love you, hah? You take care of yourself." Aw man! Talk about instant tears to my eyes! Whew- even as I write this, I need a tissue! I guess you have to know my dad. He's not one to really express himself like that. Rarely does he utter those words to us. It felt so good to hear those words. I hung up and cried for a bit. I miss my mom and dad.

Called my sister last night to say hello and see how her fam is doing. Got to talk to the lil' rugrats, Bina and Nico. Nico is really starting to talk more now! Now although I couldn't understand all that he was saying, I did hear, "Hi Ninang Mywa!" and "I'm writing in my notebook (Blues Clues) and we're watching Friends and bye Ninang!" It was the most adorable thing! He handed the phone to big sis and Bina started to tell me about her new boyfriend. She's in 1st grade, by the way. I asked what happened to her old boyfriend, and she gave me a sigh and said, "Oh him? He's acting too crazy or something." Oh girl...wait until you're older!... Don't you just miss the good ole' days when life was just simpler?

Also got to call my homegirl, Mrs. Sharon. There's just something about hearing the voice of one of your friends that really brighten up your day. 'Tis been a while since we last talked, but it seemed only yesterday that we did. Those are the kinds of friendships that I love. Pickin' up where you last left off. We did the whole updating each other thang...told me what's happening out at Cornerstone and I told her about the happenings in MN. Made me really miss our lil' talks over Starbucks! Maybe it's 'cuz hubby was gettin' sentimental today about how he misses hangin' out with his boys, but it sure made me miss hangin' out with my friends, too! I totally miss the Cornerstone crew, the Lapids and the rest of the Hustler gang, lil' bro Phil, Ms Penny, and Firefighter Jon. Honestly, it just ain't the same. But the one true test of friendship, I think, is time and distance. If ya'll can withstand that, then as hubby would say, it's all gravy.

Prayer requests
Kuya Sam. Good friend of mine who I've known for almost 12 years just had open-heart surgery. Something to do with a broken valve. I don't know all the details, but the situation could've been worse. Heard that the surgery went without complications- Thank God! He's only 33. Please keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery...so he can get his groove back on the dancefloor when he's ready. Hang in there Kuya Sam!

Emeril Contest
Now it seems like I haven't mentioned anything about Food Network in a while. Has My's interest in cuisine faded? On my contrary, peoples! In fact, I'm a loyal Emeril fan who gets all giggly when he does his "Bam!" thang with his spices. Just seems so silly, but endearing. Yah, whatever. Anyways, there is this contest on Food Network goin' on. The grand prize winner gets to go to a special taping of Emeril Live during Christmas time, gets to stay in New York for 5-days and 4-nights, a seat at the Emeril counter, $15,000 in cash, and a brand new Buick Rainier. The next 15 winners still get the trip to New York, the special taping of the show, and $1,500 cash. Not bad, eh? It's one of those contests that you may submit your name and info on a daily basis for a chance, WHICH by the way, is what I've been doing! I put my name, then enter hubby's. Hubby and I were talking about this and our chances of winning. He laughed it off and commented that people like us never win. Only people in the Midwest win things like that. Wait a second! Hey, we ARE in the Midwest! Holy moley! Wouldn't that be the coolest?! Keep your fingers crossed, people! AND if you decide that you want to try your chances of winning, by all means, go right ahead. But if you win, just remember WHO told you about the contest...that's two tix. One for you and yah, one for moi. Bam!

MOA Excursion
Hubby and I went to Mall of America, otherwise known as MOA, the other day. 'Twas a spur of the moment decision. We thought that since it was a weekday that it wouldn't be so crowded. Yay, we guesed right! The last time we were there, it was so freakin' crowded that I stopped tryin' to get outta peoples way and let 'em bump me. 'Tis amazing how shoppers on a mission turn out to be rude ass people. A lil' "scuse me" or "pardon me" or "my bad" will do, but nope. Bump the lil' brown girl...the lil' brown CUTE girl, might I add. They won't mind. WE puti people rule the world remember? They should be apologizing to US for being in OUR way. Shiet. Damn puti peoples. ANYWAYS, hahaha, before I go off on a whole other tangent...and ya'll don't want me to go there! I had been complaining to hubby that I am SO not prepared for this below zero crap that I've been hearing so much about. I need the basics, you know? Winter coat, hat, gloves, earmuffs, and yes ladies, shoes. Shoes. Boots. Either one. (cowboy boots? Hmmm....those'd be cute, too, eh msbLiSs?!) So, Hubby and I mosey on down (yes, still moseying...) to Nordstrom so I can stock up on my MAC. Hubby heads to the men's shoe department and later tells me that no one bothered to help him. Boo on the Nordstrom men's shoe dept for not wantin' to help a brutha out! They get the gas face! =p Just as we start checkin' out the ladies shoes, a pushy saleswoman gets all in our business and starts pointing out this and that. Hubby helps pick out this snow Timberland-lookin' boots called UGGs. Australian, you say? Never heard of them. Now, I'm no chaussures extraordinaire, but once I put on the sheep skin boot lined up with fleece inside, ooooooh, they were toasty! I had also been eyeing some cute, black, dressy boots, so shoe lady went to hook us up. She was like, "just relax, I'll bring everything to you." Yah! That's what I'm talkin' about! lol! She brought some out and I finally found a pair that fit real nice. Of course I had to do the slip/non-slip test on the floor- this includes being able to RUN, 'cuz you never know when the need may arise and plus, I refuse to be one of them lame girls in movies who die first 'cuz they couldn't run away in their heels...AND it also includes being able to CHA-CHA or electric slide, 'cuz well, you never know when the need may arise. As I was debating on which pair to get, shoe lady started to break us down with her knowledge. She commented, "When you're going out to a party, you wear the snow boots to and from the car. Once you're indoors, you change into the cute, dressy boots. That's what everyone does." Makes sense, yah? But you know what? I really don't think I'm going to give a rat's ass about how cute my feet look when the weather gets to 20 below freakin' zero! Or will I? Hmmmm..... Turns out hubby decided to splurge and get me both pairs. This winter I will not only have warm feet, but cute feet as well. What a guy, eh? Lucky me. Be jealous.

Ladybug Invasion!
I can't believe all the googling I've done on ladybugs. Yah, you read correctly....LADYBUGS! Or should I say lady BEETLES. You know, the little red bugs, er, beetles with the black spots on them. The ones we're taught are the "good bugs" that eat the other bad ones like aphids. (lil' science lesson for ya'll!) Anyways, the reason I bring that up is 'cuz there is an invasion goin' on here in MN! Seriously. Beginning in the fall and well into the winter, ladybugs in the hundreds and even thousands try to scope out places to chill for the winter weather. This could either be inside or outside a home. But during anytime we've gone out, you see them flyin' everywhere. No joke. Plus, the certain species out here, the Asian ladybug, is quite differnt than regular ladybugs. From my google research, they've got 19 black spots, they're orange in color, AND they're bigger...about a third of an inch bigger than a regular ladybug! Ewwww! Now yes, these are the helper bugs, but when you got them flyin' here and there, ya'll know that I sure got my ears covered so they don't want to hole up anywhere else! Now honestly, they're harmless lil' buggers, but if you saw our window screen the other day, you'd seriously get wiggled out. These suckers are HUGE! Plus, since they're on the other side of the screen, thank God, you don't get to see the pretty orange and black spots. Nope. You get to see the nasty lil' body and the legs wiggling about! I wish I could show you a pic...if you're totally bored after reading this blog, go google it. Asian ladybug.

Yee-Haw!
I think we just went to our first real ho-down! Tonight was the CSFA (Cultural Society of Filipino Americans) induction of officers...Western style! On the invitation, it said "Western Attire." Kinda reminded me of all the Barn dances we'd have at the church cafeteria when we were younger. We'd have a scarecrow, some hay, and everyone wore their overalls and flannel to look, well, farmer-like! But although we were dressed like farmers and whatnot, we still got down with our cha-cha and modern music. Well, tonight was different! We walked into the place and HELLA people straight looked like real cowboys! Spurs and everything! First of all, it's like WHOA! Everyone was sportin' cowboy boots, bolo ties, red bandana 'round the neck, and the famous cowboy hat. Hmmm...those look kinda cute. Cowboy hats. As peoples were moseying on down, I had an inkling of a feeling that I wanted a hat! Egads, did I just say that?! Hubby and I were discussing the attire when it hit me, HELLOOOOOOOO! We're in the freakin' Midwest! Of course these people are going to have this kind of clothing! I was all wondering, geez, does everyone have cowboy boots and hats? Was there a certain costume rental store in Minnesota that had hella business 'cuz all these Pinoys were rushing in to get the best stuff? Um, I think not. I honest to God think that the clothes worn tonight came from their very own collection. Dayamn. Remember that inkling I got about them cowboy hats? I even had one for cowboy boots, BUT that didn't last too long. Hell, the first boots I'll probably invest in will be SNOW BOOTS! lol! Oh, and to top it all off to make the night soooooo country, CSFA hired a country band for our music enjoyment! 'Twas a REAL country band called the Country Gents! They even have a cd out! Good Lord! Once they started gettin' their twang on, a couple of puti gentlemen with their Pinay women hit the dance floor. Yee-haw! I have to say that this is a FIRST for hubby and me....seeing and hearing a live country band. As expected, everyone got their Electric Slide on. The lead singer called out, "Line dancing!" and these pinoys started electric sliding! He called out, "Two stepping!" and these pinoys did their electric slide! Boy, Filipinos sure do love their electric slide! After a few more country tunes, hubby and I decided that it was time to just, well, go. Said our goodbyes and we moseyed on outta there...

Just a side note. We and another couple we sat with were commenting on the "oh so cool" music of the night. (sense the sarcasm?!) They mentioned that they should've gone to the clubs. Said that Minneapolis got a lot of bumpin' dance clubs. Oh really, we ask? Yah, there's even some at Mall of America! (the hotel we were at was right across the street from MOA). Told us that the top floor of the mall has some clubs and get this- the cover is only $6! $6.00 to get a stamp and you could jump from club to club! Whoo hoo! One of these days, hubby and I are going to check it out! Yee-haw!

Happy Camper
Yes! That's me! I'm a happy camper! Why My, you might be asking yourselves. It's because I can finally stop my yappin' and complaining about all the damn kalat in our place. (Oops! For those who don't know Tagalog, "kalat" = mess, junk, disorder, etc.)I've spent the last few days workin' on the "other room"- (just so you don't get confused like my dear hubby...there's the master bedroom, living room, hubby's office, other room). Other room/guest bedroom/my's work area/my's library area. Whatever you want to call it. There is a bed with new sheets, ready for anyone to visit. (HINT! HINT!) The computer table is set up. My bookcase looks nicely furnished with all my romance novels, dramas, Oprah's Book Club picks, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia book sets, and various other educational materials and resources. We've got our cool, paper hanging light from IKEA giving that Asian sorta feel to the room and I just got done vacuuming. There's an actual walking space now! Ya'll might be thinking, "so what's the big deal?" If you know me, you know that I am a neat freak and for the past two months having all this kalat everywhere has just gotten on my last damn nerve. I couldn't take it anymore! Until today... Yay! No longer frustrated. No more taking a walk into the room and doing an about face while taking deep breaths to calm down. No more nagging on hubby. I'm cool. Im content. I'm a happy camper. =)

Bad Boys
"Bad boys, bad boys, watcha' gonna do? Watcha' gonna do when they come for you?" Hahahaha! Hubby and I watched the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence duo do their thang at a discount theater here in Woodbury. Turns out that we've got a theater that we can see outside our living room window. Only $2.50! Should we have walked there? Probably. Did we? Nah uh. LoL! It's one of those "so close, yet so far" deals...plus, when it's cold, the hop, skip, and a jump that it takes to get there isn't worth the frostbite I'm prone to get! We thought we'd get the theater to ourselves, but a couple of other couples came in last minute. Funny thing though. We placed ourselves in the middle, y'know, to get the best seats, but once the lights went down, hubby and I turned to each other almost simultaneously and said, "let's move to the back." It was probably when the preview for Texas Chainsaw Massacre came and we said we didn't want any freaky people comin' up from behind us! Talk about paranoid, eh?! Anyways, as late as watching this summer blockbuster, it was cool to finally see it in the theater...for only $2.50, too! Hmmm...what should we see next? The Incredible Hulk? Swat? Finding Nemo? Tomb Raider 2? Ooooohh, the possibilities! LOL

MarlinCove apartments in Foster City suck!
Tell all your friends! Share this pertinent info and warn them not to be suckered into getting an apartment at MarlinCove in Foster City! Honestly, to have a newly developed complex there and ready for a newlywed couple to move into, MarlinCove was definitely a nice place. Location-wise, it was perfect. 'Twas in the middle of hubby's and my work. There was a Target less than 5 minutes away...a grocery store within walking distance...a Costco, some cool restaurants, and shopping all nearby! And for the most part of our 11 month stay there, it was cool. For the most part. We could've done without the following: neighbors slammin' their doors that make the whole floor vibrate, lettin' their lil' kids run up and down the hallways as their personal playground, punk-ass high school kids who doorbell ditch (and we know exactly WHERE he lives, too!), some straight "shee-shee" and bourgeois puti peoples who think they rule the world, and not to mention "Fat Pat" who lived above us who had feet like elephant, stompin' around all hours of the night! Other than that, it was a cool, first place for us. UNTIL...the day we told them we were relocating to Minnesota and they wouldn't let us out of our lease. We only had ONE MORE MONTH to go, too! They kept saying that we couldn't break the contract, and we signed an agreement, blah, blah, blah. Couldn't even take into consideration that hubby got laid off. I found it hard to believe that there was no way around the lease thang, but we were suckered into believing otherwise. So we're stuck with one more month's rent, but hey, they told us they'd contact us as soon as our apt was leased. And that shouldn't be a problem 'cuz we have such a long wait list. Bullshit. You know, even if they DID lease it out, they weren't about to tell us so we wouldn't have to pay our rent- they just want our money! And so it goes, we paid our rent, washed our hands of that place, and kissed it goodbye. UNTIL...we got this bill in the mail a couple days ago. Prior to our move, water was free. Part of the rent. Tis how it should be. BUT, during the month of our move, it all changed and now renters have to pay a water bill. According to the bill we received, the charge was for August 19- Sept 20. Hey now, we were out of there August 15. We shouldn't have to pay the bill, right? So I call their punk asses, leave a message for the manager, and he makes someone else return my call. They give me this lame excuse that we still HAVE to pay that bill because it's still part of our lease. I tried to argue with her, telling her that I didn't understand WHY, since we weren't even there to use the water, etc. "Sorry, but that's just how it is." Sorry, my ass! One month's rent AND a freakin' water bill...they fricken suck! So yah, tell all your family and friends...don't get suckered into the sales....DO NOT go to 1000 FOSTER CITY BLVD. MARLINCOVE APARTMENTS....bastards.

Minnesotan Youth
Went to get hubby's car washed today...turns out they employ a lot of school kids to dry, wipe down, and detail the cars. Even had 'em get in the driver's seat and move it! What the heck?! Some of these kids don't even look like they're in high school....child labor in Minnesota?! One of the punk kids even took a smoking break! Geez! I was honestly appalled that this kid sat there taking a drag while the adults worked inside. Sat there all arrogant and smug, too. Do they know about this?! Okay, so these kids aren't hanging out with street thugs and they are working part-time afterschool...but c'mon! Then you WANT to say something, but you don't want to say something....very disturbing. Sometimes you just wanna slap 'em upside the head...shake 'em....BUT that's only what you WANT to do, and not what you actually do. LOL!

Back to School
I wish it was back to the classroom, but it ain't. I start my online classes with University of Phoenix tomorrow. Can't really say I'm looking forward to it. For the past month and a half, I've gotten used to not doing anything academic...no lessons to plan, no papers to correct, no chapters to read, no work to research....aside from the whole unpacking thing, I've gotten so used to watching Food Network! It's all good though- must get those juices working and flowing in the brain again! With taking this leave of absence for my Dad's surgery, the whole Certification/Master's thang will be completed by January 2005. Better late than never, right?

I've actually looked into some of the schools over here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. 'Course there's no teaching positions open, but there are quite a few subbing positions. I've been checkin' out the private school websites and some look really appealing! I really want to be back in a school environment. I miss being with all them rugrats and having a hand at opening up young minds to new things. I have that fear that the longer I'm away from it, I may change my mind and not want to teach anymore. I pray that doesn't happen! A joke that I have with homegirl Mrs. Sharon is that I can't stop teaching 'cuz there isn't anything else I CAN do! lol! It crossed my mind that perhaps God has another plan for me out here. But my heart is telling me that it's in a school where I belong. It's scary that I would have to "start from the bottom" again and work my way up. But it's a start, yah? Back to the joke about not being able to do anything else besides teaching...I could suck it up, and work at, say, Target...imagine the discount! Hahahaha! Okay...maybe not.

Okay...I'm having a better day than yesterday...

Filipino-Oriental Store
We found it! We had heard of it, but wasn't quite sure it existed. The one and only Filipino store in Minnesota! Just to set the record straight, there are many stores here run and owned by Pinoys, but there's only ONE grocery store. It ain't that big, but like a lil' kid on Christmas, my eyes got big when we found longanisa, pindang ("tocino" in Kapangpangan), and all the other Asian foods you just can't find anywhere else. Whoo hoo! The store itself is located in the older parts of St. Paul...it's like 'Immigrant Row'- across the street, there's a whole bunch of Korean groceries and restaurants, there's Thai, Indian, French...all in the ghetto. Had a longanisa dinner last night....YUM! We didn't go too crazy though. Now that we know where it is, no need to panic any longer. By the way, they also had Yan Yan!

Yah...feeling much better now. =)

Today Sucks...
What a yucky day! I'll blame the female 'monthly friend' for making me feel easily irritated today. (nice of me to share that wealth of information, eh?) My beloved San Francisco Giants lost the division series against the Florida Marlins. Our chances of seeing another World Series has slipped through our hands..er, gloves? Dammit! I really hoped we would've made a comeback from last year's defeat against the Anaheim Angels. Hubby and I got all excited 'cuz we were able to watch the Giants play...we've only been able to catch highlights on Sports Center...boo! Ain't the same! Although the Marlins played a good game, they're at the top of my sh*t list right now! I hate 'em! Boo!

Know what else sucks? I can't get used to the drinking water over here. Ain't got no Alhambra. I swear, I'll probably become dehydrated 'cuz I'm not fulfilling my water intake. The next best thing to Alhambra is Aquafina and Dasani...but even then, they only come in bottles! So yah, we fill our fridge with all these water bottles, but with Hubby being some kind of alien who thrives on gallons and gallons of water (yah, just like that movie, "Faculty" with Usher!), we're done with them in no time! I've been feenin' for a regular Mocha Blast with whipped cream (without the cinnamon!) for the longest time, but guess what? I hear there's only one or two Baskin Robbins over here! 'Course it's nowhere near where we live. That would be too easy. Ya'll know how I love Baskin, too! So we go to the grocery to get my fix some other way and I was thinking Dreyer's Mocha Almond Fudge would do the trick, but get this? They don't even sell Dreyer's! They've got Eddy's, which is EXACTLY like Dreyer's, BUT they don't have my flavor! WTF?! Tonight we also had practice with the praise team for tomorrow's church service. Where there's usually about 6 singers, only 2 showed up! Plus, with me being an alto, all the songs we sang were so damn high! See, with me not being a singer to begin with, I strain my voice 'cuz I'm trying to reach those unreachable notes and I end up gettin' light-headed 'cuz my breathing is all jacked. Great. So now, not only do I have cramps, I'm sore 'cuz I recently started working out again and I'm stiff as hell, I have a headache, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm bummed 'cuz the Giants lost, I'm irritated 'cuz now I've got this long ass run-on sentence, and I can't even have my favorite flavor ice cream! This sucks...tomorrow better be a better day. Hey, I feel better now. How are you guys doing???

Happy October, everyone! Maybe it was 'cuz I had just talked to Mrs. Sharon and Miss Lily the other day, but I had this sudden urge to do the whole "pinch, punch, the 1st of the month" to somebody. Ya'll remember that? I'm missin' out on the whole working thang and bein' around kids lately...today was school pictures at Cornerstone, I hear. I know that all the grades are startin' to prep for Christian Heritage Day and upcoming Christmas shows...have to admit that I won't be missin' on all the practices! There is that sense of pride that wells up in my chest when the big show comes along. And as many times as you tell the kids NOT to start waving to their parents from onstage, you know they will and when they do, it's kinda cute. What isn't cute is when some knuckle-head kids start foolin' around...those are the ones you just want to slap upside the heads sometimes, you know? NOT that you'd ACTUALLY do it...it's just what you'd WANT to do, you know? LOL! It's all love, people! Seriously tho, I have to give props to all the grade school teachers who put in tons of hours before, during, and after work to get not only the shows organized, but to get their days, lesson, paperwork, managing a classroom, etc, in order on a daily basis. Ya'll are my heroes! I definitely miss the school/classroom environment and can only hope that I'll be back in one in the near future.