Turkeyed Out

Ahh....can I just say how YUM our lil' Thanksgiving feast was?! Hubby worked so hard in the kitchen on Thursday while I basically just chilled. Nice. We even got out of our pj's to dress up as we were having guests over. That lasted up until dessert! Hahaha! Hubby was like, "Um, can I change now?" Yah, okay, it was my idea...BUT it was nice for the time being! After our first round of food, hubby and I played PS2 for the rest of the night. While some people may not think much of our UnThanksgiving (as they called it back at SF State!), it was nice and quiet for the both of us. We both have so much to be thankful.

Hubby and I both called home to our respective families back in CA. Got to talk to my parents, my sister, and my Apu (grandma). Apu is just one of the cutest ladies ever. You know when you ask someone, "How are you?", it's supposed to be one of those rhetorical questions that people are obligated to say, "Fine thanks. You?" Then you say "I'm good!" And it ends with the other person saying, "Good" as you go your separate ways. Am I right? Well, anytime someone talks to Apu, you will not get the expected "fine thanks." Instead, you WILL hear how she's doing. LOL! I mean, I'm not making fun of my grandma, but it's just funny how she'll be honest and true in her response. She'll go into how her feet are swollen from gout, how she's not been feeling well lately, or like how her stomach was hurting from medication. 'Course I don't find all that humorous at all, but Apu is a strong lady. She gave birth to 12 kids, survived the Japanese occupation in the Philippines, outlived her husband and 4 children, and made it from P.I. to the States. She hasn't been the strongest healthwise, but she did survive the open heart surgery that no one thought she'd make it through, she's been in and out of the hospital too many times I can't even recall, has hella medication prescriptions, and she's taken a lot of sh*t from some asenine people in our family, but she's overcome them all. She is a true example of a dakilang pilipina.

As much as Thanksgiving is supposed to be a festive time for family and friends to gather together, for some, it's a sad time. I just talked to my sister today and she told me that there are two funerals that she'll be attending after the holidays. One is that of their friend's father who was the victim of a hit-and-run incident in San Francisco. This man was 90 years old and he was out taking his morning walk in the Sunset with a friend. Some car ran a red light and hit him and another teenage kid. The other funeral is that another friend's father as well. Why do these things happen around the holidays? We really don't know why tragic things happen to innocent people, but to have them happen during the holidays make it even more devastating as it already is. For the families, the following holidays each year won't be as happy, but a sad reminder of the death of a loved one. Yet as heart-breaking as it is to lose a loved one, we just have to trust that God knows what is best for us. There's a time and season for everything. During these sad times, it's hard for those to see that their loved one is already in a better place in heaven and that they are fulfilling and living their higher purpose. My heart and prayers go out to these families as they take comfort in knowing that He will be watching over them.

Movie Night

Hubby and I have been having "movie night" a lot lately. We dig it 'cuz we do the whole popcorn thang and junkfood as we turn out the lights and turn up the surround sound. Yes, I can totally appreciate the whole sound system thang that I originally thought was part of man's toy collection. Hahaha. Friday night as we ate, (yes, you guessed right!), turkey, we watched "Finding Nemo" and "X-Men 2." I was proud to say that I went throughout "Finding Nemo" without shedding a tear...until the end. If ya'll have seen this movie, then you know which part I'm talking about. Okay, okay, so I'm a sap for corny stuff like that, but hey, that's me. We also bought the Lord of the Rings: Twin Towers special edition. Now if you don't know, now you know- hubby and I are HUGE Lord of the Rings fans. We seriously cannot wait for the last part of the trilogy, "Return of the King," to open in theaters. The special edition is so dope. It's got all these extended scenes that really open up the characters' background and explains in further detail more about the story itself. Honestly, these deleted scenes should've been left in the movie and personally, I would not have minded watching a 4-hour movie. Yah, I love long movies, too. Remember "Titanic?' Three and a half hours baby! Hubby and I are both excited and sad for the "Return of the King" to come out. What'll we look forward to (besides the dvd) when it's all over???

Birthday Shout-Outs

Just wanted to extend my birthday wishes to RobotSushi! RobotSushi is a good friend from my SF State days and for the longest time, I didn't even know he was Filipino! He was always hangin' out in the ASU office, aka: PACE's other hangout when our own office was full. After graduation, we all lost touch, but we were supposed to meet up at each other's weddings. Turns out we couldn't go to his, and he couldn't go to mine. But dammit, we'll meet up again one of these days, I just know it. I haven't seen this dude in hella long time, but if you're reading this blog, hope you have a FABOO 31st birthday!

Our First Guest!

Today's the day when Firemarshall J comes to town- whoo hoo! 'Twas so funny 'cuz he just called from his stop-over in Chicago- says he's freezing over there! Dude, it ain't much different here in MN! Hubby and I are excited...our first guest from California. Firemarshall J is only staying a few days, but we all get to play tourist! Hubby is planning on taking us to a jazz club, Jazzmines, tomorrow. Turns out they have an open mic night for spoken word on Tuesdays...let's see if we can twist his arm to recite some of this stuff! =) Other things on our To Do list includes going to Mall of America, St. Anthony Falls to see the Mississippi River, and downtown Minneapolis. We'll probably have a movie night, PS2 with Madden, and definitely lots of food. Aside from the cold, the next few days should be fun, fun, fun!

Hey Marshall J- at least you can save your long-distance minutes for someone else!