Saturday, June 30, 2007

Hospital Pics

Ever since high school Jas has always been the one you can trust to have a camera with her. When she visited Sam in the hospital on the 27th of course she had one with her pero camera phone na nga lang. Really cool for us who still doesn't have any. So she and Rohel snapped some pictures of Sam. Here's the link to Jas' photo album at Flickr. Looking at her photos though you'd think it was my photo album. Hehe.

Sam playing with Tito Rohel's face.

Oh and today Sam turns two! No birthday parties though some ninangs and ninongs invited themselves over, which is great. Kwentuhan lang and some merienda. Sam just got out of the hospital last night and is still required to rest for one more week. I guess my baby is happy since he still won't be having physical therapy this week.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Hospital Again

If people are wondering why I've been silent the past few days (and I'm pretty sure no one's really wondering since we all seem to be in the habit of simply disappearing every now and then) I have a good excuse this time. Sam's in the hospital again (been there since Thursday). Maxicare clerks have their panties in a twist. They want to declare his penumonia a complication of PWS. Fortunately his geneticist and Maxicare doctor said it wasn't a direct complication and should stillbe covered by the insurance. Hah! Anyway got to get back to the hospital. Justed posted a few entries for my job.

Oh and Sam won't be having a birthday party this Saturday even if we get out before then. We'll probably have a quiet dinner with a cute cake (which he won't be allowed to eat). We don't want Sam to get tired and finances are severely strained.

Pray and cheer for our little trooper.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

My First "Encounter" with Our Neighbours (very long)

It doesn't matter if you are nice or not. Chances are you will have a run in with a"not so nice" neighbour (to put it mildly).

It all started with my me wanting to keep the apartment from looking like a row of shanties. Our apartment is really small and doesn't have any room or space allotted for hanging out clothes. We hang our clothes in the balcony just like the rest of the tenants here. It looks ugly. To say that I don't like it is an understatement because I have a deep aversion to it. Let's say that if I was the owner of this place I'd blast the management for not providing a place for people to hang their clothes. I know that the value of my building is linked to the way it looks and having clothes strewn all over people's balconies doesn't raise it's value one bit. But I don't own the building and since they don't really do anything about it I still hang our laundry in the only place where it can dry out fast. Of course I give instructions to Gemalyn, who does our laundry, to do it just once a week and to remove the clothes as soon as they dry up to make sure the place stays as nice as often as possible.

picture taken from this blog

That was just the intro. Now, in the yet to be finished roof deck I saw some clothesline hanging in disarray. I of course assumed that it belonged to the only family living in that floor. So this noon I politely knocked on their door and asked if I can take advantage of their clothesline so that I won't need to hang too many clothes in the balcony and get all our laundry to dry up faster. The man who answered the door was very accommodating and said yes. So I promptly instructed Gemalyn to hang as much clothes as she can upstairs but to take them off before it gets dark. When she came back this afternoon after going up to fetch our clothes she was a bit upset because some of our clothes were on the floor (she used clothespins so it couldn't have been the wind), the others were bunched up together, and the tenant on that floor told her that the "owner of the makeshift clothesline" got mad. Of course I was a bit pissed since I asked for permission and they didn't even tell me it wasn't theirs. I was also pretty pissed at what the snotty owner did to our clothes.

So I marched upstairs to clarify the situation and apologize to the owner of the clothesline for not asking permission and point out at the same time that she could have told me off instead of just messing with our clothes. When I arrived I talked to the tenant and she told me that the owner of the clothesline was actually the sister-in-law of our landlord (who is in USA). Now I know they are relatives but bully them if they think they can scare me off just because they almost own the place. In the first place I know that the owner is a really nice guy, his sister is nice too, and it's just the brother and his wife who is as their neighbours have told me not nice at all. In tagalog people have told me na "panget ang ugali". So I asked the tenant in the top floor to show me where they lived (And they are living here in their brothers apartment! Hah. Snotty people living off their relatives hand.). I presented myself at their door and diplomatic or plastic as I am I promptly apologized for not asking permission from her directly. I clarified the situation and she complained that the only reason she got mad was that whoever put the clothes there shoved her (already dry) curtains together and piled them up in one part of the clothesline. Gemalyn later told me that she found it that way already but I didn't know then so I apologized and told her that I'll be giving clearer instructions next time. I then said that I went to her to make sure that she doesn't get mad at the tenant upstairs because it appears that it was the driver who gave me permission and not to get mad at Gemalyn because she only put the clothes there on my behalf. I then told her our unit number so that she can talk to me directly next time she has an issue. She told me that it was actually against the rules to put a clothesline there but I can use theirs next time. I think she expects me not to use it again though I will. And next time I told her I will knock at her door first, make sure that she isn't doing the laundry that day, and be prompt in removing our clothes. The things that piss me off about this are...

1. Just because they are relatives of the owner they act like they can do something that isn't allowed. So I will be using their clothesline WITH their permission and if I get reprimanded they will also need to be reprimanded because it is theirs.
2. What the hell was she thinking putting our clothes on the floor? Even if I found someone bunching up our clothes together I don't get juvenile and dirty up someone else's clothes. I act like an adult and confront the people to clarify things. Doing otherwise is an act of stupidity.

3. They say that they don't like people to hang clothes upstairs to prevent a messy looking place but allow people to hang clothes in balconies. Now that is plain stupid because the upstairs portion isn't visible to passersby but the balconies are.

4. She acted a bit haughty trying to drop names. She wanted to impress me with the fact that the owner was her brother-in-law and that her husband is supposed to run the place. Well the fact is if they really ran the place they should be running it better instead of twisting their brother's words to fit their needs. And I'd rather talk to the sister who I know for a fact now runs this place because the brother didn't run it that well before. The brother who lives here is just in charge of the construction, not the management. If they were as high and mighty as she'd like to appear they would be having a large place of their own instead of renting a place at their brothers apartment. They didn't even get a unit with a balcony looks like they couldn't even afford a few extra pesos on a better floor and unit. Hmph (that's my inner devil sour graping)!

So now I know who to tiptoe around. But the thing is they won't get rid of me because when the real owner comes I have real suggestions about the place. Don't think I'm not serious. If you know me though you won't be afraid that I'll be really bad. I am almost always diplomatic. I can sugar coat the truth to get my way. In the meantime they can expect me to keep on hanging our clothes on their clothesline. As the photo says "It's time to hang together." Whether that means we share the same clothesline or clothesline in the roof deck be totally banned, I don't know. But whatever benefits they enjoy we will enjoy too unless they can come up with a really good reason for me not to do so.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Weird Things About Me

Tagged by Mark.

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

This will be hard. I am almost not weird at all so am having a hard time coming up with 6 things.

1. I am scared of live chickens (I am scared of all things classified under Aves but chickens scare me the most). I think it is more of disgust most of the time but I realize I am scared when ever I get caught unaware. All my friends know this. It's called alektorophobia. It's common actually. Not so weird. I love eating chicken though.

2. I have a strong aversion to stepping on manholes whether the cover seems solid or not. Maybe if I go someplace where I can be sure that all covers are solid then I will stop being anal about not stepping on them. I don't think this is weird though but stems out of caution. People DO fall in manholes!

3. I can't write unless the pressure level is high enough. I know it's just called procrastination and and lack of discipline. If it gets too high though I can't write either, which is called fear. Mark would call this entry - making excuses.

4. I close my eyes (unintentionally) when it looks like something bad is going to happen. This is the reason why Sam fell flat on his face even though I was just about 3 feet away from him. No harm really done that time though since he just fell off balance while sitting on the edge of our very low mattress. Working on eliminating the problem though.

5. I tend to blab too much and ask too much questions while having sex. Nuff said.

6. Like Mark I actually feel comfortable now in my "bigger" body. I had a distorted body image before I got pregnant and was convinced I was too fat. Now I know I was not. I do need to lose just a few pounds (maybe 5 or 10) to be trim and get this belly off but I am really happier with my body now. It wouldn't turn anybody on but the most important thing is it doesn't turn ME off.

I am tagging (Huwat naunahan na ako ni Che at Mark sa madaming tao!) Ate Pearl, Melany, Andrea, Jem Bunao (complete name pa noh?), the Manasans.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Quality Time is Just an Excuse

Hi Guys. Just want to plug my latest post in Froodee. The topic has been bugging me for ages now and I finally got it of my chest. Head on to Froodee to read about my take on quality time.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Procastinating/Tagged

I need a short break. My mind's going mush from all the gadget posts I'm writing. gadgets ARE NOT my forte and it takes real effort for me to write about them. They're a whole lot better than deciphering patents though. I wish I could get some writing assignments on parrots or some diseases (seriously).

So as my break I decided to write. if I play Neopets God knows how long it will take me to finish that break. And if I take a nap I sure won't be waking up till tomorrow. So having taken a sneak peek at Andrea's blog I decided to tag myself too. Gaya gaya!

Yourself: Tired and stressed. Still struggling with discipline and with fighting depression. Doing A LOT better. Hair not falling in large clumps anymore (small clumps na lang...hehe).
Your partner: at work
Your hair: scheduled to be dyed next month (Yipee!)
Your mother: getting her eye operated on
Your father: excited about spending cash on Sam (he IS sooo funny)
Your favorite item: my new Clinique make up bag from Angel (this changes each time I get something new I like)
Your dream last night: nothing related to Ian and Thea
Your favorite drink: water
Your dream car: Prius ( so cliche but eto tlga eh)
Dream home: with a huge porch; beachfront location; with a garden and swing on the other side
The room you are in: bedroom
Your fear: chickens (live ones...birds in general ata I find feathers to be disgusting)
Where you want to be in ten years: a bigger place with another son and a daughter; having helped established an active support group for PWS here in the Philippines; hopelessly and wonderfully in love with Mark still
Who you hung out with last night: Sam and Gemalyn (our new helper)
You're not: where I want to be...yet./giving up on myself.
One of your wish list items: a new laptop or a good office chair. I might steal Thea's MacBook if she stops by here.
Last thing you did: ate a bowlful of cold banana slices swimming in condensed milk (Yum!)
You are wearing: blouse that I wore to Sam's therapy, shorts and underwear
Your favorite weather: rainy weather complete with thunderclaps but with the lightning far enough to not be scary
Your favorite book: I love books. I absolutely have no idea which one's my favorite.
Last thing you ate: look up.
Your life: stressful but meaningful and headed towards something great
Your mood: hopeful and determined (fluctuating actually)
Your best friend: my worst enemy
What are you thinking right now: finishing up at least 15 more articles
Your car: none yet...huhu
What are you doing at the moment: (aside from blogging) correcting my posture
Relationship status: married

Go tag yourself!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Been meaning to blog about the following things:

1. Tweaking/Updating my blog - Add tags on ALL my previous posts. Add blogroll. Make the FSMA image clickable. Tag cloud.

2. A dream - I dreamed of Ian and Thea. ^_^

3. PWS Support Group - Sam's geneticist contacted me about it and we're going to have a preliminary meeting sometime this June.

4. Work - not really...it'll just be a whiny scardey (how the hell do you spell this word?) cat post

5. Finding out how broccoli was spelled

6. Sam's new yaya - She spends more time cleaning the house and doing odd jobs, which is just the way I want it.

7. Sam's upcoming birthday - No definite plans yet.

8. Pissed Off Housewife and Kris - No they are not related but they're the only bloggers I read regularly outside our circle.

9. Investing.