Seeing Yellow

yellow polish, OPI; ring, Parfois

I know it's still rather cold, but we all know summer is just around the corner. Have booked my summer getaways. Planned for some more. And I will definitely be hitting the beach more times than I can count with one finger this year. Yipee!

But until then, I'm channeling summer via my nails - yup, banana yellow nails. Doesn't yellow just scream summer and all things related to it? :)

Joey's 4th Birthday

February is birthday month for my side of the family: Joey and my uncle share the same b-day, and my mama and lola share the same b-day the day after (yeah, great coincidence right?). Naturally, I can't drag both sides of the family to our teeny tiny condo so we had two separate affairs. The original plan was to have them together, but hubby didn't include me in his plans so I ended up planning a date, and he, well, planned for another. The cake ended up arriving in between the two dates. 

For the pre-birthday with my in-laws, I managed to whip up home-made pizza, and chicken, garlic shrimp and mango cake. For 15 people (including me and hubby and nanny) .All done in less than three hours with just me manning the kitchen! Bone-tired after. Haha.

For the joint celeb with my lola and mama, decided to just contribute the cake. Mama promised to bring the food but proved once again how good she is at disappearing acts. she did manage to arrive 6 hours after the agreed time, sans food. Good thing my tita came to the rescue (my tita inherited my lola's culinary skills; their house is my favorite destination during the Christmas season, when all diets are forgotten). :D

Happy 4th birthday to my little angel, Joey! Happy 78th birthday to my lola and happy 52nd birthday to my mama! (Of course, my mama insists she's only 50 - good thing she doesn't read my blog, hehehe).

PS: Funny, I have some dim recollection that Joey's cake this year is somewhat similar to last year's. Only now did I realize they were indeed the same design! Hahaha!

Anniversary

About a year ago, I made one wrong decision which derailed my plans by about two years - for the one year that I stood by my wrong decision and another to regain what I had lost.  Funny thing is, even before making that decision, I knew it was wrong - all my friends warned me not to do it, all the signs I asked for led the way to an entirely different and obviously better path, and heck, even my family advised me to do the opposite of what I did. But being the predictable stubborn person that I am, I ignored all these and convinced myself that I knew better.

I am now slowly recovering from that mistake, relatively unscathed but I did learn a lot of things along the way:

• We don't really change; we only become a perfection of what we were in the first place. This quote, which was used largely to describe the eponymous Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice, stuck to my mind ever since I read it over a decade ago because it rings with unmistakable truth. But forever the optimist, I anchored my decision in the belief that a person can change for the better. And I was proven wrong - very very wrong. People can change, in fact, for the worse, or as in the quote, towards attaining perfection of what they were. So if that person was bad, then he/she can be even more bad-ass over time.

• There's a catch. Always. When it sounds too good and the people saying it is giving you sickeningly sweet smiles, be wary. It is too good to be true.

• Don't lie. Especially to someone who knows too much about you. You will get caught eventually. Now, this doesn't pertain to me as I was the one lied to constantly. But still, you get the picture.

• Do not powertrip - the people you step on on your way up are also the people you will meet on your way down.

• Trust my instincts.  Looking back now, my instinct has never let me down. It was just that I often refuse to heed it, and that's when all the problems come in.

• You can find friends in the most unlikely places. I never thought to make friends the entire time I was toiling away my wrong decision. But I guess, when adversity is thrown at you, you learn to see the good you won't otherwise notice and you tend to stick together.

• Understood myself a little better. I can work in a shitty environment, work the equivalent of two people, and endure low pay, but I can not work well when I don't trust the people I work with or work for, or as I said, when I'm constantly walking on eggshells.

* My post is a bit vague - and I cannot state whether I am talking about my work, my married life, my  various relationships, or whatever. But if you're reading this, chances are, you already know anyway what I'm talking about. But needless to say, I am finally happy and free. For how long, I don't know. Hopefully it lasts.

The World According to Joey Valentine's Day Edition

Right after I got home last night:

Joey: Mom, I want to greet you happy valentine's day!

(proceeds to hug and kiss me)

Joey: But it's not day anymore, it's night. I should say happy valentine's night!

(hugs and kisses me again)

Joey: Mom, I want to give you a valentine's day present. But I don't have money. (looks crestfallen)

Me: But Joey, you already gave me the best gift - your hugs and kisses!

Joey: (jumps me with a big bear hug and smothers me with kisses)

*****

After saying our prayers last night:

Joey: Mom, who is lolo's wife?

Me: Mamu

Joey: Who is lolo's wife (referring to his paternal grandpa)?

Me: Lola in the house upstairs

Joey: But daddy doesn't have a wife?

Me: Of course he has. I'm daddy's wife.

Joey (wide-eyed, and with great worry): But mom, I don't have a wife!

Me: (rolls over and go to sleep)

*****

The hubby and I didn't celebrate V-day (but then, we don't usually do; last year was the exception) - he was working late and I was just too sleepy. I guess we'll just have to celebrate it together with the kiddo's upcoming birthday. :)

 

But I thought I'd post this here, one of his out of the blue presents (yes, he is capable of that sometimes, I think when he's burning with fever or did something wrong). Nothing fancy, but something he knew I'd love: