Check that out!
My sitemeter says that sometime yesterday my 10,000th visitor dropped by. Woo hoo! It's a bit inaccurate since I didn't install these trackers till a few months after I had started blogging, but at least now it's official. I've hit 10k!
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Time is of the essence
Saturday was a time crunch. Despite all my efforts to get everything set up ahead of time there was still so much to do Saturday morning. Add to that that my sister and I had to prep our change of clothes/shoes/makeup/hair gear for the family to haul over to the hall (ha! Look at that! Haul. Hall. *feels ditzy*). There would be no time for us to trek back home and get ready then head out to the hall. Oh, and don't forget the CDs for the party. Oh, and since we did not have enough tablecloths for the setup the night before I had to run out and buy some before even thinking of getting dressed for the show. Ack, get some lunch in before you change. Don't want to get your clothes all dirty and miss out on this meal and you'll starve and die before the next. Augh.
We managed to make it there on time. Big phew. As much as I love my sister, I certainly missed having Posie in the seat next to mine sharing the experience. As the stage came t
Recap
Alright, before I get on with the madness which was my weekend I'd first like to share that I bought an adorable gingham fedora for 4.99 today. Thanks. :)
Friday was practically the day that never was. After work my brother and I were supposed to join up with some aunts and the ever gracious Daisy (who I had recruited the night before) to decorate the hall for the festivities the following evening. Needless to say, in true Filipino fashion we were asked to come home and eat first...where there were already twice the normal number of bodies in the house chopping and cooking up a storm. So us "hall-decorators" had to scrounge up a plateful of food (except for Daisy who was going to meet us at the hall) and find some sort of kitchen countertop space to consume said dinner. Alrighty, we were now starting an hour and a half later than we had planned. No big deal.
Weird Kid said if we finished by 9:30 we could join up with Spydermonkey and watch Lara Croft: The
It's like "whoa!"
Wow wow wow wow wow . It's been a crazy weekend, boys and girls. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to blog about it right now, so it'll have to wait.
In the meantime, welcome kool keith back from his stint in Europa, would ya? Thanks to Annika , I heard that he had returned to us bloggers.
Well, I gotta scoot. Hopefully all will be told soon.
Hey big spender
Wal-Mart has been hitting me up with some bargains lately. I love it.
Last week when me, my mom, Posie, Lana, and Posie's mom were busy buying supplies for this weekend's anniversary bash I came across a pair of HOT shoes. Studded denim mules with a silver metal stiletto; 9 dollars! It should go without saying that I snatched up those shoes before you could say "remember those kitten heel mules?" Just for the record though, these stilettos are about half an inch shorter than the kitten heels...that and they are actually quite comfy and don't massacre my feet. It's amazing but I can strut in these stilettos so much better than those kitten heels. So much for working up to the more difficult shoe.
Then tonight when Daisy and I dropped in after our swim to pick up some necessities she came upon the perfect tote for me. Alright, so it's sort of trend-of-the-moment but the price was right. I am now the proud owner of a sequin-accent
To-do lists and Not-to-do lists
I like this.
Ryan and those who read his blog have been naming off their "Reverse 5" and "Anti 5" lists. Let's say Leah had a s.o., and let's say that this s.o. slept with another girl. (*gasp* For shame!) Guy may just have lucked out if he so happened to shag someone on my reverse list. However, should he happen to knock boots with a girl from my anti list, he'd be a goner.
To quote Ryan and his sidekick Commander Foley:
The Reverse List of Five, those members of the opposite sex (Hugh Jackman, Pierce Brosnan, etc.) so admired that if your significant other confessed a passionate affair with said person, your response would be some angry stammering, followed by a, "Well, I guess I can see that..." In other words, someone I would not object to sharing my man with.
The Anti 5 are "five people who would bring shame upon you and your offspring if they did a time-share with you on your significan
Go Missy! Go Missy!
Missy Elliott tops MTV nominees Alright! I hope she wins all those categories, too.
A while back I mentioned how much I admire Missy . I love her music, and the weight she has lost inspires me to do the same for myself. Truth be told, her CDs are my soundtrack of choice when I'm at the gym. Although she was coerced to lose the weight for medical reasons, that does not mean I do not need to exercise in the same manner. Consider it preventative measures. Anyway, I'm glad she's getting the amount of recognition she is rightfully due.
It shall be the definitive year of the Miss E. "Hit 'em wit da hee"
Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hah, hee hee hee hah.
Planet Harlemm!
Hooray! Harlemm Lee won the competition on Fame. His upcoming single "I love you love me" sounds terrific. From the looks of it, the competition is a repeat of this year's American Idol seeing as Johnny Wright has invited Shannon Bex to sign on to his record label as well. But who cares if it's mostly only a title! Harlemm Lee won!
Yay yay yay!
"You light up my life"
That was my parents' wedding song 25 years ago today. On their silver wedding anniversary here they are still together and still going strong. Not only do they light up each others' lives but they have also lit up the lives of me and my siblings.
So to my loving and wonderful parents I wish a happy blessed silver anniversary, and the best of wishes for the next 25 years.
Promises
I was honored to hear that Ronnie wanted to include a couple of Filipino dishes as part of his commitment ceremony. It's a tad more difficult than I thought to get the recipes out of the two older generations (ie. my mom and my grandma) as they cook everything and measure ingredients by eye based on experience rather than have actual recipe cards. I did manage to find some cookbooks in our kitchen, though, so I will try my best to find those dishes!
Saturday night Daisy and I headed out to the Underground/Warehouse to give Bizkette some moral support during her fashion show. It was only the third time I've ever been to the Warehouse, and I can never get my finger on the pulse of the place. It's always different. I never know what to expect. This time after the show there was this 80's-style punk-ish band . Dare I say I enjoyed it a lot. The entire place was like a time warp, people were dressed all 80's punk or in retro office-wear replete with
Tick-tock
I'm quite proud of myself. Despite everything that's going on I've managed to go to the gym at least 4 times a week thus far.
Thursday was all about shopping for supplies for my parents' 25th anniversary bash. Geez, talk about last minute. This is true Filipino-style party planning, folks. Despite my buying them some stationary for making invitations weeks ago, despite me and my brother nagging them constantly to commit to a date for the party, everything has come down to the last minute. So much so that my mom has been calling everyone in our social circle for the past couple of days since there is no more time to send out invitations. Posie has graciously taken on the task of putting together the centrepieces and giveaways (seriously, girl should become an events/wedding planner...my wedding is going to be THE event having my best friend coordinate things by my side...that is, it'll be THE event until her wedding of course) Scrambling around to
Man and wife
An old family friend got married this summer. Her and her husband put together a 2-CD compilation of songs as their giveaway for their guests. Her reception was held at the Palliser, her brother and father both sang songs for the couple...in essence her wedding was one I would want for myself. I wish I could have seen it all, but only my parents were able to attend. Then as I was listening to their CD I came across a URL; their wedsite.
Considering how enamored I've become with the wonders of the internet over the years I thought this wedsite was a brilliant idea. It, just like her wedding, was sooooo my style. They had everything on there from a guestbook for guests from the wedding, personal confessions as to how much the other means to them, the story of the proposal (so cute!) and even intros of their respective family members as well as the wedding entourage. What a lovely way to preserve and commemorate one's special day! Not to mention an easy wa
I was doing so well
When I was a little girl my parents thought I was the brightest kid they had ever seen. They had to think that, of course, since I was their only child at the time.
They thought I had learned how to read when I was 2 and a half but they were mistaken. I had just memorized one of my favorite books and knew what to say along with each picture.
But then I did learn how to read by the time I was 3, so they were happy.
When I was 4 they gave me this little Minnie Mouse workbook from Toy City. I wish I knew where it was now. It was one of those "all about me" books where you filled out your favorite colors, the names of your friends and family, your favorite foods, that kind of thing.
I remember one entry specifically since my mom had to correct me on it. It has stuck in my mind ever since. Minnie Mouse asked me to describe myself and I wrote: "I have short black hair. I have black eyes. I am white."
Mom had a hard time explaining that
Till Next Year
Well, the 2003 Calgary Stampede and Exhibition is officially over. You could definitely tell it was winding down when the gas prices jumped up 6 cents for this weekend. Get all the tourists while they're filling up getting ready for the drive home.
I've always loved seeing what different license plates I could find at this time of year. There were plates from neighboring provinces and states like Montana, the Northwest Territories (I'd love to see a plate of the latest territory, Nunavut), BC, and Saskatchewan. I also saw a few from Manitoba, Ontario, Michigan, California, Florida, New York, even Utah. What do we call people from Utah? Utah-ians? Utahnese? They say the city pretty much doubles in population for these 10 days a year. It's so nice to see people from all over the world come out and party with us.
Well, an early bedtime for me tonight. I'm going to get in an early workout at the gym tomorrow.
The agenda AKA The Return of the Kitten-Heel Mules
Weekends; whoever said they were for resting has got to be kidding me. In a world where the "typical" worker works Monday to Friday and has little energy for anything else in the evenings the weekends are our only chance to catch up with one another. Bring people up to speed, spend time with those you have neglected the rest of the week. I know it's not the same kind of energy drain, but you still end up pretty pooped.
Alright, so that doesn't pertain to Daisy and me, but we still managed to rage into the night on Friday. Taking advantage of the late hours of operation thanks to the Stampede we headed down 4th Street to indulge in a martini or two.
In the end it became three martinis. And it's a good thing we didn't have time for anymore. Those are potent beverages!
Another occasion for me to get tipsy. It was a nice tipsy, though...I wasn't feeling like crap at all. And apparently I point a l
Back off! I've got Caller ID
Last night an unfamiliar phone number (area code 416 - indicating Toronto or near there in Ontario) called my celly. I didn't pick it up, last thing I need is to take up long distance charges when it's a wrong number or something stupid like that. Clearly it wasn't someone with something important to tell me; they never drop me a voicemail. My best friend has been getting long distance callers showing on her caller ID on her cell, too. We compared notes...not the same number.
I didn't realize just how stupid this long distance call would have been, though. I looked up the phone number . It was some marketing firm. I'm assuming they were a telemarketer.
They ought to be so grateful I did not pick up the phone. If I had answered the call and then realized it was some stupid long distance telemarketer I would have been livid! Can you imagine? I don't have a long distance plan on my phone since I don't need it.
Some like it hot and some sweat when the heat is on
Wow.
"I'm baking like a toasted cheeser it's so hot in here!" ~ from the movie The Sandlot
Isn't a sunburn supposed to hurt? I'm pretty sure I got burnt today, but it doesn't hurt. If it's red it's a burn, right?
So much for "Oh, for some reason I don't have any tan lines on my back." Now it's very obvious that my racer-back tanks are my apparel of choice on these hot, hot days. Very. Obvious.
Wow.
I am like a walking tan-line fashion faux pas. You would think I've been wearing the same tank day in day out. Not true. I just love those tanks so much that they have become my summer uniform. I have at least 8 different colors that I can think of off-hand.
It has been a jam-packed day so far. Daisy and I decided to take in a Stampede breakfast. Couldn't find any parking at the breakfast we planned on attending (Cars, I tell ya, they can be a total pain in
Workout buddies
Latina and I went to the gym together yesterday. Apparently she needs someone to motivate her to do her cardio. I was shocked! Here's this skinny little girl and it turns out she doesn't do any cardio!
I had fun working out with her, but I found that I was not pushing myself as hard. I wanted to pace myself so I had enough breath to continue our conversation together on the machines. Ah well, it was better than nothing.
Well, I should get ready to head back to the gym for today. (Oh yeah, no more blisterous pain...don't know if that was apparent or not.) I think I'm on my own tonight, so I can huff and puff all I want 'cuz there won't be anyone to talk to. :)
Up and at 'em
On Saturday Daisy and I thought it would be cute/sensible to catch the Stampede Breakfast at Chinook Centre before heading down to Coyotes to start the club crawl.
Ha! Right. Stampeding the night before definitely took its toll on us. Forget the breakfast. I needed those extra few hours to psyche myself up for the crawl. Let's do lunch instead.
Another reason my energy was drained: no sun. It was pouring that morning...so much so that I lugged an umbrella with me despite my desire to travel light. Luckily it fit in Daisy's purse. Our pleather jackets, (it was also pretty cold) unfortunately, had to be lugged around with us on the dance floor and wherever we went.
Tickets sold out pretty fast. Alas, too quick for Ms. T to come join us despite my invitation. Some of Daisy's group couldn't get them as well. In the end there were 8 of us; 6 for the most part, the other 2 floated in and out of the scene (They were a couple, if that explain
And breathe
I usually try to pace my blog posts, but there's just so much to say and I've actually got time, so here goes...
The weekend that should've knocked me out in actuality just winded me a bit. As I wrote the earlier post about all the commitments and engagements coming up in the next month I realized I should pace myself a bit. So, if you can believe it, I passed off some of the social activities to others to save my strength. Weird Kid took Baby Sis to the Stampede this morning and it sounds like they had a great time. I, too, enjoyed myself, sleeping in for the first time in a little while. I passed on yesterday's Family Day at the Stampede with Lana, Posie et al in exchange for working my retail job as they were understaffed. It being Family Day, the mall was not all that hectic. Easy money.
But Friday and Saturday??? Hooo boy, it was manic. Dare I say I'm getting too old for all this excitement.
Let's talk about Friday. We weren't
"You're the first, the last, (our) everything."
*sigh* I hadn't heard anything about it until tonight. I didn't believe it at first.
Barry White died Friday morning. Barry White. He was amazing. I'd link you all to one of the articles, but none of the ones I have found seem to do him enough justice.
Rest in peace, Mr. White. Your voice and your music will be terribly missed.
The calm before the storm
I don't mean to brag but... Sahalie calling me a busy girl is a total understatement.
However, c'mon say it with me people: "I/she wouldn't have it any other way."
I know that there is some appeal to sitting at home just relaxing. However, summer is definitely not the time for such! There are patios for your communal drink consumption, parks to huck the frisbee around, people to see, events to celebrate!
Let's pause a bit for a mini-list of things to celebrate:
Ang and her man officially beginning their adventure as new homeowners. Go and wish them all the best!
Katie and Matthew are now engaged! I'll raise my bottle of Tabu to that.
It's my aunt's birthday party this Saturday. Don't know if I'll be able to make it due to the club crawl going on the same day. Not sure if it's a good idea to show up all inebriated, anyway. Particularly, to a family function.
Stampede, baby! Yaaaaahooo!
St
The blogger's creed
I know that all bloggers have experienced issues with self-censorship on their blogs at least once. We never know who might be reading our writing, and for that reason we sometimes bite our tongues. I try to remember that this is my blog to use how I see fit. It's my personal space for dealing with the goings-ons of life, and added feedback from around the world are just the hot fudge topping on this banana split of thoughts. (Whoa, forgive me for that lame analogy.) If I had wanted, I could've kept my pictures off of here and changed my name, making my blog completely anonymous. Instead, I chose to share it with even my close friends. No secrets on here. With all that being said, I came across this old gem, one of my favorite songs from back in the day. It definitely pertains to bloggers. Dare I suggest that we adopt it as our theme song.
Human Nature - Madonna from the album Bedtime Stories
Express yourself, don't repress yourself
Let's get you up to speed
It feels like it's been ages since I blogged about anything substantial. But before I can even get deep there are all these little things that I have neglected to mention and so let's just get all that squared away first, shall we? Actually, not all of them are "little" things but they had no place in my blog until now. Hopefully it doesn't numb your mind out too much.
For those who have been asking, my mom's not using the cast now and they have her going through physiotherapy twice a week. The surgery scars are still there, they make me pretty squirmy. All in all she's in better spirits since she gets to go more places with us now. I know she's anxious about work. If it were up to me I'd rather she never go back to her old job. (Note to those not in the know: She didn't get hurt at her workplace, but it's pretty strenuous and I don't think she has to put herself through that kind of labor.) I