daily blatherings

I really miss the fiesta celebrations that they do in the Philippines. It happens every year. The village where I grew up usually celebrates around September and the city (Maasin City) celebrates around August. It so much fun especially when all my relatives gather around for some food. There’s nothing like it. For some it’s a time to have some fun and for some, a time to rant. This is also the time for lecture. LOL. Yup. I used to always get told off around this time because I did something naughty. O_O.

I used to hate parts of it because I knew that one of my aunts would eventually caught up with me to say that they were disappointed in me. They’d do it almost everytime I am about to eat one of my favorite foods and it was my Aunt’s macaroni salad. The conversation would always start with: I heard from your other aunt that… blah, blah, blah… I can’t believe… blah, blah blah. LOL. In my mind I would be like: Oh geez here we go again! :P

I used to hate that part, BUT(!!) I didn’t hate the food. The food was awesome! I also used to enjoy my cousin’s company. I didn’t see them often, but like I said, everyone gathers when there’s a fiesta celebration. They’d come from different places, Davao, bukid, etc. I used to look forward to that part. It was fun to hang out with them. Some were cool cousins and some weren’t so cool. :P.

Now that I am older and far away from home I miss it and wants to experience it again. I’ve been looking at photos on Friendster and I can’t help but wonder what it’s like. It’s been so long. Maybe someday when the kids are older I can take them and let them experience it too. :-) ♥

I am so pleased that Mr. Bear is doing well with house training. He now stands by the door whenever he feels the need to pee or poop. He’s only been with us 4-5 weeks and we are *this* close to making house training perfect! We don’t trust him 100% yet because he’s still a baby. He’s going to have an accident but as long as he knows he’s not supposed to pee and poop inside, I am happy! :-) In a few weeks we are going to take him to obedience training and agility class. We want him to be a good boy and we want him to have some fun. :-) He’s just like a little kid. :-)

When we took Bear to the vet yesterday, the Vet’s assistant gave us a free 30 minute obedience training. We thought it was very helpful and we’ve seen some improvement in Bear since we followed what she told us to do. I shouldn’t say “some” improvement because it’s actually a big improvement. I am so glad and I cannot wait for the obedience classes start.

I guess I just wanted to let you know that Bear’s doing good and he’s doing well with the house training. I plan to post pics later and I think you will be very surprised at the pics. I will do that soon. :-)

Oh and I have to share this! Jonathon called every dog at the Veterinarian “BEAR!”. LOL. I think the kid is confused! We actually considered changing Bear’s name to “DAWG!” LMAO!!!

Erica’s going to cook some authentic Mexican food! I can’t believe she wanted to cook some after I asked if Taco bell is kind of Mexican food. :P. I know! doh! Slaps forehead! I feel so stupid. You should have seen her shake her head after I asked. I feel bad about asking but I didn’t think she mind. Ryan laughed when I told him. :P. I am looking forward to tasting it! I can’t wait! She said it’s going to be fresh and really spicy! uh oh!

I promised that I would update this website often but something came up and I ended up not updating for a month. It was frustrating but I am back now and all of my sites are back too. Woohoo! I plan to do sponsored posts again so I need to liven things up around here.

The last few weeks have been very busy. First off, Kurt and Chantel came over for a visit from Nashville. They were here for two nights and three days. They arrived here on a Saturday afternoon and we spent most of it catching up. We went to books-a-million, had a cup of coffee, went to Beale St. home of the blues, had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and spent the night playing with the Wii. The next day (Sunday) we went to the zoo! That was fun too. On Monday, they went to visit Graceland while I went out to have a driving lesson with a pro. Later that evening, we went out to have a meal at Texas Roadhouse. They left for Nashville after that. Felt sad when they left but such is life. I am just glad that we got to see them again after a year and a half. It’s been a long time since we saw each other and I forgot how fun it is to be around them.

Before they left, they invited us over to their place in Nashville and sure enough, three weeks later before Thanksgiving week, we went to visit them in Nashville for the weekend. I loved it where they live. Their house is nicely decorated. I didn’t think I’d like hardwood flooring but after seeing their place I think we’ll go for it when we buy our own house. The area where they live reminded me of Georgetown TX houses with pretty porches. So pretty. The town square looks kinda like Georgetown too. Very pretty.

On Sunday morning while Ryan and Kurt went to see a football game, Chantel took us to Kurt’s parents farm to go horse back riding. Yes! We did! I can tick “ride a horse” off my list along with “learn how to drive”. Hehehe. So nice of Kurts mum to let us ride Rebel! What a great weekend it was! We really enjoyed it.

We drove home early Monday morning because Chantelle had an appointment with the ear specialist in the afternoon. Again, we were sad to leave but at least we only live 3 hours away from each other. :) It’s not that far.

On Thanksgiving, Ryan’s mum came to visit here in MS. She was so happy to see the kids and couldn’t stop spoiling them. She stayed here for 3 nights and 4 days. It was really nice to see her again after 4 months. Can’t wait to see her again this January when we go visit TX. :)

It’s been a busy few weeks but there’s nothing going on with us right now. Like most people, we are getting ready for Christmas. Nothing exciting. We’re nearly done with presents for the kids but we don’t know what to get for our mums and dads. Oh dear! What do you give to someone who has everything? I’ve been looking for ideas at gifts.com. Found that site when I googled “gift ideas”. It’s a cool site. Lots of ideas. Ryan and I just need to agree on what to get our parents. :P

Mother’s day was celebrated around Ryan’s family. We started on Friday by going to Dave and Busters for dinner. After dinner we spent a few hours inside the game room and helped Chantelle won 740 plus worth of tickets. She was going to claim a prize with the whole thing but she decided to save it for next time because she wants to get a big fluffy toy. Those are worth around 1500 tickets so she decided to wait.

On Saturday, Ryan, Chantelle and I stayed home while MIL went grocery shopping. When she came back she had a card for me and Memere. The card she gave me almost made me cry because of the words that was written in it. It was so sweet and something that I felt for real. I gave her a hug and thanked her. Aww… My MIL is so sweet. ^_^. After all that, Chantelle and I helped her baked a cake for Papa Bob’s restaurant. :D

Sunday, we had lunch at Casa Ole. The food there was delicious. I had fajitas Ole (beef, chicken and shrimp) and that was really good. Best fajita I’ve had so far. Even Ryan said it was the best beef and chicken fajita he had too. After lunch, we went over to Mem’s to greet her a Happy Mother’s Day. Ryan’s Uncle and Auntie from Dallas were there too so that was nice. We were there from around 1-ish till 5! Great fun. When we left, they wished Ryan and I good luck for next week. ^_^ In the evening, Papa Bob knocked on our door and wished me a Happy Mother’s Day and told me about how the weekend was for him. It’s nice to know that he had a great weekend at his restaurant. He deserves it. I am glad for him. ^_^

As for Chantelle’s gifts for me, click here and here. I didn’t know my lips were that thick. I know it’s wide but I didn’t know it was that wide. :P. Ryan said it looks good even though it’s a little scary. LOL. Aww! She’s sweet! To sum it all up, it was a great weekend. Best Mother’s Day I had ever. ^_^.

Chantelle and I had this conversation this morning.

C: Mom? Do you have a third eye somewhere on the back of your head?

Me: Why do you ask?

C: Weeeeell, how do you know everything I do?

ME: Hehehe. Yes, I have a third eye, so watch out!

C: argghh…

FRIDAY:
I was so relieved when Friday came because of reasons I explained here. When hubby got home, all I wanted to do was get out of the house and stay out till midnight. :P. He took us to a restaurant called Mongolian Grille in La Frontera. The food was very good. I enjoyed my lo-mien and I am sure Ryan and Chantelle enjoyed theirs too. As usual our plates were brimming with food so we had to take the leftovers home. After the meal, I wanted a mexican vanilla ice cream so we went to Maggie Moo’s and had our fix there. Mexican Vanilla ice cream is so good. It’s my favourite next to chocolate ice cream. :D. We also went to Barnes and Noble to get Chantelle and I a book. I got her this book and I bought this book for me. I am going to read it as soon as I finish with INKSPELL. I am nearly done! We were at B&N for awhile. Whenever I am there I always end up staying for a couple of hours. I can’t help it!

SATURDAY:
Ryan and I headed over to La Frontera again because I wanted to go to the Hobby Lobby. Chantelle stayed with FIL because he wanted to drive her to Brenda’s to hang around with Chantal for the weekend. Before we went to the Hobby Lobby, we stopped by and had lunch at Serranos. Wish we went somewhere or had Taco Bell instead, because the food there wasn’t good at all, and to top it all, the waiters and waitresses weren’t really good at serving. I told Ryan to give a minimum tip. hah! {pfft}. Ryan stayed in the car while I was inside the hobby lobby. He let me spend a couple of hours there to look at art stuff and when I was finished browsing and picking what I wanted I called him to come in and pay for my stuff. Hehehe. He said he would. :P. We also went to Kohls to buy a dress for the wedding that night. The dress I picked was okay and it was on sale too. It was meant to be $50 but Ryan ended paying $25 for it. Anyway, I have to go back to Kohls once I lost the baby weight. I love it there. It’s my favourite shop! It’s like Matalan in England! Woo! That evening we went to the wedding. Ryan’s such a romantic dork. Every time the priest said something about commitment and stuff, he kept pulling me over to him and he kept squeezing my shoulders. ?_? The wedding reception was good too. It was relaxed and people were really nice.

SUNDAY:
We picked Chantelle up from Brenda’s and went out and about again. We stopped by at Ihop for brunch and then at Michaels again for more needles & yarn. They didn’t have many yarns like the Hobby Lobby though. We also went to Circuit City and Office Depot to look for Adobe Photoshop Elements. I didn’t find one though so we’re going to go back there again sometime next week. :)

So yeah, that was our weekend! I was fun. :) Ryan’s schedule is a lot better than last week. He’s able to pick Chantelle up from school again. YAY! :)

Ryan treated CF and I to Austin Park today. Austin Park is like Thorpe Park in England, but this one is a lot smaller and cheaper. For $25, we got free drinks, free food (pizza, salad, & pasta). If you live in Austin and you decide to go there, I suggest you don’t eat before you go in because they provide food all day long for people with all day pass. Everything was basically free apart from a few arcade games.

It was a really good day for us as a family. Ryan and I played pool while CF rested her legs. :P. Imagine a pregnant lady with a big belly and a big fat ass playing pool! Nevahmind! It’s not a pretty sight! The worst part was that I suck at it! I need practice. We also played miniature golf. I didn’t suck so much on the miniature golf, but I could have done better! Ryan was so competitive! Geez! I swear he kept adding points to my hits! :P.

It was so much fun at Austin Park today. Ryan and CF went on as many rides as they could. Paying $25 each was so worth it! I’d like to go back again but I think Sea World in San Antonio is next one on our list. ^^

It’s so weird to see Ryan all stressed out. He is usually laid back so I am really surprised to see him like this. I didn’t think he would be stressed like this. Argh. I can’t say I blame him though. He has loads of things going on right now. :/. I feel for him. I am just glad that he’s not taking it out on us. He is a great guy. I ? him to bits. :)