"We're gangsters!"

I'm at work and E just called to update me on how his Halloween night is going. He is at home handing out candies to trick or treaters. So far, he had seen a gamut of costumes including monsters, fairies, princesses, pirates, and a Spiderman. Our neighborhood kids are always good at dressing up and the amount of candies E hands out is proportional to the cuteness and originality of their outfit. So, imagine his surprise to open the door to some boys that were just in jeans and shirts. Not willing to easily give out his candies, he asked them about their costumes to which the boys indignantly replied "We're gangsters!". Hahahaha! If I was there, I would have given them my whole stash just for humoring me.

Rainy Days Are Here Again

Not much going on. Just finished my midterms and so far, so good. I got two A's already. Grades for my two other classes are not posted yet.

It's been raining the past week and I'm loving it. I don't know, there's something about the rain that calms me down. It sucks for my dogs because they can't really play outside too long. They're cooped up inside their house and I feel sorry for them. E agreed to leave the side door in the garage open so that the dogs can just go in and out of there. It's a much bigger space to play at when it's raining outside. I just hope they don't damage anything major by their chewing.

Tyler is a big chewer and when he was just a puppy, he chewed anything and everything, including the wires of our AC unit. When we called an electrician to fix it, he found the chewed up wires and was amazed that Ty didn't get electrocuted. And because it was our dog's fault, the home warranty didn't cover it. We ended up having to shell out $500 to get it fixed.

E was so mad he thought of giving Tyler away. But Tyler is my baby, I was pissed too but not enough for me to kick him out of the house. Tyler has mellowed down a lot since then but we're still cautious. We give him a lot of toys to play with so he doesn't get bored and starts chewing up stuff. As for the garage, I'll just wait and see. If he destroys anything, he'll be banished to his doghouse again in the backyard, which is not very fun with all this rain we're getting.

Exploding Brain of a Drama King

My friend DL is such a drama king. I usually don't associate myself with overly dramatic people because I can't relate well to them. You see, I'm just not like that. If something bad happens to me, I'll be sad but nothing major. I will just shrug it off, learn my lesson, and move on.

I'm lucky that all of my female friends are NOT dramatic at all. Unfortunately, I don't have such luck with my male friends. DL is one good example. He just dumped his girlfriend. Yes, that's right, he dumped her and not the other way around. It was his idea and he's still depressed about it...like, three weeks after the fact and while trying to date other girls already.

Also, while studying for our biochem class, he kept saying his brain is going to explode. Of course, the nice person that I am just told him to take a break from studying. But if I can't bear it anymore, I just might have to tell him to shut the f**k up and his brains won't explode unless someone shoots him on the head. And if he doesn't shut up, that someone just might be me. Hehehe.

Our other friend, M, totally agrees with me that he is so dramatic. Worthy of an Oscar, I tell you.

SF Quickie

Went to San Francisco today with E to meet his aunt who has a lay over on her way to Manila. We took two cars because I plan on driving back on Monday morning while E is going straight to work. E and I took her to Pacifica for a brief sight seeing. It's funny how they have a Taco Bell right on the water. There were a lot of surfers even though it was little chilly.

She has a video camera and wanted to tape us so that their family back home could see us. So, E and I dutifully stood there and said our hellos. Later that night, we watched the entire video and saw E's brother and his family in it. What's funny is that E and his brother said the same exact thing: "hello, kumusta?". Same phrase, same body language. I think that's pretty neat.

We took Tita F to a Korean restaurant for dinner and it was nice. They have tons of side dishes including my favorite, fish cakes. Yum, yum. We ordered chicken and beef bulgogie. For those who is not familiar with it, it's just raw meat that is cooked in the middle of your table where they have a charcoal/gas grill going. It was alright, the only thing I didn't like is that we cooked the food ourselves! I always thought it's the waitress that cooks it. I later asked Dong, who is Korean, who should really cook the food, the waitress or us? He said that one should ask the waitress, otherwise, they assume you'll cook it yourself. That sucks, there's another Korean place in Sacto that I used to visit and they always cooked my food without me having to ask them. I guess, it's different in every restaurant.

When we checked in to our hotel, they upgraded our room to one with a spa/jacuzzi tub (is there a difference?). Hehehe, I'm starting to get used to this little luxury since we always seem to end up with a spa tub everytime we stay in a hotel. When the time comes for us to upgrade the master's bath in our house, I'll definitely consider putting one in. It's just sooo nice. Man, I wish I have one already.

Annoying White Jewish Dude

I'm sitting at work right now and my co-worker is bugging the sh*t out of me. His name is Isaac, he is a white Jewish dude, and he thinks he is the reason why I'm living in America right now. He said that he saw my picture when I was little on a Christian Children Fund tv program that said "save the life of a child for a penny a day!". A penny a day! Not even a dime or a quarter. Just a penny. He also said that he almost didn't sponsor me because he didn't have a penny a day. Of course, he was just playing around.

Kidding aside, he idolizes me. He loves me although he's sooo politically incorrect most of the time. Well, make that all the time. Like the time he asked me out of the blue if I had ever looked at my dogs and thought of cooking them for dinner. I am not very witty and can't come up with a good come back but I always wonder why did they kill Jesus? Tell me, Isaac, why?

Tug of war: Shaggy vs Tyler

Shaggy: This is my toy! 

Lost and Found Snake

The run away snake has been found! Hooray! And Dong decided to get rid of it for good. More Hooray!!!

E and I explored a trail a few minutes away from our house. It's more of a bike path really but it's in a wooded area. We brought Tyler and Shaggy along and they loved it. I wanted to see where the trail ends but it's a very long trail and after a good hour of walking, we decided to just turn around and head home. It was a nice nature walk but I'm afraid that's the closest I would get to going camping. E is just not into that stuff.

He's very prissy (as in, maarte) and his idea of camping is more like checking into a hotel, with a warm bed, shower, hot meals and maybe, if I'm lucky, we'll venture outside for an hour or so. Camping to me is pitching a tent in the woods or by the beach, eating out of cans, building bonfires, and really roughing it out for a few days to see nature up close and personal. E and I couldn't be any more different when it comes to camping. And that I don't understand. He used to be in the military and you'd expect him to be more of an outdoorsy type but he would rather play Xbox or maybe golf. The golf course is not considered outdoors, is it? With the manicured grass and artificial ponds and sand and stuff? Well, maybe it is, just not in my book.

Run away snake

Oh boy, Dong just called to inform me that his snake got loose. Great, just what I feared. He looked everywhere but couldn't find the darn snake. So, now it's official: I am not going back to his place...not until he finds it.

Fish and cornsnake day

I hang out with my friend Dong today. He has a beautiful saltwater aquarium with tons of real pretty fish. The rocks he used are imported from Fiji and brimming with live seawater plants. He has a clown fish "Nemo", a little blue "Dory", and others that are also brightly colored and just so adorable. He has sea anemones of different colors, sizes, and shapes. They look like flowers and their tentacles seem to dance with the water. He has sea cucumbers, snails, some shrimp-looking thingies, and a purple starfish too! I so wish I have an aquarium like that.
I have to remember to take a picture of it next time.

But the more interesting thing we did was to go to Petco to pick up his cornsnake. Yes, a snake! I was so horrified at first I bowed I'll never come over his place again. At the end I got curious so I went with him. It's a baby snake but it's about a foot long already. It's red with some white markings. I didn't look very close but the pattern is kinda geometric looking. While we were in the store, I picked up a care sheet for the snake and it said that it could grow up to six feet long. That's scary. Oh yeah, and he has to feed it frozen mice. Yikes.

We studied for a little bit and then went to the school gym. It's my first time to the gym since they opened it last quarter. It's huge and very modern (that's probably where my tuition and parking fee went). I was a little intimidated in the weights room because it was mostly guys working out. Dong showed me how to properly used the machines so as not to hurt myself. I have a little notebook to keep track of my progress. When I did my cardio on the treadmill, I was between these two girls who were running like there's no tomorrow. I tried my best to keep up with them but I just couldn't. What can I say, I'm a wimp. It's so sad. Good thing E has some healthy sandwich for me when I got home to eat my "sadness" away. hehehe. Pretty good sandwich too. Either that or I was just extremely hungry after a very long day.

Love Song

E and his friends discovered a karaoke bar at the Bay Area. Hahaha, E is not shy at all, no sirree. He and his friends just went at it and had fun with the mic. Just before going to bed, he gave me a call to say goodnight and sang me this song over the phone. He sang it well and I'm very impressed. The song is very sweet and very fitting with his frequent trips away from home.

"Love Song" by the Cure

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am home again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am whole again

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am young again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am fun again

However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
I will always love you

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am free again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am clean again

However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
I will always love you

Mission Accomplished

We finished the side yard! Yippeee!!! Just when I thought I've touched enough stones to last me a lifetime and I'll never touch another stone ever, E and I came up with this plan for our walkway which, unfortunately, involves guess what? Yep, more stones. You see, our house is a two storey house and looks tall while our walkway is a narrow strip of concrete flushed to the side of the house. So, it doesn't look very proportional. We think that if we place stones about a foot wide right next to the walkway, it would look like it has been expanded. I'll probably put some plants in there to add interest. Not to be outdone, E said he'll put some solar ligthing in there too. I think it's a good idea, it's also not overly expensive, and something that we'll have fun doing.

On the same note, I planted some ivy along the fence hoping that I could do some vertical gardening. Regular or horizontal gardening is out of the question because of my doggies. They will destroy anything and everything until we get them a dog run. Well, that's not going to happen til next summer because there's no contractor that would do it at this time. So, until then, all of my gardening plans are on hold. Stinks.

I'd love to get dirt under my nails and grow veggies and have some fresh cut flowers but nope, I can't even plant bulbs for spring time because I heard it's really bad for dogs and knowing Tyler, he will dig it out faster than I could bury it. Oh well...

Long Time No Blog

It's only my second week back in school and I'm already swamped! I'm still trying to get used to this quarter system where everything happens so fast. I'm going to start working out with my friend Dong next week. He used to be a personal trainer and part of a weightlifting team so, he knows alot about fitness.

But first, E and I has to finish the side yard tomorrow. Yeah. Fun. Just thinking about that makes my body sore again. Oh well, we started it, we have to finish it. Tyler and Shaggy got out of the yard this afternoon. I guess the gate on the side yard blew open and they were able to get out. When E went to the yard to play with them, they were gone. Of course, we both got frantic. I took my cell and car keys and drove off to look for my boys. E drove to the opposite direction looking for them too. Argh, I hate that feeling when one of them is hurt or missing or sick. Fortunately, I found them right away. They were running around checking out the neighborhood. Thanks God(dess).

I don't know what Tyler did but he stinks to high heavens. He's getting a bath tomorrow. Shaggy's hair is matted and Peachy's nails need to be cut. That means we need to take a trip to the doggie barber/groomer. Man, I think dogs are just as expensive as kids. But how come I can't claim them on my income tax?

A relaxing weekend...Not Part 2

The phone's ringing rudely woke us up this morning. Normally, I get PO'd by early calls but it was my mom on the other line. I'm always happy to hear from her. She finally got a cell phone and said that she's still trying to figure it out...apparently, so is the time difference between Philippines and California. I'm not hopeful she'll figure that one out anytime soon. She'll call me whenever the mood strikes her.

E and I worked on the side yard again. And I mean, we really worked. Boy, I'm so sore I feel like a semi has run me over a couple of times. I shoveled stones and pushed the wheelbarrow as much as I could. E did most of the work because he's bigger and stronger but I helped out a lot too. The side yard is now half filled with stones. We stopped around 11 AM to eat and rest. One more weekend of this and it should be done. Assuming we didn't actually break our backs today.

A relaxing weekend...Not

E and I woke up early to work on our side yard today. Our side yard is bare soil and with the rainy season coming up, it will definitely turn into mud. And Tyler loves to get dirty, he will play and roll into the mud which, of course, he will track inside the house later at night and irritate me to no end.

We tried to get a contractor to cement the side yard but they're all fully booked. That left us no choice but to just dump stones on the side yard hoping it will minimize the much hated mud. But first we had to put some weed barrier on the ground. With E and I working side by side, it didn't take us long to finish the job. We were done by 9:00 AM. Thirty minutes later, E's co-worker and friend Dave picked him up for they have work to do at Stanford. I also went to work and didn't get to see him again until midnight. We finished the easy part today, tomorrow is going to be a different story.

Family Time

Went to work for just four hours today. I left early since E wanted to spend time with me tonight. Yay! I finally get to hang out with my sweetie. We played fetch with the "boys", Tyler and Shaggy in the garage. Princess Peachy, of course, gets jealous and does not know how to play with the other two. E placed her on top of some boxes just so she'll be out of the way. She sat there and gave us this sad-puppy look which E always fell for. So, after a few minutes, he grabbed her and ended up holding her with one hand while trying to toss toys to Tyler and Shaggy with the other hand. Hehehe. He can't help it, he turns into a mush when it comes to her.