Lapu-Lapu To Maryland

Guilty Pleasures

2008-04-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, Spring...not as cold anymore. Had our first baseball (exhibition) last month. The new National Baseball park is gorgeous! That was the coldest game we've attended though. The opening itself, only hugbun and our friend went. When hugbun arrived home later, he told me that the camera (point and shot) was broken. With the President throwing the first pitch, security at the park was so tight, every item you're holding was inspected thoroughly. In the process the camera fell from his grasp into the hard concrete. Sure enough, no matter what I did the camera just stayed "silent". So we did some research for a new camera. A few days later I was ready to order. I tried to tinker with the old camera again to be sure, by taking the battery in and out (which I did dozen of times before) and then turn it on...the blasted thing works again! Anyway, I always like to have that SLR camera anyway for "serious photography" (Ginoo ko, pa serious serious pa hahaha), so we might go ahead and order it.

National Baseball Park

Screech the Mascot and Hugbun...

One of my guilty pleasures is I love to read blogs and forums especially Cebu based or just bloggers who mention Cebu with plenty of pictures in it, pawa sa kamingaw, I guess. Blogs that I'm addicted, and a lurker to and in my favorites folder are:

http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/ The blogger in this site is so amusing and entertaining and have plenty of pictures of Cebu and the surrounding islands. An articulate young man.

http://cebuheritage.wordpress.com/ The site is awesome, plenty of pictures of "old houses, churches, buildings, institutions, schools etc." and information about them. Nostalgic...

http://www.marketmanila.com/ An informative yummy food blog. I think the blogger's family is originally from Cebu, I might be mistaken.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LivingInThePhilippines3/ Expats living in the Philippines (mostly surrounding Cebu). Having an American husband who'd like to live in the Philippines on and off after retirement, I found this site helpful.

http://www.istorya.net/forums/ Excellent site if you want to know almost anything about what's going on in Cebu and the rest of the Philippines. The paranormal and ungo-ungo section is not shabby either ;-).

http://www.depanorama.net/ Duke Ellington's music. Hugbun's site hehehe.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fernan/ A family tree on my Mother's side.

What I'm currently following (couldn't wait for the installment hahaha) is this blog,

http://delfindjmontano.blogspot.com/ A gay Aussie blogging about his former Filipino boyfriend/lover and the Philippines "alta sosyedad" kuno.

It's Almost A Year...A Recap

2008-04-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Didn't blog for almost a year...gasp...this long? Hmmm. What happen Senn, creative juices (what creative juices hehehe) wasn't flowing freely? Anyway, let me see if I remember the happenings for the past months in a nutshell.

I- Keet is in sophomore, and doing great in school (Just had their third grading report card, goodness how time flies). She was fuming mad that the Anime Club wasn't offered this year, she only have the Art Club this year.

She had her Snowball dance last December and had a blast hanging out with her cronies.

We celebrated her birthday in our favorite Thai restaurant. Originally, we're supposed to have some dinner guests with us but we cancelled because I got sick, and afterward we all couldn't manage to get together for schedule conflicts, so we end up going just ourselves to celebrate.

Keet has completed her service hours for this year (We always like this last service hours done in her Easter break). She volunteered in the Assisted Living Home. She helped elderly by talking to them, doing crafts, games etc.

School is keeping her busy...taking SAT practice tests on weekends, a class Holocaust Museum trip next week, a Retreat sometime this month, field day (this, she's excited because they just hang out with friends in school...sort of carnival in her school ground, with food and games). She's also excited of Pope Benedict's visit, some of the girls in school would be attending the mass at the new National Ballpark and some (including Keet, she have problems with confined and crowded places) will watch the affair in a big screen t.v. in the school's auditorium. Then there's the ever present homework (if this won't keep kids busy, I don't know what) and class projects. But, as I told Keet lately, all of these will pass, as summer vacation is just around the corner...yehey :-)!!! But, wait...how about summer school to take some advance courses, you have to impress colleges when it's time for you to apply college...

II- Hugbun is keeping himself busy at work and at play :). He have this monthly meeting of Duke Ellington aficionados where he is President, and then it's BASEBALL SEASON again so he's in business hahaha. Last December ('07) he had an x-ray performed in his knees, he always complains about his sore knees. I was worried too, I thought that he would need surgeries for new knees, luckily(?), it's just an arthritis... it comes and goes.

Most of his friends are retiring this year, this makes him daydream about retirement too hehehe (don't worry bunny, five years from now). His compressed work schedule is off indefinitely though as his assistant had just retired last week. He used to have every other Mondays off from work. He goes to work 30 minutes early and come home 30 minutes later for him to enjoy the every other Mondays off. But with his assistant gone, he'll be in the office in the regular hours 5 days a week! I hope that he would still be able to have a week off this summer for vacation though, otherwise this would be a looong summer for all of us.
Hugbun is hopeful that this year, he would be able to plant some nice tomatoes and herbs in the garden. We weren't able to have nice tomatoes for a couple of summers now, the darn squirrels had made Hugbun's garden their salad bar ;-)...

Hugbun's tomato patch some years ago before the squirrels problem

III- Moi...Well, same old same old. Although I don't work, shuttling these people is keeping me "busy"... hehehe. Now, I have to drop off hugbun first in the subway. He used to ride the Metro bus (bus stop is just right in front of our house), but with his new schedule, it would be convenient for him to be dropped off. Then, off to Keetbug's school... you have to pay extra for the school bus when you go to a private school, with public, school bus is free...well you pay thru your taxes, anyway. Repeat the shuttling later in the afternoon to pick them (not both at the same time) up .

I had a cat scan last October ('07). I always have headaches for the past years for almost everyday. The headaches wasn't that bad, but you sort of know that it's there. Imagine how nervous I was with the procedure and the result. The procedure itself wasn't that bad, my doctor (ENT especialist...done the nose, throat and ears too) ask for a contrast cat scan. The technician inject me with a dye and she explained to me what to expect. Sure enough, when the dye was in my system, I felt my chest and groin getting very warm, it was a weird sensation. I was thankful to GOD and the all the SAINTS that nothing is wrong with my brain and sinus. My doctor thought that the reason of my headaches was maybe because I clinch my jaws and chew gums a lot. Come to think of it, sometimes I realized that I clinched my jaw hard whenever I get upset or just concentrating on something. Now that I'm aware of this, I try hard to stop. My headaches has diminish considerably.

Well, what do you know, after 17 years of being a green card holder, last month I became a U.S. Citizen!!! The "catalyst" were: My Philippine passport was expiring, Immigration would raised the application fee substantially, we won't be vacationing to the Philippines for a couple of years (to save money for Keet's college pohon) and if I'm not a U.S. citizen, I can't enjoy some of the benefit of my hugbun's earnings (U.S. law).

The process of the Citizenship wasn't that long. I applied before the end of July last year ('07), by mid August, I had an appointment with the USCIS (application center) for fingerprints for the FBI. I could have taken the written exam in the same facility, but there was no available examiner that day. Last month was my interview. The appointed time was at 9:00 (different facility this time), by 9:30 I was called for the interview. I was glad that I wasn't able to do the written exam before hand. The interviewer asked me if I've already taken the written exam, so I told her no. She just asked me 6 questions orally (written exam would be ten questions), which I aced by the way ;-)... and the interview... her, just reading from my filled application. She also asked what I understand about my allegiance to the U.S..... fifteen minutes later, I was done. The interviewer asked me if I'm going to take the oath taking ceremony later at 3:00, and gave me a piece of paper to be filled up before the ceremony. We waited until 3:00, that was a very looong wait, it reminds me of waiting flights in the airport. I was hoping to have the oath around 12 (but that day, they only have one ceremony, the 3:00 o'clock). I was only wearing a light blouse and the temperature that day was cold and windy, so instead of going around Baltimore to while away the time, we just went to a restaurant for our lunch and came back and waited. Meanwhile hugbun was so pleased in reminding me what would happen if I don't listen to him when I complained that it was so boring (he reminded me to bring a book to read, but didn't listen). I was also amazed that there were many applicants with lawyers accompanying them, maybe their cases weren't as straight forward as most. At 3:00 o'clock, we were herded to the top floor for the ceremony. There were 140 being naturalized. There was this Korean woman who doesn't speak and understand English at all (an agent would asked you for the paper that you filled, changes between the time after the interview and the ceremony), I was afraid that they won't give her her certificate as she really had a hard time understanding the agents. One amusing part of the ceremony was when an agent asked a man if he committed a crime between the time after the interview and the oath taking, the man said YES. Immediately he realized his mistake and vehemently said NO, NO. The agent was amused and we laughed WITH the man. We recite our Oath of Allegiance...then the agents called us one by one to have our Certificate (reminded me of a graduation ceremony ;-)) and a small U.S. flag. The Korean woman was all smile when she got her Certificate. I was so disappointed that we didn't bring our camera though...

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We had our summer ('07) vacation last year in Cape May, N.J. The drive from our place was a little longer than we thought, almost 5 hours. The place is so pretty. It is sort of a resort town but with plenty of old Victorian houses. I always love Victorian houses (In the Philippines it's the old Spanish style houses that I couldn't get enough of), so that was a feast of the eyes for me. We stayed in a bed and breakfast, very beautiful! I was hoping that the place was haunted, but no such luck :(., the town offer a ghost tour though...maybe next time. We did the trolley tour of the old historic district... the architectures and the sizes of the houses are just phenomenal (some of these houses were turned into bed and breakfast). The restaurants were good and priced reasonably. You're in heaven, if your hobby is into antiquing as there were lots of "stalls" inside one of the antique store we went. We didn't go swimming in the beach though as the place we stayed in has a swimming pool (the only bed and breakfast who has one), and we're just content to lounge in the pool and sight see the town...got sore legs from all the walking though. Definitely a destination for vacations for years to come.

Where we stayed...

Some of the Victorian houses...

The beach...

Updates...

2007-07-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, the balikbayan boxes we had sent last April has arrived. A little late than usual, I have to call the agent here and my relatives has to call the Philippine agent at their end. We've watched our relatives opened the boxes thru the webcam and saw and heard all their excitement. Isn't technology nowadays amazing?

We went to a baseball game again last Sunday. Boy, talking about hot days of summer. This is a photo inside our car when we got to the parking lot after the game. Outside temperature is just a couple degrees "cooler". We decided to just have a Chinese take out. I always tell Hugbun that summer time in Maryland is hotter than in Cebu. As usual he disagrees.

Baltimore

2007-07-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Baltimore for dinner in our friend's house last week. Oftentimes, I regret driving downtown Baltimore without a camera. This time though the paparazzi is ready, so I took a few pictures while Hugbun was driving.

Downtown Baltimore...

The Poe's Grave (Edgar Allan Poe and wife)...

Driving Around D.C.

2007-07-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

We're excited to see the new stadium being built, so one Sunday afternoon right after church, we went to the site. I had the camera with us, so I took some pictures of downtown DC on the way to the site. The new stadium is shaping up quite fast.

Downtown D.C. - U.S. Capitol on the horizon

U.S. Capitol Upclose

One of the many museums in D.C.- American Indian Museum

Downtown D.C.

One of the historic neighborhoods in D.C.

New Stadium Constructions...

An Ordination...

2007-07-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever witness a priest being ordained? I haven't... neither does my Hugbun. Well, one of the deacon in our parish church was being ordained a couple of months ago. I thought to myself that this would be the chance that we finally see an ordination. We went to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and witnessed our first ordination. I got goose bumps the entire ceremony, it was beautiful!

At the National Shrine...

Full Blast Of The Summer Months II

2007-07-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

We've been to countless ball games this year already. Our team is building a new stadium, Hugbun thinks that it would be harder to get "in the moment" tickets for the new stadium. So, he has this idea to buy season tickets this year to have a foot on the door when they sell tickets next year, as they would prioritize people who are season ticket holders. We spent our 4th of July in the ball park to see our team won, that game was so crowded but we had fun. Hugbun's vacation would be next month.

In the subway on the way to the game...

RFK from the train...

RFK from the train...

This is our "U.S. vacation" year (we go to the Philippines every other year). We're still undecided where to go though (a toss between New York, Memphis and Cape May in New Jersey), right now we're leaning towards Memphis. I really love to see The King's Mansion.

Full Blast Of The Summer Months I

2007-07-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, just in the middle of summer and our heat index is off the roof. Hot, hot! hot! But gallivanting must go on ;-).

Keet has been off from school for almost a month now and she's enjoying every minute of it. Her school ended last June 4. After picking her up and having our lunch, we went to the movie to watch The Pirates of the Caribbean-At World's End. As usual we enjoyed the movie a lot, especially so with this movie (we've been waiting and waiting for this movie to come out), as Hugbun's favorite Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is in the movie playing Jack Sparrow's father Captain Teague. We were so tickled with his cameo role especially we heard behind the scenes stories about him while making this movie.

Photos of Keith and Johny from Rolling Stone Magazine...

Anyway, Keet has a new layered hairdo this summer. She wanted her hair auburn so I dyed her hair auburn! The new hairdo and color really looks good on her.

Finally, the wrought iron porch furnitures that Keet and I repainted are finished. I even re-upholstered the chairs and I'm so pleased with the result.

Old upholstery...

Re-uphostered by moi...

Voila...

Of Pizzas And Donuts

2007-06-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last month (huh, it's been a while since I've updated this blog), hugbun made pizzas from scratch. A rustic kind of pizzas, topped with pesto and shrimps. He saw these pizzas made by Bobby Flay - host of Boy Meets Grill. You know, hugbun is a grill freak, so he has to make that pizzas. Well, what do you know, one time when I was watching Giada de Laurentis' cooking show, she made these donuts from a pizza dough. So I told hugbun to make extra dough for my donuts too ;-), hugbun was just too willing to oblige. THEY WERE GOOD - BOTH PIZZAS AND DONUTS! Definitely a keeper!

Easter Week And Goings On

2007-04-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

Keet went with Hugbun to the Ellington meeting (Jazz society...where he's the president) to listen to dad's program presentation, (every meeting a member has to present a program related to Ellington's music) last Saturday. They meet every first Saturday of the month but for the summer. Keet enjoyed dad's presentation and socializing with the other members. She even received an award for her newsletter contributions (stuffing them in the envelopes). Actually this is also part of her school service hours. She needs 80 hours of service (community and disadvantage) to graduate high school... a requirement. Anyway they both had fun on the Ellington meeting. Some members couldn't believe how fast she grew.

EASTER SUNDAY - After the Easter Sunday mass, Keet and Hugbun went to DC to watched baseball. You might ask, where is old me in all these happenings (music meeting, baseball)? Home! When its nice, warm and toasty. The temperature lately is not comfortable with this tropical girl. We all went to hear the Easter mass though (every Sunday mass for that matter). The plan would have been to have our Easter dinner on Monday, as it would be late when we get back from baseball. But I didn't go anyway, so I made dinner. Our Easter dinner tradition is fresh ham.

Easter dinner...

Keet did her disadvantage service hours on Wednesday and yesterday. I felt a little nervous when I dropped her off the first day in Sacred Heart Home (nursing home) as this would be her first time volunteering alone, oftentimes we're always with her...picking up litter in the neighborhood, stuffing envelopes etc. When I picked her up later in the afternoon, I was anxious - but she loved it! She even told me that when she grows old she would live in a nursing home ;-). We're all relaxed yesterday when I dropped her off for her last day of volunteering in the nursing home.

Finally, the two balikbayan boxes are out of my hair. I called yesterday to have someone picked up the boxes, and someone came in this morning. I'm still waiting for FedEx though. Today would be their 3rd attempt to deliver an item we ordered (needs a signature). I missed the first attempt by 30 minutes the other day, when I stopped by the grocery store after dropping Keet off. Yesterday, I waited the whole morning but nobody came. I thought to myself, I bet later in the afternoon when I pick Keet, someone would come. Sure enough, when Keet and I arrived later, a tag was on the door knob, saying this is the 2nd attempt, blah, blah, blah. Missed it less than an hour. Was that Murphy's law or what! Grrrrr.

Update.......yehey, finally after 2 days of cat and mouse game, FedEx and I are able to "connect". As I am writing this blog, there is a knock on the door, and lo and behold...FedEx!!!!

Early Easter Goodies & Procrastination

2007-04-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, Keet's Godmother Paula stopped by for the traditional Easter gift giving to Keet. When Keet was still very young, her goodies were the traditional Easter basket. Now that she's a teenager, she got these gifts that's more appropriate for her age.

Paula is so taken with the new kitten Gandalf, not a surprise really as she's a cat person. Paula doesn't have any children, her cats are her children.

Procrastination! Sometimes, Hugbun and I are guilty of this. Last Christmas, some of Keet's gifts are poster wall hangings that are made of silk of Anime characters (Keet is an Anime freak). Well, it's embarrassing to say that up until now (four months!) we haven't hang those things yet. I think Keet has had enough of waiting, so today Keet ask us to hang the posters. I'm glad that we finally hang them, and I must say that they really look good in her room. The best thing is it only took us less than 15 minutes, tops. I think sometimes Hugbun and I just need a little push.

Surprise, surprise. When I went in the bathroom this morning and looked outside, the trees were covered with snow! I sort of heard on the radio about possible frost and snow showers last night, but I thought that the snow wouldn't stick to anything at all. I mean common, just last week we have temperatures of high 70's and low 80's. Anyway the snow on the trees didn't last long though, it melted just a few hours later. At least we were able to enjoy our Magnolia and Cherry blossoms last week.

Easter Break

2007-04-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today (April 5) is the start of Keet's Easter break. School would resume on the 16th of this month. I must say that she's so excited with having an "eleven day week-end"
Keet and Hugbun were helping some of our neighbors picking up litter in our neighborhood last Saturday. When they finally got home, they surprised me by bringing in the stray cat/kitten in the house that we all found very cute. I've told them in passing that I'm tempted to bring in the kitten inside but is just afraid what would happen as we already have two, Cleo and Tugger. I shouldn't have worried, all three got along just fine. I mean there are some few hisses and yeowling but no serious cat fights at all.We named him Gandalf. because he has this cute white fur under his chin going down to his chest that looks like Gandalf's (LOTR) beard ;-).

Meet Gandalf the cat...

After all the excitement with Gandalf, we all went to the grocery store to buy our groceries for the month. This is a family affair as I just can't do it by myself during the week with all these much stuff to buy. That's just too much hauling for dear old me. We don't want a cranky Senn in the house at all, do we ;-). As I've said before in my previous journal, I have to see if we could save some dough this way.

Last Monday, Hugbun went to the opening season of the baseball game. A birthday present from on of his friends. Having the stadium conveniently in a subway stop is so easy for Hugbun to just kick off and catch the train from his workplace straight to the stadium. They're building a new stadium for the team though but would still be very convenient for him. The new stadium would be finish for next year's season, so this is their last year at RFK. As it was the opening of the baseball season though, Hugbun took the whole day off. Too bad that our team lost though, doesn't matter as Hugbun was all smile and looked so relaxed when I picked him up later at the subway.

Well, what do you know. Hugbun went to see baseball again last Wednesday. This time our team won. GO NATS!

Brrrrr

2007-03-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up with a cold house. I was wondering why the house is cold. When I looked at the thermostat, it just read 59 degrees, no wonder! No heat is coming out from all the vents at all. I thought to myself, dang here we go, another repair expenses. So, after I dropped off Keet in her school, I called our heating company to have somebody come to the house and see what's wrong. I'm pleased that I only have to wait for three hours when somebody came. Imagine I am wearing three layers of shirt and winter gloves in the house! Turns out that we're just out of oil. They're supposed (automatically) to deliver the oil on the 8th but we beat them by consuming the oil fast ;-). Well, I'm just glad that it wasn't a major problem or repair. Peter was content with the 59 degree though. My comfortable temperature in the house is 70-72. Hmmm, the house is starting to get warm now. Life is good.

Rising...

Ahhh, nice warm house...

Running Errands

2007-03-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Keet has no school today. Peter has work though, so I still woke up early this morning to make coffee and toast for my hugbun. I always look forward on week ends - sleeps in and breakfast in bed! This is my Saturday mornings look like ;-).

Anyway, I called the Philippines this morning and talk to my relatives. We have to touch base once in while to be updated with what is going on with our lives ;-). Afterward, Keet and I went to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. to light a Perpetual Help candle. We would have done this on Sundays, but yesterday Peter had a meeting so we went to the Saturday mass in our parish church instead. We stopped by the store after lighting the candle to do some errands and to buy a Mega Million lottery ticket for tomorrow (If there's no update in this blog anymore, that means we hit the jackpot and we went traipsing around the world with our millions and don't have time to stay foot at home anymore ;-))! Today is the start of my meal plan. Dinner tonight is already cooking in the slow cooker while I'm updating my blog. We'll see if we can save some dough this way.

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington D.C....

Grocery Budget

2007-03-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

I'd had it. I think we spend so much money for our grocery food. I mean, I always shop plenty of meats and we always have stuff in our pantry so that we don't have to go to the store for small items. The problem is I really don't like to cook. I'm a decide what to cook in the last minute kind, no planning at all - not a good way to save money. Peter loves to cook. But, even if we have meats in our chest freezer and stuff in the pantry, we still have to go to the store for Peter's dishes. It seems that we end up going to the store twice or three times a week to buy stuff. I would say that we're spending roughly 700-800 dollars a month right now.

Well, I made a monthly meal plan. So, yesterday we went grocery shopping for our whole month's meals. We spent $500 and hopefully I would be right that we could save this way. Tomorrow, I'll start the plan.

Winter...

2007-03-04T15:08:00.001-08:00

I thought that I woud not see the white stuff this year. What a mistake. We had some nasty winter days lately. Keet has almost used up all her snow days, three days so far. But compared to the other parts of the country, ours isn't so bad, not like the Northern part. Our local government don't spend so much in snow equiptments as we just have mild winters. So, when there's a forecast for snow that would accumulate 2 or 3 inches, the school system would either have hour delays in opening or would completely be closed, stores would be crowded with customers to pick up loads of breads and milks... amusing really. In the Northern part of the country, 2 or 3 inches is nothing.

A recent mild snow storm we had.

I'm Baaack

2007-03-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Oh my Goodness, I haven't realized how looong I haven't written anything in my blog. Now, I have to crunch everything of what happened the past months in one "setting" again. And here I thought that I would be able to update every couple of days. Hmmm...Now let's see if I can remember everything that has happened.

September 2006

Keet was a little apprehensive in her first day of high school. But when I picked her up later that day, she told me that she loves her new school, and that she found a couple of new friends. She's enjoying being a freshman in high school, hang out with her new friends in school, joining an Anime club and of course studying. One of her close friends is Fil Am. The funny thing is, Keet's friend's Uncle who lives in the Philippines and my elder brother (Keet's Uncle of course) "knows" each other while they were in the Air Force. Really, it's a small world indeed! Keet is starting to wear light eye make up now - there goes our baby.

First day of High School...

Also, we helped Mom with the packing of her personal stuff and some furniture for her move. Then later in the month, Hugbun and Mom drove a U-Haul truck to Mom's new apartment in New York living her car with us to be driven by next month.

October 2006

We were shocked and sadden with the sudden death of our friend in the Philippines. Beltran was such a fun person to be with. He often times came with us on our gallivanting when in the Philippines. Surely, he would be missed the next time we go to the Philippines, as he seemed to us a member of the family. Rest in peace, Beltran.

We drove Mom's car to New York. Mom was pleased that she has her own car back (the car was left behind as we're not comfortable, her driving that far anymore). Also she want us (Keet and I) see her apartment. We stayed a couple of night in Paul's place and had a mini vacation. Judy (Paul's wife) made sandwiches to bring with us for our boating around Lake George. We stopped by Sagamore hotel for cocktails. A very nice huge place that overlooks Lake George. Paul dropped us off at Albany airport the next day. Hugbun was amused as an airport screener asked him why my toiletries wasn't in a small resealable bag so Peter called me (I was seating on a chair tying back my shoe laces) gleefully (I might say) to point that out (he told me to put the toiletries in the bag but I didn't listen). Anyway, the screener just played it down and reminded me to put them in the bag next time, and off we went home.

November 2006

We were so busy cleaning and repainting the soon to be Keet's room (grandma's old room). The laying of the bathroom floor was the most consuming part of this whole thing. But boy, the end result is so girlie and pretty, keet is so pleased with her new bedroom.

The bathroom floor that has given us grief ;-) ...

We just had a quite birthday celebration for Keet. We went to a Thai restaurant and invited her Godmother. The four of us had a grand time eating our favorite Thai dishes.

Keet's Godmother...

December 2006

Keet had her first formal dance, the Snow Ball. It was so stressful finding a dress that time of the month. Shoppers are everywhere, doing last minute Christmas shopping. After going half a dozen store, we finally found a dress that we all like. We dropped her off the night of the dance hoping that she would have a great time. She had a blast, four hours of fun! Keet took a lot pictures with the digicam that she brought.

Keet getting ready for the dance...

Christmas 2006

My family always love Christmas. Being a Filipina I'm very used to having the celebration of Christmas on the Eve as oppose of celebrating it on the Christmas Day. We have a tradition, that I always have my cooking marathon (a once a year phenomenon ;-)) on the Eve. I cook all Filipino dishes on the Eve, that way I could still feel the Filipino Christmas. Christmas Eve dinner for us is an informal one. I just put all the Filipino food on the table and eat whenever or wherever anyone wants. Then we have the American tradition of having a set down dinner on Christmas Day that Hugbun would be in charge (a Christmas goose). I just don't fell Christmassy if all we do is the Christmas Day dinner.

Noche Buena...

All of us were ill this Christmas. At first Hugbun had this very nasty cough and then I got it, then Keet. We didn't invite anybody as we're not up to it. Imagine the food and just the three of us. Hugbun wondered why I bother to cook the usual stuff when there are only us. I told him that if I don't do it, I would die. Here I am, sick and with no Filipino food on Christmas! Anyway, Even if we're sick we still enjoy the holiday. Christmas is always special for us.

Keet Would Start High School!!!

2006-08-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Keet's high school orientation. Her school will start this Friday. Peter and I can't believe that our Keetbug would start high school already. Wow how time flies! Then college! I'd better not think about this so much or it would just overwhelmed me.

Mom Is Moving Out

2006-08-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Mom ( mother in-law ) is going back to live in NY sometime this September. She made a down payment for an apartment while she was in NY a couple of months ago ( while we're in the Philippines ). Her apartment would just be 10 minutes ride from Paul's family (hugbun's brother), so we don't have to worry about her that much. We're planning to do the musical room again ( Hugbun's term - as we just finished remodelling/decorating the attic for our room, Keet is using our old bedroom and Keet's bedroom into the music room ). We're going to move back down to the main floor and into our old bedroom and move Keet to where Mom is using. The funny thing is I'm really looking forward redecorating the rooms. I guess Hugbun is not looking forward in moving furniture again ;-).

The attic bedroom...

The music room...

Back to our old bedroom...

Grandma and Keet...

Today is another scorcher day. The temperature outside is 88 Fahrenheit! I always tell Hugbun that our summer here is hotter than in the Philippines. Anyway, Keet and I have no intention in going out today with this heat.

Summer in Maryland, note those spiny creatures behind us...they're called horseshoe crab.

Back To Old Routine

2006-08-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Keet and I woke up late today. We chat with our relatives in the Philippines last night until 12 midnight. Those kids are really entertaining. We always enjoyed our chat sessions with them.

Chatting with May...

Hugbun is in N.Y. to picked up Mom. This is just the second time we're apart. The first time was when Mama died and I have to go to the Philippines for a couple of weeks. It's hard if you're not used to it. Anyway, he's coming home today. Oops, I have to thaw the ribs right now, for him to grill for dinner tonight. Anyway, I dropped off Peter in the subway early yesterday to catch the transportation for the airport. He called me while he was waiting for his flight to N.Y. The security line wasn't bad at all ( airport security is tight because of the terror plot, intelligence uncovered ). It only took 5 minutes for him to be cleared! We were expecting for delays with all the news we watched.

What a surprise! This year we didn't suffer with the jet lag so much. In fact Hugbun didn't even have a jet lag, he's back to work a week after we came home from the Philippines. Keet and I had a little. Usually, our jet lag would last for a couple of weeks!

Keet and I did a lot of weeding in the garden for a couple of days. Peter mowed the lawn a couple of days after we arrived. The yard looks much better now. I got some sore muscles though .

Back To The U.S...back to the U.S.

2006-08-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

We arrived home on July 25. It's amazing how quite it is after all the noise and ruckus of the Philippines. We're glad to see that the house is still standing ;) ! Keet is always amazed of how big her cats are, compared to "her" cats in the Philippines whenever we come home from vacations.

Yup, the house is still standing ;)...

Wow, the garden looked like a jungle. I think I even saw a lion, tiger and a bear! Now I know what we would be doing in the wee morning hours of our jet lag days. We're known to have our breakfast at 3:00 in the morning after coming back from the Philippines before.

The garden pre-jungle ;)...

Goodbyes

2006-08-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

We had our despededa ( going away ) party hosted by Jun and his girl friend Chay the night before we go back to the U.S. I must say that Filipinos really know how to party.

Horsing around with cousins on the night before departure...

Goodbyes is such a drag and it sucks. Anyway, the whole village send us off to the airport on July 24 and had our tearful goodbyes. We had 12 hours lay over in Hong Kong! It wasn't so bad as we thought. In Hong Kong there are lounge areas that you can really stretch to sleep. We had a little " nap " ( for what's it's worth ) to prepare for our loooong trip home. Our flight was direct from Hong Kong to LA! Usually we had to stopped over in Vancouver to refuel/pick up passengers. So, the direct flight was a surprised and a bonus. The flight home was uneventful and smooth, no delays or whatsoever.

Hongkong Airport lounge...

Last Week of Our Philippine Vacation

2006-08-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Our last week in the Philippines was soaking up in the pool and the sun. We stayed in Tambuli West for a few days. I thought that we could save by installing an air conditioner system in our Philippine house thus we don't need to go to a resort to " cool off " , but no such luck. We have to have that resort days ; - ).

Our Recent Philippine Vacation...Cont.

2006-08-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

The week after the wedding, we went to Negros for the ganas - an old Filipino practice of going to the husband's place after the wedding to continue the reception with the husband's family and relatives. Negros ( La Libertad ) is a very nice and quite place, our first in the island.

Negros coast line...

Drove to Tangil ( south of Cebu, about 3 hours ) to catch the boat. The trip to Negros is just a little over an hour. Went to the mountain called Pakwan. The view is so pretty going up the mountain! We enjoyed the visit so much as it was a tabo ( market day ) . It's fun to watch people with their wares, food and animals to be sold. We stayed in Negros for a couple of nights.

In the mountain of Pakwan, Negros...

We celebrated 3 birthdays ( sister in - law, niece and nephew's ) while in the Philippines. It seems that we're always having occasions and excuses to eat, eat, eat! Luckily we didn't gain weights. Keet even lost some weight while we were there, maybe because she doesn't eat that much because of the heat. She does missed American foods.

Our Recent Philippine Vacation...Cont.

2006-08-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy. One of the reasons for this vacation is to attend our eldest niece's wedding. We're one of the sponsors, and Keet is one of the bridesmaids. We tried to find pina barong for Peter, but we have trouble with the sizes. We went to Gilmore Tailoring in Cebu to have a barong made, and what a wonderful job they made. The bonus was, it was even cheaper than the ready made barongs at SM.

The wedding went very well. Everyone had a great time. Food, food, food and the guests - WOW ! That was what I call Filipino wedding reception! I splurged on lechon baboy ( boy, how I missed Filipino foods ). We tried to spoil the newly wed by sending them to Maribago Blue Water Resort for their honeymoon. We wished that we made a reservation for ourselves too for our last week in the Philippines when we saw their room, especially when the newly weds told us that they were really impressed with the resort in their 3 days stay.

We went to Kawasan a couple of days after the wedding. The drive towards the fall is so pretty, I think that was the first time we drove that route during the daytime ( we usually passed those places at nighttime going home to Lapu-Lapu ). We stopped at the place where there's a statue of "sigbin". Peter is specially interested to see the statue because Keet was telling him ( from what her cousins told her ) that "sigbin" is a monster and a witch's familiar. He was so amused and disappointed when he saw the statue as it was just a kangaroo ;-) !

Sigbin at the background ;)

By the weekend, we went island hopping. It was hilarious! The waves that day was so high. Marcy and Mytit was so nervous whenever the strong waves hit our boat, that their expressions were so comical. We always like to treat all our immediate relatives to go to places to have fun with us. They seem to enjoy it as much as we are, not a dull moment when we go out.

Our Recent Philippine Vacation

2006-08-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

We had our Philippine vacation last June-July of this year. We left the U.S. on June 27 ( Reagan International Airport ). We had our friend stopped by for the last minute instructions to take care of the house and pets ( cats, fish and an iguana ). Went to the airport early as the forecast isn't so great. It rained very hard the night before, so we worried that we might get caught with the rainstorm.

Checked in at the airport. You know how Filipinos are when they go home to the Philippines, we dragged plenty of luggage and the ever present balik-bayan boxes. So I'm relieved that they were all checked in and won't touch them again until Cebu.

Our flight was delayed for four hours! We lost hope that we would be able to fly that day as planes aren't taking off around the east coast because of the heavy rainstorm. Finally, our flight number was called. Luckily we already have reserved seats for our international connecting flight in N.Y. thru the Cathay Pacific check-in in the internet.

Keet with a new friend in HK Airport...

We arrived in Cebu on June 29. It's always a happy moment to see your relatives smiling faces, and just to be surrounded with the smell, noise and people of the Philippines. Whew, very hot though!

Had a Requiem mass for Mama and Papa the next week. The mass was held at Babag's Perpetual Help Parish as we can't get an appointment in Birhen Sa Regla Church. It was a moving mass, especially when I wasn't able to go home last year when my father died.

Family Member Addition

2006-08-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

These are my nephews and nieces that were born while I still lived in the Philippines.

We acquired two more nephews for the past 15 years.

My honorary sister's kids with my daughter

Hugbun's brother and his family

Our Keetbug

2006-08-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

March of 1992, I was pregnant. It took me 3 months to realize that I was pregnant :). My period used to skipped a lot, so I just thought that my missing periods was right on time. But, duh, I'm married...any missing periods are suspect, and changes in my body and appetite were hard to ignore...the itty bitty bump on my tummy etc. So, off to the ob-gyn we went.

Our Keetbug was born on that year... November 21 (Lady of the Rule feast day...Lapu-Lapu City Patroness)

December 1991---America Here I Come

2006-08-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Nineteen ninety one was a crazy year for me. What a hectic year that was. Hugbun came in the Philippines on June 12 for our meeting. The next day June 13 we were engaged! By June 21 we were married.

Hugbun left for the U.S. on June 26. I was left in the Philippines to wait for my visa, but not for long because by December of that year I was in the U.S.

I arrived in the U.S. during winter and that was a shock to my system. I thought that winter cold is just like an air conditioned room... or whatever, but boy was I wrong!!! The first thing I noticed when I arrived in the U.S., was how clean everything were, the streets, buildings etc.

We were back in the Philippines a lot of times ever since. Our last trip was last June-July of this year.

My Parents, Honorary Sister, And Parents In Law

2006-08-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

My parents are both dead now...how I miss them so much. Our family wasn't rich. My father was a tailor and sent Mama to college after they got married and eventually Mama got an education degree. She used to teached in Harvadian Colleges in Annex, Ozamis City. Mama would be teaching in Ozamis while the rest of the family remained in Lapu-Lapu. I was around 3 or 4 years old and I remember that whenever Mama would come home from teaching, our youngest, who's a year younger than me would cry whenever Mama would try to carry him (sort of he viewed Mama as stranger). Eventually our whole family moved to Ozamis so that the family would all be together. We stayed in Ozamis for a couple of years and we all came back to our home in Lapu-Lapu for good. My father was big in education. My older brother joined the Air Force after he graduated college, he got married and after I finished high school, he sent me to college (Most Filipinos are like this, helping parents and siblings even after they got married) . The second brother joined the Air Force as well. Eventually our eldest became an attorney after going back to school having his children already. When I finished college and got a job at Fairchild, I've sent my younger brother to college in turn.

I always longed for a sister as I'm the only girl in the family. When I was in high school (first year, I think), Janet (cousin's daughter) came to our family and lived with us on and off. We always consider her as part of the family. A sister at last! Janet was my chaperone when hugbun came to the Philippines.

A couple of weeks after I arrived in Maryland, we went to upstate New York to spend Christmas with my hugbun's family. I felt so comfortable with my hugbun's family as they're all so accomodating and good people. Before my arrival, Mom made a winter coat drive for me...so that I would be warm and toasty :)! On March the next year, my father in law died. He was already ill and blind when I first meet him. My hugbun has only one married sibling, a brother, who also live in New York. The plan would have been that both of my parents in law will live with us in Maryland. With Dad's death, only Mom was able to live with us since 1994.

The Way We Were

2006-08-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

I always felt nostalgic whenever I think of my life growing up in the Philippines. I always cherished those moments and love to look at old photographs.

My Families In The Philippines ll

2006-08-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

These are my brothers in the Philippines with their respective wife.

Ging and Marcy (Eldest)

Lin and Let (2nd)

Fer and Mtit (youngest)

My Families In The Philippines (Ca. 70's 80's)

2006-08-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here are my families in the Philippines prior to my having a family of my own and living in the U.S.

My parents, brothers, sister in law, nephews and nieces...

Oh Hi...Hello There!!!

2006-08-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

FINALLY. I gave in to this hype, what with invitations bombarded to you left and right. So, I'll give it a try. Seems therapeutic enough .

Well, to start... I was born, raised and had lived in the Philippines (Lapu-Lapu) for 31 years 'til my knight in shining armor came. I had worked in Fairchild/National for more than 10 years. Have three brothers...I'm the third of the family, and the last one to get married. My life's "adventure" begins on June of '91, migrated in the U.S. (Maryland) in December of same year and had our princess on November of 1992.

We always vacation in the Philippines every other year. It's amazing how Lapu-Lapu and the surrounding cities changes a lot everytime we go, and how fast my nieces and nephews had grown to be young adults...having their girlfriends and boyfriends... how time flies.