Over Coffee

Sorry for the lousy and negative post last time. I just got from reading Alphabet Dad's most recent blog post written earlier today. Well, I know it wasn't composed on the spot, as he has this really great writing style of jotting down in his little notebook bits and bits of words which he will weave eventually to come up with an even more brilliant journal entry. I mean, who writes so damn good as this nowadays:

"I picked up Lars Von Trier’s The Boss of it All from a pirated-DVD shopping spree around 4 years ago. That was a time when the pirates seemed to have better taste, because “indie,” art house, or foreign films were also boot-legged. I remember that it was on the “sale” or “bargain” rack, which suggests that it might be damaged. But I remember getting Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai on the very same rack and it worked fine. 

The disc played okay, but my mistake was I thought it didn’t have subtitles or audio dubbing. For years, it was just tucked away in the shelf. 

In these four years or so, parenting and other good things proved time to be luxurious. Even if we stopped watching Cable TV, we really just didn’t have that much time to spare. D. and I had to give up frequenting the foreign film festivals. I bought a copy of Run Lola Run for posterity because I saw it with her on a German Film Festival. On one of our dates, she kept gushing about her German silent film experience. We were still regularly hanging out with friends when we went to our last Spanish film festival. And we still get excited over the thought of Eiga Sai or French Spring Manila. 

Nowadays, we watch an enormous amount of cartoons and Disney movies. Our little one is also a film buff in his own right. He has been very fond of having Toy Story Trilogy marathons. I must have seen the Toy Story trilogy ten times more than the Godfather Trilogy or twenty time more compared to Kieslowski’s Tres Colores. 

We still see a fair amount of DVDs, but we miss foreign films and festivals probably not just because we had excellent dates or great company when we saw them. There is also a subliminal relief in going through a communal experience in a theatre, but a worldwide curiosity in cultures and a shared experience. We blur the barriers of language with delight and understanding at least while the reel projects a collective take on human drama. It binds stories, colors, action, imagination and sentiment to liberate us from a totalizing aloneness.

One July Sunday night, when the little one was asleep, we jump on the chance to have our own date in our room. We were aching to see anything that wasn’t made in Hollywood, and we were actually willing to watch something we’ve already seen from the DVD shelf. 

That’s when I tried Lars Von Trier’s The Boss of it All. It had subtitles, after all. May the Nazareno bless the pirates and peddlers in Quiapo.

It also turned out that The Boss of it All was a comedy. We laughed away even we know that for the life of us we know we’ll probably never speak Dansk. As the Danish quietly language bounced off the room’s walls, there’s a film festival feel that nudged the darkness into life."

I shrink with envy just reading his words.  I'm no writer. He is. (The entry above is entitled "Like a Boss" and was taken from his unpublicized blog).

Deconstructing the Yaya

She wakes up whenever she likes, takes a nap on our couch on an almost everyday basis, throws away her unfinished food and water, has average cooking skills (she can cook rice and fry almost anything) but can burn your food and use too much canola oil , she's a lousy toilet user, her cellphone never stops beeping, she'll die without turning on her radio even while sleeping, she consumes 2/3 of our rice, water, and sugar supply, she complains of having a headache 4 times a month, she can be out of the house on break for three hours or more, everyday. She's disrespectful and childish and not a good influence around my son. That's my Yaya.

We've been trying to live with her and accept her long-list of flaws for one and a half years now. Heck, I even shelled-out fifteen thousand on her to have her teeth fixed (She's fully paid now and has improved her oral hygiene). I thought at first she's got so much potential. She can keep the house in order, she's makwento, and has a fairly positive aura. She's young and was able to finish HS. She did quite well looking after my son when I was still working at the office. She fed him well and sent him to sleep on schedule. My husband and I have left the two of them on their own on a few occasions and she seem to have handled these situations quite fine.

Now that I'm staying at home, I could not help but notice her countless flaws. I'm on the verge of letting her go especially now that she's causing me so much stress. But I want to have a trusted "kasambahay"so badly and I don't have much candidates to choose from. I'm starting to contemplate now whether I really need one or a househelp is just something nice to have at the moment.

Breastfeeding Hurts

I had to tweet the title above last night because I was in real pain after having been bit while nursing. Confession time: Breastfeeding hurts! I hope you don't get me wrong. Even before I found out I was pregnant, I already knew I was going to breastfeed my baby. Aside from being breastfed myself (beyond 2 years), I believed in all the benefits of human milk. I prepared and expected a lot of pains in the process.  I went through engorgement so many times, a really nasty nipple crack, and best of all, numerous bites from a toddler with almost a full set of teeth.  It's been two years and I'm still breastfeeding. My plan is to let him lead the weaning.

With this new set-up of working from home, I find myself stuck in a very hectic schedule. Although I have househelp, I still insist on doing most of the chores---cooking, bathing I., feeding I., putting I. to sleep, etc.  As soon as I put I. to nap, I rush to my netbook to get my work done, for about 1.5 hours, or 2 if I'm lucky. When he wakes up, he asks to nurse, and if I'm lucky again, he goes right back to nap. By the time he's fully awake, I'd need to attend to whatever it is he wants or call the yaya (when she's anywhere to be seen) to take him outside and play until I finish work at around 4:30 pm. By that time, my husband would wake up and I'd have to cook dinner. When we're up for it, the three of us would go to CCP to stroll around while the husband runs.

It's not exhausting on some days but you know how it is when you find yourself stuck in some stressful situations like for example, potty training a two-year old for days and all you get is just one success in the potty and the rest are all misses? By the time I turn off the lights and get some rest from a long day of catching poops and pees, I get a bite...that excruciatingly painful bite from a sleeping two-year old and I feel helpless and all I can do is cry. Sniff :(

My Dessert Table Happened!

It came true and I'm so happy with end-result.

The Amazing Iñigo

Dear Iñigo,

We celebrated your second birthday last Saturday, with our closest friends and families. They have tagged along their little ones so they may meet you and have fun with you on your birthday. Mommy and Daddy planned for your party to be held at home, but things got a little different so we decided to just have it at the fast-food restaurant which has a fun character that you love so dearly. Unlike the parties we've attended, Mommy and Daddy were the program hosts and you yourself sort of acted as the mascot in your Spiderman costume. You were so amazing that afternoon as you played around the room with all your cousins and friends. You did the activities that Mommy planned for all the kids at the party like getting a stick-on tatoo and coloring. I'm sorry that Mommy forgot to have you design your own cupcake, too like the rest of the kids but things got a little busy and we had to attend to other matters at the party.  When you were done eating, you went in front and got hold of the microphone. You were so comfortable saying the words you knew for everyone to hear like, "Spiderman", "Mommy", "Daddy", "Iñigo", "Buzz Lightyear", "Cake", "Balloons", etc. You and Daddy even had a question and answer portion which went something like, "How old are you Iñigo?" and your reply was, "Two" which you pronounced as "Choo". As I said, you were amazing, like your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Everyone was in awe of you, especially us, your Mom & Dad.

They say that turning two is something that parents must look out for, because TWO is usually spelled as TERRIBLE. They may be right, because that night after your party, you had a huge bump on your forehead and cried so hard that Mommy and Daddy thought of bringing you to the hospital. Thankfully, the bump disappeared the following morning and we didn't have to bring you to the doctor anymore. But despite these little accidents that we know will still happen as you grow older, we trust that you will be terrific and we will always love you and we'll continue showing you how much love we have for you.

Do you know that Mommy and Daddy got the idea of throwing a Spiderman party from you? You had some other favorites like Mickey, Toy Story, Nemo, but as your birthday came nearer, your admiration for Spiderman became undeniable. You would climb up our windows and tell us that you're Spiderman. Do you know that Daddy also wore a superhero costume? Can you guess who?

Anyway, everything at your party went smoothly. We had fun games and the food was also great. There was a dessert table set-up which Mommy DIYed and it was quite a hit. You loved your cakes especially the one with Spiderman's face, which your Ninang Cathy ordered. Towards the end, you danced away with your friends to the tune of your favorite songs.

Mommy is now super excited to plan for your upcoming birthdays. We love you little man!

Infinite Love, Infinite Happiness

When Alphabet Dad and I were just starting to go out, I asked him a lot of questions about the girls he used to date and made sure I knew each one of them. If you ever want to know, he and I have known each other since our mid teens through common friends but we never really thought that we will end up together. Well, we did,  we went through highs and finally decided to settle down. The girls from his past must have sensed it and they slowly disappeared from his network or maybe destiny never gave them a chance to meet again. Hey, that worked so well for me for I'm the really jealous type back then (I've had my share of heartbreaks, too, haha!). Anyway, of all these girls (they were a handful, I tell you), B. was the only one I never got jealous with. No they never dated, she's his best friend from piano lessons back when they were ten. Instead of getting jealous, I was really eager to meet this lady, who from his stories is Chinese and has a lot of lhasa apsos. I got to meet her a few months before our wedding as she willingly accepted our request that she does the calligraphy on our invitations.

Last Sunday, B. got married to her Prince Charming, who according to one of the maid-of-honor resides in Capaz, Tarlac. With their union, B. will not only be taking care of her more than a dozen dogs but also look after some 250,000 chickens!

We are the type that look forward to attending weddings. I bought a not so fancy but appropriate dress some weeks before the event and he even bought a new suit that he used for the occasion. We eagerly trooped to Sofitel that rainy afternoon and enjoyed being in a fancy place, meeting fancy people, and eating delicious food. Life is good this way. To B and J, infinite love and happiness to your journey together.

Small-town Life

Early this year, Alphabet Mom and Dad got hooked with this TV series about a New Yorker and brand new doctor who landed a practice in small-town Bluebell, Alabama. Admittedly, the plot is cheesy and mainly revolves around Dr. Zoe Hart's (played by Rachel Bilson) love interests. What got us watching the whole season 1 is the charming premise of a small-town life, where everyone knows almost everyone else and where people, especially ladies are quite on the conservative side.

 

However, what I love most about this comedy-drama series is Zoe's fashion style. Yeah, I realize it's not too motherly and quite superficial to wish for her vital statistics but I'm grateful to have been inspired by the way she dresses up somehow. Maybe it's the contrast of country life vs. city life that makes this series and its characters interesting. Anyhow, I wanted to share my outfit to our recent visit at the nearby farm I blogged about previously:

I wonder if it's anywhere near Zoe Hart's style? Well I sure did feel like it was so. Haha.

(On me: Top and blazer from SM Girls Teens' Wear, mini skirt from Kamiseta, Sandals from Payless, On I: Inner shirt from Gingersnaps, Jumpsuit from Osh Kosh, Shoes from Mothercare)