More than meets the eye-brow

Today, I looked at the mirror and I saw this:



Do you see that curly eyebrow sticking out?

My dad had curly eyebrows like that. They would drive my mother into a hair-plucking frenzy. Whenever I saw him squirming under her tweezers, I couldn't help being extremely thankful of not sharing that feature.

I'm safe no longer. My mother's tweezers will come for me soon.
My dad must be laughing his head off.

MERRY XMAS!!!

Sick day!

I caught a cold a couple of days ago.

Rather... it caught me.
I got the full package: The clogged up nose, the body pain, the shivering, the stuffy head, the cough...
I thought I was well enough to go to the office, but I was totally wrong. I was able to manage on Monday, but yesterday I got little done, unless you count blowing your nose ten times a minute as work.

And just to prove how moronic I can actually be, yesterday I decided to go to a little get-together, after work.
The restaurant was quite chilly and that, of course, didn't help.

After a most miserable of nights, I decided to skip work today and stay at home.
So here I am, all cuddled up in bed, while others slave themselves at the office.

I definitely should have more sick days.

Missing her

It's tough to see young couples or young mothers with their babies.
Ivy really wanted to get married. She really wanted to be a mother.
I admit I wasn't as thrilled about both things, but I knew that would make her inmensely happy.
And that's all I ever wanted, to make her happy.
Cause making her happy made me happy in return.

When I was with Ivy, I thought I was made!
Never again would I have to go on dates.
Never again would I feel lonely!!
Now, I feel lonely all the time. No matter what I do.
It feels as if a little flame inside my heart had gone out.

Somebody explain to me how Ivy seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time??

Weird things that happen when somebody passes on

It's been almost three weeks after Ivy's passing. It's been harsh, but thanks to all the shows of affection and support that we've received online and offline, her family and I have been able to push on forward.

I wanted to share with you stuff that happened since she is no longer with us. Some of them are so absurd that I have no idea what to make of them.

Late scoldings: While Ivy was being put on the ground, one of her sisters thought it was the perfect time to reprimand every single member of her family right there and then on what she perceived to be poor family relations. They had to stand there and listen to her ramble on and on right there in the cemetery.

Regrets: One of Ivy's brothers-in-law asked everyone attending the funeral services that if they loved someone, they should tell them right away and make sure they know while they're alive. Great advice, but... guess why he was so adamant about it.

Recycling: Some thought it a great idea to take some of Ivy's floral arrangements over to another relative's tomb. Spread the joy.

Indecent proposals: The fact that I have been single for barely 20 days or so hasn't stopped several young ladies from making efforts in securing the vacant position. The fact that I stayed with Ivy till the very end seems to be quite attractive for some. Although quite a boost to the ol' self-esteem, I think it's too soon, gals.

Personality changes: Me and my brother-in-law didn't quite see each other eye-to-eye, but he went up to my mother and declared that he was "honored to have met a man as remarkable as your son". Who was that guy??

Virtual adoption: My parents-in-law want me to come over every night and have dinner at their house They have asked me countless times to never stray away from them. Will they kidnap me in my sleep?

Everything must go: My mother-in-law wants me to have Ivy's bed. My father-in-law wants to give me her car. Anybody else thinks it's kinda creepy to use your loved one's things while they're 6 feet under?

Color me creeped out.

Two weeks later...

It's been real rough without you, baby.
But I will keep on going.
I know you'd want me to.
I will always love you.

Goodbye, my love

Today, Ivy lost her battle against lupus.
Words are useless to express the pain I feel, the anguish, the sorrow.

At the same time, I am happy that she is finally free from pain and disease.

Baby, I will never forget you.

Hi5

A while back, I got into hi5. In case you don’t know what hi5 is...

hi5.com is a social networking internet service. Users create an online profile by answering questions and uploading a user picture. Though not as popular in the United States as MySpace or Friendster, hi5 has grown largely popular in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
(from Wikipedia.)

Nice, right?

I could post pictures, meet new people, get in touch with old friends... Could it get any better than that? Networking sites are awesome.

I must say, however, that I've noticed a couple of things:

A. Everybody has more contacts than me
I saw a guy with 100 contacts. Then I saw a girl with 413.
I had exactly two contacts for about 18 months. Both of them were my sisters.
If they hadn’t linked up to me, my mother would’ve disowned them.

B. I have a lame life
As I looked at other people’s photos, it became quite clear that I am THE dullest person ever.
Parties, trips, concerts, get-togethers, night-outs... Everybody is having fun! And just where the FREAK was I???

Networking sites can be so depressing.

Shakedown!!

I've just been scared crapless.

Something happened at Lexcorp yesterday. My department got re-engineered.

No, that doesn't sound nearly as menacing as it should. You see, I work down at Lexcorp's Document Centre. The Centre is split threeways: Publishing, Legal and Documentation. Documentation is composed of three more units: Customer Service, Library and Statistics.

The problem is this very last unit. Statistics was the largest unit in the whole Centre: about ten people. And now it is being absorbed by another department.

This was a surprise move, planned to perfection to the last detail. Nobody at the Centre knew about this, until it happened.

Needless to say, this is chilling. If this could happen to them, it can happen to any of the remainding units, incluiding mine. Thinking ahead, this could be disastrous for the Document Centre. Without half of our workforce, we will shrink down considerably. So will our budget.

Worst case scenario, the decision could be made to close down the Centre, which could happen in one of two ways:
a) the remainding workers could be reassigned to other units.
b) we could just be sent home for good.

Did I mention I was scared crapless?

C-c-cold

Believe it or not, but winter is upon Kzanderallia. And damn it if it isn’t the coldest one I remember. (Of course, I can’t remember more than a year back, so that isn’t much of a statement.)

If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’ve always declared myself a cold weather lover. That was because I was a bit chubbier and hot weather was unbearable to me. But it so happens that I’ve been losing some weight lately, and so my body doesn't hold heat the same way.

So as I write this, I'm using the thickest jacket I have, and thinking that you should be careful with what you wish for.
'Cause getting it is a bitch.

Adieu, Dan

I'm just back from the airport, after leaving Dan and his girlfriend. They will go to Chicago for two weeks and then they will proceed to Europe for a month and a half. I'm such a whirlwind of emotions right now.

First, I'm sad that he is leaving. Dan is one of my closest friends and not being able to see him or even call him for such a long while is a bit distressing. But I'm also glad for him, for he will be having a really good time and he will meet new people and places.

Finally, I'm envious as hell. Did I mention Dan will be bouncing around in Europe with his girlfriend... just the two of them?? My mother would never approve. Neither would my mother-in-law. Damn, I don't think Ivy would approve. Not until we're married, anyway. But what's the fun of doing it then??

My strip

Vacation time!!

Today is the first day of my two-week vacation from Lexcorp. Usually Lexcorp has very rigid schedules regarding vacation schedules. But since my department has only three people on it, we are able to control our vacation schedules. I got the first shift. A week after I come back, my boss goes on vacation himself. That's when my REAL vacation will begin.

Dang

I’ve just had the busiest week I can remember.
I partied harder than I ever thought possible.

Now I’m battling the worse hangover in memory.

Death of a blog

Recently, a friend of mine had to take his blog offline, ‘cause his family was about to find out about it. He was lucky. Had they read what he wrote about them, they would’ve scalped him and eaten him alive.

But now, another hilariously funny blog is gone. And that is a tragedy in its own right.

This whole incident also got me thinking what would I do if my family ever finds out about this thing. Will I run to its deletion?? I dunno. Hope not. Luckily, my mom and my granny are just as technophobes as ever. Ivy isn’t fond of surfing the net. My sisters have better things to do than finding out all the perverted things I do online. And most of my friends don’t know English.

Usually I complain about people never reading this blog. For this once, not being read is actually a good thing.

Blog spam

A few days back, I got an email message telling me somebody had posted something on my blog. Being a well known attention whore, I was delighted yet puzzled, for I didn’t recognize the name of the poster.

I read and re-read the post. I couldn’t believe it. Had somebody just posted SPAM on my blog??
Sure seemed that way:
“Hey fello blogger! I loved your blog. Now find out how you can help Katrina victims at www.ripoff.com”

Man, this just bites. I mean, I was barely getting comments as it was... and now I have to go on and turn on security measures for my blog, which means I might as well forget about getting a single comment ever again.

Friggin’ spammers.

Real proof I'm a glutton for punishment

Two weeks ago, I went ahead and did a crazy thing: I put myself on a diet. No, not one of those celebrity diets you see popping in teen magazines all over the place.

For a while now, it seems that my usual diet of McBurgers, pizza, soda and ice cream has done little for me other than making my clothes hug me a bit tighter than what is comfortable. My arduous program of no exercise at all doesn't seem to help things, either.

After a lot of consideration, I visited the neighborhood weight clinic. There, I was weighed and, for starters, a regimen of reduction massages and body wraps was prescribed.

I was asked to come back the next day with swimming trunks, two towels (one big to lie down on, one small to wipe excess cream and oil). Also, I was required to purchase a bottle of rubbing oil, and two special creams.

I must say, I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into.

Massage time!

When I read 'massages', I foolishly pictured tall, Swedish women softly caressing my naked body with oils. Instead, I got a diminutive lady in her late 40's, who asked me to dress the massage table with the big towel, then lie on top of it. Then proceeded to rough me up in the most brutal manner possible. For an incredibly long half-hour, she proceeded to pull, push, mash and squish my skin so hard I thought it was going to break apart in her hands. When she finished, my belly, sides and back felt sore as heck. Damn, I felt like she had punctured my spleen, my liver or at least some internal organ.

Later that very day, the soreness would escalate to the point where I would not be able to move any part of my body without feeling like an 80-year-old retiree with a bad hip.

Anyway, right after we were thru with the massage, it was time for the body wrap. This very same lady pulled out a bowl with damp bandages which she proceeded to envelop my torso with.

Although I'd been told that they were 'cold' wraps, I didn't quite figure out what that meant until I felt the wet, chilling bandages making contact with my warm torso. I felt a massive goosebump going thru my whole body.

After the lady was thru, she left me to myself, all alone in that big white room. I dunno which was worse: being uncomfortably wrapped like a big taco or having absolutely nothing to do but listening to Muzak for 30 minutes straight.

Once my time was over, the lady came back to give me my freedom once more. I was overwhelmed with joy.
My first session was over. Only 24 more to go...

The best was yet to come

But the suffering was far from over. A few days later, I got my first diet plan.
That's when crap really hit the fan.That’s when I finally had to face the fact that I wanted to lose weight and stuffing my face would just not do. It was heart-breaking.

The next 3 days were spent eating all the papaya I wanted. Actually, drinking is more accurate.
Since I knew I would despise eating papaya chunks, I asked people to put the papaya in the blender and make it into a drink. I drank, and drank and drank till my gut was filled with liquid. Then I would rush to the bathroom, with an imperative urge to pee like a madman.  Drinking and peeing, that sums up those dreaded 72 hours. Oh, and trying not to think about eating every two seconds.

Luckily, the papaya gave way to more substatial food. My first breakfast with the new plan consisted of cottage cheese on whole wheat bread. Not much, but when you’ve been ‘eating’ fruit for three whole days straight, you take what you get.

The fight keeps on

I have lost ten pounds so far, which is good, but I still need to lose a couple of pounds more.
Therefore, the diet is still on, and so are the massacre massages and the polar-worthy wraps.

I just hope I get rid of the excess poundage before I go insane.
Even more so.

It's raining!!

Yeah, it’s rainy season in Kzanderallia. It’s been so for a few months now.
No news there.

But right now, it’s pouring outside!!

Why is water precipitation so exciting for me? Because when it gets wet enough around here, it cools down the temperature quite a bit. For someone who despises hot weather as I do, it’s really good news.

Amazing sunset

Just can't help it

What is it about fans that makes one want to stick something in it?? Is it the sound of the blades tearing into pencils, paper, clips, and the like?? Or is it the sheer appetite for destruction latent in every human??
Oh, who cares??
Some things are better not overanalized.
Now, if you excuse me, I have a pencil here that urgently needs to be chopped down.

*BRRRRRRRTTTT!!!*