guilty pleasure- "Us" and I

I enjoy the occasional gossip magazine like everyone else. And don't say you don't! But I'm not talking about Star or National Enquirer and all that crap-olah, with headlines like, "800 LB. WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO ALIEN LOVER'S BABY!" We always seem to find ourselves at the grocery checkout line taking glances at the newest and juiciest gossip on the cover of People, Us Weekly, In Touch, etc. etc. That damn Us Weekly gets me everytime! I curse you! Its untouched glossy front cover, that brand-spakin' new magazine smell, the most talked about celebs...helloooo lover. Mostly, I just enjoy indulging myself in the fashion, recent photos, and the "loose-talk". But there's some things in there that are just plain stupid. Us Weekly has a spot Stars- They're Just Like Us! "They carry bags! They eat ice-cream sandwiches! They try on shoes!" WOW! REALLY?! I thought they were a special species of homo sapien! Idiots. It's kind of comical really but can you imagine having your every move being splattered across newstands and stores for all the world to see? And we wonder why Britney shaved her head and Russell Crowe beats anyone with a camera. Such a shame (shaking head). I now have the sudden urge to dash to my "dealer" (the grocery store) for a fix! "Who wore that dress better? What's the must-have beauty product this summer? What lies ahead for Jon and Kate? What's the newest fad diet? Who's this nobody's celebrity sibling?" The answer my friends, lies within these 96+ pages.

june heat

This heat is getting to me. And it's not a gradual transition from spring to summer. It goes...Monday: 75 degrees. Lovely. Tuesday: 95 degrees. Humid and sweating in places I really wish it wouldn't. That's Tennessee for ya. But all hail to the creator of air conditioning! Without it, I'd probably just wander around my apartment in my underwear. But I would trade A/C any day for some cool tradewinds like back home in Kaua'i. Picture it. A cool breeze blended with the subtle fragrance of plumeria, salty ocean, and a hint of rain that makes its way across the sandy beach, swaying you ever so gently on a hammock mounted under two banyan trees. Ahhhhhhhhhh....the island life is calling to me around this time of year. Let's see. The closest beach to me is the Gulf Coast in Alabama. A 9 hour drive you say? No problem. Oh wait, a cranky 3 year old and J who needs to stop every hour for a smoke break? Scratch that. Or we just leave in the middle of the night while the little guy sleeps and I covertly slap on a nicotine patch for J. "Oh...a mosquito. Yeah, a mosquito was on your arm. Yeah that's right!"
This polar bear was so happy at the Memphis Zoo. Oh how I wish that was me! Minus the fur and extra 300 lbs. of fat anyway. I guess for now, I'll just wade around in the pool, make use of my A/C, and find other ways to cool down in this June heat.

wednesday and new fish

Wednesday. The halfway point to the weekend. Well, in my case it doesn't really matter since I'm a stay-home-mom and J's days off change every week. So what am I doing today? Let's see.....laundry, vacuum, washing dishes, playing with Esaias, making sure our new Bloodfin Tetra fish hasn't died, sorting thru the closets to take out the winter clothes, and popcorn. My favorite popcorn are the ones that popped only half way. Yummmm. Yeah I'm a freak, whatever.
Oh, so yeah, the last angelfish standing we had, keeled over. I think he was depressed and died a sad death. And in his place we got 4 Bloodfin Tetra fish. No time for mourning here! The salesman said that they're so much more easier to care for and don't have to worry about them dying off so quickly even if the water hasn't completed it's nitrogen cycle thing. And so we'll get a few more since they prefer to be in schools. They seem pretty happy!
Well the laundry isn't going to fold and hang itself! (damn I wish) And the vitamin B12 I took earlier is starting to wear off and it's only 2:45! No!! So a small cup of coffee for me it is! Enjoy your Wednesday whatever it is you may or may not be doing.

fishy don't die!

For our son's birthday, J and I wanted to give him some pet fish. He's has so many toys we could open up a small day care, so we figured no toys this time. But my mom said she'd get the fish since she had no clue what to get him. Cool beans. So the other day, we got the tank and then the fish came after to give time for the water to de-chlorinate. I picked out 2 freshwater angel fish because it reminded me of "Gill" in Finding Nemo. He happens to be obsessed with that movie which is fine with me. I'm SO OVER watching Spiderman 1, 2, and 3! Moving along. So we took the 2 home and did as the saleslady instructed. So far so good. Until about 12:30 a.m. J woke up because he had to go into work at 3 :00 and woke me with what he discovered. This is how it went (from what I can remember anyway):

J: Iris.

me: what?

J: One of the fish is dead.

me: what?

J: Is a fish supposed to swim on it's side?

me: what? no. i don't know. it's not dead. leave me alone.

J: you sure?

me: yeah! shut up and let me sleep!

An hour later.....

J: Iris.

me: what?!

J: It's dead. It's on it's side at the bottom of the tank.

me: (grunting)

J: You want me to take it out and flush it?

me: no, I can return it.

J: Cool. Want me to take it out?

me: no, I'll do it. crap.

So yeah. I had to take the poor feller out, put it in a plastic bag and into the "morgue" (the refrigerator) it went, so I could return it. Good thing they have a 15 day guarantee. And so we got a brand-spankin' new one that just arrived this morning from the waters of South America. Too bad I don't know the exact cause of death. Homicide? Possibly. Suicide? Maybe. If this new one turns belly up too, I'm going to have to go with the first. Man I hope this one lives! Well both of them or else I'll be really depressed. Esaias probably won't mind because that means another trip to the pet store and drive mommy crazy! Woohoo!

down memory lane

My lil man turned 3 years old today. I know how everyone says the same ol' saying "It feels just like yesterday when I gave birth and held him in my arms." Well, it does. I don't realize how fast he's grown until I look at pictures of him over the last 3 years. The "monkey face" he would make when he was a baby. His first time sitting, walking, and taste of a popsicle. And today while he was playing away with this Spongebob game at Dave & Busters, did it hit me that he's going to one day be a grown man in this crazy world we live in, have a family of his own, and go through whatever obstacles may come his way. I want him to take his childhood by the horns and have a blast! It saddens me to see how a lot of kids nowadays try to grow up too fast. I on the other hand, am still a kid at heart and plan on staying that way!

Today has made me think of my own childhood and reminisce of the good ol days when I didn't have a care in the world! Not all of it was happy-go-lucky, but it's the good ones that I hold on to. Sometimes it seems so long ago that it could have all been a dream, until a familiar smell in the air of cherry flavored tobacco and I'm back at grandpa's and tutu's house in Kailua. Or the smell of "swimming pool" that brings me back to when my sis, our bestest and one of our oldest buds Mischa, and I would walk to the local pool. And after about 5 fun-filled hours of Marco Polo and "who can hold their breath underwater longer", we would walk our sunburned bodies to Taco Bell or Jack in the Box to get a drink we would all share, and play some "ice hockey" on the tables. We got in trouble once for doing that. heehee! I would have to say alot of my favorite childhood memories were from living and visiting my grandparents in Oahu. My tutu was an artist and so we always had access to art supplies to play with. Once during one of our many barbecues, Kat, Mischa, and I decided to make the lower level of the house an "art gallery" and so we drew all kinds of pictures for the display. To this day, I still get teased for my "Dorky of Oz" picture. I hate you guys. Nah, you know I love ya! One afternoon with painted faces, we made scary faces at drivers down busy Oneawa Street. I'm surprised we didn't cause any accidents that day. What a bunch or dorks. So many happy days of going to the beach, buying Sanrio at Liberty House, "panty hunts", barbie doll soap operas, and playing detective, will forever be locked away in a special place in my memory.

And of course I had very memorable moments on Kaua'i as well. Voting season was always fun! Holding signs and waving for Cayetano, Hirano, Kouchi, and whatever candidate signs happened to be posted by our house without permission. It was hilarious to see the confused faces of passersby. Our backyard was abundant with a variety of vegetables. We could've had a stand at the farmers market! There was corn, sweet potato, papaya, peanuts, eggplant, ginger, starfruit, avocado, jackfruit, typical filipino spread of malunggay, saluyot, and some kind of something that I still to this day, am not sure what it was. All I knew it was good for was throwing at cars that drove on the highway. They were a little larger than dates so don't be so appalled! Something I really miss was riding our bikes after school and stopping by the 7-eleven to get our Big Gulp and Big Hunk fix. But we always had to be home by 5:00 to cook rice. Good times.

Now I'm an adult and the life of bills, responsibility, picking up after the family has taken over! But it's okay. I love my family. I have some great memories to look back on, and new ones to make with my son. Happy birthday lil guy!

morning.

migraine. 1 aspirin. 2 aspirins. coffee. damnit. no creamer. no good. milk? ugh. i guess. no choice. need sleep. more sleep! pain leaving. good. arm itchy. scratch. yawn. close eyes. coffee. eck. more milk. sip. better. sigh. close eyes. rub ear. pimple?? what the?! ew. sigh. laugh. coffee. grunt. sigh. laundry. damnit. dishes. damnit. breakfast. damnit. dog barking. damnit. mornings. DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!

rainy days and mondays

"Rainy days and Mondays always bring me dooown! " I hear ya Karen. This entry is of nothing remotely exciting so stop reading if you are afraid of being sucked into my....i can't even think of the words i'm so braindead. Let's just say I have no energy whatsoever, so i'm pretty pissed at the two cups of coffee I downed about, oh, 5 hours ago that hasn't kicked in yet. All it did was give me a trip to the bathroom. So thanks. Thanks for NOTHING! Okay, alittle too much info. but whatev.

The temperature is now at 40 degrees, compared to the 75 degree weather we had yesterday. What...the...hell....I was so looking forward to wearing my slippers again, but no. Mother nature had other plans for us. Like my mom always says, "mother nature is having a hot flashes." Notice how i typed "a hot flashes"??? My mom is from the Philippines and so some things don't come out quite right, but God love her she tries.

So what have I been doing today aside from loafing and keeping my toddler entertained at the same time? Well i've been experimenting with this Photoshop thing. Very interesting...and confusing. I pretty much got the jist of most features, but still confused with others. Like i'm trying to customize a header for this blog page of mine, but i'm having some technical difficulties. So instead i've been messing around with some pictures, like these seashells, to see what this bad boy can do. Oh the possibilities!
Well, there are a pile of dishes to be washed and a dryer full of laundry to be put away. If only I had super powers to take of everything in a blink of an eye! And stop global warming. And fight crime. Oh, and find Bin Laden of course.