slumber [sluhm-ber]

to be in a state of inactivity, negligence, quiescence, or calm; to spend or pass (time) in slumbering

Synonyms include: sleep, dormancy, doze, lethargy

For quite a number of years now, Cile, Iya, Rochelle and I have had our own Christmas celebration. There were times we went out to dinner and then exchanged presents after. And in the past 2 years, in place of buying each other gifts, we spent the morning at a spa and then hung out for the rest of the day. This year Iya suggested that we do something different, something that didn't require a lot of money or a lot of hassle, so we had ourselves a good ol' slumber party.

My parents and my sister were in San Diego for Tin's basketball tournament so the girls and I had a sleepover at my empty house. We wanted to test out my new panini press and cook dinner at my house on Friday night, stay up to watch movies and talk all night and then cook breakfast on Saturday morning. Well, that was the plan anyhow. And just for fun, I suggested that the dress code for the evening should be college hoodie and pajama pants. Haha!

On Friday night we ended up ixnaying the do-it-yourself panini dinner and opted for BJ's instead. We DID rent movies though (Thanks, Bobbers!): SHAG, Friends With Money (which Rochelle thought was called Friends With Benefits) and The Waitress. After we got dressed, Iya gave us our gifts. Cile was opening her present, all angry like, "Dammit, we said we weren't gonna buy each other gifts and you...OH MY GOD I LOVE IT!!! THANK YOU!" hahaha! Iya got us slippers! LOOK HOW CUTE!!! So after taking a bunch of pictures, we had some coffee and dessert and then finally got around to watching our rentals. Well, we took turns watching anyway. Apparently we also wanted to sleep in shifts that night. Hahaha! None of us saw a movie in its entirety. We were tired at 11:30 for sobbing out loud! Old ladies...hahaha!

My living room was hilarious! We moved the coffee table to make room for Cile's air mattress for her and Bobbers and Iya and I took to the couches for the night. The next morning we all woke up, debating our need to get up, and then contemplated breakfast. We were supposed to cook, remember? We ended up at Max's in our sweatshirts! hahaha! I swear, they all must've thought we were home visiting from school for the weekend. hahaha! Cile's treat yay!

After breakfast, and a stop at Porto's, we went back to my house, changed back into our jammies, finished watching The Waitress and then took another nap before we had to say good-bye. I honestly couldn't have hoped for a better way to spend some QT with 3 of my favorite people! LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!

installment [in-stawl-muhnt]
any of several parts into which a debt or other sum payable is divided for payment at successive fixed times; a single portion of something furnished or issued by parts at successive times
Synonyms include: partial, payment, section

I never thought I'd get to see this day...

...the day of the last visit to B of A...

...the last date, 27 December 2007, to be written on the check that pays for the 2002 Titanium Toyota Rav 4...

...the last payment slip...

I'M DONE PAYING FOR MY CAR!!!!!!!

(thanks for the pictures, Edward and Jovi!)

tidings [tahy-dingz]

news, information, or intelligence; A piece of information or news

Synonyms include: bulletin, information, message

"Good tidings we bring, to you and your kin. Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!" What tidings? Tidings of a sophomore center for the Los Angeles Lakers rising up to the challenge, that's what!! WHAT! WHAT!

My Tita Mila's boss has season tickets to Staples Center events and my aunt just so happened to get these sweet tickets for a Christmas day basketball game. Unable to go herself, however, she called our house this morning to offer it to us. Leave it to me and my dad to ditch my mom and my sister on Christmas day to watch a Laker game. HAHAHA!
These weren't just seats. They were VIP Suite seats. We got to park in Lot 1 for free. We got plush doggies wearing purple Laker scarves upon our entrance for free. My aunt's boss and his family and some of his friends were in the suite with us and they totally shared their food with us. I don't know how Luxury suites work at Staples center, but Dr. Gil's (my aunt's boss) family picture was hanging on the wall, in addition to a huge picture of Kobe carrying his 4-year old son! The view was perfect. I finally used the digital camera binoculars that I won at my office holiday party last year. The pictures aren't 5.0 megapixels or anything, but still! Binoculars with a digicam?! What an exciting game!!! The lead changed a few times and, for me, no team played better than the other. Every single time the Lakers got a 5-point lead, the Suns would shoot it down with a 3-pointer on the other side. I'm not EVEN gonna front like they suck. It was anyone's game really...except tonight it was ours for the taking. =)

I don't know what was more hilarious; the "PHOE-NIX SUCKS!" chant or the guy who screamed, "Go back to Canada!" when Steve Nash was on the freethrow line. hahaha! I'm not a Phoenix hater (as much as I was a Sacramento Kings hater....when they were good enough to hate that is), but I'm a Laker fan first and today was one of the best Christmas presents I could ever get: 2-0 against Phoenix. DAAAAAAAAMN!

The season isn't even at the halfway point yet but I am feeling good about these guys. D-Fish is back, there is production from other guys who aren't named Kobe, and the bench mob is crazy dependable. This is no longer a 1-man OR 2-man team and I'm so excited!!! WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and

GOD BLESS,

EVERYONE!!!

CONGRATULATIONS,

JA & BEV!!!

So happy for you two!! Guess I know where I'll be going after work everyday =)

*NSYNC - O Holy Night

For this night so sacred...

(Man, does *NSYNC kick that other 5-member boyband's ass or what?! hahaha...I know, I'm NEVER gonna get over this rivalry, am I? hahaha!)

remedy [rem-i-dee]

something that cures or relieves a disease or bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application, or treatment; to restore to the natural or proper condition; put right

Synonyms include: antidote, counteractant, medicine

So my ankle is swollen...AGAIN! Including the first time that I recall injuring it (fall 2006 when I almost ate it because of some uneven pavement), this has happened twice. Each time I felt the pain, I did the same thing: go to the doctor, get some therapy, take some drugs and tried to stay off my feet as much as I could. Traumatic arthritis was my doctor's diagnosis after a sprain that never completely healed. Every time I think it's ok and I decide to be healthy and start exercising, even low-impact exercises approved by my personal specialist, Larnie Boquiren (such as walking on the treadmill because there is to be no running of course, stationery bike because you're sitting and using mostly your legs to push on the pedals, etc), the pain comes back.

I haven't gotten any therapy done this time yet and until the holidays are over and I can make an appointment with a foot and ankle specialist, I'm taking my Naproxen, my foot is elevated every chance I can get and I've tried to stay off my feet. It takes a few days so I've been patient with it. Still, pain is pain and the quicker I can alleviate it, the better. So my parents came home from my aunt and uncle's last night and my mom comes up to me with a home remedy from Uncle Joe: ginger. Ummm, ok. Dammit I'll try anything.

So my mom slices up some ginger root, places it on the swollen section of my ankle, wraps my foot in saran wrap (are you laughing as much as I am? hahaha!), I put on my ankle brace and now I'm just waiting. I googled it and ginger is proven to help reduce swelling and is actually used frequently by people who have all different cases of arthritis. Hilarious...

Happy 30th Birthday,

Enrico!!!

WELCOME HOME!!!

Oh *NSYNC...

This ALWAYS gets me in the holiday mood! I MISS THESE GUYS!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

ASS SMACKER #1!!!

Jeff would respond with, "YOU KNOW IT!"

hahahaha!!!

This is what Iya and I do at work all day...

My email to Iya:

I just finished the box of staples that I got when I first started in feb 2006. is that possible? 5000 staples?!

Iya's reply:

Wooow! Sounds like a lot but if you calculate it…that’s 5000 staples in 22 months = 227staples/month = 10 staples/day (average of 22 business days in one month) = approx 1 staple an hour =)


HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Geez, talk about not having enough to do at the office!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

RENALEEN!!!

MISS YOU, ROOMIE!!!

The Dumptruck Duo have a new baby brother!!! Yay!!!

My Ate Sandy and her husband, Butch had a new baby boy today.

Here's my new nephew, Gabriel.

Here's Bianca. She's the eldest...

And here's Roman with his new playmate.

Here's Mom and Dad with the former baby of the family and new big sister, Sabrina.

Waaaaa, I miss these kids so much! I can't wait to meet Gabriel!

Congratulations, Ate Sandy and Butch!!!

Thanks Chrissy and Mel for sharing these pictures with us!!!

You're the dumptruck!!!

Just in case you need a reminder...

enchanted [ěn-chānt'-uhd]
influenced as by charms or incantations
Synonyms include: charmed, captivated, enamored

It's only fitting that the happiest place on earth would yield the happiest moment in the life of one of the happiest people I know. Jeff proposed to Ate last night and after she said, "Are you kidding?!!" 10 times, she finally said YES!!!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Ate & Jeff, we're all sooooooooo happy for you!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

(Thanks, James for being our paparazzi and taking pictures and video of that magical moment! We all wish we could've been there!)

Happy Birthday, Mel!!

I heart you too, pinsan!!!

Happy Birthday to my

goddaughter, Kayla!!!

(She's the one holding the hand. haha!)

Dad bytes...

My sister and I always joke around that my dad has a G-rated case of tourettes because he has these ramdom outbursts. Like yesterday, we were driving to my sister's game and no one in the car was talking. We were just listening to the radio and out of nowhere my dad goes, "Happy Hanukkah." hahahaha!

Today he had another outburst so my sister started teasing him and, well, Dad made another funny...

Tin: Dad, you have tourettes.
Dad: I have to what?

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

rival [rahy-vuhl]

a person who is competing for the same object or goal as another, or who tries to equal or outdo another; competitor; person or thing that is in a position to dispute another's preeminence or superiority

Synonyms include: adversary, antagonist, opponent

High school rivalries - how do they start?! As an IH Panda, the team we couldn't stand were the Malborough Mustangs but I honestly couldn't tell you exactly why. All I knew when I got there freshman year was that they were our rivals and knowing that meant that I had to act accordingly. I have to say that it didn't take much to convince me to do so. The wrath and the anger we all felt when we saw the purple uniforms was...oh heck, it was a teambuilder! Hahaha!

Providence High School's crosstown rival is Bell-Jeff High School. The two schools aren't even in the same league together, so the games they play against each other are strictly for bragging rights. Here are the Pioneers in a team huddle to hype themselves up. Tin's the one on the right, crouched down because as captain, she felt she should say a little something to motivate the team and that's her putting notes back in her shoe because she said she wrote so much that she didn't think she could memorize it. hahaha!

Their gym is considerably smaller than Providence's so when they blasted the music the way they did last night, the sounds coming from the sound system were deafening. Mom and dad covered their ears during the entire 10-minute pregame warm-up!

Ate and Jeff came to support! You can hear her screams over the crowd! Thanks for coming guys!
Sadly, Providence lost this game for reasons that I don't even want to get into (at least not on something as public as this blog) , but the girls played hard and as a fan and supporter, that's all you could ask for.

Aaaw, cheerleaders...always brings me back to my cheerleading days, dancing away, waving our poms, fists and spirit fingers!

I'm sure this rivlary will go way beyond graduation for my sister and her teammates. Heck, every time I see a pack of cigarettes I'm brought back to that anger and wrath myself. But now that this game is over, Tin and her friends can look forward to the rest of the season. Hope to see some of you there! Come by and cheer for them. It'll be fun!

advent [ad-vent]
a coming into place, view, or being; arrival; the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world
Synonyms include: beginning, manifestation, arrival, coming

Christmas is 18 days away and last Sunday at mass, Fr. Joe told us about his 2 P's of Advent:

1) put off PROCRASTINATION
2) put your PRIORITIES in order

God's timing is truly amazing because I couldn't have heard these words at a more appropriate time. The new year is 26 days away, my 30th birthday is 2 months away and I've been doing some of the most challenging and very necessary soul searching to account for some inadvertant preparation of what is to come.

So many plans, so many dreams, so many abstract things formed from a lifetime. Some were realized, some passed us along the way, and still others who await their place in our lives. Maybe with the help of Fr. Joe's 2 P's of Advent, I won't have to wait to find a place for my plans...

Happy Birthday,

Joemama!!!