I'm a wuss...

A few years back when we were thinking of buying a house, I was wishing for at least 1/4 of an acre of land. Instead, we found a house that we really liked, in an area that we loved, but on a land that's only a tenth of that. It isn't big at all but today and every single day we do yard work, I thank God for knowing better and not granting me my wish. Horticulture is not a talent that God has granted me nor do I have much love for it, so it was extremely convenient that the lawn and backyard were already professionally landscaped and all we have to do is maintenance. Easy, right? Er...not so much.

Last week, after spending time under the sun pruning some plants and trees in the backyard, I started to feel nauseated. Being not the type at all to get dizzy, faint or throw up, I spoke to a friend who was a nurse practitioner. She said that I was having the symptoms of sun-poisoning which could lead to a sunstroke. WHAT?! I'm Asian, I grew up in the sunny island of the Philippines and I have sun-poisoning? I guess I've been living too long in New England. She told me to have an icy bath, and drink lots of water with ice throughout the day. I've turned into a wuss.

Today it was forecasted to be cloudy and rainy, so it was quite safe for me to do some more yardwork. So after the rain, I continued some of the work that was left off from last week. I did some crab grass and weed-pulling for a couple of hours just on the front lawn. I figured it would be easier to pull and uproot because the soil would be soft. Boy, did I underestimate how easy this work would be. My fingers are raw despite the soil and wearing gardening gloves. I can barely type without my fingers aching at the touch of the keyboard. I know, I'm a wimp.

I look at my fingertips and and they're all pink and raw - definitely no hint of green there, whatsoever. Maybe I should leave this to the experts...

No Family Tree

I was emailing with a friend and she was telling me how she was creating her family tree. I told her that I don't have the energy to create mine as it will be a big, sordid mess. If I stick with the official "press release," then sure, I guess it can be a nice, little, neat tree. But, to create a true one is going to be a herculean task. I am quite sure an official one exists but I am not sure if my Mother's line is included in there. Still, it would be nice to see so I can imagine where we fit into all that.

You see, my mother is an only child with half-siblings on both sides - one side of which she is one of the youngest and one where she is the oldest. You do the math on what happened there since it's not rocket-science. She was adopted, raised and spoiled by a wealthy, childless couple who were relatives of her biological father, the sweet couple who were officially my grandparents.

Some of these half siblings accept her warmly and some not so much for reasons that only they and God truly know. Besides, I don't blame them as I don't know what they've been told or experienced. Our versions of the truth stems from what we've been told by our elders, right? I'm not sure how I'd react either if I were in their place. Maybe to some of them, she, and we, are a reminder of an episode in their family life that they'd rather forget or it may just be a simple thing of us just not really belonging in their eyes. That's fine. I'm sure we're all both richer and poorer for not knowing each other.

On the other side, it was her biological mother who did her best to keep away since she did not want her younger children to think ill of her for having a child out of wedlock. So we're pretty sure that my Mother will never appear on that tree.

Wow, writing this all out makes me empathize on the kind of emotions my Mother and everyone else probably had and the situations they contended with as they grew up, and still have now that they are growing old. I digress, though - that should probably be for a book of fiction one day "based on a true story." :)

Ours will probably be a phantom branch, a dotted line so I will eventually have to create one of my own. Do I really want to do that? Maybe - when I have the time and energy, sometime in the distant future.

If you got a voicemail like this, would you call back?

This was entitled "The Douchiest Phone Message in History".  *LOL*

This guy is a real piece of work, to put it nicely.  I was cracking up listening to this as I couldn't believe this was real.  Apparently, the meeting between this Dimitri and Olga took place in the Marina district in San Francisco and it happened in all of about two minutes.

I guess you can't make this stuff up, huh?  What sort of parents and village produce this kind of human being?  

I'm guessing Olga didn't give him a call back.  Yay, Olga!

Hubby's Special Day

When my husband's birthday comes, I'm usually the one who celebrates more than he does. Because on this day many years ago, God created my husband and I just know that He had me in mind. He knew that five years and twenty five days later, He would create a gal that would want a guy just like him. Ain't I special?! Haha!

We've spent many birthdays together and we've done all sorts of things. Today, we decided to forego the fancy dinner, get some subs and have a boxing match. Yup, you read right. We had a boxing match and I first knocked him out. He then came back with a vengeance and knocked me out twice. The second was so hard that my Mii did a back flip and went down for the count. I couldn't get up after that causing the Wii to declare him the winner. He beat me in all the other games too and ruled the roost the most of the night.

I figured I would let him win. After all, it is HIS birthday!