We were at San Benissa this noon, and we spoke to their in-house designer regarding the possibilities for unit improvement. The developers, Phinma Properties, have a holiday promo that will allow unit owners to have their units beautified for less than usual. Plus there’s an assurance that the job will be finished at minimal or no loss at all to the unit owner, because Phinma will take care of the contractors and everything else that that entails.
The designer Irene, was refreshing to speak too. She’s very up-key and enthusiastic.
There were four of us on this visit, my brother and Diane, Alfred and myself.
The village management group now have their offices at the Clubhouse, and there is already an operational badminton/basketball court there. Looks like there’s also a gym at the second floor.
There’s a Christmas tree and other decors at the reception area of our building/cluster, and boy were there a lot of kids’ bikes under the stairs! Haha 🙂 Every visit I make I am more convinced of what Liza mentioned: that the people in our cluster are very active. There are also a lot of kids there. I like that in a way, it gives the place a very homey feel.
We took a few pictures with Frankie. Sadly, we forgot our trusty little point and shoot digicam. So no new pictures today.
It was drizzling and so it was extra cool there this afternoon – just the kind of weather I like.
Anyhoo, it’s back to work tonight, and I better get a few more hours of sleep… Toodles!
We only really started Christmas shopping yesterday, and it was crazy. I felt like I had already given every gift imaginable to the kids on our list in past Christmases, it was so difficult to find something I think they would like, would fit them, or would amaze them.
Apart from the variety of items to choose from, it was really disheartening how much things cost now. For the amount we had on hand yesterday, we used to be able to buy gifts for all the kids in the family. Yesterday, we only found gifts for less than a third of our list, but we already halved the money! Crazy!
What’s even more crazy is that we found more things for Alfred and myself, than for my nieces and nephews! Alfred got an Adidas Japan jacket – something he has really wanted since the start of this year. I got a HUGE red Nike jacket. Haha.
Considering that I had already bought myself a present for Christmas – Frankie – I really shouldn’t be buying anything more for me. So though I dreamt of buying an XboX 360 last night, I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing that anytime soon.
So we’re also shelving the idea of getting a TV for the room. Mine is the only room in the house (not counting the bathrooms of course) that doesn’t have a TV. Because the room is really tiny, there was initially the question of what size to get and where to put it. Then we thought we’d just get it it’s own TV stand that we can also use to store our other stuff.
Anyway, the TV will have to wait a few more months.
We’ll still be squeezing in some more Christmas shopping between now and the 24th. If I really can’t do it, then my Mom and Dad will. Maybe they have more patience for this. This used to be my thing, you know? Christmas shopping was something my brother and I did on behalf of my parents; then Alfred tookover the task with me. But since last year, I’ve just lost some of the energy for it. Bleh.
My first set of test shots using Frankie are out. I’ve posted all of them (not a lot) over at my Multiply. Seeing them have really inspired me to really keep on doing this, and to learn about the art of photography.
I mean, all I was really doing was make sure the meter’s at the right place, and then shoot. Sometimes I didn’t care where it was. Imagine if I really pay attention to details. Imagine what I can do if I finally understand how the settings of my SLR affect the turnout of a photo.
Alfred’s encouraged too. 🙂
Anyhoo I;m having issues getting a photo up here. Scoot on over to Frankie’s first album.
Because of my slow Internet connection, I have been staying away from my favorite digital scrapbooking digs to avoid frustration over the extremely slow download times. Today seemed as good a time as any to go visiting again, so I clicked on over to my Digital Scrapbooking Blogroll and went on a ride.
The order of the links on my digiscrap blogroll randomly change each time you visit the page. On this visit, I went through about four or five of the links until I stopped, because I was led to an interesting blog that I felt compelled to read through, or I found one I haven’t visited in a loooong time and had so much downloads to catch up on. 🙂
Apart from the great finds from Lindsay Jane’s and KimB’s blogs, there was one blog whose threshold I felt blessed to have gone over today. Megan’s Rackety Scrappety. Her blog was one of those blogs that I used to visit almost on a daily basis. I always looked forward to her templates, and her layouts showcasing her kids. Templates have always been effective in giving me inspiration for my own layouts, though I almost never stick to exactly how they’re designed. On hindsight, though I must have downloaded every template I found on her blog, I don’t think they were really the primary reason I went there to visit – I truly enjoyed viewing her layouts, and the smiles of her kids.
As it turns out, Megan is indefinitely signing off from Rackety Scrappety to spend more of her time and energy with her family, and her newborn Crew. You have got to head on over to Crew’s Journey, I suggest you start reading it from the first post. Her entry about meeting Dex, one half of the twins who flew up to heaven even before he came out from mum’s tummy, was so peaceful and serene. I’ve never read anything quite like it. I mean, I don’t remember reading about loss but not feeling the heaviness of it.
Crew’s Journey is both a memorial to Dex, and a celebration of Crew’s baby steps to wellness. I think that most importantly, it is a chronicle of the mother’s road to healing.
Whenever I hear of mothers who lost their babies, I can’t imagine how it was for my mother, losing her baby many years ago after having spent only a few days with him. My dad once said that my mom wrote poems but I’ve never seen them. And we’ve never talked about it. I can only conclude that at the time, she had the support and love to keep her going.
On Tuesday, we finally saw the movie that both Alfred and I have been waiting for. We had a nice, filling lunch at House of Minis, also in Greenhills, right before the screening.
I felt that there are many aspects in which it could have been improved, but as it is, it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, I wouldn’t mind watching it again, and again. And again.
First, I didn’t really like the makeup. They’re all supposed to look gorgeous, perfect, god-like. Instead, they looked like hell. Except Emmet, and Victoria (didn’t she look prettier than Rosalie?). Jasper and Alice were a bit of a disappointment, not to mention Rosalie who was supposed to be the yardstick for beauty herself. But as the movie progressed, they did grow on me and I was able to get past the bad makeup.
Bellas’s voice. Okay, I had seen the trailer before so I was prepared to see the movie Bella and reconciled her to a smaller version I had seen in my mind while reading the books. But when I heard her speak, she felt more different to me. She looked and sounded stronger than the Bella in Twilight, the book. She was the inner Bella, you know what I mean? Meyer made her look fragile at first, one who needed protection – there was none of that in the movie version. It was like Edward’s need to protect her was unfounded. Hehe.
And where was Edward’s confidence and air? He looked the opposite of the confident young man I pictured him to be. He was always hunched over, even while walking.
They did an awesome job with the sunny sparkly scene. I think that was what I wanted to see the most. Hehe.
The movie was too short, in my opinion. Too short to really show the rest of the world who didn’t read the book, why millions have been hooked to the saga.
Anyway… We caught an early screening on a weekday so there weren’t a lot of people in the cinema. There was a group of elderly ladies who sat beside us. There were about four of them. Alfred and I looked at each other as they entered. We were wondering whether they had read the books, or had daughters/granddaughters who did. They quietly watched; in fact, I think Alfred and I were the noisiest in there.
So have you seen it? What do you think of it?
So is 2009 the year we spend our anniversary out of town?
Two years ago I told Alfred I wanted to spend a weekend out of town – Tagaytay specifically. He didn’t want to go because – ahh I don’t know why.
Last year, we were supposed to spend our anniversary weekend at this quaint resort in Laguna. It didn’t push through.
Last week we were talking about where we wanted to go. It has to be somewhere just near, and we wouldn’t need to spend too much money (because we don’t have much to spend). Tagaytay cropped up in the conversation again. Alfred mentioned that it would be so much easier if I could drive, then we’d have no problem with transportation. How true!
Me, drive? I don’t know much about cars, don’t know shit about suspension and steering rack. I watch Overhaulin, American Hot Rod, Top Gear, and all those other car shows on cable, but I cannot really drive. I know all about the theory, from tagging along and being at the backseat when my mom was taking her driving lessons from A1 more than a decade ago. But I cannot actually drive. I long for that freedom. The places we’d go see if only I could drive. Sigh.
But back to what I was saying… I really hope we do get to spend a weekend in Tagaytay in January. I can already sense busy weeks ahead of me. If the last week I had at work were any indication, I’ll be back to my long hours at work on a regular basis. In times like these, it would help keep me going if I had a weekend getaway to look forward to. 🙂