Ilaya Street

my reflection on tv

ganda — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:02:19 +0000

I currently have TLC’s Birth Day on. Made me think about the shows I watched starting from when I knew I was going to settle down. I used to watch “Who’s wedding is it anyway?” and “Bridezillas”. And there was a lot of House Hunters, My First Place and Property Virgins. Then most the design/decorating shows on HGTV which I still watch once in a while. Now it’s Birth Day or Baby Story. I don’t watch them regularly, only when I happen to see them on.

The last shows are the scariest and most uncomfortable to watch.

the little kicker

ganda — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:04:21 +0000

yesterday morning, i got awoken by a strong stab on my belly. it didn’t hurt but it was enough to wake me up to see kevin trying to quietly open the bedroom door. it took me a while to figure out that it came from my little one! he was probably trying to stretch his long legs :).

the rest of the morning after breakfast, i was sitting in front of the computer and he just wouldn’t stop. He wriggled and kicked for more than an hour! Btw, the ‘kicks’ didn’t hurt, they’re more like flutters, but big ones. So I sent a message to the guy about it and he said we should sign him up for soccer ASAP! and i replied maybe he just has ADHD (knock on wood!) and he couldn’t stay quiet!

like a virgin…

ganda — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:48:03 +0000

So, the last episode (first ep of the season) revealed that Emma is still a virgin (and Sue Sylvester can Vogue it!). Tatagalugin ko na, hindi naman applicable to my other readers (read: non-Pinoy) to eh. So, I have been wondering, ilan kaya sa mga kakilala ko ang virgin pa rin? And how many of them kaya ang naghintay talaga hanggang after kasal? I am pretty sure out na yung mga taga-UP. Not that isa ako sa kanila. Never been kissed kaya ako kahit natapos na ko ng college. yep, late bloomer here. 23 na nung nagkaboypren. I know a classmate from HS, she would be the last one you’d think of pag sinabing di na virgin. Very tahimik at mahinhin (parang ako, hehehe) but then when we went to college, ay susmaryosep! halos naging idol ko sya! hehe. I still wonder where she is now… dami kong kakilala who got married with their first and only bf. Hanga pa rin ako sa ganon. One and only. But then again, bumabalik-balik pa rin ako sa tanong ng isa kong kaibigan na ganon ang ginawa. She said sometimes she wonders kung anong feeling ng kung anong feeling ng another person (hindi ko matagalog ng diretso yung sentence. ang weird!). And she thinks that we (me and her other friends) are lucky na naka-try kme ng iba’t ibang putahe. (got that right!). Pero she’s happily married with two kids so I know naisip lang nya yon paminsan minsan. But hanggang don lang yun. …

so, anyway…. natutulog ako pagtatype. tutulog na po ako. i drove straight from home to work this morning and I am so tired. have to go back again to the office tomorrow to finish the work. ay shet. good night na nga!

walking (and huffing) on sunshine

ganda — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:40:47 +0000

The other day, I decided to walk to the store to get some beans for my rice and bean burrito (a very easy, yum-o recipe, if I may add). This is to the same store that I used to walk/run to when i want a donut :). It used to take me roughly 45 mins to the store and back, including the shopping. This time, it took me over an hour and 15! This was a 2-mi (3.2 km) walk and it took me that long!? I was carrying a heavy load (additional 10 lbs, with 20 more waiting to be added) with my knee not really cooperating, i was surprised that I survived that hill. Still, i think i should be doing better than this.

I am starting to feel jealous of my friends who seemed to have made running their career. Dang, they look good!

i should be an editor, no?

ganda — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:01:43 +0000

in the last couple of days, i found myself finding really simple words and phrases that have been written wrong and it just bugs (enough that I am, once again, writing about it).

a facebook status (rephrased): i am so sick. i called AND sick today. (honey, isn’t it called in sick? )

an english teacher wrote: i weight 125 pounds today. ( weigh, sweetie).

and even my husband corrected me the other night when I put a comma after the word “otherwise” used as a transitional element. I emailed him the next day with a link showing that I was correct.

and like i’ve said before, i am so critical of other people’s mistakes, but i don’t usually see my own (even though i am well aware of the fact that I write and use a lot of the wrong words most of the time, too!). sorry.

what’s my point? nada.

continuation of the headache saga…

ganda — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:34:45 +0000

So, after the Sudafed dilemma and finally deciding to take the med and Kevin staying home last Thursday, I felt good the whole day. The pressure was still there but the headache was manageable. I made an appointment to see the doctor and luckily, they were able to get me in the same day (11 am!). And luckily, too, it wasn’t my PCP because I was really planning to bitch at her. So, the doctor took a good look, said that it wasn’t bacterial, not the flu or common cold. It’s caused by my allergy (tell me what’s new, doc!). And so he said jsut continue taking sudafed up to a week but no longer than that. Ok..

I don’t want to take pill when Kevin’s not around so I just did the usual nasal steaming, saline drops and a little bit of rest. Same thing, pressure still there, headache manageable. That night, i thought about the crying and how it seemed to have relieved the pressure a bit. We thought of a ways to make me cry and but we ended up laughing instead. Before falling asleep, we made a decision that I would try cutting onions the next morning.

The following day, we found out that we have a lot of things to accomplish before we could head up to LA for Papa’s birthday. I didn’t take a pill because that’s what we agreed on – if it’s not *that* bad, let’s not take any meds. So, i went ahead and got the biggest onion and started cutting. It wasn’t doing anything! I had the chopped onions all the way up my nose, inhaling it and all but it didn’t do anything! We probably got sweet onions. (i know there’s the sweet variety, but I am not sure if that was the reason why we’re not getting the cry-enzymes). Kevin said “you should just rub them all over your face!”. I said, ”Maybe I should just squeeze the juice directly to my eyes! If that worked, we should patent Onion Drops”. I went through the day “managing” the headache but still functioning.

After using up more than half the day running errands and building stuff, we headed up to my parents for the birthday dinner, headache on board. We went to Sagan, a korean barbeque/japanese restaurant. Then the Wasabi idea came to mind. I am going to eat wasabi and see how it goes. So, we actually ordered korean bbq and korean dishes so no wasabi was served. We had to ask for it. And so, the moment of truth – nothing ever worked to get to my sinuses. Wasabi should at least do something. All eyes were on me when i took my first bite. It was a piece of galbi with a little bit of wasabi. Nothing. Didn’t even feel anything. I was starting to feel really frustrated and hopeless. But i wasn’t going to give up. I tried again. Quarter teaspoon wasabi – straight up!. 3…2…1.. HOLY CRAP! My nasal passages opened up, i teared up really quickly and felt like it was going to burn forever. I had to spit the wasabi to a napkin. But after a few seconds, the burning sensation was gone (that’s what wasabi does). And believe it or not, that seemed to have done the trick. This morning, I started sneezing again and was able to release some mucus out. I would prefer sneeze fits over debilitating headaches anytime (although i don’t like sneezing so much because I’m afraid I may be disturbing the little bugger’s nap time or something).

the sudafed dilemma

ganda — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:46:55 +0000

Last Wednesday, I started to feel crappy. Headache, body ache, toothache and general tiredness. This hit me hard later in the day. Kevin took care of me that night, even learning how to make sopas (filipino style chicken noodle soup) so I could eat. The only medication that I took was tylenol since it’s the only pain reliever on the safe list for pregnant women. It helped a bit and I was able to get some sleep, in a semi-sitting down position. The next morning, I was feeling a little better so I told him he could go to work. By midday, the headache hit again. I was pretty sure this is sinus congestion but I wasn’t releasing any mucus at all and I could breathe fine. I emailed my midwife and the primary care physician and asked if Sudafed is safe to take at this stage on pregnancy. I also searched online while waiting for their response. The women in my ‘community’ said their OB said that sudafed is safe. One website said that regular sudafed is safe, but not the PE version (which is the OTC version of “regular” sudafed). I finally got replies from my docs and the midwife said YES, it’s safe. The PCP said NO. And so my dilemma began. I wanted to take any decongestant at this point because I was being immobilized by the pain but because of these conflicting information, i decided not to take any. I went to the pharmacy and got a nasal steamer, hoping that it would help loosen the mucus. Didn’t really help. By the end of the day, I was in so much pain that I started crying. I noticed that as I was crying, mucus started coming out of my nose (as what normally happens when people cry) and i was able to blow some out. I think that helped relieved some pressure because my ears popped a little. Kevin found me in a miserable state and he got into action and called the KP hotline. Nurse gave us a list of meds that are OK to take and one of them is sudafed. And i asked which one? The regular or the PE? We asked for the active ingredient but she wasn’t sure. She just said sudafed. From my research, Sudafed PE is phenylephrine HCL and the “regular’ sudafed is pseudoephedrine HCL. You won’t find the regular sudafed OTC. It’s behind the counter and you have to sign for it before you could get it. It’s to track down who’s getting this stuff, because ingredients in this version of sudafed is used to make crystal meth. So i asked kevin to get that kind but mention to the pharmacist that we’re pregnant, so s/he could give another info. She said PE is better because the regular one can make one jittery. From what i read online, PE is a vasoconstrictor and it could constrict the blood vessels going to the placenta. Gaaah! We decided to take the regular sudafed. He cut it in half! But I took the other half later on…

This morning, I still have a headache but not as bad as yesterday. I got a call from the KP resident midwife and she said that at this stage, ALL OTC meds are safe for me to take. Wow. I hate my doctor.

I think I’m going to take a nap for a while. The Kev’s staying home today to take care of me. maybe i should call in sick.

is that you, max?

ganda — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:13:37 +0000

Im here at panera, “working” and feeling like the flu is going to get me anytime soon. (i got all my flu shots, so this is probably not the flu)… A couple of seats in front of me is an old man with a DVD player (or maybe a netbook), enjoying his movie. On his table is a mug, probably the only thing he ordered. He also have a refillable plastic bottle, filled with maybe coffee. And box of cookies. Around him were all these plastic bags and other stuff. He looks like he hasn’t showered in a while, and his clothes look a little dirty. He stood up and left all his stuff on the table. Maybe he went to the bathroom. When he returned, I looked at him and he looked like Max! Max is the name of the guy around our area who carries a sign like a homeless person, walking staying in the island (?) of the road asking for “help”. I knew his name was Max because it said so on his sign : “my name is max…”

Maybe this guy is not really max. but he looks awfully a lot like Max. so I am going to call him Poser Max.

I really want to go home now and crawl in bed. Really not feeling well. But I can’t yet. The exterminator sprayed poison in our kitchen to get rid of some bugs… mammmmaaaaa!