Brian and I have been staying up late at night fighting over whose turn it is to play — the game that we are fighting over? Ratchet & Clank. It is so much fun! The first week that Brian bought it, I pretty much left him alone. I went to bed and he stayed up playing until the wee hours of the morning (he doesn’t have to get up early for work so he has that luxury). Anyway, I got to try it while he went to the bathroom one day and things haven’t been the same since! I don’t think he expected this reaction either. After all, I’ve never really shown any interest in his favorite video games (GTA, Vice City, GT). I like Galaga and the Tekken series and DDR — and now Ratchet and Clank! It’s got a cute-ness factor to it and it reminds me of when I used to play Super Mario (it’s a highly evolved form of the same kind of game, to me anyway) when I was younger. Now, we have to take turns.. It makes Brian mad sometimes because now he has to share it with me instead of being able to hog the game to himself (it’s not two-player, if that’s what you’re wondering). He often makes fun of the way I play (kind of like when he makes fun of me when I karaoke) saying that it’s painful (I do tend to run around in circles, but I can’t help it when I’m not wearing contacts). But I only laugh it off and tell him, “Yeah! I play Rachet and Clank like the way you type (I have always made fun of his two-finger typing style)! Only I play better!” [/ If you are squeamish do not read any further -- I warned you! ] Speaking of staying up, I had some really awful food poisoning last night! Brian thinks that it might have been some under-cooked pork (we made one of these Campbell’s Supper Bakes, followed the instructions and everything). I was telling Angie at work about my whole experience (excruciating cramps — imagine having diarrhea and constipation at the same time).. Anyway, it was awful. She goes, “Where did you eat?” I go, “At home.” She laughed at me, “You made yourself sick!” Like that’s impossible! It looked cooked to me. Brian thought it was, too! Well, maybe his was cooked — he didn’t get sick after all. Anyway, she tells me that it’s better to cook without timing — check it periodically and when it looks and feels done, then it is. Only one problem — how do I know what it’s supposed to look and feel like? What’s really baffling is that I have a more resilient stomach than Brian does! I can eat just about anything and not get sick. I just couldn’t believe that I got sick and he didn’t! Not that I wish for him to suffer the same pain that I did — oh, it was awful — I wouldn’t wish for it on anyone! Anyway, I had to go to the bathroom right before bed (I really though I could just sleep the cramps off).. And then I woke up at like five am and went to the bathroom again! It was really horrible. And then before I could take my shower this morning, I had to go to the bathroom again! I seriously thought about staying home and not going to work. Anyway, I did go to work and I survived. I’m feeling much better now.. Tonight we may stay up again, but thankfully it won’t be because I have to keep going to the bathroom. Hopefully, it’ll be spent playing Ratchet & Clank! Or even better yet –
Yesterday was an expensive day for us. I got Brian a DVD player for the bedroom as part of his Christmas (he really thought he was getting a wireless keyboard and mouse — I thought that a DVD player for the bedroom would be more useful) so we don’t have to keep moving the PS2 around. Sometimes he’ll want to watch a movie that either (a) I’ve already seen or (b) I don’t really care to watch so I don’t want to watch it in the family room (where the DVD player and big screen TV are) with him. We don’t ever spend time apart so as a compromise he’ll bring the PS2 to the bedroom and watch it in there while I lay asleep in his arms. He’d been wanting a DVD player for the bedroom for as long as I can remember so I finally relented. Little did I know that this gift would beget another expense: a new TV. The 27″ that we have (actually had, it’s been replaced as of yesterday) in the bedroom was inherited from one of his relatives and I think it was made before DVDs were invented because it didn’t have the necessary input/output jacks in the back. We could have kept it and just hooked the DVD player to the VCR which is hooked to the TV, but as anyone who has ever tried this ghetto-ass way of hooking a DVD player up knows the picture does a very annoying light-dark-light-dark thing throughout the show because of most DVDs’ copyright protection feature. We contemplated getting a converter thinga-ma-jiggie, but I figured that it would cost 1/3 of the price of a new TV (you can get cheap 27″ TVs for like $200 nowadays) and the one the we had was really old anyway so we might as well splurge. Besides, I felt really guilty for not anticipating the need for a new TV. Hey, it’s Christmas after all! I told Brian that if he gave me the $50 that mom and dad gave him as part of his Christmas I’d fork out the difference. We found a Toshiba 27″ full-featured one for just $249 at Best Buy (to match the Toshiba DVD player that I got for him — hey, it has to match! LOL! — you’re talking about me, the girl who had to buy a new webcam to match her black and gray computer — and man, was that difficult! most webcams come in an icky cream color). It works really great and the picture quality is wonderful. The only thing that was disappointing to me was that the website said it came in black, but the ones at the store were in charcoal gray. Oh, well. At least it’s the same brand as the DVD player. So anyway, we did some creative re-arranging with (Brian’s brother) Kevin’s help. The TV that was in the bedroom moved to the office and the TV that was in the office has moved to the living room (which didn’t have a TV before — I figured it will be useful in there so we can watch the Bowflex instructional videos directly in front of the machine when it comes and we won’t have to run back and forth from one of the other rooms — Brian wants to drill a hole through the wall and run cable to it because he wants to watch TV while he’s working out — hey, whatever makes him happy). The only room that we didn’t have to mess with was the family room and thank God for that! That would have been a nightmare! We took Jen (my sister) and Kevin out to lunch at Applebees afterwards (Brian paid for everything except the alcohol, which went on Jen’s tab — she and Kevin had some drinks) to thank them for their help. Then Jen, Brian and I went to the mall to pass the time. Jen got a $50 gift certificate to Victoria Secret from Matt (her ex, and Logan’s father) that she wanted to redeem and Brian and I both had $30 mall certificates from his grandparents. Brian got some clothes from Old Navy and I got a corduroy jacket from Hollister with a fur collar and quilted nylon lining. It’s really cute — I can’t wait to wear it! I forgot to give the checkout girl at Hollister my certificate before she rang my jacket up. She felt bad and said she could re-do it, but I’m paranoid about that stuff so I just told her not to bother. The jacket was on sale anyway — I really thought it was still at the regular price — so I was kind of happy about that. We walked around the mall for a long time to find a place to spend my $30 certificate, but — for the life of me — I couldn’t find anything that I wanted. I decided that I 
might as well put it toward something that will last forever.. We ended up at Zales. I really wanted these 1/2 carat diamond solitaires set in platinum to go with my ring, but with my $30 they’d still be a good $470. Brian said that they were too simple and really weren’t my style so I ended up getting these hoop style earings with baguettes instead. They’re set in white gold (not really my preference), but they were on sale and one can’t argue with that! Anyway, Brian gets a new TV and I get a new pair of earrings and we’re both happy!
It is officially Christmas day in the Philippines (because of the time difference). Of course, we all know that true Pinoys do not celebrate on Christmas day but rather on Christmas eve. Tonight Brian and I are headed to my parents house for some good noche buena food and to exchange gifts. Hopefully, Logan will be there.. But who knows? The weather has been awful lately and Matt (Logan’s father) might not feel up to it. Tomorrow we celebrate with Brian’s family, as we have for the past four Christmasses now. I’m glad we don’t have to do that we have to spend Christmas day with MY family — no we have to spend Christmas day with YOUR family — no it’s MY family’s turn this year — but what about YOUR family thing because our families’ traditions do not intervene with one another.Â
Can you guess the theme here? Logan is in every picture — for those of you who are dense. Will Brian and I ever have children of our own? Sure, why not? We’d love to have some — someday. I especially wouldn’t mind if they were anything like Logan: adorable, intelligent and well-behaved.
I think they call it reality check. 
I knew that I had gained fifteen pounds within the span of a year, but it didn’t really hit me until now. Remember this dress? I wore it only once — during the June Ball of 2001. It fit me perfectly — snug as a glove — and I looked and felt wonderful. Fast forward to a year and a half later: I need a dress to wear to Brian’s office Christmas party tomorrow. No worries. I had the perfect dress to wear: practically brand new, only worn once and very elegant. I had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t fit, but what the heck I try it on anyway. I wasn’t going to try it on at all. I figured I’d find out tomorrow when we got ready for the party. Brian had a point, though — better find out now than later and be stricken with panic when you only have five minutes left and still haven’t a clue what to wear. So guess what (you don’t have to be a genius to figure this out), it’s too small. Big surprise (I’m being sarcastic here). I was really hopeful, too. But 
hope does you no good when you’ve turned into “the chubby girl.” How depressing is that! I was truly devastated.. Not for lack of anything to wear mind you (the third dress I tried on fit) because I have enough evening wear to not have to run to Dillard’s everytime we have to attend a fancy soirée. I was devastated because my favorite evening dress no longer fit. Speaking of which, you want to know what’s even more drepessing? The second dress I tried on has never even been worn and it doesn’t fit already! Can you think of anything more depressing? The process of trying on the dress was pretty amusing, though. I just have to laugh because if I don’t, I will cry. I take it out of the closet, which was a struggle in itself because it was clear at the back of the closet as I had acquired quite a few more clothes since I last wore it. I tear the regulation, standard-issue dry cleaning plastic. I put on the dress with foolish confidence akin to that of an online trader who hasn’t realized that his gold mine has just plummeted by $15 a share. I turn around and ask Brian to zip it up. I sense Brian’s hesitation and from the mirror on the headboard I can see a befuddled look on his face. “It doesn’t fit, huh?” with child-like innocence, even though I knew better. “It’s not that,” Brian says with a this-can’t-be expression on his face. “There’s like a three-inch gap in the opening.” Brian is clearly thinking, how could she have fit in this dress last year? She hasn’t grown that much! I must be hallucinating. If you need proof that love is blind, this is it right here. “They shrank it!” he exclaims, the only explanation he can come up with. God bless him! “No, baby.” I explain, “The dry cleaners didn’t shrink it. I just got fat.” And that’s the sad truth. I wonder if people really go back to the dry cleaners and holler and yell about their clothes shrinking when in reality they just needed to accept the fact that it’s not their clothes that have gotten smaller, it’s their bodies that have grown enormous? At any rate, my wake-up call has cost us $2200 in the form of a new Bowflex Ultimate. We have resolved that by this time next year we’ll be completely transformed. My new year’s resolution is to get fit (how cliché, I know). Brian is concerned that the expensive equipment will go by the wayside in a few months. Umm, hello? That thing cost a lot of money! You better believe I’m going to get my money’s worth!
While we’re on the subject of wishlists, I’ve been drooling over the Casio Exilim S2 (or M2, either one will do) ever since I’ve seen the first commercials. I’ve tried to pacify myself with minor substitutes but it does no good. I still want one really, really bad! Too bad I don’t have $300 to spare. Why, oh why, do I have to be such a camera fiend! I don’t even take great photographs! Grrr! By the way, did you know that in the Japan they sell them in fashion colors pepper red and ice blue? I think here in the US we’re limited to boring silver. Tell you the truth, I’d settle for boring silver at this point.. I just want one, period! Wanna see what all the fuss is about? Look below.
 
It’s hard to believe it’s already 10:30 PM. Brian has been playing Sim City for the past five hours now. I have to admit, he’s got me playing it now too (he burned a copy of the game for me so we can both play at the same time) but I draw the line at three hours. I stopped playing a couple of hours ago. My town (which I’ve aptly named Ching City) was at 1.2 million, the population was around 50 to 60 thousand (it constantly fluctuates) and the residential, comercial and industrial taxes were at 0% — and still the town continued to make money. The yearly revenue was about 5 thousand or so. It helps to have a casino that generates income, plus parking fines! Ha! Who needs to make deals with the neigboring cities? Anyway, I’m not a pro or anything but you’ve got to admit that’s pretty good asset management! If only life was that easy. Everything was pretty much status quo with Ching City so I just decided to save the game for another day. Brian on the other hand started over because his town ended up losing a bunch of money. I think he was down to his last 50 thousand when he canned it and built a whole new city altogether. He’s still playing the game behind me on his computer. It’s days like these when I’m thankful that I’ve got my own computer to play on, otherwise we’d be arguing over whose turn it was to use the computer right about now. He’s totally hooked on the game! He’s almost forgotten about Vice City (his other addiction). I say almost because he’ll be playing it later in the bedroom when I beg him to come to bed with me. He’s always playing some form of computer game at any given point. It’s very, very sick. I don’t really mind, though. At least he’s not surfing for porn on the internet! The last four days have been so wonderful. Even though Brian had to work (except on Friday and Sunday, his days off) we still got to spend a lot of quality time together. Plus I got some much needed rest from work. Although I really wanted to work on Thursday and Friday (both paid holidays, at 2 3/4 pay, that’s mucho bucks), I’m glad now that I didn’t get scheduled to work. Sometimes we don’t realize when we need a break until we have a nervous breakdown. Thankfully, it hasn’t reached that point but I am relieved for the time off. I’ve enjoyed it so much in fact, that I’m reluctant to return. Oh why, oh why can’t we just be independently wealthy? I could really use more days like today: Brian and I slept in until noon, he didn’t shower with me today though which was a bit of a disappointment (but we showered together yesterday, so it’s okay), checked out Patrick Duegaw’s art exhibit at Fisch Haus, played some Galaga and Hot Shot (a basketball game) at the arcade, watched Treasure Planet, pretended to be mayor of Ching City for three hours and now, blogging leisurely about my day. The next five days will be really crappy in comparison.. Except for Saturday, which is our employee holiday party at the Broadview. Brian, Jen, Mom and I are all attending and I’m hoping that it’ll be loads of fun!
$180 would NOT put you in debt! Think about it in pesos, it’s not even P10k and...