Brian and I were browsing the cat food aisle at Wal-Mart the other day when we walked by this. We both agreed that I had to take a picture.
Are we the only ones who find this funny? Isn’t it a bit ironic that they are selling live fish in the cat food aisle?
They need a lable somewhere that says “Special Treats for Cats” or something. Hilarious.
I would not want to be any of these fish.
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This is the by far the biggest snowglobe I have ever seen! It’s really neat. It even has snow falling on the inside.
Fresh coconut juice, anyone? That stuff is so delicious and refreshing. It’s been a while for me. And yes, I admit that I am a teensy weensy bit jealous.
When Jen’s boyfriend Ray asked if he could go home to the Philippines with mom and dad a few months ago, I thought he was nuts. I thought mom was nuts for agreeing. It was kind of strange that he traveled with mom and dad without Jen.
Anyway, he seemed to have fun though despite Jen’s inability to go with them. I think it would have been more fun for him if he were able to hang out with people closer to his age. Maybe next time Brian and I will have enough money to go also.
How about that Ray? Ready for another trip to Tanjay? Mom actually said that you’ll probably have to guide us because you will know your way around better than me. It has been eight years since my last visit after all.
P.S. Thank you for our pasalubong. That was really thoughtful of you.
We typically spend Christmas Eve at my parents’ house in Derby. This year was a little different, though.
Mom and dad arrived home from the Philippines around noon on the 23rd. They were neither prepared nor in the mood to host Christmas Eve dinner.
So Christmas Eve this year was spent at Ate Jane and Kuya Ramil’s house. They had extended us an invitation a couple of weeks before because they knew that mom and dad were still in the Philippines. Jane actually invited mom and dad also but they were too jetlagged to go anywhere that evening.
I’m glad that we went because their party was actually tons of fun. It was the most fun I’d ever in a while. Ate Jane and Kuya Ramil were wonderful hosts. They made sure that everyone felt welcome. It was a great party.
By the way, I never know whether to call Ate Jane “Ate” or “Tita.” When I was younger I used to refer to her as “Tita” because she is one of my mom’s friends but now that I am older “Tita” just doesn’t sound quite right. She is way too young to be called “Tita” I think. So I figured “Ate” would be the more appropriate reference.
I think once you hit thirty everyone is practically the same age. I feel awkward calling anyone “Tita” who is not my mom’s age. I don’t want to insult them or make them feel old.
I mean, come on now! I wouldn’t want a grown woman calling me “Tita.” Ate Ching na lang, pwede ba? I am not that old after all. LOL.
Neither is Ate Jane. So Ate Jane, “Ate” ka na lang ha? Sorry kung medyo na-demote but “Ate” sounds younger. Sana okay lang.
He is the newest addition our family.
I have been begging and pleading with Brian to get a boy sugarglider. Brian kept saying to wait until next year. When he says next year, he doesn’t mean the first part of the year either. He means toward the end of the year. I kept pleading and begging anyway.
I finally talk him into going to Exotic Pets in Andover on Friday. Brian felt so sorry for Rockie and his sisters he wanted to buy all of them. We could only take one home, though. Even that was already stretching our budget.
So anyway, this is Rockie. I named him on the drive home.
Incidentally, he almost got named Fred — for Fred and Ginger, which I thought would be funny. Brian vetoed it because he thought it would be creepy to name him after my biological father.
I explained that I wasn’t naming him after my biological father. I just thought it would be funny.
Brian said he’d always think of my biological father if we named our little boy Fred. I kind of liked Rockie, anyway. So we agreed to name him that instead.
By the way, I have an uncle (my mom’s older brother) named Rocky (I think he spells his name with a “Y” instead of an “IE” at the end). It’s kind of hard to pick out names because the name you pick out inevitably turns out to be the name of someone you know.
Like Ginger and Star for example. Ginger happens to be the name of my boss and then Star is the name of one of the APL reps that we know. We didn’t get to name them, though. Sara had already named them before she put them up for adoption.
I think it’s easier to get sugargliders that already have names, especially if you’re indecisive. Naming your pet is kind of fun, though. So I’m glad we got to experience it both ways.
I’m posting this photo in honor of my very first Christmas with the Brubakers. This photo was taken on the morning of December 25, 1999. You can even see the date stamp on the corner.
I love having pictures to go with fond memories. So when I am old and senile, I can always look back at all the photos that I’ve collected over the years and say, “Who is that guy?”
Ha! Ha! Ha!
If you’ve ever wanted a sugarglider of your own, now is your chance. Sara has two new baby sugargliders, Mia and Amigo. They are babies of Littleman and Sweet Pea so they are the siblings of our sugargliders, Ginger and Star. She’s also looking for a home for her two chocolate apricot sugargliders Lilly and Jinx. They are adult sugargliders. Please visit her website for more information. Trust me. Pet store sugargliders are not as well cared for as her suggies. I know because the cage Rockie was kept in at the pet store was pretty sad. Brian actually had no intention of letting me buy a boy sugarglider despite the tantrum that I threw in the car on the way to lunch today. He made me promise that I would not buy one and that we would just look. However, when we got there he saw the condition that Rockie had to live in and he changed his mind. He was living in this small cage with his two sisters. They slept in this big sherpa-lined pouch. The pouch was pretty cool but it was really filthy. They had no toys in the cage except for a tree branch and a flexible rope that ran from one side of the cage to the other. I wouldn’t even consider those toys. Besides that, they were being fed oranges and pellet food. If you know anything about sugargliders, then you know that too much citrus is bad for them so oranges should be fed to them sparingly. We feed Ginger and Star oranges only once every two weeks and just a few slivers. We are very particular about their diet because we want to make sure that they live long, healthy lives. Anyway, Brian actually thought about buying the other two female sugargliders that were there with Rockie. Except at $185 each, that would mean almost $600 that we didn’t have right now. It was really sad, though. I felt bad that we could only take Rockie and had to leave them behind. Three sugargliders is enough, though. I don’t know how we would be able to handle having five of them. We’d probably have to buy another big cage. That’s another $100 and then add another $200 (at least) to that to deck out the cage with toys and accessories. I mean, you can’t have an empty cage. You have to make your pets happy.
So I was craving all you can eat crab legs for several weeks now and the other day I came across an ad for King’s Buffet in Splurge mag so, naturally, I talk Brian into going with me. Brian, the good son that he is, decided to invite his parents to go with us. Brace yourself for this experience.
We get there around 6 pm and, on a December evening when most restos are packed filled with people, when there are absolutely no cars in the parking lot you have to worry. I had second thoughts right then. I mean, three hundred thousand Wichitans can’t be wrong. Right?
Instincts told me this was a bad idea. But did I listen? Of course not.
On the drive home, Brian shared that he felt the same way and almost asked if we could go somewhere else. I asked him why he didn’t and he said that I had my heart set on a crab legs pig out and he was afraid to upset me. Bless his heart.
I told him that I had doubts about the place upon our arrival there also and would not have questioned it one bit. So I told him to feel free to protest in the future, next time I drag him to some place new, and not worry about upsetting me because I will totally understand.
I will leave Brian to describe the food since he will be writing a review of this place. Suffice it to say, everyone hated the place. After trying their food, it was no surprise why there weren’t any cars in the parking lot. We felt so bad for dragging Brian’s parents to the place that we went ahead and paid for their meal. It was just the right thing to do.
You’re probably wondering how the crab legs were. Well, if you were in the middle of the Sahara and you hadn’t had any water for four weeks then you’d probably drink mud. The experience was like a bad papercut. You don’t really feel the pain until much later.
For those of you who don’t grasp metaphors too well, let me spell it out. There were some crab legs that were alright, and there were some that were down-right questionable and gross. While it was nice to be able to satisfy my craving, I really don’t appreciate the sick feeling that I have in my stomach right now that is keeping me awake.
I have this weird feeling in my stomach and I can’t decide if I want to poop or puke. It’s really weird and I’ve never really felt this way before. This must be what shellfish poisoning is like?
Anyway, I tried to go to the bathroom last night. I sat there playing Hot Shots Golf
So anyway, the moral of this story is: Never ever eat cheap crab legs. If you want crab legs, go to Red Lobster or something. Seriously. Being cheap will only make you sick.
Guess what. We brought home our first boy sugarglider today. His name is Rockie. He is feisty and vocal like Star. Hopefully all three of them will get along okay. We should have pictures him soon.
I got these flowers today from my work group. Aren’t they just beautiful?
$180 would NOT put you in debt! Think about it in pesos, it’s not even P10k and...