TOPAZ HORIZON

My, my, wasn't yesterday's post petulant (and mildly grammatically incorrect in some parts!)? I blame it on PMS. Migraine, mood swings, more tired than usual and you get whiny me. I guess I got envious of the women around me--efficient and impeccable because they have an army of assistants and maids to help them out.

But my reader Nikki of AskMeWhats, whom I've never met, saw through all my complaints and observed quite accurately, "I have a feeling you're someone who'd rather do things themselves as you know 'the right way' to do it, just like me. That's why I'd rather do things on my own than ask someone to do it then, at the end, not be satisfied!" Indeed, Nikki. That is who I am--I complain of all the work but when people help, I get more annoyed than grateful. And it's because I have a way of doing things and if it's not done just so, I get angry. So I end up doing everything myself! So I should stop complaining!!!

Goodness, I also want to add that my house is always perfectly clean and that I need not think about washing the dishes. I just want to put that out there because my darling sweet husband doesn't want you to think that our house is a mess. It isn't and that's because Vince is such a sweetheart with tidying things up. Why, just today he waxed and polished the floors! Thanks, Vince! Whatever would I do without you?

Yes, I'm in a better mood now. Had spicy tuna maki and tuna sashimi and miso soup--this always puts me in a good mood, this and tinolang manok and my mother-in-law's caldereta. Also went shopping recently. Bought a nice dress, got some seriously cool shoes. Booked an appointment with beauty maestro Louis Phillip Kee. I'm also preparing to leave for an all-expense-paid trip to Singapore this weekend. Well, there you go! What should I be complaining about when I'm the luckiest girl in the world? Shame on me indeed!

At a shoot, the model said, "Oh fuck, I'm wearing a dress? I forgot to shave my legs." She flipped open her phone and said, "Where are you? Get me a razor and I need it now." Five minutes later, a girl appears (I kid you not when I said 5 minutes) with a 7-11 plastic bag with, not one, not two, but three fresh razors (model must be really hairy, eh?).

At another shoot, the stylist had her assistant lug around the bags and clothes and shoes while she walked about the set in her sky-high heels, fresh as a daisy.

At the office, a fellow editor-in-chief had her driver pick up all her bags and folders and bring them to the waiting car where she just slid into the back seat and had the door shut for her and she was whisked away. No, this wasn't Pauline of Preview.

At a bloggers event, I asked a fellow blogger how she can update her blog three to four times a day, "You have a full-time job, like me. Goodness, when I get home, I still have to do chores." "Chores?" she laughed. "I have a maid."

Watching Mad Men the other night, I was struck by how they bossed around their secretaries: "Call this guy, make me coffee, pick this up, type this, send that." Or how Betty Draper barked, "Show him the door, take the laundry upstairs, get the kids."


That is not my life and it has never been my life. In my job, I xerox my own pages, fill up my own forms, schedule my own meetings, call the people I need to talk to myself and bring my own huge bags. At home, I do my own cooking and cleaning and housekeeping (with a lot of help from Vince who loves to clean!). We don't have a car so I take the bus or the train or the cab or the tricycle. I line up at the bank to pay the bills, the grocery to buy food, the drugstore to refill my prescriptions, the post office to send and pick up packages. I do everything!!!

"No wonder you're so tired," my friends all tut-tut, their beautifully painted faces expressing concern and their perfectly manicured hands patting me sympathetically. I look at my own bare nails, cracked from exposure to detergent and bleach or at my own uncombed hair and wonder if they're right: I need slaves.

Yes. Slaves. Say what you will but Filipinos still have that master-slave mentality. We never pay our help/assistants well enough for the work they do for us. And we never allow them to treat us as equals (be honest!). And that is just a step above slavery. That is why I refuse to have maids or hire an assistant. But these days, I'm really beginning to think I need one. Or two. I need help.

My idea of heaven now? At work, I can wear heels all day since I'm not running about doing my errands and picking up papers myself. I don't need to worry about heavy bags because someone's sent them to my house already. Then I come home to a clean house, the table set and hot home-cooked food waiting for me. I will eat it then stand up and not think about washing the dishes. Food magically appears at meal times. When I open my closet, freshly laundered and pressed clothes greet me. My shoes are always polished. The rabbits are always clean and fluffy. I can just focus on me and Vince and books and writing... It sounds lovely but I simply can't see myself bossing about another human being.

And this is why I can't imagine having children! I just can't handle anymore on my plate!

Oh, maybe I just need a day at the spa and the salon. I'll feel better after a good massage, a foot scrub, a mani and pedi, a scalp massage, a facial and hot ginger tea... Mmmm.

Time for a Galady update! The bad news: She's still paralyzed. The good news: That means she's still alive! Most days she's still cheerful especially when there's wabbit treats; some days she's very tired and not even treats can cheer her up. The poor thing... I guess it's really hard for her to hold on to life considering how difficult her situation is now. And yet, she hangs on and I am grateful that my brave little bunny is still doing her best to make mommy and daddy happy.


Then there's Matilda. We call her Maldita (I can't find a word in English but its closest is spoiled rotten naughty beeyatch!). Matilda the Maldita likes to bully Galady about because she's jealous. Here she is attacking Galady after Galady's bath.
She also eats Galady's food, drinks her water, pees and poops in her cage... basically being a big meanie! Still, Galady adores Matilda; if we separate her from the bully, Galady gets sad and pines away. So between letting her die of old age or of a broken heart, we've already made our choice--Galady and Matilda can stay together, even if it kills the old girl, because that's how that sweet rabbit would want it.Have a happy weekend with your loved ones!

This is my brand new red Samsung Omnia SGH-i900. I love it because it's sleek, fast, elegant, and red!
I won it in a writing contest, too, so I'm very puffed up with pride and happiness right now. Samsung held the contest early this year, asking people to answer this question: "How can the Samsung Omnia make your wishes come true?" So you write down your wishes and then you describe how the Omnia's features can make your wishes come true. Simple enough except by the time I joined, there were thousands of entries already. I truly did hesitate!
But I figured I have something going for me--I can write pretty darn well so this writing contest shouldn't be so hard! I studied the phone's features. It has a sensitive touch screen, very much like the iPhone (Vince's phone) and I liked that. You can surf the Internet with it, has Windows Mobile and Microsoft Office suites so it's like a super miniature netbook. And then there's that fantastic 5MP camera which beats iPhone's sad excuse for a camera. Oh, don't think I dislike the iPhone, okay? I love the iPhone, too! The Omnia has a host of other fab features but I don't really know what they are (really! All I do with this is text and call and fill up the calendar) so I'll let PinoyTechBlog give you the details instead.
Anyway, it looked like a phone I'd like to win so I wrote down my answers (there was a word limit, too, which added to the challenge!) and submitted my entry with fingers, wrists, arms, toes, ankles, legs and eyes crossed --yes, this is my lucky secret! I think I did well but I didn't think I did that well because when I got the email from Samsung congratulating me that I was the one and only winner in the entire country, I was shocked to my bones!
Oh, I'm so happy. This is the second prize I've won this year in a writing contest. The first one was the Gucci bag.I actually claimed this phone just before Typhoon Ondoy struck so, even though I was so happy with my luck, I didn't feel it was right to write about it when there was so much suffering everywhere. But life goes on and, despite the fact that bad things are to be expected in life, good things happen, too, and I'd really like to point those out and be grateful.

Oh, what a lucky girl I am! There are many other contests actually--do check out Nuffnang--but I only join when I really really want the prize. And I do believe that if you really really want something and you work for it, the universe will give it to you. Uh, yes, you still have to work for it!

1. A recent blog post of Vince on Citizen Nerd. I think that in the wake of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, we people need to save the earth... and our data! And don't you just think that my husband writes so well? Hop on over to his blog to see what I mean!
2. The Christmas decor at Rustan's Makati. And all the lit up trees and carols blaring over the speakers. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas indeed!
3. Being the only girl in white in a glam event (see more about the affair here). The only other time this happened was at my wedding and that was more than two years ago. So it felt nice to be different again!
Oh, and there's one more thing I also am loving right now... visiting your blogs! That's why I haven't updated--I've been reading your blogs and discovering my readers. This could also be the reason why I have dark circles under my eyes--I've been staying up till 4am reading so many interesting blogs! You're a pretty cool bunch, did ya know? Thanks for always dropping by and leaving such nice comments! I feel like I have so many friends suddenly!