TOPAZ HORIZON

Well, if you didn't know it yet, Time magazine has named U.S. President-elect Barack Obama the Person of the Year. No surprise there. Everyone's so elated that a black man is now in the White House. I don't really get that, why people foucs on that. From where I stand, it's the man's platform that matters, not his skin color. Then again, this is something I don't think I'll ever understand because there's no racism in the Philippines. Just a lot of thieves.

Anyway, I always liked Obama. I don't really know his political whatever since I'm not American, but I like him. Since I first saw his smile in the pages of O magazine a few years ago. There's just a real warmth there. I like people whose smiles make their eyes go crinkly. Still, have you ever noticed how black people have such dazzlingly white smiles? From the looks of the photo here, Obama needs to go have his presidential teeth whitened before he gets sworn in on January 20, 2009. Time to go see a Washington DC dentist, Mr. President!

Five days to go before Christmas! I've already got all that I need so for this year, I just asked people to give me pretty notebooks, pens and picture frames. But if money were no object and excess were something to be fond of, these would be nice:

• The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, illustrated edition
• Nina Garcia's The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own
• Jamie at Home cookbook
• any cookbook by Ina Garten
• an entire two days in the National Gallery in London. The museum is free, but accommodation in this expensive city is not!
• a week touring the Louvre, another week just people watching in Paris, another week in the French countryside, then the last week at Cote d'Azur
• go to all the Disneylands! Yes, it is now a silly life goal.

• good tickets to Lion King in West End. Argh, I've always wanted to see this musical!
• see the Scottish highlands. I'm not a beach person; I like lonely mountains and since I was very little, photos of the mysterious mountains and lochs of Scotland have always called to my soul.
• go to Milan, Florence and Venice--the birthplaces of the Renaissance. I studied Renaissance art in college. When I went to the National Gallery and saw the paintings, I really cried. I was so overwhelmed!

• any of the amazing Bea Valdes bags, especially the very dark Edward bag. These bags are the most incredibly detailed wonders I've ever seen. Small wonder they cost a small fortune each.
• Chloe wide-strap boots. I talked about this this summer. I still want them!
• a Chanel suit. Just because. And I want to be buried in one!

• Alice Blue candles
• a reading chair in soft buttery leather, perhaps in Tiffany blue or baby pink
• personalized stationery in dove gray or pale pink
• leather-bound journals
• fountain pens
• Nars blush in Orgasm
• red velvet cake from Karen's Kitchen
• a lifelong subscription to InStyle and Entertainment Weekly magazines!

Yes, I know some of the stuff listed aren't that expensive. But they're unnecessary. Oh, how I hate that word when it comes to describing things I want. Still, it's good to dream and perhaps some kind soul would send me a lovely thing or two and make my Christmas all the merrier!

A friend of mine in the U.S. is really having a hard time keeping a job and I've been praying really hard for her. It's not her fault really since the economy there is so bad. The economy here isn't so fantastic either but I think we're a bit better off than the U.S. For one thing, Starbucks here is still making a killing, and the city is still alive with everyone out shopping and partying every single night. I hear that in New York, the restaurants are closed. Not good at all.

So speaking of money, I'm paying for the HSBC bill next week. Ya, the bill that has about $2000 charged to it by a fat thief. Ya, it's a very merry Christmas. Actually, Vince and I do feel okay. We've bought everyone their gifts, we even bought each other gifts (I got him a really fly pair of Levi's corduroy pants and a pair of Onitsuka Tiger sneakers! He got me a fantabulous leather and brass-trimmed desk!!!) and we have enough left over to have a happy New Year.

We're even still shopping around for more insurance plans, like I said, just waiting for all the insurance quotes to come in so we can finally decide. Better to be safe than sorry, especially with the world-wide financial crisis. It's such a comfort to know though that God is so faithful and He has really blessed us so much that I didn't feel bad when I set aside the cash for the HSBC bill. Well, I did feel bad but not as bad as I thought I would!

So now I'm done with that credit card fiasco but I'm still hoping that HSBC and SM will agree that--in the face of evidence that I've presented--I really wasn't the one who went on a shopping spree last month and just give me my money back. Please pray for me!

Omigosh, omigosh... I was surfing (as usual) and I found this site that sells pet supplies and it's just the cutest! I abhor those pet supplies stores that only have stuff for dogs and cats and fish. You can't call yourself a pet supplies store if you only cater to three species! So anyway, I found the silliest strangest thing: a heated rabbit water bottle! It's so crazy and cute at the same time since Galady and Matilda hate cold water. But they like Haagen Dazs ice cream. Strange wabbits!

I found this utterly cute astrological chart at JennyGirl that features all the Zodiac signs with the most adorable illustrations--rabbits! Here's mine:


Here's what she wrote about me, er, people under my sign:

"YOU are determined, intuitive, and passionate.

OTHER Scorpios are secretive, resentful, and stubborn. And believe me, they were not happy to hear that you were described so nicely. I'm sure that they're scheming against you. Peek out the window. They're hiding out there somewhere, right now.

LIKES Challenges, meaningful work, and being allowed to exercise their skills. And let's be honest, look at those claws. Scorpios really like pinching people.

DISLIKES Being taken advantage of, insincerity, and getting slapped right after the pinching. C'mon, nobody gets mad when a Libra weighs something. If you don't want to get pinched, don't come around acting all pinchable and everything."

Pretty accurate. I'm a Scorpio, born on the year of the Fire Dragon. My grandmother, also a Scorpio, said that I was born under two very powerful signs and, because of that, "nothing will stand in your way... I am almost afraid for those who will come up against you. They will not stand a chance!"

While I don't believe in horoscopes and fortune-telling, I did believe in my grandmother. Of course, I grew up thinking anything I want, I can get. This has worked supremely well for me. At the same time, I also have a lot of collateral damage scattered along the path of my destructive ways. Now, years later, I am painstakingly trying to repair these damaged relationships, which miraculously enough, are actually being healed because all these people I've hurt are so willing to forgive me.

Anyway, I was reading Vogue UK's January 2009 issue (with the regal and ethereal Cate Blanchett on the cover) and I chanced upon this horoscope for me:

"The best way to understand the changes in the year's first quarter is to consider your initial reaction to the unsettling events that took place late last year, and how well things turned out. This makes it easier to consider seemingly unrealistic ideas. Instead of battling shifts in your work or lifestyle, give them a try. And you're only just beginning. With eclipses in late January and mid-February triggering changes in circumstance, once-unachievable goals could soon be easily attainable."

Well, to break it down--assuming I believe in this stuff!--the first quarter of 2009 will be pretty interesting. And considering how well I did react to the "unsettling events" that happened these past few months (Mama's death, the theft), I should start bracing myself for even more changes ahead and even embrace them. After all, whatever I put my mind to, I will achieve! Wow. I almost can't wait for the New Year!

Meanwhile, there's the Christmas shopping to do, the gifts to wrap, the parties to plan and attend, the people to love, the blessings to be thankful for, and... yes, the Disneyland photos to resize!

It's a lovely Saturday, cloudy and cool... my kind of day. I'm a very sunny person. Well, most of the time, but when I get angry, which is quick and often, I'm a terrible thunderstorm. So I guess that's why I like the days to be mild and mellow and vague since my temperament is always at some form of extreme emotion.

Because of my temperament, I've always felt that I'd burn out pretty soon. So one of the very first things I did as an adult was buy an insurance plan. Ya, how boring can I get. It wasn't really for me; it was for my family. When I bought the plan, I was, at the time, the only one with income in my family. So, since I was convinced I'd die young, I thought that my poor family would be in big trouble if I'd kick the bucket. Well, I'm still alive.

When Mama died, she didn't have any savings, any insurance, any money. Death is expensive. It's vulgar how people in the death business have taken advantage of the grief of families to shock them into paying tons of money just so their loved one can get a decent burial. Mama had a fantastic send off, but it cost a lot of money. I'm glad Vince and I had enough for the deposit, and then we were more glad that people gave Papa enough cash to pay for all the costs, even to cover what Vince and I shelled out. Thank God for all the generous people. I used to get annoyed when envelopes were passed around at work or at school when someone's somebody died. Until Mama died. Now, if anyone has a death in a family, I won't hesitate to give.

I know most of my readers are from countries where the government or their workplace provides generously for their medical and retirement needs. Well, that's not the case in the Philippines. So Vince and I checked for life insurance rates recently. Somehow the plans we both got six years ago don't seem enough anymore. Time to get more life insurance plans and to add memorial plans and pension plans and medical plans, too.

Darn. It's a gray day and I feel really old.

*photo used with permission from Free Foto.

So I'm currently resizing photos for this blog and I found these two from when Vince and I moved from his 1-bedroom bachelor's pad to our current one. This was June 2007. I may look happy here but I was in fact very sad because I was desperately missing this tiny place already. So many good memories!

Anyway, look at how exhausted we are! We had hired some men that we saw from the classifieds and they were horrible since they all but threw the furniture into their trolleys. They worked fast but not very carefully, so Vince and I were mortified and had to do a ton of moving by ourselves to save our stuff from getting damaged. Next time--maybe in five or ten years--we'll definitely hire professional moving services. In the meantime, we're enjoying life in our lovely new home.

Photos from Disneyland coming soon!

You can tell from that grin on my face how much I enjoyed Hong Kong Disneyland. The pics here are from the enchanting lobby of the exquisite Victorian-inspired Disneyland Hotel. I have more photos with the real Disney characters! So much fun! I just totally fell in love with everything! I'm so happy! I'm already planning a trip back.

Okay, let me just fix the image sizes of my photos then I'll write about the Disneyland trip the way I did the honeymoon trip--fun multiple posts!!!

So people have been asking me how the credit card theft's been and how I am. Well, I'm actually okay. I'm not happy about it but I'm happy about my life so why ruin my wonderful life with a petty thief?

I was telling my friends that in the great big scheme of things, it's just money. Granted, it's a lot of money and I still don't know how I'll pay for it if HSBC decides that I'll have to pay for it (I really hope they don't!). But on that day my wallet was stolen, things did become very clear to me on what's important in my life. When Vince strode into the office pantry, where I was eating with my staff, with this tight and worried expression on his face, my heart went up my throat.

I thought, "Please, dear God, don't let it be someone's dead again!"

Then he said "The bank called. Someone's using your card right now. Check your things."

I hurried to my desk in alarm but all I felt was this huge relief. Of course, when I found out later that the thief charged a TON of stuff on my card, my knees went weak. But that night, I was able to sleep. Every time I would get upset, I'd remember that strange feeling of relief and gratitude that all my loved ones were safe, and I'd feel better. The past week's actually been good. A few upsets now and then and I've practically chained my bag to my person but, I'm okay. Had a lovely lunch with my in-laws, watched the Twilight premiere for free with friends, celebrated Papa's birthday, had fun chatting with old friends... Life is great!

Anyway, a friend sent this email last Wednesday that we must give everything--even the tiniest concern--to God. So I told God that night, "Lord, I know You are sovereign over all and everything will turn out well for those who love You. It is a sin to worry because it shows I don't trust in You so forgive me and I will offer this up to You and trust in Your plan, whatever happens! I just wish You can give me something nice so I won't feel so bad. I know I'm being selfish but I feel really bad so a nice gift will be much appreciated."

That was my prayer Wednesday night. The very next morning, Vince and I won a brand new Samsung TV LCD-HDTV! I kid you not!!! And it came with two fancy DVD players! We're so happy and excited. We feel that more blessings and surprises are coming our way. God is good! God is good!

So I'll leave you with that for a while, dear readers. I need to pack for our trip to Disneyland tomorrow. On my way to the happiest place on earth, they say, but I think I already am there and that's all because of the peace in my mind, the joy in my heart, the love in my life, and the faith I forever proclaim.

See y'all next week!

Remember that story when I proposed to Vince with the Sony Playstation 3? Well, here's another Sony story. Because we have rabbits, we are quite fond of this Bravia TVC. Of course, it helps that we watch it on our very own 32" Bravia TV.


We're fonder of this Bravia Bunny, however. Isn't Galadriel the cutest ever???Our rabbits are Sony bunnies! Oh, and my two phones are sturdy Sony Ericssons, my SLR camera is a Sony Cybershot, we read books on the Sony eBook Reader, we fight over who gets to play with the PSP, and of course, Vince plays with his PS3 games and I exercise to aerobics videos played through the PS3, too, on our beloved Bravia.

Yep, we live in a Sony world because we really were quite impressed with the Bravia. It definitely gave significance in my life just like the Sony's World's First Noise-Canceling Notebook Computer, the VAIO T Series, which is what I'm salivating for lately because I want to blog anywhere and everywhere and in peace!