Why we don't celebrate Valentines day

"Happy Valentines!" I chirped, flashing my pearly whites (they look white with the bright light of the webcam eh) last night to my husband. 
He gave me a quizzical look. And I asked, "Isn't it Valentines tomorrow?"
He nodded but said we never really celebrated it. I said, "well, I just feel like greeting you." And proceeded to tell him what happened to my humdrum day.  And got excited again when I heard his good news.

But anyway, why aren't we celebrating Valentines' day? Actually, we did. I think, once or twice, when we were not yet married. I think that was when were just starting out, first two years in the relationship, when you feel like being all the other couples out there. But when we got married, even if he was here in Manila, we won't go out, have a fancy dinner or something.

Well, here are some of our reasons:

1.  We don't want to be spotted celebrating on the 14th. We're not really Valentine haters, but it kinda gives us the creeps to join the love bandwagon. Uh sorry for those who are celebrating. It's our own problem that we can't really show in public our sweet side for each other. (But you know, when I was still fresh from college, I tell him to do sweet stuff to me in front of his ex-girlfriends. hehe. i kinda love my immature days...shows my raw side.)

2. Restos are too crowded, the city is jampacked with lovers.  I hate crowded places.  And we're not the type who will make early reservations.  The only reservation or booking we did was our wedding day. :)

3.  We usually stay late on the 13th because it's my sister's birthday.

4.  My hubby thinks it's a paganistic feast. I'll have to do my own research on this.

5.  Every day is Valentines' day...when he's here. * wink!  First few days of his arrival, we usually go out on date nights, sometimes as couple, sometimes with couple friends, sometimes with a couple of friends. 

6.  I'm not creative enough to make Valentine celebrations at home. I'm not really into cooking, crafts, and all. 

But maybe, we'll make an exception one Valentine day. :D

I miss this place!

                                                   
Hubby and I was here a few weeks before he left for Norway. 
It was his first time to visit Ace Water Spa, it's a big pool that create water ripples, bubbles, pulses that imitate the typical massage you get from your neighborhood spa. Instead of the strokes of hands, you get the gruuu-uung whish whooosh of water on your back, belly, thighs, or wherever you want them. They call it hydrotherapy massage.    

It's a real treat for me because I can't go into usual spa, because of my back condition.  But because of this hydrotherapy massage, I can now relate to hubby's addiction to massage. 
Anyway, I miss this place, because apart from the relaxing waters, hubby, myself, together with some friends had a foolish time acting like kids here. I was also loving the kiddie slide when the lifeguard told us it's just for kids.  But we're kids! At least in that brief moment.

I'm lazy right now to write a review of the place. But just to give you an idea, grown-ups would like the idea of burning their fats, improving blood circulation, bowel movement, fatigue, and what-have-you through their different pulsating seats and beds - right on the pool itself! 

Anyway, I'm calling hubby now to discuss plans of going here at least once a month. :)

When a woman cheats...

When a woman cheats, and her husband finds out about it, he could think of suicide. 

My cousin did. He ended his life this morning. He was 30. 

I wouldn't want to go into details of how he killed himself, what he found out, what was done to comfort him beforehand, and everything else in between. It's just sad...

I don't want to fully judge the wife. Ultimately, it's still my cousin's decision to end his life. No one on earth can fully understand what's on his mind and heart. Perhaps, all the ill thoughts and feelings were  there -- pain and insult of being betrayed , anger, grief, hopelessness of the future even though they have 2 kids, inadequacy, fear that the wife will leave him, emptiness, depression, even guilt that he physically attacked his wife. 

I saw the wife. Her tears, her pain. I know it's more than just guilt. There's also love... There's also fear... 

I felt so sorry for their young children, one 6 and the other is 10 years old.  They're young but they feel both the agony of mom and dad. They heard them fighting and crying last night. They were the first ones to discover their dad silently killed himself in the room.  They know why dad was sobbing and throwing things until wee hours. They know mom was also badly hurt in her legs. They take turns, checking how's their mom, hugging her saying, "be strong" when the mom couldn't stop crying.    

Oh...please just pray for this family. Pray that they will be strengthened and comforted by God.  Pray also for my aunt... Thank you. 

   

My fashion changes after marriage

I just realized my fashion picks changed when I got married.

Tops:

During singledom --  Floral, Laces, Printed, Light colors (think pink and baby blue)

Marriedhood --  Plain, No prints, At most 2 colors (black, white, gray, red, navy blue)

Possible cause: Won't feel guilty shopping for new clothes, because it's easier to mix and match plain tops.

Hey, I'm trying to look like a practical wifey here. :)

Bottoms:

During singledom -- Denim jeans, smart casual slacks

Marriedhood -- Black/denim tights, skirts

Possible cause: My muffin top just bloated so bad I can't fit into denim jeans and I'd rather not be depressed fitting into them. Plus, I'd rather show off my God-blessed legs than sulk over jeans that won't fit because of the bulge!  Plus, skirts and dresses are undeniably more feminine!

Accessories:

During singledom -- Earrings, necklace, pearls

Marriedhood -- Belts, bag, shoes

Possible cause: I had to stop wearing earrings for fear of hanging right earlobe due to stretched ear holes. The necklace? I just found it irritating one day. Let's just say jewelry stopped being an embellishment to my outfit and found belts, bag and shoes more practical & complementary to tops and bottoms.

What didn't change:

I still love blue. 

I still go for garterized tops to hide my other bulge at the back because of my S-curved scoliosis.

My passion for shopping new clothes is still here! 

What I'm looking forward:

I hope to accessorize using black stockings. 

But this is tricky. My hubby and his best friend seem to find black stocking on women an eyesore when it doesn't work well on the whole outfit.

I think it has to do with the shoes and the dress color. What do you think?

Can I pull off the look of this lady in black and gold dress here? Hmm, I think I need to cut off on carbs and sugar overload first. :)

Missing hubby

I’m back to blogging after a 2-year hiatus. I realized this is one way of coping when missing hubby.  He went to Norway after staying here for about 5 months. This is probably the longest period we’ve spent together since we got married.

Can’t really understand why I’m that affected now. I should be getting used already to this semi-long distance setup. Before we got married, it was like this for 5 years.  After we got married 4 years ago, it’s still like this. Maybe because his last stay in Manila was the longest period we were together (but I haven’t really kept track of this). Maybe because we both got frustrated that our expectations that his new work won’t entail going onboard or abroad didn’t happen. Maybe because we had new plans, like moving to another apartment and re-opening a business, and I was left alone to do everything.

I find myself a bit silly that I cried two days ago when he was still with me.  We were lying on bed – he was on the verge of snoring, I was on the verge of crying.  I missed him already, even though he was physically present with me. I tossed around, fought to keep any tear from flowing my eyes. And then, it flowed, I sniffed, and then more tears. I tried to cry very discreetly, so I won’t wake him up, and he won’t think I’m emotionally weak. But then, I sniffed again, and I couldn’t breathe normally. How discreet can I get, huh! And then, he embraced me.  And he knew I was crying very silently.  I immediately stood up, went outside the room to blow my nose and drink water.  I went back to bed. I knew he was awake and waiting for me.  When I climbed back to bed, I commented something like I hate myself.  And then he joked about me being a drama queen. I said no, then said, yes.   And we both laughed. And we were awake for another 30 minutes. I was trying to rationalize myself, chatting nonsense.  He was trying to make me sleep by stroking my back and gently touching my forehead.  His method usually works on me after half hour, but two nights ago, it worked faster when he said that we’ll pray that he’ll work land-based here can really happen. I think the idea of hoping together, before I really go to sleep, put me at peace. 

The following night, I told him I’m not that sad anymore.  The worship service in the church gave me another strength and peace.  He smiled. And then I joked that another reason why I’m not that sad anymore was because I secretly saved some money to follow him. I’d just show up in his apartment one day and catch his girlfriend. We laughed and had a very short pillow fight.  After a while, he got serious and said that I should also be still praying for him to resist such temptations.  He knew I prayed for this when we were not yet married but I relaxed a bit when we tied the knot. Now I know I must do this again consistently. And last night, I did. It was more than enough way of coping when missing hubby.  Prayer does not only give you feel-good hormones, it gives you not just peace and comfort, it builds up your faith that everything will be all right. Thank you Lord Jesus!