Comfort does not come with the price

I have to admit that I'm really a brand-conscious shopper. Me and my husband have always shared this belief that if it's expensive, there must be something why it's expensive. Whenever we shop, we would always opt for the things which what people call as "branded".

Actually, when I was younger...hmm..probably, aged 8 to 12, I don't mind having clothes, shoes or things which are just bought from "palengke". My sister has always been the one who's overly brand-conscious. Whenever we shop for our christmas clothes, she would whisper to my mother that they would go to a nearby "Guess" shop (her fave brand even when she was still young) right after my mother finish shopping for me in a "palengke" stall. And I wouldn't mind at all... I care less about the brand that time, as long as I have comfortable clothes or things that I want. My logic was "why would I buy a piece of clothing when I could buy 10 pieces of clothing with the same price?"

But things change. These days I often choose "quality over quantity". Whenever we shop, I usually look for the brands. I'm kind of loyal to particular brands for some categories. My reason now is oftentimes, if it's not branded, it has no quality. But now, I've proven that this rule is aptly described as "oftentimes"....but I have to add, "not all the time".

Aside from the facts above about myself, I have to say that I'm also very fond of shoes. (Not to mention that I just realized that I've been buying shoes at least once a week these past few months, oh my god, stop it, Lei!!!). And 2 weeks ago, I bought this particular shoe that I've been eyeing for since we went to LA. I was very happy wearing it. I felt like I was "Rebecca Bloomwood" (yes, the shopaholic lady from Sophie Kinsella's novel series) thinking that people would call me "the girl with the X-brand shoes". And it was true, when I wore it in the office, almost everyone was asking me, "Ms. Lei, is that "X-brand" shoe you're wearing?". And you won't believe that most of these people asking me are guys. And I asked them why they know the shoe brand when it's a female brand, and they answered, "well, every single woman I know is crazy about it...and that includes my wife". :)

So, as I've said, I was too happy wearing it. But just after two days, my feet began aching. But I ignored it. "Who damn cares?!? Everyone's raving about this! Maybe I'm just hallucinating."

So, I pretended that my feet were not aching...that the shoes are perfect for my feet! Come Friday, I wore it again since it's "dress-down" day. By 3:30PM, I headed to my car and was too excited to drive home.

Usually, before I drive home, I change my shoes to my driving shoes. I have specifically bought this pair of shoes which I wear for long drives. But that time, since the new shoes I have are flats, I decided not to change my shoes anymore. Driving from Indiana to Illinois usually takes 3 to 4 hours (that is if I'm not overspeeding, ooopppsss...this requires a separate entry). So, I drove home. Peaceful...happy...peaceful...happy...but wait! I have only driven 20 miles at that time...and I suddenly realized that my feet are sorely aching!!! It was too painful! I decided to slow down and look for my shoes inside the car and probably change while driving. But wait, I have put my driving shoes inside my luggage which is in the trunk! Shit!

I was on a highway and I didn't want to stop just to change shoes. I just ignored the pain and kept on shifting my left foot over my right foot on the pedal whenever I come to a halt.

This happened on Friday...It's Monday already...but it's still hurting...

And here's what I got, "swollen feet"...and this comes with numbing pain that I often wake up in wee hours because of the tingling sensations.

I don't know if it's obvious from the picture but my right foot's fingers are bigger than the ones in my left foot. I have to use the magazine as the background para hindi naman nakakadiri yung picture (I don't like looking at pictures of anyone's feet, even my own). Even until now, I can't sleep because of the pain. Promise! I'm getting concerned already that I might go to the hospital this coming weekend to have this checked. I'm thinking that it could be probably because the shoes I wore have small space for my toes...which was aggravated by the long drive and heavy traffic.

And this is the culprit...

Aren't they cute? (oopps, I forgot that I should hate this pair of shoes. I have the brown pair, by the way). :)

Anyways, that's the lesson I learned. Now, I left the shoes in our apartment. I rested it in its box...and it might probably stay there for a quite a while. (hmm...I hope my feet will heal soon).

Laurels, laurels...

I got this award from Mahryska:

Thanks, Poidy!!! (I actually don't deserve an award coz I know I'm a bad blogger...irregular blogging and nonsense topics, hehehe. But they say, it's bad to refuse an award, so there you go...)

Rule: Copy the entire list and add your name at the bottom. And tag at least 5 friends. (But you can tag as many as you like): Thea, my scrappy side, Childstar, abie, aggie, alpha, apple, apols, jacqui, jane, jody, joy, mike, kelly, mich, peachy, dorxie, Butchay, lena, anna, sheryll, pat, gracie, cheche, thet, Heidi 2, Heidi, Maeyo, Mahryska, Lei

I'm now giving this award to: Jenki, and Sarah.

Change me!

I’m not the really the type of shirking jobs by feigning illness. I’m not even habitually absent from work. When I have a deadline, I finish the job on the dot. But when I say I’m not really feeling well, I mean it…I truly mean it.

But I guess, there are just some people around who thinks otherwise. Maybe because they’re guilty of the act they’re accusing me of.

Yes, it’s true that I went to St. Patrick’s day on Saturday. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that I got drunk that day. Was there ever a rule that everyone should drink on that occasion? And the ultimate question, when you’re on sick leave for just one day, does it necessarily mean you’re just faking it?

C’mon! Grow up, people!

(Ika nga ng iba, “Change me!” in Tagalog – “Ibahin nyo ako!”hahaha)

From Filipino to Irish

Happy St. Patrick's day to all! Enjoy the green beer! *Tired* would be an understatement if I would use that to describe what I felt yesterday. We spent our Saturday celebrating the St. Patrick's Day. It's really fun watching the parade and cool outfits of different people. Everyone was wearing green clothes and accessories. There were also some who wore Leprechaun/Elf outfits!

I'll post the photos some other time.

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I missed the feeling of having a sudden urge for shopping. And since we went to Downtown Chicago yesterday, I felt the old feeling. I had so much fun...picking and buying gifts for our families in the Philippines. The only question is when would I come back home to give these gifts? I personally don't know. I've been planning to go home on May 2008 but just looking at the fare prices, it makes me gulp. With the fare price, I can buy the whole set of furnitures that we need for our home that we still lack. With the fare price, I can buy the 1 year supply of vitamins and medicines of my parents. With the fare price, I can make the downpayment for my father's dream car. With the fare price, I can buy the most expensive lens that I want. With the fare price, I can buy 3 iPhones. With the fare price, I can buy 2 or 3 Louis Vuitton bags or Coach bags. Bottomline, I can buy lots of things with the fare price of ORD-MNL-ORD. But hey, the feeling of seeing your family is priceless, isn't it?

But...I have to add...I also need additional money for pasalubongs and something to spend for Pinas getaways. I wouldn't want to just stay at home on my vacation!

Ponyang...

Actually, my husband hates it when people give names to non-living things, if you know what I mean, hehehe! But then, I can't help it. I have to give name now since I have to identify it from my rented car like for example whenever Randy's asking which car to use.

For 1 month now, I've been renting a car from Enterprise which I use going to/from Indiana-Illinois every week. Before, I usually leave Randy at Illinois where he just takes public transportation going to and from work. But just recently, he was able to get an Instructional Permit. With that, he can drive as long as there's somebody with him who has a valid driver's license. At first, there's no need for us to buy a car at this point, coz he can't drive without me. But then, for him to be able to acquire a valid driver's license, he needs to take a road test for which you must bring your own car or probably a friend's car.

But sad to say, our friends near our place all own stick shift cars...which we both do not know how to drive. So there, we decided to buy our own. It's a 2008 Pontiac G6 which so far is a good make/model. It has also this On-star feature which they gave us free for 1 year. The feature is not only cool but more importantly, delivers safety and protection to the car and users. They also gave us free 30-minute call time so I can call Randy or whoever without having to pull out and dial my phone.

Picture on the left is our own car while on the right is the rented one. I opted not to use "Ponyang" (yep, the name of Kaye Abad in Tabing Ilog aside from "Eds", hehehe!) going to Indiana due to the countless potholes and terrible driving condition. So, I just use the camry going on weekdays, driving more than 350 miles per week (since it's just adopted, I did not assign it any specific name). But I have to admit, I really love my rented car more than Ponyang, maybe? or maybe not...I don't know. But what I know is I easily get attached to things. I find it hard to give up or sell things which I have for a considerable period of time. Would you believe that at once, I rented a car which I had for more than 1 month (my longest time of renting before) and when I returned it, I literally cried and cried! Randy was at first laughing but when I still continued crying, he then started to pacify me. He proved at that time that I really value things as if they are really "living" things. Well, I guess that's one of my weird traits... when I was younger, whenever my cousins would sleep over at our house my parents would describe me as "...wag mo gagalawin gamit nyan, magagalit yan sayo. Pag sa kanya, sa kanya lang." That's probably also why it's not really in my character to borrow things...if I need it, I should have it. Is that bad or good?!?

DST now on!

Last November, I was so happy when the DST went off.  I was able to sleep for additional 1 hour.  But now that the DST has started, I feel the opposite :(

I was terribly tired last night.  We had so many errands yesterday (first from the list is Randy's road test which I'd rather not post about it, hahaha...may magagalit sakin!).  So, aside from "THAT" thing, I went to Enterprise rent-a-car coz I left my eyeglass case when I returned my Camry last week, replaced it with Altima, then just after driving for 4 miles, went back again to Enterprise and get my Camry back, hahaha! (The Altima that I got had a problem with the engine, it has this weird loud sound everytime I go beyond 40mph!).  Then after going to Enterprise, I went back to Randy to fetch him from his road test.  Then after that, we went to the bank to deposit Randy's first paycheck, hehehe (na naligaw kami at napunta kami bigla sa I-294 highway papuntang western suburbs, blame it to the super reliable GPS, sarcastic ako nyan!).  Then after the bank, we were supposed to go to COMED (utility company) to register the apartment under my name.  But then, dahil sa windang ang kasama ko at nasa state of shock kahapon (that I'd rather not tell why, hahaha...parang may clue na siguro kayo), eh mali ang naitype nyang address sa GPS at napabalik kami dun sa pinanggalingan namin imbes na sa COMED! Grrrr....

Finally, we were able to reach the Comed...sa sobrang inis ko eh binigay ko na kay Randy ang manibela para mahimasmasan, hehehe! After Comed, we then went to Schaumburg Pontiac GMC (oooppsss...hehehe.. I was able to buy our own car na...last 2 weeks.  No blog post yet!) to have the keyless entry system installed in our car.  The key that we got is just the manual key.  According to them, we have to pay for the keyless entry system separately...*sigh*.  But no choice, sobrang hassle pag wala, lalo na pag nagssnow, that you need to get in the car the moment you step out of the building.  After that, we then went to Woodfield mall para lalong mahimasmasan ang kasama ko, hahaha..

...And there! So, just remembering the whole day yesterday makes me run out of breath.  Ang kainis pa eh the DST started today...so I had to wake up one hour earlier for the Sunday mass.  I'm soooo tired!!! Buti na lang, I already filed a one day leave for tomorrow...hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Not again

Last year it was my father who was rushed to the hospital. Now it's my mother. My father was rushed to the hospital last year, April 3, 2007 (Dubai date). And this year, March 3, 2008 (US date), my mother was rushed this time. What's with the "3"?

Please pray for her fast and safe recovery. These days have not been good to me and my friends. I have received many prayer favors from many friends for their loved ones...and never thought that I would do the same.

I am supposed to be happy...because of the recent happening that I even haven't blogged about. But I'd rather post this first... please pray...God, please help us once again.