Marso ng taong 2006 nang makapunta sa beach sa unang pagkakataon si Abby.  Isang taon at pitong buwang gualng siya noon at sa Caylabne Bay Resort kami nagpunta para sa “summer family outing” ng kumpaniyang pinagtatrabahuhan ng aking kabiyak.

Ikinatuwa ni Abby nang husto ang paglalaro sa buhangin gamit ang mga laruang pang-beach…

At halos ayaw niyang umalis sa tubig…

Ito ang kaniyang pang Sports Illustrated – Toddler Edition na larawan…

May kalakihan ang kaniyang swimsuit dahil kailangan ng allowance para sa diaper.  Kaya naman hanggang ngayon, kasya pa sa kaniya ang swimsuit…

Tayo na sa Isla ng Guimaras (ang isa ko pang lahok!)!  Maligayang Huwebes! :)

The most bizarre thing just happened to my food blog, Cafe Munchkin.  I am still in a mild state of giddy shock.  Hee hee.  You see, some time last night and as of this writing, it occupies top spot (will you let me spell it out?  Please? That’s #1! Hee hee hee!)- in the Home & Living category of Top Blog Philippines, #43 over-all.  Isn’t that bizarre?  I told you it was! :D

I haven’t really given much importance to whatever spot my three blogs occupy in Top Blogs, knowing for a fact that they are far from being the most read blog in the blogosphere…not even the Philippine chunk of the blogosphere!  Of my three blogs, which are each in a different category, it was always Cafe Munchkin, which has enjoyed a more decent ranking, the best, if I remember correctly, being somewhere in the Top 10-15.  It has always been Munchkin Mommy, however, which enjoys the most number of hits.  But these (Top Blog) rankings don’t last long.  It’s quite erratic, really. 

Cafe averages roughly 50 hits a day, barely scratching 100 on a good day.  And the most people it ever had on-line at a given time was 5, maybe 6.  Yesterday, however, it got 2709 hits and 2559 as of this writing, with over a hundred people on-line at one point!  What. Is. Going. On?  I kept asking myself from the time I noticed my site’s unusually surreal behavior yesterday.  And the visitors all land on one particular entry, Plastic Grocery Bag Origami and they’re all coming from a site, which I haven’t ever heard of, Stumble Upon (that’s living under a rock for you!). 

From my simple mind’s understanding, someone “stumbled upon” my plastic folding entry and liked it enough to give it a thumbs up and recommended it to other Stumble Upon members.  And that resulted to all the craziness yesterday and today.  I am not complaining one bit.  Promise. :)  As I was enlightening myself, I realized too, that while majority liked that entry, some didn’t and found it neurotic.  Hahaha.  You win some most and lose some.  I’m perfectly fine with that because that’s just how life is.

I apologize if this entry ended up sounding like a self-serving, self-gratifying, and self-promoting pitch.  That wasn’t my intent at all.  I just wanted to share my joy.  Now that I’ve gotten it all out of my system, I’ll carry on now.  Hee hee. *skips away* :)

Picture heavy post but you won’t do very much reading.  Or so I think…and hope. :)

Time to open my birthday presents!  I’m so excited!  I’ll open them in the order that I received them, except for the one  from Hubby and Abby, which I shall save for last. 

#1  My first present arrived on the 3rd of July.  I was on the computer as always when I heard 3 hard knocks on the door.   I was surprised to see this when I opened the door…

For me?  My heart raced a little.  Who is this from?  Barnes and Noble?  I didn’t order anything from B&N.  Hubby’s out of town.  Oh no, don’t tell me hubby got me a book for my birthday!!!  Husbands and wives don’t give each other books….well, not on their birthdays!  Those were my immediate thoughts.  :D   I heaved a sigh of relief when I finally got around to opening the box.  Whew!  It’s from the “Party Family”. :) 

I love it!  Meeya picked it and it’s by Maya Angelou.  Now that’s just the formula for a great read.

Thank you, MrPartyBoy, MrsPartyGirl and LittlsMsPartyGirl!  Mmmmwah!

#2  My second present came in the mail on the 8th of July.  It’s from the US Government.  Read:  STIMULUS PAYMENT.  Woohoo!  It’s more like a present for the three of us.  Instant pocket money for our California trip!  The actual check arrived on the 11th of July, the very day we were to fly off to CA.  Double Woohoo! :D

#3  My 3rd present also came in the mail.  It arrived on the same day as the Stimulus Check.  It’s from my Holland-based friend, Thess! 

Lovelly, lovely flowers!  You can’t really expect anything less from Holland’s gardens. :D  Thess managed to make a side trip to Thailand and sent me a Tuk Tuk magnet!  How cute!  Hee hee.

“Dearest Rowena”…tama ba naman ‘yun?  Kidding.  Thank you, Thess!  Mmmmwah!

#4  My Tita Baby got me this before we headed back to their house from Mammoth (the 14th of July)…

…a Coach pouchette.  I was going to buy it for myself because I needed it for “something”, but she  snatched it away from me and paid for it.  Had I known, I would have gotten something a lot bigger…like a good-sizedl bag.  Hahaha!  :P  Thank you, Tita Baby!

#5  I received gift #5 on the 15th of July.  It’s from cousin Rina…

It’s a “Stress Relief” Showcase from one of my favorite shops,  Bath and Body Works.  Perfect!  I could never have enough lotion and shower gels.  I think I might need professional help already!  Hahaha!  I managed to bring this home as is…basket, plastic wrapper, green bow and all! :D  Thank you so much, Rins!  Ahlahvet!

#6  Present No.6 is from my former co-worker and good friend, Vanne.  She gave it to me when we met for dinner on the 18th…

It’s very Vanne…very kikay.  Hee hee!  I like it.  A. LOT.  Thank you, Vanne!  Mmmmwah!

#7  When we got back from Cali, we continued with the partying until the 20th at my friend, Bet’s house.  That officially marked the end of my looong birthday celebration.  Ate Aileen (Bet’s sister and my adopted big sister) and her beautiful girls (my adopted nieces), gave me these…

…new tops!  Yey!  I love the colors and the fact that they fit.  Nyahahaha!  Thank you, Ate Aileen, Winona, Jezie and Ren!  :)

#8  Bet gave me these…

…10,000 calories two boxes of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory chocolates.  I shared them with Hubby and Abby.  I always make sure I spread the calories.  Hahaha.  They were utterly heavenly!  Bet and her twins, Miyo and Mico also gave me a beautiful card…

I had to laugh at Mico’s message, “…be good or you will be in trouble.”  Hahaha!

Thank you, Bet and the Wonder Twins! :)

#9  Now, we come to the last, but definitely not the least.  So, what did Hubby and Abby give me?  I had three choices really: 1) a new bag; 2) a new “toy”; or 3) a telephoto lens for my camera.  Baghags and photo enthusiasts will think me crazy.  I picked #2! :D  My new toy is shiny and the color is crimson and black.  It’s not a red convertible sports car.  I wish! :)  It’s a Nintendo DS Lite!

Whaaaat?!  Another gaming thingy?!  Well, we can’t really take the Wii to the car.  And hubby has his PSP.  Abby’s got a portable DVD player.  I should have a portable toy, too! ;)

Now, I can play Guitar Hero anytime, anywhere…

I am so loving the songs for the DS version of Guitar Hero.  They are more MY generation.  Hahaha!  And some of the game’s functions, like star power,  can be voice-activated.  It’s what kept me busy when we were in Arlington, TX. :D  I only have two games for now.  The second one is Brain Age 2, which I bought as a gift to myself.  I didn’t realize my brain is sooo old already.  I really need to train it.  I now appreciate Sudoku and I might just turn into a Sudoku addict.  Hee hee!  :D

Guess where I keep my new toy…

O ha?! :)  So sophisticatedly cute, diba?!  Hahaha!  I was really buying the pouchette for the DS. :D  A cool toy needs a cool safety pouch. ;)

Would you look at that!  That’s a lot of loots!  To think I even told Meeya, I wasn’t expecting anything from anybody.  It turned out, this is the most number of presents I’ve had in a very long time.  And as I’ve said in an earlier post, I received a lot of presents in other forms as well…emails, comments, text message and phone calls.  Such wonderful presents, all of these!  Again, thanks to each and everyone of you who made my 33rd birthday such a blast!  Mmmmwah!

Long entry ahead. Proceed at your own risk. :D

Hello, hello, hello! :) That has got to be the worst case of vacation hang-over to hit me. Ever! We were in Arlington/Dallas on July 9 and 10, flew to California on the afternoon of the 11th and came back home on the 19th. Each day we spent in California was so packed that I needed another vacation when we got back, one where I can just sleep in and do nothing. Close to nothing, at least! ;) That was how tired I was. I don’t know how hubby did it but come Monday, the 21st, he was in his office, just across the hall from our bedroom, at exactly 8am.

I was hoping to get back to blogging that very Monday after we got back, but the attempts turned out to be futile. I always just ended up sitting in front of the computer, staring blankly at the monitor, which displayed the “Write (new) Post” page. I dreaded logging on to Bloglines because I knew blog updates have piled up and I’ll have some major backtracking to do. I did manage to post entries for Litratong Pinoy last Thursday. That turned out to be the power switch I was looking for. Hee hee. And I’m back. :D

Here’s an updated list of what I’ll be blogging about in the next few days…everyday if I can help it.

1. birthday in Arlington & Dallas, Texas (done!)
2. birthday presents (done!)
3. my journey into the twilight saga (done!)
4. california vacation
4.1 reunion with “J” and first evening with relatives (done!)
4.2 Mammoth and Yosemite (done!)
4.3 Universal Studios
4.4 Disneyland & California Adventure
4.5 Santa Monica and Marina Del Ray
4.6 Dinner with friends
4.7 Malibu and Hollywood
4.8 Night Out without Abby

5. Abby’s new hairdo (done!)

Does that seem like a lot? I’ve done a holiday saga before so I know it can be done. Hee hee. Let me start ticking off items from the list right this minute.

oOo

Arlington/Dallas, TX

For as long as I can remember, hubby and I have always treated our birthdays as holidays, a no-work day. I knew that would change somehow when we moved to Texas last year. But before April 2008, hubby’s workload has been quite manageable (too manageable really!) which was why during my birthday last year, he was able to kinda, uhm, sneak out before work hours was officially over. Hee hee.

This year was different. Hubby has been terribly busy with work since April. And on the 9th and 10th (my birthday) of July he had to be in Arlington, TX . Because I am now such a grown-up, I didn’t want him to miss those meetings. ;) Promise! So we would be together on my birthday, he convinced me (not that I needed a lot of convincing!) to just join him in Arlington, with Abby, of course. Hee hee. Anyway, he only had to have dinner with his bosses on the 9th (some flew from Japan) and attend a meeting with them around lunch time on the 10th. The rest of the time, he will be working from the hotel room. And work he did, I tell you!

We stayed at the Marriott, well, Residence Inn Marriott. Nyahahaha! :P I love Arlington. It’s a very quiet place. It would easily be my 2nd top choice for cities to live in Texas. I love our room, which had a working kitchen, an office desk, a small living area with a fireplace, two queen beds and a huge bathroom. I told hubby that as long as I had internet connection, I’ll be fine and he wouldn’t have to worry about me. Hee hee.

We all had something to keep us busy and before hubby headed off to his dinner at Benihana (not fair!) he joined me and Abby for an early dinner at the hotel’s lobby. The hotel has cocktail hour everyday for hotel guests and the night we were there, it was grill night. Abby and I enjoyed our free but filling dinner. The buffet spread included grilled burgers, chicken, tacos, chips, lemonade, and dessert.

That’s pretty much it for our first day in Arlington. Here are pics from that day…

Oh yeah! How could I forget?! Abby pulled a stunt that day which I just have to share with you. See the twin beds in the slide show? Hubby and I were busy with our laptops, he doing legitimate work, and I doing my brand of legitimate work, when hubby happened to look up just in time to catch Abby jump from one bed to the other. “Abby!” he gasped. Startled, I looked up, too. But Abby was already on the other bed looking oh so innocent staring back at hubby and me as if she didn’t do anything wrong.

Hubby (still looking at Abby): Nakita mo ba yung ginawa?! Tumalon papunta dun sa kabilang kama?!

Unexpectedly, he broke into a smile…

Hubby: Good job, Abby!

Me: Don! (I exclaimed with a disapproving look).

Realizing the error in what he said, hubby tried to recover and immediately added with a fake frown, “But don’t do that again!” Hmp!

On my birthday, we were holed up in the hotel the whole day except for the few minutes we went out to buy take-out food for lunch for Abby and me. If I were anything like the old me, I probably would have thrown a little tantrum. Hee hee. But the new very grown-up me was a very good sport. And besides, I’ve got a few things that kept me busy. I’ll tell you about them tomorrow.

We left the hotel a little after 5pm and had dinner at the Galleria Dallas. It was after Christmas the last time we were there and that time, my Mom was with us (Hi Mommy!). We had dinner at Mi Cocina afterwhich we headed straight home.

Yes, by our standards, it was an uneventful birthday. Yet, I was fine with it. Besides, it was just the beginning of several days of partying. ;)

Here are pics from Dallas…

Tomorrow, we’ll open presents plus maybe tick off one other item from the list. :)

Have a great week!

Mabuhay! :D  Hindi ako nakalahok sa LP noong nakaraang linggo dahil nagbakasyon ang aming pamilya.  Nais kong humingi ng paumanhin sa mga dumalaw sa aking lahok para sa temang ”Balingkinitan” at hindi ko pa naibabalik ang inyong pagbisita.  Babawi po ako ngayong linggo.

Pagsasabayin ko na lamang ang tema noong nakaraang linggo at ang sa linggong ito. :)

oOo

LP #16:  Luntian

Ang mga sumusunod na larawan ay kuha sa Sea World noong Abril.  Lorikeet ang tawag sa ibon sa mga larawan.  Nakapagpakita na ako noon ng mga larawan ng mga lorikeet dito ngunit pula ang kulay ng kanilang balahibo.  Inilaan ko talaga ang mga larawang ito ng ibong  may luntiang balahibo para sa temang ito ng LP. :D

oOo

LP #17:  Sa Gawing Kanluran

Sa gawing kanluran ng Estados Unidos…sa West Coast kung tawagin, matatagpuan ang California.  Doon kami nagbakasyon mula 11-19 Hulyo.  Ang larawang ito ang isa sa aking mga paborito…

Kuha ito mula sa loob ng umaandar na sasakyan ilang minuto makalipas ang ika-6 ng gabi.  Papunta kami sa Mammoth, isang popular na destinasyon (bundok) sa panahon ng Winter dahil sa snow.  Matagal ko nang inaabangan ang pagkakataong makuhanan ang ganitong sinag ng araw.  Kaya naman kahit nasa loob ako ng sasakyan ay nagkuha pa rin ako ng litrato. :)

May isa pa akong lahok DITO.

Magandang Huwebes sa inyong lahat!