The Heart's Lifetime Occupation

When people talk about challenges, nothing beats those that deal with matters of the heart. Suffice it to say, it is almost impossible to take things lightly for no matter how hard one tries to elude the impact it presents, people will always get emotional one way or the other.

Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love. And LOVE is a celebration of one’s deep feeling of compassion for someone who deserves it. Being in love is one of life’s amazing experiences that one can have. And those who have not experienced falling in love definitely missed out on something great.

Being in love should be a lifetime occupation.

It may be an understatement though, but I believe that if people should work hard to stay in love... then, is it not an occupation or what? For, after all, people are continuously finding ways to express what’s in their hearts and to attain it, is one hell of a job!

Remote Party Planning

I'm back!!! Yes, I have been A.W.O.L for a long time, so what else is new? "I'm too busy" - is not just an understatement of my real predicament, it's the ultimate lie! Anyway, I just don't feel like blogging. I did make several attempts but inspiration was nowhere to be found. But now that I am back it only means one thing. I'm inspired!

Yes, I'd been busy event planning for my dearest cousin Joey's birthday celebration in Los Angeles, California. No, I didn't go to California. Oh, how I wish. I just organized her party remotely. And yes, there is such a thing. I organized her party with the aid of SKYPE.

GS Cookies Month?

I'm not really sure if there is such a thing as Girl Scout cookies month but I'm pretty sure that every year around this time, I get my order of boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I love them and my loved ones love them too.

So this year I got my fair share of that most-awaited cookies.

Japol's Maine Adventure - Day One

After all the trouble that my baby brother caused me, I was still so excited to see him and show him around my "other" home - Maine.

@ Parsonsfield Seminary

He arrived about half an hour before midnight. Since the following day was a Monday and my itinerary for him was already messed up we just went home from the airport instead of driving straight to LL Bean which was the original plan if his flight wasn't cancelled the day before.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

I supposed to run today. I signed up for another 5K which is scheduled for today. But alas, it was raining ice pellets here in my neck of the woods. So the organizers postponed it for next month. Grrrr!

I can't blame them, the road is icy. Everything is icy.  And just to let you see what we are dealing with, here are some photos I took this week.

Between Shopping and Bonding

It was a night before Christmas... and I was exhausted. I wrapped presents until 12 midnight. I had to wrap a minimum of 5 different presents for Hubby, Brandon, my 2 step-daughters and my in-laws. I already downsized the number of presents I would be giving to each one of them this year because budget is really tight. However, it was still taxing just to wrap the presents.

It was Christmas Eve and earlier I was with my only Pinay BFF here in Maine, rounding up some stores in town for the last minute shopping for our Christmas presents for loved ones.

Christmas Eve is always the best time go shopping. No panic [that is at least my personal opinion] and no rush. I get what I get and that's all about it. Well, I already did a few shopping right after Christmas last year and I was just really there to drive my friend because she needed a ride.

Oh well, what do you expect? It was a nice balmy day, the sun was out, with no frost... and BFFs like us surely need to bond to strenghten their friendship. And there is no other way to do that than... shopping!

Installing Husband 1.0

This is not a new post. I actually posted it already here years ago. I was checking my emails earlier and suddenly bumped into this and I realized hmmmm.... why not post it again.

So here you go, I am posting it again to remind me and housewives out there that we have choices. We can choose to be happy or sad. Whatever choice me make, we are the only one who will be affected. And taking a little joke is not just fun but a therapy that might somehow help us bounce back to our old self.

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as
·        Romance 9.5 and
·        Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as

·        NBA 5.0,
·        NFL 3.0  and
·         Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

·        Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate.


DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
·        Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while  
·        Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the  Guilt 3.0 update.
·         If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to  Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.
·        Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend
·        Cooking 3.0 and
·        Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Babe!
Tech Support

Yeah, being a housewife is hard especially when things are not going our way. But we need to remember we made "the choice" to be with that important person in our life. And with that choice comes "faith" that we did the right thing. So let's just take it easy.

June Birthday Party 2

Two weeks after my Sweetest's birthday celebration, we had B's 12th Birthday Party. This year I did a MineCraft Theme party.

Just like last year's Dino Video War theme party, I made his birthday invitation which I sent online this time since we don't have much time to mail them anymore.

This year, instead of candy bar I made "S'mores Bar" so we can make our own s'mores.

I got 3 different sizes of marshmallows.

And a propane lamp to toast the marshmallows. The kids enjoyed making s'mores and so did my Sweetest.

And just like every birthday party he had in the past, I made personalized party favors.

I made some "Microwave S'mores Kits" for the guests to bring home. I found something like this in Pinterest. But I made my own version.

I put together graham cracker, Hershey's chocolate bar and marshmallows in a plastic favor baggie and tied it with a string and a special instruction card in MineCraft theme too.

I also made some personalized chocolate candy bar wrappers in MineCraft Theme (same as his invitation card) and wrapped them in Hershey's chocolate bars.

Then I revised the writings on the back of the wrapper. Notice the part where you see the "Ingredients". LOL.

AND I was able to commission my Sweetest to make me a watermelon jug to put the lemonade. I supposed to make the watermelon juice or a concoction of such but I didn't have time anymore so I just put lemonade in it.

B's sisters made The Crawler Cake. As always, they come up with something really awesome and yes, something that B can relate to.

Of course we need candles to blow. I didn't want to ruin the cake so I came up with gumballs in mason jars and put the candles in it so B can blow them to make a wish.

June Birthday Party 1

Yes, this is a very very long overdue post of my Sweetest's birthday party. As I have mentioned in my previous post, I will have two separate posts for that June birthday celebrations so I can share how it turned out.

So here we go. This year we [my stepdaughters and I] decided to make it simple, small and intimate. It was so small that there were only 6 people who attended, including the birthday celebrant. B was not there because he was with his mother.

As usual, the girls made an awesome cake for their father. It was a blue fondant cake with hand-painted flower design.

Aside from the fondant cake, H baked some chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were delishhhhh. I had 3 of them in one sitting. shhhh.

Compared to last year's celebration, the desert table is small and simple too. I just made a fruit bouquet as the center piece of the table.

While, I arranged the veggie bar in the center of the dining table that served as center piece too. I put the veggies in individual desert stemmed glasses that served as containers.

Having the salad bar in the center of the dining table was as good way to serve the veggies. It was more convenient for us to fix our salad that way when it is at arm's length.

As for the banner, I didn't make a long one that says "happy birthday". I just make letter cut-outs of my Sweetest's name and laid them down on the desert table for a change.

AND yes, I made his favorite bacon wrapped scallops for appetizers.

I think this is the best party we done so far because we didn't do a lot of preparation compared to last year's.

The Gregoires went picking

Last Wednesday my Sweetest didn't go to work and since it is still vacation for me and B, I decided to plan a blueberry[slash]raspberry picking for the three of us. Good thing my Sweetest didn't really have a plan to go anywhere that day so he said yes.

raspberries

blueberries

We went back to Libby's and Son U-Pick in Limerick because it was shouted out in their facebook page that raspberry picking is open for the day.

back to the orchard

We came a little late because my Sweetest wanted to finish his coffee first. So when we got there the raspberries were all picked out already. But I insisted to see the bushes hoping I would be able to find even just half a pint of raspberries. I just need to have raspberry. It isn't that hard to ask, is it? [wink*]

my Sweetest and B getting ready to be transported to the blueberry/raspberry fields

the view of the raspberry field from top of the hill

So yes, I could see from top of the hill that the raspberry field was already deserted. But when we got there, there was one old lady patiently picking some berries. I decided to go to the farthest end of the field where the bushes are all low and smaller.

the only soul I found in the field combing the bushes for some sweet ripe raspberry

And yes, I found some ripe ones enough to fill a half a pint container. And I was happy.

there you are

and there are more to go back to

At the other side of the field, my boys were busy picking blueberries. My Sweetest and B are not big fans of raspberries but both are fanatics of blueberries so they really went with me on a different mission.

my boys picking some blueberries

Hubby picking the ripe ones

So yeah, we had fun at the orchard and enjoyed our berries.

the pick of the day

A pint of blueberries and half a pint of raspberries... mission accomplished. The Gregoires are happy.

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This is a SPECIAL POST for MAINE Attraction... a regular Blog Series that features everything and anything about my home - Maine.

Not just another Anniversary

Six years and counting. Yes, we are celebrating our 6th year wedding anniversary today. And we celebrate it like any ordinary day.

Unlike last year where we celebrated it separately... him - here in Maine and I - in the Philippines, this year we are together again. Maybe next time we will be able to celebrate it outside of Maine... together... on a cruise? Dreaming here!

Anyway, since I don't find time to blog as often as I plan to, it's about time to do another open letter to my sweetest. Here you go!

Dearest Sweetest,

I can't believe that we have been together for 6 years now. It may not be long enough compared to other couples who might be celebrating their silver or golden or platinum wedding anniversaries but compared with Eva Longoria and Tony Parker [who were married on the same date we did... 07-07-07] we did a great job reaching this far. wink*** And I am grateful that we are still holding on despite all the trials.

We did have our fair share of ups and downs and countless disagreement from choice of movies to watch to places to eat breakfast and we do have tons of arguments over silly things from my VS shopping galore to your gold panning fixation - yet still we manage to reach this far without involving the cops or legal counsels. Woot... woot... Of course I'm only joking. LOL

Ours is not a perfect marriage but it is perfectly made for imperfect people like US and I thank God for helping us keep the promise we made 6 years ago. I thank God for you because I believe you are the only person on earth who has the tolerance for my craziness. And yes, I thank God for having you in my life because you are one of the reasons why I am crazy. [double winks***]

So, it's our wedding anniversary and I am surprised that I didn't get angry or worried or sensitive when I didn't get a bouquet of flowers from you or a card that said "you love me and that you are crazy about me"... nor a familiar baggie with purple tissue paper that said "G.M. Pollack" with a box of "pandora charms" in it... or even just an ordinary and seemingly harmless candy bar. How is that possible? Well, 6 years is probably enough proof that material things are just that... materials and our love for each other is more than enough. Or is it? LOL

Yeah, we have been together for 6 years now and we were able to stand the test of time and material things. Thank you for sticking with me. I really appreciate it. And yeah, as far as you are concern... you're welcome! I love you more than you ever know.

Love you always,


Your Sweetie

Busy Mode

I was out of touch again for more than a couple of weeks ago because I help my step-daughter with her wedding preparation.

 

One of the Invitations I custom-made for the couple.

No I am not complaining. In fact I loved it because I was able to put my creative side into action again. Here is some of the things I did and I will surely come up with a series of detailed posts to discuss the wedding once I get the "go signal" from my SD.

The Invitation for the Reception.

In the Mood

Love is never having to say - you are tired. Everyday lovers should be in the mood for love no matter what the consequences are.

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