LAUGH FOR THE DAY

One day while Vince was at work, he emailed me asking my help to review a letter of recommendation he wrote for their program coordinator, Marsha, whom much to his dismay, is being transferred to a new post at the Hershey Medical Centre. Not that I am a better writer than him (in fact, it is the opposite), it is just that, you know, it is always better to have another set of eyes to proof.  He said in his email, "Patulong po ako mag-edit ha? Parang kulang kasi eh. Thanks sa suggestion and help love!"  So, I read it in passing; and I thought it looked perfectly fine until I got to a line that had me snickering. When we eventually had the chance to talk on the phone, I told him that the letter is good except for one which I felt needed rephrasing if possible. I prompted him to read some parts of the letter aloud to me:

"Marsha has been a great resource person during my residency... She answers my questions and queries in a timely manner and she is always ready to help me in whatever way she can. I am saddened to see Marsha depart..."

I had to stop him right there, "That's it, mahal. Can we rephrase that last part? Para naman kasing namatay na si Marsha nyan eh. 'Kinalulungkot ko ang kanyang pagpanaw.'" After pointing that out, I let go of a laugh I had been suppressing all that time. Hahahaha ! As if not convinced myself, I asked Vince, "Is it just me? Or that's how it really sounded? Mahal, you are supposed to write a letter of recommendation not a eulogy." LOL.

I was relieved to hear Vince agree and laugh over it, too. So, I left it up to him to rephrase it ;) 

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*03/26/11 - Dinner at The Hotel Hershey Harvest Restaurant with Vince and his co-residents, Mon and Wilkie and his wife, Anne... and there in the midst is Marsha :) *

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OF BABY BUMPS AND MUFFIN TOPS

One fine sweet nothings-night:

KAREN: (worrying about pregnancy-related weight gain, and being the unreasonable, overly self-conscious me) "So mahal, paano yan pag nabuntis ako, eh di lalaki na yung tiyan ko?"

VINCE: (quickly responding in a serious conscientious tone) "Don't worry, love, we'll buy you new clothes."

KAREN: *toinks*

~ end of conservation ~

Well, if I may, allow me to explain why I got dumbstruck.

I actually had the instinctive urge to blurt out, "Wait, that's not what I was expecting to hear." I was hoping Vince would comfort and assure me by saying something like, "Don't worry, love, your tummy will be as flat as crepe as soon as you deliver the baby."  By offering to buy me new (which by the way translates to upsized) clothes, it was pretty obvious he was clueless to where I was coming from or heading to. On the other hand, the idea of SHOPPING (which you probably have already figured by now) got me all excited and thrilled, so in the nick of time, I decided to just shut up and mum to myself, "Oo nga naman, may point nga naman sya.  Syempre pag nabuntis, pwede ba namang hindi lumaki ang tiyan ? Duh." LOL.

Retail therapy rules ! Yebah.

LIFE IS LIKE WINE, THE OLDER YOU GET, THE SWEETER YOU GET

May 19, 2010 fell on a weekday; Wednesday to be exact. Unfortunately, Vince was on-call that day, so we decided to celebrate it on the weekend before the actual date. Since I would be entering the third decade of my life, plus it would be our 17th month together as a couple, and the recent promotion I got at work, we thought of doing something fancy. We decided to go fine dining and made a reservation for two at Studio Cafe - Four Seasons Hotel. I was very much excited about it. It would be our first time together to try something like this. I was totally hyped up, and so was he.

Friday night came, I was all giddy and excited. I couldn't wait to get out of work that day especially when Vince told me he would be arriving in Toronto earlier than expected. For long distance lovers, every reunion is sweet. Post 24-hour call, he drove his way up from Harrisburg to Toronto. Luckily, I was able to pull myself out of work in time to tidy my apartment and at least get a shower before he got here. I took him to dinner at Asian Legend, where the Magic Onions hang out every Friday after volleyball games. The food was as usual great, and Vince loved it :)

The next day, Saturday, Vince cooked adobo for me while I vegetated in the morning and chatted with Mcdo and Pakoykoy online. Lunch time, we headed to Scarborough to watch Iron Man 2. After the movie, we went to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping, but changed our mind when we saw the long cashier queues. It was already past 4pm and our reservation at Four Seasons was for 6pm. We still needed to freshen up and change, so we decided to just head home.

My original wardrobe plan consisted of black pants and blouse top, but when he told me earlier in the week what he was going to wear, I had to mentally frisk my closet for an outfit that would match his. Suddenly, I remembered this little brown dress I bought on sale at Suzy Shier, that had been sitting there for a long time now, waiting for her chance to be fashioned. Voila, the perfect time for her to shine. I put on the dress, applied make-up, and wore my pair of Aldo killer heels. Needless to say, Vince looked dashing in his dress shirt, tie and dress pants ♥

Prix fixe at the restaurant was classy. However, it was the moment of being together with my very special someone that made the dinner wonderful. We ordered two glasses of wine. He had white; I had white and red. At some point in the three-meal course before we had our desserts, he left to go to the washroom. I was kind of getting worried how he was as it took him a while to come back. I was just surprised when he kissed me on my cheek, handed me a blue-ribboned gift, and greeted me, "Happy birthday, love." I eagerly opened his present for me and was stoked to see he got me a fancy bracelet watch.

The waiter then served dessert, poured a glass of red wine, and asked if we wanted anything. My body was not reacting well with the wine. I was already palpitating and even Vince could tell that I was flushed. I asked for tea thinking that it would somehow clear my system. I mixed it with milk and sugar and had two cups of it. I could feel the wine's effect on me, yet I was holding it in my system well.

Sad to say, not for very long though. Just when Vince got the bill, my head started to pound, my heart felt like it would jump out of my chest, and I began to feel really sick. I asked Vince if he could bring me to the washroom. The waiters saw me stood up, so they came over thinking we're already leaving, and one of them even tried to put on my jacket to me. I walked briskly trying to head out; Vince was trying to explain to the waiters that we're not leaving yet, and that we're just going to the bathroom, that I was nauseated... and then the next thing I knew, I was so lightheaded, the room was spinning, it blacked out, voices going faint on the background, and then Vince had to sit me down.

The subsequent event was mortifying! I was trying to psyche myself, mind over matter, convincing myself I would not throw up, but there are times when you're body won't be defeated by your mind. The short of it, since I was very lightheaded and almost fainted, I couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom, that I threw up the three-course dinner I had right there inside the busy restaurant of a classy four-star hotel. I was the biggest mess ever. There was vomitus on my hair, on my little brown dress, on my to-die for heels, on my leather jacket, all over me. As if one humiliation was not enough, after a brief moment of peace, I erupted again and threw up the second time. What a way to punctuate the night! I heard Vince explained to the restaurant staff who had been inquiring for their records purposes, "She's my girlfriend. It's actually her birthday. I'm visiting from the States. We're celebrating... It's the wine." Please blame it on the wine.

I finally had the courage to get up and leave the place. Vince accompanied me to the bathroom so at least I can wash my hair. I stunk so sourly bad, Manang Housekeeper would not stop spraying her bottle of freshener inside the bathroom. Uggghhh !! I wish I had Harry Potter's Cloak of Invisibility during that time. I wanted to go back to my mother's womb. If only I could vanish at the snap of my fingers. Too bad, I am a muggle, so I had to walk to the parking lot with whatever dignity that is left of me, all wet and stinky, feeling cold inside and out, morbidly embarassed, and sad that I ruined our supposedly Eric-Clapton-WONDERFUL-TONIGHT-evening. Yes, that would have been the perfect music, only if I did not ruin it! Inside the car, I asked Vince to turn the heater on. He reclined my seat and wrapped his jacket around me. I was still in a daze during our ride back home.

The following day, while Vince and I were having a Sunday brunch at Cora's, I apologized once again for what happened at Studio Cafe the night before. He was totally cool with it. He told me not to worry about it anymore, as things like that really do happen. He drove me to church afterwards and then off he went to Pennsylvania.

Later that night, while having our Skype conversation, he sent me the pictures taken from his Iphone. Vince complimented how lovely our photos are. As I haven't gotten over my embarassment yet, my reply to him was, "Yes, because those pictures were taken before I turned into a disaster." And then for the nth time, he said, "Okay lang yun, love... Wag mo ng isipin yun," and then he added, "Ang naalala ko lang dyan eh yung mga ngiti mo..." His final remark made getting over it a whole lot easier for me.

I bet you already guessed what my 30th birthday resolution was. You're right, NO WINE ever for me. That is a no-brainer. If you'd ask me what my 30th birthday wish was, hmmmm... In the future, if for some reason, there comes a time or a situation in that I would not be able to hold myself well, I wish for Vince to comfort me the same way he did and hear him say to me again, "Ang naalala ko lang dyan eh yung mga ngiti mo."

I love you, Vince. I pray that we'll get sweeter and sweeter together as the days go by... and forever soon ♥