Emily – Page 86 – Apron Strings for Emily

08 November 200813 June 2011

Show and Tell: Doin' De-butt

I actually posted this on Saturday. And really, since I’ve been out of town, I didn’t have a chance to post a Show and Tell this Sunday. So instead, I’m updating this post to make it this Sunday’s Show and Tell.

Presenting … my youngest cousin’s cotillion. Or what we call, a “Debut.” In my case … it’s de-butt! 🙂

And make sure that you peruse the other Show and Tell posts this week!

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Whew. This was a busy week.

Monday was spent catching up on the events that happened over the weekend. No … not the “social” aspect of last weekend (although I might blog about that another day). Working as an RN in the health care industry, the work never stops. Even when working for an insurance company. So as the phone calls and faxes came furiously all day Monday, there was little to no time to rest. And given that our company was closed for Election Day … well, I wanted to get everything from the weekend done by the end of Monday, so that Wednesday, I could work on everything that came in from Monday and Tuesday. So basically, my work week was spent trying to catch up from the previous couple of days. I. Hate. Work Weeks. Like That.

Yep. Me at 18. At my Debutt. With a few of my Cousins. — Yep. Me at my Debut with a few of my cousins; the same year my youngest cousin was born

Tuesday, obviously Election Day. Hubby & I tried to stay up to watch the results come in, but ended up falling asleep in bed with the T.V. still on. I swear, one minute (oh, let’s say around 11:30) Obama had 207 to McCain’s 148 (or something like that …) and the next, it’s 11:55 and the news reporter on the T.V. announces that they’re waiting for the new President-Elect Obama to give his victory speech in Chicago. And then the next minute it’s 5:30 in the morning and the T.V. is off. I’m guessing that Hubby finally turned it off when finally going to bed. Or, I turned it off in my sleep haze and don’t remember doing so. Either way, I’m seriously bummed I didn’t get to hear Obama’s speech.

(Sidenote: A week prior to the results of this election, I received one of those mass emails from one of my parents’ friends about how a vote for Obama would mean a vote against G*d … or something along those lines. And since then, I’ve been getting these “replies” from people that I don’t even know either agreeing or disagreeing to that first email. Today … I got one with this article attached to it. Grr …

And here's the Cousins 18 Years Later! — And here's the Cousins 18 yrs later!

Wednesday was obviously a repeat of Monday morning. And we all know what happened on Thursday.

Now yesterday … yesterday evening was fun. It was my youngest cousin’s cotillion. In the Philippines, it’s customary to celebrate a girl’s “coming of age” by having a “Debut” party when she turns 18. (Think “My Sup.er Sw.eet Sixteen” with a two year delay.) I had a variation of one; more of a combination of a graduation / birthday party, all while wearing a fancy shmancy dress. My youngest cousin had, what I consider more of a traditional Filipino cotillion; complete with the white ballgown, the 16 or 18 person “Cotillion Court”, and the ballroom dance routine.

She Could Be Princess Jasmine! — She Could Be Princess Ja.smi.ne!

Oh, and did I mention that her party was more elaborate than my wedding?! Uh, yeah. So much that when we got the invitation in the mail … I thought that it was actually a wedding invite! Even the banquet hall was complete with a “head table” (for my cousin and her “Court”) and chair slipcovers with baby blue satin ribbons to match her “theme.”

And the cake … !!

But really, the best part of the party was, once again, being with my cousins. One came from as far as California just to celebrate with us. And the fun that ensued was beyond incredible. As tired as I was from the past work week … I wished we could have spent more time together. Perhaps one day we’ll be able to do the “girl cousins” cruise we planned that night!

(Another Sidenote: If you ever want to see a great example of a traditional Filipino cotillion … not to mention an excellent example of growing up Filipino-American, go rent “The Debut“. It’s so “on the nose” that it totally freaked even Hubby out!)

And today? Well, today I’m finally getting a chance to relax. Hubby & I took a trip to Chicago for an extra-long weekend getaway. A much needed getaway. We’ve been busy nonstop with various activities since Labor Day and just wanted to have a moment together without any distractions. And when we got a most excellent deal on a Downtown Chi-town hotel, well we snapped up the offer. So as I type, I’m lying in our wonderful king-size bed watching my Hubby snore next to me. Oh, and I think he’s getting sick, too.

But I’m seriously okay with that. And to tell you the truth, I almost half-expected him to get sick. After all, he has had little to no sleep over the past weeks. And this is his body’s way of telling him that taking care of himself is just as important (if not more) than any other business he has.

Besides, then I wouldn’t have time to write this post.

07 November 200813 June 2011

For Everything Else …

Last Season’s Green Plaid “School Girl” Skirt with
Matching Green Sweater on clearance at Old N.avy:

"Sometimes, when I get nervous ..." — "Sometimes, when I get nervous ... "

$8.00

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Slightly used Green and White Saddle Shoes
purchased from local thrift store:

They're actually Golf Shoes!! — They're actually Green & White GOLF shoes!!

$5.00

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Two Wooden Promotional Rulers:

Free

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GettingTwo Co-workers in Nun Costumes to chase you
around the office building:

Priceless

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For everything else … There’s Laughter Card

06 November 200813 June 2011

The Quick Brown Fox …

jumped over the lazy dog …

Oh yeah … Day # 6 and I’m already stretching the dregs of creativity.

Okay, so I do have a few posts in the work but I just haven’t had time to sit down and write them “properly.” After all … I am quite the deliberative person.

So. What to talk about today? How about how I went to pick up my parents at the airport this afternoon? Except I wasn’t quite sure what time I was supposed to be there until about, oh … let’s say 1o am this morning?

Yeah. So when I went to their house to drop them OFF at the airport at the beginning of their trip … in typical Filipino fashion, my parents (well, actually my Mom) was running behind and rushing around. She left me what she thought would be their flight itinerary, but in reality … all the paper had was a list of where they would be on a day-to-day basis. Nope. No flight info anywhere.

Of course I didn’t realize this until after the had already been gone for a few days. And of course there was no way to get a hold of them, as part of their international trip included cruising the Greek Isles. And why would they think of calling me just to make sure they were okay? (Hello?! Dad with a history of a heart attack and open heart surgery within the past year … in a foreign country?!)

But … at least I knew what day they were scheduled to come back home. And what airline they were using. AND which airport they were flying in from. So, “Encyclopedia Emily” decided to go to the airline website and figure out which flights were coming into Detroit from the airport they were flying out from. And my excellent deductive skills narrowed it down to three different times.

Problem was, that they were all about 2-3 hours apart in time. So I could’ve showed up at the first time and possibly have had to wait until they showed up (which could be as long as 6 hours … can you imagine that?!) OR I could hope to G*d that they would call me before their flight takes off.

Lucky me, the latter happened. Which is good, because there’s nothing to do and no place to just hang out around our airport. And I wasn’t about to pay whatever huge amount it would be to just park my car in the lot. AND, well … I didn’t bring anything to do (read: knitting) if I had to wait around.

Okay. So that was a lame story. I promise a better one this weekend.

But maybe not tomorrow, because I’ve got my youngest cousin’s wedding … oops, I mean cotillion-slash-18th birthday party to attend.

05 November 200813 June 2011

Dream. Hope. Change.

I am overwhelmed with emotion today; brimming with excitement and hope. And all because of the results of yesterday’s Presidential Election.

I know I said that I wouldn’t let people know who I voted for simply because I felt my vote was confidential. Well, today I’m breaking from that thought. And it’s all because of how historic this moment in time is.

Let me start off by saying that regardless of who would have won this election, today … or rather last night … it would have been a historic moment. Whether it was an African-American president or a Woman Vice-President, it would have been a first for these United States.

However, being the liberal person that I’ve always been, I believe that my faithful readers would have realized who I voted for, even though I never said it “out loud.” But here it goes: I am proud to say that I voted for Barrack Obama. I am proud that I voted for a person who, amongst the two candidates, best aligned with my beliefs. I am proud that this is a person who was more attuned to the needs of my generation. You know … the generation that, in it’s current state, won’t be able to afford to retire, won’t get any social security, and won’t have any health insurance. The same person who believes that people have the right to choose.

But Obama being elected isn’t the main reason I’m feeling this incredible pride for this country. Today, I am proud to call myself American … not because terrorists invaded our soil and we survived (although, I am proud of that) … but because we, as a nation, have made one ginormous step towards breaking down stereotypes and races. And we have once again, instilled a sense of hope for our nation; that we can overcome any type of adversity to achieve change.

I know I posted this before ... but I just love this pic!

I wonder if this feeling of hope and excitement was how women other African-American’s felt when they were first granted the right to vote. That feeling of being able to make a difference. To be able to make free choices. If this is how it felt like back during that time period, then I now know why those events were emphasized so much in History classes. Because just like it was during those times, right now … at this moment, we are ready for change. ANY change.

Oh, I’m not that naive to think that by voting an African-American man into the highest executive position in our country is going to change people’s opinions and views of an entire minority race. G*d knows that it was well after women were given the right to vote when (back in 1984) an entire political party felt that a woman would be “strong” enough to carry the Vice-Presidential ticket. And to this day, there are still many discrepancies to be found in promoting equality within a work place.

But the fact of the matter is that yesterday … we, as a country, opened that door; the door which allows our children (or in most of my reader’s cases, nieces or nephews) to know that any dream is possible …

04 November 200813 June 2011

Tooth Troll

So I survived yet another teeth-cleaning without any major catastrophes. Thank goodness. And no, my dental hygienist didn’t have to dig out any candy bit between my teeth, but she did manage to find a grape peel back there.

Heh … at least it was a fruit.

Every time I go to for my routine dental appointment, I get the standard lecture. “You need to floss more often.” “Make sure you don’t drink too much acid-y drinks.” Oh, and “You’re using a soft toothbrush, right?”

The soft toothbrush was suggested a couple years ago because apparently my gums are quite “sensitive.” In other words, if I flossed more consistently, maybe they wouldn’t bleed so d*mn much. So usually I’m good about flossing for the first month or so after a trip to the dentist, but then I relapse. Fall off the Floss Wagon.

This time around though, I got a concerned look when she asked the “soft toothbrush” question. After responding yes, my hygienist tells me that I probably should start using an “ultra soft” one. First of all, never knew that they made one. And second of all, uh … why?

Well, apparently I’m brushing my teeth and gums too hard. To the point where my gums are receding too much. And where apparently I’m supposed to be feeling sensitive to hot or cold foods.

Except I’m not. Feeling sensitive spots, that is. Nor do I realize that I’m brushing my teeth and gums that hard either. Somehow, methinks that over the past six months, I’ve been taking some of my recent stress out on my mouth.

Okay, so enough about teeth.

It’s a beautiful day outside today. Perfect voting weather for Election Day. Yes, I know that sounds strange, but studies show that when the weather is nice more people are apt to go out and vote. And when the weather is bad (rainy and cold), there are many people that don’t want to go out and vote.

So yes, voting was our first order of business today. And I did wear the shirt I should have worn at work yesterday. Surprisingly, the exit-poll person ignored me. Heh.

And after running a few more errands (including the trip to the dentist), it’s time for me to chillax. Oh, and do laundry. And snuggle with the furbabies ….

Maybe that will help me from reducing the stress I obviously take out on my teeth.

(Whew … post # 4 done!)