No wonder his whiskers are all curled up...

Is there anyone out there
'Cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe...

Literally.

I am having another relapse of the common cold-- I think this is the third pass. My throat hurts, and I'm getting very good at breathing through my mouth. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I sure am getting a lot of practice for this summer since if this keeps up I'm not going to have a problem trying to hold my breath underwater. Considering the fact that I'm probably better in drowning than in swimming. I've been blowing my nose off in the office, I wanted a nose replacement.

But enough of that.

I couldn't seem to find the time to post an entry these days, since I got so busy. But there's another underlying reason. Due to the fact that our company has installed in our computers some kind of a firewall, we can't access most websites. I guess there are some people who just don't know the value of responsible surfing that's why our company resorted to this drastic measure. So, I guess if you want a cure for boredom you'd rather take a long coffee break somewhere outside the office. I can't blog as often as before. And I can't view other blogs as often as before. So sorry for the late updates. I'm thinking of posting in batches-- uploading a couple of blogs at the end of the week. So those who have access to my blog, feel free to post some comments or just drop by and say 'hi', 'coz this is getting to be a lonely blog.

Not that I'm unhappy about it. I am getting quite busy nowadays, so I can't even find the time to think of a topic to post.

Hmmm... Today's my mom's birthday. And as usual, she is being so bitterly sarcastic about it. My dad bought her a birthday cake. She reacted. I got annoyed at her reaction. Oh no, not the squealy, schoolgirl-y happy reaction. Frankly, I'd be more amused (if not a bit spooked) if she reacted that way.

First thing that popped into her mind was how the heck is she going to squeeze the cake in our refrigerator. And how it will take up too much space because no one will eat it. Then the perpetual statement that she's too old for those kind of things. My sister bought her a small bouquet of flowers last Saturday. She also said the same thing-- she's too old, nobody should even bother remembering her birthday. She grew up in the province. Such tokens of affection were unheard of. And so on...

Then the one statement that just did it. She said (and I quote), "Maybe next year these [cake and flowers] are for my funeral..." No kidding-- she said that. I have no idea why she's being so sarcastic. I, for one, don't think her life's that miserable. She's just being paranoid. Anyhow, I wanted to retort that we'd all get our chance to die sooner or later, so quit it. But that's my mom. And it's her birthday. So I just snapped, "Binilhan ka na nga, nagagalit ka pa." My dad went into some extra effort just to buy her a cake, and it's just not right for her to be so ungrateful about it. I think that put some sense into her head. She sobered up. Even if a few moments later she's grumbling while squeezing the cake into the refrigerator. I guess some people just don't know how to apply the saying "it's the thought that counts" into their lives.

Man, there is not a single ounce of romance in my family. Hehehe.

My dad could be very stubborn. Yesterday, my sister asked my dad if he knows anyone from a large company that she can give her survey in Business Research to. Then my dad just launched into a big fat lecture about why we need that kind of data, when we can look up in the classifieds and more or less conclude the answers to the questionnaire. I tried to explain that we need solid proof of that, that's why my sister needs to look up companies and let them answer the questionnaire. We need cold, hard evidence. Of course, my dad said skeptically, "What are you going to do? Knock on every door of companies?" All that just for asking him to give out surveys to his business acquaintances. He seems to contradict every point others are trying to make. And to top it all off, my sister started talking while I'm not even finished explaining my point to my dad. Anyhow, we got the cue. He doesn't want to help in distributing the surveys. Point taken. I told my sister she should be careful in asking favors from my dad. She should learn how to calculate the risk of being lecture-ized.

Maybe that's why I'm just naturally loony. I'm living in a madhouse I call home.

Nevertheless, maybe this is why I learned how to appreciate the simple things in life. And acquired the right amounts of sweetness and brutality I am so well-known for.

Or maybe it's just the lack of oxygen supply into my brain. My nose is solidly stuffed.