Knowing Me, Knowing You

Tagged by Grace (Sandier Pastures).

1. What is your occupation?
mommy, wife, housekeeper, cook, nanny, .. take your pick …

2. What color are your socks right now?
no socks

3. What are you listening to right now?
keyboard

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
chocolate

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
No.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
red

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Mama

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yes. She’s a good friend.

9. Favorite drink?
… tea – lemon or other flavors!

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I used to love watching basketball even though I really don’t understand the game.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
I’ve never dyed my hair.

12. Pets?
No pets.

13. Favorite food?
Italian and Chinese

14. Last movie you watched?
(on DVD) There Will Be Blood

15. Favorite Day of the year?
Christmas! I love Christmas!

16. What do you do to vent anger?
… just being quiet and indifferent!

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
… don’t have a favorite toy.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
I love Autumn.

19. Hugs or kisses?
… lots of tender hugs and kisses .

20. What kind of pie?
… pizza .

21. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Sure.

22. Who is most likely to respond?
Hopefully, everybody.

23. Who is least likely to respond?
Those who are very very busy.

24. Living arrangements?
I am living with my husband and baby.

25. When was the last time you cried?
… a few weeks ago.

26. What is on the floor of your closet?
Shoes.

27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to?
Shaldilyn, by BFF in High School.

28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to?
Lucelle

29. Favorite smell?
Rose or Floral scents.

30. What inspires you?
Artistry and Creativity.

31. What are you afraid of?
I’m afraid of .. can’t think of anything right now.

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheeseburgers.

33. Favorite car?
…car with almost all the safety features available for a car

34. Favorite cat breed?
Tiger-ish breed of cat or Garfield 😉

35. Number of keys on your key ring?
.. probably 5.

36. How many years at your current job?
which job?

37. Favorite day of the week?
Friday

38. How many provinces have you lived in?
Zamboanga, Cebu, Nagano…

39. How many countries have you been to?
Philippines and Japan

I will be tagging Lucelle, who is always gracious to be tagged. I am also tagging Shiera, Florence, Meema, Susette and Shaldilyn.

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The Hubby Meme

I was tagged by Grace (Sandier Pastures) for this wonderful meme. I thought I’d give it a try!

How long did you date?
We met in July 18, 2003 and dated until we got marrried in Jan 8, 2004. That’s less than 6 months of dating. This is probably a short period of time, but I always say, I don’t need 7 years to know that I want to marry someone and I certainly don’t want him to take 7 years to decide to marry me.

Charlotte and Michael, Taken on Sep 7, 2003 Okaya City, Japan Click photo to enlarge.

How old is he?
…40 years old

Who eats more?
He eats more.

Who said “I love you” first?
I did. I said, “I think I’m falling in love with you”. And he said, “I know. I can tell.”

Who is taller?
I am short!

Who sings better?
I sing more often. He is playful when he sings. I want to say I sing better than him, but he has a higher score than me in our karaoke system.

Who is smarter?
Our smarts are different to compare. But I am the one the reads more …

Whose temper is worse?
His.

Who does the laundry?
I do most of the time. But he doesn’t mind doing a load.

Who does the dishes?
If the dishes are done in the evening, I did it. If it’s done very early in the morning, he did it.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
He does. He sleeps at the side where the door is at my request.

Who pays the bills?
We sit together in front of the PC when paying bills.

Who cooks dinner?
I do.

Who drives when you are together?
He does.

Who is more stubborn?
He is stubborn and I am only being honest.

Who asked who out first?
Actually, I asked him first. I asked him to join me for lunch. He said he can’t. Oh well.

Who kissed who first?
This is tricky. I asked him to kiss me, and he kissed me. I asked him to kiss me again, and he kissed me again. So he kissed me first, right?

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
He never admits that he is wrong.

Whose parents do you see the most?
I’ve never seen his parents due to geographic reason. My mother has visited Japan twice.

Who proposed?
He proposed three times.

Who is more sensitive?
I have always been a sensitive person.

Who has more friends?
I don’t know. He has his own friends and I have mine before we became together. When became together, we became boring for our friends.

Who has more siblings?
Same number of siblings. He and I have a brother and a sister.

Who wears the pants in the family?
I let him wear the pants in the family…

I am tagging Lucelle, Jacki, Kelly, Sher, Ree, Robyn, Rachel, Monika, Barb, Dee and anybody who feels like revealing a little something about your dear hubby.

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If I Were

If I were a direction I’d be South.
If I were furniture I’d be a table.
If I were a liquid I’d be tequila sunrise.
If I were a sin I’d be pride or lust 😉.
If I were a gem/stone I’d be ruby.
If I were a metal I’d be platinum.
If I were a tree I’d be mango tree.
If I were a fruit I’d be a mango.
If I were a flower I’d be a rose.
If I were weather I’d be a rainbow.
If I were a music instrument I’d be a piano.
If I were an element I’d be water.
If I were a color I’d be Red.
If I were an animal I’d be a fish .
If I were a sound I’d be a chime, on windy day.
If I were a lyric I’d be … lyrics from a love song.
If I were a song I’d be a love song.
If I were a music type I’d be alternative rock or ballad.
If I were a perfume/cologne I’d be vanilla or rose scented.
If I were a feeling I’d be … love.
If I were a book I’d be “The Mustard Seed” by Joseph Galdon, SJ .
If I were food I’d be sweet and spicy .
If I were a city I’d be Florence, Italy.
If I were a taste I’d be sweet and spicy.
If I were a scent I’d be vanilla or rose.
If I were a word I’d be charm .
If I were a verb I’d be to charm .
If I were an object I’d be a pen .
If I were a piece of clothing I’d be a sweater.
If I were a body part I’d be a hand.
If I were an facial expression I’d be a smile.
If I were a cartoon character I’d be Cinderella.
If I were a movie I’d be a romance movie.
If I were a geometrical figure I’d be a heart.
If I were one of the 4 seasons I’d be Autumn.
If I were a sentence I’d be “My life is a charmed life!”.

Got this from Skittle’s Place.

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My 5 Favorite Links

Tagged by Robyn (One of the Jones).

List five of your favorite links and then tag more people to share their links. They can be any type of link you want, such as business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want. The links rules are:
1. MUST be clean. No X-rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you 😉
5. An active link plz.

Five of my favorite links:

1. Google Reader
2. Friendster
3. Myspace
4. Google
5. Yahoo! Mail

I am tagging: Grace (Sandier Pastures), Jacki (Moving at the Speed of Life, Sher (Everything Moms), Lucelle (E-coffeehouse), and Shiera (Bisdak Babbles).

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Matthew Blogs Too

Matthew is tagged by Pristine from Sandier Pastures to reveal eight random things about himself. He has been wanting to blog ever since so I let him take over the keyboard this time. His typing is not legible yet so I did some translations. Here it goes.

1. djlljipkpkio pookopopo
   • I’m 17 months, I’m a big boy now. I don’t like Mommy holding my hands when we are walking outside. It cramps my style.
2. 4ewdedxxde d4ee3 c x2 32 3
   • I like bathtime. I like the splash when I drop the soap bottle to the water.
3. eredcdcv c vcdedf r
   • I taste-test everything I get my hands on, and everything needs to be washed after that, so I throw them to the sink or bath tub.
4. efr fcdfrdf df
   • My Daddy and I think it’s funny that Mommy follows me around the house with hand vacuum cleaner. I am not that messy, really, just a few crumps here and there.
5. 9909090 990990 90
   • At the playground, I like the swing especially with Daddy, walk around and inspect some acorns. But Mommy and Daddy don’t take me to the playground when the big kids are around. They’re afraid the big kids might step on me. They don’t believe I can take them.
6. eee des wzds xdc
   • I got sick riding airplanes. I puked on Mommy at our flight on our back to Japan from our vacation in the Philippines. (Sorry Mommy.)
7. aaaaaaaaaaa
   • I like commercials on TV. I stop what I’m doing when commercials are on. Commercials are good for my short attention span.
8. opkpku
   • I always want to flaunt my cute  Mongolian Spotted buttocks, that’s why I remove my diaper all the time.

We are tagging Emma of Moving at the Speed of Light, Yohan of Heart of Rachel, Natalie and Will of Cristy’s Blog, Jeremy of One of the Jones and all the tots out there who are just screaming for blog debut.

Meet other tots: Pristine, Connor, Baby Bug, Katelyn, Emma, …

Click for more about Matthew.

This is Charmed Life’s 100th post.

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About Me, About Christmas

I got this nice meme from Grace or Sandier Pastures.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
He supervises the wrapping of the gifts. So many elves help him!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
colored on tree, white lights all around

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The day after American Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
No favorites. I can try any holiday dishes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
I think when we were counting our chocolates from Santa. I can clearly remember being happy and seeing my parents’ happy faces.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Santa Claus was revealed to me … <Read more>

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
In the philippines, we open gifts during the family Christmas party, usually before or at Christmas Eve. But right now, with my own family, we open gifts at Christmas morning!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Our Christmas tree is decorated with all multi-colored balls and lights, picture ornaments from every year of Christmas together, and ornaments we received as gifts.

11. Snow? Love it or Dread it?
I like snow through a glass window from inside a warm room while sipping hot chocolate!

12. Can you ice skate?
No.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Yes.

14. What’s the most exciting thing about the Holidays for you?
The Christmas spirit! Everyone seems to be happy and nice at Christmas time!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
No favorites.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Everything we do together as a family is my favorite tradition.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel in white garment …

18. Which do you prefer – giving or receiving?
Both. I am always delighted by gifts from me or for me.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Little Drummer Boy …

20. Candy canes?
Sure, as a decoration! I decorated the Christmas tree with candy cane once. I plan to decorate gifts with candy canes too … maybe next year!

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Green Christmas

I got this from Grace of Sandier Pastures!

What is your favorite Christmas gift?
My husband gave me my engagement ring on Christmas Eve!

What is your best memory of Christmas?
So many!

Depending upon where you live, do you have a hot or cold Christmas?
I have experienced both. Right now, it’s going to be cold Christmas!

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real?
Never had a real tree for a Christmas Tree, but as I was growing up, my mother would use little plants and we would hang ornaments on it! But I have to admit, I prefer the fake tree!

What is your favorite Carol?
Little Drummer Boy! It’s Hubby’s favorite Christmas carol!

What is your favorite Christmas Dinner?
I have no favorites. but i like to eat holiday food!

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas?
All the time…

Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts?
Yes! 😉

I am also tagging all those who loves Christmas!

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Random Facts About Me

Instructions: When tagged, you have to link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules just before your list, then list eight random facts about yourself. At the end of your post, you must tag and link to eight other people.

Shiera of Bistak Babbles have tagged me to list Eight Random Facts About me. I took a long time completing the list but it was fun sorting out facts about me that I want to spill out.

• I like plants. I have a few plants. My husband gave me a plant for Valentine’s Day in 2005. It’s still alive!

• I don’t swim at all. I never learned to swim eventhough we lived walking distance from the beach.

• Between movies and books, I prefer movies! I think, in general, best-selling novels turned into movies are good. However, I will not read the book until after I have seen the movie. I don’t want to diminish my movie-watching experience by having read the book and having known the story. But really, I rarely catch up with books anyway. I’d rather watch a movie over and over.

• I am an Army Brat. My father was in the Philippine Army. We live in a village beside an Army Post. Most of my childhood friends and playmates are from military families.

• I like to sing! I’ve always wanted to be a band singer.

• I can’t have a lot of coffee in a day. Coffee has a not-so-pleasant effect on me.

• I have trouble learning a new language or dialect. I spoke Tagalog at home and English in school. Because I lived in Zamboanga for a long time, I could understand a little Chavacano but I don’t speak it. When I came to Cebu for college, I had to learn Cebuano or Bisaya. After 3 months of living in Cebu, all my 5 roommates who all speak in Cebuano and have never spoken in Tagalog before they met me, already talked and conversed in Tagalog while I had not yet learned Cebuano. Well, I learned Cebuano in time, but I never sounded authentic.* With the Japanese language, let me say – I get by in Japan by avoiding any interaction that will require me to speak the language!

• I am so addicted to blogging!

Get to know more facts about me, click 99 Things About Me.

I am tagging:

Susette (Take It or Leave It), my most mysterious friend, I am daring you to spill random intimate details about you. 😉

Jessica (Chasing Stars), my dear sister, I think it’s about time to add a new post in your blog.

Lucelle (Ellecul’s Nook), my dear friend and lovely host to my ‘mommy get-away’. I didn’t get to know you as much as I could when I had a chance while we were still working in the same place, (I was busy dating!) so I’m taking this opportunity…

The New Parent: Raising Excellent Kids, I read about your parenting tips but not much about you.

Sher (Everything Moms), my new found blogging friend and Jenna (The World of Jenna), my partner in the Christmas Ornament Exchange. I’d like to get to know you more without going thru your archives if possible. 🙂

*Background Information: There are over 170 language/dialects in the Phillippines. Each region or province in the Philippines has its own dialect.

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Five Missing Links

Five Missing Links Tag Instructions: 

• Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given below.
• Tag others to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.
• Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments

I have been tagged by The New Parent to do Five Missing Links, where I am to feature five blogs from my archive that best relate to the specific topics.

Link 1 – FAMILY : Peanut And Halloween
Matthew’s First Halloween Party …

Link 2 – FRIEND : My RealAge 
The RealAge plan to keep friends and loved-ones stay healthy and young …

Link 3 – MYSELF : 99 Things About Me 
My life so far summarized in 99 items …

Link 4 – MY LOVE : Photo Hunt – Happy
The loves of my life in Happy pose …

Link 5 – ANY TOPIC : On Being a Woman
My perspective on being a woman …

I am tagging Rachel of Heart of Rachel, Sher of Baby Bracelets and everyone who wishes to do this tag. I hope you have fun sorting out your archives as I have.

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8 Random Things About My Mother

    

These pictures were taken when my mother was here in Japan in 2006.

She helped me with my delivery and took care of baby Matthew until he was 4 months old. 

 

My mother and I have a very nice and friendly relationship. I can talk to her about very trivial and important matters without hesitation. We can argue and laugh about the same stuffs. I love her so much! She has been there for me all the time – as a mother and as a friend.

1. When we are still kids, she has a way of just looking at us that will make us stop and scared that we are going to get punished. So we would behave everytime she gives us the ‘look’. 

2. Her resourcefulness and strength in character got us through emotional and financial difficulties when my father died! She was 32-years old with kids in tow: 2 almost-teenagers and a baby.

3. She was widowed 2nd time when my stepfather died a few years ago. She took good care of him when he was really sick until he passed. 

4. She now enjoys her ‘singleness’ by travelling and having karaoke parties and dancing with her friends, but she still longs for a lifetime companion.

5. She will cook only as a last resort. She always have someone to cook for her. She’s not a bad cook. She just don’t like cooking! 

   • To answer NP’s question, she doesn’t have favorite food, I think. She’s not really picky with foods. It was her husbands who were picky. That’s probably the reason why she never liked cooking, especially for picky husbands.

6. She’s so skillful and crafty! She has done dressmaking, tailoring to stuff toy making, anything with pieces of fabric and a sewing machine.

7. She has a way with people. With her ideals and personality, she just takes on respect and a good following. The last time we talked on the phone, she said her friends have filed for her candidacy for Public Office (Barangay Councilor). I hope she’s not going to do it but it’s up to her!

8. She celebrated her 50th birthday here in Japan last year.

Thanks NP for the tag! I am tagging: 

Rose, you seem to have a very thoughtful mother.

Stephen, I know you don’t want to be tagged and you are probably too busy right now but your quotable quotes about your mother is so hilarious. I would love to hear more nice things about her.

Rico, you probably don’t do this kind’a blog but I’m tagging you anyway. When we were training together, you always have very nice stories about your mother like when your mother donated pillow cases to your school dormitory!

Thryza, best wishes to you on your marriage! I don’t know if you remembered but your mother and I had a telephone conversation once. It was a funny encounter because she really took me off-guard when she asked me if her 21 year old daughter (that’s you) is dating and if I could convince you not to date and not to entertain suitors! I would love to get to know her.

Anna Leah and Liza Melle, my highschool friends! I know for a fact that you have the nicest mothers.

Grace, I know you have been tagged for this! I am excited (wink-wink) to read nice things about your mother!

My sister Jessica, I know we have the same mother but I also know you have a bit different or (may I say) challenging relationship with her, so you could probably mention a lot more interesting things about her!

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