How many times have I thought about owning a new car? I can’t even remember. The truth is, no matter how much I think about it, there’s pretty much nothing I could do right now. As it is, I barely get enough to keep our heads above water. What more for a new car?

What we currently have right now is our red car. I’ve posted quite a few entries about the heartaches and headaches we’ve gotten from it. Heck, I don’t even have to look for those entries to remind myself about how much trouble we’ve gotten from our car. It’s right outside in the garage, for almost a month now. The last time I tried to move it, the brakes gave way. It’s in such a bad condition that none of the car insurance companies would want to get their hands dirty with it.

I can’t help but long for a new one - a more reliable and better looking one.  I mean, I can always dream, right?

Having a baby is almost like having a doll, although I can’t really be certain because I haven’t experienced playing with a doll before. What I mean is that babies amazingly feel like toys that can be dressed up or accessorized. I know because andrea and I both find it entertaining to let mateo try on different apparels - polo shirts, pants,  head gears, shoes, everything.

In fact, sometimes, when we pass by such stores in the mall, we’d playfully drag him inside and let him wear a cap , a pair of shoes or sometimes even some bling bling. He would then proudly step up to the mirror and admire himself while parrading around - a very self-confident baby, that’s for sure.

I’m just not sure how long he’d let andrea and i do that to him because I’m sure he’d eventually learn to refuse. But until then, we’re going to have our little doll try on more things for as long as we could.

With December looming just around the corner, andrea and I can’t help but think about our meager budget for the holiday season. You see, aside from Christmas, we have our wedding anniversary and Mateo’s birthday to think about. Because we’d like to prepare for these as well, we can’t allocate as much as we want to for holiday shopping .

First, because Mateo is already old enough to appreciate a birthday party, we’re considering giving him a really good one this January. His last birthday (which technically was also his first) was really more for us than for him because very few kids shared in the fun. Almost all of his guests during his birthday party were adults or at least 10 times older than he is.

Second, because we didn’t get to celebrate andrea’s birthday last October 25, I’d like to treat her to something special on our anniversary - perhaps to a romantic date or to a feast of delectable cheesecake from Uno. Either way, this would mean thinning the budget for holiday shopping even more.

I know this holiday season is supposed to be a season of happiness, but sometimes I can’t help but think it’s one of the most problematic times of the year - at least in terms of budgeting. That’s why we’re hoping for promos to get us through the spending. Hahaha!

I’ve always had a fear of growing old - old to the point of not remembering names and faces, old to the point of forgetting everything I’ve learned, or having to wear adult disposable diapers .

I can’t and I don’t want to imagine being too weak to go the toilet for my daily personal needs. I don’t want to forget dates, names, or any important thing in my life or in my loved ones’ lives.  It is such a scary feeling and I don’t want to keep on thinking about it, but I’m reminded of how it is again after watching some movie from the Hallmark channel yesterday.

It was about a family dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and it brilliantly protrayed the struggles and challenges of dealing with aging and its consequences. I won’t go into the details of the movie nor will I even attempt to summarize it. Bottom line is I don’t want to lose all the faculties I’ve acquired because of old age. I want to grow old gracefully remembering all the experiences - the challenges, the accomplishments. When the time comes, I just want to die remembering everything.

The reasons we chose to get a Globelines broadband internet connection instead of continuing with the Smartbro service we had before were (1) the speed of the connection and (2) the reliability of the connection that Globelines promised. You see, at almost the same price, the connection was more than three times faster than Smartbro’s. Plus, when it comes to customer feedback, Globelines came 3rd when it comes to negative remarks, behind  Smartbro and PLDT myDSL.

That’s why we were surprised with the disappointing service we got these past 2 weeks. We were forced to go on an internet moratorium on the count of supposedly stolen cables and area system restoration . What the crap is that?

I mean I could understand the stolen cables because that is outside their control, but the second reason was just too arrogant. There were no words, no warnings, no nothing! Isn’t it just simple courtesy to inform your customers about any system restoration beforehand. Heck, they couldn’t even give us any specific time when the connections would be restored. What the crap was that? We got so pissed off to the point that we were really considering having the service cut. In fact, we already went to the nearest Globelines business center to ask about exemption from the lock-in.

It was a good thing that service was finally restored yesterday before lunch or else we really would have cut the connection ASAP.

I’ve spent several days looking for the best gift to give andrea on her birthday. I’ve browsed several sites and seen numerous items on sale - PDA phones, new laptops, even some Seiko watches - but unfortunately, nothing available is within my budget. Especially after Mateo’s gruelling and costly ordeal recently with some kind of pneumonia-like disease, my budget is almost next to nil.

So instead of trying to surprise her with something fancy, I just approached andrea and asked her directly what she wanted. She told me that new graphire tablet is enough of a birthday gift so she really wanted nothing else. I surrendered.

In the end, I bought her nothing. And before her birthday ended, I just simply gave her a relaxing foot and full-body massage. Heck, I told myself if I can’t buy her anything, I’ll just pamper her to sleep! I guess it worked!

Health is probably the most important treasure that one can have. I know that now especially after having mateo’s compromised. All other possessions only come second because everything else would mean nothing if one is sick or deprived of good health.

This is why andrea and i are vowing to take on a healthier lifestyle - not necessarily a life of orovo detox and vegetarianism, but more of an efficient and active one. In fact, andrea has already taken on a no-rice diet for several weeks now and she says she already feels much better. I, on the other hand, am not so willing to give up on regular eating so I’m planning to make up for it through additional physical exertion.

Aside from the jog that we’re planning to include in our afternoon routine, I’m thinking about doing a little lifting again. Heck, if we can’t be filthy rich then we might as well be really healthy!

I’ve been itching to sell my laptop in order to buy a new, hopefully better and lighter one. But it seems like no matter how much I lower the price, people can’t seem to see it as a best buy product. I really don’t understand. My 15″ laptop is powered by Centrino, backed up by 1.5 Gb of RAM, stores up to 60 Gb of data, reads DVDs and burns CDs. Most of all, it comes with a 320$ tag price.

Sure you can get a new ASUS, MSI or even an Acer netbook for the same price but then again, this is a laptop,  not a netbook. It beats any Atom processor anytime. It packs more RAM and storage space. Plus, it has its own optical device. I know it’s heavier, bulkier and even has some scratches on the casing, but it is a notebook. It’s a powerful notebook for the price of a netbook. How couldn’t that be a best buy? Huh!

There’s a false sense of security brought about by egotism. That is why we often feel confident that any sickness or disease around us won’t affect us. Simply because we think we’re fit, we don’t worry about germs or other agents that are recklessly coughed out by sick individuals in school or at work. It is only when a family member or when someone close to us becomes sick that we start realizing how arrogant and vulnerable we really are.

Yes, arrogant, vulnerable and now sorry. Now that mateo regularly experiences low-grade fever and coughing, andrea and i start have started thinking about the places we’ve been to. Have we been to the hospital or any other area that might have had people with the same symptoms? Where could mateo have gotten this condition? If we had been more careful and conscious, could we have prevented it?

Up to now, we don’t know for sure what mateo has contracted. He’s been checked by two doctors already and the diagnosis is still inconclusive. He’s on medication to address the coughing and the fever. We’re hoping he gets better really soon because the longer he remains sick, the more stupid and sorry we feel. Get well soon little babsy!

Paydays are usually good days. These are times when we actually feel like we have some dough to spare even if we really don’t. Haha! At least that’s what we used to think. This time, however, it wasn’t the case. That’s because andrea and i both got a large deduction courtesy of canteen expenses. Apparently, we either ate too much or paid too little attention to how much we’ve spent on snacks and other meals.

I guess having mateo and his nanny eat with us at school is now taking a toll on our canteen expenses. But what else can we do? Having mateo at school with us is the best way to make sure he’s well taken cared of - that he eats well; that he gets enough interaction and stimulation; and that his yaya doesn’t take him for granted when they’re at home.

The only solution I could think of is to cook enough food during breakfast to last us till dinner - that is to bring some food to school to suffice for lunch. We should try going back to casserole recipes and some fried stuff for breakfast so we’ll have enough for lunch (in order to cut down on canteen expenditures.)

The way I see it: it’s either this or mateo stays home with his yaya. If it was just me, I’d choose option 2!