// Guitarchic Dot Net* My Life, One Strum at a Time

As for the few things that made me smile today (given that my mind is still on holiday mode and I have to go back to the office against my will), this one’s definitely climbed the charts.

I consider being friends (and meeting) with Liz of wellwhatever.com, Rhiz of guitarchic.net and Joni of taintedsong.com as the biggest blogging achievement I got this year. Blogging brought the four of us together, four different individuals sharing the same passion. — Mae, lastleaf.org

Who would have thought I’d be part of someone’s biggest blogging achievement this year? :) What can I say? Ditto, girlfriend.

So.. when’s the next kape kape? :)

Didn’t expect this would come this soon :(

Six months after his partner, Chichi, died, Chuchu passed away too. :(

More pictures HERE.

But at least I didn’t cry like before. I guess it’s mostly because I wasn’t there when my Mom and my brother found him dead. If I was there, there would have been a flood of tears.

He was still magulo last Monday, when I was home in Caloocan for the weekend. That was the last time I saw him. :( Sigh. Chuchu was a survivor. He was able to survive having bitten in the left leg by a house rat. He was always jumpy and energetic, even with a deformed leg, and even when his partner-in-crime Chichi passed away. I guess that’s one of the things I will always remember about him. Inspite of everything, he never failed to make me smile.

It doesn’t feel too long ago when I first got the hamsters, when I had to take them to my niece’s debut. Dad was still alive at that time, and was really amused as well. 10 months, gone in blink. Sigh.

I feel sad, but it was a good 10 months for Chuchu and me. I don’t think I’ll be buying a new set of hamsters anytime soon. But when I’m ready, or perhaps when I found the perfect pair, I will.

I got an email from one of the clients I was doing SEO with last night, just as the Makati coup was subsiding.

The Philippines is headline news here in the UK at the moment. I hope that all is well and that you were not in the Peninsula Hotel area of Manila yesterday. If, however, you are involved, then please, can I tell you that violence is never the answer, Riz, and I urge you to put down your weapons and get back to work on [inserts site name here].

Haha, really funny. Pfft.

Then again, this whole brouhaha is funny. Trillanes is funny. This curfew thing is funny. The Philippine politics is a laughingstock and is made of lots of funny people.

Boohoo. Welcome to the Pilipins. ;)

You know all those wish lists I used to make? Well, this is NOT like one of those. These items are MUST HAVES. And I don’t need to reach for the stars to have them. I’m getting these coz I need a break. And I need to do other things besides being in front of my laptop, doing SEO and wedding album layouts.

Filipino Cook Book. Que Horror!! I know, I’m shocked at myself too. I’ve always set aside the thought of doing some serious cooking.. until this certain someone started pressuring me to think of my future family, and what I’m going to serve them for dinner. I mean, yeah, my kids would probably love pizza and Jollibee everyday but that’s not exactly responsible parenting, right? Hence, the awakening: I need to learn how to cook.

See, I even had to take photos with my camphone to remind myself.

And what better way to start than learning to cook Filipino dish (let’s set aside Italian and Mexican for more advanced learning, shall we)? I think it would be nice to finally know what’s behind my favorite Sinigang. And Kare-kare. And Pochero. Man. I can’t believe I’m saying this, and blogging it for all the world to see. Pfft. Okay, I hide myself now.

Next item(s).

Kendall Payne CDs. Now this is more like ME. Music, yay. I didn’t know she existed until Episode 5 of Grey’s Anatomy. Her song, I Will Show You Love, was playing at the closing of the episode, and it stuck with me since. I downloaded an MP3 from iTunes, including two other random songs from her albums Paper Skin and Grown, (Not Afraid to be Me and Scratch). And I love all three of them. :)

Kendall Payne’s Paper Skin and Grown

I want more of her! Hence, the urgency. iTunes downloads can’t be shared, I want something I can share to people also.

So there goes my must-haves for this month this week. Watch me, I’m gona get these two (actually four) items SOON. ;)

And you could feel that the little puppy really lit up the whole place, making everyone take a break from their computers to watch the cute little thing run around with his tail wagging behind his furry legs.

The puppy kissed me. I’m in love. :P

So meet Spike, one of my colleague Christine’s Shih Tzu pups for sale. Someone already owns Spike, though *sniff*, so there was no chance I could take him home with me. Haha, I know, it’s not like buying a Shih Tzu is part of my plan (and my budget) right now. It’s just that.. I couldn’t help but wish I have a puppy myself. I held him in my arms and a big gunk of stress was suddenly lifted off my chest. I mean, seriously. Puppies are really therapeutic. I immediately fell in love with Spike that I had to spend a good thirty minutes off my work hours to play and take pictures of him. And in that 30 minutes, I just couldn’t think of anything else.

Owning a puppy (a Shih Tzu, for that matter), however, is not at all easy and cutesy. While it’s considered a stress-reliever, ultimately, it’s a responsibility too. Imagine all the dog poop. And shopping for pedigree. And giving him a bath and taking him to the vet. Plus, with a Shih Tzu (or a Poodle), there’s the regular trimming of fur, too. Initially, you have to spend several thousands to get yourself one also. (Shih Tzus and other similar toy puppies would cost about 8K up.)

On top of everything else, think about the emotional attachment. I cried over the death of my hamster. And so is Sheila. Gail is having a hard time getting over the death of her dog, Sheero. I mean, it’s impossible to not be emotionally attached to pets. Why, you invest not only time and money, but effort and emotions too.

Just the same, all the responsibilities attached to owning a dog doesn’t stop me from considering owning one someday. Not now. Someday. I nonchalantly told Christine to reserve me a girl pup on her next batch of puppies, if ever. I’m not ready now but who knows.. by then, I could be.