Today I mailed F.B.'s Christmas package. I know I'm a little late but he said it was okay. It's probably better anyhow because the Philippine Mail can be very slow around the holidays so he might have a better chance of getting his package. One year his Christmas package was missing for almost 2 weeks even though it said it had arrived in the Philippines. F.B. went to the office and it had just been sitting around, never delivered because of the holidays. So hopefully he'll have it next week!

I also start work on Monday. Yay.... I'm so excited that I get to wake up at 5:30am again. It was nice being off of work for 2 months. We really had a long season this year. Not getting furloughed until October 31st. (Even though I had gotten permission to leave early because of my trip. Yay for vacation time!) Seasonal employees usually work from January-September. Anyhow I'm glad to be going back in a way because I seriously have to pay off these credit cards this year. I usually only have a large balance on one credit card because of the plane tickets, but I managed to jack up another card this past year as well. Now I have two $800 balances to pay off. Ugh. Thank god for tax refunds, that should help. One of my goals for 2009 is to pay off these credit cards and keep a balance one card just for my plane ticket. It's easier to pay off in a year.

I emailed our lawyer about immigration questions. A few months ago when I talked to our lawyer on the phone he said I should start making copies of all of my plane stubs, letters from F.B., etc. Since F.B. & I have been writing letters for nearly 5 years now and his letters are usually 7 pages or longer I asked how I should copy them. He said copying the 1st page and envelope of each letter should work and to keep them in order. He also said it was good F.B. kept our trip journals and that we should make copies of that too. We need all of this to document and prove our relationship when we are going through the immigration process. So this year F.B. & I will be organizing and making copies of all the letters to each other. I have to buy a copier/scanner this coming year. I was pricing them and they seem to start at $79 which is fine with me, as long as it works! My printer died awhile ago... and my desktop PC just bit the dust as well. (It was 5 years old.) Can't afford a new PC this year though.

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

While I was out today I also stopped at Petco. I really wanted to check out the ratties there. I had been thinking about getting a new rat before I even came back from the Philippines. But then Spice got sick and I was busy taking care of her. Now she's gone... and I'm having a hard time getting over it. I needed something to cheer me up and help me with the loss and also to help my girls get over the loss as well, they haven't really been themselves. Rats mourn too.

Anyhow Petco had 4 females. 1 Rex, 2 Hooded & 1 Dumbo. The sales associates were super nice. They let me pick all of the girls up and see which liked me best. The little gray hooded girl was the most social and the favorite of the store. The little dumbo girl was also really sweet and not so shy. I got them both.

Here's my new girls: Ginger & Nutmeg












Ginger licking baby food off of my fingers (good introduction technique.)












Nutmeg with her sweet dumbo ears:












They are sooo tiny compared to Sugar & Cinnamon! They had a ball running around checking out their Ferret Nation. I've separated the levels again while the girls get settled in. Nutmeg & Ginger upstairs and Cinnamon & Sugar downstairs.

Funny story, when I was up at the cash register the cashier had to say goodbye to the ratties because she had gotten attached to them. (The gray hooded was her buddy.) She gave her goodbye kisses and told me she has 5 rats at home. While I was waiting to pay an older lady came up behind me in line makes a face and says, "Ooooh what's THAT?" The cashier holding my gray hooded girl says, "Rats." Then the lady looks at me and says, "Why are you buying RATS?!" I said, "I already have 2." And the cashier says, "I have 5." and kisses my gray hooded girl again, haha. The older ladies face was priceless she's like, "Ooooh... and you're KISSING it?" and then the other cashier said, "I can take you over here."

Rats get such a bad rap from people. I hear it from people at work all the time. But they are such sweethearts and have their own little personalities. They learn their names and come when called, they can be litter trained, are very clean and are very social animals. They make such great pets.

I got the new Fall Out Boy & Britney Spears C.D.'s. I think they are both really good. Fall Out Boy is one of my favorite bands.... aaaah I hope they are coming to Philadelphia again soon. I saw them in concert last November.

No big plans for New Years, just staying home with the family. So strange... next year I will be spending Christmas & New Years in the Philippines again and F.B. & I will be married by then... wow.

Yesterday I went out to do all of my Christmas shopping. I was out from 9am-2pm. I guess I should have done my Christmas shopping early before I went to the Philippines for 2 months, then I wouldn't have had to rush around like I did to get it all done at once! Whew! But I'm all finished now.

F.B. sent me Christmas Cards and a 7 page letter. He also sent me our trip journal. Whenever we are together he keeps a journal that summarizes what we did each day. Then he makes a copy to keep for himself and gives me the original. He also sent me a Watson's Lemon Lip Balm! Yay! I lost mine on the plane coming back to the USA. I love Watson's drugstore in the Philippines. I have Christmas gifts to mail him too, though they will be a little late this year. His Christmas gifts to me were a hoodie & t-shirt and sandals that he got me in the Philippines when I was there.

I love the one card he sent me, he said it reminded him of my ratties! Hehe! So Cute!





















After Christmas shopping I had a bake fest. I made Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate Chip Muffins and Pumpkin Muffins! The Pumpkin Muffins were super simple to make. Only 4 ingredients!



Spending Christmas at home with the family. We usually put the tree up on Christmas eve and exchange some gifts. On Christmas we always have a breakfast buffet. I also ordered this yummy chocolate torte from Figi's for dessert this year.

I received a letter from wonk today saying to report to work on January 5th. Just a few more weeks of furlough "vacation" time left!

Spice had her recheck visit at the Vet this evening. She was able to get her stitches out finally! She is also doing much better since the Vet gave her fluids. I've also been giving her pedilyte in an oral syringe whenever I give her the antibiotic. She's not dizzy anymore and she can walk properly again. The antibiotic is still giving her terrible diarrhea, but tonight is her last night to be on it. She also gets to go back with her sisters tonight in the cage! I'm sure she's happy about that! Here's a picture of her from yesterday when she still had the stitches:

If you have read my blog from the beginning you would know F.B. & I met on a 'Lindsay Lohan' forum 5 years ago. (See Here) Sometimes people ask how we met each other and I usually just say "online". For close friends I always say with a laugh, "In a Lindsay Lohan forum..."

So you would think since that is where F.B. & I met we should be diehard fans and grateful to Lindsay Lohan for somehow bringing us together. Honestly... not so much anymore for me. I liked her back in the day when she was a good little actress. My favorite movie she was in was the new 'Parent Trap' and the remake of 'Freaky Friday'. That was the movie that made F.B. & I join up on the forums in the first place. He being a fan & I joining up to look for guitar chords for one of the movie songs. We never joined up looking for a relationship... it just sort of happened after talking with each other & becoming friends.

I don't think I would call myself a Lindsay Lohan fan anymore. I don't think any of her movies aside from 'The Parent Trap', 'Freaky Friday' are worth watching. And I especially don't like the way she has conducted herself the past 5 years. (Hmmm... that seems to be a trend with past Disney stars.) Everything aside though.... I do have to smile when I think of the time we spent on the Lindsay Lohan forum 5 years ago. After all if it wasn't for the movie 'Freaky Friday' F.B. & I would have never crossed each other's paths.... and for that I am truly thankful!

*General Update* Just 3 weeks until I am off to the Philippines! Yay! I also got to have a nice birthday lunch with my family Saturday at the Chinese Buffet near our house. And I received a surprise birthday letter & 3 cards from F.B. on the 5th. Awww... just a day late for my birthday. Hehe. He didn't tell me he was mailing anything so it was really a surprise. It took 3 weeks to get here though! International mail is so slow.

F.B. & I have been in our long distance relationship for nearly 4 years now. April 1st will be our 4th anniversary. It is a 12-13 hour time difference between Philadelphia & the Philippines. (Depending on daylight saving time in the USA.) Keeping in touch has never been difficult for us. On weekends we have our "dates". We will meet on Yahoo Messenger or AIM and chat for several hours. If it is 12pm here, it is 12am there. Even with the drastic time difference we've always managed to make time for each other.

When I'm at work during my lunch breaks F.B. will get online. I have AIM built directly into my cell phone and we are able to chat while I have my break. We also email during the week. We don't email on Tuesday's or Thursday's. And we don't email on weekends since we get to spend time together online. This schedule works for us and also gives us some alone time as well. We also stay in touch by text messaging each other.

Phone calls are expensive. We usually save them for special occasions. He has a prepaid cell phone. And I usually buy a phone card. Sometimes we will surprise each other by calling out of the blue which is nice. And occasionally we talk on headsets through Yahoo Messenger which is completely free but it has bugs where your voice will sound like a chipmunk, interference noises through the headset or dropped calls.

We send cards & letters frequently. And packages for special occasions. It's about $50.00 to express mail a package to the Philippines or to the USA. We don't use any other service besides express because mail service in the Philippines isn't perfect and sometimes mail is lost. I've had quite a few letters get lost in the mail.

And of course we get to see each other yearly! It takes about a year to pay the balance of the plane ticket off on my credit card, which is why there is such a space of time in between our visits. But it's so nice being able to know when we'll be together again. And it's motivation for the year, something to work towards. I'm thankful we'll get to spend 8 weeks together this October. And maybe the trip after I'll be able to stay even longer.

Despite the incredible distance, we make it work! Sometimes it's tough, but we manage make it work. We are in touch every single day, thanks to technology! Long distance relationships can work. They takes alot of sacrifices, time & money but they work. You have to be able to trust each other. You have to be willing to make sacrifices. You have to want to be with each other, to make time for one another. But believe me, they can work!

I wanted to recommend a book that both F.B. & I have read. It was so good I purchased a copy for each of us about 2 years ago. It's called: The Long Distance Relationship Survival Guide: Secrets and Strategies from successful couples who have gone the distance. By, Chris Bell & Kate Brauer-Bell.