Happy New Year 2009!

Ended the year by going to the doctor to get my annual routine physical exam results and to find out what is up with this cold that I've been nursing for 11 days now. I received a clean bill of health (Whohoo!) and antibiotics for this cold. Being drugged up with codeine, I really didn't feel like partying like it was 1999 earlier in the day. But since we were entertaining friends visiting from Canada & Mexico, we felt compelled to go out and party. Ended up getting all split up from each other during the countdown...Sigh. Forgot to jump up and down so I could grow taller for the new year...Double Sigh. Then had to bribe the bouncer to get in the club without having to wait in line. I guess, "face value" has also gone down with the economy...Triple Sigh. The bouncer then did not card me to check if I was over 21 years old or not...Quadruple Sigh!...LOL

Happy New Year!

For Besi & Birdie's greetings, please click HERE.

Happy Holiday Greetings 2008-2009

From my family to yours,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!
Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo!
Joyeux Noël et Une Bonne Année!

Make the Yuletide Gay!

Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Kwanzaa!
Happy Boxing Day!
Advanced Kung Hei Fat Choy!

iPostcards from Survivor X'mas

For the past few years, we've hosted Christmas gatherings for both sides of the family living in California. This year was different. With Bill's mom now in a retirement home and not fit to travel down from Oregon, and with my sister & niece celebrating with my siblings in the east coast, we were left not knowing what to do. It was our first year that we didn't go out to buy our live X'mas tree. We entertained experiencing X'mas in Hawaii, the Caribbean, or with friends in Paris. But we then felt guilty about parting with our "girls", Besi & Birdie, so soon after our trip to South America. So, we decided to go on a road trip and take them skiing. But at the last minute, we got an invitation from a friend to go up to her home in Tehachapi. As soon as we arrived, it started snowing. Yehey! It was the "girls"' first white X'mas. The guests were composed of Americans, Scottish, English, Brazilians, and a Filipino. Talk about conversations filled with different accents.
Just as we were getting ready for dinner, the power went out. With the outage, that meant no gas for the stove, no hot water, no heat to keep us warm, no phone line, no cell phone signal, no Internet connection. We were snowed in - no way out! Dinner was delicious, albeit cold, and in a way romantic, with the candle light and fireplace as our only source of light & heat. It was actually very nice and refreshing. Kinda like Jesus' first night in a manger...LOL.
Then all of a sudden a family argument developed right in front of us in the dark between our Brazilian host and her spoiled 31-year old son. I've always found Portuguese to be a very sexy sounding language. Not this time. I guess the holidays wouldn't be complete without any family drama. Ayayyay...LOL


or please click HERE for a bigger slideshow of the album.
If you prefer to view the thumbnails, please click on the link below:
iPostcards from Survivor X’mas 2008

Jack & Me

We feel very sad.
Jack, our Black Labrador goddog, passed away today.
We treated him like our very own third dog.
If our Besi, as a pup, was rambunctious like Marley,
Jack, on the other hand, was like Beau.
He was a very good dog all throughout his 12 1/2 year life.
Please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

Happy Halloween 2008!

Please click on the title or HERE for Birdie's costume.

My new grand nephew

Sachi with his Grand Uncle Sean

For the full story behind finding Sachi and more pics,
please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

Koko - In Memoriam

Please click on the title or HERE for the posting.

Sean of a Beach and his Bitches

Please click HERE for our day at the beach.

Happy 10th Birthday Birdie!

Please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

P.S. My Bucket List

I really wasn't excited about the New Year 2008.
In some way I've been scared to "death" of it.

I'm not afraid of dying. But since we never know when that day will come, I try to live my life as if time was running out for me. Even before 9/11, we had experienced some close calls, such as almost drowning, getting lost in the woods, etc., which made Bill draw up a living trust and me write down a "bucket list" (list of all things we want to do in our lives before we kick the bucket.) Perhaps because of these experiences, I began to have this wanderlust or desire to do and see as much as I can, while I'm still young/er.

What I'm afraid of is people I love dying on me.
Sorry to sound so morbid, but in 2007, we were surrounded by several health scares and
were constantly reminded to value the concept of "health is wealth":

The day after Christmas 2007, I got some scary news that my father, who is in the Philippines, was rushed to the ER. He had suffered from vertigo caused by an atrial flutter. Thankfully, after a few days the doctors let him go back home and with medication is now doing better.
As the youngest child born to parents who were already in their 40's when I came into their lives, I somehow always worried that I would not have the privilege of enjoying them as long as my older siblings. As I child, I would often lay awake at night waiting for my Dad to come home (which was almost always pretty late at night due to his work). Since social drinking was an inevitable part of these late nights, I would always pray that nothing bad would happen to him on his drive home. My paternal grandparents lived close to their 100th birthdays, so longevity, fortunately, does run in my veins. But my dad still drinks whisky, smokes cigarettes, and eats fried oily food. He is an anomaly, since he has outlived most of his peers who lived healthier lifestyles.

Bill's Mom, Mabel and Stepdad, Roy (just like my Dad), are in their mid-80's and are not at the peak of good health. Roy battled bladder cancer by undergoing extensive chemotherapy and Mabel is suffering from a leaking heart valve.

Mike Pohjola, our good friend, who we have been watching over, has Parkinson's Disease. All his treatments have not had promising results.

Besi, our Yellow Labrador had been diagnosed last July with Degenerative Myelopathy and was given a few weeks/months to live. Somehow she has temporarily overcome this hurdle and is still with us.

All our plans for out of town/country trips are on hold due to the fear that something bad may occur while we are away. I know death is inevitable, but here is to keeping strong until those sad days comes and hopefully beyond.

Just by chance, the first two movies we saw during the first weekend of the year were, "The Bucket List" and "P.S. I Love You". Both films were marketed as light comedy/love story films and I almost forgot about the "death" aspect. I guess with what I was feeling, both films hit a nerve and I found myself breaking down in tears inside the theater restroom.

Part of my Old Bucket List (*as also shown in the movie):
*Go skydiving - checked
*Go on an African safari - checked
*See the rest of the New 7 Wonders and other exotic/ancient places - checking
*Learn to drive an 18-wheeler truck (in lieu of race car driving) - unchecked
(don't ask me why, 'cuz I don't know the answer myself...LOL)
Run a marathon - unchecked
....etc.

Added to my Bucket List:
Visit Mike more often in the nursing home.
Spoil Besi even more.
Spend more quality time with Mabe & Roy, as often as we can.
Call my Dad & Mom more often and visit them in the Philippines at the end of the year.

P.S. I love you!

Happy Thanksgiving 2007!

Spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Palm Springs with my B's:

Me and my bitches,

my dogs, Besi & Birdie

***

Me and my biatches,

two of my best buds, Jojo & Caloy

"While You Were Traveling"

Whenever we travel, we are lucky to have my sister and niece house-sit and dog-sit for us. We always would tell them that if anything negative should happen, to just try to take care of the problem and not disturb us while we are on our vacation.
Since we had decided not to move out of L.A. at this time, we decided to have the interior of the house painted with a new color scheme. Our friend, Candy, had recommended her painter, Bob. Bob is more of an artist, since he specializes in faux decorative painting. He could make a drywall look like marble/wood/tile, etc. After our initial meetings with him, we suspected that he was homeless and living out of his car. He also kept offering to take care of the dogs. Since the house was going to have paint all over, we obviously could not host my family to live in it. We also got the feeling that Bob might spend most of his time in the house anyway. Thus, we decided to have him stay in the house to paint, take care of the house, plants, and dogs.

BIG MISTAKE!
The following our pics our friends, Candy, Ming, and Nancee took of how our normally orderly and clean house looked like while we were away. They had to empty out the refrigerator of exposed uncooked bloody meat and rescue our babies who had no room to lie down or get to their food and water.

our bedroom

pie plates on the carpet and

painting/art work exposed while ceiling was being painted

crap all over the bathroom

I can't even tell where this is

my office

poor plants

"Yes, we were planning to replace the carpet,
but not right away!"

Candy brought in her maids to disinfect the kitchen

45 minutes of hard scrubbing of the countertop

the living room

the dining room

the deck - what a mess!

LAB: Labradors Against Brutality

Please click HERE or on the title to be directed to the posting.

Happy Bastille Day!

Please click on the title to be directed to the posting.

Besi - Diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy

Please click on the title to be directed to the posting.

A Home Full of "Lab"

Please click HERE or on the title above to view my Dog Blog.

Koko’s Story

KOKO’S STORY

01 January 1987 - 22 May 1998
R.I.P.

Hello, my name is Koko. I am an eleven year old Chocolate Labrador Retriever. On New Year’s Day of the year 1987, I was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. As a young puppy, I was brought down here to Playa del Rey, California, to meet my master, Bill. I lived with him at 6505 Vista del Mar for the first ten years of my life. Those were wonderful years. I was both his best friend and soul mate. The Ballona Wetlands was my backyard and playground. I enjoyed running and playing ball with him in these wet lands and at the beach.
I also had another companion with whom I grew up, Tuffy, my sister cat.
The past three years were especially happy because I also had another master, Sean, who also loved me so dearly.
Almost two years ago, they got me a new playmate, Besi, a Yellow Labrador Retriever puppy. I was to be her mother, friend, and mentor. Last year, we all moved to another house at 6501 Esplanade, as we started to build our dream house on Vista del Mar. Now, we live right in front of the Del Rey Lagoon. After a hard game of catch, and often against our masters’ wishes, Besi and I would sometimes run and jump in the lagoon to cool off. We just could not help ourselves. What do you expect, we are Labradors. This was one of our most enjoyable moments. What a great life!

Last May 22, 1998, the beginning of the long Memorial Day Weekend, my master Bill and our Aunt Laurie took Pele, our Dalmatian girlfriend, Besi and me for a walk by the Ballon Creek jetty just before twilight. Again, Besi and I could not help ourselves, so we jumped right in the water. There was this seemingly harmless-looking tiny whirlpool that caught our eye, so we swam towards it. In an instant, I saw Besi vanish before my very eyes as she suddenly was sucked in. Before I knew it, I found myself also being pulled under water. I felt my body being swallowed by the mouth of a six foot in diameter pipe. The next thing I felt was my master’s hands trying to reach for us. He had immediately jumped in after us, to save us, but simply could not because he himself was being sucked in as well by this strong vacuum. I struggled and fought hard against the current so that I could reach him, but alas, I was too old and weak and lost the battle …

The next thing I saw was Aunt Laurie reaching out to my master with a “God sent” large piece of driftwood to help get him out. After being rescued, my master then realized that this vacuum was being caused by the flow of ocean water rushing through a submerged 180 foot pipe that empties into the lagoon. I saw my master jump over the fence that divides the jetty from the lagoon and run towards the lagoon’s gate. There I also saw, a few feet away, an exhausted Besi lying at the bank. Then I saw the weirdest sight I had ever seen in my life. From out of the water, emerged a dog that looked so much like me, floating faced down on top of the surface. My master jumped in and gave this look-alike dog mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Aunt Laurie, a registered nurse, came around and pumped this dog’s chest. Apparently, one of the many neighbors witnessing this chain of events had called 911. The paramedics arrived and checked the dog’s vital signs. They said that it was too late. They put her lifeless body along with Besi in my master’s car. Besi was in shock. I could tell that she did not like this. They left this other dog at the construction site at Vista del Mar for a little while, while they rushed Besi to the hospital …

Then all I can remember is seeing my two masters crying in the company of some neighbors and hearing them say my name, as they laid this dog that looked like me to rest four feet underground. That is when I realized that, unlike Besi, I had not made it alive through that tunnel after all.

Now, I find myself in doggie heaven. I have several playmates here, including Dak, my boyfriend of eight years. A lot of us are here just waiting to be reunited with our masters. I am very happy, albeit, that I do miss my family very much. I wish I could still be there to take care of Besi, who is still recovering from a bout with pneumonia.

I just wanted to share my story with my fellow doggie friends and their masters in our community. I wanted to warn you about this hazard that exists in our neighborhood. I understand that some of you have called city officials to rectify the condition of this dangerous area. Thank you. If this awareness helps prevent any of you from losing a master, a dog, or a child, then I would rest in peace knowing that I did not depart from this world in vain. Take care and love each other well.

KOKO