hello 2004!

spent new year's eve at my mom's friend's place earlier in the evening. they throw a small party every year. their christmas tree had dollar bills on it so it's been transformed into a money tree. then we had to drop off my mom at the hospital because she's working even on new year's eve till 11pm. she got out at 12:35am new year's day, had to pick her up again after watching the ball drop at times square at my aunt's place. we drank champagne when the countdown ended and kissed everyone while greeting "happy new year." i saw a total of three deers when we drove outside. one almost hit our van because it just crossed the street.

i called up ton at around 9:30pm, new year's eve using my phone card. we talked for about ten minutes. i sure miss her and everyone else back in the philippines.

my aunt serves lobsters every new year's eve. then she was wearing a polka-dot blouse which she claims she has worn for about 6 years straight. it's her new year uniform, she says.

we had our own new year's dinner tonight, i set the fancy christmas dinnerware and hung strands of party decor on our chandelier. my sister and i made spaghetti, the sauce of which happens to be her new "secret" recipe (which isn't a secret to me because i heard her say out loud her "secret" ingredients). then we drank a bottle of asti martini. cheers to a great year ahead...

this newspaper ad caught my attention. it's about someone looking for his missing garden gnome. he even put up a website for it. wonder if it's for real? reminds me of the "travelling" gnome in amelie.