25 random things

9 people tagged me on facebook so i had to do this... and since i spent some precious internet & "me" time doing this, might as well post it here on multiply too :)

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this is totally random, but i'm not sure if these are "new" to all of you...

1.  when i was a kid, i would "play lawyer" and park myself at my dad's desk.  i would get a real affidavit or pleading, and re-type the whole thing.  then i would get his notarial seal, affix it on the page, and sign it myself.

2.  i can get hooked on (video?) games.  i wouldn't sleep until i got the highest score or reached the highest level.  it's a personal thing.  when i was pregnant, i finished chocolatier in less than 24 hours. without sleeping. (poor rauf in my tummy. hehe.)

3.  when i was in grade three, i loved the hardy boys, bobbsey twins & nancy drew, in that order.  i would go to our backyard and play detective, looking for clues and silly stuff.

4.  my cousins & i named our compound when the houses there began to sprout.  when the mother house was complete, we told everyone that we would name the lot the "dumas compound."  the name stuck.  now i wonder why we didn't think of naming it something more exotic, like "casa de maria" or something. hehe. kids.

5.  music is my soul.  i can't do anything right without music in the background.

6.  i can remember the song playing in the background when i was writing my high school boyfriend my "final breakup" letter. hehe. (can't cry hard enough)

7.  i would have been the eldest of 10 siblings.  my brother, jp, who came after me, died two weeks after he was born. then mom had 2 miscarriages.  7 is the magic number :)

8.  "carpe diem" became my life philosophy when i got hooked on dead poets society.  i realized it fit me to a "T".

9.  photography, art & learning to play the drums still elude me.  i want to get into them but i haven't found the time, or the extra money.  priorities, priorities...

10.  i have stayed good friends with the close friends i found throughout all my years in school... grade school, high school, college, law school.  these are the people who matter.

11.  my family and i... we're velcro-ed together.  glued is harsh... :)

12.  i will never forget what my mom told me back in high school:  "you're charming.  don't just think you're pretty because that's too superficial."  hence, i have never believed i'm beautiful. or pretty. just charming. oh, and sexy. haha.

13.  i learned to drink red horse during my bar review.  since drinking sessions were few & far between (eh?), i had to drink really strong, dark beer to 'maximize' my drinking time.

14.  during my younger years, i loved to dance on the ledge or go up and groove with the band.  and that was when i could dance for the whole set, non-stop.  i really didn't care! hehehe.  i don't do that anymore, though, unless i feel comfortable with the whole crowd.  (i sound so old)

15.  i went to a bar & tried drinking alone just to know what it feels like.  it was a little lonely, but fun. hehe.

16.  the only foreign cities where i've actually felt discriminated upon were in venice and rome.  on the vaporetto in venice, marielle & i were the only ones who were asked to present our tickets.  and in rome, a filipino actually told us straight to our faces:  "don't spin me a story of you being here on vacation.  i'm sure you're planning to stay illegally." duh...

17.  when i was in law school, my apartment was the official halfway house for those who wanted to eat, hang out, drink, watch tv/videos, sleep & stay over.  i miss my old apartment.  those were the days.  (in hindsight, yes, we rarely studied there. haha.)

18.  i'm renting the townhouse where we're staying now, only because i got it before my family decided to migrate to the city.  so when people ask me if i live with my parents, i tell them, "my parents live with me." haha.

19.  back in high school, we used to think we were living our lives "beverly hills 90210"-style.  i was shannon. haha.

20.  i grew up in a strict home.  i had a chaperone during my high school prom.  i always had curfews.  so when i was a freshman in college, i didn't complain about the 10pm curfew at kalayaan (the freshman dorm).  10pm was waaaay better than 6pm!!!

21.  i love europe.  i will go back there someday.

22.  i have a never-ending love affair with new york city.  i still believe i'm meant to live there.

23.  rauf will be his own man... and i will make sure he will grow up well.

24.  i've been working in congress since october 1999.  do the math.  and i never expected to stay this looooooong. hehe.

25.  i can watch 5 movies, straight, without any breaks.  or a whole season of a series.  but this was all before i had rauf.  there are some things in life you have to give up or control when greater, bigger responsibilities call. :)