tax tax taxic

is there some seminar on how to process ITR (Income Tax Return)? i badddlllyyyy need it.

one of the requirements that we need to submit to BIR is 'occupational tax' so that we can have an ITR which we can then use to loan. they said i can get it from the 'munisipyo.' yesterday afternoon, i went to 'munisipyo' just right across where we live to get that occupational tax. but they said, they don't have that kind of tax. they said that i might be referring to professional tax. so i explained to them that that's what the BIR staff specifically put in the list of requirements.

so i called BIR office to check what's other name for occupational tax. the first person who answered me said she does not know what tax is that so she gave me another number to call. thankfully, the next staff knew what is occupational tax. so i explained to him that our munisipyo does not know what is occupational tax blahblahblah... so he told me to get professional tax (PTR) instead.

so i went back to the munisipyo, and declare to them that i'd get a PTR. they then think i don't qualify for PTR. so they ask me questions what is my work blahblah. they then concluded that what i should get is a community tax/cedula/residence tax. i tried to explain to them that that's what the BIR staff told me to get.

ending, i did not get any thing. =) they'll not issue any tax to me until i clarify with the main BIR office about what tax should i get. i'm not blaming the government offices for this. i take full responsibility for what happen -- ignorance of the law excuses no one. but i hope they'd try to be more helpful to some stupid a*s like me. after all, i'm trying to be an honest citizen and give money to our government which they can use this election. =)

hey citizens of the beloved philippains, any help you can give to your fellow kababayan will be greatly appreciated. =) i might get better help from you than going to BIR. =)

i stopped counting at 23

many times, filling out a form that asks my AGE, the first thing that comes up my mind is 23. then, i'd correct myself then 24 comes next in my mind. but wait, something is still wrong. thus, i would calculate: current year - minus year of birth.

Friendster and such

before i became a multiply fan, i was a friendster loyal. but nowadays, i rarely open my friendster account. maybe once a month, i visited it to check on my friends. it's usually thru friendster i get to be updated about my friends, acquaintances. it's thru friendster:

* i'd learn that such and such got hitched because of the wedding pictures posted on their account.
* such and such split with bf/gf because the status is single and you no longer see the boy/girl in the pictures posted.
* 2 people are in a rocky relationship because status is complicated
* such and such is now into a relationship or such and such has new bf/gf again because of the pictures
* such and such has now kid or kids because all the pictures posted are of their kids (like me)
* such and such is now working in abroad because of those pictures posing in some place that does not look like philippines
* such and such had vacation abroad or went to that resort (and, i'm greening with envy looking at their pics)
* such and such is now in a new company

such and such many surprises... =)

migi's obsession -- TRUCK

i was watching TV and they were playing with the wooden blocks after dinner. after some time, migi excitedly ran to me and said, 'mama, truck. mama, truck.' i really did not get what he meant until he tried to drag me to the truck he made out from the blocks. i was kind of happy/excited/awed. many times, he'd pile the blocks and would declare that it's a building, pusil/gun, airplane, truck, bike, lizard, spider, house or any thing that fancies him at the moment but it's just this time that by chance/luck the blocks he piled resemble a bit to a truck. =)

God, it's the best truck model i've ever seen in my whole life.
soweee, can't help it. =)

smileys

on ym/im, i use
=) - smile
=))) - super smile
=( - sad

instead of

i did not realize my chatmates (all my workmates) would notice my smiley habit and make a mini deal about it. all of them asked me if i don't like smileys (the built-in smileys of ym). honestly, it did not occur to me that i'm not much fond of until they pointed it out to me.

my reasons of not using those built-in smileys:
*i'm too lazy to drag my mouse and select the smiley i want (there's just too many options) -- this is my main reason
*i find the =), =))), =( cuter

they then find me as a deep and serious person. wowww! they find lazy person as deep. =) i tried to defend/reason out that it's not what they think but they somehow interpret it the other way around.

ending is that they don't use those built-in smileys when they're chatting with me. before, the chat window will be filled with those colorful smileys from them. and, i asked them why they stopped, they said that i might not like it. again, i tried to defend/reason that i do like the built-in smileys, it's just that i don't like using them because i'm lazy. but they're not convinced.

it's funny how some people sums you up based on trivial stuffs. =))) i plead guilty to that.

me, deep?!? =)

small talks (me, me, and me)

celebrity sighting
or used-to-be pseudo celebrity. i saw john hall twice. he was paged thus i came to know he's john hall. for those who don't know him, he was with aubrey miles in a movie (ekis -- i'm not sure) and was rumored to be her boyfriend. and, i think he's a model also. he has 'Christopher Hall' tattooed on his right arm. i wonder if it's his real name.

swallow-me-earth moments*i once tripped on the treadmill. sarah geronimo was showing on TV, and i closed my eyes trying to feel her music so i would come to like her. nakarma ko!
*i bumped into the glass door of leaveland as in super loud. all i was able to do was utter sorry then walk fast away.

lose/loss/lost
7 weeks, 3 lines down on the weighing scale. yay! it's like 1lb/2 weeks. hard-earned lose! at this rate, it would take me like 5 months to lose 10lbs. and i need to like get rid of many many 10-lbs. i'd probably be 30 years old when i'd finally reach my ideal bmi. anorexia, come help me! =)

'books are fun, books are great' -- barney song

1 down, 1 more to go. yesterday, i met up with yam to get the books. =) later, another meeting to get another set of books.

yes, i'm reviving my hobby of reading to keep my brain cells from dying. and, also i wanted my kids to be interested with books. so what better way but to be an obvious example.

my interest with books started with those romance novels before i even started grade school. i always saw my nanay having her free time on silhouette(sp?), mills and boons, and whatever romance novels. hehehe. it makes me wonder what she found in them that made her so hooked to it. i even begged her to teach me to read so i can read what she's reading. but she'd say those are not for kids, and instead shoved fairytales and children's encyclopedias full of pictures/illustrations to my face. but came grade 3, the time i started to fully grasp strings of english words, i would secretly stole my nanay's romance novels and lock myself in a room to read them. hahaha. later on, i moved to my uncle's wife thicker romance novels collection. she knew that my nanay does not want me to read those genre so she'd let me read her books in their room. =)

then, later later came those sweet valley twins. i only read sweet valley twins. i don't like the sweet valley high. is there a college version of it too? then those nancy drew and hardy boys. there was some romance novels for high schools. i forgot how you call them. but never get to like them maybe because i was exposed to those hardcore romance novels already. hehehe =)

of course, my taste did improve later on. thank you to mdm reyes, mdm pinzon, mr montaño, ms rabago who sort of open my mind to the real literature. =) i mean i'm not really into those serious literary works but hey i know they exist! =)

eCARD

My mother
is a GSIS pensioner. This January, she did not receive her monthly pension
check instead she received a notification to apply for eCARD because all GSIS
payments now are via eCARD. She received it around 3^rd week of
January but the letter is dated December 15, 2006.

We went
there to apply for that ecard. Then, they said it will be released 3-4 weeks.
We will receive a text once it is released.

After 3
weeks, we did not get that text message. My mother who can’t wait decided to
call GSIS for like 3 days but they’re unreachable because their line is always
busy. And, they only have 1 telephone number for inquiries, I think. I wonder
what happen to other numbers. I remember they have a globe number before.

To make my
mother happy, I went to their office to follow-up the status. I was glad to
know that my mother’s ecard is available for pick-up. So the day after, I
brought my nanay to pick it up.

We then ask
the assigned person disbursing the ecards if her January and February pensions
can already be withdrawn. The GSIS staff answered with after 3-4 weeks. Wow, they
surely are fond of 3-4 weeks!

I applauded
GSIS for having this eCARD but there are just some wrongs in here:

First, they
should have not stopped sending out the monthly checks until one can withdraw money from the eCARD. I think they know that some people/families are depending
on their retirement pensions.

Second,
they should have a way where people can follow-up without going to their
office. I actually saw people there from far-away towns like me to follow-up on
their eCARDS and they’d just get a reply of, ‘Wa pa man, ma’am. Balik lng 1
week after.’ And, please note kapila na tawn sila nag balik2x.

Third, they
should not remove the option of receiving the pension via check. The pensioner
needs to physically go there to apply for that eCARD. So you would see there
lots of old people on wheelchair applying for eCARDS. It does not look so
convenient.  Most of the pensioners are
senior citizens who are not so technically updated especially those who are not
from the city. One example is my nanay. She flipped when she saw an Expiry date
on her ATM card. (It has an expiry date because it’s Visa electron.) How would
those far from the city withdraw their money like my nanay? I saw lots of
really old people going to the GSIS office just to ask why they get this such
and such message on the ATM machine and some even asking how to use it. Anyway,
at least something new for them.

End of
whine.

i'm not a girl (xx)

because:

1. i don't know how to make-up, not even lipstick.

2. i don't own a make-up kit, not even lipstick. i have chapstick though.

3. the coolest fashion ensemble i can think of is jeans, shirt, and
sneakers. for me, it's formal, casual, party dress, sunday dress.
please understand that i'm not being rude when i come to your formal
party in jeans. it's the bestest outfit in my closet.

4. i don't have a dress in my closet. except for my maternity dresses.

5. bryanboy and gretchen barreto are the fashion icons i only know. and, i'm not sure if they're really icons.

6. i don't do my nails -- pedicure, manicure. i don't feel comfy having
someone cleaning my toenails. the only time i got to do this was during
my wedding day. =( me hide of shame.

7. but i love to go to the parlor for my hair though. except that i want them short.

8. i don't understand why they call purse as purse when they look like bags to me.

9. i don't understand why girls must have dozens of bags in every
colors. and, why do girls have those small bags which i think are
called purse when you can fit hardly anything into it.

10. i don't understand why girls make a fuss of matching underwears.

11. i love shoes. but choosing between strappy sandals and sneakers. sneakers it is!

12. i don't understand why it takes ages for girls to dress up.

13. i don't have accessories/jewelries.

14. i don't have hole in my ear/ear hole for earrings.

15.

reason # x*x* why you should not get married and have kids early! or maybe marry an insensitive male specie

mark just got home from his bohol trip with his friends/workmates. i tried not to feel jealous/envious/bitter/hate/bad about it. you know, the thought of me or us stuck here in lacion, cebu. i mean i'm happy for him because at least he starts to get adventurious but it would be better if he included us. but yeah i know, it would not be much fun if there are excess baggages. and, yes, this is the 2nd time he went on a trip leaving us behind, and there will be more.

one of his reasons why it is like that because the kids are too small. he has a point. (but i see lots of families with small kids travelling.) and it was an all-boys event. owkeis, he scored on that too.

every time he got back from his 'adventure,' he would then say, 'we should go there with the kids because the place is child-friendly blahblahblahblah...' F*CK pakshyet. of course, all resorts, i believe, are child-friendly! i'm still fuming with anger/hate/jealousy/bitterness/allthenegativityintheworld. but i don't want to show it because i don't want to spoil his happiness. mark is this very safe kid, living inside the shell all his life, and he just started to test the unknown waters so i'm trying to be supportive about it but how i wish he chose us to be his adventuremates. duh, BS! i mean i have the reason to feel bad about it, right?

i'm never ever gonna ask him for some litow adventure with the kids again. nanglood ko! I and my kids will have our time sooooooooon!!! we're gonna have a real backpacking escapade minus HIM! watch out, mt. everest!

week END

desperate housewives is my current weekend addiction. i just finish season 2 earlier at 4am. me loves lynette(sp?) it looks i'll have an early bed later. so i guess i'll have happy feet and open season again and again later -- my sleeping aides for my kids. =)

i'm excited about some new things next week. i don't want to post what's it about coz it might get jinx! =)

next weekend, no desperate housewvives yet. i think season 3 is still not done. and, a boy friend of mine who's also hooked to it does not want to download it per episode. so, i guess i have to wait until the season 3 is over.

Autograph: 3 things you're dying to know about me =)

thanks for tagging me, nins. =)

3 People Who Makes Me Laugh:
Uno: migi/meg
Dos: celebrity bloggers
Tres: po/pu/pooh (that gay impersonator of manny pacquiao)

3 Things I Love:
Uno: computer with internet connection
Dos: chismis
Tres: cameras

3 Things I Hate:
Uno: uncertainties (same here)
Dos: candidates for the incoming election
Tres: self-righteous judgemental narrowminded creatures

3 Things On My Desk (at home):
Uno: telephone
Dos: toy car/helicopter
Tres: notebooks

3 Things I Am Doing Right Now:
Uno: working... waiting for my shift to end
Dos: updating Help site
Tres: answering this

3 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
Uno: raise my kids to be levelheaded
Dos: social works
Tres: try my luck at teaching. i'm planning to get some educational units, then enrol for SPED.

3 Things I Can Do:
Uno: make fun of my self
Dos: not sleep for 48 hours
Tres: bloat someone's ego

3 Ways to Describe My Personality:
Uno: crazy
Dos: sensitive
Tres: corny

3 Things People Might Not Know About Me:
Uno: i'm a good listener =)
Dos: i'm open to liberated ideas
Tres: i'm clumsy (i think it shows)

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To:
Uno: those unsaid words
Dos: common sense
Tres: greater things than the bad stuffs

3 of My Absolute Favorite Foods:
Uno: rice
Dos: siomai
Tres: and daghan pa

3 Things I’d Like to Learn:
Uno: to view the world from my kids' point
Dos: drive.
Tres: write

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly:
Uno: Water
Dos: coke (ice-cold coke is next best thing to sex according to a friend of mine. hehe)
Tres: instant coffee

3 Shows I Watched When I Was A Child:
Uno: mcgyver (sp?)
Dos: eat bulaga
Tres: young love sweet love

and everybody should do this. =)

my vday/review

for the 7 going on 8 years of us being together, i never receive flowers/chocolates/balloons/any cutesy stuffs from mark. i may not be into those stuffs but who would not feel giggly and excited and special to receive those. anyhoo, that's mark. so to save myself from being frustrated and broken-hearted, i stop looking forward to it. =)

this valentines, i still don't get those cutesy stuffs. anyhoo, we went to the tinderbox -- my treat. if it's about eating out, no questions ask, he'd say YES! it was not really a date because we had a company. but it's some kinda special because it's my first time. my first time in the tinderbox. =) well, i wanted to try it a long time ago but i always get intimidated with the place. we had steak (which they say their specialty), lingua, and some fish, and some appetizer, and some chocolate moist cake. i'd say beehive has still the best steak though it was long time ago i was there. while mark and ador keeps saying nothing beats godfather of roma pizza (or pizza roma?), i don't know why they're comparing the two. and, their chocolate moist made me miss dessert factory's. =) all in all, the place is not for me or i'm just not for the place. =)

and the day ended with a fight. =) because i can't help but ask mark again about the flowers and chocolates on our way home... hahahahha! bleeehhhh...

so how did your vday go? =)

looking thru the eyes of migi

* i was helping him weewee, when he said to me, 'wenbow, wenbow,' pointing at his weewee. wenbow means rainbow. i don't know why he thought of the weewee as rainbow, maybe because of the shape/form.

* him looking at the station of the cross #13, he said, 'God.' Then, 'kita pepe God.' Because nagtapis ra man si Jesus Christ.

what's the plan

valentine's day or any special kind of day does not exist in mark's boring world. i don't remember of us celebrating that day unless i insisted -- crying my heart out or making a scene in some public place or threatening him (he's not threatened, he's just tired of listening to my endless whining thus giving in). =) so i gave up on this celebration thingy to save myself from getting frustrated.

but now that i have 2 kiti2x kids, i'm looking forward to it again. i'm planning of getting us somewhere (minus mark) to just 'chill out.'

he chose the chicks over me

i was planning to take migi with me to pay bills at SM earlier this afternoon as he really enjoys jeepney ride. so i gave him a bath, but after that he immediately dashed away from me and went straight to his chicks... the chicks they got from bunot2x. and, he never mind a bit when i left him. i was like wow! jealous? not really. i'm just thinking 15 or more years after, will he prefer hanging out with his 'chicks' than me? oh well, i can always join them. =)

feb 8, 2006

it's
been 1 year since i quit working from a real normal/typical company.
how time flies so fast!! i remember, i sort of tell myself and the
people that i'd have my life back after 2 years. because back then,
every time there's some office/department outing, i always have an
excuse. working before made me non-existent at home, thus i make sure
every free time i had was spent at home or with kids thus no room for
outing whatsoever with officemates/friends. my always promise to them
was that after 2 years, once i have my life back, i'll join every
outing they'll have. but i quit even before i hit the 1 year...

so
what change within a year? i don't know. maybe fatter. and, no more
office drama/chismis and some real big people to talk to. =)

from this... yagit


to this... more yagit

MV Doulos

Last Sunday, we, whole family, went there. I'd say it was not a good idea! The queue was quite long, place is so packed... (I should've listened to Mark.)

I don't know why so many people are there - must be lack of place to go, just out of curiosity, cebu people are voracious readers now, it's weekend? =) I think my feeling was the same with the rest of the people there when they see the crowd. hahaha... Mark said he didn't understand why college boys are seriously looking at children's books -- it can be they're trying to make most out of the situation.

Much worse is that I bought 2 children's books which can just be found in National Bookstore. so lame of me... =) Well, can be same reason with the college boys.

positively preggers

it's not that it's a shocker but i was constantly denying that it's going to happen... for my own selfish reasons. =(

Migi's Ate Mona is pregnant. She's been with us since Migi's day 1. Somehow, we're dependent on her, we're used to having her around -- putting order to chaos. I feel very secure leaving the kids to her (more secure leaving the kids to her than Mark). She's smart and experienced -- she's really God-send angel to our family. =) We're spoiled. I'm ashame to admit but she knows Migi better than us -- they have this connection. She's like the mother to our kids while Mark and I are more like friends to our kids. (how bad parents we are.)

God has reasons for throwing this to us. One, this would definitely force me to be a real mother to my kids instead of hiding behind Ate Mona's skirt when things get out of control. This can be exagerration but this happens once in awhile.

I wonder how Migi will take it. Is he too young to notice it? But I hope he'll remember her - I'll make sure of that.

I pray that every thing goes well with her pregnancy. She's having difficulty conceiving, so definitely this baby is a blessing. This is her 2nd child after 8 years. Of course, we'll be here for her and her family whatever happens. =) except that I already gave away migi and meg's baby stuffs, ggrrrr...

....

sudden changes
stressed out
coffee coffee coffee
prayers

litow conversation

Yesterday, I was planning that after we're done with the pedia visit, we'd go to MV Doulos, not really for the books but to let migi and meg see and get into a boat. I keep telling him about it to excite him.

Me: Migi, sakay nya ta boat.
Migi; Di, basa. (pointing to his pants)

Every time I say, 'sakay ta boat,' he was consistent with his reply, 'di, basa' with matching pointing to his pants.

I know it's shallow but it makes me smile thinking about it. Somehow, he's now able to connect things. Yeay, his brain is working! =)

But we're not able to get into the boat. It's bit late when we're done with the pedia, and I really don't know how to go there. Next time...

eeewww eeeewwww

We just found out that meg has lice/kuto/lusa. I kind of freaked out -- i felt like where did i go so wrong? i mean it's so basic, and i can't even have it right. To sort of make me feel not so bad, they'd tell me it's normal for kids to have kuto. Yes, it's normal for school-age kids but not for 1-year old kids. This is my first time to see a 1-year old kutoon. =)

Anyhoo, the doctor prescribed this Kwell shampoo. Sheesshhh, it's freaking expensive. I didn't know shampoo for kuto is expensive. It's P189 for 60ml -- as in gamay ra au sya. Just enough for meg. So to de-lice everybody in the household, i'll buy the old reliable sulod!

Quoted from the box of the shampoo: 'contrary to popular belief, lice tend to prefer clean rather than dirty hair' -- so i/you can't say that my kid is untidy. =) At least this gives me some relief... My mistake is just giving too many baths to my kids. =)

seriousness

Lately we've been talking about getting a house of our own. We'll be 3 years as married unit this year so somehow we need to go on that direction. Though, I really have no problem renting forever; I'd been living on a boardinghouse for more than 10 years. But it's society's norm -- you're expected to have your own house. Also, with 2++ kids, the place has not much space.

We don't have any savings so the only way we could have that house is via housing loan. I mean we can't wait for that savings to happen because it might not happen. =) Housing loans by banks is expensive they said so. So we'll go the PAG-IBIG route.

So I went to PAG-IBIG Mandaue branch to inquire how to go about it. Anyway, aside from reactivating our membership, I got this list of requirements which I can't make much out of. Basically, just any other kind of loans, the requirements are mostly to prove you're capacity to pay. One is ITR. Both of us now not working in a typical company, I just have not much idea how to get that ITR. They won't accept bank statements as a main proof that we can pay though there's not really much in our bank statement. I can really sense the staff who assisted was me giving me the
can-you-really-pay look but I don't blame her because it somehow is the truth. =)

Anyhoo, me thinking about it, paying the PAG-IBIG housing loan is not only interest and principal but also the TAX. And, to get a bigger loan, you need to declare a bigger income. Tax is like 10% of your income, right?

Please don't report us as tax evaders. I do pay those rVAT/eVAT/VATever religously! =) Remember I buy 3 cans of milk a week -- see I'm paying tax on a weekly/daily basis. =)

So BIR here I come. I really not much like going to that office, I can't remember a good experience with them, but I need to -- I'm no Gretchen Barreto.

Really, I still cannot believe I'm thinking about this kind of stuff. I find it too serious, it's so not me. =)

cruel world

When I started doing the gym thing, my weight is 1*2. This is my 3rd week of religiously going to they gym (like 3xweek) but still my weight is 1*2. They said it would take time to really lose weight! Hello? It's my 3rd week, shouldn't my weight at least move 1 pointer down?!

Such a cruel cruel world! I'm thinking of resorting to Xenical, or maybe Fitrum. Judy Ann said Fitrum makes her slim.

Hay, such a cruel world for an impatient me! Well, it's 3 weeks! Cruel!!!

For those who knows the equivalent of *, please keep it to yourself. =)

2liltime

there's a lot of things i wanted to post but been so busy lately that when i finally have some free time i'm too tired to type it out.

i'm talking to me.