SillyMommy

Bucket list (kinda)

2009-11-23T08:53:00.003+08:00

As each day passes, thoughts firm up in my head, saying:
1. I should quit as (lifetime)president of the SU alumni chapter here.
2. I should quit as (equally lifetime) president of the Kalsangi Ladies Club.
3. I need to re-engineer my roles in the church and the school.
Because:
1. I want to have the pleasure of cooking again in my own kitchen for my family and friends.
2. Going back to my crafts.
3. Being so un-stressed.
So can I do it?

My Boys conquer another mountain...

2009-11-03T15:22:00.004+08:00

Rene & Mikko (on sembreak) climbed Mt. Parker last October 24-25 with the Dolefil Mountaineering Club (as well as others from Davao, etc).Too bad Momon couldn't join coz of the school intrams.:( Mount Parker, locally known as Melibengoy, is a st...ratovolcano on Mindanao island in the Philippines (6°06.8' N, 124°53.5' E). It is located in the province of south Cotabato, 30 kilometers west of General Santos City and 44 kilometers south of Koronadal City. The volcano is believed to have been named after an American pilot who crashed at the volcano while he was surveying and mapping the area. The volcano has an elevation of 1,784 meters and a base diameter of 40 km. It has a 2.9-km-wide caldera with steep walls that rise 200-500m above the crater lake that is now called Maughan Lake. The lake, which is officially called Lake Holon, was named after another American who was with Parker when he crashed. Melibengoy is considered one of the sacred places of the T'boli tribe. It hosts a rare species, Parantica dannatti reyesi, which was discovered by the late Professor Josue de los Reyes of Notre Dame of Marbel University and published in the Entomological Journal of Senckerburg Research Institute in December 1994. Government officials have also confirmed sightings of the Philippine Tarsier, Tarsius syrichta which can supposedly be found in the barangays surrounding Lake Holon.

For some reason,i'm not able to upload any pictures, so pls click on to for full photo coverage: http://mummy1.multiply.com/photos/album/52/Mikko_Renes_Trek_to_Mt._Parker

Happy Halloweeny!

2009-11-03T15:04:00.003+08:00

The horror is, for the first time ever, Kalsangi had around 500+ people coming into the compoud for the annual Halloween festivities!!????? and since we'd only prepared candy for the anticipated usual 350 kids...so luoy lang jud tung mga hinayan or late...tho of course they still got to see the sights and sounds and scary (?) people around.
People seemed more creative this time around: the street with the Thriller theme had a dozen zombies breaking into dance every 15 minutes or so; the street opposite it with the Aliens theme had a spaceship where one could pose for a free digital (polaroid?) picture; another street with the 'enchanted kingdom' theme had all their househelp in gowns and wings flitting up and down the street and gardens;our street naman (with the Addam's Family theme) had this giant 'wrought-iron' cemetery gate sealing off our street from anyone---except the brave--who had to get through this tall, scary gatekeeper..; then there were vampires in another street; and the most interesting theme of all (to me) was the one of Philippine Mythology, where they had manananggals and tikbalangs lining the street, kapres too!

All in all, it wasn't evil ang dating but fun, fun,fun---and sulit ang backbreaking labor the days prior to it. What was remarkable too, was that most of the work was done by the residents themselves, down to the 'street performers' which included a top-level executive doing the 'thriller dance' on his street!
For full photo coverage, do check out: http://mummy1. multiply. com/photos/ album/54/ Kalsangi_ Halloween

Hope we still have the energy to make a repeat next year...! Now where's that masseuse?

2008-10-23T13:54:00.002+08:00

To my faithful reader of one: so sorry for the long absence---but for some strange reason, this blog stopped being 'openable' from our home server--been trying for months now! It is only here, while i sit in my hubby's St. Luke's suite that i am able to access it! What gives???
Anyhow, hope all is well, y out there! Will try to get back when i'm on home turf. Hubby coming out of sedation...:)

It's Summertime!

2008-04-15T07:10:00.002+08:00

Spent a couple of weeks in Manila late March, mainly to see our daughter Trina graduate (BA.Communication, Ateneo de Manila), help her get her stuff (4 years' accummulation) out of the dorm (Eliazo Hall), and the rest was goofing-around time. And goofing around meant having breakfast with old, as well as long-lost friends of some 20- something years(e.g. Raineer Chu) and bonding with their families, endless malling, partying (Grama threw a party to celebrate Trina's grad and celebrate sons Rene & Raul's birthdays (they were born one day apart --Mar 29&30, heheh), field tripping to 168Mall, and best of all cruisin' to Corregidor Island. Below are photos of that event. Hope i learn to make legible captions before i post 'em, harhar.

Riding the trolley around the Island...(that's Trina beside me, with cousin Alvi, and Momon)

The boys...Rene, Momon & Alvi...hmm.where did Mikko go?

Thar he is!

Luckily the shadow on our faces hides our Japanese-like countenances...otherwise namura na kami dun! Below is the longest barracks in the world (at the time). Unfortunately, this site allows for just 5 photos ata? Will have to post on my multiply site, ok? Till next post...toodle!

See how we've grown....!

2008-03-17T17:19:00.002+08:00

Parang kailan lang....!!

Whaaaa?!!

2008-03-14T13:40:00.000+08:00

Subject: It came from the mouth of children

Can you imagine yourself as the nun sitting at her desk grading these papers, all the while trying to keep a straight face and maintain her composure!

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORDING AND SPELLING. IF YOU ARE EVEN REMOTELY FAMILIAR WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE, YOU'LL FIND THIS HILARIOUS!
IT COMES FROM A ROMAN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST IN WHICH KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETOUCHED OR CORRECTED. INCORRECT SPELLING HAS BEEN LEFT IN.

1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS, GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.

2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.

3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURIN G THE NIGHT.

4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE, AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.

5. SAMPSON WAS A STRONG MAN WHO LET HIMSELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.

6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.

7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD W HICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS .

8, THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTERWARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.

10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.

11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA . THEN JOSHUA LED THE HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL.

12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.

13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.

14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.

15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.

16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM
THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED, THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.

17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.

18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.

19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE..

20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.

21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.

22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE APOSTLES.

23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS
ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.

24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY. HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.

25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE . THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY.

Food Spoilage Table....just so you know...!!

2008-02-29T07:17:00.000+08:00

FOOD SPOILAGE TABLE
(origin unknown)

THE GAG TEST
Anything that makes you gag is spoiled (except for leftovers from what you cooked for yourself last night).

EGGS
When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably past its prime.

DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt. Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese. Regular cheese is nothing but spoiled milk anyway and can't get any more spoiled than it is already.

MAYONNAISE
If it makes you violently ill after you eat it, the mayonnaise is spoiled.

FROZEN FOODS
Frozen foods that have become an integral part of the defrosting problem in your freezer compartment will probably be spoiled - (or wrecked anyway) by the time you pry them out with a kitchen knife.

MEAT
If opening the refrigerator door causes stray animals from a three-block radius to congregate outside your house, the meat is spoiled.

LETTUCE
Bibb lettuce is spoiled when you can't get it off the bottom of the vegetable crisper without Comet.

CANNED GOODS
Any canned goods that have become the size or shape of a basketball should be disposed of. Carefully.

CARROTS
A carrot that you can tie a clove hitch in is not fresh.

WINE
It should not taste like salad dressing.

POTATOES
Fresh potatoes do not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.

CHIP DIP
If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has gone bad.

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB:
Most food cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster. Keep a hamster in your refrigerator to gauge this.

Mini-me...

2008-02-18T19:37:00.003+08:00

Just to liven up things on my page, I am posting my darling daughter Trina's most recent pics....dear Reader of One, can you spot which one she is? Some folks say she's my 'mini-me'...I say she's a 'new & improved' version of the old..

Post-Valentine's Day chika

2008-02-18T10:56:00.002+08:00

Not appropriate for Valentine's Day, but this is a
> lovely song. Lyrics
> written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman who also wrote
>"Windmills of Your Mind," "How
> Do You Keep the Music Playing," "The Way We Were..."
> This one's not as popular
> nor as catchy but it grows on you.
>
>
> http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=nF2Et7m0h5I
>
>
> Where do you start?
> How do you separate the present from the past?
> How do you deal with all the things you thought
> would last?
> That didn't last;
> With bits of memories scattered here and there
> I look around and don't know where to start.
>
> Which books are yours?
> Which tapes and dreams belong to you and which are
> mine?
> Our lives are tangled like the branches of a vine
> That intertwine
> So many habits that we'll have to break, and
> yesterdays
> we'll have to take apart.
>
> One day there'll be a song or something in the air
> again
> To catch me by surprise, and you'll be there again,
> A moment in what might have been...
>
> Where do you start?
> Do you allow yourself a little time to cry?
> Or do you close your eyes and kiss it all goodbye?
> I guess you'll try
>
> And though I don't know where and don't know when
> I'll find myself in love again
> I promise there will always be
> A little place no one will see
> A tiny part deep in my heart
> That stays in love with you.

Tuna King

2008-02-16T08:42:00.005+08:00

Our friend and staunch ally, Mr. Roger Lim was twice nominated for the Outstanding Sillimanian Award and rejected for some flimsy reason or other, in favor of men far less worthy than he for the honor. Below is a write-up detailing some of the great things he has done with matching great impact on the community...and if that doesn't get him nominated again, i don't know what will. But alas, alack---he REFUSES to be nominated a third time, having been insulted by the University's rejection (for unjust cause)the last time around. So for posterity na lang, I will post the article that does him justice...

Featured Story: Social Accountability Not Social Responsibility

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The Making of Filipino Entrepreneurs
By Theresa S. Pacheco

It all started with a dream. The dream was to empower fisher folks in the countryside. Armed with courage, determination and passion, Rogelio Lim Sr., simply known as Roger Lim, made it come true. He is the man behind the success of GenSan Aqua Traders in the country’s tuna capital, General Santos City.

The humble and low profile Tuna King got the inspiration from doctrines he learned while working with the Development Academy of the Philippines-Medium and Small Scale Industries Coordinated Action Program (DAP-MASICAP). He was under the supervision of Fr. George Piron, a Belgian Catholic priest who has taught him in particular, to love God and our country.

The DAPMA SICAP program was funded and spearheaded by former President Ferdinand Marcos and, then Industry Minister Vicente Paterno. The young Roger Lim belonged to the top college students hand-picked for the program. Each of the scholars received a countryside assignment with the objective of developing the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME) for free and act as catalyst between the proponents and the government.

Mr. Lim, fresh from Silliman University in Dumaguete, was assigned to assist entrepreneurs and potential project proponents in General Santos City in 1974. While he is trained to prepare project feasibility studies, he also learned that aside from the usual management, technical, marketing and financial aspects - contribution to the economy was a primordial consideration in the preparation of such studies.

Their group believed that for meaningful development to take place, it must happen in the countryside beginning at grassroots level. At a young age, Roger Lim believed that true development was the improvement of standards of living for underprivileged Filipinos and raising them from bondage of poverty.

Roger Lim’s social immersion under the DAP-MASICAP made him realize four things. First, Filipinos lacking formal education possess inherent ability and talents which have not been harnessed properly through government intervention. Second, Filipinos have a “godfather mentality” and that you can create wealth by harnessing people’s skills. Third, even if you have capital but do not know how to harness your inherent talents, your money will go to waste. Fourth, to hit two birds with one stone, you must make business profitability drive your mission to provide people with a legacy.

Before his program was implemented, the condition of fisher folks was similar to the Filipino farmer, considered as the poorest among the poor. They were simply employed and being exploited by others. So by the time Mr. Lim started his tuna handline (hook and line) fishing business in 1987, he already embraced the vision that in order for his business to flourish, it should promote and share the wealth creation among the fisher folk and uplift the people who depended on him for a living.

He worked on his plan and designed his business organization in a diamond-shape (not a pyramid). Using this model he visualized having more successful people in the middle with only few at the top and at the bottom. He aimed at improving the lives of the fisher folk by letting them have more than what was considered enough, more than “isang kahig isang tuka”.

Employment plus Prosperity

Roger Lim’s business-driven community development model remained nameless until Fr. Raul Vale, a priest based in General Santos City named it the ‘Social Accountability Program’ which means “employment plus prosperity”.

The program aims to empower Filipino fishery workers into owners of handline fishing boats eventually transforming them from mere labor fisher folk into fishing entrepreneurs. “In order to ensure sustainability of the program, the fishermen and their family members learn not only how to fish but also how to manage their own fishing business being owners of handline fishing boats,”according to Mr. Lim.

He made sure that the fishermen learn three principles for success. First, teach them how to make the fishing business successful. Second, teach them to manage their own success to achieve sustainability. And third, ensure management by succession—nurturing the new generation of entrepreneurs— to achieve continuity.

To-date Roger Lim’s GenSan Aqua Traders provides livelihood for 6,000 Filipino handliners and 30,000 family members. The Social Accountability Program also includes 150 fisher-beneficiaries. While most own one or two fishing boats under the program, some fishers have become entrepreneurs by their hard work and business acumen to own five to more than ten boats.

The GenSan Aqua Traders Social Accountability Program works along the lines of a build-operate-transfer scheme. The deserving fisher passes through a process of selection and promotion. In the process, Mr. Lim takes into consideration the performance as well as the character of the prospective fisher.

“What I look for in a prospective fisherman are qualities like personal courage, drive for success, determination, commitment, passion and leadership,” says Mr. Lim. He keeps a close eye on the fishers as soon as they come aboard as crew members (pasahero) or as boat captains (operator).

Mr. Lim shoulders the risk with these fishers when he decides to assign them a fishing boat. Because they are lacking formal credential and not yet bankable, Mr. Lim’s arrangements are based on the unique bonds of trust and confidence that he builds working with people who risk lives to make a living at sea. The cost of the fishing boat is paid back without interest from profits of fishing operations — ‘payable when able’. In this set-up, Mr. Lim also acts as the financier providing the fishers with fuel, ice, food and other related fishing operational supplies on condition that their fish catch will be sold to him based on the prevailing price at the fishport.

Accountability First

Mr. Lim would like to emphasize his views on the role of entrepreneurship in the society. He says, “the term ‘social responsibility’ is not enough because most of us are just users and exploiters when we give employment to our fellow Filipinos.”

“Let us develop the Filipinos into entrepreneurs and let us use the phrase ‘social accountability’ instead,” he emphasizes. “Meaning let us provide employment and livelihood at the same time to achieve growth and prosperity. The successful businessmen in our country should think of helping and teaching some of their employees to become entrepreneurs and temper selfishness and greed. Filipino businesspeople and entrepreneurs should struggle and learn to love, struggle and learn to trust, and struggle and learn to take risks with fellow Filipinos.”

Mr. Lim’s Social Accountability Program has produced the most outstanding fishers in General Santos City. To his delight, all 10 winners of the search for the first Karagatan Awards that formed part of the 8th annual Tuna Festival were all beneficiaries of the GenSan Aqua Traders program. For this, all the more the GenSan Aqua Traders team is inspired to make good and hope for the best in next years’ awards.

In this vein, Mr. Lim is pursuing a double bottom line approach that fits Plantersbank’s vision. With the development loan extended to him by Plantersbank, his company had and could reach out to many deserving labor fishermen who also dream, have the grit and determination to succeed and especially those who have the passion and dare to become entrepreneurs.

Because it remains focused in harnessing the ability of the common fisherman and develops in them the spirit of business enterprise, Mr. Lim produces many unsung heroes. The handline fishermen who battle with and land the large/mature yellow-fin tuna are the same people who made the City the tuna capital of the Philippines and help generate millions in the foreign currency revenues with their catch.

General Santos City is the premier tuna producer and exporter of canned, fresh/chilled and frozen sashimi, and other value-added tuna products in the country. Soon, the tuna products will also be used as raw materials for the OTOP (One Town, One Product) program of the City government and the Department of Trade and Industry for export to the United States, Japan, the European Union, the Middle East and other Islamic countries. For this reason, the handliners are lobbying in the Senate for a special law to reclassify the handline fishing industry.

As GenSan Aqua Traders continues in its success, it aims to pursue the program and improve the operations, reach out to more deserving labor fishermen and build new handline fishing boats. Thanks to the opportunities opened by the company’s Social Accountability Program, Roger Lim continues to pursue the noble mission to make a difference for General Santos City and the tuna fishing industry, building a lasting legacy so that “Filipinos shall be the masters of their own country.”

No rest for the wicked...

2008-02-12T08:16:00.001+08:00

When it rains, it pours! And i'm not talking about dollars raining here. Kana bang 'phenomenon' nga there are times in your life when you go for days on end with nothing to do but wriggle your toes, and then something comes up finally, tapos sunod-sunod or patong-patong pa to the point you wish you could split your bod to be in two places at the same time?

Coz that seems to be the case with me these days---beginning with last week when Rene's German relatives came to town, and we were supposed to watch this annual school play but couldn't as we had to take them sightseeing elsewhere...(seeing as they barely had two straight days to suroy with us).Then off they went, only to be replaced today by this lady, Atty.Dorothy Cajayon, who happens to be the national president of the Silliman U Alumni Association. She was our guest speaker last November at the alumni chapter's Christmas /post-Founder's Day fellowship, when everyone was so busy and she wasn't 'asikaso' as well as i would wish, so I promised to take her around the next time she was in town...

While she's here from her hometown Zamboanga on other non-SU related business (she has 2 hearings scheduled in Gensan today and tomorrow, lawyer that she is), this was the 'next time around'. Unfortunately, starting nga last weekend, was/is the Speech Festival nina Momon sa school---and this afternoon, is a round of speech choir, oration, etc competitions where my presence is a must, seeing as Momon is joining the speech choir for the first time (and i never miss any school programs ever). All this start at 5:30pm. Mam Dot (for Dorothy)finishes with her first court hearing at 5, and it was expected that i would be making sundo and taking her out to dinner na. But since i have to be at the school pa, and I can't morphe into two,it took a lot of phone calls to arrange for other people to do the job for me. And buti na lang, i got our 'financier' of the group to host a dinner at his home tonight. But everything happens in Gensan, which means once Momon's part is over tonight, i shall have to risk life and limb to make the 45-minute drive in the dark to meet up with the whole group (just the core peeps) for dinner and a business meeting. Then after a decent amount of time which involves eating, chitchat and karaoke (as demanded by the jolly fatty host), Mam Dot and i make our exit to drive back home. The least I can do kasi is offer her lodgings for the night, kasali na rin dun the sightseeing (pineapples everywhere!) tomorrow morning on the way back to the city.

Coz it's back to the city nga that i have to take her early tomorrow, even if her hearing is at 2pm pa. Know why? another case of 'pouring rain': tomorrow is when the ladies club take out the wards of the Gensan Home for the Aged for their annual valentine treat at Jollibee!!So it's either I dump my guest once we reach the city or she joins my group. She chose the latter option, as she was very interested in seeing how we go about our civic work, and get tips for her own troupe in Zambo. So that seems to work out fine finally.
Meantime, i'm still in the midst of making sure tonight goes smoothly for all of us.

Gotta go, gotta run. No rest for the wicked, y'know. heeheehee.

Outreach, the MMCC way...

2008-01-30T08:45:00.000+08:00

(WRITTEN LAST MONDAY, but POSTED only today.)
Hallooo!! Talk about chilly cold-y weather! I had all my windows closed all morning till around noon---even with the sun high up in the sky, as it was a truly windy, COLD Monday----very conducive to just stretching out on the couch under a warm blankie! Which was what i actually did, harhar. Had a whole list of stuff to do on my mind, but my bod just wouldn't budge, sowee. Know why? Coz it got beat up yesterday afternoon---when practically our whole church (the active families) went on an 'outreach' outing to the hills of this place called Kipalbig to dole out groceries and old clothes and rice to about 50 families living there belonging to the Bila-an tribe.
Actually, the whole of yesterday, Sunday was really cool. In the morning, we celebrated Children's Sunday with a special service led by the kids (they were the worship leaders, and they also had special song and dance numbers during the service), plus a party for them, with games, balloons and lootbags, to boot! Why a Children's SunDAY? Because a few years back, some smart kids complained that we always celebrated Mother's Day &Father's Day, so why not a day for them too???is why.
Then most of us formed a convoy towards Kipalbig, but stopped first at Nadie's, that chicken bbq place in Tupi i often mentioned in the past--for a nice lunch of what else? yummy chicken barbecue! Then we went off again. The site we had to get to was actually a semi-island of sorts, as it had a river surrounding 3/4ths of it, and the little circle of land we were on was full of trees, so it was also pretty cool, even if it was just around 1:30pm when we got there.
What was cool, too, was that our hosts (farm owners in the area) must have guessed (or smelled?) that this was a church who loved to eat, and they had pancit bihon prepared for us, boiled bananas plus buco juice and giant guavas to munch on while waiting for the natives to congregate.
And then they came in droves. That, too, was an unforgettable experience. Makes one remember how blessed one is, when others can have very little as well.
We got home around 5pm, soo tired but altogether happy.
I found myself dozing off at 8:30pm, as opposed to my normal 11pm& up beddybyetime!! And actually waking up at 5:30!! Wuhoo! 9 hours of sleep, finally?! in this day and age?(kay diba the tigulanger one gets, the less sleep he gets?)
But maybe such an unusual (but healthy)number of sleeping hours gave way to my groggy feeling all day long. Hence my being a couch patata today. Excused na ba? wahaha.

Wining & Dining galore! s'more!

2008-01-29T18:43:00.001+08:00

Oopsie....! Looks like i broke my earlier promise of getting back to this blog like a regular blogger person. Oh but wait--now i remember why i wasn't able to: they took my PC away to the computer hospital!! But anyways, i'm baaack----and I hope this will get to be a regular thing from now on, remind me, ok?

A couple of interesting things happened to me last week. First, was our 'atik-atik lang' ladies' club monthly soiree. The party planners for this month thought we should have an ethnic theme this time around, hence the 'atik-atik' ....a spin-off from ati-atihan bala...but with lots of kalokohan (atik is loko in the vernacular here). So last Wednesday, we all trooped to the 2nd street where the party was being held at this lady Emma's home. She had taken the time to dress up her garage ala-ethnic museum, whereupon each person who brought an ethnic decor item added the items as they came .One of the staple activities we have at these parties is one where we have this 'bring an unusual plant (for green day), or tiniest ornament (for the Christmas bash), or ethnic decor' contest, where the most unusual item would be judged a winner.Another is a 'fashion parade' where everyone dressed according to the theme parades in front (lots of clowning around here), and gets judged as well...then there are the parlor games, usually also theme-related.

This time around, we were all diviied up into different Philippine tribes, and we played some kind of charade-style guessing game, where we'd have to guess the name of the native dance Emma, the hostess was dancing! Can you believe that lady? First she comes up with the garage museum, then she prepares the dances and dances them herself, and in the last game, to boot---"streetdancing", the different 'tribes' had to come up with ethnic dances (kalokohan lang) which had to be done to the accompaniment of the 'band'---made up of Emma on a bamboo drum, Marie with a bila-an guitar, and another lady with the gong! The fun was in trying to dance to a 'tune' by the band which was done impromptu pa gyud, with Emma bouncing about to the crazy beat of her drum! Hayy gid.

Please don't think we behave like this in all the parties we go to, ha? hehe.We let our hair down only when it's an exclusive Ladies Club party. But when it involves other people, very behaved gayud kami.
One example was last night at the Clubhouse. We had a bunch of billionaires who came on their own jet as guests (yep, you read right....millionaires & billionnaires, or so, we were told) we had to wine and dine and make chitchat with.They're part of the Wheelchair Foundation from somewhere in the US, and they've formed some kind of partnership with Dole...they're bringing in 250 brand new wheelchairs and Dole finds the beneficiaries for them through our civic/social people, the local government and hospitals. (The wining and dining happened Thursday & Friday night.)

Friday morning was the turnover ceremony which i also attended. It was quite touching to see terribly handicapped kids (and grownups) being brought to the ceremony---mostly quadriplegics with other complications. It was also moving to see their primary caregivers---mostly their mothers or fathers, struggling to carry them around (and some were like, 17 years old na?). The Foundation has been donating wheelchairs to countries like Africa, China, and lately na lang, the Philippines. As expected, all the guests made speeches and comments about how, only in this country have they met such a hospitable people (they were with your Uncle Fidel Ramos yesterday in Manila, by the way). Today at the ceremony, we had some high school kids do the authentic Singkil (the one with the Moslem prince and princess balancing on bamboo poles), plus the Tinikling. I was just so proud and happy we could showcase this part of our culture. The kids were so good at dodging the deadly bamboo poles pakpaking at high speed and force!

That evening was another wine and dine thingie with the guests, but this time, kasama ang mga kids. Unfortunately, i had scheduled Bible Study for the same evening as well, so ulaw kaayo if i forego that for the party. So Rene parties with Momon in tow, while i go down the hill to the BS. Saturday, the guy guests went golfing, while the non-golfing ladies were left to wander around or pack.others wondering what to do...but i left that problem for someone else to solve. I had another date in church---this time, to sort and package groceries and stuff for our church outreach on Sunday...and that's another story!

2008-01-13T05:36:00.000+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! It's been ages since i last wrote down anything on this blog, mainly because i still haven't made it a part of my life---when i should, and probably also because i know it isn't a real 'self-respecting' work of blogging ---which is possibly why i haven't made it a part of my life as i should---which brings us back to the beginning of this rambling paragraph.(Hopefully, no English professors get hold of this and start marking red the running sentences and mixed metaphors or whatever coz i'm way past being grammatically correct achuchu.Hopefully the words are still being spelled right? harhar. Besides, i'm doing this even before the birds or anyone else in this house wakes up, so...:}
So why am i back here, even? Mainly because a dear, dear old, old friend of mine has been bugging me to show her my blog ("Ha? Oo nga, ano? I have a blog nga pala! hahaha--teka, let me find it muna!"). Which reminded me I had one pala, and then all of a sudden i got self-conscious coz since i hadn't really taken blogging seriously, much of it was written in an effort to randomly chronicle some events (non-earth-shaking, really)of my day-to-day existence.(Truth is, 'what day-to-day existence?'--more like every-other-month-or-so existence is what i'm talking about here, heheh.)Also, a number of them were merely cut-and-paste efforts from emails to another dear and old friend of mine in Florida who writes me daily (and I her, so in essence, my emails to her are my blog?),which is just more proof that this blog is a 'hindi talaga pinag-iisipan' work of (non)prose!If you want to stop reading at this point, i forgive you and won't blame you either, okay? What i've written so far is just akin to the ramblings of an old lady...but then again, I am getting to be an old lady, aren't I? And this old lady woke up at 4a.m., too. (which is the time old ladies usually get up, harhar!)
Anyways, poor, technologically-challenged me had to IM my daughter Trina in Manila to find me my blog, having tried earlier unsuccessfully to track it! Which answers the question most likely on your mind at the onset of finding this blog: why the blog tag 'Sillymommy'?

Okay, so starting today, i now officially declare myself to be a 'blogger person': i shall make a conscious effort to report to this site more often than every other two months (hyuk,hyuk!), I shall try to be less boring and come up with more interesting, varied input...and i shall try to learn more about how to manage my blogspot better (like, 'pwede pala mag-post ng images???' hahahaha!

Meantime, much as i have so much to make kwento about, it seems just writing these 4 or five paragraphs has exhausted me as much as it has exhausted you reading it==i now
feel compelled to REST.:}}}So, have a great Sunday ahead, i gotta hunt for some breakfast bread!! :}

End times?

2007-11-26T19:44:00.001+08:00

Couldn't sleep till near midnight last night, and woke up three hours later--why? been thinking about the whys and wherefores of why Suri& Gabe have to leave our church...and what happens to the tasks they will leave behind with no one skilled enough to handle them...tossed and turned, turned and tossed, even cried a little...
Later this morning wasn't any better. Started 'researching' on future material for worship services and felt BP levels rising (it did---175/95????jeepers!). A tranquilizer and 11 laps in the pool in the heat of the 9am sun did the trick: lowered the boiling pt BP, and cheered me up somewhat.Frolicking in the blue waters under the hot,hot sun does wonders to my soul anytime (and i'm the only one brave/foolish enough to be swimming under the hot sun in these parts!).

Had a marathon chat with Suri in the late afternoon. She explained again why they had to leave: they believe they need to leave our church in order to grow and be strong and come back when the time is right. Egging me to do the same. As working with the people there seems to be draining my energies (and making me age fast)...and the ship is sinking...it seems.

Suri shared her recent learnings: that we are entering the end times, and that churches who refuse to listen (like ours) will be put through a sieve to cull the true believers from the false ones.And that our church will have to experience a fall before it can truly rise and reach its potential heights in the Lord's kingdom.
That the members of the church all have 'issues' and baggage that prevent them from fully accepting the Lord in their lives, thus hindering the church's growth and salvation...and because of this, we will be included in the slaying...And that the fall of MMCC begins after its 40th year---which incidentally, we celebrated just yesterday with a bang!That the people are too engrossed in self and work and wealth, etc...and for them to be lifted up, they first need to be humbled. Who will survive the humbling? it is not for us to say...Incidentally, for the past two Sundays, Suri said she saw visions of angels with swords facing dark creatures with swishing tails---INSIDE OUR CHURCH while the preaching was going on!!

Has the fall begun? By next Sunday, Suri & Gabe will be gone, and so will Ptr. Cris. Already we have not seen the Grinos and the Pinedas...the Bocanegras have stopped attending Bible studies and Sunday schools where once they were just so happy to be there. By this Sunday, we shall have lost two Sunday school teachers, the pianist, and who knows what else soon---and to date we don't have a regular pastor, even! Who will handle the services with Ptr.Cris gone? Simbang Umaga,Christmas Eve and all the buzz that goes with it? Am already up to my eyebrows in Sunday school, the Council workshops, etc.Well,I guess when it's time to cross this bridge, i may well take Suri's advice. She says to say, "Ok, you want this and that? who will handle them?"

So it seems the dark clouds are about to descend any moment now. But i know there's a light behind it---and thereupon do i pin my hopes. But first we must survive the night.God have mercy on us all!

Thanksgiving aftermath

2007-11-25T20:25:00.001+08:00

It's been a long weekend for me here, too. Hope you've recovered from Operation Turkey. Regarding your plan to not bake a whole turkey next time---practical sounding man, but somehow, di kaya mawala ang visual Thanksgiving dinner 'effect' ? Unless you can somehow shape the turkey breasts to resemble a whole turkey (small replica bala)?
Finally had the 'break' i was waiting for last Thursday: went to watch this tagalog movie everyone was talking about called 'One More Chance' with my girlfriends from down the hill...and boy, it was good! The acting and scenes were all realistic, dili corny and not the usual screamy-melodrama. Funny thing lang: the leading lady seemed to have forgotten to change bags throughout the whole movie!( trust a female to notice details like that, huh?) Maayo ra ba gyud kung it was a classic leather bag na dili noticeable? It was one of these large safari-print cloth sacks!! Am so tempted to write them and point this thing out, just don't know how and where, harhar!

Friday naman was pretty busy---had to edit both the histories of the Matutum school and church which were to be read at the Thanksgiving service today, Sunday. It's the church's 40th, and the school's 35th...and fascinating kaayo to read about something that old, and to learn how it all began...

In the afternoon , we had to attend this parenting seminar sponsored by the school PTA---this Chinese guy from Ateneo who was a really good speaker---spoke on parenting, of course---and he really impressed us all by his manner of speaking and his insights, until he revealed at the open forum that he was 47 and unmarried, without kids!! Which means basically everything he knows is textbook stuff, plus things he learned along the way from being around friends and relatives with kids, and being a guidance counselor in the Ateneo at some point. Phooey.

Ended up having dinner with Pops and Baby after the lecture---Rene went home na, but dropped by the school where Momon and all the middle and upper school kids were having Club Night. Earlier, when he should have been pitching his tent, Momon decided to swing high on the bars of the soccer goal and somehow lost his grip and fell hard on his back. It was a bad fall, and everyone who saw it got alarmed as he somehow doubled up daw, then turned pale and cold, but when i got to him, he was walking around like nothing happened, but when forced, admitted that his back kinda hurt. Told him to inform the teacher if he started feeling weird or throwing up...which didn't happen that night, thank God...but the minute their camp folded up the following morning, i brought him to the hospital for some xrays. Unfortunately, the real xray doc wasn't around till Tuesday to do a reading of the plates, so it had to be the ER doc doing it. She really couldn't detect anything, but said it seemed that Mon had a slight case of scoliosis.

He seems all right na man now. In fact, he spent the whole day at the church/school anniversary festivities and seemed to be having a good time.
And now that the Rummage sale and the church fiestas are out of the way, i think i'll start taking out my Christmas decor boxes...I think kasi of all the other things i have to do and i get depressed. Or maybe it's because this young couple Shey and Gibby (whom i'm pretty fond of and relied on so much) announced that today was their last Sunday with us in church? Whatever, i think i need to put up my xmas decor to cheer me up.

On that holiday note, i shall bid you goodnight. I just can't seem to shake off the blues, boohoo.
Hope tomorrow will be better!

Halloween Aftermath

2007-11-03T08:14:00.001+08:00

Halloween was crazy. Yes, Trick or Treating started at 3pm...para may time ang kids to do the 7 streets, and still have time leftover to go to the Clubhouse for the ultimate tunnel of horror and the games and dinner. It was easily the biggest attended Trick or Treating event in all Kalsangi history.What began as something just for the neighborhood (of Kalsangi) kids has expanded to all the kids of Dole Philippines School plus kids of upper and lower management of Dolefil. Of course not everyone in the school attends, nor do we have all the kids of management coming up---but still...daghan pa gihapon by our standards ang gasaka. Add to that alumni of DPS, like sina Mikko's classmates, etc...plus some folks who bring along nephews and nieces pa...

Almost all of us prepared bags or goodies good for almost 300 kids, and we all ended up broke (in candy/treats). Did i tell you in the whole South Cotabato (or whole mindanao even? who knows?), kami lang ang ga-Trick or Treat. Of course, the posh villages in Manila and probably Cebu have their own thing too...but i don't think they're crazy enough to have street /house contests where everyone comes out to pitch in to make the whole event a success. We had two streets here who had ghouls and white ladies and the like walking up and down their street as part of the 'decor'...some homes naman converted their garages into mini-houses of horror...One street, with The Forbidden Forest as a theme, not only had live creatures like the kapre, witches, etc patrolling their street, they had two live unicorns!! Can you beat that? of course, they were in reality two tame horses with cartolina horns attached to their foreheads...but really! that blew me away!

Our street was more sedate (we also happen to be on a street with less househelp than the rest na we can dress up as witches and ask to walk up and down the street). We opted to have a Pirate theme...with only the shipwreck and beach on the street corners as the highlight. And since we didn't have the necessary manpower to walk up and down our streets as well, we only had black skull and cross-bones flags lining our street as added decor.Trina and Pops' daughters were dressed as girl pirates and they just kinda hung around the street entrance as unofficial props... But because it was tastefully done (ahem!), we still placed 3rd. The street with the unicorns placed 2nd, while the one with the most witches and ghosts walking around placed first.Prizes were in cash, but to be used towards a street party, so okay na rin. Of course, there are the 'walang kamatayan', ever-present prizes, cases of Dole fruitcups as additional reward.

What did DJ wear for Halloween? I can just imagine him so cute in whatever it was he was wearing and then dropping like a fly 5 minutes into his car ride with his grama! My kids for many years would go trick or treating with these pumpkin buckets---that ended up way too small for all the 'loot' they amassed, and they would have to come home midway and 'unload' their buckets to make room for their '2nd half' of the bounty.

The morning after Halloween, i joined Momon on the rug and had him spread out his candy and sort them. What he didn't like, Mikko and I went through, and what was left over was given to his yaya (still a whole bag's worth). Mikko took pains to make himself look like 'V' (for Vendetta), but got his kicks not from trick or treating, but from walking up and down all the streets in his costume and getting people to guess who he was! Trina didn't go trick or treating, either, but dressed like a lady pirate of sorts, and was content to hand out the candy, until her friends, Pops' doters came to pick her up, and they hung around the street a bit, before checking out the other streets, without going for the treats. They all took pictures for us.

Me? after spending a long morning with Pops and our coterie of houseboys and kids working on the shipwreck which we finished at lunchtime, i barely had enough time to trim our driveway and yard (no theme in particular--anything Halloweeny, as i wasn't an aspirant for best Halloweeny house or anything)organize the candy into baskets ready for distribution, and then Trina asked me to bake little chocolate cupcakes pa gyud as additional treats! I had just finished that when girlfriend Lisa Gustafson came a knockin', mainly to hang out after dropping off her kids with their friends...so i took her on a walking tour of all the streets and most of the homes (we didn't enter the mini-houses of horror na, haha). So kapuy na gyud by the time we got to the Club party at 6 o'clock uyyy!!! Rene picked up Craig, Lisa's hubby on his way from work, around 6:30pm na. Had a good Halloweeny dinner (black spaghetti, chicken fingers, etc...topped by cake with ghosties and gravestones on top!).

I was truly all pooped out by the time we hit the sack at around 10:30....tired but happy.

After the 'storm'...or is there more?

2007-10-15T16:03:00.001+08:00

Had a real busy, tiring but happy morning, as I had to drive all the way to the airport to pick up Mikko who came in on the 7am PAL flight from Manila (had to wake up at 4am to catch it, poor thing---along with his tita (who drove him to the Manila airport) and Grama who just had to see that this apo got on board safely and on time...)...Twas such a great joy to see him again, BONES and all (yep, his' macho' frame (payat gud) seems to have lost more weight from being ill all week, as expected, boohoo.). Funny but it feels like that crisis with his being sick on exams week and Trina's woes just a few days ago was a thing of the very distant past!
We headed to the mall for his favorite batchoy, bought some apples for his request of apple pie (siempre, i asked him ahead of time what he wanted to eat while at home!)...before zooming back home to the Dole hospital where Doc Eva (the hospital director) was waiting to have some blood tests and xrays done. Finished everything in record time, and got home just a minute of two after Momon had rushed home to have lunch with his kuya...with Rene not far behind (he normally never lunches at home on Mondays, so having his son home was an exception)! Happy reunion gyud---esp when i announced to Mikko that for the whole week, he would be on 'house arrest', eating 7 times a day, in between sleeping--just to regain his strength and have some meat in dem bones agin! Hmm...problem lang: How will eating 7 times a day happen if he's also sleeping just as much???

Trina naman had her first day of Internship work with Summit Publishing. She actually had to leave her dorm at 7am just to make it to the offices at 9 (normally, it would take an hour lang, sans traffic)---and still discovered she had to combat the office crowd at the train stops in Cubao! The offices are in Ortigas, at the Robinson's Galleria mall (lucky her). She is to work from 9 to 6!! Oh my. Thrilled kaayo siya that she got her first time card (bundy clock?), she texted us. Early tonight will be battle naman with the crowd going back to Quezon City, and back to the dorm---now lonely with almost everyone gone for the break, poor dearie.

I didn't tell you before, but lately, i've been having some personal crisis with the church...not in terms of faith or anything like that, mind you---but in terms of getting frustrated that people are not just as committed as i feel they should be, if our church were to grow---if you know what i mean? I actually told them a couple of sundays ago that i'd reached the point where i just wanted to throw in the towel and say, "I give up, God! I'd like so much to just join the rest of 'em who just come to church on Sundays, sit down, listen, laugh, eat... and then go their merry way and forget all about the work that has to be done in terms of ministries...!" I was told to lighten up. Because i'd just get frustrated daw. And i do know what they mean. But murag maulaw man ko sa Ginoo, being put in this church, and not being able to move it to greater heights? But really, I can only do and yak so much, right? So lami kaayo to adopt your new 'motto': AAAAKKKK! IT'S ONLY A VOLUNTEER POSITION! IT'S NO BIG DEAL. I CAN ALWAYS QUIT AND HAVE THEM DO IT THEMSELVES!

I had an epiphany while driving to the airport kanina. That maybe, if i could only find someone who would want to hire me and use my people skills and what-not--it would be the answer to my growing frustration with my church. Like, if i had a 'real' job, that church would not be the sole center of my time and attention, right? Tama ba? Of course, there's always my family, but you know what i mean.
Of course, there's a part of me that screams, 'What's not to like about making the church (e.g. serving the Lord) the center of your existence?'
Hayy...dilemmas, dilemmas.
Enuf of dat, bundat! Basi abi lang nimo church freak ko or what. dili baya, ha?
Hey, sana you took pics of you sitting in the park listening to the Vinoy Orchestra! At least that way, i'd vicariously experience it, huh? babaw ba? hahaha.

After the 'storm'...or is there more?

2007-10-15T16:03:00.000+08:00

Had a real busy, tiring but happy morning, as I had to drive all the way to the airport to pick up Mikko who came in on the 7am PAL flight from Manila (had to wake up at 4am to catch it, poor thing---along with his tita (who drove him to the Manila airport) and Grama who just had to see that this apo got on board safely and on time...)...Twas such a great joy to see him again, BONES and all (yep, his' macho' frame (payat gud) seems to have lost more weight from being ill all week, as expected, boohoo.). Funny but it feels like that crisis with his being sick on exams week and Trina's woes just a few days ago was a thing of the very distant past!
We headed to the mall for his favorite batchoy, bought some apples for his request of apple pie (siempre, i asked him ahead of time what he wanted to eat while at home!)...before zooming back home to the Dole hospital where Doc Eva (the hospital director) was waiting to have some blood tests and xrays done. Finished everything in record time, and got home just a minute of two after Momon had rushed home to have lunch with his kuya...with Rene not far behind (he normally never lunches at home on Mondays, so having his son home was an exception)! Happy reunion gyud---esp when i announced to Mikko that for the whole week, he would be on 'house arrest', eating 7 times a day, in between sleeping--just to regain his strength and have some meat in dem bones agin! Hmm...problem lang: How will eating 7 times a day happen if he's also sleeping just as much???

Trina naman had her first day of Internship work with Summit Publishing. She actually had to leave her dorm at 7am just to make it to the offices at 9 (normally, it would take an hour lang, sans traffic)---and still discovered she had to combat the office crowd at the train stops in Cubao! The offices are in Ortigas, at the Robinson's Galleria mall (lucky her). She is to work from 9 to 6!! Oh my. Thrilled kaayo siya that she got her first time card (bundy clock?), she texted us. Early tonight will be battle naman with the crowd going back to Quezon City, and back to the dorm---now lonely with almost everyone gone for the break, poor dearie.

Hey---you've got a touch job with the PTA! I wouldn't even know how to do any of that, no? Even in our school board meetings, once Levi starts going over the financial report, my eyes glaze over and my ears tune out,and i'm in a nother world! So good luck to you and more power, too!

I didn't tell you before, but lately, i've been having some personal crisis with the church...not in terms of faith or anything like that, mind you---but in terms of getting frustrated that people are not just as committed as i feel they should be, if our church were to grow---if you know what i mean? I actually told them a couple of sundays ago that i'd reached the point where i just wanted to throw in the towel and say, "I give up, God! I'd like so much to just join the rest of 'em who just come to church on Sundays, sit down, listen, laugh, eat... and then go their merry way and forget all about the work that has to be done in terms of ministries...!" I was told to lighten up. Because i'd just get frustrated daw. And i do know what they mean. But murag maulaw man ko sa Ginoo, being put in this church, and not being able to move it to greater heights? But really, I can only do and yak so much, right? So lami kaayo to adopt your new 'motto': AAAAKKKK! IT'S ONLY A VOLUNTEER POSITION! IT'S NO BIG DEAL. I CAN ALWAYS QUIT AND HAVE THEM DO IT THEMSELVES!

I had an epiphany while driving to the airport kanina. That maybe, if i could only find someone who would want to hire me and use my people skills and what-not--it would be the answer to my growing frustration with my church. Like, if i had a 'real' job, that church would not be the sole center of my time and attention, right? Tama ba? Of course, there's always my family, but you know what i mean.
Of course, there's a part of me that screams, 'What's not to like about making the church (e.g. serving the Lord) the center of your existence?'
Hayy...dilemmas, dilemmas.
Enuf of dat, bundat! Basi abi lang nimo church freak ko or what. dili baya, ha?
Hey, sana you took pics of you sitting in the park listening to the Vinoy Orchestra! At least that way, i'd vicariously experience it, huh? babaw ba? hahaha.

Tests

2007-10-15T15:58:00.000+08:00

Haha.The Ateneo -deLa Salle schools' age-old rivalry has been brought to the fore again with the UAAP men's basketball games gracing the halls of the Araneta Coliseum. If Mikko were up to it, I know what he'd be saying to his Tito Bobet (a lasallite) right now: "La Salle, Bulok!" But at the moment, just when today is his first day of final exams, he's flat on his back in Merville---having been rushed to the Ateneo infirmary in a stretcher yesterday morning when he woke up with very high fever and his limbs started getting numb and he couldn't move them.
Long-distance parenting takes its toll when a mother gets a frantic call from a son thousands of miles away, telling her, "Mom, i'm so sick! I'm getting numb all over, I can't move!"--and all she can do is pray, get raised blood pressure, and make equally frantic calls and texts to dorm management and relatives.
Friends from all over begin praying for our son, some even forming 'prayer warrior' teams.The dorm director and his crew rush the boy to the infirmary in a stretcher they carry themselves all the way.
The relatives are priceless. Ate Trina drops her own exam preparations to be by her brother's side, spoonfeeding him with lugaw and Gatorade.Tita Q comes to the rescue at noon and whisks Mikko away to Medical City where a battery of tests are run. She practically loses a whole day's work as they wait all afternoon for the results of the tests.Grama waits at home in Merville, ready to stuff her apo with a hot dinner and a lecture on keeping healthy. Afterwards a sponge bath and ice pack are in order to bring his fever down. Not to mention she has him sleeping in another bed by her side...All of these efforts, done out of love and necessity, we will forever be grateful for, Rene and I.
Today and tomorrow, Mikko would have been hurdling his final exams and finishing off his first semester. By Monday, he has a ready ticket to bring him home for the sembreak. However the events of yesterday has changed all that. How things will work out in terms of getting his exams deferred and scheduling make-up exams and postponing his trip home is a big question mark at the moment. But because we have a great God, we know all things will work out in the end. In all this, we ask for your prayers.

Of high school class reunions....

2007-09-05T18:16:00.000+08:00

Halloo again! I'm back, two months from the last entry that announced that i was back! golleee. Just shows you how i'm living up to my tag lines: "so much to do and so little time..." and all that.

Just got back almost a week ago from attending my 30th year high school reunion in Silliman University. Yep, it sure was something---just seeing some folks you hadn't seen nor talked to in 30 years was one for the books! Of course there were the ones i'd met in between those 30 years, and it was still good to see them.
FRIDAY...
I left Gensan at 5:30am for Davao on a bus---to meet up with classmate Girlie F, and catch our 11:35 flight to Cebu. There, 10 minutes after we landed, we met up with my mom who was flying in from Gensan (the easier way than mine, yes---but that's another story. Took a cab to the bus stop to ride yet another bus (for me)to a ferry three hours away, which would then take us to Dumaguete City,the site of the reunion.
Had less than a couple of hours to freshen up at the best hotel in town (Bethel Hotel)before being whisked away to a classmate's home for the first of a series of parties. Well, this one came under the heading of "Welcome Party"...and indeed twas a blast to be reunited with our high school classmates of 1977 once more---though not much talk happened though...there were games and food galore to fill up the evening.
SATURDAY...
Day 2 saw Mom and me having our first giant Filipino breakfast of fried garlic rice, a plateful of danggit, omelette and a luscious ripe yellow mango...and barely a couple of hours after that, gathered with more classmates at a hotel owned by another classmate, Christy---for another sumptious meal (lunch). More time to chitchat with long-lost faces this time, plus a video conference with the batchmates in LA! Too bad we couldn't hear them, though---though obviously they could hear us! Twas a blast seeing them all (those who couldn't come home for the reunion for one reason or another). Favorite moment: when Hans B lifted his shirt to show off his beyond-lipo belly to the US contingent, and skinny Joel G on the other end reciprocating by showing his ...er...ribs??

A couple of hours later, checked out my favorite eating hole: Sans Rival restaurant for what else? the best sans rival in town(and in many towns, for that matter)! This chic pastry/pasta shop started with just 4 tables for the longest time, serving spag in a clay pot, and sans rival ('without rival')...our favorite pastry in the whole world. Today, it boasts of around 20 or so tables, spilling out onto the sidewalks, even.Plus more pastry, and more pasta....uh-ummmm goood! If i weren't wary of not fitting into my limited reunion clothes, i'd have spent merienda time there everyday, morning and afternoon!

Barely 3 hours later, we found ourselves making our way to the School of Business garden, this time for a special dinner tribute for our beloved high school teachers. Never in SUHS history had any batch gotten together this many teachers, nor paid them a very fitting and touching tribute they truly deserved! An unexpected surprise was when another long-lost classmate, Japanese Kunio Furukawa just quietly walked in to join the celebration. For a moment there, those who saw him thought he was someone's husband....until we all recognized him as the quiet Kunio! He had just flown in that afternoon for this occasion, flying out the following morning before anyone could really get to ask how he was. Phooey. But glad you made the trip, Kunio!So what else came on that evening? Aside from the joy of having our dear teachers recognize us after all these years (well, yes, some with the help of special ID's that had our 30-year old yearbook pics posted on them)...and singing to them, lining up and shaking their hands one by one (thank you, ma'am, sir...) we were divided into three groups: got dressed in silly costumes and danced to 'YMCA', and...ooops...Senior Moment here---i just forgot what the other two songs were...but hey, we were all good! The night was made more memorable with the clamshells given to each teacher (plus a scroll bearing our 'tribute' message), which contained a pearl on a rope chain, symbolizing our pearl year (30)...Of course, Cecille's lovely centerpieces (three-sided black framed yearbook pictures circling a candle added more magic to the evening. And what party would be complete if there wasn't any dancing to the 70's tunes? The night seemed young, and folks kept wondering why Ana was sending us home, music was being turned on and off...goodnights were being said...yun pala,'twas nearing midnight! And the clock struck 12 as we reached our hotel, prompting Girlie and me to turn down an invite to have a drink and go disco...
SUNDAY
After all,we all had a 7am assembly call the following day! This time, it was to the Bahura Beach Resort in Dauin that we were headed.There, we found team-building facilitators waiting for us, as well as a team of young (handsome/pretty) doctors. After a quick merienda, we gathered for a little Christian devotional, with Noel S surprising everyone with a wonderful little homily. we were divided into three teams---each one given assignments in deep Cebuano, each one accessible only after we either swam, kayaked, crawled, etc our way to it!! Jeez!! Never for so long a time have we been so grimy and sweaty and tired the way we were after half a day of all that activity! After a rushed lunch, i just had to hit the showers---before rejoining the teams for more less-active bonding. We got home in the early evening, tired, a shade or two darker, but happy. Unfortunately for me and another batchmate (another Girlie), we had committed to meet with our sorority sisters and brother fraternity for a late dinner (late? our 8pm order came at 10!). Almost fell asleep in my soup there...
MONDAY
Would have loved to wake up late for once (but noooo....each day i was up with the birds!)...but instead i found myself and mama having breakfast with cousins Kuya Sonny from Las Vegas and his brother Douglas (now Leyte-based). Kuya Sonny was hoping to bump into his own high school batchmates(SUHS class '55), while Kuya Douglas belonged to Class '61 (no such luck to the very end, am afraid).Went to check out the local shops for an hour, before heading off to meet up with my batch, this time for brunch, courtesy of Anne France, at their Spanish Heritage events venue.Afterwards, dashed off to shop for a cap with classmate Dory, before heading off to Campus to assemble for the city-wide Founder's Day parade...oopsie.gotta break for din-din! ciao!

Halloooo! Am baaaaack!!

2007-07-04T17:14:00.000+08:00

Hallo again!! It's been almost a year since i've posted anything here...mainly because i just got busy? and then my PC went through some re-formatting and erased any trace this this spot---and silly me (why else?) couldn't remember how to get to it again---until just a couple of days when i finally remembered to ask my kolehiyala daughter---HOW....? And in just one textmail sentence, she told me how...sus, kadali lang pala, hehehe.

So here I am. And there's just so much to talk about---after all, it's been almost a year....which means i will need a long time to write in here...which means it's not going to be today coz i just spent the last coupla days hunched over this PC working on stuff for my mom-in-law's birthday bash on the 22nd of this month, and i need to stretch and rest for a change.

So it's bye-bye for now, ok? I know there'll be other times when i will be free to sit and chat,,,there'll be times when i simply need to sit and chat, regardless of aching back...but it's not today.

Near cardiac arrest....

2006-08-01T08:49:00.000+08:00

It's Monday morning once again, and I have all day to do all the things (lazy things) i want to do without having any BS or SS lessons dangling over my head! Yey! Had an overload this weekend man gud: I was supposed to do my last-minute studying for my PDL lessons Saturday morning, but this got pushed back coz friend/neighbor Bec-bec came a calling---and bawling---her yaya had wracked up a HEFTY phone bill in the last two months without her knowing. HEFTY as in P145,000 lang naman! So i was the shoulder to cry on and vent her furies on...plus advice-advise on how to wring her yaya's neck, heheheee.
So wala ko ka-study--and i did have a load to do: a summary of Lessons 8-14, plus the new lesson, 15---but in the afternoon naman was our usual trip to the city, though this time with a dif: Momon and Lola didn't want to come along, so it was just Rene and Mikko and me, so we didn't feel like having the usual dinner out, and got a big pizza instead, to bring home and eat together. But i was pretty glad it turned out this way, with us going home early, kay mag-study lagi ko ba!

Until...my cellphone rang and it was bosom buddy Joy in Los Banos, telling me another bosom bud Grace's mom had just died 30 mins ago, and when she called Grace, of course, crying-crying. So could we get over to Grace's daw and comfort her??? By that time, we were already in the pineapple fields going up to our place, so i told Joy we'd just get a quick pizza dinner home, then run down the mountain again! Yun pala, Grace had texted me the same message she'd sent Joy, but hirap ang signal in the mall we were in last, so I didn't get the message agad. (Grace is this newly-separated friend who lives alone in her cute new house i toldja about some emails back...)

Strangely, though---earlier in the afternoon, Grace was texting me and teasing me na last she heard, I wasn't allowed to drive, tapos now she hears i'd been snorkeling???!! Told her that wasn't driving, haha. Then she also asked me to drop by her place on the way home, kay Joy had this little pasalubong for me she'd sent thru Grace (who'd been in Manila the week before). BUT, we weren't able to drop by in the end, coz Mikko's friends rode with us from the mall. Had we done so, that would have been around the time Grace had just gotten the sad news...but then it would have been awkward, as i'd have a carload of boys waiting outside, plus Momon would be waiting at home for his pizza dinner (as it was ours, too), so it was really providential we didnt' stop by then.

Also, i was able to prepare a little dinner of sorts for Grace (my yaya had cooked earlier), which was greatly appreciated in the end, coz she was in no mind to cook or eat had we not arrived. So after dinner, Rene and I ran back to Grace's place na, and the other close friends i texted (becbec and Allyn) met us there with their spouses. And by the time we got home, which was almost 11, groggy na kaayo ko to do any cramming. So it was that I had to get up at the crack of dawn the following day and CRAM.

Well, it did pay off, coz i got rave reviews, after the Sunday school, haha.To God be the glory! We finished at 12 noon and decided to go have lunch at this nearby resort called the Durian Gardens. Not only is it known for its durian (which i don't eat and hate the smell of), but it has a beautiful garden, a butterfly dome, lots of birds (mynah, cockatoo, etc), and a zoo and playground! Food's good , too! Becbec and her hubby Ben and little girl Christy-ann joined us and we had so much fun gid. All of us had a stressful week ( tho' only I got to go snorkelling, hehe ) and a leisurely good lunch in beautiful surroundings was very welcome at the end of it. Got home almost 4pm na, very busog and very sleepy, and in time for my local chizmiz programs, The Buzz and S-files, feehee.

Have a good week, everyone!

July 29
Alo!

Am back from my one-day beach snorkeling trip, and boy, was that a good one! Although i had doubts at first that swimming and snorkeling would not be as fun with a boat load of middle-aged (and not-so) ladies, i was proven wrong in the end!. There were 10 of us wommin all in all, and sa van pa lang, when all the yakking and laughing commenced, tuloy-tuloy na all throughout the two-hour trip to Kiamba!
We were driven straight to the pantalan, where a big pumpboat was waiting for us, along with our young hostess, Dayday Falgui and her coterie of alalays (which included a maid, plus over a dozen guys who served as boatmen, coral reef guides, etc). The fun continued when we found out we had to wade in hanggang kilikili-level water, and the challenge was how to get our bags on board (with cameras, cellphones) without it getting wet. At this point, the 'guy entourage' proved useful: they carried our bags themselves, way above their heads. Not only that, we found out that the boat was too high from the water, and they didn't have a ladder for us to climb on, so the guys started making makeshift 'stairs'---with their hands and their shoulders. It was fun to see at least three men struggling to bring up a hefty lady onto the seesawing boat. For those of us more limber, we opted to climb up through the katig instead of availing of the macho services offered, heheh.

The beach was a lovely, quiet stretch of white-gray sand, amidst a background of thick foliage (i will send pictures). We got in the water agad with our snorkels, and boy, was it great! Their marine park is still in its infancy, compared to Apo Island, but twas still a wonderful underwater experience, especially since the machos were also there to bring each of us snorklers to the deep, nice snorkeling parts (sa Apo, walay guides).

Nicest of all was going back to shore to find a long table set up with a simple but yummy lunch of LECHON, kare-kare, veggies, etc, topped by big ripe mangoes! We resembled full boa constrictors at the end of that memorable lunch, i tell you! Burp. Managed to drag ourselves back in the water but only to wallow like fat rhinos---kay bundat na lagi!

Pretty soon, we had to start on the hilarious trek back to and onto the boat again, as the waves started getting bigger (as is usual basta after lunch na). Back on shore, we walked through the quaint little town to Daday's inlaw's spacious home, where we took showers and coffee afterwards. The on to the van again for a ride to Maitum, the next town, to pay a courtesy call to Daday's mom and dad (the mayor). Her gracious mom gave us a tour of her garden which was lush with bromeliads, cacti, etc.Then we were homeward bound.
And the good news? No hilo-hilo for me! I did promise myself i wouldn't think or be anxious about passing out, etc, and lo and behold, nada!.So in short? This thing's mind-controlled??!!! bwahahaha. Works for me!

About your visit next year: I would recommend you visit Apo Island resort. It can be a one-day trip, or an overnight one. The nice thing about it is that it's like a private beach--quiet, white sand, blue sky scenario---with a restaurant and rooms/cottages to sleep overnight in. What we did was to just spend the day there, and then go back in the early afternoon, though. So all we were allowed access to was the beach front, the waters( of course), and the restaurant, which was okay for a day visit, anyway. It would be ideal for a little family like yours---if you wanted plain simple fun in the sun.
Boracay, on the other hand, has banana boat rides, hang gliding, sail boating, and all the other fun beach things to do, plus discos and clubs at night, etc., tourist shops,--the works! Plus the crowds to boot (although August isn't a popular month, really). In short, it's not going to be quiet, but lotsa water sports to engage in.Mahal pud, heheh.
I don't think Bobot and I would be violently opposed to the idea of joining you in either---it's a matter of scheduling way,way ahead---but the big question is a question of health: mine and his mom's. We don't know how healthy or unhealthy i'll be (though i'll think positive from hereon), and Bobot's mom has this grave pancreas problem, and she's only been given a year to live (don't say a word to him or anyone about this). That year ends thereabouts our 30th.
As the good book says, "Man may make his plans, but God has the last say."

And now, i gotta go back to studying the good Book kay Sunday school teacher na pud ko tomorra!
Have a great, fun-filled weekend, bookend!

July 27th... Heidi-ho-hum!

It is almost midnight as I type this, and it's all Bobot's fault! Bitaw, i love him dearly. But towards the end of our BS tonight, I got a text from him asking me if an email I sent to him containing some sensitive info was intended for the e-group, as that's how he got it???? Imagine, my near-heart attack, ha!!!
I mean, even if my intentions aren't evil (like somebody else's), there is just some info that is not to be shared with other people, much less announce on the e-loop! So picture me breaking out in cold sweat and my BP rising....and i rant to the phone soon as I got home and called Bobot up! I hurriedlyopened our site also to check nga if the email appeared there, unya wala man....

To make the story short (kay I'm cinderella and the clock will strike na), yun pala, this low-techie guy thought that the bobotking77@yahoo.com address he created to access our e-group signified that all the mail he'd get at this address would automatically be shown to the rest of the gang!!! Phew!! I then had to explain to him that this worked as a personal link to him and him alone lang gihapon, and unless mail was sent addressed specifically to suhsbatch77, only then would it appear on the loop. Double phew.

Anyhow, I made it to Gensan and back in one piece, but felt so drained afterwards, so I took a long nap---just to gather energy na pud for the BS tonight. I still have to pack for our beach trip tomorrow. Feel a bit low, coz buddy Lisa backed out at the last minute, kay she had tons to do and weekend guests were coming. Phooey.

O, siya. I shall turn into a pumpkin in 13 minutes' time, so i will bid you nitey-nite na.

Progress.

2006-07-20T18:17:00.000+08:00

I finally hooked up with Dr. Erlyn Cabanag, St. Luke's famous cardiologist at 7:30 this morning. Via the phone!! I am truly in the ranks of the privileged, for having a sis/kababata for a cardiologist-consultant from that leading hospital. I mean, people fly to Manila to line up for a month to get an appointment with the specialists there, and here I am able to consult with one from the comfort of my own bedroom?? Truly I am blessed.
And somehow, after weeks of wondering, worry and confusion over Dr.One & Dr.2's conflicting diagnoses, somehow, Dr.Erlyn's simple analysis was comforting. She said: I am truly hypertensive (for real, and not just 'stress hypertensive' as the other 2 docs called it), and as such, require some meds to bring my bp down. The bad news is, i have to lay off my favorite Frito Lays potato chips, the bbq-flavored nuts, sawsawang patis, suka and toyo-and anything else with SALT! At the end of 5 days, if I were to be a good, obedient girl, my BP would go down, and all my problems would be solved. Well, maybe. Doc E still wants to view my heart scan video---which I have to grab from the hands of Doc#2---so she can confirm if my heart does have so much love to give it's bursting. But hey--i'll worry about that later. I gotta worry first about what to eat if I am to live without the salt of the earth???It's like telling me not to breathe!!!

Anyhow, after the phone-consult, i had to run off to meet with my Breakfast Club, who was very strict about what I ate in front of them. I was allowed one teeny bite of the crispy dilis, though. Had fun but had to run after an hour and a half to join the kumares---who, lo and behold, had all the sinful food spread out: dinuguan, 3 kinds of cake, ube halaya, leche flan...and wouldn't hear of my not eating any despite my making kwento about Dr. Erlyn's lay-off-the-salt warnings. Hmm. Maybe they want me to die early? Dr. Vivs was there (my neighbor who's an endocrinologist), and started planning to get me a CT-scan, a salter something monitor, etc,etc...whoa! Methinks she and the other docs hereabouts had their chance to heal me, and now that I was getting happy with Dr. Erlyn, she's suddenly planning all these other tests and telling me not to listen to my sis? I'm starting to get stressed here.

Fortunately, I am able to run out again, this time to drive down the hill, as another group of friends await me (the 'Old Neighborhood' friends)---and with a table laden with pasta, roast chicken, kinilaw, lumpia, pancit, suman and mangoes! And it's not even 12 noon yet, ha. Shoosh.
This group is more sympathetic (like the first group), and allow me to eat just the kinilaw, suman, white chicken meat and ripe mangoes. The rest was off-limits. Then later, they drive me to the drugstore to buy the meds Dr. Erlyn prescribed. But only after an hour on the videoke.

I am finally home by 4pm, in time to see my boys coming home from school! After sharing some merienda with them, i hie off to bed for a nap. Three eating events in one day can be pretty tiring. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Malling limits

2006-07-20T18:05:00.000+08:00

For July 16:Am back in circulation with a vengeance gayud! Just spent the weekend in Davao, wouldjabelieve? Actually, the original plan was for Rene to join this big golf tournament in Davao sponsored by this German company---kaya we were gearing up to go talaga early Saturday morning. In fact, some of our friends left the day before pa, para dili kapuy (it's a 2.5 hour drive to Davao). But the rest of us planned to leave around 5:30, so the guys could catch the 11am tee-off. Sus unsaon man, kay the night before (friday)--there was this Mindanao-wide brownout (which is a rare occurrence)---which delayed pineapple processing at the plant, so my hero of a hubby decided he had to be on site Saturday morning. But since we were all 'primed' to go pasyal in the big city na, we still decided to push through with the trip--kahit na no good excuse to go. Well, i did come up with one good one: i had to start buying good books for our church's Mt. Matutum Christian School library, o teh?

So it was one good suroy trip---though i know na for certain that i can only be on my feet (kanang walay-lingkod-lingkod) for TWO hours MAX!! Then the kuyap-feeling begins. Three times this trip, actually, so mas tipid kay i wasn't able to cover as many shops in so little time. Of course, never fail naman to visit my favorite Girbaud shop, and this time i came out with this sling bag na made of some washable tent-like material gani? I figured this would be good for mga suroy where you need to be on your feet. It's a little more than a pocketbook (libro) in length and width, with lotsa pockets...but big enough to hold a small water bottle which i constantly need. And of course, i bought lotsa books again. And lotsa food. We never fail to hit the bigger malls' supermarkets kay lotsa foreign food stuff we like to browse around and buy.

I'm baaaaccckkk!!!

2006-07-20T17:59:00.000+08:00

This is for July 13th.Yes--i'm kinda getting back in circulation---testing my limits, so to speak. Last Monday nga, i went swimming three laps at the pool with friend Becbec. Tapos hingal na. Tuesday naman, Myrna called to invite me and Lina to watch the movie, plus some malling.
Wednesday, another of our long, extended lunch parties at the club, Thursday, neighbors Espie and Elvie invited me to go ukay-ukay at the market (whee! I found this vintage bag---a little square thing in dark mustard suede unya may fur-lining ang rim---for forty pesoses!). Nalifong ko after a couple of hours, but i just sat down on the ukay itself, so there. Barely 30 mins home, had to shower quick, dress again, as the kumares were picking me up to attend this lunch celebrating a friend's death anniversary . After a polite amount of time making chika with the people at the lunch anniversary, we crossed over to visit another friend, Grace, who'd separated from her husband and now just moved into a new house of her own. It was a cute 2-bedroom affair with a big, cool blue bathroom...cozy gyud, but lonely kay siya lang mag-isa. Sad. She has two handsome sons, both working for banks in Manila. Hubby in Davao (actually Rene's bosom buddy, so that time of their breakup, we had to run up to Davao and console him till 3am).
Barely after getting back from Grace's, i had to take a nap muna (hilong talong na gyud) coz i had to cram pa for Bible Study.In a couple of hours, my sundo came na, brownout pa gyud sa Bible study house! Buti na lang, there was a full dinner set out for us, so we attacked that first, then the lights came on na. Home at 10pm. Hayyyy.

So you see, am back on my feet---just not driving far pa. I probably can get to my destination (kahit gensan), but thing is, after making la-ag there and getting kapuy, can I drive back? While at BS last night, i missed a call my uncle who's a biggie surgeon in St. Luke's---he'd heart about my enlarged heart ek-ek from an aunt earlier, and was compelled to call and nag his favorite niece to come to St. Luke's kay i need good doctors daw. He was horrified to know from my mom that I was all over the place na---apparently, these doctor people take hearts seriously.---and demanded I fly over A.S.A.P. Ay, ay. Parang i'm scared to return his call tonight- kay basi mag-nag to death.

If i have to go to Manila, sa September na lang seguro, when it's Trina's bday, and my bosom friend Joy's bday too. I have a reunion at Eping's house pa in August, remember? Speaking of which, i got a letter from the South Cotabato province SU Alumni president (and my brod), Joe Villanueva, telling me he was too busy daw sa trabaho, and would i please handle the annual alumni party this August for the whole province???? Yeah. that would be easy with me on semi-house arrest, huh. He also enclosed an embossed invite to the installation of the 12th Silliman U president, Ben Malayang this Founder's Day --so hmmm. i gotta stop pigging out, if i'm to fit into my little black dress then, huh? Assuming, that is---that i'm really back on my feet and able to travel all the way to Dumaguete---with all these bus-plane-boat transfers i have to take! (help me pray, ha).

I shall overcome...!

2006-07-10T21:46:00.000+08:00

Took up bead work again today. I remember there was this simple white t-shirt with a beaded butterfly on the chest part that i'd been seeing in the Guess showindow for the past couple of months...Liked it for the butterfly, but didn't want to pay the price ( the cost of which would be 9 white t-shirts put together?). Rene said not to worry, as i'd probably be able to comeup with a good substitute sooner or later. True enuf, i saw this plain white shirt in Davao last week with a huge rubberized butterfly decal in front!! So much potential there for another beadwork masterpiece---and so much satisfaction in the end, too! Yey!

And that's what kept me busy for the most part of this afternoon. This morning naman, i cleaned up Trina's old study table so that Momon could use it as his 'own' workspace---at least for the duration of this schoolyear. Although Mikko's desk has long been relabeled as 'tambakan' (he studies atop his bed!!), Momon couldn't use it as another presence in the room would distract Mikko while studying. Hay, quirks, quirks, quirks. Next year, however, with Mikko hopefully in college by then, Momon will have full use and control of their bedroom!!

Got dizzy again, so i went night swimming with bosom buddy Becbec early tonight. I never do night swimming, being a sun worshipper and talawan sa cold water, and yep, chilly out there with bats flying overhead and the full moon hiding behind dark clouds, but hey---I figured i better start building up resistance again to fight this thingie i've got! Had to take it gradually, though. Doc#1 said bawal ang exercise, while Doc#2 said okay ang exercise. Sheesh. Makabuing gid. So i decided to take the middle of the road and go slow. Did only three laps tonight, and spent the rest of the time discussing with Bec some stressful church-related stuff. Next time, maybe I can do 5 laps na? Who knows, after this, i won't get dizzy at the mall na! Yey!

Doctor One and Doctor Two...

2006-07-10T21:34:00.000+08:00

Last Wednesday afternoon, i decided to go see the cardiologist i was supposed to see in the first place, Dra. Yabut ( saw Dr. Johnson Wee the first time).And guess what? Except for the part where i was a STRESS HYPERTENSIVE (e.g. anything out of the ordinary 'kalma'---be it happy or sad--my BP would go up), Dra. Yabut declared from the same readings of the heart scan that my heart wasn't enlarged at all! She also said my fainting thingie was common to a lot of people (a shrug of shoulders here...). So she TOOK ME OFF MY MAINTENANCE MEDS which Dr. Wee gave earlier! Save for the occasional tranquilizer in case i get hyper over anything...that's it. Two weeks observation. Ang pinagbawal na exercise ni Dr. Wee, she said pwede na, as long as i get back to it gradually....and so on, and so forth. Now i don't know who to believe na regarding my enlarged heart.

Tamang-tama, later that evening( like 9:30pm), Myrna texted me, inviting Lina and me to come with her to a balikan trip to Davao (with driver, of course). I jumped at the chance to see some civilization after my house arrest (which was lifted), siempre! So off we went the following morning (yesterday). I just got dizzy bouts 3x at SM there, but possibly because of prolonged walking in the mall after being on the couch for ages!!!

So here i am still a bit woozy.( Hmmm....that's why i'm still wondering what i've got lagi.) and checking my 1250 unread messages in my inbox. Have lots of work to do for the church council meeting this weekend, so i'm going to be tied up to the PC the whole day, it seems. Oh, yeah---and there's that class directory i haven't finished for our batch, and it's taking ages to do, and frustrating pa, kay lots of the addresses are from our hayskul days, o our hayskul days pa!

See? So much to do even if i'm on 'sick leave' from the world! Hoohooy.Que sera, sera.

Tilt (torture) Test

2006-06-27T21:28:00.000+08:00

My tilt test was funny as it was scary. You're supposed to lie down on this bed with your feet up against something that resembles a cushioned headboard (yun pala, footboard), then they strap you up real tight so you can't escape (harhar---it's more like para you won't drop onto the floor face down when they tilt you), plus connect you to an ecg and bp monitors ( i keep typing B.o !).

The nurse asked me to come in 15 minutes early so she could strap me and take my initial ecg readings na, but i'd just had some lunch , ergo, lotsa softdrink to wee-wee out pa--so she had to wait a while.
Then the doctor came in and the strapping down began. As soon as i was tilting 80 degrees, some panic set in na, but i forced myself to relax. The crazy doctor pa gyud was kidding me pa about the monitors used for seeing a coma or cardiac arrest coming on...then he switched Tv channels and started watching a soccer match! Aaargh! There should be a rule na they're compelled to put on a tape of shows like Will and Grace, or Friends, or Frasier, or a James Bond movie or something---para malingaw ang pasyente, no? Coz, like the good doc said, the tilt test was one of the most boring tests---patient, doc and nurse waiting and watching for almost 45 minutes---so all the more dapat makalingaw or distract ang palabas sa tv, di ba? but instead, the tv was on soccer and it's like ga-yawn na ko.

If you aren't familiar with the tilt test, what they do is tilt you at an angle for 30 mins or so, wait for a fainting episode to happen (that is, if you're a suspected vasovagal syncope person). IF nothing happens, they give you this tiny yummy pink dot of a pill---yun pala, it induces a fainting spell. And boy, when that starts to happen, abi gyud nimo, ma-dead ka na! The nurse is constantly trying to look for your bp, and then you hear the doctor saying to the nurse., 'ano, wala ka nang mahanap?' and your head starts to spin and your chest constricts and you start gasping na gyud for breath!!! I just closed my eyes na lang and gasped for breath till kingdom come---which was when the doctor started putting my 'bed' back to vertical position. Phew! Gasp! Did I say the doctor said this was the most boring test in medical history???

Health updates

2006-06-27T21:17:00.000+08:00

My dearest Anna,

This is primarily addressed to you, being the only person who shed a tear when i shared with you the initial findings regarding my health last week. Thank you for the tears and thank you for the continuous prayers. I did text you later that if your prayers didn't get me healed, at least, it was strengthening my spirit, di ba? I got over the initial panic ( --ala- Ali McGraw: "Who's gonna clean the toilet?" --like i'm the one who does the cleaning??) and simply got up believing there is nothing God does or allows to happen in this world for no good reason, and that our God is a good God. Putting my trust in Him has somehow lifted me up instead of depressing me. So daghang salamat.

The same goes to you---all my friends and loved ones who thought about me and prayed for me this past week. Things would not be looking up if you weren't 'lakas' up There coz your prayers were truly heard.

And by looking up, I do not mean i'm totally healed or what. It just means the Lord led me to 'Dr. Right'---in the person of Dr. Johnson Wee, a Singapore-trained cardiologist in Gensan---who was astute enough to look beyond the textbook illustration of a hypertensive patient---and discover something unexpected. Simple, but surprising. And nothing to worry about, really (i think, heheheh). After the series of tests, scans and what-have-you, at least now we know what we're dealing with, and how to go about managing it.

For starters, the initial findings were right---that i do have an enlarged heart (no wonder pala i easily love everything and everyone in sight, heheh), caused by oft-repeated bouts of raised blood pressure. BUT, the tilt testing conducted yesterday revealed that I am NOT your normal hypertensive---if one is to define that as having a high bp all or most of the time. Very sensitive lang ang heart ko to the littlest irritant or upsets or problems (of other people?) that my emotions have to react to. So whenever all these occur, up shoots my BP....or something like that.And then it goes down again--and lies in wait for the next 'exciting' event. And since i'm a highly happy, excitable, sympathetic, emotional, active person----how in the world does one control that??? Anyways, that's why my heart's got bigger than usual---it's always forced to work overtime! (Please note that my blood chem results are GOOD , cholesterol and sugar levels, included, ha?)

The simple but surprising discovery my good doctor made thru yesterday's test was that I also have what's called vasovagal syncope---nothing alarming, really---but it's an abnormal reflex (since when have i been normal anyway?hahaha) which results in a drop in blood pressure leading to decreased blood flow to the brain resulting in dizziness and/or fainting. Aside from the betablocker (Therabloc) i've been given to keep this and my bp in check, i'm not supposed to be where it's hot ( or enter a car that's been baked in the parking lot),i have to be constantly gulping Gatorade for electrolyte replenishment, i can only walk short distances and only in places where i can sit or lie immediately if need be...I can't play golf unless i have a golf car and the sky is overcast...I can't stand on my feet for a length of time (church, school, etc)...yada,yada,yada. Sheesh. I sound like a semi-retiree!

But the good news is: everything has been identified (i think) and i know now what to do and where to go. Teh? PRAISE THE LORD!! FOR HE IS GOOD!!
Again, thank you, dear Anna (and everyone) for all your prayers and comforting words. It's always good to have someone rooting for you when you're in the dumps. And to know that people care.

2006-06-23T10:02:00.000+08:00

Heidi-ho! Finally got my heart scan over and done with yesterday at 12 noon exactly! Well, yeah--considering it was the company GM himself who set it up for me, maminaw na lagi ko!!
Lay down there with nothing but the quiet hum of the airconditioner to keep me company--oh, and yes--of course, the lady technician who quietly went about her work poking and sticking electrodes here and there. Everything was oh, so quiet, so conducive to a nap, really--but i don't do that with strangers, hah! The echoscan room in the city had a tv on to the Living Channel last time i had it done there...sigh. One can't have everything. That one lasted 30 minutes. This quiet one, 60.zzzzzzzz.

A couple of hours later was the mad rush to the city to catch the cardiologist, Dr. Johnson Wee. Waah. Made it there by 4:30, only to be told that patient #1 had just gone in: i was patient #12. Said doctor was known to be sooo thorough, he'd take as long as an hour with each patient, max. Let's see...4:30 plus 11 hours....I should have brought my tent!!! and lechon manok. Thing is, hubby dear(who'd escaped from the office 2 hours early just to drive for me) had to leave me after a couple of hours waiting with me in that lobby of hard benches---as he had dinner with the top honcho danks lined up for the night and couldn't get out of. Wasn't that worried, as friend Bec was leaving her law class at 7. Alas, 7:30 and Bec came and went and i wasn't even in the reception room yet!!Shoosh! Hunger pangs settling in despite the earlier MERIENDA of chicken joy and its crispy balat, wuhoo!

The clock struck 8 and whoopee! in went me.Doctor Wee wasn't a wee one, it turns out: tall, big chinese guy--a little chubby on the side, despite his claims to being an athlete with hypertension.:) He kinda laughed when he realized i still had to have him watch the video of my scan (remember, it's a one-hour scan---and yey, i have a video like on MTV!!!), so he said he'd have to take it home with him to view and study...and could i come back tomorrow---for another round of 4-hour waits???no thankee! Besides, it was back-to-school night Friday night. So for the moment, we had to content ourselves with his reading the printouts accompanying the video and the photos, too. And...he says, looks like i have an ENLARGED HEART. Sort of like the heart had to exert more effort than average, pumping blood in because of the high pressure--so, like in pumping iron,---the heart muscle got BIG! Oh well---means i just have more love to give, right? And that's all I know, at the moment. Nothing more, nothing less.

And when i texted friend Anna about it, she bawled on her cellphone!! What gives???And told me that she'd told Mik about it and "mik is shaken and can't text or call you yet". Goodness. Okay lang, as it was---hello??11pm??? Let's hit the sack, guys. I'm not worried. God is good, and whatever this is, won't be all that bad. See what happens when God is your best friend?
Gotta go eat some mango.

Pasaway!

2006-06-20T21:22:00.000+08:00

Woke up 2a.m. feeling weird. Didn't know why i woke up, first of all---no one was snoring, no dog was barking...just stillness all around. So why am i wide awake? Remembered cousin Douglas' remark the other week when one night i couldn't sleep, either---that when this happens, most likely, there's something wrong with one's ticker or BP....Well, i finally conked out with the help of last month's Reader's Digest.

Only to wake up feeling lightheaded...and as the boys went off to school, and i decided to do something 'light' like clipping recipes from the newspaper...i got breathless. Figured i just needed to lie down, and might as well use the time to gab with Allyn, a dear friend I hadn't seen in four days--before i tackled some of the chores I'd lined up for the day. But didn't feel better after that, either. Checked my BP: 163/103. Oops. Time to TEXT my doctor. Who decided to double my meds. Luckily, good friends were on their way up and were able to pick up said meds. Phew.

Thought i was a goner, for a moment back there before the meds came. Felt so sad, suddenly---realizing i wasn't ready to leave my 'babies' yet--big as they are now (18, 15, & 9). Wasn't ready to leave my hubby yet---or my beloved books! Then i realized i hadn't even written down a will to bequeath my books, my blue and whites, my zillion bags and shoes (like these mattered???my books, yeah...). There was still so much to do for our church! Couldn't leave behind what i started, could I? Before I knew it, I was crying: I wasn't ready to go, yet, God! And if fluctuating BPs were Your way of telling me to slow down, why? My world and work revolved around my family and Your church. Somehow, i'd even begun to let go of the school, the community club, the ladies' club...so all my energies were focused on my loved ones and my church. So shouldn't i be given more strength to finish my 'jobs'? Not yet, Lord.

2006-06-19T14:01:00.000+08:00

Hello. I think i'm supposed to update my blog more often than i have (what am i talking about---this is the FIRST update??!!!) So here i am.

Well, obviously, summer had my hands busy with the three kids at home. We had a ball together--along with their dad, of course. Twas fun just lounging around the house exchanging everything from candy to farts....and nothing beats the vacation we just took to Dumaguete---hitting the road, the beaches, mountains and rivers in one week altogether---with some cozy dinners with close friends thrown in. What a ball!

Then there was the bitter-sweet last week we spent with our unica hija---who had to fly off to the Big City again to go back to school there. Do we miss her? I think we missed her even before she left! Some 'very pressing matters' took up her time on her last few hours with us here at home. Oh well.

The day after she left, school here also started for my two boys....I was anticipating another bittersweet moment, again---this time---missing them all, vis-a-vis having the house and my time all to myself again. Kind of a dreading -it-but-looking-forward-to-it kind of feeling ba. But before i could actually 'luxuriate' on any 'free-again' moments----my BP started playing seesaw and pretty soon, had orders from the doc to come in to the hospital for confinement!! You kidding? I had so many things lined up for the week, not to mention the 'feelings and moments' i wanted to wallow in...but it seemed these things weren't meant to be.

In a few days time, a friend rushed me to the hospital for food allergies and a rising BP---had an IV drip stuck up my arm then, but escaped confinement when the allergies disappeared an hour after, phew! (Though they did manifest themselves for the rest of the week thru itchy, watery eyes...:( )

Barely survived that, when i had to gear up for a lecture to some school faculty on Classroom Discipline and Behavior Management, followed closely by a visit by relatives from the US, followed by an overnight thingie at the beach with them....but almost didn't make it to anywhere coz by Wednesday this time i really had to get confined when my BP reached an all-time high of 172/119. Lecture had to be moved, too.Boohoo.

Forced my discharge 24 hours later as i had to run to the market and supermarket for stuff with which to stuff my guests with. Crawled home. Despite feeling wobbly the following day, made the drive to the airport to pick them up, show em around town, bring them home and gave them a good memorable though short vacation which lasted all the way till Tuesday.

Thought i'd get my life back to normal after bringing them to the airport (if you can ever call me life 'normal'?)---but so many things just cropped up: some marriage counselling for a dear friend, getting the church ready for the big Father's Day celebration...son's dental appointment, another sick friend to visit at the city hospital....Hohooyyy!! (that's vernacular for 'phew' !)

But hey---what was i thinking? That's why they call me Superwoman, di ba? Or Bat (as in 'batty')woman ba? Heheh. What's important is i can still smile through it all. Till next blogging...gotta try catch some beauty rest. Wheee---this is fun!:)

A "Quiet" Day ....or so I thought.

2006-05-18T08:21:00.000+08:00

Today was supposed to be a quiet day.Bleeep. Think again!!It started at 7a.m. with me bringing the two boys down to the hospital at 7a.m. for the first part of their Physical Exams (a pre-requisite to school enrollment this year). Mikko had to go back up for his college entrance review classes at 8 o'clock, so we only had time for bloodchems & xrays. Which meant bringing them down again at the end of his classes at 3pm (Math training naman in the afternoon)!! Wala pa the weewee and poopoo samples, ha? The latter are the ones hard to 'catch'!! In fact, kaninang around 9am nga, Momon went poopoo, and i painstakingly got a sample (don't ask me how) and packaged it neatly and securely and stuck it in the chiller. I then phoned my friend and neighbor Becbec, as i knew she was also patiently awaiting for her own 5-year old's specimens. Asked her if she could bring in Momon's as well when she drove down with her daughter's stuff...okay na ang usapan. That way, i wouldn't have to go down the hill three times in one day.
Kaso, the clock ticked all the way to twelve o'clock (noon) and no sample passed from the little gurl!!! Which means we try again tomorrow. Sigh.

I then settled to prepare for my sermon, i remembered i had to call up this new neighbor of min, this young lady, Shey (for 'Sherelyn' i think)---my neighbor's new daughter-in-law...who, with her husband, quit jobs and life in Manila to move to Polomolok. Philip, our neighbor and her hubby's dad, was being assigned to Hawaii, so he asked his son GV to move back and watch over their home and farm (and of course, find some office job, possibly with Dole). Shey worked for ABS-CBN prior to their move.

The good thing was, Christians ang young couple, and they somehow found their way to our little church last month. I explained to them at the time how our church was at the crossroads, and I then invited them to stay and help us 'rebuild' our church. They took up the challenge, and are now actively involved na. Shey has volunteered to take charge of the Music Ministry and the Youth. They are truly a blessing to us. I hope we can also somehow be blessings to them in turn.

Shortly after i'd ended our very interesting and inspiring telebabad, my cellphone rang naman---and this time, it was my mentor from the gensan Baptist Church, asking if she could bring over on a sightseeing tour of our place (clubhouse, neighborhood, pinyahan, etc) a Korean group on Medical Mission. They came on a ship called the m/v Hannah---a missionary vessel which holds a staff of 45! Luckily, ten lang ang coming ashore kanina.
Earlier, i'd turned down an invitation to attend an ikebana demo/lecture to be given by Rene's boss' Japanese mom (80 year old bala), thinking i'd use up my time for my sermon. And now there was this missionary group coming around the same time i was to have been at the Clubhouse for the flower session!
So i was able to hit two birds with one stone bala? Nagpakita ako sa Ikebana group, at the same time, naka-entertain sa missionaries na singkit!I then had to leave them after an hour, so i could bring back the boys for the rest of their PE checkup. Shey (whom i'd picked up and 'dragged' to the Club with me earlier) took over.
After an uneventful checkup with the pediatrician---whose bed was too short for Mikko to stretch out on, heheh--, i dropped the boys off at our gay hairdresser's for their haircuts, after which i zoomed to the public market to replenish my seafood stash.Phew!
What a day!

Under Construction

2006-05-17T09:57:00.000+08:00

My daughter's still customizing my blog and is taking forever...