Delineating Des

Weeks ago I saw this invitation to an alumni meet in a social network. I said I would not attend. No chance. I got plans lined up for the evening. On the eve of the meeting there were sudden changes in my plans and it cleared the rest of my Saturday night. After a few calls to a couple of former classmates, I was having a good time meeting familiar faces,exchanging grins with more familiar faces, as well as hugging and chatting with the most familiar ones. A couple of ancient-looking teachers also showed up, bless them. The meeting ended at 'children's hour.' Four of us, each from a different batch thought we should make use of the early night. We proceeded to Hard Rock. Amidst vodka and martini I realized it has been awhile since I had a night life. The case is similar with my companions. Our alma mater raved about "service" and expected her graduates to be of service to society the moment they left her portals. For years we were all work work work. I felt w

Another tag was passed on to me by Genebei . Thank you. I like the picture attached to this tag :) The picture shows a very cute strawberry formed like a heart that is placed in an "intimate" way nearest to the heart to show that a person filled with love is interesting and attractive. The rule of this tag is to answer the questions below on your own. A# Attached or Single? Single B# Best Friend? my poodle :) C# Cake or Pie? cake, moist chocolate please D# Day of Choice? Saturday E# Essential Item? computer with internet F# Favorite Color? nowadays it's lilac G# Gummie Bears or Worms? Gummie Bears H# Hometown? South Cotabato I# Favorite Indulgence? Durian and choco macadamia ice cream from iBerry J# January or July? January K# Kids? Yeah one boy L# Life isn't complete without....? achieving my freaking goals M# Marriage date? I forgot when was it exactly but it's either the 10th or 11th of March N# Number of magazine subscriptions? zero; it used to be Reader&

1. "In a hole in the ground there lived elves plucking their eyebrows. " 2. " This cough syrup makes me high but that ain't no matter." 3. "After dark the rain began to fall again, and I curled up in bed with Jane Austen's Emma ." 4. " Robin bought an antique pipe reputed to have come from the hold of the Spanish galleon." 5. "There was a hand in the darkness, and a head suspended mid-air ." 6. "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, so the unsuspecting better ambush accidents back ." 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed before midnite , tomorrow my plans include going to an alumni meet (at least consider it) and Sunday, I want to eat durian icecream, chocolate cake and check out some golf glove for my kiddo !

Cj was eleven months old when I flew him to the Philippines to stay with my mother while I was finalizing my divorce. For almost two years I was playing hard ball with his dad, you know the fight over child custody that we usually hear surrounding divorces. While I was meeting lawyers and sorting documents I tried my best to play my role as a mom every chance I get in spite of the distance. Summers were those chances. With the help of my family, I was able to enjoy those summers with Cj. We were almost always out of the house even if we didn't go very far out of town. The heat drove us outdoors: This is Cj's favorite part of the yard. Guess why... because this is where he chases our neighbor's chickens off. I love this part of the yard too because it's where I watch him discover creatures around him. He hops after a frog and says, "Mom, kee-kith." My eyebrows meet in the middle, "what's kee-kith, Ceej?" He repeats with emphasis, " kee-kith !

Random things I am thankful for this week: 1. Loads of sunblock for loads of sunshine 2. Fun in blogsville 3. Someone got interested in Cj's good-as-brand-new crib. It didn't have to end up in the junk after all 4. That yummy durian ice cream yesterday 5. My CV is finally sent to a prospective employer after I procrastinated a bit 6. Good health despite late nights 7. Dirty rugs are all washed up 8. No chaos in my apartment this week 9. The slack I got yesterday from Him :) 10.Tomorrow is Friday, hurray! and one more thing: I played "It should have been me and you" on youtube a few days back. The video showed images of Jesus all bloodied up on the cross, so I was wincing and was about to click minimise and carry on just listening, when Cj on the bed behind me, jumped up and down, yelled and pointed at the video, "Mommy! Jesus?! Jesus?!" To me that was a wonderful surprise. Two years of solid buddhism in the school he's attending (and I haven't taken

Graduation memories, I might have a few: Elementary Graduation . The impact of our homeroom adviser's lethally big-time revenge on one of our classmates is something I don't think I will ever forget. I was about 12 then and I observed our teacher was having personal and professional issues with the school board. Once in a class meeting I remember him saying, "and then some of you will report me to your father, aunt and grandfather..." Three of my classmates had family elders who sat in the school board. The one whose got her father in the board, J was terribly spoiled in class. She treated our teacher with utter disrespect, you would think our teacher was a wimp. She led the class in all sorts of meanness, defiance of authority, and trouble-making; and mind you, she was also the class president. I silently felt sorry for our teacher. I was a transferee and seething at my fate, thinking how unfair it was to be a member of a graduating class whose president behaved lik

The only view I see every morning when I wake up is out my porch. It displays the usual aura of a bustling metropolis, i.e. construction of buildings here and there. Condominiums in the Bangna area have been mushrooming recently. I wonder who are buying or renting real estate these many during the recession . It takes me about 3 minutes to walk to work. Ground lilies used to bloom abundant in that space where the residential property with a V atop its brown windows stands. In place of that plastic-draped condo behind those empty market stalls (roofs, lower portion) were once trees and a small vegetable garden. Now nature is all wiped out and I have to endure such a dull sight of urbanization on my way to work every day. Big Yellow Taxi automatically plays in my head, "...they paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I love the countryside. I'd rather have cows grazing or hills zooming in the sunrise before my eyes than buildings that look already comatose before they a

JK Rowling is one author who not very long ago had me coming back for more (and more, and wishing for more). In the middle of writing my master's thesis, two friends invited me to visit England so I happily stuffed my excited butt on a jet and flew in. My fascination for Harry Potter became more intense in the moors of Goathland where I took a morning walk. HP fans would know that North Yorkshire is a filming location of HP2; the scene below where Ron and Harry travelled to Hogwartz in the Flying Car. I promised myself that right after the gradschool dean tells me "You passed," I'm going to have a Harry Potter pleasure reading spree! I've been a bit hooked on the books since then; also roaming the net for anything about HP. Audience group for HP is supposed to be composed of teenagers or younger than teenagers, right? I'm sure I'm too old for HP; but then not as old as my ex sis-in-law who is around fifteen years older than I. She's a doctor; you know

This morning when I woke up, I peeked at blogsville on my way to the fridge, but sat down smiling when I found out I was given a Let's be friends award. Thank you Jona . It's surely nice to have friends. I hope in time I'll be able to reach the number required on rule 2. I am passing this award on to Genebei , Arlene , Willa , Carrie , Lanie , Lynn . There :) Have fun! Here are the rules: 1.Put the logo on your blog or post. 2.Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! 3.Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. 4.Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 5.Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

My son bonds with his cousins only during birthdays, christmases, or sometimes after church services. I don't have photos of him bonding with his cousins from his father's side. There were some taken a few days after he was born but when his dad and I divorced, I forgot to keep those photos in my files. Hopefully later there will be. Although I have full custody of Cj, I allow him to see his paternal cousins and bond with them (in fact I want him to) whenever there is a chance. We went home for christmas in 2007. I made sure he bonded with his Philippine cousins as much as the one week we were there would allow. So they did. My little guy trailed his big cousins to their evening christmas presentation at Rizal Park in Digos City. After that they played: On christmas morning we opened our gifts. Cj handed his gifts to everyone. This one's for Yoyo: Our last day in the Philippines was January 1st. We trooped to the beach and Cj met more cousins there. We had a min

Genebei invited me to do this picture tag. I must admit I had a lot of fun doing this. It took me a long time though to find Google images that are royalty free or NOT subject to copyright. I don't mean to be boring but I have to be wary of this thing. When I searched for photos I did type copyright free photos of .... (I claim no ownership of these images. I am not in any way selling or earning from these photos). Now for the instructions: "Use Google image to search the answers to the questions below. You must choose a picture from the first page of the results, and post it as your answer." 1. The age of my next birthday 2. Place I'd like to travel to 3. Favorite food 4. Favorite place 5. One of my nicknames 6. Favorite color 7. College major 8. Name of my love 9. Hobby 10. Bad habit 11. My wish list Have fun everyone! --------- I mean innocent fun :)

Since I got into blogging a few weeks ago I have been fascinated no end by what I'm discovering. I'm willingly sitting long hours in front of my computer so I suppose I am enjoying the ongoing encounter. The word sister plays second fiddle in my life. Outside blogsville and inside the reality of immediate family - I come first and last. You could guess what I'm rambling about - yep, I'm an only child. Dolls, cats, dogs, Neverland princesses, ferns and cacti on milk cans, and cousins were my siblings while growing up. Receiving this sisterhood award is something I welcome with open arms (oh Arnel, I'm so having a crush on you, lol!). Cyberspace sisters? Fantastic concept! Imagine a warm smile on my face, genebei . Thank you for passing this sisterhood award to me. Like I said, I'm a blogosphere newbie and still on a getting-to-know-you stage. I hope I am forgiven for not having that many sister bloggers to pass this award on to. For now I got Chris , Jona , a

G.B. Stern says, "silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone." I agree. Keeping mum with your thanks is tasteless. I admit I have been sometimes guilty of what I have just described. I am attempting to redress that silence, and henceforth try to be more specific and regular in expressing gratitude for my blessings. The following are what I am thankful for this week: my cold is gone! (I sooo hated it) it disappeared before I could even pop the second pill the fun of discovering new avenues to express myself and for the nice people I met and will meet in blogosphere the thrill of interacting with my son through baseball and Japanese cuisine I am grateful that my Cj is well past his tantrums over weekend commutes between me and his dad. And I'm certainly not complaining that ex-hub takes care of Cj's major expenses. My other baby, Mozart (my spoiled rotten canine who had to be flown home as the final casualty of my divorce) is in good hands with Grandma Philippines. E

I got tagged by Jona . The Rules: Copy the questions below. Simply use the first letter of your name/nickname as you answer each question. You can't use any answer twice and don't use your own name for answer #4. When you're done, tag others. 1. What is your name? Hazel 2. A four letter word: Hope 3. A boy's name : Harry 4. A girl's name : Hermione (obvious ba na Harry Potter fan? lol) 5. An occupation : Helicopter Pilot 6. A color : Heliotrope 7. Something you wear : Hat 8. A type of food : Honeydew 9. Something found in the bathroom : Hanger 10. A place : Hampshire 11. A reason for being late : Hostile breakfast messed up poor tummy 12. Something you shout : Hooray! 13. A movie title : Hitch 14. Something you drink : Hot chocolate 15. A musical group : Helloween 16. A street name : Haddon Hall 17. A type of car : Hummer (do they have a sedan?) 18. A song title : Hey Jude 19. A verb : Hex Arlene ? Chris ? genebie ? f

Last night I was treated to lovely scenes of celebration and happy socializing. A co-teacher got married. I won't proceed to describe how stunning she is or how touching the speeches, as I guess beautiful weddings are always characterized by such details. While seated at reception I watched the morning ceremony on screen for evening guests: Chairs were draped with yellow bows while pink dominated the backdrop. They are not motifs. They are significantly associated with Thai patriotism. In 2006 we all began wearing yellow shirts every Monday . Pink was the color His Majesty wore when he came out of the hospital months back. The royal tailor was quoted in a magazine I read earlier, "pink, i.e. 'in the pink of health.'" There isn't much fuss about color combinations here. Whatever color the king wears, the rest of the kingdom follows. We just watch what the monarchy wears, shop with that in mind and we never go wrong with what we wear. Besides, pink and

I found this tag from genejosh 's blog. Since she said it's ok to grab it, I did. Thank you genejosh :) (The answers to the questions below must be based on "at this moment.") 1. Where is your cellphone - in my purse (that's the company-issued phone); my personal phone is charging 2. Your hair - unruly 3. Your father - at Holy Garden Memorial Park in South Cotabato; sleep on Pop :) 4. Your favorite thing - my blogging adventure; it's new to me 5. Your dream last night - I can't remember 6. Your favorite drink - mango juice 7. Your dream goal - tour as many countries as I can 8. The room you are in - my apartment 9. Your fear - the heat outside 10. Where do you want to be in 6 years - settled in England 11. Muffins - I'd rather have crumpets right now 12. One of your wish list items - To work for the National Trust, UK 13. Where you grew up - Davao del Sur and South Cotabato 14. The last thing you did - told my son to move back as he's too close to

Music is foremost among the tools I employ in putting my baby to sleep. Around eight weeks into my pregnancy I started playing Ultrasound: Music for the Unborn Child. I used earphones; one plugged in my ear and the other attached to my belly. I bought the CD from Tower Records. Right before I wrote this entry I looked it up in Amazon. The prices now vary. There are also good and not very good reviews there. Personally I love the tracks, all 17 of them and I assume the tiny listener inside would love them too :) Now that he's out and invading my bed, I still play it on for him. A few minutes of these titles quickly send a semi-hyperactive kid to dreamland: Berceuse for Piano in D flat major, B 154/Op. 57, Nocturne for Harp, Op. 20, Rˆverie or Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: no 3, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. The latter is my favorite :) Storybooks are just as vital. This one is prescribed by the Lola. History does repeat itself. I had two of the same books along with those Tell-it-again