I don’t think I can take a real long blog hiatus. LOL!

My daughter, the only girl and youngest child in the family,  just turned 18 last month and she complained that I have not blogged about it.

I really find it amusing that my kids unashamedly take pride when I blog about their milestones in life.

The month of July is birthday month for all my three kids.  They’re all July-born.  True, having to celebrate birthdays in the family all in the same month saves us from party costs. However, it strips the excitement from the other months. After marking the birthdays in the family in three successive months — June (my birth month), July (the kids’ birth month) and August (hubby’s birth month) — the only remaining celebration that we can look forward to is Christmas time.  Quite boring, isn’t it?

I am  so thankful to God that my kids are now grown, though I admit to be missing the kids they used to be  when they would goof around the house and be rowdy and ‘makulit’. Our baby girl is baby no more now that she has turned 18.  She had long traded her Barbie dolls (all of which she “beheaded and dismembered”, out of her childish curiosity! LOL!) with kikay items, and is presently obsessed with Apple gadgets. (Note: You have to save up if you want any of ‘em gadgets, girl!) 

When Gem was about 12 or younger, we would watch “Princess Diaries” over and over. And excitedly, we both decided to have her debutante dress patterned after Anne Hathaway’s beautiful ecru gown which she wore in the final scene of  Princess Diaries Part 1. We also planned on having her wear a tiara so she would be like a real princess even for just that night of her 18th birthday. Sadly, none of that happened as we were not able to hold a big debut party for her.  I know she feels bad about it, yet I am sure she understands we could not afford to spend for it.  If we splurged on a party, her college education (which is not cheap!) would be compromised. It’s not a difficult choice to make, really, because obviously the latter weighs much much more since it holds her  future.

But not throwing a party did not mean no fun at all for the family.  A day after Gem officially turned 18,  Marco treated us to dinner at Little Tokyo in Makati -  sort of a joint birthday celebration for the three of them, which also came at a perfect timing because Aypee and I had to be in Manila that weekend to attend my niece’s wedding. It was unfortunate though that their dad was not able to join us because of already pre-scheduled  engagements connected to his work.

Let me share with you a couple of photos taken that night.

Full, satisfied Marco could only lean on the wall after gobbling up his favorite Japanese dish. Or maybe - he was thinking how much the bill would cost him. hehehe.

Of course, mother and daughter photo op was inevitable.

To my three children: Happy belated birthday to you.  Mama loves you soo very much!

When you come to the end of everything you know
And are faced with the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen.
Either there will be something solid for you to stand on,
Or you will be taught how to fly. - Barbara J.Winter

(Photo by Marco Palinar) 

(Thanks to my son Marco for the image above, borrowed from his Flickr album.)

I am taking a long vacation (approximately 14 months). I hope to still find my blog friends and readers here when I come back. I also hope this blog can withstand spam invasion and won’t self destruct through time while I’m away.

I need to do this. I don’t want to spend the remaining  years of my life bugged by the nagging refrains: “I should have” and “What if…”

If I succeed - ah, what bliss! But if I don’t make it -  naturally I’ll feel sad, but whatever is going to be the outcome - I know it’s worth the try. 

I’ll be back… I promise!

So long …

Let me share with you this forwarded email.

Christian ways to reduce stress

An Angel says, “Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.”

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental  health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big chapters and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you, Jesus”.

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

And on this note, my friends, I am starting my Monday.

Have a stress-free week to all.

It’s been three weeks since classes resumed for the school year and I am about to have my fourth trip to Manila on Monday to visit my daughter.  Much as I want to stay put in Dagupan and attend to my work, home and other duties, I just can’t because Gem is always on the phone with a litany of complaints about a lot of things in her dorm, of which the latest is the internet connection in her unit.

My daughter stays in a dorm but is not a dorm per sé. It’s actually a condominium unit which she shares with two other students from her school. This condo unit is being subleased  by a custodian duly accredited by the school. This custodian maintains around ten other units where my daughter’s schoolmates are housed (three or four heads in a unit, depending on the size and capacity).  The fee is four grand above 10k (Php), inclusive of two meals a day (breakfast and dinner) and services such as electricity, cable tv, internet, laundry and housekeeping. The unit, of course, is fully furnished but since each room is equipped with an airconditioner, and there are frequently used electrical appliances such as microwave oven and refrigerator,  (not to mention their laptops and other gadgets) the custodian limited the free use of electricity to P2,000. The excess will be paid by the occupants, divided equally among. Fine and fair to me.

Meanwhile, when the internet connection was installed, my daughter told me her room mate’s mom was going to buy a router so they could all go wireless with their laptops. They would just split the cost equally. Well, since I knew routers don’t cost that much, I agreed. But while we were waiting for the router to be purchased, a “technician” came to their unit and installed a router upon the instruction of the custodian. “Well then, that’s great. Tell your room mate to tell her mom not to bother anymore about the router,” I told Gem.

Now the bittersweet part. Ah, indeed, nothing in life comes free. Day after, the custodian called to inform me there was a Php7,060 fee for the router and configuration. Naturally, I demanded for the statement of account so I would know what I was going to pay for. But days passed and I received nothing. Finally, perhaps desperate now to collect the fee from us, she told me the breakdown of the 7thousand pesos she was demanding as thus: Php3,560 for the router and P3,500 for the configuration. My eyebrows raised. P3,500 for configuration? Why, I thought any monkey could do that job!

I know the custodian is in this for business. I fully understand and I have nothing against her  subleasing/custodial business.  Everybody has the right to make decent money. But I believe she has gone too far. I don’t think it’s fair that she takes profit from the supposedly “free services” she promised to give her residents. I refuse to settle the amount she’s asking. I will pay only what is just and due.

On the other hand, I’m just so thankful that the school has been very supportive and willing to lend assistance with regard to the lodging problems of their students. I consulted them about this matter and they have talked to the custodian, advising her not to exact unreasonable fees from the students. I just know she’ll comply, lest her accreditation with the school may suffer.

TO FLY HIGH

To fly, I ought to have wings.

Not only wings, I say, but freedom too.

How can I flip and flap when I’m weighed down

by the evils of the past?

How can I soar above when I’m controlled

by troubles that haunt me to the last?

How can I glide, drift and float in the air

when my wings are tied and my soul is tired?

_________

Quick, cut the ropes!

I need to zoom in the azure sky.

I want to rise to the clouds, touch the mountains high

The power is with limit now,

and the sun is soon to rest.

Curtain call - not for long - then, I must take a bow.

__________

(A poem I wrote just now to express my sentiments. Thanks to Marco for the image above.)

AS I mentioned in previous post, I turned 53 last June 21. Whew! I’m old. Well, I guess I have to reconcile with the fact that indeed, my age is advancing and I can’t stop anymore the white hairs from multiplying, and the lines on my face from becoming more visible.

I was not very keen on celebrating my birthday. In this time of economic crisis, I don’t want to splurge on anything, much less for my birthday. With the ever rising cost of fuel and food, I only want to hold on tight to every peso that lands on my hand. Family budget is getting tighter and tighter and though Aypee has graduated and Gem is the only one left schooling, we often find ourselves short of cash.

But Marco insisted. Siya daw ang bahala sa lahat. (He said he would spend for everything.) So, okay… I agreed, though I was secretly wishing for him to just give me shopping money, instead of holding a party. Haha. (Continue reading…)

I haven’t been updating my blog again. As you can see, my last post was last May 7. So many things have taken place since that last post, but I seem to have run out of creative juices to enable me to write them down here.

I guess I need to restructure my blogging system. Perhaps I should haul my pc out of this cramped computer space to the living room or to any roomier part of the house. Ideally though, what will oil my rusty writing skill is a wi-fi set up. Yes; that is - if I could only have this:

or this:

But Marco says he’s afraid I’m being too ambitious. Okay then, I can settle for this:

Ah, I’ll be a very happy mommy blogger!

Belated Happy Birthday to me. I just turned 53 last June 21 and I thank the Lord I’ve come this far…

“Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.” (Stephenie Meyer, Twilight Series)

Note: My daughter is spending her summer obsessing over photography and Stephenie Meyer.

FIRST OF ALL, I would like to apologize to my readers for not being able to post entries regularly, and also for not visiting the sites of blog friends, who, despite my not being very visible in the blogosphere lately, still take time to drop by. To you all, thank you for visiting. I hope to also visit your sites very soon.

Well, with the school year already wrapped up, I am proud to announce that my second son, Aypee, is finally graduating from college. I say “finally graduating” because he shifted courses and so the delay. He is joining the graduation march on May 2 and already, he is very excited, though my husband insists I am the one who is more excited.

My husband and I are so grateful to God that despite our financial hardships in life, we’re able to provide education to our children. We keep telling our kids the only thing we can hand to them as inheritance is education. Therefore they should make the best out of the “privilege of the right to education” that we are able to bestow unto them. Not all young people are given the opportunity to attain college education. Even the United States, a developed country and a superpower at that, has many out of school youths, drop outs and those who simply cannot afford their high cost of college education.

So on May 2, we will accompany our dearest second son receive his diploma as a Nursing graduate from the Lyceum Northwestern University in Dagupan City. I am elated, yes, I admit. I have this Cloud Nine sensation right now, which I first felt when our first born, Marco, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Political Science at UP Baguio. That was in 2004, and I relish the high up to now.

Sorry folks, I’m just a proud, happy mom. I hope you don’t mind this shameless self promotion. I just want to share with you my joy as a mother.

You may want to see the official graduation photos of my kids: (Continue reading…)