Techy Baby

At 1 1/2 years old, Gabby sure is a smart kid. He knows how to choose which DVD he wants to watch and turn it on himself - skipping the parts he doesn't like and fast forwarding to his favorite scenes. He knows his way around an iphone - down to choosing which app he wants and how to start and exit it as well. And whenever he's in my room, he immediately points to my lappy and says 'tish!' (it's actually 'fish' which he is just so crazy about - especially Nemo).

Earlier, as I was just hanging out in my room, surfing the net while watching my DVD marathon (which I'm about to finish), Gabby happily comes in. He jumps on my bed and as expected, pointed to my lappy and said 'tish!'. How can I resist? So I opened up You Tube and played Finding Nemo...and he was as contented as can be, even knowing how to start and stop the video himself. Such a cute baby! :)

Old School

I'm back to catching up with my DVDs (more of I just finished unpacking the last of my box and I almost forgot that I have a couple of DVDs I bought back then) and this time around, I decided to go old school and watch Beverly Hills 90210. My gad, talk about OLD. Funny how this used to be the coolest show back then - kaloka ang mga outfits! Shoulder pads galore, button-down shirts, high-waisted jeans...and the hair! Bangs kung bangs! Hahaha. The show started way back in 1990 and I just realized that I was just 8 years old then! Way too young to even bother watching this show. Fast forward to about 2 decades later (yeah, I'm getting old), and I'm just starting to relive what the hype was all about. But in fairness, it is pretty interesting. A much toned-down, old-fashioned version of Gossip Girl. Hehehe. I'm now on the second season and I'm starting to regret why I didn't buy the other seasons as well. Good thing it's a holiday tomorrow...I'll probably just stay in and catch up with Brandon, Brenda, Dylan, Kelly, Steve, David, Donna and Andrea... :)

'us' time

We had the afternoon all to ourselves...

...lunch at Marciano's (their steak was really good!)
...watched the Time Traveler's Wife
...after-movie dessert at Red Mango
...leisure stroll around Greenbelt
...late afternoon snack at Via Mare

If only everyday could be like this. Thanks for the afternoon, dear! :)

it's real

He finally received his papers and as we were looking through them earlier, it dawned on us that this is it. Totoo talaga. There's still so much to do but so little time left. I'm trying to just take it one day at a time, but as THE day nears, I can't help but be sad. I know that eventually I'll be heading there as well, but knowing that we'll be apart once again is pretty hard.

How I wish we had more time.

Shopaholic Hits the Bookstore

...more to add to my ever-growing pile of unread books!

to the moon and back

...then he looked beyond the thornbushes, out into the big dark night.

Nothing could be farther than the sky.

"I love you right up to the moon," he said and closed his eyes.

"Oh, that's far," said Big Nutbrown Hare.

"That is very, very far."

Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves.

He leaned over and kissed him good night.

They he lay down close by and whispered with a smile,

"I love you right up to the moon...and back."

busy weekend

I'm trying my best not to be sad, and to just enjoy and make the most out of the days we have left. And this weekend, we sure did!

...Friday night out at Eastwood
...dinner at Terriyaki Boy with Yeng and Papa P
...watched GI Joe - not bad, to think that I had no idea what it is all about since I didn't watch this back when I was a kid
...Saturday baby shower for Jaye - met all his Davao friends :)
...early evening bellinis at Italianni's
...dinner at Buffalo's Wings and Things at Ortigas - New York's Finest is the best!
...quality time before heading home...down to 125 days and no arguments on that...hahaha :)

thanks for the weekend, dear! mwah! :)

mixed emotions

...that's what this day is all about. Even if you know what's coming up and even if you've talked about it way back, you still can't be prepared once it happens. So this is it and there's no turning back. I'm sad and excited at the same time. How I wish I could stop time! We have just about less than 2 months left and I just really want to make the most out of it.

But as what one of my good friends said, we've been apart several times already but when something major happens, we face it together. And this time around, this is probably the most major of them all. I guess I'll just think of it now as another onshore assignment and in just a couple of months, we'll once again be together and this time, hopefully it's for good...

i likey!

This has my name written all over it! Now, where to find it...i so like! :)

another one ties the knot

I just came back from Cebu to attend my cousin Carla's wedding to Mike (who happens to be the drummer of Cueshe). It was really nice to be with family, but it would have been better if my own family was there. But nevertheless, I was very well taken cared of by my titos, titas and cousins :) Wish we could have stayed longer and see more of what the city has to offer.

Congratulations, Carla and Mike! Here's wishing you guys an eternity of love and happiness :)

awww...

I just got back from Cebu when Lec called. He just arrived as well from Davao and was on his way home. We asked about each other's vacation (a very short one for me!) and we had the same sentiment: bitin! We so don't wanna go to work tomorrow and our conversation goes:

Lec: I was about to call G*** to tell her that I want to extend my VL.
Me: Why didn't you? Sayang naman, minsan ka lang din umuwi.
Lec: I miss you na eh...
Me: awwww!

As babaw as it may seem, but after all this time, he still manages to make me kilig. Hihihi.

I missed you too, dear, and it's good to have you back. Mwah! :)

Safe Answer

Lately, we've been asked the same question by friends and family: when are you getting married? We usually just laugh it off, oftentimes with me answering 'ask him!'. We haven't really sat down and talked about it seriously, but the subject has been brought up a couple of times and seems things are pretty much going in that direction. *keeping my fingers crossed*

Then just last Friday, we were in Shang waiting in line for a cab to take us back to the office when this stranger who was behind us in the line started chatting with us. He was a foreigner (can't remember what nationality but he came from South Africa) doing missionary work here in Manila for about 2 years already. He was with his family and they were really friendly and all. The line for the cab was pretty long and we got to talk for a couple of minutes.

He then asked where we live. So Lec tells him that he's staying in Pioneer and I answer that I live down south. He was then surprised (as well as his wife) and asks 'you guys are not married yet?' (o di'ba pati strangers!) I started to shake my head when Lec answered 'not yet...but soon'. In fairness, akalain mo yun?! Hahaha.

A cab then pulls up and it's finally our turn. So as we were saying goodbye, his son (who was about 7 years old) suddenly says 'have a nice wedding!' I was surprised to hear it coz the kid didn't seem to mind us when we were talking earlier. The guy and his wife also wished us luck and told us to enjoy our wedding. Hahaha. Lec and I were just quiet when we got in the cab, but we were both smiling and holding each other's hand tight.

That would be really nice :)

Miracles

Today is a testament of God's greatness and love, and all I can say is, thank God!

What started out as an ordinary Monday unfolded unexpectedly. Since my mom was on vacation today, I was supposed to ride with my sis and bro-in-law to work. But they usually leave late so I opted to take the driver instead. I got to the office at around 8:30 already (which is late for my standards since I usually get in at around 7ish). I had quite a lot of catching up to do so I was engrossed with my work that I didn't notice my celfone. Not until as I was about to meet up with Lec for our morning fix of coffee did I see that my mom texted - saying that she's on the way to Asian Hospital coz my sis got into a car accident.

I panicked and immediately called them up. Turns out his husband, who was driving, didn't see the incoming car and hit it (though they were in the right of way). My sister's head hit the windshield and the impact was really strong that the windshield cracked. Aside from the bump on the head, she had no other injuries but of course they rushed her to Asian. Thank God, everything was ok. The CT scan and xrays were clear. The doctors were even amazed that she had no wound whatsoever. I was relieved upon hearing that and I even told Lec that I would have been in that car if I didn't change my mind at the last minute to have the driver take me to work instead.

With everything settled, I went back to work, thankful that everything was ok. Then as I was about to head out for lunch, my sis called me. I thought it was nothing, just to update me that she's ok and all...but to my surprise, the news literally stopped me in my tracks - my brother, who was driving my sis and my mom home from the hospital, got into an accident this time! What the?!?! This time, a speeding car hit the driver's side of the car. It was obviously the other car's fault (which until now the driver isn't admitting!). This was much worse than the earlier accident and they all had a scare coz my brother was in so much pain and he can't move his body at all.

I found out the details much later. I wasn't able to talk to any of them properly since they were panicking. But by that time, I was in shock. I didn't know what to get out of what just happened. First it was my sister, then my brother who ironically, was driving my sister home. Waaaah! I immediately told Lec about it but he was in a meeting over lunch so I tried to calm myself down. By the time he finished his meeting, I still didn't know what was happening back home but my mom told me that my other uncles were already on their way there to help, and that I don't need to rush home. Not to be superstitious, but with unfortunate things happening in 3s, I was scared to go home!

I don't know how I was able to go through the rest of the afternoon (in fairness, I made good progress on my design!) but I was really windang. By 5ish, my mom finally called and gave me the good news that my brother was ok. He was just badly bruised but he had no broken bones whatsover. Thank God again! 2 miracles in one day!

I felt quite better but still, I wasn't so keen on going home by myself. The accidents were just so freaky and what a coincidence that it happened all in one day to both my siblings. At the back of my mind, I was thinking that I'm the only 'safe' sibling left so please, let me get home in one piece. And little did I know that Lec was thinking about the same thing. As we were having dinner (I wasn't able to eat the whole day - i lost my appetite with all the bad news I got!), I noticed that he was kinda bothered and when I asked what's wrong, that's when he said that he's been trying to figure out how he'd get out of his concall later in the evening and how he'd pack his stuff and all (he's leaving for Davao tomorrow) coz he doesn't want me to go home alone. Awwww. Technically I wasn't really alone since I have the driver with me but he was just so restless and wants to be there with me and make sure that I get home safe and sound. That was the sweetest thing ever. This is defintely one of those times that I'm again so thankful that I have a boyfriend and better yet, that it's him :)

So with that, he literally dropped everything for me :) I don't know how he managed to get out of his call but he somehow got one of his leads to attend instead. We finally got home at around 9pm already and it was such a relief to be with my family, seeing them all ok. Lec stayed for quite sometime, making sure that everyone was alright.

At the end of the day, all I can say was 'Thank you, God'. Thank you for keeping my sister and brother safe despite the severity of those accidents (I was able to see the news clip and I didn't know that it was that bad!). Thank you for keeping my mom strong, having to go through all this just after losing my dad. Thank you for all the friends and family who showed their support and concern (especially to my uncles and cousin who left work in the middle of the day and immediately drove over to help out). And thank you for my boyfriend who has showed, time and time again, his love not just for me but for my entire family.

I've never stopped believing in miracles and as long as you have faith, everything will be alright.