With a Grateful Heart

loads of love from family and friends. that's what i received on my birthday. and a deeper message from the Lord during my early morning reflection.

thank you, Lord. with all my heart. :-)

Coming Home After the Goodbyes

sweetest goodbye

two sodium atoms are walking along the street when one stops and says...
*OMG, Ive lost an electron!*
*Are you sure?* asks his companion.
*Yes, Im positive!* replies the first sodium atom.


guess you have to be a science student to understand, eh?

my section in third year was sodium. so i kinda picked up this joke i found on the net. it has a certain kind of ring to it (to my ears, of course).

my batch in high school is gearing up for the big homecoming this 2015. it'll be our 25th year since graduating from pisay. and apparently everyone's concerned with the considerable sum that's expected of us. this year's grand sponsor has already raised more than 4M. well, i looked up our school's group page and saw that said batch has been having fund-raising projects like golf tournament, etc. so that's how they were able to raise that much. there must be lots of them still active in batch projects and activities. i wonder what our batch gimmick's gonna be.

i hope we will not be forced to bleed for whatever fund-raising will be decided on. i am more anxious as to how i'm gonna be by that time. saan naman kaya ako ipapadpad ng aking mga paa sa mga panahong iyon? again, i wonder.

Febfair at Yupielbi

as i mentioned, i'd be going to the uplb febfair. went and met friends again. posting here pics that i took from fb. (hehe, nagnakaw ako ng piktyur piktyur dun)

dropped by to say hi to the sisses celebrating our anniv and opentambayan at the AS-SJ booth. congrats and more strength to AS! naku, ang babata na ng naabutan ko. buti na lang, nasa labas ang mga oldies so medyo hindi naman ako gaanong na-op (hehe). also had fun catching up with glo. medyo bitin. need to have more tsika time pa. sana ma-contact si tita gems para mahaba-habang kwentuhan. 'twas nice seeing rey, treb and alta again at the CS booth, sila lang ang natatandaan kong faces. all the rest were those of the younger residents and alums alike (with batches ranging from '07 to '09, would you believe?). it was drizzling when we arrived so medyo muddy ang field and surroundings. it would have been more fun kung dry ang field, makaka-upo man lang sana sa grounds habang nagtsitsikahan sabay may hawak na baso ng beer (as you can see in d pics). and nagahol din ako sa oras dahil may i-meet ding iba pang mga kakilala. ayun tuloy, nauna nang umuwi si ate joy sa akin. had to stay over at a friend's house. and i have to say, ang ganda ng bagong pagawang bahay nila dedz and cora (owners of pia's and 101 boutique). thanks guys for everything! :-)

Post-Valentine Post

have been in touch with glo and jane recently. met up with jane last weekend as she lives just across edsa from where i'm at. just had to cross the tunnel from boni to get to pioneer. and as usual, sa harap na naman kami ng tv nagdaldalan. she took me to hmr after lunch. now i know where this place is that my kuya goes to buy his shoes and pants.

texted glo to meet her at the fair. tomorrow is the last day of the febfair at uplb. excited akong pumunta. haven't been to one in a long time.

meanwhile, belated happy valentine's day to all. am posting these bakes i made last monday. of course, langga was very happy. another sweet tooth in the family. :-)

Dreaming On

Years ago, i attended the Truly Rich seminar of tito bo, together with a couple of my colleagues at monde. afterwards, we were very excited about what we learned, we immediately met a fin mgt agent whom our boss have been telling us about. then, we learned more about funds and decided to invest in it. also, tita chelle helped me get dollar fixed income funds and some equity funds in sec through IMG. that was before i decided to resign from my job and go abroad to seek greener pastures (or so i thought). this decision was due in part to some inner searching i took months before on what i wanted to do with my life. pen in hand and imagination flying, all i needed was to open up my heart and free my mind of all the boggling fears carefully hidden inside. finally, my soul searching pointed me to the road i embarked on.

fast forward now to 2012, just last weekend, trish invited me to sit-in on another truly rich session by tito bo. i arrived late, thanks to my hopeless ineptitude in understanding directions. tito bo was still funny, and gwapo in his suit, and serious, and awfully right! he mentioned about doing the same thing i did- writing down what he wanted and setting out to do it. only difference is, his list was very detailed. and right he was! (once again). it's indeed easier to get something if you have it laid down exactly as you want it. it's hard to miss something so specific. he wrote down 15 pages of his goals and said it always brings tears to his eyes every time he realizes one of his dreams have come true. wow, that's truly amazing!

i am so embarassed to admit that mine was all helter-skelter and roughly drafted out. no wonder i still don't know if i have achieved it already. with such ambiguous goals laid down, the only outcome could only be a general "uhhm, yeah, this is it, maybe..." .

but tito bo mentioned something i did not do. he said he read his list everyday... every single day. mine was folded and refolded several times over, tucked into one of my numerous planners, and pushed back onto some obscure boxes hidden away under the bed never again to see the light of day. until a few weeks ago. indeed, life has some surprising way of turning out. my cousin and her whole family was coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks for their interview at the US embassy. trish and i spent the whole night tidying up the place, at which point i was reunited with my planner of long ago. and there, lo and behold, i saw it again. hidden in several folds --- my life's dreams! i quietly read it again. sighed. then tucked it into my new planner and then placed it inside my bag.

so last night, i attempted to read my list once more. while i was in dubai and after coming back home, i thought my goals have changed. but one realization i had was that, what i'd written years ago are still true to this day. goals change depending on one's circumstances (esp. short-term goals... strategic ones). but dreams remain the same. looking deep inside, my list still reflects my heart's desires. even having gone through so much changes in my life, indeed, i still have my dreams waiting to be made.

Will Someday Rise Again

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

- By M aya Angelou

Colors

Grey… were the clouds

that hovered across the sky

yesterday

while rains pummelled

on the window panes

midst the cream-washed walls

of this shell

encasing me;

and brown were the pitter-patters

of little feet

outside

gently enveloping me

in a daze

of blue and pink and yellow

swirls

to match

magenta tinge of lilacs

serenading reds and blacks

and stronger hues

of golden daffodils

like soft kisses

of brilliant

fuchshia-winged butterflies

caressing me

with the sweet minty smell

of a baby’s rosy breath

and orange chuckle

to touch the verdant grass

which seem so far

out of my grasp

today.

I wait then

for when

I can taste

and hear and feel

and smell

tomorrow’s

pot of gold

or silver

or platinum

around the bend

where lies

the rainbow’s end.