why, why now?

i just got a super wonderful text today, "hey sister... i'm pregnant."

wow! after trying for what seemed like a million years and one special child.
with endless prayers and buckets of blood, sweat and tears.
and finally coming to terms that maybe another child was not meant to be.
and now that everything is coming up roses with career of mother-again-to-be.
but moving up the corporate ladder meant moving to another country.
which means having to adjust and possibly encountering more stress .
it does not seem the best time. nor the best of circumstance.

and we ask, why? why now?

no one knows why or why now.
except the giver of life who knows why and why now.
and the master planner who knows exactly when and how.
when he says now, he knows the best time is indeed now.

and finally, the best time has finally come for you, sister.

kids say the darnest

over dinner, roque was animatedly relating to dad the events of the day before.

roque: we went to the supermarket yesterday, dad.
dad: what did you buy there?
roque: creams!
dad: ice cream?
roque: creams! (his favorite sandwich cookies)
dad: oh!
roque: and then i had to go up to make wee-wee. the alligator had buttons and i pressed them.
dad: huh?
roque: the alligator opened and then we went in. and then it closed. and then we went up where i made wee-wee.
dad: ?????
mom (to the rescue): you mean elevator!
roque: ohhh, yes! elevator.
dad: so you made wee-wee?
roque: yes, and i shake (you know, his thingy...) at the end of my wee-wee.
dad: did you go inside the boys' room?
roque: yup! the boys' room.
dad: you went inside the boys' room with mom??!?
roque: uh... um... oh no. it was the girls' room... heh-heh, sorry!
dad: heh-heh!
roque: and then when i finished wee-wee, we went again to the alligator.

the big 7-0

my dad turned the big 7-0 today. for me, each new year is a milestone but the big 7-0 is of course bigger than the other milestones. we decided to give him a simple party with close family and friends. it was never like him to want to have a party for himself. but of course the party was so we could honor him in front of people who are dear to us. besides, seventy years is way long overdue.

thank you, dad...

for your wisdom, when i asked you if i could marry janice, you said "just do it"... for telling us we remind you that jesus loves you----------eric

for teaching me (in not so many words), to excel in all things... and for marrying mom who nags me to do so----------randy

for allowing me to marry my soulmate, who is a lot like you... for the selfless caring that we witness between you and mom... and for your wisdom unspoken which i hear loud and clear----------melissa

for 42 years of bliss, for 3 wonderful kids, for 2 beautiful grandchildren, for one happy family... for making me laugh and being my best friend----------mom

love you, dad.
happy birthday!

snortykiss

for some reason, my son roque, now four years old, would prefer to be kissed instead of kiss relatives and friends as a greeting. he would offer his head, and very occasionally his cheek. i don't know why. i could only guess that maybe it's because he used to get overwhelmed when he was kissed so "brutally", with gusto, with much "gigil"...

i feel so embarrassed when our family is in a gathering and all the other children readily greet the adults with a kiss whereas roque has to be prodded to do so. when we're lucky, he would offer his head willingly. but when someone sneakily steals a kiss on him, he would wipe it off immediately. sometimes with a grunt and a frown from him, or worse, he would mutter, "gross!" aaargh! i feel like being swallowed up by the earth those times. i psych myself up, it must be a stage, part of exerting his individuality and control... but still.

lately though, i accidentally discovered a technique to turn this around. we were rough playing one time and i suddenly snorted on his cheek. he laughed his usual belly laugh and snorted back at my cheek. then he goes, "can i kiss you on your nose?" then he snorted on my nose. more belly laughs. "can i kiss you on your chin?" snort-snort. more belly laughs. and we kept on snorting each other to my delight and his.

so now my usual sniffykiss is reserved for arianna. and my new snortykiss is for roque.

24K

thoughts of my high school classmates come to my mind now, just a few days before our class reunion. for the past couple of years, some of my classmates have organized mini get-togethers and got some fundraising activities going in preparation for our 25th year this coming 2007. an e-group has been set-up to facilitate communications among us and it has been quite a delight reading about what has been going on with each other here and abroad. this year, being our 24th year since our graduation, our forthcoming reunion was dubbed "after 24 years... batch '82 celebrates 24K style". and the e-mail announcement continues, "attire: white, accessories: gold".

i almost fell off my seat as i read my e-mail. it sure made me feel like a golden girl. ohmigosh! i never thought i would have to wear something like that to the reunion. that is really sooo dated... as in, do we really have to rub it in, girls? no doubt it will soon segue to class rehearsals for our grand 2007 production number which definitely will include song and dance numbers of our circa, the marvelous 80s. i can imagine it all now. i hear our heart thumping music. i see us wearing the costumes and dancing the groovy steps...

that's my mind racing fast-forward. stop. for now, i am really excited to see my classmates. the headcount is amazing and it just proves everyone is excited to see everyone else. considering it has been more than two decades, i look forward to lots of catching up on each others' lives. i expect there will be plenty of shrieks and squeals of laughter as we see how we have changed, and as we reminisce about our past experiences. it should be loads and loads of fun. so i refuse to be the corny one. of course, i will wear the required white attire and the gold accessories to match. we certainly have all gotten older but getting together again will certainly take us back in time, to enjoy ourselves while we feel as young, maybe even as immature, and as carefree as we were then.

river and life

you never run the same river twice.

the other day, my husband i went on our first adventure for year 2006. quite early yes, but we just had to do it. so off we went with a few of our good friends with the same adventurous souls as ours, up north where we went white water rafting along the chico river.

there we met anton, who has made a lifestyle change, to move to the bundoks, to do what he enjoys doing and share this passion with others. this he does while providing livelihood to the natives and shaping the way they care for our environment. this he has been doing for the past seven years.

through our brief two-day encounter with anton, we learned much about the river for the very first time, how it behaves and how we should behave in response to it. we rafted through areas of quiet waters where we just relaxed, sat back and enjoyed its sheer calmness. we also rafted through little ripples into which we jumped from out of the raft, laid back and swam with the flow down river. and then we rafted through areas of strong rapids where we paddled forward with excitement and as much strength as we could muster. our adrenalin levels shot up as the river dangerously lifted our raft up and tilted it sideways, taunting us to keep ourselves within the raft until we have passed through the challenging rapids successfully and rafted back into calm waters. in a way, it is a microcosm of life. the path from up river to down river is a series of quiet waters, gentle ripples and rough rapids. we were taught to run the river with understanding, with care, with respect, and with love for what it gives us. just as how we should live life.

the constantly changing environment affects how the river behaves so it is never the same. and thus, you never run the same river twice. there is no set formula how to run its path. like life, there is no set formula how to live it. it is the same life through the years but the experiences through the years are never the same. it is the greatest adventure of all.