Christmas Cheers

I know it’s rather late but we just finished setting up our Christmas tree last night. My son has been reminding me about our tree since early November but I was too lazy to take out the decors.

Last night, while waiting for his Papa, we decided to surprise him with the Christmas tree. We still used the same old ornaments we had last year including the lights which, to our amazement still worked. Last year, I had all sorts of bells scattered around the house but they will have to take a rest this year. Vince is already satisfied with just the Christmas tree.

It was great that hubby was delighted to see our tree but topping that was Vince’s happy squeals of laughter as he played beside the tree. I should have done this earlier. But as they always say, better late than never.
_________

I want, I want!

I am craving for this delicious chocolate cake which my sister baked for our New Year’s dinner last year.

Counting My Blessings

I have always been grateful for all the blessings that are coming my way. But sometimes, when the world seems to be on top of me, I tend to focus on the negative things. Yesterday, I realized these three important gifts.

1. My reliable househelps

This, I realized when I heard someone complain about not having reliable househelps to handle chores and take care of her kids. Currently, I have two househelps whom I can entrust my son with while I am in the office. I’m grateful that my son’s yaya is very kind and even goes out of her way to surprise him with toys and food despite having to share her meager salary with her family. She’s very patient with him and never tires of playing with him.

2. Company benefits

I was watching the news yesterday and saw people complaining about the rising price of electricity, water and LPG. I didn’t have to deal with this because our company-assigned house comes with free utilities. In addition, my son’s tuition is subsidized by the company and the school is directly behind our house. We never have to pay for transportation and we are assured of his safety. And to top it all off, my office is just a five-minute walk from the house, traffic/hassle free and I get to enjoy the nice view along the way.

3. White roses

Yesterday, an officemate received roses from her bf because it was their anniversary. The married ladies remarked that she should enjoy the roses because when she’s married, she’ll not be getting any. It’s a blessing that hubby still sends me white roses on special occasions. For practical reasons, it’s not anymore as often as when we were dating but it still feels great to receive roses once in a while.

These and more…enough to bring me back to my senses when I begin to focus on the negative things.

Thank you, Father, for blessing us abundantly.

Christmas Party

We had our company’s annual Christmas party last Saturday. Since there were hundreds of employees and dependents, the party was held at the huge soccer field. Each department was to set up a booth, prepare their own food and presentations around the theme ‘Pasko sa Bukid”. Because there’s just two of us in our department, I joined my previous dept while my boss joined the booth for VIP’s and guests.

The highlight of the program was the amazing fireworks display at exactly 6pm, much to the delight of everyone in attendance. And then various prizes were raffled off in between dancing to great music played by a famous live band.

All the hard work paid off because we won first prize for both booth and presentation contests. Here are some photos:

This is the view from behind our booth. You can see the makeshift kitchen sink with the clay jug and native plates with banana leaves.

Notice that the ladies are wearing pink. Last year, we wore red.

That's me wearing a black suit because I was the community's office girl :)

We were doing 'THE PAPAYA" which brought the house down.

This is the makeshift cooking area complete with claypots, nigo, native kudkuran, walis tingting and axe.


The fruit and vegetable-laden table.

Another view of the "kitchen". In front of the hut, we had a real lechon roasting, a live rooster, a large mortar and pestle used for rice and a small nativity set.

Happy holidays!

Moved

I am now officially in my new job. I am still in the same company but I have been assigned to support the new department created to grow our current business.
Ha!Tall order considering that there’s just two of us – me and my boss. We report directly to the president. Hmn.

I am expecting more rough and challenging days ahead. But I am thrilled because this is one area of my profession that I have always wanted to explore.

I am going to miss my colleagues, though. We are still in the same building but it won’t be the same anymore. I will not be joining in their meetings, team presentations, group activities and their deadlines.

So much has happened since I moved up here a year ago. And I can only look back with fondness at all the wonderful memories. There is really so much to be thankful for.
_________

Earlier, I attended a meeting to discuss a major project my new department is putting up next year. It was a very technical meeting involving construction, structural design, etc, etc. I had a hard time catching up. Haha! I am sooo loving this! I wonder what’s coming up next…

Thank you

A friend forwarded this prayer. I think this is worth sharing.

Dear GOD,

I want to thank You for what you have already done.

Believe it or not, all the good things you've been running after, they will start to run after you now.

I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards, I am thanking you right now
I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better, I am thanking you right now
I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me, I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears, i am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves, I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet, I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job, I am going to thank you right now.

I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief, I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed. I am thanking you right now.

I am thanking you because I am alive.
I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties.
I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more
and do better.

I'm thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.
God is just so good and he's good all the time.

Pasko sa Barrio

Some of the indigents.

We just came back from our company’s outreach program at a nearby depressed area. This is an annual activity for the company where we give out company products, clothes and food to identified indigents who are living near our company.

It was very moving to see the happy faces of families as they received our gifts. We rendered songs for them and they in turn, rendered a dance number for us. They also prepared food from their harvest – bananas, kamote, cassava and fruits which we ate together with the food we brought.

I was assigned to a family of three, with a five month old baby and they were very happy to get Vince’s outgrown clothes and toys. I am glad that I am able to teach Vince early on the value of sharing.

More than the sincere ‘thank you’s” we got, we went home bringing with us the tremendous joy that always come with sharing one’s blessings.

Letter to Vince -March 27, 2006

March 27, 2006

Dear Anak,

You turned 2 1/2 years old today. Since it is a Monday, mama made up by spending the whole day with you yesterday--just the two of us.

We woke up early to catch the 6:30am mass. You are in a good mood today. I only have to say "let's go to Jesus" and you immediately got up, headed for the plastic cabinet and chose what you wanted to wear. This early, you already know what looks good on you!

We sang "Mr Sun" and "The Alphabet Song" while dressing up. You even insisted that you wear the bullcap Papa bought at the Surplus Shop. It's his favorite shop, anak, because the sizes are either Large or Extra Large, providing enough room for his HUGE tummy. hehehe

You happily waved "ba-bye" to yaya tess and yaya cha and alternately jumped and skipped with Mama to the jeepney terminal. Tiis-tiis na muna, Papa and I are still saving up for a car so that we won't have such a hard time moving around. I can already imagine you on Papa's lap driving just like how Lolo Nick does on his pick up and 'big traaaaack' when we're home for a visit. You really love to drive anak. Someday, we are going to have our own car.

We arrived just in time for the first reading. While all the other kids were running around, shouting, you sat silently on the chair next to mama. That's another good thing about you. You know how to behave yourself in church. God forgive me but i was peeping on you while singing THE OUR FATHER. You looked so cute raising your hands, trying to immitate the grown ups, mouthing incomprehensible words at the same time. I'm sooo proud of you anak. I know Papa Jesus is, too.

Afterwards, we had breakfast at Jollibee, err, Mama had a heavy breakfast while you loaded on French fries. By 9am, we proceeded to National Bookstore hoping to get some books but they were doing a major renovation. The shrill sound of drilling scared you that you had to ask to be carried. You are so heavy now, anak. We'll get new books next time.

We then proceeded to pick up some grocery. We had to stock up because Lola 'Day will be staying with us this week. We bought veggies, chicken, pork and a few canned goods. At the counter, you amazed me again when after I unloaded the goodies from the basket, you picked it up and returned it near the entrance. Are you sure you are 2yrs old?!! Hehe You must have seen papa do this and now that he can't be with us, you tried to take on the role. Thank you son.

We were so tired when we got home that we slept the entire afternoon. We only woke up at 5pm just in time for Lola Day's arrival. The house is noisy again with your tita's already here.

As a perfect ending to a perfect day, you recited your evening prayer. "Lord, bless papa, mama, baby, lolo, lola, tita, yaya and vince. Amen"

Then, "good night papa, goodnight mama. i love you papa, i love you mama"

Night anak, we love you so much!

My Ball

When I moved here, I was horrified when I found out that we were required to participate in a volleyball tournament, play actual volleyball, not just join as cheerers. Heavens, I have an aversion to anything that looked like a ball, including something as small and harmless as a pingpong ball. A volleyball would drive me nuts!

But on that fateful day in October 2006, in the name of ‘cooperation’ and lest I be called a coward, I put up a brave front, walked up to the court with my officemates, while trying to keep myself from turning around and running home. I broke into a cold sweet when the referee whistled to start the game and I can almost feel the color draining from my face. I must have been a funny sight because my teammates kept assuring me that it’s going to be okay. Ha! Ha! I don’t remember exactly how the game went but we actually won and they said I made it happen. Yeah, beginner’s luck you know.

That was a year ago. There were several tournaments after that, Footsal (football sa salog) which is our own version of football, and two more seasons of volleyball. I may not totally like volleyball but the games have actually served it’s purpose of developing camaraderie among the employees. After each game, all players partake of the food and we get to exchange stories about work, family and life in general. Tensions in the office are minimized as meetings start with a rundown of the latest team standings. It has also become a bonding activity for families as dependents cheer for the teams of their family members. The younger kids get to hang out and play in between sets. For me who’s a newbie, it made me put a face to the names on papers that pass by my office everyday. It has made the adjustment easier and it made me appreciate the people in my community.

I am still very far from being good. In fact, I can still count with my fingers the number of times I have hit the ball but I am slowly embracing the idea that one day, before I retire, I will eventually learn how to play the game. Ehem!

I’m cheap!

This is one of those rare weekends when I just stayed at home. “Home” for the time being is the beautiful 3-bedroom, wooden house provided by our company to it’s employees. We stay here on weekdays then go down to our own house in the city most weekends. When we’re not in these two houses, we’re either joining hubby in his quarters or at my parent’s house in the province. So when you ask my son where he lives, he’d actually tell you, “house number one is_____, house number 2 is______”. Haha!

When I’m home on a sunday, I cannot miss going to the market. This is something I love doing because it actually gives me a different high to be able to haggle and get the most reasonably priced fresh veggies and fruits.

It is a blessing that the nearest market here is where you can find freshly harvested farm produce. Since we enjoy a cold climate, the veggies that thrive here are mostly those salad ingredients which are very expensive in the city. Vegetables that are in season are very cheap, sometimes the seller even gives you more than what you paid for.

Another thing I love about going to the market is that I get a warm feeling, a sense of community when I’m there. Since most residents are the families of employees, we practically know each other. It is heartwarming to see another side of your colleague, something you don’t see in the office.

Yesterday, we went home with two bagfuls of food of which I paid only half of what I usually spend in the city. To top it all off, I got two very nice blouses from the ukay-ukay at P30 each. I plan to wear the nicer one during our Christmas party.

Talk about cheap.

Letters

November 1-4, 2007 Holiday

We spent the long weekend Halloween holidays in the province. We had a memorable celebration as we took part in the various family traditions.

Nov 1-
Like most Filipinos, we practice the annual tradition of praying the novena for the souls of all the dearly departed family and friends. The novena is done in Visayan dialect and favorite foods of our dearly departed are offered during the prayer. Since Lola Day was entertaining some childhood friends who are on vacation and Lolo Nick was busy preparing food for the after-prayer meals, it was only Tita Fran, Mama, you and Kuya Kryl who joined the prayer.

When we were kids and your great grandparents were alive, these times were like grand family reunions. All of us kids, cousins and neighbors are usually in attendance during the novena. Not really for the prayer but to be able to share in the offered food which is served right after the novena…when all the ‘souls’ have supposedly eaten their share. Those were such happy and fun times. We would then carve out faces from papaya fruits, put candles inside and strategically place them along dark paths. These were our version of the American pumpkins. And then, we’d regale each other with ghost stories while we wait for our “victims” - the young, hapless neighborhood children and scare them away.

November 2 –
As is again a family tradition, all our relatives gathered in the cemetery on All Soul’s Day to pray and light candles for our dearly departed. Some relatives brought food which was shared with everybody for lunch. You had fun playing with your cousins while Mama was busy sharing stories with the older members of our clan.

Later, Lolo Nick bought pinipig crunch and drumstick to ward off the heat. These were our “special” treats when we were growing up and Lolo Nick wanted you to be part of it, too.

November 3 –
We visited Lolo Zosing and Lola Cande and we spent the entire morning with them at home. I was glad that you are close to them despite the fact that you don’t get to spend a lot of time together. You happily obliged when they asked you to sing, recite a poem and dance. Your folks were very happy, Vince.

In the afternoon, we visited Lolo Abeth and Lola Dickie’s family. We were amazed because you ate all the food that they served us. Mama had fun talking to your tita’s, too.

Afterwards, Mama met up with her childhood friends at the old resto which used to be our hang out when we were younger.

November 4
After hearing mass, we all headed to Lolo Nick’s farm so that Mama can be oriented with the boundaries of the land which will eventually be handed down to us. Since the farm is just adjacent to Lolo Sar’s farm, we also visited them. You were happy to see their birds, chickens, pigs and horse. You loved feeding the turkeys and chickens, too.

It was a memorable trip again. We hope to have more of these.

From time to time, i will be posting some letters i wrote to my son to document important events which he might probably not remember when he's older. So bear with me as some of these are very old letters.

Here's one which was written last month:

November 19, 2007

Dear Vince,

We spent the weekend in the city because Mama’s cousins were visiting from the province. Those who came were Tita Layling, Tita Riza, Tito Em, Tita Bing and Butchik.

We met up Saturday afternoon at the mall and we had pizza for dinner. Afterwards, your Tita’s treated you and butchik to the funrides and then we went around the mall a bit.

When we got home, we decided to have a round of drinks but you did not allow Mama to join them so we just slept early while the titas stayed awake until 3am. We all slept in our room and woke up around 8am of Sunday to heavy rain. We decided to stay home and pig out.

At midday, Tito Em arrived and grilled some fish, pork and pork liver for our lunch. Tita Bing and Butchik followed later bringing a huge choco cake roll. After lunch, we had some siesta and woke up again to eat snacks.

Too bad we had to leave Sunday night because Mama was scheduled to attend the Monday 4am meeting at the office again.

It was another of those memorable and worthwhile times spent with family. It is even made more special because Tito Em is mama’s closest cousin. We practically grew up together and it is heartwarming to see that our kids, you and butchik are growing close, too.

December 1, 2007 Full Friday

We went down to the city yesterday to join my sisters for the holiday. The day started with a visit to the parlor to have our toe nails done, then we had a sumptuous lunch and proceeded to the mall.

Having known that my December weekends will be filled with holiday activities and parties, I took advantage of the Nov 30 holiday to do some early Christmas shopping. And what a relief it was that for the very first time, I have completed about 90% of my shopping list before December!

For this year, I will be giving out books to my inaanaks. The idea came about because we have made an agreement with Vince not to buy anymore toys while there is still more than enough that he can alternately play with. Instead, we will be buying more books for him. He was amazed at the number of toys on display at the malls yesterday but I very gently but firmly reminded him of our agreement. Good thing he did not insist and just kept quiet when I said we will buy toys when he has saved enough money for it. This rule also applied to his Tita who gave Vince his Bible Stories book yesterday instead of the usual toys and clothes.

When we arrived home from the mall, a cousin from the province called to inform us that our cousin-in-law passed away three days ago and they were at one of the city’s funeral parlors for the wake. We hurriedly joined them and met more relatives, some of whom we have met for the first time. It was sad that we met under such sad circumstances. Hopefully, they can join us in the family reunion during the holidays.

October 15, 2007 Puto, Prawns, Play (PPP!)

This blog is turning out to be a puto-blog! Hehe

We made another batch of puto yesterday. This time, we put in some hotdogs at my son’s request. It tasted good! We made enough for him to bring to school this week.

My sister-in-law is back from a two-week vacation at my in-law’s hometown. They have just harvested from the fish pond so we have a week’s supply of large tiger prawns and bangus. Yum! Yum! Note to self: get anti-allergies from the local pharmacy.

Vince is happy that his Tita is “home”. She’s been staying with us since we lost Vince’s yaya last June. She’s a real blessing as she’s been helping around the house and is taking the role of vince’s yaya. He’s been more behaved with his Tita around.

October 8, 2007 Update on the Puto

I actually went down to making the puto last Saturday night! Hurrah! It was a tremendous relief to be crossing it out from my to-do’s. I’ve been putting it off for over a year now.

My sister who was visiting for the weekend helped me decipher the recipe. We then divided the tasks among her househelp, my son’s yaya and my own househelp. My son would not be left out, he did the major task of pouring out ingredients from their respective containers. While, I, well, I ended up just giving out instructions. Hehe!

Amazingly, we did it right the first time! We were so happy with the result that we finished everything off in less than 24hours. My son, who is very picky when it comes to food, ate the most number because he must have been tickled with the idea that he played a part in making it.

Last night, we did another batch. We are looking at selling it and who knows we might just turn into future puto moguls. Hmn…why not?!!

Puto

As I write this, I am in the office, counting the hours until I can join my family who are enjoying their siesta at home. Work, as usual has been very demanding but the more I am loaded with tasks, the more I am tempted to do other things…like surfing the net, blog-hopping and yes, creating this site which could probably put me in trouble later. Ha! Ha!

There’s one cooking blog that I am frequenting and today, it inspired me to make Puto! I texted my sister to get me flour and baking powder from the city because unfortunately for me, that’s not available where I am living at the moment. Even if it is, the price would expectedly be as high as the elevation of our pretty little community. Hehe!

Last year, when we moved up here, I had so much spare time after I knock off from work at 4:30pm. There are no malls around here (yeah, there are still such rare places!) so I turned to gardening which is one of my passions. I toiled early mornings, afternoons, weekends planting around our home but rainy season came and I had to temporarily shelve my gardening sessions. Then summer came and everything dried up including my interest in plants. So I figured, why not go into business selling Putopao which my aunt taught me a few years back. Mama lent me her huge steamer and gave me colorful plastic containers to set me off. But by a sudden twist of fate, my boss passed away and I had to say goodbye to all that extra time at home.

Today, though, I decided I am going to finally make puto. I am making this happen! Wish me luck! Lots of it.

Hugs and Kisses

Lately, my son and I have been following a heartwarming morning ritual before I leave for the office.

From whatever corner he is in our home, he’d shout “kiss, kiss, hug, hug” when he’d notice that I am about to leave for work. He will then run to give me PLENTY of kisses all over my face and give me a dozen very tight hugs. Then he will demand that I give him the same. He calls it my “baon” to work, and I call it his “baon” to school.

It has been like this every morning except when I have to attend the 4am Monday operations meeting at the office. All hell breaks loose when he wakes up without me by his side. No amount of cajoling on the phone will appease him. It breaks my heart to hear him cry. And as soon as he sees me enter the door at lunchtime, he will demand an explanation why I left without giving him “baon”.

I live for these morning rituals. I am cherishing these precious moments for very soon, he will outgrow this. God only knows if he will still want us to kiss him when he turns a year older.

Letter to Vince

This is a letter I wrote to my son a few days ago. He just turned four and is still trying to learn his ABC’s…

Dear Vince,

A few days ago, Mama discovered two strands of white hair conspicuously sitting behind black hair. Uh-uh! This must be the result of too much stress at work. It’s been crazily busy at the office with the demise of our boss. On top of that, I have accepted a bookkeeping job to augment our income. I’ve been sleeping late, way beyond my sleeping time and you have been complaining already.

Two days ago, you said: “Mama, sige lang ka work, Sige lang, tagaan taka money ha? (Mama, you’re always working Don’t worry, I’ll give you money)” Then you gave me P3.00 from your pocket.

The next day, I gave you back the money but you said “imo naman na, hatag nako nimo.(That’s yours, I gave it to you.)”

When I said goodbye before going to the office you said “mama, ngano man ka mag-work nga gitagaan naman taka ug money? (Mama, why are you working? I gave you money already.)”

Mama replied “ Vince, even if we have money, mama still has to work. Pag-big na ka, magwork man pod ka. (When you’re bigger, you’ll be working, too)”

I wanted to cry but you hugged me and let out your usual hearty laugh. That must have been your way of assuring me that you understood.

Thank you, Lord for my precious little Vince.

Joining the blogosphere

Hello world! This will serve as a repository of my thoughts and inspirations as I try to maintain some semblance of balance among my roles as wife, mother, friend, sister, in-law and a responsible resident of our pretty little community. And oh, I also work for a living just like most everyone else.

So, anything goes from here…