Reunited with Peach and her Mom

My recent vacation to Bicol, has been a series of reunions for me. My childhood friend Peach was in town, and this was the first time we saw each other after 14 or 15 years. Peach's Mom and my Mom were best friends, when they were still working in the same school.

Look at our Mom's photo when both of them were pregnant with US.

[Mom on the left and Peach's mom -Auntie Ludy in pink]
and here they are in their hey days....

Peach's family migrated to the California when she was only 5 years old. Our only connection was through letters and cards that were sent through every occasion. Her first vacation here was when she was 16 years old and that was the last time I saw her. We both finished school and when technology ruled the world, we got reconnected through friendster, then email and lost track of each other again. Found her in Facebook and got reconnected again...That's just how we are....friends for life even if we don't get to see each other often..Her mom was saying, I am Peachy's only friend in the Philippines..lolz.. Here she is now at 32 with her Mom...

And she got me this Guess Bag....her birthday gift to me...
Nice to have been reconnected again...

Lunch at Oniv's...

[Time really fly so fast, my six day vacation is over but I couldn't complain more, I just made the best of it...lol....A few days before Christmas however, I got a text message from my cousin Oniv, who leaves just a few blocks away from me, inviting me to come to their house because they have a party. Much as I wanted to, I had to decline because I had some shopping to do and was not somewhere near his place...hahaha.... While I was on vacation, he sent me a text inviting me to come over for dinner at his place, and he further told me that he also invited my two other cousins...I had to reply informing him that I am in the province for the New Years, and he understood]...So finally, after a series of coordination, with my other cousin, we were set to go to Oniv's. So I asked him if they were home and told him we were gonna go to his place...Thank heaven's he replied, Ok....lol....Arriving at Oniv's was a riot! His kids and my other cousin's kid's instantly bonded, played around, got really loud while we-the not so young spent the rest of the day, laughing at stories of long ago, watching dvd's over carbonara and other delicacies that Oniv prepared himself....What a party host! We spent the whole afternoon at Oniv's and went home late...We were too carried away by our stories and must have forgotten that it was already getting dark, had not my nephew started bothering my cousin that they should be going home....I'm looking forward to the next get together....Guess, the holiday's not over yet....

Yesterday....

I had a very busy weekend.. But, I had so much fun...My day started quite early yesterday, as I had to prepare my sis' packed meal for the day, and then I was off preparing the things I need to bring at my nephew's first birthday..Talk about party give aways and my cousin's camera all to be hand carried to where the party is to be held - at my cousin's house, which was about an hour away from my place...It was not traffic so I had fun travelling, and it was like a reunion for me and my cousins as well. We had so much fun and the party turned out a blast! And my favorite part was when, it's time to go home, my cousin sent me some take home foodies...yay! typical pinoy.....lol!

On a different note, I was supposed to meet up with my soon to be married friend, R yesterday, since she leaves quite near my cousin's. But apparently she couldn't make it, because she told me she was not feeling well. And the reason was, because she and her only sister had a fight and was just trying to let their emotional rift taper off..I was thinking, this could be pre-wedding jitters..but I know everything would be settled before the wedding....Guess, tomorrow, she's going to have her pre-nuptial pictures taken.....and a week after, is lifetime commitment day for her...=D

For the Married and Wanting to Be Married :)

This was an email forwarded by a friend and it's Wilfred Arlan Peterson's take on marriage. I feel it's a must read, so I am sharing this to everyone.

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In the Art of Marriage, the little things are the big things:
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I Love You" at least once every day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with this day, it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation, and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

This beautiful piece is called "The Art of Marriage"....

I Miss...

Everytime my Ma comes for a visit, I would always end up missing and texting my Pap, who is left in our hometown - leading quite a tedious and hectic job. I got so caught up on my conversation with him that after he told me he was gonna sleep already, it made me realized that I haven't talked to him in a while. I missed our funny and serious conversations and remember the days when we were much younger and it was easier to cuddle up in bed with him. Now since we're 12 hours apart, will have to do with voice and text messages.....Somehow I get to maximize this so called Alltxt mode....hehehhe.....Other than my Pap, here are some of those that I miss back home.....

My Besftriend C - whose leading quite a simple and contented life in the province. I haven't seen her for more than a year. I miss our girl talk..lots of girl talks. She was the only person whom I could tell my secret back in college and we were inseparable. Partners in crime, as they say....hehehe..

"Gay time" and coffee with my equally flamboyant friends L and Wes...L and I are female gays while Wes is a certified "green queen"....hehehhe....I sure would like to catch up with them....

My two bus mates S and H, who were my companion in trying to ride the last trip home to our town.....Sigh....

The perfect cone of the Mayon Volcano that is the backdrop of my university...

The rush deadlines on the school paper even if it means eating your lunch while it's still in the plastic and only with your fork and spoon --no plates.....Still it was fun.

The gallons of ice cream that we would stuff ourselves with while we were cramming on school paper publication....

The highfalutin words of my former English professor Ms. D..hehehe...the intelligent girl that she is, I sure learned a lot from her....

The soccer field where I would normally catch a glimpse of my long time "crush" R.....and

.......The laid back life in the province......

The Days That Were.....

The week is almost over and boy, it has been a busy one for me....My Mom, arrived last Monday, and whenever she's in town, we seem to be always on the look out (we better be good or else we might hear her never ending "words of wisdom").....hehehe... We slept quite late, as we have a lot of catching up to do, especially with the latest buzz in our hometown..... Retired, late but was off to an early start the next day. I have an early schedule for a job interview and it took me about two hours in that particular company, the interviewer advised me that they would be calling me for the interview and exam result in the afternoon. She even told me that if I don't receive a call from them, in the afternoon, it means I didn't pass the exam. Then I went straight home, and just made myself aware of what the interviewer told me. I had to forego having a nap because I had to accompany my Mom go shopping and do the grocery. Was leisurely strolling on the mall, checking out some stuff I might need, and checking my phone once in a while for some calls I might have missed. Bought myself some nice flip flops and as the evening draws near, and I haven't received a call from the company I applied for in the morning, I already accepted the fact that I didn't pass their exam. Had late dinner, had funny conversations with my Mom, and for the second time - I retired late and started early the next day. Wednesday, woke up early coz I need to do my laundry and have to prepare for my siblings' pack meals. They have changes in their work schedules now, so mornings are allotted to preparing their meals and having early lunch with them. But I had some terrible muscle pain and were having signs of fever after I finished my laundry that I took some Ibuprofen and took a rest for a while. Went to the nearby Appliance Center, to purchase a new video player, but felt I was getting unusually cold. My feet were cold ice and I knew I was not alright. My mom noticed that something was wrong with me, we went home, and I got a call from the company I applied the other day. They were scheduling me for a final interview by Friday afternoon. Now that was a surprise. I set up the new player, watch a video, had dinner and slept early. This morning I woke up feeling a lot better than yesterday, see my other sis off to work, then we went to the city's bargain district. My Mom and my sis were with me and after doing the rounds in searching for some items that would interest us, we were able to purchase a nice black leather bag, some pairs of shoes, shirts among others. By the time we went home it was already late. I'm quite tired from all the walking we did today, but am satisfied with the bargain finds we bought....Need to sleep now, I got some final interview to think of tomorrow....hehehehe....

Birthdays..Birthdays

Yesterday, I was at the 4th birthday party of my cousin's son. What I like about parties like this, is I get to spend some time with my cousins and their kids.....whew, feels like I'm getting older, hahahaha...whom I don't get to see as much. Funny, everytime we would see each other it would seem like we have a lot of catching up to do....And I can't believe how much their kids have grown...Our conversations would always be full of laughter and a lot of noise...We really can get soo loud.....But, who cares?? We're all having fun! It was also at this same party that I found out another cousin is celebrating his birthday today, and another one on the 20th...Wow, this calls for another round of celebration! To my nephew Patrick.....and my cousins Gie and Dan Happy Birthday!