Category Archives: Family Celebrations

After having an early dinner, Butch dragged all of us to the SM Mall of Asia. Knowing there are [tag]fireworks display[/tag] at 7:00 PM every fridays and saturdays, the idea of sipping coffee and watching the outdoors fireworks display sounded like a swell idea. Just as we sat down on our chairs in the UCC Vienna Cafe, the crowd of mall shoppers started to swell. Fumbling with my camera’s navigation buttons, I failed to see the video option. Fireworks’ images don’t say much of the dazzling display . It’s the video that captures the splash of colors and the sounds of the crowd’s gasp of oooooh and ahhhs. Too bad I didn’t get to take a video of the 5 minute fireworks’ display. It’s my first time to see a huge fireworks display amidst a wide area of black space of Manila Bay. It’s really pretty.

Just as we went back to the coffee shop, Steven Tan, the general manager of SM Mall of Asia called out my husband’s name. What a delight to see Steven! He invited us to their New Year Eve’s [tag]fireworks[/tag] display at 12 midnight. According to Steven, the pyrotechnics cost 1.8 million pesos. What a hefty sum to blow off for just a few minutes. Perhaps the fireworks play a purpose to drive away the evil spirits and bring in good luck and harmony for the new year. I don’t know if we are going to watch the fireworks display. It’s always been our New Year’s Eve tradition to create loud noises ,toot the horns, light up a few sparklers and fireworks and then eat our noche buena. Safety is an important consideration . I get paranoid of stray bullets and careless people who just throw off fireworks to passing cars. We’ll see if a change of scenery might be worth it.

These are a few Photos of the Fireworks display that I took tonight.

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One of the [tag]Christmas presents[/tag] I gave the two girls is a BLESSING BOX, an idea I got from Darcie Sims’ The Blessing Box tip. And no, I don’t think it’s Oprah’s original idea.

Inside this little box, are tiny messages and reminders of the joys and blessings of my life. Instead of keeping a litany of hurt and failure in my head, now I commit these “gifts of love” to paper and place them in my box, where I can read them, touch them, hold them any time I need to. This little box represents the best things in my life and I never again have to fear forgetting the love and the light in my life. They are all here, in my Blessing Box, waiting for me to cherish them again and again and again…

Make a [tag]Blessing Box[/tag] for yourself this season. And watch it change your life. Never again will you count what you have lost or forgotten. Now you will always be reminded of the treasures in your life. No matter how sparkly or rusted, these memories and blessings are yours, to treasure, to cherish, to keep, to hold, to share.

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[tag]Christmas Day[/tag] has just begun. The season flows. Magic is in the air. The girls are giddy after gift opening. The hubby is mushy and romantic. It’s a wonderful start of the day. For others, the holidays can be lonely and difficult. You are not the exception if you find yourselves facing a less-than-ideal holiday. How easy, but untrue to tell ourselves the rest of world is experiencing the perfect holiday and we’re alone in conflict. We can do something about it. Create our own holiday agenda. Buy yourself a gift. Find someone to whom you can give. Unleash your loving , nurturing self and give in to the holiday spirit. Go with the flow.

If I could give each of you a gift I would want to give you the gift of peace, as much peace as you can possibly find. If you find your situation is less than ideal, I hope you take what’s good and let go of the rest.

Enjoy and cherish this holiday.

I am going to let the photos speak for itself. Click Christmas Eve/Day 2006 photos

My dear husband turned 47 years old last night. Heh, he’s 2 years younger than me. We thanked God for another year. I told my husband that every year after 46 years old is a celebration for me. My mother died young at the age of 45 and I am full of gratitude that for every year added to my life. Every year I buy practical gifts for my husband usually kitchen appliances. How boring is that? I should be more romantic in my gift choices. This year, I wanted to buy him the Super Kalan, the Magic Stove. In times of high energy costs, we need to be fuel efficient. It costs less than 5000 pesos if I remember right , including the stand. The Super Kalan utilizes any kind of locally available unexpensive fuel like newspaper, wood, charcoal, carton, sawdust, ricehusk, twigs etc.. But I needed more time to order it. So I scrapped that idea and bought instead a pressure cooker. Our old pressure cooker just conked out and I keep forgetting to buy a replacement.

The cat jumped right into the box after the gift opening

I prepared a lot of food for his birthday dinner such as beef stroganoff, Lemon-Thyme Barbecued chicken, Shrimp Potato Salad, Pepperoni Pasta and Jasmine Rice. The 2 girls arrived from the dorm that night just to be with their dad. Awww. It’s a rarity to have these close moments with your college kids. They have their own friends and social life. Inspite of having midterms exams the next day, the celebration of their dad’s [tag]birthday[/tag] was more important to them. It was a wonderful celebration only made more meaningful when my aunt called to say that her house (which we sold to her in 1998) is up for sale exclusively for us. We were delighted to hear the good news. There were tenants who were still living in the house so that was an obstacle to the sale. What a wonderful birthday gift from God.

Today I will indulge in the joy of celebrating my 49 years. For too long, I have been hard on myself. Others have spilled their negative energy on me. I know it had nothing to do with me. I am a gift to myself and to the Universe . I am a child of God. I do not have to try harder , be better, be perfect , or be anything I am not. My beauty lies in me just as I am each moment. I will celebrate that.

I will take time to pause, reflect and rejoice my accomplishments. For too long, I have listened to admonitions not to feel good about what I have done lest I will fall into the arrogance trap. Celebration is a high form of praise of gratitude to God. To celebrate is to delight in the gift, to show gratitude.

Today, I will also celebrate the lessons from the past and the love and warmth of friends and family. I will continue to enjoy the beauty of others and their connection to me. I will celebrate all that is in my life and all that is good.

I will celebrate me.

( That’s the photo for my high school online yearbook. The yearbook committee required a glamor shot . I don’t know how to emote a glamorous look. I just want to look like myself hence no updo or drastic makeover. )

The love of my children are enough to see me through any day. A kiss and their love greeting is a wonderful gift. I managed to survive all these years inspite of losing a son because I still had to take care of 2 girls. During those bleak days, they somehow were a reminder that I had to live for them . In honor of Mother’s Day, I was spared the job of cooking for lunch. Butch went to the grocery to buy some meats and vegetables for our [tag]Korean Grill[/tag] lunch. Even if it’s not [tag]Mother’s day[/tag], my husband does the marketing. He loves doing this task every sunday.

The beauty of using a portable oven on the table is a lot of conversation as one cooks their meal. It takes longer to eat the meal due to the cooking time involved. Ingredients used for the Korean Grill are : sesame oil, Kikkoman soy sauce, shrimp, beef, garlic, mongo sprouts, onions, green onions, mushrooms, and more. Really good dish. It’s also a great way to entertain visitors. So now, I have to go to the gym to exercise and pamper myself.