On Erap’s Guilty Verdict and Erap Jokes

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royal_elastics 043.jpgI felt sad for the former president, [tag]Joseph Estrada[/tag] (Erap) when it was announced that Erap was guilty of the plunder case. It’s not easy to be locked behind bars. I don’t know enough of the case to talk about it but I suppose the Sandiganbayan examined the evidence given during the past six years. As I saw the dejected face of the former president, memories of my son idolizing [tag]Erap[/tag] filled me. My son would have been really sad for Erap. Luijoe loved hearing the funny Erap Jokes. See my son had a great sense of humor and loved to throw a joke or two. Then he discovered the Erap jokes. One time, my 6 year old boy overheard us laughing to our heart’s content on an Erap joke. He badgered to know the joke. So I narrated the joke

Erap: Miss, do you have a ballpen?
Clerk: Sorry, sir we don’t have any ballpen
Erap (angry): Why did you name your store “Penshoppe“?

Luijoe loved to tell this joke to everyone . One time, Luijoe and I passed by Penshoppe ( a teen fashion store) in Glorietta mall and I teased him if he wanted to go inside with me , so I could ask the same question Erap asked. Luijoe tugged me away. hehe

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Lauren, A Young Internet User in 1996

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youngblogger.jpgLauren told me to scrounge around for her photo as a 10 year old using the computer because it was needed for a magazine article. As some of you might know, Lauren started an online journal (not called blogs then) on December 1996 so the photo had to be around that time. Oh no! It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. For days, I poured over stacks of photos because I have not been organizing them for the past 12 years. I finally found the photos of her in various poses with the computer. My geeky little Lauren.

Lauren was 9 years old while M was 8 years old when I had an internet connection at home. Between the 2 girls, Lauren used the internet a lot more than M. My internet service provider in 1995 was Virtual Asia. For 500 pesos a month, I had 15 internet hours. Geesh, it was terribly expensive to get wired during those days. The internet at home was mainly used for email purposes as I wanted to save my precious internet hours. One summer day in 1996 , 9 year old Lauren got bored and demanded to go online to search for penpals. I foresaw the need to strike a balance for the wonders of the internet with the responsibility for accountability, self-discipline, and safety. The best defense I had was to make exploring the online world a family affair. Together, we surfed and discovered two kid sites , the kidscom.com and kidpub.com. What caught their interest in kidscom was the graffiti wall that served as a chat room but it wasn’t in real time. The kidspub was a fun place to submit writings. Lauren was raring to get her creative juices started with the kidspub. The thing was they wanted her to submit the articles in HTML.

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My Type of Guy

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I thought I’d go down memory lane and reminisce the days just before I fell in love with my ex-boyfriend (read our love story) .In this day and age, my husband is the so-called brooding artist, emo-ish guy (Think of my daughter, Lauren). I mean he is my total opposite. So why did I fall for him anyway?

Jane posted this meme on her blog and it alsogot me thinking if hubby is really MY type of guy. Not that I doubt if he is MY guy but it’d be fun to see the score at the end of this meme.

So here goes:

1. Suplado = I like suplado guys. There is an air of mystery around them. Butch is suplado.

2. Mr. Shades = Oh yes, groovy. Like that.

3. Masculado = Not too many muscles. Those rippling muscles look scary.

4. Guys who give flowers = Flowers given without any occasion is the best surprise.

5. Smiling face = Of course, a smiling face is way better than scowling face

6. Hiphop = Being a “good dancer” during the late seventies was a must. I thought Butch could dance because everytime a dance music played, he’d dance and wiggle on his chair. Oh dear, but that’s all he could do. Dance while seated. Haaay.

7. Guys who ask permission before courting = I would have loved that but nooo…Butch was unconventional.

8. Has earring/s = Though it wasn’t the fad then and if it were in this day and age, I’d say NO WAY.

9. Used to chew bubblegum = Definitely a turn-off!

10. Long-hair = Okay as long as it is kept neat , clean and tidy.

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Coming of Age Party

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rose_petals.jpg“Do you have rose petals?” The florist sounded a bit too excited when he asked “For your bed?”. I could have smacked the nosy florist but I took everything in stride. “No, it’s for my daughter’s hoity-toity grown-up party”. The nosy florist continued ” Oh she is scattering petals on the stairs”. Maybe this florist asks every customer what they do with their rose petals. He proceeded to narrate how a wife preferred rose petals strewn all over her house, over the thorny rose flower. Enough , enough. I need the petals now. The rose petals will serve as as floral decoration for the party tables. I patiently explained to the florist. For 100 pesos ($2.00) I got a sizeable amount of rose petals.

As usual, the stage mother in me was tasked to procure those rose petals while the daughter basked in the soothing wonders of the beauty salon. Not only is my daughter a creative writer, she is also a creative party events person. I bet she can make a career out of it.

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I remember how Lauren planned her 18th Debut party that was centered around a medieval theme. Even her 18th birthday invitation card exuded words that could make you chuckle. Most of all her debut didn’t cost us an arm and a leg . You will be surprised at the savings as compared to most debutante parties. What is most amazing is that the keyword “18th birthday party“, “18th birthday cake “, “18th debut” is sought most often from Google searches. It is no wonder the Google Adsense income has more than paid us back for the expenses. Isn’t that cool?

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Flowers for Your Birthday

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flowersOne of my fondest memory of Luijoe are the wild flowers he gathered from the park . With eyes twinkling as he held out the flowers, he scrambled up to my lap , gave me a hug and smacked a wet kiss on my cheek while uttering I love you so very much, Mama. Today it’s my turn to get flowers for my boy because July 13 is his 14th birth anniversary. But who says there can’t be a birthday cake, birthday present, or a birthday party?

Death ended my child’s life but not his relationship with my family. Even if there is no birthday boy to celebrate his 14th birthday with, I know that a spritual bond exists between us. As I gaze at the lovely flowers I bought at the Market! Market!, I marvel at God’s creation on the beauty of life. It’s good to be alive and to have survived the past 7 years of this grief journey. True, my son might not be around but his memory lives in my heart. We can still celebrate his birth anniversary at home.

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Pinoy Moms Sexy New Look

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Hear Ye, All Ye bloggers.

We have a new look over at the Pinoy Moms Network (PMN) which officially launched its ezine format at 12 midnight . With the new look comes new content. As I write this entry, the section editors are still awake at this unholy hour tweaking their entries . This just shows how much labor of love went into this new endeavor. Connie is right in saying that “it’s even misleading to talk about how much blood, sweat and tears went into the transformation of PMN.”

Speaking of Pinoy Moms, I invited a few moms to a small intimate gathering as part of my mini 50th birthday celebration. Thanks Dine, Chats, Lisaflor and Jane for making it knowing you had family affairs to attend to.
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What I love about hosting parties is that I am forced to cook and bake. Ever since the girls went to college, I have relegated the grocery and marketing to my dear husband and merely supervised the daily meals to the household help.

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How Will I Know He/She is The One?

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How will I know He is the One?, laments Aileen. What a common question to most of the single people out there.

And I am going to give the same reply that Lauren whined about : You just Know

Before Aileen starts to throw apples at me. Ooops. Let me finish this first. I will list down some important pre-requisites before one meets THE ONE based on the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne (I will write a review soon). This is all for you out there who are searching for The One!

1. Ask the question to yourself: What do I seek for in The One? Yes, you might have already made a detailed list of your ideal guy. My daughter also listed the characteristics of her ideal guy. But does it stop there? Are you clear on the perfect lifetime partner for you? Is your list based on unrealistic expectations like hoping your future partner is exactly like your dad or mom? If you are not clear , you will be sending mixed signals and attract mixed results.

Start saying to yourself : “I want to meet The One with these characteristics and be with this person the rest of my life.”

I didn’t know it back then when I first met my husband that He was The One. I was thirteen when I listed down the physical characteristics of my ideal boyfriend . I even visualized how he looked like, a mestizo. The mestizos in Cebu belonged to the popular mestizas. And I didn’t belong in that class. Hummph. But I thought “Just you wait and see, my future boyfriend is going to be a mestizo, and he is going to be smart and sexy!” Of course at the time I met my boyfriend , I didn’t expect him to be my husband. After all, I was just a shallow teenager.

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Dinner and Conversation with the Band of Bloggers

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birthday party
I still remember the dinner parties at our house. They were fun and less costly. But, now it seems to be a thing of the past. – Juned

It doesn’t have to be that way, Juned. Though technology and urbanization indeed has made things so much more convenient for us, dinners and great conversation should never be a thing of the past. I know it is a bit more laborious to prepare food instead of hiring a caterer. The joy and the fulfillment of doing it out of love makes up for all the work. It’s also one reason I refused my husband’s suggestion to host my birthday party at a fancy restaurant or in a hotel’s banquet hall.

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A Birthday Gift

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The day after my birthday, Myrna aka Annamanila treated me out to dinner along with Dine alias Sexy Mom and Chato alias Chateau. (oops correction , it was a treat from all of them)

birthday celebration

As some might know, AnnaManila used to be a former colleague from my last employment which was err…20 years ago, the week that I was about to deliver M. Imagine I haven’t seen her for almost 20 years and we got reunited through my blog. We were not exactly best of friends though. In fact, I feel closer to AnnaManila now that she is a blogger like me. She used to edit my boring research work to pieces and made them exciting to readers. Of course I loved the end-result. I didn’t recognize my writing. Haha.

birthday
What is truly amazing about blogs is the rediscovery of old friendships like Annamanila and developing new friendships like Chato and Dine. You wouldn’t think we just met this year . We laughed and babbled the night away. I really had a blast that friday night.

birthday treat

Oh and look what AnnaManila got for me!

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Birthday Celebration Part 1

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50yearoldme.jpgMy 50th birthday started with a cardiac workout at the gym. As I pressed the age setting on the treadmill, I found it a bit strange to press 5-0 on the screen. Later that night as I applied a concealer on the brown spots around my cheekbone, I discern a few fine lines on my face , the sign of wrinkles starting to show. I wear these fine lines like battle scars with a badge of courage. Aging is truly a state of mind. I approach my life with a child-like curiousity , eager to embrace everything life can offer.

I am full of gratitude for all the blessings in my life. Inspite of all the pain, I have transcended beyond it and am now in a state of my new normal life. Part of this new normal is moving to our new home. Together with my birthday celebration, I finally had our house blessed by a seminarian, the representative of our parish priest. I am touched by the life story of Brother Hernan. He also lost a sibling and at the age of 5 years old, he was reared by his grandparents because his parents separated soon after his sibling’s death. Instead of growing up bitter, he chose to be a compassionate brother willing to serve God for the rest of his life. The house blessing was even more meaningful as he spoke of love.

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