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My Family

Coming of Age Party

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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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.

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Oh and look what AnnaManila got for me!

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Birthday Celebration Part 1

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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Missing Daddy

The poignant thoughts of Pia’s entry about her seatmate, Senator Juan Flavier (who has now graduated from the senate) brought back memories of my own dad. Like Pia, I have a soft spot for senior citizens about the same age as my dad would have been today. Whenever I garner an achievement, I often think “dad would have been proud of me”, sometimes wishing I can catch my dad’s beaming smile with a nod of approval.

I am turning 50 years old this week and somehow I am thinking of the day my dad turned 50. My sister and I walked towards the UP shopping center so we could send a special card telegram to dad. Our greeting was:

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On Husbands and their Caves

denThere are two peculiarities I learned about men the week after I married my boyfriend.

1. He hibernates in his “cave” when he is moody and wants to be alone and

2. He has a hunter instinct. After a hard’s day work, he gazes at the far horizon such as the television .

I couldn’t find the right words for this quirky behavior until I read the book of Dr. Gray, Men Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the number one best-selling relationship book of the last decade.

–A man often wants solitude when he is thinking about a problem.
A woman should be careful not to bother a man with questions at such a time.

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a mom blogger who advocates constructive engagement in issues on family & society.
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