it's raining!

i love it when it rains. that is IF i'm at home. :-)

this kind of weather just puts me on "lazy" mode. the cool breeze, the sweet smell of the earth and the rumbling of the skies can lull me to dreamland in minutes, especially if it's partnered with a good book and clean comfy sheets. ahhh... heaven! this is the life! the only thing missing is joseph's warm hug. that would really top it all off. *sigh* napamuni-muni tuloy ako...

this ends the heat wave, i suppose. thank god, we don't have to put up with the heat anymore.

bloginality

since wedding preps are temporarily at a standstill, you may have noticed that all recent posts are non-wedding related. here's more...

i got this from theresa, another w@wie. this is my bloginality:

i am an INFJ (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling and Judging).

As a weblogger, you are a perfectionist. Even though you have artistic thoughts, you may change designs frequently because of this perfectionistic insticts. You appreciate order and systems, and so you may stay with the same weblog program for a long time to keep things constant. Your personality type is rare, and so you are very special! (naks!)

get your bloginality here.

definition of terms

i was browsing through john the savage's blog tonight and stumbled upon this rather interesting site which gives a whole new meaning to your everyday word. take for instance the definitions of the following words:

longing : having a lack of appreciation for one’s current environment, however shitty.

Microsoft : a compound Greek-English term meaning tiny and flaccid.

letter : archaic, the pre-computer-age habit of writing upon pulped wood with a hand operated stylus and ink; and the subsequent analog transmission of the data contained therein via human and mechanical agency.

AWOL : in the military, a sudden rush of sanity and wisdom; an awakening.

eschew : Gesundheit.

amusing noh? it's called the devil's dictionary. more naughty/nasty stuff can be found on their site. i'd rather not quote them here though, lest i offend the other readers. but for the curious ones, you just might want to take a peek and visit TDD.

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i forgot to post my update on joseph's condition. it turns out that the BP reading he got from the gym was unreliable because when he went to his GP last friday, his BP was back to its regular rate. his GP wasn't concerned at all.

joseph's been quite disciplined in what he eats and does these days, after that unnerving incident. it's quite good because he's more conscious now in eating the right kinds and amounts of food, plus, he visits the gym at least three times a week. idol!!! ;-) well, it all remains to be seen really. i hope he can maintain this lifestyle for a long time... AND sana mahawa rin ako sa kanya. hehe! :-P

the best kind of love

i got this beautiful entry from glo, a fellow w@wie. just want to share it with everyone else.

The Best Kind of Love
by Annette Paxman Bowen

I have a friend who is falling in love. She honestly claims the sky is bluer. Mozart moves her to tears. She has lost 15 pounds and looks like a cover girl. "I am young again!" she shouts exuberantly.

As my friend raves on about her new love, I've taken a good look at my old one. My husband of almost 20 years, Scott, has gained 15 pounds. Once a marathon runner, he now runs only down hospital halls. His hairline is receding and his body shows signs of long working hours and too many candy bars. Yet he can still give me a certain look across a restaurant table and I want to ask for the check and head home.

When my friend asked me "What will make this love last?" I ran through all the obvious reasons: commitment, shared interests, unselfishness, physical attraction, and communication.

Yet there's more. We still have fun. Spontaneous good times. Yesterday, after slipping the rubber band off the rolled newspaper, Scott flipped it playfully at me: this led to an all-out war. Last Saturday at the grocery, we split the list and raced each other to see who could make it to the checkout first. Even washing dishes can be a blast. We enjoy simply being together.

And there are surprises.

One time I came home to find a note on the front door that led me to another note, then another, until I reached the walk-in closet. I opened the door to find Scott holding a "pot of gold" (my cooking kettle) and the "treasure" of a gift package. Sometimes I leave him notes on the mirror and little presents under his pillow.

There is understanding.

I understand why he must play basketball with the guys. And he understands why, once a year, I must get away from the house, the kids - and even him - to meet my sisters for a few days of nonstop talking and laughing.

There is sharing.

Not only do we share household worries and parental burdens - we also share ideas. Scott came home from a convention last month and presented me with a thick historical novel. Though he prefers thrillers and science fiction, he had read the novel on the plane. He touched my heart when he explained it was because he wanted to be able to exchange ideas about the book after I'd read it.

There is forgiveness.

When I'm embarrassingly loud and crazy at parties, Scott forgives me. When he confessed losing some of our savings in the stock market, I gave him a hug and said, "It's okay. It's only money."

There is sensitivity.

Last week, he walked through the door with that look that tells me it's been a tough day. After he spent some time with the kids, I asked him what happened. He told me about a 60-year old woman that had a stroke. He wept as he recalled the woman's husband standing beside her bed, caressing her hand. How was he going to tell this husband of 40 years that his wife would probably never recover? I shed a few tears myself. Because of the medical crisis. Because there were still people who have been married 40 years. Because my husband is still moved and concerned after years of hospital rooms and dying patients.

There is faith.

Last Tuesday a friend came over and confessed her fear that her husband is losing his courageous battle with cancer. On Wednesday I went to lunch with a friend who is struggling to reshape her life after divorce. On Thursday a neighbor called to talk about the frightening effects of Alzheimer's disease on her father-in-law's personality. On Friday a childhood friend called long-distance to tell me her father had died. I hung up the phone and thought, This is too much heartache for one week.

Through my tears, as I went out to run some errands, I noticed the boisterous orange blossoms of the gladiolus outside my window. I heard the delighted laughter of my son and his friend as they played. I caught sight of a wedding party emerging from a neighbor's house. The bride, dressed in satin and lace, tossed her bouquet to her cheering friends. That night, I told my husband about these events. We helped each other acknowledge the cycles of life and that the joys counter the sorrows. It was enough to keep us going.

Finally, there is knowing.

I know Scott will throw his laundry just shy of the hamper every night; he'll be late to most appointments and eat the last chocolate in the box. He knows that I sleep with a pillow over my head. I guess our love lasts because it is comfortable. No, the sky is not bluer:it's just a familiar hue. We don't feel particularly young: we've experienced too much that has contributed to our growth and wisdom, taking its toll on our bodies, and created our memories. I hope we've got what it takes to make our love last. As a bride, I had Scott's wedding band engraved with Robert Browning's line "Grow old along with me!" We're following those instructions.

"If anything is real, the heart will make it plain."

There are some people who meet that somebody that they can never stop loving, no matter how hard they try. I wouldn't expect you to understand that, or even believe it, but trust me, there are some love that don't go away. And maybe that makes them crazy, but we should all be blessed to end up with that somebody who has a little of that insanity. Somebody who never lets go. Somebody who cherishes you forever.

art lessons

yesterday, i accompanied my mother to waltermart makati (again!) to attend basic summer art classes* taught by tita peggy's good friend, tito bim. he's the guy who copied the fairies onto the walls of my tita peggy's store (see related post on this). my mom also invited her cousin to join her in the classes. the heat has been becoming quite intolerable during the day and it was a good way to spend one's afternoon in the cool comforts of a mall.

i was initially contented on observing them try their hand on drawing still life using craypas and pencil. i was also listening to tito bim discuss on certain theories and lessons in basic drawing. it was like this for two hours or so. when the class dismissed and i felt that nobody else was looking, i went ahead and tried the exercises myself and eventually found myself drawing an apple using craypas. well.. it isn't much really but i like the feeling of accomplishing something such as this.

i never really took the time to "harness" my artistic talent, if any! i have always been the writing type. but then again, art is such a subjective means of expressing oneself, so it doesn't really matter what other people say about your work. the important thing, i believe, is the feeling of accomplishment and the catharsis that you get once you complete your art piece, whether it be in writing or in colors.

* art lessons are scheduled every saturday @ two in the afternoon at the activity area of the fifth floor of waltermart pasong tamo, makati.

funny tag

saw this picture while i was blog-hopping. i guess by writing it in French, they were able to get away with it. :-P

swiped from here.

tribute to men

Why Men Have it Easier...

Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. Further, you can wear NO shirt to a water park.

Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.

People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars.

You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

swiped from ITchick :-)

post secret

got this link from aggie, a fellow w@wie.

people from all over sent postcards where they wrote their darkest and probably deepest secrets. made me think what mine was...

how about you? what's YOUR secret?

updates

well, we have finally completed our entourage for the church wedding in december. i'll say that again, if you don't mind... FINALLY! :-)

not having a complete entourage list was getting to be a hindrance to our other wedding preps, especially in the invitations! i'm glad that's settled already. i'm just waiting for joseph to submit to me the complete names (including middle initials) of the people from his side so that i can consolidate it with mine and FINALLY (once again, hehe!) print out the mock-up invites. after which, i will show them to our printer so she can copy it exactly the way we want it.

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my sisters (who are twins, by the way) will be flying out to cebu tomorrow for a vacation. they'll be there to visit our maternal grandparents in bogo.

i hope they will be successful in convincing our lola to practice walking. she had her hip replaced because she broke it one morning when she slipped in the bathroom. she's been really stubborn about walking and we're worried. we're leaving it up to the twins to do something about it. maybe they can talk her into it since they are her favorite apo's.

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my sweetie isn't feeling well these days. too much stress at the office must have caused him to be hypertensive lately. it was only discovered while he was being assessed prior to his gym program. he is attempting kasi to lose weight and be fit for the wedding. ;-)

i hope it isn't anything serious. he'll be seeing his doctor this friday. i'll keep you guys posted.

on marriage FAQs and faeries

joseph referred me to this site: http://www.gov.ph/faqs/marriage.asp this morning. i was saying.. "cool! very informative!" then i found out that one of the government's sources for this article was weddings at work. haha! nahuli na naman gobyerno natin. oh well... what's new?

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my family attended the grand opening of my tita Peggy's FAERIES shop at waltermart pasong tamo. tita Peggy is my mom's long time friend from college. as part of the fairy theme, she asked a good friend of hers who's a fine arts professor at the UP to copy an illustration from her fairy book onto the walls of her store. this was made possible also with the help of other fine arts students, including my brother David. beautiful work really. see picture below of one of the murals.



FAERIES sell cosmetics, toiletries and other fairy what-have-yous. it's on the fifth floor of waltermart makati, corner pasay road and pasong tamo streets.