happy birthday baby sister

"you will always be my baby..."

*inside joke between Ana, mama and i.* When she (ana) was young, i always was her baby sitter, and PTA attender. by the time i started working, i used to take her everywhere i go, whether i was shopping, in the spa, in the gym and even on my dates (to my then boyfriend's amusement).
she was my pretend baby/child. i took her to see her first cinema (Lion King), her first disco, her first drinking spree and cigarette puff (i was a cool "ate",lol).
so when she was about 11 or 12 years old, my mom and i played a prank on her. we sat her down for a serious talk and told her in my dramatic voice that in reality,she was my daughter and had my mom pretend she was hers because i was too young for a scandal. Ana didnt know how to react whether she wanted to be happy or to be sad, she looked at my mom for comfort but my mom nodded in agreement to my faux revelation..but then we couldn't stop laughing, and i'm sure Ana heaved a sigh of relief when she realized it was one (ugly) prank we gave her.


on mother's day this year, she sent me a message online to say " happy mothers' day Ate..love, your pretend daughter".. this made me laugh out loud.

This entry is to say how much she is treasured and adored by everyone in our family.

More than anything, she is a gift to my life...in fact, to my entire family's life. Needless to say, Ana, Angkai, Tita Nana, -- is loved by her ate's, kuya's , cousins , mama and im sure, papa in heaven is missing her too.

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I was so happy that we had the opportunity to skype tonight (which is her birthday already as its already the 24th in cebu). Adrian and i sang "happy birthday" to her while she was at work.

Grateful for technology-- which makes distance seem a lot bearable.


and grateful for this space where my heart can load off some of the giddiness it could not handle.

have an awesome day, loves. 

blessings

i started to open this blog, a minute just before i was heading for bed.

the angel took the words out of me, and i am left with nothing to say.

so let me greet you with these flowers instead.

i hope your coming days/weeks are as exciting, if not, much more wonderful and exhilirating than mine.

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on Friday, the 24th, is my sister Ana's birthday. i miss celebrating her birthday with her. one day, someday.

on Saturday, i am photographing a wedding for a couple who decided to tie the knot after x number of years of being together and having had children together.

on Sunday, I am meeting my mama at the airport...and the rest of the weeks/months will just be catching up with her and hopefully be able to pamper her more.

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have a lovely night/morning/day to you. 

xxx

Jotting my happies

Norwhich city ;-)

Things/events/people that made me happy the last few days:

- yesterdays jap lunch ( we overindulged as usual). sashimi octopus is yum!

-my niece today on skype saying "hi tita chelo, four na baya ko. good night and bye!" while she hastily interrupted my skype conversation with mama.

-Norwhich..shopping!

-my niece enrolled in kindergarten.

-(on skype) my niece, prepped by my sister about the impending bullies in school, her tita Ana said "what will you say when kids at school will call you "ahh you're fat!""..

Dominique flipped her hair and said "no, i'm gwapa and sexy". (Hahaha!)

Tita Ana: "but what will you do after"?

"be nice to them and still say "hello, and good morning!", Dominique said.

(well taught by the tita who went through the same thing in school like myself ,lol).

-make-up haul!

-Adrian indulging me.

-friends who leave messages despite their busy schedules and their troubles at home, just to check if im ok.

-tea and scones in my little cottage.

-Lydia and her family.

-seeing my old colleagues in facebook, who after all these years, never forget.

-Ana blogging.. because when i read her, i feel she's just near. (thank you Ana, i know you do it for me)

-Ana's lovely news about her creative endeavours.

-friends who are nice to my family. you know who you are. (what you do for my family, you do for me 100x).

-friends and family who are indulging in their passions. i see them travel, do well at work, finish long personal projects and still never forget to connect. i love that. thank you.

-Ruby back at the house.

-my brothers happy with their married lives. they are such loyal, loving men to their wives, i'm proud of them.

-my job. oh how i love it.  and because i know i'm very good at what i do. it just is my sanity saver from being too homesick.

-Adrian's family. they are lovely and such awesome loving people.

-mama. and she will be here a week from today. (yayyy!)


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please list down things that made you happy the last few days. let's share notes.

grateful for these blessings.

when you miss when you shouldn't

let me first start this entry by appreciating the beauty of the weekend that we just had. beautiful weather,  lovely experiences with some awesome friends who came by to spend the weekend at our tiny home.

truly a beautiful weekend that was.

monday was a bank holiday, thus tuesday started as the first day of work. work is not really work when the company sends you to a three day training, and finishes early enough to come home to sunshine and finding your husband getting you a nice snack as a homecoming present and lets you 'nap' in the sofa, because he knows how sleep is a problem for you.

i felt really emotional all of a sudden, because of the beautiful weather, and the wonderfulness of the people you deal with day-to-day. i missed cebu, because our trainor was talking about how he lived in cebu for a a few months to dive. i was proud, of course, of my beautiful island.

then the drive back to home was passing by beautiful fields of flowers and hills and oh, just indescribably beautiful. i just miss the people i love, because i wish so much i could share this with them. (soon, soon).

then i realised, it must be the time of the month where my hormones turn me into a mush of dramatic emotions. i become such an emotional sop whenever i am hormonal. i crave for foods which could lead me to an early death, and i am missing my family more than i normally do, and i am missing some few people i shouldn't miss.

still, i am happy, i get through these emotions. otherwise, i'd be back to my 'focused, goal-orientated, robot-like-devoid-of-human-emotion' person i sometimes see myself to be. (ok, exaggeration on the robot-like, haha, but i can be very too focused on certain goals that i blank out all other feelings that could distract me.)

well,well, i am human after all.

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thank you to you my lovely friends who still visit this blog, even though the cobwebs are evident and that the owner has been very neglectful to write down things.

lately, i have been very unmotivated to write things down but then my sister Ana has inspired me to write again. she told me in her email that she was writing again for me, to make me happy and to inspire me. how awesome is that from your much missed sister? *dabbing away tears* (and thank you to friends who support my sister in your own ways, whatever you do for her, you do for me 100x).

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how are you,lately?