Throwback Thursday: Monthly Birthday Celebrations

The best thing about being part of a community is you gain an extended family. I had a multitude of Ates and Kuyas as I grew up. They were also all my neighbors so we naturally hung-out after our service. We spent many years celebrating birthdays monthly. 

c2007 at Tita Eva's

It was a monthly feast where we got to sample their specialties. It was fun because we all came from different provinces. We usually buy Baliwag chicken also as an add on. During those times we didn't need to diet, haha. 

c2006 I think at Papa Ray's

The kids back then were all still chikitings. They had their own little world while the adults would eat then do some jamming. It's a great memory for me because my choir family did not make me long for my siblings who both lived in other countries. Most of the kids now are already working, some in university and a few still in high school. 

Soon enough though we started fragmenting. People started to get married and move to other places. Some of us moved to other countries because of work. We were able to have Christmas reunions for a few years, but it was hard since those who'd come home would also be busy with their family reunions. 

Most recent get-together was Papa Ray's surprise birthday party, c. 2019

When we came home, my Ates and Kuyas welcomed us back. We've been able to see some of them and they also helped us when the boys had COVID-19. I'm eternally grateful to have my choir family and hope when renovations are done we could host a get-together or smaller dinners. 

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Slice of Life, 15 Years

I was looking through Google Photos and saw it had compiled photos by year. Thought it would be interesting to see what I was up to the past 15 years. 

15 years ago, 2007

Singapore with the other scouts at the first Google office in Singapore. 

14 years ago, 2008

Date day with Sweetie where we went to a wedding expo so I could get inspiration for the Twisted Wedding Planner blog.

13 years ago, 2009

Watched Love to Love to Love with Sweetie. It was a concert with MYMP, Side A and a few other artists held at Araneta Coliseum.

12 years ago, 2010

Attended a sports event and met Rio dela Cruz. Also went to Davao that same week. 

11 years ago, 2011

Got a new car - Minnie my Getz! She's now finally with me in our new home. I haven't had a chance to drive her yet since I need to get a license. 

10 years ago, 2012

Nothing exciting happened during the week. I just cooked beef tapa and we also checked out the location of our future condo. 

9 years ago, 2013

Just had second open heart surgery. They had to drain water in my heart and lungs. Also got a surprise visit from my friend Don who was in Singapore at that time too. 

8 years ago, 2014

Celebrated Valentine's day across the miles. Sweetie surprised me with flowers which was delivered at the office. 

7 years ago, 2015

So many things happened this week 7 years ago. Titay's birthday bash, watched a concert and it was also the Android One launch. 

6 years ago, 2016

This was the year we transitioned the family to Singapore. This was the week Miggy moved to Singapore to finish his studies. 

5 years ago, 2017

By this time we had settled in nicely to our life in Singapore and was getting visited by friends! Anne and Andrew came for a visit that week (I think Anne was working in their SG office at that time). 

4 years ago, 2018

My memory is a bit fuzzy about this week since most of the photos I had were food! Seems I baked some chicken fingers and Sweetie and I went out. 

3 years ago, 2019

This was the time Sweetie had knee surgery because his knee was dislocated. 

2 years ago, 2020

We had a WFH drill this week. Victor, David and I ended up working at Starbucks that day. Few weeks later WFH became mandatory. 

1 year ago, 2021

The last Westies get-together I was able to attend. Restrictions eased up and we were able to have a get together. Promptly got sick after since we didn't know the air quality went bad that day. 

I noticed that time has been passing by so fast. I don't if it's because I move slower now, but I don't get to do a lot of stuff compared to before. I have a list of tasks I've been unable to finish. I guess I need to manage my time better. Looking back at the last 15 years was fun to do. Apparently I was either in Manila or Singapore, working, watching  a concert or at a hospital haha. Let's hope and pray there won't be  hospital staycations anymore! 

#BeKind #StayHome #VoteWisely

It's All Coming Back to Me

Did you notice it's been very windy lately? PAGASA said it's amihan season. Wind from the North is prevalent and will last until March. The air is also much cooler especially in the evenings. We normally stay in the living room to feel the breeze. In the afternoons though it's nicer to stay at the basement since it's cooler. I've started to unbox my fabric stash and have been busy organizing my craft room. I hope to finish soon since summer is just around the corner and I know I have to stay somewhere cooler. 

I'm happy. I feel much more relaxed nowadays. I guess because of this the fog in my brain has been lifting. The past few nights I've been dreaming about forgotten memories from my university days and my 20s. For a few nights I dreamt about being in campus and rushing from one class to another. Remembered those days I had to run from Miguel building to the La Salle building to make it to my next class in time. I can't imagine how I managed going up so many stairs back then! No wonder I was just 85 pounds when I was in college. 

Last night I dreamt about that time I did part time work at Shell. I joined as a writer, but also got to learn how to layout a newspaper manually. At that time we were already using Pagemaker in our student publication, but they were doing some things manually. It was fun to learn so many things there. A few years later my boss at Shell tried to recruit me back. I decided not to pursue it since I was advised about the glass ceiling for women at that time (I heard it's gone now). My life would probably be very different if I chose that path. I still remember my former boss' name and found out she eventually became an editor at a leading newspaper. 

Of course, the fog also revealed some painful memories from the past. Ugh. It's apparently still lurking somewhere in my brain. I wish though the fog just kept it hidden. Not remembering is bliss haha. It's true that forgiving is much easier than forgetting. To keep it from eating me up, I just shifted my position in bed and it soon went back into the abyss. I just prayed and reminded myself that it's all in the past and those are just ugly memories now. 

My doctor told me I had too many major episodes (health). I also had too many major emotional episodes. I take comfort in the fact that those episodes (physical, mental and emotional) never broke me. My Mom would always tell me I'm an Apolo and I was born to be tough. I have many battle scars. I survived it all because of faith and love. And that's all you need :) 

Happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StayHome #VoteWisely

My Childhood Home

I think I can never live far away from my childhood home. We lived a few streets away when we moved to our first home. It still felt too far, so we found a new home on the same street. Eventually we acquired a condo unit which was within the same barangay. It just doesn't feel right to be too far away and our community is pretty tight knit. 

Went over to visit my Mom today. The frontage of our home was full of foliage which was a welcoming sight. Mom has a green thumb and anything she touches flourishes. I had her tour me around her garden and chided her for putting ornamental plants on Kuya's hydrophonic garden, hahaha. She really prefers taking care of flowers and ornamental plants than growing veggies. (Shhh don't tell my Kuya!). 

I spent a lot of summers hanging around in my Mom's garden. She would lay out a banig in the afternoons and that's where I used to play with my dolls. Eventually she started teaching me how to sew and quilt. We spent a lot of afternoons sewing under the tree. Sometimes I would take a nap in the hammock. At that time I just enjoyed the garden, but I wasn't really interested in learning how to tend one.

It's been two years since I've been back. I realized it's a good that I've come home already. Aside from Mom needing one of us here, our home also needs tending. The first order of the day though is to plan for my Mom's upcoming 86th birthday and bring her for a check-up. Christmas is fast approaching so we'll see how best we can celebrate as a family. 

#Home20 #NewG224 #Xmas32 #StayHome #BeKind  

A Wedding!

I fell asleep last night with a huge smile on my face. The first baby I loved and spent a lot of time with when he was tiny, tied the knot yesterday. After some delay due to lockdowns and restrictions it finally happened! It came as a huge surprise for us since we didn't know it was yesterday. I just got a ping from Ate Joy just before it started. (It's better that way so I don't forget!). 

Where did JC go?

I teared up when I saw Gabby walk down the aisle. Oh my, has it really been 30+ years since he was a baby? The chubby, happy baby I used to watch when I got home from school. I would usually do my algebra homework during my watch. He was easy to care for, never fussy. My gentle nephew who reminds me so much of Tito Ben. 

I was really hoping we all could be at the wedding, but it was still a blessing to be part of it via VC. I would have probably bawled if I was there in person. I felt the love flowing across countries. We lingered on with Mom a few minutes after Gabby and Gilly left the VC to transfer to their reception. I know my Mom would've wished she was also there at the wedding. 

I'm sure in time we would be able to come together as a family again and welcome Gilly in person. It's been a huge season of love in our family. Welcomed baby Griffin a few months ago and there's two more weddings coming up. I'm grateful to be alive for all of the happy events. I'm also grateful there are means to be connected even though we're miles away from each other. 

May God bless Gabby and Gilly as they embark on their journey to forever! 

#Quarantine5 #Home5 #NewG239 #Xmas47 #StayHome #BeKind