Family pics

It's this time of year when schools would ask their students to bring their family pictures. And this is so with Diego--- and Andee. And this is that sort of homework 'bring-me' that gets me thinking again of how my kids will be able to cope up with what is 'missing'. Looking for a complete family picture is hard enough, since the very, very, VERY last happy one was when Diego was just 6 months old, Christmastime.

They brought the same picture. Diego had a show-and-tell in school. "This is my father, mother, sister, and me". Easy enough. With Andee, it was rather.... alarming, so to speak. Her lola showed me Andee's work with the family picture. Pasted on a sheet of paper, with flower glowpen decors and embellishments around the photo, with this short description:

"This is my family. My family is a very happy family but it became sad because my father and mother separated. My happiest moment is when we go to Star City the we rode the boat in Manila Bay. Even my mother and father are separated I'm just still happy because I have still a family."

Yeh. I cried, as usual. Her score and teacher's comment? *10* Good Job.

Thinking out loud: What if they were asked to bring more pictures?!?! The mere thought of it makes me sad cause I'm thinking now of my kids. This whole process that I am currently in to, and I just realized it-- is more like a self-centered thing-- my own selfishness. How dare do I take away suppossedly future memories of family from Andee and Diego? Why haven't I thought of the time when they would begin sharing with their friends where the whole family went on weekends? what movies they watched? what games they played? etc. etc. I remember Andee's face during a father-daughter game at a Family Day gathering in school last year, -- or Diego's closeness to his Yaya Wilma's husband, Dennis when he gets the chance to visit.

And you'd thought what I'm doing now is right. For me? My kids? I don't know. I just don't know now..

Tuyo, Tinapa and Galunggong

My sister-in-law, Carol, sent me an email with this article attached written by Bo Sanchez:

Let me tell you a story. Three construction workers were on top of their half-finished skyscraper. Rrrrring!! The lunch bell sounded, and the three men sat on a steel beam jutting out of the 56th floor with their lunch boxes in hand. The first guy opens his and groans in exasperation, "Tuyo! There is not a day that I don't get tuyo for lunch!" He turns to his buddies and announces, "Mark my words, if I still get tuyo tomorrow, I'm going to throw myself from this building!" The second guy opens his lunch box and moans, "Tinapa... Everyday, I get tinapa!" He looks at his friends and declares, "Believe me when I say this: If I get tinapa tomorrow, I'm going to jump and kill l myself!" The third guy opens his lunch box and it was his turn to despair. "Galunggong! All I get is galunggong! I'm telling you, if I still get galunggong tomorrow, I'm going to jump from this building and die!"

The next day, the lunch bell rings and all three men are again seated on the 56th floor. The first guy opens his lunch box and starts crying, "Tuyoooooo!" And so he jumps and crashes on the ground. The second guy opens his lunch box and wails loudly, "Tinapaaaa!" And he also hurls himself off the building and dies. The third guy opens his lunch box and screams, "Galunggonggggg!" And so, he too jumps off the building and splatters on the ground.

Days later, during the funeral of the three men, their three wives embrace and weep together. The first wife cries out, "I didn't know my husband didn't like tuyo anymore! Why didn't he tell me? If only he told me, I would have prepared something else." The second wife echoes her statement, "Yes... If only I knew, I would have cooked something else, not tinapa!" The third wife, between sobs, speaks up, "I don't know why my husband killed himself..." The two wives look at her curiously. "Why?" She went on, "Because my husband prepares his own lunch everyday..."

I love this crazy story because it presents a very important truth: all of us prepare our own lunch. If we don't like our jobs, if we don't like the state of our relationships, if we don't like what's happening to our spiritual lives - we have no one to blame but ourselves. Because God has given us free will. He has given us the power to prepare our own lunch. If you want to earn more and be free from debt, if you're sick and tired of your bad habits, if we want to put more joy in our marriages, if we want to grow in our relationship with God - then go back to your kitchen and prepare yourself another dish. Because you design your own future. You create your own destiny. Ask yourself what kind of future do you want to have? What kind of life? What kind of eternity? You decide. - Bo Sanchez

I have decided. And I'm working on it.

Hay, Diego..Part2

Lola: Diego, kamusta ang girlfriends mo? Diego: (no answer)
Lola: Sinong mas maganda? si Julianne or si Andrea? Diego: Si Julianne.
Lola: Bakit? Diego: Kasi nagpupulbo siya! (Aba! marunong ang baby boy! haha)
Yaya Wilma: Sinong mas maganda? si Julianne o si Mama? Diego: (Silence. Looked at his Lola then, his Yaya.)
Yaya Wilma: Sino mas maganda? Diego: (Silence.)
Lola: Hmm.. si Julianne! Yaya Wilma: Sino mas maganda? si Mama or si Julianne? Diego: (without batting an eyelash) SI JULIANNE NGA EH!!!!! Ay.. and I thought for a second there that he is having a hard time making up his mind!!!

Additional Orders please!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the first amongst the movie series that I failed to watch on its opening day! Nasira record ko! The book is my favorite read because it is action-packed and shows more 'secrets' in regards to Sirius Black, Snape and James Potter.

Got the chance to see it at last-- with Andee-- lined up for its first screening yesterday morning after work (di na nga ako nagbihis e). We were supposed to be first in line, but a large group of Koreans beat us to it. When the tills opened 15 minutes earlier than the usual 10:30am, there was already a long, long queue.

The movie was ummm.. great?!?--- that is-- IF the screening time was twice its actual length (sobrang bitin!), IF my most awaited scenes were included.... the actual O.W.L.S. exams, Prof. McGonnagal's and Dolores Umbridge's hilarious exchanges of katarayaness (panalo!!), Sirius Black's screaming grandmother's portrait, and of course, the battle scene at the Ministry of Magic. The movie is a bit of a disappointment, as a Potter fan I was expecting more, obviously, much like when we compare the reading material to the big screen (sounds familiar, di ba teh?!?)

Those who watched the movie but were not able to read the book might be at a lost, or confused. There was not enough information about the Order of the Phoenix though. Luna Lovegod was casted perfectly! The look, the voice, everything as described in the book-- though not a bit of a background info about her being the daughter of a tabloid publisher. Overall, I'd give it a 6. Sayang. I just hope the connecton between Harry and Neville Longbottom will 'emerge' in the next movie installment.

Hay, Diego..

Diego: " Mama!!! Mama!! MAAAA--MAAAAAAHHH!!!!"
"Why, baby?"

Diego: "Dalawa girlfriend ko." (Yaya Wilma laughs out loud)
"Wha-hatt?!?? Dalawa girlfriends mo? "

Diego: "Opo, Julianne and Andrea!"

Andee: "Ako nga, 3 ang crush ko eh!"
"Naku, better have 3 crushes, than 2 girlfriends!! Maganda ba sila gaya ko at ni Ate Wilma?"

Diego: (Silence. Looks at me and his yaya) "..eh gusto ko bata eh!"