To Collect or Not to Collect, That Is The Question

Posted in Multiply on Apr 2, '08

One time, an acquaintance and I were talking about our lovelives. Currently, I am happy with mine and she isn't with hers. She had relationships in the past but they didn't work out. So she's alone now, preparing and prettying herself up in hopes of snagging the right man soon.

While talking, she said to me, "Alam mo, sayang, sayang, sayang, dapat may collection ako ng pictures ng mga ex ko noh." This totally appalled me. How could anyone say that?! She said kasi so that she could reminisce about time spent with them and she can show me (or whoever friends) their pictures when she talks about them. (Hell, maybe even post them in her Multiply or friendster account?!).

Maybe it's the manang in me, but I really think it's inappropriate to have a "collection" of pictures of your ex's. Diba? Ano yun, parang mga trophies? Let alone, think about displaying them to the world! Why would you even want to have them, diba?! If it's all over, then it's over. Besides, I couldn't imagine keeping a collection of my own coz I know it'll hurt Richard if he ever saw them. I know I'd kill Richard if he had his own collection!

Ewan ko, maybe this girl said that coz nga she's alone right now and doesn't have to think of a partner who might potentially get hurt with her collection. And she probably doesn't have a collection coz right after breaking up with one, the next one came and shempre, she had to think of that 2nd guy's feelings, kaya she destroyed all pictures.

Sabi ko tuloy sa kanya, pasalamat siya at wala nga siyang collection. Kasi if she has, and she posts them anywhere, my goodness, baka pagtawanan lang siya ng mga ex's coz it'll be too obvious that she still cares about their past together at naka-display pa sila sa current life niya!

What do you think, appropriate ba ang mag-keep ng collection?! I wanna know if you are as manang as me.

Of Love and Madness

Posted in Multiply Feb 22, '08

From an email sent to me by my friend, Azon - years and years ago.

A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it for the first time, virtues and values floated around and were bored, not knowing what to do. One day, all the vices and virtues were gathered together and were more bored than ever. Suddenly, Ingenious came up with an idea: "Let's play hide and seek!"

All of them liked the idea and immediately Madness shouted: "I want to count, I want to count!" And since nobody was crazy enough to want to see Madness, all the others agreed. Madness leaned against a tree and started to count: "One, two, three..." As Madness counted, the vices and virtues went hiding. Tenderness, hung itself on the horn of the moon, Treason hid in a pile of garbage. Fondess curled up between the clouds and Passion! went to the center of the earth. Lie said it would hide under a stone, but hid in the bottom of the lake, whilst Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking.

And Madness continued to count: "...seventy nine, eighty, eighty one...." Bythis time, all vices and virtues were already hidden except Love. For undecided as Love is, he could not decide where to hide. And this should not surprise us,because we all know how difficult it is to hide love.

Madness: ".... ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven..."

Just when Madness got to one hundred, Love jumped into a rose bush where he hid. And Madness turned around and shouted: "I'm coming, I'm coming!" As Madness turned around, Laziness was the first to be found, because Laziness had no energy to hide.

Then he spotted Tenderness in the horn of the moon, Lie at the bottom of the lake and Passion at the center of the earth. One by one, Madness found them all --- except Love. Madness was getting desperate, unable to find Love. Envious of Love, Envy whispered to Madness: "You only need to find Love, and Love is hiding in the rose bush."Madness grabbed a wooden pitch fork and stabbed wildly at the rose bush.

Madness stabbed and stabbed until a heartbreaking cry made him stop. Love appeared from the rose bush, covering his face with his hands. Between his fingers ran two trickles of blood from his eyes. Madness so anxious to find Love, had stabbed out Love's eyes with a pitch fork. "What have I done?! What have I done?!" Madness shouted. "I have left you blind! How can I repair it?"

And Love answered: "You cannot repair my eyes. but if you want to do something for me, you can be my guide." And so it came about that from that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.

Installing LOVE LOVE LOVE on Valentine's Day

Posted in Multiply Feb 13, '08

Reposted from John Mateos Ong's own blog.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! LOVE LOVE LOVE is the answer.

Tech Support: Yes, ... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating
system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components ." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart.Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

Healing A Broken Heart

Posted in Multiply Jan 21 08

For my broken-hearted friends, words of wisdom I found in a book, "Life Lessons for My Sisters". Always remember that things will fall into place.

"Love is the food

of your soul

never give up on it

you need it

for your spirit to breathe"

You can get through this. I know it feels painful -- as though your heart's been pulled out of your mouth. But tell yourself, "I can get through this." Repeat it as often as you need to. Say it until you believe it. "I can get through this."

When love ends, we can feel confused and hurt. We can feel as if we'll never love again. We can feel like "the one" just got away. But true love does not get away from you. True love is there when you need it, when you are ready for it. So realize that although you loved someone, you have to let him go so that your true love can enter.

Don't do foolish things when you're in pain. Don't try to make him hurt the way he hurt you. Just let it go. I know it sounds simple. I know your heart is in pain. But if you want to deal with this, you're going to have to think realistically. You're going to have to pay attention to the reasons why the relationship ended. You're going to have to think about the part you played in the breakup. Analyze the relationship. See what lesson you can learn from it.

Even when I felt like my heart was breaking, I stopped and told myself, "I was supposed to learn this. He was supposed to teach me this." No, it didn't make me feel that much better, but it helped me to learn my lesson, and that was the ultimate point.

Everything happens for a reason. If a relationship is ending, let it end. Sometimes, fighting is just delaying the inevitable. Sometimes you will just bring yourself more pain if you don't let go. Know when it's time to take a breath and let go.

Salamat Lang

Posted in Multiply Jan 8 08

No reason. Gusto ko lang magpasalamat. Gusto ko lang sila i-honor.

Thanks to:

Richard – thank you for making me happy to be alive! . Thank you for making me laugh. You are the best, funniest and corniest comedian I know! You are the reason I can’t sing sad songs with feelings. You are my life. I love you, my bunny.

Luis – you make being a mom the best thing in the world! You make all the sore muscles from carrying you worth it. You make me want to run to you every time you wail and cry your “arte” cry. Although I know nagpapaawa ka lang so we’ll take you out of the pen, nauuto mo pa rin ako. Thank you for making me happy-vulnerable. I can’t wait to see you grow up but at the same time I can’t get enough of you being my baby! You, Daddy and I will be the bestest of friends. Mwaaaah. I love you!

My mom and dad – you’re not perfect, but that’s ok, I love you both anyway. We fight, we argue, for a time we stopped talking to each other, but I know and you know that when one of us hollers for help, the others come running. I love you both.

My sis – always the best sis ever. The one who “gets” me in the family. I’m mighty happy that you’re happy. See, you married your prince! And now have a mini-prince as well!

My TDS masters (Lyn and Maianne) – no amount of words or praises will ever reflect just how indebted I am to you both. You may not know just how much you helped me then and I never can elaborate enough. You were my anchors. Thank you! I swear, I am here for you both for ANYTHING.

Claire – a friend from waaaay back. Went through the same hells. ;) Diba Claire? I’m sure our experiences through the hells will forever keep us friends! Don’t lose hope. God is loyal. He will take you out of that hell soon.

Grace – my college bud. One of my soul sisters. Smart, charming, real! had always been there for me in good times and in bad. I’m celebrating your new “state” ;P I am so excited for you! Things are falling into place, diba? Mwaaaaah.

Janice – my best friend. Best friends since high school. Always here for me, despite the distance. ;) Though having our own families have kept us from seeing each other as much as we’d like, we know in our hearts we’re just here for each other. I miss our talks. Kelan nga ulit ang date natin?

Some of the people I hold dearest. I thank God everyday for them.

December 22, "Officially Together"

Posted in Multiply Dec 19, '07

Weeeeeee! Christmas is just around the corner! Super how time flies! But I'm not writing about Christmas just yet. I am writing about DECEMBER 22.

December 22 is just a few days away! This date, though not yet Christmas, I hold dear. Richard and I became a couple "officially" on this date in 2005. Hehehe. How funny the story. Here it is:
Richard and I had been dating for a couple of months by that time, but I didn't want to say we were "US" because I was still waiting for someone to heal. Kat, a dear friend (Hi, Kat!) texted me a few days before Dec 22 to say that she is sure he saw this someone already "healed" and with someone new. In her text, I remember, she even said, "Ayan, pwede na kayo ni Richard!"

And with the burden of guilt lifted, I got to work right away. Though technically, we were already together, it was still unofficial. So in my record book, we were just "MU" (yuck, how high school!). I wanted our "officially being together" something worth remembering. So on that day, Dec 22, I was in Sahara (a hole in the wall of our office) and started writing on a piece of paper these words: "Yehey, tayo na!"

Kat, being the pakialamera that she is, saw this and immediately demanded that I throw the piece of paper, saying "Rach! Ampanget! Hahahaha!" Well, I had to admit, it was indeed panget. The thing is, I really am NOT creative. As in not a single drop in my blood. So I wailed in despair and said, "Eh ano gagawin ko?!" Kat volunteered Rach Limjokes' technical prowess. Rach, the techie diva that she is, found my piece of paper pathetic (Rach, remember this?! Hihihi). And gave ideas as to what I could do! So we printed a wacky pic of Richard and myself and typed on it my words, "Yehey, tayo na!" and of course added the date. Kat brought me to where she got our IDs laminated and we had the picture card laminated.

By that afternoon, Richard and I were getting our ride home together. We were going to take the shuttle (where we first met- hehehe). And being the cheesy hopelessly romantic that I am, I wanted to make sure that the shuttle would also play a major role in officiating our "togetherness". Being totally uncreative made it difficult for me to think of how to make it special. I originally wanted to lace the area with balloons, but it was too public (not to mention too baduy) and I was sure they would all be gone by the time Richard and i get there. So I went with plan b. It was boring, yes, but safe. I contracted the barker to be my ally. I gave him the tiny envelope (with my laminated picture card) and instructed him to give it to the man I will be showing up with later on. He was totally game.

When Richard and I got there, the man, remembering me and my instructions, handed the envelope to Richard without a word (I forgot to tell him to say something). I was waiting for Richard to take it and look quizzical before opening it. But horror of horrors, he decided to ignore the barker! And not take the envelope! The barker looked at me as if to say, "Huh? What's up with him? Isn't he supposed to accept it?" So I got the envelope and shoved it to Richard saying, "Sa'yo daw yan."

Richard apparently thought it was an envelope for solicitations (you know how the garbage collectors would give envelopes during Christmas asking for aguinaldo). Kaya pala niya dinedma. So when he opened it and saw my, ahem, work of art, he was teary-eyed. Parang shocked pa nga. I had to ask him pa, "Masaya ka ba?" To which he replied, "OO naman, masayang masaya." and hugged me like he intended to break my bones.

Today, the tiny laminated picture card is at home, sticking on our refridgerator door.

Thanksgiving Dinner Oct 28 07

Posted in Multiply Oct 29 07

Last Friday, I went to my old office to say hello to my dearly missed friends, claim my last pay, and go through my exit interview. Upon seeing the check they issued me, my heart leapt. It was more than what I had envisioned it to be. Although our accountant explained the breakdown (and I really did deserve to get everything down to the last cent), it still felt like I got some extra money for no reason. It felt like winning in a raffle I didn't even know I joined.

Now this is now included in our already-long list of received-and-recognized blessings . What do I mean? Well, one Sunday morning, attending Richard's church service, the pastor said, "Why don't you make a list of all the prayers that God had answered in your lives?" So I did.

This year alone, there have been SO many blessings. So many. Let me rattle of some of the obvious ones: a) recoving from gall bladder surgery and getting out of the hospital debt-free (meaning, we paid for the hospital expenses on our own, without needing to borrow from anyone - even our parents); b) recovering (emotionally and physically) from losing our 2nd baby (hey, God said it isn't time yet for me to lose my figure again - hehehe); c) continued good health of Luis; d) celebrating Luis' first birthday; e) moving from TDS to NN; f) Richard's opportunity to move to another job (should he coose to, they're just waiting for him; g) our out-of-town leisure trips -- Tagaytay March 2007, Tagaytay May 2007, Tagaytay September 2007, The Farm at San Benito September 2007, Batangas 2007; h) our planned trips -- Cavite, Batangas November 2007, HK March 2008, etc. i) our new car; j) financial provisions, k) arrival of Baby Sky, l) like I mentioned, the last pay check that was way above my expectation, etc.

Whew, just SOME of the more obvious blessings.

Richard and I have always been a fan of having an attitude of gratitute. Every night when we pray, we thank God for every little thing! Everyday, we thank each other for every little thing we appreciate in each other and in each other's actions. It's not unusual for one of us to say to the other, "Bunny, thank you." And the other asks, "For what? (thought bubble: what good have I done this time?)"

Overflowing with much gratitude last weekend, we had the desire to take thanking to the next level. Instead of just each other, we want to thank our families as well. And show them we appreciate all their help and support. Initially, we thought of getting them individual presents but later on decided against it. We thought it best to gather everyone and have a "thanksgiving dinner".

We sent our families a text message inviting them to a thanksgiving dinner Sunday night. And we received all sorts of funny responses. Some were asking what the occasion was and why we were calling on everyone together. Some were speculating that there would be a big announcement (like me being pregnant again, mwahaha!). When we said it was for the many blessings we have been receiving this year, they simply couldn't believe it would just be that. We said that we were just very happy and wanted to share with them, our families, our appreciation of how much God has blessed us (and continuing to bless us).

There is just so much to be grateful for and just so many people to thank. We wanted to start with our families. We didn't want to wait for the next big occasion to celebrate with them and thank them. There doesn't have to be any occasion to show appreciation and gratitude. And that, to me, is what made our thanksgiving dinner more special. We threw the dinner before all the Christmas festivties set in so our families know that the dinner was really meant for them and not for anyone else.

So last Sunday, they were all there, in our tiny home. Feasting and celebrating. I think I broke my mom's heart when I confirmed that I really wasn't pregnant and we just wanted to thank them. Hehehe.

Cheers to God and his numerous blessings!

A Love Story

Posted in Multiply Oct 18 07

A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large gathering. All of their friends and family came to witness the lovely ceremony and partake of the festivities and celebration. Everyone had a wonderful time.

The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black tuxedo. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal:

"I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage," she said. "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together." The husband agreed. So they retreated to two separate rooms and started making out their respective lists. And this absorbing task took them the rest of the day to accomplish.

The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided they would share each other's listed annoyances. "I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. As she started reading her list, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," the husband replied. "Please keep reading."

The wife continued until she had read all three pages. Then she placed her list neatly on the table and folded her hands on top of it. "Now, you read your list and then we'll talk about the things on both our lists," she said with eager anticipation.

Quietly the husband said, "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the way you are. I don't want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to try changing anything about you."

The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.

Written by Trevor Klein, as presented by Francis J. Kong in his book, "The Early Bird Catches The Worm, But The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese"

Love Life for Every Married Couple

Posted in Multiply Sept 26 07

I know God has blessed me with a fantastic married (and family) life and he just keeps proving to me that he wants us to always stay happy! I say this because he seems to always lead us to people/things/events that make Richard and I grow stronger as individuals and as one.

Just yesterday, I found myself with some spare time to go to National Bookstore to browse. I picked up a couple of books that I plan to read (I promised myself I will make time for them) but I immediately started reading this one. The title is "Love Life For Every Married Couple". It promises to teach you how to "fall in love, stay in love, and rekindle your love". I wanted to show this book immediately to Richard. I knew he would be pleased that I found another way to make sure our marriage stays exciting, fresh, and always full of love. He and I share the same passion. We want to grow old together. We want to raise our kids together (not apart – obviously J), and we want to always be happy. Richard’s not much of a reader, so I just share with him what the book says. I’m still on page 39, but so far, it looks like we are on the right track!

Thank God!

The Love of My Life

POSTED IN FRIENDSTER September 17, 2007

September 7, 2005. A little past 5pm. I was standing in line for the shuttle that will bring me to the gym. From behind, I heard a question, "Miss, nag-gy-gym ka ba sa Fitness First?" and out of politeness, I just had to answer this stranger's question. "Oo." I didn't realize I had already met the man destined to be mine. God truly moves in mysterious ways. And everyday, I thank Him for giving him to me.