10 Reasons to be Happy #2

1. "The Project" is really taking shape now.
2. Being chosen as one of the judges for the "FEU Presenter of the Year". (IABF and Sir Joey are just so nice and my co-judges are equally amazing)
3. Two dozens of roses.
4. Wen's new do. I am calling him "Punk Doctor" until he grows his hair back. I just love, love his hair!
5. Spending the holiday with Joeven, Ate Ans and some equally important people.
6. Villa and Xavi's goals. This is bittersweet since those goals are at the expense of my Real Madrid boys. But yeah, this made me happy =)
7. Midnight updates with Lucky and Mark's action packed life in Seoul and our "twisted concept of fun" (Martinez, 2010). hahaha
8. Mr. Jones with Shobe.
9. Attending/serving 2 masses in a day. One in English the other in the vernacular.
10. Coldplay's Yellow playing on the background while writing a journal entry.

The Ring

"Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect it." (Luna Lovegood, HP)

This quote practically played back in my mind when I saw the ring that my mom gave me some few years back tucked in the deepest corner of my kikay kit.

Wow! I've been looking for the said ring for months now. I last saw the ring on the day of shobe's oathtaking. I used it to add a certain vibe of formality and class on the said occasion. I was too tired to remember where I placed it after the ceremony. Of course, moms are intuitive and after a couple of days of not telling her that the ring's pseudo-missing, she asked me about it. I told her the most general answer at that point. I just said "Di ko po makita pero for sure I left it in my room. Maybe it rolled somewhere." My mom is smart so obviously she did not buy my alibi. She's aware that I do keep my accessories in a box and I do have boxes for rings, earrings (for the studs and pearls since I have a separate storage for chandelier, drop and hoop earrings), bracelets (which are subdivided into bangles, beads, cuffs etc.) and necklaces. Case in point: I can get carried away in terms of organizing my accessories so the ring "rolling somewhere" was a bad argument. I may be an ok adj and a pretty decent debater but I suck at lying especially to people who know me.

Mom would ask once in a while if I was able to find it and I would have the same answer every single time. Honestly, after an entire day of looking in my room, I've given up. I have the attention span of a 2 y/o and patience in an endeavor gleaned as an exercise in futility is not my strongest virtue. So I just left everything to St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the ring would miraculously show up. And thankfully, it did!

So Luna's right. We should not stress ourselves too much looking for the things that we lost. If they are meant to be ours, they will find their way back us. Sure, things may no longer be the same again but we are not in the position of power to bargain and ask for more. After all, God is good. He may not give us what we want but he surely provides for what we need. And no, I am no longer talking about missing rings =)

10 Reasons to be Happy #1

Maia has the gratitude ten and it inspired me to really look at the things that keep me focused, motivated and happy. After all, life may sometimes be hell on earth but generally, it is pretty steady. So Mondays will be "10 Reasons to be Happy Day". =)

1. Thursday night with my favorite doctors- Shobe and Wen.
2. Location mug(s), H&M top and chocolates  from Shobe's friends from their trips in Sanfo and Paris.
3. Dinner with Ate Ans and Joeven at Joeven's place. Nostalgic much?
4. "Control is power" finally came into life.
5. My first tagalog High Mass church service.
6. The sweet gesture of having Paris stamp templates patiently waiting on my desk.
7. Surviving work.
8. Decluttered room with freshly washed bed sheets and pillow cases.
9. Plants vs. Zombies with mom.
10. Wee Nam Kee's HCR and Bon Chon.

On second life and seeing a new one

Tuesday was THE bomb.

Got a wake up call but instead of the usual "Wake up sleepyhead", it was "I've Had The Time Of My Life". How sweet cool was that?! Anyway, work was ok. I had fun talking to the girls. Went out for lunch with Keenan and we bumped into Wen's former student. And oh, it was also my first time to play the Lottery (Sweet Jesus, please let me win?).

Since mommy Johne gave birth to our godchild yesterday, Wen and I decided to visit her. After a couple of calls in between his horrific meetings, we came up with the most busy-people-friendly schedule.

As always, Traffic was awful but we had so much fun goofing around. We turned his car into a mini club and tried our best to sway with the music. He was crazily trying so hard to sing/dance to Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" while manning the wheel when a girl crossed the road out of nowhere. Muntik na syang nabangga. Kami na ang biglang naging serious so eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel si Wen. hahaha. We talked about our lives instead. How stressful his life in the corporate world is. Love. Relationship. Future plans. In short, nag-emo na naman kami. It was like that for 30 mins or so until "I've Had The Time Of My Life" started playing on the background. Our eyes met and I let out a crazy screech as he increased the volume. We LOVE that song. Baliw-baliwan lang kami talaga. hahaha. And just when we're on the groove of playing Johnny and Baby, a stupid car swerved and almost hit us. Wen was able to hit the brakes before crashing into that stupid car. I swear, nagkapalit sana kami ng mukha ng dashboard kung hindi lang ako naka-seatbelt and Wen did not instinctly served as my human shield. I was touched naman because he protected me first. Ang bait lang. hahaha

So there, we went to super serious mode once again. I don't want us to be casualties of the saying that Bad luck comes in threes.

We weren't able to see Ashton John but I'm mighty glad that mommy Johne had a smooth operation. We were pretty worried because she had a sensitive pregnancy. We might visit AJ when they get home.

They say that a baby is always a blessing since it signifies new beginnings but after our brush of with 2 potential accidents, I can say that new beginnings are not mutually exclusive to having something for the first time or experiencing something grand. Because sometimes, it takes a minor detail to experience a complete turn.

Happy birthday, Shobe!

I think having a sibling is nice but having a sister is really, really awesome.

All of my close friends know the kind of relationship that I have with my sister. Admittedly, I spoil her to death (or at least if and when my budget permits. bleeh!).

Shobe's birthday for this year was pretty exclusive. We (mom, pop, shobe and moi) just had an intimate lunch of grilled fish, Angus beef kebab, buttered prawns and White Chocolate and Bluberry Cheesecake. Actually, my mom scolded me the night before because I forgot to make reservations for Estrel's Caramel Cake but oh well. And since I was too tired to go shopping with her (fire drill was hell), we just went to Payless the next day. We kinda lost it since the original plan of shopping for shoes ended with a couple of clothes and some groceries. We also had some chill time at my favorite wine/tea session place with Lucky and Mark. Cafe Adriatico is pure love.

Happy birthday to my dear sister! You may be a kickass doctor but you will always be the family's baby =)