Life, Day by Day

I have more than 2000 unopened e-mails in my different accounts, a lot of which are those forwarded by friends...I usually first open emails for work or work-related matters and set aside the rest but, I also don't delete e-mails from people I know if I have not read them yet, so you can imagine the clutter in my in-boxes. Oh well, in real life and in the virtual world, I am the same...a rat packer or a borderline hoarder.  When I finally find the time, like now of cleaning up my e-mail, I finally read this quiz sent in September about personality....hmmm.  The instruction was for me to choose a picture which appealed to me most.  Frankly, all the pictures were not my type but it said... appealed to you most , so I chose two...numbers 1 and 9.  Again, that's me...I can be many people depending on the situation :)   Picture No. 1 says... I am Introspective     Sensitive    Reflective You come to grips more frequently and thoroug...

I spoke too soon....I think.  January 2011 started on a very positive note...and then...uh,oh... First, how could so many people I know or know of die in one week's time?  There was the mother of a fellow doctor and a staff nurse, all within 24 hours of each other...then 2 of our neighbors just dropped dead, also in a span of 1 or 2 days from each other!  And before I could even give my respects, last 01-11-2011...it rained! It rained so much from evening until the next day, that it caused flooding all over the city (as well as 3 other neighboring cities and one town), causing mass evacuation of people in several barangays, stranded passengers in stalled vehicles and trapped employees who could not get out of their work place because of the rising flood waters. You can see people getting off buses and walking home in knee high waters...my son walked for about 2 and a half kilometer in the dark (there was a blackout to avoid electrical accidents) in order to get home....

I thought I would blog about the last 10 years (2000-2010) when Y2K started and then, I realized my impending age-related short term memory loss has already began.  Somehow, I have to rack my brain to remember what the last 10 years of my life has been all about... Okay, before I do that let's me just state that Y2K brought about a lot of changes in my life...some good, some not so good, and yes, some great ones too...but what exactly in particular???  I guess, it's this over all good feeling I get when I think about the last 10 years that makes me say so. Does everyone remember the " panic " the year 2000 brought about?  It was mainly about computer glitches but people brought it to an apocalyptic level .  I remember thinking it's just another day folks !  Well, I think I did prepare some candles, just in case ;-)  Anyway, of course nothing major happened and the world survived for the next 10 years.  On a personal level, I had more or less g...

Who would have thought that the year that started so-so would turn out to be one amazing year?  The troubles and problems that came in  2009 continued to hound me at the beginning of 2010, so I was not really looking forward to another stressful year. My energy level was pretty low and I was at the threshold of another mid-life crisis.  Then, quietly, unobtrusively, subtlety...the air changed.   I don't exactly remember what or when or how...but suddenly, things seem better and life was actually fun again.  And it's not because life was easier or there were less challenges that were faced in 2010...on the contrary, there were more challenges faced at work and in my personal life but somehow, I got through it all feeling positive and energized.  Maybe because, attitudes changed and people come together to work for the common good. it has also been a year of reflections and healing...a spiritual year that gave me strength and a stronger faith. And if there is...

Christmas when I was a child was all about tradition...the family gatherings at my grandparents whether in Manila or in Silay, the "you have to go to sleep or Santa won't come" threat after dinner, the opening of gifts and noche buena at midnight, the Christmas morning breakfast and mass, and luncheon with all the other relatives and extended families.  After my maternal grandfather died, my maternal grandmother soon after moved to Bacolod.  Although Christmas celebrations continued to be traditional, it stayed local...meaning we stopped going to Manila for the holiday season.  Then my uncle (Dad's brother) and paternal grandfather died within a month of each other.  And so, that year because my Dad's side of the family did not want to celebrate in Silay with all the memories of Christmas past, we went to Manila and Christmas Eve was spent in a hotel room near Paco Park and New Year's eve in the boat coming back to Negros. 

Once in a while I do get superstitious, especially when something bad happens to things at home one after another.  I get this eerie sense that when these occur it somehow offsets a worse event from happening and I can only feel relief.  Suddenly it does not matter that over the weekend my son lost another cell-phone... that this morning, our table top Christmas tree fell again...that my expensive hair clip broke...and that the staff of the mini St. Joseph  broke after my daughter threw the small statue.  Over-all, it has been a great week and today was a very good day.  But isn't it scary when life seems almost perfect?  So when something makes my day imperfect, I always thank God that all that negative energy has been channeled to something unimportant and replaceable in my life. And that I am once again lucky and blessed.

On Friday, I will be a wedding godmother to someone I have known since she was a little girl.  I have seen her grow up and shared her parent's pride when she passed the CPA exams.  She has become one lovely young woman and the man she is marrying is one lucky guy! It also dawned on that I am indeed growing older...I am now often asked to be a principal sponsor...a role that is reserved for mature and respected friends and members of the family.  I guess I am pretty lucky having experienced all the roles in a wedding entourage from flower girl...to bridesmaid...to secondary sponsor...and finally principal sponsor.  The first time I was asked was a few years back when I could not say no to my father's close friend to be a godmother to his apo (grand-child) from Canada who was getting married here.  After that I would refuse  requests although I have been told that I should not turn down one but I believe that being a wedding godmother comes with much respons...