i was stumped due to what is happening in our country, and the world in general (floodings and wild fires). the Philippines is again in the headlines due to typhoon "frank". i could say "frank" has a mind of his own. he did not conform to his forecast - which-was-he-will-not-landfall-and-that-he will only-cruise-along-the-shores-of-Luzon-then-go-to-Taiwan-and-that's-the-end-of-him.

with that reassuring statement from the masters-of-the-weather-agency, we turned back to our ordinary lives. however, "frank" will not do-as-forecasted. he made his own-route. he made landfall. and worse, he made a circuitous way. "frank" was supposed to go to Luzon, but he went to visit the Visayas region. on Friday(June 20), the rains and winds were already pounding our region (Eastern Visayas). we are on signal no.2. power went-off. classes were suspended.and the office allowed us to go home. at home, we tuned-in to the old-reliable-radio to monitor "frank". outside it was chaos. debris were flying around the city. one can't see what was in-front of him because of the rains and winds. my sister texted me that their plane circled for three-hours in tacloban. but they were not able to land so they went back to manila. floodings were everywhere. many were stranded since no transportation were available. we prayed for mercy.

we slept through all this. at around 2 a.m. i woke-up. power were already restored. rains and winds had abetted. we turned on the tv and monitored on "frank". he was still in the vicinity, but his wrath was turned on the neighboring regions. then we heard of news on the ship "princess of the stars" that it had an "engine" problem somewhere between manila and cebu. and the next time we heard it has capsized! with her 800 or more passengers.

it was like a deja vu! it was like doña paz and doña marilyn all over again! the same shipping line - sulpicio lines. images of crying and angry relatives, bloated bodies, the mass graves, futile-efforts of identifying relatives, rescue efforts, tearful reunions of survivors and families, survivors relating their traumatic experiences, and the after effects - investigations-here-and-there, and the finger-pointing-of-who-is-to-blame.

when will we ever learn?

well, what do you know? i'm forty-five years old. i celebrated my birthday last june 4. away from my family. it was a day that i just can't let myself out. i don't have any excuse to take-a-birthday-leave.
it was the opening of the 7th trade fair of our department, in line with the 20th anniversary.
but, i gave credit to my family. they are very understanding and loving. its okay for them to celebrate my birthday after all my job was done. they, my family made it special for me - their greetings-hugs-and-kisses-and-i-love-you-mama-ilove-you-sweetheart, were all what i need. after the-hard-work-and-backbreaking-task to mount the regional booth.
now, i am feeling my age. some-things-are-just-not-what-it-seems-to-be. and i think a need to slowdown. and take time-out-to-smell-the-flowers-and-feel-the-rain. in all my life, i was busy into-it. that i sometimes neglect myself. i was always the last priority. its-always-the-kids-the-husband-the-siblings-the-others. i think, this is not easy for me. but i'll try giving myself-a-space-a-moment-a-treat,whenever i could. maybe, next time. for now - i'll thank GOD His neverending blessings He showered on us- my family!

with the current economic situation we are facing, we need some alternative activity to divert our attention so that we will not be too depressed and stressed-out.

we did that – we watched the finale of the “American Idol” and sure enough, we forget all the worries-of-the-world and in-fact we were stressed-out-for-a-night-thinking-who-would-it-be? david or david? just-like-what-guru-pitka predicted. i don’t know about you but i was rooting for david . . . cook! he was the best cook! hahaha!

i was fuming mad with simon cowell (he is my favorite judge! really!) when he bashed david cook’s performance. i felt betrayed. and in fact, my belief on david cook's talent “wavered”. i slept that night feeling bad. but, the next day, i got my revenged. the david of my choice won – david cook. i can’t help but rejoice and celebrate with glee. i’m sure for the next couple of days I-was-smiling-like-a-fool-going-around-town. i felt that i-am-a-better-judge-than-simon-cowell (i’ll write about simon cowell next time).

i’m looking forward to the next season of american idol – season 8!!! and maybe next year, our economic situation has taken an upswing!!!
whatever!!! D

i (we, including the family) have been sleeping late for the last three days. we were glued to the television set watching the American idol season marathon. although we had been watching the show since season 7 started, we still watched. we loved the auditions portions. especially the part were the-bird-man-cometh a.k.a. renaldo lapuz auditioned. of course, we felt proud because he is a Filipino. i agree with him when he said that he loved simon because simon gave opportunity to everyone to have a-15-seconds-shot-to-fame. he became famous for that exposure by composing the song and singing the-you-are-my-brother-my-bestfriend-forever-you’ll-be-in-my-heart. his youtube exposure were tremendous.

of course, we also got to see the elimination of ramiele. the never-ending-flowing-of-tears whenever a-contestant-got-voted-and-booted-out. but what we really loved most was the American-idol-gives-back-show. it was disheartening-looking-at-the-images-of- Africa-and-the-other-side-of-the-U.S.of A. but at the same time it was heartwarming how-these-people-strive-and-tried-to-rise-from-the-dire-straits-they-are-in. and the overwhelming-response-of-the-public-to-the-challenge-of-helping-the-diasadvantaged.

the appearance of-the-stars-were-just-the-pudding-in-the-pie. especially, when the “Russian idol” came in. it was hilarious and really made our day. The late nights were all-worth-it.

this week, we'll be sleeping late again - its the final week of the AI!!!

i was off for a week. my father died. and our family deeply grieved his passing. my father was a "jack of all trades".
he was a boy scout. a radio announcer. a journalist. a tennis player. an administrator. a friend. a boss. a shoulder to cry on. a good provider. kind. norturing. frank. funny. a brother. a layman. an educator. a traveller. a soldier. a loving son. a loyal husband. he, together with mama, struggled to raise us eight (8) children. and we deeply appreciated their efforts.
as a child, i fell guilty for not being with him on his last days. he celebrated his birthday last march and a week after he died. i felt that i did not gave my best to alleviate his pain despite what he did to me, to us. i felt so inadequate. though, he was bedridden (so is mama), every now and then my other siblings made it a point to visit them. but me, i was away from home and if ever had the time dropped by the house and visited them. though he says, he understands us, that we have our own family and facing another life to live.
my father was a prominent figure in my life. in a way, i was like him - i became a radio announcer. i wrote for a newspaper. i was involved in media every now and then. forever, i am grateful to him. and we are missing him. his life was worth emulating. as we say in the media it is not the end, but only writing 30.

for a couple of days now,i've been hearing my husband sighing-and-sighing... i asked him - why? his answer? - he's bothered on the continuous rising of prices of commodities - rice, fish, meat, and other basic commodities. we know for the fact, that in the everyday news we heard and see on television all about these - prices rising. and we wondered how we'll manage in the coming days. our salaries have not-risen, yet almost everyday the prices of commodities rises.

our youngest child (a girl), even told me - "mama,you know i will eat potatoes. so that, we'll not have to buy much rice." she had this idea, because, she saw on television that foreign shows cooking potatoes as their rice. and i told her - "yes, there will come a time will be eating potatoes, pilipino variety - camote."

with this predicament our country is facing, i have apprehensions of the coming days and months. i am praying that tuition, come enrolment time will not increase. i don't know how we'll be able to send the kids to school. i don't know what strategy we will be using to manage our meager salaries-just-to-make-ends-meet. aside from the usual process of having "utang" and "advancing our salaries", and in-what-household-expenses-we-can-cut-and-make-tipid, and appealing-to-my-siblings-for-a-loan, and of course - imploring the ALMIGHTY to hear our prayers and asking for guidance and divine intervention...

DEAR GOD, WE NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET. AMEN.

there’s one cartoon show that I just can’t forget. i saw this at the cartoon network, when the kids were still in the grade school. it was about a bear that went hibernating and lo and behold when he awoke – the world was totally different.

when winter time came, the bear went to his hibernating place to sleep; they say it was for six months. while he was sleeping, the outside world was into development and progress – building enormous structures and whatever it was that brought glory to mankind.

when the bear woke-up, he went out and was shocked to find his environment has changed. tall buildings surround him. there were no more trees. he looked around for food and suddenly a man came. he grabbed the bear, and asked him what he was doing there. the man accused the bear as masquerading to avoid doing his assigned job. the bear was brought to the foreman, the foreman can’t decide and brought him to the supervisor, who in turn brought him to the department head, which brought him to the director. the director brought him to the first vice-president, who in turn brought him to the second vice-president. and still no one believed that he was a bear, they finally brought him to the president… this is the part wherein I can’t remember what happened to the bear…

i had a vague idea that he was sent back to the foreman and was assigned a job as a laborer…and still doing his job as a laborer…

really…the kids are now in college and I am still watching cartoon network hoping to see again that cartoon…it is what is happening in our world NOW!

we heaved a sigh of relief when ramiele malubay made the cut to the top 12 of the "american idol". though, i disagree with the three judges, ramiele sang the song "in my life" beautifully. but then i'm not a judge. and thanks to the american people, they voted for ramiele to stay.so this week, we are again looking forward to ramiele's performance. i wish though that ramiele could come up with a song that would really-wow-the-judges. she should pick a song that would really showcase her voice. like mariah carey or whitney houston. wherein their voices really will soar and impress simon cowell. please do it ramiele! please, please, please!!! D
in the meantime, i'll wait with a bated breath!

with the never ending rains that we are currently experiencing, and after praying that it will end soon, one is left with nothing to do but face the television. And hold the remote to look for interesting shows or movies.

this weekend we were lucky. We chanced upon the movie – the gods must be crazy! and have a grand time laughing at the antics of the African bushman and the white men who happened to be working in Africa.

D we chanced upon this movie during my high school or college days. I could not forget its description – “ a bottle of coke fell from heaven and Africa was never the same again.”
i don’t know if coke made this movie for their promotion, but it was an interesting premise. Out of the coke bottle, many things happened in Africa, that was not really related with the bottle but we get to see. D

the natives xi who got knocked by the bottle, the leading man who was studying the animals in Africa, the leading lady who was teaching the children in the mission, the debonair guy who runs a tourist safari, the rebels, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

the family had a really good laugh and fun. Though the movie was long ago, I’m sure it still applies to this day. I bet there are still people who haven’t seen coke in their lives. There’s still a man who feel like a fool when falling in love. There are still people who will take credit for himself even if he is not the one who did it. There are still teachers who are dedicated to teach the disadvantaged. And the rebels, of course, there are plenty of them in the midst of us.

to those who had not seen the movie, I say to you – go, see it at star movies. It will surely make your day. The gods really must have been crazy when they made this movie.

for several days now, i'm feeling down-and-out. but i'm trying to overcome this feeling. i don't want to burden myself with negative feelings. because, i believed not to "problem the problem and let the problem solved itself". but, i'm still affected. we (the husband and me) tried to console and cheer each other.
praying is a natural way for me in times like this. and listening to music. i've tried to think of positive ways. we tried to prioritized what problem to solved first and the next and the next. maybe our problem is not that heavy like the what the rest are experiencing. maybe its trivial for others. but, this is how i feel as if everything comes at the same time. why don't these problems come one-week-at-a-time? wherein this week a problem is solved and the following, another one to solved. but, life is not like that. our life, especially the unexpected are always beyond us. but then i guess, its not really "unexpected". maybe, we've seen it coming but was not prepared when it came.
well, that's it. talking about it helped me clear it off from my chest. and a little help from my friends lighten my feelings. and the great help from GOD keep me on the right track.
i'm back to my cheerful self again! D
GOD BLESS for sharing my problem!