Goodbye, 2010!

I think I've had enough of lechon this season but tomorrow, we will still have lechon for our New Year family gettogether. I think I will just concentrate on my uncle's famous kaldereta.

I was thinking that I was able to eat practically all the food I love except kare-kare. Then, suddenly, last night, a family friend gave us kare-kare! She also sent us rellenong manok (stuffed chicken). It was still warm and oh how delicious!

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So, it's the last day of the year. I had only two new year's resolutions if I remember right:

1) To be as loving as I can
2) To do the will of God

I tried to do these two as much as I can but I failed sometimes. Sorry, Lord.

It has been a good year altogether, not great, but good.

...I had a number of marketing research projects which brought some money in. Not enough but still something to give to my mom for expenses.

...I had a relapse of my multiple myeloma but only by 1%.

...I finished reading the Bible.

...I completed a script for a short movie.

...I rekindled friendships.

...I became closer to my mom and son.

...I wrote a book.

...I drew nearer to the Lord.

...I discovered Scrabble in FB.

...I gained friends in FB.

...I watched only one movie outside (with my son) but was able to view several movies at home.

...I think I have improved my writing style.

I grew a year older, hopefully wiser...but always, corny.

Goodbye, 2010! Welcome, 2011!

Funny Movie Last Night, Good Deed Today

I had the good fortune of watching a funny movie last night, entitled "Major Movie Star", starring Jessica Simpson. She plays Megan Valentine, a movie star specializing in comedy who nobody takes seriously, not even her boyfriend (who turns out to be gay and sleeping with her manager). Her uncle spends all her money so she's broke.

So, she decides to join the US Army. But being used to being pampered, she brings her group to all sort of extra trouble. Her training officer hates her and so does most of the other recruits. Megan wants out but she has already signed a contract with the government.

As the movie progresses, Megan gets close to a few other girls. Just when things get cozy, Megan's agent comes to the "rescue", upon discovering that Megan was not given a physical and aptitude exam before signing the contract. She leaves, leaving her new friends bitter.

Megan, now grown up, decides to finish what she started. She does return and finishes with amazing flourish.

And oh, there's a romantic angle with a male training officer. He's cute.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Praise God for free good movies on television.
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Today, my mom's "masahista" (masseuse) came. She was saying that her children were begging her for macaroni salad and fruit salad. So, mom and I gave her several ingredients for both salads, plus spaghetti. There was mayonnaise, elbow macaroni, cheese, pickles, pineapple chunks/tidbits, raisins, fruit cocktail, all-purpose cream, condensed milk, spaghetti sauce, and spaghetti pasta. I'm sure her family will be very happy!

It feels good doing a good deed.

Done!

Don't you feel good inside when you have completed something you haven't done for a long time?

Well, yesterday, I finished my screenplay, "Lotto Ticket". It's the trilogy I've been blogging about. Hope my director-friend likes it.

Now, I am inspired to continue my "Mundo ni Minda" script.

Other ideas brewing in my mind are...

..."Inutil" - three abused boys grow up painfully remembering how their parents maltreated them. They are almost destined to failure. Until one of them, the most pathetic, decided to get away from his past and go for success and happiness in life. Of course, not without the encouragement of significant persons.

..."Mag-Ina" - a dramatic comedy of a 80 year old mother and her 50 year old daughter who is sick with a debilitating illness. Thus, instead of the daughter taking care of the mom, the reverse is true. But she makes up for it by making her mom laugh, smile, and help in any way she can.

..."Sinong Dakila?" - about OFWs in different parts of the world and their pains, sorrows as well as the joys and successes that come their way. There is also their family here in the country and their loneliness and sacrifices.

What do you think?
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I'm already in the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. After that, some short letters then finally, Revelation! Looks like I will be able to meet my Bible-reading deadline, after all. Hurrah!

Scriptwriting

It has been a while since I last wrote a script. The last one was when I joined the Palanca contest for stageplays. I lost. Sniff.

Now, I am writing my lotto trilogy. I was inspired yesterday, I was able to write two out of the three stories in the movie. Problem is, production wise, the movie might be costly because there is a lot of characters in it. Oh well, I will leave that to the director and producer. But as a writer, I try to minimize the cost as much as I can without affecting the impact of the movie.

Money came in today. It went straight to my mom. She was happy that she didn't have to go to the bank to withdraw cash.

My aunt visited us for lunch. We had prawns and lechon. And various desserts. I wasn't hungry and just ate one piece and some honeydew.

An old friend of theirs emailed me and he had a message for my mom and my aunt. They both read the letter and responded to it. I was their secretary.

I was able to contact a good friend of mom through FB. Another great reason for keeping an FB account!

Movies...They Make My Day

Recently, I was able to watch movies (or parts of).

One was "In My Life", starring Vilma Santos, Luis Manzano and John Lloyd Cruz. Ate Vi was spectacular. John Lloyd also performed very well. Luis could do better.

Then, part of "Anastasia", the animated version with Meg Ryan and John Cussack as voice talents. I've always loved Disney films, to this day.

I re-watched "Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis. It's action-packed with enough humor and tender moments.

Today, I viewed part of "Magkaibigan" led by Christopher de Leon and Jinggoy Estrada. The script was excellent, written by Jose Javier Reyes. (I am now inspired to write my script). The movie was a tribute to Rudy "Daboy" Fernandez, who died of cancer.

Which leads me to recall what my doctor said without looking at me. She was looking at my mom. "There is no cure for myeloma".

So, I am a dying person. But Lord knows how many days, months or years I have left. I wonder, what else does God want me to do? As of now, I feel worthless because I am barely earning enough to pay for my medicines. I do enjoy my job but my medical expenses are really so high!

By being on the receiving end, is the Lord teaching me humility? Is He touching people's hearts to reach out to me?

Maybe, before I go, there is some other mission that God wants me to fulfill. Write more books and scripts, perhaps?

Lord, please use me. I am Your willing servant.

Sick on Christmas Eve and Day

I'm sick with colds, cough, and fever.

So ironically, I wasn't able to attend our family Christmas get-together. Too bad!

I didn't want to spread my germs to my nieces and nephews.

Oh well, there is New Year's celebration.

Still Another Party

Last night, I attended yet another party. I didn't have a ride but was very lucky because the guard called a cab for me, and later when going home, I found a cab right away. (The guy I was supposed to hitch with did not join the party. He just came to give his gift to the CEO.)

The theme was Hawaiian. So many wore leis and grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts.

But since the venue was Kowloon, the food was typical Chinese - Nido soup, sweet and sour pork, fried rice, fried chicken, lumpiang shanghai, pancit canton, and buchi.

They made me one of the five judges. There were about 8 groups which performed. Four of which were very good.

There were raffle prizes and give-aways. I received a calendar, notepad, and a towel.

I ordered monggong siopao for mom, two pairs. Her favorite.

I was home before 12 midnight.

What fun!

Two Parties in a Day

Yesterday, I attended two parties.

For lunch, my cousin had a birthday party at his house. His mom spent for all the food including lechon, pancit canton, sinigang sa misu, KFC, ice cream. Later, there were sandwiches and chocolate roll.

My aunt gave me a Christmas card and a Pleasures perfume. My other aunt gave me P200. Yehey.

I brought my Sudoku and answered one puzzle. After lunch, I took a long nap. Before returning to the party, I prayed the rosary.

When we reached home, I opened my inbox and saw that I needed to revise a questionnaire. So I worked on it.

I got ready for another party, a company Christmas party, with Arabian nights as the theme. Mom lent me her long skirt and flat shoes, bangles and necklace.

I waited long for my ride so we were late.

The food was good especially the pasta, the fish fillet and the beef with mashed potatoes.

We were made judges to two contests: a group dance contest and a costume contest. Two contestants mispronounced the word "sequins" as "sequence". I wanted to correct them but held my tongue so as not to spoil the night.

There were give-aways and we received a bag of goodies, a mug and wine.

I was home before 12 midnight.

I had a great time!

Tonight, I have still another party. Another Christmas party of a marketing research agency. I have a ride going home already. Going there, I will just have to take a cab.

Exhausted!

For the second night in a row, I attended a party. This time, a birthday party.

I was fetched by a friend and there was no traffic, surprisingly.

The food was great - lasagna, lengua, chicken, shrimp, lechon, and lots of dessert. There was salad and crab but I didn't get any.

When the drizzle became stronger, we had to go for cover. They brought a table and we grabbed chairs.

Conversation was the usual "alaskahan" because we were with college friends. One of us was newly elected president of the Ateneo Alumni Association. So people are asking him for tickets to basketball games. We have another friend who is coming home for the holidays so we ought to plan what to do when he is around.

Someone who left early gave away stromboli as Christmas presents. We all texted him to say "Thanks for the s-tinapay".

We were among the last to leave, as usual.

I was so exhausted I slept practically the whole day today!

Fun Night

I attended a company Christmas party last night.

It was fun!

The theme was "Las Vegas". So instead of ordinary numbers, we had playing cards as our raffle ticket. Mine was the eight of diamonds. I won a basket of ingredients for salad. I was given red wine and queso de bola also, plus an anti-radiation patch for my celphone.

I was one of the three judges for the three contests.

Before dinner, there was a fashion show which we judged. The top three we had to ask to model again to break the tie.

Dinner consisted of lasagna, vegetable kare-kare, beef, chicken, cream of mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and lechon. Yummy! There was scramble the whole evening.

Two other contests were group dance and showtime (talent) contests. We were told to give our comments after each performance. We were brutally frank in our assessment.

A couple of professional dancers performed three dance numbers. They were good!

The CEO gave service awards and other annual awards like productivity award and quality conscious award.

There was picture-taking, of course.

The guy I was supposed to ride with had to go home early. It's a good thing, there was somebody who lives nearby and was taking a cab home, too. We immediately found a taxi so going home was not a problem after all.

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Today, I saw my hematologist. My lab results are all fine. She said that Thalidomide is running out. Scared, my mom asked me to order four boxes, good till February.

My doctor scolded me about dancing. I shouldn't do that anymore, she said, because my bones might break. Oh well, good-bye to dancing!

And I really have to lose weight! Not with these holidays...

Random Thoughts

I worked on a short report yesterday. A re-analysis, actually. Easy.
No matter how short or easy a project is, I welcome it. Rather than staring into space, doing nothing. He he.

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I finished reading the Old Testament. Finally! Tomorrow, I shall start reading the New Testament. I love the stories of the Old Testament. Some are funny. Others are romantic. Most speak of the need to be faithful to God.

I'm pretty familiar with the Gospels. So, I'm eager to re-read them and move on to the rest of the New Testament. By year-end, I would have finished reading the entire Bible. Yehey.

Then, I shall re-read it, including all the footnotes for greater understanding. After which, I will read other versions. Wow, I'm becoming a Bible fanatic!
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Tonight, I am attending the Christmas party of a marketing research agency. I attended their parties in the past. Last year, they made me judge in their contests. They might make me judge again tonight.

I have a ride going there. I was worried about how I would go home. Last night, I chatted with someone who used to be employed by the agency. He asked if I was going. I said yes and then said I needed help going home. He said he will bring me home. I don't think he has a car but I'm sure he will help me find a cab. Thank You, Lord!

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Even tomorrow, I thought I won't be able to attend another birthday party. But looks like I will have a ride, too.

God makes a way...always.

Friends from 27 Years Ago

What Facebook can do!

A friend from 27 years ago contacted me through FB recently and we became "friends". Another former officemate "be-friended" me.

And today, they and one other person dropped by the condo to visit me. They brought Pancit Malabon and brojas.

We ate and reminisced about those times. RSRI was my first job and they were my officemates. We laughed and exchanged jokes. There was picture-taking as well.

They said I still look pretty but I gained weight and lost height ha ha. So true! (especially the "pretty" part).

I gave away copies of my first book. They left, happy. I was glad to have been visited. What a joyful day!

Hangover

I didn't drink beer last Saturday but I still have a "hangover".

More pictures have come in.

Here are some of them...

Celebrating 50

Last night, I attended my friend's 50th birthday party.

It was a lot of fun! I saw old friends from way back college.

The food was delicious - fettucine carbonara, pastel de lengua, callos, fish fillet, two kinds of rice. Drinks were plentiful but I stuck to iced tea and water.

There was a funny video presentation of Felix through the years. It was prepared by his children.

Then, there was dancing for hours! Most of it, swing as in the 70's - 80's. I danced a little but I had to stop.

Have you ever experienced not being able to breathe? That's exactly how I felt after dancing for just a while. It's a good thing I didn't faint.

Here are some pictures from the party:

Here Come the Parties!

Yesterday, my mom and I had breakfast with a family friend. We had java rice, tapa, bangus, orange juice, and fruits. Wonderful! They were supposed to go to Shopwise or S&R but they changed their minds.

This week, I worked on a report, a questionnaire, and a proposal. For different clients.

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Starting tomorrow, I will be attending parties:

Dec. 11 - my friend's 50th birth party
Dec. 17 - an agency's Christmas party
Dec. 18 - a friend's annual Christmas party
Dec. 21 - my cousin's birthday party (lunch)
Dec. 21 - an agency's Christmas party (dinner)
Dec. 22 - an agency's Christmas party
Dec. 25 - family Christmas party

On Tuesday, some friends from way back (officemates at the very first company I worked for) will be visiting. Yehey!

Yes, it is the season to be jolly. I may not have the money to go shopping but it's great to see friends and have fun with other people.

Romantic Drama

Last night, I watched a romantic drama (for a change), entitled "Love Happens", starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart. There were funny moments. It was good, but not great. End of review.







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I spent the most part of today doing a questionnaire. I enjoyed working on it. It's nice to have a new project (and source of income).

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We had spaghetti for lunch today. My verdict? Could be better but I appreciate my mom's culinary efforts.

So for dinner, she improved on the spaghetti. Less sweet. More sour. Result? More delectable!
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Humor:

Last Thursday, mom and my son went to the grocery. I asked mom to buy me Rexona deodorant, any variant (kahit ano).

When they returned, she gave me the deodorant, same brand but of a different variant than the one I was using. She said she looked for "kahit ano" but couldn't find it. He he.

Don't you hate it when you're trying to recall a joke but cannot remember it?
Well, today (or was it yesterday?), mom cracked a joke. A pun, actually so I enjoyed it. But for some reason, I can't remember it! Oh well, as soon as I recall it, I will post it in this blog. Ha ha.

What If...

Sometimes crazy thoughts come to my mind.

Like, what if...I became both blind and deaf? Will I be able to face a world of darkness and silence?

A world of -

...no faces

...no voices

...no sunsets

...no flowers

...no music

...no Internet

...no television

...no movies

...no coloring books

...the list is verrrrrrrry long!

But then, I would still have the sense of taste, the sense of touch, and the sense of smell, such that I can savor and appreciate -

...the taste of all kinds of food

...the taste of various types of beverages

...the comforting touch of a friend or loved one

...the feel of soap on my skin

...the sweet smell of perfume

...the lovely fragrance of flowers

...the list is also verrrry long!

If I were both blind and deaf, I will try to learn braille so I can read and communicate through it. I will try to write more books to earn money since I can no longer work as a marketing research consultant.

Oh well, no use thinking of something that is not likely to happen anyway.

Thank You, Lord, for the gifts of sight and hearing!
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A flower for you:

Not Meant to Be

Someone won the P741+ million jackpot in the lotto. The winning number is 11, 16, 31, 42, 37, 47.
I have a number 2, 11, 18, 32, 41, 24 or 55 but I didn't actually buy a ticket. Ha ha. I was not meant to be the winner. Which is just good. I wouldn't be able to stand the pressure!

I have been busy these past three days writing my 4-group FGD report. The Client wanted it to be verbatim-heavy. So, I ended up with about 90 slides. I woke up at 4 this morning to start working. I asked Client what time their office hours end. She said, 5 pm. So, I submitted the report at 4:30 pm. Talk about photo finish! I've had to take three naps throughout the day. Now, I'm about to call it a day.

Tomorrow is rest day. Or, I can start my script on the lotto trilogy already. I'm asking for sample scripts from my friends.

I love roses. Here's one for you: