First Friday

I was early for First Friday mass so I was able to go to Confession. Feels good to be granted forgiveness, attend mass and receive Holy Communion.

The homily was about the three elements of prayer: prayer of faith, expectant prayer, and prayer of charity. I should be reminded of this whenever I pray for something such as the successful conduct of my FGD.

I am also praying the 24 Glory Be Novena to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. It starts with a short prayer. Then 24 Glory Be's with "St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Pray for Us" in between.

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Another UAI (usage, attitude and image) study came in. I have to formulate the questionnaire but it seems difficult. Requires a lot of thinking. Another challenge.

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On March 18, there will be a joint celebration among Maryknollers who turned 50 (or will turn 50). No dinner fees required. Hope I can make it.

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Tomorrow, I will be watching my niece dance ballet. It's good to get out of the condo to be entertained.

A Quiet Birthday

Last night, my son brought home delicious pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. Mom loved it. She said she is not a pizza lover but this one, she adored.

Today, a family friend treated me and mom to breakfast at Alex III. I had longganisa, sinigang, two fried eggs and dalandan juice. Mom had tapsilog and our friend had arroz caldo.

We passed by our old house in Matulungin. Pink house with violet gates. No longer fushia. Haha.

No visitors came and no one invited me out for my birthday. So it's a quiet birthday for me.

Ate steak at home with corn.

But I was thrilled by the deluge of greetings through text, email and FB! So many, I couldn't count. That alone made my day.

After a long nap, I worked on FGD guides and screeners. It's a working birthday indeed.

That doesn't mean that this is the end of my celebration. I will be going out with friends to celebrate.

So how does it feel to be HALF a century old? Quite old. Seems like ages ago when I was young and pretty. I miss the "good old days" when I could dance, drive, walk long distances, etc. But, I'm glad that I carry with me now the lessons learned from the past. The strength gained from all the trials I have gone through. The friendships forged through the years. Oh, I'm becoming sentimental. Is that a sign of aging? Ha ha.

Happy Heart Day!

It's Valentine's day and I have no official "valentine". So what?

I made a booboo in FB. I wrote, "On Feb 18, I will be turning gold. It's great to be a century old!" A friend immediately corrected me so I had to write, "I stand corrected. It's great to be half a century old!"

Already, friends are greeting me.

But alas, on my birthday, I have a 2 pm Client meeting. Sure, I will have breakfast at Alex III. And some friends might come over for lunch. But it would have to be a quick lunch because I will be fetched at about 1 pm.

I revised a report today. Converted summary tables into diagrams. Thanks to Powerpoint, the task was relatively easy.

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Sssh. I have a surprise for mom. I asked my son to buy her a rose or three roses since its VD today. She keeps saying that she loves receiving flowers and that she misses the times when Kuya (my older brother) would give her roses on Valentine's Day. Hope she appreciates the gesture.

When It Rains...

...it pours!

I was able to finish my report on time. I'm working on the other one and will surely finish by tomorrow.

Up and coming are:

...another project from the same client. I'm supposed to do the questionnaire already so it's a sure thing.

...two projects from a recent client. Almost certain as well.

...three projects from my regular client. Also 100% to be passed on to me.

That's six projects already.

And on Wednesday, I have a client meeting. Don't know yet if we will be discussing projects already.

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It's my birthday month and already I have several "dates":

...on February 17, my mom, son and myself will eat at Kamayan (eat all you can) along EDSA because Thursday is my son's day-off.

...on February 18 (my birthday), a family friend will treat me and my mom to breakfast at Alex III.

...Three client-friends have agreed to treat me out.

And I haven't texted some friends yet to tell them I will be turning 50 this February. Ha ha. Not many people can get away with the way I "co-erce" people.

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I'm being asked to come up with a write-up on my learnings on the mentoring of Mr. Nestor Torre. It's a good thing the deadline is next week. Plenty of time to write a good essay. It's the least I could do for all NUT has done for me as a writer.

Another 5oth Bday Celebration

Yesterday, I attended another 50th birthday celebration. That of Beda, a classmate in Maryknoll High School.

It was held in Red Roaster along Esteban Abada near Miriam College.

The food was great - caesar's salad, corn, chicken, liempo, fish fingers, fettucine, iced tea. I didn't eat the cake of course although it looked delicious. I just love the fish fingers with mayonnaise dip!

Other Maryknollers were Grace (who fetched me), Stella, Ces and Bernie. Bombit Fucio joined our table later in the night.

Conversation was about old times, getting old, and politics.