An Uncle Turned 70

Instead of finishing my report, I went with my mom to Bicutan. It was my uncle's 70th birthday yesterday. Mom helped in the preparation of the food.

I was tasked to say a prayer, as follows:

"Thank You, Lord, for gathering us all together on this 70th birthday of Danny del Prado.

Thank You for the many happy years you have given Danny and Nene and their two children, Dewi and Dallah.

We, the friends and family of Danny are happy to celebrate the fact that at 70, he is as handsome as ever.

Please bless this sumptuous food before us, bless those who prepared this food, and bless those who have nothing to eat.

Bleass us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

They said it was a beautiful prayer but my voice and hands were shaking all the time! I must do something about my "nervous shakiness" (or is it shaky nervousness?).

Food was plentiful - chicken salad, lumpiang shanghai, kaldereta, lechon, lengua, fish, pancit, chop suey, chicken lollipop, and different kinds of dessert.

I watched a DVD of Celine Dion. Nice!

I barely slept during the night. "Namahay" as they would say.

We borrowed eight books. Yay.

As regards my report, the Client said no hurry. It's Holy Week next week anyway and they will not be able to see the report. Another yay.

Of Varied Stuff

I have just two more sections to go in my long report, Part 2. I can do some more work tonight or call it a day and resume tomorrow. Anyway, my personal deadline is Friday when I will get paid the balance for this project.

I clarified with a research agency if the fee they will be giving me is a monthly retainer or not (even if I don't have projects). Yes it is. Yehey. I have money to pay for my medicines. Answered prayer. Thank You, Lord!

Nothing's good on TV these days. That's why I've been reading a book instead. On mystery stories. Nice but I miss James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark and the like.

Mom is back from the hospital. She had yet another procedure on her bladder. She's "stone-prone".

The mom of yet another batchmate died recently of cancer. Parents of people my age are dying. Lord, please don't take my mom just yet. I need her.

Okay, that's about it. I'm hungry. I guess I will eat the leftover tofu from Max's that my son brought home.

Here's a pretty picture.

One Down, Another to Follow

I'm done with the first of my two-part report. I am working on Part 2, which is easier.

It's past 6 pm. I have a choice of continuing to work or watching television.

I will see first what's showing.

Last night, I watched the Binibining Pilipinas Pageant. My choices did not make it to the finals. Means I am a poor judge of beauty. Ha ha.

Forgot to relate a funny story. One time when I was not feeling well, my mom took my temperature using the new digital thermometer she got from Citibank Rewards. She was wondering why my temp remained normal at 37.

When mom showed the thermometer to family members, turned out there was a sticker with 37 on it! Ha ha.

Almost There

I am working on a two-part report. I am almost done with Part 1. Whew!

I am officially closing shop for the day.

It's dinner time. I will eat Chooks chicken again. (My sister and niece brought some for lunch and there was some leftover chicken. It tastes good! No need for sauce, as advertised.)

Later, I am looking forward to watching a movie on television. I hope there's something nice.

The family is planning a summer outing. Beach with swimming pool. I can't swim but I sure will enjoy the fresh air for a change. And the company, of course.

It's been ages since I last went to the beach. Yahoo!

A Vivid Dream

Last night, I had a vivid dream...of one of my former boyfriends. Let's call him Joey (not his real name).

We were in a sort of round room, big enough for a small audience. There was an on-the-spot dance contests and Joey and I were the first contestants. I apologized for not being able to dance well - my back ached.

There was a tray of all sort of products that can be sprayed on. They were shouting to the judges to use a spray on Joey's thing so that it will swell. But I said, "No, just give him something that would make him smell good." Then, I woke up.

Joey is my second boyfriend. But he hurt me emotionally because he "three-timed" me. The other girls were a sexy girl with big boobs who danced well, the other was a pretty girl with long straight hair who later became a bit actress.

On Valentine's Day, Joey made me believe he still loved me because he brought me three red roses.

But then, I insisted that he bring me to their ball. (He was the president of one of the student organizations.) We ate at the presidential table. We had the first dance. Then suddenly, Ms. Sexy Girl became his partner and Joey's best friend became my partner.

Later, when I was on my way to the ladies' room, Joey was on the phone with the other pretty girl who baked him some brownies.

It was Joey's friend who brought me home.

It was the most embarrassing night of my life!

But I'm 50 now. I think I dreamt that dream because it's a sign that I should forgive everyone who has hurt me in the past.

So Joey, wherever you are, I forgive you. You were young then. Insecure as you said. I remember we already chatted in Facebook and asked for forgiveness. And I said then that I forgive you. The dream? It's just a reminder that there are other Joey's out there who need my forgiveness.

And I need to forgive myself, too, for all the people I have hurt. There are many.

World, forgive me! I am but human.

Shaky Fingers, Family Get-Together

I'm working on a long report but my hands keep shaking! Hope it's not Parkinson's. I searched the net. It could just be tea. I've been drinking iced tea every afternoon while working. So I didn't drink any today. True enough. My hands became steadier.

Yesterday, we had another fun family get-together. It was for mom's birthday, our balikbayan cousin, and the graduates in the family. We will have another get-together for the other April birthday celebrants.

Food was simple - sushi/maki, Pancit Malabon, chicken inasal, chicken salad, manggang hilaw with bagoong, buco pie, and mais con hielo. There was picture taking as our cousin, Karen, brought her camera.

Funny, I wore an old pair of shoes. Before I knew it, parts of the sole started to come off! Pieces were scattered all over the floor!

My niece is asking help in doing her paper. She will come over on Wednesday. I'm proud of her! Her grade average is that of summa cum laude. So she was able to get a scholarship abroad for a year.

A research agency is finally signing me on starting April 1. Maybe they have work for me already. Yehey. I do need regular work.

A Great Day...

It's April Fool's Day. It has been a great day so far, and it's not over yet!

We were early for our presentation. The car got fixed so we didn't have to take a cab.

I started with "It's April 1. Happy April Fool's Day everyone". Of course, the audience laughed. But as usual, my hands were shaking at the start. Shortly later, I was much more relaxed and was able to answer the questions.

The top executive said "That was very good! Thank you!" and that made all the efforts and troubles worth while.

Since it is mom's birthday, we ate at our favorite restaurant, Sushi-Ya in Tomas Morato. We ordered bento box. Mom had pork teriyaki and I ordered sukiyakidon (thinking of the soup, but that meant rice topping if you have a "don"). I ate green tea ice cream. Not bad.

Mom was tired she went to sleep. (She is still sleeping now.)

I wasn't sleepy. I decided to reward myself by coloring in two of my coloring books. One was a picture of a pretty princess on a boat. The other was on a display of cakes, candy canes, and pastries. What fun!

Now, I have a choice of doing some work, listening to music, watching TV, reading...

Oh well, a great day and it ain't over yet!