Truly, this past weekend’s celebration was very poignant for us because, first, the next time we will be celebrating his birthday, we are going to be living in another country. Second, by then there will be four of us in the family instead of our usual three. Third, and most importantly, we were not only celebrating his birthday but offering up a thanksgiving, too, for having survived a calamity, which occurred exactly a day after hubby’s birthday last year.

No longer will this time of the year hold just a celebration for hubby’s life on earth, but more so an acknowledgment of God’s power, love, and mercy in the face of life’s tests and challenges also. Like hubby’s birthday, Ondoy has become such a part of our lives that we are not so likely to forget it.

So, happy birthday to the love of my life. Thank you for always being my inner tube, my interior gulong, my salbabida, the one who continues to lift me up and above the raging floodwaters of life. Thank you for being the father that you are to Ninna, and the father you will be to Bunso – you are the breath in their lungs, the umbrella over their heads, the warmth in their souls, the strength in their arms, and the smile in their hearts.

We love you so much, Papa. Happy birthday.

2. Nauseous pregnant woman watching Hoarders.

3. Fragile pregnant woman wishing for “exercise”. At the mall.

4. Unemployed pregnant woman window shopping at Amazon.com.

5. Tired pregnant woman catching a nap before first grader comes home.

6. Tired pregnant woman napping (again) with newly-arrived first grader.

7. Indifferent pregnant woman ignoring (breakfast and lunch) dish pile in the sink.

8. Hungry pregnant woman watching Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

9. Hormonal pregnant woman watching Last Song.

10. Hungry, hormonal, supposedly sedentary pregnant woman confronted with a yummy-looking Sarciado photo by Ces on Facebook, and pregnant woman looking in the fridge and seeing she was out of tomatoes, running (well, more like crawling) down three flights of stairs, crossing the road on a hot, hot day, shielded by a broken umbrella, and propelled only by thoughts of a yummy lunch, to neighbor’s house to make utang a couple of tomatoes, just so she could cook the said dish. (Special shout-out to my wonderful neighbor/instant suking tindahan, Mother Daisy! Thanks!!)

11. Pregnant woman eating for three.

Sarciado over a strip of Crispy Bangus Belly. Kasalanan mo ito, Ces! And Beng na rin, hehe!

Then again, maybe that particular one wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.

So there we were, minding our own business on the left turn lane, waiting for the arrow to turn green, when suddenly hubby started to blow his horn really loudly. At first, I didn’t know why because I was looking out the window (nagmumuni-muni). And then I saw it, too. The reverse light of the huge black Chevy SUV in front of us was on, and there she went backing up into us, tow hitch and all.  *BLAG*

How’s that for an uneventful Walgreens run?

The most irritating thing about this was, the lady who was driving the Chevy blamed us for the accident! We bumped her daw from behind. Hello?

The most wonderful part about this naman was, another lady in a white car who saw the whole thing came back around to serve as witness to the accident. She didn’t have to, she was late for work, but she still stopped to help.  Thank you, Liz! She’s our angel.

So the police came (and quite speedily I may add. Thumbs up, Frisco PD!), interviewed everybody and, despite the presence of the witness, the Chevy lady still denied everything.  Even her husband who arrived late on the scene blamed us, haha! *rolls eyes*

Our Dora now has a tennis ball shaped dimple on the front bumper. I would like to say that the dimple adds to her personality but I rather liked her better when she was flawless. Anyway, hubby and I are fine albeit a little shaken and a little mad.  I would take that anytime, though, than something else that could have been much worse.

Oh well, its just the start of the day. It can only get better.

Good morning, everyone! Stay safe. Watch out for black Chevy SUVs backing up.

After several agonizing weeks of three digit temps, the rain is a welcome break. Although…

Hubby, who took Ninna to school this morning, was drenched to the bones – to think he was out in the rain for only a couple of seconds. Funny, pero kawawa. Ninna (with her coat and princess umbrella) was the only person dry in that school, I think.

News reports tell us that parts of Arlington have already been flooded – on TV it actually is very reminiscent of Ondoy, but for the sake of maintaining positive vibes, I’m not even going to go there.

As the rain heavily overflows from the gutters while I’m typing this, I couldn’t help but think of other things that have been pouring in lately. Like, how many women I know are also pregnant. It’s not like there has been a pregnancy dry spell among my friends at all but everything seemed to be just a trickle, a sprinkling, until you suddenly find yourself part of the deluge – the pregnant girls deluge.

And that, my friends, is the segue.

Here’s my list, which will probably give Babies R Us’ baby registry a run for its money: Jill, my neighbor is expecting a baby girl. My grade school friend, Jeng, found out she was preggy about a week ago. My high school friends, Eds and Emy, are both preggy, too. As for my college friends, Mads, is ahead of me by about four weeks and Dyes is looking forward to meeting her baby girl in person any day now.  Four of hubby’s officemates’ wives are also pregnant (their EDDs are actually separated only by a matter of days!) and a female co-worker of his is also pregnant, too. Not to mention, a couple of former officemates of mine recently gave birth (effectively reducing the preggy count by two).

Unfortunately, my friends P and B would have been mommies, too, but perhaps God has other plans for them. My love and my hugs go out them and their little angels.

I’m just really glad that a lot of my friends are experiencing what I am experiencing right now. It’s great to be not alone in this.

So that’s what I’m musing about right now.  (Which is probably better than thinking of crunchy kropeks raining from the sky with melted rocky road ice cream being poured over it…)

~~~

A special shout-out the the ultimate mother. Happy birthday, Mama Mary! Thank you for continuing to keep watch over us.

This time, I still have the same bleeding issues (though much less scary and more manageable than Ninna’s), but – I guess you really have to be careful with what you wish for – I now have all of the classic symptoms. All of them.

I used to have nausea in the afternoon (instead of in the morning), now I have it at all times of the day every day (which is why instead of me driving her, Ninna now takes the school bus, and happily too if I may add). I’m always so tired (i.e. fatigued) as if my little buddy is sapping the energy right out of me.  I super smell everything, too, which adds to the never ending nausea. I’ve craved for adobong mani, footlong chili hotdogs, red seedless grapes, carbonara with fat pasta noodles, and even boy bawang. I know some of these aren’t healthy but, to me its all about eating happy.

And you know what the best part of all of this is? I have the best neighbors. My neighbors feed me, haha! I’ve been surprised and supplied with pancit, a cassava cake, siomai dumplings, and tapa on the days when I feel most awful. Sometimes, my inability to cook for my family depresses me, knowing I can’t turn out a good, warm, hearty meal for them, lest I faint in the kitchen when the room starts to spin. Hopefully, that will change soon once I recover from the first term fatigue. I have to say it. I love my neighbors!!!

It’s the long Labor Day weekend and usually, we take advantage of this and drive off somewhere nice and far. This time, the farthest I’ll ever travel  is from the bed to the couch. Haay. I won’t let that get me down, though, because I was like this with Ninna too (bound to the house) but then, we more than made up for the travel while she was growing up. There will be other Labor Days and by then, there will be four of us travelling.

~~~

An update on my condition.

(This one might get a little graphic, so consider yourself warned).

We saw the doctor last Thursday to check on my spotting issues. As it turns out, the doctor found a huge, long polyp in my cervix, which she said was probably causing the bleeding. The doctor took it out (I would have taken a picture of it but it was just too gross, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see it no matter how curious you are), and advised me to rest for a week more.

For two days now, I haven’t been spotting! Yey!

The little bud is growing in my tummy as scheduled, perfect length and hearbeat and all. I’ll glue my butt to the couch if need be, for as long as I have to, just to see my little buddy wave at me again during our sonogram sessions.  The long drive to New Orleans can wait. I love my baby more than the beignets, oysters, jambalaya, gumbo, andouille sausages, and shrimps… *sigh*

Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone! For those doing some driving, have a safe and fun trip! As for me, I’ll try not to exceed the speed limit for couch surfing.

~~~

The little bud at 11 weeks.

So here’s the news and it’s very good.

Ninna entered first grade last Monday. And, seven years from now her baby brother or sister will be entering first grade, too. How about that?

Two milestones in this blessed mommy’s life: a budding girl, and a little bud. True to the cliche, my cup runneth over.

And although seven years separate them, without a doubt, I am probably going to experience the same anxiety and pride as I did on Ninna’s first day at elementary school, I am no doubt going to fret about my child making new friends, I will probably have sleepless nights thinking about nutritional lunch ideas that my little pupil will actually eat, and no doubt will I be as ecstatic for the glittery stars and happy face stamps on her workbooks and art work.

Most especially, I am going to love both of my sweet peas with all of my heart. Without a doubt.

So, that’s it. See, I told you the news was good.

To my friends who still follow this blog (or at least care where in the world we are), we are now in Dallas, Texas. Yeehaw! We arrived in the middle of June via another long drive half-way across the continent from Los Angeles. But even before that, as I mentioned in my previous post, we also went up to Canada to check out our future home (*wink*).

Here are some snapshots of our journey leading up to where we are now. Hopefully, it will less confuse all of us. Grab a drink and your popcorn, this is going to be one looooong ride.

Presenting…

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD JUST GOT LONGER AND EVEN MORE WINDING

We left the Philippines for Los Angeles (via Narita) on the third week of May. It was a relatively relaxed trip mostly because Ninna is, as always, a real trooper when it comes to flying (or traveling, in general).

Ninna (modeling her C2 shirt from Tita Monet) at Narita with Pusa, her Littlest Pet Shop cat (from Tita Macky). To date, this is her fave tomodachi and she never leaves home without it.

As for me, I had in my possession a stash of Royce chocolates given to me as a going away present by my friend Ellaine. I and my chocolates felt totally at home on Japanese soil, haha! (Thanks, mother! Just don’t ask me how much the chocolates were at the airport. It’s enough to incite harakiri! )

When we got to LA, my now favoritest uncle (naks!), Tito Dan, gave us free passes to both Disneyland and California Adventure.

My family and I have been to Disneyworld in Florida lots of times but, it was hubby’s and Ninna’s first time to hobnob with Mickey and his friends out west.

Oh my, what big ears you have! The better to blend in with the parade!

Hannah Montana T-shirt? Check! Mickey ears? Check! Disco music? Check! Street parade? Check! When the cast members asked for dancers, my little girl was ready and extra wiling!

Since we’ve previously been to Disney parks, I didn’t really expect anything new. That is, until Tito Dan insisted that we watch the Broadway-style musical performance of Aladdin at the Hyperion Theater at California Adventure. We saw Beauty and the Beast at Disneyworld Hollywood Studios a few years back but, after watching Aladdin, I have a new favorite – and that’s mostly because of the super funny Genie! Of course, spending the day at the park seemed to be the best way to beat jetlag because the activities almost kept us awake the entire day – that is, until my husband and Ninna slept through Aladdin. Oh well.

So anyway, not yet completely recovering from jetlag, we boarded another plane off and upward towards Calgary, Canada a few days later, just in time for the Victoria Day long weekend.

Airport na naman, eh?

It was the most interesting airport, though – we were greeted by a yawning hippo. Yup, really.

Say AAAAHHHH!

If there is one thing I can say about the people of Calgary, they are the nicest bunch of people I have ever met! Although the weather there was freakishly cold for the month of May (at least for us tropical peeps), the people there were extremely warm! I love them!

After a day or two of taking care of paperwork and other official matters, we then played tourists!

We heart Calgary! Are you ready for us?

Baring our necks at the Calgary Tower.

Going up. Way up!

At the top of the tower, they have a glass floor that you can step on to get a feeling that you’re standing over the city. It took me a few minutes to summon enough zen to put even a foot on it. Eventually, despite shaky knees and all, I gingerly took a step, all the while thinking “what if the glass floor chose to give way at the exact point when I took that step?”. Well, it would have been a mere 525 foot drop, with all 525 pieces of my body splattered all over downtown Calgary.

I still get goosebumps looking at this picture.

Omnipotent. Mwahaha!

And lastly, the highlight of our trip (at least for me) was finally meeting in person one of the nicest, most accommodating people I’ve ever met online. Not only that, I also met her beautiful family, all while she fed us a wonderful home-cooked meal, too! Being the only person in Calgary I could trust at that time, I sort of plunged her into the role of accidental liaison – and she accepted the responsibility with much grace and generosity. Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve ever said “please” and “thank you” to anybody these past few weeks more than I’ve had with her.

So thank you, Jo and Mike, for all of your help. Thank you also to your beautiful kids for being wonderful to our Ninna. I can’t wait until we would be the ones to invite you into our home and at our dinner table – preferably just next door to you.

EB! It was a pleasure to finally meet you in person at your beautiful home, sis Jo. To date, hubby still cannot get Mike’s wireless entertainment system out of his head, haha!

As a last hurrah on the day before we were headed back to the US, we drove northwest to Market Mall, which is probably the 4th mall we went to while in Calgary, hehe! What can I say, homeostasis starts with malling.

Here is Ninna taking advantage of the “final” time she could play in the kids’ soft play area. She was first refused access because the kids had to be under 46 inches to play. The nice lady allowed her to play for one last time. But next time, no more. Awww.

Wake up call – my baby is no longer a baby. Naaah, she may be too tall for such things but she’ll always be my baby.

So anyway, we flew back to LA and, guess what? The following day, we went camping, haha! We joined my Uncle and his family on a camping trip at Silverwood Lake somewhere in the San Bernardino forest, organized by my Tito’s fraternity. If there’s one thing I can say about the Alpha Phi Omegans, they serve very yummy camping food, haha!

After freezing our buns in Canada, we thoroughly welcomed the sunshine.

While the people were busy with hiking, biking, playing volleyball, and belting out on the karaoke (yes, karaoke in the middle of the forest), I was busy learning (and losing money) playing “in-between” with closet card sharks, haha!

Ninna and her tent. After this experience, Ninna kept bugging me to make her a Girl Scout so she could always go camping! Kumbaya!

Before starting our eastward journey, we spent our last day in California by binging on unlimited pizza, salad, pasta, and desserts at John’s Incredible Pizza Co. The buffet-slash-arcade occupies the entire basement floor of the Buena Park Mall, so you can just imagine how happy that made my homesick-for-timezone daughter.

Ninna had alfredo pasta and, listen to this, a mac and cheese pizza. Meanwhile, I had everything else, haha! You can see why a low-carb diet won’t work with us?

When we were in the Philippines, there was one game that Ninna loved to play – the Slam-A-Winner. Imagine when she saw this…

Slam-a-Winner in steroids! It was huge!!

Ninna also played cosmic bowling with her Papa.

She must have ridden this mini-Anchors Aweigh ride four times. A ride junkie, just like me.

Ninna in competition with her little Uncle JJ, while Lolo Joel looks on. (Sorry Tito Joel, I couldn’t help myself, haha!)

It was the perfect place and day to spend with our Anaheim-based relatives who always opens their home for us.  No matter where our itchy feet takes us, we know we will always have a home in California.

HERE WE GO, SAGO

Next, we headed eastward. Our destination was Texas – just half a continent away. However, instead of taking the quick route (i.e. CA-AZ-NM-TX), which we did when we went westward the first time, we chose to make our trip more fun (read: longerrrr) by going via CA, NV, AZ, UT, CO, OK, TX.  Call us crazy but, by doing this, we got to see some of the most beautiful manifestations of God’s magnificence along the way.

I actually mobile uploaded snapshots of our drive on Facebook via Ninna’s profile as I originally intended it to be seen by only a few people. I will, however, re-post the pics here (plus some more) because I realize now how amazing that trip was and I can’t help but be proud of how far we’ve come (so to speak).

We left California on June 8th and first drove up to Nevada. There, we made a short stopover at Jollibee for lunch. Actually, we already passed Jollibee and were resigned to do a drive thru at Jack in the Box. But then, we remembered that we never got to eat at Jollibee in California and if we didn’t go to Jollibee in Las Vegas… no more chance for Jollibee anywhere else, huhuhu. Drama no? But because of that reasoning, we made a U-Turn and had chickenjoy, hehe! End of drama.

By the way, most of the pics were taken via iPhone so please excuse the quality sometimes.

First Leg: Anaheim,CA to Las Vegas, NV (a four hour drive). First Stop: Lunch at Jollibee!

What did I tell you about Ninna being such a great traveler and trooper. Here she is sandwiched among our boxes and luggage.

Bulilit bulilit sanay sa masikip. She has her gadgets and snacks on hand so she’s good.

The third state we passed was Arizona. Yes, we were counting.

State #3. 106 deg F. Hot, but not complaining.

Actually, we literally just passed through the state, and that’s because a small part of the highway was built on the northwesternmost point of Arizona. Anyway, we’ve been to Arizona before and we decided to find our adventures elsewhere. Besides, it was really so hot. Twas not a good time to explore the deserts.

After only about half an hour, it’s state #4 for us.

Utah’s motto is: Life elevated. And so are the gas prices, haha!

Almost done with this leg of the trip. But not before making a side trip to Zion National Park.

The obligatory family photo.

The obligatory father and daughter photo.

We did not anticipate that we would arrive late at Zion, so by the time we got there the sun was already about to set. But even so, the few rock and mountain formations that we saw near the park entrance was already enough to invite us to come back and visit.

For instance, this mountain formation is called The Three Patriarchs. Being so near the park entrance, you can’t help but wonder what other wonders await you deeper inside the park.

I don’t know what this formation is called, but it sure was pretty.

I know what this formation is called.

Before we left California, Ninna’s Lola Paring stealthily put money inside Ninna’s pocket, instructed Ninna not to show it to me, and to buy whatever she wanted during the drive. So when we got to a gas station, she pulled me inside the convenience store and said she wanted to get snacks. I said I didn’t have money. She said: “ako po meron!”.

I paid the cashier with my eyes “closed” because I wasn’t supposed to see the money.

Hi Lola Ginger! Thank you for my pocketmoney. These are the goodies that I got! Love you!

The following day, after a hearty (free) breakfast at the hotel, we took the scenic route through the Dixie Forest on the way towards Bryce Canyon. They were really not kidding when they said “scenic”. It really was. So breathtaking. Hubby took most of the photos of the landscape and, until now, I haven’t gotten any copies from him (as usual). But trust me, if the landscape is stunning in the Spring the view must be even more glorious in the Fall. All that lovely foliage!

Here’s one at the Dixie Forest, via our iPhone. This is Ninna’s version of the roaming gnome, starring Pusa.

Navajo Lake. So pretty I had to take at least one photo.

The highlight of our trip to Utah, though, was our visit to Bryce Canyon.

Touted as the Grand Canyons of Utah, their “canyons” really aren’t canyons but large dry natural drainage basins, which hold the actual main attraction: the hoodoos. Hoodoos (also called tent rocks, fairy chimneys, and earth pyramids), are tall, thin spires of rock that protrude from the “canyons”. As opposed to real canyons which are carved by rivers that aggressively flow and cut through a mountain, hoodoos are a product of erosion.

Allow me to flood you with some pictures of the various forms of hoodoos at Bryce.

It was sweltering hot when we got there but my Ninna didn’t seem to mind. Yet.

Some parts of the canyon were fenced, like this one. But there are also some parts where there were no barriers between you and some forty-foot cliffs. One misstep and hello hoodoo. I literally had to hold Ninna’s hand for dear life – mine, basically.

This is as far as we will ever dare step backward.

The hoodoos change colors depending on how the sunlight strikes it. Thus the bright oranges, browns, grays, and even some whites. Had we more time, we would have waited for the sunset. They say its the best time to take pictures of the canyons.

Bryce point is one of the many view points inside the national park. We were only able to go to four – Bryce, Inspiration, Sunset, and Sunrise points.

After rocking it out in Utah, we forged ahead and took (for me) the most scenic interstate highway we’ve ever traveled – the I-70 from Utah to Colorado.

If you can, do travel this route at least once in your life. It is so worth the trip.

The highway is characterized by all manner of mountains – big, smaill, flat, jagged, smooth, spiky – name it you will see it. As I said, take this trip at least once in your life. Just be prepared, though: gas up because there’s no gas station for a hundred miles, and you can’t call anyone for help because there is hardly any cellphone signal once you reach the mountains.

Did I say all manner of mountains? Here are just some I hurriedly took with my dependable point and shoot.

Green ones.

Layered ones.

Jagged ones.

Snowy ones.

Just when your eyes have drunk scene after scene after scene, the Colorado river suddenly runs serenely beside you.

After a turn, surprise! It now invites you to shoot its exciting, white rapids.

Part of the wonder lies with the man-made tunnels that burrow right through the mountains. So beautiful!

Ears bursting yet? And why not.  Eleven thousand feet above sea-level, I dare Ondoy to follow me here.

The downside, our poor car Dora (the Ford Explorer) needed a good facial afterwards.

Insects galore. What do you say? Microdermabrasion? Diamond peel?

Even so, we did reach our destination. Safe and sound and completely awed.

State #5: Thank you. It was colorful, indeed.

After recharging our batteries, the following day, the pasyal continued. There are so many interesting places to see in Colorado and, for us peeps who were just passing through, we contented ourselves with visiting attractions that were located along the way.

We saw a sign that said: Lookout Mountain. So we went and looked out.

I was not about to let Ninna take a solo picture up there by herself. So, hubby to the rescue.

And Ninna was not about to let me take a solo picture up there by myself. So, Hubby to the rescue.

Right beside the Lookout Mountain park is the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave. We took a peek in there, too.

She doesn’t know who Buffalo Bill is. So did we, hehe.

His real name was William Cody. This is his grave. RIP. Ninna took the picture so Buffalo Bill isn’t really buried sideways, ok?

One of the places we really wanted to see was Red Rocks, a natural formation of huge red rocks (thus the name), which was made home to an ampitheater resulting in one of the most amazing concert venues ever.

If you will look back at the logo of the ampitheater, these couple of rocks are the models for it.

Imagine if your parking lot at home was this amazing?

This huge rock greets you as you enter the ampitheater proper. However, we were not allowed in.

Every little thing he does is magic.

And this is why. I was so tempted to break into the venue. But the thought of hubby and Ninna leaving for Texas, whilst I languished in jail sobered me up a little bit. Almost.

Even Ninna was a little bit disappointed, hehe.

After Red Rocks, we just drove around looking for something cool to drink. We ended up at Golden, Colorado.

Its an old city that was revitalized so its really cool. Old buildings have been turned into shops and restaurants, sort of like Santa Barbara in California, or Naples in Florida, but very western as in Colorado.

That was where we were supposed to be heading. Alas, the Coors brewery was closed. Oh well, we were not really that serious about drinking and driving, hehe.

And since we were passing through downtown, we decided to look for some nuggets.

Carmelo Anthony, where art thou?

I guess we had more luck finding some nuggets at McDonalds than at the Pepsi Center, hehe!

With that, we drove on to our next state – yes, Toto we’re going to Kansas.

The drive from Colorado to Kansas was a total opposite of our drive from Utah. Here it was as flat as a pancake as far as the eyes can see. Very little action, whatsoever. No wonder tornados consider this their playground.

So far, four hours of flatlands and counting.

And because I said there was hardly ever any action, a tornado warning was suddenly announced over the radio. Understatement: be careful with what you wish for.

Then, as if seeing potential funnel clouds in the horizon wasn’t enough, pingpong-sized hail began to fall. We thought to seek shelter under one of the bridges under the highway.

Apparently, everyone else had the same idea. Still, hail was coming from everywhere. Every stone that hit the windshield was like a direct hit to my heart. Poor poor Dora. We stayed under the bridge for at least thirty minutes until the hail storm abated.

Our sign from above that it was safe to push forth.

Finally, state number… what? I lost count, haha!

The following day, and by then, we were getting really tired. What better way to replenish our energies than to visit a fountain of grace.

Stopping for a visit at St. Fidelis Catholic Church in Victoria, KS, aka “Cathedral of the Plains”, one of the 8 wonders of Kansas.

On the way, we passed by these really pretty windmills, too.

Giant pinwheels. Renewable source of energy na, pretty pa!

And then, we drove to the Old Town Marketplace in Wichita because we were intrigued. According to the website: “Oldtown is nestled in the heart of Wichita Kansas. Among the brick-lined streets and historic lampposts are a collection of converted brick warehouses, circa 1870-1930, with native limestone accents and distinctive architectural features. More than 100 restaurants, shops, clubs, theaters, galleries, museums and businesses have found their niche here under the unfettered Kansas sky.” As it turns out, we came at the wrong time of the day because nothing much was happening. Oh well.

Too early for happy hour, I guess.

So we just trudged on towards our second to the last state.

This is my little broadway starlet singing: “Oh, what a beautiful morning!”

It was a beautiful day, too, because it was the last leg of our drive. By this time, we were really tired and cranky and ready to call it a trip. We had wanted to stop at Oklahoma City and I, especially, wanted to see its Bricktown neighborhood, which was supposed to be like the Riverwalk at San Antonio in Texas. But I had to surrender to fatigue and just told hubby to go full speed ahead. I think it was only our non-driving passenger who was neither tired nor cranky. Senyorita pa rin! What a charmed life this little girl lives!

Are you still with me? I hope so! Because this is the part where I get all soupy and reflective, haha! I told you this was going to be a long ride. I hope you stuck along with me.

Anyway, dear friends, we have almost come to end of our long-drive but, at the same time, we’re now beginning of a new chapter in our life. To tell you honestly, when we left the US for a vacation last year I thought that we were finally dismounting our bucking, wild stallion of an existence for a much tamer life in the pastures upon our return.  Then again, I think God has other, better plans for us – perhaps we won’t understand the whole picture even if we stand atop the Calgary Tower forever – He does live in a much higher tower and His omniscience is boundless.  I guess, all we need to do is step onto the glass floor, shaky legs and all, and believe.

I do know that we have friends here in Texas whom we haven’t seen in a while that I’m excited to see again, Hubby still has some unfinished business here in the US as well, and my Ninna, well, my girl has lived a pretty charmed life so I’m sure life will continue to charm her still. As it is, we’ve already had some adventures here in Dallas, plus some other good news, which I’m going to tell you next time.

So here we are, holding tightly to the pommel, spurs digging in, hats lowered against the sun, ready to go back in the saddle again. Yeehaw!

Full speed ahead.

A dose of Mickey!

Albeit a little jetlagged, wala pa rin patawad, pasyal agad, haha! It’s a good thing we have relatives in the right places, so this visit to Disneyland was free-of-charge!

Tomorrow, we’re off to another destination a little further up north. Jackets in hand, we’re leaving CA for another CA. Guess where?

If I used Twitter (which I don’t), here are some of my should-have been tweets (that is, if they had twitter for the long-winded, hehe!).

~ People, its our first time to use the PCOS machines. We can’t realistically believe that every election officer, technician, and voter would know how to use them perfectly. Ever heard of the term “learning curve?” Of the thousands of machines out there, some machines were liable to malfunction because there are various factors relating to first use. We can blame the PCOS only to a certain extent, but there admittedly is a “human factor” involved in this as well. Hopefully, in future elections and thanks to our learnings this year, people will wait an hour shorter than they did today.

~ People who’ve clamored for possible failure of elections due to problems with the automation: belat. Hirap mandaya no?

~ Its natural for people to resist change. EQ-wise it really is easier to stick to the old ways (no matter how flawed they are), than to take a chance and learn a new system. But here’s the thing: aren’t we, the people of the Philippines, looking for change? The automation process is an obvious “change” so why aren’t we embracing it? Why hee and haw at every misstep? Change is not easy, one can’t help but shed blood, sweat, and tears for it (well, mostly sweat from waiting in line under the hot sun to cast a vote.). Akin to birth pains: no pain, no gain. Apparently, aside from voting for artistas, we’re also good at complaining before complying. Let’s change that.

~ As of this writing, Aquino and Binay are breaking away from the pack. For me, this is very telling: the Filipino people want a leader who will stop corruption and restore integrity to the Office of the President. At the same time, they also want the economic progress and social benefits, which the people of Makati have, translated to the rest of the country. I guess it’s easier to overlook political ineptitude and corruption allegations as long as the people expect to get something good in return.

~ If only the senatorial slate wasn’t so showbizzy. Eww.

~ To be fair, though, most showbiz people who run for public office (especially those in the local levels) show more dedication, idealism, and effort than non-showbiz elected officials. My guess is, its because people expect more from them so they have to work double time to prove that they really aim to become public servants and not just public jesters.

~ Imagine if Noynoy had not run for President, or had Mar (who’s currently losing to Binay in the VP race) run instead of Noynoy, si Erap ang Presidente natin. God truly works in mysterious ways.

~ People are conceding. Wow, that is a change.

~ I love how high-tech ABS-CBN and GMA are now. Hologram interviews, huge touch-screen TVs, video calls, utilization of online networking sites – pretty incredible. I just wish that the media wouldn’t blow things out of proportion. Yes, its good TV to report about the faulty PCOS machines, the long lines, the vote buying, the explosions, and other sensationalized cases but, generally, the rest of the country had an orderly and peaceful election experience. Balanced news, people.

~ One of two things: either Chiz Escudero is clairvoyant, or he’s just an effective endorser.

~ Relatively, I think this is the most honest, clear, and orderly elections I’ve ever experienced. Yey! For a process that could go either way, these elections will be forever inked indelibly in the annals of history as the one where the pinoys did good. Really good.

And finally…

~ The funniest election-related story I’ve heard was about Loren Legarda not queueing. Couldn’t she wait for the election officers to invite her to directly approach the polling booth instead of cutting the line? Oh well, she did assume that she had a chance of winning, what more a little VIP treatment. She should have shed some of her “tears” muna, maybe maaawa sila, hehe!

At least, I’ll be leaving the country in high spirits and with high hopes. Nice job, Pilipinas! Although I was praying that all the new and re-elected officials would be voted based on their platform, I’ve come to terms with the fact that the Philippine electorate has an agenda of its own – an agenda with a motive I neither understand nor necessarily agree with. How that will change for the better depends on the newly elected shepherds and how they will lead the flock. Through this election, we’ve proven that a change for the better is possible – we’ve seen it begin, we can follow this through. Wala lang mangungurakot, hehe.