Like a rainbow
fading in the twinkling of an eye
gone too soon.

Shiny and sparkly
and splendidly bright
here one day
gone one night.

Like the loss of sunlight
on a cloudy afternoon
gone too soon.

Like a castle
built upon a sandy beach
gone too soon.

Like a perfect flower
that is just beyond your reach
gone too soon.

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
here one day
gone one night.

Like a sunset
dying with the rising of the moon

Michael Joseph Jackson (1958 – 2009)
Gone Too Soon.

I have been categorizing our life into containers these past two weeks and, four more days before we hand over the keys, I’m still left with the many small pieces that have refused to be sorted.  The bigger stuff is easier – boxed and locked. But what do you do when you find a stray Lego? A refillable tumbler from a special trip taken a few years back? A princess umbrella gifted by a friend who’s now in another city? A canister of spare buttons that will only match specific shirts in your wardrobe? An unopened bottle of special sesame oil you’ve been saving for a particular recipe?

Through the years, I’ve disposed of (and not too willingly) one too many small things. However small, these eventually add up to a big bunch of loose items – extra baggage, emotional and otherwise -  and we simply don’t have enough space to carry them all.

And this, my friends, is our life. No matter how hard we try to box up every single thing that make up our existence,  even though we try to make sure that we bring the important things that we can’t live without, there are still bits and pieces of our lives that we lose, can’t keep, and would have to let go of, every time we go.

But you know something, as I’ve taped up flap after flap after flap of our boxes these past six years, I can tell you this: these things, they can be replaced – it’s the memories that we store safely and protect mightily inside the double-walled boxes of our hearts.

So even though my daughter’s Lego house won’t look the same, she will no doubt still turn it into the prettiest and pinkest abode on the block. We will manage without matching buttons or sesame oil, and a little girl somewhere will be kept dry by a pink parasol.

Besides, I think I can tell you with utmost certainty that we’re probably the only clutter-free and cathartically revitalized family on this side of the coast.

All I know is,  I can not wait to finally close up this chapter of our life to begin the new one that we have set out for our little family – the one where we won’t finally, hopefully, have to leave anything behind.

I was chatting with some friends a while ago and we came to the topic of school uniforms for our kids. Ninna had no school uniforms, of course, so it only took a heartbeat for me to pour out my frustration about some of Ninna’s pretty clothes that I had to trash because they were annihilated in prekindergarten.

Case in point: What do these pants have in common?

Horrible, horrible, knees.

They come in different states of horribleness, too.

Faded.

Punctured.

Destroyed.

And these are just four of, I don’t know, more than a dozen that I bought for her over the course of the school year. I actually started with a few pairs of pants from Baby Gap. When she demolished those, I switched to the cheaper Old Navy. When she still disintegrated those, off I went to Target. And when those were ravaged, hanggang Wal-mart na lang siya. Surprisingly, the Walmarts stood up to the abuse longer than the others did, hehe!

My solution was, I separated a few sets of sturdy clothes that she wears only to school – and usually, they’re the cheap ones I get on sale so that even if those were incinerated, I wouldn’t feel so bad about letting them go. Her prettier clothes I would reserve for other occasions like for church, and for going out with family and friends.

I also taught her not to kneel so much in school (during storytime, tabletop exercises, floor and outside play) and instead to sit “indian-style” or as they say in her school “cross-cross applesauce”. But then, that completely gave me another problem. And I’m not about to show you any pictures of her butt. Thank you very much.

Sometimes, I wish that she’d take more care of her clothes like prim and proper little girls should – no running, no rough playing, no spaghetti or cheese sauce drips at lunchtime – just quiet, toned-down play and perfect table etiquette everyday.

But then again, I’d very much prefer that she’s active and participative rather than catatonic. Children are children and they’re supposed to play and learn and scuff their knees and elbows, with absolutely nothing to hinder their individualization and self-expression. Besides, its just another boring, unexciting, chore-filled shopping trip to the mall for me to replace her decimated clothes anyway. Oh well, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s got to do.

At least, she’s going to have a lot of maong shorts this summer.

Still… next year, I’m voting for uniforms.

Ninna sits up in bed, tries to wake me up.

Ninna: Good morning mama, time for breakfast!
Mee: *incomprehensible grumbling*
Ninna: Mama, I’m hungry. Please wake up!
Mee: (points to hubby who was already up) Sabihin mo na lang sa Papa mo, inaantok pa ako, ok?
Ninna: Opo! (turns to her Papa and yells:) Um, pogi!

Well, that surely got the pogi’s attention.

~~~

I haven’t been writing anything new about Ninna for a while, have I? It’s not that she isn’t doing or learning anything new – actually, it’s my fault. I’m just too slow to capture everything she has done (both smart-wise and kulit-wise) in writing. She just grows up so fast!

For instance, the kwento above is only one of the hundreds of hirits she has made, especially now that we’ve been talking to and teaching her to speak in Tagalog. One thing’s for sure, this tagalog tutoring makes for one hilarious household.

The interesting thing about this is, when she speaks tagalog, she has no slang. She grasps our Tagalog twang and deftly loses the American one. For example, while some of the kids of our friends say “selemet” or “weylang enumen” for thanks and you’re welcome, Ninna would say: “salamat” or “walang anuman” the way hubby and I would pronounce it – matigas na Tagalog. She even says tagalog as “tagalog”, not tegelowg.

I’ve tried vainly to capture her speaking in tagalog on video but, you know my daughter, she’s pretty camera shy. Bullet day (balang araw), even if I have to do a hidden camera thingy, I will catch her.

~~~

In a way, I am also thankful that her pre-k classmates come from very diverse backgrounds. She has some korean, thai, and spanish-speaking classmates, along with the usual english-speaking ones. Often times, I would catch her staring at a classmate when he/she would talk to his/her parent in a foreign language and then she would turn to me and ask me a question in tagalog, probably showing them that we, too, had a special language. Its peer pressure, alright, but one that benefits us.

~~~

Speaking of Pre-K, her school ended way back on May 22nd. I thought she was going to be sad about her last day of school but she wasn’t. Ako pa nga yung sentimental, haha!

I’ve shared this picture on my other blog a while back, I’ll share it with you here now, too. At the very least, I’m glad that the photographer was able to make her look straight at the camera, hehe.

Ang aking Pogi junior. Bow.

Parang kailan lang noong nagsimula kaming gumising ng maaga para paghandaan ang unang araw ng pasukan. Ang bilis talaga ng panahon.

And as Ninna would say: susmaryosep.

I am going to rave.

~~~

I am a fan of M. Knight Shyamalan’s movies. So one day (around last March pa pala, hehe!), I was surprised to learn from my friend Romel, that Knight is directing “The Last Airbender”, the movie adaptation of the series “Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Legend of Aang)”. If you are a fan of Avatar, then you know that it’s not exactly a Sixth Sense, Signs, or The Village-type of story that Knight is mostly known for.

In gist, the Avatar is an animated series on Nickelodeon following the adventures of Aang (the last Airbender) and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the Fire Lord and end the destructive war with the Fire Nation. But, since Ninna and I have never tuned beyond Nick Jr to the “more mature” Nickelodeon shows, I just wrote off Avatar as one of those too-violent anime-knock-offs that were definitely not fit for for pre-schoolers.

However, seeing Romel’s eyes light up on the mention of Avatar (for an old guy raving about a cartoon series, that says a lot), and that Knight was directing a movie version of the series,  I just had to see the series for myself.

And I watched it. Just last week, all three seasons of it. Stopping only to eat, sleep, and pee. Needless to say, Ninna and I weren’t able to take a bath for two days, hehe!

I can’t remember when I last thoroughly enjoyed a cartoon series. Voltron pa yata (yes, it was that long ago). And I was getting hard looks from my poor husband who was getting totally ignored by me. I was obsessed with Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Prince Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and yes even Azula. Ninna (whom I only allowed to watch the funny parts) adored Appa (the flying bison) and Momo.

I won’t even try to kwento the entire story here, WikiPedia does it way better. But I do know this: I loved it! It’s exciting, it’s witty funny, the characters are loveable, the animation is cinematic, the mythology is genius, and although I think the 12-year olds are too young to be kissing each other, there are so many good lessons you can ultimately glean from it. I can’t wait until Ninna is older so I can share this series with her.

Romel, if you’re the president of the fans club, I’m volunteering to be the vice-president/muse. Thanks for this!

~~~

Interested? You can click the link to watch the First Episode: Avatar: The Boy In The Iceberg.

~~~

About the upcoming movie, I am excited about it but, at the same time, a little wary. I am confident that Knight knows what he should do – the reason he’s making this movie daw is because he’s a huge fan of the show, too (from watching the show with his daughter, I heard). But you know, even the best directors can go overboard with CGI. Also, this movie is so remote from any of the previous films he’s released that he doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in terms of the live-action genre. My only hope is he’ll be able to grasp and translate the character concepts superbly, and not turn this into one of those second-rate kung fu movies. Anyway, I have faith in you Knight. Bend it!

I also read that they had some issues in the beginning concerning the “all-white” casting of the movie. I mean, dun pa lang kakabahan ka na. This is supposed to be a heavily Asian-inspired movie, granted that some of the characters come from the North and South Poles, too. Anyway, the resulting cast turned out to be pretty acceptable. However, I’m really curious how Dev Patel (of Slumdog Millionaire) will translate to Prince Zuko (the Aang-hating, troubled, persistent, fire lord heir), in the same way I’m holding my breath about Jackson Rathbone and how he’ll play the sarcastically funny Sokka when I didn’t even get a good feel of his portrayal as Jasper in Twilight (yes, Twilighters, the Jasper Hale).

Noah Ringer, a 12-year old martial arts student from Texas will play the role of Aang.

The official trailer of the movie will be shown for the first time at the premier of Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen. Now there’s an incentive to see the autobots on the 24th, hehe!

The Last Airbender will be shown July of next year. Can’t wait!

~~~

In the meantime, here are some movies I am also looking forward to. All are adaptations of my favorite books. Will they live up to the orig? We’ll see.

MY SISTER’S KEEPER (In theaters starting June 26)

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE (Showing on July 17)

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE (Showing on August 14)

TWILIGHT: NEW MOON (Showing on November 10)

THE LOVELY BONES (Showing on December 11)
Sorry, coudn’t find a trailer, hehe!

Okidoki, I shall see you at the movies.

Anybody there? There? there?

Hello… Hello… hello..

Grabe, this blog is like a dreary, cavernous, empty hole of nothing.

Going through my list, I’m just a little surprised at how the planets in my blogging system have aligned. Some of my prolific blogging brethren just happily and steadily kept at it over the years – even having more than one blogsite, too, which some of them now also host themselves (talk about progress!) – while others, sadly, just faded away.

By fading away, I mean losing the blogging bug after one or a handful of posts, or after an explosive blogging career simply just disappeared into the eerie chasm of silence. Household chores Life truly gets in the way, no?

And there are others who seem to have caught a second wind. Yey! Soar, you guys!

Anyway, my friends, please do take some time to visit MyHopGuide and if you don’t see your blog there, or your links are outdated, or I wasn’t able to list all of your blogs if you have more than one, please inform me so I can make the necessary changes. Don’t be shy, I’d love to link you up. Promise.

Delurk! Reconnect! Just please don’t go silently into the dark night.

~~~

And you don’t even have to link me up if you don’t want to. I understand that some people don’t go that route and I’m not very particular about it. I’d rather, though, that you subscribe to my RSS feed and read my babbles as it’s spewed, rather than be a little unloved forgotten link in your sidebar (naks).

However, if you do decide to link me up: thanks!

~~~

To make it easier on you (kunyari ayaw pa daw magpa-link), here are my updated links, hehe.
:: Confessions of a Domesticated Party Girl (formerly http://meeya.marikit.net)

And here are my working sites naman.
:: Working It
:: MyParty. Finds. A Home.

And just in case you hadn’t noticed (haha!), WifeSpeaks has had its own domain for a while now.
:: WifeSpeaks

Yun lang po, tenkyu!

In this day and age, marriage and commitment have somehow become exclusive terms – one not necessarily compelling the other. For SpeakOutFriday, the ladies of WifeSpeaks ask: how important is commitment in a marriage? What does it take to commit? And how far would you go to honor your commitment?

The following is a re-post of an entry I wrote way back in March 2005 in response to the same topic when it was first asked on the day WifeSpeaks went on air for the very first time. I tweaked this just a little bit, though, just to update its flavor (and not sound so much oh-five-ish, hehe!). Yet, how timely that I should repost this entry now, especially that WifeSpeaks is undergoing its blog “rebirth”? And, more importantly, how nostalgic and reaffirming that I should read my erstwhile entry and find that I still hold true the same beliefs that I held back then?

~~~

The day my husband first proposed, I freaked out. In the days that followed (and as you must now by know) I maybe turned down his proposals more than 30 times – kawawa naman di ba? To give him credit though, he didn’t stop pestering proposing to me. He was as sweet and understanding as the first time I said no, and that was the kind of perseverance – I was glad to realize – that I found so endearing about him.

Even before I went into any relationship, I knew that I would only marry for love. Also, marriage was something I directly related to commitment – and if I could not commit, I might as well not get married at all. But I only had a vague idea of what commitment really entailed and, at that point, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to give up my personal freedoms (i.e. fun going out the window). Thus, moi freaking out.

It was a good thing he did persevere, because he got the wheels turning in my head. Looking into his eyes, there was no mistaking he was very ready to take the plunge. He had spent much of his young adult life focused on furthering his career and meeting family obligations. Now that he’d done all that, he felt he deserved to find his own happiness. He has traveled, had his share of here-there-and-everywhere girlfriends, rock and rolled, and just stayed pogi. He said he never knew how much he craved the “tahimik life”, until he met me. Naks.

And I knew. This man would take care of me, fight for me, be happy for me when I succeed and support me if I fail, give me his ATM card without question, get along gamely with my weird relatives, put up with my hormonal imbalances, choose only me to become the mother of his children, accept me for who I am, and seduce only me for as long as we both shall live. There was no question how deep his commitment ran, it was strikingly clear and absolute. Suddenly, lucidity – I knew then, as I know now, that I would do the same for only him.

That’s when I said the 3-letter word that would forever bind us. A mature decision born from love, responsibility, courage, and dreams, and sealed with an unbreakable vow to each other and to God.

Looking deeply into his eyes, gently extending my hand, I said: “atm”?

Joke lang, hehe! Of course, I said “yes”. Seven plus years and several hormonal imbalances later, we’re still here, we’re actually having fun, and, if a glimpse of our forever reveals even an approximation of what we have today, we’re set. Our marital journey might not have been an entirely smooth one – whose marriage is, anyway? – but we’re happy we have each other to hold on to when the bumps of life threaten to jog our helmets off.

~~~

To all the misis who participated, or even simply dropped by WifeSpeaks this week as we reinvigorated our sleeping baby, we heart you! Next week ulit! Thanks!!

Once I made the decision to commit myself to my husband forever and ever, I decided that I wanted to do it in style!

For FabFinds Thursday, the topic is to share our fabulous wedding day finds. Honestly, I had a lot of fabulous finds for my wedding: our beautiful church, our gorgeous preps and reception venue, our invitations, our wedding cake, our bridal flora, our jewelry, our photo and video crew, and even our day coordinator! Hubby and I made sure we had the biggest bang for our budget so we searched high and low for the best, but most practical, wedding suppliers we could find.

However, I have to say that my most fabulous find for my wedding is, hands down, our bridal couture. Yes, couture. Haute even, since I had it done by a celebrated local fashion designer based in West Kamias.

Even before we started looking for a wedding gown designer, I already had my heart set on him. Realistically speaking, though, I knew I could never “afford” his services, not when people more famous that I (as if famous ako, haha!) probably have him on speed dial.

But because my prince charming seemed hell-bent in making my dreams come true, hubby took me to the shop in QC. Armed with our (very) modest budget, we hoped for a miracle. Right then and there, we met the master and he did a sketch for me that accented all that should be accented and hid everything that needed hiding. He let me have my pick of material from his voluminous swatches of white (and there were lots of white!!) and worked within our budget without sacrificing the quality of the design. I (and my unusually quiet hubby, haha!) ended up commissioning him the gowns and suits of the entire bridal party for a price that people will probably never believe, hehe! Key word: negotiation!

Sometimes, hubby and I would look back and ask ourselves if this “investment” was worth it. After all, we would only be wearing our fab gowns and suits once (literally, because I don’t think either one of us would even fit into those anymore, haha!).  But…

I got the dress of my dreams. Both our moms, sisters, nieces, my grandma, my brother, and best friends got to wear the most spectacular gowns and suits they could ever wear in this lifetime, and I just proved beyond reasonable doubt that nothing is impossible for my hubby when it comes to making me happy.

~~~

RANDY ORTIZ
#48, K-6th Street, West Kamias, Quezon City 1102
randyortiz@pldtdsl.net
(632) 922-8375
http://www.randyortiz.com

~~~

To view other entries on our theme of Commitment, please visit HERE.

It’s SpeakOutFriday tomorrow, get ready to have your say!

How do you spell commitment through food?

I thought back to all those times hubby and I celebrated our “togetherness” and, like well-placed musical scoring, I can easily tell you what food we ate at any of those given times.

On our first date together, we ate nachos at Chilis. On our first double date, we had Chilean sea bass at Le Souffle. When he gave me my engagement ring, we had salmon at Blue Bacon and Green Eggs. At our wedding, we gobbled up our beautiful 5-tiered Alex Franco cake. We ate at Red Crab on the night of November 25th, the following day I gave birth to our Ninna. For our first anniversary, we sipped Tsokolate-e at Cafe Adriatico. And, just recently, we celebrated my 34th birthday with a chile relleno at Seasons 54.

With that, let me tell you how the picture below fits in all of this.

Familiar? Maybe.

A month into our marriage, we found out that I was pregnant. A month later, we were mourning for the baby that we almost had. I couldn’t have found a better man – a better person – with whom  I could have shared the grief and loss that took hold of me at that time. His were the arms that held me together during those dark days.

And so, whereas some men would have shrugged off such an incident, my man lifted me up and helped me to feel better by sweeping me off to a place where we could both leave our sad thoughts behind for a while – to find comfort.

My dearest husband took me to Jollibee.

In HongKong.

~~~

To view other entries on our theme of Commitment, please visit HERE.

Tomorrow, it’s FabFindsThursday! See you then.