Harvest Time again! march 23, 2012

At school it is going to be harvest time again. I am referring to graduation which we will have next Saturday. The academic year ends too, which means I take a rest from all school works, but not administrative ones. But not quite. It seems I will be teaching again this summer, and at two institutions yet. 

Some times I ask my self do I really have to work? Then I realize that I have to. Not only out of obligation or duty but because I love to. 

Does that sound bravado?

I am sincere. Maybe when I get to be sixty five I would still be teaching. although I might have to consider health here. Well I would like to set the thought aside. The time comes when it comes.

Just that today I have to go to work, while all others are enjoying their weekend. I enjoy working when I am alone and thoughts and plans are uninterrupted. Well I welcome company from time to time, but visitors seldom come by on weekends. I would probably bring my grandson and niece along.

Well that is about weekend today.

 Last March 19 was St. Joseph's feast day. His solemnity is observed all throughout the Catholic Church. And since he is the family patron saint too, Mother in law took the lead in the observance.My brother in law from Cagayan came home too, to attend the celebration. Picture on the left shows mother in law leading the novena prayers.

Fiestas are always celebrated with food and this time, MIL went very native with lechon, pancit, fresh lumpia and roasted chicken. There were fruits too and suman ( which is glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves) although  I could not take pictures of them.

In terms of number, this year was not as well attended as last year's celebration, when all the Ormocanons members of the family were present. this year we missed Jun (my hubby) and Monique (sister in law) who are both in Cebu for treatment. Alaine, the oldest sister was also busy with other concerns. But I was there, alone, as my son attended to his night classes and daughter in law had to take my grandson to a children's party .

Talking of children's party, my grandnephew who lives next door to us, celebrated his second birthday. After the Novena prayers and the dinner, I hastened home to be at the party.

It was a different celebration with children taking most of the attention. The two year old celebrant was old enough to know that it was his special day and the world revolves around him that day, while my grandson was beside himself in enjoyment.

Me and the little 'un. He swings to music whenever he hears it and sings along in monotone. lol.incidentally he was wearing green, which is St. Joseph's color.

This is the birthday boy who turned two on St. Joseph's feastday.

and below are the singing sisters aged 12, 8 and 5 from the left.

I did not feel like singing, I was too tired to keep to the beat or rhythm. 

My husband says I am different because I have no sense of rhythmn. But I like to sing. way but anay unsaon pagkanta.

My sisters were all present including my recently widowed sister in law. My family loves to sing and I am amazed that even my12 year old grandniece can belt out evanescence like a pro. One niece and nephew was also there and I am sure they enjoyed the children's party although they are already in their teens.

Tags: st. joseph

when Good Friday leaves no room for musings- april 6

GAp.Good Friday. I wonder why it is called Good.I found some answers here.http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/friday.php.

I have my hands full with a one year old child whom we weaned from his mother. He is quite a challenge. I am running out of ideas how to make him drink milk and cereals. All he eats are coco crunch and chocolate wafers. This morning I made him sit with me in front of the laptop and after watching Micky Mouse clubhouse, I showed him google images of children drinking milk, telling him that all good boys and girls drink milk. He sipped every time I coaxed him but he never got to finish the one half cup of milk that I prepared. And Later when I was caught off guard, he poured out all of it on the floor.

On the first night I was with him I could not sleep a wink. Then I got this sore throat that developed into a cough and for two days I had a nose that seemed to run even in the most unlikely occasions.

I have not attended to church functions like I used to do int he previous years. Family comes first. I am glad hubby is here so he can take over with tending the baby every now and them. He needs attention, himself, actually. He has difficulty swallowing and all food to him is tasteless. But in two weeks time he will be done with all those radiation sessions that torture him.

right picture shows hubby with two of my children when Ace (rightmost) dropped by in Cebu. Ayn, (left) accompanies hubby to the radiation center when she has time. He needs that now especially that he is feeling the effects of the treatment.

I regretted having consented to this trip in Cagayan de Oro. The only attraction that it held for me is that I would get to see my two other sons. Mikol is in CDO now with his inlaws. Granddaughter Ayesha Jade will be celebrating her first birthday on the 11th of April and if I am lucky, I might be able to attend the birthday party. Imagine me wearing a birthday party hat made of card board and holding the baby to blow her first candle.  Ken will be with me on this trip. I expect it to be fun, but when i think of all the things I need to do back here, well... there is a a time for everything.

Hubby is not feeling well. But I plan to take him out when it is not too hot to go visita Iglesia. Ken can take care of the baby. So that is how Good  Friday goes today. I will be at the office later today to do the things that need to do before I leave for CDO tomorrow night. 

Happy Easter everyone!

Tags: good friday

travelling economy aug. 23, 2012

I have wanted to post photos of our stint in cagayan de Oro. But I took them with my new samsung galaxy y phone. Then it got lost in my office. sayang! 

The pictures here have been taken by my second son's camera, and he did not have photoshots of the activity in the GK site. 

Our school linked with an NGO called Gawad Kalinga, an entity which believes that poverty is not caused by lack of resources but a lack of sharing of these resources.I was cynical about the whole thing at first but when I heard about that motto, I got sold out as I too believe that God has given us everything, only most people have a misconception about sharing. Many believe that only those who are blessed with more material possessions should share. But what is more? or what is less? A person may have a hundred pesos and feel so rich, or a person who has a million in the bank may feel so  miserably poor. I have always told one child of mine who feels he is the least endowed of all his brothers: "You can always share if you want to. No matter how little you have, it is the willingness and the intention that counts."

We are all given gifts by God, and sometimes we do not realize or recognize them, and we go on asking for more, thinking that life has short changed us. As I grow older, I come to realize that I came into this world with nothing, and looking at me now, I realize how blessed I have been. 

So I decided I should share and GK did not ask any of us for money, just our readiness to work, to help rebuild a section in CDO which recently was devastated by a flood. I have relatives there so I wanted to see how they were, although the one most affected had enough resources to rise from the catastrophe without so much help from others. So I went there with other faculty members and students. The experience was something new. Contrary to my expectations, we had no hotel accommodation. We were housed in an elementary school and we had no beds. For the first time in my life, I slept in a carton on the cement floor. The boat we boarded from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro had engine trouble, and instead of reaching CDO at 6:00 AM of April 9, we arrived there at 6:00 PM. We had to bear with another 12 hours in our economy class accommodation. It was during these waiting hours that I learned from my colleagues that we had to bring our beddings as these were not provided in most GK quarters. Well, I did not know that. So when we arrived there, I met with my son who was vacationing with his family in CDO in the biggest mall there. we had dinner with my daughter in law who had my graddaughter in two, then when I was reunited with my friends, I had time to shop for batik malong, the very versatile wrap around garment of the muslims. That protected me from cold that night as I lay on my cardboard mat on the floor.

My brothers in law who heard I was there invited me to spend the night with their families, but I could have easily yielded if I was not with a group. I even refused their offer to bring me beddings as it would not look good as others do not have the same comfort. 

The men and the girls who worked reported that they were assigned to paiting newly constructed buildings by the GK. The school provided us with gloves and sleeves to protect us from the scorching sun.

The following day when the Iligan group left, I went over to Jojo and Paco's house and saw that  they have completely recovered from the catastrophe. The room which I used last March when I was there on a seminar was no longer used as it was in the basement. It was their son's room, and I heard his medical books (as he is a medical student) were damaged by the waters.  They still have computers, thank God and I borrowed one so I could compute grades. My son's ingenuity worked to my favor this time has he had insisted that I store my data in a  drop box. So I  I was able to finish the job on time.

I could have gone to the site and helped in painting buildings, but I preferred to stay in the headquarters to keep watch and be counted as one of the kitchen crew. But to be honest, I did not cook one bit of dish. There were enough hands to see to the chores in the kitchen.

On the third day my son arrived and as scheduled, I pulled him out from the group to meet with my two other sons  to attend Ayesha's birthday party. 

WE had a reunion of sorts, my three sons and I and the only granddaughter of the family( the other son is behind the camera). I missed my daughter and my husband, whom I knew I would be joining in Cebu two days later.

Although I went there for another purpose, the second purpose pleased me no end. I seldom meet with my son in Manila, and that event provided the opportunity to see him and his family and  what more I was able to attend my granddaughter's first birthday party.

Tags: gk, cdo

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got those itchy feet again, may 19, 2012

Well that is not really true. Most of the times I travel because I need to. The travels have been short distances occurring mainly in Cebu and Leyte. But next week I go a little further this time to Iloilo. 

I don't exactly enjoy living out of a suitcase but it is part of the job so I go. As long as things are in place in my workplace, I am confident traveler.

Mother's day came and went and the greetings on my phone have been profuse. The flowers and cards were virtual and you come to enjoy them as better than nothing. But that day I spent with mother in law, tutoring her how to use the internet, creating her Facebook account, teaching her to chat and to play Farmtown.She is a fast learner despite her age, and despite the fact that she has to use hand lenses to ba able to look closely at the words in the chat window. That day she was able to connect to her daughter in Norway, to a grandniece in Cebu and a distant relative in Manila. It was the best Sunday I ever had especially as it ended with hubby and me attending the Holy Mass at the Riverside Mall. 

My blogs have been few and far between. I miss those times when I really had the time to indulge in this past time.  I have to go, as hubby and I have some important errands to attend to before sundown. Good day everyone.

by the way Ace, thanks for the flower shots. You look 20 years younger here. tehee!

Tags: travel

dejavu! may 27, 2012

Iloilo is strangely different from the time I went there as a young teacher, chaperoning a younger sister whose Australian boyfriend came to visit.But I felt a deja vu when I heard the language again and the seemingly inherent kindness of the people when we sought for lodgings in the houses 

within the vicinity of the airport, as there were no hotels near it.Well that was when we were on our way to the airport after the convention. As I said, the language and the look of the place where we went to, the native's residences reminded me of a distant past of how we were welcomed there by the Ilongos whom we have never met before and whose reason for their solicitude and generosity was that they would not want their children to be left helpless on their own in other places. 

So this was the second time I set foot in this area of West Visayas, It was a three day retraining for senior accreditors and I was grouped with the VIPs. My university sent two vice presidents and one campus director. I also shared hotel accommodations with three vice presidents from other institutions. Well it felt good to rub elbows and share bathroom with the VIPs and to discover that they are as human as the rest of us,

The hotel was unmistakably ornate and of a different era. Glass chandeliers hung from a white ceiling with delicate white roses made of plaster. The only modern thing about it was the large swimming pool where bikini clad swimmers could be seen at almost anytime of the day.

The food was excellent too. It was served buffet style and we ate on the tables where we were supposed to work during the retraining, After the retraining we were regrouped with our counterparts from Leyte just the way we did on our way there. The only thing we complained about was (that is aside from trivial things in the hotel like the bathtub that we did not use as we preferred to shower) that the taxi fares were expensive. Unlike in Cebu.

The flight from Iloilo to Cebu took only thirty minutes and Air Philippines was several minutes ahead of time. The City is now much different with new buildings and a skyscrapers and it is wel on its way to becoming a metro.

Finally I finished this blog, it has been in draft for quite a time. I hate the brown outs for dampening my enthusiasm for blogging.

Tags: travel

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Visiting Singapore

July 20, 2012. Accreditation (Preliminary survey) is over. It is 3:12 and I have just waken up. Saturday today and I have two classes. Need to do so many things. I feel guilty not having visited this site as often as I could.

Meanwhile here are some pics of  Ayn and I and my colleagues in Singapore.

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Still here!

Aug. 21, 2012.

I guess I am sticking it out with Multiply until the end. I feel so different coming back here. I have not been a regular blogger I admit. Yet it hurts a little every time I think of coming here. For the moment I would want to cross the bridge when I come to it.

I have just come from a brief stint in Cebu. The long weekend gave me time to stay with my daughter and her family. I miss the little boy so much but we had him for one day only as it was the paternal grandparents turn to baby sit. They bring the baby to their home every weekday and the parents bring him back  on Friday evening to stay with them for the weekend. The young couple is lucky to have both sets of grandparents willing to baby sit especially as it is so hard to get a dependable nanny these days.The baby was with us for several months until we decided to give him back to his parents. 

Well last Sunday after our morning at Simala, we brought the baby to the park in Ayala . He enjoyed the day immensely, trying to reach for the flowing waters there and being able to run and walk around with little control. He really loved his freedom there, that in the evening, he slept right through without waking up to ask for milk. Then the following day, his grandparents (the other pair) came to take him to their house, so we had the rest of the day to ourselves, Ayn and Francis and hubby and I.

I had my follow up cauterization for syringoma which made my face more unsightly as it already is. I have to put up with everything, including the wearing of dark shades especially if I have to go under the sun.We had lunch in a Chinese restaurant where I ordered patatim (more cholesterol to feed my syringoma) and something like chopsuey with noodles. The food was delectable and expensive. But it gave us so much energy to roam around and shop although I did with a little caution this time. I do not want to surround myself with things that I do not really need.

The best part of it (aside from spending time with Nathan my grandson) was the trip back to Simala which we did right after arriving in Cebu. This time there were only four of us, Monique and her son Derick, and hubby and I. We went under Mama Mary's mantle and prayed. The Mantle was not blue, the color often associated with it, but white. I was able to say thanks for hubby's progress and to petition for a sick sister and for Monique who will undergo operation this week. It is amazing how good my feeling was after all that we did there. How and what we did, which may seem foolish to the wise, I can only defend myself with this quote:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.(Hebrews 11:1-39)

Tags: simala, faith

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