Going Up?

Do you ever notice how people still press the elevator button even if it's already lit up? Meaning someone has already summoned the lift? And even more obviously, someone is actually waiting for the lift?

Going up? Going down?

Heck, no! Going astray!

Jill of Charlie's Angels

She's gone, too.

Another icon from my youth. She was every man's fantasy... the hottest Angel... ever.

2 Kings Dead In My Lifetime

So far...

I remember when Elvis died. I cried. I was about 7 years old and all girls loved him. I wanted to grow up to marry him. I knew him from his movies and it was only later in life when I realized how he had become fat and old when he died.

Today, Michael Jackson. How he influenced our generation! I remember him when he was a child singing with his siblings. He was amazing. All kids wanted to be like him! We, Filipino kids, had no idea about race and racism so it wasn't significant to us that he was a Negro making waves in the USA. To us, he was just a star. Then in the 80's, he was a SUPERSTAR! His songs filled the airwaves. People danced like him... people dressed like him.

Imagine the lives they must have lived. MJ's friends are being interviewed and they generally say that he was an unhappy man. He grew up in the spotlight so he must have not really had a full life. We are all witness to the self-destructive ways our stars are living their lives and they're not even half as big as MJ!

These two were kings and they will be unsurpassed for a very long time.

Nap Time For My Babies

Kayla and Bawzer have been asleep all afternoon.

Talk about lively company! The other three are downstairs asleep, too!

A(H1N1) Scare

The building admin came to our office last week to inform us that there were a couple of confirmed A(H1N1) cases in the building.

Kayla came home last Friday and told me that classes were suspended until July 2 because one of her classmates is a confirmed case. He's good friends with her, too.

How many have died since the outbreak? I should google it to be accurate but as far as I can remember, it's hardly deadly. TB is worse... so how can we take precaution when a disease is airborne? Not breathe?

I, myself, have not been feeling all to well in the past week. I have been feverish and my tummy has not been right. That's remarkable because I hardly ever get sick and I can eat rotten food and come away with a belch. Maybe I have the disease.

Scary?

This is scary! Bawzer naked!

Profound Thoughts

Somehow these profound thoughts and realizations come to me when I'm in the shower faced with one of my life's dilemmas - what to use? The regular lemony soap or a shower gel. After I choose one and lather my fat and squat body, life thoughts run through my mind.

40 years old with nothing significant to show for it. My friends are richer, better-travelled, more successful, perhaps happier, while I am just an average fat and squat 40-year old. I wonder if my Dad dreamed of me being one? I wonder what Kayla would say if I tell her, Anak, I hope someday you will be an average fat and squat 40-year-old with nothing significant to show for her life... that's all I pray for. Would that have terrible psychological effects on her?

At what point in my life did I lose the drive to be bigger than life? When I was young I had to do something all the time. I was hungry and enriched myself with knowledge. I craved to know about anything and everything under the sun. I read about so many subjects and topics aside from the thick, microscopic-font novels. The best I can do now is skim.

I still want to do many things but I haven't figured out how to get it going without my actual involvement. I'm still thinking, thinking, thinking.

MW is Down... so How's the Weather?

Oh ko! What to do now?

I am home with a tummy flu so I'm in an uncomfortable situation made worse by the never-ending error message. I never did have patience so I almost flung my laptop on the wall but I do have some common sense so I didn't because you can imagine what it would be like if I did but I didn't so all is well.

The weather is beautiful. The skies are kinda overcast but still bright from the bit of sunshine that's penetrating through. There's a gentle breeze that is making my numerous wind chimes tinkle. I love the sound of gently tinkling chimes. It's so calming. It's another matter when strong winds are whipping them up to clanging decibels though. Horrific like horror movies! I read somewhere that fondness for wind chimes is a symptom of some mental illness or is that from a horror movie?

Hmmm... is it up yet?

AL is Following Me II

I just got a message from AL correcting me on her gender which I assumed to be masculine.

AL is a SHE and I now assume that AL are her initials or nickname. Better not assume anything. Just let it be known that AL is a she.

Dina, one of my close friends, has 4 beautiful daughters and they have masculine nicknames. Sam for Samantha, Alex for Alexandra, Frank for Francesca and George for Georgina. She wants to have a couple more kids. I assume she'll name her sons feminine nicknames to go with her theme. Lorie for Lorenzo, Gigi for Gregorio, Auring for Aurelio...

Better not assume anything.

Diminutives

Kayla knows I am being stern when I call her by her second name, Natalia.

She knows I am pissed off when I call her Kayla Natalia.

When I'm angry, I call her Kayla Natalia Ruiz.

When everything is ok, I call her Kayla or Anak or Baby. That's when she tries to get something that she wants. These are the signs that she looks for that tell her what her overall standing is.

I noticed that she has names for me, too. When there's nothing that she wants, she just calls me Mom. But when she needs or wants something she calls me Mommy. That is her diminutive for me. She also uses it when I am sick which was the case last night. She can be an angel despite herself. She told me a bedtime story while she massaged my hands. She told me the story about the 12 Princesses and their worn out dancing shoes.

I fell asleep soundly. I wonder what happened to the princesses and their mysterious dancing shoes.

Motivating Kayla

School started last Monday. Hooray! The kids are busy again... or in my case, my one and only daughter is busy again.

Last night, I sermoned about how important it was to get good grades especially since she is in her senior year. She's pretty lackadaisical where these things are concerned. She thinks it is enough that she knows and there's no need for numbers to prove it. She asked if she can get a locker because she has 17 text books. Right... I remember she had one in her sophomore year and I never saw her books until the school year ended. Her grades were shot. Back to my sermon, I told her she has to get used to working harder now because in college, her professors will not give a hoot if she failed or passed and they will not call me to discuss her problems... College students will be treated as adults who are totally responsible for their success or downfall. Yak yak yak. She blandly said yes, Mom and I understand, Mom all throughout my tirade.

When her Dad heard my theme, he piped in another motivation point. He told her if she got good grades and got accepted in a nice school, he will buy her a brand new car. In the exact same bland tone, she said, Dad, I don't want a car because I will only be old enough to drive in my 4th year of college.What could her carrot be?

Difficulties At Work

What could possibly be the worst difficulty that one can face in the office?

Too much workload? Office gossip? Strict policies?

I think it is having a difficult boss. One who does not believe in reason. One who is an idiot but thinks he is all-knowing and dismisses the expertise of his staff then blames them should something go wrong which shouldn't have happened in the first place had he listened to their suggestions/solutions. One who then claims to his bosses that his people did not do as he "directed" then takes credit for the efforts of his minions to salvage the situation.

The result is a disgruntled staff. People who speak softly when they address him but gives him the finger when his back is turned. People who would leave as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

The company should be thankful there's a crisis and employment is precious.

AL is Following Me

I got a comment from AL. He said my blog is interesting and he intends to follow me. How cool is that?

No, I don't know him from Adam and I did not harass him to read my blog like Florence and my other friends. Nor did I offer him money.

Now I feel pressured to actually write and to make it interesting and/or amusing. Who knows? There might be other Al's out there?

No more devil-may-care writing... what??? I have been writing from my SOUL! With all the devotion and sincerity that I can muster!

I vow to write better in between this freakishly addictive, hypnotic game, Mafia Wars and Lexulous.

Cross Stitching

I woke up one morning and saw Kayla's bed naked. She tosses and turns in her sleep so much that her bedsheets come off. I don't know how she can sleep like that. I don't mess up my bedsheets when I lie down in bed. I can't stand a messy bed. So, I decided to put garter belts on her bedsheets to prevent this from happening. She was so amazed when she saw me working with a needle and thread, can you believe it? Duh? What's the big deal eh? So her bedsheets now fit more snugly and she's pleased.

As an afterthought, she asked me why cross stitching is taught in school when it seems to be totally useless in life. I told her it's so one can have a hobby. You know what she said? She said, oh, so you can cross stitch when you're old and don't have friends to talk to anymore, huh.

Of course not! What a silly idea! There's Lexulous and Mafia Wars!

Summer of 2009

That was pretty short. It seemed like only yesterday when we were in the first quarter of the year excitedly looking to the summer vacation and suddenly, it is June. Time to go back to school for the kids.

Kayla is a senior this year. Imagine that. Last night, I sat in the Kayla Hall (a sitting area with a wall full of her pictures). I gazed at her pictures when she was a baby, her graduation rites in Pre-school and Kindergarten, her Miss Taiwan picture on a UN week, a picture of the two of us in almost identical clothes... she used to be so small! Now she's a tall lanky young lady who towers over me.

Time flies even when you're not having fun.