float awhile

My mind seemed to be running a thousand miles per minute these days, juggling at least three full time roles (wife, mother, an employee). With all these roles loaded of tasks, a higher dose of vitamin C is really useful. This is the time that i can't get sentimental, can't be nostalgic, can't afford to ponder nor wonder. Visiting my site, i took a deep breath...it's nice to float awhile....will be back real soon!


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Debbie (a special birthday greeting)

Many happy returns for a woman of substance. Down to earth yet so intelligent. Strict yet softhearted. An all-weather friend, reliable and dependable in good times and bad times. A very good daughter to her parents, a loving and supportive sister to her siblings, wonderful aunt to her nieces and nephews. What more could you ask for? Simply stated, I miss her! Enjoy your birthday Lady! You deserve it!

Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen. Samuel Patterson

wheat and chaff

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is slow-ripening fruit. Aristotle

You can build a rapport instantly with a person you just knew but I don't believe friendship works that way. It's a slow process which passes through phases and different moods. Platonic relationships which survived challenges, pressures, laughters, tears, and pressures - tested by time, so they said, outlast the others.

In my lifetime I must say, I was fortunate to meet a lot of people, different ages, different backgrounds, beliefs, and interests. But despite the overwhelming number of acquaintances whom I got close to, I only kept a few of them as friends. Self-choice.

Being so trusting, I usually give people close to me more than enough opportunity to demonstrate their affection. But as I age, I learned that there is no point trusting and making friends with people who do not return the courtesy. Thus, I ended up letting or rather making feigned friendships fall by the wayside. The process is difficult but worth doing. I've gone through an assessment of myself and the people whom I call (and thought were) my friends. And after an honest analysis (which included self-improvement plans), I successfully separated the wheat from the chaff. I was left with a few real ones, peole whom I can call true friends. The smaller circle included the friends I had for years, decades. And I am happy moving within this smaller circle than being in a pond of people who pretend to be friends but do otherwise.

This entry is my own little way of thanking my friends, you know who you are, for all the good times, hard times and everything real that you shared with me. I appreciate your friendship and I feel truly fortunate to find wheat, good quality wheat, in a seaful of chaff.

Finally, for those of you dear readers who may want to undergo the "wheat and chaff" separation process which I did, the following thought of caution from Blaise Pascal may help or may force you to start the process (ha!ha!ha!)...

Few friendship would survive if each one knew what his friend says of him behind
his back.

POSTCRIPT : All the best goes to two of my friends at work who recently added a year to their ages. You are truly a WHEAT!

Keep the sun shining and the rainbow peeping...hold onto that smile!

between a toothache...

Friday should be a jiggy day – looking forward to a long weekend.


A drive out of the city maybe, a theme park, and a couple of other extras. But after two minutes of being settled in my office chair - Ouchhhhh…. first taste of real toothache.

I can’t imagine, it took me several decades to experience this excruciating pain. I was twice an A1 child of my class in Highschool mainly for having the healthiest teeth. Why this pain? Okay, yes, it was my fault, chocolate pigging for a week.

With almost a dozen of Advil, Rite Aid’s oragel, and a “kulit” officemate named Gina who supplied me with those ever reliable pain killer (by the ways, with her strict instructions, she could almost pass for a doctor or a mom, perhaps?) I survived the day. Upps! must not forget Roger and his ultra pain reliever (Thanks Roger!) But what added pain to the injury, was hearing the dentist will not be able to see me until Thursday.

It was then that I realized I should be more tolerant, increase my pain threshold (my doctors in the Philippines know I have a very low tolerance of pain) three levels up at least. Calmed myself, hold onto the pain, and settled for more pain relievers and the gel.

How I miss my dentist in the Philippines…I could always call her on her cell and set-up emergency appointments even before I feel any pain.

Between a toothache, I just felt our (my Family) plans diverging. It is such and uncomfortable feeling that will ruin my enjoyment.

Between a toothache, Saturday became almost exactly like the other Saturdays but with some exciting twist, late afternoon mass, grocery shopping, with a little spree for me, to ease the pain at least.

A drive to Chinatown for two full packs of the sumptous Fullhouse’s Special Noodles (fried angel hair noodles with mixed seafood toppings) and I survived Saturday. Retiring to bed, i told Brack how i appreciate the advantages of having two boys, they pamper me (without getting jealous of my shopping, hahaha!!!). Between a toothache, i was able to sleep soundly that night.

Between a toothache, the saga continues. Sunday morning, Abraham made the pancake mixture (by the ways, he always gets the first cake out of the pan) and we all had a hefty delicious pancake breakfast. By noon we drove to Los Feliz but never get to enter Costco at all. We were discouraged by a comment from a fellow "pinoy" (colloquial term for filipino) who just came out from inside - "grabe! punong-puno ng tao sa loob!" (horrible! the place is full of people). Understandbly, it being a holiday weekend, and i guess the fact that gas price had increased, people went shopping instead of driving.

Between a toothache, I ended up enjoying chicken baked pie, a small portion of pizza, a small portion of hotdog, a taste of raspberry tea, and almost an entire cup of the yummy twirl (hardheaded - Gina will scold me for this!). And by the ways, i even managed to check out the toys, cuties, and the bicycles at Toys R Us.

Between a toothache, we drove to Burbank, stopped at the mall, and finally got our seats at AMC Center 6 for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I skipped the popcorn and the soda this time...because I have a toothache, that's why...hahaha!!! With most eateries closed, when we got out of the moviehouse, we salvaged whatever "pangat" (stands for pangatlong init- or leftover food) we have in the fridge and laughed about the movie, the four of us...Took the pain relievers, then off to bed.

Between a toothache, Monday was a delight, woke up to see the kids already doing their homework is such a relief. Cleaned the house, put things in order and finally, watched Message in a Bottle (for the fourth time, this movie touched me so much, but i never liked the ending though, that's why I stop the movie at a scene near the ending that I like - wise!).

At the end of the day, I just realized that the long weekend is over and that between the toothache, it was still an enjoyable one. This made me realize that it's true what they say, by nature, people know how to adjust to their situation.

And that no matter how bad it is (like a toothache for example), we can still make it better, i guess attitude is the main factor...

And thanks for indulging, not too often you would read an article about a toothache, right?

Pain is deeper than all thought; laughter is higher than all pain. Elbert Hubbard