As Simple as Marrying the One You Love

I'm talking about marriage as a civil union here, m'kay? I don't want to open that can of worms (and by "that" I mean the other attribute of marriage). Just so's y'all know and we're all clear. (Although, I acknowledge that most arguments to the contrary stem from that. I hear ya. Still.)

I saw this in my aunt's Facebook newsfeed this morning and I still can't get over how awesome it is, so I'm sharing it here. I have no doubt that both his mothers are proud of him. Heck, I'm proud of him.

And So We Meet Again, Proust

Because I've had nothing to do the whole day (wait, let's relish that thought once more: I've had nothing to do the whole day) but take care of Duckie, I've basically been trolling the Internet. Out of Web sites to visit and still very much un-sleepy, I decided to visit my old blog and chanced upon this meme I did a little over two years ago.

It's essentially a meme based on the last page of Vanity Fair (favorite magazine!) wherein known personalities answer a bunch of questions and hopefully (depending on whether the responder was forthcoming...or cool), the reader gains a more profound knowledge of the person.

I had fun answering that and I had more fun rereading my answers from two years ago. Not a lot has changed, but then a lot has changed. You know what I mean? So in the interest of self knowledge and self-indulgence (and absolute I-have-nothing-else-to-do-ness), here we go (again)...

Bert, Ernie, Sheep, Bocelli, Elmo, and a Duck

And so I'm done! :) Well, I'm still waiting for feedback for edits, but most of my writing work is done -- done enough so that I can have an honest to goodness weekend. Hah!

Don't get me wrong. I love my side jobs. In fact, the added work keeps me sane. The coffee-fueled writing frenzy makes me feel alive. (I've NEVER been sporty nor outdoorsy, so this is the nerdy equivalent of an adrenaline rush from...doing something that would require me to sweat...I would imagine.) It's just that the past week has been a little brutal as far as deadlines are concerned. The two writing jobs I had managed to have similar deadlines, so my brain's been on overdrive the past few weeks. Oh, and did I mention that we still don't have a yaya? Yup, so all that plus taking care of an infant, full time. It's a good thing school's been out for a while.

So anyway, the Duckster and I have the usual night time routine. Some nights, she's so wired up though, it takes a bit to make her sleepy. She's also been trying to master the rollover for a few weeks and just managed to perfect it this week. She's so good at it now, she's actually a little cocky about it -- as cocky as a four and a half month old could be, haha. She's been so gung-ho with this rolling over bit, she positively delights in it, refusing to sleep even though she's clearly sleepy.

So what to do? Go to YouTube, of course. I made her watch this video first; not so much to make her sleepy but, well, because I wanted to see it. Hehe.






And then she watched this video and I kid you not, she really did become sleepy after watching it!






I don't know what to love more, the new lyrics, Elmo's attempt at vibrato, or finding out that Elmo has purple eyeshadow pala. Hehehe. I kid. Of course I love the fact that it made Lucia sleepy.

For about five minutes.

Because as am writing this, she is tugging at my shirt, a little annoyed because I caged her with pillows and my body so she won't roll over to the side. I'm not heeding her cries, I'm pretending to ignore her because she tends to put herself to sleep when I do so. I just have to wait it out.

...This is me drumming my fingers...

But I love how she has these little quirks now. It's like I'm getting to know her as a person now and not just this huge ball of adorable fluff.

So, I know it sucks not to have a yaya...but did I also mention how awesome it is not to have a yaya? :)

Yeah. So happy weekend. I'm going to have an awesome one.

Priorities

The plan was to work on the textbook/workbook (my co-teachers and I are in the process of writing one) this morning. But Lucia had other plans. She wanted to play! :) Ah, how could I resist?

Evidence of a well spent morning:

Smile

Lucia has had an exciting day. She's actually been having an exciting week so far (more on that later), so it's been a doozy trying to make her sleep. Right now, I'm calming her down by placing her against my entire lower half as I try to write. Primarily, I planned to get some work done (side job, school work is all but done), but my brain's fried and I can't get the Little Einstein theme song out of my head. Hence, here I am.

I love being a mother. In particular, I love being Lucia's mother. She's such a smiley baby. Her pictures don't exactly show it though since we have a sucky camera that isn't exactly subtle (it has that red flashing light before the actual picture is taken). By the time the flashes end and the picture is taken, Lucia's all bug eyed.

Mushy Food and Mushy Kisses

Duckie turned four months last week and the pedia told us to slowly introduce her to solid food. She's taking to it fairly well, but she really does prefer my milk over everything else (yay!).

Hahahaha! Look at that face! Homaygulay, she's so cute. ;)

I only have a few days of school work left. I have a few projects to finish, but those are side jobs and not my real job (another yay!) so it (hopefully) won't eat so much of my time. I will have one glorious month of just mommy-ing, and I can't wait. :)

Day Eight (and Nine and Ten...and Yes, I'm Alive)

GROUP HUG!!! My goodness, how I've missed you (I'm talking to my blog, but yeah, I could be talking to you, too).

Okay, in my defense, a lot has happened. First, we (finally) moved into our own place, which means, I am a helluva lot happier these days. But we don't have Internet connection there, hence the silence online. Also, we were yaya-less for two weeks, which meant that my husband and I were walking zombies for that period of time. As difficult as it was though, it was pretty awesome because we were able to do everything together, spend a lot of time with Duckie, and generally feel awesome about ourselves for being able to do it. Which isn't to say that we aren't over the moon with our new yaya. She is indeed a godsend, and so far, she's been awesome.

My Papa also came home for his sabbatical, which meant we got to spend our weekends with him. That was awesome (word for the day: awesome). He was able to spend time with Duckie, and my goodness, the fun we all had. :)

More than anything, the biggest culprit has been work. We're done with the school year now though, and I've already finalized my grades, so hurray. But as it happens, I've come upon a good writing gig which pretty much takes up a lot of my time. And I'm trying to finish this workbook that I, along with my other co-teachers, are going to get published.

Oh, and did I mention that I have an almost-four month old that I am exclusively breastfeeding? :D So yeah, the past few weeks have been...say it with me...AWESOME. :D

Okay, so leaving where we left off, I think I'm on Day Eight now. And since it's been forever, I'll do everything until Day Ten. :)

Day One: Ten best things about being alive.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself that you like.
Day Three: Eight things you know for sure.
Day Four: Seven things that make you laugh.
Day Five: Six things you are thankful for/appreciate every day.
Day Six: Five people in whom you perceive Ultimate Goodness.
Day Seven: Four turn ons.
Day Eight: Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.

Day Eight: Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
1. Not to float my own boat, but I think I'm already doing it by being a teacher. So yeah, I'm going to keep doing that...forever. :D
2. I will raise my child to love, serve, and cherish the land of her birth.
3. I need to look for an NGO to get myself heavily involved in. I'm really looking for an NGO that would fit perfectly with my beliefs and personal philosophies. Any suggestions?

Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
JUST TWO?!? Are you kidding me? Sigh.
1. I have to learn how to let go. Hmmm. That could mean so many things...and all of it would be true. Haha.
2. I have to be more forgiving...of myself and others.

Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.
I could be superficial and say I'd like to change the fact that I am poor, but I will resist. Haha.

My knee-jerk answer is ____, but by changing that, it would also change a very important person in my life. So...I guess my answer would be...nothing. My life isn't perfect, but seriously, I don't want anything to change.

Day Seven

The past few entries have been very emo and deep and insert-violin-instrumental-ish. Today I shall go really babaw and focus on the superficial. Hehe. ;)

(As always, ICYMI, here's Day Six.)

Day One: Ten best things about being alive.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself that you like.
Day Three: Eight things you know for sure.
Day Four: Seven things that make you laugh.
Day Five: Six things you are thankful for/appreciate every day.
Day Six: Five people in whom you perceive Ultimate Goodness.
Day Seven: Four turn ons.
Day Eight:  Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.

1.  A fine butt.
2.  Clean hands (same goes with feet)
3.  An awesome sense of humor
4.  An air of geekiness (or just general awkwardness)

Day Six

Ack! It's a good thing I made that warning about not being able to write on consecutive days. The past few days have been a little hectic. Right now, we're actually waiting for our turn with the pedia. Lucia has this rash that just won't go away and she's due for some shots.

There, as a testament to how hectic it has been, this paragraph is being written a full day and a half after :p. It's all good though. I'm savoring my last few days with Lucia since I'm due to go back to work on Monday. Oh, how horrible that'll be.

But I don't want to think about that yet. Hmph.   

Okay, so now on to Day Six! (ICYMI, here's Day Five.)

Day One: Ten best things about being alive.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself that you like.
Day Three: Eight things you know for sure.
Day Four: Seven things that make you laugh.
Day Five: Six things you are thankful for/appreciate every day.
Day Six: Five people in whom you perceive Ultimate Goodness.
Day Seven: Four turn ons.
Day Eight:  Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.

1.  Lucia - I still don't know what I did to deserve her. I believe that goodness exists because she is in my life; she is the ultimate manifestion of God in my life.

2.  Chaddy - It was the song playing when I walked down the aisle for a reason. "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must've done something good. For here you are standing there loving me, whether or not you should." :')

3.  Sara - My best friend. If you know her, you would understand. If you don't know her, then you should go meet her.

4. and 5. Mama & Papa - This isn't a cop out, I really need to put them here together. I did this because they bring out what is good in each other. One of my ultimate goals as a married woman is to have a marriage much like that of my parents.

Day Five

You will have to excuse me because I'm trying to simmer down right now. I swear, sometimes I think you-know-who (YKW) is out to ruin good days on purpose!

But that's all the drama I'll allow it to have for now, because actually, the past two days have been great! My Tita came through with much needed help with the most perfect timing, so my days with YKW will soon be a thing of the past! More than that, Lucia will have access to things and places that Chad and I believe she deserves. But I'll talk about that in fuller detail some other time...;)

Another awesome development is that my best friend has given birth to a healthy baby boy! We've been doing everything together since our pre-teens, and so I am selfishly thrilled for myself that I can enjoy (and languish sometimes) in first time motherhood as well. And yes, matchmaking is deliciously inevitable. Sorry, Duckie. (Hehehe...)

So see? YKW's negativity pales in comparison to the wonderful things that the new year has brought so far. God is good! Praise God from whom all blessings flow! :D

Okay, so now on to Day Five! (ICYMI, here's Day Four.)

Day One: Ten best things about being alive.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself that you like.
Day Three: Eight things you know for sure.
Day Four: Seven things that make you laugh.
Day Five: Six things you are thankful for/appreciate every day.
Day Six: Five people in whom you perceive Ultimate Goodness.
Day Seven: Four turn ons.
Day Eight:  Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.

1.  Chaddy and Lucia
2.  My family: the Pascuals, Navarros, Pizañas, and my Diyosas
3.  Knowing that I have most of what I truly need to survive the day
4.  Working for the sheer love of teaching and not for the money (for there isn't any, hehehe...)
5.  Having a Yaya to help out with Lucia
6.  New things to read and discover

Day Four

Happy new year, everyone! Hope your celebrations were wonderful. Ours was very simple and low key. Most of the night was spent calming Lucia down because she got spooked with all the noise. Sigh!

Anyway. On to Day Four! (ICYMI, here's Day Three.)

Day One: Ten best things about being alive.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself that you like.
Day Three: Eight things you know for sure.
Day Four: Seven things that make you laugh.
Day Five: Six things you are thankful for/appreciate every day.
Day Six: Five people in whom you perceive Ultimate Goodness.
Day Seven: Four turn ons.
Day Eight:  Three things you want to do for your community/ the world.
Day Nine: Two things you think you need to work on personally.
Day Ten: One thing you'd like to change about your life.

1.  Chaddy (swear, para kaming sitcom sometimes)
2.  When Lucia laughs or smiles while she sleeps
3.  When Papa teases Mama, hehehe...
4.  Will & Grace (Don't you just miss that show?!?)
5.  Conversations around the English SA table (oh, if only the students knew...)
6.  My kids, when the give epic presentations :)
7.  Conversations about nothing and everything with my friends