Apples and Plastic bags

I was going through my feeds this afternoon and I stumbled upon a question:

What's your favorite Christmas memory?

So I pondered.

I remember hanging plastic bags by the window after dinner on the 24th. We cannot even afford to buy Christmas stockings. We would then go to sleep and the parents will wake us up for the Aguinaldo mass. By the time we're back from the church, our plastic bags would be filled with an apple each, and something else we didn't ask for. Back then, apples were only available during December. We were nice kids all year long but Santa never gave us what we wished for. And yet we never questioned why our cousins got better gifts (we used to live in the same compound as our maternal relatives). Plus our Christmases were always uber happy sans the perfect gifts.

How about you, what's your favorite Christmas memory?

ps. When we moved to a new home, Santa stopped coming over because our house had window grills and we didn't have a chimney. LOL!

Tweaking update and an old picture :)

Done with tweaking and I am quite satisfied (for now LOL!) :) I'm really loving the new template I installed. I'm just glad that it worked fine. The colors are beautiful -- fun and lively and happy :) I think I'm keeping this layout for now since I had a hard time putting everything back...and I'm not even sure if I'll ever have the patience to tweak again, LOL! I even lost my links! TG for Caryl's code, I didn't have to encode all of Bebot's links manually (the list even gets automatically updated when Caryl adds a new link!). For my other links in "Friends and Virtual Buddies", let me know if I missed anyone. I made a mistake when I saved to another template without even jotting down the list. My bad.

Ok peeps! Lemme know what you think of the new look :)

And here's a candid picture of myself three years ago. Found this in my EHD while browsing for pictures to be sent to my mom. Can I just say I totally miss my long shiny hair?!?!?!?! Sigh.

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Been online the entire day (half the day actually) and I'm not done yet! :) Hopefully I can finish tonight my post about Wednesday's Congenital Anomaly Scan of Baby Dot. I'm still doing some updates in my Multiply though, so we'll see :)

Reminiscin'

Yen's Thursday Thirteen today inspired me to do this post. It's all about random memories from childhood (not sure I can fill up the 13 slots though) ;)

1. My sister and I are eleven months apart so we got used to be mistaken as twins! Didn't help that we wore similar clothes and haircut :)
2. I remember mom and dad bringing us to Fiesta Carnival in Cubao and riding the carousel
3. Riding a "katig-less" banca, scary haha
4. My brother R hit me with a small bowl even if I was sick (I must be that annoying, uh!)
5. I joined a declamation contest (Oh Captai, my Captain) in Grade One because my teacher said I had a powerful voice and good diction. I was the only girl competing and I lost.
6. My mom's BIL was playing with me, threw me up the air, missed me for a second, and finally caught me by the ankles..and I was upside down, hanging behind him!
7. I fell in a canal behind my lola's house and got this scar on the forehead.

I'll come back for more. This got me thinking eh :) But I gotta close the store first...hehehe

On December 20, 2004...

I wrote this in my old blog:

"i'd say that the worst feeling in the world, besides indifference, is neither hatred nor angst. for some (usually the paranoid, ), it is but the feeling that some other people ceased to NEED them. i will not elaborate anymore. because for me, just the thought that someone (could be a loved one, a family member, an old friend, a new friend) does not need me anymore makes me quite sad."

I do not remember anymore what triggered this entry. I said I might elaborate, but I never did. Hehe. I slept on it as DEP suggested. But then, I still feel the same until now. Nope, no one is ignoring me at the moment. I just mean that one of my greatest fears, really, is getting to a point when no one else would need me anymore. I am a possessive sucker like that. Hehe. Maybe I need a shrink, kaching! :) Mwehehe.

Blankets

I bought a book, a graphic novel (a first!), after a friend recommended it. She said the reviews are great and that it will remind you of childhood. It did. I was with hubby that Monday afternoon when we visited Powerbooks and saw a copy of the said book. But, I wasn't planning on buying an expensive book (Php1500+).

The reviews printed on the back cover, however, gave me goosebumps when it said something like "...brutalities parents give the children...". No I wasn't a battered child at all, but that phrase somehow made a homerun. I was mainly looking for my memories of childhood and of first love. And there I found it. My Ane bought me the book and I was engaged on reading for a few hours. I finished it, all 600 pages, after about 7hours. The book is currently with Mitch who promised to cover it after Lara finished with it too. I haven't brought it home yet.

The book reminded me of childhood -- the times when my siblings and I shared the same bed (accidental pees!), when we fought (brother hitting me with a small glass bowl when I was sick!) and even the time I almost cut my left pointing finger. It was also true for me that the book reminded me of my first love as I narrated briefly in my other blog. Go check it out :)

Checking out my Pensieve from HS :)

Tagged myself heheheh

Message: THINK BACK TO 4th year HS...Let's see how much you remember and how much you regret..

What section were you?
*H

Who was your adviser?
*Ms. Angie Paculan

How many were you in one class?
*less than 40

Who was/were your seat mates?
*Lisette and Kathy

Still remember your english teacher?
*Ms. Angie also

What was your first class?
*Can't remember but we have Homeroom as first class on Tuesdays

Who was your best friend?
*Caline

Who did you like?
*No boys in school...but I did crush on a teacher or two hihihi

Made friends to the lower years?
* yup yup

Had a boyfriend/girlfriend?
*yes hehehe from another school but we parted right after graduation

How was your class schedule?
*we change schedules every quarter so I won't remember anymore...

Made any enemies?
*Not so sure...hmmmm

Who was your favorite teacher?

*The ones who really made a big difference in my life were the ones from the lower years...Ms. Asa and Ms. Samonte :)

What sports did you play?

*Wasn't part of any team but we had basketball, taekwondo and badminton among others for PE.

Did you buy your lunch?

*Yup! There are a lot of choices in the canteen. examples are Chicken BBQ, Tenderloin tips and those Pumpernickle sandwiches :)

Were you a party animal?
*nope

Were you well known in your school?
*In a way yes, because I was tasked to confiscate ID's of those who litter during lunch hihihi


SKIP SCHOOl?
*never

Did you get suspended/expelled?
*no reason to be

Can you sing the alma mater?
*very well, until now :)


What was your favorite subject?
*Physics

What was your school's full name?
*St. Scholastica's College Manila

Did you go to the dances?
*Once

If you could go back in time and do it all over, would you?
*Yup but change a thing or two

What do you remember most about 4th year?
*Graduation rehearsals :)


Favorite memory in 4th year?
*our batch had a lot of firsts (gala came back!) and lasts (Ms. Salazar)

Worst memory in 4th year?
*being bullied? oh well, during those times, i really felt bullied huh

Where did you go most often for break?
*on the floor under one of the mango trees

What did you do on the last day of school?
*exams?

How was your graduation?
*happy and sad...dinner with family afterwards

Got any honors or special awards?
*service award for leading Project EARTH...I wasn't academically excellent heheh

Did you like 4th year?
*best year, I guess

What year did you graduate?
*1995

Who posted this before you did?
*Joyce

Titon?!?

I was bloghopping and got inspired by one of Tey's entries. We also have a lot of made-up words that we use sparingly. We started using these words since my youngest brother uttered these...we use them until now. My Ane got used to the words already and so my other brother's significant other, April. Oh well, even our househelps use some of these words sometimes!

Here goes:

• Titon (tee-ton) -- n. especially useful during summer a.k.a. airconditioning unit.
• Papis (pah-pees) -- v. the act of brushing one's teeth.
• Lelo (leh-loh) -- v. the act of washing one's body.
• Wowo (woe-woe) -- n. grandfather/Mommy or Daddy's uncle.
• Wowa (woe-wah) -- n. wife/partner/sister of Wowo.
• Nene (neh-neh) -- n. bottled milk; v. the act of drinking the nene (ie. Nenene ka na?)
• Icewee (ahys-wee) -- n. frozen dairy product.
• Babyshew (bey-bhee-shoo) -- n. yummy grilled skewered pork.
• Kuya (coo-yah) -- n. literally means an older brother; n. the third kid, the one born after me but I still call him Kuya, everybody in our family, even the 'rents, call him that so the youngest kid will learn to use it too.

It's fun to make up words! :) Not sure if I included everything, I'll ask my brothers, though. This entry is cross-posted in my other webhouse :)

We are almost one year old

Our Anniversary is coming up! I can remember the same time last year we were almost done with our preparations and were already trying to relax waiting for our Big Day. We got married on July 1 and the preparations alone took us about a year.

During the first few months of the preparations, I was busy checking online for designs of Bridal and evening gowns (for our reception!). I was also able to collect a number of magazines, some purchased while some were lent to me by friends who got married earlier. The gown was on top of my list (not necessarily my husband's priority, hehe). I was very particular about the design -- simple but elegant, not too flashy and definitely no petticoat! In the end, I loved how my gown turned out and everyone was raving how wonderful it was on me.

Those days are still vivid in my mind and the memories make me smile until now. I cannot wait until my dear husband marries me again. :)