In My Diary 19 July 2010

It had been a hectic month.  There was a Monday when I had to go to UP four times, forth and back. Jean and Tish’ schedules and activities are so far apart. But I couldn’t allow one to take the public transport.  It is just too time consuming and taxing. Good thing there are dismissal periods that coincide, like on Thursdays.  Then they commute home together.

I sought audience with Mayor Del de Guzman 9 July, for my leaning cracked wall.  He is soft-spoken, courteous and perceptive to the matter at hand.  I am glad we have a change in the local government. And I do hope my fence gets reconstructed soon.

I had correspondences also with MMDA Traffic Adjudication Board’s Raymond de Ramos and Atty. Rochelle Capili.  I am happy, too, that our people in the local sectors had become easier to talk with. Atty. Rochelle promised to inform me as to the progress of my complaint instead of asking me to make an appearance in their office.

Our eenie weenie baby bun with the winking eye RJ was christened 11 July.  Jean was first time Ninang. It was held at St. Ignatius Cathedral inside Camp Aguinaldo. Wow!  The army church was air conditioned. And we sang the national anthem at the end of the mass. Imagine that!

But our little charmer gave us a show. He squirmed and cooed as Audrey, Julia, Jean, Tish and Tami touched his cheeks.  Poor baby!  Everyone just wanted a feel of his 3 week old soft skin. I thought that was all there was to it when I was cradling RJ.  I couldn’t had enough of keeping off the hands while saying “You can only touch the feet!” But came Kuya RD and simply opened RJ’s tight shut eye! What can I say! Sigh!

I Am Sorry, Mommy!

My mommy lives in far away California, yet it seems that she resides just around the corner.  That is because she always makes it a point to call on the phone long distance and ask to be updated by the state of our lives. Whenever there is something troubling the family, especially on the the financial matters, mommy trouble shoots, without fail. And through the years, mommy seems so pacified when everything is all right. Mommy finds contentment when everyone is all right.

Mommy is thoughtful and ultra generous. Kindness is her second nature. And she shares this selfless loving  with everyone. And never does she expect anyone to return the favor.  She just wants all her loved ones to succeed and be happy, too.

Well, I think I had taken my mommy for granted in so many ways.  My whole life had depended on her as if she is this superwoman who can make miracles. Twice when I was hospitalized, she came to the rescue even if she herself was ailing. And I listened to her narration of her pain as if that will be gone when we are finished talking.  Mine is more severe.  And I am the child.  She was the mommy. She can handle it.

But now mommy’s pain is absorbing.  She couldn’t even stand without tremendous aches penetrating her physical being. Amidst this, she still wants to know if we are all right

A few days ago, mommy called to ask me why I wrote something inappropriate about her and daddy.  I was taken aback because I never would compromise my parents in the internet. But as it is, I retaliated at once to defend myself. I did not even pause to think that some language could come in strong for my weary mommy. It didn’t occur to me that my words, always straightforward , could simply pierce a sensitive and sad heart.

So, I am sorry, mommy.  It was never my intention to cause you pain.  If I had broken your bones and slighted your soul, please forgive me. My words sometimes come in brutal and frank. It is just the way I am. But I will do my best to restrain myself.

I love you,  mommy. I never want to hurt you. (:

Our Neighbor Danny Gave Us Avocados!

Rarely does my doorbell ring.  So I was hastened to stand up from my mylotting because of the prompting doorbell call.  Good thing Jean was still home and she kindly attended to the the ringer at the gate..  It was Danny Sanchez, our neighbor . He gave us avocados again. Wow!

Danny underwent surgery early this year.  He was diagnosed with colon cancer.  He is due for chemo therapy but he is seriously considering to forego that because of the expenses it would entail.  Sigh!

Danny had been my only one kind neighbor actually.  He was the only one who helped me when the robbers broke into my home. He was also the only one who had been kind enough to advise me about the status of the neighborhood, and how I should deal with the perks and pests!

Now that he is seriously ill with a life-threatening disease, he is even the one to give us fruits, even if the avocados are only harvests from his tree.

Some people are simply kind, like Danny!

In My Diary 6 July 2010

Today I finally got to apply for a UP car sticker.  I am not a car sticker fan but ever since UP implemented its no ID no entry policy, the campus had become cleaner, brighter, and fresher. For one, there is less traffic in the oval and the gates.  For another, UP is turning to look more academic and far from the shabby, filthy university it once had been.

Yesterday, I got to register the L3.  I had a minor skirmish about insurance requiring TIN number but I got that solved by applying for one at UCPB.  I was surprised to learn it was a few hundred pesos cheaper than the usual LTO TPL partners. So I got to exchange words with the branch chief Adele Fabic. I suggested that the the LTO must do away with the emission testing requirement and instead apply a mandatory change oil and filter right under their noses. I do hope this suggestion find its way to the clean air act proponents.

Jean had been domesticated this past week.  She even assisted Tish in feeding the grasshoppers and the praying mantis which we now take care of in our dining room.  Tish needs around 150 insects for her insectology subject. That is not the correct term.  I forgot !  Will correct that later.  But this reminds me of Tom Cruise’s  Scientology. (:

Voyeurism Public

What do you know?  Finally I got a peek at at the insides of Manila Hotel, Malacanang Palace and Camp Aguinaldo.  These had been some of the famous national venues that seemed to be restricted, caters only to the affluent few, or those in power. And to think that these are  properties of the people. But all that had changed in the past 72 hours.  Noynoy, as president, allowed the people to take a peep.  And I did, as much as I can.

Malacanang Palace is huge and elegant.  The historic stairs, which Donya Teodora Alonzo y Realonda supposedly climbed to beg for the life of his son Jose Rizal in 1896, was given much ado.  Tradition had held this staircase as where the out-going  president descends from power and meets the successor.  After the inaugurals, the successor comes back to the same place and ascends the wooden stairs.

The new president also permitted the media to view the first cabinet meeting.  The new secretaries were adjusting their retinas to the glare of the media lights. The media reported that the maiden order was a blooper.  Well, it was one for the books.  The president is a bachelor.  There is no such thing as honeymoon stage, apparently.

At Camp Aguinaldo during the the Change of Command Ceremonies, President Noy came half-an-hour late.  When he emerged from his Land Cruiser which now bears Plate No. 1, Noy was all wrinkled and obviously exhausted.  He had not much sleep probably from the work-ridden first two days of office.  His sister Kris should have seen to it that his wardrobe was ironed for the week.  The travails of being unmarried.  Sigh!  But I was glad he groped well.  The generals and the soldiers were all poised. The salutes were firm and crisped.  But Noy will master that in time.

Nephew Jiggy made a video clip of the family’s overnight stay at the Manila Hotel in preparation for the inaugurals. His amateurish but exciting video captured how relaxed, extremely shy and yet vocal when prodded to talk the family is.  The Aquino family had become public property.  President Noy and his family had just given voyeurism a whole new meaning.

At Long Last!

It had taken a long time coming.  Finally, yesterday, at 12 high noon, Noynoy was sworn in as the 15th president of the Philippines.  The extended stage at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta was adorned with yellow flowers and red carpet, a bit small and tight for all the dignitaries and foreign diplomats, but totally in sync with Noynoy’s preferences.  He would have rejected any grandiose garb for the inauguration of the people’s president.

Ninoy and Cory must be ROFL , gripping the cumulus clouds that maintained their majestic mass all through the inaugural, till after their son’s completion of the order of the day.  And, by nightfall, when the street party at Quezon City Memorial Circle was in full swing, the dad and the mom could have no longer hold the heavy nimbus and allowed the rain flow hard and absorbing, to the son who they have instructed to live with honor and conscience.  Well, singing in the rain ain’t a violation of that code, and the son, president now and servant of the people. had just transcended the bounds and became one with us.

For the first time, I had a peep at our Malacanang Palace, the well manicured grounds, the cabinet meeting room, and the legendary staircase where Jose Rizal’s mother supposedly agonizingly climbed so she could beg for the life of her son.  It was not granted of course.  You and I know that.

And Noynoy posed at the portrait of his mother Cory, the People Power president who became our beloved Tita Cory in the succeeding years of struggle and persecution. President Noy paused long enough not for the cameras but to communicate with his mother. It was just a little less than a year when she passed away and her death signaled the rise of her son. The president must be saying “Here I am mom, tell dad that I am living his dreams of a better Philippines.”

With a strong and forewarning inaugural speech, at long last, the Filipino can now breathe!