kitkat's "surprise" party

kadarating lang ni kitkat galing states nung wednesday, after staying there for a year & eight months. sakto, birthday pa niya. what else does this call for? of course, a surprise party!

habang papunta, nagtatanungan kami nina loui, papu at tenten. teka, paano nga ba tayo na-contact ni jomel (yung brother ni kitkat)? walang nakakaalam. oh, well.

basta, diretso na lang sa bahay nina kitkat. pagdating doon, tinanong namin siya: alam mo bang darating kami? oo raw, kasi sa kanya hiningi ni jomel ang number ni papu. pasaway! : )

in fairness to me, on time ang posting ko ngayon! at least, not that late. pics are courtesy of eloi. : )

the birthday girl (the white ones are my hands! grabe, mukha pa ring kamay ng bata.).



eto na, reunion of sorts na naman ang embryo.









kailangan talagang mag-project?! :)



all girls naman ang drama namin dito.



weird ang kamay ng mga tao rito. animated!



beautiful eyes...teka, bakit malungkot ang bago naming nurse? smile naman diyan, amory!



nakakatawa si atom dito! he looks as if he's thinking, "why the hell am i listening to this girl?!" pero sabi niya, ang tumatakbo raw sa utak niya nito ay, "why am i wearing this?!" in fairness, bagay sa kanya ang formal. okay lang yan atom, minsan ka lang magdurusa nang ganyan. ; )



tama si eloi, blurred nga yung ibang pics, kaya dapat magkita-kita kami ulit for another round of picture-taking. 'til the next time! : )

conversations with deirdre

me: (while moving right hand as if flicking a wand) wingardium leviosa. hay...i wish it would just levitate towards my house.
deirdre: why?
grace: so that i wouldn't have to carry it home. then when i get home, i could pretend that i only saw it for the first time, & don't know where it came from.
(laughter)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

me: you've taken up enough time already. we're now going to move on to another topic. (after hopelessly & fruitlessly talking about the same subject for over 30 minutes)
deirdre: as if we can talk about anything else.
me: oo nga, e.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

deirdre: guys don't think as much as we do.
me: i don't think that it's right to say that they don't think as much. they just don't go down the same roads that we do.
(deirdre agrees)

SOA EB get-together

ten million years ago (july 7, to be exact), my superfriends from the SOA EB had a get-together at pasto in the fort (first time ko sa fort!). sayang nga lang, kasi wala si mana.

with my bad luck, i got sick while we were having dinner. as in ang sama talaga ng pakiramdam ko, kaya hindi ako masyadong nakakain. i spent the first part of the night hunched over in my seat. i even threw up. nina & ginj had to go out to get me medicine.

but i felt better a bit later, buti na lang.

ang saya, kasi ang daming stories! i shared how i just had a career shift. one of us just left her current job to pursue film making. one is taking up medicine, another shared about how she met her current boyfriend in law school. one is thinking of taking up a master's degree in christian education, while another one is already working for a religious organization. lastly, one of us told an unbelievable-but-true love story. this prompted one of us to say, "nangyayari pala iyon sa totoong buhay! nag-iba ang world view ko!" : )

may joke nga pala si fred na bumenta talaga sa akin: xavier high school was allegedly trying to come up with a chinese name for their mascot, which is a stallion. suggestions are horse sy, giddy yap, & kaba yeo. haha!

anyway, here are the pics, courtesy of me & trina. sayang naman kung hindi ko ipo-post, maganda pa naman ako dito kahit na may sakit ako. haha!

ang mga kasabwat: ginger, janina, fred, me, nats, de-anne & trina.


while in pasto:















my sweet tooth called for dessert. so we got roma, an absolutely divine chocolate cake, & verona, which is basically a ref cake.





we left pasto at past 12. grabe! we were the customers who stayed the longest. afterwards, we decided to have a road trip. sayang, hindi pwede si nats at fred.









we ended up here:



starbucks tagaytay.




sayang, hindi kita si ginj.

i think we left starbucks at past 3. bago umalis ng parking, picture muna:









may nadaanan pa kaming fruit stands, kaya namili muna kami. would you believe that i got this many bananas for only 70 pesos?!



we went back to the fort, where the night started.



ginj went back to her car. janina drove me & de-anne (to katipunan) home. look how light the sky is when we got to the toll gate in alabang:



i got home at 5:40, tired & sleepy. pero okay lang!

sa uulitin, friends. (but let's make it quite soon, okay? not after 20 months!) ; )

a love story

i watched "a love story" with francis, mabel & anna last night at ATC. jologs na kung jologs, but i enjoyed the movie. the twist was good - before it came, i was really expecting the opposite to happen.

anyway, there was this part where aga asked maricel if she's okay. maricel said that she has to be okay, if she's going to do what is right. she goes on & says what makes us happy may not necessarily be right, but eventually, doing the right thing might make us happy.

note to self: remember the above. ; )

prayer

dear Lord,

sana po magkaroon na ng bally (nude) medium tan stockings sa sm department store. tatlong branch na po kasi ang napuntahan ko, out-of-stock sa lahat. hindi po kasi talaga ako natutuwa sa ibang kulay o ibang brand. hindi po tuloy ako makapag-skirt ngayon.

promise ko po na iingatan ko ang mga iyon kapag may nabili na ako. makikinig na po ako kay nel at ilalagay ko na sa freezer bago ko isuot, para lalong tumibay. bibili na rin po ako ng surgical gloves para hindi sumabit sa kuko ko kapag sinusuot o tinatanggal ko.

amen.

; )

the time traveler's wife

"do you love her?"

"very much," i whisper. we lie silently side by side, watching the swaying trees, the birds, the sky. i hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at clare i am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face toward her ears. i sit up and lean over her. "what's wrong, clare?" she just shakes her head back and forth and presses her lips together. i smooth her hair, and pull her into a sitting position, wrap my arms around her. she's a child, and then again she isn't. "what's wrong?"

it comes out so quietly that i have to ask her to repeat it: "it's just that i thought maybe you were married to me."

- by audrey niffenegger

thinking out loud (or in print, as the case may be)

i went to the family renewal movement's (the community i've been part of since february) corporate worship tonight. i'm really glad & grateful that i did, as it helped me to take stock of all the good things that have been coming my way lately.

since i started in my new position, i've been feeling so much lighter. it is a cliche, but i actually feel as if a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. i am able to go home a lot earlier than before. on days that i go home quite late, it's usually because i went out with a friend or did some shopping. if i do decide to stay late to work, i don't feel burdened about it at all. i am also home on saturdays (i used to work around 2 saturdays per month, by choice), so i have plenty of time to devote to alternating between sleeping & reading.

i am happy that i not only feel the change - a couple of people have already commented on how much more relaxed & calm i look, & how i smile a lot more. their comments make me feel even better, & a lot prettier. haha! ; )

i am grateful that things happened the way they did - that i was able to decide for myself, that I was able to muster the courage to talk to my bosses, & that God guided me all throughout. in hindsight, i know that i couldn't have done it with divine intervention. i could have chickened out. my bosses could have been horrible to me about it by not acting on my request for transfer. it's also possible that no position suitable for me was available.

a million other things could have gone wrong. i shudder at the thought that things could have been very bad for me. but they weren't, so i feel so blessed.

thank you, Lord. : )

= = = = = = = = = =

i just finished the devil wears prada. believe it or not, miranda priestly was even more horrible in print than on screen. i didn't think that was possible! hehe. : )

i was also able to finish the 7th harry potter book last saturday (despite going home at 6 am, after spending the night with embryo). i must be the only one who didn't go gaga over it. for me, it was plain okay, nothing spectacular. definitely overrated. book 7 fans, please do not use avada kedavra on me. i am entitled to my own opinion, as you no doubt are to yours. : )

= = = = = = = = = =

speaking of embryo, we were able to get together friday last week. we met first in ATC, then went to bobby's house, where a couple of us ended up spending the night.

it was worth not sleeping at all, as i was able to talk to them a lot. we reminisced about high school. we bitched about our horrible teachers. we talked about each others' problems, & gave advice. we ate a bit, & drank a bit also (at least, they did).

= = = = = = = = = =

as i was saying, i feel so grateful about the developments in my life lately. even my tickle happiness test says so:

As you now know, your relationships have a positive effect on your overall happiness. However, your greatest source of happiness is your gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling of deep thankfulness for what your life offers you in both good times and bad. When you're grateful, you view life as deep and rich with meaning and feel thankful for the whole experience of living. You may cultivate this awareness on a regular basis through reflection or prayer.

Your strong sense of appreciation for life's blessings is where your happiness springs from most. It's also the place where your happiness gains the most power and stability. Because gratitude appears to be the natural anchor point for your happiness, know that you can always tap into this quality when times get rough.

i sure hope that i keep on feeling this way for some time. : )