Mom's 70th

Mommy turned 70 last August 31. 

My Mom and her birthday cake =)

70. Imagine that. We haven't been able to visit for a very long time. The last time I remember that she was over at our house was last Christmas when she agreed to look after my kids while my hubby and I jumped on our motorcycle and sped to Baguio for a Christmas roadtrip.


So when my sister texted me to say that she was throwing a party for Mom and that it would be great for us to be there, well, we had to go. My husband agreed that we all should make that long trip up north. Yup, my Mom and I live at opposite ends of the region. Haha!


The trip was kinda weird but fun. Well, for one thing, we really didn't know how to get there exactly. I had to ask my Mom to text directions to us while we were on the road. And we could start the trip only after 9pm that day. Schedules! But the kids were excited. My hubby and I were concerned but were excited too. So off we went.


We realized my Mom lived far far away. Really. We arrived at her house at about midnight. Uh huh. But were welcomed with open arms and smiles. My sister Neal and her hubby Albert stayed up until 3am just to mingle with us and do some catching up. They were already tired from the celebration after the Bible study earlier in the evening and they had to be at work at 8am the following day. I was really touched they put up with our ungodly hour visit. It was really great to see them again and their lovely daughter, Macie. So tall and only 10 years old!

Family Pic--with me and my crazy face

Food was great. The calderetang itik was a winner! Mom's cake was so nice. The family photo ops was noisy and crazy. Ok ok, I was the only one who looked crazy...haha! My kids "partied all night" so to speak, rummaging through their cousins' toys and playing. Playing! From the time they finished their late dinner till about 4am. And I think Ivin, my sister May's son had fun as well. He's an only child and it's the first time he's been around kids close to his age. He probably thought he dreamed up my kids once we left. It was such a short visit.


We finally had to leave at 5am. Everyone at Mom's place needed to sleep. And though I didn't have to travel to work, I still had to get to my PC at home and log in at 8am. I know, I know, a laptop would have solved the "problem."


*sigh* I hope we could visit them more often. Medyo bitin. And I love roadtrips anyway. Neal texted when we got home at around 8:30am. She said something like, "Next time ulit...Christmas." Now that's something to plan for as early as now. =)

The Sicky Weeks

Totally unbelievable. Well, at least for me. But it really happened. Glad it's almost over.


Two weeks ago, I got a bad case of Return of the Bronchial Asthma. Yep, after almost 5 years of having zero, as in 0, zilch, nada, nothing whatsoever attacks, it came back with a vengeance. I was a teenage asthmatic. The doctors said if a kid got it after the age of 5 or in the teen years, it's likely gonna stay for life. Well, I do believe I got healed from it over five years ago. I asked to be healed and I got healed. But I wasn't a good steward of the good health. No. God didn't take back the healing. He's not like that. I abused my health. Exposed myself to all the conditions that would trigger an attack. Bluntly, I was unknowingly asking for it to come back. But God is good. Am good as new.


But that's not the end of this post. While I was down, my eldest son, Caleb was recovering from his bout with a nasty virus. When we both got well, it was my hubby who went down followed by the rest of my kids--almost simultaneously. It was a horrible viral bug. We literally had a sick household! Our house was a sick house. Even the budget got sick. So did our PC's keyboard. Now that one finally conked out on us after two years of good service. So there we were, everyone and everything sick. Aren't I glad we don't have pets?


And so we're on the road to recovery. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us. We really truly sincerely appreciate it. There were a lot of lessons learned those last two weeks. Everyone of us had at least one lesson learned. I probably learned half a dozen. God doesn't allow this kind of horridness on a whim. He has a purpose and He wants us to learn good lessons that will make us stronger people.


And so the moral of this post is never take your health or healing for granted. Be good stewards. We don't own our life. It is God's. And He's watching how well we take care of what He has loaned us.


Keep moving forward people! =)

The Wall

At my age, I should have thought this out before giving in to all that teasing to put on a harness. But hey, I always liked adventure and Cheche Lazaro has always been one of the few people who inspire me. So I did this even if I was not really in the mood at that time--emotionally out of sorts then (long story; this is so not the post to discuss it.)

I'm the one in the pink and white shirt. I didn't bring a cam because I had planned to sit and sulk during this activity (one of those "much touted" company "get-togethers"). Not really a great shot if you ask me. I would have faced the cam with a really crazy expression but doing so at that angle was kinda difficult if not a threat to life and limb. I did get to climb a little over 15 feet (see that yellow line above me? I got past that a wee bit). I decided to go down because my climbing partner (slim girl beside me) was about to scream.

I just wished my hubby was there with me. He would have cheered me on to the top. He's done this wall climbing thing before. And he would have encouraged me to climb all three walls. Diff difficulty levels. On the second wall, I just made it halfway. The slight horizontal jut made me dizzy (and then I remembered I hadn't had breakfast or lunch at that time). I took a rain check on the third wall.

Wanted to post more pics but what's the point when they're all back shots, right? Right. I should have risked the crazy shot with my face to the cam. And before I forget my manners, thank you to Ms Lala Ballatan for allowing me to grab her pics of me at the wall.

Oh and if anyone's interested in climbing this monstrosity, it's at Camp Sandugo, Level 5 of Market Market at the Fort Global City.