What did you laughed at?

There was a man who had a boat that was really a wreck. He was so optimistic he can rebuild and make it work again that he started repairing it. Many people passing by would laughed at what he is doing and they told him it was impossible. But, he did not lose hope and it challenged him to work harder to finish what he has started. Days, months passed by and before he knew it, he was already on his last stroke of brush on the painting of the boat. The next day, it was already floating in the harbour with it's name embossed on the side-"What did you laughed at?". It was a nice story that my husband told me and in danish it was translated "Hvad lo I af?" it sounds a bit slang and so cute when you speak it in danish that our cat was also given the same name.
 

Is it love?

I have so many things to say about my husband, good and bad and yet, I don't know which is greater than the other. But one thing I realized is that no matter how much I get angry at him - everytime I look at him, my heart melts. Is it love that conquers all? 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FRIEND AND A BEST FRIEND

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FRIEND AND A BEST FRIEND.....
This was forwarded to me today and memories keeps coming back again. In the picture is my elder brother Francis Rico and my two nephews-Ryan and Redmond, one of their good memories together....

Friend: calls your parents by mr. and mrs.
Best friend: calls your parents dad & mom or tito & tita.

Friend: has never seen you cry
Best friend: has always has the best shoulder to cry on

Friend: never asks for anything to eat or drink
Best friend: opens the fridge & makes herself at home

Friend: asks you to write down your number.
Best friend: they ask you for their number (cuz they can't remember it)

Friend: borrows your stuff for a few days then gives it back.
Best friend: has a closet full of your stuff

Friend: only knows a few things about you
Best friend: could write a biography on your life story

Friend : will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing
Best friend: will always go with you

Friend: will ask where you've been (after going AWOL)
Best Friend: will say MISS YOU & goes on being your friend

food trip

Yesterday, I had some time bonding with a friend of mine. We had a food trip and cooked our favorite merienda dish in the Philippines. It is called "Pansit". It is rice noodles mixed together with stir-fried garlic, onions, white cabbage, carrots, pork and liver. We used soya for the rice noodles and bouillon for the seasoning of the meat and vegetables. We also baked chocolate cake for dessert. When I went home, she gave me a tilapia fish to cook for today. I was so excited in cooking and eating it that I took a picture for all of you to see. Here is what I have done with it---I decided to put onions and tomatoes seasoned with salt and peber inside the fish and wrapped it in aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 45 minutes. I also baked an eggplant in butter(cut into squares) and made some sauce out of soya and vinegar with garlic.
 

Memories

We met in a hospital in the Philippines. She was taking a six month or one year Clinical Pastoral Education being held at the Chaplains office. I was confined in the hospital during that time and my family came to visit me only once. I was alone and sad lying in a hospital bed for days but she visited me everyday and even brought me some newly baked cookies from the bakery. She even tried combing my hair�.After that, we became close friends. She is simple but loves beautiful colors of t-shirts and blouses. She takes care of her skin very well and she is very good in applying make up. She was also staying in the same compound where my dormitory was and, we would sometimes go out and catch a last full show movie together with my roommate, and we also had long hours of telling stories to each other. She would patiently wait at the hospital cafeteria to have dinner with me for like some 30 minutes of break. We have shared a lot of sad and funny moments and we enjoyed being together. She saw me cried once or twice and vice versa. We were like that for 5 or 6 years. She enrolled and finished psychology in the Philippines. She graduated when I came back to Philippines just after I got married. It was my birthday when we last see each other and now, she is working in her country which is Korea. I miss you my friend! 

a child of the universe....

She is my niece and she needs help....

My name is Betina Coleen Manga.
I am kinda cute but unfortunately, I cannot tell you that,
and I will not be able to hear what you have to say to me.
There is something wrong with me and I cannot hear and talk.
I don't know what is happening in my surrounding.
My mother knows what happened and she would be
glad to tell you. Well, how I wish I can hear that, too.
Actually, I am so sad and I always cry when the children
or grown up around me cannot understand my actions,
that sometimes they pushed me around in the corner.
I cannot even tell them how I feel, if I am sick, if I am hurt
or if I just wanted to be embraced. I just smile everytime
my mother and father hug me.
My little brother, that little naughty boy, he is fed up with me
sometimes, but he also hug me afterwards.
I know, I am different. I am not normal...but what can I do?
I am just a little girl. .. I did not chose to be born
but hey, there is something that makes me smile always-
that is when I was in my mother's womb,
I always hear her singing a song for me.
She is always talking to somebody and she asks him
to bless me. She would bow her head and cry
and ask help from him.
Would I be able to know Him, too? Will I grow up?
What is love? What is it like to be happy?
Would I be able to talk to my little brother? My mom said
somebody out there can help me. Would you help me?
She said they had tried their best.
Ohh my, it is going away now....I would be back
in my wondering. Where are you? The words are gone....

Sam

How time flies! imagine my first goddaughter have a 2 months baby girl already. I have I think 12 godchildren all together(if I have not forgotten anyone) and they have grown so fast and shall I say I have become older.... My goddaughter's name is Joy! she was a bundle of joy when she was born and her mother really have taken care of her like a princess and even bathing her with tea since she was little. Anyway, the picture is Joy's baby girl named Samantha and we call her Sam! Welcome to the world Sam!!! 

Happy Father's Day!

Just click on the picture to have a view of the larger size. The background is not a stationary but a textile that I am using now to sew some new throw pillow covers. On the right is a sketch of my husband I made last month.

Well, tomorrow is Fathers Day and
I have made this letter for my husband.
not only because it is a special day but,
for him to know that - it is not just a day
to celebrate fatherhood or the person that
he is but it is everytime especially during
the night in bed where we thank God for
another day that is ending and we are still
together and very much alive.

For all the fathers and would be fathers or for all the men out there-Have a nice day all of you!

Below is the text in case it is unreadable....

kaere skat,

you are from another land
with a culture different from mine
but love have found its way
through our hearts-
and together we stand
despite the struggles
and hardships of marriage life.
as I walk with you
through our journey with life,
you unintentionally showed us your
unconditional love - not only
as a husband but a father to your
children….you …..who can willingly
sacrifice everything for our sake,
nothwithstanding the pain and
heartbreaking moments
of middle age acceptance….
many times it has touched the chords
of the music in my soul
singing praises to God Almighty
for having blessed me
with somebody imperfect
but a real person worthy of God’s
heaven on earth and the life after.

kys or knus,
skat

 

A father for everyone

This is an advance blog for Father's Day on Sunday which is a tribute for my father. I will make another tribute for my husband later. Actually, I have published this in my old blog which is gone now. I just added a picture of him together with my mom and their first two grandchildren.

After my father's death, memories about him spontaneously came vividly on my mind.....well, during the time of my father's death or rather during the mass at the burial, I was pressured by thinking of something to say about my father....it was unthinkable during that time. I can remember my eldest sister not saying anything when she was called. It should be understandable-imagine being so tired for days, talking to people, smiling even and working at the same time, there was not even a time to grieve....it was only after some days that I get to cry and think about him, and for sure it was also the same case with my siblings. I also presumed that almost everyone that attended the funeral know something or more about my father. although it was us, his children who have known him very well can really say who he was and yet, i know that each one of us have experienced him differently and have different opinions about him... there was a joke in our family who is the favorite child of my father--there was always a choice between my elder siblings.... but what they didn't know is that, I was the favorite child of my father....although in the late years of his life, he would call me Etta(my youngest sister's name)...he he he kidding aside, I have always felt that I was a favorite. My father allowed me to spread my wings and fly... maybe because he knows that i have guts. I know that of all his children, I was the most open about my feelings or my anger. I cannot say that I am always right when I fight or stand for what I feel, but it was hard for me to be silent....I also remembered that I would drink a bottle of beer with him when he was alone and watching tv(that was during the time I thought beer can make me fat only to realized that it will do in the places you don't want them to be)There was also some instances I would travel in some far places and it was only the night before i was leaving that I would tell my parents....ohhh i am going to some place in the south(for example). I did not even gave them a chance to say why or no...and yet they let me be...

I don't know if my siblings have known but I sometimes write letters to my father especially when we have big problems. One time, I was hurting so much and for my mother( during that time she have hurt my mother's feelings)that I have written him a letter. I have put it in the table in the sala and put his name on it one day. It was like a soap opera actually. I even hide when I saw that he was about to read it already. I saw he has tears in his eyes after reading it and then he left right away. I ran and followed him in the street shouting and asking about his answer and all, but he never did answer my question. there was a time that i did not spoke to him for one year, but my father, I realized during that time was a sweet person. He showed me how much he cares through my mother. He knows I was hurting and he respected my silence. I also remembered during one of our family meetings...it was a humbling experience for my father to say sorry to my eldest sister because he asked her to stop finishing her course and just help in the business. (my sister was already in her third year of accounting.) I realized how he really regret that one. There are....lots and lots of things I remember about him that makes me happy having him as a father. Of course, there were few sad moments when we disagreed on some things. It makes me smile everytime I remember our family conversations at the dinner table, where all of us-with my 6 other siblings and parents would end up laughing and talking at the same time, and can you guess what we are talking during one of those dinners? You will think we are gossiping but actually we are just talking about some developments in a pilipino or american tv series. Ang babaw no?