Greetings Galore!

Yipeee! Just so you know, today is my 26th birthday. Yes, some may mistake that age as a pressuring figure but hah, I am still young! I specifically provided this space of my blog for those people, who -- by Friendster's constant reminders, by their incontestable thoughtfulness, by a touch of another coincidental and more significant event in their lives, by obligation or just by gossip -- remembered my special day. (Believe me guys, Friendster is effective! I tried changing my birthdate last year and I received less greetings last year than now. It was funny how people miss out my birthday because Friendster was not able to remind them correctly. Haha!) Okay. So for a start, I wish to list those people who greeted me early on through phonecalls, SMS, instant messaging, personal greetings... and then say my precious thanks beside their well-wishes (like I can avoid the side comments, huh?!). 1. Isang Maligayang Kaarawan (by Queza thru Friendster. 11/21/2008. 1:56 am) Marqueza is a friend from Digos in Davao City. She now resides in the USA with her hubby and the couple is expecting a baby soon! At 1:56 am, I don't think it's a good idea for a mom-to-be to stay awake that late. But she did. Only to greet me. Gesh. And to add to the insult, so they say, here's an additional message she sent me thru SMS when I said my thanks: Ur welcome! Mabuti na ung mas maaga me. Hehehe. Para na din ako nauna naggrit sau. Ingatz! Stay fabulous as ever... (by Queza thru YM-SMS. 11/25/2008. 5:47 am) 2. Happy Birthday Buddy (by Ances thru Friendster. 11/21/2008. 4:52 pm) Ances is a charming lass I met thru my highschool friend Melanie. She has a warm pair of eyes. I could not understand how Melanie can be so mean to her (she admits it anyway) but I'm glad we remained friends! 3. God bless you always with beauty, joy and sunshine. God bless you always with very good thing. God bless you with His special love. Happy Birthday Tita! Wishing you more birthdays to come, good health. Take care always and goodluck on your job and lovelife.. =) God will always bless you with more blessings.. (by Zyra Loise thru Friendster. 11/25/2008. 6:14 pm) That's from my niece. Thanks Zyra. I can see you smiling when you wished me goodluck -- like I really need that now more than ever. Clever you. 4. Happy Birthday (by Yolanda thru Friendster. 11/26/2008. 10:35 am) Straight from Canada. She must have really exerted effort leaving me that message because she is always busy watching teleseryes after a day's work. Wow! Thanks Yolly! Really. 5. Happy Happy Birthday Tin! Wish u all the best and goodluck in all your dreams in life. Have a blessed birthday! (by Edelyne thru Friendster. 11/26/2008. 12:25 pm) I was one of her bridesmaids, if I remember that right. Really sweet of her to drop by my FS account and post the her greetings. 6. Happy birthday din poh... Thanks poh sa pag-greet. God bless :) (by Precious thru Friendster. 11/26/2008. 9:28 pm) I really have no idea who she is but thanks anyway, Precious. 7. A Happy-Happy Birthday to you my Friend..I Pray for you to Have More and I do mean More Birthdays to come and that goes with Lots of Blessings in Everything and of course in Love...Live Life and Love to the Fullest... Why? Our Birthdays says it all... We've always been Loved Even Before our Very First Birthday...God Bless You More... (by Rene aka Rainman thru Friendster. 11/27/2008. 1:59 am) Rene? Did I say 'astig'? Partially visually-impaired and one of the great guys I met from ATRIEV, a computer school for the blind. He can teach! Teaching makes me bow. Thanks Rene! 8. happy b-day....gift ko ?hehehe musta nalang po jan..take care (by Ryan Vir thru Friendster. 11/27/2008. 3:37 am) Oh. Ryan. Yes, thank you for remembering too. He celebrates his birthdate before mine so I would not forgive him if he forgets my birthdate. And whoever your friend is who read my blog and misunderstood what I meant about what we became to be, please tell him/her to leave his/her comments instead. I'd be very glad to explain. :) 9. hi ms. tin :)HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!may all your wishes be granted. stay nice and bubbly. take care always and God bless :) (by Kathrine thru Friendster. 11/27/2008. 8:42 am) 8:42 am??? So could you explain to me why your boss keeps pestering you? You do Friendster during work hours!? Guess that's a bad habit you learn from me. Hahaha. Kathrine, prettylicious. My former student. (To be continued...)

What My Blog Does

If my blog inspires, I would write more like I would inspire myself. (For Patrick) If my blog entertains, I would try my best to write like I am incessantly talking. (For Jhia) If my blog opens doors to my personal being, I would selflessly unfold new things about myself, gladly discover them with you. (For Adonis) If my blog tells you how I have been, I would strive to be truthful, like you're seeing me through a glass. (For Mav) If my blog is keen on what people share, I would thirst for more and share it as well. (For Rannie) If my blog confuses your views, I would not stop you from thinking you are right. (For those who cannot comprehend.)

Wish a Wish!

I will make this really short and easy. Just a breeze. Hahaha. A wishlist? Hmm, I never really thought so hard about it, but yes, it will do me no harm if I make one. Besides, I can see several of my wishes coming true even before I write them down. God is the most brilliant mindreader! And I'm loving how it works. Really, God, I know you never disappoint me. And when I thought you did, it ends up with me realizing I never really thought ahead for the purpose. Peace tayo, God. :) So then again, the wishlist! Hmm, for my approaching birth anniversary, I wish to have any (or all -- am I so greedy?) of the following: 1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney 3. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (I included this in my Christmas Wishlist for the ECCP Christmas Party!) 4. The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (Junlee granted this wish! A numerous thanks!!!) 5. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer I think 5 in the list is enough. Weeeeh!!!

*****

Just as I have made it easy for myself to enlist the things I want for my birthday, I don't want to miss this chance to say thank you, thank you for the overwhelmingly simple (makes sense to me) gestures that my friends have done to me:

1. For Junlee's express-and-without-second-thoughts purchasing of The Christmas Mystery book I just mentioned over YM as a birthday present. That's selfless. :)
2. For Junlee's friend, Taggy, for bringing the book here in the Philippines and for unhesitantly meeting up with me, a barely known lunatic (hahaha). Thanks too for offering me 'just something' from McDo. I'm sorry I have to decline the offer. Not really out of reservation (you really don't know me if you think that was the reason), but moreso because there's more food waiting for me in Dampa i have to save the space in my stomach for that.
3. For Mac's consoling words that I cannot absorb mostly. Blame my stubborness. Why does it seem easy for you to make me cry my heart out? Hahaha. Must be that peak level of friendship. I did feel my eyes dried up after that talk that I thought I can sleep with eyes open. I would not suggest talking to you again at night before bed time. It was not a pretty good idea.
4. For Juan's 4 Santan flowers (not the cluster). I kept them pressed in my wallet with the other (seemingly) insignificant (but unique) inanimate objects the others gave me: a seashell and a cotton piece. That was swee-et. I really wish I have a younger brother like him and my other babies. :)
5. For Ate Vilma and Jermine's attentive ears. They were really into my tales that I could not forget how their faces looked like when I told them something that night of revelation. They were awed. Hahaha. The truth kept them awake for the next several minutes, still awed. But at least, the questioning subsided. Am I a mysterious girl, ladies? Hahaha. You know the answer. Note: I am not gay.

I never wished for things like these, but the simple gestures made them more meaningful than the wishes I wish and expect.

My Kind of Halloween

October 31 I found myself comfortably lying on my bed, with my newly purchased book atop my face, after what seemed to be a 7-hour processional from Manila to Pangasinan. Tell you what, I never hit my target of getting home early despite my haste efforts to disappear from the office premises the moment the clock chimed 12:00 noon. It was a disappointment - my long, inconvenient trip. I was grateful, nevertheless, to reach HOME again. Ah! I always knew home is where the heart is but somehow, I managed to inflict a masochistic case of amnesia on myself some time ago when I thought I already knew where my heart was. I was damn, terribly wrong. Hahaha! I am now making amends. It's the time of the year again when various scary ghost stories resurface like they were especially reserved to be told only now -- just for the thrill of it. And for some reasons, these scary ghost stories become vivid again and again during this time even if you heard of them more than twice before. It was like seeing the Titanic movie (guess how many times I saw it), only with the goosebumps. So I think it is never irrational to believe in ghosts as I do. Not during this time of the year when ghost believers like me come out of the closet like homosexuals at night. I have never seen a single ghost, and would not want to have the heart to come face-to-face with one -- because I don't think my heart would stay in place if I chance at one. Scary. The night is a pitch darker here in the province on a Friday night than in Manila (where my neighbors bore my eyes with lit CFL that could penetrate even the thickest of my curtains all night long). And did I hear the dogs growl? I glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes past eleven. Hmm, not bad. I'm nearly cutting half the thickness of this book I'm engrossed reading. A while ago, somebody SMSed me and I responded very briefly to tell him I'm reading so if I may just text him the following morning. He did not seem to understand and asked impatiently what the book was. I declared the title: TWILIGHT. (I can see some eyes ogling. Hahaha!) He just said, "Hmp," and I think I interpreted it as "Fine." And I reclaimed my oh-so-precious time for reading. The book, yes. How timely. A night that is transitioning to midnight with growling dogs in the background and I, the crow in the fields that is easily scared away, am reading a novel on VAMPIRES. At one point it hit me, 'Am I reading this book in the right place at the right time?' Not that I was thinking any vampire would lurk in Brgy. Magtaking (Please, please don't make a vampire read my blog.), but yes, my brain did process the thought. The windows in my room are tightly closed, I'm certain. But vampires can penetrate walls, I theorized. It was a struggle having to opt to put the book down and retire or continue my close-to-climax reading and disregard time. Hours ago, I had this rare condition when my heart and mind agreed on one thing: start reading the book. And now it's fading away, it's breaking my heart (like the last time. Hahaha!). I can't get enough of the characters. I wanted to pursue reading but my mind is telling me I should take a rest -- like the 7-hour trip was not enough reason to. I gave up the desire of my heart and listened to my mind. It is, most of the time, right and beneficial. I clicked off the lights and hurried to my bed, forcibly closing my eyes. Two-folds: to encourage myself to sleep and avoid seeing unnecessary things at the foot of my bed. Nyay. No more vampire thoughts, I urged myself. I switched to pleasant thoughts like church service in the morning. That sedated me and lulled me to sleep. November 1 Ugh. I can hear the rooster's morning cry. I have always thought it has difficulty getting up in the morning too that it has to shriek like that. It must be hard being a rooster. But thanks to it, I was reminded to get up early without using my 'very reliable' phone. Humor me. I glanced at my phone. Whoa. It has its funny times. Reminder: Sarene's Birthday. Great. Only the sad fact that I was not reminded to get her number. So I blew my greetings out with my morning breath. Ewww. "Happy Birthday cutee Sarene. Stay, uhmm, a baby." In 30 minutes' time, I was up and ready to go. It is drizzling outside and I suddenly miss my book still beside my pillow. If it is made of magnet, I really don't know. But the next 10 minutes I was busy reading it again until my mother called out that I'm going to be late for the Mass if I didn't leave at once. I obliged, with the thought of having her responsible for raising a bookish daughter. I left home and made it just in time before the 2nd Mass. I was even able to sell candles and help in the enlisting of those requesting (was that the term?) for petition mass. I just hope they won't run short. Hahaha! My cashiering skill is levelling low with too many people asking for change, scissors, pen, paper, candles, and my name (?)! Regie came to rescue me when the Mass was about to start. I washed my hand quickly. After the Mass, we went straight to Salasa cemetery. I bought five white long candles with the Our Lady of Manaoag sticker. I lighted three for my grandfather, grandmother, and 2 uncles (there were four of them in three graves) and the other two I lighted for two other distant relatives. Hours or so of lingering in the cemetery made me realize two things: that I only get to visit the graves at this time of the year and I'm afraid my loved ones would do the same thing to me if I was gone. Sad. Really. So my prayer for my dead loved ones goes with an apology and a promise of some sort that I will try to visit their graves more than once if I could. (But of course I could.) In the afternoon, I did the same thing for my grandfather and uncle-in-law whose graves are in the Lingayen cemetery. I also dropped by Richard Valiant's and oh, how I so miss the guy. :( Come night, we had a drinking session at Boc's place. I don't drink. I just sing. So I had the microphone all by myself. Hahaha. November 2 Sunday service! Plus, Fr. Boc is blessing the November birthday celebrants so I want to count myself in. Who would not want to be blessed? I don't want to run late attending the Mass. Goal! Trick or treat is not our kind of thing so the Youth Ministry ates and kuyas gathered together with Fr. Boc for Round 2 of the same session last night. And there was singing too! I can't let the mic go! But Fr. Boc had a chance with it. And so did Regie, Mac, Joepearl (fun to duet with), Boc, and Johannes a.k.a. Juan (who by the way had the most number of thrilled fans). The drinking and singing meant so much to me but nothing beats the company they share with you even without words. Kampay is enough for an assuring gesture, I guess. I would want to do away with the tears for the night but I could not help myself. With them, it's okay to pour out my heart, something I missed the most! Even the spookiest experience I had in the past does not make them think less of me. Sometimes I think they know me better than I do with myself.

So we separated ways at around 11 p.m. I feel so grateful to have this kind of Halloween this year. No more fears. No more ghosts of the past. No more worrying of sickening people that seem to haunt me every now and then. There's more to my life than miserably saving my ass out of a nonsense (said Mac), non-existing pit I jumped into, a grave that never was there. I'm alive! And very much enjoying TWILIGHT! It's already 1 a.m. of November 3 and I'm not going back to Manila yet! (Hahahaha. Addicted!)