Enjoyed till I burst

I just received my creative swap loot bag yesterday from Leah. It came all the way from Canada in a red box with the word “enjoy!” written on top. Sorry, but I think it did not do the package justice. Instead, I think it should’ve been “have fun till sunshine burst out of your ears!”.

Thank you very much Leah, for all the effort, thought, and creativity you have put in this package. I definitely felt all the love that came with it. I was like a little girl bouncing in excitement as I opened the parcel and unwrapped them piece by piece. I especially loved the princess mints and saucer, and the key chains too. She also sent me a couple of paper cranes that her hubby made! It was so cool it could’ve frozen hell over. LOL.

I was not the only one who received a gift yesterday though, for I have also given my Man two handmade clay polymer key chains (they are really wonderful, you should also order yours from Cheryl Abrigo; comes cheap too) last night, for being such a wonderful Babe.

Wow, all these gift talk makes me crave for Christmas more and more!

HB polymer clay keychains

These are for my best friends that I sorely miss from the university publication. They are also all professionals now, but I think we would all agree, our days as campus journalists were one of the best times of our lives.

Indeed, growing up can also have a down side.

I miss all of you autistic people. I will surely give a lot just to be with you all again.

camelbak m.u.l.e polymer clay keychain

This one is a replica of my Man’s backpack, not really exact because of the discrepancy in shape but it is pretty close. My Man is pretty much in love with this backpack and it is really amazing how this key chain looks a lot like it, details and all. It is really very cute how it hangs from one of the bag zippers, looking like a mini me of the whole thing!

All these are creations of Cheryl Abrigo of R Angel. I really am a big fan of her creativity. These are made-to-order though there are some ready made ones, but it is amazing how you can send her photos of what you want done and she will deliver by giving you a cute tiny version of it! She does key chains, phone accessories, necklace pendants and earrings – all these made of polymer clay.

Surely, gifts like these will be very much appreciated – for one, they are only one in the world! Plus the thought and effort are really valuable. If you are interested in having your own or seeing more of R Angel’s products, visit her facebook account and browse through her albums. I am sure you will also adore her and her work.

I for one was amazed.

I just turned 22 last weekend. We had a quiet lunch inside our house with only my family as guests. It was really hard to celebrate and be festive when thousands and thousands are left hungry and homeless across the nation, but of course something’s got to give.

The mood was murky and wet, but again, we were very lucky that the storm has kept us dry and warm and safe, that when the people on the hardest hit areas were panicking and fighting for their lives, we were sound asleep and cozy on our beds. With this thought, it is more than enough to be thankful for the 22 last good years on Earth, and some maybe in a parallel universe.

The past days leading to my birthday has left me badly preoccupied and fatigued that I really lost it trying to prepare for my day – anxiety attacks hounding me every five minutes and all, that really, celebrating my birthday has become a thought pushed somewhere at the back of my mind, that when it actually came, I was unprepared for all the love and attention my loved ones poured on me, it felt like too much ear scratching for a cat, but then, if you are a cat you can never have enough ear scratching.

I pause to think about my life, yet all that comes to me is an enormous wave of gratitude towards all of the people that has kept on loving me through the years, who has been by my side, who never doubted me and my abilities, and who have used all the patience in the world in trying to put up with me – my family, my handful of friends, my Man… I am not the easiest person to love, and there really are no indications that it is about to change, and yet I am blessed with everyone and everything that I could possibly have, give and take one or two.

Don Domeng keeps on telling me how young I still am, and I agree, since day after day I stumble upon tons and tons of meaningful and meaningless things I still have to learn, but no worries, I really do not have any plan to take hold of any machine to expedite the process – I enjoy growing up; lately, I feel I am starting to be very process oriented, unlike my previous years where I was an output maniac of some sort.

I am still reciting my Kung Fu Panda line of the times, “you are too concerned with what was and what will be”. I try my hardest to live in the present, to understand that it truly “is a gift, that’s why it is called present”, and to put my trust in the Absolute that in the long run, things will fall into their proper places, just as they always should. It is not really an easy thing to do; as you’ve probably guessed by reading my posts, I have not fully learned to let go of the illusion of control – I am not sure how much more I have to hear the peach tree story until I finally get it, but so far, I feel I am willing to watch it a thousand times more.

I know there are still many goldfish to catch, and many more cans of tuna to open waiting for my whiskers to reach. As of now, it is clear that it won’t be an easy ride; but if one thing’s clearer, it’s that I am not about to give up – that may be the easiest thing to do in the world, but that is not for me.

After all, I still have eight lives to live.

As I was going through featured news and articles on yahoo, I found an interesting one talking about eight perfect sleep-better foods, which includes non-fat popcorn, oatmeal with sliced banana, a pile of sesame seeds, a glass of wine, red bell peppers, unsweetened cheery juice, and yogurt with nuts.

I’m not sure how well those foods will go with me, after all, who wants to eat a pile of sesame seeds and red bell peppers while watching TV before going to bed right?

But I find that apart from greasy potato chips, this is what I eat before going beddy-bye:

Plus, if you buy a bag as huge as this one, it can also make a good pillow, or an eye cover. See, you cannot do that with yogurt and nuts.

Another article I deem interesting was one talking about the potato farmer’s holy grail: a new potato to be used as McDonald’s fries. Now I cannot argue with that – America’s probably got one of the highest obesity rates in the world and in one or two parallel universes.

Which reminds me of a fun time last night with my two sisters, Ched and Piapot, and my Man on our way home from the city. It was dark and raining but it was all yellow inside the car, we were almost blinded by entertainment.

Plus, the potato wedges from a local bar and grill were so superb. Yum! Oopsie, I forgot to take a picture of it! Hmmm… Then maybe we should have it again tonight.

ILYVM Babe

Love is not about finding someone to live with, but someone you cannot live without. – Hitch

When I was senior in college taking the subject psychiatric nursing, we were required to make a scrap book about growth and development – or something like that. My work was focused on the people that made my life a ‘life’ and that is to say my scrap book was not very long, only eight pages, or maybe because I only did it two hours before the deadline.

In the middle of the scrap book was the page about my Man. It was not very long, in fact it only contained one sentence which covers three photos and it read ‘my strength and my weakness’. To this day, I cannot really think of much to add to that but let me tell you something about love:

Love is waiting for someone, for eight hours straight, only to take her home on the dead of the night, on a 28 Km. ride, and to go back alone the same way near midnight.

Love is periodically checking on someone, not only to check how high is her fever, but to remind her to please take her medicine as it is already time because she always forgets.

Love is holding someone hands, without saying a word, yet being able to say how much you care.

Love is being madly scared in seeing her half-breathing, half-awake, unsure whether to drive faster or slower, because either way, she seems to be having a hard time.

Love is being happy just seeing her home, barely having time to be with her or talk, but the thought that she can now rest is enough to fill your heart with joy.

Love is being extra giving of your time, attention, effort, and going really, really out of your way just to provide warmth and comfort, without asking for anything in return.

Love is looking into someone’s eyes and saying ‘take care, get well soon’ in the sincerest, half-scared, half-fake cheery voice, which you really mean, but more so is saying it to yourself to stop worrying too much.

Love is caring so much for someone, often neglecting yourself and personal needs, especially when she cannot take care of her own self – or flicking a thermometer and checking her temperature while driving.

Love is offering your whole self, making sure you are there, especially when you are needed most, when your presence is enough to serve as the human pain reliever.

Love is being all this and more, to which I am very, very grateful, to a point where I get so overwhelmed tears just roll down my cheeks and wonder what I did to deserve such an amazing gift. Each time I pray, I thank the Absolute for showing me his love through a most, most wonderful person.

Thank you Babe, so much, for being here, for being you.

There came a point in my life where I wondered why people celebrated their birthdays the way they do – or was I only questioning who should treat who? LOL.

Happy Birthday Don Domeng

Don Domeng celebrated his 57th birthday yesterday, here with us at home, with a simple dinner with family and some friends. It was so much fun and the food that Mother Goose whipped up out of her kitchen was absolutely divine. My Man and I came home early so we could be taste testers and it was a hard job to stick with the only testing part. LOL.

What I found to be important was that birthdays are a constant reminder to us, not only of how long we’ve been staying here, but of how much we have done with our lives. As each year passes by, before blowing those birthday candles, we are compelled to take a pause to reminisce about what has been going on, and the faces of our guests tell us who we have become. I realized that the number that comes with birthdays really do play a significant part – because the higher it is, the longer the measure of what we have done good should be.

Looking at Don Domeng last night, looking at myself in the mirror this morning when I woke up, I can honestly say that what my father has done in the past 57 years has been a good job – and I believe it is my responsibility to keep it that way for a long time.

After all, I have always reiterated, my father is my honor.

As I have mentioned before, I have been treating myself to some down by tinkering with Facebook using Kulot’s [my sister's] account, and  recently, to be a better farmer in Farmville, I have been also using my Man’s account to send gifts to Kulot’s account, ain’t I bright? LOL.

I was looking at my Man’s wall and I saw a quiz that his brother just took. The title was ‘are you a stalker, pedophile, murderer, or normal?’. It might sound dark but you know what result I got?

Pineapple Juice Musang Flavor

It said I was a PINEAPPLE. LOL. So how do you like me now?

Also, I would like to share a couple of photos, of my students interning at the local hospital. Today was their last day of duty in my area and it is very likely that it will be a long time until we meet again. Their words and gestures were truly overwhelming and it reminded me so much of why I became a teacher in the first place.

PM's kids

I was thinking of making a separate post about them but I guess I am at a point where I am just so speechless in joy. But looking at their photos, I believe it says it all.

Giving PM a sense of purpose

My day was 50-50. No, not dying, though I wish someone died today. LOL. I was happy and annoyed, contented and disgusted, giddy and nauseous. Whew, can you imagine feeling all those at the same time? LOL.

However, I am ready to conclude that my day was great and forget all the hassles because my creative swap loot bag arrived today all the way from Japan, and of course, my partner was caryn! Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts that I enjoyed so much.

Creative Swap Loot

Fun gifts from caryn! Thank you so much!

The knot bag was so cute I used it immediately when I went to FairyGodMommy Fe's birthday bash tonight.

I shared the snacks with my Man and Ched. We had so much fun sampling them.

Participating in the creative swap made me appreciate blogging even more. It is such a wonderful experience to relate to fellow bloggers on such a different level; it is so much fun! I am looking forward to the next roundm, especially that piapot is also joining.

Also, today is FairyGodMommy Fe’s birthday. Happy birthday Mommy! I wish you all the best in life and I love you so much!

]]> http://prinsesamusang.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/heaven-sent-by-japan-mail/feed/ 29 prinsesamusang creative swap package crafting materials, loot bag knot bag rice cookies cat with cake http://prinsesamusang.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/the-last-red-spark-i-saw/ http://prinsesamusang.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/the-last-red-spark-i-saw/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 02:07:01 +0000 prinsesamusang http://prinsesamusang.wordpress.com/?p=618 ]]>

From my widgets on the right, it is pretty obvious that I am an on-line game player – and a very good one at that. LOL.

When I was in high school, the biggest Multi-media on-line role playing game or MMORPG was Ragnarok. Back then, my Man was totally ditching his studies preoccupied with it. You see, MMORPGs is a lot like blogging – it needs a lot of commitment and in return you will get a sense of satisfaction and entertainment. But I did not get how it worked then so I thought it was totally crap, until I hit freshman year at the university when I started to be involved.

I only play one though, ROSE on-line, the one created by North America. Like  most on-line games, the challenge is to ‘level up’ to the maximum level the game offers while defeating monsters and saving the world on the way, whichever job you choose. Of course this includes flashy equipment and clothes that are the cutest, plus there are gorgeous wings, carts, and castle gears available that you can also don.

However, the best thing about it of course is the fact that it serves as our bonding time, my Man and I, while playing. Sometimes I also see other couples playing, cheesy. LOL.

The maximum level in ROSE is 210. Now if you are wondering what is the last red spark I saw…

Do you know a mage who's max? LOL

The ‘level up’ sign is red when it appears then turns blue. It is only a split second but it was joy. LOL.

I was asking my Man what am I supposed to do since I  have maxxed out, and he said I could focus on getting rich, the game has its own monetary and business sectors btw, or I can create a new character and start all-over again.

If you think about it, this represents a lot of universal truths in life, about reaching the top, about what comes in the end.

After reaching the finish line, there is nothing do to because you are done.

After reaching the finish line, it sure is joy at first but it can get boring after some time.

After reaching the finish line, after reaching the top, the only thing left to do is go down – and maybe try to reach the top again.

I just saw a very interesting article posted on Yahoo Tech about how photos uploaded on the internet do not get deleted even after the user who put it there has it removed.

I was not actually surprised by this, after all who has not experienced clicking on a thumbnail on image searches only to be told that the image has been removed or deleted? But still, obviously the thumbnail exists and the URL of that photo intact.  The post on yahoo tech said it has something to do about the storage system of large server providers, that even when you have a photo deleted, ghost copies remain that may linger for an indefinite period of time.

Though this news was not surprising, the magnitude of what it can do can be scary. Amidst all the ’scandal talks’ hovering in the air, knowing this kind of information is a must to be able to protect one’s privacy now or in the future. When it comes to personal, sensitive, or controversial matters, caution and sound judgement cannot be overruled.

As for me, well, I am not ‘allowed’ to post my photos on the internet, even on my own social networking site profile. LOL. My man strongly goes against it, being the computer know-it-all that he is, I think he knew about this kind of un-deleted thing all along.

Of course, aside from the privacy issue, I know it also has something to do with his ‘personal, for security motives’. I don’t mind though, in fact I think I find it cute. LOL.