Moms everywhere

Laughed out loud when I received this tweet from Jason Goldman over the weekend, because my mom is soooo exactly like this:



Just one more piece of evidence that shows how regardless of differences in timezones and cultures, we humans are more alike than we think.

Hope you'll go and give your mom a hug today.

Quest for Perfection

Read a very long but interesting article on the life story of Sergey Brin, one of Google's co-founders, on Moment Magazine's website.

Couldn't help but laugh when I got near the end of the article, which recounts a speech that Sergey delivered to a high school for gifted math students near Tel Aviv, in Israel:

"I have standard Russian-Jewish parents," he then continued in English. "My dad is a math professor. They have a certain attitude about studies. And I think I can relate that here, because I was told that your school recently got seven out of the top 10 places in a math competition throughout all Israel."

The students applauded their achievement and the recognition from Sergey, unaware that he was setting up a joke. "What I have to say," he continued, "is in the words of my father: ‘What about the other three?’"

By golly, that's just exactly what my mother would say!

In fact, she said something almost exactly like that to my sister many years ago, when she came home from school with an exam score of 98. Mom's question was -- "what happened to the other two points?" haha!

Visitors

My sister and brother-in-law are in town for a short vacation.

I would have preferred being off from work while they're here, but projects have a way of denying us what we want.

I hope that by the end of the trip, they will feel that all the effort, worry, time, and money that was consumed in the short time that they were here was worth it.

Whirlwind

The past couple of weeks have gone by in a really quick whirlwind. I've actually had a lot of "bloggable" thoughts in that time, but it was much too tiring to sit down and think.

Thank goodness for Twitter; reading my cryptic entries over the past couple of weeks allowed me to remember enough of recent events to actually write a coherent entry here. hehe.

* * *

Had a long lunch with friends on November 25. We were at the restaurant literally for several hours, just chatting and watching the kids chase each other around the tables.

I miss this particular group of friends because I don't see them nearly as much as I used to, or as much as I'd like to. It also surprised me to realize during lunch that everyone there was already married, and except for one newly married couple, everyone already had kids. I guess my friends are also getting older too.

* * *

One of the highlights of the past two weeks was the church's Praise Night on November 26.

I think the choir spent over 350 man-hours rehearsing just for that single night. A week before the event, I was overwhelmed by dread because we really sounded so bad during rehearsals. We were just plain awful -- I can't quite put into words just how bad it was.

But on the final dress rehearsal, things really fell into place... which was such a big surprise. In retrospect, I think everyone knew that the event was just hours away so everyone had to stay focused. It would have been nice if everyone was focused 100% right from the start, but I guess that's too much to expect from a volunteer choir.

* * *

Another recent highlight was a reunion dinner with my long-lost college gal-pals on November 28. I had so much fun at this dinner, partly because of my friends, and partly because of the way this dinner came about.

M had flown in from the US to attend her sister's wedding, while D, who is based in Hong Kong, was coincidentally in town for a three day visit. We were joking that the "planets have aligned" just so the three of us could get together for the first time in more than 10 years. I still get a huge smile on my face whenever I think of that get-together. And thankfully, M had the foresight to bring a camera, so we have photographic evidence. hehe.

* * *

November 29 was turkey day at the office. I think this is the fourth year in a row now that we've had our own version of Thanksgiving.

I can never tell whether people really enjoyed the meal or not. I suppose there's a really good chance that they're just being polite when they say that the meal was good. At this point, I'm not going to second-guess myself and will just take what they say at face value. hehe.

* * *

Typhoon Reming thankfully changed course and spared Metro Manila on November 30 and December 1, but it sure battered other parts of the country.

I have to confess that I really dreaded the arrival of the storm, especially after what we experienced with typhoon Milenyo just two short months ago. I literally felt my chest tighten at the news. I was overwhelmed with sheer relief when they announced that Manila would not be hit.

* * *

December 1 was the church's annual Thanksgiving luncheon for co-workers. It was my first time to attend such an occassion, and while it was fun to be with friends, I found that I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. And that's all that I'm willing to say about the matter on a public blog.

* * *

My sis-in-law invited me to go shopping on December 2, which was perfect timing. I was able to buy Christmas presents for my godchildren, for which I'm soooo thankful. I'm finding that it gets tougher over the years to find the right presents, especially since the kids are growing up.

Thanks to my sis-in-law's encouragement, I will not be that hopeless ninang who cops out of gift-giving by just giving cash this year. hehe.

* * *

Then on December 3, we all trekked to one of the nearby subdivisions for my niece's kiddie pool party for her birthday. While it the venue was warm and a bit humid, the food was great, especially the bibingka. It was almost a diet breaker, to be honest! haha!

I'm glad my dad had the foresight to charge his camera batteries, because as it turns out, he and I were the only photographers at the party. At least my niece will have some photos to remind her of this year's birthday.

Paying our respects

Just got home from the cemetery where the clan trooped en masse to pay our respects to my grandfather, who had passed away a few years ago.

I feel kinda sad, because I've lately been realizing more how so much is lost when someone dies, especially when it's someone elderly. When I think of all the stories, life experiences, lessons, and even bits of history that were lost forever when my grandfather died, I feel bad because we have so little left of him to hold on to.

Lately, I've been thinking of my parents and everything that they've achieved both personally and professionally, and I can't help but wonder whether their grandchildren or great-grandchildren will one day know just how proud they should be of their grandparents.

I guess it's the job of my generation to ensure that the future generations know, understand, and appreciate.

Shopping List

Went to the grocery today for the first time in a very long time to do shopping for the household.

It took over 2 hours and visits to two different grocers to get everything that was on the list. Admittedly, it was a rather formidable list, but still! Two hours is a lot of time to be wandering up and down the aisles. And to think the lines at the checkout counters weren't even long.

Anyway, here's the list, for what it's worth.

• Orange juice
  
• Eggs
• Celery
• Pechay
• Carrots
• Potatoes
  
• Whole chicken
• Pork chops
• Papayas
• Chili Garlic Sauce
• Oyster Sauce
• Mayonnaise
• Vinegar
  
• Mang Tomas Sarsa
• Scotch brite
• Zonrox bleach
• Cleanser
• Canola Oil
• Button mushrooms
• Corned beef
• Vienna sausages

As you can see, it's all just typical household stuff... what's meaningful about this list are the additional responsibilities that it represents. I hate to admit it, but I guess it's time to grow up.