Another First

October in 3 days. How fast! Last year, we were busy preparing for Polo's big day. Now, we are preparing for his "walking" ground. As mentioned, he has crawled and has learned to sit. What's next? Walking! :)

It was my our first time to see fear in Polo's eyes. He was scared of a toy we bought from McDonalds. A small "dog like" robot. When I wind up this robot and let it walk, Polo was staring at it which I thought was just his way of showing his interest. We were actually expecting him to go after the walking robot. When I let that toy walk to him, Polo let out a shriek and he climbed hurriedly to his Lola Annie's arms. My dear boy was afraid. At first, we still tried to orient him with that toy and we thought he will be fine with it after several minutes. We were wrong. He was still afraid. Tsk Tsk Tsk.... bad robot!

Oh well. That's life Polo.

Again. It will be October. Christmas will be just around the corner. I've already started playing Christmas music but I will not forget my promise last year and the years before. We will be more ready this year for our Christmas shopping. No more cramming, please!!!! I dont think Polo is ready for Greenhills yet. Well, he can stay outside but definitely, I will object in bringing him inside the tiangge. We will be happy waiting inside Starbuck's for Josephine to finish her shopping!

Sunday will be a Big Day for both La Salle and Ateneo. I will try my best to watch it live at Araneta! I have not watched a single live game this year and I am fortunate to at least still have one last chance. Maybe I was happy a little bit when DLSU lost yesterday. But on Sunday, I will be happier if at the end of everything, La Salle will stand victorious and on its way to its nth Championship game. :) Animo La Salle!

Pressure pressure pressure.. That's what is like with me this past weeks in my work. I'm telling you. I am pressured with every project I have now. I'm telling you I am not sure at times how to move because of the pressure I am feeling. I am just so glad that Josephine and I are always welcome with a wonderful smile from our son, Polo. Best remedy to handle pressure though I still hope that my promotion would be made official. : )

A day is created (and always meant) to be beautiful

"Go into the country, bring timber and build the house"

I have allergies. I have rashes in my upper arm and I think this is the first time that this ever happened to me. It hasn't subsided yet even if I already took anti-histamine and it has been there since yesterday afternoon after eating a spicy noodle soup (though, I only sipped). It is still itchy until now and red like a slice of watermelon. get the picture. At least it isn't spreading and it is just contained in that area.

Low resistance. Better than getting a flu again. Polo will not get this allergy.

I really really really miss attending prayer meeting and woshipping God with all my heart and pouring to Him all my concerns and everything. It has been a long time since I've attended one. I thank God for His grace though that I can still read His words and able to attend mass and sometimes He would let me feel Him. His presence. I would be overwhelmed and be quiet. My heart is looking and searching for you, Jesus.

The other night while carrying Polo I started singing whatever songs that enter my mind and of course I hard difficulty in getting the lyrics right (no, not because of age but I am not really good in lyrics nor nursery rhymes) so I decided to just look for a cd and sing along instead of forcing myself. I chose to play praise music. We started dancing and Polo was smiling then Josephine joined and right there and then I felt God in our midst. He was with us because we were having fun while prasing God through our songs and dance. Kodak Moment!

I'm telling you, at times I would feel lost and unaware of His presence and this situation would made me sulk and depress. When I start feeling bad or wallow in pity or feeling struggling to be positive, Jesus would just impose himself. If people consider me "makulit", Jesus is better than me. He would let me forget the challenges I am facing and will help me instead smile. At the end, He would re assure me of His love, support and most of all His assurance that I will just be ok.

Also, while cooking last weekend, an unwanted thought was lingered in my mind (I love cooking and for me whenever you cook it must be done with love. no negativity please) I was greatly tempted to entertain it and add more which for sure will make me feel bad (again, I was cooking so I dont want to feel bad). All of a sudden, I just prayed and prayed and prayed until I got excited more in my cooking. I realized that whenever I feel negative, it would be easier to pray to cancel the negative thought instead of welcoming it and ruin a beautiful day.

Yeah, it is extremely hard to realize this everyday especially if you are struggling but I guarantee that during this time the Lord is already embracing you. It is up to us to embrace him back, feel his embrace or just be angry, sad, depress, defeated etc., etc., The Lord is victorious and He is good. Always. Amen

No One like You

Jesus keeps me hopeful
Allowing me to go through a day
Even if I do not know nor I understand
I am able to go on

I asked myself many times
Have I failed? Am I with no tomorrow?
What will the future be like?
I fear the answers

At night, I struggle to find peace
I am comforted to see my family beside me
My wife and my child
I am just doing fine

That's what Jesus whispered to me
Everything changed as I listen to His voice
It helps me sleep
Morning comes and I know in my heart
Jesus is with me.

I am ok.

Here I am

I've been busy for so many weeks and I really never had time to update my blog. I denied myself of some rantings that could have spared me from some stressful situations. I wasn't able to freely express myself and be relieved with tensions that have slowly occupied my brain and heart. A month and half! That's long. I really hope I can meet my goal to end this year with at least 100 posts.

Ok. What's up with my dear life?

1. I'm not yet (officially) promoted to the next level of my career. Too long and I'm still waiting. Too stressful and it is beyond my control. Well, too happy and I will wait for the right time to come. I am a patient person. I know that. Sometimes, I get frustrated and disappointed because nothing seems to be happening. As I mentioned, for me it is important not only for its corresponding compensation and perks but it is a milestone and at the same time an appreciation of what I have been contributing to this company. I've been acting and handling this position for more than a year. People treat me as one and I have the confidence to act like one but at the end of the day there is a huge discrepancy. I'm still not one. My prayer "Oh Lord, you can move this mountain and I know You will. As I wait, may I not lose focus on You and Your promises for me and my family. May I still continue to praise you in everything. Amen."

2. Polo is now 7 months old and he did surprised us with his milestones. He can crawl and I am so happy to see him being able to reach and get toys far from him. Less frustration on his part. Then yesterday, he wowed us all! He was able to sit upright without any assistance. I think Polo even surprised himself. I saw his face when I let him sit facing me. No one was touching him and he was worried. Slowly, he learned to trust himself and there he was smiling at us and happy that he can sit. When got tired, he just fell down on his pillow contented and smiling. Polo, you earned 10 stars! (Highest). Two milestones in a span of two days.

3. I went to India. Ok. I apologise. I really tried to enjoy New Delhi. But maybe I can't. I think To appreciate India, you have to stay there for 3 months. Not to work but to explore this magical country. I only was able to grasp limited experience in my 3 days stay. Most of the time inside the sanctuary of the hotel. There was a conference that I had to attend. I guess my initial reaction was normal. I have seen other countries and I can not help but compare it. Oh, Philippines is much better for me but India has a rich historical/cultural background that attracted me to listen to an Indian. Awestruck. But I was not happy with my experience. First, the airport nightmare. I had a bad stomach for about a day after a night of tasting India's food. Then, exhaustion caught up with me that I had a hard time talking to people in a dinner event (Nope. I was able to eat anything). The following day, I was able to join a mini tour of New Delhi. I liked the Qutab Minar. Interesting history. I also wanted to spend several mintues in Indian Gate unfortunately, we can only take picture from the bus and from a far same with the Lotus temple but it is a modern structure. It didn't create any spark of interest to me. The others like the government houses which the tour bus just passed by were not at all amazing or amusing. Then we went to a "Kamish(?)" carpet store. At first the story of how the carpets are created would somehow lead you to sit and listen but after a while, I realized it was just a sales talk. We spent around 30minutes in that place. I can not and will not buy a USD15,000 carpet. I don't even have USD100 at that time. Forget it. So if we removed the government houses, temple and that carpet store tour, we could have probably visited other sites with greater significance.

Too bad. I had to leave that same day. I took a bath then went to the straight to the airport and waited for two hours to board. Then I waived goodbye to India. Who knows I will have another chance to visit and embrace this unique country.

I will share the pictures in other posts.

3. I spent five hours in Changi Airport (Singapore). I wanted to relax and you know this airport for me is so clean and efficient that it helped me to unwind. I also met up with my good friend Gericel and just updated ourselves with what's happening with us. Great to see her. Even though, it is still two hours to go, I had to say goodbye to Ge. Because I still have to buy pasalubong especially for my little boy.

I guess that's about it for today. Got to continue my acting here. :)