He's my grandnephew, need I say more?

Source: Philippine Daily Enquirer, Tuesday, August 21, 2007

A new nurse in the family!!

Congratulations to Monette, youngest daughter of my younger sister Tammi, and shown here with Chona, only daughter of Tammi's twin, Norma, MIL to Rachel. Received the good news that she passed the board exams for nurses the morning after we arrived from our trip. What a great welcome! Good Job, MONETTE!!!

Catching Up

Today, I - - started catching up on my blog readings - organized pics we took of our vacation - tried another program to create albums for posting - still catching up on the new time zone - visited friends on their blogs - answered e-mails - composed e-mails - started dusting rooms and shelves - tried to cook - reluctantly fixed bed - sweated in the heat - am not feeling so swell - had all electric fans turned on (air con konked out) - will try to put some clothes in the laundry - will water the plants and lawn to stay cool - have to remember I am not on vacation anymore!

A Big THANKS

Yvonne, Grammie, Rowena, Rachel, Chesca, SassyMom, Febeth, Paul, KK, Dine, Julie, Chona Thanks to you all for those good wishes and sincere welcome. I'll be visiting you soon!!

uprhs58 One of the first things I did during my vacation was meeting and seeing my former high school classmates from U.P. Rural High School in Los Banos, Laguna. It felt as if it was only last week when we went on our separate journeys. Take a look at us now!

The one that changed alot was my former high school building. Not just the site, but the size as well! It used to be just a few meters away from the gates to the college campus. Now it is miles away and in Bay, Laguna at that. I would have loved to see the old one, but I find that the new sprawling building spells progress and success!

Back to Reality

It's been 24 hours since our plane landed in LAX and now I can feel that reality is back! Vacation is over, really, really over. My brain's still confused whether my body should be in bed or in the kitchen washing dishes. Yes, another reality that bites hard is the fact that now I have to do everything by myself. During the last six weeks, everybody was already reading my thoughts even before I started thinking about anything - if I needed to eat, the table was always laden with food that I grew up with, and a sister and nieces would always be around to assist me with, say, dipping sauces, salt and pepper, etc.; someone's on hand to collect my used clothing as soon as I pulled one over my head, and water already boiling so my shower would be perfect. For the last six weeks, I never held a broom or sponge or duster. All that I had to care about was the time I should wake up and the time I should be ready for the next trip. Now, I have to convince myself real hard that those days and times are gone, gone, gone. Snap out of it. This is reality!!!

Welcome, Yesterday

For the last 6 weeks Ed and I had been savoring the beauties and memories of our childhood. Ed had not been home for almost a quarter of a century (24 years) so I know this break is very exciting and meaningful to him. We toured most of the cities in Northern Luzon, where he is from and the south of Luzon where I am from. While my homeland has changed a lot, both politically and structurally, recalling and re-telling stories from our past have not. From the first few minutes of settling into one of my nephews' car until this very moment, stories haven't diminished. Everyday, a relative would come and another event from our yesteryears would suddenly evolve. And, the amazing thing about all this is we never get tired of it. Each day passes so fast I can't believe our vacation will soon be over in 5 days, to be exact! Then, I can really sit down and write about those unforgetable moments........

Why this trip?

One thing about being an immigrant is the excitement that goes when you think about the possibility of seeing your homeland again. Though under different circumstances, it was the same thing when we were working in Africa,. We always looked forward to those few days that we would be with our families again, year after year. We're happy when we are in America because we are with our children and grand children and friends. But still, there is that unexplainable longing for those folks that you left behind in the land of your youth. This vacation was planned when I learned that my eldest sister, Conchita, who we all call Ate Baby, was showing signs of the Parkinson's disease. We became even more intent in pushing it to fruition when another news came that a younger sister, Norma, is also very sick. Of course we want to see them when they are still strong, not later. We are very grateful that they both overcame and are now healthy again, touring and laughing with us! In a nutshell, we cruised through the Cagayan Valley across to the Ilocandia shores, sidewaying to Baguio, Pangasinan, Pampanga and Bulacan. Then we continued on to Laguna, Quezon, Batangas and Cavite, not forgetting Manila, and Quezon City, Alabang and Makati. Oh, why do the roads have to end?