Clutter Chatter

Oh, boy! Oh, boy! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to de-clutter our house. It is already April and I am not even half- done and whatever little I have accomplished is back to being cluttered again.

My friend and aspiring interior designer, Tisha was here last night and I was so embarrassed by my sorting boxes and pairs of shoes on the stairway. Argh! Don't get me wrong though, our house is not that bad. Tisha even said our house is far more orderly than hers. Is that a compliment? Coming from someone who has had three babies in four years.- Naaah, I am so not flattered. Sorry, Tish! Even closed drawers scare me since I can already picture what are inside and that I need to sort them out. Every morning when I have to pick what I should wear and come across clothes I don't wear anymore, I cringe! Uh-oh, on second thought this may not be a clutter problem but a mental one. Ha, ha! My busy schedule does not help too.

I am moving on a nervous, frantic pace as I am leaving for a long trip with my family and I want to come home to a clean. organized house. Can I do it? Yes, I should! So help me, God!

(home in pic is a file photo of the home of Dr. Totoy Castrense in Palawan, Philippines)

Okay, I am Going with You

When my daughter, Yellow was three, my husband and I got her a Little Tike's playhouse. After setting it up in the playroom, instantly the play mode became fairy tales. My children are really amazing. Our first story was The Three Pigs. So I began narrating about how there were three pigs and that one day their mom wanted them to be on their own because they were big enough. I exaggerated a bit though and dashed in with my signature neurotic mom theatrics. So my little girl starts with,

" My three pigs. You have all grown to be such big pigs and now you are ready to go on your own..."

But then I had to be a sentimental/ whiny pig and say,

" MOM, NO! I AM GONNA MISS YOU! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU, MOM!

At this, Yellow's face became worried. But I went on,

" Don't let me go, Mom! I love you so much!"

With an anxious look on her face that looked like she was about to cry, she said,

" Okay, I am going with you!"

LOL! My little girl, always the compassionate, sensitive, pure-hearted little person that she is. She is eight now and has not changed although I can see a career in neurotic and theatrical for her too.

What if the mother pig did go with her brood? Maybe the big bad wolf never stood a chance. But we would have not enjoyed the victory of the independent and intelligent third pig.

The Bag of Feathers Story

When I was just starting this blog, I mentioned how hurt I was for being bad-mouthed by someone. After much investigation, I learned that this person really has a deep grudge on me and has even gone to the point of making up nasty rumors about me that even affects my family. It is easy to tell myself not to be bothered by it (some people are just bored) but it is hard to do. You know when a person becomes the topic of nasty rumors, even if the stories are not true - the person talked about is forever tarnished.

Let me share with you the parallelism of this situation with the bag of feathers story. I don't remember where I got this story from but you will agree it is indeed so true. You see, spreading lies about a person is like releasing a bag of feathers in the middle of a windy field. If you try to retrieve all those pieces of feathers that has been blown away by the winds, it is impossible. So all those lies said about the person are left out there. The person is never whole again. People will always look at him in a different negative way. Whatever good name the person has is somehow ruined forever.

So let us try to use the spoken word like it was sacred. No one wants to be in this situation that I am in. Believe me. It hurts but moreover it strikes an angry chord in my being. So, I am angry.....

Let us speak to build up, to uplift.......So if we see any lost feathers around, in our hearts and minds let's try to keep realities in check and see who is spreading the rumors. She may just be a bored housewife who disappointingly has no talent like JK Rowling and has resorted to ruin innocent people who just want to live their lives the best way they can- for the sake of their own family and children. She may just be the culprit in the bag of feathers story....

You Know It's Summer When...

In the Philippines, you know it's summer when:

1. All your air-conditioning (at home, office, car) seem to be broken.

2. Halo-halo ( a dessert of sweetened beans, fruits. milk and ice) is the food craving of the season.

3. Domestic airports are forever a-buzz with passengers. Everyone wants to be somewhere else. Flights are also usually delayed.

4. You cannot count how many times the phrase, "Ang Init!" (It's Hot!) is uttered in a day by almost everyone.

5. Family members are asking each other, what the temperature is anyway.

6. Somehow the ice-cream billboards (and we a have an over supply of billboards here) on the streets seem more attractive.

7. Anahaw (a local plant with big leaves) fans are being sold on the streets so are cold bottles of purified water.

8. Swimming lessons are on on every village pool.

9. Baguio, our summer capital is busier than ever.

10. You begin to realize how fat, thin, beer belly laden or whatever body defect you have after trying on your bathing suit.

Haay, summer na!....and I am so fat....

Cousins

I guess most Filipinos will agree with me that some of their fondest memories from childhood are with their cousins. I am blessed to come from two very close-knit families. I still remember endless summer days lazing around with my cousins, riding our skateboards, eating halo-halo, playing jack stones and recording our singing on a tape recorder. Unforgettable too are the surprise parties, we would organize for our Lola Pacing (our Grandmother). How about those summers where my male cousins as young boys would camp in our home in Sta. Mesa, Manila after that very delicate 'surgery'? ( My parents are both doctors, er.. surgeons.) In one of those summers I believe the theme song was the Fita biscuit jingle. I think I sang it with the boys a ga-zillion times. How about talks with my other female cousins about boys and crushes that last till the wee hours of the morning? I sure miss jeepney rides to go watch Tagalog movies in Cubao. There were trips to Bicol, Baguio, and La Union. Remember when Poro Point was so in?

As I got a bit older, I had younger, baby cousins this time from my Mom's side of the family. I loved taking care of them; carrying them and taking them everywhere I go, even to prayer meetings. I guess part of my training as a mother, I learned from my younger cousins. I would read them bed time stories, wipe their spaghetti sauce riddled faces, take them with me to my college barkada outing against their parents' will. I will forever miss Sunday lunches at my grandparents' house (which is now being rented by a Little Quiapo restaurant) Those Sundays seems to last for ages. We would eat lunch twice, sleep in between. Yes, we were such pigs. Now my baby cousins are all grown up too and are taking care of my own kids. AAh, the circle of life, a most wondrous loving circle.

Now that we are older, we attend each other's weddings, become godparents to their children or vice versa. We cheer each other on about job promotions, new babies or whatever each is going through.

Today each meeting is a riotous medley of senseless gags and a sense of humor that only we can understand. I look forward to potlucks, Christmas, group trips and even All Souls Day when we visit our beloved dead or just our usual Sunday lunches.. Every occasion is a picnic.

When it comes to my cousins, I cannot complain. Sure we have our 'tampuhans' (disagreements), differences, even pangs of competitive edges here and there but when someone is in need, you can be sure we are there for each other. Through good times, bad times and everything else in between, they are there.

I will never forget when my son Blue was down with pneumonia as a baby and confined in the hospital. As a parent, it was one of my lowest time. My cousins each paid us visits (at least one from each family). They played with my son, talked to us and laughed with us. I would not have gone through that time had it not been for those visits and of course the support of my family.

Another add-on to this wonderful gift from God are the cousins-in-law. Sometimes I end up being closer to them than my cousins themselves. They add a different flavor, humor and love to our crazy family.

If I would be asked to list some of my favorite words, cousins would be there. Oops, let me correct that - MY cousins!

So if any of you, cousins of mine happen to bump into this blog, now you know how truly thankful I am to be blessed with such cool cousins. I hope in some little way, I have brought some love in your lives too.