A WEEK IN THE LIFE

Boy, what a week this has been! What a hectic, roller coaster, week this has been.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TITA TIKI!


Let me start my recollection on May 12, last Friday. The kids and I were all excited because we got to go back to Tita Cookie's lovely place at Collaroy. But for me, the more exciting part was getting to see my Ninang (sa kasal) and Ninong (sa binyag), Tita Tictac and Tito Doug! And to add to all the excitement, it was also Tita Tictac's birthday! The last time I saw Tita Tictac was in Manila, and I was still pregnant with Luis then. The last time I saw Tito Doug was in 2000, when we visited them in San Diego. But it was as if we had just seen them a week ago.


The kids and I took the long drive to Collaroy. About half an hour after we arrived, the second wave of visitors arrived. Tito Jim and his whole family, including Nino, (their hardinero!) made the trip in two cars. Yes, Tito Jim and Tita Lydia dared to drive the whole distance. I can't really tell you what happened that day, because there wasn't any real agenda. People just sat at tables and moved around the room, talked, made kalabawan on the floor, took pictures, etc. The kids of course, could not be contained. They could see the beach from Tita Cookie's balcony, and they were just dying to play in the sand. Tita Tictac had given Luis and Ananda sand play toys and they were raring to try them out in the sand. So Me and Erica took our kids down, and Mio, Ala and Nino came along. When Ananda saw the
water, she wanted to run in! First she tried to convince her mom to let her take a dip. When that didn't work, she tried to get me to bring her to the water. But there was NOOOOO way we were gonna do that, because the water was just soooooo cold! Then it started to drizzle so we had to go back in. Bitin na bitin ang mga bata. They waited so long to play in the sand, then had to quickly pack up their stuff after about 15 minutes.




Tito Jim and company left before 5 pm because they did not want to be driving in the dark. (dito, 5 pm pa lang, dumidilim na!) My family did not leave yet, because we were waiting for Edge to come. He had training in Erskineville that day and was coming via public transport. He got to Tita Cookie's house at about 6:45 p.m. and we got to eating the leftovers from lunch (which was still very yummy!) Again, the kwentos just kept coming, and Tito Joaquin and Tito Doug kept on teasing me and Tita Cookie. Tito Joaquin kept telling me that he expected me to be back at 8 am the next day to clean their house, because my kids made such a mess! Then they kept teasing me that I practically finished the sourdough bread that they bought from the bakery nearby. (Unfair! I only ate 3 slices!) But that's just the way they are. That's their lambing.....

We finally left some time before 10 pm. Nahiya na rin kami kasi they all looked very tired, because they had hardly had any sleep from the previous nights.

SHOPPING-SHOPPING!

The next day, Edge, me and the kids went to Direct Factory Outlet to buy clothes. I don't have any winter clothes for the office so I set out to buy some. I ended up spending XXXX amount of money, but I got several pieces of clothing naman for that price so I think I did pretty well. I bought a pair of wool pants and 3 long-sleeved shirts. This is for what I call my "solicitor outfit" (note: dito, solicitor ang tawag sa atorni!) My next dream purchase is a pair of boots na fluffy inside. Kasalanan ito ni Erica e. She told all about how warm and fuzzy her boots are and now they are all I can think of!

MOTHER'S DAY BARBECUE


We didn't really get together because it was Mother's Day. It just happened to be Mother's Day. The Ayala contingent from Davao was in town and so we had a grand party at Mari's house in Oatlands. There were about 60 people at the party! It was a catered affair. They served lamb and roast beef, and different kinds of salad. Then there were Pavlovas and brownies (made by Tita Malu -- ubos kaagad!) for dessert. I took my small Canon camera and a spare set of batteries. By 3 pm, both sets of batteries had run out.


Francis went to the city to pick up the Ayalas via ferry. Mari, me, Angelica, Tito Jim and George (Wegmann) drove out in a convoy to the Parramatta Ferry station to pick them up. Kulang pa nga iyung kotse so Mari had to make a second trip to pick up the ones who got left behind. Lani, Jacko and Uno rode with me in my car. It was the first time I met her kids. They are so big na!




At one point in the afternoon, some people were sitting around the piano, singing. Someone requested an APO song but the one on the piano did not know how to play it. We started callilng out to Tito Jim, but he was outside talking to some people. As if on cue, Tito Jim suddenly walked inside and we all begged him to play the piano. We requested that he play "When I Met You". EVERYBODY in the house was singing along, inclduing the adlibs, including the "hoo hoo hoos", and everybody sang with gusto. Tito Mike and Gaws (sorry, I don't know the spelling, basta sounds like iyon) sang as if they were onstage performing. The only "pampasira" to the scene was that the COMPOSER, as in the one who composed the actual song -- (That's Tito Jim) kept fumbling on the chords! Sometimes he would get lost and stop playing, but
everybody just kept on singing, and he just had to try and follow us. Then he played "Yakap sa Dilim", "Panalangin" and "Ewan". I think it was Ewan that he fumbled on the most, which prompted us to say in the end, "Ay, Ewan talaga!" Then he went on to play other songs by other people. It was such a high! For a minute there, it felt like it was New Year's Eve at Tito Jim's, with Tito Jim and Joey alternating on the piano, Tito Jesse singing his Harry Belafonte songs and the old songs about coconut trees and monkeys and songs from the time of Mambo, Mambo Magsaysay, and such other songs that I will always associate with Tito Jesse. It was such a good feeling. My ka-duet was Francis Crame, who claimed before that he had to be intoxicated for him to be able to sing in public. I must say though Francis, you are not a terrible singer!




Lolo Chito left a little time after lunch. Mafe went with Chinny to visit Jerome's grave. Tita Tictac and Tito Doug came at around 5 pm with Tita Cookie and Tito Joaquin. Gina Quirino's major discovery for the day was that there is Krispy Kreme in Australia. As soon as she learned this, she kept reminding Francis that he had promised to take her there. When Mari came back from bringing a group to the ferry, he brought with him a box of KK donuts. Luis ate 2 of them, but it seems was very bitin. On the way home, he begged us to pass by KK and buy donuts. Sige na nga. (as if!) When we got there, as someone told us at the party, there was Krispy Kreme ice cream (yes Gogi, yes Papa, there is ice cream!) Masarap! Kaya lang sa ngayon, there are only 5 flavors - Choco Chip, chocolate, mango, vanilla bean, and another flavor I can't remember.

That night, I called Mom to greet her a Happy Mother's Day, and to tell her al the kwento about the party. Nakakainis lang kasi the phone card I bought was not very good. Bitin ang kwento namin, but we were able to cover quite a lot of ground!

REY SLEEPS OVER

Rey Aude, our good friend (who I wrote about some entries back), came over for dinner and slept over na rin. He lives with his sister, who lives quite a distance from our place. Para sulit, we all decided that he should just spend the night here. He arrived before 8 pm, brought here by his nephew because his sisters don't like the idea of him taking public transport (baka anong mangyari sa kanilang bunsoy!) (hehehehe....loko lang Rey). Edge was cooking Sinigang na hipon and Prawns in Lemon Butter Sauce, but then Rey told us he is highly allergic to prawns! Edge quickly grilled some pieces of steak just for Rey. We basically just sat around the dinner table and had kwento after kwneto after kwento. Of course we made chismis about people at Xavier (mwahahahahaha!) then all of a sudden, it was 12:30 am! I declared I had to go to sleep because I had to get up at 5:30 because I had training in the city. Edge had to get up early as well because he had training at nearby St. Clair. It's just too bad that we had to shoo Rey out in the morning (Edge took him to the train station at 7:30 am) and we couldn't have a proper goodbye. I wasn't able to say goodbye to him as he got up after I left. I do hope we get to see him one more time before he goes home, hoepfully with Agie as well!

I WANT TO SCREAM!

I was in the city on training the whole week. I have this at least once a month and will have the last one on the last week of July. This is mandatory training, and when I complete it, I will be a full-fledged caseworker! Hay naku. The training usually lowers my resistance because I have to get up so early, I get home quite late, I have to take the train and run after buses. Added to that, there are some people at the training who have an overinflated ego and believe they are the center of the universe so sometimes being there is not very enjoyable. Anyway, this week was one of the core modules, and there was an assessment at the end of the week. We had to do role plays and show how we would conduct an interview with a client with a certain story line. It stressed each and every one of us a lot. In the end, I am glad I passed, and I'm glad I hurdled that one. There is another role play coming up end of June. I don't want to think about that one yet. Saka na iyon.

Edge also had training the whole week, at a public high school in the next suburb. He said the kids were wild and disrespectful, by our standards. He observed for the first 3 days, then taught on the last 2. Next week, he will teach again for 5 days. To add to all the other things happening that week, Diego's school had 2 pupil-free days, meaning, the teachers had training and the kids had the days off. I didn't realize how stressful this can be when both parents work. Daycare centres do not accept kids who go to school. Kids who go to school go to Before and After School Care, but are not open during school hours. There was nowhere we could put Diego for the two days! It was a good thing Thursday and Friday are Chinny's days off from work. She agreed to look after Diego -- Chinny, you're such a lifesaver! I love you pinsan! Sophie had school and Miggy had preschool, so Diego played with little Joshie the whole day. Diego said he enjoyed himself so much. Teynks Peensan!!

So that was my very eventful week. Edge and I are now preparing for the arrival of our dignitaries, the Magees and Holzners. The Magees are sleeping here for two nights. The Holzners are bringing them here, so we invited them for lunch. Now I have to make sure my placemats are clean, and I have enough chairs for everyone. I have to go now and help Edge prepare the house. I will write again about how the Magee's visit goes. Til the next report....mabalos!