The Journey. It’s Mine. [My personal take on love, life, parenting and blogging.]

The usual pedia consultation (and prescribed medicines) didn’t work in bringing down Raine’s fever (39.8 C) that started noon of Friday. He had to be confined to the hospital on Saturday night. He had been puking his food, and so has practically hasn’t eaten anything solid for more that 24 hours before confinement. Then he had a terrible nosebleed.  So i didn’t think twice but decided we had to go the hospital upon the doctor’s advice. The only decent hospital here is in Sorsogon — the Sorsogon MMG Hospital a.k.a. SorDoc. We had to hire a tricyle going there. There are no more jeepneys at night. Remember, barriotic dito.

Good thing that Raine didn’t even flinch when the IV was hooked on his arm and during the finger-pricking to get blood sample. What a brave boy! He had a complete blood analysis including a test for dengue. Eventually, all the tests turned out negative. Fever went down. It was nasal allergy cough we were told. So we were sent home yesterday morning with some prescribed antihistamines.  This was the third time that Raine’s fever was accompanied by nose-bleeding.

But then all is fine. Raine is fine now. Me and my mother are just catching up on lost sleep incurred during the hospital stay.

One big milestone, achieved today: preschool moving-up ceremony. Ang guwapo ng anak ko!

It’s 10 years to go…then it’s time for college. Raine is going to leave the ‘nest’ by then. I have 10 more years to enjoy his childhood. Hayyy…;)

Raine’s moving-up ceremony will be next week (March 25). Last weekend (Saturday), I accompanied Raine in Sorsogon to take the entrance exam at St. Louise De Marillac. Surprisingly, he passed the exam. (Sorry…Raine’s too much playfulness made me believe that he is not very serious in school yet and that he hasn’t learned anything substantial yet!)

Saturday proved me wrong. And yesterday I saw all of Raine’s school activities on paper which he brought home in a big brown envelope. What I saw wasn’t half bad. So apparently for him, school is school and home is play time and rest time. Good for him for compartmentalizing this early in his life. I wasn’t too good in compartmentalizing my life early on.

So this will be a new chapter in Raine’s life. I hope he’s having a lot of fun. Despite the seriousness in grade school, i still want Raine to have time to play and have fun.  Now, I just wish I own a commercial real estate in the city! So we can move in, in time for June.

I didn’t see this particular episode of The David Letterman Show, I just got this in the mail. I assure you, you will laugh big time over all that pinoy-ness. Here goes…

Top 10 Reasons Why There Couldn’t Be a Filipino-American US President, by The David Letterman Show

10. The White House is not big enough for in-laws and extended relatives.

9. There are not enough parking spaces at the White House for 2 Honda Civics, 2 Toyota Land Cruisers, 3 Toyota Corollas, a Mercedes Benz, a BMW and MPV (My Pinoy Van).

8. Dignitaries generally are intimidated by eating with their fingers at State dinners.

7. There are too many dining rooms in the White House - where will they put the picture of the Last Supper?

6. The White House walls are not big enough to hold a pair of giant wooden spoon and fork.

5. Secret Service staff won’t respond to “psst… psst” or ‘hoy….hoy…hoy…’

4. Secret Service staff will not be comfortable driving the presidential car with a Holy Rosary hanging on the rear view mirror, or the statue of the Santo Niño on the dashboard.

3. No budget allocation to purchase a Karaoke music-machine for every room in the White House.

2. State dinners do not allow “Take Home”.

AND THE NUMBER 1 REASON WHY THERE COULDN’T BE A FILIPINO-AMERICAN U.S.
PRESIDENT IS…

1. Air Force One does not allow overweight Balikbayan boxes!

…my lola that is! Her (fourth) husband died this morning. May he rest in peace. He must be a good guy for marrying my lola — a woman with 5 kids already before him. He was a man with few words, a soft-spoken guy as opposed to my lola’s big bellowing voice.

When my father died, I haven’t seen my lola cried. Now I haven’t seen her cry yet. Maybe she cries in private. Or maybe she is too strong her tearducts are too proud. Or maybe death isn’t new to her, husband number 3 died too. She separated with husband number 1, they were both too young (only 15) so the parents intervened and didn’t agree on one thing. Husband number 2 was just a fling, they didn’t live together eventhough they have one child. Husband number 4 made an honest woman out of her, married her in church even!

If there is one good thing about my lola is that she is a survivor and never gave up on love. She must be a hopeless romantic. I hope with husband number 4, she found what she is looking for.

I paid my respects. Gave abuloy too. Unica Hija is sending money for the funeral…too bad she cannot come home this time. She was just home last November.  We notified the other kids too…I hope they all come to pay their respects.

One only good thing with death is, it relieves the person of physical suffering. He has been bed-ridden in the past six months…may he truly rest in peace.

I’ve talked about some pesty relatives. Last week, the family moved out of our compound and are now living near the road. Ganyan ang mga “squatter” dito, sa tabi sila ng kalsada nakatira. While we can now breathe easily, we are still on the look out because they don’t live too far away. We can’t be too careful if magnanakaw na ang pinag-uusapan.

Well anyway…I told my mother never to let anybody else live in our small land. However pitiful she might feel of other relatives. Because in the end, it is us that ends up under a bad light. Besides, this is a property that my parents got when we were kids. These people around us are my father’s maternal half-siblings. The pestier of them all? Their mother. My lola.

My father is her eldest and since my father graduated from elementary school, he has been working to support her and her other kids as she move from one husband to the next. She had 4 by the way and bore kids of each one. Now the fourth husband is nanghihingalo na…and she still expects that her kids support her. Guess what? Ako daw ang pumalit sa tatay ko dahil wala na sya! As if lagi akong may surplus! Imagine, merong karampot na nakukuhang SSS pension si mama and she wants a part of it too. Ang kapal talaga ng mukha! The one that is regularly supporting her these days is her unica hija na working as DH in KSA. That woman was married and have 5 kids. Her mother urged her to separate from her husband. Too bad she listened to her mother. But good thing for my lola dahil imbes na yung 5 anak ang padalhan ng pera…siya ang pinapadalhan every month! Matuk mo yan?! Grabe talaga. Three ofher kids, napahiwalay nya sa asawa!

When i started working, I used to send her money…until my mother has to intercept the money because my lola wants to have everything she sees in our kitchen. Sya ang perfect example ng linta. She had many kids because she wants her kids to work at a young age so that they can support her. The husbands she had? Mga wala namang matinong hanapbuhay! Ayy ambot! Since my mother married my father…she succumbed to all my lola’s whims…lahat na ibinigay sa kanya. Isusubo na lang ng magulang ko, ibibigay pa sa kanya. Ang ending? Laging masamang manugang si mama ko. In fact, all her manugangs are bad, according to her! She really is mukhang pera, dahil love ka lang nya pag inaaabutan mo sya ng pera.

I told myself several times I’m not gonna give her money anymore. Because I am a witness to how badly she and her other kids treat my mother. However, dahil kadugo mo nga, lalo na’t gurangis na…tuwing humingi binibigyan ko pa rin. Lahat ng nilutong ulam dito sa bahay, may kaparte sya. Ganyan kami kasama!

Well I cannot choose my grandmother…my father wouldn’t have been born if it wasn’t for her. Then I’d probably wouldn’t be here in this world, if it wasn’t for her. But that’s just the ties that binds her to me. Nothing more. Not even love. Because I don’t love her at all.

Last Saturday night, there was a concert of all bands in the city of Sorsogon which included the twin’s band. In support to the twins, Raine and I went to watch the said concert.

After 5 bands of head-banging music played, Raine asked one of the twins how many bands more will play before them. 7 more he said. A few minutes later (almost 11 pm) Raine said we should go home because he is already sleepy. So we went, hired a tricyle from Sorsogon City to Payawin.

Raine said he had fun, despite the fact the he didn’t see Tito Kambal’s band play. The last concert I’ve been to is the Side A concert in UPLB way back in 1999. It has been a long time since I religiously listened to the radio. In short, I am so out of date with today’s music! Besides, I’ve never been into rock music or head-banging music.

But then in support of the twins, Raine and I went to the concert. I gorged on too much popcorn and soda while listening to the music I don’t understand the lyrics and the tune of. He he. Good thing I got hold of my bearings inside a gymnasium full of youngsters. Raine had fun, that’s just what’s important to me.

Now I can stop complaining about the weather here. Alas, sunny days are here. It’s just wonderful. It seems the leaves are greener. I’m a sucker for clear blue skies. Soon enough, the rest of the world will have to say goodbye to heated mattress pads and welcome spring.

So sunny days are here. The bright sun finally graced rainy-bicol with its presence.Then it will be the harvest season. The air will smell of drying hay and pinipig. I love that smell. I love the smell of freshly-mowed grass too.

Also, it is time to hit the beach. We’ll gonna do that in no time. I can’t wait!

When Raine was 2 years old, he believed that we have the same reproductive organs. I didn’t correct him. Besides we didn’t have a man in the house for comparison.

Now that he is 6, he is asking too many questions. Such as:

• Where do the food we eat go? And how come it turns into poop?
• Why do we have nails and hair, where do they come from?
• What’s inside our eyes?
• Why do girls don’t have penises and where do their urine come from? Galing ba sa puwet mommy?

Those are just a few of the many questions he is fond of asking. Including ‘why is the sky blue?’ when he was 3.

Of course I do answer the scientific way as much as I can. But each time I answer, basta! He insists: Mommy…tell me the truth! And so I answer again, with the truth this time.

It just fascinates me that he is very interested in his own anatomy. Like what is the heart for or what’s inside our brain? The questions never stop. He comes up with the most interesting questions I am taken aback each time. Even if I have to google some of the answers! He he.

Kids are wonderful. They are so interested in the world and the things around us. He knows already how the earth rotates around the sun, explaining why it is day in the Philippines when it is night in the US East Coast.

What’s the story of the Chinese people Mommy? And why are we Filipinos? Who discovered the Philippines? Why do plants grow? Why does it rain? The answers have turned into our bed time stories. He won’t sleep until his curiosity is satisfied.

Hopefully I can answer all his questions with the truth.