Let’s Drink To That

Sometimes we get so caught up in everyday matters that we sometimes forget to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor. As far as I can tell, that has been the case with both my parents.

Well, there have been the occasional trips here and abroad, but still, you can tell that the time they spend for relaxation is so small in comparison to the time that they spend on their jobs. Although dad is already retired, and I was thinking that he’d take it easy after he did so, still he is a like a self-propelled engine that still pursues his life’s goals. He is not one to accept a laid back lifestyle. I guess that has been influenced by his previous experiences in life, once belonging to the ‘have-nots’ of society, and struggling against all odds to make something out of himself. And oh boy, indeed he has! In a way he has become my model, a bright shining star that I try to emulate (i try to..hehe).

Yesterday, however, we (Borski and I) ‘coerced’ my parents to take time out from their busy schedules. Yesterday was there 30th wedding anniversary. We celebrated it with an afternoon mass, and dinner at a local restaurant after. Asking them if they had other plans for the evening, and getting a negative answer, we then gave them our own attempt at a gift, a way of giving back, 2 gift coupons to Grand Royal Spa, which covered a body scrub, and a full body massage.

I am sure they are going to enjoy it. The night we got married, I got to try it out too, and as far as I can tell, I am addicted. LoL.

I am sure they will be too.

Today is Borski’s birthday and she will be turning 29. It will be a whole day celebration since we will be partaking of the food left over from the wedding celebration yesterday.

We will be having early breakfast and yes, it will be another grand celebration because Borski’s aunts/uncles and immediate family will be with us. We will be joined in by her parents, her brothers Charles and Ace, and sisters-in-law Tere and Lyn, as well as her nephew CT. Of course, her birthday celebration would not be complete without the ice cream. LOL.

To Borski, here’s to having more years to your life, and more life to your years! Cheers! Let’s drink to that!

I was surprised today when I got home to find that we had a new addition to our family of pets. We had a new cute little fella by the name of ‘Batchoy,’ a Dachshund. He is barely three months old and just full of energy. Of course he receives so much pampering from my brothers naturally because he is the ‘bunso’ among the gang. Now Kobe and Carla have a new playmate.

I hope to be able to post a pic of this new addition on one of the posts in here..

I was quite…well..what would be the best term to describe it..ummm..astounded(?) when after dinner today, an officemate of mine told me, “In 20 years time, mark my words, Andrew will be the richest among your brood..”

He was referring to my brother Andrew whom he got to meet during the course of the summer wherein they spent the most part of their summer vacation here in Bacolod. True, he said that Andrew lacks the maturity and behaves quite like a child most of the times (an example of which is that he could easily be bribed by the promise of food..lol), but that officemate of mine saw in Andrew a trait which he saw in my father. From his words, he told me that he had just gotten to know us for a short time, but he saw in Andrew a trait which only he possessed, which he got from our dad. He told me, only Andrew got up early in the morning to get busy with whatever things needed to be done. Meaning, that he was industrious, which unlike us, would be content on spending the time on bed early in the morning, especially if there weren’t any things that immediately needed attending to.

As I pondered on this thought, I smiled. Perhaps, this was the Johari window at work. I have never quite thought of it that way, but knowing how perceptive that particular officemate of mine was, I guess he did have a reason to be able to come up with that inference.

I hope he is right though. All in all, I am hoping that all of us siblings would be successful in whatever endeavor we choose to undertake.

That is the beauty of being in a family. I love my family. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

Just came from the airport this afternoon after picking up the parents from their flight from Manila. They just came from the US embassy for their appearance for their visa application. Thank God that they were granted a visa for their trip come June 21. Actually, as soon as they got word on the status of their application, they immediately sent a text message yesterday so I knew of the news fast.

They will be heading there for an international convention of their church outreach group for married couples, the Worldwide Marriage Encounter, i dunno if you heard of that group.

They have been quite active in that apostolate of theirs. Come to think of it, their involvement in that group had quite an impact on our family life.

Let me just explain how. You see, before their involvement on that organization, there used to be 4 of us, composed of 3 boys, and then the only girl. For a while there, they decided that it would be a period for them as 4 children would be enough. The gaps in years of the 4 children was 2 years for the first 3 children, and then 3 years for the only girl. After their involvement (our sister was already 5 years old by then), we had brother number five, and just 11 months after that, we had our bunso (our youngest). LoL. I often hear them jokingly say that the last 2 were the result of overflowing love.

Anyway, we have had quite a journey with our family.

If you ask me, I would always tell you, “The more the merrier.”

And oh, regarding that US trip, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the pasalubong.