Let’s Drink To That

Yahoo! I will be home for Valentines. I am missing Borski so much already. Today is my 28th day of duty (straight, mind you!), so it is but expected that I am looking forward to getting some time off and being able to relax and spend Valentines day with Borski.

She called me up just now, and was quite annoyed as to why I was not giving her a definite date of my arrival. LoL. Anyway, as usual, I was planning on surprising her again by coming a day early. I told her days before that I’d be arriving on Sunday yet, so boy is she in for a surprise when I come home tomorrow.

The more they stay the same..or so the saying goes..

I was feeling quite introspective today as I was pondering over the goings-on in our family. What came to mind was how very true the simple teachings we were taught when we were still young. Among those, we were taught that whenever we did something wrong, we were taught early on that we had to say “I’m sorry…” Even to the point of mimicking our parents, we were taught that whenever we were at fault, we had to apologize.

During those times, there was no such thing as pride. If you were at fault, you had to apologize. It was as simple as that.

As we got older, and as our eyes were slowly opened to the realities of life, and when we sometimes feel as though we can stand on our own, we sometimes become guilty of this thing they call “pride”. Even though we are at fault, sometimes we find it hard to extend an apologizing hand first.

Sometimes I wish you could see through my eyes. I wanna take you back to the time not so long ago. When they would not allow as much as a fly to land on your skin. When they did all that they could do just so no harm would come to you.

Before you start pointing fingers, we must ask ourselves, have we taken a look at the mirror lately?

Another belated post. LoL. I’ve been meaning to post about my musings as the year got underway but was just too damn lazy to do so.

First of all, I was feeling melancholic at the start of the year. This was mainly due to the reason of me not making it to the sendoff of my brother Ray. He had been arranging his work papers to Dubai during the 2nd half of last year and before the year was over, he got word that he’d be leaving early in 2009. He will be there for a 2-year work contract. When he got word that his final travel date would be January 7, he immediately texted me asking me when I’d be home. My base off from work would not be until the 10th so I asked him to delay his departure so that we’d still see each other before he leaves. There was no way I could escape from my work schedule and I was in Kidapawan that time.

Emotionally, I didn’t know how to describe how it felt thinking that he’d be leaving soon. Growing up separated by just 2 years (I am older, but I could easily pass off as younger than him..LoL), there was the usual sibling rivalry. It even is funny now that I think of the memories. My brother and I used to sleep in 1 bed together when we were still little. He was malikot when he slept, often kicking and turning about throughout the night, and I’d be awakened by this trait of his. At times, I’d punch him when this happened. Naturally, he would be at the losing end since I was awake, while he wasn’t..LoL. We weren’t that close growing up as I think I sort of looked at him as competition. Even in sports, we both were very competitive. I was even closer to my friends and classmates than I was with him. Oftentimes, we couldn’t converse without one eventually raising his voice. This did not get by without our parents noticing and numerous times, they even brought this to our attention. Blood was thicker than water, they told me.

As far as I remember, the turning point came when we were separated from each other for a long time, when he decided to work in Manila as a callcenter agent. When he came back after that, things were different. I couldn’t quite describe how, but it was just that. We were more gentle with each other. Another thing that brought us closer to each other was the game of badminton. We became partners and on a number of occasions, we went out of town to on road trips to join badminton tournaments. Yes, the usual conflicts between us were still there, but somehow, we were already communicating and it was easier to talk things over, unlike our situation before. When I was assigned in Bacolod, he’d text me whatever was happening back home, sometimes also to blow off some steam. I guess our bonding developed at that point. It came at a later part in our lives, but I think what was important was it did.

..1st runner up during our first tournament..

The whole family went to Cebu to send him off at Mactan International Airport last January 7..while I had to be contented with being passed around and talking to everybody on the mobile phone while they were at the pre-departure area. My brother is now an OFW.

Blood indeed is thicker than water.

Ingat always dinha brod!

I am at a loss.

I wonder whatever made things the way they are now. I mean, wherever did they go wrong. These days, I find my parents are just that – frustrated. A lot of things are not adding up. Well, I am not trying to act all righteous here, cause I know I have had my share of things I have done that I am not proud of, but I do think I have learned from those, and I can honestly say I have grown as a person after those events.

With the case of my siblings, I do think that my siblings have grown up having the better things in life. As our parents would say lightheartedly, “Perhaps we have over-loved them..” But it was always not the case. While we were groing up, we always had our share of household chores on a daily basis. Small as it is, I am seeing the effect of letting children have their share of the chores in the house. Somewhere along the way, this was lost on us. Like right now, my brothers behave in such a way as if they are always expecting someone else to clean up after them every time. I mean, they are already grown up, but still…tsk tsk..

And whenever their attention is called up, I would always find them rolling their eyeballs (or reactions to that effect), as if they have done nothing wrong, and it was our parents’ fault and that they were being unreasonable for calling their attention, or that they were having another bout of “high blood pressure”.

And then I thought, perhaps if they were able to experience the harsh reality of having to live their lives on their own, out there in the real world, I bet they would come to realize how blessed they are for having the family that they have, and the relative comfort that they possess. Alas, this still was not the case. They have gone to work in Manila. I would have thought that they would somehow come to value simple matters. Simple matters like having someone to cook for them, having a car you can use to drive around, and having the relaxed atmosphere of the province. Still, when they returned home, the same complacent attitude.

I guess I couldn’t blame my dad for raising hell earlier today when he found them with the air conditioning on, with the electric fans on, and the french windows open.

I wonder…what would it take for them to grow up..to really grow up…

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.