Just got home from helping out the sis-in-law with painting her new flat. Will go back there tomorrow and paint the walls pink. We painted white over the dark walls and scraped off wallpaper. :)

May you have more happy and blessed years to come!
I'm thinking about you.
Happy, happy birthday!

With much love from across the world and a big slice of cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream,
Your only daughter

For the past three days all I did was lie down on the couch, watch tv, consume bottle after bottle of water and two rolls of tissue because we ran out of Kleenex. I now officially became a paracetamol junkie after years of not taking it just so I won't miss a movie night with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law which we planned since P.S. I Love You after having seen the flyer that they were giving out goodie bags and free wine. What more could a girl ask for? A chick flick + goodie bag + free wine. You should have seen the twinkle in our eyes when we read about the goodie bag. A vision of nail polish, mascara, perfume samples, preferably girly stuff were forming in our heads.

So I got the tickets last Saturday, only to learn the day after that I might have to miss it because I'm down with a serious cold. It bummed me enough that I told Mike to go in my stead and go home with the goodie bag! But I felt much better when I woke up this morning so I sms-ed Monique that I was going.

We got to the theater half an hour early and cued our way into the hall. It wasn't assigned seating so we had a bit of luck with the ones we got. They were not the best seats but they weren't bad either. I scanned the hall and didn't see a man in sight. Not one! I mistook a particularly tall woman for a man because she had quite a manly posture and a short bob cut. I had to wear my glasses to check. My vision blurs beyond two meters.

27 Dresses was chic and entertaining like what you can expect from a chick flick. I especially like Heigl's outfits and it got me to want to try yoga. There is something about watching feel good movies that makes you want to do things you only dream about or plan to do which always get put aside because there are other things that pop up and you eventually forget that you want to do something else. Like I want to have another wedding and plan everything down to the detail and only invite people who mean something to us than just being blood-related because in some unwritten rule, you are obliged to invite them to your wedding. I don't despise having family on one of the biggest events in my life, but if most of them meet your husband for the first time on your wedding day, that's just not cool. Weddings should be intimate and personal, not a fashion show or parade or a spectator sport. But that's a story for another entry. It's just that the movie was about weddings and family and close relationships.

If I have to rate the movie, I'd give it a 3.5 star out of 5. It was nice, easy and fun.

The goodie bag, however, is a whole different story. It was a major disappointment! But, at least, Mike was happy. I'm really not 100% well but I'm glad I still went. It would probably made a lot of difference if my nose wasn't stuffed and if I didn't have to breathe through my mouth and if I wasn't half deaf and if I didn't have to stifle a cough when everyone was so quiet and if it was in de Kuip, but I enjoyed the evening with the two women closest to me in this strange-weathered flat country that I now call home.

Today is Mike's 26th birthday and the celebration took place mostly around the dining table. We invited the family over for an intimate lunch of sandwiches, sushi, tuna and salmon salads, cake, bottomless tea and hearty conversations. I think we're going to do more luncheons and dinners this year because it's just so good to spend time and reconnect with people who mean something to you. I enjoyed it so much it felt like my birthday!

Shortly after his Grandpa left, I stayed in the kitchen to clear a big stack of the dirty dishes that's been sitting on the countertop for two hours. I wanted to do the washing when everyone else has gone but I couldn't ignore it any longer. It's like a switch in my head was turned and I have to deal with it right away else I have to scratch my brains out to keep the switch from flicking. Obsessive-compulsive? Haha, definitely.



And because I thought that I didn't serve enough food, as is always the case with me, I whipped up a quick cream cheese filled pepper bruschetta while Mike opened a bottle of red wine. I also made a couple of regular mild pepper bruschetta which no one else ate except me because I like it more than the cream cheese filled one. Oh, well.



These are the loot he got for his birthday and he's one happy bunny. (Envelopes with money, Zelda for his DS Lite, books and the anime chess pieces I got him yesterday from the book fair in Ahoy. :)

Now that the weekend is almost over, I can finally relax!

For the first time in six years since Ian and I moved to Europe, we had a family reunion. And that also meant, updating the family portrait which was long overdue.



All of us together at last. Time is fleeting when you're having a good time. Those two weeks were all we had and they were the best ones.



To be there at Nanay's 93rd birthday and sing the song I wrote for her in the presence of family and close friends.



To be there with Papa as he turned 60 which we celebrated with family and friends in the new old house.

I got to see and experience a whole lot of things this year and they were good. Looking back, I see memories of ordinary things but what made them special is the people I share those memories with. For me, that is the essence of a good life, when you're surrounded with the people you love and care about.

It was a wonderful year and, as it is nearing its' end, let us continue to celebrate the goodness and the many blessings we enjoyed the whole year through.

I'm experiencing winter in my life right now. Winter is the closest I can get to describe my state of being. I have experienced the occasional rainstorms of wrong decisions and self-destruction fed by sugar-coated poison that is self-doubt, but, thankfully, those were short-lived. Even in the midst of the freezing cold, the sun still comes out to bring hope to the broken and life to the lonely.

This post is a reminder that there are so many things to be thankful for and the purpose of this life is as clear as a cloudless sky. That I should stop wallowing in what was past but, instead, savor the present and look forward into the future because a wasted day could turn into a wasted week and month and the next thing you know, the year is over and you're stuck wondering where the days went.

When I read the sms from my mom about my grandma's condition last week, my initial reaction was fright. I was choking in suppressed tears talking to my grandma on the phone although she sounded fine. I sensed something in her voice that day that's worrying me, as if she was silently praying that she is ready and wants to go. But I'm the one who's not ready for that yet. Even though she's ninety-three, the wheelchair we gave her as a Christmas present two years ago is lying under her bed unused because she'd rather exercise her skinny legs by walking, and unguided at that, carrying her delicate frame in small, short paces around the house. She's not ill nor is she on any medication besides her regular vitamins. She also has a surprisingly good appetite and can eat anything she wants. But when you see her, she's frail and thin and old. And I regret, achingly, not having spent as much time with her when we were living under the same roof. It's hurts because we're oceans apart now and I want to hold her close. She's still alive and healthy. That comforts me.

This is the surprise I made for Monique. She likes green tea and loves pink. Somewhere in this whole mug-green tea-coaster that I made is where her present was hidden.

Tonight...

dinner was shared,
stories were told,
presents were opened.

We laughed and talked the night away.
Ate some candy and drank hot choco.

I must have been very good this year,
because Sinterklaas was very thoughtful.

Oh, it was a wonderful evening!