right wrongs

heard mass...  so i went to communion...  went back to the pew...  knelt...  prayed...

after praying, i sat down...  ooops!  how come i have a different seatmate???

i looked behind...  uh-oh...  that was my seat!  :"}

i immediately transferred then shortly after saw the guy i displaced move back to where i left...

whew!

oftentimes we don't really know the full impact of the things we do...  once we realize we've made a mistake, however, we should correct it whenever we can, as soon as we can, lest it disrupts the orderly lot of others...

fair game

friend and i supposed to order two cookie cakes in bundled shipping...

me:  'i'll have them delivered to your office...'

friend:  'no...  have them delivered to the house...'

me:  'then my cake will still go to your house?  no...  let's have them sent to your office...  i'll just have mine picked up there...'

friend:  'not the office!'

me:  'what?  i could have them delivered to my house...  but then yours?  i'll send it to your office?'

friend:  'nooo!  don't send it to the office!'

me:  'hahaha...  so violent the objection!  why?  will they eat it?'

; p

all-purpose

me:  'these are kitchen scissors...  there is this concave part on the blade...  the pair on the shelf is household scissors, the blade's just straight...  the one i just washed is poultry scissors...  the blades are curved...'

mom:  'when we were young we only had one type...  you use it for everything...'

life was simple then...  : )

one man's meat...

me to sister:  'i really liked your chocs...  it's full of nuts!'

sister:  'you can have it...'

me:  'huh?!  i just said i liked it...  i'm not asking for it...'

sister:  'i'm giving it to you...'

me:  'no need...'

sister:  'it's yours...  you finish it...'

me:  'it's big...  you should have some, too...'

sister:  'i've tried it...'

me:  'eat more...  let's share...'

sister:  'no...  it's all yours...'

me:  'why?'

sister:  'i don't like it...'

me:  'really?!  it's good!  every bite, there's so much nuts!'

sister:  'it's not my type...'

me:  'you sure?!'

sister:  'yes...'

me:  'wow!  good thing people have different tastes...  thankssss!!!'

: D

more to love

three skinny students sort of complaining to each other about their weight...  as in,
'ugh!  i'm fat!'
'aw!  i'm fatter!'
'look at me, i'm fattest!'

girls!  hello?!  you barely have flesh on your bones!

skeletons are either dead or in the closet...  you're alive and you have the world to explore...  'go ahead  --  eat your food and be happy'...  gain some weight...  it's fine...  \m/

mind games

girl on her phone:  'i'm here!  where are you?  what do you see now?'

me, in my mind:  '♩ ♪   i see trees of green
red roses, too
i see them bloom
for me and you  ♫ ♬'

; )

unwise

my wisdom tooth fell off today...  it's been jiggling for years but i never brought it to a dentist because of a regrettable experience i had the first time in decades i made a non-prophylaxis visit to one...

so from childhood to adulthood my teeth were fine until one morning five-and-a-half years ago when a tooth got chipped a teenie-weenie bit...  the dentists (i went to two) then drilled, roughened and carved out 'spines' on my good teeth so that the filling they were going to insert would stick.  well, the fillings kept on falling off (on a daily basis!) and daily my good teeth were being intentionally chipped and roughened to create attachment points for the filling!  even the original chip was enlarged because it was too small to hold a filling!

i had good teeth for practically a lifetime and in a one-week period my teeth suddenly deteriorated big-time!  they say, 'to do a great right, do a little wrong.'  in this case i think it was the reverse.  to do a little right a great wrong was done.  had i known my good teeth would be reduced by so much i would just have let the chip be.  it was so tiny for heaven's sake!

some imperfections are better left as is if correcting them would entail damage to so much more.

the greatest good for the greatest number.

the greatest

guy wearing a shirt that says:

"MON AMI
the only French
you need to know"

hmmm...  is that 'mon ami' the friend or 'mon ami' the word?  if the latter, shouldn't it be 'je t‘aime'?

<3 <3

nice to know

saw barbapapa shirts on the racks of a well-known international retailer...

i thought to myself:  'who / what on earth is barbapapa?  why is it on shirts?'

so i googled and i learn that it's from the french word for cotton candy, barbe à papa, literally 'daddy's beard.'  barbapapa is the shape-shifting cotton-candy-inspired title character of a children's book series published in the 1970s.  it was originally in french but has been translated in over 30 languages!

oh, wow!  how come i haven't heard of it?!  :"}

hmmm...  my life is none the worse for the 'ignorance' though...

some things are not essential...  : )

all for the best

i walked up to the teller to make a deposit...  she squealed in delight:  'ma'am has money!'

me:  'huh?!  what do you mean?'
(it wasn't much, hahaha)

teller:  'we need bills...  we're running out...  we're still requesting...'

me:  'oh!  so it's a good thing i came here...  i was actually thinking whether i should stop by this other branch but i wasn't sure about parking so i proceeded here...'

everything happens for a reason...  you are exactly where you are meant to be...  : )

extended holiday

we take down the christmas decorations at my parents' place after my sister's birthday mid-january.  i thought that was already late.

guess what, today i saw several houses still decked with christmas decors.  it is already january 21!  maybe they take theirs down after valentine's?  ; )

aim high

shirt print:

"Better late
than absent."

wahaha...  ; p

next time though, set the bar higher.  aspire for punctuality, ok...  : )

lovely

miss universe 2015 miss philippines pia alonzo wurtzbach and miss colombia ariadna gutiérrez guest separately on steve harvey's show.  a teaser shows the two beauty queens on a split screen walking through the studio on the way to the stage.  they were being asked identical questions while walking:

-  Describe your country in one word.
-  First person you texted after the pageant?
-  How long does it take you to put on your pageant face?
-  Do you think the text on Steve's card was too small?
-  What's harder modeling or competing in a pageant?
-  Most embarrassing thing you've done on stage?
-  Whose pageant dress did you want to steal?
-  How old were you when you first learned to walk in heels?

and then,

-  Show us your best pageant walk

miss philippines replied, "yea, sure!"
then she moved back and did her walk.

miss colombia pleasantly asked whoever it was in front of her (the cameraman most likely) to "give me some space...  so i can walk."

and the crown goes to...  miss philippines!

confidently beautiful with a heart...  <3

dethroned

i choked...  as is my wont, i asked for a number...

friend blurted out, '12!'

me:  'wow, 12!  yesterday, it was 8...  it used to be it was always 10...  hahaha...  so the reign of 10 is finally over, eh!'

king no more...  ; p

owned

at a shoe store...  sister trying on footwear...

she points to her left foot:  'is this nice?'

i point to her right:  'that one's nicer...'

sister:  'this is mine!  i was already wearing this when we came here...'

oh!

well, good choice, sis...  ; )

the woman is not a lady

my sister and i were at a strap shop yesterday and she was having a bracelet adjusted.  so the bracelet was on her arm raised level to her nose and the staff was measuring how much it should be shortened.

suddenly this woman came in, brought out a strap and shoved it on the space between the staff and my sister.  she then started asking the staff questions about her strap.  the staff paused what she was doing and answered the woman's queries.

the woman again brought out another strap, again shoved it under my sister's raised arm so the staff could see it and again started asking questions.  the staff again had to stop checking my sister's bracelet to answer the woman's queries.

the woman then moved aside, checked out the items on display, pondered whatever her mind could fathom (manners not included i would say) then went out the shop.

all along i was so tempted to tell her off but i didn't want to risk ruining my sweet sister's day so i decided to just keep quiet THAT TIME.  i knew, however, that this is something i certainly am going to blog about.  well, here it is.

to the woman wearing a yellow top and black pants who was at strap shop in ali mall around 4:35 p.m. january 15, 2016, there is such a thing as waiting for one's turn.  good thing your teenage son whom you met up with outside the shop wasn't with you inside.  what you did was not a good example.  do not teach that to your young.

worth it

offered my nephew newly sliced decadent chocolate cheesecake...

he declined:  'i've just brushed my teeth...'

eh?  if that were me, i would just have brushed again...  ;")

changing tunes

i just again heard the song 'no arms can ever hold you' composed by dieter bohlen and sang by chris norman.  three things:

1.  all along i thought the lyrics went:

♩ ♪  no one can ever love you
more than i do
no man can ever love you more,
it's true  ♫ ♬

it turns out it's:

♩ ♪  no arms can ever hold you
more than i do
no man can ever love you,
no, it's true  ♫ ♬

2.  i thought it was an old song...  as in, 'delilah,' 'my way' old.  turns out it was released just in 1986.  whoa!  i was already a college graduate that time!  it's old to the young ones now but it really is not that old to me.

3.  i used to find the song yucky.  now i actually appreciate it.


1.  you think you know but you don't.

2.  music transcends time.

3.  people change.  tastes change.  i am old...  ;"p

do you

excitedly got a handful of what i thought was yema from a canister...

me:  'my fave yema!'

sister:  'that's durian candy...'

me:  'oh!'

i put the candies back in the container...

sister:  'why?  that's good...'

me:  'i don't like it...'

sister:  'just try...'

me:  'i've tried durian...'

sister:  'try it again...'

me:  'no, thanks...'

sister:  'how are you gonna get to like it if you avoid it?'

me:  'i don't have to like it...'

sister:  'it's good...  i like it very much...'

me:  'that's you...  this is me...  i don't have to like what you like...  you don't have to like what i like...'

\m/

nice and nicer

sister-in-law:  'your top looks good on you...'

me:  'thanks...'

sister-in-law:  'but it will look better on me...'

oh!  hahaha...  ; )

choice

family get-together...

me:  'wow, there's lechon...  : D'

cousin:  'it's part of the package...'

me:  'haha...  it's not mandatory...  they have different packages...  you chose the one with lechon...'

: )

trigger not hinder

cousin calls me:  'where are you going?'

me:  'conti's...'

cousin:  'but we have a get-together at aunt's later!'

me:  'that's precisely why i'm going to conti's...  i'm going to buy cake...'

no 'but,' just 'because'...  \m/

the power of one

i got caught in painfully slow traffic this afternoon.  it turns out it was caused by an ill-parked jeepney waiting for passengers at a street corner.  actually, that street is their 'terminal' and they really occupy one lane of that two-lane one-way street.  the thing is, this driver, instead of parking straight parallel to the curb, parked diagonally with the rear of his vehicle protruding to the second lane forcing oncoming vehicles to slow down and squeeze through a small opening before they turn either left or right around the bend.  once you get past the jeepney, the road is all clear!!!  the driver had no idea he was causing a bottleneck affecting vehicles several blocks away...  : }

next time you think you are too small to single-handedly make a big impact, think of that lone vehicle...  \m/

feed your mind

sister's officemate gave her foodstuff from ilocos...

dad:  'what's that?'

sister:  'cornik...'

dad:  'how do you spell cornik?'

mom:  'corn...  change the C to K...'

me:  'oh...  i thought 'corn' then I, K...'

sister:  'that's fine, too...'

me:  'but how is it really?'

sister:  'depends...  english?  tagalog?  the spelling varies...'

me:  'yeah...  i think they also have cornick...  C, K...'

hmmm...  literally food for thought...

oh, well...  just chew it...  ; )

use it

my mom's ironing lady tells me she was able to cook 2 kilos of spaghetti in the pan i gave her.  she gushed, 'it's big!'

me:  'that's a 28 cm. wok...  regular pans are just 22, 24 and they're not as deep...'

ironing lady:  'my daughter wanted to cook fish in it but i said no.  i told her we'll just use it for meat...'

me:  'oh!  you can cook anything in it...  fish, pork, it doesn't matter...'

ironing lady:  'it might get scratched...'

me:  'no...  that has a good non-stick coating...  it won't scratch easily...  use it for anything...  the more you use it, the more i'm glad...  if you'll just store it or put it on display, i won't give you anymore...'

ironing lady:  'it's the town pan...  people borrow...'

me:  'wow, good...  make sure you tell them not to use metal as that's a non-stick pan...'

ironing lady:  'yes...  i lend them my wooden utensils as well...'

me:  'good...'

ironing lady:  'i tell them to take care of it as the giver will get angry if it gets broken...'
(it has a glass lid.)

me:  'huh?!  no!  i don't mind if it gets broken...  i don't mind if it gets scratched...  what's important to me is that it was used...'

a ship in the harbor is safe
but that's not what ships are for...

your wish is my command

my niece and i were on the road lunchtime and i was craving jollibee but i told her if she's not yet hungry we could just proceed home as i'm expecting two deliveries today and the courier might not release the packages if i'm not around.  (wow!  that is a long sentence...  hahahaha...)

she said she's not yet hungry so drive straight home we did.
(EDSA was a breeze northbound!  whoever is in charge, kudos!)

she went to their house and a while later brought me something she says is from her mom.  she put it on the table and i didn't check right away what it was.

a few minutes later she came back with a package for me.  she said she saw it in their house.  it was one of the deliveries i was expecting!  : D

i opened the box and as i was pulling the contents out, my sister-in-law arrived and said, 'nike?'

me:  'yes...  it's for you...'

she shrieked in delight saying she was just thinking yesterday that she doesn't have a new workout outfit for the new year and now i'm giving her one.

then she asks me whether my niece brought me the food she sent.

me:  'yes...  thanks...  it's on the table...  i'll check it...'

sister-in-law:  'it's spaghetti and chicken joy...'

what?!  it was my turn to be delighted!!!  : D

me:  'i was just craving jollibee earlier!'

i guess when you love someone you not just consciously but also unconsciously tune in to their desires and address what you can...  : )

trade-off

me:  'my clothes [in the clothesline] got wet when it rained...  they were already almost dry...'

sister:  'where were you?  why didn't you bring them in?'

me:  'i was here [at parents' house]...'

sister:  'why didn't you go home?  it's so near...'

me:  'i was supposed to but then the kalyeserye started...  it was alden's birthday so i watched...'

sister:  'that's the price you pay...'

me:  'yeah...  small price to pay...  the clothes will dry again...'

my joy in seeing alden's birthday real time instead of just in youtube far outweighs my dismay at having wet clothes...  worth it for me...  ; )

use it

i walk by my mom on her 17" laptop composing messages on a tiny facebook chat popup...

me:  'go to 'Messages,' mom, then click 'See all' so it would be bigger...'

mom:  'this is fine...'

me:  'you're wasting your screen...'

mom:  'this is ok...'

well, whatever suits you...

in less than 5 minutes she calls me...

mom:  'how do i delete this?  it's ugly!'

ooops...  she just sent a halloween sticker to an aunt!

me:  'you can't take that back...  just tell her you accidentally clicked it...  such things happen...'

mom:  'it was too small i didn't notice it was ugly...'

me:  'haha...  you have a big screen, mom...  you could have zoomed...'

there's a reason we have certain things:  to make life easier...  to complete tasks faster...  to do things right...  ; )

for the right reasons

noticed a number of guys hearing mass by themselves this evening.  they're not there to accompany some girl.  they're not there just so the family would be complete at new year mass.  they went there by themselves presumably not forced by anyone else.  it is something that is between them and God.  a blessed way to start the year.

happy new year everyone...  : )