Dear God Letters

Dear God,

* I think about you sometimes even when I'm not praying... ELLIOT

* Did you mean for giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? ... NORMA

* I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that ok? ... NEIL

* Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy ... JOYCE

* I do not think anybody could be a better God. Well I just want you to know but I am not
just saying that because you are God ... CHARLES


Dear God,

I wish I had days with no papers to check! No reports to write! No deadlines! No  meetings! Except maybe to have friends over to a sparkling, clean house. Cook for them a nice, guilt-free meal. And then have long, intoxicating conversations till we feel we've had too much of the drinks but not enough of the company. So we plan for another day like that soon.

JOANNE

Art in Site Magazine Launch

Ayala Museum
Jan. 17, 2008

Ruby-Flecked Florentines

Description:
Isa sa maraming inaambisyunan kong lutuin. Nakita ko ito sa Wheatberry bakeshop. Sobrang mahal! Siguro sa darating na Valentine's day, mapapatikim ko na ito sa inyo.

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced almond, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
1/2 cup golden syrup or light-colored corn syrup
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking liner (SIlpat) or generously grease them. Set aside.

Process 1/2 cup of the almonds in a bender or food processor fitted with a metal blade until they are finely ground. Melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add, 1 at a time, the sugar, cranberries, raisins, orange peel, syrup, and flour, stirring after each addition. Stir in the ground and sliced almonds.

Using 1 tablespoon dough per cookie, roll mixture into balls. Dough will be sticky; moistened hands help. Place 3 inches apart on cokkie sheets; cookies will spread.Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days (on humid days. cookies may lose their crispness when stored in room temperature). Or store in freezer up to 1 month.

Christmas cheer in Shangri-la Mall

Post-Christmas shopping for Tito but none for us. The sale prices could not cheer us up (parang UK prices pa rin sa Marks & Spencer & Debenham's) the way the beautiful mall decor did. Ganda ng mga parol!

Kara, unfolding

in the kimono we bought for from Hongkong

Here is Kara in 2009. Album in progress

Smitten with 21st century technology

Last night, I was on YM in conference with someone who was in Madrid, Spain and another who was in Kinshahsha, Congo. The former has been a missionary for more than 10 years and the latter just assumed his post a few months ago. I was in awe of the things that they were doing and thethings they had to give up in order to be where they were. I was quietly "listening" to their exchange, relishing the moment that I could be part of this experience.

But I was not only taking in their conversation but was momentarily mesmerized that such an event could be happening. That 3 people in 3 separate continents could be all together in that spot of time. Truly, the creators of this internet feature are genuises( Saints, given the players in ths event!) to come up with such a reality.

I have been witness to the numerous changes in technology. As a little girl, I was there when my father first brought home the tape reorder. Mother - first portable record player. Then there was the calculator in my college years, the Betamax in the,,,

Dator's Still Life 1 & 2 find a home

Hubby decided he wanted something really colorful to grace our walls. The perfect answer was Erick Dator's kiping-inspired works (He's my Multiply contact!). Personally delivered by the artist and his family, they now bring added beauty and cheer to our home.

Here's to 2009!

We celebrated the new year with champagne, food, and song at Ling's!

WMG @ KoCC

Jun's birthday blow-out and Christmas get-together
Kitchen of Cakes and Coffee
December 27, 2008

Hilarious Holiday Stress Buster

If you think this is funny, you should see the elves in action. Viewing the video of us dancing really made my day. My husband who was asleep, woke up and got out of bed to find out what was causing all those gales of laughter from us. In order to have a copy of the video, you have to shell out some dollars. So that not being in my need-to-buy list, I was just content with watching the video every time the holiday stress got to me. Thanks, Bong & Diday, for this wonderful piece of fun!

Fr. John O'Mahony's birthday

December 27, 2008
Mission House

Mano po, Ninang 2008

Truly, the Christmas spirit is brought alive by children. Christmas day & the days after, my numerous inaanak and our grandchildren by niece Jazmin and nephew Johnbee, brightened up our households and renewed our hope for the new year.

Confessions of an ideal-weight junkie

           "Every time I hear the dirty 
      word 'exercise',
      I wash my mouth out with
      chocolate."
           
      "The advantage of 
      exercising every day
      is so when you die, they'll say,
      'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'"

     Ayan, ayan... kitang-kita ang dahilan kung bakit kailangang kong bumalik sa pageexercise! (Pansinin nyo na di ko sinabing kailangan na akong mag-diet!) Bakit nga ba kung kailan ko natuklasan ang kasarapan ng iba't-ibang klase ng pagkain ay tsaka naman bumagal na ang aking metabolism. Para bang ilang minuto lang pagkatapos kong kumain ng 2 French macaroons ay nasa baywang ko na ang ebidensiya! Kaya ang wardrobe, kailangan nang palitan dahil sa nagsisikipang pantalon at iba pa!

      Pero iniisip ko mga. Dapat ba akong mabahala, for aesthetic reasons, sa aking paglapad at pagbigat? Bakit pa e sa aking edad, dapat what you see is what you get! Anyway, I have long been out of the market, so to speak. I have earned the right to not worry about what others will think of my weight.

     Pero sana nga ganung kasimple. It's really not what others say but what I think about my body that takes center stage. I have long been grappling with this issue of the perfect body (on me!) As a child and well into my early adult years, I was grossly underweight.  Given that and my height, people would say I should be a model. Wow, I thought! But the damper was my friends would add... " as a poster child for the Malnutrition Program" of the government. Sigh! 

     It seemed like even if the amount of food I took in could rival the volume that men in my group took, my weight still hovered around 100 pounds. Even after I had given birth to my first baby, I would still visit Slimmer's world for a weight gain program just to achieve that elusive dream of 120 pounds on my 5'5 1/2 frame.

     But after my second child, things changed. My post-partum weight refused to go away. Even if it was not too far from the magic number 120, it still didn't make me feel content. A few years later, in a phase of my life accompanied by much anxiety, my weight went down to around 112. Still another bummer for me even if outwardly, I thought I had achieved (without trying) a look that would make heads turn.

      And so the saga continues to unfold... At present, my self-imposed weight standard remains to haunt me. But not so much because I can no longer fit into my usual size 8 but because the numbers that appear on the weighing scale (I stopped looking months ago) signify health implications. If I lose weight, will the aches and pains in the joints go away? Will lessening my sweets intake ensure the diabetes gene doesn't kick in? Will cutting down on the dairy and the meat relieve me of allergic rhinitis symptoms? Should I resume swimming and mat Pilates so that I become physically fit again?

    Maybe I should take to heart these probable measures to ensure optimal living. I'd like to live a healthy life till I'm beckoned to go to Kingdom come. So now, it really doesn't matter if I ever get to be 120 pounds in this  lifetime. All I want to do now is... fit into my favorite pair of form-fitting jeans and look good in them! (Hehehe! Mababaw pa rin!)

The Painting & The Poem

ON SEEING HIM AGAIN

My pain dwells behind
A screen of lace
Wrought by fingers
In restless wait.

Gossamer strands of sighs
Intertwining, embracing
Coarse twines of guilt
Unraveling in my mind.

As if through a tulled veil
Made taut by tears
Forbidden to fall
This heart looks from afar.

To behold, to caress
Yet never touch

To memorize your every expression
Despite prying eyes
That keep watch.

My essence wears a silken sheath
Unseen by those who know not
But the light that is you
Lays bare the weakest in me.

My soul awakens only in my dreams
Where reality is surrendered
And the scent of your being
Vividly remembered.

My sanity is in tattered disguise
Pleading to break free
Should I don mourning black
To clothe the rest of me?


The painting, "The Black Bride", is by Welbart, one of my Multiply Contacts. I grabbed this image from "In His Place..." album in his site. I've yet to meet him or see his works except through the web. But from what you'll see in http://welbartstudio.multiply.com you will surely agree with me that he is a noteworthy & fantastic artist.

The poem is mine, from so long ago, & has been published in virtualwriter.net. The words and the painting just seemed to belong together.