Saturday, May 17, 2014

A Single Mom's Pride

Earlier, as I watch my son light the Candle of Hope during their baccalaureate mass, I can't help but feel this overwhelming sense of pride. We've definitely come a long long way.

I used to think that I wouldn't make it. That being a single parent will be a challenge I might not fulfill.  That I might fail my son and myself for that matter. There were just too many hurdles. But along the way, through the hardships and struggles, I am lucky to have found a really awesome support system --parents, family and friends -- who helped in one way or another. And I can't thank them enough.

Being a single  parent is not for the faint of heart; it's not for the weaklings or quitters. There's a ton of responsibility that goes with raising a child alone. It requires strength, courage, a lot of tears and most of all, determination. The fortitude to give him a good life.

I know my son had his share of struggles, too. And I can only hope that the love, support and guidance my parents and I give him fill in whatever void he may have now and then. Despite the hardships, his effort to obtain a degree is admirable. He made us really proud.

As I listened to the Homily, I was reminded of this quote from Farrah Fawcett: My number one goal is to love, support and be there for my son.

In two days, the fulfillment of our dreams will be a reality. My parents and I will watch him with pride (and perhaps a tear or two) as he march on stage and receive his diploma. The moment will be priceless... We've gone a long way. Yes, true. But this is not the end. I won't stop loving, supporting and being there for him.


Congratulations, son!



Monday, May 12, 2014

Ghost the Musical I'm In Love

Lonely rivers flow
To the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea...



Saw Ghost the Musical last Friday, May 9th at RCBC Tower. What fantastic play. What an awesome cast.

Cris Villonco as Molly, is divine. She's so convincing she made me cry, too. Hans Eckstein as Carl is also good. He's uber nice offstage. Oda Mae, the charlatan medium, as always, was very amusing to watch. Very much like Whoopi  Goldberg, who stole the thunder from Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in the original movie, Ima Castro brought the house down. And to top it all, when we asked her to pose with us, Ima sincerely asked if we enjoyed the show. I'm a fan.

I already love Christian Bautista in The Kitchen Musical, but love him even more as Sam Wheat. He's so cute, I wanted to take him home and take care of him. Like. Really. I think I sort of blushed when I gestured him to stop (because we want to pose with him) and he pretended to fall on the floor. Sigh. LOL. NOT. Embarassing. Really. Jeez. How silly can I get? 

The production design is minimalist, yet impressive. Love how the play focused on the emotion. No moment was ever-boring. Totally enjoyed the whole show. And enjoyed much more the photo-op with the lead stars afterward.


Congratulations, guys! Great job!






Saturday, April 12, 2014

Project MJ - Secret Life Revealed


This week has been full of surprises. And I couldn't thank enough the wonderful people who gone the extra mile to surprise me on my __th birthday (age is a fill-in-the-blank thingy).

1. My son gifted me with  a favorite-- rocky road cake-- for the first time ever. From his pocket. From his first earning. Made me so damn proud. So grown up and generous and all.


2. Got wonderful wishes, greetings, and gifts from family, friends, and co-workers (past and present). Wines, roses, perfume and fashion accessories. You guys know me so well. Even  the scroog-iest person I know was generous enough to give me a really cool gift. Thank you! 


3. And the bestest gift I got this year is the surprise birthday party from my Truelogic Family. 

Complete with  18 roses from the guys in the office. I nearly cried at this point because I never had a formal debut party. Years ago, before iPhone was invented, I celebrated my 18th birthday in a Billy Idol Slam Dance/New Wave themed party shared with a church friend.

My former eldest son in the office, Mike, joined in and so did Ed, my ex-boss. The surprise party would have been more authentic had I not blown up my son's supposed participation. He didn't join anyway. Said he was too shy. Truth be told, he hates parties. I dunno. Don't ask me. 

The surprise didn't stop there. 

The writers and editors, HR, and some of the OPs people prepared a mini-film.

The video, a hilarious rendition of what my life "used to be", cracked me up so much/moved me to pieces. These are the people that I drive to wits end every single day, and they even had time to convince the big boss to be silly? How cool is that.





The celebration was capped with beers, Mojitos, chips and refills of nonstop laughing with the awesomest people from work. 



To Mafe, who wrote a fabulous blog about me and to everyone else who made my birthday this year truly memorable, thank you ever so much. You have no idea how happy you guys made me. *Sniff* 

May God bless you always that you continue to be a blessing to others.



Monday, March 31, 2014

Of Rats and Women

There are rats in my ceiling
Playing, shrieking, tormenting
There are women in my wall
Praising, sharing, blabbering
Can't stand listenin' to them all
Should I catch them, roast them
Or just squeeze them by the ball?

If only these rats were as talented as these: 










Summer Is Definitely Here

The scorching heat tells us Filipinos that summer is definitely here.

For the beach bums, it's time to prep the abs, get bikini wax, new swimming outfit, planning the vacation getaway, etc...

For workaholics like me, it means early sunrise, which translates to you-gotta-wake-up-and-commute-now-before-it-gets-too-hot-outside and you-can't-wear-those-lil-black-dress-lest-you-want-to-have-a-series-of-hot-flushes. The choices I have.

There might be some plans coming along. And hopefully, no spoiler to ruin them. You know those people. It's like, other people are not meant to have a good time. It's like about them all the time.

Oh well.

On another note, I should be dieting soon. Lest I want to be like one of those blue-whale shark (butanding), sure. I need to eat less. And when I say less, one slice of cake and pizza a day should suffice. Sigh.

This is my dream spot this summer. Wish I could go. Am sure my folks and son would love it there.


Where is yours? 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Only Awesome Things Can Happen To You When You're Always Grateful


I am thankful …


The laughters that I have cried-
For they always pour; can’t ever hide.


The tears that I allow-
For they always flow; free of sorrow.


The blessings that I have –
For they always cleanse; they came with love.


The sunshine that I hug –
For they always burst; they warm like fog.


The triumphs that I gain-
For they always scar; can’t ever feign.


The hurdles that I fought-
For they challenge; made me taut.


All these and more, I am grateful;
Somehow, the days made me half whole…

Photo from: http://www.caramelpotatoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Grateful-Heart-wm.jpg


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Trouble App in the Palace (Fairy Tales Part III)


Fact: Snow White hates Apple.
Fact: Cinderella loves Pumpkins.
Fact: Snow White is a very competitive skank.
Fact: Cinderella is just one plain nasty psycho.

ACT 4, SCENE 1

One lazy humid afternoon, in the purple-ish den of the White's palace, Snowee and friend Cindee are busy browsing Gadget Geek Mag.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/35536284533851889/Cindee: So yesterday I bought iPhone 9S and I'm like, gawd, is this cheap or what?

Snowee: [In complete shock] You bought iPhone 9S?!!! I just barely learned how to use the stalker app in my 4G and there's 9S already?


Cindee: Hello. Where have you been?

Snowee: Excuse me. I gotta call Dad!

Cindee: You can use my phone.

Snowee: No. Thank you. I have my own  phone.

Cindee: Fine.[Slightly raises her eyebrow at Snow's sudden change of demeanor, whispers to self] I am not sure I'm liking the way Snow glances over. It's like she's possessed. She's got this crazy psycho Linda Blair's eyes. Uh-oh. I have to go.

[Cindee tiptoes out of the door, but Snowee catches her.]

Snowee: Cindee! Where are you going? I thought we're hanging out?!!

Cindee: Home. I need to feed my pet dragons! Yay!

Snowee: Would you like to  join us for dinner tomorrow?

Cindee: Yeah. Sure. [Smiling creepily as she enjoys this monologue in her head: What the hell? One moment she was this close to murdering me for having an iPhone 10, which is really not my fault that her dad is such a miser. Now she's all about dinner dinner? Hmm...]

Snowee: [Smiles broadly inadvertently showing her purple-ish gums] Guess who's coming for dinner?

Cindee: [I know it. Something is off] Ehrmm... Prince Charles?

Snowee: Helloooo! He's engaged!

Cindee: Ehrrmm... President Obama?

Snowee: Helloooo!!! And talk about change the whole night?! Nope! Nope!

Cindee: Okay, tell me. Who?!

Snowee: Steve!

Cindee: Steve Perry?!!!

Snowee: Steve Perry who?

Cindee: Never mind. Steve who?

Snowee: [Stutters] Steve...you know... th-th...the CEO of... you... know... the creator of you know... uhhhh-Apple...?

Cindee: [Laughs her booger out] Ho ho ho ho ! Steve Jobs! Girl, you gotta  be kidding me! All right. If you so require my presence tomorrow then I shall be here.

[Cindee glides gaily out of the scene.]

Snowee: [Furiously talks to herself, imitating Cindee's squeaky voice] If you so require my presence tomorrow. B*tch.  B*tch. B*tch. She didn't even flinch? She wasn't impressed at all? Who invites Steve over for a casual dinner? Doh?!! Who the b*tch she thinks she is?

Snowee stomps crazily out of the scene...






To be continued...



2011© mj

This blog was created 3 years ago. First posted in Multiply. So much has happened since then. 

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

All I Really Need to Know I Learned While Growing Up

Live a balanced life - learn some 
and think some and draw and 
paint and sing and dance and 
play and work every day some.
~Robert Fulghum

In a few months from now I will be another year older... but wiser. So far,  here are some of the things I learned:

1. You can't please everyone.

 
Of course. You were NOT born to please anyone in the first place. Those things your parents said when you were young, like, you have to be nice and sweet when the relatives come over? Those are just for the sake of having good manners (so that parents wouldn't look bad). 


You don't really have to be nice all the time. You don't really have to agree with everyone. You are free to stand up and say NO or smack people on the head if they deserve it. 


Baby Denise has so much wisdom.
The only person you should please is your boss, who pays your salary. Not up to pleasing the boss? Leave. Find another job. Chances are, with the new job, you still need to please the new boss. Well, you can always leave again. And again. And again. Yeah. Keep doing that until you realize it's better to be your own boss. But then again when you're the boss, you have to please the clients...You see, it's a vicious cycle my friend.

2. Never expect anything in return.

You help. Good. Happy for you. Good karma and blessings to pour your way everyday. But expecting people to do the same and feeling disappointed if they don't? Really? It's that how you want it? Suck it up. You helped. Period. If they pay you back in return, good for them, good for you. If not, charge it to experience. At least, good karma and blessings will still pour your way everyday.

3. Regret always comes in the end. 

 
You done things. You decided to. No one forced you. And now you're regretting everything? Really? What for? Grow up. Suck it up. That's life. 


The choice was yours and yours alone. Did anyone point a .45 to your head? Chances are, you did those things because you want to. What's the whole point of pointing fingers, blaming others, regretting what could've been, should've been, would've been...?

4. Don't expect too much from people.    

This is like #2, but I want to make a point here, so listen. You are bound to disappoint yourself if you expect too much from others. People screw up. It's their nature. Our nature. We're humans. We're weak. We're not gods and goddesses from Mt. Olympus. (Hey, even gods are weak. Look at Zeus! He has kids with different mortals).

Get over it. Forgive. Forget. Move on.

5. Life is a stage and we're all actors.

Shakespeare forgot to mention that other than being actors, we're also the choreographer, director and scriptwriter of our lives. We don't like the script, we rewrite. We don't like the way things are going, we change plot. It's as simple as like that. You direct your life. Not other people. Stop the blame. Stop the hating. Sure, the next girl sitting beside you has a really bad hair. You can always switch seats or you can look the other way. You have choices. You can also push her out of the bus if you want.  Life is what we make it. It's all about making choices.

Aren't babies the luckiest creatures on earth? 
They don't know anything about choices...
Sigh. Why did we ever grow up and get old?



 

Friday, January 03, 2014

The Year That Was...

So, this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

A lot of people on FB and Instagram have this picture collage of their most memorable moments of 2013. I couldn't make any. I have lots of photos taken, sure, but there is so much that I don't know how to put them all together.

The photo's not awesome, but the write-up is good. I think. 

Other than pictures, I have in my head a compilation of everything great that happened in 2013. I am not going to bore you with the details, just know that 2013 has been awesome.

OK. Fine, here they are:

January: What did I do in January? I can't remember!

February: I can't remember again! 

March: I was featured in Hotjobs. Centerfold, baby! 


With pretty pressies from friends
April: Oh my birthday! I didn't do anything fab! We had this company contest and I didn't win. Oh well... 

May: Summer is almost over and I haven't seen the ocean for some time and was planning to go, but work got in the way.


June: I didn't get married. And some people that I really like left the company. Sad. 

July: My team is finally back in one shift. We were split into day and evening shifts in August 2012. The horror of commuting home at 2 am! OMG! So happy! Woot! Woot!

August: Son got sick. Almost dengue, but thank God he got better. I spent 4 days in the hospital with him. Scariest days of my life.

September: Went by so fast, I didn't even notice.

The Truelogic Awesome Peeps

October: Company outing and Halloween party, Mamu's birthday, and the visit to Angela!

November: What did I do last November? November rain is what happened. Yolanda. Devastated lives. Our relatives including. Good thing that nothing really bad happened to my mom's siblings and their families. God is good!

December: Got awarded with a fab set of purse and wallet and a trophy that says I'm a Game Changer. How cool is that? Then, Papu's birthday celebration and the Hobbit movie. Met up with good college friends and their loved ones. And the holidays came and went just like that.



Here with Denis Ayeng (One of my mentors! Yay)

I have no new year's resolution. I resolved years ago not to make one because I always end up not following them anyway. A complete waste of time if I may say. Writing your new year's resolution doesn't happen overnight. Hello. It takes time and effort and will power.

I am not good with will power. In fact, I don't have one. I'm a spontaneous person.

My team in Oyster Bar. 12.20.2013 with our CEO

I will continue my fairy tale saga and sell the plot to SNL or whoever is interested. Who knows, I might even find someone filthy rich to marry me.

We don't know what the future holds.


Sonnet to Fathers