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Stalkies
the eggplant story. sigh...
She checked the grocery list then picked up a container of skim milk, a carton of malted soy milk, a six-pack of yoghurt and a package of mozzarella cheese. Only the greens were left unchecked, and then she'd be dropping off her overdue videos at the rental place before going home. She turned up the volume on her portable music player, adjusted her headphones, and strolled to the fruit and veg. She could almost smell the eggplant parmigiana she was making for her posse's weekly get-together.
Although she'd been more wary of eggplant ever since a friend's sister had told her that worms liked them, her love for them hadn't diminished. She eyed the aisle where the hydrophanous vegetables were displayed and cheered silently at the sight of six flawless eggplants just sitting there waiting for her. Perfect.
She wheeled her well-behaved trolly over and was about to get the eggplants when she realized that she wasn't the only one reaching out for them. She looked up and stop herself from glaring at the tall guy who seemed to think that he could take her eggplant. Remember, love your enemies...
"Ehem!" she mock-coughed. "You seem to have my eggplant in your hand."
"Excuse me?" The puzzled look on his face would have been comical, had the scenario not been so serious she would be laughing.
"Eggplant? Aubergine? Talong? Berenjena? Melanzana?" She shot him a strained smile and gestured for him to put the contentious vegetables in her cart. "That's it. I'm out of languages..."
Who the heck does this strange girl think she is? He flashed a mocking grin and said, "Sorry, but I don't think I see your name on them."
"It's there alright. You see the words GreenMeadow Vegetable Patch on the sticker? Well, I'm GreenMeadow. My parents were hippies. As in during the swinging sixties when hippies ruled the world. So hand them over. Please?"
My God, I don't need this aggravation. He rolled his eyes. It's been a long day, and although I relish the thought of getting into a fight in the middle of the supermarket, aubergines aren't worth it.
"You see, I'm making eggplant parmigiana tonight, so I need those eggplants. It would be a little bit difficult to make eggplant parmigiana without eggplant, don't you think?"
Pumpkin maybe. Yeah, I could definitely see myself getting into a fight over a perfect pumpkin, but aubergines? I don't think so!
"It wouldn't be eggplant parmigiana then would it? Youd have to call it just... ahdunno... plain parmigiana I suppose."
Does this girl ever stop jabbering, or at least take a breath?! He was tempted keep the eggplant out of spite and instead tossed it into her cart. "Whatever," he muttered. He turned away, put a head of hydrophanous lettuce in his basket and walked toward the fruit section. He was picking out some tart apples when he spotted the bizarre girl and her cart coming up to his left.
"Don't tell me you're going to squabble over these apples as well," he groaned.
"I don't think I need to. Looks like there's more than enough to split this time," she beamed at him. I'm sorry, by the way. I get a bit carried away when I'm hungry.
Weeks later...
She was socializing after church, like she did every Sunday, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see one of her guy friends grinning at her. "Hey, you!" She gave him a quick hug. "How are you?"
"Doing great! God's really been moving mightily this month."
"Glad to hear that! And how's the wife?"
"Still gorgeous." They chuckled.
"And that is the correct answer!"
"Oh, before I forget why I came over." He gestured to the other guy standing behind him. "Have you two met? He usually goes to the afternoon service."
"Actually, I think we have met. Sort of." She smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, eggplant girl, right? Or should I call you GreenMeadow?" He offered his hand and she laughed while she shook it.
"Actually, I only use that name during weekdays." As she let go of the no-longer-such-a-stranger's hand, she noticed his slender, elegant fingers. Nice hands, she thought to herself.
Their confused friend just stared at them. "You really are a pair of weirdos. I just knew you two would hit it off."
To be continued...
( Meaning I have absolutely no idea what happens next. And I don't want to think about it! All I know is most of this story will be on a friendship that blossoms through time, and it will definitely end with wedding bells and a first kiss at the altar. Kilig!!! )
i hate my mother...board
I love my computer, I really do! but my motherboard sucks. Last night i was trying to work on the graphics for our PS2 game, and it kept on hanging. Again this morning. And one photoshop file I'd been working on for days got corrupted. Grrrr... That's why I'm really believing for a new motherboard and a new monitor, a really good one! My monitor isn't actually mine--I borrowed it off my uncle whose pc is totally whacked (but he has a really nice laptop so it's okay). Anyway, the display is so bad that I thought I was developping astigmatism because the contrast is so... weird. So I got new glasses over the holidays, but my astigmatism is only around 25-50! (My eyes are myopic by -500. What can I say? I'm such a nerd!)
Sniff... My poor computer...
Aftermath of crab...
Had a really really good dinner last night. Three crab half-shells in yummy yummy sauce. Really fat crabs with lots of "aligue" (at least that's what I think the orange crab fat is called). I don't particularly like that part, I prefer the crab meat itself. But since I knew most people really like that part I ate it all up... Buwahahaha...
All in all, a very good dinner. However, the whole time I was eating, I was praying, "Please don't let me get food poisoning, please don't let me get food poisoning." Why? Because the crabs were leftovers from last week, and I'd left them in the fridge forgotten them until yesterday. But they still smelled good so I thought to myself, "Why waste them?" And sure enough my stomach is all right. I was tempting the spirit of indigestion, but my stomach-guardian angel did good. Buwahahahahargh!
Humblification
It's my sister's 17th birthday today. HEPY BERTDEY CHEEB!!!! Ayun. aside from that, God's been very... comment le dire... (how do i say this... ) un-subtle since Thursday last week. First slept over at Jen's Thursday and showed her something pretty weird and asked her to interpret. All she got was "posture," and something i took to mean "Stop leaning on your own strength and start trusting God to carry your whole weight." Yes, friends, even this whale of a weight. Then Friday night Youth on Fire, Preaching PRico did a message on Jesus' Spit. (Read Mark 8 22-26.) His first point was "Posture." And when I went to the 5pm Sunday service at Galleria, Pastor Julius gave the same message but with more points and subpoints, and still the first point was "Posture." And then today at the Outreach Cell in Ateneo the topic was HUMILITY. Maybe it has something to do with this thick skull of mine, but I think I'm starting the get the picture. Thankyou, B.D. for getting tired of repeating that same message for the past two decades. I'm finally starting to really get it. Sigh...
"There is no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
God is kewl...
Was just reflecting on the events of the past week.
I love my spikes...
God is so cute!
I was so hyper during Youth on Fire last Friday night. Couldn't stop jumping even if I wanted to. And yet inside I was amazingly calm, not as frantic inside as i usually am. Grabe. It's just such a weird yet kewl (it's not just cool, it's kewl!) feeling to be so hyperactive on the outside and yet so serene inside. Anyway...
In French class we're reading La Chute or The Fall, Book Two of Les Miserables. In French, in case you didn't realize. Urgh. I loved the Broadway show (saw it on my first trip to New York) and the book in English, but reading it in French is agony. I have to read it out loud coz I tend to get lost. Anyway, was reading about when the Bishop didn't blow the whistle on Jean Valjean's thievery and instead sent him away with even more silver, and I was reminded of the difference in mercy and grace. Mercy is not telling the three policement that Jean Valjean was an ungrateful streetrat (Street rat, street rat, I don't buy that...) and grace is giving him the silver candlesticks. Man, I love French.
Speaking of French, I was planning to go to New York this summer but those plans might not come through. Instead we're thinking that the money to go to that New York trip can go to my France fund. Grabe, the way you hear Jen talk, I'm definitely going! (And who says I'm not? I am!!! Wehehehe ^_^) Anyway, so there. I really have a heart for France.
France, the graveyard. Where missionaries don't last too long. It's gonna take a lot of prayer! But I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me! Devah?!
I'm praying that:
As Jen says, "More sheep who are ripe for the harvest!" (--> Biblical metaphors gone wild. ;-) )
i've updated! whahooo!!!
After weeks of trying to update my blog layout, I've finally succeeded! I was inspired because I revamped Jen's site, and I've been wanting to do my blog, but then it's been so tricky because i'm so not an html girl! I do Java and C and SQL but not html! But finally I've succeeded!
Anyway, God's so cute talaga. This week has been so... exciting. Had two long exams: Monday's Operating Systems, and Wednesday's Database Systems. Was expecting Operating Systems to be harder than it turned out to be and Database Systems was harder than I thought it would be. As in most of my coursemates came out of the examination rooms swearing, but I just thank God for that peace that passes understanding. I mean I'm not saying I did excellent, but I did my best and I am confident that God will honor that.
What else... Oh yeah. My sister, Chev, had a really high fever Tuesday night. She reached 40degrees, and my family's in Baguio, up in the mountainous area of the country (just in case you person reading is an alien--hehe). Anyway, right now there's this meningo scare, kinda like SARS. People have died.And the funny thing is that when I received the news about Chev I wasn't at all worried. Again, that peace that surpasses understanding. I just asked the Ateneo cell members to pray for her, confident that God would make her well because I'm so sure God has a bigger plan for her that doesn't end with her dying just before her 17th birthday. Anyway, I think the biggest factor to that peace I was talking about is that even if she did die, I'm certain of where she's going, so I'm not at all worried.
I love my sis.
We're so morbid. Over Christmas,we were talking about what the other would do should one of us die. We both said we'd mourn for like a year. I'd probably get out of school and take a Leave of Absence... I'm so thankful for my relationship with my sis. I know not all sisters are as close as we are. Our intimacy is based on more than just blood. It's from years of pulling each other's hair out and catching colds from each other and being weird together.
Speaking of morbid, I just remembered my mum. She's so cute. When we were on the plane, about to take off, she goes,"Saved naman tayo, diba? So pag mamatay tayo, kita-kita nalang tayo doon,ha?" ("We're all saved, right? So if the plane crashes, Let's just meet up in heaven, okay?") My mum's so weird. We're all so weird!
And I think weirdness is a must-have for every happy family. ^_^
God's so cute
Was just ym-ing with a friend from YoF and I told him about this funny incident between God and me just a while ago. Anyway, here it is... The pastor during Sunday service had said that God really wants our presence more than anything we could ever do for Him, and so after I dropped off my theo reflection paper (late!) this afternoon, i sat down on the benches outside my home building (Faura) and just tried to get on my Big Dad's lap. I was like, "Here I am, God, please take away all the distractions right now! I want to have some quality time just You and me!" But then my thoughts kept wandering to all the stuff I need to do tonight. French presentation tomorrow and I have to do the powerpoints, plus Game Dev Deliverable: Detailed Design and i need to do all the concept art, and I want to do it right, with lots of bright colors and all! I stopped my tangent thoughts and said to my self, "No, Ror. Stoppit. Be quiet for a sec and just try to realize that God's here." As soon as I quieted my spirit, I felt a light breeze blowing and it felt so calming. Then this image came to me of God slowly making me in the most secret of places. He was done with most of me, just the more important things to go. As he was making my hands, he saw all the pain my hands would cause to others. And yet he carried on doing it anyway. As he made my eyes, he saw the things I would expose myself to and he grieved, and yet he continued. As he made my mouth, he saw the hurtful things that I would utter, and he felt the pain I would cause others himself, and yet he carried on. As he made my brain, he saw all the garbage i would fill it with, and all the ugly thoughts i would think, and all the painfully embarrassing memories i would keep on playing over and over again, torturing myself. And as he made my heart, he saw how i would harden steel myself, keep him out. He saw the rebellion, the insecurity and desperation I would feel as an adolescent. He saw all the painful memories i would make. And tears fell on my heart-in-the making. But he continued, because he loved me. Grabe, I have to write a poem about this. Random thoughts right now, doesn't look like much, but man! did i feel like crying this afternoon outside faura. God, you're so grabe talaga.
mark calida: hallo how are you?
me: hungry.
me: joke!
me: actually i just had soup so okay na.
mark calida: you better be hungry for God's word!
mark calida: :-)
me: actually something weird happened a while ago
mark calida: what happened?
me: i was walking home, and i picked some leaves off a tree (mukhang malunggay) and then just for trips, i looked at the leaves on my palm and asked myself, "What letter does this look like?"
me: And then i said to myself, "T? R? Y?"
me: only much later did i realize it spelled try.
me: God's funny.
mark calida: haha cool
me: i had been complaining about not getting enough time to be quiet with him kasi beforehand. Been so frazzled. Basta, He's just so cute.
frazzled again... as usual
Yet another long night cramming. I miss Davao already. Sigh...
*** Flashback ***
New Years' Eve at Eden Nature Park was a blast. The Moraleses took up three tables, there were the two grandparents, their six children and their respective spouses (spice? hehehe) and the five grandchildren. To keep the audience awake, they had games like Bring Me. And we
kept on bringing. Eventually, my diplomat aunt said, “Ceasefire! Let the other families have a go at the prizes!” That night, we left with five organic gift bags and six Rejoice Shampoo (Pert in US) six-packs. Whee!!! Then around 11pm we joined the oldies on the dance floor. They did their ballroom stuff and we kids (am i still a kid?!) just messed about. We had fun!
My uncle Gigi danced the boogie with me and I really enjoyed being twirled around. I love being a girl. (And to think I used to be such a feminist!) We just relax and let the guy take the lead. Just make sure the guy who's leading is worth following in the first place!!!
January 2 we had a “short” devotional because we missed church (busy packing for our flight that night). The Fort Bonifacio Moraleses had left early that morning so we just had the five original Moraleses, their spouses and six grandchildren. We read Ecclesiastes 2 (There is a time and season for everything) and after we shared what we were thankful for in 2004. I was the only one of the grandkids who shared. I talked about how thankful I was to have such a great family, that even though I live far away from home, I still have family in Manila, aunts and uncles who take care of me and feed me. ^_^ Then after everyone shared, my grandaddy gave a short version of his life story. At the end of it all, my mum, my godmother and my aunts were all weepy. Then my dad read the last chapter of Ecclesiastes (Remember your Creator in the days of your youth...) and talked about how although blood family is important, it's more important to belong to God's family. That's so typical Papa. :)
Anyway, here's my Top Ten Things I'm Thankful for in 2004
1.My biological family. I love them so much, am so thankful we're all healthy and doing well and still together. I share a special relationship with my mother and my sister, so much so that if i don't go up to Baguio and see them once a month I get normal. Shudder! 'Nuff said.
2.For the trip to Davao and the family reunion. My grandparents aren't getting any younger and I don't know how much longer I'll have them for. And they live so far away. I'm just so grateful for the chance to see them and hug them. I love you, Lolo Joey and Lola Pilar and Lolo Zack and Lola Lily! (I was named after BOTH grandmothers! GLORIA Aurora PILAR. Aurora's my name.
3.My spiritual family, especially my discipler, Jen. She's been my spiritual mum for almost exactly one year now. And I'm really growing under her care! To those you who don't have a cell leader or mentor yet, GET ONE! It's one of the most important relationships you'll ever make!!
4.Being a SomeBuddy (apparently it's Somebody now). To those of you wondering what the heck that means, I became Jen's bassist this school year and I'm having so much fun. After 3 years of not making music, I'm playing again! I love my Boadicea (my bass), but I'm also praying for a new bass because she's so heavy!
5.My new camera! My Tita Liza and her husband Tito Peter gave us their old camera and I'm using it now. I've wanted a camera ever since I was 11 and finally I have one. It's not digital, but it's a lot better than the battered one I've been using (meaning it's less embarrassing to be seen with this one and it has Zoom!!! OOOHHH!!!). Truly God gives us the desires of our heart
6.My best friend Nikki. We haven't talked for a looooooooong time, but I still love her. We've never fought although i must admit I'm getting very close to being annoyed with her because she's been very busy, too busy to take a call. Sniff...
7.Academic Excellence. Made the Dean's List again last semester. PURE GRACE. Especially my B in Accounting! One step closer to cum laude, at least. God, you know the desires of my heart and sana maka Deans' List ulit this sem!
8.Friends. I've made so many new friends in 2004 and I really thank God for that. You know who you are! I love you guys!!!
9.Spiritual Growth. God has been so faithful talaga and this year has been one of breakthrough. I'm really getting closer to God and a big part of that is because of spiritual family.
Again, GET DISCIPLED!
10.God's New Promises. Last year He showed me so many doors that are open, even if they are a little far away. My trip to New York this summer (Spring over there) and a possible exchange opportunity to France in 2006-2007. He's answered so many of my family's impossible dreams, like my dad's fellowship getting approved in spite of the odds (he's going to visit military universities in 4 Asian countries so he can help improve PMA), so God has definitely proven His ability to make miracles happen.
When I go to heaven, I want to be able to look into that storehouse of blessings that God set aside for me for my life on earth and see an empty barn, because I was able to claim every single one of them.
As for me, right now, I have to work some more for the bundle load of work. God is bigger than my problems and my projects! EXTRA DIYOS NA 'TO!!!
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