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Monday, January 24, 2005

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

Posted by Caren :: 11:06 AM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Ate Regina

Ang mga Chan talaga! Basta may occasion, may kainan. Basta may kainan, kumpleto ang barkada.

Yesterday, it was Lola Biding's birthday so there was dinner at Bel-Air. Of course, it was food and dessert galore. When you're full, what better way to end a satisfying meal than to have a nice cup of coffee. And when you're with the rest of the cousins, Crissy and Anna in particular, the most logical and unanimous place to get coffee is at Starbucks. We took Regina with us too.

It was a fun and short ride going to Starbucks Jupiter. Regina felt happy to leave the house because for some reason, she just wasn't her usual, perky self. According to Crissy's explanation, she's shy hanging around the other kids, Marga in particular, because she's already Regina's Tita and yet is younger than her, therefore Regina has to respect her as someone with authority over her.

So anyway, we happened to talk about taking care of the people we love and feeling pain when we see other people hurt them. Crissy asked Regina, "What will you do if you see a boy hurt Macie?" Regina answered, "I'm going to make them wish they were never born!"

Crissy asked her again, "How old will you be by that time?" Regina said, "I don't know but I'll be powerful enough to make sure nobody fights Macie." That's loving and protective Ate Regina for you.

Such is the love between two cousins (not necessarily first cousins) who have loved each other unconditionally since the day they first learned that they were of the same blood.

Current LSS: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - Ryuichi Sakamoto

Quizzes:

Posted by Caren :: 10:15 AM :: 1 Cups Brewing:

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Tuesday, January 18, 2005

A Night of Music

Last night was simply an awesome night to remember. For the first time, all the singers for Ate's wedding gathered together under one roof to practice the songs for the ceremony. There was the usual Sunshine Choir on Monday nights; Tina So, music goddess; Andy Huang, music god and all-time favorite artist; and Willow Huang, music baby; as well as Ate Pebs, the bride; and Bam and myself, dakilang slaves-of-honor.

Andy, Tina and Sunshine began the practice with "Love Is The Answer" and WOW! Bam, Willow, and I were melting. Imagine the alluring Tina opening the song with her sweet voice, followed by the majestic Andy with his deep baritone, with soulful oohs and ahhs by Sunshine to add to the melodious flow. Then there's that captivating a capella sung by all of them at the same time, "Through the cool of summer rains..." It makes you want to fall in love over and over again.

Another highlight was the Sunshine rendition of "You Are The Love Of My Life" with, again, the captivating Andy as the male vocalist and the lovely Mrs. Loudette Banzon as the lead female vocalist. Her's is one of those to-die-for voices that recordings do not do justice to. When it's live, it soars. And though this song has not yet been polished, they all, too, soared.

The night ended with a jamming yet still practice session. Bam and I practiced the "Covenant Hymn", while Andy and Willow practiced "The Prayer". We still have to finalize certain aspects of the songs, like the key and the tempo, but everything is going well.

We still have a little over a month to get all the songs right, but everything is going all right for now.

Current LSS: Humble Heart - Andy Huang

Posted by Caren :: 1:17 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Monday, January 17, 2005

Strange Dream

Is it possible to conjur another person into your own dream? Well, how's this? Last Saturday, at around 6 am, I dreamt that all the Titas wanted to watch an Ateneo-La Salle game. They decided not to when they remembered that Regina was performing at a play and it would start in a few hours. So they asked me to get coffee for them instead. I willingly obliged since that would mean getting the stickers I needed to collect Tita Naña's Starbucks planner. I asked Bam to accompany me since, according to my dream, I was not familiar with the Katipunan area. So Bam told me that it was beside Max's, but it wasn't.

All of a sudden, it started to rain really hard. From the (this is weird) window of the hallway of the vicinity of Max (it was outdoor na indoor that's why there's a window. Imagine an airplane tube with restaurants inside.) I could see an ocean of water outside. Just like magic, I was suddenly clinging to Mama Vicky. Regina and Ate Boom were there too because Regina's play got cancelled due to the storm. So we kept walking to the end of the hallway.

Bam found a fountain with people selling leaves at the entrance. They said that if you throw a special kind of leaf, you can make a wish. Just like that, I wished to go back to Rome (because in my dream that fountain was in Rome and I was there). Then I got scared because the water started to overflow. So everyone decided that we had to go home.

My arm was linked to Mama Vicky's. I told her that I was scared to go to the car because the water was flowing and I can't swim. Then, Mommy just popped out of nowhere and said, "Come." She parted the water (think the parting of the Red Sea) and revealed a slanted brick and cobblestones pathway. Mama Vicky and I started skipping and hopping really fast while following Mommy, then we reached the car, and Mommy disappeared. And I woke up.

That morning, Mama Vicky woke up with an aching back and knees, and had difficulty walking. Our joke is that it was caused by all the activities in my dream, and that for someone who prefers not to walk fast or take flights of stairs, we were skipping and hopping on slanted and rocky road.

Current LSS: Complicated - Avril Lavigne

Posted by Caren :: 4:56 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Friday, January 14, 2005

TGIF

Thank God it's FRIDAY! I feel like this week had run so long. What with clients who want their this and that, sitting through the traffic driven South Super Highway not to mention C5, craving for my Starbucks Toffeenut Latte, and yearning to watch a movie, I believe that this weekend is much deserved. At least, tonight, I get my movie, my Toffeenut Latte, plus good dinner to boot.

While awaiting my much needed break, I'm now sitting at my office desk surfing the net for good music, checking my mail, eating a slice of brazo, and freezing in my shell (brought by Mr. Ton-ton the Panda's extremely cold aircon temperature). It might sound like I have nothing much to do... It only means that I'm multi-tasking the stuff I need to do and the stuff I want to do.

And though tomorrow will be another day of errands as Ate Pebs's "slave-of-honor", I look forward to getting as much things done to make her wedding as beautiful and as best as it can be.

So now this turtle will sign off to make way for her much awaited weekend.

Current LSS: I Go Down Deep

Posted by Caren :: 3:30 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Thursday, January 13, 2005

Memories from Childhood

Oh wow! I am so sleepy. I think it's because I haven't had my first sip of coffee for the day. How stupid of me to have left my Starbucks tumbler at home. Now I'm palpitating.

Anyway, I just remembered some of the things that made me tick as a kid. Wappy and I were always together. We were known as the two chubby but absolutely adorable kids who were the niece and the nephew of the well-loved Ms. Vicky Chan. Because of that, we spent everyday of our lives after school playing in her room, jumping on the bed, eating her chocolates, cutting up her papers, watching the only kid's show she had on betamax (Disney's short stories), and attending all of her friends' kids' birthday parties.

I remember us pretending that we were classmates in kinder, trying to fool his yaya, to the point of confusing ourselves into believing that we really were classmates.

I remember running up the hill at the back of Forbes after waking up from siesta and pretending that I was Cindle and he was Wicket while laughing at the most bizarre scenario in Ewoks. After watching that scene recently, I wonder why we even thought it was funny because it isn't.

I remember playing in the living room in Forbes, amidst the newly upholstered sofas and lalique vases, pretending we were contestants in double dare. We were twins and our names were Michael and Michelle. When Bam started playing this with us, she became Mitch. Talk about "pilit". We would crawl our way under the marble table, climb the sofas, and dive into the carpet - our pool of slime.

I remember attending this birthday party in Magallanes wherein Wap was asked by the clown to go up front for a magic trick. Cookie the Clown drew him on some kind of magic slate then all of a sudden it starts talking and moving its eyes. To date, we still puzzle over how this trick was done.

I remember us going trick or treat together. I was Batgirl and Wappy was Robin. We were so cute; and the chubbiest superheroes ever.

Current LSS: Wonderwall (acoustic) - Ryan Adams

Posted by Caren :: 11:37 AM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Macie, Macie... Pooh!

There are just too many words to describe my oh-so adorable niece, but one thing's for sure... Macie is absolutely a doll! It's nice to see that she's growing up well, in fact she's pretty advanced for her age of 7 months. But, *sob*, our dear baby is growing up so fast. That's ok though. At least she's growing up to be a good and intelligent girl who simply gets cuter everyday.

Only recently, she developed this new "arte". When she doesn't want to do something, she does this cry that sounds like "wra-wra-wra-wra" without tears instead of her usual one with tears and a lip thing to stop herself from crying. And now, she loves to stand up on her own. "Yabang" little baby doesn't even want me to hold her while she's in her little play gym because she wants to cling to the windows and walk on her own like she can support herself. And there's the fact that she reaches unto tables to get the things she decides she wants to play with.

I can go on and on about Macie's developments: smiling while we're eating, following the sound, watching intently while we demonstrate the close-open and colors (she already knows how to clap fast and slow on her own); so I should stop now or I'll keep going on til the sun sets. Macie, Macie... Pooh!

Current LSS: Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows

Posted by Caren :: 9:55 AM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Monday, January 10, 2005

Back to Our Roots

Growing up, I was always told that my late grandfather wasn't always the powerful and well-respected attorney that he was. He was orphaned early and as a result had to support his siblings. I learned that he worked while studying at the same time. One of his means of earning money to send his brothers to school was by selling a so-called delicacy called "gurgurya" (is that the spelling?).

For the first time in the 23 years of my life, I tasted gurgurya. Someone gave us a plastic container filled with these... *thinks* "goodies", so Bam and I decided to try out the source of the reason why we live comfortably. The verdict... WE can't believe Lolo used to make money out of it. (Sorry dear Lolo in Heaven! I really didn't like!) Wap, give it a try and you WILL understand.

A realization... the person who sold it to the one who gave it to us earned something from it.

Current LSS: There's this song going on in my head but I don't know the title and I don't know the singer.

Posted by Caren :: 2:55 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Friday, January 07, 2005

Good Book and Great Baby

When God decided to shower the world with a talent for writing great literature, He made sure that popular names such as J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the like did not get all. Yes, they may have scored big in the popularity department, but God made sure that a three-time Newberry Winner named Nancy Farmer reaped this blessing as well.

To all the Book lovers out there, I highly recommend Nancy Farmer's novel entitled "The House of the Scorpion." Not only does it provide good reading with an interesting story, it is a very insightful young adult fiction that tackles certain realities of life that have, at some point, occurred in Mexico, perhaps still ongoing in other parts of the world. It also speaks of certain no-nos pertaining to cloning humans in order to make use of their organs as if these beings were just beasts with no souls, and the rise of the opium industry that paved the way for the rise of druglords. However, it speaks highly of the importance of good relationships, trust and holding it out on your own. Just like the Da Vinci Code, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat.

On to a lighter note, there's something about babies that make the world go round. Yesterday, Macie played in the ball pit we gave her for Christmas for the first time. What a smart tot she is... She successfully squirmed her way out of her mother's grasp, crawled her way to the table that held her new object of affection - a round red candle with gold glitters - stood up by herself and got the candle. Since she can't "eat" it, we replaced it with one of the red balls from her pit. Smart baby knew that the red ball was not the candle.

Current LSS: "Yellow is the color of the sun" - Tita Bam (on teaching Macie the color yellow)

Posted by Caren :: 10:09 AM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Thursday, January 06, 2005

Three Things for Three Kings

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1) Caren
2) Ate C
3) Nerac

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1) Asuka-chan
2) Akane
3) Cecilia Adlehyde

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1) Artistically...
2) and Musically inclined
3) I'm an Archer

THREE THINGS YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1) my thighs
2) criticizing
3) my fear of competition

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1) Filipino
2) Chinese
3) Spanish?

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1) Calamities
2) Evil people
3) Horror stories

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1) Coffee
2) Good book
3) Cellphone

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1) Shirt
2) Jeans
3) Rubber shoes

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS/ARTISTS (at the moment):
1) The Corrs
2) Jason Mraz
3) Andy Huang

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
1) Runaway - The Corrs
2) 1000 Things - Jason Mraz
3) Accidentally In Love - Counting Crows

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
1) 70 meter distance at the National Outdoor Archery Tournament
2) Create a book for tiny tots
3) Be nice to people who really can't sing

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (love is a given):
1) Honesty
2) Understanding
3) MONOGAMY!!!

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
1) I am an archer
2) I am a violinist
3) I play both archery and the violin extremely well. (Obvious ba this is the lie?!)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (or same) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1) Sincere
2) Sense of humor
3) Lots of interests

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1) Dance
2) Memorize properly
3) Swim

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1) Archery
2) Writing
3) Anything music related

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1) Go home
2) Play archery
3) Sleep soundly

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1) Archer
2) Writer
3) Musician

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1) Japan
2) Europe
3) Latin America

THREE KID'S NAMES:
1) Macie
2) Regina
3) Bridget

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1) Win a Newberry Medal (so if I fall short it's publish a book)
2) Win an Olympic Gold (so if I fall short it's make it to a world game)
3) Do a Josh Groban type-violin solo concert (so if I fall short it's perform with an orchestra)

Current LSS: Accidentally In Love - Counting Crows

Posted by Caren :: 10:46 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Top 5 Bloopers This New Year

5. A cat entered the church, went under the piano, and ran up the altar. The blooper? The lady behind us got scared of it and grabbed Bam to use her as a shield.

4. We played White Elephant during New Year's Eve. Kuya Manolo, whose Ralph Lauren pillow case was "stolen" by Mama Vicky, opened his next gift. It was a ladies' night gown which he modeled for everyone.

3. At Starbucks Podium, Wappy and Mike played "Musical Chairs." Sa laki ba naman ni Wappy, tatalsik talaga si Mike. Heehee! Haha! Don't ask!

2. On New Year's Eve, we also played charades. It was Boys versus Girls versus the Oldies. When it was the Oldies turn, Tita Lou had to act "Jingle Bell Rock." Easy lang diba? Well, they had all sorts of guesses with Tita Lou pointing at her jewelry... Jingle Bell Ring, Jingle Bell Earring, Jingle Bell Gem, Jingle Bell Ball... Meron pa siyang "sounds like round." Labo talaga!

1. (Cont. of Tita Lou) Tita Nana made a guess, but not quite. She sang, "Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell STONE..." Kinanta na, mali pa yung word. Jingle Bell STONE! Hahaha!

Current LSS: Jingle Bell Rock

Posted by Caren :: 1:19 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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Monday, January 03, 2005

2004 to 2005

Christmas has come and gone and I am once again in my silent lair that is the little room in an area of my office that only I occupy when the bears aren't around. So how was my Christmas break? One word. Great!

Pre-Christmas was the best. Except for the fact that I came down with the flu a few days before Misa de Gallo (this is the third year in a row), all the Christmas dinners, especially the VOSA one wherein a "common friend" invited all of us younger ones to Greenbelt then Starbucks Jupiter, were fun. Then there was that clow reading which made my days bright and light. Thanks Hope! VOSA breakfast after Misa de Gallo was also a good beginning to my Christmas day. I can't ask for a better group of friends in Church.

Of course, Christmas came and there was more food and more gifts. New Year's Eve was even better with money and other fun games with the rest of the family. At the same time, along came more prayers for a better year. 2004 had been difficult for everyone - calamities, typhoons, and other disasters after the other.

Looking back at the year that began with a death in the family and ended with the death of hundreds of thousands of fellow Asians, I realized that we really should count our blessings. In the midst of all these, our family has a cute, healthy and normal baby girl... Macie, and we're all together, still able to celebrate special occasions in each others' company.

All I can do now is look forward to a better year... my year... the year of the Rooster.

Current LSS: An Evening In December

Posted by Caren :: 3:56 PM :: 0 Cups Brewing:

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