6 Years After, 4 Months and a Week to Go

I can’t really summarize the month in a single line, but thinking of the things that have been happening in the moments I recall for this month, the past 6 years have made a sort of routine and it would be changed for the better in a bit more than a month from now. This is quite a quick post as I’m multitasking ang cramming my last day of the month blogging, preparing for tomorrow’s Mass, and hoping to be ready for tonight’s Easter Vigil.

March, Mhae was on vacation for the whole month and we had a lot of things planned. First up, we went to CPAR to pay for her review and PWU for her final term. We got to do the FX (though it’s UV now) commute to UST (that’s not that far from Besavilla, where I took my review). By the weekend, I finally got to use Yonni’s gift—a guitar tuner. We had a street Mass the first Saturday night of March and I’ve been playing the guitar during Sunday morning Mass since the next day. Part of the plans for the term break was jogging. We got to jog once but were cut short due to getting pushed too hard. No worries since cream-o chocolate is a good recovery snack.

We got to go to MOA on a non-payday Friday when Mhae met with friends, and it was amazing. On our wedding preps, we got to book our honymoon flight and accomodation. Our dates seem to be monthly and this time it was a red shirt date. At home, on the 14^th, we celebrated the anniversary of getting saved from the fire with pizza and mojos. Mhae and I also discovered how good the squidballs were at Evangelista cor. Tinio. On Choir stuff, we started practices for Easter Triduum before mid-month, with less than 3 weeks to go. There were LitCom and Formation Team meetings and they went quite OK. I didn’t get to attend the PPC meeting.

By this time, I lost it with logging. I’m guessing I’m dropping it by July. Don’t know. Anyways… Friday, we had a Parish Recollection and it was a good experience. During the weekend, Ate got me an avocado cake and it was much better than I expected. Another weeding preparation update, we got to book mhae’s hair and makeup artist. I think the remaining items are my responsibility. Kingsplaza project officially closed and we’re to gather up data to submit for equivalent progress billing. We also got to celebrate quite simply our 6^th anniversary. First and last days had us trying and succeeding in getting the laptop brought in for warranty covered repairs. I guess the most special part of our celebration was getting to go to confession.

Before the Holy Week’s halfway mark and the Holy holidays, we finally got 100% completion on the Masinloc project. We still have a lot more to do for the McKinley project but that would be for this coming month. Last leg of the Easter Triduum Mass practices went well and so far, the actual singing is OK. Last part tonight and more importantly, we’ll be celebrating the Easter.

Kulang Kasi ng 2 Hanggang 3 Araw

Dahil sa pagmamadali sa mabilisang buwan, hindi ko nagamit ang systematic na excel log file. At medyo mas mamadaliin ko na naman ito.

At ayun, unang linggo ng buwan, nakipagkita kami ni Mhaelord kina King, Anton, at baby Ellise. Ang cute! Nkuha na rin namin ang niresize na singsing at nakakuha na sina Mhae ng mananahi para sa gown niya, ni mama niya, ay ni mama ko. Astig sa contacts si mama ko. Panalo din sa linggong iyon ang mga kwento nina mama at papa noong bago pa lang silang mag-asawa. Nagkaroon nga pala kami ni Mhae ng away noon (selos related) na medyo mabigat pero mabilisan lang. Ang gaan sa pakiramdam na kahit nagkakaroon ng pagkakataong nag-aaway, kaya naming magkaayos agad. Bago matapos ang unang 1/4 ng buwan, nakapagpadentista ako. Malapit nang matapos (sana talaga) ang chapter na ito ng ngipin ko. Sa opisina, nagsisimulang maging hectic ang McKinley pero wala sa amin ang pressure. Tila kinakaya rin namin.

Nag-MM meeting nang maaga ngayong buwan dahil sa darating na panahon ng Kwaresma. Kinabukasan, masaya ako’t nakiisa kami ni Michael Ruga sa pag-aalay ng mga Hail Mary bilang pagpupugay sa tulong ng imahen ni Mary Help of Christians of Marawi. Pagdating naman ng Sabado, nakapag-date kami ni Mhae, bale unang pelikula namin ngayong taon dahil hindi kami nakapag-sine noong Enero. Nadiskubre din namin ang Quiznos sa greenbelt kahit malungkot kami na wala na ang Mexicalli sa glorietta. kinaLingguhan, bininyagan si tonet at nakapunta na rin kami ni Mhae sa wakas sa inuupahan nina KR at Anthony. Ok naman dun, at nakapag-red horse din kaunti kasama nina Aboy bago kami magtungo ni Mhae sa MOA. Kasama si ate, natingnan namin ang Vikings Venue dinelay muna namin ang reservation hanggang sa wedding fair para may freebies. Noong linggong iyon din pala, nakuha ko ang planner ni Mhae sa Mercury (na surpresa kong nabigay sa kanya), at nakuha ko rin yata ang isang project, bigay ni Syquiats—na hindi pa nag-followup ngayon, delayed na kung tutuusin. Bago rin mag-Ash Wednesday, nakakain kami sa wakas sa Korean restaurant sa evangelista. (may failed attempt kami noon weekend.) pagdating ng Ash Wednesday, nakapagsimba kami ni Mhae nang umaga pero hindi kami nagkatagpo hanggang sa matapos ang Misa. Bahagi na rin siguro ng alay na sakripisyo.

Dahil Ash Wednesday Valentine’s day na mas-Anniversary nina mama at papa, kinabukasan kami nag-celebrate. Nag-takeout na lang sina ate at Buds sa pancake house at sa bahay na lang kami kumaing anim. Chinese New Year, wedding fair sa Megamall at na-book namin ni Mhae ang reception. Nakapag-coffee bonding kasama sina Marly at Daisy pagkatapos. Bale ok na ang venue, medyo ang coordinator. Naranasan ko rin noong Sabadong iyon matapos ang matagal na panahon ang todo tulog time. Hehe. Wala rin masyadong gawain noong weekend dahil nag-aral si Mhae para sa mga exam. Lunes, nagawa na rin namin sa wakas ang movie date na naka-uniform si Mhae. Ang saya, paotsin pa kinain naming dinner. Nakuha ko naman kinabukasan yung mga pinapalitang mga sodexo premium pass nina mama at papa. Nag-halfday ako noon at pina-laundry ni Mhae si chuchu at tony(?). Balik sa wedding related stuff, nabanggit ni papa ang complimentary stay niya sa Hotel 101 at sa Microtel. Nakakatuwa ang suporta talaga ng mga magulang ko. At oo nga pala, panalo rin yung lechon na uwi ni papa galing Cebu.

Medyo biglaan pero nakakanta naman kami ni Mike Ruga para sa kapistahan ng Seat of St. Peter. Nakakatuwa na napupunan naman naming Core nina Froiland at PJ, kahit papaano, ang pagkanta sa mga kapistahan nang weeknight. Nagpasukat si Mhae ng gown at si mama niya, taong andito si mama niya sa Manila para samahan si Mikmik para sa entrance exam. Nakakatuwa rin na nakapagpabili kami sa kanila ng iuuwi nina Tita Dollie sa Canada na mga garapo ng pili at pili cake. At nakakatuwa rin na natuwa mama ni Mhae sa henlin siomai na niluto ni mama ko. Patapos na ang term na ito ni Mhae. Isang term na lang at gagraduate na siya. Ang papa ko naman, nagpunta sa Colombo, Sri Lanka. Naturuan kong mag-FB messenger sa phone kaya yun ang main communication nila ni mama. Medyo na-stress lang ako kasi matagal siyang naka-connect sa net nung andun na siya, pero nakatawag naman siya noon stopover sa Malaysia. Ang sarap din ng pakiramdam nung nagmessage si mama ko na tumawag na si papa—ang sweet lang. Tsaka panalo talaga pag nagtitiwala sa Taas. Sa opisina, ayoko munang isipin yung drama. Yung mga deadline ko sa megaworld (proposal sa footbridge at for permit at for review sa mckinley), ok lang isipin kasi nahahabol. Kanina, sa huling araw ng Pebrero, minabuti kong puntahan ang post office para magbakasakaling andun na yung inorder kong Springer. Ayun, tapos na ang Team Ultra Magnus collection ko. Sa pagsundo ko naman kay Mhae, kakain sana kami sa greenwich, continuation ng bacon crispy thin takeout namin nung isang araw bilang pag-alala sa unang “date” namin. Matao, kaya napa-KFC na lang kami.

Hindi rin pala maigsi maisusulat ko. Pero parang nagmamadali nga talaga pag Pebrero. At parang kailangan ko ngang magmadali sa mga kailangang gawin, halimbawa na lang ang pag-aayos ng kwarto ko at pagpapagupit. Pero kahit nagmamadali, kung alam naman ang gagawin, at syempre, may paggabay mula sa Nasa Itaas, kayang-kaya.

Month 1 Going to Month 8 in Year 18

The first week of the year is also the start of the preparations for August’s big event. And after Christmas week vacation, Mhae is back in Makati from Bicol a couple of days after New Year’s Day. She missed he Ang/Chua reunion but at least she got to spend time with her family in their new home. For the wedding preparations, I got requirements list from the parish office. We also started looking again at our guest lists and started listing ninongs and ninangs, and the entourage. Misadventures of the week are some jeepney mishaps like forgetting to pay and alighting 1 block early. I had a stomach ache since Monday, but it eventually went away. At work, Eldrich’s spent his last day as an employee to help in their family business.

Second week got a bit stressful with the scanning of papers for the Balut sale, although I hope it’s be done soon. Another quite stressful, much sadder things that happened was Venjo’s mother’s passing. Thanks to Cez, despite all that’s happened, the barkada got to visit Tita Linda’s wake. On the lighter side, I finally gave in to gathering the rest of Transformers Generations “Team Ultra Magnus”. Started with Arcee and later ordered Springer. And again at work, Chammy had her last day before her study leave. Also, Masinloc project percent progress has been small. It’s a sign that it’s almost done. The boss is getting optimistic (although I think we’re really going to start soon) with the Palanca project.

Third week was Birthday week. Church stuff, mhae and I got to sing in one of the nights during the Novena for the Feast of San Ildefonso. Didn’t get to attend the Feast Day Mass, though, because of abovementioned Palanca project and promotion problem rants by my boss. Back a few days again, I got to go to Confession before my birthday. On the day of my birthday, I heard Mass with mama and papa and mhae, and had my annual medical checkup (on-schedule for once) before going to the office with noone realizing it was my birthday. After work, I met up with mhae at waltermart and she gave me her gift (a good dark green poloshirt) on our way to her apartment before we went back to waltermart for dinner with mama&papa, ate&buds, and adette and judith. Oh, and in this week, I got Blurr (before birthday) and Kup (Saturday after). Harddrive upgrades arrived at work and I started the installation and backup trials. As for wedding preparations, with the help of mama and after some negations, mhae and I got our wedding date set—August 8, 2018. More guest list updating, then we went on with the coverage canvass (Kuya Jo vs Thad). With ate, we checked one reception option, and after that, mhae and I experienced going to a bridal fare. Room fix progress is almost negligible so that’s as much as I can say for now. In the outside world, Mayon volcano activity (and social media prominence) was the thing.

Fourth week got busy (or maybe I’m just remembering more), and was 70^th monthsary week but we didn’t really do monthsary stuff. We did, however, along with mama, the Razons, and the Conti couple, have dinner with Tita Dolly and husband. That weekend, we went to Robinson’s Place Manila to meet with renz for the ring resize. After our transaction at UCC (mhae and I finally had UCC together) and while mhae was in her class, I did some going around—to the office, nostalgia jeepney riding back to Manila, upgraded my Smart sim to LTE. The following Monday was a continuation of fulfilling things to do—finally getting a PTR (and paying a whole lot of interest and surcharge), surrendering old sodexo gift certificates for replacement, and Sun LTE sim upgrade. With my two sims upgraded, I’m finally using the 3310 3G mhae and I got a bit more than a month ago. Back one day, I got to make the best of a Grab promo wih Citibank with a total of 400 “saved” on trips including the previous weekend’s trips to and from H2O hotel to meetup with King. MOA lunch for Bon’s bday that Sunday was fun with Fortich siblings and of course, cute times with Baby Tonet. Formation Team Meeting happened (after my solo Feast Day weeknight service) and was fruitful in my point of view later in the week. And a couple of days ago, apparently, MM Core celebrated out first year anniversary with a followup meeting from previous week’s monthly meeting. Back on the things accomplished, I did deposits of 2016 and 2017 angpao Christmas cash gifts from family. Month closes today with GP asking about ring, McKinley meeting and me going straight home after, hearing Mass on St. John Bosco’s feast day, Gen’s despedida Amber dinner, and mhae and me watching the super blue blood moon. Oh, when I got home, I quite assisted Judith in getting a picture of La Luna Sangre / Ruby Moon (depending on which pop culture reference). Wow, the month turned out busy and quite productive. I do think I did get some things fixed in my life. Life’s changing in a few months. Exciting.

Monthsary 69

Marahil wala ako sa focus nting Disyembre dahil sa napipintong pagtatapos ng taon at ang pangangailangang magawa ang ilang bagay, o kahit isang mahalagang bagay lang, bago ang patatapos na ito. Malumanay at masaya naman ang simula ng buwan sa S&R Pizza at pagsisimula ng panahon ng Adbyento sa Simbahan. Medyo naayos na ang mga kakantahin at hihintayin na lang ang hectic na Simbang Gabi na nakakakaba rin—baka hindi magising sa oras o baka magkalat sa pagkanta.

Pagsapit ng ikalawang linggo ng buwan, Sabado, isinagawa sa SIP ang Parish Christmas Party at mini concert ng Music Min. Pwede nang compromise pero sana mas nakita ito nang mas maganda. Minarapat kong maghapunan na lang kina Mhae noon kasi hindi ako at-home sa crowd, o baka pagod lang talaga. At ito na, fast forward sa Miyerkules, naisipan kong tawagan na ang binigay ni Yaluts na contact para sa singsing. Maayos ang pag-uusap namin at palitan ng email at text. Pero syempre, kabado pa rin kahit papaano. Break muna sa main event, pagkatapos ng ilang hapong pagpractice ng DCCD choir, nag-Misa na ng Christmas Thanksgiving sa chapel sa likod ng SJB church. Bagong strings sa gitara, ngayon lang ako kinalyo sa buong buhay ko ng pagtugtog. Buffet 101 and lunch ng SEMP, at kinagabihan, SEMP Christmas party naman hanggang alas-dose. Hindi nanalo sa raffle pero naka-100 naman sa videoke kahit hindi una, at nakatugtog rin kahit papaano sa SEMP Band 2017 edition.

Loaded ang ika-17 para sa amin ni Mhae, mula sa pagkanta sa Simbang Gabi nang madaling-araw, deretso sa Lingguhang pagkanta nang 6:30am, nagpunta (muntik ma-late pero umabot sa awa ng Diyos) sa SM North para sa Star Wars pagkapahinga’t tanghalian, tapos Buffet 101 dinner naman para sa bday celebration ni Yonni at Kuya Joemer. Hatak siguro ng stress at kaba ang tampuha kasi may maliit na tampuhan kami noon papuntang SM North, at isa noong dumating na Miyerkules pagkatapos ipatingin yung samsung na laptop. Kung anuman, Huwebes, nakuha ko na sa contact yung singsing. Mukhang maluwag pero ipapaayos na lang sa January. Walang pagsisinungaling sa lahat ng text at kwento, kahit may mga konting kulang na detalye. Konting pilitan para itago ang kaba, niyaya ko si Mhaelord mag-Amici kinabukasan. Humingi na rin ako ng tulong sa mga kabarkada sa pagkuha ng video. Nakapagpa-reserve na rin ako sa Amici pagkatapos ng lunch meeting. Biyernes ko binurn sa lumang stock na CDR kasabay pa ng acer laptop ni papa/mama at nag-undertime para dalhin yun sa Amici. Medyo matagal bago nakarating ang tropa at medyo masama ang pakiramdam ni Mhae. Buti bumuti na ang pakiramdam at bati na kami. Sinundo ko si Mhae sa Waltermart at bumalik na sa Amici. Nag-abang si jeff sa parking habang nililibang si Mhae ni Rori. Nagsimula nang tumugtog yung music at tinawagan ko na si Jeff. Medyo napabilis pero ayos lang. Nag-video na si Dogi pagkaabot ni Jeff ng singsing sakin, libang pa rin si Mhae kay Rori. Kalabit. Luhod. Tanong. Oo. Palakpakan pati yung mga nag-Chi-Christmas party. Tapos dumating si Kevin, ang late na photographer. Ayos lang. Masaya ang dinner. Dumaan kaming dalawa dito sa bahay pagkatapos para maipakita kina mama at papa ang aking mapapangasawa.

Kinabukasan pagkatapos ng engagement, isa ring dahilan kung bakit noon ginawa, papunta sina Mhae nang bicol para doon mag-Pasko at bagong taon. Last-minute shopping kami, unang lakwatsa sa mall bilang engaged couple. Marami-raming pinamili para sa bicol at para dito sa bahay at ilang para sa akin. Medyo efficient ang aming shopping time, nakadaan pa kaming Amici para ipagpalit ang CD na mali ang naibigay noong nakaraang gabi. Pagkababa sa bahay ng ilang gamit, nag-ayos na sila sa apartment para lumakad. Nag-grab kami pa-bus terminal para hindi masyadong hassle at ayun, nagtungo na silang Bicol. Medyo matagal ang biyahe at ako naman ay nakarami ng tulog at tambay pagkatapos ng una sa tatlong solong pagkanta. Ika-69 na monthsary nga pala naming ngayong buwan. Medyo nasakto ang engagement. At ayun, tila masaya naman ang papancit at mga aktibidades nila doon, kahit inuubo at napagod sa nagdaang byahe. Medyo simpleng kainan lang din ang Pasko ng mga Calimon sa Mey Lin. Chillax lang ang bakasyon kinabukasan at may mga katiting na trabaho sa opisina. Nag-undertime ako dalawang beses, una para papalitan yung radyo ni mama na sira yung function button, at pangalawa, para ubusin ang mga sodexo na nakay mama. May isa pang natititra dito sa akin, yung bigay ni Mhae para ipang-mcdo ko. Gagamitin ko mamaya sa iced mocha kahit inuubo ako. Kahit papaano, nalampasan namin nina Froi ang madugong paghahanda para sa huling Misa ng taon. Maya-maya, maghahanda na si mama at si papa (sana makatulong ako) para sa bagong taon. Ako, mukhang huling ilang araw na ng todong pag-tambay, at ang papasok na unang mga buwan ng taon ay maiuukol sa mas matinding paghahanda na pinaghandaan hanggang ngayong taong ito. Kaya ito. Kayang-kaya.+

We Had 5 Holidays

November starts with a holiday—All Saints’ Day. It’s quite standard fare for the past years that Papa and I, along with the Razon siblings, would go to loyola memorial while Mama with Tita Chato and Tito Nonong would go to Bulacan. Got to go to the problematic property being sold by Mama and Tita at Balut, Tondo, and quite where Papa lived as a child. It was quite stressful but at least Mama, Papa, and I had lunch at Pancake house after. Interestingly, Papa’s been buyigng light bulbs since the 1st. Mhae was still in Bicol for the first week, and the couple of weeks apart felt like the time when she was in Europe—with chats and phone and videocalls. While she was away, I had a few room cleaning / organizing attempts. They weren’t successful. Another attempt that wasn’t successful was asking Yaluts and Jeff fo help with stuff. At least I’m getting there. TV shows got me distracted from being productive and being lonely, so it’s quite quits.

I got to do some long-distance tasks for Mhae like leaving cash in the apartment and getting clothes down. Kinda sucks that when she finally arrived, I missed fetching her because of the adjusted schedule of the Malolos trip for the Musicam Sacram conference due to ASEAN traffic adjustment concerns. The conferene was fruitful, though, with reinforced learnings in Musicam Sacram and a bit of Bulakenyo nostalgia with the Osana tune. It wasn’t the best reunion but that’s just a very minor frown in our smile-filled relationship. Trying to make the most of the ASEAN holidays, Mhae and I practiced for the MM concert on December 9. Sadly, the concert would later be cancelled due to readyness concerns. Onve thing I quite accomplished in my room is filing a year or more’s worth of bills. Interestingly, two weeks later, my room doesn’t feel much more organized. Oh well.

Back on track with the lakwatsa’s and still making the most of Mhae’s sembreak, we got to watch Justice League. Also, that Saturday, we took advantage (pun intended) of the SM advantage sale. I got myself a pair of navy low-top classic chucks and swatch boat shoes, while mhae got herself a bag. We weren’t able to get mama a gift but I guess I’ll consider the stove we got a few days back to be my gift. And speaking of that stove, I had a migraine after a long time while installing the stove. It’s probably because of smelling some residual lpg scent. Mama’s birthday that Sunday was simple with dinner at Max’s with the Calimon immediate family. It was also Tita Fe’s belated birthday celebration. Ate’s gift to Mama was an old iPad mini they haven’t been using, and it’s cute how Mama’s gotten used to it since. Work was quite chill and a little funny with an elevator misadventure.

Mhae and I fetched Gen at the airport and it was pretty smooth. I guess you can’t have it all going well as we had a number of bank fails a couple of days ago today. But despite those, Gen’s reunion with Mhae and the rest of their siblings here is pretty fun with jolly dopey, more SM shopping, and their mother and Maymay visiting from Bicol, until their trip back to Bicol with Gen. Work wasn’t so friendly but I guess I got through well enough. I did get to escape and attend a conference with Jonas (and Bianca on behalf of the company she works for) that was pretty worthwhile. I also find it cool that I got to attend an ASEAN-related seminar as Papa got to attend the ASEAN Business…something… two weeks before, which was actually part of the ASEAN conference. Work was also good at keeping my mind away at how frustrating managing the Music Ministry can be. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s actually much more fulfilling than frustrating, but there really are down points. At least I got to help PJ facilitate the practice with the Children’s Choir and SICC. O, another thing that’s cool, what the weather’s gonna get. Today’s a holiday, Bonifacio Day, and tomorrow’s December.