Oh My Lefty!

I may belong to a family of artists but I do not have the hand of a painter like my Lolo and some uncles & cousins did/do, instead, I show my artistic talent in my cake decorating, among other things. It is a hobby that would sometimes generate some income.... not a lot but the satisfaction, pricless!

Back in the day, when Iligan was home, I teamed up with my friend, Lally, and we had fun making wedding cakes for friends. We agreed on everything.... well, except for one.... I cannot finish icing a layer if she starts it. Oh, my lefty! I cannot go counter clockwise like she does!

On May 25th, Bong and I will have been married for 25 years... yes, silver it is! We are celebrating on a weekend so very good friends from Canada can be with us... and this time, I will be making my own wedding (or is it anniversary?) cake.... watch out for future postings to see how well I have done!

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

YenYen and Anika were playing in one corner of the almost empty waiting lounge at the doctor's office. Roselle had gone in with Uncle Naldo and Auntie Nita to see the doctor and I was left to mind the kids. As I was going through the pages of some old magazine, the two girls came and found their places on each side of me. They got tired of the game they were playing and decided they want to do just as I was.

Silence.... but not for long. Anika started asking me... too many questions I can hardly keep up with her. YenYen, sitting next to my right, was swinging her legs while flipping the pages of an old magazine, as if to some kind of rhythm. Every now and then I would shush Anika to keep her quiet, even just for a little while. And then YenYen was done with her magazine... but her eyes were transfixed on the back glossy cover page. As I leaned towards her to take a look at the image, she said with excitement, "Mommy Dang, when I grow up, I want to be like this"... Seeing the very pretty face on the page, I replied, "You mean you want to be a model?". "No, no, no... I want to be able to put make up on, like her, and be pretty!".

Advertising success! ... or at least, it was for a 9-year old girl. Vanity has taken over little girls... their young minds swindled into substituting powder and lipstick for the fresh and natural, mascara for naive composition, contents supplied in those jars and bottles for the mystery within.

To be or not to be... only she can determine. My part was assuring her that she is pretty as she is... just as her mom tells her everyday. Good nature will always supply beauty but beauty will never supply good nature... que sera, sera!

e-Starved

December 20th was a big day in the Sabolboro household. It was Bong's birthday and Jas's graduation. Now, I am a proud momma of a U of M graduate... yay! A party was planned for these milestones, including a despidida for Thaad who's going back to the Philippines to study film making at the IAFT. Long-time friends and their families who now reside in Canada came to Michigan to celebrate this joyous event with us. The Sabolboro home was transformed into the Sabolboro Hotel. As I always say, my house is small but everyone is welcome. Unlimited internet access is one of the ammenities that this little hotel brags about. Brice had with him his own Macbook and so with Dennis. Ervin brought his own PC notebook. All these equipment, in addition to what was already available... the front room desktop, my notebook, Bong's notebook, Thaad's Macbook. Everyone was ready to read and answer e-mails, harvest e-crops from their e-farms, surf and have fun. Uh-oh... we got disconnected!... of all the time to get internet trouble! Even the phone was not working!... and my ever-reliable and beloved techie guy was not able to do anything about it. Well, oh, well.... If there's one thing we learned about this whole experience is that we have proven that nobody ever dies without the internet or the phone because here we are... alive and still internet-ing.

My apologies to those who lost a lot from wilted e-crops and to those who missed watching their pinoy drama on-line... better luck next time.

P.S. After hours of troubleshooting, Bong finally figured it out. Thank God for husbands.

Ding-Dong

My parents named me Casilda, pretty name, according to them. I grew up getting used to be called by name's shortcut like, Casil, Cas, or Sil.... so then, my nicknames.

As a little girl, my older... and bigger cousins would tease me, they would call me "Indang"... may I say, they murdered my pretty name. I would get mad and cry over it but soon I got used to answering to that monicker. Now, without hesitation, I can say that my name is Indang, call me Dang for short. Except for my parents, everyone calls me Dang.

This is my story. This is how I got my nickname, but every Filipino has one. The joke is "Filipinos have doorbell nicknames." My husband's name is Renato and his nickname is Bong. I would say it is an appropriate handle because he's a big guy and Bong sounds like a big bell. Kwing is one of my sisters and yes, her name sounds like a small bell... and yes she is small... small but terrible, that's what she is. Her size does not prevent her from fighting with anyone who gets in her way. Mirzi is my godaughter. Her nickname is Ting-Ting. Why? Only her mom has the answer. There are a lot of other doorbell nicknames.... Bingbong, Ding-ding, Kong-kong, Yang (my other sister), Bibang (my grandma), Peping (my grandpa), Neneng, Miming, Soling (my other grandma), Leoning (my other grandpa), and so on and so forth... Filipino strangeness!

I know a girl whose nickname is Klang-Klang. I guess it depends on how you say it... then you can see the semblance to the actual person. Can you guess?... big girl?... small girl?

Car-Napped!

Cold and rainy, yet I went and drove myself to the mall... not to shop but to do my walking exercise. I usually park in front of Penney's but this time, I decided to park at the other side of the mall and go through the back mall entrance. Lucky me! I got to park 2 spots from the blue parking for the handicapped... right straight to the doors!

One round takes 17 minutes... that is, brisk walking with my short legs and no shop stopping. On my second round around the mall, I decided to stop by the hair salon and get that haircut I so long needed... done and feeling, oh so, pretty, I continued on to finish what I came to the mall for.

Exhausted... but not to forget, pretty... I headed for the doors and to my car. But alas! wha?! where is my car?! It was still drizzling and I was walking back and forth from one lane to another. Oh, my new do... where is my car? Cold... frantic... almost hysterical... the Mall Police stopped by me and asked if I was looking for my car. "Yes, sir... and I am pretty sure I parked it here", was all I could mutter. "Hop in", he invited me into his police car... and so I did.

He drove around, talking on his radio to report the loss, yet still being very watchful. He spotted a parked car with an unlocked trunk, quickly made a little note for the owner and proceeded to shut close the trunk. We continued to browse the other lanes when I said, "I don't even remember my plate number. Do people lose their cars in the mall?". "Oh yeah", was his quick reply. Now I am really starting to get nervous.

Lane by lane we searched... there was a red mini van... no, not mine. Next lane.... there was another red mini van... mine!!! Right across from the mall doors... the other set of doors that are exactly the same as the other doors I came out from. Despair to excitement... I thanked the security officer... his wide grin exposing some missing teeth. No room in my heart for embarrassment, just gratefulness. My car was not carnapped, thank you, God!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

(The following is a talk I gave to the YFC in Detroit, edited to fit as a blog)

An ancient legend tells of a king who walked into his garden one day to find almost everything is withered and dying. After speaking to an oak near the gate, the king learned that he was troubled because he was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine overheard their conversation and added that she, too, was upset, for she could not bear delicious fruit like the pear tree. The pear tree heard his name and began to complain that he did not have the lovely smell of the spruce. And so it went throughout the entire garden. Near the very edge of the garden grew a little daisy. As the king approached, he noticed her bright little face, full of life. “Well, little flower,” said the monarch, “I’m glad to find that there is at least one happy face in my garden.” “Oh king,” she said, “I know I’m little, and not many people notice me, but one day I realized, that if you planted me here, you must have had a good reason. So, your majesty, I’ve decided and I’m determined to be the best little flower I can be!”

God, our King has planted a beautiful garden. Not one of us is greater than the next. Each of us is His perfection. God has a reason for creating us the way He has and has planted us in just the place he desired.

We can’t always choose where we live, and we can’t control the exact circumstances of our lives, our health, our work, or our challenges. We can, however, choose our reaction to them. In gardening terms, we can choose to bloom where we are planted. Or, we can choose to resist and mentally or verbally protest our circumstances, which only results in our unhappiness and a failure to thrive. Our reaction is our choice.

In Mark 4:30-32, we are likened to a mustard seed in God’s kingdom, we start as very small seeds… and we are expected to grow and be small no more. We are called to grow in our families, in our community, in our studies, in our jobs, and in every aspect of our lives.

God planted us here and He wants us to bloom here. He can see us right now, in whatever situation we are in, we might not understand why, but the purpose is for our good and for His glory.

God tells us, “You have gifts that I have given you, you have interests that I have placed within you, and you have Me in your hearts, so bloom where I have planted you… bloom and do the very best you can whatever it may be… grow as My child and produce good fruit that will bring glory to Me and that will serve as a witness for others.”

To bloom fully as God’s children, we must continually be watered with God’s word and love through prayer and through service.

Matthew 5:13-16 (New International Version)
Salt and Light
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Bloom where you are planted….

Theodore Roosevelt’s translation would be...
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

A is for Avatar

From the heavens, the Gods come down to earth for special purposes.... a Hindu belief translated in English as 'Incarnation'. The Avatar or Avatara, Sanskrit for 'descent', is the personification of these Gods. I do not know if the Indians mind or not, but the same word has been borrowed in this modern day of computing. It is now the term used for one's digital persona... a computer alter ego. Avatars live in virtual communities in the on-line world called the virtual universe where they socialize with other avatars.

One can make his/her avatar as he/she pleases. if Jake, a paralyzed ex-Marine, is enabled to walk and serve in a mission once again, why can't I be an awesome farmer and grow beautiful and healthy plants when in the real world I cannot? :)

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