somehow it's Christmas

misa de gallo or dawn mass

our humble parol

this tree has seen [better days?]

let there be lights

[home after the dawn mass]

I think I always have mixed emotions about Christmas but all I know is...it isn’t my favorite Holiday…

There’s always something in me that makes me wish I’d feel the Merry in Merry Christmas. I will always missed Mama Nene, She would make halaya…and I, her reluctant kitchen assistant would peel and grate the ube yams. And she would cook it using charcoal on a terracotta stove. And boy! it gets heavy to stir as the yams gets thicker in consistency.

And then she would cook my favorite dish…hamunado, yum, leche flan…all of my favorites.

sigh. But we usually don’t eat during noche buena. She’d rather go to sleep, well, I think, she is too tired from all the Christmas brouhaha cooking. And I would go to Ate Rachel’s house and spend Christmas with her family, and I also miss that so much. The exchange gifts, the aginaldo, the eat all you can noche buena feast.

And yes, attending dawn mass/misa de gallo. This is where I miss my childhood friends.

We would try to complete the nine mornings, which they say for a wish, and whoever gets up first will wake the sleepyheads up. And then it’s been freezing cold to walk on the streets, even if we’re donned on warm sweaters along with our highfalutin spraynet bangs...if Justin Bieber was born on this era, i wonder what would he do with his, probably he would be an anti spraynet bangs. Well probably that helps, I guess spraynet is one factor of global warming which is why I can no longer feel the 'malamig ang simoy ng hangin/december breeze' when zadee and i headed to the church.

And then, somewhere in my memory, I had not practice the Filipino tradition eversince…

Maybe it’s the hectic sched of College life and growing up…and not being that religious, sorry Jesus. Yay

I guess my friends will be surprised and they will surely banter silly jokes on me like “magpamisa kayo, nagsimba si Anna Lee.” Oh me Oh my, I attended a dawn mass…with zadee. It’s so hard to wake her up. But that’s the only start of the struggle. I have to keep her up from being sleepy during the mass. And we just stood outside the church for better ventilation since it is already fully crowded inside.

Well, we’ve managed to stay until the homily but decided to leave when the priest started preaching about Politics. sorry po ulit.

I will not be able to complete the "nine mornings" but my Christmas wish is that we' d be able to survive this Christmas and this coming year.

Christmas Party

her best buddies

Alyanna, Queenie and Kobe

especially when you're friends with their Moms too

During their Christmas Party…Thanks KC for the pics

I wasn’t able to buy her something new to wear in

time for their party. Sorry anak. Dami ko ng kasalanan

sa’yo…

something angelic...

This is another School Activity, quebarbaridad! This school never run out of production numbers…

So this December, from purring little kittens, they become winged babies…angels. I tried making her a wing out on a box of nachos I asked from the minigrocery, bought cottons, feathers and they cost 42 pesos per bundle which I had so much difficulty looking for and they have a smell of poultry stench…and yes, I have to scrimp for a bottle of Elmers glue, bought a pack of starch for gawgaw/home-made paste. I suddenly remember Mama Nene, making this and she would use it to make tons of pambalot ng tinapa from newspapers, and then she will sell them at the market.

I remember helping her make those…sigh

So the wings turned out to be a disaster, yay. Back in highschool, I am always assigned on the props department . So I guess I no longer have the creative prowess of making things like angel wings, I just only have the stage mama in me

And then I saw this ready-made angel wings at the Dept . Store for 170 pesos, ok thanks. I spent so much with my handmade wings. And then the halo…why on earth that I couldn’t find a feathered or a furry boa…sniff. They don’t even have it on Pambansang Bookstore. And yes the white dress and the white shoes that she will have to wear. Good thing, I bought her this little white dress which I think isa little too expensive but I bought it anyway…because I like it for her, So I don’t have to worry about it, just the shoes.

She is very excited to be an angel…And I am sold, I bought her a new pair of shoes. I’m still scrimping though…hehe

Sunday and orange mornings...

Hello Kitty Kitty Purr Purr

During their English Week school activity: Speech Choir

Those two guys on the right has a crush on her, and the little boyon far right even gave her flowers and chocolate and a pink blouse...Uy muy simpatico y unico hijo, hay mucho dinero

with her galpals Queenie, Juliana& Aanikka

the three little kittens by zadee by it's just me...Anna Lee

a moment with my chocolate truffle

Sorry I was not able to buy you a birthday cake

Zadeeday!!!

Happy Birthday Babydoll! :)

undas

just came home from the cemetery, to try to see how to set up the tent during undas...

it was already crowded with people busy cleaning and painting "nichos' silently sat there

for a few minutes..."Mama, may bago ka ulit kasama sa katabing puntod, pa'no ba yan."

headed to the public market, afterwards, thinking that my mall-bought candles are not enough. I went with a bunch and with only just a few vagabond coins left in my purse...

no ulam...tocino for lunch (always a staple to the rescue)

of course, flowers for Mama

why is that during November the roses never bloom in the garden...

it's my blog and I will cry if I want to...

I'll never have my mrazzin moment

I love Jason Mraz but I love Zadee

and I love my Mama Nene

can't watch you, sob, sniff, sniff, sniff

waahhhhhhhh!

huhu

but I still like to post a Jason Mrazz favorite

hmmm Make you mine or Summer Breeze?

Anna Lee be decisive

umkay let's go with Summer Breeze, blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

concert poster credits to philippine concert site

waahhhhhhhhh!

huhu

Quiz Bee Yipee

another bling :)
Congrats Zadee on winning first place on the Math and Science Quiz Bee Contest!

and they thoughy, you were the underdogs,they should've never underestimated you!

HARHAR!!!

Last Music Syndrome

I miss listening to the radio, I rarely have the chance to…and I am no longer up to date of the current songs on radio airplays…I guess when you’re getting old…this is inevitable…

I think the 90’s music have become my last song syndrome or my last music syndrome, maybe? I guess, part of it is that everything is so sell out in the mainstream…and everything on tv is a scripted reality show. I think Kat Agarrado of sinosikat have said it better than me on their Mr. Musikero hehe. But I certainly miss listening to these particular artists and their songs. I’ll start with my female favorites…how I become amazed by Aia’s voice while watching her sing Otherwise on MTV Sessions and of course Barbie Almalbis ‘Torpe’ at a Sunday Noontime show, was it Sa Linggo NAPo sila. It always remind me of my highschool crush, uy ngiting hapee toothpaste ka dyan. [Joie], san ka na ba ngayon Joie. I don’t watch these recent Sunday shows. I get bored :P and Viktoria, the queen of Philippine music videos. just a big fan of her! And yes Cynthia Alexander…Rippingyarns. Yes! I could sing their songs over and over again at mambulahaw ba ng kapitbahay

Up Dharma Down

Imago

Barbie Almalbis/Barbie’s Cradle

Sinosikat

Chillitees

Cynthia Alexander

Parliament Syndicate

Viktoria

grateful

I think this is a good week

Thank you for declaring a long weekend

Thank you SAAP for providing Zadee her PE uniform after 3 months

I still have lots of complaints though hmm…

Thank you for the highschool student who helped Zadee with her stuff on her way to her classroom

Thank you to the traffic enforcer who stops the PUVs and cars when Zadee and I cross our way to other side with her trolley bag…belat sa miatang dumaan, sa min muna ang kalsada

Thank you KC for the venti frapp na libre mo

Thank you Razon’s for the yummy chicken bbq Zadee and I had for lunch

Thank you Kat for the gluttonous dinner we had at your Bariotik Kitchen

Salamat haring araw, sumilip ka, kahit sagit lang

'to song ko sa'yo

Thank you Mommy for the morning phonecall

At thank you na rin sa twenty pesos na bibingka na merienda namin dito sa banig ngayon.

Hello morning

Morning blues, it’s been raining again…

long weekend is over

Polkape

and LeeLeeput had his book signed by Lourd, kainis...daya naman

Sugar by Delanie Osabel

“Most people don't know there are angels

whose only job is to make sure you don't get

too comfortable & fall asleep & miss your life"

~Brian Andreas

I just admire Ma’Dee’s work…You meet fellow Filipinos on AP and then get amazed by their immense talents and versatility in different genres of art. Sadly, my muse has been sleeping too long…

Thank you Ma'Dee

when it's raining the frogs like to sing

who are you by bill cantos by it's just me...Anna Lee

When it’s raining, the frogs like to sing

I am one of these frogs, actually…ambisyosang frog

at nangangarag pa! so I realized how difficult it is to record your voice

while singing

my Neruda roses

I love you as the certain dark things are love, secretly,

between the shadow and the song

~Neruda

I suddenly thought of this Neruda quote when I saw that their stems are intertwined

All the world's a stage

All the world's a stage

and everyone has their part...[okay so this may be part Shakespeare sonnet/ part Madonna lyrics]

A reluctant stage-mama um, um, um…

Make-up, make up, costume, costume

a wannabe make-up artist, personal stylist, photographer, number one fan haha

These photos were taken during a school activity: Linggo ng Wika,

They danced on a VST song Rock Baby Rock slash Tayo’y Magsayawan.

They made them look like Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday, Friday group of That’s Entertainment.

Tanda ko na, Mommy na!

So the next time, they dance…it’ll be folk dance?

Make ups, costume, now they practice with a CD, MP3 player, back then during the cassette era, if the rewind button is dysfunctional, you have to manually wind it using a Panda ballpen,

ano pa ba

Zadee’s galpals: Queenie and Alyanna

My daughter with her new school

It feels like I haven’t written in years now…I just realized, whenever I am clueless on what to write or how to start it…I usually begin with the word “So…” So…So…So…I have so many So-so’s to start with haha!!! [at may exclamation ba ang tawa]

And then I would write something about this…at biglang nawala ang tawa

So, this is about Zadee

I guess, for me, it will always be about Zadee…

And her new school.

So she have had major adjustments

A new kid in a big school with gradeschool and highschool students, and a trolley bag which she drags along everyday with a weight like it has a built-in Library and everything National Bookstore galore.

Frustrations

disappointments

And then the bullies…sigh…

So she was the timid type…hmmm…parang ako :D

I have mixed emotions when I learned the news that Zadee had hurt one of her classmates, and then the poor victim is a boy, nasabunot nya yung bata, super iyak daw yung boy. I’ve asked her what made her do it. Because it’s really very untypical of her. And finally, after minutes and minutes of asking, probing, she finally ‘fessed up. “Kase sinabi nya na pangit ako.” And then she cried. So here goes the mixed emotions again, consoled her and told that she is very pretty, and ask her to promise not to do it again.”Baka awayin tayo ng Mommy non” I guess she forgot my bilin, if ever, somebody would do or say bad things to her at school, she should tell her teacher.

I’ve asked her teacher what really happened, and she told me, Nagalit talaga siguro sya, kasi Ma’am, may pagkamakulit yung boy [mentioned his name but I won’t] Ayaw nyang humingi ng sorry sa boy. Ang tagal bago ko sya napasorry.”

I felt sorry for the boy and so much more to her. But somehow, there’s this mischievous side of me, at least, di magpapa-api ang anak ko but I still feel sorry for the little boy…

Hay salbaheng Mommy, now I remember back in the days, in grade school when I had a fist fight with a boy, too, a classmate…and those pambubuyo, pustahan by other male classmates. How could I forget that!?! I was spanked with a bamboo stick twice by my teacher and my sparring mate-kaaway classmate ten times. Good thing, bawal na mamalo ngayon.

Congrats Zadee, Mommy is proud of you…Be a goo girl and always remember that you are pretty…love, Mommy

and then I got a "I Love you" post it note on the fridge

Sigh…

Sigh..

And then, I realized I always end up things with so many sighs

A single rose can be my garden..." ~Leo Buscaglia

a glimpse of the morning light, after weeks of monsoon rains...

It’s been a long time since I’ve held my camera…finally a glimpse of the morning light through zadee’s bedroom window,

it's been pissing rain for weeks now

Mistake Number 3 by True Faith

So you can call me Ms. Nostalgia, I think I find it a better pseudonym for me hmmm…or probably somebody have already used it. I must be getting old, and the very reason why I am kind of clingy to old songs…True Faith, for me, are one of Pinoy artists that gives quality music, loved their version of this Boy George song…and it strum the same chords with Michael Tomlinson’s Sunlight acoustic version.

wish this was Le Baiser...

I finally found a Stella painting...on her website...sayang wala syang pinangalan dito, still wishing for her Le Baiser though...my thanks to Delanie (Awestruck) for adjusting the colors

and I found an Amel Larrieux song that I like, I have the same autumn thoughts of Stella's painting with her song...We Can Be New on her Bravebird album