par-tay!

so... i have gone and back from a week and a half of vacation. it was a pretty good timing that i have requested the vacation days... actually had made a mistake of requesting, was supposed to request the following week! but, as always, God had planned for it.. and things worked out well.

mom had requested for a birthday party, and a party she got. after about a week planning, her party came out as a success. i decorated the place with banner and red balloons, i made sure the curtains matched - red! everything was just red... hehehe the food was abundant... enough to fill the guests and then some to take home with them. mom had her cupcakes and birthday cakes. after the party and reflecting on it, i'm surprised at myself for being able to pull everything off. of course, it wouldn't be possible without the help of my family and horacio... :)

next thing on the calendar: may faith's baby shower! it's gonna be my second time to plan a baby shower, this time for it's gonna be a baby girl!! pink and yellow, here we come! :) i'm both excited and unsure on how to play about this shower. most of the guests wouldn't be the people that i really know... unlike the previous baby shower i threw (for mommy chi!). but, i just hope i would be able to fix the place up nicely and coordinate things with manang bing. now.. how will my cupcakes look like this time... :)

wedding-mania

ok, it's almost 2:15 in the morning and have to be up by 7:30 to meet up with my cousin, but i just have to blog about this.

am actually over this topic, over being annoyed and irritated. now, i just find it amusingly embarassing, not for myself but for these people!

let me digress... when my sister and i had started to talk about the wedding and what it entails, she didn't fail to remind me over and over again that there would be a lot of stressors, stressors that i really could just block and could never be avoided (i.e.: mom trying to take over the planning.. etc.). i must say, mom has been good with inviting people and had kept to her limit (thanks mother!).

then.. there's the others! i got a call from my aunt, a voicemail actually and it went like this: "jen, pinadalhan mo daw sila ____ at ____ ng invitations, pero hindi mo daw napadalhan si ____. siya lang daw ang hindi nakatanggap. padalhan mo daw siya name is _____ address, same address as (the other relatives)." ["jen, you sent invites to ___ and ___, but you forgot to send _____ one. send him one, his name is _____, same address as the (other relatives)."] horacio must have seen the look on my face. i was totally annoyed! i mean, the guest list was mainly those people that horacio and i know personally, since we were on a budget and all as well. then this guy just "requested" to be invited. his now doesn't ring a bell, i don't having a conversation with him or meeting him for that matter! then my mom calls, i asked if she knew this person. she told me yes, and the story gets more interesting! apparently, the "main" person and reason why i included them on the guestlist wouldn't be able to make it due to her situation... and had told this guy to attend on her behalf. the guy was glad to accept the offer and asked "sino ba ang sa atin, ang babae o lalake?" i was just speechless. i didn't know how to react! i mean, here he was saddened by the fact that i didn't send him an invite (save the date), yet he doesn't even know who was getting married! the nerve, right?? so i told horacio the "continuation" of the story and he couldn't stop laughing! it's just so... you think of the word to perfectly describe this!

then mom's story continues.... she spoke to one of her relatives. she mentioned that they have received the save the dates and that some other relatives (who i maybe have met when i was....) are staying with them and told my mom to tell me to send them invites too!! take note.. relativeS! mom told them she wouldn't ask me to do so (thank you so much mom!!). but, guess what? this person had insisted my mom to ask me, since she is the "mother". then she continues on asking if i had invited one of my aunts... mom just replied "i think so." i mean, who are they and why do they care so much who i invite and don't??? i mean, their kids had gotten married in the past years and did my mom tell them to invite pontious pilate??

i was so furious when i heard these stories, and i could just hear my sister: there are more things to come, this is just the beginning. i'm really over in by now, well.. maybe a bit irritated still. but who wouldn't be? i guess, i should be flattered... after all, they all want (and begging??) to be invited to my big day after all! hehe

communication

This is a big thing, or should I call it – struggle for me. Yes, I know, I have cellphone, fully aware of it and it only takes a button or two to call someone. Ever since, I have not been a big on calling other people. I’d rather text than call. I mean, I do call. I call people whenever I have to meet them and let them know I’m running late or to find out where exactly they are at. And most of the time, I screen my calls – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I always ignore your call. I always have the habit to put my cellphone on silent mode or vibrate, especially when going to work, and forget to put it back on ‘normal’ mode – which the other reason why most of the time I don’t know when people have been trying to get in touch with me. There are also days, when I wouldn’t know where I last placed my phone, and wouldn’t be bothered really looking for it – until people start calling horacio just to find out my whereabouts and if I’m ok. I just, am not that attached to my phone. Yes, I bring it around with me when I go out… and I do find it necessary to have (I have gone a day without one while I was out, and I felt like an idiot having to ask someone if I could use their phone!). But I’m just not someone who would sit down and pick up my phone and call other people to “chat”. I would rather hang-out with you and chat with you in person. Hence, I lose touch with people. See, if I don’t call you, how am I supposed to plan something and meet up with you? So, I realized that I am the type of person who are friends with a lot of people, and keeps friends who you don’t necessarily have to talk to every day and discuss every single detail of your life. I have a friend in college, we used to meet up like once a year (until she got married, moved back to Philippines, and now lives in texas…) and that was enough for us. we kept our friendship, we know what’s going on with each other’s lives. We don’t always call each other as well, we usually play phone tags (see, if you call me and leave me a message, I will call you back) but when we do catch each other, we would be on the phone for like hours!

I also realized that the best way for me to keep in touch with people is through email. I guess, writing for me is some kind of therapy. I would rather write my feelings than say it out loud. Since Sunday school began (again) in January, we were “assigned” to a prayer partner. Meaning, we had to call each other and talk about how each other was doing, create a relationship outside the class. At first, I knew it was going to be a struggle for me… just the words ‘call each other’, I knew I was going to disappoint my prayer partner(s). I was honest with them though, I told them I’m not a big phone person, and having the schedule that I have, it would also be near to impossibility to catch me on “normal” hours. So, we decided to communicate via email, and I find myself being able to respond more, communicate more.. I don’t know if it’s just because I was doing it more because it’s according to my own time and my own convenience. As I was responding to an email, I was thinking, I could have just called her and told these things to her myself… then again, the other reason why I don’t like calling – time. Yes, I may be free right now… but how about the other party? Sometimes, I feel like I’m taking much of their time or I could be in a middle of a thought and something would distract me or miss out on something. I don’t know. I’m just ADD like that.

On the other hand, maybe I just am not a big fan of picking up the phone and calling people because I grew up without a phone. Growing up my friends and I met in school, hang out, planned things, visit one another at our abode. The day that a phone was installed at our place, I was excited, I finally could call friends!! But that didn’t last too long… I would rather wait until I see them and talk to them and share things with them.

Call me a bad daughter, sister, friend, but this is just me. It’s a struggle, I know, but if you really want to talk to me, call me and leave me a message. If I don’t call you back, call me again or better, email me. I just hope people would understand and not think I am simply ignoring them.