On Weddings: All or Nothing

Dati... ayoko talaga ng thought ng ikakasal ako sa simbahan.  Una... hassle! Tutubuan ako ng mushrooms sa tagal. Pangalawa... hanep na gastos ang kaakibat nito. Kasi hello lang! Alanganaman sa Jollibee mo lang pakainin yung guests mo?! Nagpakasal ka pa sa simbahan... eh di sana nag-civil wedding ka na lang kung talagang nagtitipid ka.

Kaso nung Saturday, nag-attend kami nung wedding ni Kuya Ep-ep... (Tito ko siya actually, pinsan ni Mama. Kaso 4-5 years lang ata agwat niya sa akin... although feeling ko 500 years gap namin kasi pag bata ka... ang 4-5 years na agwat ay parang ilang daang taon din kasi ibang-iba nga naman talaga ang mundo ng mga Grade 1 sa mundo ng mga Grade 6.)

So ayun... ang masasabi ko lang... ang astig-astig lang talaga ng reception! hahahah! Na-late ako sa wedding itself sa simbahan kasi putang-ina yung traffic last Sabado!!! Buti na lang sinabi nila Mama na 3pm yung wedding kahit 330 naman talaga.. kaya naka-abot kami nila Aubrey at ng isang pinsan ko dun ng 350pm! Hahaahah! So di na talaga ganun katagal yung kasal for me.  Hehehe!

Basta ang ganda-ganda lang talaga ng reception... sobrang organized! Ganda ng table settings. Ganda ng pagkaayos ng conf room. Ganda ng AVPs! Ganda nung isang guest (ako! Inayos ng pinsan ko yung buhok ko... ang ganda ko lang. Siya rin nag-make up sa akin kaso mukha akong bangkay! Ayoko lang magsalita MASYADO (nagsalita naman ako pero slight lang) kasi baka mahurt siya ng todo! Hahaha! Ayus naman yung hair.... kaso sanay ako sa kagandahan ko via Tesoro (O YAN TESS! IKAW NA PINAKAMAGALING MAG-MAKE UP!) Hahahah! Buti na lang walang aircon ulit si Fabio kaya naubos rin yung make-up ko on the way to the wedding kasi nga putang ina yung traffic at sobrang init lang ng alas-tres ng hapon sa loob ng kotseng walang aircon... kaya naman adorably normal looking na ako by the time dumating ako sa wedding kasi nasa tissue na lahat ng excess make-up ko kakapahid ng pawis!) Hahaaha!

Anyway.. back to the reception.... Ang saya saya rin nung speeches. Nakakatawa mostly... typical yung iba... at meron din yung di mo alam kung kelan matatapos... pero buti na lang me rolls and butter sa table kaya di ka mapapawelga sa tagal ng speech kasi busog ka at maraming pakalat kalat na waiter kaya pde ka umorder ng kahit anong inumin kasi bottomless lahat. And besides... katabi ko yung isa kong titang ume-emo kasi 39 na at di pa rin siya kasal (in fairness di siya mukhang 39... di ko nga naisip na 39 siya until sinabi niya sa akin yung age niya... nasa isip ko kasi 28 yrs old pa rin siya... tapos narealize ko.. imposible kasi ako mag-2-27 na)... kaya naman no dull moments rin.

Basta ang elegante ng wedding-reception... Hehhee pinagbawal rin nga kasi nila yung mga bata. Yung mga bata lang na naka-attend eh yung mga pamangkin lang ng bride and groom. Tapos yung iba teenagers na. Kaya di rin magulo at walang sangkatutak na yaya na nakakalat sa kung saan-saan.

Narealize ko... ayus rin naman pala yung ganoong kasal. Di naman pala sa ayaw ko ng kasal sa simbahan... Kelangan lang talaga sobrang organized at elegante ng kasal ko kung magpapakasal man ako sa simbahan... alam ko may illusions of grandeur ako minsan... di ko lang narealize na yung culmination nito eh yung idea ko ng church wedding. Kasi kung hindi ako mukhang reyna sa kasal ko... di bale na lang... gagastusin ko na lang yung pera ko sa pagliliwaliw sa honeymoon ko.

Kaso bago ako magmukhang reyna sa kasal ko... putanginang hari yan ha! Where na you?! Here na me! Me budget na ako ng wedding natin! Kelangan ko na lang yung pera mo! Hahahahahahahahhahahhahhah!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!

Amazing!!! 1 year na ako sa kumpanya ko ngayoN! akalain mooooooooooo!!! 1 year ago... spirit questor/HR ni mother pa ako!

Tapos ngayon mag-iisang taon na akong kumikitang kabuhayan ulit!

Hmmm... I wonder... parating 28 yung pasok ko sa mga kumpanya na pinapasukan ko...

Sa Indra... August 28,2006 ako pumasok (December 31, 2009 naman ako lumayas)...

Dito naman... June 28, 2010 ako pumasok... hmm... kelan kaya ako lalayas dito? hahahaha!

Thanks Man on the Motorcycle in Katipunan on Noche Buena Time

On the way to Eastwood, to meet Des and Axis, I realized that it was already 12 midnight. By this time, if I was with family we'd be hugging and kissing each other and greeting Daddy a Happy Birthday. I suddenly had tears in my eyes because I was starting to feel sorry for myself because I was in my car ALONE... when I should have been with family...

And then I saw a lone man on a motorcycle in Katipunan.

My tears just dried right up.

Thanks Des and Axis! Love you!

This is the first Christmas day that I spent alone.

I'm usually with my family at home.... Samar, Davao, HK, Subic... it didn't matter which home... I was always with my family come Christmas morning.

Christmas have always been a big deal to most people. It is especially a big deal for our family because, at the same time, it's Daddy's (my maternal grandfather) birthday. We're not always with Daddy on his day. But I've always been with family whenever we had to call and greet him Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. I may not have been with my parents one Christmas years ago... but I was with family... my titos, titas, cousins, neighbors, etc...

Christmas, more than anything else, is a family tradition. When we were kids, it was the time of year when my cousins and I would wait for our parents to wake us up at midnight because Santa just came and delivered our presents and put them in our socks labeled with our names (we got apples, toys, and candies). It was the time of year when we would wait for Tito Wences and his family to arrive because they usually bring the ham.

It is on Christmas when we get our "longed-for" gifts. It was on Christmas when I got my first Brickgame (I got the one which had a really cool-looking interface [it was bulky and heavy and I could have killed my sister if I threw it on her head]; not to mention its 13 games-in-1 feature which, at that time, was super-duper high-tech and cool). It was on Christmas when I got my Scrabble boardgame (not the cheap kind by the way, I got the expensive one... the one which you can't fold because it had an ala- Lazy Susan feature).  It was on Christmas when I got my very own Word Factory. Ok, I just realized I had nerdy gifts. ANYWAY...

When Mommy (maternal grandmother) died, I guess we spent less effort on how we spent our Christmases as a family. Nevertheless, whatever kind of effort that went into the preparations... it was always with family.

Last midnight, Papa's been trying to call me. I did not answer his calls because I was so pissed that they didn't tell me earlier that they were going home to Samar and I had to spend Christmas on my own. (We'll I could actually have spent it with my Tita Iday, Mama's cousin). But I didn't really want to. It'll just remind me that I was not with my first cousins and my Titas and Titos (Mama's brothers and sisters) and Daddy, and Aubrey and Papa and Mama. I really wanted to go home and spend it with them and then maybe visit Mommy and Lola's grave in the morning.

I've been denying that I felt bad that I had to spend Christmas alone but I really wanted to wallow in self-pity today. But I'm glad I didn't.

Des have been haranguing me since I-can't-remember-which-time-of-the-week-this-week (ever since I ranted that Papa, Mama, and Aubrey left for Samar and left me for dead) that I should join her and Axis somewhere... I didn't really want to intrude because they might have their own family traditions. In short ayaw kong sumawsaw no!

Anyway, Des and Axis called yesterday  to check what my plans were. Since I didn't have any besides my spa reservations, I agreed to meet with them as soon as they're done with their family dinner (with Des' family) and I was done with, I didn't realize it then, my most-painful-spa-experience (SO FAR! ayoko magsalita ng tapos).

I met with them at Eastwood tapos nagpakabundat sa Seafood Islands kung saan naloko kami ni Axis ng Shrimp and Mushroom Sisig nila. WE DIDN'T KNOW IT HAD TOFU!!! What the !@#$%^&?!

We ate and laughed till 3AM. And then I had to shoo them away kasi turn naman ng pamilya ni Axis by Christmas Lunch and they still had to travel to Cavite.

Initially, I thought they usually spent their time after Noche Buena with friends and I was surprised to find out that it was also their first time to spend Noche Buena outside the house.

I guess... when family's not around... your other "family" catches you in time... before you fall splat on your face.

Love you Tess!