the newbies, et al

the culprit and pathetic excuse of why i haven't been blogging lately. for the past few weeks, since i got the new desktop, i've been playing the sims 1 & 2. my old pc couldn't run these games so with the arrival of the new one, i've been spending more time playing and less time surfing.

i dunno if i should be branded as an addict but lately i've been staying up till 2 to 3 am, not surfing the internet nor reading a book, but playing, what else, the sims! i know my blog has been suffering since i'm now down from a 2-3 entries a week to a once a week entry. sad.

even in sleep, i dream of the newbies, the goth family and the others. if i'm awakened after a 3-hour sleep, i could feel my energy bar still in red. the only difference is, i don't dish out expletives. for those who play the game, you'd probably understand what i'm trying to say.

and now i'm off to pleasantville to continue the saga of the goth family.

kids

don't you sometimes wish you're still a kid or at least, maintain that childhood innocense? when i read these letters, i could not help but smile and somehow wish that they would stay kids for a very long time. these letters were probably written by 6 or 7-year-olds who, in their stage, were curious with the world they live in, teeming with questions. and figured out the best one to ask is none other than God.

sometimes it takes a child to make one remember that He, besides being the Creator, is our friend and ally too.

and that even if He doesn't always give what we want, just like what this kid said, there's nobody better than God.

i believe that kids are really smarter than adults!

a letter

as i was going through my things, i saw this letter given to me by one of my roomies many years ago. she used to write letters in those small papers she always had, usually when our other roommate and i were fast asleep. i remember i asked her a question, which at that point of my life, an immediate response was greatly appreciated. and she replied with this:

you cope by returning to the people and your life with them which you somehow left when your world became him. and you cope by finding other worlds in which to move; and you cope by turning to other people whom you don't really pay attentiion to before and discover the treasure in them. you cope by surrounding yourself with people who you know loves you and try to spend more time with them. you cope by turning to long neglected harrison's and robbins. you cope by calling family and cousins and long time no-talk friends. you cope by learning something new to do. you cope by immersing yourself in all these. then you rise above your sadness coz there's life waiting after him...MAYBE AN EVEN BETTER LIFE.

reading it again, i thought of sharing it to others who has the same question in their minds. oh, and in case anybody's wondering, the letter did help. all thanks to my roomy. and it's about time i share it with others too.

Douglas

come christmas time, the christmas decors kept in storage are brought out and cleaned. that's when the small christmas tree, named "douglas" by my niece, M, becomes alive again. douglas was a gift to my mom a long long time ago. it sings jingle bells with a baritone, and while singing, its eyes would blink and its big "mouth" would open and close too like a puppet. the singing would start again when a sound was made like hands clapping or banging of any object.

and for those features, the small kids are scared of it. when M was around 2 or 3, and douglas was still new, she'd cry everytime she sees it. now that she's older, it's still not one of her favorite christmas decors. recently, the latest victim was my 1 year old nephew, L. when the tree was shown to him, he eagerly pointed at it and said "cri, cri!", roughly translated, "christmas tree!". but when it suddenly started singing, the shock in his eyes and the crying which immediately followed meant that douglas struck again!

douglas has only one thing to say to all its victims..."HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

"you're next"

ever since my brother got married a couple of years ago, i became the only single member in my family. family friends and relatives, especially the female oldies, made it their mission in life to ask me when would i be next. they would ask me at the most inopportune times, be it in a party, a wedding, a funeral, or in the mall. my answers would vary, depending on my mood...

"secret" then leave with a smile.

"never!" ... seldom used coz this would just start another round of questions.

"when i win in the lotto, i'd buy a husband." ... after hearing this, they'd usually smile then shake their heads.

"i'm still saving money to buy one." ... same reaction as the previous one.

"next year!" ... this answer usually shut them up.

but right now, i'm thinking of adding another answer to my repertoire after J forwarded an email message to me...

*_HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIED_*

Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

i think, this is the best one yet!

6/42

on the morning of my mom's birthday, she found out that she won in the lotto. of course, it wasn't the jackpot or else i wouldn't be blogging about it. she got 5 numbers out of the six which wasn't bad at all. it was like a surprise birthday gift for her.

after telling me the good news, she asked me to claim it for her at the PCSO. accompanied by our driver, the two of us proceeded to claim the prize. when C and i arrived there at past 8 am, quite a few people were already there to claim their prizes. so i got a number and waited for my turn. the first window was to check if i do really have the winning numbers. for a moment, i thought the lady was gonna tell me i got the wrong winning numbers or something like that. but instead, she gave me her sweetest smile and asked me if i would like to buy sweepstakes tickets from her!

on the next window, i was asked to fill up and sign some forms. again, i was asked to buy some tickets, but this time, i declined. there was no smile as i was directed to the next step. all in all, i went to five different people, all trying to check if i really got the winning ticket and all trying to sell me their sweepstakes tickets. if i bought tickets from all of them, i'd be P500.00 poorer. probably they thought that since i won, i'd be generous enough to spare them a few hundred bucks. but then, it wasn't my money to spend so sorry na lang sila!

after almost 3 hours, C and i finally got my mom's prize. my mom, in her happy state, promised to get me a new desktop so this old one could finally retire with dignity. para akong nanalo sa lotto!