't'was a Christmas of mixed emotions

A blessed holiday season from the Funa household!

This past Christmas eve is something I'd never forget. For one, this was the first time I spent it away from my family in Taytay. It was a bit strange not waking up late in the afternoon to see my mom busying herself in the kitchen for the midnight dinner. It was weird that this time around, it's me who'd be busy in the kitchen! And second, it's because it's the first time in our 11 years that Francis and I spent Christmas eve together. So of course, we had to make it special by celebrating it with a simple Noche Buena--cream dory fillet in cherry sauce, penne pasta in red sauce and chocolate fondue for dessert, all complemented with red wine.

Prior to the Christmas eve celebration, Francis decided to just dine out for the usual 7pm dinner. We headed to the neighboring Alex III resto and ordered a little too much for our tummies--lengua with mushroom and pinakbet sa bagnet (mixed veggies with chunks of deep fried pork). The bagnet was to blame for making us so full.

Anway, a few hours before midnight, I had to prepare our meal. It wasn't as taxing as when I had to prepare dinner for 10 people during our pad's dedication. Our Christmas eve fare was actually exciting to prepare because there's not much slicing and frying to be done. Before long, everything was ready. A few minutes to 12mn, we changed into more decent attire because the dinner also served as a Christmas eve date, complete with candle lights.

As we uttered our prayer of thanksgiving, I was surprised to actually find myself crying--I was so full of joy and I felt so blessed for the life I have now that I cried with happiness. I could not thank the Lord enough for all the blessings He's been showering our way. As a colleague noticed, "marriage life does me well", and I can't help but agree. Being with Francis in this binding relationship made me a better person, and is making me want to become even better than better. Paradoxically, being away from my own family in Taytay has, in a way, made me even closer to them. This whole, new life has changed me in more ways than I had imagined-- it has made me more appreciative and thankful to Him who made these things possible. Some would probably say that I can afford to be grateful and all cheery because this is just the first year of marriage and that there are more challenges in store as the years progress. Sure, I know there are; but I also know that with the Lord as the center of our relationship, and with our family and friends around us who continue to rejoice with us and support us, our marriage life will always be a blessing--and that thought is more than enough reason to celebrate this Christmas season and the many others to come.

we gonna take a boat to the end of the world...

A few minutes ago, Francis excitedly showed me this video of one of our favorite bands, Dave Matthews Band. The song is titled "You and Me".



Aside from the vid, my husband also made me read the lyrics, found here.

On an ordinary day, what my husband did may seem mundane. On an ordinary week, the song may not even mean anything special to me. But during this time of despondency (on my part) enough to drive the sanity out of me, that song, that simple act from my husband, meant a lot. Not only because I badly need to unwind far away from the city (the lyrics apparently speak of traveling--physically and romantically), but also because I just need some time to escape so I can think clearly. Thinking and analyzing things have been my preoccupation as of late; and I tell you, such preoccupation drives me insane.

Anyway, after listening to the song and reading the lyrics, I now declare this to be our official travel song. We may not travel as often as we want to as many places we desire (though we're working on setting a reasonable "travel frequency"), but I'm sure that in any journey, we'll always be together, with the Lord walking with us.

And to my husband: I cannot thank you enough for the many, many times you've picked me up. Yep, "You and me together, we could do anything."

on a day-off

For two consecutive long weekends, I was out on a shoot. It sucks. I feel like such a loser. Haha! So now I took a day off to make up for loss time at home. Ahh, home.

I never thought I'd be this attached to our (relatively) new place. I always look forward to going home, never mind if the main chore waiting for me every day is cooking (which I enjoy, anyway; we eat out every once in a while--hurrah to that!). There's something about starting a new life and living in a new place that make going home exciting and special. Of course, I still have some adjustments to make; but all in all, I'm loving this place--how it's relatively near to everything (malls, hospitals, my workplace, my hubby's workplace, UP, etc); how a small community on our street exists sans the horrid busyness of the metropolis. Sure, it gets busy every weekend, but it's nothing we can't stand. How can we complain if there's Starbucks, South Star Drugstore, Eunilane, Nuat Thai Massage and more than a handful of restaurants just a stone's throw away from our building?!?

But of course, I still miss my home in Taytay--everything and everyone in it. I miss hearing the soles of my shoes softly pound the pavement whenever I go home late and there's practically no one on the street. I miss seeing and hearing rowdy kids playing on a Saturday, as they agitate our dogs who would, of course, bark at them, waking me up. I miss my mom's cooking; she even texted me yesterday saying that she feels for me for no longer being able to bring baon to work. She usually prepares my baon. I had to assure her that it's alright because I still bring baon sometimes, whenever there's some extra food left. (Awww, my mom went all senti yesterday, I bet.) I miss small talks with my sister. I even miss our fights. I miss playing with my dogs (and so it really broke my heart when mom told me one of our dogs passed away. It broke my heart so much that I cried to sleep that night). I miss sitting by the table at our indoor garden/lanai. I miss the smell of rain in that house. I miss my mega messy room. I miss it all so much. That's why I'm excited every time my mom and sis announce their unplanned visits to our new place. I enjoy the company a lot. I visit them, too, of course. And it's at these frequent visits when I realize I miss them. Indeed, it's true that proximity can make a big difference--you come to appreciate the ones you love better when you don't see them often. You bond more when you see each other.
And so as I spend the rest of this day alone in our own place, I think of my home in Taytay--but it's a thought that's not sad at all. It's a thought that makes me feel more loved and missed. And that thought is more than enough to make me feel all fuzzy inside in this gloomy, rainy weather.

i am an engineer's wife

Francis pouring over Lonely Planet's Singapore

guide while I'm being all sentimental

Francis and I have talked about what entails his being a geodetic engineer for numerous times. One major concern--I think it's the only concern--is that there are out-of-town, even out-of-the-country, assignments that may span a couple of days to a number of months. The longest we've been apart was when he was assigned (for the second time) in Cavite. He was there for five months, and this was during the time when we were preparing for our wedding. In fact, that assignment made me panic and question if he can really be hands-on on our wedding preps. But because it was just in Cavite, Francis was able to go home to Novaliches every weekend, giving him more than enough time to really help in our wedding preps. And I can say he did a great job, what with all the excel files he prepared just to make sure our wedding logistics are in place.

Although I am well aware of his possible far-from-home/far-from-me assignments, I still can't help but worry and whine and cry every time such work demands present themselves (of course, I pray they don't come often; if they do, that they be not too far and long). I know it's never easy for Francis to break the news to me. In fact, and more often than not, he exerts some effort to cushion the blow, so to speak. He'd usually treat me to a fancy dinner--a sign that he's about to break such news. (Hence, I'm a bit wary of fancy dinner invitations from him. Haha!)

***

Today is Francis' first day in Singapore. It's also my first day to learn how not to worry too much about my husband who's abroad for the first time. If I only had enough sense to fix the papers I needed to get myself my own passport way before this trip was even a possibility, I would've been there with him. I wouldn't be stuck here writing this blog (but thanks to my sis-in-law, who'll be keeping me company for 4 days that her brother's in Sing.). Yes, I'll be mushy: I miss my husband terribly. It's the first time we're this far away from each other--in our almost 11 years of being together. But I know this is how God teaches us to give more importance to each other, how to grow more fond of each other. This is God's way of teaching us to trust in our prayers, in Him. This is one of His small ways that tell me that after praying for my husband's safety, I have to learn how to lay my cares down and let Him do the job. I've always been a worrywart, and I know it's never helpful. What's the sense of praying if I would only keep on worrying even afterwards, right?

But I'm still really wishing and hoping and pleading for time to fly so fast that it's already Friday evening, when I'd be on my way to NAIA Terminal 3 to pick up and welcome back my wonderful husband. But I know that four days of being apart can spell a sweeter difference in our relationship. Plus of course, I know Francis is enjoying his time in Sing. Why, he already went gaga over hard-to-find CDs, and was ranting about how he might run out of cash hoarding those CDs (the lamenting about how expensive they are relative to the prices here came first before the ranting)! And knowing that he's enjoying his short stay there makes me happy, too.

goofy grammatical glitch

On our way out of the mall, after having dinner with my sister-in-law (who turned a year older last Tuesday), we saw this ad.

I had to look twice to see if I read the words right. Was it " sHAVED", as in "We SHAVED..."? But no, it's better than that.

So I suppose the branch moved twice. Past, past tense.

our first mag appearance as h&w, weeee!

Thanks to my friend, Bubs, for volunteering me and Francis--a newly married couple--for GH's section on financial concerns. Not that we're in a financial crisis this early into the marriage--God forbid that ever happens! The article is about various money concerns from different individuals with different backgrounds.

So go grab July Good Housekeeping pronto! There's a money trick (or two) to learn.

P.S. Thanks also to Alona for scanning the page! And to Eugene for making our photo the biggest one in this feature. How vain can I get, hahaha!

so what makes an ideal wife?

My colleague asked me to ask Francis if it's okay with him to answer some questions about his take on an ideal wife. Francis said he's just fine with it. So when he checked his email a while ago, he was surprised to see just one question: What makes a good wife?

His (not serious) answer, which he said out loud?

"Maliit, maingay, mahilig maglaro ng computer games, late matulog, matigas ulo, mahina kumain, minamasahe ako."

(Small, noisy, likes to play computer games, late sleeper, stubborn, picky eater, gives me massages.)

Hahahahahah!