Happy Mother’s Day

Of course I didn’t forget. This is just a little late but I am extending my greetings to all the blogger moms here at WordPress. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO US!

I’ve blogged about Mother’s Day celebrations since 2010 I think documenting those moments of bliss, lovely sharing with the family  and choosing where to spend the day – those special moments that make me smile just remembering. I still could remember the places where we spent lunch and how much we enjoyed bonding together as a family. Early this morning Josef and I heard mass together. He came straight from a night shift so I suggested that we just go home so he could rest. Besides, the place where we want to have dinner is fully booked until next week.

All  moms who attended the 9am mass received a special prayer/blessing from the presiding priest. There was a time when they gave a white rose each to the moms after the blessing. It might be just an ordinary day to some people but I must admit that moms are special so celebrating that one important day in their lives is kind of special too. Having a great mom is one of the many gifts and blessings a child could ever have.  I have one and I am blessed.

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor  by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

That’s a lovely quote from Washington Irving.  I had a good laugh hearing Nate greet me earlier. Nissa taught him to say “Happy Mother’s Day Nonna” but the one clear word I heard was Nonna. Listening to him say “love you” made my day.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

This came  a bit late because I was quite busy preparing something for dinner. This is a special day for Mom and me after all. Early this morning, I texted my daughter Nissa saying:

“Happy Mother’s Day for the soon to be Mom. I am sure when it’s your turn you’ll be a terrific mom because you are a terrific daughter. Love you anak 🙂 🙂 :)”

Then she texted back  and said:

“Happy Mother’s Day Ma! Siempre I have a good role model. I love you so much.”

These are words that a mom like me never gets tired of hearing.  They are an affirmation of a daughter’s love for her mother. Sometimes, lots of times I guess, I become so emotional hearing words like these.  My two kids are all grown up now. Pretty soon, my son would get married too and I dread the day of  feeling that “empty nest.”  I am happy for them though because I am proud that they grew up pretty well, successful in their careers and my first-born is already starting a family.  I am really looking forward to seeing , hugging and embracing the new member of our family – Nissa’s baby and we’re counting the days till the start of November which is her expected delivery.

Mom and I attended the 9am mass at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish together. Then I treated her to lunch at the mall near our place.  Commuting was our only option because I don’t know how to drive.  Mom at 83 is afraid to ride on an escalator and she’d rather use the stairs than skirt her way faster in one.  It was a happy bonding, just the two of us.  I have to order a take-out for my son who is on a night shift. Earlier on, my eldest brother came over to give mom a bunch of red roses. Roses are Mom’s favorite flowers. Back when we were still growing climbing roses outside our fence, it was always a delight to see her with garden scissors in tow, cutting fresh blooms and smiling while her nose is buried in the blooms. American climbing rose has that heady scent that makes it ideal for flower arrangement.  As usual, I took a few clicks  and made a simple collage with her picture I took at the mall.

I received quite a lot of Mother’s Day greetings on my wall at Facebook  but they don’t compare  to some of the texts I got from my two sisters-in-law and a few close friends.

“This day celebrates strength of spirit and gentleness of ways. Happy Mother’s Day! ^_ ^ ”  from Marisse, one of Nissa’s friends.

“Kapag naging nanay ka…walang log out, walang pause, walang stop,walang off, walang sahod, mas lalong di pwede mag-resign. Pwede ka mang mamili ng asawa, di ka naman pwedeng mamimili ng anak….Dahil ang pagiging ina…TUNAY NA DAKILA. Happy Mother’s Day po.”  – from Mico, a friend  from our Catholic page at Facebook. Most of the members there call me Mommy and I really don’t mind. Masaya ang maging Mommy ng lahat. And I don’t really want to translate his message in straight English because it looks and sounds better in Tagalog.

And this came from one of my sisters-in law:  “The heart of a mother doesn’t grow old. It knows no time nor age. It doesn’t go weary because it takes no effort. It just cares, loves, shares and goes on. Happy Mother’s Day.”

This had me laughing while reading it. It came from Precy, a close friend since my college days in UST. ” MEN say they are stronger than WOMEN. I think that’s a big, fat lie. Can men carry a seven-pound baby in their belly for 9 months?  Can they cook, clean and talk on the phone at the same time? Can they walk all day on a 5-inch heels?  Can they cry all night and then wake up the next morning like everything is OK?  Can they stay alive after five days of bleeding?  Remember, women are only helpless until their nail polish dries.”

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the lovely moms reading this blog.  Mothers are really special don’t you think? And we deserve all the accolade  that come our way today:)

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Happy Mother’s Day (May 08)

For all wonderful mothers out there, I am greeting you “Happy Mother’s Day” in advance. Two years ago, I blogged about being a mom and last year, I took some pictures of the place we went to, to  celebrate Mother’s Day. How time flies! Where have all the years gone? I promised myself I would pay tribute to all the lovely people we call our mothers. It does not really matter whether they are Nanay, Inang, Ina,  Mum, Mom, Mommy, or Mama, all these words are just loving and affectionate way of calling our wonderful mothers. And as I’ve said in my previous blogs, you can only learn to appreciate what motherhood means when you become a mother yourself.They say that there is probably no relationship as pure as that of a mother and child. That special bond would always be there. A lot has been written about motherhood and being a mom.

What makes someone a mother? Maybe the difference lies in the fact that a true mother bestows on her child that everlasting love. Make her proud this mother’s day. Show her that you appreciate every single effort she is doing for you. Make her feel that she is really someone special.

My daughter asked me last night where I want to have a family lunch on Mother’s Day. It’s always been something celebrated with the whole family. As long as we are together, it does not matter much where we go.  I do prefer Italian cuisine though and would love to taste again  the “oh-so-yummy-mouth- watering” gelato  at Amici or the “to die for” Orange cake at Bellini’s. It’s been a while since we had dinner at Burgoo at Gateway mall. It used to be our favorite place for celebrating birthdays and such other special occasions.

A close friend sent me this wonderful message today. Would love to share it with you.

Once upon a memory
Someone wiped away a tear
Held me close and loved me,
Thank you, Mother dear.

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Goodbye FRIENDSTER

Just learned lately that I have until May 31, 2011 to save all my files at Friendster including several  photo albums and around 64 blogs most of which are not posted here at WordPress. I take it they are closing the site, so I’ll just say, “Goodbye Friendster.”  Maybe  I am just being a bit sentimental here because it is the first social networking site that I joined long before Multiply and a few years before Facebook. I am glad that they made an option to export everything to other sites. I have successfully transferred all the  photo albums at my Multiply Media Locker but I am just choosing some blogs that makes me smile, remembering the times I wrote them more than three years ago. So far, here are two which I found interesting and I am posting them here  so I won’t forget.

GLIMPSES…from the heart.

A friend says that it is the luxury of time that we lack nowadays and I say, if you allow yourself to think like that, then you would never enjoy the little things that contribute to the wonder of living. Give me the pleasure of watching the sun rise and visiting some place like Batanes and I would gladly trade it off with a three-course meal at Burgoo’s and a cup of latte at Starbucks.

Some people whine at every obstacle they find. They probably climbed the mountain too high and never noticed the beauty of the wayside flowers along their way nor the melodious tune of bird songs somewhere near. Life is a rat-raced competition, alright, but then in order to live fully, we must strike a balance between eking out a living and nourishing our souls.

Moments of bliss touch us everyday of our lives. The trick is to open our eyes and feel with our hearts. A few nights ago, as I was feeding our dog Boo, I noticed the myriad twinkling of night stars high up.I tried to locate the Big dipper just like what our science teacher taught us in grade school. Here in the city, seldom do we see such an array of night lights like these. I felt quite small but proud to witness another wonder of God’s creation.

Yesterday on my way home from a party with my high school friends in Kamias, I passed by Robinson’s Galleria Foodcourt. There was on ongoing concert at the activity area, a group of three young men and a lady playing instrumental music. A kind of music that tease the senses and touch the hearts. They were about to start “The Promise”. Remember the song from the movie with the same title and the equally touching book of Danielle Steele? That book is a “must re-read” for me every time the red colored days of February come near. A sort of getting in touch with my romantic side and affirming my previous love for tear-jerker books and movies from way back. That song was followed by several more almost all of which brought tears to my eyes. It was truly an unexpected gift from above. I left the mall feeling uplifted – can you imagine that kind of sensation like you want to smile at everyone you meet? Or hug yourself because you were simply elated?

When winter ends, there is always a promise of spring. (February 10, 2008)

 THAT’S MOM

Gee! Mom is temporarily staying with us (maybe for about a week) and my kids are glad she is here again. We only see her every three months now when she goes to her internist for her regular check-up. Since we lost Dad almost a year ago, my brothers and I have become so overprotective of her. It’s kind of different now that every time she arrives, Dad is no longer trailing behind. We were so afraid when Dad died, thinking Mom would not be able to cope with his demise. She kept saying that she could not live without him.

God is so good, although the pain still lingers fresh in all of us, mom is somehow slowly taking stock of her life again – a new life without the man she’s been married to for fifty-four years. Time heals really, although there are moments when she just look at Dad’s picture and then she cries silently.

It’s hard to fathom the sense of loss she is feeling now. I still can recall those times when Dad has finally retired from work and they went back home to the province. An inseparable pair, one would not eat without the other. When they watch TV, they still hold hands – an enviable closeness between two ordinary but loving couple.

I must admit, I am a Daddy’s girl but then the bonding between a daughter and a mother is very much different. I learned the more practical aspects of life from Dad, major decision-making that brought me where I am now. But with mom, the nurturing never stops even at times to the point of being a bit makulit. I do understand how it is with mothers being so protective and loving towards their children. I am a mother too.

I can’t exactly remember when she lost her sense of hearing, her left ear was affected. We brought her to the Center for Audiological Sciences at the UST Hospital for a series of tests. She never learned to use the hearing aide which we bought for her so until now, she only uses her right ear to understand what we are saying. She lately started complaining about muscle pains, headaches, and insomnia and I told her it’s part of getting old. She’s now seventy-nine.

Josef, my bunso (youngest child)  is closer to her than his other cousins. Maybe because the former is so malambing with her, always hugging, playing card games together and oftentimes watching National Geographic and Discovery channels. Her favorite card game is tong-its.

She loves gardening too and has her own small patch planted with several veggies like ampalaya, gabi, kamote and the usual things in a simple home garden.

That’s mom – a worrier, easily excitable, laughable at times, generous and loving – and I love her. 

By the way, her name is Carmelita. (October 12, 2008)

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Happy Birthday Mom

Today is mom’s  birthday. She’s 82 years old, but still looks hale and hearty for her age. Thank God for having a loving mom. All these years she is a constant figure in my life. Unlike Dad whom I could talk about anything under the sun when he was alive, she has her moods and not much of a story-teller but when  she is excited, she would give you every detail of their life in the province. At her age, she still gardens, planting  vegetables at our house in the province. She always say I am  a  better cook than she is because her knowledge of cooking is limited to the more familiar Pangasinan recipes.  I don’t agree, I always say to her because when we were kids, my three brothers and I, she could always whip up something mouth-watering in the kitchen. Moms are like that, they take the sidelines and let their kids shine.

I called her up early today.  Though she is hard of hearing, she said “thanks” for always remembering. She even told me that she won’t prepare anything today since her birthday falls on a Holy Wednesday.  Her favorite food is salad, any kind, be  it veggies, potato, fruit salad, or macaroni. She always has that big smile on her face every time I prepare something for her. So I cooked Pancit Canton for dinner to celebrate her birthday although she’s in the province. I didn’t put any meat but veggies, squid balls, tofu,  Sesame oil  and topped it with green onions from our backyard garden. It turned out good and yummy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  Wish you all the best always.

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Power Moments

I am in the middle of reading Power Moms, my fourth book read this year and a gift from my son last Christmas.  It’s another volume of  Chicken Soup For The Soul.   How do you define someone who’s on the go five days a week, wearing corporate attire the whole time and someone who, from sunrise to sundown stays at home and  work her way sorting piles of dirty clothes, keeping the house clean, sweeping the yard, preparing lunch, breakfast or dinner?  Sometimes, I hear friends say, “where do you work?” and when you answer that you are a stay-at-home-mom, they shake their head in disbelief and follows the question with , “so you are not working?”.  My goodness, if being on your toes twelve hours a day is not considered work, what is?

Life’s choices are yours to make. Ten years ago, I was one of those people who was  always in a hurry to catch a ride at 7am  just to get to the bank where I worked on  time.  Housework was always relegated to a domestic help.  Ten years ago, I opted for an early retirement, a major decision that I didn’t regret.  Back then, my oldest kid was only starting college and my youngest was in grade school.  Having only one breadwinner in the family  was quite hard but we learned to adjust.  Those years  spent  close to my growing kids were quite the best years of  what I call “being a mom”. There is a big difference when you personally supervise everything at home, take care of their needs and  you are always  available to them when they need you.  Being a mom is not a nine-to-five job, being a mom is forever.

Yes, if there are power moms, we have those power moments too.  I would just want to share the last time I cried buckets because of sheer joy.  My  two kids and I graduated from the same university.  Compared to them, I was  a working student when I was in college.  My daughter was a consistent honors student from preparatory school to university and my son was in the honor roll until high school.  You can just imagine my proud smiles every time I went up the stage to accompany them during school’s closing exercises.  The best thing though was when my daughter graduated from university.  Hubby (who was then working abroad) and I were not exactly expecting that she graduates on top of her class, we were just so glad that finally, we have a daughter who was about to earn a college degree.  A week before graduation, my daughter was busy scouting and submitting CVs to some companies while waiting for the big day, then I got this call from one of her professors. He told me that they just finished their deliberation and my daughter was graduating as Magna Cum Laude. Wow, I could not speak, she made it.  The Latin honors indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree was earned.

• cum laude, meaning “with honor”
• magna cum laude, meaning “with great honor”
• summa cum laude, meaning “with highest honor”

Hubby came home just to attend the graduation.  It was the first time I set foot at PICC  (Philippine International Convention Center)where the graduation ceremonies was held. We were seated in front of the stage, a privilege for parents whose kids were included in the honor roll. She was the only one in her batch of Communication Arts majors who graduated  Magna Cum Laude and she was also awarded the recognition for Academic Excellence two weeks before graduation.

That’s what I call my power moments, when you are proud that your children have achieved something on their own. The day she came home to learn about the good news was the same day she was offered her first job.

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An Advanced Birthday Gift

Nissa came home carrying two large paper bags of  Girbaud and I was curious what she bought this time.  Girbaud is one of her favorite shopping stores at Robinsons’ Galleria.  One was a  pair of shoes for Josef, a late  birthday gift.   Then she said that the other one is supposed to be a surprise gift for me so I asked her, “then why are you showing it to me?”. Then she said, “nosey, nosey si Mama”, and she assured me that I will surely appreciate it.   She bought me a bag,  in the same color as my newly-bought pair  of Skecher’s Tone-ups slippers.  How nice!  And the bag is big enough to fit  my camera, journal and  small make-up bag. 

It’s supposed to be a birthday gift for me but  my birthday is still  four months away. I told her, by the time you give me that, my slippers would look old and worn, as in “hindi na bagay”. She smiled and gave me the bag, reminding me to remind her  that she already bought a gift for  my next birthday.  We had a good laugh over this…haha!

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A Treasure Find

Just arrived home from a  few hours of  shopping alone at Metro East Mall.  Hubby was kind enough to drop me there  and  came back to share lunch with me later.  I was looking for some gifts for a friend who had her birthday last month and  for my mom’s 81st birthday on Tuesday,  April 20.  Yes, that’s how old my mom is and we are so lucky that she is still with us and except for occasional pains of her arthritis, she is doing fine.  Finding that perfect gift for her is a  little difficult. I want to give her a gift that she could really appreciate and  something that would last for a long time.  Anyway, I had the whole morning to do it and still visit my favorite shopping destinations, National Bookstore and Booksale.  It is quite a delight to see that the latter now carries hardbound books, some of them are still in their original plastic cover.  I have to scour every nook and cranny to see if I could find something worth-buying.  I have to restrain myself because I saw several hardbound gardening books which cost the earth at NBS but Booksale sells them from P250.00 to P500.00 max. All my books  on gardening were washed out during typhoon Ondoy so I have to start from scratch all over again.

And if you are wondering what my treasure find was, here it is.  Something I’ve long wanted to own but just like gardening books, it costs sky-high too.  I am quite enamored with Thai cuisine because Thai food is fresh-tasting , healthy and the ingredients are easy to find.  They use a variety of cooking  ingredients  be it on their salad wraps, Thai rolls, Satay, Barbecued chicken, stir-fried vegetables.  One thing I find truly unique in Thai cuisine are their different dips and sauces.  You can find a matching dip or sauce for every menu set on the table.  Thai  food must have that right combination of the four primary tastes:  sweet, sour, hot and salty.  They are also fond of using coconut milk, curry paste and rice noodles.  And don’t you just love their Jasmin rice?  Just like here in our country, rice is an important ingredient in Thai cuisine.

For the price of P250.00,  I am so proud to have found it.  It was still covered in plastic and a bonus pack  of notepad, stickers, recipe cards and splash guards are included inside.  It’s a wonderful, wonderful find. There is a metric chart at the last page,  a very helpful index page, and some Chinese, Japanese and Korean recipes too.  I am sure Nissa would be so thrilled by this  because about three or four days ago, she just bought two books, Le Cordon Bleu’s, The Cooks’ Bible and Kitchen Essentials. She and some close friends are booked on a  Thailand food trip this coming June.

Yes, I was able to buy gifts for my mom and my friend,  and they are now neatly wrapped and labeled.  Sometimes, it’s good to be alone when shopping, because you won’t have to worry about time  or of someone waiting for you.  It surely was a very productive day for me.

And here is something you can try.

Shrimp, Mushroom and Omelet Soup

10 to 12 dried shitake mushrooms (about 1 pound)

3 eggs

1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives or minced green onion tops

2 tsp. vegetable oil

3 cans chicken broth

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

12 ounces medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 cups lightly packed spinach leaves, washed and stemmed

1 tbsp. lime juice

red pepper flakes

1.  Place mushroom in bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand 30 minutes or until caps are soft.  Meanwhile, beat eggs and chives in small bowl with wire whisk until blended.

2.  Heat 10- to 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil and swirl to coat surface.  Pour egg mixture into pan.  Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook, without stirring, 2 minutes or until set on bottom.  Slide spatula under omelet; lift omelet and tilt pan to allow uncooked egg to flow under.  Repeat at several places around the omelet.

3.  Slide omelet into flat plate.  Hold another plate over omelet and turn omelet over.  Slide omelet back into pan to cook other side about 20 seconds.  slide back into  plate. when cool enough to handle, roll up omelet. slice into 1/4 inch wide strips.

4.  Drain mushroom; squeeze out excess water.  Remove and discard stems.  Slice caps into thin strips.  Combine mushrooms, chicken broth and oyster sauce in large saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil  over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cook 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add shrimp and cook 2 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and opaque.  Add omelet strips and spinach; remove from heat.  Cover and let stand 2 minutes or until spinach wilts slightly.  Stir in lime juice.  Ladle soup into bowls.  sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Quite easy to do. Makes 6 servings.

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A Special Bond Between Mother and Child

It was back in the 90’s when I was introduced to the Chicken Soup for the Soul books by the bestselling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.  I have about five volumes in my shelf, mostly gifts from close friends who are also book lovers like me.  I enjoyed every story contained in those books – stories that really warm the heart and uplift the soul. I even entertained the idea of contributing some articles back then but for some reason or another, they never materialized.  Every now and then, I go back reading those books though, life’s lessons are always touching, they give you that certain feel of being in touch with your inner self, they teach you to be the best of what you are and what you can become.

Last night, my daughter surprised me with a volume entitled Chicken Soup for Mother and Daughter Soul. It was on loan from their Stress  Management office.  So I began another journey – stories of a special bond between a mother and a daughter.  In the words of Jacqueline Mitchard, the author of The Deep End of the Ocean (another book in my TBR list); “the first bond, primal and durable and fraught, the relationship some of us believe will cut the pattern for all other relationship life ever offers, is displayed in this volume.  And the bear witness to motherhood and daughterhood in ways that we are powerless to resist. We laugh, we cry, we identify. We remember!” Oh yes, I could definitely relate.

I have a 26 year-old daughter, presently working as Asst. Manager in the oldest bank in the country.  I can still vividly recall the time she graced our lives one September morning  twenty six years ago.  I got complications when I got pregnant with her. It was touch and go for a while for both mother and child.  We prayed hard for her and it was an answered prayer.  During my seventh month of pregnancy, I was hospitalized due to pre-eclampsia. I stayed in the hospital for one long month until her birth was induced on the advise of my OB-Gyne.  She was a fragile baby, born prematurely at eight months, a tiny 3.9 lbs. at birth.  Looking back, I am reminded of the things we went through and I am very proud to have  a loving, sweet, and a very responsible daughter.

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