What I Did Last November 1

I just want to share what I did last November 1, that is a month ago.

So the morning, my family went to the Oton cemetery in where relatives of my Mom are being laid to rest.

When we arrived, there are still a few who are doing some cleaning and repairs which was supposed to be done days ago. This was the first time that my family went there morning, usually it would be afternoon or evening.

We have relatives that I don’t know where their place is, so I just lit a candle for them at the “Campo Santo.”

My son and daughter is really not aware what cemetery is for, so whenever they see me, they wanted me to take their pictures.

In Oton cemetery, this is where we usually visit;

My grandfather who I love and loves me so dearly. A known manghihilot in our area while he still have the energy to do so. With him is his 2nd wife, a sister or my real grandma.

My tito and cousin.

They are my relatives on my mother side.

Right after we lit candles and said our prayers for our dearly departed in Oton, we went home to leave my children and immediately go to Guimaras.

In Guimaras, this is where we usually visit;

This are my relatives on my father side.

My Lolo, who is the brother of my grandma and my Tito who is the brother of my dad who usually cooks fried chicken for me.

My great grandfather.

My cousin.

My great grandmother and her siblings.

My great grandmother is one of the few relatives of my Dad that is close to my Mom’s heart.

After that we went back home to Oton. It was a tiring day, but fulfilling one.

Today is My Mom and Dad’s Anniversary

Yes, it is but we didn’t have a grand celebration. Actually, we just celebrate it just like a normal day, but with a planned menu for lunch and dinner.  Tomorrow is my Mom’s birthday and it’s a Holiday – how cool is that?

Okay, so let’s get back to today. What happened? As I have mentioned yesterday, we will go to Lolo Mauring’s grave. So, we did. But before we did, we first went to Central Market to buy flowers to bring to Lolo Mauring.

A big thing happened at Central Market. You know they call it “dirty market” right? So, after we bought the flowers, while going back to the car, I TRIPPED! I called for my Mom who’s just a step ahead of me and I lost grip on the flowers, that fell in the sewerage. Eeewww right? The worst thing is that I bought WHITE flowers. So, a few parts of it turned black. My mom bought mineral water to clean it.

Okay, so what happened to me? Well, first thing that came into my mind when I tasted blood – “OMG my beautiful face, my lips!” Funny isn’t it? I didn’t feel a thing, I was just worried of my face. NOW WHAT HAVE I BECOME? Well, I left my Mom to pick up the flowers while I stood up and hurriedly went to the car to check my face. Oh, good thing didn’t do any damage on the visible portion.

I look down and saw my slocks is dirty. Actually, I was impressed with my slocks because it wasn’t torned but when I checked my knee. Oh there – just let me show you a pic to see it.

I changed to shorts when I arrived home, because it really hurts when the slocks touch the wounded part. Here’s a close-up look:

There you go. Yeah, it hurts now, but I didn’t feel anything when I fell. I was just thinking of my face and how gross it is that I fell on “dirty market.”  Enough of that – me being superficial (whatever you call it).

After going to Lolo Mauring. We went to SM and bought toys for the kids. Upon arriving, my cousin helped assemble the toys for kids to enjoy.

I am going to sleep now. Have a great day!

For the Souls – Better Late Than Never

Today, I was able to convince my Mom to pay visit and light a candle to a family on my father side. They live in another Island – Guimaras and therefore we need to ride a boat to be able to get to our destination.

My mom and I dropped my daughter Hannah to school, then we went to Atrium to buy a candle and food to eat. We then went to Parola in where the boats to Guimaras are available. We ate our breakfast in the car then went ahead on our travel. We arrived at Guimaras and Van approached us stating for Php 200 we are good to go. My Mom and I hopped in because we are in a hurry. We wanted to have a back and forth service using the said Van. But when my Mom asked the driver, “How much for a back and forth?” The driver took a long time to think, then answered “Php 700.” In a shock, I angrily get off the Van and I asked my Mom to do the same as well. Imagine, he would let us go to our destination for just Php 200 but going back would cost us Php 500? That just doesn’t seem fair for me. So when my Mom got off the Van, we looked for a tricycle. My Mom asked the tricycle driver, “How much for a back in forth to the cemetery?” The tricycle driver replied “Php 300.” We then got in and had our back and forth for just Php 300. Too bad the Van driver just lost a passenger because he was too greedy. He needs to work on his math!

Anyway at the cemetery, we lighted a candle for Lolo Ali who is a good guitar player, Tito Tamer who most of the people call Mommy Tamer even though he is a guy and he used to cook me fried chicken whenever I visit them before, my great grandmother who in the Philippines we call “apoy,” and to my cousin Mighty who has been such a brat but was a funny kid. May God Bless their souls and welcome all of them to heaven.

After all those things that happened in Guimaras, we were more than an hour late in fetching my daughter. I thank the teacher assistant they have for staying with her while we were on our way to fetch her.

Our day is not yet over in serving the departed ones. We went to a mall to buy a prayer card for our friend “Nong Agor” who passed away last October 31, 2008. I told my Mom that it was a good time for him to go since there would be a lot of his relatives that would fetch him to go to his final destination. We then have the prayer card delivered via LBC. I hope it gets there by tomorrow, as the LBC employee had informed us.

After all those things, we got home and I sleep together with my daughter. I slept the whole afternoon and I think since I will be back to work tomorrow, that was the last relaxation I could get for the month of November.

Here are our pictures today:

Oh and by the way, I noticed that I am getting bigger again. Some of my pants wouldn’t fit me. See:

All Saints Day 2008

Today is All Saints Day, and it is a Filipino habit to go to cemetery to light a candle on a burial grounds of our loved ones.

Here are our pictures taken this evening.

Maybe you are wondering where I am in the picture. Sadly, there was no one to hold the camera but me. So, I was the official photographer during the event and because of that, I am not on the pics.

As we arrived home, TV shows are about ghost and scary stories. My daughter is a scared and this is how she deals with it.

She uses a paper to block her sight from seeing scary things on the TV, but you may notice that she is still looking at it.

I think most of us are like her, we may not like or want what we see but for curiosity sake, we look at it.