Mommy's Mini-me

I’ve been eating Conti’s chicken pie for the last three weeks or so. Every single day. And the funny thing is I don’t get sawa. Well that’s the (good?) thing with me, if I like something so much, I will never lose interest in it. There won’t come a day when 'my like' will finally bore me.

Having said that, M, I will never marry you. I don’t like you, at all. We’ve been together only a couple of times, and already I am sawa with you. Like I don’t want to see more of you anymore. The more I see you, all the more I get tired of you. So there is no chance in hell that I am going to be “Mrs. M”... No matter how much my mother thinks you are appropriate. Never mind that my friends tell me you are going to make me a “queen”. I don’t care that you are filthy rich! Because quite frankly, I don’t need your money to make me happy. It doesn’t have to be Le Souffle for me everyday. I can live on a 22-peso Conti’s chicken pie alone.

In fairness to M, he really is a great guy. Most girlaloos actually consider him quite a catch. And M is every mother's dream son-in-law. The guy is incredibly intelligent, comes from a decent family, is really religious, he’s handsome in a conventional way, and of course like I said, he is freaking loaded. So really, what’s there not to like, right? Maybe I’m just crazy. Make that extra crazy. But no matter how hard I try to tell myself that M is all that, I still couldn’t find it in my heart to love him. Sure, on paper, M is my perfect 10. He's got all the attributes of a guy that I have always asked Mama Mary for. But when he is there, right in front of me, M just doesn't do it for me. There is absolutely no chemistry, and I don't get even the slightest bit of kilig. I am not feeling anything, period. I don’t know if I don’t love him because I DON’T LOVE HIM, plain and simple as that. Or I don’t love him because I am in love with someone else...

Sad thing is, I would probably end up with this M guy eventually. You see, I do whatever my mother tells me. Growing up, I was trained to never question, and to always say 'yes'. I am 21 years old and I still ask my mommy what I should order from the menu, what dress to wear for a hot date, and who I must date. To this day, mother dear still has a strong hold on me. She has always been the voice inside my head -- telling me what to do, what not to do. That is why I don't really have a mind of my own. But how I wish that sometimes, she will entitle me to follow my own feelings. But then again, I am my mommy’s little battery operated robot. And robots are not suppose to feel anything... But I am not complaining. I know that my mom only want what's best for me. And the "mother knows best" theory is what keeps me hanging on.

Nightmare

My best friend Chiqui and I have a strong connection (that's why we're BFF's, duh!) It's like we've got this ESP thing going on. We could go without talking for weeks, yet, we still can somehow sense what's happening with each others lives.

Ever since Chiqui had a new boyfriend, we don't get to talk as much as we want to. She'd rather talk to her boylet, that's why! Yes, I admit, I am jelly! Hahaha! No, but the guy is nice naman and he treats her right, so I guess he's fine. Biglang bawi eh! ;-p So anyhoo, since we haven't been talking lately, she's not updated with the going-ons in my love life. I haven't had the chance to tell her about M, so besty doesn't know that he even exists in my orbit.

Last Valentine's Day however, Chix sent me this uber long text message telling me that even if she has a boyfriend na, I'm still the love of her life blah blah.. Dapat lang! Haha! Then she finished off her text by making kwento that she had a Vday dream about me. "You know in my dream you were about to get married. In our former school's ground. I didn't know who the guy was, basta all I know is that you dont like him. Papano ba naman nag mamaktol ka during the entire wedding ceremony!"

Ohmygulay! Even if I'm super dooper close to Chiqui, I never told her that I always fantasized of holding my wedding at my old school's lawn. It has a nice garden you see, that's why I like it there. I never told Chix this because being the copycat that she is, she might make me kopya! Hahaha! Seriously now, so maybe there's some truth to her dream. I will get my dream wedding location, but not my dream guy...

Mama Mary please don't make this dream come true, please don't make this dream come true. Because if it does, all my childhood dreams of happily ever after will be shattered :-(

FATHER Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

I met my students' parents today. Most of them, I already know. I’ve seen them a couple of times before. There were a lot of new faces though. Handsome faces. There was one father in particular, who really stood out. This Daddy-O breezed through the room, looking every inch a dashing debonair. Turned my head, oh yes he did! Whatta yummy daddy indeed! Well not that I like him (Eek! He is very much married, FYI) I’m just saying... ;-p

So now I’m looking forward to more PTC's… and maybe coffee sometime? Holy cow, I can’t believe I'm actually entertaining lustful thoughts as such! Blame it on his killer smile. And broad shoulders. And dreamy eyes...

Brownie Monster

My nephew Enzo had french onion soup, three pieces of dinner rolls, and a slab of steak with a dollop of mashed potatoes for lunch. Two giant scoops of vanilla ice cream capped off his hearty meal. Thinking he's got a full stomach already, I decided not to offer him the fudgy brownies that I made earlier that day anymore. He's got enough food inside his big flabby tummy to last him for three days anyways. And eating some more might actually cause him to puke. But then upon seeing my basket full of brownies, he rushed over to me. Using his most irresistibly cute voice he asked "Tita Rowbeckaah, did you bake that for me?" With matching beautiful eyes pa yun ha! You've got to hand it to this kid, he really knows how to put those puppy dog eyes to use. I gave Enzo a chubby chunk of brownie and he scarfed it down like there's no tomorrow! Then he asked for more... and more... and more! It's such a joy baking for Enzo. Actually, it's a joy doing anything for him / with him.

Here's a photo of Lorenzo enjoying my Chocolate Fudge Brownie:

Face Value

Later that afternoon, our little group of five was joined by a few more kids - children of my second cousins. I noticed that these kids were frequently bickering and they have a tendency to get physical if they don't get things their way. Seeing that the other kids were playing rough, I warned my niece “Fi, don’t play na lang with them. They’re kinda rough.” To this Sofia replied, "I know, I can see it in their face!" Ha-ha-ha, biatch!

Puppy Love

It’s always such a blast hanging out with my pamangkins: Sofia (8), Darsi (6), Enzo (3) and baby Julia (1). We spent the entire afternoon playing, making silly faces, blowing kisses, and munching anything yummy. Oh and we also did some catching up on each others lovelives. Correction: their lovelives. Yup, nine and seven-year-olds do have lovelives. Tinalo pa ako!

Lovelife No. 1: I was teasing Sofia about Marlon, her mestizo neighbor at their beach house in Anilao. She gets all defensive, and denies to death! Fi tells me how much she hates the boy-next-door, and that she doesn't find him cute at all. But the blush creeping up her cheeks tells me otherwise. "The more you hate, the more you love". Yan and drama ni Sofia!

Big Babies

Lovelife No.2: Darsi's so cute. He thinks he's in love with his classmate Maricris. His yaya Meldy confided "Two years na nya crush yun, simula kinder. Pag magkatabi sila, ay nasa langit na yang si Darsi!" Then big sister Sofia chimes in "He even told our dad 'Poppa, I want a wedding', but I told him to cut it out because he's still very young. He can just love her again when they are already in highschool." Darsi's barely out of diapers and already he's talking about wanting to marry. How adorable is that?


Lovelife No. 3: Well I don't know if you can actually call it "lovelife". To me, its more of a case of being maniac! While playing with Enzo, he grabs my boobs then shouts "Mine!" Then he lets out a naughty grin. His yaya Tata tells me that he does that to just about every girl that he comes across. Tata then proceeds to tell me more "boy bastos" moments of Enzo. Honestly, I found her stories of Enzo's pamboboso really really amusing. Heck, the boy is three years old, he can get away with it!

Little Einstein

Luis: Teacher Becky I know na how to spell the name of our car!
Me: Really??? Well let me hear it...
Luis: B - M - W
Me: My my! I think you're all set to win the Nationwide Spelling Bee!

Hearing Luis spell out the proper noun "BMW"... oh my... this has got to be the proudest moment in my entire teaching career *sniff sniff* Aren't my students the bestest among the restest spelling-ers or what?! Well what can I say, I taught them well.