Ready For Christmas

I am giving this blog a facelift and to give it some Christmas spirit. This theme is just for the coming Yuletide season.

Our Conjugal Dwelling is 4 Years Old Now!

It was Novemeber 28, 2004, Friday, at around 5:00 o’clock in the morning (just in time for the sunrise) when we transferred  to our house – I mean, the conjugal dwelling which we purchased. We had no grand celebration when we transferred to our then new house. But, as a matter of tradition, we brought rice, sugar, salt, spices, bread, pork, sausages and other foods. We were told by some old folks in our subdivision that we had to bring those things so we will be blessed with more blessings in our days to come. We did what we they told us to do, there was no harm in following some traditions.

I still can’t believe that four years have already passed since we started living in our house. It’s as if we have just started occupying this house yesterday for no much renovations have been made ( it’s the budget that’s constraining us from doing so!). I hope, fingers crossed, next year we will be having some home improvements again. Wish us luck.

Art Attack With Kendra

This is a product of my daughter’s imaginative mind. She used her clothes, socks, sandals, bottle cover tops, and hat to make this child. I was surprised to see this.

I like it when some of posts are re-posted in other sites. It means that other bloggers do take time in visiting this site. Recently, my SOUND TRIP post was re-posted in www.celebritycelebrities.com while my SUNDAY IS JOLLIBEE DAY post was re-posted in www.adrian.freetimesmedia.com. Thanks guy!

My Philippine Stamps

My notebook covered with Phillipine Stamps

Twenty one years ago (the year was 1987), I happened to make a notebook made out of ordinary bond papers glued together with hard cardboards as back and front covers. I then placed Philippine postage stamps on its face to make it more beautiful. Those stamps were taken from the letters or cards I received from friends and relatives as well as from some of the letters sent to our family. Collecting those stamps at that time were merely done for the purpose of covering the said notebook without even thinking that in due time stamps will become (almost) a thing of the past. I am so glad to have found my notebook still in good condition unlike my other things which were all destroyed by the mighty rodents which have the prowess to cut papers into tiny pieces.

 

 

With the change of time, letters sent through the post office is becoming scarce. The mode of sending letters and messages is now easier and faster compared to the olden days.  Text messages sent via the mobile phone and telephone are more common these days  and e-mail messages is the best option for sending messages for those who are living in the other side of the world. If decades ago it took months before one’s message is passed on to other people, now it just takes seconds to get new messages. That’s the wonder of improved (and constantly improving) science and technology. On the other side, only few people receives snail mail and only few people now have the opportunity to see the beautiful stamps on their mail.

 

I am quite fortunate to have collected Philippine stamps during the early years of my life. I appreciate more the beauty and significance of these stamps as it age (with me).

 

The earliest stamp that I have has the face of Jose Rizal, our national hero, with scripture saying “HELP ME STOP SMUGGLING.   Pres. Marcos” and the amount of postage was just five centavos (P.05). Another stamp which is quite old is a brown colored six centavo (P.06) stamp with the official seal of the province of Capiz on it, then the ten centavo  (P.10) stamp with Father Jose Burgos on it.

 

From a mere notebook cover, these stamps will now have its better place and much better presentation. It will become now a piece of artwork, framed, and hanged in the living room for everyone to see.

 

This is one of my many ways to say that I am proud to be Pinoy!

My Pen Collection

Some of the Pens Collected

Whenever somebody – be it somebody special or not – gives me a pen as a gift or otherwise, I have this habit of keeping it. I don’t mind whether it’s cheap or expensive, branded or not. What matters most is that it’s from somebody. I never considered collecting this nor did I fully understand why I have been keeping these stuffs. I came only to realize that I was into pen collection when I saw a couple of pens in my drawer. Some of the pens which have been with me for a long period of time now – some of which has been in my drawer for more than a decade now- are the following:

 

• The PARKER ballpens and sign pens which were given by my brother in law, my father and my husband. Two of them are in still in their original package, meaning it have been left unopened and unused.
• A red CROSS ballpen (not from the Red Cross!)given by my bestfriend Haidee and a CROSS sign pen which was given to me by . . . never mind, he became insignificant many years ago.
• The first set of silver pens purchased by my husband when he was still a freshman law student with his name engraved on each pen.
• A gold plated pen with my father’s name engraved on it, of course given by my father.
• The incredibly lucky pens used by my husband when he took the bar exams. The same pens which made his penmanship readable, although not necessarily beautiful, that captured the blurry eyes of the examiners who all gave him passing marks.
• A lot of freebie pens mostly coming from pharmaceutical companies and originally given to my doctor sister and were in turn given to me.
• Many ordinary pens either bought by me or by my husband just for nothing.

 

Ironically, those pens end up in their cases inside my table drawer. I don’t write much nowadays and my penmanship isn’t as good as the pens. Most probably, my penmanship will downgrade the status of the pens if I will use them. Hahahaha.