TOPAZ HORIZON

Proud daddy Vince said, "Why are you still keeping it a secret?"

Why indeed? So here goes:

We're pregnant again! We are so thrilled and happy and so excited!

We've known since my birthday a little over a month ago so that was the best birthday gift. Then we waited for a new ultrasound to check if Baby Chicken has a heartbeat and, hooray, the baby's heart is beating strong so the baby is the best Christmas gift, too!

Baby Chicken is the nickname of the baby now. We named our baby-in-the-tummy after candy (Vito was Jelly Bean, Iñigo was Wiggle, you know, like the sour worms) so this third baby was supposed to be Gummi Bear. But Vito took one look at this, saw the egg shape, and promptly said, "Hi, Baby Chicken!"

Hi, Baby Chicken! We can't wait to meet you! Be strong and healthy in Mama's tummy! We love you!

Have you watched Frozen? We watched it last week and now the whole house is reverberating with the soundtrack with everyone singing, "For the first time in forever," "Love is an open door," and of course, "Let it go! Let it go!"

Between Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, I relate to Elsa more. Maybe because I'm the eldest sister, maybe because we also have a family secret, maybe because I ran away from home, too.

Yes, I ran away. But it didn't start with me. The situation at home was so bad that my parents were the first to abandon ship. One day, they just packed up their clothes and our 10-year-old sister and they left. They left me, my younger brother, and my older brother and his wife and three kids. Yes, my parents left first but that's okay since we were all adults. I can't explain how bad things were but if it scared off my parents from their own house, then you must believe me when I say it was bad. I actually wish they had stayed away. Maybe my mother would still be alive today if she hadn't come back.

Anyway, I was left to carry the burden of that household. My sister-in-law helped but she had four other mouths to feed. She left soon after, too, but while I understand why she left, I do not and will never agree with parents abandoning their young children, and that's all I'll say about that.

Vince saw how my soul was slowly being crushed and he told me repeatedly, "You have to leave that place," but I was scared. "What would people say? I have no money. How would I live? Don't bad things happen to girls living on their own? My parents always said good girls only leave home if they have a husband. I don't have a husband. What would people say?" But the situation at home was getting worse and finally, one dark and terrible day, I packed up and left, too.

It was so sudden. There was no plan, no place to move into, no nothing! I had no money when I left and I took just a bag of clothes, shoes and books. Funny how when you need to leave, you suddenly realize you only really need a few things. I had no money at all but I had a job that paid just P8,000 a month (and my rent was 4K!), friends who helped me look for a place to stay (and it was actually a really nice place, too!), and of course my lifesaver Vince.

I lived hand-to-mouth for a while, often the electricity was cut off, sometimes I relied on my friends to feed me, sometimes my roommate and I scraped the sauce from a tin of tuna and laughed at how poor we were, and sometimes (not all the time!) when Vince and I ate out, I stuffed all the tissue paper in my bag because I couldn't afford to buy toilet paper! Haha! But I was finally having the time of my life. There was no money but, wow, I was alive! No fear, no guilt, no shackles, no pretense. I was free, I was happy, I was finally me.

Whew! Funny how a Disney movie brought me back to more than a decade ago! I'd actually forgotten that I ran away from home! But when Queen Elsa unleashed her power finally, I was just transported to that 24-year-old me, afraid at first then getting stronger with each day of freedom!



Not a Demi Lovato fan but I think this song is perfect for her and vice versa. She also broke out of that "perfect girl" image and I think she's much much happier now. Like me! Go watch the movie and tell me who you are: Elsa? Anna? Neither? Both? Have fun at Frozen this weekend!

I was too focused on Paul Walker's sudden death yesterday that I totally missed local celebrity news. Alam niyo naman ako, Hollywood forever! But here's what happened:



Wow! Wala akong opinion on the matter. I've never done juice cleanses, I've never gotten drunk senseless, and I've never slapped anybody. However, nangyari na sa akin yung nasa banyo ako and then there was someone banging on the door. Let me tell you, nakaka-stress talaga siya! Hindi ako kumakampi kay Anne but... nakaka-stress talaga yung nakaupo ka sa toilet tapos may kumakatok nang wagas sa pinto!

So dahil wala akong opinion, tawa na lang tayo!

Katakot!

Great idea!

Oy, si KC, maldita!

*all memes from Facebook, screencaps from Twitter and Instagram 

Every time Manny Pacquiao has a fight, Vince and I shop. If we were thieves, we'd have made off with millions worth of merchandise. I remember going to Greenhills some years ago and the stores were open but there was absolutely nobody there. No one at all. We waited at Fully Booked, browsing books, while somewhere in the store, muffled roars would rumble out. Finally, when the fight is done, the employees will trickle out and they're all happy and excited and then the malls would quickly fill up, traffic will get snarled up, and life in Manila goes back to normal.

This is how not normal looks like:



This last Pacquiao fight, we didn't go out. But it would've been nice to drive on a day like that!

* * * * * * *

This is my super duper, absolutely-can't-live-without-her, good friend, Nicole Romero.

We met when we were still working in magazines. Wow, that feels like a lifetime ago! I don't exactly remember how we became friends since she's much younger than me, but however we became friends, I'm glad we did.

Nicole is part of the Wine Night Gang, but we haven't gone out at night for years!

We go out for afternoon tea now haha!

Or lunch. Nicole also happens to be amazing in the kitchen. We're about to eat the yummy lunch she made for us.

She's fabulous with kids, too! My normally aloof sons are always charmed by her!

Friendship aside, I'm also glad Nicole came into my professional life when I needed to spruce up the beauty pages of the magazine I used to edit. The beauty pages then were horrible and boring and template-y. I'm not in the habit of hiring my friends but I was desperate, and I knew Nicole is really talented when it comes to styling products and writing about beauty. I mean, seriously, how many ways can you describe lipstick, right? This girl will astound you on how she can make lipstick sound like the sexiest thing in the world.

So I'm soooo thrilled that Nicole finally finally finally started her own beauty blog!!!

Ladies, check out Beauty & Sparkle!

To celebrate her foray into the world of beauty blogging, Nic is holding her very first blog event this December 7. The first of her workshop classes that she calls "Sparkle Series," the Nail Art Workshop will be held at I Do Nails at Eastwood Mall. The workshop will be all about trends in the mani-and-pedi world, how to care for your nails and help polish last longer, and tips and tricks on creating your very own nail art!


So exciting! Just click here to get all the details and to sign up! Hurry! Slots are super limited!

But wait! She's also giving away two precious slots to a lucky girl and her friend! Click here to join the contest!

And while you're at Nic's gorgeous beauty blog, do give her a warm welcome into the blogging world. I've been bugging her for years to become a beauty blogger because I just knew that someone with her expertise is needed but she was so hesitant. But now that she finally did launch Beauty & Sparkle, it's such an amazing blog! I love it! I'm sure you'll love it, too.

Have a beautiful week!


*The first photo and the last two images are grabbed from Nicole's blog.

* * * * * * *

It's been two weeks since Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda crashed through our country and that's been two weeks of me just glued to the news and on Facebook checking for updates, reading stories of survival and loss, forming half-baked opinions on shoulda coulda woulda's. I've been pretty useless as a result. My blogging duties forgotten (sorry, sponsors!) and it's only now that I'm working again.

These two weeks, the word "resilient" is being used a lot. Some hate it, some love it. However we feel about it, it's just a word that really does describe us Filipinos. I'd like to think, faced with the same circumstances, I'd be resilient, too. But the thought of losing my kids... Oh, I can't even face it. I don't know what I'd do should that happen as it happened to thousands of our kababayans. I'd like to think I'd be strong enough to move on but we'll never know until it happens and I pray to God that it never happens because I don't think I can take it.

There's been lots of "the survivors should do this" and "they should at least do that" or "I would never do that." I also thought that. "At least clear the roads! I'd never ever steal!" But quick on the heels of those thoughts are the whispers, "What if your kids are hungry? What if they are cold and sick? What if they had died?"

I like to think I'd be the type of person who rises up to the occasion. I've always been the person who stepped in when someone needed help, needed to be defended, needed money. I'm very calm and sensible. That's why I think that in the face of calamity, I'm not going to lose my head. But when my mother died suddenly five years ago, I was too much in shock to function. I was in shock for three whole days. My younger brother and sister were the ones who thought of entertaining the visitors at the wake, it was my husband and sister-in-law who fixed the financial matters with the funeral home, my aunts and cousins who fed everybody. I didn't do anything except cry.

So I pass no judgment on anyone. No one knows how they'll react to any situation until they're in that situation. No judgment! Well, except maybe on the government. But that's a whole new issue and I really don't want to go there.

And that's it! We all know how to help. There are dozens of fundraisers, charities, NGOs, volunteer work happening everywhere right now. How generous the Filipino spirit! God bless us all!

* * * * * * *
    

Maybe a daughter is not such a good idea after all. Because for us girls, our gender seems to always be defined by our looks, no matter what we do or accomplish. Boys seem to be free of that ridiculous baggage.


* * * * * * *

You know how in times of disaster, all the relief agencies say do NOT donate cans of food because there are no can openers and then you're at the supermarket so gung-ho to buy goods to donate and pretty much all the useful-will-not-spoil food are all in cans???

Sardines are a favorite food to donate.

Well. Watch this. This is so awesome!!!



Now you know. And now you're ready for anything.

UPDATE: OMG my friend said he just tried it out right now and ang hirap-hirap daw gawin! Yikes! Sobrang mega kiskis daw sa concrete! Baka practice lang kailangan, mga friends! At any rate, good to know!

* * * * * * *

When newsman Ted Failon was reporting on Saturday on what happened to Leyte when Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda roared through last weekend, he found it hard to define in Tagalog what a storm surge was. Naturally (since I am a lover of words), I just had to find out what it is.

It's daluyong.

source

source

The word brought to mind the old song "Iisang Bangka" by The Dawn, and I thought it was totally appropriate for the times.



And I love the words.

Kay dilim at kay ginaw sa kalawakan ng dagat
Ubod lakas kung humiyaw ang galit na hanging habagat
Ngunit buo ang puso mo'ng ang daluyong ay susugurin
Magkasama tayong katahimika'y hahanapin

Ating liliparin, may harang mang sibat
Ating tatawirin, daluyong ng dagat
Basta't kasama mo ako, iisang bangka tayo
Anuman ang mithiin ay makakamtan natin

Iisang bangka tayo, Pilipinas! Kaya natin ito! Please share this song to everybody!

* * * * * * *

I had been planning to write about my birthday last week over here at Topaz Horizon and our Disneyland trip over at Topaz Mommy but in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, I wasn't in the mood to talk about fun.

Actually, this weekend, I wasn't really worried about Yolanda. After all, we Filipinos are typhoon veterans. We know how to deal with typhoons. We get at least 20 typhoons every year! But when photos, videos and news reports started coming in on Saturday afternoon, I was in shock. I think everyone was. But I had a personal reason for being alarmed: My parents are from Leyte—Mama from Tacloban, Papa from Tolosa—and many of our relatives still lived there. They weren't responding to calls, texts and messages on Facebook. Just silence all weekend long.

Then finally this morning...

You know, I've been through some pretty nasty things. Life hasn't exactly been perfect. But it never is, right? But in recent years, I've finally learned to really believe in God and to trust in Him. Yes. I've been a Born-Again Christian since I was a child, was even a youth leader in my early 20s, but apparently I never truly believed in God. I allowed hate, bitterness, anger, resentment and fear to rule my life for almost two decades.

Only when I finally gave up control of my life to God (marriage, my mother's death, and the birth of my kids had something to do with this phenomenon!), did I realize that whatever storms we're going through, there is always hope, peace and joy if we have complete faith and trust in our Sovereign God.

Okay, I'm in a better mood! I've been seeing a deluge of interesting and uplifting stories on social media. These are my favorites:


Okay, newly engaged women! Here's your chance to wear a beautiful wedding gown and help out the typhoon victims! Makes me want to sell my wedding gown actually, like what Patty Laurel did last year for the Typhoon Pablo victims. Let me check first if it's still in good condition—it's been packed away in its box since 2007!

image source and story here

This is from Shekinah Eden. People failed to mention her Hollywood connection. She's Zachary Levi's sister! Anyway, she Tweeted that adorable photo of kids in her neighborhood. My goodness, aren't these girls so inspiring?

God bless these people! They were here to relax but they chose to help instead!

Here are some links I found re: guideline on donating in the most effective ways. The font is different because I copied and pasted from my Facebook:

Ok, I've been reading a lot about what to donate, etc, and everyone says DO NOT DONATE CLOTHES. Best pa rin daw is cash so that the proper agencies can buy the things the survivors need (tents, medicine, food, water, blankets, etc.). http://www.howstuffworks.com/10-worst-things-donate-after-disaster.htm

Eto pa. It says while everyone wants to help immediately after a disaster, it's also a better idea to donate waaaaay after the event. Right now, funds are being used for rescue and recovery but in the ensuing months, rebuilding happens. By then, no one cares anymore and the survivors suffer another "disaster". http://goodintents.org/disaster/the-dos-and-donts-of-disaster-donations

But here's a good list of things to donate that people don't think of. For example, underwear and sanitary pads. Oo nga naman! I think we should add diapers, tissue paper, toilet paper. http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/culture-causes/after-disaster-twelve-unexpected-things-victims-need

Okidoki, Pinoys! Let's do this!!! Don't give up. Don't lose hope! God bless us all!

* * * * * * *