Decisions, Car pool, and the Moon

Typing this on the iPhone app...

On my way home last night, thought I'd spend my time talking to God, which I should do more often by the way. The topic of decision-making came up. You know what he told me? Any decision will lead to something good.   Simple but profound. I hope that I've finally found the cure to my indecision.

6:55 PM, went through the toll booth. Since it was dark already and I had been stuck in traffic, I thought that it was past 7. I picked the car pool booth as it becomes a regular Fastrak lane after 7. Only after I had passed it when I realized that I just broke the law. Oops. Sorry. That dollar or so that I saved will go to my church tonight anyway.

Still last night, on our way home, we saw the moon like we'd never seen it before. It was huge and real close to the horizon. It was a dark yellow horizontal crescent. I may just be dumb but I thought the shadow cast by the earth was always vertical, no?  Maybe not. I guess it depends on the time of year and your location. Anyway, it was a sight to behold. I wanted to take a picture but my family didn't want me to as I was driving and there was no place to park. So I passed the house, hoping to catch it again somewhere else. Did see it once more but was partially covered by trees. But when we were finally in what I thought was a good position, it was gone. Just like that. Inside the house, I couldn't see it from any of our windows so I went out and walked around the neighborhood. But nope. It and the earth just moved way too fast. I was really devastated. Even got upset with my family for not letting me take the shot. But they were right. I just wished I took the shot when we saw it the second time. Oh well, whatever phenomenon it was, I'm thankful we got to witness it.

Jeopardy Kids!

I'm so bummed I need to vent.

We had registered Jed for the Jeopardy Kids! Online Test that was going to happen tonight at 5pm.  And guess what, we all forgot!  I guess we were all busy.  Jing, especially, was panicking trying to get something mailed out.  She remembered at around 5:05, called the house... But nope, too late.  Alex (hehe) would not let us in anymore.

Now we're hoping that there's another one before Jed turns 13.  If not, well, there's always the Teens Tournament.  He'd be the youngest but hey, this is Jed we're talking about. :)  Of course I'm proud of my kids!  Janelle is enjoying practicing Fur Elise as I type this.

All right, I feel better now. :)

Love and light,
E

P.S. Go Giants!!!

Paraprosdokians and Snoring

Nope, they're not related. :)  They just happen to be both on my way overdue to-blog list.  I guess you could say the subject is a paraprosdokian itself. :)

Let's start with snoring.  Sometime before June 10th this year, I had my latest breakthrough in terms of hearing myself snore (yes, I shamefully admit that I do snore).  I opened my eyes!!!  I was so careful in opening them so as not to disrupt my snoring and I did it!  Snoring with eyes wide open.  It still sounded muffled, btw.  So there I was, just observing what was happening internally.  At first, I thought it was just because my tongue was touching the roof of my mouth but eventually (after successfully reproducing it while I was up and wide awake), I realized it didn't have to be the case.  It's really just the air pushing against the back or middle of my head cavity (or whatever it's called).  But alas, I still don't know how to prevent it (without the aid of those nose sticky thingies... which I've never tried myself).  That will be the next breakthrough. :)

On to the next so-totally-related topic... It's really just a copy & paste from an email from Jed's former (and wonderful) teacher, Ms. H.  I could have put them in the Joke Book blog but I don't feel like maintaining that anymore.  So, here they are.  I admittedly don't get some of them... or at least I don't find them worthy of being on the list.  Have fun!!!

Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected, frequently humorous.

 1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

 2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

 3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

 5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

 6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left..

 7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

 8. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

 9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

13. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

16. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

17. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

18. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.

19. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

21. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

23. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. Amen

 And some more... 

1. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one now.
2. "If I am reading this graph correctly — I'd be very surprised." 
3. "You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing—after they have tried everything else." —Winston Churchill
4. "On his feet he wore...blisters." 
5. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." 
6. "A modest man, who has much to be modest about." —supposedly Winston Churchill
7. "If I could just say a few words... I'd be a better public speaker." 
8. "I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." 
9. "I sleep eight hours a day and at least ten at night.

Btw, Curiosity is now on Mars.  I hope it runs into friendly Martians.  Good luck to you, amigo!

Love and light to everyone,

E 

Judgment Day... not!

I have a bunch of other things to blog. I'd normally add any new stuff to my "to-blog" list before it gets on here but I have to post this one now before it gets stale.

In the latest issue of "The Week", they said it was a good week for the human race because the end of the world did not happen yesterday. But there was an Editor's Note saying they filed the item several days earlier and would print a correction if it was wrong. Don't know if it was meant to be a joke but if it did happen, how would they be able to print the correction?

Btw, yesterday happened to be Janelle's First Communion, too. Earlier on, Jed asked, "Isn't it ironic that Janelle's First Communion and a friend's son's Christening [names intentionally withheld] are happening on Judgment day"?

Fortunately, our good Lord did not let the latter happen. Or maybe something did end and we are now in the new world. Nothing but good stuff now. What? It pays to be optimistic.

Love and light to all,
E

Happy New Year!

Thank you, 2010! Welcome 2011! May you be full of love and endless blessings for everyone!

Let's start the year with laughter, shall we? I was going to add these to the Joke Book blog until I found out that I hadn't migrated it to the new "system". I'm not in the mood for it so these shall be here for now (or ever).

Here's the first: There are three types of people... those who can count and those who can't. (I'm trying to recall a similar joke about binary numbers but I'm failing big time... maybe next time.)

And here's the second one:

The Hearing Aid
Buddy 1: Hey bud, check out my new hearing aid! I'm so happy I got it... top of the line, baby!
Buddy 2: Oh yeah, how much was it?
Buddy 1: (looking at his watch) 10 o'clock.

There you go. :) Have a good one!

Love and light,
E

Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice 2010

We just witnessed the lunar eclipse!!! Yoohoo!!! Right in our own backyard! I promised the kids I'd wake them up at 11:30 pm. And so I did. At first I wasn't sure since I couldn't see it from any of our windows. I had to step outside in front of the house. It was overhead, that's why.

Anyway, so all four of us went out into the backyard and witnessed it. We had both the still camera and the video camera with us. I had to go back in to get the binoculars and Jed, his glasses. I was able to film it but of course, it wasn't very good. We couldn't even get a good still shot. The clouds kept getting in the way, too. But we at least saw it for a good few moments. That was enough! I wasn't even sure we'd see it since it had been raining.

This is extra special because the lunar eclipse and the winter solstice happening at the same time is a rare occurrence. The last one happened on December 21, 1638. The next one will not be until at least 2094.

I see the moon and the moon sees me.
God bless the moon, God bless me... and you... and everyone... and everything.

Love and light,
E

Go Giants!!!

Woohoo!!!

E

P.S. The timestamp of this post is 11:37. 11 and 37 are the two numbers I see/notice most often. What's really up with that?

Hallelujah!

It's a 3-day weekend. Heh, that's just my excuse so I could have a good title. As usual, my to-blog list kept getting longer and longer. I got time now so let me take advantage of it.

Jing keeps getting these new baby offers and even milk samples. What's up with that? Either someone used her name to sign up for something or these baby product manufacturers are assuming we have a new one since Janelle is now almost seven. I have no clue.

We saw the American Idol concert last month... Jing's super ecstatic because she got to shake Lee DeWyze's hands. We actually got to see all ten of them up close after the concert and got them to autograph our tickets. I took pictures, too. But sadly, we had nothing but the iPhone. So the pictures were bad. Better than nothing.

Tim Urban was wearing this red watch which I suspected was a G-Shock. So I asked him and he confirmed it was. He said they gave it to him at the show. So, that night, I looked for red (and anything not black for that matter) G-Shocks all over the Internet. The red ones were not solar AND atomic. So, no, I'm not getting it. I might get a white one. Not sure when.

Janelle lost her first baby tooth on August 17th. It wasn't supposed to be the first one. Our dentist warned us that it might take a long time (could be years) for the replacement permanent tooth to come out since it wasn't ready yet. But it is making its way out. I'm so relieved! She lost the second one on September 1st. It actually had to be extracted because it still wasn't loose enough but the permanent tooth was growing fast behind it.

Speaking of Janelle, she was in a play in school. If I didn't blog about it, she and Jed were in another play a few weeks ago. We're so proud of them. I goofed with the filming though. I didn't get to film the last scenes I think and the bows and applauses at the end. I thought that it was recording all along. :(

More Janelle... she had a surprise visit from one of her best friends (if not THE best friend) a couple of weeks ago. We actually picked her up at her house and then her dad picked her up in the afternoon. Sadly, the other playdate we said they'd have hasn't materialized due to so many things going on here. And they're back in school next week!

K... for the big news regarding my singing career outside of church... hehe... Kuya Jong and I were front acts for Kuya Romy's musical play. Well, it wasn't his, per se. He and Bong acted and sang and danced and whipped!!! I had to look for songs to sing because I didn't really have a repertoire. I had to buy songs online. I ended up buying "Falling Slowly", "Hallelujah" (hence, the title :)), and "To Make You Feel My Love". I got to sing the first two on the first night. I was nervous with the first one but got to shake it off with the second one, mostly due to the crowd participation that the song just naturally lends itself to. Second night, we had the choir dinner dance so we didn't get to sing. Third night, just one song each. "Hallelujah" again, of course. Many of the choir members were present in the audience and were of course the loudest among the "Hallelujuah"'ers... Thanks, guys!

Among the choir members who were there were Kuya Arnie and Ate Sonia, who have recently moved to SoCal. :( But they'll still come visit us every now and then so that's cool! If you guys are reading this, hello! :)

Lastly, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We were there last weekend and what fun it was! Each of us genuinely had lots of fun! We got to bowl. And got on rides that were just different. Jed coerced me to get on stuff that I didn't think I ever would and could. Fireball, hello! And the glider thing... only, you're just going round and round. And the cyclone, when I saw it from a distance, I thought it would be the scariest but even small kids are allowed. That's because the centrifugal force pushes people against the wall so there's no way you would fall. You don't even have to hold on to anything. Jing and I also enjoyed the yummy but super-hot fried cheesecake. What else? Basta... It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (however it's spelled)!

That's about it! Happy Labor Day weekend!
E

37

I keep seeing the number 37. For several weeks now. What's up with that? Will we finally get a windfall of $37,000,000? Thank you, Dear Lord! :) I also see the odd numbers 7, 9, and 11 quite a lot. Let me see... maybe on July 9, 2011, we'll win the lotto jackpot, which would be $37 million. Yep, that day is a Saturday. Superlotto day!

Some people I've talked to say they don't want to be super-rich. I do. I honestly do. We could do so much with that much money. Besides being financially free, we could help the people around us: family, friends, and the world. Philanthrophy, research, travel, more time with family, further pursuit of interests, etc. I guess we'll know for sure what we will do with that huge amount when we cross the bridge. And mind you, it's a "will" and a "when". Can't wait!

Gotta hit the treadmill now. Love and light to all.
Ever

Dancing with the mirror

This is the first time that Jing and I followed "Dancing with the Stars" from the first episode. I don't remember why we were interested in checking it out. Could have been because of Pamela Anderson or Buzz Aldrin. Anyway, I even found it more interesting than American Idol (Jing's very very happy with Lee's win though). The Argentine Tango... wow! It seemed really funny at first... with all those leg swinging movements... but it ended up becoming my favorite dance (nope, I won't even try to learn it myself). And all three finalists chose it too for one of their final performances.

Nicole Scherzinger was really something. I had a feeling she had Filipino blood but didn't really bother looking her up until I saw her make the sign of the cross during the finals. So, after her win, I went straight to google and there you go, her dad's Filipino. Not that it mattered. Nicole and Derek made a GREAT team. Very creative. We looked forward to every one of their performances. I didn't even know Nicole. I knew a couple of Pussycat Dolls songs but had no idea which person that lead voice belonged to.

Anyway, enough about Nicole. The other topic, as the title suggests, is the mirror. One day, I just realized how I would always look at my left eye when looking in the mirror. When I tried looking at the right eye, I looked different, like a different person. I guess my two eyes don't look alike. So, now, I try to remind myself to look at the right eye. Maybe, by doing so, I would uncover more of my right brain... you know, the artistic, intuitive stuff. Maybe it's the key to finally knowing who we really are and what we're really here for. Hehe... this may strike you funny but I think it's worth "looking" into. Hmm, what if I should look at the point midway between the eyes? I'll try that, too. :) Anyway, if you're like me who tends to look at the left eye in the mirror, maybe it's time you tried looking at the other eye or somewhere in the middle.

'Til next post. Love and light.
Ever