A balanced mix

Day 8: Who are you most like? Your mom or your dad?

In more ways than one, I am like my mom.   I look a lot like her.  I enjoy looking for mistakes in grammar. I'm scared of unfamiliar things and  I hate taking risks.  I love folk dance and folk music.  I enjoy the finer things in life.   I like teaching literature and I can quote lines from famous literary works at the drop of a hat.

In many ways I am also like my dad.  I like to argue, and I believe I can argue my way out of anything.  I can be a difficult customer, knowing fully well that I have every right to get my money's worth.  I can get very passionate about things, specially about things I believe in.  I love arts and culture and I find history fascinating.  I like dancing and singing and I love the audience's attention. I have the confidence to commit to things I have never done before. I love to write and I can write well when I have the time. My elbows, my toes, are things I also got from my dad.

So I guess I am actually a balanced mix of my mom and my dad.  However, I am also my own person, there are things I can do, things that I like, traits that I have which  didn't not come from either of them.


Who are you most like? Your mom or your dad?

Firsts

I am failing.

I set two challenges for myself this August -- to lose 20 pounds and to blog every day.

I have been eating a lot lately....thanks to the birthday of my son and all the leftovers.  Today, we went to the bookstore to buy a periodic table after classes and Ruel asked if I wanted some ice cream from DQ. I said no.  But the minute I saw his ice cream cone, my resolve melted faster than his ice cream did.

I did not post anything for two days in a row.  I've been busy with making exams for the kids and with my son's birthday.  I knew nobody was waiting for the linky so it was fine and there was no pressure for me to post anything.

I'm now forcing myself to post something in between chores.

Day 5: First

On the day after our wedding, we woke up to this -- our first sunrise.

first trip to Starbucks as a married couple (the night after our wedding)

                                                        first ice cream cone as husband and wife

                                                        first movie together as husband and wife


And we're still collecting firsts.

Sometimes We Have to Be Cruel to Be Kind : Day 2

Day 2: The most important lesson you learned from a teacher

I learned so many things from my teachers but  some stand out among the rest. Today, I am going to tell you about one of them.

When I was in fourth year college, we went on a religious retreat (we did this every year, actually).  That year the retreat was held in  Benguet....a town on the mountains, around 8 hours away from school.  We had to leave early.  Assembly time was at 6 am.  Departure time was at 6:30.  I've always been a punctual student, so I was so annoyed with my classmates who were still not around at 6:30.

We waited  for them for 30 minutes more...much to my dismay.  At 7:00, Sr. Viane, our teacher, decided we had waited long enough and that it was time for us to leave.

The bus exited the school gate. We hadn't been travelling for two minutes when one of my classmates suddenly said, "Sr. si Emily!" which is "Sr. it's Emily!" (not her real name) while pointing at a car traveling in the opposite direction.

Emily's  friends wanted us to turn around and go back for her. I was secretly hoping we wouldn't.  (Yes, that, I guess was my bad side.) I was excited and couldn't wait to get out of the city and see Benguet for the first time in my life.  Why waste time going back?!

When we were right in front of Magnolia House,  Sr. spoke in her gentle but firm voice, "We had waited for 30 minutes for her.  That is enough.  . In the real world nobody will wait for her.  She has to learn her lesson.  Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind."


Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.  That stuck to me.  As a parent, as a teacher, there are really times when we have to be "cruel" in a way.  It's hard, I know, it breaks my heart.  But we all have to do it once in a while so that the little ones we love will learn the lessons they need to learn.

What about you? What was the most important lesson you learned from a teacher?

A letter to the 9-year-old me

It's the first day of August, the start of the challenge I set for myself -- to blog every day.  The challenge is actually for me, but it is open to anyone and everyone who is interested. All you have to do is to link up. You can find the linky below.

  

Today's prompt is: Write a letter to the 9-year-old you.

Dear 9-year-old me,

on the day of my first communion

I miss you. I miss not having a care in the world, except taking quizzes and exams, or thinking of ways I can make my mom allow me to stay home on a school day, or how I can remain inconspicuous when I am in class.

I miss being good. I miss being hopeful for things to come, I miss having your blind faith, your innocence, your simplicity, and your rose-tinted glasses.

I miss the simple life you led.  I miss the afternoons you and Candy spent together in our terrace while eating atis or dalandan, or the Saturdays you spent with her playing house, hide-and-seek or some other game the two of you invented.

I miss the way you kissed and hugged Mom and Dad and the way they kissed and hugged you back.

I miss you but no matter how much I wish I could be you again, I can never be.  And though I can never be you again, somehow, you are still in me, and I guess you will always be, just like all my other younger selves will.  I am, after all, made up of several layers of me, just like those painted dolls that have several smaller dolls inside them.

You are, however, one of my favorites.  When I am prim and power, when I am satisfied with simple living, when I just want to please God, when I look at the world and think it's beautiful, I know that's you.  You make me a better person and for all those times you come out, thank you.

I love you, little girl.

30++ old you.


Check out other prompts for this challenge.