wonderful day

i had a most wonderful day today, compared to yesterday, and all because before i slept last night, i decided i would not let yesterday's little episode get me down.

i woke up at 4am and went straight to studying for my Conflict Communication online assignment due this weekend. i was so focused and so engrossed, especially because of the little episode yesterday... and i found my readings very helpful, as i could actually see many ways for me to use what i have (re) learned about communicating amidst conflict, particularly as applied to yesterday's episode.

so i can see yesterday's episode in better perspective now, and can even find it within my self now to be compassionate about the other person, and not assign malicious intent to her for doing what she does. given this more magnanimous and "enlightened" state now, i can look on the little episode as being really what it is, a "little" episode indeed, with the gift of an opportunity for me to personally apply and see for my self what i have learned in peace work, and now, conflict communication.

by 9:30 a.m., paolo and i went to his taekwondo class at the mall, where i just dropped him off to proceed to my first cast meeting and script reading for The Vagina Monologues. i had an enriching and fun time there, meeting likeminded women and getting to do something different in my life, for a change.

we had a good reading, and we finished earlier than we intended, and i counted it as another blessing to have extra time in my day, which i usually don't get to have because of the many demands on my attention and energies. i used the extra little snippet of time to go to the public plaza to look for the photographer there who took thea's confirmation pictures a week ago. we were supposed to collect our pictures from him that afternoon of the confirmation, but after our vegan lunch with thea's confirmation godmothers, which extended down to almost 3pm, we forgot about collecting the pictures from the photographer at school. luckily he wrote his number on the receipt he gave us so i was able to track him down, call him up last night, and agreed to meet with him at his usual haunt at the public plaza.

i still had extra time left to fetch paolo, so i took my time driving and enjoying the ride. i practiced on my moan for The Vagina Monologues, trying out my kittenish moans in different ways. : )

when i got to the mall, i remembered another chore i put off doing last week, which is going to my optometrist to collect my new contact lenses and reading glasses. the extra precious time, doing things for my self, was bliss.

then, i met paolo at the arcade, where we agreed id pick him up. i went home to update Grace with Fire and had fun uploading the orchid pictures.

then, it was time to bring thea to her theatre club rehearsals, after which i went into my Conflict Communication MA class at the peace center. we spent the whole afternoon in very lively discussions and even came up with a class project we can do that would actually benefit our whole province for real.

when the class ended, my friend and the German consultant for the peace journalism project im involved in, A, presented me with a thick envelope while smiling at me with glee. i opened the letter and grinned back at her, too-- it was the official communication from the funding agency, informing us that our three-year project has been approved, to the tune of 70,000 Euros!!!

: ) : ) : )

so now i am here at home, writing on this blog. a while ago, thea read my Vagina Monologues script while in the car going home, and she loved it and enthusiastically invited her friend, who hitched a ride with us, to go see the show with her next Saturday.

in a while, our favorite dinner-- cansi or bulalo (beef stew with bone marrow meat) -- will be ready. the two little ones are on their Playstation 2 while thea is on the laptop next to me. we are all being who we are, doing what we want, in our home, our haven of rest and growth and much loving.

all is right with our world.

ooohh, thank You, God, for loving and blessing us so!!!