summer

i just finished my morning walk around the village (4 rounds in an hour) and i feel good from the physical exertion, aside from the active meditation of clearing one's mind from the rhythm of one's walking.

i had a filling and delicious breakfast of fried and garlicked rice, sunny-side up, smoked hotdogs and fresh orange juice with Thea, Paolo and Redd (their cousin, who's slept over). Bea is still sound asleep.

i just finished taking pictures with my cellphone of Bea's makeshift clubhouse outside, which she built and arranged over the last two days.

Thea spent the whole night up on the computer, as usual, so after breakfast, she's now asleep. my teenage witch. : )

Redd is watching Spongebob Squarepants on cable tv, while Paolo must be out somewhere playing with the puppies. one of our four adult dogs recently gave birth to five puppies. that makes our canine pets 14 in all, excluding our only rabbit, Lucy.

Lucy and all our four grown-up dogs are females. while Lucy stays in her little cage just eating and getting fat, our dogs are very productive; we get like at least two births a year. most of the puppies we've given away. Thea has this black humor; she tells her friends that in the dog world, our home must be known as the "happy little whorehouse" as all the male dogs in the village have visited us, one time or another, to court our she-dogs.

after my shower in a few minutes, i'll be working on encoding the last two of the 134 news items for my MA project paper (yep, haven't finished yet; i've kept postponing my project paper defense!), so that i can start on data analysis this week, then write the whole paper over the weekend, so i can finally go through with my defense set for may 17 next week. my brother, Tope, and i will be defending our papers one after another; we decided to have the same defense schedule so we can split the costs of the snacks for the panelists. : )

next, i have other little To Dos lined up, as always; although i don't bash my self now when they don't get done as scheduled. i simply move them to another date or delegate them to somebody else altogether, when i can. sometimes, just doing nothing about them dissolves them away too. : )

this afternoon, the kids and i are going to the dentist's for our annual prophylaxis.

Stay in Joy. and, Let Go. i've kept repeating to my self since yesterday. a review of Joe Vitale's The Attractor Factor, which i finished last December 2005 yet. im giving my self these 3 days since yesterday to shift my energies to just Living in the Now again, and not think too much about the future and how i can prepare for it, worrying that i might not be too ready, etc.

it has mainly to do with M. i've manifested him and our beautiful relationship together (step 1, Decide What You Want). the last 10 months have been spent learning about each other and working through our doubts and our fears (step 2, Get Clear). now that we'll soon be together, i realized that we're moving into the last two steps-- Stay in Joy, and Let Go-- as the time for them has come. holding on, still discussing our relationship and where we want it headed, is passing. it's time to detach and let the Universe fully work its magic now. : )

it's interesting, though, how even the Universe playfully teases me about it now. as i consciously focus on not thinking about M and our relationship too much during these 3 days i've set for my self, the Universe leads me to situations where i am blatantly reminded of him. yesterday, i watched two films on dvd, Bride and Prejudice, and Little Miss Sunshine. both settings talked of the characters going to California, where M is right now.

okay, that's not too blatant yet. but consider this-- in Little Miss Sunshine, just as the credits rolled up, i was struck by a name on the executive production list. yes, you guessed it, it's M's first name, too. and then the next name that rolled up, had his last name!

i shook my head at that, and smiled ruefully. oh you, Universe, you!!!

later today, i'll post some pictures of Bea's clubhouse and the kids at home, to give a visual view of our day-to-day summertime bliss here. : )

oh, by the way, Paolo has his 3x MWF weekly volleyball lessons now, starting yesterday. the girls decided they just wanted to stay at home the whole summer and do as they pleased. Bea initially wanted to have swimming lessons, though, but after careful thought and my guiding her through her choices over the weekend, she opted for spending the P1200 set aside for the swimming lesson to buy some new trinkets, toys and new clothes instead. our little Ms. Efficient. : ) we agreed to do that when my next paycheck comes.

i'm enjoying my online Peace Journalism class with TPU, too. we are a small group of 7 course mates, from the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Philippines, and the exchanges and differences in perspectives as we learn together are very stimulating and enriching.

'finished submitting last week another short story for children, to the Palanca Awards this time; and that same story plus another one, after i've polished them, of course, to my publisher. 'just wanted to get these stories out so i can focus on starting new ones (my target is one story a month) starting June, when my one year's leave starts.

'have finished reviewing and approving the art for Tight Times, too, and yesterday, Adarna (my publisher) asked me to draft my brief bio and send them my latest picture and email address, for the book's blurb, even as they sent me the art for the book cover. Serj Bumatay, the winning artist, is great! all i did was gush over his art. nothing to "disapprove"... : )

the book will be launched on July 17, during the PBBY Salanga and Alcala Prizes' awarding ceremonies, during National Children's Book Day, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. : ) i'm taking Thea, Paolo and Bea with me to Manila to witness the event, this time (last time i could afford to only take Paolo, and with Mama's help, my sister Honey and brother Tope). i wish Mama and Papa would be there, too.

life is good. God is great. thank You, Universe!!!