She was nuts.

When I was a teenager preaching in small prayer groups all over the country, I’d see this woman sneak into the room—trying hard to conceal her face—carrying a mammoth of a tape recorder inside a white plastic bag over her shoulder.

And like clockwork, before I step down the pulpit, she’d sneak out and leave quietly, vanishing into thin air.

This woman would be present in every single talk.

I can only imagine the lunacy of this woman. If she wasn’t listening to me live, she was listening to me on tape.

So naturally, when I go home, I knock on my mother’s door and say, “Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, stop doing that! You embarrass me!”

My mother would open the door and with an innocent look that could win an Oscar ask, “Huh? What are you talking about?”

But behind her, I could already hear my voice being played from her recorder.

“Mom, you’re getting too proud,” I said, “and that’s pride just the same. Look at your room. It’s a national museum of my talks, my articles, my photos…”

Mom said, “Bo, don’t you know that God has given mothers an exception to that rule? Mothers can be very proud of their children.”

“Where did you read that? Vatican III?”

“Go away now. I’m busy,” she said.

No doubt about it. My Mother is the Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Bo’s Fans Club International.

Today, at 84 years old, she hasn’t changed.

Every Sunday, I preach three times at the Feast: 8am, 10:30am, and 1pm.

Would you believe? She attends all three sessions and listens to me preach every single time. Not content with that, before leaving the house on Sunday, she’ll first watch me preach at six in the morning on TV5.

And from Monday to Saturday, she wakes up really early just to listen to me preach through Radio Veritas at five in the morning. And in the middle of the week, she’ll ask my sister to put on the internet so she can watch me at www.PreacherInBlueJeans.com

Mom loves me. No doubt about it.

I also remember one thing about her…

Mothers Are Givers

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Martha is the youngest among the cousins in her dad side. While my kids are the only grandchildren on my side – my siblings do not have kids yet. However, we are very close to our cousins so my kids are close with their second cousins. In two months, we are going to have new babies in the family and I am excited to go gaga over someone and smell baby feet again!

I know my cousin the US just had her baby shower – they decided not to know the baby’s gender and wants to be surprised when she delivers. While my other cousin knows it’s going to be a girl! Baby Invitations just look so good especially in pink, don’t you agree?

I’m a bit sad holding baby shower parties here are not that popular. I only had a shower party when I had my first child. The second one didn’t have any. Planning parties for me is fun, if only I won’t be responsible for the expenses. Planning the details like the invites and decorations give me such a natural high – especially now that everything can be done online already.

For example, the invite you see above can be ordered online and you get free shipping too!

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We had a very tiring but fun-filled weekend.

We went to Manila last Saturday to attend the 7th birthday party of the kids’ cousin. We traveled to Manila while there was a HUGE downpour in Cavite. It was really bad that we had jackets on and since we drive a hummer, me and Edil got wet. Lo and behold, once we reached the borderline of Imus, there was Mr. Sun and it was hot! Poor kids. Really, really. The travel wasn’t all that bad but since we really have no choice for our vehicle, it’s like going on commute without the aircon. Going to Manila really takes up so much effort. Argh.

Anyhow, the kids forgot all about the inconvenience once we got to the party and their tantrums disappeared miraculously. Martha, even if she doesn’t get to see her cousins often, loves playing with them. She would often ask “Where’s Ate Yahoo Mom?”, “Punta Ate Yahoo Mom!” around the house.

**That’s the birthday girl with her younger brother. I made her invites too

The kids had a blast at the party. Since Edil’s family loves matching outfits, my sister-in-law bought identical tops for the girls cousins and had them printed CIA (cute intelligent angels) at the back. Of course, Martha, being the youngest, was the hardest one to coach during picture taking (I should take out the camera more often again).

(The Cousins)

After that, we went to our in-law’s place to catch up with each other and drink since Edil’s brother came from SG for his little girl’s party. We were supposed to go home even if it was late but Edil was so drunk (and so were his brothers actually) that I decided to sleep in – well, I had no choice because Edil was sleeping already

We went home around 10AM the next day and the kids were so tired from the heat. Lo and behold,10 minutes after we arrived at the house, there was a heavy downpour. Again. I’m not going to be surprised if we get sick, as long as it’s just the ordinary flu and nothing serious like mesothelioma!

We just heard Sunday mass and crashed. It’s Monday and I’m still so tired I want a massage. But there is work to be done. I need to make sure I ride the waves so get benjamins every week.

I need a weekend to recover from the weekend Enjoy your week.

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So we finally have a new DVD player. It is the cheap kind, one you get from CD-R King (where we get almost anything cheap gadgets). It’s only 990pesos as far as I can remember. When I went to Manila last Saturday, the husband gave in and bought one, because how can he entertain the kids with one TV and one computer only? Not when he needs to play Cabal all the time too! When I came home the kids were watching a movie on the TV. (It is so like the husband to scrimp on anything but entertainment. I have told him again and again we need a new rice cooker and new dryer, does he buy? NO. But he immediately bought tv stand when ours broke and got the DVD player once he realized he cannot take care of the kids without it – while I, working from home full time yaya that I am – survived without it the whole day in a month with the kids. That is 30 days people, I need an award for that!).

My kids are TV addicts – maybe because I don’t let them out of the house too often. I know I should encourage playing with toys because it reinforces imaginative play (and imagination is a good thing!) but when you are working and someone jumps on your back, makes kalabit your arm (who is holding the mouse when you do Photoshop) – that is such a BAD thing.

So for now, movies will do.

And might I just add, the the DVD player plays MPEG, AVIs and MOV files. If you are Torrent user like us, that means we do not need to convert movie files for TV viewing – it even supports USB hard drives. Kewlness. If this lasts for 3 months, it’s worth the money already

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I know this a very very very ultra-mega late post but I could not help posting these when I saw them again as I was busy organizing pictures (remember G got sick? I had to make myself at home with the husband’s computer) and saw these pictures from April. This was actually how our summer was – always at home because of stupid rains.

As you can see, almost every picture was taken in the house because I think the whole month of April it was just RAINING all the time. It was seriously frustrating and scary (because of global warming) at the same time.

• We didn’t have any househelp for a month so I was cooking all the time, cleaning all the time.
• Our appliances died one by one. There was one time I had to do laundry by hand because the washing machine broke in the middle of doing it. Suffice to say, I will never do it ever again.
• We were sleeping late, as in 4AM late, ALL of us, most of the time. Notice the kids were all thin and look old. Blame it on too much junk food and soda (did I tell that I was the one who was tasked to cook all the time?)
• The insomnia was so bad that Martha was like a kid on drugs – she just couldnt sleep even if she wanted to – too much caffeine!
• We always were at the grocery I think 3x a week. We go there to buy everything and eat – Razon’s just opened and Shakey’s were there so everytime Paypal went ca-ching, ca-ching and it was cleared, expect that we will be eating out – did I tell I was the one who was tasked to cook all the time? LOL
• Matthew was bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. allll the time. It didn’t help that Martha wanted Disney movies we have perhaps watched, let’s say 100 time already. Because of that, he would often go to his Lola and stay there. For weeks. I think he stayed there for about three weeks. He only came home when he needed to. And when we go to my mom’s, his first greeting would be to ask us what time will we be going home!
• Edil would often be gone for only four to five hours a day and would sneak back home. I guess he was just jealous of our boring life

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I chanced upon these when I was fiddling with Edil’s computer. Matthew uses the DACS (Digital Arts and Crafts System) from that computer. He rarely uses it now. (Lesson learned: Trust the husband when it comes to buying gifts for the big boy. I gave him a DS Lite instead of a PSP and he doesn’t use it anymore. I gave him this instead of a PSP (again) last Christmas and he gets bored with it – he wants my Wacom Tablet instead). I guess when I get a new computer Martha can try using it now.

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I promise from now this will become more updated.

I tried printing my blog from 2003 – 2008 and was pleasantly surprised how nice it looked. I will be blogging more about it once I have the finished results. (Great way than to scrap everything, in my opinion).

I read thru my updates and it seems that my blog stopped updating since summer started. Life has been extremely busy and when things are happening, I tend to adjust to it first, process it, break it down before talking it out with anyone. Let’s just say I’m breaking it down.

See you tomorrow. I have got a long draft of a blog entry for you to read.

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"Don’t over-analyze your marriage; it’s like yanking up a fragile indoor plant every 20 minutes to see how the roots are growing. "

The Bill Ballance Hip Handbook

“The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future finer than it will be.”

Marcel Pagnol

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”

John Burroughs

“We need not be rich to be generous, nor have all wisdom to be understanding.

Our influence may not be great, but it can be good.

Our speech may not be eloquent, but it can be truthful and sincere. We cannot all have good looks, but we can have good conscience, and having that, we shall have peace of mind and need fear no man.”

Meddigo Message

"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A bad habit never disappears miraculously; it’s an undo-it-yourself project."

Abigail Van Buren

"Smart people spend time alone. They don’t fill their days with appointments from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., as many politicians and executives do. Great science does not emerge from hard logic and grinding hours. It comes from activities like chopping wood and raking leaves, preparing dinner and reading to the kids. These activities soften the rigid pace of the day’s pursuits and allow all our God-given intuition to work its unlogical magic. Only then can we reach our fullest potentials. Only then can we leap from thinking to understanding."

Philip K. Howard

"Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it–memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey."

Tad Williams
Stone of Farewell

These are the quotes I love these days. I have them written all over the house!

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