Weekly Blog

Yup. That's what this blog of mine has somewhat become. It's not that I'm purposefully ignoring my site and like I mentioned before, it's not that I don't have anything blog-worthy to share. Lack of motivation, yadda yadda yadda, etc, etc, and all of that other stuff. At the end of the day, I'm either too exhausted from hanging out with the kiddies or I'm playing catch up watching non-Disney channel programs...NOT that there's anything wrong with Disney, I LOVE Disney...just NOT 24/7.

It Ain't Over Yet

Just when I thought wedding season and wedding preparation was done...at least on my end anyways. After the Weekender's wedding, there weren't any other ones that I knew of in my family that were coming up. It was probably after my cousin's wedding this past January that I almost swore that I wouldn't help out- my sis and I simply did TOO MUCH that we almost didn't have time to enjoy!

Last week, I met up with homegirl Sha to help out with her cousin's placecards. (*Ahhhh...flashback!!!!) Thankfully the guestlist wasn't totally huge and we were able to do all the printing and whatnot in about an hour. Seeing that Sha can't type worth jack (LOL!), the only payment required was some Starbucks. I'm easy, peoples....and Starbucks makes me a happy camper.

THEN, on that same day, I met up with Mrs. 3rd/5th Grade because her cousin, who is Chinese, is marrying Filipino. As the wedding coordinator, she was a tad stumped at what the heck the veil and cord ceremony were, what are the coins for, what exactly was a the money dance, and how a traditional Filipino Catholic wedding should run. After busily taking notes, asking for clarification, and going through an entire ceremony in detail (over dinner might I add...Barney's Gourmet Burgers in the Marina...YUM!), she was exhausted!

I guess it was humorous on my part because since I was raised Catholic and mostly attended Filipino Catholic weddings, this was a no-brainer for me. But since I converted, I've also gone to non-denominational and other Christian weddings and can definitely see and appreciate the differences. All in all, it's a beautiful thing to see two people in love vowing to spend the rest of their lives together, no matter what their religion, faith, or denomination because LOVE in any language is the same.

Musical Recital

Growing up and being "forced" to learn how to play the piano, I was grateful that I never had to endure the nervousness and anxiety of playing in front of a large crowd for a recital unlike my sister. At a young age, I already knew that piano wasn't my forte and it really and simply wasn't my thang. After four years of lessons, I stopped. My sister, on the other hand, was under the instruction of this concert pianist and had he not passed away, I honestly think she would've had a bright future in music. Don't get me wrong, she's still good, but the piano teacher that we had afterwards was, in my opinion, nothing compared.

My niece Sabrina began taking lessons a few years ago...NOT because she was forced, but because she WANTED to. That makes a difference. Because of that desire, she has more knowledge of theory and the basics that I will probably never understand. Of course it does help that she has "piano fingers," long slender fingers that are able to stretch somewhat gracefully over the keys. Okay, her fingering can be totally wrong sometimes, but once she corrects her mistakes, she's pretty good about doing it correctly thereafter. Plus, I have to say, she's quick at memorizing pieces, a feat that I once deemed as impossible! Lol! If and when I had to memorize a piece, it would take me FOREVER...plus, it had better be a piece that I really liked. This girl, even if she is in the middle of learning something new, after a few tries, she will somehow get the first counts down. Quite impressive, I think, but at the same time, I believe that she should concentrate on reading the actual notes first. But hell, what do I know?! If she is more comfortable memorizing something as soon as she learns it, who am I to stop this creative process in motion, right? Hah...maybe I'm just jealous.

I attended her piano recital this week. It's not held in a major auditorium as I would've thought; rather, it's in the home of her teacher. Her teacher is one of the most cordial women I've ever met- so polite, so gentle, so patient- there really aren't people like her anymore. Basically, her students would come to the front and play a piece or two, starting from the recent beginners (playing variations of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star") and moving up to the more advanced (playing different sonatinas). Sabrina was somewhere in the middle. Again, I was quite impressed...she had been nervous about playing, although this wasn't her first recital, and even though she messed up at home while practicing, her performance was almost flawless. She played two pieces- It's A Small World, and a duet with her mom, a simplified version of Phantom of the Opera. All I know is that while she played, I had this big grin on my face and I'm sure if I didn't have to worry about videotaping her, the tears would've came!

To see these really young kids perform, and really well at that, is truly inspiring! I've had this nagging itch to learn how to play the violin. I think I've always had this affinity to the violin simply because I think the sound is hauntingly beautiful. There's something about the sound that mesmerizes me. Plus, after hearing some of the violin students play, the desire to learn has only grown stronger. At the end of the recital, the teacher invited guests to try the various instruments she had on display. Of course, I went straight to the violin. I have no idea what note I played, but the one note that I did sounded clear and yes, beautiful. I swear, what a difference it would've made if I had this very same desire to play the piano when I was younger...one day, people, one day.

Birthday Shout-Outs

*To my Ate: a belated birthday shout-out- she celebrated her 39th this past Wednesday! There's really not much I can say about my one and only sis without tearing up...but all I can say is that she has been the bestest friend this gal can ask for. Thanks for all that you are and all that you do, Sister...love you! Happy Happy Birthday!

*To my lil' cousin D: okay, he may not be little anymore, but he'll always be my younger lil' cuz. He turns 23 tomorrow, but his big day was really yesterday as he graduated from Sac State University! A small crew of da family made the trek up to Sacramento and boy, was it H-O-T or what?! Sufficed to say, we all came back red, sunburned with raccoon-eyes, exhausted from the heat with the amoy ng araw all over us! Plus, the aunties and I didn't quite follow the caravan back home and took the "scenic" route...yah, yah, yah, so we got lost, BIG DEAL! LOL! Much love and congratulations lil' cousin- you did it! And Happy 23rd Birthday...time to drink up...like I even had to say that! ;-)