hunting cakes

today is the 4th day of my 12-hr shift experience. i covered for carol's PM shift last weekend, and for april this week. darn! these girls are abusing me! joke.. heheh ... *:P.

the other teams are now forcibly working the new 12-hr shifting scheme. fortunately, my team of 4 stayed with the 9-hr shift in the afternoons. there's a downside though, we're the filler team as well. as the word obviously implies, we act as substitutes for staff who absents or on vacation. there's an option as well to go on-call, that's why i was given a company phone, during dead periods or weekends, albeit not having experienced it yet. i was always needed to be on board.

i just hope i'd get to my normal shift for a straight week next week. of all the shifts i've been through, the afternoon shift is the most convenient for me. i don't have to wake up very early and ride the MRT (bringing a car loads up my expenses and the traffic's worse during the afternoons when heading home), the graveyard shift is ok for me too but gives me less time to care for my daughter since i'm asleep all throughout the morning and afternoon. the mid-shift gives me extended sleep time and i can tend to my baby's morning needs like feeding and bathing. it's a little problematic for me these days coz my brother has already got a callcenter job which he goes to every weekday nights so that means a squabble on who'll bring the SUV to work. he has been bringing it, together w/ my cousin mike who also got in the same job, daily last week. good enough coz i spent a 4-day off last week since i covered for a 12-hr shift. not bringing a car to work on my normal shift would mean commuting home very late in the evening. the shift ends at 12am. oh i don't know what to do. i am so paranoid when i ride taxis late at night.

anyway, i've started browsing through the internet, even if we're not permitted to...hihi, for ideas for my daughter's 1st bday. my hipag sam, taught me which sites to go so i started with the femalenetwork forums. it was overflowing with information! apart from several options, from cakes to performers to balloons to caterers to venues, they've got contest suggestions too! speaking of cakes, i ran into this cake library, by a lady artisit. her cake designs were several times featured in newspapers and was critically acclaimed for it. i got so amused by the decors on the cakes i copied the images. well, what they only have in their image gallery were wedding cakes and here they are. enjoy the beauty of it all!

i got so fascinated by the pillow designed cake. i wonder if those are really layers of icing and bread? if i'd have to choose one for my future wedding, i'd love to get either of the last flower-layered cakes at the bottom. i just hope they're yummy apart from being very pretty. the taste is very important to me. i love eating cakes!!!

sex and the spirit

by panjee lopez

Not too long ago, a friend shared how her husband had confessed to an affair. Despite the shock and pain, she agreed to work it out. They had sex. It was awful. "Why," I asked, "was sex your first stop? When things fall apart, when wounds are fresh and deep, isn’t this the most difficult place to start?" "Because that is his language," she says. "It is what he knows. It was his way." She spoke about other things that caused my heart to contract: wifely duty, the need to prove her desirability, the need to erase what could no longer be undone.

My friend stared blankly into space and recounted her experience. "How can I feel so dirty and violated when he is my husband; the father of my children? How can he just sleep with someone else then say sorry, he loves me, and then turn around and sleep with me? And why isn’t it that simple for me? It felt horrible physically and elsewhere," she said, uncomprehendingly. Elsewhere. I cringe at the sound of it; the singularity. She had just dumped her soul and spirit into a body bag she absently marked "elsewhere." Part of her clearly sees sex as a purely physical thing but the depth of her pain and confusion proved she knew, on a deeper and higher level, that it was much more than that.

Another friend shared the details of her rather active sex life. She’s so active I felt I had to remind her there is no such thing as casual sex. She then admitted that sometimes the sex is so bad and the person turns out to be not her type at all, but something in her always wants to go back. She was obviously confused by her own incongruous feelings. I asked if she didn’t feel a gnawing emptiness anyway after her near-anonymous encounters. She nodded sadly and said it was why she always needed to be with someone. What a vicious, depressing cycle.

The sexual act is so intimate – sacred, even if so many of us no longer remember – that it is binding on so many levels. There is an exchange of more than bodily fluids. Something happens deep inside us that we cannot name. Especially for a woman, sex is never just a physical experience, no matter how we try to convince ourselves. We open too much of ourselves and take too much into our being. We are touched at the very core, which is why negative experiences wound us so deeply. Why is it so difficult for women to walk away from men they know aren’t good for them, men they realize they don’t even like, once they have opened their bodies to them? How can it be casual?

In his book, Friends and Lovers, Julian Sleigh writes: ‘The modern idea that ‘I cannot know you deeply unless I know you sexually’ does not really apply. Rather the question is ‘How can I dare to know you sexually before I know who you are and what we have in common?"

We seem to have forgotten this path. We treat sex as a tool. We use it to get to know someone better, to prove our loyalty, love or commitment; we use it to exert power over others, to lick our emotional wounds. Sex is the way human life comes into the world. What have we done that it is reduced to duty, pure physical release, a five-minute anonymous transaction, a cosmic bandage, a place of pain and sadness rather than joy and creation?

Sleigh further writes:

"When a woman finds her own fulfillment in a man, she gives a part of herself to him: she identifies the masculine element in her soul with him. She is then bonded. If the relationship enters the physical-sexual sphere, it is not only her body that she offers, but with it her soul and spirit. Thereby the bonding takes the risk of being turned into bondage. But she accepts this as wholesome provided the man she loves remains devoted to her; she allows herself to be vulnerable.

And she expects his loyalty towards her to be equally total and unwavering. If he divides his attention between her and another woman, she is deeply wounded. Because what she has given to him cannot be retrieved; it has been given without reserve, in total trust.

When a woman makes love, her need and her soul-tendency is to devote herself with her whole being. Not to do so would prevent her from feeling fulfilled, and she would lose the desire for the relationship. A man easily "makes love" with his body only, even when he loves his partner dearly. Men have to learn to love in wholeness, so as to be worthy of the love of a woman. This is a man’s schooling in integration. When he fails, the woman suffers greatly."

We all know that sex is different for a man and woman. Just look at our bodies! The male body gestures outward. The female body is the opposite. We are inward. That says a lot even about our views and emotions; the way we process our experiences. But we have ignored the deep spiritual implications of the male and female anatomy and have managed to treat sex as a purely physical act with procreation as its mostly unfortunate side effect.

A new mother feels anything but sexual. Though she will probably love her husband more after they become parents, she will not want to experience him sexually. At least not immediately. Suddenly she sees her body differently and even senses her womanhood in a new and deep way. Her husband, having waited so long, can’t wait to have sexual relations again. But the very life forces that are exchanged during sex are the ones that now nourish her child, especially if she is breastfeeding. The man then feels displaced and rejected, thinking only that his needs aren’t met. But how can the couple even begin to understand and support each other if their view of sex remains limited; if they can’t go beyond their bodies?

Sexual attraction is blinding. If we are so consumed by desire and can’t see clearly and fall into bed with someone because we feel there is no other way, are we acting out of freedom? How different are we then, from animals, who are driven by their instincts and desires and are sometimes even bound to earthly cycles, coming together sexually only during mating season? As human beings, we have the power to choose. This is what separates us from animals. We have the same carnal instincts, yes, but surely we can exercise our human capacity to discern and choose. Yes, we will still feel sexually drawn to people but, unlike animals, we can think, exercise restraint, come to a place of equanimity so that we can rise above the dark hole of self-indulgence and self-centeredness.

And what of love? How many people still approach sex with reverence and do it out of feelings of deep love for their partner? How many people actually still make love? Sleigh says: " Love is only possible in freedom, and sex is fulfilling only if based on freedom and not on unconscious drives. True freedom is a benefit that comes from commitment: we are only truly free when the basis of our life is secure. But we live in an age of freedom, and so our decisions on moral behavior must be our own, original and convincing for ourselves. This motivation must arise out of our own consciousness." He further writes: "Sexuality engages the forces of life: and we need to face the question ‘Are they ours to use as we wish?’"

That is the big question. I don’t mean to suggest that sex should be free of desire or that we should simply sublimate our very human urges. We are, after all, flesh and blood. But I think that we should all begin the process of thinking, feeling and acting more clearly and more consciously, especially about how we use and engage our life forces. It isn’t just the men who need integration. Women need to actively honor our bodies and never allow ourselves to be used. Ever. Being married does not give us license to be casual about sex, either. I think that married couples should be even more sensitive and loving towards each other sexually, especially since we are aware of our responsibility as parents, knowing that every sexual union is an invitation to life.

We have a long way to go towards understanding humanity and sexuality, but we can begin by questioning ourselves and examining attitudes that we know are destructive, limited or negative. What would the world be like if we could all experience sex imbued with love, respect, pleasure, truth; if, beyond the physical, we could all participate in the conscious exchange of life forces in a true act of spiritual freedom?

Imagine that. * * *

au revoir to a dear friend

my daughter's better since yesterday. (thank God!). rye bought her these fever patches to absorb heat through the forehead..and i believe that cured her much faster.

now she has returned to enjoying her fun bathing everyday (not really bathing her everyday now due to the cold weather we are having). here's some of her pics bathing in her inflatable duck tub which i bought from the states. it's got these fab features. it's capable of telling you if the water is still hot. there's a dark blue sticker at the base which turns white w/ the bold letters HOT, when it is. when you press the beak at the head, it quacks. it has drainage as well. it is so convenient to use compared to the plastic container/basin i was using before. it was a daunting task everyday when i had to bathe her, afraid of losing grip of her and she hitting the corners of the hard plastic.


she can also ride a walker too! the walker's courtesy of her cousin tylord who's jumping and running already so he's really got no need for it anymore. but rayne knows how to move herself backward in the walker for now.....yes...she's still got too many more to learn about.

we're almost finished furnishing our new mini house. in fact, i couldn't think of any of the basics to buy anymore. if i've got money, or if i find one cheap, i'll buy a small wooden divider to at least separate the bed from the dine and sala area. rayne's stuffs' using almost all the space in the room so i've got no where else to place whatever appliance i'm desiring to buy.

i've retreated to playing PS2 again these days. ryan introduced to me the game grandia III (like he introduced FFX to me). it's an RPG and it's the type of game that gets me hooked. but for today, i'm spending my remaining hours awake to finish this blog then get to gear again infront of the TV tomorrow.

i couldn't provide a detailed review yet coz i haven't even halfed the game for now. so till the next post.

-----

7/23/2006

claudette held a party at their house last 23rd, yap, at the night of my daughter's 8th month. it was her farewell party. she's my workmate..well, used to be. she resigned a few weeks ago. her family's in the states and her mom needs her to stay in the US for good. we did anticipate her leaving sooner or later. we were always like, what the heck are you doing working for petty cash in the PH when you can live in America, the land of hopes and dreams! well, she IS going, and no one can stop her. she told me she'd rather stay. she loves asia more than ever. i don't know why. anyway, at the party, she made long island iced tea, there was red wine, vodka, tequila and beer. the party ended early at 12 midnight. oh..i am gonna miss her...alot.

with my dear friend claudette

martial law

my daughter is sick. it's almost 3am while i'm writing and i'm supposed to go to my AM shift later. had to call in hours ago to report that i'm not going to work. this is the first time in 8 months that rayne's havin' high fever and i don't want to leave her side.

i've posted a bit late. our company had started implementing stricter security rules on using company properties, particularly the internet and email. i have very well understood these usage restrictions when i applied. i made sure i followed every bit of it to secure and finish my probationary period. it just happened that everybody at work was ok to be googling, sometimes chatting, surfing...outside work. today, everything unlicensed are removed, email and browsing monitored. even tagalog emails were asked to be deleted..as if company information is revealed outside work in codes my american workmates couldn't decipher. so even a joke or a single line chat or question to a fellow workmate should be written in english. it was so funny when eric, a fella HD (helpdesk), showed me a response page (like a text message to another via email) to joseph when joseph asked him about how much a dvd writer costs and he replied in english. hahahaha..

a friend at work just recently got over the hill mad because our company bounded everybody from wearing those short pants (i don't recall the types of pants aside from a capri). she was wearing one of those pants types when the word came out to everyone. i've heard that several of my peeps are contemplating on leaving the company due to just some of these demanding changes. browsing in fact helps us ease up from the level of toxicity of our duties. discrete chatting gives us a chance to socialize and be no robots. most of us are not even using our 2 hour break periods anyways....thanks to a desktop support guy who made all of these take place. he was caught penetrating alot of illegal sites including gambling sites. that i agree should be taken as a grave offense. that is definitely a ground for termination. but when you say you just visit some amiable sites, why should we given the same penalty?

---------

7/23/2006

rayne's 8th month

i came from my graveyard shift.i fetched ryan from his house to fetch rayne and go back there again. we brought home a dining table and 2 chairs for our new room at home. the typhoon began to struck early morning sunday so we've had some difficulties transporting rayne from house to house. we waited for the storm to die down a bit before we headed to rayne's lola. it was already after lunch when we came. everybody was expecting her. rayne had not visited her lola for weeks already so everyone was very excited to see her again. we bought her a strawberry cream cake from goldilocks and tita jo (ryan's aunt), cooked the pasta. they made baked macaroni instead of the usual noodle so rye and i had to rush to the nearest supermarket to buy a kilo of fettucini noodles to add to the carte.

i slept while everything was prepared...and unfortunately, wasn't able to wake up for my baby's small party. bummer..

travelling to lola's

rayne eventually grabbed the cake and rubbed all the icing on her body; that's tita yani (ryan's sis) holding her

i'm a mommy!

tylord, my brother's son, had his birthday yesterday, the 8th. he just turned 2. awwwww... they held it a sam's, his mom, village's clubhose at the village east cainta. the space was huge, and it was a full house. it was twice better than his 1st bday celebration in libis. i drove my family there while ian accompanied his friends plus my kumare, alex. ryan was absent. the birthday celebrant was the last to arrive coz their street got flooded from the heavy rains in the morning. i came w/ rayne ofcourse, and that party was officially her first. she's so scared of the clowns but was so fond of barney (who came after dinner). barney was too pink i noticed, whilst my daughter's toy is too purple. i hope she didn't notice the diffrence.

attending children's party today has become so different coz i'm no longer attending for myself, but for rayne. i soon will be just like the moms at the children's tables feeding their kids, coaching on what to answer or what to do in parlor games, participating in parlor games, constantly rearranging the hair & clothes of their precious little ones, wiping their sweat..etc..etc... oh i hope to have more kid parties to attend to in the future! i would also try to start planning my daughter's 1st. i need to research on locations where i can hold it. i couldn't simply celebrate it in food chains. the space they provide is just too small. i am anticipating a much bigger crowd than the christening last feb. a pool party is an option...yeah....a winnie 'd pooh pool party! (my daughter has developed, not too obvious, an interest w/ this yellow-orange bear, or she simply just loves the color orange? hmmm...). barney came to tylord's birthday (it was a barney-inspired party), so i gotta remove him from my not very long list of choices.

these pictures will tell more. i must say it was a really fun day!

the birthday boy. isn't he charming!!

carryin' sway, kumareng iris' daughter; my daughter w/ ninang k-ann and tita abby

w/ my mom at the buffet section; my daughter has a name tag!! haha

nanay and mom w/ my daughter; rayne & tita chacha

the clown hid at my back coz baby's scared of him; my baby cutie

sam & tylord; ian & tylord

the young parents; blowing candles ( i couldn't get a shot of the cake coz all the kids were crowding it)

pretty micah & nicole; alex

iris & chacha; tylord w/ daddy

my daughter's head band courtesy of ninang alex; my daughter found a friend (or he found her?), heaven

baby w/ barney; the barney dance

this was just half of the adult guests; tylord's ninongs plus dad

tylord as barney (so cute!!); there's my rayne!!

w/ pretty niece trish; rayne pinned by alex and mua

w/ ninang again

i went to work in the evening. too bad i wasn't able to join the after party at quattro.

our new room is 99% renovated. there's just some little work to do tomorrow w/ the 4th of the wall outside. and the bathroom outside needs more fixin' up with the ceiling & surfaces. so it's movin' time soon!

my space

am very excited to transfer to my new room at the back of our house. it was used to be my tito's house. they left mid of june to live with our lola in cubao. luckily, there weren't any deliberations at home on whose gonna get the space. when i announced i'd get it, i didn't hear anyone comment about it. perhaps it's about time we should separate...even if it's just a door away..ahahaehe...

rayne will have her needed space for all her stuff. right now, everything's crammed inside my small small room where ate anna and i used to share. but now that she has kids of her own, she has left the room for myself. through nicole's, my youngest niece, persistence as well to sleep at the master's bedroom (because there's an aircon), they have been staying there for years. my brother's room has aircon too and we had an exhaust installed at the wall inbetween us to share the 'precious' cool air.

rye has been staying home more than he is at his house in retiro anyway so having this room by ourselves, w/ our own stuff inside, is a giant step in our 'family-making' process. the most thrilling part is the shopping! i would love to fill up that room up w/ things i fancy! finally..something i can call my own! we hope to move in by monday.

last sunday, rye & myself went to the podium to watch a special screening for superman returns. my boss gave free tickets (via email) for two to my TL (team lead), who eventually gave them to me instead. it was scheduled for 2:30PM. we weren't holding the actual tickets, i only had the email printout coming from the sales engineer of the Communications Company who sponsored the event. i called in prior to landing at the Podium to assure our entry. the sales engineer confirmed the validity of our attendance. in a few minutes, she texted informing us that the tickets were already sent to RCBC 6pm the other night. i was on vacation for 4 days and no one informed me of such. the lady even asked me to check at work but i told her that we're already parking near the mall so she gushed aside and said that we can still watch the movie but can't join the raffle after. we agreed. we were at the Podium at noon and ate lunch at the chix box (i vaguely recall). rye at that point was starting to feel sick with the flu but promised to try to complete all our errands that day. we had dessert & coffee at cinnabon.

round 2pm we went upstairs at the cinemas and we approached the bench where the sponsors were. our contact asked us to return by 2:30 so as not to 'mess up' the registration. i didn't get why she would say that but i still smiled back and returned an ok. we strolled around the 5th floor and ended up at subway, just beside the movie theater, while couples from different IT companies arrive and register. i've noticed that they were receiving their tickets only after they signed. that made me wonder why they would send our tickets to work and why theirs weren't. anyway, it was becoming irritating every half hour. our company's contact was simply sitting infront of us entertaining other guests while we were painstakingly ignored. rye was getting pissed as well. we stopped waiting at past 3PM. the movie, apparently, was set to show at 4PM. we just left and headed off to megamall. i texted our company's contact expressing our distress but had not received a reply. well...when my colleagues heard about it the other day, they reported my concern immediately to the Company who sponsored the show. what the heck, we can still see superman returns anytime.

at megamall, we began shopping. i bought a small 'jurassic' toy car for tylord's bday on the 8th. we bought blinds for the door in our new room or else it'll be see through from the outside due to the small glass windows fixed with it. got a new mattress too for our bed. we headed home around 7pm. rye got totally sick by then...poor baby...