Merry Christmas Blogkada!

This free digital greeting card personalized with Smilebox

If you could go on a road trip with any person, dead or alive, who would it be and where would you go?

It would be K, no doubt about it. Anywhere should be fun, but I would like to go to Lake Tahoe :)

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If you won a $1,000 shopping spree for any store, which store would you pick?

Nowadays, a thousand dollars isn't really that much. But given the choice, I'd pick Pier 1 :)

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If you had access to a time machine, where and when would be the first place you travel to?

I would like to be teleported 10 years from now. I think the place is immaterial...it all depends on what I will become...successful or not.

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What music are you listening to today?

Vitamin String Quartet's Don't Stop Believin'....and some country music (don't ask me why).

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What/Who makes you smile these days?

Friends like you, Doc :) For the record, you always make me smile. And sometimes, students who come back just to say that they wish their teacher was good like me :) Isn't that sweet?

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Apple Crisp a la Shelby

Shelby is my department chair and on Tuesday, she posted on her FB profile that she just made an apple crisp out of her mom's original recipe.  I teased her about bringing some to school for me, and although it was just a joke, lo and behold...she got me a little plastic container with a tiny piece of heaven in it :) I  told her how much I love apple pies and anything baked with apples.  During my first trimester with Jacinth, I craved anything that is baked apple (from Sugarhouse to McDonald's), and that's all the sweet stuff I could literally handle as I hated anything sweet (it left a bitter aftertaste at that time). You know how pregnant women can get weird. But I digress.

So after savoring my scrumptious desert, I asked her for the ingredients and how to bake it.  I had the chance to use Lissette's beautiful kitchen and so I was inspired to make some glorious treat for me, and for some people I love :)

Here are the ingredients:

6-7 pieces of apple, peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
(You may want to soak the apples in water to prevent it from getting brown)
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 tsp of salt
1 raw egg, unbeaten
1/3 cup of melted and cooled butter for drizzling
1 tbsp of melted butter for buttering the pan
cinnamon powder
2 8"x8" pans

1) Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. 

2) Butter the pan and lay all the apple pieces on it.  Drizzle the apples with 1/3 cup of the cooled, melted butter.

3)  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and the egg.  Use a fork to mix it until it gets crumbly. 

4.  Pour the batter on top of the apples and sprinkle with cinnamon.

5.  Bake for 40-45 mins., or until you see the top turning crisp and bubbly. 

I have learned when I was younger to soak apples (or potatoes) in water so they won't turn brown.  And so I did.  However, I think due to excitement, I didn't drain it too well that this yummy apple crisp turned out to be a tad watery.  So for those of you who will be trying this out, make sure that you drain the apples very well.  Use paper towels, if you must.

As it turned out, it still tasted great! My friends loved it :)







 

May I ask you...

Four weeks went by after the last time we were together.  It had been a month since you said I should move on since you can't give me what you perceive to be what I am looking for.  Good intentions...real and passionate desire...strong thighs...creative imagination...the master of his own food lab...impeccable sense of humor...that's what I'm looking for.  I don't know if that makes sense at all, but that's what it is.  Did you think the same way?

I couldn't help it.  A part of me says I shouldn't be communicating anymore, but a bigger part misses the late night talks, the goofing off, the thumb rubbing on my skin, the facial hair that causes my toes to curl up.   It's unbearably excruciating not to be able to experience these things again...

I was glad we finally got a chance on Sunday night.  I wore my sunglasses so I can hide the expression in my eyes.  I tried to look not too excited as my heart was racing.  My chest thumped wildly like a host of percussion beating out of rhythm.  It was temporary insanity, and I caved in as you reached out to hold me.  Then we kissed...I threw caution to the wind, couldn't care less if the world ended at that moment...

I didn't know...I never knew how it felt...

When writers try to essay the feeling of unfettered and blissful passion, I thought it was purely rhetorical, bordering on madness.  I said to myself, can it be this mundane?  But now, I get it...this weak-in-the-knees feeling...it was like some stellar phenomenon that had taken me off guard...I don't know why it had to happen, not when we have said goodbye...

I know this is not right to ask, but I need to be bold enough to ask you this nagging question...

Did you feel the same way too?

You don't have to answer that...but I'm content at letting you know.

I don't know what it is that you've done to me...
but it's caused me to act in such a crazy way.
Whatever it is that you do when you do what you're doing...
it's a feeling I don't understand

'Cause my heart starts beating triple time,
with thoughts of loving you on my mind.
I can't figure out just what to do,
when the cause and cure is you.

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.
I lose all control and something takes over me.
In a daze you look so amazing,
it's not a phase, I want you to stay with me
by my side, I swallow my pride
your love is so sweet.
It knocks me right off of my feet....
I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

Time after time after time I've tried to fight it.
But your love is strong it keeps on holding on.
Resistance is down when you're around, prides fading.
In my condition I don't want to be alone.

'Cause my heart starts beating triple time,
with thoughts of loving you on my mind.
I can't figure out just what to do,
when the cause and cure is you.

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.
I lose all control and something takes over me.
In a daze you look so amazing,
it's not a phase, I want you to stay with me
by my side, I swallow my pride
your love is so sweet.
It knocks me right off of my feet....
I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

I try hard to fight it.
No way can I deny it.
Your love's so sweet.
knocks me off my feet.

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.
I lose all control and something takes over me.
In a daze you look so amazing,
it's not a phase, I want you to stay with me
by my side, I swallow my pride
your love is so sweet.
It knocks me right off of my feet....
I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

I get so weak...
Blood starts racing through my veins
I get so weak...
Boy it's something I can't explain.
I get so weak...
Something 'bout the way you do
the things you do ooh ooh, it...
knocks me right off of my feet,
off of my feet.
Can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.
I lose all control and something takes over me.
In a daze you look so amazing,
it's not a phase, I want you to stay with me
by my side, I swallow my pride
your love is so sweet.
It knocks me right off of my feet....
I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

I didn't say I don't like your green shirt...

That was the third date that I first saw the green Mickey Mouse shirt. I don't mean to be whimsical about it, but I thought it looked good on you. I have a penchant for the extraordinary, and that unusual shade of green, I thought, looked really hot on you.

If only to prove my point, here are the reasons why I (also) like green:

#1 I used to teach at the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, the home of the Junior Green Archers. Of all the schools in the Philippines where I used to teach, DLSZ is closest to my heart. It is here where I became the educator that I am (I'd like to think that I am good because VB hired me lol). That being said, I have embraced green and white as the colors of my La Sallian spirit.


#2 If I like blue more than green, then I would have aimed to teach at the rival school :) Although the reputation of Ateneo de Manila High School is irrefutably remarkable, at no cost will I have relinquished my post at DLSZ for one at the ADMHS.

#3 Green reminds me of life, of the air we breathe, the beauty of nature...TREES!!! I'm a tree hugger! :)

#4 Green is my daughter's favorite color.


#5 Green is my blog's new color scheme.

and finally,





#6 Green is the color of my first car! I had an '83 Mitsubishi Box-type Lancer.





You see, when I said that I like your green shirt, that wasn't a political statement :) After all, green becomes you (more than yellow)!

Gerard Butler, huh? any specific reason why?

He's hot and gorgeous, I love his accent, and he's a fine actor :) the beard is so really sexy too lol

Ask me anything

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Sunrise

I saw a beautiful orange orb this morning as it started to slowly rise above the horizon, the morning lights peeked through the window slats and warmed up my cheeks...i squinted, but the sound of the waves was ever soothing...the cry of the seagulls echoing in fervor...the sights and sounds of nature at Sandbridge is one thing to behold...

I have a feeling it won't happen again...but the thought of it makes my heart sing :)

"And now the night
Will throw its cover down, on me again
Ooh, and if I'm right
It's the only way to bring me back...
to you."

Sway my way...

it had been days that I couldn't sleep well...tossed and turned, slept for less than three hours each night for three consecutive nights...something was hurting me and i knew I wanted to pour it out...but I couldn't...

i didn't plan to see you that night, but since i was in the area and needed to feed myself, i thought you may want to swing by so you can give me back the iPod. i guess by now you already know how my face contorts with my emotions...very transparent, very expressive. i don't like it because it gives me away...but i couldn't hide the sadness, the disappointment, the smarting deep down.

but hey, you were sensitive and saw all that...so you offered to talk...

it was nice of you to slide over the bean bag... it was nice to lean on something that will absorb all the negative vibes...but i still felt cold...inside and out...maybe it was just the room temperature, or the overwhelming cold brought by sadness...

i went around to go to your side...took your arm so i can lay my head on your strong shoulder, spooned up facing away from you...can't let you see me tearing...
i felt the warm hand slide over to my side...strong and reassuring, warm and comforting...i knew it...i couldn't hold back anymore, I had to let it off my chest.

warm tears started rolling down my cheeks...i sobbed silently...I felt a bit embarassed by that outburst, but i just couldn't help it...

then you slid your hand inside my jacket to warm my back...your palm on my skin felt so good...that hit the spot! and right there, right that very moment, i just had to release all the pent up emotions...i know you'd understand how a human being would need another at times like this...

i looked up to you, wiped my tears with my knuckles...just like a little girl who had lost her toy...with droopy sad eyes, all i can say was, "sorry...now i look ugly..." you smiled back and said..."no, you don't..."

you have a way of making me feel good...thank you...

"...And there's no cure
And no way to be sure
Why everything's turned inside out
Instilling so much doubt
It makes me so tired
I feel so uninspired
My head is battling with my heart
My logic has been torn apart...
it's all because of you"

Black Ice

A most unusual event...a snow storm hit central Virginia. Two days ago, it rained and snowed incessantly...everyone got snowed in...well, almost everyone.

I thought you were just kidding. The mere idea of braving very dangerous conditions like this made me think that there's no way you could be serious about picking me up...not until two hours later...

You could have made it to NC for having traveled four hours back and forth. For a 20-yr old, braving a snow storm is called folly...but for a 39-yr old, you called it adventure.


I stood by the glass door facing the vast and sparkly whiteness that blanketed grazing land. As I felt your arms wrap around me in a sweet embrace, your towering presence filled me with calming warmth...your face pressed against my hair, my back to your robust chest...for a few minutes there, time stood still...and nothing seem to have mattered except you and me.

I thought it was unusual as this snow storm, for someone to risk driving for four hours through snow and rain. A test of patience and determination to press on...truly impressive...and for what? A prize that only you can understand and appreciate...valued beyond comprehension. But that's just you :)

You know how black ice forms underneath the frozen slush? It's transparent, very slippery and treacherous...just like you. When the sun comes back up, it will melt away, not to be noticed, as if it was never there in the first place...just like you.

Here's a song you should hear...for you, your creative hands, your strong spirit, and your restless mind.


Song For A Winter's Night

The lamp is burning low upon my table top
the snow is softly falling
The air is still within the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling
If I could only have you near to breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands
I love on this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
my glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon the page
the words of love you sent me
If I could know within my heart
that you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
upon this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
the shades of night are lifting
The morning light steals across my windowpane
where webs of snow are drifting
If I could only have you near
to breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
and to be once again with with you
To be once again with with you