Nevergirl's

1. A happy meal is one that starts with meat and ends with chocolate.

2. Organized closet = organized mind.

3. Lu-as (singaw for those of you in Luzon; mouth sores (how icky that sounds!) for those in the western hemisphere) is more effective than diet pills. Imagine, every time I have one, I lose as much as 6 pounds in one week! The most I lost was 8 pounds — but I’m not sure if that’s from the non-eating or from the weeping.

4. Getting to where I’m going IS three-quarters of the fun.

5. Rain is nature’s way of telling me to go back to sleep. And, to shop for a trenchcoat.

6. The loudest things about me SHOULD be my laughter, my cheering (during games, of course), and my sneezing.

7. The quietest things about me SHOULD be my style, my confidence, and my departures or arrivals.

8. Work all the hours it takes to do a banging job – even if these hours end up being longer than what I’m getting paid for.

9. The best cure for an upset heart is queso real ice cream. Or, a quick ride around the neighborhood on a windy afternoon.

10. Winning an argument is overrated. I’d rather not argue at all.

What about you? What lessons did you learn on your own, or had to teach yourself?

1. I love everything organic – in theory. In real life, I’ve never come across a vegetable I liked. I adore queso real ice cream, bisayang manok – whether fried or tinola, chicken wings, french fries, Pringles… and I can’t imagine life without bistek.

2. I love working. I love challenging myself to do better than expected. I love it even more when I do something so well I surprise everyone, including myself. However, I’m easily distracted. And, I’m always second-guessing what I need to do or if I’m doing it right.

3. I’m great at Math but I always tell people I suck at it. In truth, I don’t. While I’m not as good at Math as I am at everything else, I breezed through all my Math subjects without batting an eyelash. What I suck at are accounting and finance, particularly where business insurance and the like are concerned. I suck at them because I just couldn’t be bothered to learn them right.

4. I love giving my siblings money and presents. There was a point in time when all I could give them was love. I still give them that… along with tangible things.

5. I’m not what most people see me as. At various instances, I’ve been told I look

a. rich
b. maldita
c. snotty
d. arrogant
e. used to getting what I want
f. commanding
g. arti (in tagalog, maarte. I can’t think of an English equivalent that does the word justice.)

These impressions make me laugh because while my family also had its salad days and my siblings and I spent childhood with a nanny to child quota of 1:1, I went to high school the poorest in my class. I had holes in my shoes. I wore uniforms my aunts had worn 20 years before. I missed field trips because I didn’t have money for the contribution. I never had textbooks from 5th grade to my last year in high school. And, I never had a proper haircut (read: one NOT done by an over-eager but unskilled volunteer). But that’s all water under the bridge now. And, every time someone thinks I grew up privileged all because my skin – freckles and all – is what’s deemed “kutis pang-mayaman” around these parts, I laugh. And then, disabuse the person of the notion.

What about you? What 5 things are as true about you now as they were true about you then?

Do you believe in magic?

I do — but no, not in the kind of magic that David Blaine sells. I like sleight-of-hand and I love it when kids go nuts over a great trick; but, I would never willingly go to a magic show where people are halved and girls are thrown daggers at. I say not willingly because I’ve been to shows like that twice NOT… and no, it’s not because someone dragged me by the hair or tied me to a chair; but because my grandmother thought TWICE it will do my imagination good to see magic and gore. Can you believe that?

Of course, if there’s anything that my wonderful Lola Lory is, it’s unbelievable… but I’ll save that story for another post about senior life insurance and seniors who go through life forever young. In the meantime, I’ll keep this post all about magic — or at least, some of the kind that I believe in. For instance, I believe…

… my laptop is magic because it lets me provide for the family without leaving the house. The adults in the family (okay, technically, I am an adult; but they are more adult than I am) think there’s something fishy with what I do; my father doesn’t get why anyone would want to pay me for tapping away on my keyboard, in my skivvies at that!

… pregnant women are magic because not everyone can carry life — and give life to life — like that.

… bayanihan is magic because it’s truly amazing when people who normally don’t give a hoot for each other help each other.

… the sky is magic, especially when it’s beautifully cloudless or lit up with violets and reds at summer’s end.

… the sea is magic because it does what it does, without losing its beat.

… babies are magic because they hold in their little hands the hopes and joys of generations.

Finally, I think I’m magic, too, whenever I meet deadlines, make someone happy, or get through 24 hours without nosebleeds, injuries, or sickness.

I know my definition of magic doesn’t mesh with yours. Heck, it’s even at odds with the real definition of magic because everything on my magic list is attainable.

Then again, isn’t that the best way to see magic? Something attainable, something you can hold in the palm of your hand.

1. I got up far too early. Who wakes up at 6am?

2. I’m sick, and tired, and lacking in sparkle. I’d love to open my inbox and see a message that I’ve won my pick of Orlando resorts. I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon in this lifetime, so I’m hoping like soil hopes for rain the Bayugan two-week vacay will go like a dream.

3. I have a deep, unquestioning, unabashed love for the airconditioner. Then, I get the bill and I start re-thinking the relationship.

4. I’m craving bistek. We just found a place that’s third on my list of the best bisteks of all time.

5. I want to snack on Milo. We’re talking of the granules here, not the drink.

6. I’m tied to the nebulizer, currently. But believe you me, I only look frail. I’ve enough willpower to move a tractor.

7. I want to put up the tree. I love Christmas in a big way. I love the sight of the greens and the twinkling lights, the smell of pines (from the can), the slick shine of Christmas ham, the sweet tang of pineapple sauce, the sound of Christmas songs, and the spicy warmth of gift-giving and holidaying at home with the fam.

8. I wrote back to a spammer angrily demanding that she stop offering to “grow” my penis to the size of a pole. I’m sure I just nuked my mailbox, so I’ll have to set up filters tonight to block anything penis-related.

9. I need a mother. I know I’m so self-sufficient and whatnot, but even supergirls like me have days when they wish they’ve a mom to run to. I don’t. I’ve my laptop to take out my frustrations and sadness on, instead. I don’t turn to people because I hate weakness, especially in myself. How very dysfunctional that sounds!

10. Clean sheets and a cold, spotless room are a small slice of heaven.

11. I’d love to have three more kids. Never mind that my immune system goes bananas at the first whiff of a bug. Never mind that the husband is dead scared of having three more kids to pay tuition for. I love children, and I’d love for my kids to have as many siblings as I did.

12. I feel ugly. But, I’m sure God has his reasons I don’t look like a painting. Where would I hang? Hahaha!

What about you? What’s true about you at the mo?