simple pleasures part II

turned 37 today. no big celebrations -- i'm saving that for the big 4-0 when my friends will surprise me with a big party (hint! hint!) -- save for the surprise i got at the school kitchen this afternoon.

bless amy's soul. she rounded up friends and family, and they came bearing gifts, too! the theme was "leslie's favorite food" - in line with my english class' topic on adjectives. i'm not a very difficult person to please, as the roster will show you:

• migueli, who's on sem break, came to school with bananas... lacatan, to be exact
• mom (yes! she was there!) brought puto from pangasinan, the ones in the brown paper bag
• mama aly, my bestest cousin in the world, brought me pampanga's best tocino (my former supplier is in jolly england)
• amy gave me cracker nagaraya in all flavors except the bland original
• vikki, my pastoral leader, brought planter's cheez curls and la-la fish crackers
• bicbic sneaked in a box of napoleones and half moons from bacolod (we were on the same flight home yesterday and she said they were all out of stock)
• steph sent me goldilocks mocha cake... all-time favorite comfort food, there's just nothing like it!
• gelique supplied the balloons and brought me cheetos!

later at night, my best friend suzie gave me an estrel's caramel birthday cake... memories of my childhood *sigh*

had anyone given me shiny P5 coins, the day would have been perfect. told you i was mababaw.

to infinity and beyond!

my sister's out and i'm leaving for bacolod for the weekend. time to get some "migueli time" to bring along with me.

while in a "sarap" hug:

ninang: i love you.
miguel: i love you, too.
ninang: i love you three.
miguel: i love you aaalllllllll the numbers!

sigh. good thing it'll just be a weekend.

(not so) simple pleasures

spent the good part of yesterday afternoon in the company of good friends from cisv, in a beautiful house that seemed to be misplaced in manila.

i love my cisv batch! i love being with my co-leaders and the kids, even if they're not mine (sweden). going to camp is one of the best things i've done in my life. yesterday afternoon, i wanted to be in sweden all over again; to feel 11-years old again, carefree yet responsible; to be with my 4 kids again, sneaking in a pizza from a pizzeria down the street or savoring smuggled instant yakisoba or having ticklefests in the lullaby room... eating marabou... marabou's are hard to come by. they're not like hershey's or m & m's. that's what makes me and my kids miss it so much.

when i came home last night, my sister had some high school friends over for dinner. she rummaged through the fridge for dessert and brought out truffles and... A LARGE BAR OF MARABOU! heaven in a bar! thank God, they went for the truffles! it was the perfect cap to a cisv afternoon.

itching

it's been more than a month since i last blogged. can't just yet. dying at work, recuperating from school.

will be back. sem break's less than two weeks away...