Posts from — March 2006

I am no coffee addict, but I drink it once in a while to get me started in the morning.

I bloghopped over to friend Lam’s site earlier and discovered this pretty cute link. Check it out for yourself. Maybe this will get your day started, just as it did mine.

Click here and have yourself a cuppa. Drop the coin into the machine and click on wherever the red blinking light goes off. Enjoy! 

Hearing mass in Oz would turn out to be one of the most pleasant discoveries I’ve had while living in this foreign land. Since we are residents of the southern suburb of Banks, we technically belong to the parish of South Tuggeranong, where mass is regularly held at the Holy Family Parish in Gowrie every Saturdays and Sundays. The Holy Family Parish is a small church but has glass windows and steel structures to modernize its look. Its circular layout reminds me a little of our parish in the village where I grew up in Paranaque.

The mass was basically the same, save for a few different versions of the songs that the choir sang, so I was not able to sing along. The choir, by the way, was composed of all Filipinos. That did not came as a surprise to me. They were the same group that welcomed me during the last get-together that we had. What caught my attention, though, was that the church was filled to the brim as the mass was about to start. And most of the attendees were Caucasians. I never realized that there were so many Catholics in Oz.

During the middle of the celebration, the priest asked all parents of children who were going to be baptized soon to come forward and bring their babies with them. Godparents were also requested to come to the front. This was a presentation of the ‘new’ Catholics to the parish and was a way of the community to welcome them. Little kids who were to receive their first Holy Communion soon were also presented to the community. I thought this was really nice as I have never witnessed such in my entire Catholic life back in the Philippines.

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The house is up for inspection on the 30th of this month and J and I are in a frenzy to get it all cleaned up. What proved to be the most challenging task for us was gardening. Apparently, the previous tenant did not seem to care about it and everything was dried and withered when J moved in. Not to mention the overgrown bushes!  The Trash Pak was filled in no time with twigs, branches and leaves from our garden.

Gardening, I realize, can be quite therapeutic. All that trimming and pruning is fast becoming one of my favorite tasks. hehe.. I hate cleaning up the mess I leave behind though. I’m glad J is there to help pick up all the trimmings.

So many stuff to do. So little time! That was a back-breaking weekend and we have yet to finish our cleaning. Poor J didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I had to make him perform all these back stretching exercises to rid him of the pain.

I’ll be glad when this is over. Not that we don’t regularly clean our house ha.   Next house inspection will be in September.

Your true color is Black! The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won’t kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it’s clearly the color for you.

What’s Your True Color?
Brought to you by Tickle

J and I were watching Commander in Chief last night on Prime TV and something about the episode that was featured seemed to remind us of the present situation in our homeland. Mackenzie Allen, played by actress Geena Davis, used to be the Vice President of the US. She took over when the President dies from a brain tumor. Being the first woman president of the US, she is faced with different challenges. Cabinet members, for instance, resigned (sounds familiar, noh?) upon the request of the House Speaker (Donald Sutherland), promising them key positions if and when he takes over the new regime.

It’s a very interesting series as it shows how down-to-earth a president’s life can be and that they too experience the same things as ordinary citizens do, especially in their family life. Read more about the series here.