May ganito pa pala?!?

Unknown number (UN): Gandang hapon po,,

Me: Sino po ito?

UN: Ahm c sally po, kau po pwd q mlman name u?

UN: Kau po nu po name u?

Me: Bakit?

UN: Bkit? Anu p0ng bkt?_cnbhn u po aq ng cra,ky pnbu2ra q nlng po # q,kc hnulaan q lng # u,

UN: Bkit? Anu p0ng bkt?_cnbhn u po aq ng cra,ky pnbu2ra q nlng po # q,kc hnulaan q lng # u,


Me: Ha? wala po akong sinasabi sa inyo. maling number yata ang tinetext nyo.

UN: Cguro nga po kc nghula lng po aq ng #, may aswa n po b kau?

UN: Cguro nga po kc nghula lng po aq ng #, may aswa n po b kau?

UN: Pwd po mkhingi ng ktx?Ung wlng aswa.


in fairness, ayaw niyang maging kabet.

Naga City

I went to Naga City to attend a hearing and all I have to show for my trip (other than the Order I was able to secure) is this:

a picture of a lion with too much eyeliner.

and finally, it came...

i have no words to describe that day, but these pictures should do.

the past 7 years, in conversations

[2000]

(against all odds playing in the background)

moks: hmm, what do you think is the story behind this song?

leah: huh? e di sila, tapos they're about to break-up, but the other one doesn't want to break-up.

moks: i don't think that's it e. i think good friends pa lang sila. and the guy is crazy in love with the girl, but it's hopeless.

leah: ha? that's nowhere in the song.

moks: no, listen. the guy's so scared that if he tells her how he feels, she would push him away.

leah: e bakit "you coming back to me is against all odds..." how can she "come back" kung hindi pa naman sila?

moks: because for the guy, if only he'd be able to tell her how he feels and still keep her friendship, even if she doesn't love him back, that's already "coming back". that would be enough.

leah: hmmm...

[2001]

moks: when are we getting married?

leah: i don't know.

moks: hmm, let's see. you'll graduate in 2004, take the bar in 2004, be a lawyer by 2005. we can get married late 2005!

leah: that's too soon! ni hindi pa ko naka-one year practice non!

moks: ok, 2006! let's get married in 2006!

leah: pwede.

[2002]

leah: tama na 'to. let's end this now. this isn't right anymore. please leave.

(the next days, weeks, months later)

moks: can we please talk?

leah: about what?

moks: about us.

leah: there's no more us. there's nothing to talk about.

[2003]

leah: you have to let me go.

moks: i can't. i don't want to.

leah: if there is to be any hope of us getting back together, you have to first let me go.

moks: no.

leah: God has to have all of you and all of me first. we have to be ok separately first. please, let me go.

[2004]

moks: i already let you go. you told me to let you go.

leah: i want you back.

moks: i can't. i've decided to be with ----- now.

leah: i want you back.

moks: i'm sorry.

(long, silent walk home)

moks: you will always be who you are to me.

[2005]

moks: (txt) u still in the office?

leah: (txt) yep.

(a few minutes later)

leah: what are you doing here? it's so late.

moks: it's my birthday. i wanted to see you.

(pause)

moks: i needed to see you.

[2006]

moks: hey, how are you? how's the obsession over ----- coming along?

leah: i'm good. i'm getting the hang of getting over him. this would be quick.

moks: haha! let me know when you get there. there's a treasure to be made from that knowledge.

(some months later)

moks: will you be mine?

leah: i already am.

[2007]

moks: i know that there is no one else i would want with me on the journey God has in store for me than you. so i would like to ask you, will you marry me?

leah: yes.

[2008]

(two weeks from now)

moks: i do.

leah: i do.

100 days and counting

that's right. we have exactly a hundred days before the wedding. we're down to the final stretch of this crazy period called wedding preps.

the big ticket items have been booked. the major decisions have been made. the little boxes on the side of my to-do list have been checked, except for a few:

• secure marriage license. no worries about this, though. the supporting documents are ready and all we need to do is hand them over to tita raquel to be filed.
• get moks's passport. just in case God gives us an out-of-the-country honeymoon.
• finalize and print invitations. this has been sitting for weeks, and our ninang's list still contains entries like "Mrs. (Nanay's friend, Ka Puyeng)". promise, i will finish this next week.
• Pastor Dong's ordination. he promised this would be done this month.
• pre-nup photo shoot. next week, if weather permits.

weirdly though, now that the big items are through, the small ones start their song-and-dance number ala willy wonka's happy little helpers in an attempt to remind me that they are not to be ignored:

• prepare program for the ceremony and reception. how do we make the ceremony short and concise, and still meaningful? how do we make the program fun? how do we get our guests to participate?
  
• souvenirs. to give or not to give, that is the question. i would love to D-I-Y this, but i don't know if my schedule would permit. besides, moks and i can't agree on what to give away.
• gifts for principal sponsors. what would be a nice enough token to say thank you without exceeding our budget?
• something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. hmmm...

this would have been the really really fun part in wedding preparations if only i had time to attend to them. what's the next major milestone after "100 days to go" anyway? i hope by that time i would have no more unchecked boxes on my list except "be at the wedding and smile".

(you should have surmised by now that moks takes care of the serious marriage stuff, while i mind the wedding details. so don't expect any substantial wedding posts from me. )

totally worth it

i didn't think i could say this ever, considering that i really wanted to scrimp on my wedding gown when we were first making our wedding budget, but i feel that my wedding gown will be totally worth the money we'll be paying for it.

i had my first fitting of the gown's lining last month, and the fit was perfect. i just asked tet, my designer, to cut the corset a bit shorter to make sure it won't poke my legs when i sit down.

my second fitting was last saturday, and i felt so good wearing the gown. it made me feel radiant, and beautiful, and sexy, and so bride-y.

i can't wait to fit the actual gown next month. i'm even afraid it will be heartbreaking for me to take it off again.

the pamamanhikan

The last major step to formalizing our engagement took place last Saturday. In true Filipino tradition, Moks’s family went to our house carrying tons of food his mother prepared, and his father asked my father for my hand in marriage. Well, sort of. It went like this:

my tatay: e ano pa bang pag-uusapan natin, e naiayos na naman nila (referring to moks and myself) lahat ng detalye e. iba na kasi ang panahon ngayon e, sila na ang nagdedesisyon.

moks’s tatay: oo nga po e. tinatanong ko nga po si mark kanina kung sasabihin ko bang hinihingi po sana namin ang kamay ni leah, e baka po kasi kako sabihin niyo e, kamay lang ba ang gusto niyo?

That was pretty much the entirety of the whole pamamanhikan. The rest of the time was spent chitchatting, eating Tita China’s sumptuous cooking, and laughing at Moks for his booboos and blunders before they got to our house. Tito Addit, Tita China and Tito Dennis took turns telling us about how, in his excitement and perhaps nervousness, Moks slid down their driveway while carrying the plate of crabs (good thing Tita China packed it nicely!), Moks loaded all the food in Hagibis (the car) and then left the door open while a stray dog lurked nearby, and how Moks, while sitting on the really terrible traffic on our way to our house, wanted to call his cousin to ask him to drive him in his motorbike to our house because they were already late. I guess I myself was pretty nervous that I didn’t notice that during all this time, Moks looked white (or at least that’s what Tita Raquel and Tito Dennis said) and that he could not stop sweating.

The evening turned out to be really fun. Tito Addit’s PR and socializing skills left me baffled as to how Moks turned out to be the way he is. Tita China’s ever-reliable cooking talent wowed all of us, my nanay included. And the fact that Moks’s lola from Quezon was there too made the night extra-eventful.

And oh yeah, Tito Addit surprised everyone other than himself when he asked my parents if they would allow me to spend the Halloween weekend in Quezon with them. And it was a testimony to my parents' grace under pressure that they did not fall off their seats.