mental diarrhea | www.rheaalba.com: Wonderful Weekend (Part 2)

Posted in Emo, Family, Gratitude, J

Wonderful Weekend (Part 2)

Thursday, 17 May 2012

After arriving past 3 A.M., I was just so grateful that I had Sunday morning to catch up on sleep. I woke up with a terrible headache which lasted til late afternoon.

My family was supposed to catch the 3 P.M. mass at the Archbishop's Palace in Shaw, but when we got there, we found out that it was exclusively for children. We decided to drive back to San Isidro Labrador Church which was nearer our place.

It was my first time to visit this parish, and I liked the mini-garden setup they had on the altar. I sat with my parents and brothers near the choir area, hoping to chat with a deaf attendee, since we were a little too early for the next mass anyway. I've been advised by my FSL teacher that interpreters and deaf people frequent this church on Sundays. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found during my visit. Sigh, better luck next time.

Some people say that if it's your first time to enter a particular Catholic church,

you can pray and ask for three wishes for yourself or your loved ones,

and these will likely be granted. What would you wish for? :)

It's a good thing the choir, composed of a lively group of septuagenarian men and women, led in the singing of old Church songs. It was just so nostalgic to sing to those tunes which I last heard as a high school student, I think. They definitely helped me stay awake despite my headache.

We were celebrating three occasions on that special night, so we wanted to choose a dinner place where we can enjoy good food and have just happy, casual conversations. We originally wanted to go to Alba's at Polaris (ha! I wonder why) but since I made the mistake of not reserving much earlier, we had to choose another place because the resto was already full.

We ended up at Romulo Cafe along Jupiter Street in Makati. It was a fantastic choice because again, it had something for every member of my family. Having tried their superb kare-kare and chicken relleno with J before, I was confident in vouching for the place.

I did say it was a very special night right? We were celebrating my parents' 29th Wedding Anniversary, Merbert's 21st birthday and Mother's Day. To make the night even more memorable, we invited Joanna and Jobert, my brother's and my own SO, haha. First time for all of us to sit in one place! History ito!

After dropping off Merbert and my parents to order their choice dishes, I accompanied Jr to pick-up her girlfriend.

When the three of us got back to Cafe Romulo, food was still on the way. As usual, we snapped away to keep ourselves entertained while waiting for food to be served.

Taken by Merbert: "Ate, ganyan ka lang... (hold that pose)
Mukha kang model.... ng juice." (Ok na sana e! Haha :-/)

Taken by Moi: Awwww, my 21-year old bro

is no longer a baby, *sniff*

We were all having a good chat when Jobert finally arrived, and I was so pleasantly shocked to see him with a bouquet of flowers and a greeting card for my Mom!

A-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y floored. Never asked him to do this, such a sweet gesture!

Dad looked amused. I kept on teasing Mom that that she was smiling

a little too much. Props to Merbert for taking these photos! :)

When Mom read the card (yes, Jobert gave her a proper one! with real, hand-written message inside!), she just grinned and looked at me. I got so flushed (kilig!) the whole time (even though I had no idea about what was written), I forgot the whole tradition (again, J's to blame) of taking food photos before eating.

I was too excited to spend such a beautiful night with the boys and girls I love the most...

Left to right: Dad, Merbert, Jobert and Jr

Left to right: Joanna, Moi and mi Mama

It was an utterly love-filled night...

All together now! :)

I don't know how it could get better than this <3 My loves all in one place! Tooooo mucccchhhh!

My top realizations:

**Q: What's better than receiving flowers from the boyfriend? / A: Seeing him give flowers to your Mom!

**Q: What's better than receiving a direct compliment? / A: Learning that someone thanked your mother for being instrumental in molding you to become the ehem, 'lovable' person you are now. (Di baaaa??? Ito na ang ze ultimate, 1-2 punch! Hahahaha)

**Fact: About 50% of the names of those who married into the maternal side of my family start with the letter "J". Totally odd, no? Not that we're welcoming anyone (at least officially) into the family anytime soon. Oh-kayyyyyy. Awkward. #JustSaying! :)

Love is this, this is Love. I'm just so thankful!

My heart overflows,