January 4, 2009

• In 2008, At Least

  My husband, who's snoring away in the master bedroom set my digital alarm for 7:30am.  If I don't wake up to it, then my cell phone will rouse me out of sleep.  My Nokia sits on the sink, at the farthest end of the bedroom to force me out of bed.  That will wake me up for sure.  All these alarms are deliberately set to insure that we will arrive on time to Calvary Presbyterian's morning worship service.  But I must blame the 20 ounces of fresh brewed coffee and that Coffeemate French vanilla sweetened creamer from AM/PM Mini Mart.  It's that coffee con creamer that's driving me to update my blog and encapsulate 2008.

  I've been given 365 days in the year of 2008, and here I am at 2:30am trying to recall all the things that I've been given this past year.  It would be a lot to read if I wrote every single thing down, so I just picked out the "highlights" of receiving.

  What the heck did Liz "get" from 2008?  I'll start with the superficial stuff that I appreciate, at the very least...

  1.  At least I got a new last name and title.  My husband gave it to me, along with two circular platinum bands with those shiny stoney things.  My biological-clock-conscious aunties were getting worried for me and the "eggs".  They were conjuring up any method of match-making me with a family friend of a friend, of a friend, of a cousin who might know a single guy doctor or nurse from the Philippines, age 39, who eats with a set of good false teeth, dresses like a Banana Republic model, and sings like Neil Diamond on the Magic Mic.

  2.  At least I got a new car, but it's really not that new.  My brother gave it to me.  For sentimental purposes, I didn't unscrew his alma matter UCLA license plate frame off the truck because it reminds me of Elmer and my sister-in-law Karen.  It reminds me to pray for both of them.

  3.  At least I totally got rejected from applying for the 3rd grade GATE teaching position.  Good try though.  I'm still stuck at 5th grade, but it's not a bad thing at all.  I really enjoy my 5th graders this year, it makes me look forward to work.  Whoa, did I actually say that I "looked forward" to working with pre-pubescent teens?  At least I can still use every bit of age-appropriate, clean and loving sarcasm to break up the monotony of Open Court basal reading text.

  4.  At least I ditched the gargantuan Filipino family wedding that I blue-printed and published in my teenage diary, back in good old 1993.  Instead, my husband and I lived through a tiny wedding ceremony with complete happiness and satisfaction.

  5.  At least I gained on some weight and a few pimples still, but I've got a clean bill of health, good teeth and no gray hair.  On the day of the Christmas church program that my husband and I narrated for, my skin broke out with 3 pimples.  Born were those perfect pimple triplets, that if you connected together would make an equilateral triangle--one for the Father, one for the Son, one for the Holy Spirit...oh the Lord has a way of humbling me out of vanity.

  6.  At least I moved 30-50 minutes away from work, depending on how everyone else drives.  It's a huge change from my cozy 5-minute commute.  It hurts to wake up at 5am in the stinkin' cold, dewy mornings and then drive home to tiresome strings of traffic.  I invested in a pair of driving gloves and a long-reaching squeegee to squeegee-off what windshield wipers won't.  I even made 7-Eleven convenient store $288 conveniently richer for my daily subscription to their regular hot coffee.  Then again, I gained an appreciation for my conversations with the Lord and look forward to His Word.  Whenever I have "too much" free time, it seems like I lack the discipline to make time for God and my loved ones.  I take heed to that incessant alarm that tells me, "Don't waste time, for time is precious".

  7.  At least I was "legally adopted" by another Filipino family--my father, mother, sisters and brother in-law.  My husband has many siblings, nephews and nieces.  They at least they feed me two plates full with some food to take back home in Tupperware.  Home cooked food is useful for those lazy Sundays when I, the newbie wife, have to catch up on chores and errands.  I am accepted and embraced by my husband's side of the family.  It makes it so nice that he's the "baby" of the family, I get to experience what it's like for a change.  It didn't take too long for them to figure out that I love orange soda too much.  So I'm quickly rewarded with a cold can of Sunkist or Orange Fanta whenever I visit their home for lunch or dinner!  Man, I'm so spoiled!

  I can only think of 6 major things that stand out in my mind.  I know there's more to write, but my energy tank is just about near empty and ready to crash from that caffeine high.

  More importantly, I ask myself (in third-person voice), "Liz, have you done a lot more giving this past year?".  That can only be answered in my next blog, when I get a chance to log in to Xanga. 

  • 6:59 am
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