JUST A FEW SNIPPETS OF A BLESSED DAY WITH FAMILY, June 22, 1914

You don't look to your day thinking it's just another day. Because it is not! Even if it's just eating pancakes, it's special.

So the day started out as a plan for a simple lunch, no big drama on the horizon. As for me, I'm always content sharing family time with my children. So no big deal. These are simply my precious moments.

But a surprise was brewing somewhere....... Yeah, my kids are unbeatable at springing huge surprises. They've got a lot of practice through the years.... i.e. surprise lunch in Tagaytay, a vacation in Boracay, overnight stay in a grand hotel, etc. etc.  It's always the Great Conspiracy.

To sum it all up, the day was so blessed... I was feeling so blessed. My cup runneth over with joy ... grateful to a wonderful family. And last but certainly not the least to a Magnificent God for this lovely gift of family.

Memories one by one..................

 This and the rest -- 

All in the day's gastronomic delight.
P.S.  Pasta with Okra --- a special dish created by daughter Amchit.
Truly a gastronomic revelation!

......................................

 Great time!!

 Flowers --- I love them all....  

anyplace, anytime, anywhere.

 Gosh, can you imagine if they filled that up with 

all of 68 candles?!!

 Thank you, Marco Polo!

 The prettiest birthday cake in the whole wide world!

 Happy mother  :-)

 Amchit, eldest of three girls.

Christine, my daughter and Daniel's wife.

 

Youngest daughter Malen.

 With son-in-law Daniel.

 Lovely gift from Malen. ----  "Dance First. Think Later"

by Kathryn and Ross Petras, 

authors of  "Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're A Cheese"

 My treasures.

So very blessed.

Blessings all! 

 Happiness is spelled  F-A-M-I-L-Y !!!

So there you are...  a special day in the life of lil' ole me..... 

and shared with you all. Thank you. Blessings everyone!

PRECIOUS MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES FOR A LOVELY DAY

Back from my early morning walk I went straight to my tiny patch of a garden. Looking at how the weeds were having a huge holiday camping in and round it I decided to end their pleasure with a pair of garden shears. Straight to the task I went about snipping here and there. I was pretty hard into the chore when a friend from another street who looked like she was also into her routine morning walk came by with a pleasant greeting. Glancing up I nodded with a smile. This led her to stop (Good Lord!) for a chit-chat much to my annoyance, disguised irritation. But it was such a lovely morning to even try to be ‘mean’. Yet looking down at my work I saw that I was only about two-thirds done with my weed-destruction mission and Old Sol was getting hot. I was faced with a dilemma.... be honest with being annoyed... or be kind. Yeah you guessed right... a little bit of kindness won’t hurt. So I turned towards her with ‘Musta?’ (How are you?)

She smiled even bigger with ‘Ganda ng araw noh?’ (Lovely day, isn’t it?)

To which I replied ‘Ay sobra!’ (Indeed it is!)

‘Wag lang umulan’ came her reply. (Hope it doesn’t rain)

She continued....‘Hay naku, maglalaba pa naman ako mamya. Kainis noh kapag ayun may sampay ka tapos biglang bumuhos ang ulan’   (Gosh, I intend to do the laundry later. It would really suck when you have hung up the laundry to dry and then the rain pours.)

I looked up to the clear blue skies with nary a cloud in sight and said.. ‘Maganda ang sikat ng araw, sapat yan para matuyo ang mga nilabhan mo maghapon.’   (The sun’s shining brightly enough to dry your clothes the rest of the day.)

‘Sana...’ she sighed. (I hope so...)

To this I said with a smile ... ‘Naku kung ganyan ang iniisip mo eh di simulan mo na siguro...’ (If that’s how you think about it, why don’t you get started then...)

If that was a disguised push for her to leave, I agree. I simply can’t stand negativity from anyone, especially if it stands to ruin a lovely day for me. And if she can’t appreciate a simple blessing as a wonderful day, there’s nothing much I can do about that but I hope she gets to understand what she’s missing.

When you’re having a lovely moment or day, enjoy it for what it is. Savor it.... the place, the people, the sights and sounds of it, and more. Don’t let anyone or anything take you away from such pleasure or delight. Neither should you allow any hint of negativity ever to douse your precious experience. Negativity is a joy-killer.

We live for the moments of our lives. A brightly shining morning sun, the soothing calm of a clear blue sky, the whirl of the wind, a baby’s angelic smile, the loving look in your lover’s eyes, a promotion at work, an unexpected fortune, a wedding or a baptism of a child, and even the falling of soft rain on your face. Wondrous moments of pure joy, of awesome discoveries, of intense living, of blessed experiences, of eureka moments, and of freeing your light to shine through and out to the world.

Think positive, think life, think blessing. And remember to thank God for it all. Oh yes indeed!!

Blessings, everyone! Have a nice weekend up ahead.