His and Hers

There are a lot of unisex clothes. Jeans, T-shirts and polo shirts are good examples of these. Girls walk around in unisex clothes all the time. I raided Slash-M's closet when he left the country and wore his shirts. (Thanks again, btw.)

If you REALLY think about it, ladies can wear jeans that boys wear, but there are ladies jeans which surely no male would be caught dead or alive wearing. There are sport shirts for girls which boys would definitely never wear (unless they are a tad confused over their sexuality -- check out BB Gandanghari if you dare).

So how does one know if something is FOR HIM or FOR HER?

Often it is the style.

Take long sleeved shirts, for instance. Men's shirts would normally be straight while the ones for the ladies would be tailored and shaped to enhance her figure.

It can also be the brand.

Here is Onesimus versus Anne Klein.

(HIS)

(HERS)

However, the most obvious one is the location of the buttons.

Men button left over right while women right over left.

Sunshine had a funny story about that. Being a first-time mother, everything about motherhood was new to her. One day, in spite baby Ronald wearing a plain neutral colored shirt, the lady at their daycare center asked, "Did you realize he's wearing a girl's shirt?"

And THAT is when my dear sister learned about left over right versus right over left.

Of course if it were a baby girl, the person would probably have let those baby buttons pass.

By and large, "What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine." (So there!)

Bamboo Tree

I don't know why but the bamboo tree holds a special attraction for me. 

I love the way bamboo trees look. I love the way the leaves, all bunched together, seem to appear magically out of nowhere. I love how high these trees can grow. I admire the trees strength and tenacity. 

Check out our wallpaper in the house.

And the bamboo at Greenbelt.

The other day, MacGyver and I were discussing how our children each face different challenges. MacGyver mentioned that he wanted to cite the bamboo tree as an example of flexibility and strength to them since the bamboo tree is able to weather strong storms and winds.

Well, as I was looking for a story on the bamboo tree, I discovered that the bamboo tree is more commonly used to illustrate persistence and success.   

I liked this particular one.

Prepare the ground, plant a small bamboo seed, water it, and fertilize it for a whole year, and ... except for a tiny sprout ...

Nothing happens!

Continue to water it regularly, and fertilize it for a second year, and then to your amazement ...

Nothing happens.

You'll peer at it from all sides to discern if perhaps from some hidden place, something is growing?

Nothing happens!

Year Three ... Water it, fertilize it, lovingly clear the weeds away, and then ...

Nothing happens.

How discouraging! You planted your seed with love and hope. You obtained the best soil. You watered it faithfully and gave it your best fertilizer.

Your reward?

Nothing happens!

Year Four ... Water it, fertilize it, continue to care for the precious seed you planted and ...

Nothing happens.

You look around, noticing all the other plants in the garden have grown in leaps and bounds, stunning the eyes with their vibrant growth and life, gladdening the heart!

But from your precious bamboo seed?

Nothing happens!

For four years you'll see nothing, except a tiny shoot sprouting from a bulb, no bigger than it was the first year. You can sing to it, encourage it, challenge it, get angry and throw up your hands in frustration.

You'll want to pounce on it and stomp the life out of it!

Then just when you're ready to call it quits and lay down your watering can ...

sometime during the fifth year ...

GROWTH!

In the six weeks that follow, the Chinese Bamboo tree grows as much as three feet per day, until it grows to be NINETY FEET TALL!

Life is often like the Chinese Bamboo tree. It is discouraging. We seemingly do things right, and nothing happens. We pay the price to prepare the ground, to plant the seed, and to faithfully fertilize and cultivate, to water and week, and still we see no results ...

Nothing Happens!

But during the long years when there are no visible results, the bamboo tree was developing a mature long reaching root system that would sustain and nurture its explosive growth.

This extensive network of roots takes four years to develop before the tender bamboo shoot ever breaks ground and heads for the sun.

For those who continue to do things right are not discouraged, for those who are persistent, rewards will follow.

Pachelbel's Canon

GI knows how much I love Pachelbel's Canon. And I know how much GI loves the guitar.

The Signs of Summer

It's summertime .... check out the mango tree by the swimming pool ...



Do you see the mangoes?


There are quite a number of them.


There they are!


Here are a couple more.

The kids swam today. I took the time to admire the mangoes. I knew that it was only a matter of time before GI would get to these mangoes.

Hearts

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Handsome Young Man

St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica is the patron saint of convulsive children, nuns, and is invoked against storms and rain.

Today, February 10, is her feast day.

I'm sure you've heard the story of St. Scholastica before but it is a good one which is worth being told over and over again.

St. Scholastica visited her twin brother St. Benedict once a year. However, since she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he sometimes went with some of his brethren to meet her at a house some distance away. These visits were spent in worship and discussion of spiritual matters.

On one occasion, as the end of the day approached they had their meal and continued with their conversation, St. Scholastica begged her brother to stay until the next day. St. Benedict refused since this would have meant that he (and his companions) would be away from the monastery which was against his own rules.

St. Scholastica closed her hands in prayer. The weather at that point had been nothing short of perfect. After her prayers, a wild storm started.

"God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?" Benedict asked his sister.

"I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery."

So Benedict, unable to return to his monastery, had no recourse but to stay. They were able to spend more time together in prayer and conversation. The next day, Benedict and Scholastica parted ways. It was their last moments together on earth.

Three days later, while Benedict was praying in his monastery, he saw the soul of his sister rising towards heaven in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Phineas and Ferb-ruary

All of the kids are hooked on Phineas and Ferb. This month has Phineas and Ferb episodes back-to-back for one hour on weekdays at Disney Channel. (Too bad we don't have cable TV in Makati.)


At first it was just RD checking out Phineas and Ferb episodes on youtube aside from catching the show on weekends. He managed to get MyGirl interested. Then the other day, I heard GI singing the theme song while we were in the car. I knew that the P&F fever had spread.

We have downloaded episodes in the DS and the PSP. All three of them can be watching different episodes at the same time if they wanted to. GI on the PSP, RD on the DS and MyGirl on the PC. Most of the time, it is RD and MyGirl on the PC though.

The other day, I asked MyGirl which one was Phineas and which one was Ferb.

She said, "Just look at their faces, Mom. Phineas looks like a 'P' and Ferb, with his hair and nose, look like an 'F'."

"Oh, that's interesting," I said. "Thanks for the tip."

Let's look at those boys again.

She's right! Check out this out.


Cool!

Car Talk -- Part 1

One of our favorite past times is checking out interesting license plates. Don't ask me why, it just is. We really have a lot of fun spotting the variety of things found on other people's license plates. Yes, you will see the usual commemorative plates which say "PGH 100" or "PROSECUTOR" but the more interesting ones are regular issue plates which just happen to spell out stuff.

We arrived early at mass this morning and waited at the parking lot for the earlier mass to end. I pointed out the van beside our car.

Nice!

But it was only when the kids pointed this other car behind us that DRY 743 became more interesting.

School Saints

I went to St. Scholastica's today to attend the Parents' Recollection in preparation for MyGirl's First Communion.

The priest that gave the recollection and said the mass was from San Beda.

So there I was in the St. Scho chapel. I could not help notice the beautiful stained glass windows with the twin saints, St. Benedict and St. Scholastica. Quite appropriate to be in this place with a Benedictine priest.


Interestingly enough, it is the Feast Day of St. John Bosco. So during the mass, after the "St. Scholastica ... Pray for us" and the "St. Benedict ... Pray for us," the priest added, "St. John Bosco ... Pray for us" and "Mary Help of Christians ... Pray for us."

It made me think of the children and the patron saints of their schools watching over them.