I Am The Walrus

This day in birthday history….

1977 - was a Tuesday, I think. My father violated every traffic rule there is to drive the rickety Mercedes Benz (a hand-me-down, we’re not rich) from Marikina to Manila with his pregnant, humongous wife at the backseat and his mother-in-law telling him to calm the hell down. At 10.30 pm, the only child they ever had to raise came out into the world.

1987 - I came home from school and I told my mother that I treated my friends to dirty ice cream at the school yard. Naks! Yabang!

1990 - At thirteen, I received my first birthday gift from my first ever suitor. I still know his name but I can’t seem to remember what he gave me. I know there was a card with declaration of love and really bad grammar. Last I heard, he held up taxi cabs. I wish I was kidding.

1991 - Got Archie comics from a suitor I really wasn’t interested in but the shameless display of his affection for me was entertaining (and annoying to my friend-at-that-time-and-boyfriend-two-years-later).

1993 - I was supposed to prepare a small party at home. SMALL, meaning tiny, meaning for close friends, meaning ten people max. But no. I dragged about TWENTY-FIVE people from school to my home (one of which I only met that day), not really thinking if my mother had prepared enough food. However, they all managed to be fed and everyone was happy.

This was also the first birthday I had where I was in a relationship and we were crazy in love.

1994 - Block party, the end of my first semester at UP. We had donuts. My very-close-and-quite-attractive-guy friend came in with a long stemmed rose and handed it over to me for everyone in my block to see. I was never able to figure out what that meant (and what all the other questionable gestures that he did that semester meant) and then we parted ways next sem. I didn’t hear from him for almost fifteen years and then this summer I found him. On a magazine ad. Imagine that.

1995 - Ah, who could forget my 18th birthday and the devastating storm that it was. No, I’m not being metaphoric. There was a storm. A huge-ass storm. The kind that causes brown-outs for long periods of time (which happened in the middle of my party). The kind that makes my fifty or so guests stranded and bored, sprawled on our living room carpet (which they did).

Although, it was nice to have all of my friends come together at one party, even if its was Armageddon outside.

1996 - Second birthday with second significant relationship. (Not that it was second in significance, it was just the second chronologically. ) I think this is the one where he brought me flowers to my Psych class (and I kind of heard that he was going to do that so I didn’t go to class haha).

1999 - First birthday in GMA. My then-boss, Liezl, bought me ice cream. It was such a big deal to me. I got teary-eyed.

2001 - First birthday without a significant relationship. Luhoo…seherrrr. Not really. I watched Fast and the Furious with my parents.

2002 - Called up my boyfriend in the US before I went to bed. And a woman answered his phone. Happy Birthday.

2003- Let’s forget about all those stupid boyfriends. This was the first year I celebrated my birthday with my son. I can’t seem to remember right now what we did exactly, but I know we have a picture in front of the Megamall skating rink.

2006 - A day after Milenyo, all ATMs were down. I had money but I couldn’t get to it. Wonderful.

2007 - My 30th birthday was pretty cool. And well-spent. I prepared for this momentous event —- I shed the weight, I bought clothes, I saved some money. I ended up with four different celebrations: dancing with my GMA friends, pizza with my college friends, pasta at home with my highschool friends, and Chinese with my family.

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Kunyari Emmys….

I’ve had a sucky September but I’m still grateful.

I’m grateful for my parents. I have awesome parents, you know. I don’t think I could ever get through the insanity that is the thirty-one years of my life if it hadn’t been for them. If you have parents half as wonderful as mine, love them. Love them with everything you have.

I’m grateful for Cojie. My son is wonderful. So many things could have gone wrong from the time he was gestating in my emotionally distressed body, to the time he was born, to all those times he got sick and was hospitalized, but he’s fine. He’s doing great in school, he’s happy, he’s healthy, he’s funny as hell. I can’t ask for anything more from a son.

I’m grateful for GMA. Oh God, you have no idea. I don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I wasn’t working for television. (I’m also grateful for ABS-CBN. For just being. GMA won’t be as fun without them.) As I am grateful for everyone in GMA. We’re quite a great cast of characters.

I’m grateful for the rest of my family and my friends who are as good as family. I am so, so blessed with the best kind of people as friends. Family is fine, there’s genes involved, but friends who just come into your life and are concerned for you even if they’re not obligated to? That’s almost miraculous.

Miraculous, yeah. I think when God made me and my friends (circa the seventies hehe) he looked at us as babies and said “Ok, she’s going to be funny, so she needs somebody who laughs a lot.” or “This one’s going to laugh at every opportunity so she needs someone funny”.

I’m grateful for Tina Landon, Billy Blanks and Shawn T for helping me get off my fat ass every night.

I’m grateful for my pop culture influences — Rowling, Zafra, Carter/Mulder/Scully, Brown, Harris, Booth/Brennan, Delko/Duquesne, Scofield/Tancredi, NBC, CBS, Fox…. eh, just look at my bookshelf.

I’m grateful for Fruit Magic. Yes, Fruit Magic. There’s a concoction there, called Nutty Oaty. Banana plus peanut butter plus oats plus protein powder. It’s disgusting yet wonderful at the same time.

I’m grateful for the schools that molded me into the demented person that I am — the Roosevelt in the Marikina, the Macho in the San Mateo, and the Unibersidad ng Pilipinas in the Diliman.

I’m grateful for prayer. I’ve never been the devout Catholic I was eight years ago (singing in the church choir? can you believe it?). But I’ve held on to prayer. I’ve lifted everything to God — from something as puny as which route to take on the way to work or something as jumongous as splitting up with the father of my child. And my prayers have been answered, everytime. EVERYTIME, I’m telling you. It’s not about asking for things. God’s not a genie. It’s just about surrender. “Here’s the deal. I don’t know what to do about it. I’m leaving it up to you”. You know what, when it’s like that — just total surrender — it works out better than you expected.

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2008 - Woke up at around 9am with about 20 messages from my adoring fans haha. Gotta love my GMA friends — we’re text-trigger-happy.

Worked out at around 11am (arms and abs). Had lunch at 12nn. Took a bath. Headed to the nearest mall. Nothing major, just bought vegetables for dinner, and the aforementioned Nutty Oaty. (My stomach’s having a party right now)

Went home. Took Cojie and we walked to the nearest bakery to buy those sugar-dredged donuts that he loves. Made dinner (chicken mami. don’t laugh, I make great soups). Wrote down this blog. In a few minutes, I’m going to do the dishes, wash my face, brush my teeth, and watch the fifth season premier of CSI:New York. (Yes! I have it! I’m also grateful for a software called Shareaza. And Smart Broadband).

Nice and quiet, just the way I like it.