Parenting

The early signs of summer has arrived. The first holiday of the year has just passed by - Memorial Weekend.
I look forward to these days since ibig sabihin that's another extra day of no toil - no work.
This week end was just different from those lazy days. Jim & I packed up to spend the weekend in Columbia, Missouri a good two hours drive from Rolla. Awit min itti rementas ken cooler together with a thicker comforter, kumot ken unan.
AJ will be attending the University of Missouri Columbia College of Medicine this fall. He is still at George Washington University Hospital serving his contract which is to end July. The parents are always here to serve. What do we do to help him out? Off we go to prepare his place to stay while there is time.
Who says children are free and on their own at age 18? When do we cut the umbilical cord that binds the children to the parents? Never. We will always be parents ( in all of its meaning and context).
Napan kami nga duwa idiay Columbia. Sinukatan mi itti carpet to bamboo wood. Anya itti makunam - sumakit nga tumeng, siket, shoulders and every joint of our bodies. Jim & I decided to do it ourselves to save on labor primarily and to to learn these jobs secondarily.
Laying down the floor was not that difficult per se. Ripping the old carpet together with its backer, removing the staples etc etc was the hard work. To top it all, we both slept on the wood for we do not have any furniture yet. This is not easy on the back.
I am sure this will not be one of the few trips we will be making to Columbia. This is just the start of those weekend journeys we will make. I am sure we will go through the same cycle again just like when he was in College.
Agluto kami itti adobo ken maduma-duma pay nga sida ken makan just to save him time. We will be there as his support - his rahrah team especially on those midterms and finals. Rest assured we will be there.

Chicago Weekend

Ang buong tropa ng mga taga-Rolla Missouri ay bumiyahe papuntang Chicago this past weekend. We all planned to watch the Divas 4 Divas show. The Divas were Kuh Ledesma, ZsaZsa Padilla, Regine Velasquez & Pops Fernandez.
Since it was weekend the group decided to meet up for an early lunch tapos nagkanya-kanyang lakad na with the finale to meet at the concert place Saturday night.
Jim & I planned our route. I called Auntie Nieva & told her na kung may time pa - we'll see her Sunday AM. She is our frequent hotel concierge everytime we go to Chicago.
I called Boyting Sison - Uncle Gening & Auntie Auring's son. We drove up to their place at Niles so we can visit with them kahit sandali. The family together with the lolo & lola prepared guinataan & kankanen.
The food became secondary (not with Jim though since he really liked native delicacies). We caught up with the balitas on how we have been coping up with life. Napag-tung-tungan mi amin nga childhood memories idiay Agno. Saan nga maibusan itti istorya.
He is now a practising physician at a hospital at Pekin - close to Peoria. Matiyaga siya. Boy would pack his bags together with a cooler full of cooked food to last him for a week.
Agbiyahe iso na nga agpa-Peoria which is 3 hours from Niles. He will stay there for a week and drive back home on Friday. This will not be a bad drive during summer. What about winter?
May, the wife, on the other hand, is a nurse. The two children are now attending the Catholic school close by.
The next day, Sunday, I met up with another childhood friend from Project 7. We had breakfast ( or was it close to lunch). We also reminisced our growing up years and how life has treated us here in the US. The food was good. Binaon pa namin ang marami.
The drive back to Rolla was not too bad at all. Jim & I continued to talk about the mini-reunions.
Did I forget to tell you - we made it to the concert. Hindi kinanta ni ZsaZsa ang favorite song ko - Kahit Na.

Below are pictures of Boyting & Family:

Bagyo Emong in Agno

I borrowed this link from the Agno Pangasinan website. These pictures were taken by Baby Nora Nano - Emong's wrath in Agno.
http://picasaweb.google.com/noranano/WhatEmongDidToAgno?feat=email#

The Different Faces Of A NANAY

Maligayang Bati Sa mga Nanay

The different faces of Manang Biday as featured in this blog were meant as a tribute to the older or younger Manangs.
These Manangs were and all Mothers - in different ways. Most of them raised families thus making them - "dakilang nanays". The other Manangs were also mothers - mothers to whoever would look up to them for guidance, advice, compassion, companionship or for a good meal on most days.
We all have our own "Nanay" tales and we have shared some of these to each other. I will try to post the different faces and moods of these Nanays. Let me begin with our ancestors -

No Duaduaem Pay.mp3 -