3 Years and Counting…

15 January 2009.

Three (3) years of marriage.

I’d like to say it has been blissful.

But that would be a lie.

As with all marriages, we have had our share of disagreements (who’s idea is better), arguments (who’s right), and catfights (Of course, I am!).  Sometimes I win (“Babe, where are my golf clubs?”), sometimes he wins (“Okay, you can have the red room as well”), other times there are just no winners (“I just had to walk it off.”  “I followed you.”)

There are days we understood each other…perfectly.  Acting in unison, melding into one.  Some days we just don’t see eye to eye.  (“Just WHO are YOU?!)

There are days we can’t have enough of each other; there are also days we can’t stand each other. (“Space” is not only a design concept; it is a human right!) 

My husband is not the same person I have met before. 

He no longer opens the car door for me (“kaya mo naman yan”), but he massages my legs at night and my back in the morning.  He no longer surprises me with flowers (Sayang lang) and gifts (Mahal) given in grand production (Arte), but he gave me a 20 gram white gold bracelet (that carries Nina’s initial) for Christmas.   He no longer kisses me with the same passion as when we were merely a couple, but I felt him tuck me in and kiss me goodnight in my sleep last night.

A friend once told me that there are things about one’s husband that one may not be able to agree with.  She failed to add that there are things about one’s husband that one will be able to love. 

Along with the booming voice and the sometimes abrasive tones are the sweet candid statements of hopes and dreams, the honest and vulnerable utterances of fears and apprehensions for the family’s future.  Along with the sometimes torturous fights are the sweet, heartbreaking, and oftentimes wacky, reconciliations.   Along with the cluttered guitars and the golfclubs on the hallway is the need and willingness to share one’s love and passion, to de-stress, to entertain, in front of the family, “with” the family.

Marriage is truly not what I envisioned it to be.

It has not been rosy, it has not been blissful at all.

But it has always been happy. 🙂

 

It’s a Rosey Rosey Pink World!

Text message:  “Sweet Ilonggo Guy has finally won the lotto!  Good luck to us both!  🙂

For a moment I wanted to ask how much millions, until comprehension finally dawned. 

“Hahaha!  How did it happen gurl?  Kelan mo pa siya sinagot? Tell me the details!”

I pulled over as Sweet Ilonggo Girl poured out her heart, how she has fallen (unexpectedly) for our dearest friend.  This after all is an emergency! A happy emergency which requires my full attention!

I laughed, I cried as she recounted how he, our groomsman, has swept off her, our bridesmaid, feet. 

Over several “Aww…how sweet”, I marvelled at how remarkable life is.  Except for the obligatory walk in the isle, they hardly noticed each other during our wedding.  A chance meeting at the hospital, with them both welcoming Nina into the world, made their paths collide once more.  Mr. P was acting the matchmaker for his “Bro” while I was clucking like a protective mother hen over “My Gurl”. 

Three months later, this –

 

It’s a rosey, rosey pink world indeed! 

Mr. P and I are still at loggerheads over whom credit should go.  But suffice to say, we are extremely elated over this development.  Our dearest friend has won our bestest gurlfriend!  And we feel like WE have won the lottery!  🙂

About the Boy

 

“Nina’s named after me, right Tata Ging?  Her name is Antonia?”

“No, but the Baby Book of Names says that Nina is derived from your name Anton.”

 

“She looks like me.”

“That’s because I love you.   Remember, ikaw ang pinaglihian ko?”

 

“I love holding her fingers.”

“She likes you.”

 

“I have never felt this way before Tata Ging.  I will never get tired of  holding her.”

“Neither will I.”  🙂

Boracay or No Boracay

Summer- a time to frolic under the sun, sandy white beaches under your feet, showing sexy love handles in those skimpy white bikinis, downing tequila by the number…

Or was that Enfamama?  

Woke up from my dream and realized no white bikini would ever drape my gorging belly, tequilas would have to be replaced by Anmum or Enfamama as I clumsily plod along the even cement pavements of Manila.

My parents tell me that summer in Boracay for now would have to be shelved.  Till I safely deliver the baby.

Sure…but that won’t stop me from getting out of Manila! Nor of having an ounce of fun injected into my incarceration!

So, it is with this sense of impish fun and rebelliousness that I nonchalantly asked Mr. P if he wanted to go to Tagaytay for a change.  No flight needed, no heavy bags in tow, just the two of us this otherwise lazy weekend, perfectly safe for the baby.

He readily agreed.

So, off we went at around 11 a.m. on our instant date to Tagaytay!  It’s not the usual summer adventure but our spirits were nevertheless buoyed up from leaving the crowded malls of Manila for a change.

After three hours (traffic had to be re-routed due to a fiesta), we finally arrived at Leslie’s.  There we ordered to our heart’s delight – sizzling bulalo, crispy pata, fried kangkong and chopsuey, willingly blind to the havoc it would create on our cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

It rained hard while we were having our meal.  Dark clouds hid the magnificence of Taal Volcano.  Rain thundered through the thatched roofs of the restaurant. But we still managed to laze around, bantered through our thoughts,  and, yeah, took that customary picture with Taal Volcano in the background. 

It was still raining when we left Tagaytay. Traffic was heavy but not enough to wipe the smile off our faces.

It is during times like this that I stand grateful for the love and friendship we have as a couple.

And I rest in the confident assurance of forever.

Boracay or no Boracay. 🙂   

 

Anton & Anton II

“Pinaglilihian ko si Anton.”

This was how it was during my first trimester.  I so much wanted to see Anton and hear his voice that I would call him almost everyday.  My camera is filled with his pictures.  Hearing him, seeing him, made me smile and forget my discomfort.

“Pinaglilihian ako ni Anton.”

Flash to my second semester and it’s now Anton who is so much into me. He loves seeing me, often inviting me over to the house.  And when I do get the chance to drop by, he serves me like the queen. 

He races to the kitchen to ask them to cook spaghetti for me and the baby.  He says he and the baby are alike, could be twins, as they both like spaghetti.  He asks me to name the baby Anton and I say, to avoid confusion, I’ll call the baby “Anton II”.  This made him laugh!

His ministrations over me have drawn the attention of his parents and the other grown-ups in the family.  How it happened, nobody knows.  He props the chair with pillows before inviting me to sit, turns the aircon for me, and massages my back as I lie back in bed. 

It seems he has caught the love bug as much as I did! 🙂

 

Anton & Tata Ging’s Date

It’s Anton’s 7th Birthday!

His parents planned a big party for him at the farm in Tarlac on the Sunday following his birthday. 

He didn’t agree.

Why?

Coz Tata ging won’t be able to travel that far. 

So, my mom called an SOS to me and I called Anton. 

I explained that we, the family, can have a separate celebration in Manila.

He relented.

Saturday. 7 a.m.  SOS call…again.

Anton announced to his parents, my sisters, mom and dad that there would be no celebration in Manila.

Only a “date” with Tata Ging.

Please explain Tata Ging.

I cannot.  I don’t have any idea what’s going on.

Anton insisted.

He had the whole day planned.  I would pick him up after lunch and we would go to Trinoma.  There, we will eat Jollibee spaghetti as, according to him, this was his and the baby’s favorite.  We would then drop by the toy store to buy him a gift.  Merienda will then follow, this time chocolate cake, as he and the baby will then again be hungry by this time. 

We did all this as planned (except eating the chocolate cake as he was already too excited to show his new toy to Gab!).

 

 

 

 

He said it was his best birthday ever!

And although the date didn’t come cheap (hehe!), it was likewise one of my best days ever. 🙂