Thursday

But all I do is exist

"Every life is its own excuse for being." ~Elbert Hubbard~

====0000====

We tried to make the day extra special for J's birthday. We didn't really have a definite plan.That morning he said he would think of something we can do. When morning came, he anounced we would go hiking at High Falls State Park. I packed the cooler with cantaloupe, bottled water, and there was a star fruit that has been sitting the fridge. Off we went. On our way, we decided to stop and get some food. As we pulled up by Forsyth, I saw a China Inn Buffet. I was already car sick so I wanted to eat. We chose to go inside instead of getting turkey sandwich at Subway. When we got inside, the place was small but looks cool and cozy. But when I looked around, there was just a very few selection of food. I was hoping they would bring out some more fresh cooked food, but they never did until we were done. The tea didn't even taste good. I was disappointed but there was no time to back out. We just filled our tummies to whatever they had and and left. All the wahile I was thinking "this was the worst chinese buffet I have ever went to." But I kept my cool and didn't say anything bad. Not until we were out of their ear shot. I guess that's terrible when you just stop over and you are not familiar with the place, you'll never know what you're getting. We drove about half an hour to the park. When we got there, there were few people who stopped by and were even taking photos with their tripods. A guy was feeding the geese, about five of them as they followed him as he walked all over the place. From the road the fall can be seen. Streams of water flowed from the slight elevation of stones and rocks. But the water looked dark and murky from the storms that passed by the area. We didn't take the route that we used to take following the flow of water. Instead we took a different trail on the opposite side of the road still following the flow of water down stream but the trail continued towards the woods. We followed the direction of the trail signs. As we entered the woods, as expected there are some trees that have fallen down from the storm. It was really quiet in there and we seem to be the only souls roaming the woods. It was even mored evident becuase spider webs were all over the place like slightly invisible nets that catch us by surprise as we walked through them. We kept going until we came upon a big tree that has falen and blocked our way. We persisted and walked around it to get to the other side. I started to pick up my feet and hurry up because it seemed we were going forever. Turned out we got lost when we decided to go off the trail and got on the road. When we figured out we came out on the other exit we followed the road until we can hear the sound of the water. As we got near the flowing water we saw some guys fishing but we can't see our way. we were sweating then as we had been walking maybe over an hour. We went on going back following the uphill until we came to the same entrance we went through. That's when we finally said, ahhhh! finally. We got back to the same trail and back to where we started. As weWe sat on a picnic bench to cool off and ate the rest of the cantaloupe. J had to go to work later that afternoon, so we headed back home. I spent the rest of the evening chilling out at home, got busy with my hand craft.

I was so glad it didn't rain for the past days. Fall and spring are my favorite seasons. Not to cold not too hot. And it's always the best time to be outdoors. We even met some friends yesterday at the tennis court at a park about 10-15 minutes from our place. We played tennis, although E didn't have her tennis shoes on and so with D. D has her son with her Mathew who liked like little Elvis Presley. they also brought Maja Blanca which we snacked on after the game. Me and J headed back home while the two of them went and picked up their kids from school. Being a mom can be a full time job,especially if one has more than one kids and they are going to school. Got to get them ready for school, pick them up from school and when they have school activities, you got to bring them again. But I guess that's the joy of motherhood. Being able to participate in your own kid's growing up.

Wednesday

Natural Disasters

I know it's has been a while. It's been hectic for me for the past weeks and I am so glad to have a break. I barely noticed the effects of the hurricane since I had been too busy and too tired. But that night that it passed by our town I barely slept because of the constant falling of the pine cones that surrounded our place and the flapping and banging caused the the strong wind. I recall that the wind was too strong and it caused this whistling sound whenever it hits our window. I was up almost every half hour and I had to wake up at the break of dawn. I was really frustrated trying to get sleep. We tried moving my bed to the other room, but the constant thud sound was still audible on that part of the house. I guess out of exhaustion I finally fell asleep when it was about three in the morning and had to be up in two hours. I was miserable. I later learned some people lost power for a few days and we didn't, so we were still lucky. And yeah, a lot of people right now are really in trouble with hurricane Ivan. I mean, hurricane Francis already did a lot of damage down south Florida and as we checked on the weather channel, Pensacola and Alabama is experiencing strong winds right now. Two more storms are coming, but it seems that Hurricane Ivan seems to be the strongest of them all.

Storms like these reminds me of typhoons in the Philippines. It could get nasty and destructive. I mean people's house literally getting blown and all that. And since the Philippine Island is situated at the middle of the oceans, it gets a lot of typhoons every year. Imagine the damage it causes every year.People are always rebuilding. Lives and properties are lost. Floods, errossions and crops are destroyed. And the government keeps spending on rebuilding and starting over for victims. It would surely drains out that fund which could go to other projects.

I never liked rainy days. They seem so gloomy, and so I was home all day watching the dopller radar on the weather channel even if one of my friends called and wanted to go out. i just didn't feel like going out. I guess I just wanted to stay home and rest. I mean, really rest from those long days and hours at work.

Weather updates: Ivan & T.S. Jeane

====0000====

Last night: A friend of mine called to tell me to watch the show Amazing Race. I was only able to catch the portion when the Contestants got of the buses in Cubao and were competing on getting on a taxi cab to "Coconut Palace." I have never heard of the place, but I'm sure it's in Manila. I hope to be able to watch the next episode.