Month: May 2015

A New Era for the Traveling Bears

Your father and I love to travel. We are usually away on trips during Memorial Day weekend, and holiday weekends in general. We love to eat and travel great distances to seek good food.

On Memorial Day last year, it was the day after my big sister’s wedding in the Philippines. We visited my Alma Mater and treated ourselves to my favorite tapsilog place in college – Rodic’s.

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Two years before, we were concluding a New England trip with a stop at Shady Glen Dairy in Connecticut. The show “Best Thing I Ever Ate” on Food Network had recommended its uniquely unforgettable cheeseburger (which I still think of up to now).

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This year is different.

Because I am still sick from Hyperemesis Gravidarum at 15 weeks, and because I still can’t eat a lot of different things, your father and I stayed at home doing mostly this:

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And eating mostly an ordinary tasting spinach topped Brooklyn-style pizza delivered from close by.

I do miss seeing new places with your father and discovering the tastiest foods with him. But this long weekend has been both chill and fun. I will probably want to go on a getaway one more time before you come out. However, if that can’t happen, I don’t mind. All it means is that we have to wait a little bit longer (maybe avoid plane rides until much longer). Then, we can take you with us on our adventures.

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The Responsible One

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 When we were kids, my older sister and I didn’t used to get along as well as we do now. But mostly because she was the responsible no-BS eldest child who expected a lot more from me, the immature BS-loving middle child.

As we got older, we did end up having more things in common and I guess my maturity had somewhat (maybe) caught up with hers. I value and respect her a lot more now… for everything she’s been and everything she’s become. If there is anything I admire the most about her, it would be how she goes after what she wants. I think it’s what made her very successful in her career, personal life and various interests.

To my Ate, I was such a punk to you when we were younger even when you were just trying to teach me to grow up. But I love you and thank you for being someone I could look up to. Happy Birthday and I wish you an even more awesome life!

Why your Mother is a B

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I grew up in a culture that highly values saying “Yes”. There is a popular Filipino saying: “Kapag gusto, may paraan. Kapag ayaw, maraming dahilan” which basically means if there’s a will, there’s a way and where there’s no will, there’s nothing but excuses.

I’m all for finding solutions. And up until the more recent years of my life, my can-do attitude has led me to believe that saying “No” is a bad thing. There is always a way, I can always take on more.

Baby, you are making me a lot better at saying “No” and I don’t care if it comes off wrong. Some people will abuse your can-do attitude and your willingness to help. When you choose to not enable their behavior by saying “No”, the same people might dislike you or call you names behind your back.

I don’t mind being a B anymore. Doing what’s right is more important than being liked. It’s better to say “No” than to make commitments you can’t keep. It’s better to say “No” than to do something that contradicts your values.

I want you to have a mother that can say “No” and in the future, teach you to say “No” when required by the situation. I enjoy learning by testing my limits but I need to find balance and do a better job of looking after myself, looking after us.