Just Passing By

My God just saved me from a definite tragic accident.

Two nights ago as I drove myself home, my brakes failed and I skidded on the icy road and ended right smack in the middle of a busy intersection. It was a surreal moment. I braked and instead of stopping, my car proceeded to move forward. All I could do was look to my left and raised my hand, willing the driver to stop, begging him not to hit me. I was sure I was going to die and my first thought was, please dear Lord, not before Christmas. I would hate for my family to mourn me on a joyous holiday season.

It was a miracle that everyone left that scene unscathed. As I replayed that horrifying few minutes over and over, I was more convinced that God’s hand slowed down the oncoming cars from both directions so I can safely pass.

I am thankful that I escaped that accident but it also got me to thinking. What if that was my time? And of course, being the Crazy Kaye that I am, my thoughts turned to these:

1. I hate driving in the snow. We should move to Seattle tomorrow. Yeah, lets!
2. Maybe I should indulge myself more in little luxuries. Eat more chocolate, use the nice teacup set I’m saving for special occasions, sing louder, shop harder.
3. Oh no, I haven’t even greeted my friends and family Merry Christmas yet. Maybe I’ll visit them when I’m already a ghost.
4. Oh shit, what undies was I wearing? Will I die with my ugly panties on?

Near accidents can get your brain in overdrive.

The fates are conspiring against me!

I woke up with a hoarse, raspy voice and a sore throat that hurts like hell for coughing all night. I have a teleconference scheduled this morning with a client I’ve never met. So as I drove to work, I sang along the Christmas tunes on the radio hoping to warm up my vocal cords and coax my voice back. During the hour-long phone call, I strained to carry on a decent conversation. It amazed me that he didn’t hang up although I’m pretty sure he didn’t understand half of what I said.

Then  at lunch, an email from HR announced that there was a special ice cream cake in the office kitchen for the December birthdays. Guess who’s in it? Me!

I have waited all year for my birthday cake moment and I can’t even eat a bite because of my stupid cough and colds. All year, starting in January, I watched as everyone was celebrated because it was their birthday month. Being a December baby, I’m last in line of course. Now that it finally came, I can’t even enjoy it.

So as I watched everyone take a nice big piece, my good mini-me kept saying, “Stay away Kaye. You know that’s just gonna make things worse.” And my bitchy-me said, “Of course you can, it’s just a cake that happens to be cold.” Besides, it’s chocolate. And the ice cream looks really creamy.”

Well, all I can say is, My. Birthday. Cake. Was. Sinfully. Good.

Oooops.

My old friend, Jerry Lao, shared me this story and it just brought me so much comfort. During these uncertain times, we may all feel so burdened and afraid.

Let the Bryan in us reach out to others and remember that even if we have so little, helping others doesn’t cost us much.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, ‘I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.’

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car  looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.

Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, ‘And think of me.’

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her.

The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one   that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: ‘You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.’

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, ‘Everything’s going to be all right.. I love you, Bryan Anderson.’

Gas prices are going down, sure, but with these uncertain times, one can’t really go splurging, yet.  I don’t know about you but I find that I still have to be frugal and save wherever and whenever I can. Here are some frugal tips that I personally stick to and maybe you can adapt too. I call them my own tipid-isms.

1. Hang clothes to dry when weather permits. On the weekends when I do my laundry, I hang everything outside and when the clothes are just a bit damp, I throw them in the dryer, and let them hang there for not more than 10 minutes just to get them soft and fluffy and to remove lint.
2. Throw laundry balls in the dryer too to untangle and keep the hot air circulating efficiently in between  clothes.
3. Stay away from Starbucks. And don’t buy soda from vending machines. Brew your own coffee and put in a thermos. Buy soda in bulk. Check for supermarkets having sales.
4. Buy groceries in discount stores. They may not be in keeping with my “fabulosity” image but heck, I’ll do anyting to save some bucks. Grocery Outlet carries most of the items we need. Just make sure you check for expiration dates.
5. Cook your own meals. TV dinners and fastfood takeouts are convenient, but pricey.
6. Bring lunch from home and store in Glad containers whenever you can. You only use sandwich bags for a few hours. They stay in the landfill for centuries.
7. Filter your own water. Brita pitchers with replaceable filters are amazing. They really do the job! We even bring our own pitcher when on vacation. Just fill the pitcher with regular tap water in your hotel room and voila! You have fresh filtered water for free!
8. Get everyone in your family a cellphone and share the cheapest family plan. Cancel your landline service. You can still reach everybody that way and you don’t have to deal with pesky telemarketers.
9. Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth.
10. Do your own manicures, unless you’re in the Philippines and you can get a home service mani-pedi for cheap.

Not much improvement in the weather this weekend. Still gray and cold and generally depressing.

But hey, my spirits are up! My house is now decked in holiday splendor. The tree is up and dressed, the wreath by the door is hung, the hedge in front of the house is blanketed in teeny tiny white lights that sparkle in the night. And of course, my very own Pinoy parol (lantern) takes center stage this year! Christmas comes early at the Lingads of Adel Way in Sparks, Nevada.

My parol is a gift from my sister, Dang. Dad and Mama brought it here, with much fuss and fretting. My lovely lantern is made of capiz, dyed in the colors of Christmas. It’s very fragile so my Dad was really distressed about the package until they got here and I plugged it and it twinkled merrily.

I have not turned on the lights, not yet, lest my neighbors think I’ve gone looney. Although the malls have revved the Christmas tempo, maybe I’ll wait until Thanksgiving before I go all out. I’ll post pictures then.

The weather can mess with your mood.

The skies have been gray and dark for two days now. You can just imagine how that’s making my mood go out of whack. I know I’ve said time and again that Fall is my favorite season of all. I should’ve qualified that. I love the early weeks of Fall when the trees turn to their most vibrant colors imaginable. But the last days of the season always send me spiraling down to inexplicable gloom.

I woke up early last Saturday and decided to take Bamboo for a walk. It was quiet and all I could hear were the crunching leaves beneath our feet. Only a few trees still had leaves on them. The bare branches against the gray sky created an almost surreal picture.

Yesterday when we turned back our clocks to standard time, night time came quickly. It was already dark by 5 o’clock. I was almost tempted to bring out my Christmas lights to counter the somber atmosphere. Today, I know that when I drive home, I will need to turn my headlights on.

So, so sad.

It was nice to have my parents around. I’ve forgotten how it felt like to come home and sleep under the same roof with them. I’ve left home very early, at least by Philippine standard. I was only 18 when I moved to a dorm in UP Diliman. Sure I went home on weekends but it was never the same.

Now that they’ve left, I thought I’d keep quiet for a little while and digest the past month’s events. I’m in a quiet mode right now, don’t particularly feel like sharing. So instead of blabbering, let me ask:

1. How’ve you been?

2. What did you have for lunch today?

3. Do you know what you’re gonna be for Halloween?

4. What book is on your nightstand?

5. What’s the last movie you saw?

6. If you can only use one word to describe today, what will it be?

7. Do you have a question for me?

So tell me, what’s going on with you?

I have the fortune of having a cube with a view. Call it seniority perks *wink, wink*. It’s by a corner near the printers. But the wall between me and printers is high enough so that I’m not bothered by the constant stream of people grabbing sheets of paper from the machines. It gives me the privacy I need. And when I turn slightly to my right, I could see the outside world from my huge windows which extend from floor to ceiling.

It’s an unusually cold October day. It started snowing when I pulled out of my driveway this morning and it has continued to snow all day. I can’t even see the mountains now. They’re covered with a misty sheet you would only see in horror movies. The snow flakes are pretty but they disintegrate as they touch the ground. The ground is still too warm I guess.

I can’t work. Friday afternoons in the office are a challenge for anyone. Since I can’t go home yet, I thought it was a good idea to write this post. But now that I’m on my 3rd paragraph, I’ve ran out of things to write about. I’m brain dead on Friday afternoons so I’ll end here before I get accused of rattling away nonsense… Have a good weekend world!

My apologies for my lack of posts these past couple of months. Being busy is no excuse for not returning phone calls or responding to emails. So I won’t even use it for my inability to post more often. Instead, let me say that I have been pleasantly distracted with recent goings on that I am too excited to keep still and write. But then that will be too selfish to keep this excitement all to myself so let me share with you the highlights:

Parents in Town. My Dadey and Mama are in town and staying with me for 4 glorious weeks. I have not seen them since our vacation in the Philippines in August 07. So to be able to see their faces as I talk to them, or to be able to hug them whenever I feel like it, is just making me deliriously happy! Mama made halayang ube yesterday. With the cool Fall air and the delicious ube, it feels like being transported to Pinas on Christmas Day.

New Niece. The whole family is celebrating the birth of my new niece, Vera Cielo. Yeah- we’ve made jokes about how her name sounds like the name of a new subdivision or a classic contrabida in a Mexican telenovela, but she is one precious baby and she is loved.There will be one more niece coming anytime now. Two new babies before Christmas, what a blessing!

Gwen and Goji. These two precious kids were born into the Mayrina family a week after each other 10 years ago. Happy birthday to Goji on the 14th and Gwen on the 20th. My gift to both of you… Club Penguin memberships so you can play with each other as you have always done even now that you are oceans apart.

My kids have teased me mercilessly since I made this purchase a week ago. They even asked me if I already blogged about it since they know that whenever I get psyched about something, I usually write about it. So as not to disappoint them and since I am still psyched about it,  this post is actually about that item that made it feel like opening presents at Christmas.

It’s a mop OK, a little yellow sponge mop that I bought from the dollar store. Nope, you didn’t just suddenly develop dyslexia. You read right.  As soon as I got home that day from the store, even before I could change from my office clothes to something more appropriate for the project, I stripped the cover and started work right away.  You see, I’ve always dreaded cleaning the kitchen floor because I would be on all fours and alternate between that and standing up to get the work done. But with this amazing mop that has a built-in squisher, I can do the deed without even getting my hands (or knees) wet. And for a dollar, that’s a fantastic deal.

So… between a new pair of those trendy bootie shoes for Fall and that handy dandy mop, I’ll take the mop anytime. Call me the new domestic goddess!