// Quarter Life Monologues

With my new apartment now officially the worst thing that’s ever happened to the history of apartment-hopping (no Globe Visibility signal in my room, landlord’s PLDT connection gone blpht, cable connections not compatible with the TV, not to mention the leak that drown our stuff on the first day but don’t let me rant about that one), I nominate last week as the newest candidate to my worst weeks ever.

But that is, until yesterday, when THIS was delivered to me. Waah. :)

Yup, that’s right. There’s my ticket to one whole week of Hillsong bliss at the Acer Arena, happening on July 7-11 of this year.

But of course, I’m still not even halfway through making it. It’s just that teh boyfriend and I registered for the early-bird promo around November last year, so I’ve been getting all these mails since the start of the year — (1) confirmation letter of my registration and full-payment, (2) support document for my visa application, and (3) just yesterday, the ticket to the Hillsong Nights which comes free to those who registered.

Just the sight of my ticket, and my very own seat (well, at least the seat number), has kept me elated until now. So.. up next, Australian visa application. I just hope my fingerprints starts to cooperate already. Uggh, the fingerprints? That’s another story.

Come to think of it, whatever happens within the next 60 days — I know for sure that in the long run, I can smile and be happy with the fact that I got this far. :)

I’ve looked everywhere — Odyssey outlets, music bars, department stores, etc — for any of Kendall Payne’s albums, to my own dismay. I even got some of my friends involved in the search, but unsuccessful we all were.

So imagine my delight when a package was delivered to my apartment last week, all the way from Staten Island. Yep, all three of them. *jump, jump* (Thanks, boyfriend, you’re super!)

So yeah. Since then, my playlist includes three albums worth of Kendall Payne: Paper Skin, Grown, and Jordin’s Sister. Happiness does come in small packages, huh. :)

I didn’t know that Kendall Payne’s a Gospel singer. I first got interested when I heard her song “Scratch” from a Grey’s Anatomy episode, and “Not Afraid to be Me,” also from GA. I later learned that she’s also the voice behind Felicity and Never Been Kissed’s soundtracks. I loooove her. Although she can be very well known in the pop slash country-music arena, a few of her songs have an obvious Godward message in them. Like her song Aslan, which, I reckon, was inspired by CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, where Aslan (the lion) symbolizes the Savior and the power of good.

So anyway. Enough blabbers.

There goes one little wish granted for me. This year, a lot of dreams will come true. Let’s start with the little ones. :)

Fine, the “Ala Riz” part is blpht. Not to hoard all the credit, I got this recipe from my brother, ergo, if anyone of you has come across this recipe from somewhere, then it’s my brother who got it from somewhere, okay? Okay.

Remember when I said I was looking at buying a bunch of cook books? Well, I actually bought some, hoping that I’d find myself productive in the kitchen during the holiday break. Sadly though, while the “buying” happened, the “cooking” didn’t. Haha. Unless you can call helping out and getting instructions from my Mom while in the kitchen “cooking”, that is. Boo.

I think I was successful though, making this no-bake preaches and cream cake (more popularly known as “refrigerator cake”, which is kind of weird if you would ask me because I think the term “refrigerator cake” is grammatically incorrect). See, the plan is to learn to cook backwards. Dessert first. Then main course. Then appetizer. (I’ll get to the real meal later, okay, boyfriend??). Okay, shutap nao.

What I like about this yummy dessert is, you don’t have to be an expert to do it. Here are the ingredients you will need. (Disclaimer: No one’s paying me to endorse these product brands.)

4 Nestle All Purpose Cream; 2 cans of Nestle Cream; 1 can of condensed milk (not in the picture); 1 pack of Grayham crackers; 1 pack of crushed Grayhams; 1 big can of Del Monte Sliced Peaches.

So.. ready? Make a no-bake peaches and cream cake in 5 easy steps. :)

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As for the few things that made me smile today (given that my mind is still on holiday mode and I have to go back to the office against my will), this one’s definitely climbed the charts.

I consider being friends (and meeting) with Liz of wellwhatever.com, Rhiz of guitarchic.net and Joni of taintedsong.com as the biggest blogging achievement I got this year. Blogging brought the four of us together, four different individuals sharing the same passion. — Mae, lastleaf.org

Who would have thought I’d be part of someone’s biggest blogging achievement this year? :) What can I say? Ditto, girlfriend.

So.. when’s the next kape kape? :)

Didn’t expect this would come this soon :(

Six months after his partner, Chichi, died, Chuchu passed away too. :(

More pictures HERE.

But at least I didn’t cry like before. I guess it’s mostly because I wasn’t there when my Mom and my brother found him dead. If I was there, there would have been a flood of tears.

He was still magulo last Monday, when I was home in Caloocan for the weekend. That was the last time I saw him. :( Sigh. Chuchu was a survivor. He was able to survive having bitten in the left leg by a house rat. He was always jumpy and energetic, even with a deformed leg, and even when his partner-in-crime Chichi passed away. I guess that’s one of the things I will always remember about him. Inspite of everything, he never failed to make me smile.

It doesn’t feel too long ago when I first got the hamsters, when I had to take them to my niece’s debut. Dad was still alive at that time, and was really amused as well. 10 months, gone in blink. Sigh.

I feel sad, but it was a good 10 months for Chuchu and me. I don’t think I’ll be buying a new set of hamsters anytime soon. But when I’m ready, or perhaps when I found the perfect pair, I will.