As everything is slowly becoming a norm, the blogging exercise is getting slightly harder. Don’t get me wrong, my thoughts fly through 1000 miles a minute, but since I have to go to an Internet Cafe to write…you can imagine the creative juices are dead by the time I get to type.
Anyways…I’m not quite sure when I last blogged and what about. So I’ll start with Friday night. I started to get sick towards the end of the previous week, therefore by Laundry Night I was nasal, achy and whiny. By that time it was my Mom’s birthday so I had called her and she called me back. I whined and cried that I was sick, and felt better after talking to her. (go on, roll your eyes and call me baby)
Saturday I slept through pretty much the morning. Talked to everyone who were at my At’s celebrating with my Mom. I even got a 7am wake up call from my Ninang Terry. Miss you too Ninang! Sorry I was incoherent when we spoke. – That was probably because I was on the phone till 4am with Jes!
Saturday afternoon I met up with Katie, Lisa, Chloe, Katherine, and Kelly. We went to Notting Hill, which was a lot of fun. I will post pictures once I have enough to justify paying for it’s transfer to a CD. Afterwards I left them to go to Mass. That evening we met up again and heading for our Bootscooting experience. It was a lot of laughs! We had a lot of fun. We made it home in the wee hours of the morning, not before taking a side trip to Tesco (mini-supermarket) because we were all STARVING by then. Sunday was clean and shop for the week before meeting the others for Hillsong. Where I was running late as always! We stayed for the last two services.
On Monday I received a message from Paloma to say she was in London, so we met up Tuesday night for a quick dinner because she was heading back to Spain the following morning. The last of our Finsbury Family to finally go home…aside from yours truly. It was so nice to catch up with her. It makes me look forward to Cristina’s visit even more. I can’t wait till Novemeber when Cris comes back to visit!
Wednesday we had the taping for the BBC Special for Songs of Praise. They were doing a special on Hillsong. We sang, we jumped around. We yelled, we screamed. It was awesome. By the time it finished we were starving, so Lisa, Katie, Molly and I headed for Picadilly Circus at 11pm in search of anything but McDonalds. We ended up at TGI Fridays and we had a great time. We talked non stop and we enjoyed each other’s company. Telling our stories, and just getting to know each other. It was really nice. After Thursday night’s taping we went back to Picadilly Circus, but went to Planet Hollywood instead.
I feel incredibly blessed. Not just of recent events but for my life so far. To be standing in the middle of my life long dream and living it. I left for London with such naivety that it’s almost amusing to look back…okay maybe not yet, but I’m sure one day it would be a chuckle chuckle moment. I feel incredibly blessed, not just for the opportunities I have had, but the people I have encountered throughout my life.
My family, it goes without saying…are awesome. It’s taken my moving so far away to fully appreciate it. My Mom’s constant support, as hard as it was to let me go, being her baby, she let me go. She has made a lot of sacrifices for me to go, and she continues to provide love, support and encouragement, even if I am so far away. She gives me room to spread my wings and just go for it. She even tells me to text her when I want to call because I know she doesn’t want to call me every day in case I think she’s constantly checking up on me.
As for my Ats…well what can I say? She may say that I am gutsier than her because I did it. That I got on the plane and went for it, but had she only known that it is because of her that I am strong. Even though I am so far away, she is still only a phone call away…LITERALLY! Trust me! She has saved me in soooo many ways, and my Mom is right, I am extremely lucky to have her at my beck and call. (‘bout time too…after 26 years of being her PA) Hehe.
My bro is the quiet type…but I miss him terribly! Who else do I fight with? Who makes fun of everything I do. Who else will grumble at me for one thing or another? In saying that, despite our differences, I know my brother loves me, and would do anything for me. (except procreate! Hellllooooo, I’m waiting for a niece and nephew here!) How could he not love me dearly? I’m like soooo CUTE!
As for my Dad, despite what he thinks, and perhaps what I lack in showing, I do appreciate all he’s tried to do for me. As much as I have tried to deny it and even resent it at times, I am his baby. He loved me as best as he could, and it is only now that I am starting to understand that I have to appreciate that. I’m getting there.
I have awesome Aunts, who would do anything for me. Are there constantly to offer their love and support, and guidance. My Aunts are like my Mom’s too.
My cousins! Well, what can I say about my cousins! Aside from they’re weird! Ooops…I didn’t mean weird. Hehe. My cousins are scattered around. From Phils, Australia and the States. Some I have spent more time than others, and despite the difference with each relationship. I love and value them all. I realise as I grow older that our relationships change. There are some that I was once close to, and not so much now. There are some whom I’ve never been close to, that I am close to now, and there are others whom in my relationship with them have remained timeless. I guess everything evolves with time, and there is a reason, and season for everything. I am just grateful that I have them. All of them. (1st, 2nd, and no matter how thin the bloodline!)
As for my friends…I am often reminded of how much I love and miss them as I look back on my Memory Book. The amount of trouble that was made in some of them. The memories and the photos often bring me comforts in my times of loneliness. I am fortunate to have encountered some of the people I have encountered. Even more so to be able to call them my friend, and some of them my best friends!
Ann and Jes…without your phonecalls, no matter what time in the night and mornings, I would be lost! I look forward to our weekly briefings. (Can we call 1-2 hour conversations briefings?) You make me feel like I am just down the road and that I am still part of your world. Thank you! I feel so bad for your phone bills!
Christian, my biggest literary/life critic…I’m glad I am still receiving lengthy e-mails from you…grant it it’s to dissect my life, but what else is new.
Val and Vlad, your continuous support! Thank you for your emails, both of you, especially you Val. I really appreciate the pep talks!
I feel that God has picked out the most awesome people to be a part of my life. My family, my friends, to the people I am constantly encountering in my travels. I don’t know where I would be had I not met Cristina, Lorena, Isabel, Paloma, Sarah-Jane, Eileen, Allie, Julien and Anton during my first weeks in London.
Then meeting my P&B friends, especially Michael and Rabbi who will always have a special place in my heart…for without them, Mary Poppins, will not mean as much as she does to me. Now Cat at Harper Collins, who makes me laugh!
Then there are my Hillsong friends. Three in particular. Katie, Lisa and Molly. Though it’s only been a few weeks, and with Molly even less, the four of us have a great connection. We talk so much and I think we find comfort in each other. Especially when we talk about our faith and what not. I feel very at home with them, as I did with our little Finsbury Family. Having them close by is also great.
I feel as though each person I was blessed with for a reason, and knowing that is awesome! Every day I am meeting more and more people, and every day I feel like I am stepping out of my circle…I am a snob…my oldest and closest friends would not only vouch for that but would nod their heads tirelessly in agreement. Okay, they probably wouldn’t call me a snob, but they would definitely say I am SELECTIVE! I used to argue that, but I know they’re right. I was. One of the things this trip has definitely taught me, is that I need to step out of my circle! I’m getting there! I feel more open to new things, new experiences, my mind is slightly broadened, and instead of being scared…I just try to be excited!
It’s not so hard to envision the upcoming weeks anymore, knowing I won’t be home. Maybe because, as hard as that decision was. It was the right one. My mind not only says so, but so does my heart. I don’t know when I’ll be home…when I’m ready I guess. Ann mentioned that in their visit with my Mom for her birthday they had discussed me, and in case I didn’t answer your question about my ears burning…the answer is that I had a fever so I wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the source of heat. =) In their discussion she said that they had pointed out that I wouldn’t go home till I had given it my best shot and my last thread had been pulled…I smiled. They knew me so well! They believed in me so much. It was comforting! I feel incredibly blessed for the unconditional love that I am surrounded it. This trip wasn’t just a dream that consumed me for years, it’s a dream that even my family and friends were wrapped up in because I constantly talked about it. It was hard for them to let me go, as it was for me to go, which is why I appreciate their love and understanding. Their undying support no matter how far away I am. I guess this is just a thank you!