Root Canal Take 3

Don't worry, no explicit descriptions this time, hehehehe. But everyone will be glad to know (I know I was!) that today was the very LAST day of my series of visits to the dentist for my root canal. Like the last time, everything was clean and nice-smelling :) The dentist put a *permanent* filling in and I was done! Yeah!!! Now, my chipped teeth are another matter.......

We *were* going to have a wedding rehearsal today at 7 pm. Thankfully, that was cancelled. Not like we had to absolutely cram more stuff that we had to do this week of the wedding! Just looking at my calendar HURTS!!! Hahahaaha! I guess it's to be expected, last minute stuff to do, fittings, exams of the kids HAD to be this week (!!!) plus a Linggo ng Wika celebration in school. Sigh! I will be sooo glad when it's wedding day on Saturday! All this madness can then stop!

Speaking of weddings, I did do some layouts featuring the Ruby Anniversary. Check them out:

GLAMOROUS GRANDMOTHER

GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

Now, to take advantage of this momentary lull in our busy lives this wedding week to scrap some more!

I am Reading Again!

Whoohoohoo!!! I have been reading again, starting the past few days. And it is just wonderful to be holding and turning the pages of a novel! I forgot how relaxing, how a story can just take me to a different place, a different time. Ahhhhh......I love books, I love reading!

I finished reading PS, I Love You by Cecilia Ahern a few days ago and I've been reading voraciously ever since.

A short summary: PS, I Love You follows the engaging, witty, and occasionally sappy reawakening of Holly, a young Irish widow who must put her life back together after she loses her husband Gerry to a brain tumor. Ahern, the twentysomething daughter of Ireland's prime minister, has discovered a clever and original twist to the Moving On After Death concept made famous by novelists and screenwriters alike--Gerry has left Holly a series of letters designed to help her face the year ahead and carry on with her life. As the novel takes readers through the seasons (and through Gerry's monthly directives), we watch as Holly finds a new job, takes a holiday to Spain with her girlfriends, and sorts through her beloved husband's belongings. Accompanying Holly throughout the healing process is a cast of friends and family members who add as much to the novel's success as Holly's own tale of survival. In fact, it is these supporting character's mini-dramas that make PS, I Love You more than just another superficial tearjerker with the obligatory episode at a karaoke bar. Ahern shows real talent for capturing the essence of an interaction between friends and foes alike; even if Holly's circle of friends does resemble the gang from Bridget Jones a bit too neatly to ignore (her best friend is even called Sharon).

Not a bad book; it was enjoyable for the most part, until the end. Hehehe. I know, I know. But for me, if the end isn't a great one, then it makes the book a so-so book. So yes, this one's a so-so book. Would I read it again, maybe, if there was nothing else to read. For a light, no-thinking read, this should be ok. But if I had a choice, I'd probably pick something else.

Not only have I been reading, I actually SCRAPPED today!! So double TOOT for me today!!!

GALERIES LAFAYETTE

I'm going to have to speed scrap soon, to catch up on all my CT requirements!!! But man, it felt sooooo good to open up Photoshop for something other than wedding stuff! :)

TTFN!

Last of the Wedding Pics

Yes, heave a sigh of relief. This is probably the LAST day I'm going to be uploading pics of the Ruby Anniversary. It's time to actually SCRAP these photos and a TON more, not just upload them to the ole blog! I'm hoping those who weren't able to come to the celebration more or less can see what they missed, hahahahahaha! But truly, it was a wonderful FUN night; I had fun doing all the dances and all through the countless changes we did in between numbers with a minute or 2 at the most!

The TANGO

The finale: Boogie Wonderland

It was a fun day, a fun night. All the stress melted away when we were on the dance floor. All the practices, all the worries we had in the days, weeks, leading to the 27th were all erased as we simply danced and had FUN. That was the best part. :)

Now, to think of what to be uploading in the next few days, hehehe. I have GOT to scrap!!!

Cary Fitting and Performance Photos

We went to have our fitting for our Cary Santiago gowns. And they were just GORGEOUS!!! No, I won't upload a photo here because I look positively FAT in the photo Zhar took! Hehehehe. Rodney did say I looked pretty good (whoohoohooo!!!), considering Cary used up 18 meters of fabric on my gown alone! Bwahahahahaha! He is known for his laser cuts and shags (?) and he did not disappoint! Everything was just drop dead gorgeous! His gown made me look pretty good, if I do say so myself......with the exception of the damn arms, of course! Aaaargh! With all our discussion on WHAT to do with my arms, I don't even know what he's going to end up doing! Oh well. We'll just see in about 3 days when he makes some adjustments to our gowns and sends them here from Cebu. Can't wait!

Before more pics of the reception, I have some great news!!! I'm going to be August-guesting for Rachel Young again! Yeah!!! Thanks for the opportunity, Rachel!!! Now, I'm crossing my fingers that I *can* scrap SOON, what with everything happening at the same time. Again. :)

Ok, on to the photos...

Here's our stage:

No, that's no stereo cabinet behind those pillars. We had a control booth on the upper level, on the left, complete with light controls. :) Pros, eh? Hehehe. Our theme for the night was Hollywood...kinda looks like the Chinese Mann Theater, don't you think? Sort of.

Program Proper:

This is a medley from GREASE

cool shot of Rodney

the kiddos going all out

yes, that's a very pregnant Mavie in the center there, hamming it up for the sake of the dance!
the guys in Greased Lightning, totally lip-synching it, too! LOL!

everyone during the final cut of the medley
Next up was the theme from James Bond. Yes, that's Tito Rey there, a last-minute fill in for Randy, who arrived the morning of the wedding. He did a fab job, as did the other Bond boys, Carlo and RJ.
and Mom's angels plus Avic and Monique dancing sexily
This was the best Shake Your Groove Thang pic I had. This is Mavie and RJ.
Then it was Stayin' Alive.
Boydee was THE performer, as he totally hammed it up for everyone.

The angels were great in Dancing Queen, showing off their still-sexy bods

The PACEM priests brought the house down with their YMCA (Mom and Dad NEVER expected the fathers and brothers to be up onstage dancing!)

Whew! That's a LOT of photos! The performance isn't done yet though! Come back tomorrow, hehehe!

It's August!

Where *are* the days going?!? And how come they're moving so fast?! Yikes! I can't believe August is upon us; I guess too many things were all happening at the same time this past month, the month just flew by. And from the looks of things, it's not going to get any easier, too! There's still Rod and Zhar's wedding in mid-August, along with the fittings, the hours of shopping for gifts, shoes, what-nots, the soltera, the shower, the stag party, the wedding rehearsal.......and it's my birthday month, along with Boydee and Zhar too! So who said anything about us getting a breather after the Ruby Anniversary celebration?!?

Lai and I were in the office when we both suddenly remembered that it was fiesta time over at Fr. Benny's parish, in Magallanes. Ooookay.....and we weren't exactly dressed to go to a semi-formal event! So around 3ish, we hurried home to change. I dragged Ranger along as my date, since Japa was in Malaysia. Surprisingly, Ranger, came along; he usually just likes to stay at home playing Mario Kart :)

We all then converged upon St Alphonsus Parish Church to attend mass and a "salu-salo" afterwards. The food was ok, and I loved the bibingka with the freshly grated coconut. Ranger had a plateful of baked macaroni. We were eventually able to get seated at a table, after chowing down on some food at cocktail tables. And soon after we had a photo opp with Cardinal Rosales, we left. .....to go to another restaurant since the dang boys were still hungry!!! Aaargh! And I'm trying to lose more weight BEFORE the wedding!!!! Sigh! Only this family, I tell you!

So we went to Yu Jinn, a favorite Japanese restaurant of Randy and Stella. I stuck to my guns and didn't eat a thing, except for a bit of tempura ice cream that Ranger didn't want, and a banana shake. I did pretty well actually. Ranger, on the other hand, lured by Dic with talk of tempura (pampura, he calls it), inhaled 4 of the steaming tempura. And promptly fell asleep.

If Japa could see me now, hehehe. Another night out for me when he isn't here :) Oh well. It just so happened that there was some thing to go to......*wink*

Ok, some more Ruby Anniversary pics, this time AT THE RECEPTION:

The ballroom

The centerpieces, arranged beautifully by Tony Rodriguez. Note the crystals in the vases and the red tealights on the mirrored table center to reflect shades of reds...

And the GORGEOUS (and yummy!) cake by Michelle Hechanova. Five tiers of fondant covered cream cheese pound cake with strawberry (or was it raspberry?) filling....Yes, gain the ten pounds now, even as you read it, hehehe. We were so scared the cake was going to fall, especially during the cake cutting ceremony, but it remained steadfast and did not budge!

Zooming in closer to see the ginormous strawberries that Michelle stuck in the sides of the cake. Don't they make the entire cake look even more luscious? Oh, and yes, they were dipped in white chocolate! :)

Speaking of chocolate, I was disappointed ---and pissed at the waiters!--- for giving away that tiny tier at the top...Michelle had made that a DARK CHOCOLATE one for Bang and me because we prefer the REAL chocolate (hehehe). Michelle had given strict orders that that tier was to be given to the presidential table....but the stupid waiters apparently did not understand English!!! Grrrr!!! Oh well. Good thing the entire cake was good and I did have my dessert; I also gorged on the chocolated dipped strawberries to satisfy my *need* for chocolate :)

And those gave me the energy and the sugar high I needed to dance onstage with the rest of the family! Hahahahaha! THOSE pictures will be uploaded tomorrow! :)

TTFN!

Root Canal

Ugh. Can you believe? Spur of the moment visit to the dentist turned into a necessary root canal of all things!!! My tooth had been hurting the past couple of days; it wasn't the run of the mill kind of hurt that would go away with flossing or gargling or thoroughly brushing my teeth. It was this teeth-gnashing, irritating OUCHIE, gnawing that was just killing me!

So first thing this morning, I bounded into the dentist's clinic and sat in the chair. And opened my mouth wide. Turns out that this particular tooth was the SAME one that had been bugging me since *2001* (!!!) and that *HAD* been due for a root canal all those years ago!!! Grrrr! But the pain had gone away and of course I avoided a root canal like the sane, logical person I was!

Fast forward to 7 years later and here I am, seated at the same clinic, having the dentist tap at the exact same tooth. Ouch! She scraped the filling and the gross, GAPING and DEEP hole (#($*&(&%*@($) was in my tooth; I could feel it with my tongue!!! Aaaargh! This was soooooo NOT good!!! Anyhoo, after agreeing to have the danged root canal done just to get rid of the infernal toothache, 2 injections of anaesthesia with these foot-long GINORMOUS stainless steel syringes, I was feeling no pain and was falling asleep with my mouth wide open.

Hehehee. The poor dentist was having to instruct me every so often "open wide!" Oh well. At least I got a nap out of the whole exercise. Sigh! I could literally FEEL the dentist SCRUBBING the innards of my tooth canal with these tightly coiled springy things to sterilize and clean the inside. Oooookay. Then she put on some temporary filling to tide me over for a week. With final instructions of NOT chewing on that side for 24 hours, I was done.

***

On a lighter note, here's an AVP that Japa had made for the Ruby Anniversary. He spent hours poring over photos hunched over his laptop. The result? One of the best videos ever. And that's with NO bias tainting the praise either, lol!

Sit back, relax, grab a cuppa joe. You're going to LOVE this!



***tooth by Jacque Larsen

.

Video, Malaysia, Chocolate Heaven

Here's Jason Magbanua's awesome, dramatic on-site video shown during the reception:


Mr. and Mrs. Boy Dizon's 40th Anniversary from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Now tell me if that isn't full of drama! Can't wait to see the entire video now. I wonder how long that's going to take.....

***

Japa was off to Penang, Malaysia this morning for the Dragon Boat World Championships. His team, Drago Pilipinas, is entered in the Men's Division 200m and 500m races, as well as in the Mixed 200m and 500m races. Modesty aside, I just *know* they won't ever ever find as good a team as OUR mixed team in 1997 when we got the GOLD at the Worlds in Hong Kong :) Hehehehe. I do with their teams the best....it's going to be tough this year I'm sure, as the International Dragon Boat Federation has apparently gotten all technical and detail-oriented, right down to mandating the use of life vests (ugh!!) and the stipulation of the use of SAME oars for the entire boat! Plus, teams are now required to bring their own paddles, as opposed to the IDBF providing paddles for the teams' use! I mean really! How ridiculous and an unnecessary expense for the teams involved! Sheesh! Oh well, whatever!

It's the same old story for the team though....traveling at the least expense possible. Which translates to a crappy schedule: the team leaves Manila at 630 am for a 2 hour ride to Clark where they were able to get cheap airfare to Kuala Lumpur. From there, they have a SIX hour layover before boarding a flight to Penang. Finally, after at least 12 hours after they first boarded a plane in Manila, they land at their destination. And their hotel of choice? The YMCA. Ok. And I was thinking of going with them to support them. Yeah. Not at the Y, though!!!

Sending them happy and good luck thoughts from here though! :)

***

So today, on Japa's first day out, I run free.....sort of. Randy and Stella call to invite us for a taste-test at Portico's at Serendra for Tyler's baptismal party. The Brotherhood and Sisterhood (sans Bang, Boydee and Japa) met up with Steff and Jovic to taste and rate some really good food at Portico's. I guess it helped that we were hungry, hehehe (aren't we, all the time!) and we had a great time as we went through most of the food. But most of the food WAS yummy and I wouldn't mind going back there to have a real meal! Not the cheapest place by any means, but then again, good food will always set you back eh? But still. I like them not-so-expensive and good.

Anyhoo, we were trying to convince Randy and Stella that they didn't need to spend so much on the baptismal party for Tyler. It was going to be just family anyway, and we were just going to.....eat. Hehehehe. And if it was going to be mainly pizza and pasta fare, we could always get that cheaper elsewhere. See? We're practical! And we're helping the new parents be that way as well! :) We finally were able to convince them to look elsewhere (P950 per person for a buffet was just waaaaay too much!!!) Whew!

After dinner, we strolled over to Xocolat where, OMG!!! they served up THE best hot chocolate ever!!! It was dark, thick and just PERFECT!!! Yummm!!! I am still licking my lips as I think about how delish it was! And heck YES, I got the large cup! To think there's a Xocolat right next to where we live and we haven't been there at all! Gotta correct that at ONCE!!! Paired with their oh-so-sweet authentic carrot cake, I was in chocolate heaven for sure! A perfect end to a great night! :)

I did feel sort of guilty when I got home because all the kids were asleep in my room. Sort of. It's always fun to go out with the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood and just talk and have fun and to just be out. Even if Japa's not there, hehehe.

Trying to Get Out of Anniversary-Mode

Trying is the key word here. But I'm sitting at my desk, in the office, yawning my head off, still. And to think I slept early last night! It's not hard wresting ourselves out of anniversary-mode. For the longest time, for the past few months, the Ruby Anniversary was all that we thought of, pretty much. Most of our preparations were geared towards this past Sunday. And now. Pshsk. Nothingness.

So, to take a break from the monotony of editing org charts and salary spreadsheets, here are more pictures from the wedding:

The Offerors:

Tito Ricky & Tita Rolette
Tito Kito & Tita Nina
Tito Lito & Tita Rosie
Tito Rey & Tita Tinggoy
Tito Ricky & Tita Paloming
Tito Ji
and Lola Nene, mother of the Bride....looking radiant and regal. Who would say she's 89?!?!

Then some family pics. And you know our family......it was sooooo hard to get some decent pics where EVERYONE looks nice and smiling and actually looking in the exact same direction as everyone in the photo is. Hehehehe. Same thing happens each and every time we attempt to take the "perfect" family picture!

Before I try and completely get out of Anniversay-mode, however, a few heartfelt thank yous and shout outs to the greatest bunch of people ever to come together to make this whole celebration work: our family. It is only family where we discover both our weaknesses AND our strengths. It is only with family that we learn to overcome our weaknesses and build on our strengths. It is with family that we are able to put all our strengths together to make something special, to make something way bigger and way more powerful than each of of us combined, because everything we did was done in the name of love.

So to each and every member of this family, THANK YOU:

To my brothers:

Boydee - for being your obsessive-compulsive self, for setting the bar on dancing with grace and with the necessary hip action, for your acting abilities

Dic - for your Bocelli-likeness in voice and appearance (sort of, hehehe), for your grace and ability to do some major catching up on all the dances, for taking care of the transportation logistics, for dealing with the head waiters

Randy - for making it to the wedding in time (!!!), for gamely practicing in Polaris with only a video to guide you,

Rodney - for doing anniversary stuff even with your wedding looming on the horizon, for softening your body for dancing (hehehe), for doing all the budgeting for the event

To my sisters:

Bang - for your organization skills-a perfect foil for Boydee's OC-ness (thank God!), for your detail-oriented-ness (is that even a word?), for your ability to sweet talk even the priests into dancing

Lai - for your grace and ability to do some major catching up on all the dances, for arranging the food for the practices and at the hotel, for the use of Apitong!!!, for coordinating the make up artists

Stella - for your incredibly powerful voice, for popping out Tyler when you did-to make it to the wedding on time (!!!), for gamely practicing in Polaris with only a video to guide you, for teaching Randy to be graceful as heck despite the short practice time,

Zhar - for cheering on Rod to dance, for keeping up non-stop chatter at Tatang's, for tirelessly arranging invites and the wedding cake, for doing all the anniversary stuff despite your own wedding date coming up soon

and of course to my dear husband:

Japa - for putting up with me through all the practices and the annoying reminders of having to be on time, for taking photos of the entire event, including rehearsals, and most especially, of not complaining of having to take on my weight for that tango finale!!! hehehehe

and me? Heck, this is my blog, so yes, I'm thanking me too: LOLOL! Thank goodness I'm bossy enough to know what the strengths and weaknesses are of the family, for delegating certain things (especially when I was uber lazy to do certain things.....like arranging for food, ugh!) and yes, I'm more of the behind-the-scenes kind of gal, so my forte were pretty much the guest books (with their lovely layouts, I may add, hehehehe) and the art of tirelessly texting people for dance practice once, twice, thrice a week. Let me tell you, I think I've memorized the wonderful texting features of my phones because of this anniversary!

Mamma Mia and More of the Wedding

The day after the anniversary.....thank goodness the kids had no class! First off, it was time for the SONA (State of the Nation Address), and because the place where it was going to be held was near the kids' school, no classes. Additionally, there's a storm coming this way, so the Department of Education declared last night that there wasn't going to be any classes from high school down. So yup, the kids had a break because they stayed up pretty late last night! Most especially Raine, in her high heels, too!

So anyway, since a lot of the family stayed at the hotel last night, we met up for breakfast. Like we didn't eat a lot last night! Hhehehe. Hey, any excuse to get together and EAT is always a good one, especially for this family! :) We met up at Circles and ate and ate and ate. And had fun reliving last night's entire celebration, from the mass to the reception and to all the dancing involved. Even Dad's face would light up every time we talked about yesterday! :)

After breakfast, we went upstairs and hung out a bit as Bang and Rondic checked out. Then we invited Mom and Tita Belen to watch Mamma Mia at the mall. Finally! It had been out since the 10th or the 18th, I think, and we were just getting around to watching it! And was it a fun fun FUN movie!!! I LOOOVED every minute of it, including all the songs! Did I tell you I love musicals? Hehehe. After the nth song, Raegan would sigh out loud, look at me, and say, "why do they have to SING it? Why can't they just SAY it?!?" LOL!

Movie Summary: Raised on a Greek island by a formerly rebellious mom who never disclosed the identity of her father, a bride-to-be locates three men who might be her father and invites them to her wedding.

Awesome performances (including singing!) by Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan! I mean, who would have thought that the former Remington Steele and James Bond could pull off a musicale?!?! Wonderful wonderful performances! The movie pretty much stuck to the play's script, but of course, you can just do so much more in a movie. And it was just wonderfully light fare for today! Just perfect!

Another movie poster I saw that was cute was this one on the right. Adorable eh? Lai, you could've used this for the Ruby celebration, too, and put more of our faces on there, hehehehe.

Speaking of the Ruby, here's a continuation of my picture-heave post from yesterday:

I showed you my sisters just bawling it out during the walk down the aisle of Mom and Dad....here's one of Stella which I missed uploading yesterday:


And you think only the GIRLS were crying?!?! Uh-uh. 'Course not! I've got some beauties of the boys too!

Now I *KNOW* there's a pic somewhere of Rondic crying, but I can't find it!!! Anyone know where it is???

As we neared the steps going up to the altar, it was obvious that Dad was tired. So when he reached the end of the aisle where we were all waiting, the boys took his arms and led him up the stairs to his chair. One of the boys escorted Mom to her chair as well.


During the Responsorial Psalm, it was the grandchildren's turn to shine. Rielle delivered an exceptional chorus of On Eagles' Wings, making my hair stand on end. Pure, innocent, totally child-like, it was just a beautiful rendition that moved me to tears. Hence,

Here's Rielle, looking very tiny all by herself up on the podium

And the other grandkids, singing their hearts out, with the choir backing them up on the first chorus only. They did a pretty decent job :)

The Re-Affirmation of Vows

Apparently, Dad had left instructions that he was going to do the vows STANDING up. So Boydee rushed forward to help him. And good thing he did, too, because when Mom and Dad were exchanging rings, one of the rings fell and Boydee caught it in mid-air!

One of the BEST parts of this whole affair was hearing Dad answer Fr. Benny "I do!" in a loud, clear, strong voice which rang throughout the Shrine. Everyone was so surprised to hear him say it in this way, we all applauded him! This was a HUGE thing!!! Dad rarely spoke nowadays, and never ever in a clear, loud voice! He had been practicing for this moment! Go, Dad!

Lighting of the candles
Laying of the Veil
Laying of the Cord

A shot of the 12 concelebrating priests and Bishop Tumulak

They did a splendid entrance, Fr Anton delivered a great sermon (a tad bit long, but meaningful!) and Fr Benny arrived from Tagaytay way ahead of time to make the wedding and be the lead-priest for the re-affirmation of the vows. To all these wonderful priests who are near and dear to Mom and Dad, we THANK YOU for your support and your presence at the 40th wedding anniversary celebration!

And with that, I'm ending pics of the wedding here.....maybe more tomorrow, hehehehe.