the perils of

A snapshot of me today: Constantly thinking about my 6 baby succulents and worrying their health  On Chapter 38 of Pride and Prejudice Invited high school friends to a birthday party on Saturday. I have not had a birthday party with friends in a loooong time.  Strong thunderstorm hit at 12 AM, when it turned May 26. Interesting sign. Just watched 2 episodes of Tiny House Nation on FYI and about to halfheartedly watch a third Presents acquired so far, in order of presentation: the Mammoth Creative Design Bundle from Rap, a silver necklace from Mom, and a nice wallet from Yaya Grace 36 birthday messages on my Timeline, and more in my phone and on my mom's Timeline.  Feeling really thankful for having so many people think of me on my birthday Very, very happy.

             My baby brother Jiggy has gotten quite older and bigger since I last mentioned him in this blog. He's turning 14 now, and he's now the tallest in all my family. The skinny kind of tall, the kind that can be better described as "lanky."             What's been bothering me is that my parents seem to think that just because he's 14 and tall, he has suddenly become a "man," and that somehow gives him the right to be the leader. Like when we go out, my dad tells Jiggy to protect me, my mom, and Caitlin (my sister). Which is totally absurd as Jiggy is no better a fighter than any of us in the family. And when Dad goes out of town, he appoints Jiggy as "the man of the house," a title which I absolutely despise. Yes, Dad's leaving does make Jiggy the man of the house in the sense that JIGGY IS THE SOLE MALE IN THE HOUSEHOLD. Being the sole male in a household does NOT immediately grant him a special leadership role in any way.

         Hello! I've got a lot of cool stuff I want to blog about (Sagada, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro) but this post has been quietly sitting in my Drafts for some time, just waiting to be published, so I'll start with this.          In case you didn't know by now, a lot of colleges in the Philippines are shifting the academic calendar from June-March to August-May. Since Ateneo de Manila is one of those colleges, for the first time ever our year will start in August 2015, and our second semester will end in May 2016. Which means that basically everyone in an Ateneo de Manila school (from grade school to post grad) is going to get a four-month break this year! Well, except for the seniors who graduated this year, because they're headed straight for unemployment (mehehehe).            So if you asked anyone from Ateneo what they've been up to, likely you'll get an answer involving the word "bum." Sometimes you'll hear "work." I have a