When Andrea and I first lived on our own, we had barely anything inside our house. Of course, we had bare white walls which we ached to decorate with nice artworks. One of our godparents, a sought-after watercolorist, gave us a watercolor painting of pink orchids. It was the first nice thing on our walls. Until now, we wish to have more paintings inside our home, even oil paintings. A lot of people share our sentiments. In overstockart.com, Van Gogh’s Starry Night tops the list of most popular oil paintings for 2007.

Monet’s Poppy Field in Argenteuil is also included in the annual list.

Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss also made the list.

How I wish we could have these great, timeless paintings hanging on our walls.

I was just talking to my one of my high school yesterday about various career options when I had a vision of myself back when I was in high school.

What was I trying to do persuading them to think about possible career alternatives anyway? I wasn’t even concerned about what I wanted to be back then. It was not until my senior year that I seriously thought about my choice of course in college. And even then, I could only see up to that point. Beyond it, everything else is obscured - not the possible professions, not my salary, not my would-be expenses, nothing.

I was a drifter, in the figurative sense of the word. I just take what is given to me. I didn’t take any actions nor made any active decisions to plan my life in high school. My single most important concern back then was just to pass.  All my efforts to study were just aimed towards that, and no farther than that.

College was always eons away. I almost never thought about it. Others think it’s confidence. Some think it’s just being passive. I think it’s just plain innocence. But I guess it’s alright to argue ignorance. I’m not sure. All I know was that high school was fun and I survived thinking that way.

This is why I can sympathize with the students for being carefree. But that’s all I can do. Sympathizing with them doesn’t mean that I’m condoning their recklessness for studies. I’m not. When I was in high school I might be living for each day, but I never forgot my responsibilities as a student. I had fun but I wasn’t irresponsible. That’s the big difference.

Mateo is the type of kid who loves balls more than cars. A few weeks ago however, his grandparents brought over his uncle’s old RC car. Instead of Mateo getting all excited with it, I was the one who tinkered with it. I remember having my own RC cars when I was younger and soon, I found myself checking out some RC Cars Tips and Tricks site. I hope Mateo grows to love them too. I can just imagine the fun we’re going to have.

Since I was small, I always wanted to have a dog - not just a mongrel but one with a pure line. The problem is these pure breeds come at a high cost, usually ranging from 10k to 25k depending on the number of champions in the lineage. And with our ever-tightening budget, I don’t see that happening any time soon.
That’s why I was surprised to find out that one of my students just bought a pure bred last week at just 5 k. It was a pitbull, and from a champion line nonetheless.

At first I thought it was a missed opportunity, but andrea had mixed feelings about the breed. I mean, it’s not a secret that this type of dog has been related with a number of incidents involving human casualties. And to make matters worse, the casualties and injuries reported to be connected with pitbulls even involved children.

According to her, she would go against it even if the dog came without a cost. It’s not going to happen. At least not with a pitbull. With retrievers, perhaps, because she’s had an experience with golden retrievers before. If we are going to have a dog, according to her, it would most likely be that, or something with a little less aggressive reputation than a pitbull.

Our baby has skin that babies are known for. He has clear, soft, supple skin that makes Andrea want to nuzzle him. She’d often say how she wishes she still have the same skin as Mateo. According to her, she’d need cosmetic skin care to get that kind of skin, if ever she’d get it at all. She even likes to check out skin products at Skin Dimensions Online. They have moisturizers, green tea anti-oxidants, acne care and anti-aging products. And she doesn’t even have wrinkles yet. What more if she starts getting those laugh lines and creases. We’re just hoping Mateo doesn’t outgrow his healthy, beautiful skin.

Last night, I wanted to go to bed early because my eyes were really tired from all the reading, checking and posting that I did the whole day. Right after dinner, my eyelids felt really heavy, and I was having a hard time keeping them open.

So when mateo showed signs of sleepiness, I took the chance and lied down in bed. Andrea and mateo took a place beside me. I thought this was it. I was finally going to sleep, until mateo decided to start moving around. Oh no! He was having one of those nights… those difficult times when he’s experiencing trouble finding his sleep.

In just moments, he was all over the bed. He kept crying. He bit his mama’s nipple and then he and andrea were in a fit. Afterwards, andrea wouldn’t let him suck anymore so mateo started crying louder and louder. This was becoming a disaster… and just when I was really so sleepy too. My patience was also wearing dangerously thin. So when mateo decided to wail even louder, I blew my fuse…

I was so mad I wanted to hit him in the butt but I couldn’t. Instead I tried putting a hand to cover his mouth but that turned out to be a bad idea. You see, andrea got so mad at me and started scolding me. Fortunately, sleep took over soon and I couldn’t remember what happened next.

I woke up this morning feeling guilty about what happened last night. So I was extra kind to mateo and andrea when they woke up just a few minutes after I did. I never want that to happen again so I vowed never to lose my patience with mateo again. Never again… no matter how sleepy I am.