Alam niyo bang
Di ako kailanman magsasawang
Tignan at gabayan kayo
Sa pagtahak ninyo ng landas ng buhay
Maski siguro mula sa kabilang buhay
Tahimik akong susubaybay at aantabay
At puspusang mananalangin
Para sa inyong patuloy na
Kaligayahan, kalusugan at kapayapaan.
Mithi kong matuto muling tumingin
mula sa mga mata ng isang bata
kung saan lahat ay payak
at tila ang mga napaka-simpleng bagay
ay nagbibigay ng lubos na kaligayahan! 
Kuha ang mga ito mula sa Silver Sands Resort, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, halos dalawang linggo na rin ang nakakaraan noong kami ay nagawi doon para sa isang “team building activity” sa opisina ng aking kabiyak.
… when what is supposed to be an easy, fairly straight-forward process turns into a most harrowing three hour “horror spectacular” bar none! 
It didn’t come as a surprise when we women were told to wait until after the men were finished (that’s a good 1 1/2 hours of standing in place waiting!) to have our turn. I even sort of “accepted” it as a matter of fact when some brazen locals jumped queue with their wards so that their employees could have their turn at the expense of poor, unfortunate souls like us who have been waiting patiently for hours! 
(Yes, although the latter case is also common from where I come from, at least us Pinoys have the delicadeza to “use the back door” and not flaunt the oft-repeated mantra of it’s not what you know but who you know. 
)
What got my goat was when it was finally the women’s turn to have a crack at this process, other expatriate wives like ourselves suddenly appeared out of nowhere and literally bulldozed themselves (think sumo wrestlers in “ninja costumes”, people…) to the front of the supposed line, which, by the way, was virtually non-existent! As expected, it was sheer chaos and pandemonium. I honestly feared I might just pass out from being in the thick of the mob! Gosh, even my toes got exhausted from trying to stand my ground to “defend my rightful place”!
It puzzles me how a nation as affluent as this can’t even invest in queue management machines or even simple queue poles and cordons (like the ones commonly found in banking halls or movie theatre lobbies) to make processes like these more orderly. Or that the supposed security personnel in the office just watched – some even snickering in amusement – while we women were literally forced to fend for ourselves to “reach our goal”.
And when we finally were able to pass through the “narrow door”, after three long hours of pushing, shoving and what-have-you, I almost was not even able to complete what I set out to do! Why? Because the first man I was assigned to could not properly identify my name as written in my passport nor correctly read my resident permit (iqama) number (which, incidentally, is written in Arabic!).
Oh, did I forget to tell you what this whole brouhaha is about? We simply were following a government directive to have the photos and fingerprints of all expatriate workers taken/scanned to supposedly make our resident permit and visa processing easier!
The irony of it all is not lost on me most definitely. This is one experience I shall surely remember (painfully) for a very long time.
Rant ends here. Let the happy thoughts begin!
Tulad ng pamumukadkad ng isang bulaklak
Mahihintulad ang ating pagsilang
Sa simula pa lamang, may angking misteryo
At nagbabadyang kariktan
Hanggang sa dumating ang takdang panahon
ng pamumukadkad
Nang matapos ang tila matagal na paghihintay
Masisilayan na rin ang kagandahan at himala ng bagong buhay.
Ang bulaklak na ito, isang Stargazer lily, ay kabilang sa bouquet na natanggap ko mula sa aking mahal na asawa at mga anak noong nagdaang araw ng mga ina.
I’ve always thought (and verbalized, from time to time… 
) how being a mom is akin to having super powers. Why so?
Ask any mom and she’ll tell you how we need nerves of steel (for the surprises – large and small, good and bad – that come our way), unbelievable staying power (to finish all the chores, help kids with their homework, stay up for consecutive nights to nurse kids back to health, and so on, and so forth!), deep-seated intuition (as kids often “act out” rather than speak out what they think and feel) and boundless love, understanding and patience (to handle everything else in between!).
I never thought anyone took me seriously until that fateful Mother’s Day evening when we met up with our DFS family…
The hubbies said they weren’t able to prepare much for us and pretty much gave the “mothers of their children” standard-issue mother’s day fare like these…
How can anyone go wrong with “sweet treats” like these, right? Little did we know though that our equally wonderful better halves had something else in store for us that totally caught us, er, unaware (now where’s that deep-seated intuition when you need it? Hahaha!) and left us grinning from ear-to-ear…
Get a load of this…
Uh-oh… I think my cover’s just been blown! 
And I thought my abaya would make discovering my “real identity” a tad more difficult… and then this… my very own tarpaulin for everyone to see – hahaha! 
What can I say? This is simply S-U-P-E-R! Many, many thanks again to the DFS Daddies for this ultra-wonderful and memorable Mother’s Day gimmick!
To reveal the “hidden identities” of my fellow “super mommies”, click here.
Amazing how life turns out. Little did I know that what started as only hubby and I some twelve years ago could turn out to be something so beautiful and precious as the family we now have.
True, what we have may not be perfect but it is something that fills my life and gives added meaning to my existence. And I guess, Mother’s Day made me realize this all the more.
Waking up from my siesta to find a wonderful bouquet of colorful and lovely blooms together with handmade cards and a well-thought-of gift from hubby and the kids was very heartwarming and certainly more than makes up for those days when I feel how being a mom is such a “thankless job” …
Come dinner time, they even indulged me in one of my favorites ever – we went Japanese! 
Truth be told – I live for days like these. 
God has been good and generous indeed. I cannot ask for more. Mom. I am. And yes – the neverending chores, “grueling” review sessions, health scares, minor scrapes, bumps and bruises notwithstanding – I am truly happy.
PS Sharing with you some of the “highlights” of my special day. Just mouse over the pics to see the brief captions. Hope you enjoy viewing the pics as much as I thoroughly enjoyed living them out!
Pardon me for sounding so biased and self-serving but I wouldn’t want to let this day pass without doing a Mom’s Day shout-out to all the wonderful moms out there… Whether you’re Mommy, Mama, Nanay, Inay, Mom or whatever “term of endearment” you prefer – this is our day so kick back, relax, and have fun, fun fun! After all, being a mom isn’t all about doing the dishes, mopping up the floors or taking care of the kids, right?
To all our better halves and significant others – thank you too for making it possible for us to become the mothers that we are today.
And lastly… just also wanted to spread some Pinoy pride to all the gorgeous Pinay moms out there… As the song says, “kung maganda ka, sigaw na…Salamat sa iyong suporta!” This one’s for you…
PS Many thanks to the Pink Tarha Girls for letting me “discover” this song through their site
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