ashley updates and the birthday weekend


it's just been a week and a half since i found ashley, and wow, her teeth have really grown. and claws, too. the scars on my hands are proof of that, especially when she's really hungry. but we've adjusted to each other better, especially after our trip south for my birthday. surprisingly, she wasn't afraid of the waves, which were quite high last week because of a typhoon somewhere in surigao. she didn't mind the bus ride as much as i did, either.

a summary of my birthday weekend:

17-18: took a leave from work to rent a cottage by the sea in south cebu. went snorkelling only three times because of the bad visibility the first two days.  and with a portable tripod and a digital camera with a self-timer, you can just imagine how i spent my time   moon was full, though cloudy. took some long exposures of it with my trusty manual camera and tripod.

19: woke up to catch the orange (this time) sunrise on my birthday  was supposed to go diving on the day itself, but someone broke a promise (actually, i don't know why i still believe anything this person says after after all this time), so just stayed in the cottage the whole time. it's really amazing, though, how just sitting on the beach there i get lines of poetry flowing. didn't finish my poem. tried painting it instead. got back in the city around 630 pm, but was too tired to go to choir practice after feeding ashley.

had dinner at Fine Cuisine at almost 10pm (grilled salmon steak, courtesy of my mama ) by myself, and they even gave me two scoops of vanilla ice cream for my birthday  i love the waiters there. after they kept asking me, "are you waiting for someone, ma'am?" the first few times i ate there, now they no longer question any of my requests or eccentricities (feeding ashely on the table one time).

ana also dropped by with a gift in the middle of dinner--a pillbox with one pair of dangling earrings for each day (plus an extra one for an 8th day)! what more could a girl ask for? she knows we can never have enough earrings  as usual, we stayed till all the waiters were standing outside in their shorts, ready to leave.

20: made friends with the neighborhood kids while i fed ashley outside the house, so now they're regular visitors, meaning they come in at random hours  (and i'm friends with their dog now, too). after church, went to visit a center for sexually abused girls with cathy and new friend bodie from the brown cup neighborhood (i really love my neighborhood!). we read stories from my enid blyton book, which i had bought at a book sale in davao. it was great! it's so refreshing being with the girls, mostly 11 to 14. and i believe we gave them a good alternative to all the gossip shows on tv.

so all in all, though i don't feel very different being 26 (i think i started feeling older already, physically and emotionally, at the start of this year), it was a good way to celebrate, wasn't it? and now i'm back at the office. instead of two potential dives this week for work, i have to go to laguna for a very long meeting extending till the weekend. which reminds me, have to call the airline about ashley. will post photos maybe tomorrow. as always, i never have the time. thanks to everyone who sent their greetings

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