We were supposed to go on a fun picnic by the river, my friends and I. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. I don’t talk much about my friends, but I am really quite fond of them, and very proud of their achievements.

Chris, my bestest friend in high school, very friendly and honest, is now a civil engineer. He graduated at the top of his class and topped one of his licensure exams. I am so proud of him, and all I wish is for him to achieve all his dreams.

Katrina, bright, bubbly and always chatty, is an economist by profession, traveller by heart. She has been all over Europe and is now working nearer home, in Hong Kong. I have not seen her for years and it is she I miss the most.

Brian, my most vulnerable friend, is the experimenter. He refuses to follow rules, craves taboos, has the most number of friends, and loves attention; but to me he seems as though he is really just looking for himself. Maybe he has found what he has been searching for now.

Donnel, ever the funnyman and sidekick, has always been a friend throughout high school and college. But now he’s the star to his Leila, and though his moments with us and few and far between, he always manages to make his presence felt – especially at the most important times. Between his new job responsibilities and the love of his life – I think he’s in a very happy place.

Raquel, the friend I’ve known the longest but at times I feel as though I know the least, has the smoothest exterior that sometimes I cannot see the troubles brimming underneath – until she explodes. She is a workaholic for HP, and sometimes loves too much for her own good.

And Jotie, the friend with the sharp tongue, uses words to mask vulnerabilities. Unlike Brian, I think he is still searching for himself. But he has a set of good friends who will always be there for him, through thick and thin.

These are my best friends, the persons who know me best of all. They remind me that wherever I am, though at times I feel so alone and lonely, that they’re always there for me.

Okay enough of the nostalgia. Hehehe.

Anyways. We were supposed to have a fun picnic by the Pasonanca river, the prettier and cleanest river in Zamboanga. It should be, since it’s the source of our sweet-tasting water. Why it’s sweet-tasting I would rather not wonder. Hehehe.

Usually the Pasonanca river is very clean, perfect for bathing. A lot of people come for picnics or mountain climbing or trekking or just hanging out with friends. It had been quite rainy the past few weeks and so there was a lot of running water, which I thought was perfect for our outing.

Unfortunately, there had been a bit too much rain, because when we got there, we found out that not only was the water *not* clean, it was also running too fast to be safe for bathing, to the point of dragging big fallen logs in record speed!

We surmised that a natural dam might have been broken, maybe there was a bit of an avalanche, and so the flood of soil and logs. In any case, the picnic was a disaster. Fortunately my friends weren’t *that* mad at me for insisting we go, hehe. They were very sporty about it, and we chose to trek along still and we did manage to have a picnic somewhere along the way – just no bathing.

Still, it was a fun trip all in all. :-)

Fli-fli: I’m happy, Gim-gim. Heehee. I got you almost half nekkid. Heehee. Let’s make a sex scandal!

Gim-gim: Me too. I love you soooo much. Smile for the camera!! Wha – whaaaattt ????

Fli-fli: Just kidding!!!

Fli-fli: I don’t ever want to leave, Gim-gim. I’m already happy right where I am! See, all snuggled warm and cozy inside your arms!

Gim-gim: … *happy*

Fli-fli: I don’t want to go back to Manila!!! Don’t maaaaake mmeeee leeeeaaaaaaaavvvvvve!!!!!

Gim-gim: Awwww… But you’ve gotta! You have school and you need to enroll and study and I have to heal people. We must part, my darling Fli-fli.

Fli-fli: Nooooo…. I don’t care about Manila. I just want to hug you ooool – weeeiiiiiiisssssssssss……..

Gim-gim: Me too.

Fli-fli: Ok.

Gim-gim: … *thinking*

Gim-gim: You’re so silly, Fli-fli. Doncha worry, it’s just a month. And then you’re coming right back home! It’s just like when I leave you for community in Dapitan.

Fli-fli: That wasn’t so bad, was it? … *thinking also*

Gim-gim: Nope, bunny. You just watched a lot of TV and gorged on comfort food. And cried sometimes.

Fli-fli: I don’t want to cry…

Gim-gim: But remember when you came back and we were so excited to see each other and we jumped up and down and up and down?

Fli-fli: Yyyeeessss…?

Gim-gim: And we went to Cebu and Bohol and Dipolog and Dapitan?

Fli-fli: Uhuhhh…? *nods vigorously*

Gim-gim: And we were so happy because we hadn’t seen each other in a loooong time?

Fli-fli: Mmm-hmmm….

Gim-gim: That’s because we missed each other so much! Don’t you want to feel like that all the time???

Fli-fli: I guess so… *not convincingly*

Gim-gim: When you come back I’ll bring you flowers and chocolates at the airport.

Fli-fli: You will??? *eyes light up*

Gim-gim: Uh-huh!!! *nods excitedly*

Fli-fli: Okay. *smiles perfunctorily*

Gim-gim: I love you.

Fli-fli: I love you too.

What do they say about us?

My eyes. My boyfriend says they’re wide and almond-shaped. Especially wide when at the grocery store. And whenever I want something I shouldn’t have. Hmm. So my eyes communicate my need for food, my need to be spoiled, my need for attention, my need to be loved… and my… other needs. I am a needy person.

His eyes. They’re kind and heavy-lidded, dreamy he says. Hehehe. He does not lack confidence. They are especially heavy when he is sleepy, like during this picture, having just come from a 24-hour shift at the hospital where he is a doctor. His eyes are also heavy when he is holding me, or when he is… flirting. So, his eyes tell me that he loves comfort and he loves to love. He is a giving person.

I need and he gives. And that’s my perfect relationship. :-)

Because it’s his birthday, this post is going to be all about Gimmi – or Gerardo Aniano Condalor Dimaguila – Gim to his friends and family – Bambam / Bunbun / Tookie / Babooch / Poochie / and all manner of babyname endearments – to me.

To my darling Gim-gim, my lover, my best friend, my pillow, my heart – I love you sosososo much – you are the epitome of the perfect partner and I will love you and want you all my life. :-)

Today, on your birthday – I wish for you everything your heart desires. May you become the world’s greatest doctor. May you find a cure for cancer. May you build the house of your dreams. May you travel the world. May you make your family (and friends) proud. May you befriend the whole word (hehe). May we have a blissful life together – for a long, long time.

You amaze and inspire me, Gim. And everything I do – it’s for you (and me, hehe).

So many cliches. For being a writer, I am strangely inept at expressing my love for you in words. But you know it already – I’ve shown you so in much many more ways.

You know this – Gim – I love you. Always. :-)

Happy 24th Birthday!!!

I scoured teh Internets for some inspirational wedding dresses, based on what I said from the last post.

I know it’s still some years off (Gim has one more year in med school, plus one more year for an MPH degree, and maybe one year of us saving for the dream wedding/honeymoon, and that’s an optimistic prediction, for those who love to ask) but it’s nice to fantasize in the meantime.

Here are some dresses I would absolutely *love* to wear one day, in order of how much I like them. :-)

Obviously you can see what style I prefer. I just looove these luscious, glamorous strapless ball gowns. I don’t care if I end up sweeping all of the dirt on the floor with my dress. I’ll just glide effortlessly on my tippy toes and hold the sides of my dress up slightly with dainty little fingers ala Cinderella. Heheheh. They’re stunning. :-)

I hope you can afford me, Gimmi. Hehehe.

So says this New York Times article.

In summary it says that overweight people have a lower death rate than people of normal weight. In 2004, one hundred thousand more normal-weight people died than overweight people.

This implies that heavier people live longer than others. And that heavier people may be healthier.

If this is true (and from the bottom of my fleshy buttocks, I believe it is) then the norms need be changed!

I am “normal”, Britney Spears is underweight, Paris Hilton is anorexic and Nicole Richie is invisible.

Hehehe. Seriously, though. All my life I’ve been told I need to lose weight. And all this time I’ve been feeling a whole lot healthier than slimmer people.

For example, my hot little boyfriend Gim, for all his sexy arm and back muscles, gets sick way more often than I do. He gets the flu around every 2 months. In contrast, I (for all my “softness”) get the flu once a year. Or not even, some years. And during Gim’s prettiest years (he was sooo hot when he was 18, hehe) he was also the sickest. He once passed out in Church, resulting in a cut below his lip that had to stitched. He’s been to the hospital for injuries countless times, I never have except for mandatory check-ups. So I’m definitely healthier than him.

It doesn’t mean, though, that I’ve totally given up on my aspiration to have my waist trim down to the 20s scale. :-) I’d rather be sexy than healthy. Hahaha. I take that back, ‘coz someday I might regret saying that.

No, I want to be both healthy and sexy. Just give me a bit more time (watching exercise vids over in Youtub). At the very least, I’ll be able to fit one lithe supertoned body into a strapless, sleeveless, plunging-back dress for my wedding. I know I will. (‘Coz I’m not gonna get married ANY OTHER WAY, Gimmi, you hear that?? So stop feeding me!!!) :-)