I initially felt bad because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to spend the entire day with her as initially planned since I had a meeting scheduled in the morning, so I felt that I had to make it up to her for the remainder of the day.

I immediately rushed home after the meeting so that I could spend some quality time with Conne and CJ. We  heard mass in the afternoon, a family tradition every time we celebrate someone’s birthday. Her birthday, by the way, also coincides with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, hence Conne’s full first names were derived from “Maria Concepcion” in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We then had dinner afterwards at Sophia’s in Alabang with our close friends, Cocoy and Li-ann, and capped the day with some late-night, after-dinner coffee.

So what did I give her as a birthday gift?

For starters, I bought her a new laptop since she’s been extremely busy with her catering business (Caterrific) lately, and has been struggling in terms of mobility and productivity, particularly since she can’t lug our desktop PC around for client meetings and oculars. I also did a little e-baying earlier this week and bought her some perfume online, only to find out later on that I mistakenly ordered the men’s version instead of the women’s version of the perfume(!), much to my utter disappointment and consternation! Darn it! :( It’s the thought that counts, right? (Yes, it’s such a lame excuse! Ha!)

Anyway, Happy Birthday mahal! May the Lord bless you always! We love you so much!

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Happy Birthday lola! May the Lord continue to bless you! We love you so much!

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Happy Birthday bro! We love you! God bless!

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I know I’ll never forget him. The happiness and love will always remain. God is good.

Happy birthday daddy!

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We love you so much mom! We miss you!

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CJ, Conne and I with Lola Andring and Lolo Mente

Emily, Cel and Conne with their respective kids: Purple, Indigo, Melvin, Jervis and CJ

Group Pic – Lolo and Lola with the apo’s and apo-sa-tuhod

—–

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We were originally planning to visit Hong Kong Disneyland but might be rescheduling it this December in time for Conne’s birthday, or at least until our budget allows it.

Calling all “ninongs” and “ninangs”: “Yoohoo! Utang niyo!” :)

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May the Lord continue to bless you and your families always! God Bless!

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We actually celebrated it days earlier by visiting my mom at Subic last June 30th, and having a simple dinner celebration last July 1st, at our new home with my two brothers, their families, and Conne’s family.

Watching the three “Bacolod” toddlers trashing the place was a blast. I even posted a video of the ‘cousins three’ at play. :)

As usual, for the nth time, all of this wouldn’t have happened if not for Conne!

In parting, I’d like to thank everyone for bearing with me all these years – at 31 and counting. Thanks guys! And I’d most especially like to thank the Lord for the wonderful gift of life.

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Happy Birthday Jojo! May the Lord continue to bless you always!

God Bless!

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Today was therefore also a reunion of sorts for the Roman Family (a rather large clan, I might add), with Lola Pura being the matriarch. It was held at “Tito” Bob and “Tita” Yol Estrada’s residence in Sucat. A “tito” and a “tita”, on the other hand, are local terms for uncles and aunts, respectively.

The party was fun. I especially enjoyed the very interesting video presentations made by the “apos” (plural). An “apo” being a Filipino term for grandchildren. As the resident IT geek, I did play a minor part in the presentation since they needed to have a minor technical glitch fixed with the presentation laptops that were being used. (*sigh* – even on a weekend… Ha!)

CJ was really hyper the entire morning, and so it was just a matter of time before he went into his usual “battery recharge” mode. And as can be seen from the picture on the right, you could pretty much tell that I took advantage of it as well! :)

I really felt bad that I had to go home earlier than the rest. With an IT audit coming up at work, I had to finish a huge amount of documentation paperwork due Monday. :(

And so, I had to say my goodbyes to “lola”, as well as all the “tito”, “tita”, “ate”, “kuya”, “kamag-anak”, “kapit-bahay”, “ka-barangay”, “ka-parokya”, and “ka-tagay” who were present. ;-)

So, have you figured out what the terms mean yet? Haha! Then stay tuned for the succeeding blog posts.

“Magandang gabi po! Sa uulitin! :)

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