A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes.

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way six blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment.

Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing.

She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good.

Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said, without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick... and I want to buy a miracle."

''I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"

"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents -- the exact price of a miracle for little brothers."

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well dressed man was a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. "That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost... one dollar and eleven cents ...... plus the faith of a little child.

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.

well i went to see resident evil last night. it's been so long since the last movie i watched in a cinema -- matrix 2, for anyone who's counting.

now i don't really like watching films like those as it stresses me immensely. i find myself gritting my teeth and gripping my seat. anyway, i just got roped into watching it because my boss did a head count on who was still working in the offices and ordered us to accompany him to watch the movie. (it's sad, really.)

oddly enough, i enjoyed it even though i didn't watch part one. i think, with the ending, may part three pa. although the action scenes are good and talagang nakakagulat (sa rockwell kami nanood kaya hayop ang sound), the actors were sort of wooden. parang walang facial expression minsan. pero astig mag-yosi yung dalawang babae.

boss: ok sana ang action pero yung isa hindi marunong humawak ng baril...parang awkward.
me: si jill valentine?
boss: oo e.
me: (thinking) sayang, maganda pa naman ang make-up niya.

the scene in the church was really suspenseful though. and ang cool ng motorcycle ni alice.kaya nga lang para deus ex machina masyado. although baka naman it's just me lang at hindi ko alam na ang premise pala ng resident evil ay si alice ang savior ng mga tao.

heard in rockwell cinema 4: "putangina naman yan o." hee.

me: direk, kunin natin kung anong battery yung gamit nung reporter. ang tibay. may tape kayang baon yun? mukhang wala e.
direk: wehee. shhh!!!

kadiri lang yung mga aso. down, boy. yikes!

tsaka yung ending...for sure may part 3 pero hindi ko maintindihan kung ano na ang magiging role ni alice.

yun lang. antok pa ko. pero i need to take a bath now.

one week! one week.

that's how long it took me to blog again. to explain my absence, i shall have to cite a weekend trip to batangas (work), a middle of the week jaunt to baguio (work), and a battle with flu at the end of the week(again, work. rather, because of too much work).

thank you tara for feeding my neopet during my absence. 22 items! lots of food and toys. i owe you sister dear.

oh and buti na lang i went to baguio kasi i wasn't able to see my youngest sister, pam when she spent the weekend at home. we shared secrets (juicy ones) and tara's very own chocolate caramel cake.

anyway, for all the hard work i've done, i rewarded myself with a few cd's:

1. michael buble (michale buble)
2. alicia keys (songs in a minor)
3. john mayer (room for squares)

i know, i know, they're not exactly the latest offerings from these artists. but then, ngayon lang ako nagkapera at nagka-courage na bumili ng original cd so there. besides, i've always loved these albums (napakinggan ko kasi yung mga pirated versions. hehe)

i got something from the mail. check this out. you'll enjoy it.

it's the honda accord ad which supposedly took 606 takes to perfect. it costs millions of dollars including two of only six (or was that eight?) handmade honda accords made in the world.

ako it took me 48 years to watch it. blame it on my sluggish internet connection. but there it is. ang galing.

i went to the official cbs-amazing race website and found this:

MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Considered one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia, Manila serves as capital, main port, and center of government, commerce, industry and culture for the Philippines. Situated on Manila Bay, Metropolitan Manila actually comprises several cities, Makati, Pasay, Caloocan, Pasig, Quezon and Manila, along with 12 smaller towns. Because it was virtually destroyed during World War II, Manila is a very modern-looking city of towerblocks, with a few surviving colonial structures nestling here and there. It is a city of sharp contrasts: very wealthy areas and huge slums, new cars driving alongside humble jeepneys and horse-drawn calesas. This vast urban sprawl can be daunting for some, but if you explore its nooks and crannies, you can find rich pockets of traditional culture, excellent food and friendly people.

i'm just glad we're on the amazing race. hopefully, we can attract more tourists, what with el nido on center stage next week. i do wonder if gordon's part of the reason why we made it to the show.

well i missed the amazing race last wednesday, and also the primetime telecast in the evening 'cause of the awards night. too bad. should have just watched the amazing kalabaw instead of really knowing that we did not win. our show lost to magandang umaga bayan and, early on the program, it started to look like the abs-cbn awards night instead of the kbp golden dove. since gma is out of the running kasi, ayun, naghakot na naman ang dos.

i shall borrow slaybelle's expression: feh. feh to them. is frustrating to have a first-rate show on a second-rate channel. and before you ask, the two top dog networks on philippine tv do not allow blocktimers to penetrate their sacred grounds, so we cannot transfer. plus, airtime's worth millions. literally.

okay, on to the amazing race. i was really hoping i could watch it last wednesday and even though they're airing it again on sunday, there's a very slim chance that i can watch it because we're gonna be coming from batangas then. i shall publish here a recaplet from television without pity.

"You know how sometimes, you're aware as soon as you hear a phrase that it's going to live on in your vocabulary forever? Kind of like, "I'M PACKIN' IT!", only more so? Okay. That's what happened this week with 'My ox is broken!'

"I don't think I will ever love anything on television, in a sick and wrong kind of way, quite like I loved seeing Colin absolutely self-destruct, to the point where he wound up snarling angrily, 'My ox is broken!'

"Anyway, to provide some context, we start out in New Zealand, where the early Roadblock requires some careful circus performing, and where Colin and Christie are feeling their oats -- and when I say 'oats,' I'm talking about a very large quantity of oats. Anyway, they experience some flight problems that result in all the teams arriving in Manila at the same time.

"And right out of the gate, because Colin and Christie have been so very demonstrative about how tough and intense they are, everyone is looking to throw them the Yield. And they do. Chip and Kim, specifically, make Colin stand and stare at an hourglass while everybody else does their task. And then there's a jeep thing and some other stuff, and then the BEST THING EVER happens.

"Colin and Christie arrive in last place at a Detour where they're supposed to lead an ox (teehee) around with a plow in the mud, only they fail to figure out that one person is supposed to plow and one is supposed to lead, so Colin just winds up being dragged at random around this field, at which point he has a complete and absolute fucking meltdown, the likes of which you have never seen.

"In the middle of which he tells Christie that he hates her, and she acts just as obnoxious as he does, so you no longer have to wonder if you should feel sorry for her about putting up with his shit. You shouldn't. Anyway, along about here, he becomes so frustrated that he barks, 'My ox is broken!' Broken. He has a broken ox.

"So they come in last, but it's an unexpected non-elimination round at this weird juncture, so they don't get booted. Good Lord, they are a plague on all of us.

"Anyway, in other news, the Moms have a good leg, Kim really needs to go back to the part where she was trying to do her share of the work, and Brandon? Well, frankly, I love Brandon. He hollers! He loves the Lord! He plows! He does funk dances on boats in New Zealand! Brandon is the best. I like Nicole, too, but she didn't dance."

this was written by someone who calls herself miss alli. i wait, with bated breath, for her full recap sometime next week. i await, also, the season finale next week. like aurie, i shall play hooky. haha.

in other news, we had a company pictorial yesterday. our photgrapher was ronnie salvacion, the official bench lensman. if you saw the pinoy idol billboard along edsa-guadalupe, he shot that one, and so many others.

and so. we looked fabulous, if i do say so myself. i did everyone's makeup and grooming, including the two bosses. and ronnie's going to have to do some serious nipping and tucking for me and everyone else. i'd request an eyebag eraser just to be sure.

it's sad, really. how people seem to grow apart each day. how other people let them go away.

i wish i could say i did not expect this. i wish i could say that there's a away around it. i have a feeling we're only feeling the tip of the iceberg here.

maybe i'm next. who knows? god knows i've thought about it many times before. we're not getting any younger. nor any richer.

what can i say? i'm a bit disappointed. lord, i've been disappointed for the better part of this year. i can whine all i want and it won't count for anything. i keep thinking maybe it's time for a change but i just can't seem to take that plunge into the great unknown. i guess i'm just too scared to do so. in my comfort zone, everything is more or less predictable. i envy them, i guess. for their courage. or maybe they just felt there isn't anywhere else to go.

slaybelle, what does it take? how do you gather your courage and leave and start all over again? something tells me something better awaits me out there but the knowledge that i don't know what it is frightens me too much. dare i disrupt my universe?

on wednesday next week, we shall be going to the kbp golden dove awards night because our show was nominated for best magazine/talk show program. it's really an honor to be nominated especially since there are only two programs vying for the trophy for that category.


we're all really hopeful and excited. i hope we win. if we do, it's going to be the second award for our program, the first being the 2002 cmma best public service program. it's really a great achievement for us considering that we're a blocktimer in a government-sequestered station.

as promised, here is my neopet, latisha 1980. isn't she cute? Ü 

i am trying out this mood indicator i've signed up for. sana mag-work.

i've been so busy with work and other stuff that i haven't had time for a proper post. plus, my internet card ran out just as salary day's coming so couldn't risk buying a new card. i'm using charry's kaya i can't stay online too long. kakahiya. but sweldo's tomorrow so yipee!

ang tagal mag-load ng choose-a-mood page a...hmmm...

gotta go. boss is practically breathing down my shoulder.

got this from mysticscreations.com cool site. sana ako ito. sexy siya e. 

You have yellow wings! Calm, and peaceful, you
hardly stress and worry. Being around you makes
others feel happy and in tune. Even though you
are serious, you never over react or panic,
which can make you the perfect body guard.
Using logic, and thinking with quick wit, you
may be in a grave situation, and be able to
think your way through. You like doing quite
things, such as reading, and enjoy watching
sunsets, aquariums, and snow storms. At peace
in your soul, your yellow things reflect the
collected person you are.


What Color are your wings?(Mainly for Girls)Beautiful Pix!
brought to you by Quizilla

Like any good mother, when Karen found out thatanother baby was on the wayshe did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael,prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new babywas going be a girl, and day after day, night afternight, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.