OF BAGS AND BIRTHDAYS
Don't you just love this birthday cake my family surprised me with?Once again, the BIRTHDAY SEASON is upon us. It officially began last month, when my husband's family threw a party for the SERENO March/April celebrants. Actually, it was my mother-in-law's birthday, but they were nice enough to include everyone else, hence the two cakes in this picture.
I couldn't resist taking a shot of my little girl, hovering over our Winnie the Pooh cake in her kikay dress. Reanna loves dressing up. This early on, she's already exhibiting an unmistakeable penchant for shoes, the more the merrier! She also loves walking around with Mommy's purses, instinctively going for the more expensive ones, like the Prada limited edition you see here.
Like all warm-blooded females, I like shoes. Unfortunately, my feet have this irritating habit of changing sizes on me every few babies or so, and now my closet's upper shelf is devoted to boxes of Guccis, Pradas and Bruno Maglis, not to mention one lonely pair of Rodolphe Menudier stilettos, hermetically sealed in individual shoe bags, all of them two sizes too small. Believe me, opening my closet is an exercise in frustration. Nope, shoes simply don't do it for me anymore.But purses? Now that's a different story. On the other side of my closet is a more welcome sight: my handbag collection, housed in individual cloth bags, neatly arranged in a row. Here lie my Pradas, starting with the little black spazzolatto number I bought in Leeser at P.C. Hooftstraat in Amsterdam, the grandmere of them all.Now I happen to be very particular in choosing my purses. I like them structured, and I don't mind paying for the engineering either. For this reason, I never got any of Miuccia's nylon creatons. I did, however, stock up on her leather goods, with two more spazzolatto numbers, in black and chocolate, and two in nappa (cream and navy), rubbing seams with my baby blue bamboo Gucci and my trusty Louis Vuitton bucket. All of these are close to a decade in age, but believe me, these babies are well-preserved.When Lorenzo and I moved to the States to raise our family, I was introduced to the sturdy practicality of American leather goods. In 2001, Lorenzo bought me a black Dooney & Bourke cabrioleather pyramid bag with a matching wallet, checkbook and make-up case for my birthday/ Mother's Day/ our anniversary. I ended up losing the make-up bag during a Chuck E. Cheese junket, but the rest of the set is still in use and I tell you, the bag alone is so sturdy, my husband swears you can use it as a pail to carry water. "Pwedeng ipang-igib 'yan!" he jokes.This bag has been with me for over five years now, and it's served me well, day after day. Too well, in fact, that I never really had reason to use any of the other bags in my collection.Until now.
First things first. I can't tell you the story of my latest baby without at least giving a brief history of her birth.Picture this. Monday, March 27. The day before my 38th birthday. After giving Reanna her evening bath, I come down to discover an empty house. For some unknown reason, Lorenzo and my two boys had flown the coop. The reason for their mysterious disappearance would later surface, looking exactly like this:
Yes, the THREE LORENZOs surprised me with mini-roses, chocolates, presents and an adorable Hello Kitty birthday cake. Oh, and let's not forget the balloons: Lance chose the pink one, Troy chose the lavender, and Lorenzo chose the huge mylar one which happens to be so me: a giant handbag with the words "Stylin' Mom", proving without a shadow of doubt that the best husbands do know the way to their women's hearts.... 
That balloon woke up something primal within me. My inner primadonna, long kept dormant, was silently unleashed, instinctively going on the prowl again, as if on autopilot. And now, with my husband's blessings, my baby got a new bag. (Well...to hold, anyway!)
Presenting my new church bag: a Coach signature demi. This one actually sports a matching signature trifold wallet inside that costs even more than the purse itself. Go figure!After a glorious debut, it now sits quietly in a favored part of my closet, getting acquainted with the European side of the family. But she won't have to suffer claustrophobia too long. Next week she is scheduled for another spin, when we go back to church, this time to celebrate my mother's birthday.Yes, my MOM is flying in from New York for a visit. She has chosen to celebrate April 14, the Big Six-O, with me, for which I feel truly honored. Even as I type this, she is getting ready to board a plane headed for California. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see her.But for now, as I anticipate her arrival, I would like to send a few last-minute words of thanks, to JAY and JET, for the lovely e-card, to Ms. Dina, for the birthday greeting, to my wonderful KIDS, for my birthday surprise, and to my husband, LORENZO, for making every day brighter with his special brand of thoughtfulness.Thank you so much. I love you guys!
CALL HER IRRESPONSIBLE
Yes, YOU, with the green Dodge Neon and the vicious black dog.Earlier today, we drove to Mervyn's to replace a sheet set that was all the wrong dimensions for our California King bed. Little did we know there would be a harrowing ordeal at the end of our destination.We parked right in front of the store, and Lorenzo got out of the driver's seat to let Reanna out of her car seat. Lance and Troy had fallen asleep in the rear, so we decided that I would go in with Reanna while he waited in the van with our sleeping boys.I was retrieving the sheet set when I heard Lorenzo give a surprised yell. "That dog bit me!"
"What dog?", I thought. I didn't remember hearing a bark, or even a growl. And then I saw it. A black dog, obviously agitated, sitting in the passenger side of the dark-green Dodge Neon sedan parked beside us, its windows rolled down by about six inches. My husband was staring at the beast with mixed anger and disbelief. His next words chilled me to the bone."That could've been Reanna..."And I thought my knees, instantly reduced to jelly, couldn't weaken any more. I checked the bite area, relieved that there was no blood. And then I rushed into the store, breathing a prayer of thanks that my husband was carrying my daughter in his other arm. Mervyn's Guest Services quickly called the cops and paramedics, who got there in no time. They also paged the owner of the Dodge Neon, who came out of the store just when the paramedics were examining the bite mark.She seemed more concerned for her dog that anything else. It wasn't until after one of the paramedics sarcastically pointed out that they were there to treat my husband, and not her dog, that she even remembered to ask if Lorenzo was okay.
"This dog is like my family, she has never done this before." I take that with a grain of salt. The dog was obviously troubled. You can see in these pictures that the dog chomped off a good-sized hole towards the back of Lorenzo's left sleeve. My husband didn't even know there was a dog in the next car, and he was obviously bitten after he had walked past it. This was clearly a case of an unprovoked attack, with no warning whatsoever.Now, Lorenzo and I happen to own a dog as well, and we sometimes take Spot the Pit Bull with us in our van too, but only when it's cool out so we can leave him, leashed securely to the front arm rest with the windows cracked open by a couple of inches, and he would still be comfortable. This person's car was completely parked in the shade. There was absolutely no reason for her to leave her windows wide open, especially since her dog was roaming around freely inside of it, unleashed. This was just courting trouble, pure and simple.And then, as if to add insult to injury, she tried to downplay the whole incident. Lorenzo, a former bodybuilder, has firm, taut arm muscles, so the dog's teeth couldn't latch on to anything but his shirt. Lorenzo was fortunate, nay, blessed, that he was able to walk away from the ordeal with just a minor scratch and bruising. Even then, I don't wish to imagine what the outcome could've been had he shifted even an inch to his left."Oh, you can hardly see it," the dog's owner stated dismissively.I couldn't believe what I was hearing! If it was I who had driven earlier today and I who had walked past that open window, I've no doubt my injury would've been a lot worse, given the flabby state of my arms. That dog could've bitten a chunk out of me.Or worse, my daughter."It didn't even break the skin.""Yes, but it could've been worse. A LOT worse.""No, it couldn't!"I could feel my anger boiling over, and I let her have it. How dare she talk that way when her irresponsible behavior could've resulted in my 20-month-old daughter being maimed for life, or even worse? I shudder to think of what could've been, had Lorenzo been carrying Reanna on the arm that was bitten.Maybe if she was a bit more contrite and willing to admit her fault, we could've chosen not to file a case against her. But she was arrogant and haughty, and totally unapologetic. After we were assured that the dog wouldn't be put to sleep, we decided to press on with charges. Maybe after she's ordered to pay a fine for her infraction, she'll finally realize that she was at fault. As it is, it's hardly a slap in the wrist.
At least as far as I'm concerned!
ANGELS AMONG US
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Ephesians 4:5
Last Saturday, LORENZO and I shared the most meaningful moment we've experienced in all our nine years together. In many ways, it was even more memorable than our wedding ceremony six years ago. For while we got married in the eyes of God back then, (on July 31, 2000), on February 11, 2006, we were both married to God. In a solemn yet joyful ceremony at the Modesto Central Seventh Day Adventist Church, my husband and I were re-baptized together, in front of our three children and our new church family.Like most Filipinos, Lorenzo and I were "sprinkled" when we were children. But I wasn't baptized by water immersion, as prescribed by the Bible, until I was twelve, shortly after receiving Jesus into my life. Lorenzo, on the other hand, wasn't baptized until after we got married. Since then, we both lost our way, (maybe even a little bit of each other), in the world. But I'm happy to say that we have found each other again in the Lord.All it took was a simple four-week SEMINAR. And now, we find ourselves falling in love with each other all over again, simply because we've fallen in love with the Lord again. And the blessings haven't stopped pouring since.Six years ago, Lorenzo took me to be his bride.
Six days ago, we both became the "Bride of Christ".Praise the Lord indeed!
P.S. Thanks to Tyler and Lavonne Long of Amazing Facts Ministries, and to Pastor James Scarborough, Donna Bearden, Teri Johnson, along with the other Children's Program volunteers at Modesto Central. We appreciate all the prayers and the phone follow-ups, the books and the babysitting, the home visits and the take-home DVDs. Because of you, we never felt like we were "just a name and number". Thanks for showing us you really care.
You truly are "Angels among us".
MY LITTLE PILGRIM'S PROGRESSLance came home today with a note from his first grade teacher:
It read:"Dear Mrs. Sereno,
Lance passed a level 34 today for me. His report card will only show a P for passing reading. He will continue to see Mrs. B**** for reading.
Thanks,
Mrs. B***"(Lance, who is one of the youngest kids in Grade 1 owed to his mid-November birthday, goes to a Grade 2 class with a different teacher for Reading.)I couldn't contain my happiness. A Level 34 in the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) SCALE is equivalent to mid-third grade! I really appreciated his teacher's taking the time to let me know this. I guess in first grade, the highest mark a student can get is "P" for "pass", even though he has surpassed all expectations and is reading two full grades above his level. The timing was uncanny. Tomorrow happens to be my son, MAX's thirteenth birthday. Exactly one year ago tomorrow, I received a totally different form of correpondence from Lance's school: a Disciplinary Report with what was literally a SOUR NOTE written on it by his kindergarten teacher.But Lance lost no time in redeeming himself, even back then, (perhaps spurred on a little bit by some Fatherly ADVICE!). Looking back now, I see that I ended up writing his homeroom teacher a more positive NOTE, just twenty days after the transgression.And he has been on the road to REDEMPTION since!Congratulations, Lance! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!(P.S. While we're on the subject, check out "Redemption" at 87 GENTLE STREET!)
IN WITH THE NEWThanks to RONALLAN, JAYRED, MARE, NIKKI, MEEYAGIRL and abby for dropping by to leave me their personal New Year's greetings. I would like to wish them, and YOU, a happy and healthy 2006 as well.I'm sure all of us ushered in the new year with great fanfare. My mother-in-law's home witnessed its own share of noisemaking, revelry and rabble-rousing.
Here are a few pictures to prove it.
... 
But now, the party's over, and we find ourselves carefully opening those ubiquitous datebook planners from our credit card and insurance companies, taking in their familiar leather scent, and creasing their spines for the very first time. Each year, they lie in wait, like proverbial clean slates, their empty pages just waiting to be filled.May this be a year of interesting entries for us all.
Happy New Year!
PLUGGING
My family is back from San Diego, where we joyfully celebrated Christmas with friends and family. We went to LEGOLAND on Christmas day, totally unaware that on the other side of the world, someone else was being a SCROOGE.One can only surmise what this person got in her stocking. A lump of coal? A run? An order to report for duty? She certainly wasn't feeling festive when she left me a comment at 87 GENTLE STREET.
Bah, humbug!
