meet hershey

I am a certified dog lover. And I especially like Labrador Retrievers. For years, I dreamed of having my own lab to hug forever. Then three or four years ago, Balot made this dream come true. I finally got to have my own lab. She's black, smart and completely adorable. How she got her name? When she arrived from Davao my niece Danny was home and while brainstorming with her she came up with Hershey immediately. It just felt right. As I looked at her squirming in my arms, I just knew she was a hershey.

I bought a little book on how to train labs and I can say it worked pretty well. Labs are well known for their innate need to please and Hershey is no exception. It was real easy to train her. Of course we had a lot of accidents too but I think its because she intended it not because she did not understand. The first thing she learned was how to fetch. As a retriever it was in her nature to retrieve objects and bring it to her owner. Then I taught her to sit, stand, give, stay, kiss, embrace, no, come etc.

Another amazing thing was that Hershey would know when she did something I dont like. She would then look at me with pleading eyes and wag her tail so hard. Then she would attempt to climb up to my arms, no matter what I'm doing.

Recently, she's taken to understanding some words we did not teach her. It was truly amazing. She learned what leash, asa man, Charlie, lola, lolo, Aiza, James meant. If you tell her to go to someone she would know which one you're talking about.

Hershey is also a healer. Whenever anyone in the family is sick, she would stay alongside that person and somehow absorbed all the negativity. When the person got well, then Hershey would become sick. The downside of owning such a special dog though is the expense! There was a time I spent more than 5,000 pesos on pills alone. She had all sorts of sickness and the recurring one was dandruff. But even when she's sick, she never loses her great attitude. She still tries to please. It was heartbreaking to see her suffer through it.

She is also crazy about kids! She just loves kids. Whenever there are kids around she would be so happy and would keep on inviting the kids to play with her. Now that she's big the kids are sometimes scared of her so Hershey is left alone wagging her tail at them.

Dogs are a great source of happiness. I can't imagine not having a dog at home. I am so glad that Charlie is also in love with Hershey. He exercises her everyday and plays with her. He's even taught her new tricks! Sometimes I get jealous coz she follows him more than me now. Maybe coz he's more consistent with his commands while I tend to be soft-hearted and give her a hug right after I scold her. Haha!

Net time, I will also blog about my other dog, Lucas.

sunday at the movies

What's nice about the end of the school year is that I no longer have to be anxious about lessons to prepare for at the start of the week. I can stay up longer and thus stay in bed until late in the morning. I can blog, write notes, play bounce out, and edit photos at my leisure. No worries. No class to prepare for the next day.

Anyway, our little tradition includes going to the movies on Sundays. Today it was Invictus, a movie about Nelson Mandela and the South Africa rugby team. It was very inspiring and touching. It reminded me of our upcoming national elections and how important it is to choose and vote for the right president. Nelson Mandela in that movie embraced South Africa as his family. And just like a loving father, he knows exactly what his countrymen needs and he pursues it even when it did not seem politically correct. I just love how he was able to peacefully work for the unity of his people. The movie is a great lesson on strength in forgiveness, leading by example, and active non-violence where color and creed do not matter in working for the good of the country.

I hope you'll catch it in the cinemas while it's still showing.

refulgent in tenebris

Palunga imong suga.

Bisa'g abi sa imong silingan wala ka nakabayad og kuryente

Bisa'g di nimo makita imong ngipon samtang nanotbrush ka

Sige lang kay mas nakabalo man ka.

Pagnga 'ton im suga.

Bahala na kun di kaw anay makapanhugas nan plato

Bahala na kun jaoy mangawat nan im baligja

Halalam kay nakasabot man kaw.

Isn't it great to have cared?

Di ba tsada ang feeling?

Uman jaoy nawaya?

:)

Samantha Ysabelle

I haven't met Sam personally. I'm supposed to be a ninang but for a reason I don't remember now, I could not attend her christening. Nevertheless, I have always enjoyed reading her blog. I think it is an awesome way to document a child's growing years. Kudos to Kikamz for the loving effort she put on this blog!

She is a very photogenic child and having an artistic mommy made her blog all the more pretty and easy to read. I love seeing her photos with either Ka or Binsoy. I often could not believe how those two have grown and managed having a baby on their own in a foreign place! How absolutely blessed they are!

Sam's blog shows a very global child with very good parents who are absolutely grounded on Filipino values. I think she is one lucky baby to be born with such good parents. I can't wait to meet her for real and see for myself! I just hope she wont be a blooper baby too! Hahahha!