What’s on the buzz today?  I opened CNN first thing in the morning after I splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth. After weeks of usual headlines that includes the Oil Price and Politics, finally there is something new on the news.

Today was the first full day of the state of California to allow same-sex marriage.  The courthouse seemed to have a party atmosphere instead of the typical solemn scene.  Both gays and lesbians couples from all over the country rushed to California to finally make their dream moment to come true.
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After a heartbreaking incident last weekend, I thought I managed to move on.  But it seems that I still couldn’t forget what happened.  I’m still hurting inside and I don’t know when things will be better.  I know eventually they will.  I tried to do the usual things and it somehow helped me a little bit.  But when I’m alone and missing, the pain would surface again.

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This is our tribute to the men who dedicated their lives to their children… who stood by them through thick and thin… whose steadfast and dedicated love endures… because we love you and all that you’ve done for us.  To our Father… our hero! A tribute to Tatay Leno, Daddy Noel, Papa Hen, Kuya Paul and Opa Pie.  You are loved!!!

Yesterday afternoon I was introduced by Atzel (my aunt-in-law’s son) to this interactive game called Guitar Hero II. Since I got here, I have seen him spending time playing with this guitar-shaped peripheral pressing colored buttons and doing acts of strumming in response to what was shown on TV. It’s kinda like the Dance Revolution of which goal is to step on the correct arrow direction at a proper timing. I first thought it was crazy and I was definitely struggling to press the correct colored buttons while strumming the switch in the guitar’s body following the timing of the music played. When I get the hang of it, such game improved my sensitivity towards music. Since the genre of all the songs are rock, I began to appreciate that beauty of it behind the hard drums, striking electric guitars or screaming vocals.

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Post Vacation Blues or simply Vacation Blues is a malady that most travellers experience. So, what is this all about? It is usually a condition when a person returning from a vacation feeling lazy, tired, having a loss of appetite, strong feelings of nostalgia and in some cases depression. It is usually because the person longs for his/her travel experiences especially if it was an enjoyable one. The longer the vacation last, the higher the intensity of the vacation blues. Jet lag may intensity it.

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Wow! I didn’t notice that it has been at least two months since my last post. I certainly owe everyone an apology for not updating my blog. I should have brought the laptop which belongs to Travis so I can easily do blogging at ease and do the usual stuff I work with even when I was in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, I didn’t do it so while I was gone, not only did I have to scramble against Windows 98 but I was also preoccupied.

There are lots of stories to tell but a person like me who has got a poor memory will have trouble what happened on which day. I will try as much as possible to recall those activities that I did and blog about them by the help of the few pictures that I took. In the next few days, I will be talking about them and also about my short 2 week vacation in Mexico.

Now that I’m back and springing back to reality, I will try to update my blog as much as I can. Thank you to all those friends who never fail to remember me. I treasure you dearly in my heart.

The Netherlands has faced a lot of challenges in the past. This time, its challenge came from a film called Fitna The Movie. It was produced by a right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders who wanted to provoke an international scandal using such film. The film’s title comes from the Arabic word fitna which is used to describe “disagreement and division among people”, or a “test of faith in times of trial”. Fitna was released to the Internet on March 27, 2008.
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Meet Glory a.k.a. Berend Botje! He is the official tour guide of this entire trip. Glory is a TY Beanie Baby which was given to me by Travis when I first step foot in the Land of the Free. Glory was baptized as Berend Botje the very moment I landed in Brussels. The new alias was taken from the popular Dutch Nursery Rhyme (Kinderliedje) which happen to be the very first Dutch phrase I learned.

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I definitely miss the things I left behind. I miss my cat-Cougar who has been my constant companion. I will miss our place at The Reserve in Point Meadows Drive. It was my last sight of the place since Travis will be taking care of the move to Minnesota while I’m gone. When I come back from my trip, I will no longer be going back to Florida but to Minneapolis, Minnesota instead. So, I made it a point that I took mental images of the place and everything that I left behind. Driving through 9A to the airpot seemed to be short this time when normally it takes about 20 minutes.
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Now I’m all packed with 1 checked in baggage and 1 carry-on backpack. I am anxious to leave. I have been feeling sick since yesterday. My anxiety was probably because I won’t be with my Hubby for a long time and I’m just not used to it. Another reason would be my experiment of having a port of entry other than the country that issued me a Visa.

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