crossrhodes

I have an aunt (tita) who is also my godmother (ninang) in the Philippines.  I call her “Tita Ninang” instead of “Tita (FirstName)”.  My siblings grew up calling her Tita Ninang, too, even tho she’s not their godmother.  This spring, I became the American version: Auntie Ninang (hehe) to my sister’s sweet, sweet, pretty boy Landon.  Isn’t he the most adorable pretty boy you’ve ever seen?

The day after we returned north of the Mason Dixon line, Layla and I headed up north way-early on Sunday morning for my niece’s and nephew’s dedications. Don stayed home to catch up on work since we’d been traveling all week. I hadn’t even unpacked our suitcases yet.  But I was wise enough to set aside our clothes for Sunday before we left for South Carolina earlier in the week.  I just forgot to buy gifts for the kids (ooops!).

Only 3 weeks older than my Layla, she and Landon are just starting to interact with each other at play.  They are so opposite in personality.  Landon is such a gentle mama’s boy while Layla is my squirmy little drama queen.  I love seeing them together!

P.S. I still haven’t bought them presents!  Need to get on that ball this week!  Bad, bad Auntie!

I’ve been up and down the east coast as a child, but I don’t recall experiencing culture shock as I did recently when we visited James in South Carolina.  First of all, breakfast or late night options severely deteriorate south of the NJ border.  I sorely missed my good ol’ Jersey diners while I forced Denny’s grand slam down my throat.  Either that or Cracker Barrell where the green beans ought to be called gray beans.

Once we hit the Carolinas, we could almost hear “cha-ching!” in our pockets when we saw the price of food and gas.  We had an all-you-can-eat southern buffet lunch for under $7!!!  Even McD’s can’t beat that anymore.  The food was so-so but for the price, I could afford to try fried okra for the first time and discard it if it didn’t please my palate.  Fried okra turned out to be tasty, so did the blackeyed peas, pole beans, and “fat back” (crispy pork skin crackling) with chili vinegar.  (The latter was not new to me.  We Filipinos have our version called chicharon.)

There was one off-the-beaten-track restaurant that was unforgettable.  While we were in Fort Jackson, SC, Don asked the locals on amateur radio for a good southern BBQ joint.  They all piped in the Palmetto Pig on Divine Street in downtown Columbia.  If you are ever in the capital city of South Carolina, you must dine at “The Pig”.

There is nothing fancy about this place.  Just down home good cookin’!  The BBQ pulled pork is so tender and the southern fried chicken is finger lickin’ good.  It comes with an array of BBQ sauces, veggies, side dishes, and condiments.  The sweet tea was the best sweet tea I’ve ever tasted.  I still crave it to this day.  I tried for the first time “rash and hash” or rice and their version of hash (not chopped potatoes but a savory sweet meat sauce).  For under $10, you can’t beat this buffet and the friendly folks behind the counter. The owner was so enamored with Layla, she walked out with a free tub of homemade banana pudding =)  Daddy ate it when we returned to our hotel.

I suppose it’s a good thing we don’t have one of these joints near us.  My heart can only take so much pork and fried everything.  But if I ever cross the Mason Dixon Line again, “The Pig” will be a stop on my itinerary!

• Attended a very full Sunday Easter Service, the 5th and last service of the weekend, and even the balcony was packed.  I love what the speaker said during his welcome speech, “We’re here every weekend, too, not just on Easter.”  LOL!!!
• Even the nursery was full so Layla stayed with us.  No, we were not late for church.  We keep Layla in the service until the sermon, then daddy takes her to the nursery.
• She wouldn’t keep her hat on, unless she can see herself in the mirror.  Then it was stare and point at the pretty baby.
• I gave her a little mirror to play with and she just made out with herself.  LOL!!!  “Kiss the pretty baby!”

Layla’s 1st Easter
1. Top Left, 2. Bottom Left, 3. Top Right, 4. Bottom Right.

• We met Lolo & Lola (my parents) after the service for lunch at one of our favorite Jersey diners, Mastori’s.  The men had roasted leg of lamb and prime rib; mom and I had fish.
• Lola brought homemade lugaw (Filipino version of porridge or congee) for Layla.  Chicken and brown rice in a savory ginger broth… yum!  I’ve been picking on it myself.  Ssshhh… don’t tell Layla =)

First set of cards donated to Gilda’s Club Westchester.
1. dsc_9594, 2. dsc_9596, 3. dsc_9609, 4. dsc_9603.

• 5 Easter cards, 3 thank you cards, 1 birthday card, 20 invitations, 12 sympathy cards, 5 Easter treat bags, and 3 decorated gift bags later, I finally cleaned my scrap desk!  Aaahhh… so gratifying!
• Don worked on the cars all day Saturday, in the rain and after the rain.  I was majorly PMSing so he made sure he was busy outside until dark =)
• James called and I listened to him gab and gab for almost an hour.  I forgot how much James can talk!  Oh yeah, we’re driving down to see him at the end of this week.

We hope you all had a blessed Easter!  He Lives!

Every morning now, the first thing she does when she wakes up is sign “milk” and then jumps on top of me, as if to say, “Get up, mother, and feed me!”

I started teaching her at 6-months or earlier.  At 11-months old, she knows the basics and then some.  I made a note to take another video at 18- and 24-months to document how much more she’s learned, if she isn’t just talking by then.