Tag: friday nights

Weekends like this

RhizaLeave a comment

It’s that moment when you start to wonder, where has the weekend gone? I know where mine went. It went to a place where time is irrelevant, me-time plans are given up to expend yourself for others, and hours fly by because you just never run out of things to do!

Moments Like This

When I was single, weekends were for shopping, watching movies, meeting up with friends, going out of town, sleeping over a girl friend’s house, and staying up late. When I got married, D & I would watch last full shows or dine out on Friday nights, oversleep on Saturday mornings, and do whatever we feel like doing the rest of the day.

Oh how much has changed since then.

This particular weekend, the days seemed to have blended into each other, leaving me with a blurry recollection of things that made up my weekend—grocery shopping, cooking for and hosting a birthday lunch party for my brother, cleaning up the after-party mess, cleaning up the house, cleaning up the bedroom, endless Despicable Me marathons, nap times, playing forts, bed time stories, and sneaking in a “grown up” movie while the babies were asleep (we finally got to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire!) in lieu of a date night.

Seriously, I can’t even remember having opened my laptop the whole weekend. Except last night when everyone had gone to sleep, and I had to whip up a quick article for work. Even the last hour of my day was not for myself.

Today, the girls and I missed our Sunday worship. There’s some measles virus going around and my husband and I thought it best to put the twins on a temporary isolation. Just the same, in the quietness of our little home this morning, God’s message to me was to keep a spirit of gentleness, especially in times when I feel worn out and on the verge of losing it. I’ll never stop being amazed at how God knows exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it.

I don’t know what my point is for this post, really. I just know that this weekend has left me feeling tired and wishing for an extended day of rest, and yet, I wouldn’t say that my weekend was wasted either.

How do you explain this feeling, anyway? I feel like there isn’t a word to describe this. I never felt this before I became a Mom. It’s like, you know you’ve set aside things that make you happy, in exchange for things that are more important and more meaningful, and while a part of you is frustrated over not being able do what you want to do, you know that your choice made you, surprisingly, happier. Anyone know what I’m saying?

How about you? How’s your weekend like?

Life is too short to be so afraid of Friday nights

Rhiza

Friday nights are supposed to be spent with someone, I always thought. I call it “Friday night sickness,” the cure for which would be a bunch of friends for company, or, in the absence of companions, an impulsive shopping spree with lots of cash to spend. At one point in my life, I considered being caught dead alone on a Friday night as one of my greatest fears, next to my macbook crashing and not being able to have babies.

But I realize now, as I’ve been spending more and more Friday nights by myself, that it’s not so bad spending nights like this just being quiet, watching droplets of rain trickle down glass windows while cars pass by in the background like little bokehs, and listening to the hushed voices of lovers and friends chatting inside coffee shops.

It’s Friday night, I’m alone, and I’m in love.

In love with life, in love with NOW, in love with the promise of things to come. I want to remember these days, these Fridays I get to spend alone. I want to dry them up, like rose petals placed in between the pages of a hard bound book, and preserve them until they’re old and yellow and forgotten. And then maybe one day, accidentally or on purpose, I’ll come across these memories, remember how it’s like, and laugh at the silliness of it all.

Tonight I realize that I need to chillax and learn to not be so afraid of being alone.

(Thoughts that are too long for twitter. Posted from my mobile phone.)

When Friday Night Sickness Kicked In

Rhiza14 Comments

Fully Booked

After a few calls and texts, I was able to confirm that Fully Booked is open until 12:00 AM. I made it there an hour before closing time.

Last Friday, I had a wishful thinking. That bookstores were open 24/7 like convenience stores and watering holes, so that anyone could easily satisfy sudden cravings for the smell of books in the middle of the night the same way MiniStop and 711 have faithfully satisfied our after-midnight instant fixations. Such is what happened to me last Friday. I thought I’d prefer to stay in after a long tiring day doing work errands, but sometime past 11:00PM, my Friday night sickness kicked in and I knew I had to go out and find.. a book store.

And there it was, the highlight of my week, my 45-minutes of solitude away from life. That short moment when nothing — not the deadlines, bills, thedreamerie stuff, my boss, that pile of unwashed dishes by the sink back in the condo — is as important as wandering aimlessly through rows and rows of non-existent characters and made-up worlds.

Took a Jane Austen book from the classics section, held it for a few minutes, made a quick decision whether to purchase it or not, then placed it back in the shelf. Went past the Shopaholics series and did just that — went past it. Went past the new titles by Cecilia Ahern, too, and wondered how come she’s still writing books after what I thought was a failed first attempt. And so is that Lauren Weisberger woman. I think Ahern and Weisberger should shift their careers to movie script writing. P.S. I Love You and The Devil Wears Prada were better off in the big screen than in 3-inch think novels.

Found a stack of Sidney Sheldon titles and lingered for a moment, smiling as I remembered those days in high school when my classmates would trade Sheldon books with each other, read them during class under the desks, and discuss them during breaks with a passion. Found Nicholas Sparks’ section, and, embarrassed as I am to admit, got a copy of The Wedding and A Walk to Remember, two titles I’ve already read a couple of times in my younger years but I thought would come handy when I want to read without thinking too much.

Stepped in the Murakami turf and thought I’d give the Japanese author another chance, after my failure at reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. The thought of the missing cat made my head spin, I stopped reading at Chapter 3. Thanks to Joni‘s expert advise via text, I was able to confirm my decision on which Murakami title to buy. The one with the least number of pages, please, thankyouverymuch. But hey, like I said, I’m giving Murakami another try.

Paulo Coelho was my last stop, I ended up taking 3 titles in hopes of having his artistic prowess rub in on me. I’m so excited to read Veronika Decides to Die. I feel like I have a lot of things in common with that woman.

So with all my Friday night picks — 6 books plus a couple of cutesy pens, a leather book cover, and a notebook I don’t really need but couldn’t resist putting in my basket — I went to the counter with the smile of a little girl who just got out of a candy store. Warning to my readers: don’t do this if you don’t have a Fully Booked discount card. If anything, the few hundred pesos off your bill will at least make you feel less guilty.

I went home to my bucket of Maltesers and read the night away.

I don’t mean to bore you with how I spent my lousy Friday night. I just thought an almost-perfect 45minutes doesn’t happen everyday, I might as well blog about it.

Hi. How are you? :)