Moments of a Lifetime

When I think about all the things that happened in my life, then last night would be sitting at the very top. It was the most memorable time in my life thus far. There were lots of things that I experienced for the very first time, and I think I’ve found a friendship that will last for a lifetime.

It was a night of honesty and peace. I don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved and honest to myself. It’s one of those times when you can be really honest about yourself and follow your heart, except I have never really done it to this extend before … hahaha ….. Wonderful didn’t quite summarize everything that I felt. Before I even realized it, I think I have changed a lot to which I think is for the better. I am no longer the me a year ago.

And to put the icing on top of it, the blue suit red cape super alien has returned …. HAHAHAHA …. Superman Returns …. The superhero I grew up with is back in movie theaters, bringing lots of joy to huge fans all over the world, myself included. There is just something special about Superman, his sense of truth and justice, his caring and loving personality, his struggle finding identities as an individual among humans, and of course to top them all, he’s indestructible, faster than a speeding bullet, has super senses, heat vision, and can fly …. hey, what more can a man ask for ….

It was the night when my superhero returns, it was the night I made peace and it was the start of a what I hope to be a great friendship … It’s a great moment in my lifetime ….

Feels like I just woke up from a long dream. Feels as if it’s the first
time I opened my eyes, taste the air that I breathe, stand up and make
another step forward in the last 4 years. Time had stopped before I even
knew it, and I had been dreaming for the longest time. "Goodbye" still
echoed in my mind and in my ears, still leave a bitter taste in my
tongue. "Goodbye" was the key to the gate between my dream and my
consciousnesses. It was the last word I would ever expected to come out
of my mouth. I’ve rehearsed this scenario in my head thousands of times, and yet when it happened, I was still not prepared for it. Am I still dreaming?

It’s a new day, and now my foot step forward, leaving a long overdue
footprint of my past behind me. I think I am smiling, I think tears flow
from my eyes, I am uncertain whether it’s happiness or sadness that just
put a blow to my heart. The warmth of the sun tickles my senses, and the
air I breathe in fills my lung, but my heart feels so empty. It’s as if
I can feel my heartbeat once again though it never stopped before. Feels
like the last 4 years was just a bitter sweet dream where time stopped
for eternity. My walk was light as if a huge mountain has been lifted
off of my shoulder. My heart feels crushed as if a huge boulder was once
stomped it, as if a cannon ball just went through it. I am crying ….
crying for the past that will never return, for an ending that should
never have started. I am smiling …. smiling for an uncertain path that
will lead me forward …. smiling for the return of reality and the
start of new hope.

It’s a new day, and my time ticks once again. I am moving forward,
leaving the echo of goodbye behind me …. moving forward for a new
beginning …

It was raining back here. Not that hard, but it’s not that light either. Me and a few friends had a volleyball game to play at lunch. Well, I guess we’re all gamed, well, except one of my teammates who decided to bail cause she cannot come back to the office wet and she would barely have time to hit the locker room after the game.

So, we all took our gear, and head for for the game under the rain …. It was 3 (since one bailed on us) against 4 on a wet sand field …..  

I’ve played under the rain so many times before, but I never realized that the ball is actually getting quite heavy under the rain as it absorbed all the water in. Apparently there are different kinds of materials that they use to make the ball, and some of them just don’t do well when wet …. well, that and the fact that volleyball was not supposed to be played with wet ball anyhow ….

Anyway, we lost the first set, but we were so close … I blamed the rain ….

We rallied back and won the second set, and we really really beat them on the last set. It was fun, very competitive and the rain actually made things better in a way, cause it’s not so hot down there …. not with all that water ….

During the game, I somehow remembered how my mom used to yell at me and my siblings not to play in the rain, cause we might get sick. Isn’t it funny that things that our parents said stick in our mind, no matter how annoying it was when we first heard it. And it’s also amazing on how we tend to do what our parents told us to eventhough they’re not here … (well … not for me in this case, I still played under the rain ….), but I mean in general, that seemed to be how things work out. As we grow older, it’s just seemed natural to do the things our parents tried to make us do by any mean necessary when we were kids. I find that quite amusing ….

So, now I’m back on my desk, had shower and lunch after the game, and I’ve iced my knees. Now I’m starting to feel that rain …. Hahaha …. it feels similar to having a minor cold temporarily …. so listen to your mom when she told you not to play under the rain …. hahaha …..

Right now I’m hanging my shirt and short that are completely wet because of the rain, cause I am subbing for a friend this afternoon for another game at a bar. Apparently if we win the game tonight, they will become the league champion …. so …. here we go, I guess …

Everything’s checked for tonight, got my dinner right here ready to be reheated and eaten, got my anti-inflamatory medicine, got my knee brace, got my pack for ice to ice my knees, and the rain seemed to stop …. Here we go again …..

I went back home past midnight yesterday, after close to 2 hours driving back from Columbus. Put all my stuff in my room, then I had to take a shower, cause I played volleyball before driving back, and I certainly was all dirty and smelly …

After shower, I can’t sleep cause my hair was still wet, so I waited another hour and a half before going to bed (though those are just my excuses to jump in front of my laptop and start clunking on those keyboard again …

)

So, today, it’s my turn to drive, and I picked up my car pool buddy. It’s been a very slow day. I forgot to bring my bananna today, so I had to find something else to keep me from being hungry. I feel like one of those monkeys you see in commercial, clunking on the keyboard while eating my bananna ….

If you see me in front of a computer, you might see me with a bananna in my mouth, with my two hands typing the keyboard …. hahaha …. what can I say, I’m a geek who’s always hungry ….

BTW, chewing gums when feeling hungry was a big mistake, at least for me. It actually makes me more hungry at the end. I finally gave up and drank one of those power drink to keep me from getting more hungry ….

I didn’t get a chance to cook for lunch as well, so I went out and buy lunch, but I had a presentation right after lunch, so I brought the food back and prepare for the presentation while eating …. My presentations was a bump though, not exactly what I expected. There were several loop holes that wasn’t being considered in the testing procedures, so I have to go back and do more testing to close those gaps.

Things went downhill since. I am really really tired. and getting really sleepy right now. I just can’t really concentrate at all right now, and it’s not just because of being tired, there are more things that bothers me today, but those are things I’d rather keep to myself

I’m down to my second cup of tea to give me that caffeine boost, but it didn’t seem to work. Somehow caffeine have very little impact to me …. there goes my energy booster …. BTW, I actually never knew that tea has caffeine until about a year ago … silly me … hahahaha …, and I’m not really a coffee drinker, so I have tea …

As I go blank, my friend emailed me a message with a picture attached. She said that she just had her baby a week ago, and the baby’s picture was attached …. awwww ….. the baby is so cute and beautiful. I can’t wait to see her and the baby. If only she lives closer than a 6 hours drive …

And of course, I feel hungry again …. and I was looking outside through the window, it’s raining. Now I realized that I forgot to bring my umbrella too. It’s sitting right next to the bananna that I was suppose to bring this morning …. ughh …. So I’m going to be hungry and wet driving back home …. double ughh ….

Well …. at least I don’t have to water the grass this week since rain is in the forecast for the whole week …… The question now is can I play volleyball at the lunch hour tournament tomorrow and Friday … hmmm … I’m supposed to play tomorrow and Friday at lunch hour. We did lots of crazy things before, and it’s not going to be a first for us to play under heavy rain. In fact we played under the rain lots of times before. I think we even played when it’s close to freezing temperature a few times before …. hahaha …. I guess if the other team doesn’t mind, we’ll still play …. so … volleyball tomorrow, no need to water the grass, and I’m hungry …. it’s all good ….

Did you notice how many time I said I’m hungry …. geezzz …. eating’s good, isn’t it ….

I truly wish that anybody always have enough to eat, anytime, anywhere …. hope it will be true one day ….

Well, before I even realized it, this has become another beautiful day …….

My brother is back home from the site of the earthquake. He’s alright, safe and sound, and he sounded much more mature than what I can remember. I miss a big part of my siblings growing up.

Anyway, go here to see his story: http://my_life_is_beautiful.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/2006/06/im_home.html

So many things happened this weekend that made me so proud of being part of my family. One of my brother gave a surprise visit to my parents. He wanted to be able to give my parents some smiles on their face. He always think about our parents, about us, the siblings. I don’t know any other people who think and care so much about his family more than him. I couldn’t be prouder than I am now being his brother.

My youngest brother just finished his medical school, and he is now a general practicioner. This weekend, he volunteered to be sent to Klaten, one of the city in Indonesia that was hit by the earthquake last week, to do medical services for the next 2 weeks. People said that he looked like he just graduated from high school, and I am willing to bet that nobody believes me when I tell them that he’s a general practicioner. His first field work would be as a volunteer for the earthquake victims, where his efforts are needed very much. He was also given some compensation from the social foundation that sent him over, but he returned all of it back as a donation to the victims. My oh my, his first job and his first salary, all are being donated without second thought to those in need. I am truly proud being his brother. My parents also sent some food and clothes donations  along with sending my brother to go to Klaten.

These are some of the moments along with a lot of other things that made me feel so blessed to be a part of this family. I just hope I will never let any of them down ever.

BTW, if you’re interested in donating for Indonesia, please do using one of the following options:

• Indonesia Relief website (taken directly from Indonesian Embassy Website): http://www.indonesiarelief.org/

• Catholic Relief Service: http://www.crs.org

• PMI (Indonesian Red Cross)
  Donation for Yogyakarta
  Bank account for transfering your help/relief/charity via
  Acct No: 070-008-901-2012
  Bank: PMI Bank Mandiri Wisma Baja

  Donation can also be given directly to
  PMI Head Office (24 hours)
  Jalan Gatot Subroto Kav 96,
  Jakarta, Indonesia 12790
  Phone +62 21 799 2325 ext 201/207
  Fax +62 21 799 5188

  Hotline (24 hours): 021-799-2325 ext 402

  More info
  Posko Bencana PMI (Indonesian Red Cross Disaaster Coord. Center)
  Phone. (021) 7992325, ext. 402 or
  Arifin Muh. Hadi, Head Division Disaster Relief PMI
  Cell: 0811943952

  Website: Palang Merah Indonesia

• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: http://donate.ifrc.org

• Contact
  Heni Foote. Heni is a Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH) graduates, who
  was born in Klaten and is organizing on help fund.

  Heni Foote
  Phut@cox.net