And All Because of Facebook

I am not one to believe a story when it comes out in the newspaper, because they hype up the negatives and water down the real issue. Lately, there is this news happening in my hometown about senior students from an exclusive girl's school who will not be able to 'walk the aisle' but can graduate considering they have completed their high school education.

The problem lies in the pictures found in facebook where a bunch of teen age girls were seen at the beach in garbs that left little to the imagination. Moreover, the girls were in 'compromising' positions like almost making out with some boys of their peers, and these 'evidences' were presented to the nuns by some 'concerned' student. Apparently, the parents of the girls were informed and some sort of understanding was agreed. One teacher apparently was going to give a “D” grade for conduct but the parent requested for leniency so a “C” was given. That would have sufficed for the meantime, but when the parents realized that her daughter will not be allowed to enroll at a prestigious college with a 'C' on the report card, she went into a dilemna. And adding insult to injury was the fact that her daughter would not be able to participate in the rites due to her inappropriate actions. Said parent(s) went balistic and had to go to court....the rest is what you read in the papers.

Apparently, some 40 years ago I had an encounter with the principal of the same school in question. (Yes, I went to that exclusive girl's school those girls studied). I was on a project to assist in a concert featuring a trio and we were going to do school campus tours. I was in my senior year in high school and this was a part time job after school and would end after the concert. Anyway, we did some campus rounds one afternoon and would continue the next day. However, the morning after that first trip, I was called to the principal's office. Said principal did not condone my going around with some group of musicians and a testosteronic group, but the problem came when I did the school campus tours in my uniform. I immediately saw their point but couldn't figure it out since people my age from different schools joined the motorcade in their school uniforms but were not reprimanded. Why single me out? I just don't get it? But the good girl I am, I complied.

The teenagers that were reprimanded in those facebook pictures are enrolled in a religious setting and theirs is one of strict compliance. School policies are policies that must be kept to uphold their reputation as one with high standards. Regardless of the fact that the incident was not done inside the school campus or with any signs of school representations, yet those unruly behaviors must not be left unattended. So who is to blame? The school for not instilling the virtue of modesty? Or the parents, who are responsible for their children's behavior when not in school?

As I write this piece, a news from the television caught me by surprise. It is a similar incident where a group of young girls were banned from using facebook because it 'violates the orthodox of modesty.”
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/no-facebook-for-hasidic-school-students-ncx-20120329


So what is the real issue in all this? Religion? Breeding? Reputation? Righteousness? Modesty? It could be one and it could be all. Where the teenagers victims of the nuns refusal for them to be part of the graduations ceremony? Or where the nuns protecting the integrity of the school which they have so religiously hold. Did the parents have to subject this to a court drama to hide their humiliation of having a recalcitrant child in an autocratic school.

But now the cat is out of the bag. All parties have been subjected to trial by publicity. The court has demanded that the school allow these girls to join the graduation rites. In time all this brouhaha will soon die down, after all, the newspaper sold the story and was juicy while it lasted. The school will probably be more exact in its policies and hopefully those teenagers will learn something from this. Hopefully, there won't be another facebook incident for that school. Hopefully!!!!!!



this picture was taken 40 years ago and all these girls in bikinis are from an exclusive girl school.....
sent to me by my cousin...and if you can spot me, i am in this....now my question: will the nuns
take away our diplomas after seeing this?.....HAHAHAHAH!

How to Torture Your Significant Other

You often hear your kids say, “mom, I'm bored” and many a times, it is easy to tell them that boredom belong only to fools because there is so much to do in this world and so little time. But when a wife becomes bored, what does she do? Well annoy her husband and torture him of course....And here are some suggestions which I gathered (and I altered some myself) on how to annoy your husband.


Hide the remote: if there's one thing that a t.v addicted husband hates is when he can't find the remote especially if his favorite show is on. Then he goes balistic when he really can't find it.

Do you have a husband that just can't get his hands off you? Then the easiest way to annoy him is bribe him with sex but don't pay up. I have several friends with husbands who think their wives owe them 'sex' due to the numerous refusals of the wife. My advise to wives who have husbands that do countdowns is to just declare a Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) and they cannot run after you until after 7 years. In the meantime, it's cash basis, so husbands have to pay up! (Diamond rings, new car, designer clothes, travels...etc... am I right, girls, or am I right?!)

If there's one thing that your hubby will get so annoyed is when you flirt with his friends. How many husbands hate it when their own wives flirt? But ladies, when you do flirt , just get ready for a lashing once you are in the privacy of your own bedroom. It really gets them annoyed and he eventually will say “what's with you?”

if that's not bad enough, your hubby will really get irked if you have a dinner date with your ex. Oh well! As for me, I can't have any dinner dates with my exes because they're all in the Phlippines or somewhere in timbuktu. But I can annoy him if I open my facebook account and surf on my exes timeline, while hubby is passing behind your back. Now that's annoying.

Sign your hubby to a dance class. If you're hubby is not a dance enthusiast and you would want him to at least learn because you dance yourself , then by all means, sign him up. Rest assured, that if there's one thing that will really annoy your hubby is to sign him up with something he is not so keen on even if it's not a dance class.

Treat him to a massage, but don't tell him that it's going to be done by a male . Now that's a no brainer, don't you think? But before you tell him his masseuse is male, egg him on how great the masseuse is on how your body was really rejuvenated, even if you didn't have a massage by the said masseuse.

Put him on a drastic diet. I once had an aunt who complained that my uncle wasn't giving her enough money for groceries that one day she decided to play a trick on him. She made him baked chicken but not until she sort of scraped off a lot of meat from the chicken. So when my uncle got his dinner he was surprised to see a skinny dry baked chicken. Of course it irked him, but eventually, my aunt accomplished her mission. Her allowance was increased.

This is a classic. TAMPER WITH HIS THINGS. Some ideas would be, loosen the screws of his eyeglasses, replace red ballpens with blue, starch his shirts, or just place his things randomly not in its regular place. And remember, always keep a poker face.

There are still so many ways like : Forget his birthday, whine about a big dream, badger him about his greying hair or balding spot, get rid of his porn (hahahah), use his picture for target practice, drag him to a marriage counselor (even if you don't need one), crown yourself with 'Queen of Jealousy' , pretend you have a secret admirer and send yourself roses, circulate his most embarassing picture, etc..etc..etc.. I can think of many ways and am so sure you could too.

But regardless of how much we annoy our own husbands, it's really a matter of attitude. My hubby, when he's in the mood, just laughs at my crazy stints. But I cannot deny that there are times that my antics would backfire, and we end up arguing. But you know what, one secret of having a great relationship is when we can both have a good fight. Because after every fight comes passionate sex. So ladies, start annoying your hubby, and tell me about it!


I have used this advise so many times and hubby would often say "there goes your theresian upbringing again".....well isn't that what the nuns taught us? spokening in england kuno!

The "F" - Word

My body has been rebellious nowadays. It won't follow my command. It wants to be on its own, so one day, I followed my body. Wasn't there a statement that said, “your body is not you, you are not your body.” So then it tantamounts to “who am I?” But then again, all that philosophical jargon isn't always my cup of tea. I'll leave that to my hubby who thinks he's from Andromeda. Oh well!

So here I am aware that my body is not me. But then, how could it not be? Until I realized that your body is your vehicle in the physical world. That to me is real. And many a times we fall prey to that which they call 'coca cola' figure. And I ask, which one? 8 oz or family size?

We are so psyched up that a thin, flat bellied, curvaceous body is what we should have. Even the fashion models are getting thinner and malnourished nowadays. Thanks to media who portray women as such. And my take on that is - who would want to eat a meal and be served bones? Uh-uh, not me.

During my teens and onwards, I always took care of my body by eating well and doing a lot of exercise. But a few years after marriage, I decided to go with the flow. In my thoughts, why should I take care of my body when it's only my husband that will see it? And so I let go. But no matter how much I ate to my heart's content, I never gained weight. I didn't want to be thin which made me look malnourished. But others thought that I was lucky to have such genes. While others would gorge and soon showed results, I maintained my usual skinny self even if I stuffed myself to death.

I thought I was superwoman eating to her hearts delight and not gaining any weight, until one day I had a reality check. As I was trying on some clothes at a department store, I saw a woman in the mirror whose love handles were oozing from the sides. As my eyes gazed from her bulging belly, I could see a layer of folded fat which rested two independent mounds with protruding points that looked like nipples. As I scrutinized higher, the face that had seen better days seemed to look familiar. And as if in a dream I blurted out, “what have you done to Vanette?”

Depression would have come easily if I dwelt on it, but instead I giggled. I saw my belly vibrating everytime I chuckled. And the louder I Iaughed, the more my belly jiggled like jello. After that realization at the clothes store, I made a game plan. I did some gymn workouts; I tried belly dancing and I even tried zumba. But the harder I tried to get rid of those belly fat, the more I ate. Not good!

Then it just dawned on me that it is not the goal of being who you want to become, but it is the journey in getting there that counts. Somehow, I realized that how I spend my days is going to be how I will spend my life. The physical body is just a case that I use, to fulfill my functions as a human being, just like the brain is a vehicle that holds your thoughts. Did I want to subject it to a roller coaster of binging and excercising to balance what they call a healthy body?

At this point, I went into a spiritual recognition with my body. I befriended my body and listened to what it was saying. When it told me to run, I ran. And when it said stop, I stopped. When it told me to do yoga, I did. I heard the squeaks and squeals inside of me that manifested itself from years of depriving the right excercises. Whatever my body dictated, I followed and I have never been happier.

Even when it told me to binge on steaks, cakes and shakes, I did it as well. But there were times when my body also told me to go vegetarian/vegan, I obeyed like a lamb. My body became my best friend.
The billboards and advertisements that show skinny women to attract consumers are standards that men want to portray on women. It is these standards that makes women stress themselves out. I do not condone this way of thinking, yet I do not succumb to it just because everyone else does. I choose to be me. And what my body says to me is just what I will see when I come face to face with it in the mirror.

Borrowing words from Geneen Roth in her book Women, Food and God : “ Real change happens bit by bit. It takes great effort to become effortless in anything. There are no quick fixes.” So ladies, why the fuzz?

In ending I shall tell you a story. One day while visiting my granddaughters, Andrea came up to me and engaged in conversation:

Andrea: Lola, I know the “F” word that's bad.
Me: Really? Who told you?
Andra: Basta lola, I know it and I'm not even suppose to mention it.
Me: No you don't know, you're too young to even know what it means,
Andres: I know what it means and I'm not saying.
Me: Tell me!
Andrea: No! I wont
Me: Then you don't know it because you wont tell me
Andrea: Okay! (and looks around and starts to whisper) the F word lola is 'FAT'!
And mommy says it's a bad word.

And Andrea says it all!