1. Izzy isn't sleeping very well. The last three nights she's been waking up around 9:30, wanting to be held, yelling for her mommy. The moment we try to put her in our bed - which never works anyway - she starts squirming and playing with the pillows and kicking us. This continues until around midnight when we finally leave her in her crib and she's too exhausted to cry out. All this clinginess is not a good sign, especially since Madeline and I are leaving her with her lolo and lola (we're going to Bangkok and Siem Reap next week).
2. Tension is mounting as Happy's wedding day draws near. My mother and I have fallen into our old "conversational" rut, mumbling sarcastic comments under our breath. Peck, counterpeck.
3. Last night Clarissa's parents threw a party for us and what seemed like a zillion other friends and relatives. We picked up Tawee and Kalaya (Happy's sponsors, flying in from Bangkok) from the airport, then headed over to Megamall to buy Tawee a barong (and got caught in the rain), then over to Clarissa's. Great food -- the chef, waiters, and bartenders were apparently pirated from some other restaurant and paid under the table. Saw some old acquaintances (bridesmaids of Clarissa), relatives and so on; the entourage also had a big briefing session, with lots of jargon I simply wasn't familiar with (cord? arras? Was I supposed to have the ring on me, or grab it from the ringbearer?).
4. The flowers are going way over budget. My dad blames my brother, my brother blames the florist and my dad. The white roses (and glass vases) on each table -- all 28 of them -- are quite beautiful though. (The cost of the flowers alone -- $1500 -- is for me, in the US, pretty darn steep, and unimaginable in the Philippines.)
5. I'm angry when I brush my teeth. The bristles are worn down almost to the roots before I throw the toothbrush away. Sometimes I've even snapped the brush in the act of brushing, stabbing the roof of my mouth with the splintered plastic stub.