Drowning and hanging on for dear life
I feel very overwhelmed.
And it's not exactly in a good way, either. I'm caught off-guard by all the things I have to get done. In each class, there's something. Keeping up in En12 and Lit13 (research paper and readings) is an everyday struggle. I have a long test in Ma11 on Tuesday, an overflow of lab activities in ES12, a play to put on and long test to answer (in the same week, no less!) in Fil11, and case study proposals for ES10. I am loving PE because the only grief it gives me is its crappy class schedule. It's so tempting to say, "Screw this all" and slack off, but something in me won't let myself do it. Whatever (whoever? *wink, wink* - JOKE) that is, I'm thankful.
Kind of scared, because I have a lot of stuff for next week, and I basically have no Saturday 'cause of Celadon Day (going out with my brother and his friends after, because I have no ride home otherwise; that should be incredibly interesting and awkward). I originally had no Friday either, on account of staying in school for the ACOMM GA, but then I learned a while ago that a Mass for Fr. Mena would be held that night in Xavier at 6PM. I planned to leave Ateneo at 5, cutting my attendance at the ACOMM GA short, but then I have no way to get home, so I have to leave immediately after my last class. I feel bad about missing the first GA, but I know that I wouldn't miss Fr. Mena's Mass for anything, and at least I'll have time to get work done. It's a twisted sort of win-win situation, I guess.
Speaking of Fr. Mena, here's an account by my brother of his last interaction with him. (I was there too, so technically, this is the most vivid memory I have of him, too.)
Since I just told Vix the story, I might as well recount it here too. (I think I've either written about this before or have told people this already, but what the heck)
I was a fourth year Xavier School student. This must have been around the quarterly exams of the first quarter or around that time. I was having lunch at Dulcinea (Megamall branch) with my mom and my sister when Fr. Mena and Fr. Cortina came in and ordered lunch.
Now, Fr. Cortina taught my dad when my dad was a student at Xavier, and Fr. Mena was the parish priest who presided over mass at 9am, our former regular mass time on Sundays at Mary the Queen, so my mom called over the waitress and told her that we would be paying for their food.
Aside: whenever my mom tells this story, or hears my tell it, she always likes to point out the significance of Dulcinea, since it serves Spanish food, she figures that the priests are fond of it because they all came from Spain.
Anyway, when the priests were done with their meal, they called for the check, and were surprised to hear that someone had paid for them already. The waitress pointed to our table and said that we had paid for their food, so they came over to thank us.
I'm not sure who it was who asked me the question, I think it was Fr. Cortina, since I had had a very heartfelt conversation with him during Days with the Lord, but one of them asked me where I wanted to go for college.
I answered, "The Ateneo."
They both laughed and said that they (since they were both Jesuits) would do their best to make sure that I would get in.
That was, and I'm 99% positive on this, the last time I ever saw either of the two priests. Fr. Cortina passed away a few months later, and Fr. Mena stopped presiding over regular Sunday morning mass.
In the February of the year after that, I got accepted into the Ateneo.
Fr. Mena, based on what I heard, transferred to a job in the Xavier Archives. He would write a book about the school's early years, but then he fell in and had to go back to Spain.
Fr. Mena passed away last Tuesday in Spain.
I never got to thank either of them for helping me get into the Ateneo (harhar).
I miss them. :( They were great people, excellent priests.
On a happier note, it's my goddaughter Keilana's second birthday today. Of course, she's over in San Francisco, so I can't greet her properly. :( I miss her. She's such a cutie patootie.
Ms. Busalla's birthday, too. Funny story about how I greeted her. You know how my brother teaches at Xavier? So every morning, I still pass by ICA. Sometimes I see her walking down the hill, but usually I've fallen asleep already in the car and am out cold 'til my mom shakes me awake when we're already in Ateneo. Today, I couldn't fall asleep even though I was still pretty sleep-deprived, and amazingly enough, I saw her walking down the hill. :)) I yelled, "Stop the car!" (kind of always wanted to do that), and got out to greet her. HAHA.
Going to unwind before getting into bed, otherwise I won't be able to fall asleep.
And it's not exactly in a good way, either. I'm caught off-guard by all the things I have to get done. In each class, there's something. Keeping up in En12 and Lit13 (research paper and readings) is an everyday struggle. I have a long test in Ma11 on Tuesday, an overflow of lab activities in ES12, a play to put on and long test to answer (in the same week, no less!) in Fil11, and case study proposals for ES10. I am loving PE because the only grief it gives me is its crappy class schedule. It's so tempting to say, "Screw this all" and slack off, but something in me won't let myself do it. Whatever (whoever? *wink, wink* - JOKE) that is, I'm thankful.
Kind of scared, because I have a lot of stuff for next week, and I basically have no Saturday 'cause of Celadon Day (going out with my brother and his friends after, because I have no ride home otherwise; that should be incredibly interesting and awkward). I originally had no Friday either, on account of staying in school for the ACOMM GA, but then I learned a while ago that a Mass for Fr. Mena would be held that night in Xavier at 6PM. I planned to leave Ateneo at 5, cutting my attendance at the ACOMM GA short, but then I have no way to get home, so I have to leave immediately after my last class. I feel bad about missing the first GA, but I know that I wouldn't miss Fr. Mena's Mass for anything, and at least I'll have time to get work done. It's a twisted sort of win-win situation, I guess.
Speaking of Fr. Mena, here's an account by my brother of his last interaction with him. (I was there too, so technically, this is the most vivid memory I have of him, too.)
Since I just told Vix the story, I might as well recount it here too. (I think I've either written about this before or have told people this already, but what the heck)
I was a fourth year Xavier School student. This must have been around the quarterly exams of the first quarter or around that time. I was having lunch at Dulcinea (Megamall branch) with my mom and my sister when Fr. Mena and Fr. Cortina came in and ordered lunch.
Now, Fr. Cortina taught my dad when my dad was a student at Xavier, and Fr. Mena was the parish priest who presided over mass at 9am, our former regular mass time on Sundays at Mary the Queen, so my mom called over the waitress and told her that we would be paying for their food.
Aside: whenever my mom tells this story, or hears my tell it, she always likes to point out the significance of Dulcinea, since it serves Spanish food, she figures that the priests are fond of it because they all came from Spain.
Anyway, when the priests were done with their meal, they called for the check, and were surprised to hear that someone had paid for them already. The waitress pointed to our table and said that we had paid for their food, so they came over to thank us.
I'm not sure who it was who asked me the question, I think it was Fr. Cortina, since I had had a very heartfelt conversation with him during Days with the Lord, but one of them asked me where I wanted to go for college.
I answered, "The Ateneo."
They both laughed and said that they (since they were both Jesuits) would do their best to make sure that I would get in.
That was, and I'm 99% positive on this, the last time I ever saw either of the two priests. Fr. Cortina passed away a few months later, and Fr. Mena stopped presiding over regular Sunday morning mass.
In the February of the year after that, I got accepted into the Ateneo.
Fr. Mena, based on what I heard, transferred to a job in the Xavier Archives. He would write a book about the school's early years, but then he fell in and had to go back to Spain.
Fr. Mena passed away last Tuesday in Spain.
I never got to thank either of them for helping me get into the Ateneo (harhar).
I miss them. :( They were great people, excellent priests.
On a happier note, it's my goddaughter Keilana's second birthday today. Of course, she's over in San Francisco, so I can't greet her properly. :( I miss her. She's such a cutie patootie.
Ms. Busalla's birthday, too. Funny story about how I greeted her. You know how my brother teaches at Xavier? So every morning, I still pass by ICA. Sometimes I see her walking down the hill, but usually I've fallen asleep already in the car and am out cold 'til my mom shakes me awake when we're already in Ateneo. Today, I couldn't fall asleep even though I was still pretty sleep-deprived, and amazingly enough, I saw her walking down the hill. :)) I yelled, "Stop the car!" (kind of always wanted to do that), and got out to greet her. HAHA.
Going to unwind before getting into bed, otherwise I won't be able to fall asleep.