(in consideration of sunday’s previous conversation,
yes…there’s pictures in this blog…gee…
for those interested to see all the pictures, click HERE…)

hey thanks to those that greeted us a happy anniversary…my brother even got us an awesome lobster dinner directly from maine which was a huge surprise since we usually get maine lobsters on thanksgiving with the family. i don’t know about the next person, but i always look at pictures during anniversaries, so during my odd moments, i’d unconsciously think of what happened that day…esp. funny moments, for instance, seeing genesis sitting at the pews- actually crashing my wedding…SO few were invited to attend, but she slipped by cuz her dad officiated our wedding…so she was one of the very very few who witnessed the emotional day. we laugh about it now, and they’ve even made a movie about her…you might be familiar with it- the one starring owen wilson and vince vaughn…yep…genesis guevarra.

anycase, we did get the chance to celebrate it during the weekend since my brother and parents gladly took care of emma. we woke up early to drive to the beach to catch our parasailing appointment. the guys handling the business were quite young and easily sociable so it was an easy going experience, and we were the only passengers that early so we got the boat to ourselves. they even rode us longer than usual which was good since it felt peaceful being so high up in the air. the only scary part about parasailing is if you’re quite the chicken to heights and if you’re quite the chicken to water…i lean more towards the latter because i have this closet fear of the ocean since 1- i can’t swim, and 2- i’ve seen too many movies where there’s sea animals lurking for prey…for example- i found myself clinging to perze while watching Finding Nemo, during the scene when he wanders way down into some crack and abyss, so far down that there’s scarcely any light…now, in a huge watery expanse of the dark ocean, would one really feel completely safe without their sense of sight? …ex-actly.

anyway, back to parasailing…i would definitely do it again, granted i have extra cash in my stash. it was a great way to spend one’s morning, esp. a morning celebrating an anniversary.

afterwards, we drove around to find a place to eat lunch since we were extremely hungry…so we lunched on some seafood which consequently made us a bit drowsy…so we walked around the boardwalk and got some coffee, which dramatically boosted my energy to spend a relaxing time near the water…like perze said on his blog, we did scope out some ‘hunnies’ on my suggestion. we did realize however that most of the people surrounding us were highschoolers or newbie college students who used to go to highschool together, on a day trip to have one of those get togethers that supposedly strengthen your fading friendship that’s still desperately clinging to highschool days, although inevitably, college will replace the friendship and memories years down the road which will manifest itself with trips to the shore with your college friends instead…

so i turned to perze and said, “ya…they’re prolly Pitman students who forgot to call up genesis”

(note; i don’t know why genny is showing up on this blog…maybe it’s due to our talk on sunday)

anyways, i would talk about the present i got for perze and what happened to me while trying to get it, but for some reason, i’ve grown not to blog about specifics of presents, so i will say this about it: i just wanted to thank 2 people who’ve given me input on it. and…after all that, i really feel like a south jersey girl.

the real day of our anniversary, perze surprised me by waking me up with a funny bag of random presents, with two of everything- two being our second anniv…two as in 10…such as two bags of dunkin donuts ground coffee (for my coffee diet)…ect….. dinner we spent at this recommended themed restaurant near convent station which would have been very nice, sans psycho baby demanding to roam around bumping into waiters and staring while waving hello to seated customers. after dinner, we went to barnes and nobles because i had a craving to buy a book, as well as continue to introduce emma to such a children friendly book store where they allow kids to read at the reading stage and surrounding tables…emma loved the experience…a little too much since she walked here and there to this and that, picking up books and toys, and bothering the guy working there. she would constantly give him books she picked up, which meant he had to return and reshelve them. after the first or second cute times, i guess he found it bothersome…so we took her home because she was getting too worked up, which is completely understandable when one goes to barnes and nobles.

father’s day was nice. i did the powerpoint…again…it was hilarious having pictures given to you during service in hopes to include them in the already finished presentation. i guess people thought all i had to do was say “cheetos” and they’d easily appear custom animated into the presentation. but like the doof that i am, who has a hard time disappointing people, took the pictures and clicked like a madwoman on the laptop, getting everything in in an hour, ready for the anticipated presentation. i always tell myself that i’m going to pass the torch, or teach someone my tricks but it always happens that months pass by and i find myself nodding to another favor.

despite my nervousness though, it always brings me joy when the congregation is moved by what i do, or what i write, or by how things are sequenced in the presentation. i secretly admit that during those times preparing the powerpoint, working with all the pictures and remembering a lot of what has transpired in our church and in people’s lives, i’m also humbled emotionally…(stop laughing genesis)

but, yes, it was Perze’s FIRST father’s day! i’m so proud of him! it’s really hard being a first time dad…as it is being a first time anything…since you really have no prior experience, and everything is so new…and with something so important as another life, it’s amazing we get through it at all…with all the sad or tragic stories i hear, i feel VERY blessed that emma’s ok and somehow we did an ok job taking care of her and her needs. i know it seems so normal, so everyday mundane, seeing parents and people having babies, but despite it being normal, having a baby…parenthood is always a miracle. so to all the parents out there who are dutiful to the blessings you’ve been given, truly hats off to you, because i know you hardly receive credit.

which leads me to say thank you to my own dad who has really raised me to be a respectful individual who cares about my reputation as well as my integrity. i also need to thank tatay perlen, who raised a beautiful person- my husband…who taught him to place heavy importance on his education and on God, as well as how to treat his wife and family…honestly, without these two men who have given us such a rooted foundation, i don’t think perze and i would have been as compatible, and as individuals, we would have been as grounded. and lastly, of course, happy father’s day to perze. our daughter is that loving reminder of you, who gives me such pride to be a mama…and you as my husband gives me equal pride in being a wife.