Early to be, early to rise

Netnet Camomot

EARLY mornings have remained a challenge despite the many days I had to wake up early in the last year. And it’s when people are waiting for me–ahem!–before they can move on with their lives, that the universe, a bum tummy and a bad hair day seem to agree this is the perfect day to have a grand entrance.

Thus, on Wednesday morning, there I was, waking up at 5am, but then, there was the tummy, and the hair that triggered the question, Mahangin sa labas? Oh, well. I made Jollibee and my pren our Rotary club’s Adopt a Barangay Elementary School Chair Joy Tabor wait for 30 minutes. Or was that an hour?

And there was that other important day last year when I made the governor–Rotary, not province–and his entourage wait for 30 minutes, too. And, yes, that was again a bad hair day which has become a regular fixture of those occasions when I have to give a speech onstage.

Should I start waking up at 4am now? O my gas.

But on Thursday morning, I woke up again at 5am, immediately took a shower, and had the morning ritual of tea, aloe and protein shake although for a while there, I thought of speeding up the process by having only the shake and nothing but. And no other slimming ritual the night before to ensure the morning after won’t have a bum tummy. Hehe. I was out of the house by 7:30am.

As for the hair, the hairstylist has taught me a certain way of blow drying it, if only I could stop texting and checking out Facebook while I’m doing that. Thus, the lesser the focus, the badder the hair.

If there’s one thing I learned in the last nine months, it is this: you can’t please everyone, not even the hair. Each tick mark on the to-do list is supposed to be a go signal for me to relax for at least an hour or two, but once I feel I deserve that, one thing would always come up to, hmmm, challenge me more. There is no end!

While you’re looking at the glass as half-full, others are looking at it as half-empty. What else should you do to make them look at it as half-full, too? Tsk tsk.

Still, there’s now a renewed resolve to follow Dory’s advice: Keep on swimming. Keep moving forward. Forward march. Ilang tulog na lang!

There’s this one particular day I’m looking forward to. Once it’s here… Yehey!

The incumbent yellow city mayor of Cagayan de Oro must be looking forward to that same day, too, when he can again say his favorite word–Yehey!–but with this question mark hovering above his halo: Will I still be occupying the same seat at city hall? While I’m looking forward to vacate a seat, he’s looking forward to sitting on the same chair he has been occupying since July 1, 2013.

On Thursday morning, there we were at Ecoville, and there I was again telling him, Yehey! Ah, no, it was, Congratulations! That’s how I greet him nowadays during the rare times–once in a blue moon–when we happen to meet. Congratulations! Yup, positive thinking and all that wonderful world which he loves to sing about.

But there’s always that hesitation to greet the mayor when he’s around. He’s the mayor after all.

A friend has this crucial question for someone who “acts” like family with another: Friends mo?

A mayor has to be friends with everyone. He has no choice. Hehe. But if you presume to be his friend despite the fact that he doesn’t remember your name and face, aguy, unsaon na lang.

That’s why whenever you get a friend request on Facebook, you can’t help but ask, Have I met you personally at least once? Because there’s a possibility the name is not familiar but the face is. So, you check out his FB photo albums to see he’s indeed a familiar face. But if his profile photo is like mine, you’ll end up believing he’s a cartoon character.

On Saturday morning, I woke up again at 5am. I used to work till dawn. But old age has taught me to sleep before 12 midnight. Then, wake up early at 3am or 5am. Yup, I’ve reached that age. Haha.