Waking up to good things

I don't usually sleep straight for many hours due to the nature of my job and of course my being a father.

I usually have to wake up at around 5 a.m. to look after my son as he prepares for school then knock off again when he takes the bus at 6 and then wake up about an hour again later to see my daughter off to school.

This also gives me a chance to catch up on early morning shows on TV.  Yesterday, I caught the extra time of the Manchester United-Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) game which was then tied at 1-all.

Then came a free kick awarded to Man U and Christiano Ronaldo was the designated kicker.  Although it all happened so fast, I think I was wide awake enough to relish the excitement.

Ronaldo's free kick went past the outstretched arms of the Portuguese goalkeeper to hand Man U the marginal win. 

* * *

I think I had to cut my sleep shot thrice yesterday, but as the saying goes, “good things come in pairs,” there was one more good thing that made the morning even better.

I received a text message from a reader, whose name is not even registered on my phone's address book, which now contains about a thousand contacts.

The message was:

Boss, read your column about an arena 4 sports at SRP, if u will be involve in some ways wid d development of the arena, pls count me in as donor of P10,000 pesos from an unknown donor, just text wer 2 send ck. Ty.  (Boss, read your column about an arena for sports at the South Road Properties.  If you will be involved in some ways with the development of the arena, please count me in as donor of P10,000.  I'd like to stay anonymous, please text me where to send the check.  Thank you!)

While there is no effort yet to raise funds for such a project, we already have somebody expressing willingness to help.

I'm sure many more would be offering their help if this project will push through.

The idea of putting up a sports facility in the SRP is something that many are really very interested about.

I hope that our city officials would start working on this seriously very soon.

* * *

Last Saturday I was invited by my friends from Continental Air to grace the opening of their bowling tournament for their top five agents.

The event was held at SM Bowlingplex.

Although I have been to many tournament openings, this one scared me since I had to do the ceremonial roll.

Luckily the ball just strayed a little off course and I managed to topple a few pins and not end up on the gutter.

Thanks to my friends from Continental Air – Cherry T. Callelero the supervisor for Cebu, reservation and ticketing officer Christine Abalo, and most especially my very good friend Joy Uy, who is also a model for Serenity Spa aside from being a sales executive of the airline. 

That was the second time that they managed to get me to grace their tournament's opening, but then even if the fear of missing the pins and hitting the gutter looms, it's always a pleasure and an honor to be with them for this activity.

Maybe I should practice a little before I roll the ceremonial ball again to hit a strike next time.

* * *

MILESTONES: Birthday greetings to my high school classmates Maripaz Gerasta-Paw (Nov. 27) and Dr. Geraldine Batucan-Uyheng (Nov. 29).

I'd also like to greet my kumare, Hayley Kwan-Faustino, who turns a year older tomorrow.

More power to all of you!