Well, I Guess They Haven't Lost That Magic!

Sorry guys, I gotta do this. It was a real heart-thumping game between Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics last night at the Amway Arena in Orlando. After the loss of Magic over Celtics last Dec.25, and at home, plus the fact that Boston is a real tough team, who would thought that Orlando will have the victory? From the very start of the game, Celtics already leads 9 points ahead for only a couple of minutes. It has gotten worse when the lead came up to 16 at the 2nd half. Magic fans feeling hopeless, including me and my husband, it makes me wanna throw-up, seriously. We thought that when Jameer Nelson was able to make those 10 consecutive points in the first quarter, that they'd be able to atleast keep up. But the Celtics simply can't stop. 3 points everywhere from almost every member of the team. Ray Allen, Rasheed Wallace, Eddie House, oh my, I thought they had it all!
Then the 4th quarter, Magic made a big come back. With all those big and important guys of Celtics in foul trouble (4 each)...Magic took that advantage. We were even surprised to see Howard and Gortat play together! I guess that's Stan Van Gundy's strategy...to intimidate the Celtics bullies. Well, it works excellent. The use of the "twin towers" works very good.
I feel bad for Vince Carter. He's a great player but since he's been injured left and right, he has not been himself. He's been playing poorly. I even get upset and wondering why Van Gundy keeps on using him. I love Vince but he needs a break! He's just simply in a bad shape and needs enough rest to recover.
But what made us so excited is when Dwight's getting good shots, Gortat is doing a good job, JJ Redick put that 3-point dagger that tied the score in the last 15 seconds. Then the last 14.1 seconds is where the decision will be made. The original play was Redick will pass the ball to Carter and Carter will make the shot. But because of the strong defense of Celtics to Carter, Redick made the smart decision of passing the ball to Rashard Lewis who was just standing in the corner, and when he saw that Redick and Carter is being hustled by Pierce and Allen, he ran towards Redick and get the ball realizing that the time is running out. So, for the last 5 seconds, sweet Lew drive the ball to the basket and made 2 points leaving Celtics 1.3 seconds left to try to tie the score, hopefully. On the other hand I thought that maybe Van Gundy plays reverse psychology with the Celtics. Probably Celtics think that Carter will get the ball and so they guarded him strictly leaving Rashard open. In NBA, never under estimate the 1 second. A second can still make a lot of difference. And so Rondo passed the ball to Wallace for a catch and shoot play. Wallace, never get the chance to aim, missed the 3 point shot that sealed Magic to victory! Whew! What a game!!!!
In every game or sports, the mind plays the big part. it's all about strategy. I even thought that Garnett should have fouled Lewis and even he made the free throw shots, this will still give them atleast 3 or 4 seconds left and can tie the game for an overtime!
Oh well, that's smart playing I'd say...it's a real exciting game.
Congrats to Magic. So, I guess, they haven't lost that magic!

Back Home Moments

Some of the photos of friends and family during our vacation in the Philippines from Dec 1 to Jan.12.

The Vacation (by Irene Reding)

This will just be the first part...It's a good flight in general. Although watching the movies on Northwest Delta is not an exciting thing to do, we had little sleep and the sound system is busted....what more can you ask for? But atleast the flight attendants are nice and friendly, and the food is good. It was more than a month of staying in the Philippines. It's an unexpected and unplanned invite from a friend who's in a mission of finding a mate. So we were privileged to travel. And we really appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts. Took the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Although the time is not enough and wished we could extend our days more. It was a real STRESSFUL VACATION if I lack of a better word. Get to see the places we have been before. But it's always not enough. Not as enjoyable as we had before. I dunno, there's a lot of hassles along the way and lots of unwanted popping out of mishaps. But in general, I would consider it good. Get to meet nice sisters and brothers. Even meeting old friends unexpectedly which gave me a real good lift. Steve and I wished we went to Mag-aso falls in Bohol earlier that day. But since our tour was done in a reverse way, which I don't know exactly why? We didn't made it to the falls. Yeah we made it there but it's already dark and the place is already closed. Though our friends still went there but you cannot go swimming anymore.
But in general, we just make the most out of it. I had the best massage in my life in Cebu, for only Php200. I was able to do my mexican chili for my family and relatives. Get to see my bestfriend's baby sister get married and I took some photos the best I could and somehow practice my skills. It turned out good anyways. I will feature that in my next blog. We went back to see Banaue and the breath-taking rice terraces!
I wanna thank my husband Steve. For being supportive and understanding despite negativities. The day we arrived and I saw my mother in her urn is so painful. I went to open her closet and seeing her clothes... kills me. But Steve is there for me. But not until a couple of nights before we left had I was able to blurt it out big time. The anticipation of leaving is so great that it tears me apart and finally realizing that my mother is GONE. She's not there anymore...she's not at home when we arrived. She's just....not there. Something is missing. And wherever we go i see her face. Whenever I see an older woman with grey hair, I see my mom's face.
And I guess that's one of the reasons why my patience has become so short for the past days. And only then Steve realizes how hard it is for me. That's why whenever I hear complains, whining and unappreciative gestures, it drives me insane! I just don't get it when people can't appreciate what they have and complains all the time while there's a lot of unfortunate people on the other side of the globe can't even have a meal for a day!
And that's what I said in my previous blogs, that sometimes "poverty" has it's advantages. Because if we grew up in poverty, we tend to appreciate what's in front of us. But if we were raised as brats, we cannot live out of our comfort zone. And there's a big difference between sympathy and empathy. You can say you pity people but not unless you put yourself in their shoes, must you can say how they really feel. Empathy will teach us to LEARN and NOT JUST NOTICE. Yeah we see them in their worst but have we really put ourselves to them and apply what we just noticed and learned from it?
Anyways, I dunno if this is making any sense anymore. I just discover a lot of things and had revealed an enormous truths and had learned a lot of things in this vacation. And I appreciate it very much. I learned lots of lessons. It may not always good but it sure made me see things differently. I learned to know more about people and friends and that gave me a good perspective.
But here's a photo that proved we enjoyed our vacation anyways!
Kudos!