Last night I had so much fun! Mariel came to visit us in Santa Cruz. Actually, she was in the mood to dye her hair, and she didn't trust anyone but Dianne, so yeah.. that's why she came. Anyway, Mariel, Dianne, and Michelle came to visit Sher and I at our dorm. We ate and had some hair bleaching/dying/streaking fun.. haha. My hair has been a bleach virgin for a while now.. but not anymore! Yeah.. we didn't stop our fun until 130am or so.

Happy 70th birthday to my Papa, Cresenciano [chris-in-see-ah-no] Respicio! Papa is my grandpa if you didn't know. Yay.. I'm goin home to celebrate with the fam. I think I'll write about my Papa since it's his birthday and whatnot. For those of you who know my grandfather, you're probably scared of him or think he's a really mean man. Well.. just the guys.. he's nice to all my girl friends. You know how that goes. Anyway... my Papa is my hero, as cliche as that sounds. He literally gave up his extravagant life in the Philippines for his family. See, he was a lawyer in the Philippines.. and not a greedy one either. A lot of his money went to the poor people there.. and if you've ever been to the PI, there are tons of poor people. He also did some pro bono stuff.. meaning, if someone could not afford a lawyer, they would turn to him. Maybe now you know why I've been wanting to be a lawyer since the day I could talk. Anyway, he wasn't only a lawyer, he was a politician in the province they lived in. He would be the Board Director of blah blah blah and other blah blah blahs. Well one day, he decided to run for mayor, and he WON! My Papa won fair and square. But, again, if you know anything about politics in the PI, you would know that it is corrupt.. especially in the late 1970s when he was running. Anyway, his opponent wasn't so pleased.. so he threatened to kill.. yes KILL.. my grandpa and his family if he didn't disappear and give up being mayor. So for a few months, my mom, uncle, aunt, and grandma had to live in hiding far from their home while my grandpa tried to take care of some business. He did not want anyone to harm his family, so he had no choice but to leave his home in the PI.. his career.. his friends.. everything. He came to the U.S. with NOTHING.. well with money.. but not a lot of it. He couldn't go back to law school and start over being a lawyer anymore.. there just wasn't enough time. He really had to start his life from SCRATCH when he was in his 40s or 50s. Can you imagine doing that? Living a perfectly good life.. and then one day having no choice BUT to leave it? Goodness. But I must say, he did a fantastic, super, marvelous, terrific, stupendous job raising his 3 children and 7 grandchildren. That is why sometimes I don't blame him for his mood swings.. you would have mood swings too if you had to go through what he had to go through. I love my Papa.. not only because he has been spoiling me since the day I was born.. but because he's given me so much love and support. Yes, that is why I am going to continue where he left off. He couldn't be a lawyer anymore.. my mom didn't have the time to go back to law school either.. so it's my turn. Ok that's it. I hope you had fun reading about my grandpa, he is a marvelous man. If you've ever had a REAL conversation with him, you would know exactly how intelligent and brilliant he is. I love you Papa even though you are not going to read this.

Ok.. now it's time to study for my female phys quiz today.