you know that thing that happens when you move, and you go through ALL of the things you've stored in your mom's house to determine what to throw away and what to keep and you come across things like these?

man, does this make me feel old! i have no recollection of any of these happening except for the middle photos. i attended a private catholic school in the philippines and every year, we had to perform dances for our families. the dance required us to wear traditional filipino clothing. i loved that dress and hat. i didn't love it though when i arrived late, which was apparently always the case because i remember arriving late for an exam and my teacher punished me by slapping my hands with wooden rulers. i remember crying and looking down at my hands wondering, "why are you doing this to me, sister nun?!?!" my classmates helped me change out of my clothes and into the dress and hat that day and i'm also storing acorns in my cheeks on that third photo just fyi.

on that first picture, i'm holding an empanada my mom made. because of the heat and humidity in the philippines, she would slather an excess of baby powder on all of us (i have two brothers). can you see the evidence of that on my right arm?

the last picture was my first graduation. my mom said that dress she's wearing was one of her favorites. i think this was about the same time she also decided to cut her hair really short. and perm it. PERM it. PERM. it.