i still remember it as CDG2M4NPSRV!

I was born and raised in the Philippines. For those of you who are not familiar, the Philippines is composed of 7,100 islands (in high tide, +1 in low tide) southeast of Hong Kong, China. As a nation, the Philippines is considered very "young" as having been independent for only over 100 years plus some. However, historically, the Philippines have as rich of a culture as the United States.

Last year, I became a naturalized citizen of the USA. Proudly, I am now a part of this country's interwoven tapestry of cultures, but my roots as a Filipino will never go away. I took the citizenship test, which makes me proud that I probably know most about our Consitution than the majority of the public.

This past Wednesday, we celebrated Consitution Day, the anniversary date of the day our forefathers signed the Constitution. Years ago, when I was an instructor for a small school outside of Chicago, I was assigned the task of commemorating Constitution Day through a series of presentations to our students. So here, thanks to http://www.constitutionfacts.com/, I share with you, some notable facts about our Constitution:

• A General Assembly clerk named, Jacob Shallus "penned" the Constitution and was paid $30 ($661 today)


• "Pensylvania" was misspelled


• Four of the signers were born in Ireland


• The oldest person to sign the Constitution is Benjamin Franklin, who was 81 at the time


• The word democracry does not appear in the Constitution


• Thomas Jefferson did not sign the Constitution, he was in France as the US Minister

There are many fascinating facts about our Constitution and I remember trying to memorize all these facts as I prepared myself for the test. Gladly, I passed with flying colors!

What was important for me, is that I still remember what I have learned about the Constitution even though the test has come and gone. Learning involves a great deal of understanding and the many Why's? it portray.

In all of the facts and figures I had to memorize, I remember that the first 13 states were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachussetts, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolian, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia.

I am very blessed for being a part of these two countries and having the ability to share my thoughts to the rest of the world.

but it's a gift!

Someone close to my heart recently celebrated a birthday.
Months before the "big day" I embarked on a quest to find the perfect gift. You see, years past, I have always given the "best gift ever" and I championed myself year after year.

Year 1: a homemade DVD of family and friends greeting the celebrant happy birthday
(took me hours upon hours of editing)
Year 2: a silver engraved ring from famous jewelry store (rhymes with "iffany")
Year 3: a scrapbook (took MONTHS to complete 35 years of memories!)

So this year, I decided to "outdo" myself and ordered a personalized jersey from the Chicago Cubs. And you think the "iffany" ring was expensive. I even made sure that the "e" in the last name was the same "e" from Mark DeRosa's jersey.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Days before, my heart would flutter just thinking of how awesome my gift was and how everyone would say, that's such a great idea Lyn, what a gift Lyn, and so on and so forth.

The day came. As my gift was being opened, blood rushed to my cheeks and my heart was pounding. Did I win my coveted "Best Gift Ever" Award?
Unfortunately, No.
A confused set of eyes met mine when the jersey was raised up.
What's with the small e? Is that correct?
Yes! Have you not seen DeRosa's jersey?
No, but I think he spells it with a big E.
Ummm, I don't think so, I checked.
Are you sure? Let's turn the game on.

And so my moment of glory was deduced to a petty argument on how Mark DeRosa's jersey was embroidered. The game was on, and for some odd reason (I think it was Fate feeling sorry for me) DeRosa was next on the plate and ran to second base on a base hit. And sure enough, the e was smaller than the rest of his jersey, and I was right.

But did it make me feel any better about my gift? No. I should know better and remember my days of Sesame Street and fables where the lesson is: Gifts are made for giving. I was too caught up in the gift giving game that I forgot the real reason why I am giving a gift in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still quite upset. My gift was supposed to bring pride and joy to the giftee. Instead it's in the shirt closet hanging out (get it, hanging?) with Urlacher's number 54.