Personal Update

How creative can I get, uh? Boring title I know. Anyway...

...Last week was spent mostly at home. Ane was down with flu so we didn't have any choice but to stay put. He was supposed to bring me on a date on Friday night (we didn't have Rot meeting), but ended up staying at Yellow Cab in Timog while waiting for my li'l bro (some party at a bar). He was feeling a bit better that night (he was just resting for two days, amd missed work on Wednesday).

...We were also able to watch Beowulf at the Gateway Mall on Saturday just before I went to work. Loved the movie. The graphics are simply awesome I wish I was the artist! Angelina Jolie had a moment of frontal nudity (but a CGI of course! heheh), and that body is to die for. Beowulf is one proud hero but weak, too. I plan to buy the book. Basta ang ganda!

...We had to endure a very long line before we could get our Beowulf tickets. Why? People were "clamoring" for the Lloydy-Bea movie. The ticket girl said it's a nice movie, not the usual local stuff. Even li'l bro's friends said we should catch it too. But Ane gave me the look...he won't go with me obviously. Calling my galpals, yooohooooo! Or maybe I'll drag my brothers on Friday. I also wanna watch Enchanted (now showing as well), maybe Ane will concede heheh. And then I found out today that the Bee Movie shall be shown here early January. Tagal! Sigh.

...I'm aching all over I wanna quit going to the gym hahaha. Less than to weeks and it's taking a toll on me. But I think I lost another pound. We also started eating salad from Goolai, yum yum. I've been staying away from rice, and it's helping I guess.

...My scrap mojo is back but there's an album I badly need to work on. I know this project has been dragging me for months but I'm glad I'm getting somewhere, at least. Twenty more pages to go!

...We have, yet again, evacuated from our home and are currently in QC. The river near us overflowed and it's been flooded for two days now. Doesn't help that the tide is also high. I miss our bed but we don't have much choice.

...Lastly, countdown started on the 24th and it's gonna be the longest two weeks of my life...

This has been a very disorganized entry, but a personal entry nonetheless. :) Long weekend up ahead, yahooooo!

Party

Yesterday, I paid for the contribution intended for the subdvision (where the brothers' apartment is located) Christmas party on the 8th. The letter also asks that we confirm whether anyone is attending or not so the committee can allot the food. We are going to miss the gathering altogether. This is the second year that we are not attending since we moved in (which reminds me how everything was a blur since we needed to move out due to some unexpected circumstances, and how I wish we had a service like that of a New York Moving Company...our move could have been done more swiftly..and yes, am blabbing now...). It's not that we are being anti-social, but the second weekend of December, from experience, is usually busy for us. Besides, since we are only renting, we can't tell for how long we are gonna stay and I for one, suffers from separation anxiety that I cannot be too close with anyone.

Did this post make any sense at all? Sigh, I need to focus.

A lot of times, they don't get it...

See, I just talked to the part-timer girl and told her that starting next cut-off, she will be regularized (nice performance for the last three months). She accepted the offer and we said that she will still be supervised because she has to learn more...and she needs to learn stuff asap. We told her the new pay rate and that she should also inform the officer to fix the schedule with her doing an 8-hour duty. Am not sure though if my announcement made her happy.

And then I called the officer in so I could inform him and instruct him. He left and returned in a huff because of one concern.

He said that, even if the crew was informed that their pay rate is confidential, they won't stop asking each other and comparing. Sigh. And the officer is afraid that the others will feel "ripped-off" when they found out our offer to this new regularized girl. That should be the least of our problems, ayt? As if we can tape their lips sealed and never let them talk. I'm just sad that they question our decisions. Even sadder that they would feel we are treating them unfairly. And yet they don't know that we are actually preparing a new scheme for the old-timers. I don't owe them any explanation and I'm standing firm. I just had to share it coz I suddenly felt stressed.

It's that time again!

EOM - as in end of the month. Ugh. At this time, am busy thinking of bills to pay, checks to fund and payroll to disburse (and I have other deadlines, too!!!).

I've said it and I am going to say it again -- running a business is not easy-peasy. When I was still a part of the so-called workforce, I used to complain a lot about salary deductions -- taxes, contributions, premiums as well as other payables (mobile phone, credit card and gimmick expenses, etc). Back then, I was with a big company that we considered ourselves leaning on a wall because of its stability. Even a payday loan is easily approved through the cooperative. Those were the days when I would complain and never realize that it's easier to wait for payday to come rather than thinking about whether the cash on hand would be enough for everything and everyone.

But we get by, gladly. And because really, running a business has it's long term benefits. I just have to wait and be patient :)

Irony

We are a third world country (okaaayyyyyy, to be politically correct, we are a developing country). I checked the NEDA website and as of December 1, 2005, the population is almost 76.5M, average income per family as of 2003 is less than P150K while expenditure is almost P125K, and almost 25% of families are within the poverty incidence (30.40% of population). Can we consider this country to be poor?

If a lot of people are suffering from poverty, then why oh why can at least one government agency (the red plate says it all!) afford to have a Black Lincoln Town Car, and worse find it cruising along Ortigas Avenue ON A SATURDAY?

This a first-hand account and I wish I had the camera to capture it. :(

The ground shook on this part of the world

We just had lunch at around 1225 and I was standing, more like leaning on a chair at the dining table, when I felt the earth moving. I looked at my brother, and decided that, yeah, there was an earthquake. I grabbed my bags and we went out of the house immediately. All the neighbors were somehow oblivious. We were the only ones outside! It lasted only for a few seconds and immediately afterwards, I received a call from Ane and said they felt it too (their office is at the 28th floor), it was kinda scary.

At the moment, while I go over a term life insurance quote, I'm searching the net for some more information and realized that the quake was relatively mild (at 4.2 magnitude with epicenter somewhere up north, and about intensity 2-3 in Metro Manila) that major effects are fatfetched. There's no more update on the net. Maybe I should just wait for the news later tonight. :)

Don't forget to check out...

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Saturday's Tourney

You must be wondering what happened last Saturday to my partner, Mami C and I? Hehehe. First, I'd like to thank Patrick for capturing that shot :) And secondly, I'm not that proud of my form, coz according to my Bro G, it isn't at all proper (look at that left hand, ang arte! hihi).

The thing is, we lost all four games. Yup, we were not able to contribute a single point to our team, which landed second runner up. Go Black Scorpions!!!). But we sure did our best. It just so happened that we weren't the strongest team there is (We played in group5, lowest level hehe at wala na yatang ibang bababa pa sa level namin ni pard, heheh kidding!). And we had so much fun. Our first game was against the team we were so afraid of. Our friends were so nice to cheer for us (go, tili girls!) that everybody thought we were faring pretty well. Again, the we didn't allow the pressure to sink in and we didn't allow the fun element to be gone :) It would have been better if I won any of the raffle prizes, hihi.

Anyway, I learned so much from this tourney. I got a lot of tips from hubby, who trains with no less than Coach Martin M. His tips helped me get us points and also made me realize that I badly need to practice on my drop-shots. If I were able to make all the drop-shots I tried to return, then we could have won at least one game. I also learned that in every tournament, not just in badminton, there will always be sore losers (no need to elaborate!!! and that's not us huh!) and those who will put you down no matter what. I got annoyed at some point but that didn't ruin the entire day for me. :) Plus, I'm happy I didn't get cramps!!!! :)

Kudos to the organizers. It was worth my entry fee (although I could have just saved it for another havs, hahaha!). And I'm happy for the orange shirt's debut :) Til next tourney!

Dreaming of our future house again.

I took a short break from composing entries and decided to surf a bit. I can't stop thinking about how our future house will look like so I net-hopped for some home furnishings. Currently, we have bar at home that is hardly used (we are not drinkers and I'd rather convert that small area into a mini library). And if ever hubby will insist on putting one in our future home (for the guests!) I'd want to have ceiling lighting like this:

Ain't that a wonderful set-up? I'll show this to my parents, they'd probably like the same for our restaurant bar :)

**image from www.lightingshowplace.com

In 1978

I actually have a book of 1978, listing a lot (if not all) of important events in the world that happened that year, but this is probably a nice rundown of some events :) Got the link from Chikai. The most significant for me probably is the installation of Pope John Paul II. And it made me giggle that Ashton is the same age as me. Hehe. Babaw ko noh?

In 1978 (the year you were born)

Jimmy Carter is president of the US US Senate votes to turn over the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999 Israel and Egypt reach a peace settlement at the Camp David Accords The US and mainland China announce that they will restore full diplomatic relations Members of Jim Jones' People's Temple commit mass suicide in Guyana Pope John Paul II becomes the first non-Italian pope in centuries Ted Bundy is captured in Florida The first computer bulletin board system is created Garfield debuts in newspapers Ashton Kutcher, Kobe Bryant, Usher, Clay Aiken, and Nelly Furtado are born New York Yankees win the World Series Dallas Cowboys win Superbowl XII Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup Saturday Night Fever and Grease are the top grossing films "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees spends the most time at the top of the US charts Diff'rent Strokes and Mork & Mindy premiere

What Happened the Year You Were Born?