Quiet lang me

from: www.timesonline
The reason I haven't said anything about Ondoy and the coming typhoon Peping for the past week in any of my blogs or social networks ... is because it scares me to just think about it. I am not passive. Just terrified.

I went through this just last year - dragging self neck-deep in strong current with what you can carry - in muddy waters - with just a rope for a lifeline. I was lucky and blessed with a strong family and an even stronger network of friends. I can't bear it that others have to go through worse. It's just terrible. So this is hopefully the first and last time I'm ever going to say anything about it.

Praying for the victims. Bitching about disaster response time will not help anyone. I can do a lot more without having to say anything. There are a lot more good samaritans letting the world know what's to be done.

So quiet lang me.

Freakey!!!

I worry about bunsoi now that he's alone in a far away land. I'm also freakingly jealous - hahaha. Bunsoi is 10 years younger than me and he was treated like every youngest child in the family - like he was still a child. When my mom died, we didn't try to baby him - well, maybe we did, like all older sisters are supposed to do when the mom is not around. We bugged him about the mess in his room, taking baths, his clothes, his teeth, school, not planning ahead etc. etc. Let's just say, we gave him hell - LOL! But think how much he will miss that hell now I bet. Well, maybe not (guffaws).

Anyway, he emailed me that he is in his hotel and doing good. And as expected from an older sister, I emailed back:

Ok. Keep in touch. Play nicely with other kids. Don't hit anyone. Don't talk to strangers - or rather, strange men or men who look like women, or strange women. Damu daw sila dira - hahaha. Guess you'll blend right in :D And please, be careful with your spending kay there is no one to bail you out there kay kalayo sa imo. Don't think pasalubong anay. Get fat if that's possible - just not too much!

What am I doing? You're a grown man! Just keep in touch then.

Yup, surprisingly, I do have a motherly instinct.

It's freaking me out. Ughhh!

Good thing he blogs too :) Reading it makes me feel less motherly ;)

Or not.

Falling Like Rain

Now this is just convenient. A song that sings what I feel, echoes the weather and describes generally everything I'm going through right now :)




Rain - Anthony Callea
I remember when we met
Before I was invisible
I thought I'd play it hard to get
Pretend I am unapproachable
But somebody else came along and
Took all the chances that I missed
Stuck on the sideline
I keep thinking there she goes

Falling like rain
No I don't get to hold her tonight
Falling like rain
I was pushed to the back of the line
Coz even though I need her love, and crave her touch
I guess I wasn't fast enough
She's falling like rain
Just not for me, not for me

Why I took the longest road
I'll have to plead insanity
It's like my pride put on a show
And didn't sell a single seat
While I was talking in riddles
Somebody else made perfect sense
Stuck on the outside
I keep thinking there she goes

What do you do
What do you say
When the best thing has passed you by
Where do you go
How do you know
If she'll come back another time

She's falling like rain - falling like rain
She's falling like rain - oh, oh, oh
She's falling like rain - falling like rain
She's falling like rain - she's falling
She's falling like rain

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Just have to get out of this rut. Like now. Right now! Now na! Grrrrrrrr!!!

Blue is my favorite color

I know I need not say that. My work area speaks for itself. And my blog is blue. Don't bother for a closer look at the guy pic in my pocket PC. You won't get a clear view anyway :P

As I was saying, I was watching the Emmy's tonight and just had a great time. Writers are really funny people and I love all the writer award segments tonight. Neil Patrick Harris was great and I love the In memoriam Song. Favorite part was Conan ignoring friends request of his writers in facebook. Oh and Jimmy Fallon - hahaha - just love that.

Which brings me to my real topic. I'm giving myself an award tonight. It's been a week. I have been eating healthy - my sanggchu diet :) No - I'm not trying to lose weight. I was just trying to get rid of constant constipation - LOL! Ok, my secret's out. I still need to see a doctor but I'm still being hard-headed on that matter. I still think I have a death wish despite my eating healthy. But that's beside the point. I want to share with you a recipe my lawyer brother taught me. It's called blue salad and I've been eating it a lot. I have other salads of course, but the blue salad I eat at least once a day. Too expensive to be a regular meal but I love it so I'm willing to go by the mile because it's the only thing I will eat that's healthy. It's originally called baby blue salad because ideally you would need blue cheese. But regular cheese seems to work fine if you're not that picky. Instead of grapes and mangoes, I sometimes use papaya or passion fruit and they work too. I can do without peanuts but not without the honey. And did you know that you can buy inexpensive honey by the bottle at SM Supermart? Really! If I don't eat blue salads, I eat friend chicken with sanggchu (lettuce) and no rice. The diet had made me feel lighter but I haven't lost weight yet. That would need me to get up and exercise LOL! And I'm still working on the will power part.

This is tomorrow's lunch. I'm hopeless in the kitchen but this I can prepare by myself. You don't know how much a sharp knife and a peeler can do wonders to my confidence as a cook. And I didn't even have to touch the stove! Ha! I think I've found my calling. I should just learn making organic salads, then I'll never have to touch fire for the rest of my life :)
Here's the recipe. Enjoy :)

lettuce
Balsamic Vinaigrette
cheese, crumbled
ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into thin slices
grapes
peanuts
cucumbers
tomatoes
carrots
honey

Toss greens and crumbled cheese. Arrange mango slices evenly over greens; sprinkle evenly with grapes, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, white onions and top evenly with peanuts. Then lace with honey and Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Yum!

Week Smart

My phrase for the week: Work smart :) Can't seem to get that off my head.

So I'm home now, basking on the glory of a new haircut courtesy of my sister. She has volunteered me to be her guinea pig and I needed a haircut anyway, so hair is two-inch shorter with a V-shape. Doesn't look that different. I don't comb my hair as much as I should so I really can't see the difference hahaha. I'm really hopeless with all the girl-ly stuff. A friend of mine mentioned I should wear make-up, not that I needed it but because it will make me feel better. I'm not sure I agree with that but well, we'll see if I have time for make-up or would bother to make the time.

So it's been a pretty hectic week. Been attending mini-seminars with IBM guests of different nationalities. Got to spend more time with co-workers and I really like the inputs. I'm looking forward to applying everything I learned from the lectures. I am hopeful that top management will support our plans and that as a team we could make an effort to do good. My Super friends are super excited. So it's pretty easy to be all enthusiastic about our future as the Mission Impossible Squad (MIS) - (insert Mission Impossible movie background music here). Hay, I'm looking at more work but I really don't mind. Something must be really wrong with me LOL.

Had dinner with superfriends last Friday. Drank a bit - a little bit of gin, a little bit of the new beer and well mostly vodka. I was fighting the urge to throw up later that night. Last time I got drunk at Smallville, I remember breaking a plate, throwing my shoes and dancing on top of the sofa. I got to meet the rest of the IBM crew so it was an interesting night though I didn't get to dance as much. Bottomline is, I had a great time. Life shouldn't be all work after all. If you got to work hard, you need to play hard to strike a balance. So I didn't throw up, did sing, did dance and had an acute hangover the next day.

Saturday night was chick flick night. I went out with sis-in-law, my nieces and Doray. We watched the John Lloyd flick. Yes, you read it right. A John Lloyd Flick. Yes, me! Hahaha. The last tagalog movie I saw was ... Dekada 70 I think, or maybe Jologs, or that Claudine Barreto-Rico Yan movie that reminded me of Ally McBeal. Basta it's been ages. But they keep telling me how good "In My Life" is so I finally got curious and watched. And I liked it. I really did. Vilma Santos is still the Meryl Streep of Filipino movies. And John Lloyd was impressive. I never liked him much because I always associated him with sobrang cheesy scenes. So I was not really expecting much from him. But I am impressed. Luis manzano was not bad too. And the twist ... well I knew someone would die but I didn't quite expect what happened so yes, I really liked it. Not at all sobrang cheesy.

After doing some work yesterday, I decided to laze down today. My sister is leaving for Manila so it will just be me going to work everyday. Which also means I probably will forget I had to go home alone too and end up late at the office again. Oh well, maybe I'll accomplish more? At the very least, I won't be late this week :)

Hmmmm, don't work hard, work smart. Play hard ... die young LOL!!!!

This guy turned 19!

I know your not suppose to play favorites among nephews and nieces, but I think an aunt is always entitled to have a special place for the child she had to care for the most. I love all my nephews and nieces but this guy literally grew up with me. I have changed his diapers, saw him wet his pants, loved him when he had no teeth, celebrated almost all his birthdays with him, saw drama in his life with broken hearts and unfulfilled promises, survived a flood with him, but most of all saw him triumph over his limits. To me, he is larger than life :)

Vector art was done on and off for five hours. This one has been filtered with poster edges for effect. Two more nephews to go. Then I draw my four brothers, my two sis-in-laws, and finally my Mom. The rest who want this done for free, will just have to pick a number and wait - hahaha ;)

Just Tooo Cute

Spawns!

Haven't caught up with sleep yet. Worked until 12 midnight last night. Then watched CSI until 2 am. I miss Grissom. But Laurence Fishburne works too.

Posting a picture of my siblings. It was by accident that we did get together - all seven of us. My brother's flight was canceled because there was a runway problem. He and his guests, wife and daughter were forced to spend the night and that was why we finally got together - all seven.

Some people get shocked sometimes at our sarcasm. We can't be corny to each other. It's just too ... uncomfortable. But though we do fight and have our differences, we are bound by blood and I think that helps us forgive each other or at least know that we can't get rid of each other that easily. There's love in there somewhere - LOL. I think we all know that no matter what happens, we will always have each other's back. Sounds like we survived a war together or something - hehe but I guess we had. Revolutions and world war, even alien attacks :)

So here's the pic of my siblings and my Dad. How we all fit in this strange but enjoyable sarcastic family we grew up in is a miracle. But hey, me thinks miracles happen in my family everyday - hahaha.

A quick intro:
The reformist is the eldest and is a lawyer.
The conscience is born 2nd and is a priest.
The ring leader is also the court jester and is a computer analyst for Apple.
The visionary is the eldest of the girls and is a government employee, an event planner and a video editor all rolled up in one.
The dreamer, well, that's fat little me, a government employee who sidelines as a web and graphic designer.
The cynic is the youngest female and works unbelievable so, for the Church - the Archdiocese of Jaro.
The skeptic is the youngest, was a menopausal baby who now works as a Java Programmer for Headstrong and will be leaving for the US soon.
The reason for all of us is my dear old Dad. Nanay must be turning on her grave right about now and cracking tears of laughter.

Among the seven, only two are married, three have kids, and only two finished college in four years like normal people do. There are 27 college courses between all of us, 10 of those were my Dad's :) The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as you can see. Two live in Manila and the rest choose to stay here in Iloilo. Six of the seven wears glasses. Four smoke once in awhile. Three have asthma (including the one who smokes). Each one owns at least a PC or a laptop so we constantly communicate online. All seven are as opinionated as my Dad. At my mother's wake, we all found out that each one of us were told secretly, that we were my mother's favorite child :) We speak Hiligaynon but we argue in English. I don't know why that is.

Just imagine what our house would look like if we had a party and invited all our friends :) They usually fill every room in the house plus the sidewalk across the street.

You know something good is going to happen ...

- when you wake up to guitar music of your fave songs playing from your nephew's bedroom.
- when the lcd light of your old cd player decided to illuminate itself after disappearing for the last nine years.
- Korean pop music on cd.
- when office mate forgives you for a boo boo you were responsible for.
- when you realize you have enough money to pay your bills for the month :)
- when you have warm Century tuna for breakfast.
- when only two projects are listed in bulletin board on a long weekend.
- when your anticipating a sibling reunion (all seven) at the end of the weekend.
- when niece shows up with your "Breaking Dawn" book that turned missing months ago.
- when wi-fi in laptop suddenly fixes itself and you can now blog in bed and write about the good things going to happen.
- when brother brings home episodes of CSI you haven't seen before.
- when you pray and find God laughing at you because he seems to think your funny.
- new shoes ;)

But then again, good things always happen. It's a matter of knowing where to look for it and having the right attitude.

I believe the world conspires to make me happy :)

Amen.

Moments

Just a quick reminder of why we need to live today and not dwell too much in the past or worry so much about the future. Saw this in Toni's blog.



I think it's brilliant. And touching.

Frontline

12:30 pm. – NOT MY USUAL DISCOURTEOUS SELF AT ALL! I’m at the front desk of a government building saying “Hello, Good afternoon.” to everyone coming my way. Why? Well, someone had this brilliant idea NOT to hire a front desk clerk for the Anti-red Tape Act Implementation which includes Frontline services such as this. Instead of hiring someone, they had assigned duty hours to employees to “man” the desk. (Um, I was told they were planning to get someone to do this job but I wonder why they can’t find anyone to volunteer – hmmmm – not really a question for Einstein is it?).

Each office sends a sacrificial lamb everyday to the front desk. Today, I’m the lamb – or should I say, goat – a more appropriate term for my disposition and outlook – hahaha.

I should not complain really. My duty is just for four hours. I’ve come prepared. I have a very thick folder of CSS notes I’ve been wanting to read, a notebook, and just to make sure I don’t go into coma because of boredom, I brought my laptop (I now see why God wanted me to buy a laptop. He knew I was going to do front desk duty – bwahaha).

1:23 pm. It’s bearable for now. I don’t know how long I can stand this but I’m at least going to try. I just hope I don’t meet any politicians today. Ironic for someone who works for the government, I know. But I just hate politicians. Can I say that again? I HATE POLITICIANS! There, that makes me feel so much better ;)

A group of UP students just came by. They said they were here to observe – what exactly – they didn’t say. Maybe it’s top secret? Ok, bear with me. I can’t concentrate on my reading and I don’t have wifi down here. So I’m going to make fun of people so as not to go crazy.

2:09 pm. Uh-oh. I’m bored. And thirsty. I should have brought something to drink. A woman asked for the Iloilo Midwife Association or IMAP. I don‘t know where it is but it’s definitely not in this building. Directed her to the Health Office – maybe they would know? Another asked for the Registry of Deeds. Duh! Pointed them out of the building and gave them directions. I was friendly and polite mind you. I keep telling you, in this desk, I am not myself. That’s hard work!

2:21 pm I’m dying here. There is a very good reason why I work in front of a computer and not in front of people. I have a huge respect for people behind this desk. But I absolutely have no patience for it.

2:55 pm. Relief. Asked someone from the office to send me cold water. Thirst gone. Also had my external hard drive delivered. Boredom relieved for a few more minutes. It’s a loooooong afternoon. Next time, I’ll think I’ll opt for morning duty.

3:30 pm. An hour and a half to go. Now I need to pee. LOL.

4:00 pm. One hour. It’s not so bad if you have something to do on your hands. I’ve been organizing my template files on my external hard disk and have created templates for my css and html with a wide variety of font stacks. People I know pass by and chat a bit. And go back to their original agenda. I haven’t been asked hard questions so it’s not so bad. I want some coffee right about now but I can wait another hour. I wonder if I need to stay here until the employees line up for time-out?

4.55pm. I can go. Pistachio nuts –the reward for the weary front desk clerk