October 2007

I am currently wearing a hot pink wig styled as a bob. It’s quite cute actually. I have a meeting with my boss in a few minutes and he said he’ll wear his costume too so that we’d look cute while having a meeting. Hehehe

I thought people were just exaggerating when they spoke of the joys of motherhood. When they spoke of fatigue disappearing in an instant the moment you see your child. Needless to say I haven’t experienced this…until now.

I got home from work at around 8 and I saw Andrea playing on one side of the crib. When she heard my voice she turned, smiled the happiest smile and jumped and tried to go as close to me as possible. She then reached out trying to be carried.

I literally felt chills down my spine. I can’t believe someone can be that happy to see me.

I think the bitch has met her match, 

I’m going to use these film strips from Gina Maria to show you guys some pictures which really warmed my heart, here are some photos from last Saturday showing some scenes between Ruy and Andrea.

Moments like these make me realize why things have to change. =) 

Andrea didn’t really enjoy her experience too much. Let’s play pictionary as I show you a whole lot of pics….be prepared for a photo overload.

I bought that dress for 120 pesos. I just had to show you guys. Isn’t it cute? Ofcourse my baby is scowling as usual. hahaha

This is my mom. Isn’t she hot? I think she’s the hottest 47 I know…okay next to Madonna…

Andrea hating her itchy costume, specially her crown. I panicked when I saw a sequin fall off the crown. That’s why Andrea didn’t wear it anymore.

I just need to show off her socks. Aren’t they the cutest thing ever?  (Notice how I’m full of superlatives today)

This is Andrea doing her Puss-in-Boots-look.

Liv,

It is Halloween weekend and for the first time in 4 years,  you are not doing my makeup.  I so f*cking miss you.

patric

I want to cry…it’s not so much that I want to put makeup on Patric. It’s just shows how things have changed and there’s no chance that it will ever go back to the way it was. I miss  the times when I can spend weeks planning my halloween costume and that would be my biggest issue for that period.

Ruy and I have looked and looked and looked yet our house remains bare. It’s tough having to complete our house as we: 1: both work more than 10 hours a day, 2: Have very limited space with out tiny home, 3: Have a very limited budget.

We seem to have hit the difficulty trifecta when it comes to decorating our house. I decided to just take things slow and list down our priority when it comes to buying our appliance. We started looking at our options to see where we should be buying things. I have considered Duty Free, Warehouse Sales, and even Department Store Sales. I have also listed down the things we need to buy. Here’s our list with the first few being our priority:

1. Sofa
2. Cabinet
3. Microwave
4. Washing Machine
5. Refrigerator
6, Electric Fan
7. Dining Set (if we don’t end up having one made instead)
8. Pots and Pans
9. Knives
10. Plates and Glasses
11. Storage stuff
12. Sheets and Towels

Just thinking about the cost is driving me insane already. Oh well, c’est la vie! We also have other things we would like to buy as soon as we’re done with the major purchases.

1. Garden Set
2. address signs or home address sign

3. Vaccuum
4. Water Heater
5. personalized door mat

Oh, we also need to take care of the subscription of the ff:

1. Water
2. Electricity
3. Internet Subscription
4. Cable

Wow, we have quite a lot on our plates right now.

…or too Rich. I found another site which can help us earn Moolah. =) Just thought I’d share it with you guys…I haven’t earned much cause I only started today. It looks quite promising though it’s called Gangstergreed.

I saw another site with a slightly different approach to earning money, you might want to check out this site called This is by U.

And no, this is not a paid opp. =)

Daddy Ba is my uncle, although he definitely treated me more than a niece. Daddy Ba would pick me up from school (much to the chagrin of my mother who would be left wondering why my school service couldn’t find me) and take me to the grocery, to jollibee, etc. We would spend late afternoons chatting. He’d tell me about algebra, Napoleon, love, family history.

He died when I was 12 and admittedly I was hard hit by this event. Everytime I look at Ruy I imagine how he and Daddy Ba would have gotten along so well. It’s been over a decade since he passed away and I’m still very much affected by his death. I think what made his death so difficult was the manner by which he died. He definitely didn’t want to, he fought to the last breath in order not to die. He was just unfortunate to be a victim of medical malpractice and negligence.

Our family contemplated on suing the hospital where he died. It was (and still is) one of the top if not the top hospital in the country. We weren’t sure how we can stand up against their battalion of lawyers. Another thing against us is the fact that we don’t really have solid medical malpractice laws in the country. It’s not like  in the US where they have strict laws and excellent lawyers in each state such as the Washington DC medical malpractice lawyers .

In the end, we ended up not doing anything. I just hope these hospital officials now that they robbed our family of a wonderful man. =(

Now that the Philippine Economy is growing stronger (and should continue getting stronger with the expected influx of dollar remitances over the holiday period) it seems like the perfect time to think about hoarding dollars and investing it.  There are of course a lot of options when it comes to investment, from low-risk to high-risk, short term to long term.

I’ve always been interested in Real Estate. It seems like such a certain market despite the fluctuations, after all everyone needs some place to stay right?

I just wish the real estate market in the Philippines would be as available online as the ones in the US. It’s just so much more convenient in the US, whereas in the Philippines you only have a handful of options available online. For example, if I look online for Broward county real estate I’ll be sure to find dozens of options. Whereas if I look for Batumbakal St. real estate I’m sure I wouldn’t even find one.

It’s Andrea’s first halloween party!! Now, my mother takes these things quite seriously and so she really took pains just to make sure that Andrea will be a part of it. She’s quite obsessed with it as she’s been visualizing Andrea in a costume since I was pregnant.

My mom actually asked a friend of hers who was in the US at that time to buy a costume for Andrea. Unfortunately, the friend left a day before the costume was delivered. So Andrea was costume-less for a while.

I was telling my mom to just let Andrea wear the chinese traditional costume Papa bought for her but she wouldn’t hear any of it. My mom was a true blue stage grandma and insisted on buying another costume for Andrea.

We have a parade and a costume competition later followed by the kids going around the subdivision. I hope the weather remains sunny otherwise we’ll have to put out the canvas tents so Andrea wouldn’t get wet.

I’ll post pics of Andrea maybe tomorrow. =)

That night we weren’t 25-29 year old parents with bills to pay.

That night we weren’t corporate work horses slaving away over 8 hours each day just to give 32% of their salaries to the gov’t without a clue as to where tha money’s going.

That night we weren’t concerned about the dollar, or the economy of the country.

That night we didn’t worry about the issues of our extended families.

That night we regressed — we were 16, high school sweethearts maybe? Using our cellphone (which our parents bought for us) to capture the moments after our High School Dance. 

It was fun! Couples should regress every once in a while.

p.s.

Thank goodness for the internal camera of the Motorolla V6MAXX

I had my haircut 2 days ago…

I’ve been dying to cut my hair for the longest time but the people around me have been discouraging me. Ruy eventually gave me the go signal and so I decided to chop off 7 inches worth of hair. =)

What’s the point of getting a hair cut if there’s no shock value right?

 This was my inspiration, although I told my stylist to fix it in such a way that I can still go to work.

So he cut it that way (it took soooo long) and then he styled it in a less funky way.

This annoyingly pa-cute photo of myself doesn’t do the cut justice. Mac really outdid himself with this cut.

Here’s the issue though. Stupid Olivia washed her hair before going to sleep last night, then fell asleep  with damp hair. When she woke up, guess what she had? Hair standing up at the back of her head!! Seriously standing up.  The problem is, I didn’t have time to do anything with it cause Ruy was already going to be late for work.

Thank God for scarves!!

I know a lot of us here in the Philippines have relatives all over the US but particularly in California. It’s quite nerve-wracking here this in the news and not knowing if your relatives are okay. =(

A friend of mine just exclaimed that the school she used to work for was enveloped in the flame as well. It seems quite surreal when people you know are related in one way or another to a huge tragedy. It gives you a perspective that these things can happen to you, you’re not invincible to the forces of nature and to accidents. Scary!!

Ruy has been incredibly sweet lately. When I say sweet I don’t mean things like holding hands, texting each other to ask if the other has eaten. I mean things like supporting my hair cut, trying not to get pissed when I go home late for work, or taking care of Andrea when she cries at 2 am because he knows I need to wake up at 4 meanwhile he needs to wake up at 6, it means taking care of our pest problems without me telling him as he knows how bothered I am by it. 

I am feeling quite touched and overwhelmed by the sweetness.  The psychologist in me is itching to get to the bottom of it. What triggered it? Why? What’s happening to him? Meanwhile the woman in me just wants to relish and enjoy it. I have to remind myself not to think but just feel.

I very rarely have regrets in life. I usually indulge in whatever I want and take a leap of faith every once in a while. One thing that’s been nagging me though is my poor planning of my past trip to France. I should have focus more on getting out of France. Avril had some relatives in Spain and at that time I wasn’t so interested in Spain. I didn’t know much about Spain then and in my mind it can’t be that much different from Mexico.

Looking through some websites now, I can’t believe how wrong I was. If I ever get the chance to go back, these are the places I’d make sure to visit.

picture taken from Wikipedia

1. Muralla de Avila — huge castle. Just looking at the pictures of this place takes me back to the olden days. It just screams History doesn’t it?  I hope this is near the hotels in spain so that going around the area would be easy.

2. Gothic Quarter — I love Gothic Architecture and was even more attracted to it upon seeing the Duomo.  Of course if I’m going here I’ll have to look into hotels in barcelona.

3. Museo del Prado — I am no art fanatic but I’ve learned just recently that one fantastic way of learn about the place you’re visiting as well as to have a full day’s worth of activity without spending too mich is visiting museums.  Do  you know that you can find the Titians and Rubens here (is it obvious what my taste in Art is like? hehehe) So I guess I’ll have to look into hotels in madrid as well.

4. Hot Spanish Men…I heard these are a dime a dozen over there. =)

Planning imaginary trips which might not happen in the near future may be fun but it can be quite frustrating too….sigh.

We are thisclose to moving into our new home. It’s both exciting and scary because we will be faced with expenses galore as soon as we move. Another major consideration is the huge one-time expense of furniture buying.  Do you have any idea how hard that is? It’s also extremely hard finding furniture and appliances which would fit our tiny home.

So far we have a bed which I LOVE to pieces..that’s it. The toughest thing to find is good home theater furniture that’s both affordable and stylish.

My Aunt’s complaining that I haven’t been posting pics of Andrea so here it goes. (For those of you who don’t want to overdose on Andrea’s pics–you might want to skip this post)

What has happened to Andrea?

Well the biggest change is that she now knows how to smile…or at least look pleasant every once in a while instead of constantly scowling. =)

She is slowly evolving and looking a bit more like a girl. (Notice how slow the growth of her eyebrows is)

She has begun showing preferences for people…particularly for me…YEY.  Her stranger anxiety is more evident and she gets a bit clingy when in unfamiliar situations. (oh look…it’s Dark and Darker)

We took her to SM hypermart and she initially was hanging on to me for dear life. After a while she was quietly sitting in her stroller looking

She also learned that eating one’s sunglasses is better than wearing them.

She’s already bored with her wading pool

And finds the grass around it more interesting

Now for the biggest news….

She’s standing and walking…I can’t believe she’s already doing these big girl things. Where did my baby go? huhuhu

I always thought getting life insurance is something only old people needed to do. Now, at 25, I’m realizing that I need to start looking at my options. I get a bit confused and overwhelmed with all the information out there. Every time I talk about life insurance with anybody, I get bombarded with numbers after numbers after numbers.

After the problem with the decision making, there’s still that problem with the medical check-up. Who really has the time or the patience for this? Do any of  you know of any life insurance no medical or rather of any life insurance policies with no medical?

Notice how some people over-estimate the importance of their work and their selves? I think sometimes we become so full of ourselves that we always think the world revolves around us.

I’d be the first to admit that I was one of those people in the past. Thank God I’m slowly learning otherwise

I was looking through my old blog posts and saw just how obsessed I became over my wedding. Women really go all out for this one in a life time event. It’s just sad cause when I was planning for my wedding Ruy couldn’t get into it as much as I did as men didn’t really have a lot of options then.

Men are usually stuck with very boring wedding shirts and I hate that. If you know anything about me it should be that I’m not boring at all and so my groom has no business wearing anything boring.

Couples who are planning their wedding now are soo lucky as they have so many choices. I’m quite partial to Kaftan inspired shirts with linen pants perfect for our tropical climate. Maybe we can have this on our 5th anniversary or something.

Would you believe my header has logic behind it? Let me try to explain my header to you guys…

The black lace on top, represents a veil being lifted. My blog has exposed me more than I had planned. I think the people who read my blog know me more than the people I encounter at work for example.  When the veil was lifted what you can see is a film reel featuring different parts of my life. 

The heart and diamond in the lower right corner are actually our birthstones. The heart is Aquamarine, Andrea’s birth stone, while the diamond is the birthstone Ruy and I share. 

The comic strip shows a desire of mine. I want Andrea to be a “bitch” like I am. I want her to be able to stand up for herself and not take crap from other people.

My life is of course called Beauty and Madness because that’s exactly what it is, a collage of all things beautiful and insane.

I’ve had a few…as Mr. Sinatra would say. One great regret I have is not being able to go to Madrid during my Paris Trip. Avril actually started planning and researching but having to go through so many websites is taxing and frustrating as we didn’t know exactly what we were looking for.

Eventually, the plan was shelved and we ended up just staying in France throughout our entire trip. I wish we had more informed advice on Madrid hotels so that we didn’t have to worry about our Madrid accomodation. We didn’t want to spend too much on the trip and having a website that could show us our options would have been so helpful.  *Sigh*

It’s too late to change anything now. The only thing I can do is keep an eye on hotel news so that IF the time comes and Avril and I get the chance to go again, we’ll be ready. Bobby are you reading this? =)

Andrea drank from a cup yesterday. Well, I’m lying…not from a cup…she drank from the cover of her bottle. Wahahah. My daughter’s so ghetto.

The thing is, she gets frustrated with drinking water from the bottle and so I tried making her drink from the cup. It worked!! She liked it and she was able to drink enough. 

My boss has been obsessing over our laptop batteries. Everytime he’d come to our office and see that we’ve left our laptop charger connected to the laptop overtime he would unplug it himself and then give us a lecture on why leaving it unplugged is important.

I have been negligent in doing this and would often find myself lying in bed then remembering that OOPS I left my laptop plugged again.

It seems that this practice has now taken it’s toll on my laptop batteries.  It’s battery life is so much shorter than around 5 months ago =( .  I hope I won’t have to subject my laptop to any power supply repair. God knows my boss won’t be too pleased with that.

I haven’t even shed all of my baby fat when suddenly I get pregnant and end up with a baby and more fat. Van has already lost most of her pregnancy weight meanwhile I have graduated from being a cow to being a triceratop (yes complete with horns). I’ve been going over my daily schedule trying to find an extra hour for me to work out but it’s impossible!! Honestly I’d rather spend the time with Andrea than on the treadmill.

I really wish I would wake up one day and I’d be back to my hot hot hot body of 7 years ago…wahahah I don’t care what you say. I think I was hot hot hot then (meanwhile I’m just hot now…Hey Jen! Can you sense that I overdosed on self-esteem this morning?).  I wish there was a Miracle burn that could just quietly melt away all the fat…

See that last sentence just made me think of butter and bulalo soup. Oh no, with this way of thinking I might never lose weight.

Regardless of what people say, my “bitchiness” has definitely  gone down in the past year or so. I have mellowed down quite a bit but when it comes to Andrea, I somehow get all riled up without meaning to.

Last Thursday, we went to a grocery and Ruy was carrying Andrea. A sales lady came up to Andrea started holding her hand. Now I’m very particular about this cause Andrea always puts her hand inside her mouth. I then told the lady “Don’t touch!” …I said it in a matter-of-fact tone yet somehow Ruy thought I was being a bitch. Was I? I think people shouldn’t go around holding other people without knowing if it’s okay for the other person. People have told me that was too bitchy. I seriously don’t think so. I think I was straightforward and told the person exactly what I wanted. I don’t see anything wrong with that even if other people do.

I’ve been forcing a friend of mine to go and join one of those cruise ships. Nope, not as a passenger but as a cabin boy. This might seem like crazy advice but when you hear about their compensation package you’d want to be a cabin boy there too. The basic salary’s not that big. You get something ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. That’s just the basic okay? Imagine that every cabin boy is assigned to a minimum of 100 rooms in a ship, and based on a cabin boy they earn around 5-40$ a day per room. So let’s say they earn the minimum…that’s 500$ a day on top of the basic. What’s even more fantastic is the fact that they have no overhead at all…no tax…no housing (they live on the ship) and no lunch costs cause everything will be provided for by the cruise line.

The obvious drawback would be that you’d be thousands of miles away from your loved ones. The particular cruise ship is stationed in Florida and so it’s extremely far from the Philippines. I told my friend he can just avail of short term Orlando Vacation Home Rental every once in a while if he wants to see his family.

If Andrea weren’t in the picture, I’d try to persuade Ruy to do the same.

I have to once again be a stage mother….Andrea has been sitting-up; hoisting herself up; slowly navigating her way around her crib (while holding on to the railing of course) and talking.

Her vocal repertoire includes: Mama; Daddy; A-boo (for peek-a-boo)….of course these are her rare words drowned within a sea of “Eh” and other gurgling sounds.

I should keep on reminding myself this. Times are not easy and despite my more than okay income we can definitely benefit from having more cash in our pockets. Maybe if I grabbed any business opportunity that comes my way, I’ll be one step closer to treating QA to Maldives like I talked about 2 posts down. wahahah

Seriously speaking though, I feel quite frustrated about the fact that I have EXCELLENT ideas. I just don’t have the motivation to execute them now. This is silly I know because of course having Andrea should be motivation enough right?

When did human life lose it’s worth to people? No cause, no reason can ever justify these things. I hope someone finds the perpetrator and do something about it. I hope the politicians don’t turn this into another one of their comedy acts.

Yesterday, I had something big happen to me. You will all know about it in a month or two. Now, this exciting thing required me to put on makeup. Some of you might not be aware that I actually love putting on makeup, the problem is I had to put it on inside the cubicle. Needless to say, I was not so happy with the result.

I feel so bad because I should have spent money on a better foundation and good quality makeup mirrors. These would have made such a dramatic difference to how I looked yesterday. 

I am hoping that the photographer has great photoshop skills….*sigh*

Christmas is just right around the corner. I have no idea what to give anyone. Seriously!!  I have been thinking so hard about this and it seems all of my money will go to either buying furniture and appliances for our house or to Andrea. These are of course worthy objects of my money. I just wish sometimes I have billions to spare in order to be able to pamper everyone around me.  Just for fun…if I had all the money in the world what would I buy for people?

1. RUY

I’d buy Ruy a Panerai watch, a PS3 and a kick-ass SUV with an awesome sound system.  I am in love with the Panerai watch on top. It costs $8,000 so right now that watch will have to wait. The PS3 is doable but not a priority right now…plus I honestly don’t want Andrea exposed to video games this early.

2. Andrea

I’d buy Andrea a huge gym where she can tumble and roll to her hearts content without Mommy having a nervous breakdown. I’d also get her several fully paid educational insurances.

3. My Mom

Another house

4. My Sister

A trust fund and jewelry

5. My Aunt

A house

6. My Lola

A knee replacement surgery

7. QA

Each QA member will receive an all expense paid trip to …hmmm… Maldives. Wait, that’s every QA member plus 1.

Wow…imagining things can be fun huh?

Andrea’s been able to carry her weight on her legs for quite some time now and we just need to guide her a bit and she’s able to hoist herself up. Last night while we were both lying in bed playing…she crawled towards my leg. I let her stay there thinking she was just mesmerized by the print of my jammies…when 2 minutes later she was standing…holding on to my leg for support but standing nonetheless. WITHOUT MY HELP!!! ON HER OWN!! I felt so proud…wahahha…ah the simple joys in life.

 Here’s the best part. I got so excited and shouted “Yey!!!” and then started clapping. This apparently excited her all the more and so she let go of my leg and then poof she fell…then looked at me again and giggled. What the? I thought babies are supposed to cry when they fall…oh well I must have been misinformed about this. I always taught that falling=pain=crying. My baby’s insane…what a character!!  

You’ve already won me over, inspite of me

And don’t be alarmed if I fall, head over feet

Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are

I couldn’t help it…it’s all your fault!!

My alcoholic friends once told me that the best way to cure hangover is to drink some more. With this in mind, the best way to cure my musical hangover would be to listen to more music. This really drove me down memory lane, it’s amazing how listening to music can take you back and help you reminisce.

I’m going to list down some songs which are memorable to me and tell you why. I’ll tag some of you to do the same. =)

1. When I Met You (by APO) — as a child I prayed for a sign. I told God that I would know that I’m supposed to marry someone if that guy sings this song to me. 2 weeks after meeting Ruy, he sang this, I thought to myself “Damn. Kakainis naman itong lalaking ito now I have to think of a new sign now.”. I’m thinking God at that time wanting to hit me on the head and say “Eh gusto mo nang sign ngayong binigyan ka ayaw mo pansinin”

2. I Will be Here — One night my cellphone rang. “Hello?” I said. “Hi Liv…” a drunken voice replied. This drunken person proceeded to sing me this song…can you guess who that person was? RUY!!! wahahah. He’ll kill me for revealing this. 3 months after, I watched him sing this on stage. There were girls around me who were gushing over the guy singing the solo. Naks…

3.  Crazy by Britney Spears — It reminds me of my sister when she was a toddler. She would dance to this all day. It was sooo cute.

4. Everlasting Love by the Company — This is our song. It’s sooo accurate.

5. Ang Panginoon and aking Pastol — First Communion practices in St. Scho….I don’t know why, but somehow this song really takes me back. I remember the smell of the gym. My classmates. The ambiance…amazing!!

6. Time and Tide (and other Basia songs) — reminds me of my mom’s clinic. This is classic!!

Now…I tag you Ruy, Jen, Van, Litzie  . List down 6 songs which take you down memory lane and take us down there with you. =) Then tag 4 others to do the same.

Last night, Ruy and I trekked to Araneta Coliseum to watch …BABYFACE!! Woohoo…this was Ruy’s anniversary gift to me and I was seriously thrilled.

A lot of people couldn’t understand why I was excited over this concert. Meanwhile, I couldn’t understand why they were not as excited as we were. I was so surprised that not everyone loved Babyface!! How could they not?  He’s so talented, his songs are either sexy, cheesy (which of course works for me and Ruy) or right-on. He has also written a lot of our favorite songs sung by our favorite artists (BoyzIImen, Toni Braxton, Stevie Wonder and of course MADONNA!!)

Here’s a handful of songs which Babyface has written:
Another Sad Love Song
Baby Baby Baby
Baby Come To Me
Babyface - Every Time I Close My Eyes
Bedtime
Breathe Again
Can I Stay With You
Can We Talk
Candlelight
Change The World
Count On Me
Dear Lie
End Of The Road
Everytime I Close my Eyes
Exhale Shoop Shoop
Eyes Of A Stranger
Fire
Fly Away
Girl In The Life Magazine
Girlfriend
Give U My Heart(feat. Toni Braxton
Gone Too Soon
Here Comes The Pain Again
How Can I Not Love You
How Could An Angel Break My Heart
If
Kissing You
Lover And Friend
Miracle
Missing You
My, My, My
Nobody Knows It But Me
One Love
Ready Or Not
Reason For Breathing
Rebel (with A Cause)
Red Light Special
Slow Jam
So Hard To Say Goodbye
Something In Your Eyes
Still In Love With U
Sunshine (jay-z Featuring Babyface & Foxy Brown)
Superwoman
Take A Bow
This Is for the Lover in You [*]
Turn Down The Lights
Two Occasions
Until You Come Back
Water Runs Dry
What If
When Can I See You Again
When You Believe
Whip Appeal
You Mean The World To Me
Another Sad Lovesong
As
Ill Make Love To You
Ill Always Love You
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear / The First Noel

I enjoyed the concert soooooooooo much. Even the front act, a group called Tribe of Levi, was sooo good. I just wish the audience was more participative and lively…it’s RnB people, you have to groove!!!

I still have musical hangover right now…

Hi, I’m She-ra, princess of power! Calling to wake you cause you set the hour! With Kriswind my friend, we have powers to fly! Performing good deeds, where troubles do lie! Must I use my powers on you sleepy head? Or will you be good, and jump out of bed!!!!

My boss informed us that this was his wake-up call every day when he was a child. This just cracked me up….wahahah snort

*Image from wiki-pedia

Rommel from accounting asked me around 3 months ago “Livi, what motivates you?”

It’s funny cause Ruy asked me the same thing. I think people are surprised at how much I love my job. The best part is, I also love my company. Yeah yeah…it’s cheesy but it’s true. I would have to admit that my ehem LOVE for my company and my job has gone down a few notches but it’s still quite high.  Let me give you a better idea of just how insane I am about my work.

• I am tempted to work during weekends.
• If Ruy would let me, I would love to go to the office on weekends.
• We have a 5 day mandatory leave, I’m bargaining for us to work during this period.
• I only go home when Ruy starts getting annoyed
• Mondays excite me
• I panic at the thought of  long breaks.
• I crave for my laptop…seriously
• I’m always looking forward to going to work
• When I’m n0t at work, I actually enjoy going out with people from the office
• I constantly discuss work-related matters with Ruy

Going back to Rommel’s question…what motivates me? What makes me want to go to work every day? Why am I this gung-ho over my job.

Answer : The people I work with.

It’s true that things are becoming a little bit…mmm…nastier now. I still like what I do and wouldn’t trade it for anything…except for something similar to my job but with double the salary…wahahha.  I digress…anyway the people I work with somehow make the issues a lot more bear-able. I will devote one post for every person I work with every once in a while. I’ll do this alphabetically…=) So watch out….first stop Queen Amadel

It’s not that I don’t like people. I like people! I think they’re funny. I just prefer that they stay at least 2 feet away.

Needless to say, a lot of tears were shed during Andrea’s baptism. =)

I want to win…something…anything! I’ve never been one of those people who are lucky enough to constantly win in contests or raffle draws or even in gambling. This does not mean however that I don’t love having the chance to win. It gives me such an adrenalin rush knowing I have the possibility to get free gifts. I don’t care what the venue is; it may be Sweepstakes, casino, poker, drawing numbers off a hat…you name it I’ll try it.

The biggest prize I’ve ever received is a box of cookies. Imagine that? That already made me so happy. I saw this site and I was awed at the prizes!! I’m so excited. I hope I’d get the chance to play…God knows I could use the amazing cash prizes. I am drooling now just thinking about the things I could buy with all that money.  I am currently eyeing the money but the appliances would also come in handy once we move to our new house.

Why don’t they have more sites like this? I’m sure a lot of people would be addicted.

It’s not that Andrea doesn’t like people. Andrea loves people…she just likes them around 2 meters away. She would also prefer if they refrained from touching her.

Needless to say, she didn’t enjoy her baptism much…=)

I’m claiming my blog in technorati. So I need to post this link

I’m trying to establish this blog as my own now. People still go to the other website and I’m hoping that everyone will realize…THIS IS MY BLOG NOW PEOPLE. =)

People in my office read my annoying list and have started using the things on me.  During our meeting yesterday, they would answer my questions with some of my annoying habits like “But Livi is that in the bible?”…or “You suck” or simply “NO!”

I call it Karma but I find it sooo funny. wahahha

Another funny conversation with an officemate:

It’s Andrea’s baptism on Sunday and I am extremely unprepared. This is  not like me at all and I’m a bit embarrassed and disappointed at myself.  I’m usually very detail oriented and organized but now I’m just falling apart with everything I have to do.

1. I only sent out invites a week ago. I created these invites around 2 weeks ago but never got around to printing, sending them. I suck!

2. I only finalized the menu last Wednesday.

3. I haven’t even seen the table cloths

4. I’m only getting Andrea’s birth certificate tomorrow.

5. I don’t know what I’m going to wear.

6. I only had the tarpaulin decors printed out yesterday. They were very pretty though. I was surprised at the quality of  the final product. Thanks to my friend VICKI!! They’re sooo pretty. Well that sounds phony considering I designed them…I mean the quality of the tarps is AMAZING…no pixelation!! Yeyeyey

7. We are only informing the godparents today.

8. I only distributed the maps today.

I’m a bit annoyed at Ruy though. This morning he got irked at me because of the map situation. I wanted to throw a tantrum…My week schedule has been thrown completely off the loop by several events like the fact that I’m sick, Andrea got sick, Andrea’s yaya is leaving, my tooth filling fell off which meant I had to rush to the dentist (aka my mother), pest problems. I haven’t been able to do anything like I planned.  To feel inadequate because I wasn’t able to scan maps is just too much. 

I asked my boss before “Boss, what will happen to the company if you die?”…I can be an annoying employee and I actually just asked that cause I wanted to annoy my boss at that time. I would have to admit though that this question has crossed my mind sooo many times. This is a very valid question because my boss is actually a key person in our company asay Key Person Life Insurance is a nd truth be told…I can’t imagine anyone taking his place at all.

It got me thinking about our CEO…what happens if he faces an accident (knock on wood everyone!!)? Do you think our company will survive without him? I’m pretty sure he has some sort of Key Person Life Insurance right? What I mean when I say Key Person Life Insurance is  Life Insurance for Key Person or rather for Key People in a company.  These seem commonsensical but not everyone has this sort of insurance cause it can be quite pricey. I personally think it’s worth every penny though. After all you’re not only insuring yourself but the future of your company as well as the jobs of your employees.

Despite such insurance policies I still worry about losing my boss. I sincerely think finding another boss like mine will be hard. Trust me, my boss is such an insane character that replacing him would be close to impossible.

I love the response to my Annoying Tag. I knew some of the people I tagged would be willing to reveal “not-so-perfect” quirks about themselves, i didn’t know that even the people they’ve tagged would feel the same. It was also funny hearing people say that 7 quirks is not enough for them…wahahah

In this time when we are constantly bombarded by images of perfection it’s hard to feel good about our “flaws”. I can just imagine people comparing themselves to these images of perfection and feeling like crap. I have heard of new moms feel like failures because their child is showing a preference to the care-giver. OR of moms feeling inadequate because they weren’t able to breast feed well.

 I believe that we, know what’s best for our families and ourselves.  No more SHOULDS, let’s celebrate our quirks our flaws.

“I am different from others, that’s amazing ! I do things differently…deal with it”

  My windshield broke!! Can you believe it? I was just driving along Balara when a stray stone hit my windshield out of nowhere. Can you believe that?  Now my car has a diagonal crack running up it’s windshield.  The worst part about this is the cause, the windshield of Ruy’s pickup broke before and it cost him close to 10k. I don’t need this extra cost right now. Thank God for companies who offer Insurance Coverage for Cars, I would still have to shell out around 2k but hey that’s better than shelling out the whole amount right?

I’m not even sure how Auto Insurance Plans work, but I have a feeling my current plan is not the best plan out there. I am thinking of finding another company which would give me Better Car Insurance Rates.  I am thinking of going to this site which offers Insurance Quotes Online. I’m not sure if they would accept policies from Philippine drivers though.

Haaay…I hope I get to fix this windshield problem soon. I’m not comfortable driving around a broken car with Andrea in tow. I hope what they say about having 7 years of Bad Luck which comes with breaking glass. Afterall I can’t be taken accountable for something which is not my fault right?

I just signed up with Blogsvertise and I’m soooo excited. I can’t wait to stop posting ads here. I already have a list of things I’m going to buy with my earnings. WAhaha

I know I waited a bit too long to sign up with a blog ad company but I didn’t want to rush it. I wanted to make sure I sign up with a legit company who wouldn’t rip me off my earnings. You can never be to careful with all the fake companies nowadays. I already have several  friends who are tied up with blogsvertise and they are all happy with the company.

I hope my blog gets approved.

I believe that people take themselves too seriously some time. I think people should learn to look at how they have failed and laugh about it…when you laugh about something your entire mind set changes. Things which are grave seem less grave and you suddenly see hope in previously hopeless situations.

I also think we should begin to celebrate our quirks. Realize that our person, attitudes, habits are unique to us in one way or another.

In line with this, I am starting my own TAG. I am imploring people to tell me why they are annoying (annoying here is said lovingly…wahahha)

Instructions: List 7 quirks, habits, traits which make you annoying. When you’re done, TAG 7 others to do the same

1. 1.     When people msn me and I know they’re about to ask me something, I say “NO!” with an exclamation point even before they start their question.

1.  I quote the bible when I’m stuck in an argument…and sometimes my argument is not even from the bible. To make matters worse I state it in this way “You know  like in the bible, that fish thing where they say you teach the man and you feed him something like that”
2. When in meetings, I turn around on my chair….non-stop…as in legs hanging slowly and continuously spinning on the chair.
3. When people are serious in meetings, I suddenly say things like “I’m hungry can we eat”…in a really ditzy way. 
4.  I say the most inane things while in the middle of work.  For example, “Numi, we have to do something about the lack of trust between us. There’s a wall here” (while making a hand motion of a wall between us)…when all she’s done is ask me if I’ve seen her pack of cigs
5. I say “You suck” around 20 times a day. 
6.  I get my pronouns mixed up…I say he instead of she or she instead of he. Luckily I don’t mistake a he or she for an it.

I tag Ruy, Nuni, Jen, Marj, Gracita, Jean, Arvi, Nikki

p.s.

I could just go on and on with this list…thank you for the people in my team who were so enthusiastic in helping me come up with items for this list. IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THAT EASY PEOPLE!!!

Here they are:

I initially wanted something simple and feminine. Well, technically they are simple and feminine but I really was expecting something smaller. Why did I decide to get these? I figured, since this is going to be the very first accessory I’ll be getting for her I want it to be a bit special and enduring.  I know I treasured my first pair of earrings from my mom…although I can’t find them now…huhuhu

I put it on top of my wedding ring so you get a perspective.

Like I needed another site to tell me this. As if I didn’t know

Feuding nuns force convent demise

By Christian Fraser BBC News, Rome The local bishop had to step in to tackle the problem A convent in Italy is being shut down after a fight between its last three remaining nuns. So badly did relations deteriorate between the sisters of Santa Clara in Bari that the Mother Superior ended up in hospital with scratches to her face. Now the local archbishop has intervened and asked the Vatican for permission to close the convent. But Sister Liliana, the only nun still there, says she has no intention of leaving her home of the past 44 years. The Clarissa nuns are regarded as the most austere order of the Roman Catholic Church, devoted to a life of prayer, penance and quiet contemplation. But at the Santa Clara convent in Bari, the vow of silence was shattered by an unholy row. Sisters Annamaria and Gianbattista say they were driven to distraction by the nasty habits of their Mother Superior. They became so angry that during the summer, they turned on Sister Liliana scratching her face and throwing her to the ground. The two nuns have now moved into a nearby convent leaving Sister Liliana barricaded inside. Despite the efforts of the Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri to reconcile the three sisters he has been forced to call on the Vatican for help. He wrote to the Holy See telling them the sisters had “clearly lost their religious vocation” and with only one nun remaining has asked for permission to close the convent down. But Sister Liliana is not going without a fight. She has not once left the nunnery in 44 years and she is not about to be pushed about now. She has written to the Pope telling him she will only leave when God decides it is time to go. And since she is devoted to her vow of silence it is not that easy to reason with her.

—-What a weird weird news bit. It’s quite sad too. Why are people being asked to live their lives in such unnatural situations. Holy is not only in the extraordinary, it’s in doing ordinary things extraordinarily. I think being in such extreme, unnatural environment (vow of silence, etc.) drove these sisters to the limit.

I have been sick since Friday. Yup, the worst possible way to spend the weekend right? I don’t have anything serious though, just cough and colds…it’s enough for me to have to keep away from Andrea though. It’s the most painful effect of being sick and I hate it sooo much.

Being sick also left me very grumpy and irritable. Something cheered me up though….

I bought Andrea her first jewelry!!! This beautiful pair of  stud earrings with huge diamonds. I’m soooo happy. I actually want it for myself too but I’m giving it to Andrea…no matter how painful that is for me. Ah, the pains of motherhood. I just realized that it’s a bit too big for her but hey, having diamonds which are too big is a wonderful problem to have right? I was surprised at how cheap Ruy and I got this pair though so I had it checked by another jeweller to make sure it’s authentic.  I will post pictures in a while…meanwhile I will have to stop myself from buying myself a pair too. =)