June 2008

We have a small problem with our house. It’s too tiny that we don’t know where to put things anymore. We’re currently stumped as to where to put our TV. Basically, the couch is facing the dining set because it can only fit in that wall, so we can’t put the TV on the wall where it’s supposed to be because we would have to look at the TV sideways if we do so.

One option we’re playing around with would be to put a fake wall/divider between the two areas and then put a plasma mount there. You know what this means right? We’ll have no choice but to buy a plasma TV…hahaha WINNER!

My friend who’s splurging on her trip is thinking of scrimping on her travel insurance. I do not understand this principle at all. If you are going to die you might as well do everything in your power to make sure the people you will be leaving behind would be comfortable. Plus travel insurances cover so much more than just death. Thank God I was finally able to convince her to get one, I’m sure she’ll thank me if she finds herself without her luggage. =)

I’m finally jumping on the bandwagon.

1. Which do you dislike the most, pop-up ads all over your screen or spam e-mails?

I absolutely hate pop-up ads. Their the most annoying.
2. When your plate has different foods on it do you usually mix all the foods
together, keep them all separate, or do you combine only certain foods?

I usually separate them. Which doesn’t make sense since they all mix inside my tummy anyway.  
3. Have you ever snooped in your significant others things? How does it feel?

Not really. I think my husband’s stuff are boring. He doesn’t even have porn and stuff. I think it’s awesome that he’s boring though…I wouldn’t want to find ‘interesting’ things all over.  
4. Describe your morning ritual to me.

Wake up to Andrea tugging my foot from her crib. Give her milk. Play with her a bit. Shout for the yaya to get her. Try to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Wake-up, fix things,  drive to my lola’s place, feed Andrea, give her a bath, take a bath, dress up and drive to work.  
5. You run in to a friend while out shopping. Where are you?

Grocery most likely, or where they keep appliances, furniture and home decor. 
6. Would you rather miss the beginning or the end of a movie? If you had to?

The end. I can survive with people just telling me how things ended. But I want to uncover the storyline myself. 
7. Which is worse? Being in a place that is too loud or too quiet?

Too loud.  I like museums, libraries, churches, etc. 
8. Which is worse? Being under age or being over the hill?

Under age definitely. 
9. What kind of perfume do you wear?

Different kinds. Right now it’s Ralph Lauren Cool 
10. Would you rather change your past or know your future?

Change past.

Have fun and enjoy!

Just some fun blogging questions from Van.

Participants: 1. Me and Mine 2.Creative In Me 3.Little Peanut 4. Pea in a Pod 5. Sugar Magnolias 6. The Salad Caper 7. All Kinds of Me Stuff 8. Aggie Scraps. 9. Winding Creek Circle 10. Mommy Talks. 11. Fun | Fierce | Fabulous 12. Me, Myself + 2 13. Confessions of a Supermodel Wannabe 14. Life.Love.Us. 15. My Lavender Fields 16. Beauty and Madness 17. A Taste of Married Life 18. Your blogs.

RULES:
1. Add your blog/s to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. It’s okey if you only post this questions in one blog as long as you answer them.
2. Get back to Me {Van} and I’ll add your blogs to the master’s list here!
3. Tag as many friends online you know. But you don’t need to be tag in order to join.

QUESTIONS:

1. I posted this experiment at URL: Beauty and Madness
2. I posted this on date (day, month, year): Monday 30 June 2008
3. I posted this at time (24 hour time): 9:14 am
4. My posting location is (city, state, country): Libis
5. My blog is hosted by: Wordpress

6. My age is: 25 yrs old.
7. My gender is: Female
8. My occupation is: QA Manager

9. I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: Bloglines.
10. I use the blog format to post to my blog: dunno
11. I have been blogging since (day, month, year): 12 July 2005
12. My web browser is: Fire Fox 3.0 and IE
13. My operating system is: Windows Vista
Your turn to answer: Jen and Litzie

Feast 194

Appetizer

If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?

–> EUROPE too I guess. The food there’s awesome!

Soup

Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?

–> FIREFOX 3.0 and IE. I have to use both cause I need to check a gazillion Google Accounts at the same time

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?

–> 6 — I’m awful aren’t I?

Main Course

Finish this sentence: Love is…

–> OMG…Van and I had such a long discussion about this. Love is a feeling of respect and affection towards another.

Dessert

Have you ever been in or near a tornado?

–> Nope, but when I was in preschool I played the role of a fairy who called upon a tornado to punish three wasteful humans. Does this count?

Feast 195

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live?

–> Sunny but not so hot (yet).

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you?

–> 100!!

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.?

–> None yet, we have to remedy this soon. =)

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up.

–> OUr first dinner at home. I cooked rice!! =)

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning?

–> Rarely do this. I’m usually too excited to go to work. Plus Andrea’s usually my alarm clock and I can’t really kick her can I?

GO JEN GO ANSWER THIS!

It’s Monday and I’ve been here in the office for 40 minutes. I’ll be here for around 13 hours today. Which is fine by me. I prefer working over time early in the week and having enough time to relax at the end of the week. 

How are you guys?

It’s Monday and I’ve been here in the office for 40 minutes. I’ll be here for around 13 hours today. Which is fine by me. I prefer working over time early in the week and having enough time to relax at the end of the week. 

How are you guys?

It seems to be a bug which has bitten everyone in the office. Every single person on my team is planning one trip or another. Crazy isn’t it? I seem to be the only one not afflicted. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but the thought of going on a trip is just too stressful for me.  I know there are a whole lot of travel guides out there but I still feel so stressed at the mere thought of packing, planning, leaving. OMG!

I hope this is just a phase…

At the beginning of the year I vowed to read at least one book a month. I usually don’t do well with New Year’s Resolutions but somehow I’m doing well with this particular one. I have crossed the half-way mark and have just finished my 7th book!! Woohoo.

I can’t wait to go on to my 8th book. I hope I finally find the time to do so. Here are some of the books I’m either reading or re-reading.

I often have to stop myself from buying more and more books for myself and Andrea. I swear this addiction of mine is becoming out of control. Some people crave for LV bags…this is my craving.

When I look at it that way, it seems reasonable for me to indulge in this…except I still ahve around 9 unread books at home. Sigh…too many books out there and so little time to read them.

Saw this in N@W, laughed my ass off:
> Dear Tech Support,
>
> Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed
a
> distinct slowdown in overall system performance — particularly in
> the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly
under
> Boyfriend 5.0.
>
> In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs,
> such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed
> undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0. and Golf Clubs 4.1.
>
> Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.5 simply
crashes
> the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems,
but
> to no avail.
>
> What can I do?
>
> Signed,
> Desperate
> =========================
>
> Dear Desperate:
> First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package,
while
> Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the
command: “http:
> I Thought You Loved Me.htm” and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t
> forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
>
> If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then
> automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.
>
> But remember, over use of the above application can cause Husband
1.0
> to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5 Whatever you do, DO NOT install
> Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background, that will
> eventually seize control of all your system resources).
>
> Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These
> are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.
>
> In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have
limited
> memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.
>
> You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and
> performance. We recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 7.7
>
> Good Luck,
> Tech Support

Tita Helena, you don’t visit me at all. =(

DSC00150

Originally uploaded by livnobleza

Hey Jen….here I am blogging for you. This the dining set I got. We chose ones which are super simple and small to make the house bigger.

Tisay worked for my family for around 2 years.

She hasn’t seen her family in 5 years. Going to the province is just much too expensive.

She was a good worker and had a pleasant disposition, the reason why my aunt decided to lend her money so she can finally see her family.

She shared with my aunt and uncle her excitement. She said she’ll be hugging her mom tight as soon as she sees her…it’s been 5 long years after all.

She never got to hug her mom. Never even got to step foot in the port of her province. She was one of the passengers of the sunken ferry. One of those who trusted that the company has maintained their ferry, that the company chose competent and responsible crews to take care of their safety and their need.

The ferry company will now be paying 200 thousand for each of the victims. Wouldn’t that money have been better used for making sure that their vessel was in tip top shape?

The captain who was supposed to be the last one to leave the vessel. The man whose actions would dictate the fate of dozens is safe and sound. How can this be? Can this man sleep knowing his wrong decisions have cost people their mother, their father, or their children?

I have heard this story one too many times in the Philippines but it has never affected me as much as it has now. Probably cause this all-too-familiar story now has a face, it now has a name.  

It sounds awful doesn’t it? It means I barely cared before because I didn’t know anyone. I think this pretty much sums up our society. The millions of people who don’t care as long as the people they know aren’t affected?  The scary part is, the more you think like this the more numb you become. Case in point, the politicians. The people who steal from the people and thus indirectly causing the starvation and death of the people. Remember the 11-year old kid who killed herself because she couldn’t afford to go to school? Do you honestly think any of the politicians have this child’s life on their conscience?

5 years ago I asked my Theology professor why people always say “Eat your food, there are so many starving people out there…” I never understood this. How does my eating my food feed the hungry people? Do they in any way become less hungry  if I eat my food? He told me then “If you don’t see the connection, you have no way of understanding” . I think I see it now…

A lot of people here have sent me emails asking me what I gave Ruy for Father’s Day. I don’t want to go into the details of this but I gave him a head start to a new image. Some shirts, pants, glasses, etc. It was not a lot but it was enough to make him happy despite the fact that I didn’t give him the pair of golf shoes that he’s been drooling over. (couldn’t afford it)…hehehe

A tag from Van.

The rules are simple. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leave a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was in High School. Can you believe that? I was a senior and was feeling so grown up.

2. What are the 5 things on my to-do list today?

Buy Olive Oil (which I forgot from my grocery yesterday)

Edit the QA form which I created last Friday for our new product (can you believe this actually exites me?)

Write emails which aren’t very nice….these I’m not looking forward to.

Edit my homework for my LTM course

Check Output of my Team…

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Wasabi Chips from Oishi…yum. If I’m feeling cheap then I like the Cheese Filled Pillows from Oishi as well.

4. Places where I lived:

God…New Manila,Greenhills and of course the happiest place on earth .MARIKINA CITY!

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:

Buy Educational plans for all my nephews and my sisters. Pay for our mortgage in full. Double our life and health insurances. General Health Checkup for Everyone in my family.

Greece for Ruy and myself.

Double my maid’s salary.

Save.

6. People I want to know more about:

My team. I am so lucky to have the chance to work with wonderful and interesting people. I would love to get to know them more.

I’m tagging: Litzie, and Jen

Front

Originally uploaded by livnobleza

Here’s our garden. Yes there’s still trash everywhere and we don’t have grass yet but it’s really beginning to look and feel like a home…woohoo

Very very interesting

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And quite accurate too!

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I believe I am slowly but surely turning into a geek. First, I get really excited over the cd-r king website. HONESTLY! Seeing those 16gb flash disks really make my day. Next, I read a contract detailing outlets, and plugs and I could actually understand them all! Lastly, I saw an HDMI in Abensons and I actually stopped and played around with it. Oh my, am I really becoming a geek?

Andrea spent time with my mother today and it’s hilarious how stressed out my mom was. She seriously goes crazy at every little movement of Andrea. She practically has a heart attack every time Andrea starts running. I think I’m going to have to buy wrinkle cream for my mom…hahaha

My goodness, you cannot believe how inlove I am with Mar Roxas after reading this article from the GMA website:

(Update) Arroyo signs into law tax exemption measure

MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday morning signed into law the measure that will exempt minimum wage earners from paying income tax and increase personal exemption for other employees.

A radio report said President Arroyo signed Republic Act 9504 or the act amending several sections of RA 8424 otherwise known as the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Workers who used to earn the minimum wage of P382 a day will begin taking home as much as P35 a day or around P700 a month, according to Sen. Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero, who turned up at the signing to represent the higher chamber of Congress.

Also present at the signing were Rep. Exequiel Javier, Escudero’s counterpart at the House of Representatives as well as Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Manuel “Mar” Roxas III.

Senator Roxas, principal author of the Senate’s version of the measure, earlier said that all holiday, night differentials, hazard and overtime pays will also be tax exempt.

The new law increased to 50,000 all individual exemptions, which previously stood at P20,000 for single workers, P25,000 for a head of the family, and P32,000 for married individuals.

Additional exemptions for up to four qualified dependents were likewise raised from P8,000 to P25,000 each.

This would mean that an employee earning P455 per day or P10,010 per month would have an additional take-home pay of P472.59 per month if unmarried, P678.50 per month if head of the family, and P580.92 per month if married with four children.

Also, an employee earning P683 per day or P15,026 per month would have an additional take-home pay of P545.26 per month if unmarried; P1,307.18 per month as head of the family; and P1,190.52 per month for those married with four children.

However, reports also said that the government is set to lose P14 billion in tax collection with the signing into law of the said tax relief bill.

A television report from GMA’s Flash Report quoted Finance Secretary Margarito Teves as assuring that the government will look for other sources of income to recover this loss.

Teves cited a provision on RA 9504 which imposes an optional standard deduction for professionals, self-employed individuals, and small corporations. These deductions, he added, could generate as much as P15 billion for the government.

For his part, Federation of Philippine Industries president Jess Arranza was quoted by the same radio report as hailing the President for approving the tax exemption measure.

 OMG!! I’m so excited

This is simply because I can’t get enough of my little girl.

Here she is pointing at the little kitten down the street. The kitten which she is trying to step on may I add!

Here she is so pleased with herself at being able to grab the necklace of her lola.

And here with some playmates.

In one of the rare pictures where she actually looks like me. That’s our house in the background by the way. (You might have to click on the picture to actually see her face)

The dress she is wearing belonged to my sister by the way. Can you believe that dress is already around 8 years old? Unbelievable isn’t it? I love the dress because it really looks like a baby’s dress. It doesn’t look like a baby trying to look grown-up. I have a thing against that right now.  Andrea’s growing too fast and the last thing I need is to speed the rate of her development by dressing her in clothes which make her look older.

As I have told Jen, if I could I would make her wear diapers till she’s in middle school….hehehe…

Oh, and look! No frowning pictures today. Isn’t that a miracle in itself?

I am very very weak.

Yes I admit I am. 5 minutes after posting that I will not give in to temptations, I am now on my way to National bookstore to look for more books to add to my collection. Ruy and I are voracious readers and so our room is half filled with books.

I deeply believe in the value of reading and so I try to read to Andrea every single day. This is why I find myself buying stuff for her and for me whenever I go to National Bookstore. This of course adds to the cost of my purchase, after all children’s books are soooo expensive now!

I think the cost is worth the value it brings though.

I must be strong.

I must make sure not to give in to temptation.

Aaargh!

Why is it that when you promise something to yourself, then that’s when you are bombarded by temptation? I promised to lose weight and then we are given free food all over.

I promised to save more. And now there’s a mall wide sale here PLUS this great bargain of a laptop that’s available to me.

Must not give in…must be strong.

2 days ago I found myself reading diet pill reviews. I don’t know if this is an act of desperation or just my subconscious’ way of telling me that I need to take this weight loss dream seriously?

I have to say though that I lost so much flab from my tummy after having my period. That being said, I still have around 40 pounds left…aaaaaaaaaak

I am currently reviewing the contracts for the next job fair we will be joining. After the last one, I now know better what to expect and what is needed from me during these fairs.

I must say I was so shocked at how much the call centers spend on these job fairs. The booth beside us was Convergy’s and they were giving out free stress balls to people who were applying. There were other companies who were giving out cute marketing pens to their applicants.

The only person in the world who can match the love I feel for Andrea. =)

And lastly, because he gave me this

The best baby in the world!!

He gets excited over the smallest things Andrea does!

Because he is trying to make himself better every day for Andrea

He willingly drives to Jollibee in the middle of the night all for the love of his daughter.

Because he treats Andrea’s mom soooo well

Number 2 reason:

He watches Barney with Andrea despite hating Barney. He also has learned to sing most Barney songs. =)

In honor of Father’s Day, I shall be posting one reason every day till Father’s day.

1. Cause he dances the bone dance with Andrea.

Here’s the most fun and the most challenging part of our furniture/appliance shopping:

With the current recession in the US, finding jobs has become extremely difficult. San Francisco jobs are just not as common as they used to be. My cousin (who I talked about in the last post) has been trying to find a permanent job for around a year and this has remained elusive. It seems that it’s only the medical industry which has thrived throughout the financial problems because most of the nurses I know are living comfortably in the US.

They just keep on coming and coming and coming. After all the expenses we incurred from the construction of our house together with the furniture and appliances we are still not done. My car is up for registration next week and my car insurance is once again up for renewal.

I know these two are extremely important and that no one is exempt from this expense (well at least no one who owns a car). I guess I should just be grateful that the cost of car insurance here is nowhere near as expensive as a California auto insurance. I know my cousine was practically broke after paying for his. On the upside, at least you have a sense of security after purchasing this….

Sometimes being an adult isn’t so much fun…=)

OMG! We’re almost done. We’ve gone into overdrive these past couple of days and we’re finally thisclose to moving into our own house. Yes, we’ve had this house for 2 years but but but we’ve never thought of seriously moving. I don’t know why but it’s just been too comfortable living with my inlaws I guess.

Here are the things we’ve done within the past 10 days.

1. Had the fence constructed
2. Chose a gate and had it built
3. Altered the dirty kitchen
4. Had the gutter constructed
5. Re-tiled the kitchen tiles
6. Bought tiles
7. Bought light fixtures
8. Bought a cabinet
9. Bought a sofa
10. Bought a dining set
11. Bought a microwave
12. Bought an airconditioner
13. Bought a refrigerator
14. Bought a washing machine
15. Bought sets of plates
16. Bought a set of knives
17. Bought glasses
18. Had kitchen cabinets constructed
19. Bought pots and pans

Here are the things provided by our generous benefactors (my parents, Ruy’s parents and my lola):

1. More pans

2. Water Heater

3.  Electric Fans

4. Rice Dispenser

5. Rice Cooker

6. Oven (with a stove)

Construction for the finishing is ongoing and delivery of all the things mentioned is set for the 21st. I’m thinking of taking a leave on the 20th to clean the place before everything is delivered.

I’m so psyched!

Yeah right, the QA Team at work would probably be laughing their asses off imagining me being sweet.

Well, at least I tried! Not that it was any success…

I guess being sweet is really not my forte. Why do I even try? ….nuninuninu

I am feeling so much like a stage mom. I can’t help but gush over every little thing Andrea does. Then I realized, why should I even try to stop myself from gushing? She’s my daughter, it’s my job to gush…hehehe

1 - She saw an image of the Sto. Nino…she said “Hi” and then she suddenly put her hands together in prayer and then bowed her head

2 - We were saying goodbye to Ruy in the morning and she knows that every morning we pass by Jollibee. She told Ruy “Bye, Mama Eya Bee” …translation “Bye, Mommy and Andrea are going to Jollibee”….sooo cute.

 3 - She was playing with the landphone and she kept on saying “Hello” so I got my cellphone and pretended to call her. I said “Hello, Can I please speak with Andrea?”…she looked at me and said “I’m Eya”…that’s with matching patting her tummy.

 Aaaaaaaaaahhhh, I’m so gigil. Hahaha

I think I’m going to need a different kind of investment. I think I should invest on treadmills very very soon.  My friend (who is too brutal for words) said “Honey, buying a treadmill tomorrow is about 14 months too late”. OUCH!! Hahaha, I would have to agree with him though.  This is something I should have done ages ago, maybe if I did I would have lost as much as Jen has.

A friend of mine is here from the US. He will only be here for a week and there’s a HUGE possibility that I won’t get to see him. Not once! This is so sad. I can’t believe I won’t be able to see him at all…I miss my friends. =(

Here’s something more I realized while shopping for furniture just how insanely specialized furniture and fixtures have become. There are kitchen tiles, bathroom tile, decorative tiles, exterior tiles….they are all just tires right? And it’s the same with sconces, there are sconces to be placed beside the main door…those which are for interior walls, and there are home theater sconces. The variety is enough to drive someone like me crazy.

I’ve always always loved looking at furniture and imagining what I’d like for our own house. Now that we’re actually doing that I’m beginning to like it less. I didn’t know it was this tough making sure everything matched.  While looking for dining sets I saw one which I loved…when I inquired about that particular set I was told that it is not a dining set rather it is patio furniture. My goodness, I think I’m losing my hair in the process.

This was supposed to be our year for travelling, but considering the amount of time and money we’re spending on our two major expenses which would be Andrea and the interiors of our own house, I guess this plan would be put on hold for a few more months. I doubt if we’ll be able to take advantage of the great rates from Outer Banks rentals any time soon. Oh well, c’est la vie right? I guess life is just a matter of prioritizing things.