office life

My laptop’s been going crazy for days. I apparently have 13 threats in my pc. My ear phones aren’t working properly, my office chair lost one of it’s wheels and is now lopsided. My office desk has one drawer which won’t open properly. WHAT IS HAPPENING? It’s as if the heaven’s contrived to make sure I barely get any work done. I think I’ll have to start looking at better computer desks, anti virus softwares and computer chairs just to guarantee that I can keep working. Argh!

It’s no secret that I spend more waking hours at work than I do at home. Let me show you my home away from home…

I’ve decided to declutter and to remove everything that I used to have there for decoration.

Some more:

And more!

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.

Every single person who even remotely knows me would tell you that I am deeply in love with my work, with my company and with my team. I have become so comfortable and it’s beginning to scare me.

I was called by a company offering me a senior position in their company.  The company was in the middle of discussing the position with me when I just suddenly stopped the person and told him point blank that I wasn’t interested.

It was instinctual, automatic and so easy to do.

It wasn’t until a few hours after when I realized what I had done. It scares me just how comfortable I’ve become with this job so much so that I let emotions make the decision rather than my brain. That job I was being offered would have given me more than double what I’m earning in ITI Consulting and I turned it down just like that.

I honestly believe in my heart of hearts that I made the right decision. I think going to work feeling excited every day is something so rare that I must not give it up that easily. I do think though that the next time something like this comes along I must remember to THINK and THINK and THINK some more. I can’t do what I did a few days ago…please…If I do, somebody slap me please.

Jen tagged me. I soooo need this today…sorry people but I have really boring things on my list

1. Create tests for QA Specialist
2. Create Flyers
3. Coordinate with Job Fairs.
4. Create the email for the Press Releases
5. Check all Employees starting next week
6. Create the new form including all areas of QA, email this form to everyone
7. Have my tooth filled
8. Create my 3 year Plan
9. Create my PRD
10. Organize my files

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKK….better stop blogging and start working

I had the best 5-day-Mother’s-Day-Celebration ever in the history of the world. It’s not because of the extravagance or the expense, but how perfectly it fit me.

Thursday was perfect cause I got to do something I’ve been meaning to do for months and haven’t gotten around to doing so which is visit my doctor. I also got to spend practically a whole day with my family which made it doubly fun.

Friday was amazing. It was perfect cause I got to go on a road trip with two of my favorite people. I’m sensitive when it comes to road trips, I can’t just go with anyone. But this trip was just perfect. The food was awesome, the company great, I felt taken cared off and pampered.

Saturday was the day Ruy insisted on celebrating Mother’s day together without Andrea. I said “What for? We celebrated already yesterday” and he said that was with Andrea, now it’s our turn. It was perfect cause it made me feel that I wasn’t just a mother, that I was a wife too. It reminded me of an often neglected role in my life.

This was the same day Ruy pointed out that I kept on buying the same kinds of shades and asked me to try on some other kind. It was beautiful. He insisted on buying it for me (I wouldn’t let him, don’t underestimate my pulling powers). It was perfect cause I realized that after 8 years together he still notices these details. Details which I myself overlook. It was perfect cause I can see that he knows me well enough to know what fits me and what I’d like.

Sunday was spent with my inlaws having the yummiest lunch ever. It was perfect cause I’m beginning to feel more and more like family.

Monday was spent sleeping the whole day suffering from migraine. It was perfect because I got to take care of myself. I got to experience not being responsible for anything and still the world continued to revolve. I realized I don’t need to worry about everything. I needed to worry about myself.

Mother’s day this year was perfect. Thursday was spent being a sister and a daughter, Friday a mother, Saturday a wife, Sunday an inlaw and Monday being myself. It was beautiful, it was complete, it was perfect.

What are we? We work hand in hand with the Training Arm of Top European Companies in order to deliver top of the line Business Communications Training to their employees.

When I was a trainer, I would always always gush about my work.  I met a man who was part of the team who developed the Botulinum Toxin into Botox. I worked with a man who explained to me how body fat analyzer works. I taught a woman who ran art training for the marginalized people in Europe.

I met the most beautiful, interesting, wonderful people because of my job. People I would never have met otherwise, and people who have enriched my life in more ways than one.

Sounds interesting? JOIN US!!!

If you’ve been following my blog you would know that I am in love with my company. I could go on and on about how great it is working for this company but my words cannot compare to the actual experience of working for ITI Consulting. Now, you too can work for this great company.

Click on the Ad for more details.

(I will be writing more about this in days to come)  

A friend of mine is leaving. The one and only friend I have who actually knows what a CAT6 cable is.   I actually talked to him heart-to-heart last Tuesday and I made him promise that we’re going to have a long talk before he leaves.  See this is a guy who would tell me to my face what I need to change and what I need to improve on professionally. This is rare…I truly value feedback like that.

I’m selos-jealous yet again.  It’s a Philippine Holiday and since I chose to be on French Holiday then I am at work. I left for work just as Ruy and Andrea were in the garden playing. Huhuhu…I so want to be playing with Andrea right now. I do think I had a whole lot of Andrea over the weekend, but then you can never have enough of a good thing right?

Thank goodness I love my work (I might have to rethink this statement soon) and so going to work is not as difficult as it probably is for most moms.

I had grand plans for Andrea’s pictures. I wanted to hang her pictures up in big frames but I am not so knowledgeable when it comes to using air tools. If I were, I would have gotten around to fixing our office as well. I wanted to hang all our pictures and create a big collage.  Unfortunately, our jurassic equipment scares the living day lights out of me.  So here I am, 4 months after my grand plan and still nothing has happened. Ay Caramba

I feel so frustrated. No matter what I do, at least one of my masters would be unhappy or dissatisfied. The more I try to please every one, the more I end up pleasing no one.  I also end up questionning if I’m actually good enough to take on any of the roles I’m trying to fill.  =(

What frustrates me more is the fact that I know I am good enough….hell ,I’m awesome!!  I know that…but I don’t feel that way at all right now.

Here I am blogging when I’m supposed to be thinking about how we can organize our room here in the office. We want to redecorate the whole place but we just need to figure out the configuration of our tables and chairs.  We also need to make sure that each and every fiber cable and phone line is where it should be. We are a bit prone to spillage here specially when we’ve had a few glasses of wine…I love my office..

One step at a time,

One hope then another,

Who knows where this road may go.

 (insert Olivia’s wistful sigh here)

Note: I was listening to some songs while working on an excel file (I suck at excel) and just had to take a minute off to write this. 

Ruy and I have a major decision ahead of us which is both exciting and scary. This is something good but at the same time it will push both of us out of our comfort zones.

While nothing is set. It raises a lot of fundamental questions which Ruy and I have to discuss as a couple. 

This decision might force us to let go of our safety nets and learn how to rise and fall on our own.

While it is a big step professionally, it’s also a HUGE leap personally.

Will we? We don’t know yet

Jen has said that this is her year for weight loss. For me, this is the year of my brain. I feel like I’ve let my brain go last year. I didn’t push it or challenge it enough. I can’t do that this year again lest my brain gets used to not having to think so much and turns into mush.

I’ve decided to do this by reading at least one book per month. I’m on my third book now and so I only have 9 left for the rest of the year. I already have 4 lined up so this shouldn’t be too difficult.

I’ve started trying to learn another language through audio books which surprisingly were very helpful. I’ve already finished one financial audio book as well and still have aroung 12 on leaderhip, business and management.

I’m sooo excited.

I want to share with you a Great Discovery: Zenni Optical, what is this you may ask? It’s an online optical shop which offers affordable and fashionable glasses for you and your loved ones. It’s the only place where you can find the Zenni Optical $8 Rx Glasses, is there any better value than that? Trust me I’ve looked and looked and the Best Thing Found: Zenni Optical … yup you can’t get this deal elsewhere.

Saw this in Data’s site.  It was very very touching.

It’s the happy that comes from working on something you believe in, and knowing what you do matters. It makes you love what you’re doing. And that love propels you on to something greater.

Like loving yourself and believing in yourself again. I think that’s one of the best things to be happy about.

 It’s nice to see people who love what they do and are passionate about it.  I have felt this way about my work, my company and my team practically every day for the last 40 months.  It’s become the norm for me to think and feel this way that I begin to panic when I sense the feeling slipping away.

I cannot imagine having to drag myself to work every day. I can’t imagine dreading the thought of Monday’s because I don’t like my job.  It must be tough…

It’s the weekend!! And yet I’m dying to go back to work. It’s a sick sick problem I have.  Welcome to the world of a workaholic.

Ruy and I were chatting last night and I came across this big idea for a company-wide project involving my team and I’m dying to bring it forward. You can’t believe how excited I was last night. I kept on mumbling “Brilliant! it’s Brilliant!” over and over again.

I think I’m going to put it down on paper in a while to make sure I don’t forget it.  

I am currently in the process of conducting employee performance evaluation for my team.  It was initially awkward as each and every person in my team can be considered as my friend. Can you imagine sitting with your friend and pointing out all their mistakes? Aaargh.

Luckily 98% of the things I have to say are good. So I wouldn’t have to worry about bridges getting burnt in the process.

I was reading this book called One Minute Manager and it mentioned something which I am trying very hard to apply, catch people doing something right. I realized that going into the performance evaluation process I was focusing on the negatives instead of on the positives. I was even panicking when I couldn’t find something bad to say about one person, as if the authenticity of the process would disappear if I don’t have anything to say.

I am really hoping I’d be able to apply everything I learned from this book.

I am in a state of confusion right now. I’m at a crossroad and I don’t know what to do. 

In the Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo says that when you are doing what you are supposed to do the universe conspires to bring it to you.

Was that email from the universe? Or was that the call of something trying to distract me from what I’m supposed to do.

I’m so confused. And I’m sure the one reading this post is just as confused as I am.

There are going to be major changes at work and I’m a bit overwhelmed. What’s even more overwhelming? No one to talk to about these changes since most of them are either still uncertain or confidential.

I am trying my best to be optimistic about these changes…

I cannot sleep!! I’m feeling so tired yet I cannot sleep. I’m 4 episodes away from finishing the season 3 of America’s Next Top Model (my constant sleep inducer) yet I cannot sleep.

I am on leave the whole day today by the way. I went to HR and found out that I have 8 leaves left. That’s already removing the 4 day mandatory leave for next week. So it means I have a whole lot of leaves but only one more working day left. Aaarghh

Andrea’s about to wake up so I guess I better prepare for that. Ciao!!

Learning something from school is sooo different from actually doing something. I have taken up several units in Management and Business and although it’s very helpful, it cannot compare to actually experiencing it first hand.   Now that I have to actually do the things I’ve learned about I often find myself looking for guides to help my. I bought several books on business performance management and they are luckily helping me very much.  I seriously can’t wait for the formal training this January…

I scheduled a meeting with my boss this week. I am aching for feedback. It’s true that I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful working and personal relationship with my boss. I can tell him pretty much everything and we’re pretty much seeing eye to eye in 88% of the things we talk about. I also respect him enough to follow him during the 12% of the times when I don’t agree with him.

I asked for feedback because I’m afraid of being stagnant. I don’t want to be stuck in a rut just because things are working. I want to continually improve and find out how I can improve.  I also want to pick his brain about Business valuation errr evaluation I mean and Business strategies. I’m quite excited for this meeting….wish me luck!!

I have been a very very bad blogger.

I have around 10 unanswered comments. I haven’t blog-hopped. I don’t know what’s happening with everyone. No wonder Santa’s looking so grumpy. I definitely won’t be getting gifts this year. Hahaha

Sorry guys, work went beyond crazy last couple of weeks. I’ll try to be a better blogger starting now. I’ll do my opps, then i’ll answer your comments, I’ll accept and acknowledge the awards then I’ll blog hop. =)

I’ve been relatively inactive. I haven’t replied to comments. I haven’t blog-hopped. I haven’t had a decent post.

I’ve been a lousy blogger and this is the reason:

That’s only around 50% of what I need to do and that’s my full day already. WOW!!!  I promise to blog like a good blogger again as soon as I get my work sorted out….so maybe in 2 years? hehehe

My boss is currently in negotiations with people regarding an office we’re looking into. He asked me in jest if I’d want to oversee the construction. I warned him that if he assigned me to do this the following would happen.

1. An entire wall (at least) would have a mural of myself.

2. We’d have pink walls.

3.  I’d have the most insane conversations with the contractor. I’d probably say something like “Why are you insisting on using that thing you call cement, it’s ugly. Do something about it…what do you mean that’s the normal color of cement? I don’t care! Here’s some water color…color it!”

Nope, it just wouldn’t work. =) God knows I don’t know much about Cat5E patch panels or about the differences between the different cables…the only thing I’d care about is how cute the cables look.

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

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

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:

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.

For thinking that there might have been an ounce of sincerity in this person. 

For thinking that maybe, the change stemmed from the soul.

For thinking that maybe there was no malice in the past actions.

I’ve learned my lesson, no bread will be broken between us. 

Nawawala, bumabalik…heto na naman!!

Yeah! It looks like I’m back to my old ways. I left the office at around 11pm last night and now it’s 7 am and I’m back here again. I actually wouldn’t be whining about it except Andrea wouldn’t sleep last night. She was up from 12mn up to 1:30 am. Then she slept and woke up at 3:00 am. The thing is, she didn’t want to drink milk or to be lulled to sleep…she wanted to play.  hooboy

So here I am in the office with around 3 hours worth of sleep all in all but I still feel quite okay.  I hope I get to offset some of my extra hours tomorrow though…haaaay

My boss told me this the other day…basically because I was being an irritating BiBo Kid…wehehehe. I realized though that that’s exactly what I want to tell Andrea. HOLD YOUR HORSES ANDREA…stop growing for a while!!

I hate how fast Andrea’s growing…it’s insane. My first sign of growth is when she went from a small diaper to a medium. Huhuhu…I felt like crying when I first bought that pack of diapers (i was partly crying out of relief, the medium size diapers have the biggest pack and so they’re cheaper to buy than the small diapers…hehehe). Next sign of growth is the fact that last Saturday Andrea was able to roll from her back to her tummy by herself. MY BABY’S A GENIUS!! wahahaha It’s been hard for her to replicate this event because everytime she tries she gets distracted by her hand and ends up trying to eat her hand which in turn makes rolling so much more complicated. This morning though, I layed her beside me so we can get a few more hours worth of sleep (she woke up at 4:15am) and I woke up to someone eating my arm…and lo and behold there’s my little cochinillo on her tummy trying to eat her mommy’s arm…awwww. (it sounds sick I know). She was also able to roll back to her mmm back last Sunday. I’m panicking at how fast she’s growing…next thing I know she’ll be borrowing my make-up. NOOOOOO! Third sign of growth,  last Sunday we had to remover her bassinet cause it can’t hold her anymore and she now has to sleep in the playpen of her Pack n’ Play.  Fourth and last sign of growth…language acquisition. She’s talking so much!! Mostly she’s trying to complain (Ruy claims she got this trait from me and I agree with me) but last Thursday she actually uttered syllables which makes sense..she said “Mama”. Well actually this is strongly being contested by Ruy who claims Andrea said “ama”  but I still stand by the fact that Andrea said “Mama”….Needless to say I’m tickled pink by this fact…wahahaha

It was hard for me to gain footing in my current job…things were set up before I was there and I decided to sit down and observe things first before I go on and stir things. I learned this from our principal Sr. Gabby Concepcion when I was in high school. During her first year, she just sat down and observed everything first…the next year she implemented changes. I was gearing up to do this and had really important meetings when the year started…then I was hospitalized.

Looking back, I realized this is when everything started steam rolling. I would leave for a while…then when I return things would be established and I’d have to start gaining my footing again. (confinement, pregnancy, etc.) Now, I finally feel like I have my groove back.   I can finally focus on work for a looooong time and think analytically and not emotionally.

I hope my CEO is right when he says “This is only the beginning…”.

I had a meeting with practically everyone higher than me in one table. Most of my requests were shutdown but I LOVED IT. It was wonderful seeing the bigger picture in terms of work. In my job as QA we receive most of the complaints and every complaint seems like a BIG DEAL. Seeing the points of view of all the people (particularly the CEO) I realized how problems should be analyzed and prioritized.

I think this is the most important thing I learned throughout the trip…that and how to say tap water in French.

A lot of you don’t know this but I’m actually in Paris on a business trip right now. I haven’t had time to  update you guys on what’s been happening but this is one event that I just have to post this. I LOVE THIS COMPANY. Everyone works really really hard but hell they sure know how to party.

 Sales team and customer service managers all went to France and we’re having one hell of a party. Pictures and more details will follow…

(Note: It’s  2:00 am Friday morning and we’re not yet finished with the party. Will these people make it back to work by 9am tomorrow?  Will I ? No one knows)

I’ve got all that I need,

Right here in the passenger seat…

Well not really in the passenger, actually more like a few inches to the left of my passenger seat. Here they are:

My life savers for today. This has been a very stressful week and it just keeps on getting more and more stressful. Let me give you the 411

• It’s 8:30 am right now
• I just came from a meeting which started at 7am
• I just slept 6 hours ago
• I woke up 4 hours ago to feed Andrea
• I started driving to work 3 hours ago
• I’ve been in the office 2 hours now.
• I have training in an hour and a half.
• I’ll be training for the next 9 hours.
• I’ll be training 7 people (as opposed to the planned 3) because my partner is sick.

I kinda want to cry. I feel so drained right now. That’s why I really need my beauty products. Two hours of sleep will not make me presentable enough for anyone to see without the usual gunk on my face….haaaaaaay. I’ll kill for an hour more sleep.

I drove to work pretty early (I find that it’s best to start your week off early) and just as I was about to park it dawned on me that I forgot to bring my laptop. AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH how the hell do I work without my computer? So guess what I had to do? Yup I had to drive back home to get my laptop. Waste of time, waste of gas, waste of energy.

I feel so stupid I want to stab myself with a dull knife….but only after I eat the yummy spicy toyo from affie with my lola’s atsara!! Wooohoo

I’m usually a fan of Bayani Fernando…but today I’m not. I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning (well Andrea woke up at 3:30 so I was actually already awake at that time) just so I can give Andrea a bath, have breakfast and take a bath too all before 6:00am. See I had to leave by 6 am so I will be in the office before 7…this is all because of color coding.

 As if that wasn’t bad enough…I can only leave the office by 8 as I have a meeting from 7-9….haaaaaaaay

It’s extremely unusual for me to complain about being in the office, it’s just that I’m feeling really sleepy right now and Andrea was wide awake and very happy when I left and she’ll probably be asleep when I go home…haaaaay

2:30 - be awakened by Ruy, it’s his turn to sleep and he would be passing the baby over to me  so I can take care of her.

(The baby will then wake up every 30 minutes)

5:30 - call the yaya and ask her to get the baby for a while so I can take a nap

6:30 - fix the baby’s things and start getting ready to leave. Have the yaya put everything in the car (including my steam sterilizer, a basket with the bathing stuff and the basket, etc.)

7:00 - leave for my lola’s house. Have a quick breakfast while the baby’s bath is being prepared. Bathe the baby first, dress her up, give her vitamins then it’s mommy’s turn. I will then start bathing and dressing for work.

8:30/9:00 - leave for work

9:30 - arrive at the office, start working, go to meetings…etc

7:00/8:00/9:00 - leave the office to pick up Andrea (no dinner yet), the time varies depending on the amount of meetings we have. The drive to my lola’s house takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and 30 minutes due to heavy traffic

9:00 - pick up Andrea, maybe have a quick dinner if possible then start moving Andrea’s stuff in the car.

9:45 - arrive home, take a bath, give Andrea to the yaya so I can rest. Ruy and I watch a 30 minute episode of something from You Tube. I get the baby again

11:30 - I feel so sleepy and I ask Ruy to please take care of the baby first….he’ll then wake me up at 2:30…and the cycle continues

Unbelievable how long my days have become. I want to go and exercise but I can’t see that happening anytime unless my schedule lets up. Ruy’s been wonderful about taking care of the baby but I just never imagined how difficult balancing work and a baby would be. It’s all worth it though cause I refuse to give up either

…going back to work!! Yehey.

I officially started going to work last Monday although I am only working part time. I am soooo happy and the only thing which could make it better would be for me to be able to work full time. Going home and leaving my work when not everything has been taken cared of has been excruciating on my part. I’m really looking forward to going full time already.

I went to work for 4 hours yesterday for several meetings. Well, I’m not yet officially BACK but I’ve been going to meetings whenever the need arises. It’s perfect for me so that I can avoid being overloaded with work once I do return. I’m aware of EVERYTHING going on that way I won’t be overwhelmed and clueless when I return.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE working. I can’t wait to go back permanently. I would have to admit that going to work now is hard! It’s hard leaving the cochinillo and I’m sure it will be even harder once she starts talking. The funny part though is this, it’s so hard for me to leave the house to go to work…but when I’m at work it’s sooooooooooo hard to leave work to go back home. CRAZY!

To make leaving easier though, I took a picture of the cochinillo to look at when I’m in the office. Here’s that picture:

I’m facing a sort of moral and social dilemma right now. I have principles (which are quite young, I’ve only started developing them upon working in my current job), these principles are currently being challenged and I’m so tempted to go against them.

I was reading a totally unrelated book last night when I came across these wonderful sayings which gave me a better insight on the situation.

“I just don’t want to give that son of a bitch the power to make me the son of a bitch”

and

“Never wrestle with a pig. If you do, you’ll both get filthy. But the difference is the pig will love it.”

I don’t know who said these but the last one sounds like Socrates….NOT!

10 Years Ago - I was in high school and I felt so mature.  The Spice Girls were the most famous human beings on earth =) and I was clad in neon greens and oranges. For one particular day (our school sports fest) I even sported green eyebrows. I cringe just thinking about it. I was not a very obedient person and kept on coloring my hair despite the fact that the nuns strictly prohibited it. I told them I didn’t dye my hair, it’s natural cause I have spanish blood. hahaha…

5 Years Ago - Ruy and I have been going out for a year at that time. That was probably the most tumultous period in our relationship. Ruy and I were both incredibly young and stubborn…it’s a wonder how we surpassed that stage. College was just a place to hangout and I didn’t take it too seriously…I regret this so much right now. What an idiot I was!

1 year ago - Ruy and I spent all our time, money and energy preparing for our church wedding. We were in Tagaytay a year ago to see what the temperature is in the area during this period. We were also preparing to attend Angie’s wedding. =)

Yesterday - was at work, my office mates threw me a surprise baby shower and I was extremely extremely touched. I am rarely surprised but they were able to pull it off without a hitch. My boss was even in on it, he called me to his office for a”meeting” which was apparently just a way to get me out of the office. =)

Today - I’m supposed to be getting married in church today. It feels so weird, I can’t believe we were willing to spend that much for a 4 hour affair…what were we thinking? We spent the day working instead, RUy dropped me off my office and then he drove off to his.  You won’t believe how happy I am about the fact that Ruy didn’t make a fuss about my going to work.

Tomorrow - I want to rest. I just want to sleep and blog. =) heheeh

It’s been a very emotional holiday season for me. First,  the love which I love so much I don’t love as much anymore…hahaha…from 150% to 110%…damn! There were just a lot of disappointments for the team which I’m sure will pass but right now motivation’s at an all time low for the majority.  You know how people get emotional around the holidays? Maybe that’s what’s happening to us.

 Ruy wasn’t very helpful during the early part of the holiday season. He was basically an ass for a few days. He said after that he was tired…I knew he was tired and he’s usually stressed when he feels he has a lot to do but I swear I wanted to bite him when he told me that.  What did he think I was feeling? I wasn’t tired? Me, the person who worked every single day during the holiday season. The person who still works even when she’s home. The person who had to buy all of our gifts for everyone just because I know if I didn’t it would be very delayed or be very expensive. 

Anyway, Ruy was only an ass for around 3-4 days…he was extremely nice after.  =) I told him every one snaps every once in a while and he shouldn’t be so affected by it.  I guess the good thing about our dynamic is that I never throw a tantrum when he’s in that mood. I don’t see the point cause we’d both be thinking of ourselves and therefore not hearing the other person…it would just magnify whatever small issue there is.  I usually wait till he’s done…then I act up…hahaha. Hey it works for us!! 

Enough rambling, I actually wanted to share a song which I heard while I was working on my team’s goals for 2007. One part of it really struck me…

And I know you love me
Love me for who I am
Cause years before I became who I am
Baby you were my man
I know it ain’t easy
Easy loving me
I appreciate the love and dedication
From you to me
Later on in my destiny
I see myself having your child
I see myself being your wife
And I see my whole future in your eyes
Thought of all my love for you
sometimes make me wanna cry
Realize all my blessings
I’m grateful
To have you by my side.

Awwww…..yup…despite being an ass sometimes I know I’m lucky to have found Ruy. After all it takes an ass to handle a bitch.

I am back, although i’m not sure how long I’ll really be back. You see life has been quite crazy for the past month and a half and updating my blog hasn’t been easy. In hopes of  cramming in everything I was supposed to blog about, I will divide my update into 3 categories. Sadly, that’s what my life has been reduced to…3 categories. These are: Work, Ruy and Andrea! Yup, in that order too. 

Work has been INSANE. My first statement was an understatement to say the least. For the past couple of weeks, my days have been reduced to constant checking of mails from the office even from my house and yes, even on weekends. I have also worked for several weekends and Ruy has been very patient about it (I guess he knows there’s really no other way to be except patient as I’m not going to NOT do my work). The funny thing about it is this, no one is telling us (Yup, us. I’m not the only insane one in my department) to work during the weekends nor to check our mails constantly even outside of our working hours. Yet we take it upon ourselves to make sure that things which need to be done are done. That’s why I ABSOLUTELY ADORE my department.  I think you can’t buy internal motivation…it’s just not possible, and when you find it in a few people who can actually work together then BAM (sorry for qouting Emeril here) it’s magic and things get done and they get done well.

The downside, I still haven’t had time to go to the parlor for my waxing and my hot oil and my haircut…all of which are long over due. =( I really need to get this done before the series of event I’ll be attending during the Christmas season.

Next, RUY. Ruy has been a funny kid lately. I invited him to the mall last week after work. I went there a few hours before our agreed time and I bought his gift, had it wrapped and left it with the wrapping lady. When we met up, Ruy went to the shop, drooled over the gift he wanted and hinted not so subtly that I buy his gift now and he’ll buy mine.  I feigned distaste and said “NOW? You want me to line up, withdraw and buy you your gift now?”. He eventually gave up and stopped bugging me. AT that point  I figured he has suffered enough…we went to the gift wrapping area…claimed the gift and I gave it to him. You should have seen his face light up. Imagine a kid tasting ice cream after being sick for 3 months…hahaha. I got my gift on that day too…but Ruy still has to assemble it.

Ruy and I have a set-up wherein we each get to do what we want. He has his activities, I have mine. This was my idea and I really like it…although it makes me feel uneasy sometime. It’s like we’re not so married….maybe I’m just so used to the idea that marriage is a joining together of two lives …two becomes one kinda thing that I have integrated that into my expectations despite the fact that I don’t believe it.

Andrea now…woohoo!! I am so obviously pregnant. I am approaching my last trimester (I’m a few days short) and no one can deny that I’m pregnant. Finally, I don’t have to convince people that I’m not just unlucky in the abdomen department my stomach actually has something inside it other than chocolates.

Last night, Ruy was able to feel Andrea’s kick after kick after kick.  I feel that all the time, but Andrea would always stop when Ruy tries to feel her.  I think the fact that Ruy brought a stroller for her convinced her to finally let Dad feel her. =)

The thought that in just a few months I’ll be having a child is overwhelming. I can’t understand or put my mind around the fact that I’m going to be a parent. I’m practically a kid myself!! Ruy still has to be told to wipe his back properly with a towel before putting on a shirt. How are two kids going to take care of a child?

I just hope we don’t end up screwing up her psyche or something… 

Spanish Siren, Greek Goddess and Irresistible Indian…love it!!

(NOTE: Those who have seen me in person would actually notice that my nose actually grew bigger! Proof that I am indeed pregnant…)

Tomorrow will be D Day for my long awaited Congenital Anomaly Screening…basically it’s a glorified ultrasound where they actually do what they were supposed to do during the other ultrasounds, except this time they charge us more for it. 

During this procedure they will be measuring distance between the eyes, width of the neck (indicators of Down Syndrome), number of fingers, chambers of the heart. Needless to say I’m practically wetting myself with fear. It’s going to be such a nerve wracking wait for me and I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I’m thisclose to dragging Ruy’s butt to St. Luke’s today…but no, I must calm myself and wait. It’s not like a couple of hours of waiting would make a difference. I just feel so paranoid.

Together with the important stuff we’ll hopefully be able to determine the baby’s gender once and for all. So many people have told me that they think it will be a girl…I also feel like it’s going to be a girl but to be honest I really want a boy. Why do I want a boy? Well I want to have another kid and I think it’s funner to have a kuya than an ate…at least you have a protector there. I am also not prepared to share my make-up with another person…hehehe

On a different note…guess what I was for halloween?

A wise man once said: I’d rather work like a horse than look like one! I love that man whoever he is.

The lack of activity in this blog is an indication of how busy I’ve been lately. New project at work which entails a lot of time. I have to devote an hour a day teaching again and I realized how much I missed that contact. A friend of mine once said that she’s surprised at how happy I am at what I do no matter what I’m actually doing. Makes sense actually cause I was still so involved in my job. NOW that I’m actually in a job and a company I completely love why would I do any less?

I have admittedly been working a lot this week. Too much in Ruy’s opinion actually as I was in the office for 16 hours yesterday and I’m not going to offset that at any time. I told him, when you like what you do and you want to do it well you don’t really pay attention to the time you spend actually doing it.  For example, if you enjoy sex you don’t ever time yourself right? You don’t ever say…hey it’s been 27 minutes of foreplay we need to move on or we’ll be late…

I just realized that associating one’s job to sex is sick. I apologize for my sick mind…it’s just a bit tired… 

I just want to kick myself. I an’t belive how stupid I am. See I decided to go to work early today cause I really have so much to do. So I get to work a little after 8am…I lug around my laptop, my baon, my handbag, and some stuff for the office which I bought from t grocery last Saturday…I enter the office using my ID…perfect…I walk to the door of the office I share with everyone from QA and guess what…I remember I left my key at home in my other bag!!!!!! Stupid stupid stupid. The worst thing about this is it’s 11:51 and the other person who’s supposed to be here is still

I have been so busy lately with work and with the latest developments in my life that I have been neglecting a lot of the other aspects of my life, blog included. Imagine my surprise when I looked at my blog today to see that I already have a thousand views for this blog. WOW! Thanks to everyone who regularly visit this blog, please drop me a line so I can link you up. =) Read the rest of this entry »

A very interesting picture taken by Nicky. The funny thing about this is people have been bugging me about how I was really feeling my pose. The thing is, I didn’t know I was included in the picture. So I stood there and tried to stay out of everyone’s way…hahaha

It was a French holiday yesterday, it was the feast of the assumption. This meant that I had no work yesterday. I went back to my OB who told me that my PCOS is gone…cured! Yehey. No wonder why I’ve been losing weight like crazy.

What the hell is assumption day? I’ve never celebrated this ever. What does it mean?

When something great happens to me I cannot help blurbing it to everyone. That’s just the way I am. The news last Tuesday got me so excited so naturally half of the office knows already. It’s so sweet seeing people get excited with me. I really feel so blessed having found a company with people I genuinely like. (and people who can stand my ramblings)

It was a bit difficult seeing Ruy’s reaction. He says he’s happy. I’ve seen him happy…that wasn’t happy. He says he’s worried about his brother’s condition so his mind is whirling right now. I understand that, but I never thought people can only feel one emotion. You can be worried and extremely happy about two different things at the exact same time.

My mom’s been adorable about everything. I honestly didn’t expect anything else.

Mike de Villa insisted that we all go to Nicotina and sample their pizza and just chill out to the beat of the music. Sample we did, chill out we did not. The place had this wonderful ambiance to it makes you think that some cuban drug lord would come over the smoke his cigars and to do the salsa. Unfortunately the band was not so good they played (insert dramatic pause here) a song by AEGIS….oh my goodness I almost died right there and then. Despite the so-so music the place was still a great place to hang out with fun people (aka the ITI peeps). Pictures of the people can be seen here