A new environment

I said the other day I was going to change my physical environment. Today is day 1. I’ve decided to rent the Calim’s spare room in California Garden Square in Mandaluyong. Yesterday I moved in, and it was eventful, to say the least.

Here are some of the advantages of moving;

  1. It is much, much nearer to work, as compared to Las Pinas;
  2. I get to save on gas;
  3. I get to live with friends;
  4. When I want to, I can go swimming (CGS has a pool!)
  5. I get to be more responsible (since kailangan makisama);
  6. I can talk to somebody else;
  7. My mobile landline now becomes more useful;
  8. I’m closer to the gimmick area;
  9. I’m very, very close to Aimee and Anne :) – practically 3 min. ride away;
  10. I’m farther from LP distractions (i.e. boys);
  11. The CGS environment already is a major plus (most of my needs are within the compound – laundromat, salon, ministop).

Of course, I’m also anticipating on:

  1. The house is not mine – kailangan makisama;
  2. Parking is expensive – P20 an HOUR – and it may not compensate for the gas savings;
  3. I’d need to leave my car in LP or at the parking in the office, if ever;
  4. I’d need to stay away from my LP house for longer periods of time;
  5. I can’t just leave my dirty clothes, or underwear lying around andI need to clean up after eating;
  6. Kris will be leaving in a couple of weeks to go to US anyway so we won’t be able to play;
  7. Although I’ve complained about my slow, almost nil internet connection at home, the fact that I was able to download episodes lately, means I will miss my internet;
  8. I would need to start looking for “kasabay” going to and fro Mandaluyong;
  9. I will be tempted to stay longer sa office because mas malapit sa inuuwian.

Anyway, this is a one month trial period. Will see what happens after.

==================

So now I only have to work on changing my blog template. :D
Will do in the next few days.

Kindred – my favorite scene

It took me 4 days to download this episode. When I came back from my Eid trip earlier (more on this later), it was such a happy surprise to find out that my internet’s not as bad as before (at least now, nakakapag download na ako ng episodes, hehehe!) Patience is such a virtue.

Anyway, the episode was “okay lang”. It got a little mushy with Claire, Peter and Hiro having a love team. But Super-West is so-ooo cute. Didn’t he resemble Smallville’s superman in this scene?

I’m wondering what happens to Sylar next.. hmmm.

time for change

Need to change my blog look (got feedback from Mom and Maeyo that they get headaches after reading my blog) hehe. So with the help of Ate Buntis, I’ll be changing my overall template. (As much as I love the butterfly theme, it does get old). I’ve been seeing some features in WordPress that I like, and I’ve been researching that I can copy it in blogger as well. But quite a hassle, complicated and a lot of work, frankly. Will see…

============

Need for change in my physical environment temporarily. More on this within the next few days. Let’s just say that I’m better off without distractions.

Checklist – then take action

What is Draining You?
by Bo Sanchez

Get Rid Of It If You Can.

I don’t intend to write a complete list of how you need to care for yourself. (I’ll do that in another article.)

But here’s a question I want you to ask yourself: What is draining you?

What person, thing, activity, group, habit, situation, and places in your life drains your joy and life and energy and holiness? What sucks your happiness?

If you can get rid of that draining thing, do so!

By doing that, you’ll grow up and have more life and energy for the right things that God wants you to do.

In other words, I’m asking you to set your boundaries.

Let me list the probable “draining” things in your life…

1. Take care of your emotional health.

o I spend a lot of time with “emotional vampires”—people who are so dependent on me, or those who are exceedingly negative, or those who emotionally manipulate me…
o I still hang on to a dead-end romantic relationship
o I don’t have close friends
o I watch too much TV
o I don’t have time just to rest and reflect, to read and plan

2. Take care of your family life

o My relationship with my spouse / kids / family is shallow
o I have a long-standing conflict with a family member
o My home environment is chaotic
o I feel I’m not a great mother (father, son, daughter…)

3. Take care of your professional life

o I don’t enjoy my job
o I feel that I’m not fulfilling my mission in my job
o I feel that my core gifts can be used elsewhere
o I can no longer work with my co-workers
o I don’t see a future in my career

4. Take care of your physical health

o I don’t eat the right food
o I don’t sleep enough
o I don’t exercise enough
o I have a vice that’s robbing me of my health

5. Take care of your financial health

o I let “parasites” depend on me instead of letting them stand on their own
o I have huge debts
o I pay my bills late
o I don’t know where my money is going each month
o I don’t have savings and investment plan
o I know I won’t have enough for my retirement and old age

6. Take care of your spiritual health

o I’m in bondage to an addiction that’s draining me spiritually
o I focus on my sin, not on God’s love for me
o I don’t spend time with God
o I lack a faith community of friends to support me
o I feel I’m not following my own moral compass
o I feel I’m not serving God and others

If you checked any of the items above, do something about it! Ask for help.

But don’t get drained to the point that there’s nothing to give anymore.

We are the champions!

I feel sorry for the UE Warriors. Their history has been 3rd placer for 5 years already. This season, they’ve been rooted to win. They had a 14-0 winning streak in the elimination round, apparently that hasn’t happened for the last 14 years. During the elimination, they beat La Salle once. So they were expected to win.

The only two times that UE lost in Season 70 was in the Championship Round, the games that mattered the most! I mean, how can you not feel sorry for them.

And to top it off, this is a new Archers team. Last year, we didn’t make it to UAAP because of being disqualified (panget ng record diba?) because of supposed cheating that happened the year before. So when they came back this year, most of the players were rookies. And yet they grabbed the gold. Talk about comeback!

Oh, and by the way, there was a 9 point lead (73-64). UE can rant that the first game was a fluke (1 point lead) but this one, definitely you cannot call a fluke.

So even if I feel sorry for UE (no UE jokes here; we can just go back to bashing Ateneo!) I feel that Archers fought the good fight. So, I’ll hold my green head up high because this year, we’ve redeemed ourselves. *Sing now* We are the champions! We are the champions! *tee hee*.

Click on the image below for details of the game. :)


(By the way, if I get my stats wrong, please let me know. Most of these are hearsay. I’m not a big UAAP fan!)

===========

For icing on the cake, I watched the Pacquiao-Barrera game with my relatives, with Manny winning the 12-round. Click here for the details. Hurray for a victorious Sunday!

A night with Duday

Last night, I went out with Kris and Ian. It was a weird but interesting drinking session. This is the first time I hanged out with Ian, although not the first time I met her. She’s the “best man” in Kris and Harv’s wedding. I talked about her a little bit when I blogged about the wedding. Duday is Ian’s screen name in ABS-CBN where she has a couple of acting stints as either a chimay or a contrabida in telenovelas. Cool job diba? She’s also a trainer and currently Kris’ officemate.

Anyway, she’s such a character. She has loads of stories to tell, about showbiz, people in showbiz, about work as a trainer, about her past love, and current life as a mom and wife. Oh, and here’s the clincher. To top it off, she also told stories about her as a fortune teller / psychic. Apparently, she can read auras, energies, and whatnots. It’s stronger when she’s drunk. (Isaac Mendez, less the painting, i-statue?)

Now my logical brain doesn’t believe her. (I told her that, and she says that she understands and almost nobody ever believes her at first anyway, including Kris). But that when she sees pictures in her head sooner or later it comes true. As an example, she predicted Kris and Harv breaking up, getting back together, getting married and having 2 boys. Now the two boys are hard to “predict”, right? And if that happens, maybe I could believe that she does have a gift.

But just to humor her, and myself, I let her read my energy. (I’m blogging about this, para if it comes true, I will remember hehehe). Here’s what she told me:

“You are not yet living your true self. You are living upto other people’s expectations. You tend to contradict yourself because you over-analyze. In fact, you are contradicting yourself right now. You already know your truth when you were a child, but a “maternal figure” told you that you are to make other people happy. This belief stuck, and as a result you tend to live for others and not yourself. You don’t show the real you because that contradicts with what others expect of you or see in you.”

At this point, I told her, I don’t know half of what she’s telling me. I don’t understand how to uncover my calling, and the real me. In fairness to her, I also told her, I can also believe that, but I don’t know what to do about it.

So she goes on to tell me that it’s because I analyze. I come from my head all the time. That’s why I’m always confused. (That makes sense).

I proceeded to ask her about my work. She said:

“Your work right now is not your calling; it’s just something that gets you by. Your calling has something to do with traveling and making a difference. It has nothing to do with what you are doing right now. When you realize what that is, people will contradict you, and say that it’s not going to work. This will cause conflict because you have a tendency to do what people tell you. But eventually you will do that thing that is your calling and you will succeed in it. It’s a noble calling.

(Sounds like a missionary job).

It’s not a missionary job, and it doesn’t seem to be teaching either. But it’s noble.

(So it’s outside Pinas? When do I leave Pinas?)

You will leave permanently by end of 2008. This will come after an epiphany. You will leave when it becomes your decision to leave and not someone else. You are doing it for you. Otherwise, something will always come up.”

She proceeded to hold my hand. And told me about a picture in her head.

“You’re inside a restaurant with a group of people. It’s a small restaurant, and there’s tuna pasta. You’re wearing a ponytail, and you’ve got long hair that’s dry. There’s a guy with blue eyes, wearing a blue shirt and with a crew cut hairstyle. This guy likes you. And you know it. There are also some other blonde people inside the restaurant/table with you.

You’re sharing a polaroid picture with the people around you. In the picture is you wearing some sort of a headrest. The headrest is yellow, red and white with beads. You’re also wearing a bracelet. You look very happy in the picture, as if you have just accomplished something important. There is a black bald kid next to you. You look your happiest in this polaroid.”

At this point it started getting eerie. Maybe because Ian looked so intent. She didn’t seem as if she was pulling my leg. And maybe because it was such a distinct picture that she was telling me.

“I seem to be getting a Romanoff or Romanio in my head. Also Anastasia.”

(Movie? Vodka? Russia?)

We ended up with that. We were to call it a night, till next time.

=====================

My verdict? Well, maybe some part of this is true. Maybe I am bound to travel, search for my calling outside. Meet a guy who is into me, with blue eyes and a crew cut hairstyle. If that’s the case, I look forward to it. Who knows, the polaroid is true, and I’m happiest once I’ve lived it.

But in the meantime, I’ll choose to live in the now. My work may be a question mark, my love life non existent, and my purpose yet to be discovered. I’ll take the “live for myself” to heart though, because that I can control, although not understand yet. I intend to spend a few minutes of silence to meditate about it. And let’s see what comes up for me.

desktop tag

Maeyo tagged me last week, but I haven’t been able to share my desktop. Because I was in the office and my desktop in the office was boring. But I’ll share it anyway.


I told you boring. That’s our company logo. And it’s not a requirement to have our logo in our desktop. But I did it to set an example (as if) haha! Dati nga Mission-Vision pa talaga. I’m trying to commit myself to the company. And it helped before to always be reminded that I’m part of something bigger than myself.

These are my laptop desktops.


The first is mine (under my user name), and the second is for “guest” users. Both pics were taken during my Dubai trip last December. :) As a constant reminder that my dad is the greatest dad in the world for getting me this laptop during that trip! Hahaha! And the second to remind me of my family all the time. Not that I forget (even if I don’t write as often as you want me to). I love looking at the Dubai pics. It’s a rare, rare occasion to have everyone together.

All my desktop are clean. Para lang siyang picture. I hide all the icons para neat. May mga shortcuts lang kung saan saan.

I’m tagging anyone who wants to join. :D Maeyo’s got all the instructions.