Beside the Creek

My neighbor alex is celebrating her 8th year in one place, and as I told her, this has made me nostalgic.

I spent close to a decade in the same company. About a humble half of which was spent doubting whether I was in the right place. It was not so much that I did not like what I was doing because I did. I really did. I think it was more of me not seeing my place in the organization. I always felt that I was just there - that I was a conduit to getting results achieved. Parang medium ng mga lost souls, sasaniban to get a message across, tapos iiwanan ng lupaypay pag natapos na ang seance.

Anyway, I think the reason why I stayed on was because of the friendships I developed through the years. Parang pill box ang 10 years ko doon - may separators to indicate a time line.

The best group of friends I had was Ronald and the Lab Girls. Sila yung unang set of friends ko who made sense to me and who I really could share good laughs with. Up until now, sila pa rin ang pinaka pinaka na-enjoy ko kasama.

I also developed good friendships with the HR people. There were perks with being chummy with the HR - you get inside scoops and stories. The downside lang is, you never can really tell anybody about the secrets.. and well, secrets are just much juicier if you share them di ba?

Then during the later years, I had the chance to get to know the new generation of employees. They were a few years younger and well, I was a bitch by then already so I probably wouldn't have won miss congeniality. But they were quite a brave bunch - they let me join a few lunch outs and who knows, they may have gottten disappointed that I wasn't much of the bitch that I seemed to be.

So when friends started moving on and going away, I started to lose the joy of being where I was. And then things happened, decisions were made, promises were blurred and it just all together stopped being a happy place for me.

And here I am now. Looking back to where I was 3 years ago, not with the same heavy heart I used to have, but with a mix of gladness for people who have found their own real joy there and sadness for those who are just trapped with nowhere to go.

Horton is a Who - by Dr. Sus

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Horton is neither me nor you... but will most likely remind you and me of somebody we know, have known, and will know. While Horton is portrayed as a simple girl, I am sure a part of her exists in most of us - me included. We all are sometimes consumed by our own conviction of how good we are that we forget that life is a convoluted collaboration of the strengths and weakness of each of us.

We appear strong when others are weak, and we appear weak when others are strong.

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Horton works for a cookie shop - she doesn't quite get it why it's called a cookie shop when they sell more cakes than cookies. Every morning when she gets in, she wonders about this. You see, Horton enjoys baffling herself about simple things. I think part of it is because really, her mind can only figure out so much.

One damp Susday, Horton gets an email. MasterChef upstairs is asking her to write down all she knows about the cookie shop and what she has learned for the past many years that she has been working for the cookie shop.

Horton jumps up with joy. Finally, she thinks MasterChef will make her the cookie shop head.

Well, actually, Horton is absolutely convinced she is about to make it as the cookie shop head.

"Finally" Horton thinks to herself "I will be Cookie Shop Big Master."

Horton has conveniently forgotten the time she bagged peanut brownies instead of the giant cookies for Mrs. Wilmster and Mrs. Wilmster had to be taken to the hospital for allergies. Horton also did not remember when she spilled fresh milk on the floor which caused little old Mister Yokel to slip and sport leg braces for months. Nor did Horton thought about mixing old cookie batches with new ones causing a wave of customer returns.

No, Horton does not think of these things. She believes in her heart that all these dark clouds - as she prefers to refer to them - happened because her stars where not aligned right on those days.

"Sometimes stars do that" she tells herself "they get jumpy and forget to follow their path and dark clouds happen."

Horton will never, ever accept that Mrs. Wilmster, Mr. Yokel and the customer return line happened because she was just not paying attention to what she was doing. No, it was not her fault. It was the stars.

So when MasterChef wanted her list, she walked around the cookie shop the whole day feeling like the big boss. She ordered people around. She refused to pack cookies, serve customers and much more, bus the tables.

If she is going to be The Big Boss, she has to start acting like one.

And act like one she did. She passed blame, found excuses, wasted time sitting around and basically did nothing to help in running the cookie shop.

"Horton The BIG BOSS has arrived." she hummed silently to herself.

She really was loving every minute of it.

Horton found new skills she did not know she had.

She can pass on work to others and get credit for them.

She can turn a blind eye to dirty floor and tables and wait until somebody else picked up the mop and rag to clean up.

She can point a finger to someone else whenever an unhappy customer comes up to complain.

She can chit chat with the customers without really convincing the customers to buy the new cookie treats to increase the cookie shop sales.

And Horton truly believed in her heart that she had what it takes to run the Cookie Shop...

Charice

I like the black dress with the green bow. She's not only improving her diction (did you see clips of her touring us on her "previous life" in Laguna on the recent Oprah? humahaba na ang english sentences nya ha), she apparently has gotten herself a stylist as well.

Me thinking I want to have a similar dress made. :)

18,652,000.00

That is how much Hugh Laurie will earn per epidode starting Season 5. Eighteen Million Six Hundred Fifty Pesos... per episode.

While I sit and watch tv, this man earns money that even my imagination will not be able to spend in the course of one episode.

9/11 = 7/11

Kagabi sabi ni anak,

Anak: Mommy, alam ko na bakit 7-11 ang name ng 7-11.

Ako : Bakit?

Anak: Kse daw may dalawang tower sa america na magkamukha na mataas. Tapos may bumagsak na airplane dun sa tower. Tapos yung tower bumagsak. Shoosh! Eh may store dun sa ibaba ng tower na nabagsakan. Kaya 7-11 na sya.

Ulan

Setyembre na, umuulan pa.

Naalala ko nung elementary ako, ang malalakas na ulan bumabagsak pag June. Kasabay ng pagbili ng mga nokbuks at pag linya ng margin sa mga nokbuks na nabili - shet! remember those times? na ang 100 leaves na notebook kailangan mong linyahan ng red ink sa right hand side? as in, isa-isa-isa mong lilinyahan!! - teka, naligaw na ang thought ko...

rewind...

so anyway, kasabay ng pagbili ng nokbuks, pipili ka na rin ng plastic raincoat at pag sinwerte, bibilhan ka pa ni lola ng pulang bota pang sugod sa baha. araw araw dala-dala mo ang mga pang ulan mo. payong, raincoat at bota. mula unang araw ng pasukan hanggang mga july. pag dating ng august, paminsan minsan na lang. pag dating ng september, hindi mo na makita nasaan na ang mga pang ulan mo. tinago mo na sa ilalim ng kama ni lola.

ngayon, parang all year round dapat may payong ka sa bag. sobrang unpredictable ng weather. walang tulong ang Pag-Asa. panahon pa ni Amado Pineda, screwed up na ang weather vane ng pag-asa.mas magaling pa ata si Tessie Tomas mag predict ng weather!

don't get me wrong. i like rain. i like cold weather. i love the depressing mood rain puts me in. i enjoy the gloom of dark clouds overhead. ang hindi ko enjoy ay ang walang masakyang jeep, ang baha, ang traffic at ang pinaka sa lahat ng pinaka - ang pag volt in ng tatlong ito: ang paglusong sa baha dahil walang jeep na bumabyahe dahil lahat sila na stuck sa traffic!

Grrr

I have had my Citibank Visa Card for more than a decade. I use it the American Express way - as a charge card. Meaning, I pay my dues in full every due date. No outstanding balances, no carry overs. No interest earning utangs.

You would think Citibank would appreciate my loyalty and timely payments by giving me perks. Hell, no!

I never had my annual fees waived. I use my accumulated points.

One time, I forgot to pay on time. I called Citibank the next day to request for penalty waiver, and they refused. I threatened to cancel my card and what did they do? Transferred me to the card cancellation division. The nerve!

After more yakking from me, the (un) fortunate person on the other end of the line, agreed to waive the late penalty.

Today, I tried getting the Citibank Shell Card for the gas rebates. And here's what I get - more annual fees. Apparently, if you are a new applicant with no existing Citibank card, you get free one year use. If you have an existing card, you pay the annual fees. Kapikon!

Memory Gap

We've come up with a simple game in the office where everyone tries to outdo each other by naming former showbiz personalities.  The catch is you can NOT name the sikat ones.  You have to name somebody obscure enough to have mostly faded away, but yet not too obscure that nobody has a recollection.  The name has to at least make you go - "OO NGA!!!" 

Here's some of the names that came up and gave us a good laugh:

1. Michael Locsin

2. Boy Garcia Jr

3. Manolet Ripol

4. Bimbo Bautista

5. Mon Alvir

6. Jovit Moya

7. Joed Serrano

8. Mutya Crisostomo

9. Michael Laygo

10. Dennis da Silva

11. Jean Young (spin-a-win!)

12. Precious Hipolito

13. Jaypee De Guzman

14. Babette Villaruel (say-say-say!)

15. Boy C. De Guia

the game is never ending. and well, nobody really wins. but we all get really good laughs out of this mental exercise. :)

Sharpener

Dahil nanay ka, kailangan mong gawin ang mga ito:

1. Itapon ang mga "kusot" na naipon sa loob ng sharpener ni anak na likha ng galit na galit na pagtasa ng lapis ni anak nung nasa paaralan sya kanina.

2. Siguraduhing tama ang mga kwaderno at librong dadalhin nya sa paaralan. Maniwala kayo, malaking isyu sa anak pag hindi mo napadala ang tamang notebook. Mas malaking isyu pag mali ang naipadala mo!

3. Tanggalin ang nagamit na panyo na nakabungkos sa kailalim-laliman ng bag ni anak. Sa hindi mo mawaring dahilan, ang panyo na nilalagay mo sa bulsa ng uniporme tuwing umaga, napapadpad sa loob ng bag.

4. Sulatan ng pangalan ang bawat isang piraso ng lapis, colored pencil, eraser, glue, gunting at ruler na dinadala sa paaralan. Hindi ito katiyakan na hindi mawawala ang mga gamit ni anak, pero wala lang, kailangan mo lang gawin.

5. Punasan ang loob ng plastic cover ng notebook, dahil ang mga libag ng binurang maling naisulat dumikit sa gitna ng plastic at ng matigas na notebook cover.

6. Tanggalin at palitan ang mga naunanong lapis sa pencil case. Magtasa ng bagong lapis.

Pag naiisip ko itong mga ginagawa kong ito natatawa ako. Maliliit na bagay lang naman, pero kung hindi mo gagawin, sinong gagawa?

The happy burden of motherhood! :)

SapinSapin

Dahil blog ko ito, I can bore you with details of my life. Ano nga bang pinagkakabalahan ko lately?

1. Facebooking. Ang daming apps. Nakakatuwa. Recommended productive way of wasting time. Pag tinanong ako ng boss ko anong na-accomplish ko at the end of the day, pwede kong ipagmayabang - that i discovered my stripper name is Mimi Moonbutton. Kung kilala nyo ako, matatawa kayo dito. Very apt. Haha

2. Top Shuffled Songs - Crush (haha), 7 things (mas haha), No Air, Tatoo, One Step at a time

3. I got overdosed with semantics today. "We are not losing business, we are transitioning." , "We are returning back the business". Corporate level jargon. Top Management chuvaness. All means the same thing though - we are losing a big fish.

4. Polo Ralph Lauren Home's first season with us has finally closed. First PO released today. Official na sya talaga. Nagbunga ang stress ko. Mala-aratillis na bunga - maliit pero matamis.

5. I have so much gas, I can start a fire. Gawd.