Changes

There’s going to be some changes in our department since one of our oldies is resigning. Well she definitely does not look like an oldie but she is one of the girls that has been with us for a long time (and she definitely would kill me if she ever got hold of this post and learn that I called her an oldie!!!). She is well loved too (not just in our department but in other departments) and the usual confidante of the girls here... okay some of the boys too (hehehe.. actually some are too old to be called boys).

Of course we wish her the best on her new job but we certainly would miss her, after all she’s family.

I was just thinking of the events that led to her resignation…

She got promoted and she was happy, the promotion was a blessing…

The payroll people congratulated her BUT also asked her (with a certain tone in their voice) why she was promoted only now when another who is very fairly new was also promoted… ahh their sarcastic tone made her think… and you know how it is when you start having an internal dialogue… you play the thought in your mind over and over again and you get affected more and more… so now the promotion was no longer a blessing but has become something negative…

She cried and told her husband and other family what she felt and has decided to resign… definitely something negative…

Her sis-in-law heard of her resignation and told her of a vacancy in her company and so she went and immediately got the job which pays a lot better than what she’s having! Ahh so it has become a blessing again, her sis-in-law would never have asked her if she did not know of her intent to resign…

Monday she starts with her new company… what happens next with her, we don’t really know but we could always hope for the best… and what happens to our department, now that she’s gone… well we would survive but things would not be the same anymore…

I once got an email on people telling a man that events in his life is a blessing or a curse but he would say you can’t really say…

I think all events in life are blessings… even problems are, for they are actually opportunity in workman’s clothes as someone put it. Even negative emotions are sometimes necessary since it pushes you to do something you would not normally do (of course it is another thing if you drown it)… So changes are always good if you take them as an opportunity and an adventure…

To end this post, i thought i'd post one of our photos... This one is for Jane. We wish her the best and thank her for being part of our audit family!


May you do well in your next battle... i mean journey!!!

Pancit

I was preparing to go to work when mama said she was going to prepare pancit today since it is my sister’s birthday. My sister is in Australia right now but any birthday in the family deserves some special meal and pancit (stir fried noodles) seems to be the usual choice since it is easy to prepare, a complete food (noodles,veggies and meat) and as the saying goes “pampahaba ng buhay” (makes life longer)!

Then I heard her ask if she will have to prepare something again tomorrow since it will be my brother’s birthday and I told her to prepare pancit today, then we can have chicken tomorrow and something else (more preparation this time) the next days since my brother’s son will be turning 7 the next day and yet another son will be turning 1 the day after… Arghhhh… a lot of eating! But there’s still more, for on the 12th of July is our youngest’ birthday and on the 15th her daughter’s birthday.. and we had just celebrated 2 of my nieces birthday on the 2nd and 17th of this month… lots of birthdays in our family these days, no wonder I have been adding lotsa pounds lately (which is good anyway!)

Through the years we have always kept the practice of preparing something everytime someone celebrates a birthday. It is not really a big thing and foods are really not that elaborate. I guess it is just an act of affirming our sense of family. And the celebration does not only include those who are around but also includes birthdays of family who are far from us and even those who have gone to the next life.

Those around (near our home) would join in the get-together celebration and if you can’t make it with the family on time you still share in the left-over (actually they segregate something for you before hand) when you get home… I’ll definitely be having left-over but for sure it would be a lot since they know how much I love pancit! And even if we are not physically together on the special days with some of our loved ones… in our hearts we celebrate the special day together…and I always ask God for special blessings for them!

Ninang

I became a ninang (godmother) to my nephew in his wedding last week and I was finally able to use the make up I bought which I talked about in my earlier post.

I had a weird experience when I bought the make-up and I also had a pretty cool experience during the wedding... actually it was already after the wedding…

After we threw the rose petals when the newly wed reached the church door, I noticed a cute mini cooper parked in front of the church. There was no hurry going to the reception since it was just at the function hall below the church plus the bride and groom were still going to have a phto shoot in different parts of the church, so i decided to have my own photo shoot too... hehehe...

I asked my brother to take my picture beside the car. It was windy and my brother was taking a long time to take one shot… just one shot…so my poncho was blown and turned into a shawl.
The owner of the car approached us after my brother was finally able to take the shot… Yikes! Did he get mad at me for posing beside his car???

Nope! He wasn't mad at all, instead he asked if I would like to have my picture taken also inside his car. I hesitated but when he opened the door and took out his bag in the front seat… I could not refuse! I’ve never been inside a small car.. oh okay, we had a volkswagen for a long long time but this is definitely lots smaller than our volks!

See? I would not really fit in the car but the car was really cute! Nice color too since it matched my sandals and bag…hehehe…

I've got a boyfriend???

More than a week ago, my brother’s help said that somebody gave me a bread. It was a big bread! I asked from whom it came from and she mentioned a name which I don’t know. I asked “are you sure it is for me?” and she said “yes” she added that the guy who gave it said that it came from my boyfriend. A boyfriend??? I do not even know who the guy is and now she was saying that it came from my boyfriend.

I had two thoughts… either the bread was not really meant for me or someone admires me… anyway, I just told them not to eat the bread since we really do not know from whom it came from… for all we know it might have a gayuma (a love potion) in it… hehehe… or it may be poisoned… well you’ve got to think of all possibilities!

However, the next day, I noted that they have already cut the bread and ate it… well all of them are still alive today.. What can I say, people in my home have an adventurous spirit…

Though, I was amused at the bread, I really did not give it much thought until last Thursday. I went to Nueva Ecija and when I got home late, I noted a small package in the table with my name and address in it. The package was wrapped in magazine paper. I asked from whom it came from and someone said that she just found it in our garage. SO I opened it and what did I find inside? No note… but a small figurine of a girl and a barber’s razor (but without a blade)… I was a bit spooked. Why would someone give me that??? Is someone mad at me and wants to harm me or is someone just getting tired of looking at my messy hair and wants me to use a razor to fix it up???

I am hoping for the latter… my hair is soooo dry these days and it goes in all direction and I hope this is what the person was implying at... that i have to keep my hair neat!!! Anyway, this package drew discussion among my family members and they have identified the possible person who gave it. I don’t know the guy but they say that the guy is a bit mental but he is harmless… and the discussion revealed that this is the same guy from where a small package I found also in our garage last year came from. It was not actually a package but a stainless cross wrapped in small brown paper with a note in it addressed to Beth with the name of the sender. We wondered whether it was meant for me or someone else. We can’t really figure out what the note meant but at least now we know that the package was not just left there for someone but was really intended for me…

My brother-in-law knows the guy and he said he already told him not to send me anymore gifts… now I don’t really know if his talk helped since he told the guy not to send any more gifts because I was getting married… Yikes!!!

Guess

My youngest sister accompanied me to the mall today for a make-up test (hehehe… not an examination in school.. I’ve been out of school for a loooooooooooooooong time!!!), am not really sure how it is called but we went to the cosmetics counter to have my face “made up” by the consultant there since I was going to buy a make up set.

So what’s the big deal in buying a make up? Well, I don’t really wear make up and you can count the times I’ve worn make up in my hands… oh ok, I do wear a powder, I use the pressed “white” powder of VMV since my face is really sensitive. If I had no problem with my skin, then I wouldn’t wear any at all.

So why buy make up? Well I am going to be GODMOTHER in my nephew’s wedding comes Wednesday and I have to fix myself… You can’t really wear a gown (ahem… that’s another thing I don’t do also wearing a gown… but then again, there’s a first time to everything! And since no ready made gown would fit me particularly the length, I have to have one made for me… and it is a loooooooooooooong gown!!!)

Anyway, that’s not really my story but something else. So, me and my sister went to the cosmetics counter of VMV and had the girl there make me… I did not like the first thing that she did, it was just a combination of the skin savvy and foundation (not really complete) but I felt so MADE UP… when I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt like I was looking at the made up face of a corpse!!! No way, I’m going to have that so I went to the washroom and washed my face. Really felt sighing when I got back but I have to push through with this… so we tried another time. This time, I used my hands to put on the “liquid” skin savvy and things was starting to look a bit better… and while we are EXPERIMENTING on my face, a lady and a boy sat beside me… they were just there and then their older woman companion came too. I did not notice the lady and the boy leave but the woman stayed on… she was just watching me. I told her nicely that I felt uncomfortable being watched but she just stayed on.. then she was already making suggestions as to the make up. She told me “Ilongga Ka?” (Are You Ilongga?), I asked, are you from Iloilo? And she said no, she is Waray (I think that will be from either Samar or Leyte). I told her, my father is from Negros (though I could speak the dialect, I did not really stay there and I don’t think I have an Ilonggo accent). Well she would not leave so I sort of got used to her just staying around and watching… She asked why I was having my my face made up and I said I am going to be a godmother… and she said hmmm… maybe "you’re the one who is getting married…" and I said "No!"... anyway, she was making small talks and I focused myself on the mirror when I suddenly realized she was already on my other side (my left side)… then she got my left hand… (ahhh.. that woman was really getting comfortable with me and I wasn’t really encouraging her) and she said “You are good at saving”, then she took my other hand and said that “I have long life”… now my sister and the consultant was also curious, I was amused… she did not stop and continued that I am going to get married but it will not last long (yikes, who would want to get married if it ain’t going to last long!!!) then also added that I was going to marry somebody from different shore (now what shore does she mean)… ah my sister’s interest was certainly caught and she extended her hands too so she could look it over… she asked a few things and funny, she was right… the consultant couldn’t help herself from showing her hands too and she answered her question… she asked another thing (which I could not remember now and the woman said that for that she would need CARDS)… I was focused on having the proper combination for my face so I could buy my first make up set (gosh this cost me a lot… actually the whole wedding has cost me a lot already and that doesn’t even include the gift.. oh well) and now I have my own set… my very first make up set!!!

I lost my attention on the woman and focused on the make up so we could already leave… I was there long but at least I did not really waste the time of the consultant… actually, I totally forgot about the woman… but comes supper time my sister brought out the topic and the other siblings were teasing me… my sister also added that after the woman talked to us, she left. I did not notice it that time but it is true… she left.

My brother and sister-in-law have their theories… of course they are theories and telling about them here will take a longer note and this is already very long and I promised myself to sleep early and it already late…

Anyway just a last thought on the matter… we call the woman here “manghuhula”, her equivalent in English is a “fortune teller”. “Hula” means guess... so a manghuhula should mean a guesser… hehehe.. was she a good guesser? Only time will tell!

I find it curious though that English or Americans (or whatever) would call them “fortune teller” and not “fate teller” while we would call them "guessers". So which one would be more correct???

Well I don’t really believe in fortune telling or in "Hula" but I would admit I was entertained… I guess too entertained that I even broke my commitment of going to sleep early so I could write about it :-)))

I seek you

I haven’t used ICQ for quite a while but it is the chat program I actually like best since I have found really good friends there, mostly through random search.

I realized that it has been 5 years since I started with ICQ and I thought I’d put a nice post using their message in a bottle series which I really am crazy about. Those greeting cards are really cute. YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE SOUND so be sure the speakers are on!!! And since they are sort of interactive, you’ve got to open the bottle before the message unfolds. And for the last message be sure to click on all the petals for you to really fall in love!

Okay too much talk, here goes my thought on ICQ:

ICQ is a cool place, if you’re lucky you get to meet really nice people even in random chat and you begin to really LIKE them. You talk and you get to be involved in their lives and are really happy when they do something great that you immediately send your CONGRATULATIONS once you learn about it... if you’re well-off you’d probably send them real gifts but sometimes even VIRTUAL FLOWERS expresses the intentions nicely. Of course you also see the downsides of their lives and sometimes in your talks you could easily sense their anger… oh not towards you but to someone else that you’d immediately tell them to just relax and CHILL OUT and let the anger pass… of course sometimes you hurt them too with your remarks and you’d feel so SORRY about it… sometimes even if you don’t intend to, words come across differently and you hurt them and you don’t really know about it…and it happens the other way around too! For there are times that they can piss you off too and you become ANGRY…

Even in virtual space you experience different emotions! You feel happy.. you learn.. you grow.. you face crisis and ask whether you want to go on with your friendship or not!

You try to get to know the other person well and sometimes the feeling doesn’t just stop on friendship but goes beyond.. you FALL IN LOVE…

And that’s the time you decide whether you want to just keep your relationship in virtual space or beyond... for FALLING IN LOVE is a nice feeling but staying in love requires commitment that goes beyond virtual space!

Filipina