Picture this

It is a Friday. The height of month close. (the busiest time of the month for us, number crunchers).

You have tons of work to finish with barely five hours to the (supposed) end of regular office hours.

Your boss sends you new files to review for the other new reports you need to work on and complete within the day.

You have severe colds. Your throat is sore. You are sleepy and exhausted.

Your friends will be waiting for you at the bus station later in the evening for a weekend trip to Baguio* that took months to plan.

You now have a slight fever.

Underneath your desk is a backpack ready for that trip.

You want so much to join your friends. But you know you’re better off resting.

Your eyes are getting heavier every minute. You just feel so weak. Too tired to give in to the frustration.

Oh, did I mention that the President declared Monday as a special non-working holiday. Read: vacation in Baguio extended!

Tomorrow, when you are feeling much better, you will try to do the reports that you can’t.. no!…you didn’t want to work on the day before.

Tomorrow, when you are feeling much better, you will try to remember which fateful day you got the darned virus.

Let me know how I should feel because I am just too tired to feel anything right now.

*I am so not in the mood to describe to you what Baguio is. Go search the web or something

My number one

I felt so bad when I realized that I did not include music in my list of favorite things! What a boo boo!

But then I guess, my most favorite thing deserves its separate blog post.

OK so, I started to write down my favorite songs...

But, I didn't know where to start..

I was worried that I might miss out some artist or some song.. and i would end up feeling bad again.

So i decided against it.

Maybe i will just post an entry when a song or artist comes to mind.

Well, this song has been playing in head each morning. So, I might as well share its beautiful lyrics.


Buy Me A Rose

He works hard to give her all the things he thinks she wants
But it tears her apart ‘cause nothing’s for her heart
He pulls in late to wake her up with a kiss goodnight
If he could only read her mind, she’d say

Buy me rose, call me from work
Open a door for me, what would it hurt
Show me you love me by the look in your eyes
These are the little things I need the most in my life

Now the days have grown to years of feeling all alone
As she sits and wonders if all she’s doing is wrong
‘Cause lately she’d try anything to turn his head
Would it make a difference if she said, if she said

Buy me rose, call me from work
Open a door for me, what would it hurt
Show me you love me by the look in your eyes
These are the little things I need the most in my life

And the more that he lives the less that he tries
To show her the love that he holds inside
And the more that she gives the more that he sees
This is the story of you….and me

So I bought you a rose on the way home from work
To open the door to a heart that I hurt
And I hope you notice this look in my eyes
Cause I’m gonna make things right for the rest of your life

And I’m gonna hold you tonight
Do all those little things for the rest of your life

By Luther Vandross
**************

Lovely song. Soulful lyrics.
I guess the key phrase here is "little things".
I won't get any argument from the ladies, I am sure.

My Favorite Things

Letterman has his own daily top ten.
Oprah has her Favorite Things.
Why can't I have my own list?
Hear me out!

1) My red pashmina shawl

Actually, it is blood red. I got it from a friend last Christmas. I just love how this color suits my skin tone. Never mind that blood red isn’t exactly a color to wear during summer months. I just use it in the office where temperature is freezing most of the time.

2) My floral slip-ons
Summer time is always a time to buy those comfy, girlie shoes. It goes well with light colored pants or shorts. Very feminine. I love it. I love it. I love it.

3) Earrings
Dangling earrings, that is. I usually go for the contemporary, reliable set of earrings – a pearl stud, a white gold hoop earrings and a gold snap earrings. But things changed last year.

My love affair with dangling earrings began over six months ago. It is quite a long but interesting story. I will save that for another blog entry. Needless to say, my good, ol’ reliable earrings are kept safe in a box. For now, let me just relish in my assortment of dangling earrings. Very pretty. Reasonably priced too (umm most of what I have are gifts!).

4) Fruit Magic - Pineapple and carrot juice.
(Blueberry shake coming in close second)
A daily dose of beta carotene, vitamin A and C will keep the doctor away. ( I hope)

5) Café Mocha at Starbucks (preferably steaming hot)

Coffee lovers, need I say more?

6) My blue, halter nightdress that my landlady gave to me for Christmas.
How feminine and comfortable.

7) My orange beanbag

Couch potatoes, help me out.

8) Ice monster. Finely crushed ice with fruits on top and just the right amount of milk. Perfectly refreshing dessert. It knows no season.

9) Nike crème colored fisherman’s hat.
Very chic. Don't you just love kris kringles?

10) Books – the latest one is entitled Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. Definitely a good read.

Half of the list are gifts. I guess that is why they are my favorite things.

Light Bulb Moments

A recent post in a friend’s blog talked about trying in vain to solve a cube puzzle (I really can’t and don’t want to describe the thing). After two hours of futile attempts, he decides to give up. Then the day after, just when he is about to return the puzzle to its owner, he thought of giving it one more shot and… within minutes, he effortlessly solves it.

I call that a light bulb moment. Or eureka moment. A light flashes before you (well to some, it may just be a flicker) and then, suddenly, you know.

I’ve had moments like that. When life passes like a blur. You have gotten so used to the haze that you think the road is as clear as day. You just try to live and move on. And then, voila! You get it.

Sometimes, what you get is a happy conclusion. Other times, a sad realization.

Just recently, a light bulb moment brought me to both ends...…happiness…..delight…..and also, sadness….acceptance…..pain.

Light bulb moment… .Hmmmmm….. Wisdom

My somber mind

To be on the edge of your chair yet strangely, at peace.

Finally, I found the words to describe my state of mind.

There have been a lot of events that have pushed me towards the edge of my chair the last few months. The latest would be the job application with the pharma company. Yet strangely so, I feel calm.

I remember telling a friend a few weeks ago that I am worried because I don’t feel anxious over the application. Usually, I would be at my wit’s end, biting my nails in anticipation and ready to wail in frustration.

My friend understood what I meant. “You are at peace”, he said.

Peace, there’s that word again.

“He will keep in perfect peace him whose heart is steadfast because he trusts in Him.”

One of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Peace indeed, results from the decision to trust in God. Paula Rinehart, the author of the book I am reading, expounded a little further by saying, peace results from knowing that you are loved.

I am loved.

Sure, I am loved by family and friends.

But most of all, I am loved by God.

It is a given. All that one needs to do is either ignore it or embrace its reality.

My indulgence

“Hi! How are you? Did I miss your birthday? Or is it next week??”

I laughed when I got this text message from Lot, one of my closest friends in high school. (forgetting birthdays, our common trait)

I replied, “ Am good. No you haven’t missed it. Yes, it is next week. Still have time to buy me a gift”

After the usual updates, I send her a message:

“Why don’t we meet next week..You can buy me dinner.”

We haven’t seen each other in over a year, so I was confident I won’t rebuffed.

“No problem!” GREAT!

This morning, I got a series of emails from my college friends who are cooking up something for my birthday celeb. Cool, I thought. One is the designated driver, the other one is going to make reservations. Did I mention that I am with a highly organized group of friends? I only had to show up.

After a while, I got another text message from another friend: “hello dear, how was the mission trip? When are we going to meet?” Long story, short. I go to their place for dinner. Great! Hmm. We haven’t seen each other in six months!

Then a message from yet another friend, “As promised, the free Repertory tickets are with me. Friday, 8pm. Since you’re the birthday girl, you should buy me dinner.” (This is the problem with friends you see most of the time.)

Ah, I have to negotiate this one. I’d hate to break momentum.

Next week might just be seven days of pure gastronomic delight.. with calories to boot!

Being Safe

On Feeling Safe

Oh the comfort,
the inexpressible comfort,
Of feeling safe with a
person.
Having neither to weigh thoughts,
nor measure words--
But
pouring them
all right out,
Chaff and grain together.
Certain that a
faithful hand
will take and sift them,
Keep what is worth keeping
And with a breath of kindness,
Blow the rest away.

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik


Thanks, Beng for posting this. I love it! Nothing more to say lest I risk becoming mushy.

A day in the life

30 minutes, 135 cal, 2.7 kms

I stared at the stats of the treadmill machine and looked at the mirror in front of me. It sure looked like more than half an hour to me! And 135 calories! All that running and I only used up 135 calories! To think it only takes less time to have that much calories back.

I wanted to do another set of 30 minutes. It has been awhile since I visited the gym (count: two months). I felt like I needed to “catch up” . But nah. That won’t work.!

I went to the other machines, concentrating on the lower extremeties. Doing more than 3 sets on each machine. My overeagerness is getting the better of me, I knew that. So after a while, I decided to do the usual stretches before hitting the shower.

Now the fun part! Lunch with my gym buddies! Of course, I was with my weight conscious friends so I dutifully ordered salad and soup. Lunch stretched to more than 2 hours. Girl talk really eats up a huge amount of time.

Then back home to do some domestic chores before going back to the mall to catch a movie with a friend from college, Gilda. This time we talked about her new golden retriever she bought from someone who apparently is a distant relative. She is thinking of returning the puppy because of a minor fault (they call it fault) in one of its hind legs.

Gilda: Should I return the puppy and exchange it for a better one?

Drifter: Sure. The owner did say you can return if there is something wrong.

Gilda: But I have grown attached to him the three days he is with me. What if there is no more available puppy as cute as he is?

Drifter: Then, don’t exchange him. (see how I helpful I can be)

Gilda: But what if this is just a symptom of a disease? Plus, it has only been three days, I am not too attached, really.. Problem is: I got it for 1/3 its market price because the owner is a relative. Am I not being too ungrateful?

Drifter: (this time I was giving her a smirk)
What do you really want?
(I am really poor at beating around the bush)

The conversation went on and on until finally, she asked me:

Gilda: What would you do if you were in my place?

Drifter: I will keep him. (and I smiled)

She thought I was just bluffing. She has known me a long time but still find it hard to figure out when she will take me seriously. After a while, I convinced her that I was serious about keeping puppy.

I haven’t asked Gilda what her final decision is. I hope she would keep him. Limp or no limp. I can’t wait to see the puppy. A golden retriever!!!

Oh by the way, the next day, my legs were so sore (thanks to my exaggerated sense of duty to catch up on lost time at the gym) , I couldn’t walk straight!!

He's just not that into you

It is a title of a book from the writers of Sex and the City.

Ophrah said these are the six words that will save you years of therapy.

It is a phrase that my very dear friend Noel loved to say to his lady friends (myself included) who tend to overanalyze dates, phone calls, text messages or invitations from the ‘men’ in their lives.

Noel always tells me that a guy’s approach in a relationship or a potential relationship is simple. It is either a go or no-go. Yes or no. If he loves you, he will say it and will do something about it, if he is not sure, then he is not sure. Consider that a No. You can wait for the guy to make up his mind -- by that, women usually mean we wait for the guy to say he loves us and that he is ready for a commitment --

Or we can, move on. Of course, even a simple text message sent to us a week after a date, can make us throw these principles out of the window and go back to hoping that maybe, just maybe, he is interested and that he is just too busy to call.

I remember someone telling me that a man is never too busy for the woman he loves. Busy, according to the book’s authors, is a relationship weapon of mass destruction. The author says, if he is not calling you or sending you messages or not giving you enough time, then he is not thinking about you. whoa!

If he always says he is too busy, he is just not that into you.

Enough said.

Free tickets part 2

My friend Kaye said her friend from the newspaper is sending free tickets again and that he has been bugging her, asking stuff about me. She is so excited, like she is working on her usual PR project. She says we blend together. He is the coffee and I, the cream, giving reference to our skin color. And she says she is so happy she is my friend. Thanks to the freebies..

Kaye boasts that she is a great matchmaker and has a very high batting average. Hmmm...From where I stand, that remains to be seen.

Interesting sub plot

I think I forgot to mention that the Repertory free tickets came from my friend’s friend who works for a newspaper’s advertising division. He is the advertising manager. The company is a regular sponsor of Repertory Philippines.

My friend, Kaye, tells me she knows her friend well enough to know that he likes me. And honestly, we hit it off the instant we met. He is a charmer. He draws people to himself (he is in advertising, remember?). He throws great punch lines and it wasn’t so difficult to like him. Yeah, he made me laugh aloud. That was only after 15 minutes of meeting him. Even my friend says she was surprised that I did not have the shy, reserved demeanor that I usually have with people I just met. She was fishing for a reaction, I just smiled.

Kaye says, thanks to me, we will definitely have a steady supply of Repertory tickets from hereon. Works for me!

Of course, she had to say that he is single and available and that he is choir director at the church where he regularly attends…

Imagine my smile.......(i wonder if he likes Ella Fitzgerald's music)

I wonder when the next Rep play would be…


P.S.
I liked him but...i don't know....I am sure that my friend can sense that I just liked talking to him...A potentially good friendship sometimes fail to flourish because well-meaning friends attempt to spice it up with a little romance .

Sound trip

Last week’s mission trip, the workload and the case presentation is now taking a toll on me. My strength is zapped! That is why I was so excited when I got a call from my friend inviting me to watch a play Friday night. Free tickets! Yesss…!

Music always relaxes me. I get a high each time my colleague lets me hear some of his CDs culled from different genres. Yesterday, he gave me Cool Summer Jazz CD.. I loved the songs! Special mention to Luther Vandross’ Amazing, Julie London’s Fly me to the moon. And there is Louis Armstrong, Earl Klugh..But the song that had me spellbound, and thus my favorite for the moment, is Ella Fitzgerald’s “Every time we say goodbye”…Well, my grandparents or maybe my parents may have been her fans but I only hear her name as one of the music industry’s legends…Then I heard her voice….wow!

I have this weird habit of listening to the same song over and over and over again until I learn the lyrics. So, from 1pm to 4pm, all I was listening to was that song from Fitzgerald. That is why I had to have earplugs otherwise my officemates’ ears would bleed to death hearing one song for hours! ..Of course by the end of the day, I knew the lyrics already.

As I write, my officemate has his speakers at full blast listening to 80’s music…SOS, Madonna, Rick Astley, Luther Vandross, etc…That is what I love about working on Saturdays, we can have the speaker at full volume! Oh yeah, of course we have to submit reports that our boss expects to see in his inbox Sunday morning...I almost forgot about that..*lol*