Clam chowder for the highly strung_#4

Food for a drifter’s heart

 

1.)        Blessed are those that have air conditioning in their homes, for theirs is a more comfortable night’s sleep.

2.)        Blessed are those that have comfortable night’s sleep even without air conditioning, for theirs is a lower electric bill. 

3.)        A team building activity to be held at Boracay can make you wish you never left your old department. Arrggh.

4.)        It is never wise to exchange sensitive conversation via the email. It may find its way to the wrong Inbox.  

5.)        It can take forever to dress up for work when you have an affectionate, energetic, uber cute 3-year old angel of a nephew following you around while chanting “Mahal kita, Tita Gina.”

6.)        Watching eight consecutive episodes of House, MD makes for one paranoid viewer… and extremely tired eyes.

7.)        A few tiny steps up the corporate ladder can make a mini monster out of some people.

8.)        Amazing how people can overlook infidelity for as long as work is not compromised. (#%&&!!??!)

9.)        When your train goes through a dark tunnel, it would idiotic to jump off.  You only have to sit tight.  (Corrie Ten Boom, paraphrased) 

10.)      A very fast eater spending lunch time with an extremely slow eater (with stories in between bites!!) can be torture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime

Did the hiring manager like me enough to hire me?

Not sure about that..

..Yet..

But he liked me enough to endorse me to the big boss for a final interview.

Sigh. 

I honestly thought that last week was my final interview (he is after all, already a director) but it appears that there are two of us short-listed for the post.

So, the country head gets to have his two cents’ worth before they decide which one to hire.

Meantime, I don’t think I have mentioned that our organization is undergoing major ‘movements up there’.   

Several VPs and Directors of the other departments in the New York ‘mother ship’ got the axe in line with Big Boss Shawie’s announcement early this year to ‘reduce layers’  

It appears that our group is the last one to release the announcements.

My redefined role soon to be finalized. How soon is soon? Who knows?

I know that I need to wait until the dust clears. 

 

Waiting takes so much effort.  And a huge amount of faith. 

And I am trying to be cool about everything.

Mountaintop weekend

Early morning heavy breakfast in a quaint restaurant in the middle of Camp John Hay.  Al fresco. 

 

Newspaper in hand, you enjoy the comfortable silence shared with a good friend.  Once in a while one of you breaks the silence to discuss something.  And then you fall back into your own solitude.

 

Pine trees surround you.  The cold breeze remains until mid morning.   You walk after the hearty meal.  You find a shaded spot.  You just sit there and take in the peace. 

 

Later, you decide to visit Starbucks.  You take a seat by the window with a view to more pine trees.  Your friend lays her head on the round table and takes a power nap while you just …stare out the window… listen to good music…read..…think….write …pray.  Several sorted out thoughts later, you realize that you have been sitting there for two solid hours!  It was time very well spent.

 

Leisurely and quiet.  The best to describe my weekend visit to Baguio.   My friend and I agreed that we would only visit Mines View to buy the infamous ube jam.  (plus a few  little items..) We were wise to avoid Session Road, quite a stressful area which I have enough of here in Manila.

 

Have I made momentous decisions while I was up there?  None. What I did was organize my thoughts.  Thankfully, my travel buddy knows me as much as I know her. That is the blessing of having a girl friend that can understand you. Our little conversations helped us sort out our scattered thoughts.

 

“Let’s do it again. A follow up to what we discussed,” she tells me while we were on our way home to Manila.

 

 “Yes. Good idea.” I smiled, saying goodbye to my favorite place of refuge.  Whispering my silent promise,  “I will be back”.

How to respond to a job interview question

“How would you describe your writing skills?”

 

The interviewee smiles and confidently says,  “Very good”.

 

The interviewer smiles back.

 

I will let you know if I nabbed the job.

 

A drift of jumbled thoughts

A year ago around this time, she was in her deathbed.  We were shuffling schedules to look after her at the hospital.

A year ago around this time, every text message I receive makes my heart jump in apprehension.

A year ago around his time, we were at our wit’s end trying to make sure she gets the best medical care yet knowing resources are getting scarcer and scarcer by the day.

A year ago around this time, the pain and the weariness seemed to never end.

A year ago around this time, my head constantly throbs as I wrack my brains trying to make sense of everything.

 

I remember on the day of my birthday, I made major decisions that I knew would be best for her condition.  They were huge steps.  Risky ones.  Thinking about it still reminds me of how heavy my heart was at that time.  Now a year later, I am glad I made them.  And I am glad that despite circumstances, I celebrated my day with very special friends.  I also remember thinking that it would be a great gift if she will make it to her birthday but she passed away a few days prior to her 62^nd year.  We never tell each other how much we miss having our mother and our father around but all you need to do is listen to our conversations and you will know how much they are missed.   

 

These are memories that are landmarks of my life. 

A clear reminder of how much strength you can have during life’s ebbs. 

Amazing strength culled from a supernatural Source. 

You gain wisdom that cannot come from the human mind. 

Amazing wisdom whispered in your mind by God’s loving voice.

And just as Jesus fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread,

the supposedly scarce resources never ran out.

All debts and accountabilities were settled in full,

in less than a year.

Truly, an inexhaustible provision from Jehovah Jireh!

 

++++++

 

It is just about my birthday again.  (was that one year already?!).

Thankfully, the family has made steps towards moving on.  We just have to move on. 

In my case, the first step is to just .. move. 

 

++++++

Most of us spend our time neatly tucked away, all safe-and-sound,

in our tidy little lives.  It’s not that we don’t long for a change. 

It’s just that sometimes we get so busy.

And caught up in the thick of thin things,

That we forget how to really live!

Everything in our lives begins to take on a shade of gray.

 

That is when it’s time to bust loose, abandon all fears and push ourselves

Out of our comfort zones into the magical, mystical,

Uncharted territory called “Possibility”

 

Oh sure, it’s hard at first.  You may even get bumped back a few times.

But in the end, it’s worth it.. Because if you keep on reaching, one of these days

Days you’ll make it..

And nothing will ever be the same again.

 

Comfort Zones

(these are words lifted from a ref magnet given by a friend of mine..amazing how a gem of thoughts can be found in the most mediocre of things)

++++++

 

 

Breathtaking...

Tell me, can anyone be more beautiful!? Whew!
Oh! Err ..and baby Shiloh is a beautiful baby too, isn't she?