Fancy these songs

I almost always have a few favorite songs in any given month.  Some extend to two or maybe three months.  Others are old songs that find their way back to my favorites list.  For a couple of days now, I have developed a liking for this song by American Idol finalist, Katharine Mcphee. It is called Over it.  An upbeat heartbreak song.

 

Cool rocker chick Gwen Stefani is second with The Sweet Escape.  Another upbeat song.  Haven’t gotten ‘round to checking the lyrics though.

 

And last but not least, a love song by teener Jojo who has been belting out a few good songs since she started at age 14!! I like this girl.  Great voice too.  Check out an excerpt from her latest single, How to touch a girl. 

 

feel somethin happenin

could this be a spark?

to satisfy me baby

gotta satisfy my heart

do you know how to touch a girl?

if you want me so much

first I have to know

are you thoughtful and kind?

do you care what's on my mind?

or am I just for show?

you'll go far in this world

if you know how to touch a girl

There!  My list.

Just thought I’d share.  Let’s keep the music playing…!

 

 

The singular life

What happens when singletons attend the wedding of an ex-member? 

 

One, they buy very nice outfits.

Two, they go to the spa a few days prior to the wedding.

Three, have their hair done at the salon but do their make up themselves because they know that it will be a mostly-married-fifty-guests-only event.

Four, they use the out-of-town wedding as the opportunity to go on vacation leave for two days!

Five, they stay overnight in a hotel.

Six, they eat all the yummy desserts, enjoy the flowing wine and forget to count calories.

Seven, they take pictures of themselves when they get bored during the wedding.

Eight, they stay late that night and talk about why they are not in coupledom.

Nine, they take a leisurely buffet breakfast, still ignoring the calories.

Ten, they go home and face reality of going back to work the next day while their friend has her honeymoon!!

 

(We had serious fun during our friend’s wedding and genuinely happy that she found the man for her. Congratulations Petr and Victoria!)

 

Of work and working

Hi guys,

 

The kids' daycare is closed due to the icy roads so I won't be in today. I'll try to check email throughout the day but call me with any issues at 732-XXX-XXXX

 

Thanks

Rich

 

He is the Content Manager for Aggregates in the NY team also reporting to Maria, my boss.  And this is the email that he sent yesterday.  Since I am part of the group’s distribution list, I also get copies of emails like this one which I find irritating sometimes because I always have to delete them first thing in the morning.  Yet their email exchanges show me how generally flexible the team is.  Telecommuting is common.  Incidentally, my boss also sent an email this morning telling us that she will work from home but can still attend all conference calls. 

 

While a week ago, she sent this:

 

Hi.

I am working from home today.

Daniel's dr appointment was moved to 10:30.  Kenny, I will not be able to join the 10:30 call.

M

 

Kenny is her heir-apparent. Daniel is her five month old baby.  Why do I suddenly decide to blog about something that has been happening since I started with this team?  I don’t know.  Maybe because I still find it so refreshing.  Maybe because being under the project management team gives all of us more room to manage our schedules -- to take a personal day off when you need to go your kid’s PTA or to the doctor.

 

And maybe because the past few days, my colleagues from finance have been staying until 2am.   I was told that the January close involved template changes, rollout of another system, restatements and additional work assignments as one of the regional managers goes on maternity leave. 

 

Or maybe because one of them cannot even visit her daughter who was confined in the hospital for a week. I asked why not and who is taking care of her baby.  “My mother is with her the whole week and it is month close!  Bawal magkasakit o mag-leave!  (Nobody is allowed to get sick or take a leave during month end)”

 

Or maybe because I had to spend a few days joining one of them for lunch or coffee while I see her cry (literally) in frustration.  It saddens me that the workflow in finance has not changed much since I left the group.  Still too ‘labor intensive’ as my former manager used to say. It is also heartbreaking to see my friend looking so desperate and sad.  This time, I was more aggressive in telling her to either leave the team and move elsewhere within the company or leave the company altogether. I have always had the feeling that management accounting may not be her cup of tea.   I think she will be more suited to work within a more structured process (but she didn’t need to hear that at the moment). 

 

Finance people are generally unsung heroes.  We serve, we support.  It is a back end job.  The salespeople almost always get the glory (and the commission!) And so it becomes so intolerable when people from within the team fail to give you encouragement.  Been there.  On the other hand, it becomes a joy when your superiors up your morale on a regular basis.  Done that. 

 

Sigh.

 

In the meantime, I spend time with my friend whose shadowed eyes tell you she needs nothing more than ears that would listen and a heart that can relate.

 

Clam chowder for the highly strung

Food for a drifter’s heart

 

1.       A beep in the scanner as you exit a store means you took something that you haven’t paid for.

2.       When house hunting, check out those fancy houses in the more upscale areas. Never hurts to dream, right?

3.       Brisk walking for 20 minutes everyday will give you sore feet if you are wearing the wrong pair of shoes.   So quit brisk walking.  Kidding!! I mean, use the proper footwear.

4.       You don’t need to throw away a remote control device that doesn’t work.  You just may need to have new batteries.

5.       Don’t overeat during the holidays if you cannot commit to losing the pounds the following year. No wait.  DON’T OVEREAT.  Period.

6.       Going for job interviews will help you deep dive into what your inner compass tells you. ‘hear anything yet?

7.       Invest in black leather shoes but have fun with much cheaper yet funkier footwear. 

8.       When you find the right moisturizer for you, stick with it.  Same goes for the toner and the sunblock.

9.       When you ignore that fact that you are allergic to certain foods, face the bloated consequences.

10.     Dark chocolates.  Nothing comes close.

 

Release 0207

Shawie and Mr. Smith

Nope, this is not a sequel to the Jolie-Pitt blockbuster.  Nope, Brad has no other woman in his life..at the moment.  =P

 

She is the President of the company I work for.  And he is the SVP for International Operations.  They will visit the Manila office next week and Manila senior management is in high spirits.  HR is abuzz with plans for the Town Hall meeting to be held at the grand ballroom of Makati Shangri-la.  Next week, the ballroom will be packed as about 800 employees troop to the hotel. She is, after all, the head honcho and well..plus…who would want to miss the food food food!  (And Mr. Smith is a looker, by the way)

 

I found out that she will leave the country immediately after the town hall, probably to stay the night in Hong Kong or Japan where security is better (or exists).  NY Headquarters is probably on edge with just the thought of the boss dropping by an offshore business known to be training ground for terrorists.  (to the media, thank you very much).  Mr. Smith, on the other hand, will stay overnight.

 

So, if only to find out what she has in mind for the Manila office (lip service or otherwise) and hear her deliver her speech in her usual succinct British accent,   I will be there (while I sample the canapés, of course).

 

Go Shawie!

 

 

Push

Every time I look at you the world just melts away
All my troubles all my fears dissolve in your affections
You've seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land

You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

I get mad so easy but you give me room to breathe
No matter what I say or do 'cause you're to good to fight about it
Even when I have to push just to see how far you'll go
You won’t stoop down to battle but you never turn to go

Your love is just the antidote when nothing else will cure me
There are times I cant decide when I cant tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy when otherwise I'd drown
But you pick me up and brush me off and tell me I'm OK
Sometimes that’s just what we need to get us through the day

 

You're all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

 

Sarah McLachlan

From the album Afterglow

Wearing colors

For almost two years, my wardrobe consisted of dark and plain hues.  Grays, whites, blacks.  A few months ago, I decided to wear pastel.  Mostly green and old rose tops.  Nothing loud.   

 

I welcomed 2007 with a closet clearing exercise and a paradigm shift.  

 

I decided to keep or give away some items especially those that I have not worn over the last year. 

 

But I also did another thing. 

 

I took out those items that I kept when my father passed away.  The red blouse, the pink shirt, the orange shirt…  In the process, I wondered if I could wear them again.  I would have worn them earlier but I wanted to respect the sensitivities of some people particularly my relatives. 

 

In the end, I returned most of them in the storage bin but placed my favorite pink shirt in a hanger. 

 

With all due respect to the preferences of people who have lost loved ones, surely mourning is more than just wearing dark colors.  Nothing can express grief and sadness. 

 

As I face this year, I have decided to wear my ‘happy’ colors again. 

 

As I face this year, I prefer to remember my parents in a different way. 

 

Usually, thoughts of them would bring me to the last days that I saw them alive.  Their last days in the hospital.  I recall the contraptions that sustained their lives.  I remember the smell. I remember the weary look in our faces.  The faraway look in my mother’s days.  The heavy,  ragged and frequent breathing of my dad.  I remember them all.  And so I end up with tears in eyes.

 

This year, I will choose to remember their lives.  Not their death.  I will choose to remember the memories of their younger days, not just the last few months that they lived and breathed.  After all, they are more than just the sickness that took their lives. 

 

I looked at my pink shirt that I placed in a hanger. 

 

One ‘happy’ shirt at a time.

Meeting-itis

A common corporate irritation, where one loses large blocks of time throughout the workday, seemingly without cause. Early symptoms of the ailment include red, dry eyes, stifled yawns and proneness to notebook doodling. More severe cases result in increased apathy and stress, lower productivity and employee satisfaction, and a prolonged disdain for ready-made sandwich trays.

I got it from one of the articles in our company website.  Similar to the Free email Day experiment where we were encouraged to pick up the phone or walk to someone else’s cubicle instead of clogging the system with emails, this article is another creative way to remind everyone to manage office time wisely.   I chuckled when I read it the first time.  Most of us carry this sort of virus I think.

 

I am posting it to make sure I keep this definition at hand.

Clam Chowder Soup for the highly strung

Subtitled:  Food for a drifter’s heart

 

1)                  Learn to turn off the control freak mode.

2)                  Saying “No, I can’t do that right now” is necessary on certain occasions.

3)                  You are actually MUCH bigger than a cockroach.  Well, except that it can fly!!!! Yikes!

4)                  You only need one notebook for your list of to do’s -- not three.

5)                  Go ahead, call your old friends!  It’ll do wonders to your heart.

6)                  Accept it, blogger.com is blocked and you barely have access to bloglines.  Better have a plan B.

7)                  Plan B:  Save up on that laptop!

8)                  Reading the user guide of a newly purchased gadget will actually help you..really..Now, if you could only find that manual.

9)                  It helps to have friends who are lawyers and/or doctors.  Or, at least have friends who are friends with a lawyer or a doctor.

10)               Daydreaming while walking will not help you develop your sense of direction.

 

Release 0107

 

Weekend at high altitude

Holiday Rush

I am beat. I have a sore throat.  I have downed higher doses of Vitamin C to fight off the colds virus that threatens to take control.  Over the last two weeks, I think I gained four pounds, what with the nightly dinner gatherings.   I thought I planned my Christmas shopping well, having a list as early as November.  Still I find myself braving the mad rush of shoppers on weeknights (weekdays!!) because of some people that I failed to have on my list.  I can name one person I forgot to include in the list.

 

Maria.  (my boss!!!) 

 

But thankfully, I had enough time to buy and have it shipped to New York.  Thankfully (again), the Company covers shipping costs for the Christmas gifts we send off to our colleagues in different parts of the globe. (even to those who don’t observe the occasion—like Japan and Korea) Whew!!!

 

In between sneezes, I feel my ankles hurt with all the walking. I know I need a massage.  I am tired.

 

I sent my friend a message which goes – “I’d better stop this.  My last “reunion” is on the 23^rd.  And that is it! Before I forget to celebrate Reason for the Season.”

 

The past two Christmases have been tough.  It was difficult to fully celebrate.  I skipped a lot of get togethers and hardly did any shopping.  So I suppose, the excitement fueled me to make this Christmas abuzz with activities.  I met up with friends I haven’t seen over the last year.  It was wonderful.  And our company Christmas party is the best one so far.  Fun! Fun! Fun!

 

I have two topics that I should have blogged earlier on but my mind just isn’t in to it.  About the Baguio getaway and the company party. So maybe I will just post some pictures and let them speak for me. 

 

I realize just now that I will coordinate the Dec23 gathering with old friends and that I am in charge of the family celebration. +%$@!@@!!!*$@

 

Ohhhhhkay.  Yes.  I am beat.  And yes, I have come to accept the lingering sadness as part of the rest of my life.

 

I am all that.

 

But undeniably, I am excited for 2007 and truly grateful for the favors God brought my way this year.

 

Have a Merry Christmas!

  

The timely reboot

The nice thing about doing a prequel is that you learn about a character when he still wasn’t the one you have always known him to be.

 

The latest Bond movie installment Casino Royale is meant to be a reboot of the super spy’s career in the service, perfectly timed with the introduction of the new Bond,  Daniel Craig.

 

So, there was no ‘Q’ to give him some fancy gadgets and no Moneypenny to flirt with at the reception.  He only just met a recurring character, Felix Leiter of the CIA.  He still doesn’t know that he looks his best in a tuxedo, he likes dry martini and hasn’t yet realized that he actually will like his martini  ‘shaken not stirred’. 

 

He doesn’t have the dashing, drop dead gorgeous looks of Brosnan, Moore and Connery so it was perfectly fine with me to see him bloodied and dirty.  Hehehe

 

I feel like I am betraying Pierce but…I like this new James Bond.  He is scary.  He is dangerous. His physique is …well, he worked hard to get that body.   And boy, can he act!  He doesn’t have the flirtatious charm of Brosnan and Moore but well…did I mention that he has a nice body?   (lol)  He is reminiscent of Sean Connery who wasn’t coy about showing off his form.

 

There were some lines and scenes that seemed uncharacteristic of 007 but I guess the script demands it.   Except in the movie (Her Majesty’s Secret Service) where he actually got married,  I prefer to have my James Bond, distant and non committal.

 

Much as Pierce Brosnan would always be tops on my list, an icon like James Bond is bigger than the actors that portray him. So, there.  I concede. It is Daniel Craig’s turn.

 

The tie that binds

“When I visited Mama while she was resting at home, I remember her words. “

 

 “Masarap mabuhay.  Hindi ko na makikitang lumaki sina Yui and Johann.

Life is beautiful.  I will not see Yui and Johann (her grandsons, 3 and 2 years old) grow up anymore.

 

“She started to cry but recovered quickly.  I got up, went to the bathroom and cried.” 

 

These are words of my brother, Yui’s father.

 

This is just one of the several anecdotes he relates to me each time he calls me or sends me text messages.  His anecdotes reveal to me how he misses our parents and where he is in the grieving process.

 

His name is Red.

 

My mother used to say that my brother Red and I get along well.  I have often wondered why.  My Kuya Red and I are just okay.  Not close but we’re okay.  I usually disagree with his ideas.  We are an opinionated pair.

 

But I realize that he was a major influence in my life.  He was the one who convinced me to take accounting and not BS Chemistry.  He used to call up the radio stations to talk to the discjockeys and make song requests. (Yes, I used to call the radio stations and befriend the DJs!)   We both loved James Bond and Remington Steele.  He even bought a CD of the James Bond theme songs. Ah, I love Star Wars but his fascination for this it, I can never understand. I liked all the tv shows that he liked.  I remember him telling me to watch English shows so that I will understand the language better. 

 

He, our eldest brother and our father shared the same love for war movies, war books and world history.  I think his influence on me ended there.  I never liked war movies especially history.  I never watched Platoon, Born on the fourth of July, Saving Private Ryan and whatever war movies. (Although, the Clint Eastwood movie, The Flags of our Fathers isn’t so bad.)

 

There was a movie (or was it a book or a tv movie) that my father and brothers often talked about when I was young,  The Bridge on the River Kwai. They talked about that so loudly that I never forgot the title. I was just too happy to tell them that I almost planned on arranging a trip to the river kwai when I went to Thailand, my feeble attempt to be part of the all boys conversations.  Hahaha

 

Expectedly, my brother and I grew apart when I developed my own unique preferences.  He then became… just my brother.  But I can never recall a time when he and I ever quarreled.  Maybe that is why my mother always said “ay, ang magkasundo magkasama na naman”.

 

The family crisis over the last two years brought the two of us and the rest of my siblings closer to each other.  It was not without the usual spats but you know what they say about blood being thicker and all.

 

Now, five months after our mother died, my Kuya and I continued with our regular phone conversations.  It has become a venue to get updated on personal stuff, career stuff, future plans, etc. 

 

And on another time, he recalls,

 

“I asked my officemates to drop me off at Blumentritt (a street in Manila) as I planned to drop by the house to visit Papa and Mama.  Then I realized that they are both gone.  They are not home anymore.”

 

It was a surprise to have my brother open up to me about his feelings and frustrations.  He has never been too open to me until recently.  And it was a good feeling.  He is now not just a brother but my friend.

 

My parents often complained about how their children seem to ignore each other when inside the house. Well they would have been happy to know that their children are indeed taking care of each other even as they don’t live under the same roof anymore.

 

When everyone else goes away, indeed, there will always be family.

 

Monday High

My Monday (the 13th) morning at the office began on a high note. Although I felt an occasional sense of wariness over some announcement that I knew would come within the day, I welcomed the heartwarming news of being recognized for my efforts.

I received a company performance award for collaboration.

"...for generously sharing her expertise by initiating...... resulting in....."


"Wow, this is nice!" I smiled. It wasn't the news that I had been waiting for but it was wonderful and welcome news nonetheless.

It was well within the day when I finally got the email from Henry.


"Congratulations! You have been accepted via the 10 year rule which means that you can now directly apply as CMA member of ICMA Australia without further examination...."


I covered my mouth as I shrieked and immediately sent my reply, forgetting that I barely knew him except that he is the CMA Philippines Program Director who occassionaly drops by during our Saturday classes to make some announcements.

"Yehey!! Thanks Henry. Mwah Mwah!"

Oh yes, I sent that message.


It was great news for several reasons:

It validated my professional experience in management accounting,

It spared me from reviewing my notes (which wasn't in the mood to do) and taking an eight-hour examination,

It saved me ten thousand pesos examination fee which I had planned on personally paying for.

AND it was just simply happy news. Something to be thankful for.


I wasn't about to let the day go without making sure I have expressed my gratitude for the special favors that God has brought my way. And, it is always sweeter to share happy news with people around you.

"You are having a good day, aren't you?" asks a friend of mine.

"A great day...." I replied with a giggle.

Sis

“So, do you have a heartbreak song?”

 

My youngest (and my favorite) sister looked at me quizzically.  She must be thinking, I have a crazy sister. 

 

“No I don’t,” she replies and continues with her meal. She sounded and looked like she wanted to change the topic.

 

But that is the privilege of being the older sister who decides to set a lunch date with her sister because she wants to know the juicy details of a break up.

 

Let me digress a bit.

 

About a week ago, our eldest brother sent me a message telling me to talk to our bunso (meaning youngest sibling) because she and her cutiepy boyfriend broke up.  It appears that one of the concerned barkadas of my sister came over our house and while waiting for my sister to arrive home, spilled the beans to my brother.

 

“She won’t talk to me. Besides, she listens to you.” he persisted.  Of course I agreed and said I will take care of it.   All of us in the family have always been protective of her. 

 

Now back to our lunch date.

 

It took me awhile to find the segue as we were having our lunch until finally I decided to go head on.

 

While she was enjoying the chicken in pandan and bagoong rice,

 

“Did you change your number because you and Bernard broke up?”

 

She gave me an awkward grin and said, “yes”

 

Ohh lala was my reply. “No more Ely Buendia (a vocalist of a local band) look alike of a boyfriend?”

 

She laughed.

 

“You changed your number because he is bugging you and asking you for a second chance?”

 

Again she smiles and nods.

 

“And you don’t want to give him a second chance? What did he do?”

 

I knew the details but I wanted to see if she will tell me.  I smiled to myself as I watch my sister struggle to find the politically correct phrases probably in an attempt to “protect” her ex.   Or maybe because I am family and the ugly details are ”exclusive to barkada”.  I didn’t press the topic.

 

“No heartbreak song?!!” I said, incredulous.  “Let me suggest one.  You know Nina’s new album has a nice, super sad song.  It is called Someday.  Have you heard it?”

 

She shakes her head and of course I sing the chorus to her. 

 

“O di ba emote yun? Pero positive ah.  Girl power.”  This time, my sister was giggling and said.  “Ang kulit mo, Ate G!”

 

I was not finished yet. 

 

“Have you cried over him?”

 

“Yes, it is done.”

 

“Oh your girl friends are aplenty so you won’t have problems.  What did they say, “you deserve someone better?”

 

She laughs and says “You know too much, Ate G.”

 

“Hello, there are probably hundreds of books about standard words of comfort as well  books on standard excuses of a guy for fooling around.  But crying is good so, go bond with your girl friends.”

 

Then it was time for the big sister speech.

 

“It is okay I guess. I mean you have been together for two years and you are just about to graduate from college.  If you marry at 25 (God forbid), you would not have had the chance to go out with other people.  You are just exposed to a small world right now, your campus.  You will meet a lot of people after college.  You will see.  Enjoy ka lang.”

 

Then she surprised me by saying.

 

“Yeah, I thought about that. I realize that.”

 

Then she tells me about her plans to go to graduate school and asks me for suggestions on career choices.   I think she realizes that I am more the career choice guru than the love expert. Ouch.. Hehehehe.

 

My sister has really grown up.  I still distinctly remember her as a baby.  She was very chubby, cuddly, very fair skinned, Korean looking little bundle.  She was so cute.  You can barely see her eyes when she smiles.

 

Now at 5’3’ she gives her big sisters fashion tips. Oh yeah, make up tips too.  

 

And she seems to be handling her break up pretty well. 

 

I think if my younger self meets up with her, I will learn a lot from my grown up little sister.

 

(Somebody hand me a Kleenex………..)

 

Five Things

Here are five things you may not know about me.

 

1)         I used to be one of the tallest girls during my elementary school days.  One of the tallest and the biggest bully.   I didn’t seem to add any more inches after that but I am still a big bully.

 

2)         My childhood dream was to be a newscaster and a beautician.  (but to this day, I do not know how to put on eyeshadow)

 

3)         When I was in fourth grade, two of my teachers had an argument over my schedule.  (campus celeb eh).  Since I was too young to make a decision, they decided for me and thought of what would give me better chances to graduate with honors.  (o diba OA, grade school pa lang).  My music teacher/school choir directress conceded.  And so on my sixth grade, I became editor in chief of our school paper but each time I see our school choir perform, I remember imagining where I would have been standing.  Now that I am grown up and can make my own decisions, please don’t make me choose between writing and music.

 

4)         My friend Jen wouldn’t believe it but I did have short and curly hair.  During high school, I kept it short but from senior year up to my first few years as a working girl, I kept it a bit longer, slightly above the nape.  When I finally decided to take advantage of the ‘advances in hair technology”, I managed to have slightly longer tresses, reaching slightly below my shoulders (just a few months ago!)

 

So what don’t you know about my hair? 

 

Until I was nine, my hair was suuupper straight. Light shade of brown, straight and shiny.  What happened?  I don’t know!!  Okay, one word.  Genes.  Of my six siblings, three have straight and black hair while the rest of us have wavy to curly brown hair.

 

And so goes my mane story

                                            

Lastly….. whew..

 

I was crazy (and still is) over Pierce Brosnan and the series that brought him fame, Remington Steele.  I had clippings of him and his co-star Stephanie Zimbalist.  I remember being disappointed to learn that he was (then) married to (the late) Cassandra Harris because I wanted Stephanie and Pierce to end up together.  I was so crazy about Remington Steele that I still know the prologue of Laura Holt (Zimbalist’s character) that serves as the ( first season ) episode opener. Try me. (I did change a word or two because what I memorized then didn’t make any sense!)

 

Those are my five things.  Sure looks like ten things to me.  Obvious bang I had fun doing this..?  =P

 

Ice Cream Day

To him, birthdays meant having ice cream.  He was never satisfied even with the most sumptuous meal, without his favorite dessert.   I can still recall how his eyes light up and his lips curve to a smile of delight when we tell him that it is just about time for the ice cream. 

 

Year after year, birthday after birthday, it is the one thing that makes his day.  Until we find ourselves establishing a tradition that meant having ice cream on everyone’s birthday.  While other families have the quintessential cake as the birthday dessert,  my family gets a kick out of digging our spoons almost instantaneously into the hard, cold slab of dairy delight, laughing when we see our poor spoons bend in defeat.

 

Last night, I thought of reminding my sister to buy one but I got so absorbed in the demands of the day that it slipped my mind. 

 

Almost.

 

I will buy ice cream tonight and share it with my housemates, I thought to myself.

 

An hour later, I get this message from my sister:

 

“It is Papa’s birthday.  We will buy ice cream.”

 

It is raining outside, the air is slightly colder than the previous days. 

 

But who cares? 

 

It is ice cream day.

 

Short-lived

As I knew it would be.  I retreat into the “darkness” that I have gotten used to. 

 

For two weeks I enjoyed the freedom of accessing web sites and checking my free webmails at every whim.

 

The network admin also activated the in-house emergency messaging system. 

 

But I found at that the company migrated to another connection, one that will give us better connectivity to the NY, Cardiff and Boston servers..yada yada yada.  Whatever.

 

But, this freedom is transitory. 

 

For fourteen days, I surfed cyberspace yet still aware of the 24-hr monitoring system that had us wary about doing too much browsing. 

 

It was also 14 days of prolonged system downtime. There were outages at any point of the day.  Birth pains expected from a supposed improved system infrastructure.

 

The operations director made sure everyone gets free merienda to motivate operations guys to extend hours as workaround to the intermittent system outages. 

 

I am not from operations, but I get to share in the free food!  System downtime didn’t affect me much.  All I knew was all blogsites were accessible!!  Oh look, I can go to blogger.com!  I can actually see my template again!  Mwah mwah. (sigh)  I missed my template.

 

It was euphoria.

 

Now, I get the familiar “Not accessible” message.  I am back in my myopic world where one of the sites easily accessible is the company website. 

 

Ho hum.

 

Circumspect

The listless waters now begin to show ripples.

Each wave a wee bit stronger than the one before.

The force underneath threatens to bubble forth.

The whisper of the soft winds hovering above the water begin to stir up waves of uneasiness.

But the ripples may become waves and the

whispers of the wind may become constant echoes that float in the air

 

Mixing vanity with comfort

Impossible to do.

Especially when you are dressed to impress.

I am wearing a pair of white linen pants and an old rose floral top. The only obvious choice to complete the ensemble is my 2-inch light brown shoes.

After almost a year, I am wearing those shoes again. You see, after that near disastrous fall in October, I hurt my ankle again a few months back. It was excruciatingly more painful not to mention more embarrassing. That, while wearing a pretty sensible pair of black shoes. Okay, it was a slip on shoes. No heel support. I had to bandage the poor ankle for two days.

But for vanity’s sake, I am trying my brown shoes again and hoping I won’t step on some misplaced rock somewhere.

So help me God.

PS
Just to argue my case a little bit more, I have been wearing either boots and flats. How much more ankle support do you need that those?! Can't a girl wear uncomfy yet flattering shoes once in a while, accident-prone notwithstanding? I can almost hear the reaction: Go ahead! It's your ankle, anyway.