Welcome to Clarisse's nook. It's not work. It's not home. It's that comforting space between, where I gather my thoughts; and connect with fellow beings who treat each moment as a gift, and are grateful for life.
Meet me here for coffee, or a glass of wine.
) aaarrrggghhhh planted on a pot (buti hindi color white 
) . . . sobrang inis ko pinabalik ko and asked them to make a bouquet nalang instead 
. Maldita!! Urm.. I think that's what happens when wife misses hubby a l 
where'd u find my blog ? 
Hindi lang ako nagpaparamdam but each time I get an update notification of your blog in my email, I'll go to my Favorites and click the link to your site. Blogging is far better than my old diary! Hehehe 
Christmas Rush in April. This is what it feels like. I can give Cirque Du Soleil's Kooza juggler a run for his money. Except that I'm really not skillful at this. My pins fly everywhere, or they stay put where they have fallen. Which is pretty much all over the place. Baby plans. Baby Plans. Real estate affairs. Real estate affairs. Family and friends who need my attention -- try to throw a flare up the sky, bright lights tend to attract me. It's crazy. If there's anything pathologic about it, it is my quote/unquote attention deficit (LOL) that makes me function real effectively only in linear paradigms; the same one that exacerbates with multiple stimuli -- a noise barrage of some sort for my serenity-hungry soul which makes me want to curl up in fetal position on learned helplessness mode or simply go wacko wanting to shoot everyone with big tapioca balls from a pink fat straw (ooops, where did that come from?). I try hard (sometimes) and still suck big time.
Last weekend, we flew to LA. This weekend, we're driving to LA. The weekend after that, we're flying to PI! That leaves the weeknights for some last minute tasks (weekdays being devoted for tying loose ends at work before my vacacion grande and writing stupid blogs on breaks). I've so far played hookie at hula for two classes in a row (what!? me missing hula classes?) but it's all worth it. In exchange, I have tackled piles of laundry -- the Mt. Everest of laundry! -- getting them all ready for our trip. I've shopped here and there for things to bring, but alas, my love-hate relationship with shopping has come back haunting me from the grave (I love retail therapy but having to look around too much burns me out during activity level #86 where I start sliding to being a "list and get it quick, really quick!" person -- again, this stimuli thing). Let's see how I'll hang for the next couple of weeks. I browsed through my past posts and realized that being busy has been a recurrent but always incidental theme. When I come back, I do intend to change the song. Seriously.
Anyhoo...
Here are some good things that keep my spirits high lately, in other words, flowers to smell along the jagged path:
1.) 90210 back to back re-runs while sorting through mail, doing the bills, folding the laundry and making home-cooked suppers. Hubby and I are hooked!
2.) Wire sculpture and wire-wrapping. I'm so obsessed with it. I think one day, I can really claim to be a bonafide "artiste" (not the drama queen type). I've always wanted to be called an artist but didn't know at which art to deserve the title. (Eureka! That explains my cave days! I'm an ARTIST! I'm jumping-clapping my feet-saying heeheeheehaahaahaa-YES! My creative juices overflow at times I want to be alone and just keep creating). And the best compliment I got for some pieces I did?: "Are you in weed or something?" NO, caffeine is my drug of choice. Next to 90210. Thank you.
3.) My sister's wedding. And seeing my family. And friends!
I miss you all.
Memories are pictures of the heart. Here's another casual but special moment I need to take note of. Forgive me for the cheesiness, it's because moments like this is all I can savor for now.
Last night, I had a good casual long distance phone conversation with Daddy. As what we'd always do, we talked about my youngest brother Milo (THE DOG hehehe); we talked about what he has been busy with, the new tiles in the bathroom, his plans for the week; he asked about my new hobby -- wirecrafts/wire art sculpture which I'm so hooked in; most of all, we talked about the new piano pieces he's learning. We share a common passion for art and piano music and he's always excited to tell me about his new pursuits. His next project is called "La Vie En Rose" and he tried to hum it for me. But just like me, he can't sing. He couldn't even remember the melody at first. I searched online while we were on the phone and played the file for us. I started humming it and he was so happy that I found it. That got the melody coming back to him and he started humming it with me. Again and again. It was a pretty sight, except that I couldn't see him. I closed my eyes and tried to let every note sink in. Then we got cut off. I desperately called back, annoyed that my moment with dad was bummed out by a fluctuating voice over IP signal, actually, I was more afraid that I had lost the moment. But when he picked up, he started humming again. Like he didn't want to lose the moment with me too. When I was still living back home, he would always play the piano for me or I would try to help him tackle difficult music sheets. Last night's phone call assured me that the connection is still there despite the distance. And that we both want to keep it going. It was really nice and comforting. It was really, really special.
He always manages to take the stress out of me. He always manages to make me feel so good without having to do much. See you soon, Daddy. I'll be watching you play.
About three weeks ago, my stepdaughter flew here for a visit over the weekend. We had so much fun that on Sunday afternoon when she was about to fly back to LA, we were scurrying toward the airport check-in counter like nuts. Hubby was so stressed out. We didn’t want her to miss the flight. On the outside, I was as serene as a windless sea, on the inside, I was saying 3,008 different prayers all at once at probably an imaginary 200 decibel scream level. It was partially my fault anyway. It’s always fun to have her around. And the security check queue! How could we have forgotten that almost everyone else was flying out in the peak of spring break? Here was the scenario: Fifteen minutes to scheduled departure The security line snaked tenfold. Hubby and stepdoe went to the line. I was left behind at the main lobby since the airport had to limit the number of adults accompanying minors to the gates due to the thickness of passenger traffic that day. They were still about fifty yards away (well, maybe a little less) from the x-ray machines where shoes, jackets, belts, keys and other gizmos need to be taken off, in a line that was inching forward perhaps only 5 yards every 5 minutes. 15 minutes until take off. You do the math. I couldn’t look at them. It was torture to see them stuck in line. I couldn’t look at my watch. It was, after all, a futile race. I just kept praying, and praying and praying that they make it to the gate…that she doesn’t miss the plane…that it wouldn’t disrupt her step dad’s schedule, that she won’t miss school yada yada yada, while trying to deflect my ensuing panic by looking at Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears on some magazine covers at the newsstand. Five minutes AFTER scheduled departure I just got myself a cup of coffee by the baggage claim when I got a text message. It was hubby, “D FLIGHT S DELAYD. SHE WIL MAKE IT”. It’s not a coincidence. I might sound too self-absorbed to even think that it was my faith that did it. But sorry, it really makes sense to me. God granted my wish even before I finished praying for it! The universe conspired, so it seemed, to make my wish come true-- transcending beyond the boundaries of linear time. The flight has probably long been delayed by the captain, the flight attendants, the mechanics, the air traffic control, without us knowing it. Way before we scurried like nuts to the check-in counter. But we didn't know that. Don’t you notice? This happens to us most of the time, don’t you notice? We pray so hard for something even if as it eventually turns out, the answers have long been ready. It simply unfolds at the right time, in our human time. The wish is granted before the wish ever comes. In our world, our mind works and likes to interpret things in accordance with the laws of “time in succession”; cause before effect. To me and my strange scheme of things and in a deeper and rather philosopical reckoning, the logic or rationale behind events that happen MOST LIKELY DEFIES THIS (ergo: cause before effect OR effect before cause--it doesn't matter, backward, forward OR at random shots, anything is possible). Why do we need to pray then if things seem to have been pre-destined? No, I seriously don’t think that things are even pre-destined at all. God orchestrates this mystery of gargantuan proportions with different purposes beyond our understanding. To marry up philosophy, theology and psychology might be beyond my cerebral limits. But one thing I believe I’m getting at, in a rather simple perspective is God encourages us to experience and enjoy the different colors of life through events that happen in our lives and to paint a beautiful picture that is actually in our hands, with the aid of Divine guidance and intervention when necessary ---after all, God never leaves us alone especially in very trying endeavors. He makes us realize what we want given our own unique selves and to stand up for what we want the most and rejoice at getting them ---or even appreciate NOT getting them, even as an afterthought. He wants us to develop an appreciation of life, and in effect guides us in writing the most beautiful life stories ever told. He makes all these possible by giving us the gift of FAITH. It is faith that, to us, moves mountains and does other grand and extra-ordinary things like stop airplanes from taking off to make way for someone dear, one single person amongst hundreds. Faith is like the background music to each dance of life. I should be thankful now then. I should consider all my prayers, wishes, my deepest yearnings granted now. It’s only a matter of time. “People-time”.
It's not the first time I'm re-posting one of these. They always crack me up! Have fun reading. And I hope you laugh. I hope you laugh...
ONE-POINT DARES
1) Run one lap around the office at top speed.
2) Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
3) Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say, "Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye."
4) To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
5) Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way."
6) Walk sideways to the photocopier.
7) While riding in an elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.
TWO POINT DARES
1) Say to your boss, "I like your style" and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2) Babble incoherently at a fellow employee then ask, "Did you get all that, I don't want to have to repeat it."
3) Page yourself over the intercom (do not disguise your voice).
4) Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle (there must be a 'non-player' within sight).
5) Shout random numbers while someone is counting.
FIVE POINT DARES
1) At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (5 extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2) Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3) For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Bob."
4) Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two."
5) After every sentence, say 'Mon ' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for 1 hour.
6) While an office mate is out, move their chair into the elevator.
7) In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, all of you just shut up!" 
At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again."
9) In a colleague's DAY PLANNER, write in the 10am slot: "See how I look in tights." (5 Extra points if it is a male, 5 more if he is your boss)
10) Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask, "You want to trade?"
11) Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
12) Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, "I can't talk about it."
13) Posing as a maitre d', call a colleague and tell him he's won a lunch for four at a local restaurant. Let him go.
14) Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc) during a very important conference call.
15) Find the vacuum and start vacuuming around your desk.
16) Hang a 2' long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
17) Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuits, smashing each biscuit with your fist.
1 During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
19) Arrange toy figures on the table to represent each meeting attendee, move them according to the movements of their real-life counterparts.
Top Ten Things in my mind at this very moment:
1. The Jollibee Chickenjoy and Spaghetti dinner I just ate.
2. The Jollibee Chickenjoy and Spaghetti combo again for tomorrow's lunch at work. Yippy!
3. We finished one tahitian dance in class tonight for the upcoming ho'ike. I'm gonna miss it though since I'll be in PI! (Good thing, I'm still not coconut-bra worthy)
4. My new projects at work. These have been consuming me lately I'm tempted to work even on coffee and lunch breaks. That makes me the SQUARE ASIAN NERD. Loosen up, gurl, before your co-worker throws the stapler at you...
5. The lost files! How can I recover some of the files I lost this afternoon. I hate doing the same things all over again...
6. The grand vacation in PI this May. Two weeks...only two weeks. Bummer. Better than nothing. Pritson, here I come!
7. Anthony Bourdain on TV. FRANCE. I'll see you soon. Oysters for breakfast. Wait, did I hear that right?
8. Last weekend. Busy. This coming weekend. Busy. When will I ever be NOT BUSY???
9. Clothes for pick-up at the drycleaners tomorrow. And perhaps a lil shopping at South Shore. Hmmm. Let's see how I can pull that off. We've been kinda...uhrm, uhm...hella...broke lately.
10. Obviously I don't have much to say lately. Ergo, this list. I've had too much to do at work these past days I can't even post anything decent here. I don't even have time to trim my bangs in my cubicle anymore. Hahaha.
Til next time. When I have the time. *SIGH*
I never fully understood the concept of “sacrifice”, the whole theology of it and everything, although I practiced it without question all my life being raised as a Catholic. What I knew was that it is a way of thanking God and showing Him my love. And that at some point our chosen “sacrifice” may benefit someone in need, which is the main thrust of Christianity. Some would even add that we might get some blessings in return for our offering.
Until one sunday’s homily at St. Barnabas’ clarified it for me. I learned that above all else, the act of sacrifice “puts us in union with Christ in His suffering on the Cross.” It makes us one with Him; it nourishes and fosters our loving relationship with Him as when we do things to cultivate our other personal relationships. It is a form of “COMMUNION” – a spiritual unity with Christ, in His act of giving His life to save us.
I have learned that the Season of Lent, where we traditionally make these little sacrifices, gives us the opportunity to remember and have this special communion with Christ. It is when it’s no longer about us nor our own sufferings in this world. It is all about His suffering and death on the cross.
It speaks of this love greater than all the loves on earth put together, a love beyond understanding. What can we do to let this Great Love in?
Dingy – a person of supreme idiocy
While it’s still fresh, I might as well talk about how I almost yanked my head off coming into the house. Kidding -- no I’m not! Last week, both of my hands were full of odds and ends (grocery bags, lunch box, work purse etc) which I wanted to superwoman my way lugging them all at one time to save multiple trips to the car. My motley of keys is strung together by a blue neckband and I decided to leave it strapped around my neck while unlocking our front door. Normally, the repertoire of door-opening maneuvers concerning our front door would require steroid-aided STRENGTH (key in, twist to right, turn knob while applying pressure, push door with left shoulder—repeat if necessary; kick when desperate). That day since only my feet were free, I bent forward to insert the key and gave the door a powerful push with my foot (okay, “kick” was more like it). In an instant, the door SWUNG wide open in one very smooth sliding WOOSH! I forgot that hubby already fixed the hinges a few weeks back. And I forgot that my neck was still attached to the keys --and the doorknob. I felt like a cartoon character. The door pulled me into the house like an ultra-hospitable hostess at uber level, head first.
I’m dingy like that.
Let me tell you how last Thursday, I showed up for a Kaiser lab test appointment diligently early but in a different location. I even asked the lady at the desk, “Excuse me, where is the Gastroentorology department?” while showing her my appointment card. The lady said “oh, it’s in Hayward , it should be in your card.” You bet it was! Good thing, Union City wasn’t too far. We made it in time…hubby was driving for me (while I was driving him crazy).
I’m also dingy like that.
There are other times though, I must admit that I just like to play “dingy”. Well, not really. But being new when I just arrived in the US allowed me to enjoy that comfortable period where “not knowing or having little sometimes-funny-and-cute-sometimes-not-so-funny-at-all mistakes” is forgivable because I was wet-behind-the-ears-new at most things. But I’m a little bit over that anxious “period of adjustment and ignorance”. I realized I still like to ask questions and play innocent on some facts and issues. Like a sponge, I like to absorb information (and observe people). Plus I hate having to argue, so sometimes it’s better to play, let’s put it this way, “uninformed” hahaha *evil* and subsequently cut discussions short (or whisk me off sticky situations without a sweat). That way too, it’s easy to distinguish who among the people I mingle with are genuinely brilliant and those who are pretending to be smart-wanting-to-ALWAYS-prove-they-know-something-smart-A$$es. Most of the time, I see those who simply have a big heart trying to help a newbie out. So normally, my saying, “really is that so?” is my way of seeing who’s going to burst into a diarrhea of information that is simply a subliminal egotistic surge (this rewards me with good internal laughter) or who’s going to give me the “I-know-you-can-completely-grasp-so-this-is-gonna-be-brief” orientation on things (the real wise slice of the populace).
Maybe I’m a clever person pretending to be real dingy (that way, screw-ups ain’t obvious and penalizing). WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE CUTE ONCE IN A WHILE?? HAHAHA. OR…
Maybe I’m really one dingy life form disguised as a clever person who pretends to be dingy.
Sometimes, could be just plain apathetic.
I’m convoluted like that. We’ll never know. I don’t know? LOL.
Three things why I can’t really lose weight:
1. Monica gave me two slices of her pizza for lunch. You would think I was going to give up at least half of my chowmein lunch before I got down to pizza-eating business. No.
2. I was supposed to walk half my lunch break off today. But then, the pizza.
3. I am so lazy. Dang Moe, you served me pizza on our company’s lunchroom china. Ergo, the chore of washing it during my coffee (non-coffee) break when I could be nesting on my seat incubating fat cells. You know, pizza. Good pizza!
Three things why I’m excited about the weekend:
1. My hula performance tomorrow and I have a truckload of relatives who are watching.
2. Falafel Drive-In in
3. My costume! I’m wearing a red ahuroa dress, a tiare (flower) on my right ear…they say all hula wahines are always “available” weehee, and the hula hair! (big puffy frizzy lengths – I should start setting it by braiding the corn rows tonight). And by the way, yes, the costume makes my heart jump –- I feel like a 6-year old all over again.
1. I need to check if I have enough hair rubberbands to hold my braids tonight. I can’t go to the last minute rehearsals in the morning with my braids clamped by a smorgasbord of hair implements like my head is one over-decorated whore octopus.
2. Hubby promised me a simple dinner date at Pasta Pomodoro tonight. Shall I go out with my octopus hair on? I wonder what outfit will look good with it…
3. I need to use the bathroom soon. You know, pizza.
It seems that 1 of every 5 people I bump into has the “smart a$$” blood running in his veins. What gives? They are either spewing “smart A" remarks at people or, inundating the world with “hello, duh, what were you thinking?” insults, seemingly believing that they are perfect, godly creatures out to ridicule the less perfect mortals. For instance, I overheard a not-so-pretty woman comment on a not-so-pretty woman (same boat! gee…) but with disheveled hair to a crowd of twelve, “can somebody phu-leez donate a hairbrush to her???”
I’m not like that. I may be witty in my writings but I’ll make fun of myself before I am even caught attacking people in reckless mockery. I’m not perfect. Well, who is?
HOWEVAH!!!...
Last Sunday at church, either the “smart A$$” factor has truly rubbed off on me, or the devil was at work (again?), perched on my shoulder. OR MAYBE THE CHOIR LADY WAS REALLY JUST SINGING OFF-KEY!@#$%*&@#! Alas! I finally realized why for one Sunday too many, it always felt that something was always horribly NOT going right. She has a good soprano-ish voice, yes, but most high notes fall flat. She must have a penchant for singing second voice all-throughout!!! My unquenchable rage formed into a ball that I wanted to throw at her when I saw how she would occasionally slave-drive, direct and correct the choir members. (I figured this one furtive sneer I caught from a choir member some months ago wasn’t totally unfounded).
Or maybe it’s just me. Okay, my ears are off-key. !?@#$%!&*@!
But yeah, she’s doing her best. She’s doing her best at what makes her happiest. How can I oppose that? And she’s serving God and God’s people. Plus her sweet smile oozes with unwavering dedication to the church. How can I go up against that?
I love to write and I love to dance. Though I’m not exactly the best there is, I’m over the moon when I do them.
What if someone says I simply can’t?
…it’s tax season and our business is slow…hecka slow…and so i’m so hecka bored!
...when someone like me finally crosses that thin line to boredom, that means it’s totally freaking boring!!! 2 minutes more and i’ll have my coffee break (how ironic since i gave up caffeine, yes, that includes tea and chocolate products for what seems like 20 million years ago)…so i just started writing this. writing gets me into a time warp of sorts. hopefully in the next jiffy, i’ll be strutting down the aisles of Safeway picking out stuff to cook for the whole week…oh yeah, i’m making mini baked crabmeat frittata sometime this week for brunching, snacking and boredom (duh!) purposes. hubby’s so excited because he likes to throw it on top of his rice, laced with Mexican Cholula hot sauce – fusion cuisine, babie!
…i just made a geeky discovery while i’m on this boredom thingy. i was flipping and twirling my pen between my index and middle finger, baton-style and noticed that the pen looks animated (like you see a bunch of pen images at every angle of the flip similar to several cartoon frames that didn’t transition smoothly —like it was doing a fast statue dance---what you look like under a flickering white strobe light in a club) when you twirl it in front of a computer monitor. and i noticed that it doesn’t do that when you twirl it against the fluorescent desk light…or the view of the ceiling or my co-worker's face. i tried it halfway in front and halfway off and i see the big difference. i noticed that anything you move across the computer monitor produces the same image behavior, like when you wag your hand repeatedly in front of it for instance. 
are you trying it right now?
…my co-worker just caught me doing it while trying a couple more disturbing stunts
. i won’t be surprised if within the next few hours, dark-suited men wearing sunglasses will come marching through the glass doors of my workplace (no, wait, that’s a different movie); dragging me away to an asylum where they house people who develop startling behavioral deviations during their coffee, uh uhrm, non-coffee breaks.
The first turn I make on the way home from work gets me driving into the sunset everyday. It's always an amazing view by the bay...San Francisco skyline on my right, hills on my left, infinity up ahead, the water uniting all these and of course, the setting sun.
Today, I think I saw one of the most amazing things! It had been cold, gray and occasionally raining today. Picture this, while I was driving facing the bay toward the water (the road Ts to the left and right), the sky was so gray but there was a hole in the middle as if it just ripped open. The sun shone through that bright hole, the light piercing into some clouds splitting into five maybe seven very prominent golden rays which seemed to spill shimmering silver dust on the farther side of the ocean. It was one huge pool of shining liquid light at the tip of the rays, as if a silver layer was laid on top of the water. A silver lining, literally! Before my very eyes...
I was so awed I stopped a little bit longer than what is required at the stop sign before I finally turned right. (I tried my best to dig for my camera-phone, but I realized it wouldn't do the awesome sight any justice anyway).
I knew I should have brought my camera! I always regreted not having it each time I saw a beautiful sunset but I keep forgetting. Now I don't have anything to share with you. *frown*
Today, I was sooooo close to capturing a picture of God. I'll always bring my camera from now on. I'll be His paparazzi. Hopefully next time, I'll finally catch Him in action.
HEY THERE! i guess one big reason why i'm drawn to your blogs is because they make me retrace the steps i made in the same school halls...18 1/2 friggin' yrs. ago (that would be like raising one almost grown up person since then) and this is my post"YOU,NOW"-me wanting to share what i've learned thus far(not by books, but by experience):
1. Fear is USUALLY bigger than the actual situation --most of the time! but fear is healthy, it drives us to do more...in order to achieve a fearless/painless state(our perceived success). (hate to burst that bubble but once we get into the next step...there's more fear-inducing things...it's a life-long process/cycle of facing and overcoming . it is one of the catalysts of GROWTH. and to grow is something we do for life. (which gets us to #2)
2. the challenges in school get us ready for the real-life challenges out there (it makes us feel more confident in tackling them coz we know we've been there, done that...lalala)..it also holds true when we take the challenges of the first job...then up to the next..and unto the next(why do you think there is such a cliche as "LIFE IS A SCHOOL" --because it rings a hell lot of truth in it, from generation to generation.
3. Get the "chess game" mindset. if you think they are outsmarting you...try to look for ways to outsmart them...rather than get intimidated. no one else can judge your capabilities (nor put you down) but teachers have a right for now...that's what they are there for!!! as long as it still is a healthy challenge --and is not trully EXTREMELY morally and psychologically damaging. (you know what i mean)...give them that right for now. it's what the tuition is for. the universe conspires to make things happen around you because you need it, ergo, God feels you need it...in a religous point of view, He is getting you ready for something bigger. that's something for certain.
4. 18 years from now now..or even 5, maybe even 3, your teacher's opinion or grades won't matter. (but it's up to you if you want to keep that engraved in your heart forever)...while it is good to get good grades and be a diligent student (it's all about your participation now in the formation of the future "you"---and good grades will get you a better job than others in some cases...better job=better opportunities; and ofcourse, wouldn't it be nice to look back one day to your academic accomplishments and be a role model to your offsprings)...BUT one day, what will matter is what you will do at that present moment in the future...you will be dealing with more personalities: boss, spouse, kids (for them you will be boss!!!hahaha), co-workers etc. and what will matter is what kind of person you will be (values and all), in real-life situations.
5.always remember, just because in someone's eyes, you are not good enough, it doesn't mean you aren't good enough. it's their standards...not yours. what matters is that you know you always do your best with your God-given gifts.
6. deal with your thesis and make sure you know everything when you defend it...even the most trivial little things, formulas --you gotta understand.
8. relax
9. smile!
10. i'm proud of you!!!
(I just realized I forgot #7. You see it's okay to fail. We're only human. Just don't be a "loser")
Best of luck!!!
PS...just do your best for now. whether you succeed or not (but most people who do their best succeed)....when you do an assessment of things, if you've gone in that direction of doing your best, you'll realize that there is nothing else you could have done no matter what the outcome will be. you can make peace with that.
We went house-hunting last Sunday and we got a “little” lost. But we had the GPS on! These navigating thingamabobs may be infamous for making you take the traditional long winding route to a destination, but in the end, still gets you to where you want to go, doesn’t it?
It isn’t the first time that hubby did not listen to the GPS! Let me put it this way, it’s not the first time that hubby “disagreed” with the GPS and followed his own satellite coordinates (ego-experience-skill triangulation?)
Presenting the Cyborg-ish Voice vs. The Hard-headed Driver:
Hubby ignores the turn.
GPS: *Route re-cal-cu-la-tion*
Hubby keeps on going.
GPS: *In 100 yards, turn right*
Hubby: You’re showing me the wrong way.
Hubby turns left.
Hubby: I know it’s off
GPS: *Turn back*
*Wifey in her mind, “whatever…just keep on going guys while I enjoy the show.”
GPS: *Route re-cal-cu-la-tion*
Hubby: Shut up! You’re showing me the wrong way!
GPS: *Turn back*…*Turn back*….*Turn back*…*Turn back*…*Turn back*….*Turn back*…*Turn back*…*Turn back*….*Turn back*…*Turn back*…*Turn back*….*Turn back*
It’s just a suggestion. Got any ideas?
I’m so greedy occupying two blogsites *teeheehee*. The funny thing is I realize it’s not easy! But I want to keep up with it because in my Thoughts at 3am site, friends come and visit. Here, it’s mostly strangers (aside from friends I showed the link to). I’ve held back for quite a while before I decided that I’m ready to take the leap and yell (or give a hug, as the case may be) to strangers. I’m one paranoid earthling…
Yesterday, hubby gave me a talking stuffed dog named Buddy (figured at least I don’t have to pick up poo for him) and two dozens red roses. The highlight of Valentine’s Day though is our Sushi Dinner at Katsu’s. Yum-o as always!
*kicking my self*
I found the perfect valentine card for hubby at Target last Monday. It says:
For My Husband, My Soulmate
If we had never met,
I don’t know what I’d do…
I mean, who would I be my true, silly self with?
Who would I drag along on all my whimsical adventures?
Who would be my voice of reason?
Who would I tell my spontaneous revelations to?
Who would help me analyze all my troubles?
Who else would love and appreciate me just the way I am?
My husband, my soul mate, my very best friend?
How can Hallmark know exactly what I want to say?
Someone asked me if I was going to do hula for a long time. My answer was “I dunno”. Hubby and I made a pact that if our personal activities (my hula, his softball, my blogging, his internet-surfing, etc) “get in the nerves” of our relationship or family life schedule-wise, it will be time to toss it down to the bottom of our list. It isn’t the point of my “I dunno” though. I dunno. Things can change. Maybe one day I won’t like it anymore. Or I can’t physically do it. Or my halau for some reason packs up. I dunno. I studied the old 60-ish lady kaholo-ing beside me last night. Who knows, maybe I’ll even do it forever. I know at this point that I want to. But I dunno...
When my youngest sister was little, she said “This year I’m doing ballet, next year Tae Kwon Do…15 years from now I’ll be an archaeologist, 20 years…I’ll travel the world…” Being the oldest one raised in a strict and structured environment, my little sister taught me how to think outside the box. Don’t get me wrong, I had a beautiful, pleasant, wholesome and peaceful childhood…though I must say, sheltered and a bit single-tracked, experience-wise. Hmmm, did my little sister actually set me free?
But I had a real tiring week too ---when do I have one that isn't? My inner psyche (well, is there an outer psyche?)…is screaming for a quiet weekend to myself again (here comes the cave lady). Hopefully, this coming long weekend. President’s Day on Monday…hip hip hooray! Not that it means anything to me –yet. All that matters is I get a day off from work, and hopefully I’ll get to stay home to attend to personal stuff, for once.
Hubby and I went to L.A. last weekend. We visited my stepdaughter and watched her color guard debut competition last Saturday. It was really lovely and I’m so glad we came! They rocked! They won! The rest of Saturday I spent taking her and a nephew to the Ontario Mills mall (my mall!!!) while hubby snoozed in the hotel -–the 6-hr+ drive ain’t a piece of cake, especially if you have to do it by yourself with wifey transforming into an inanimate object in the passenger seat --snoring. Shopping was a blast, though it left us with a disease called “Funds-ah-lo” heehee. And Ayres Suites! Our second home down south. The scents in the hotel (uhm, carpet cleaners, is it? I’m weird huh), the clean suite, the crisp linens, the elevator, the fitness center, the breakfast buffet and even the fresh bar of oatmeal soap in the lavatory…they are all my friends who always wait for my visit and welcome me with open arms.
Saturday night, we finally…finally…finally…went back to The Yard House. It’s a Restaurant and Bar located in Victoria Gardens , an open-air town center at the heart of a 160-acre main street community located in Rancho Cucamonga . I had Scallops and Crimini mushrooms with Orzo pasta and vodka cream sauce, and a Pomegranate Martini. The contrast in the taste and texture of the food and drink is mind-bending! Hubby opted for Seared Ahi with black bean sauce and grilled asparagus, a real winner. The one-hour wait and the 
price we paid was all worth it (once a year haha). Dessert was at Pinkberry’s, where we got frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit (oooh lala). Sunday morning, it was the usual breakfast of eggs, sausages, hash browns and French toast at Ayres Suites. Then we hit the hotel gymn for an hour (no wonder my calves are so sore right now). The visit to L.A. wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Toto’s Lechong Manok in West Covina for lunch –-simple everyday Filipino food at its authentic best! Then dessert of Halo-Halo at Chowking. And a short look at Manila Gifts, a Filipino store next door where you can find DVDs of pinoy movies, capiz this, capiz that, Johnson’s Baby Cologne, Eskinol, pH Care, sebo de macho (!?), chin-chun-su (!?!?), down to the ol’ reliable walis…and UP, Ateneo, and De La Salle stickers (!?!?!?).
Then we headed back to Corona to bring step-doe back to their house (mom, stepdad and lil sis, people I always look forward to seeing in L.A.) Halfway back up north, we stopped by Love’s at Lost Hills. It’s my favorite pitstop. Hubby said he’s not surprised because the convenience store smells like ShoeMart. We picked up a quick snack of Fried Jalapenos and Mozarella sticks with Broncoberry sauce at Arby’s then headed straight home. I’m sad that one step in this routine fell out recently…We don’t usually make it to Harris Ranch for dinner anymore because they close before we reach them. We made it home at 10:45p, one of the earliest arrivals among our recent trips so far. Went to bed then went to work the next day – yesterday.
I was just remembering. While we were at breakfast at Ayres Suites last Sunday, my stepdaughter blurted out, “My dad’s lucky to have you.”
In each walk we take in our life, we may find ourselves doing the same routine repeatedly. Each experience and memory though, are always different.
Sounds like a deep title, doesn’t it? Not really, but I thought it would be cute to remember last night with.
When I came home from hula class, hubby said he saw me dancing. I didn’t believe it until he told me little details. Turns out he picked up our dinner from the Mexican Taqueria next door to the dance studio. Curious faces would occasionally turn up on the other side of the glass window to try to peep into what we’re doing. Last night, I saw a few passing faces and it turns out his was one of those I didn’t catch. He saw me enjoying one of my favorite things, he saw me doing my best, he witnessed me being “me” in a different place outside his world. And I didn’t have a clue that he was watching all the while. I know I made him proud. One time, he said he likes to call my direct line at work to listen to my voice message. It was “me” at work, doing something I’m good at and shining in a different world. And the best part? Me saying my name with his last name, affirming that I am his.
He came back home and simply waited until my class was over. I recall one of my old friends telling me before I got married, “save and keep a lot of good memories about your relationship, these will anchor your ship firmly during --heaven forbid!-- stormy seas.”
Last night will be one of those.
MUMPS!!!
Just thinking about it makes my cheeks hurt already. It’s horrifying because I was just talking to her yesterday. Hopefully, the MMR vaccine I had in ‘06 will still work. But does that make me a carrier though? I don’t want hubby to get it because I heard mumps are bad for adult males who still want to have a baby. 
That sucks. And no one will ever know until the incubation period of about a couple of weeks is over. Good thing there’s a good amount of walking space between her cubicle walls and mine. Does that count?
We’ve been having some kind of fear-a-thon lately. Aside from this mumps thingy, we have this earthquake thingy. A couple of days ago while chilling after a hard day’s work, I turned the TV on only to hear a serious anchor blurt out, “The big earthquake at the Bay Area can happen today, or tomorrow, or next week. We’ll never know.”
Bummer… It’s really driving me almost pathologically nuts. Like at night before I sleep, I lay wide awake for about 5to 10 minutes more than usual just thinking of a possible earthquake. When we had a 6-pt somethin’ in November, I was so out of my mind I ran to the bedroom trying to save only the Halloween pumpkin I was carving for a competition. Duh! Hubby and I agreed that we both have to call each other in case the big one happens when we’re not together. But what if the phone lines won’t work? What if……no one calls? 
Then as if to say “hey are you talking about me?”, an earthquake struck
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