NINI ..MY NEW " BABY"

People say Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.... but I refused to believe because that was the day I got my new baby... NINI ... A Neo basic netbook that i can use as i revive my writing career. I am really grateful for having friends who are always there to help me physically, emotionally and even financially in pursuing my dreams.

For now i'm still toying and thinkering around my new tool, trying to get used to it and enjoying every minute of it...:)

Writing and Adrenalin Rush ...

Its been half a decade since i last felt this... the adrenalin rush when you are writing and trying to beat the deadline. Your mind is going crazy, as you strike the keyboards overtime while your heart pounds loudly as you try to finish everything on one go!. its a crazy but addictive feeling .... but honestly i felt happy after typing the last sentence because it felt so familiar and comfortable.... I know i'm rambling and ranting, and what i'm saying may not make any sense .... I guess what i'm trying to say is, once a writer, will always be a writer !!!!

VXI BAZAAR ... A FUN & PRODUCTIVE ADVENTURE

Last weekend some high school friends and I had a chance to try our hand in the "Tiangge" world by participating in a 3-day bazaar. Although it was tiring, the experience was worth it. We are planning to make a career out of it and eventually open our own formal business. In the meantime, we're taking things one step at a time and enjoying every minute of it !

Strike Anywhere ...

I took Julia to Trinoma this afternoon after school for our usual " mall dates" and wait for hubby. However, after a few bites of Chicken Joy, she decided to doze off the afternoon in one of the couches in Jollibee Trinoma. For an hour, i watched her sleep and upto now couldnt help but be amazed on how big she has grown... Holding her in my arms still gives me joy and happiness, just like what i felt 4 1/2 years ago when she came in this world.

I know in 5 to 10 years time, my Little Princess will have a different life to live but as of the moment, she's still my little Baby sleeping in Mommy's Arms

Celebrating Life ....

I have been so stressed out the past few days over our financial status that i forgot to count my blessings, It was only when i turned a listening ear to the people around me did i began to realize how minute/trivial my problems are. As my close friend would often tell me when i worry/fret about money, " pera lang yan... kikitain mo rin yan..."

So today , after getting a " Little Blessing From Above" I've decided to Celebrate Life with My Hubby and Princess with a simple dinner. Consider it as a Kick-Off Celebration for a better and brighter future ahead.

Uncomfortable Truth

I know its been said that the Truth shall set you free... but when you're caught in between one of the closest people in your life about an uncomfortable truth, how do you react? You cant take sides especially if the aggrieving party admits that its their fault. All you can do is listen and pray that even though it may take to forgive, eventually they'll find in their hearts to do so and try to start anew....

Working On My Financial Plan

I bought this book more than three (3) years as a guide to handle my finances but i never get to practice it... So today, while waiting for my Princess finish school, i picked up the book again and decided to give it another shot. I am hoping that this time, i'll be able to put it into practice and be financially stable in the coming years !

Stretching Resources and Patience 'till Payday

After a couple months , here I am again, feeling the stress and pressure on how to make ends meet until the next payday. I guess every Wives, Moms or Partners go through this stage until you've master the art of budgeting or you finally grab the Lotto Jackpot.

Though admittedly, the stress more often than not, gets the best of me I know I am still blessed for having family and friends aroudn willing to extend help....

Hopefully in a couple of weeks i'll be able to free myself from this "monthly quicksand..." until then i'm hopeful that i can manage and stretch everything until the much awaited payday...

Its Now Official .... Welcome to the Married Life !!!

Its Official, I have added another title before my name.... MRS ! To family and friends, it's long-overdue since hubby and I have been living together for five (5) years now. Nothing much changed, except that I have to get used to being called Mrs Marino and start practicing my new signature. Or make sure I wear the "ring" and never take it off for all to see.

Walking down the aisle for the first time was a different story. I could barely remember what really happened while i march because my Little Bride Julia left me and ran to the arms of his waiting Daddy....

But all told, it was a fun-filled moment... and truly, we are now One... At Long Last !

Hearts Day and Chinese New Year 2010

For the first time, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a Chinese Dinner in the nearby Wan Chai Resto and strolled around Ayala Techno Hub after... I should say, this is the best Valentine's Day Celebration I've ever had :)

Birthday 2010

The family had a grand time eating @ Giligan's Trinoma for my 37th Birthday. Good food and the best company ever (Benjie, Julia and our Ache Rose ) .... What more can you ask for ???

Sunday Afternoon @ TechnoHub

We finally found time to take Julia to TechnoHub this afternoon for a sunday treat and we really had a great time. I know we should do this more often as a family, its a great bonding time and stress reliever. Surely, we'll be back @ TechnoHub to try out other restos !

Enjoying My Sat Morning..

I woke up late this morning and for the first time in sooo many years, i overslept. It's so weird coz I'm not used to sleeping eight (8) anymore, so you could just imagine how my body is reacting . Anyway, i had my cup of coffee and hopefully, the caffeine will kick in any moment now.

I'm waiting for my Little Princess to wake up so we can start the day... in the meantime, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet aura, just hearing the chipping of the birds as i type in my journal and crave for another cup of coffee.

Im not really sure what to write... just random thoughts I guess... Its been a while since i started writing again. I miss writing scripts/stories and the adrenalin rush in beating deadlines. I'm not really sure if i'll be blessed again to have a chance in writing but who knows.... I'm planning to start my screenplay soon so i can submit it to Palanca Contest which is long overdue. Sad that my story didnt make it to Cinemalaya, but who knows, i might get a chance with this one. Still keeping my fingers crossed. For now, let me start by blogging again.

Last night we had a treat ! We finally got our tax refund, and although it wasnt much, Benjie and I are still grateful for the blessings and decided to celebrate it with a steak and ice cream ! Sinful for someone desperately trying to loose weight , but what the heck ! we deserve it by working hard the whole year round. Too bad didnt think of taking pix coz we're so hungry. Hopefully next time, i'll be able to document everything to savor the moment!

Well, this post is getting to be a long one .... guess time to sign off and back up all my files which was my original intention when i turned on my laptop...hehehehe

till next entry !!!!

I Miss Writing ...

Saw old pictures of colleagues from the previous world (ABS CBN) and i suddenly miss writing... its been almost five years since i last tried saw my by line .... I guess its about time i pull out my pen and start scribbling again .... I promised myself I'll finish my screenplay this year ...... My One last hurrah !!!!!

My Little "Big " Princess

Funny how time really flies so fast...... My Little Princess has grown big already who just turned four (4) yesterday. Hubby and I are just remisnicing how we managed to overcome the first couple of months/years caring for this little bundle of joy. Now we watch in awe as she sings Bahay Kubo and Leron Leron Sinto with Gusto ! In a few years , she'll grow up as a young lady and will have different concerns but in the mean time we try to enjoy every waking moment with her.

My Time....for an Hour

Today is the first day of my sked rest day for the week and I'm having a great time in front of my laptop, trying to set up my new "raket" by updating my multiply account....

More than anything else, I really enjoy this "My Time Hour...." meaning i get to drop the Mom/Partner Role on the Side for an hour or two so I can do things for myself. I know it may sound selfish but dont get me wrong, this "My Time" thing keeps me sane :)

An a few minutes my little princess will wake up from her Nap or Hubby will be up and about asking about all minute details in the household but for the meantime, let me explore the net and have a quiet time in front of my beloved laptop !!!!!

When Kids Get Sick ...

Yesterday when we got home from work, my little Princess was down with a slight fever.. so we wasted no time and tried to give her medicine which was really an extra challenge for me, her daddy and yaya bec she never liked drinking medicines. It took 3 adults (2 to hold her and 1 to give her meds using a dropper) to finally give her a small dose of paracetamol... But the whole night the fever was still on and off. I was really teary eyed while holding her and listen to her breathing as she slept in my arms and despite the temp, she never complained or whined , only when it was medicine time. All throughout, i was begging for the fever to go away or "just give it to mommy" to spare her from the illness. True, when kids get sick you would really hope and pray that whatever pain can just be passed on to the adult and let the little be in pink health....



its 8:40am and my little one is still sound asleep by my side ... her temp has gone down to a normal level but i'm not taking my chances and still keeping an eye . The good thing abt this is I get to spend the whole day with her ...

Hot Wheels....

We took Julia to the mall yesterday and to buy her girlie stuff however, it seems her mind was on something else... And No, we didnt' bother to buy the "hot wheels" coz they costs P10,000 and P15,000 respectively ..huhuhuh :(

Waiting for the Big One

A week ago we were caught unprepared by typhoon Ondoy.... before we know it, most of the houses were already submerged underwater and had no choice but to deal with the situation. Now, another typhoon looms the area and all we can do is hope and pray that it takes a different path to spare us from another "wet weekend".....

Just like any moms, i did my best to cover all the household stuff enough to survive until Monday just to be sure and tried to cover all the basses. Although one can never be prepared for the Big One , I believe nothing is impossible with the power of Prayer.... If you think about it, if there are 10Million Filipinos saying a special prayer to drive away typhoon Pepe.... then maybe , just maybe that will make Pepe go away and leave us Safe and sound...

After The Storm....

For 24 hours we witness the downpour of Storm Ondoy and placed the whole Metro Manila underwater. I am fortunate enough to have a home in a higher and stable location although the streets leading to my place is waist deep underwater. I was worried sick because Hubby is stuck in the office but at least I know he's safe and sound. And after watching the video clips in the news today, i couldnt help but be teary eyed and affected by others who were on their rooftops for hours, waiting for someone to rescue them. I know after Storm Ondoy, things will never be the same. I just hope we Filipinos will learn our lesson to take care of our environment so we wont have second servings of "ondoy's wrath..."

Just For the Money !

Amazed on how People can take advantage of others. The car conk out in the middle of Katipunan Flyover. Lo a& behold, wrecker comes to pull the car to the nearest gas station and asked Benjie P1900. Buti na lang bolero si Hubby and promised to pay her P1200 later in McDo Katips so she can pocket the money. Eventually she believed hubby and let him drive away.....

Keep the Pen Moving

Started writing again after a few years of silence.... and God knows how much i miss that feeling..... Funny thing is before i finally drafted my treatment I have been having dreams about by colleagues in ABS-CBN, people whom i havent seen for a couple of years so I took it as sign to finish my story and take the big leap. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I still have the writer's touch.

Connecting with old friends

So happy I found a connection to an old college friend whom i havent seen for almost 20 years now. He was my best buddy and confidante during my freshman year until we had to part ways to avoid problems with his lovelife.... Looking back now i'm sure we'll have a great time laughing about it. I remember the "asaran-kulitan" days, the long jeepney ride home from UST to QC, and the greasy food in the canteen during break time. Funny how good old memories start gushing through when you finally find a connection with old friends.

Welcome back Gochac !!!!

HOLDING ON

Felt bad things didnt work out with TABS buyer.... just when you thought everything is falling into place, a major glitch comes along the way...... I hope i can come up with something soon ... otherwise it may be too late....

CRUNCH TIME

Its a week before payday and everybody's seemed to be scrapping their barrels just to make ends meet.... I know how it feels because it seems i've been playing this game for ages now. Although most often than not, we barely make it , i have one important realization.... That every crunch time, the Lord's hand moves in mysterious way and helps us stretch things until we reach the finish line.... and prepare for the next race again

STRESSFULL WEEKEND

I hate it when you dont get to enjoy the weekend because of a very stressful event. You're so stressed that you tend to bark at anything and everything to get in your way... even the smallest things like what happened to me and hubby the past few days. We were so disappointed and angry about how dirty our enemies can play and had to shell out quite a sum of money just for piece of paper that "would give you temporary liberty" when in fact you were victimized by these bastards. But despite this unfortunate incident, we still manage to look at the bright side and thankful that the Good Lord Above never left our side... true we were out of pockets by a huge amount (thousands of pesos is no joke for hardworking people) but at least the problem came when we had the means to resolve it and we were given ample time to resolve it otherwise, we could be facing bigger obstacles to hurdle.

As our lawyer put it, expect dirty tricks like these to come out of the hat (although we are hoping this is the end of it) but as long as we have the Big Boss on our side and family and friends to help out, we are positive we can win this battle in flying colors....

Well, getting even is different story....

JOLOGS THEORY IN ACTION

This Afternoon the Jologs Theory was seen in action as I was able to Help a dear friend Tina find a reasonable OB for her upcoming delivery in a few weeks time thru the help of another friend Bora.... What's so interesting is they do not know each other and yet they were able to connect thru me. As Tina mentioned in her text earlier, she already claimed that she's a friend of Bora so the OB can extend her generosity and kindness to her.... At the end of the day i was so happy for Tina because i knew somehow i was able to solve one problem for her and help her gain a new friend....

So continue to spread the love and touch other people's lives... Mabuhay ang mga Jologs !!!!

TABS... MY DREAM CAR

Yup... this was my dream car (well next to a red volkswagen) which i was able to purchase early 2000 from our daders... i really love this car... lots of memories as well (sad and happy ones at that !!!!) .... we are hoping someday i can hand this over to our little princess.... teach her how to drive this "little mean machine" the same way i taught his daddy almost four years ago....

INTO FB.....

Just like millions of Filipinos today, I too have been addicted to Facebook.... the reason why i haven't been blogging for the past months.... sure its fun to see what's happening with your friends and loved ones, and posting pix is a big plus but FB doesnt give you enough space to post your thoughts. And i have to admit, i never liked the games and surveys which i feel is just a waste of time and space. So after few months into FBing, I found my wayback into my blogsite .... so expect more writing... and of course more pix and more updates of this journey of mine :)

How to Eat Yakisoba ...

In this gloomy weather, my princess and I are stuck in the house with nothing much to do except eat yakisoba.... and guess what, she liked it !!!!!

Back To School

In the midst of our legal battle, our lawyer Rene (a good friend of my brothers ) have inspired me to consider taking up law especially when he commented " I should pursue law bec I can be one hell of lawyer".

Taking up law is one of my frustrations.... being a daddy's girl of one of the great corporate lawyers Philippines has ever had (daddy was former sec chairman during my highschool .days) I've imagined following his footsteps but along the way i got sidetracked and pursued writing instead. From time to time this idea crossed my mind but i usually brush it off because i need to earn a bachelor's degree first before i could step into the halls of college of law. So that would mean another year or two in college. And to make things more complicated, it was 14 years ago when i graduated from Miriam with an Associate Degree so i do need a lot of catching up to do.

Yesterday while browsing thru the net i toyed with the idea of going back to school thru open university and started doing research, and luckily came across with PUP's open university program. I wasted no time and gave them a call and guess what, i'm scheduled for an interview next week to evaluate my credentials. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that i can go back to school soon and who knows, a couple of years from now, i'll be signing off with a prefixed/title "ATTY before my name to boast!

JULIA IN THE RAIN

Took advantage of the rains and took Julia outside to experience a quick shower in the rain. At first she was uncomfortable and hesistant but once she got the hang of it, she was literraly singing in the rain.... Good thing her dad is in the office otherwise, we wont be able to enjoy this moment !

Sarap talagang maligo sa ulan :)

Wheel of Justice in the Philippines... A True Test of Patience

Last Monday, we drove 2 hours and a half for our NLRC hearing to submit our position paper which our lawyer and I drafted carefully and tediously. We couldnt wait to hand over said document to our "enemies" see the look on their face especially when they finally see the smart certification. But we were disappointed because after an hour of waiting, they didnt show up and had the hearing rescheduled two weeks after. So we had no choice but to drive back home for 2 more hours......

Indeed the justice system here in our country will truly test one's patience and pockets. We are hoping that this battle will end soon and victory will be ours !!!

JULIA IN JEANS

After 3 and a half years, we finally had my daughter wear jeans for the first time (courtesy of her Tita/Mommy Kathy ) . We usually have her wear skirts or shorts since its easier to put and more comfy. Benjie and I were so proud seeing her in maong and both commented ... " dalaga na ang prinsesa namin !!!"

THANKFUL FOR SMALL VICTORIES

For a year now, we've been carrying on a legal battle versus Benjie's former employer, 22nd St. Its been a long, tedious and not to mention expensive battle. (good thing our lawyer is a good friend of my bro and havent charged us anything yet) Admittedly, that one year has been one big roller coaster ride for both of us, mixture of emotions for both benjie and i ... there were days that we felt angry, disappointed and frustrated but we never stopped hoping and praying that one day this will end victoriously for us.... and we know slowly, we will get there.

Yesterday we scored another small victory when we finally received a Certification from Smart Legal Dept... a documentation we've been trying to secure for more than six months now. We tried several times requesting this from smart wireless center but we were always denied. Finally, as our last and desperated attempt, we tried to pull strings but asking all family and friends for people they know in the legal dept who could help us out. Luckily my sis in law Kathy had a friend who used to work for smart gave us the first lead...... And another schoolmate way back highschool days, Pam whom i havent seen or talk to for almost 20 years now gave us another lead.... Although we were not able to touch base with the people they referred, we were able to contact Ms Patti Aznar of legal department who was kind enough to assist us and finally issued us the much needed certification that will hopefully end our legal battle. For me, these are special angels sent by Above to help us out during these trying times. We wouldn't have gotten this vital document without the help of these friends.

I know its still a long way to go but now we are more confident that we can wrap up all the legal battles triumphantly and live a more quiet and secured life ahead....

And lastly.... God is really good.... in all ways, always !!!!!

PAYDAY TREAT

Last payday I did something for myself for a change... went to Taco Bell and decided to treat myself for working hard for couple of days. So I ordered their Mexican Pizza and cheesy potatoes for a quick merienda. Although i went a little overboard with my budget i left the resto with a smile and I promise that i should do this more often ... Reward myself for a job well done .