SAVED BY FRIENDS

How many times in the past have i turned to my dear friends for help especially when it comes to financial problems.... friends who were always there willing to help no matter what ... Friends who never asked why was i in need or when will i pay up... Friends who never keep tab of how many times they were there for to hold my hand through rough times.... friends like Agatha, Vanessa, Ate Paz, Kuya Son, Dadders, My Partner in Crime Marue, Mayeeh, Ambo, Tita A, Bel, Cherie, Shao etc.... its a very long list but these people occupy the top space simply because they are a just a txt/call away.

And lately, two friends with golden hearts have saved me through rough waters (again) .. Joanne and Michelle whom i havent seen for quite sometime. I really owe these people big time for helping tide things over and God knows how grateful i am that there were there to help out. If it werent for them, most likely i'm still at a lost.... I know after all these trials and challenges, i will end up a Big Winner because of the friends i've got ...

I know i am so loved by the Big Boss in Heaven because I am Blessed with TRUE AND BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS....

Blogging in

It's sunday morning once again and i just had my coffee and crackers for starters. I'm killing time so i can head off to the grocery to buy more coffee and usual stuff.....

so here i am infront of my precious computer, " blogging in" after checking my mails and reading my friends' blogs and something really struck me this morning... if i may borrow a dear friend's line in her blog so i can share it with everyone else

"Happiness is a choice and our disposition is more important than our circumstances" ...

This made me think twice about what i'm going through right now.True, our disposition spells a big difference in handling things. For the past weeks, I've been stressed out because i've been worried sick of our finances and since we're just starting our business, our cash flow is really tight and sometimes looks like going nowhere. I have debts to settle left and right and couldnt figure out how to balance things but i know somewhere, somehow things will fall into place like they always do. its just a matter of having the right disposition so i can be guided and handle things properly.

And speaking of disposition.... Last week i had a chance to meet up with an old friend Joanne, whom i haven't seen for quite sometime. We've been best buddies during our highschool and college years but we've lost touch when we got busy with our careers and personal lives. Luckily one afternoon on my way home i chanced upon her along eastwood and it turned out we worked in the same area and decided to have coffee.... I really had a great time spending an hour with her and i couldnt help but admire how strong and beautiful this friend of mine is. Despite the family problems she's going through with one of her siblings , she remains calm and always with a smile. Her disposition in handling her load keeps her feet on the ground and keeps her sane. And to top it all, Joanne has 2 wonderful kids, a husband and a mother in law to take care, a full time job from 5pm to 2am and finishing up a nursing course on the side. For me, this girl is a superwoman !!!! And i know she'll always be blessed and be guided because of her beautiful heart ! Love you , Jo !!!!

Our New "BABY"

Its true that when God closes a door, He opens a window.... and that's what happened to us after Benjie's work in 22nd (unfortunately, the saga over 22nd is not yet over and may take a while but we're not giving up.. we'll give them a tough fight they'll never forget)

While looking for other business opportunities, we stumbled upon a canteen space in the nearby BJMP Office which is a stone throw away from our apartment. Luckily, everything fell into place and before we knew it, we were preparing for a new chapter in our life... becoming a full time entrepreneur. When we first saw the space we were not thrilled and we knew there's a lot of work to do but after scrubbing, fixing the tables and adding my Mom's crossstitch pieces, we have somehow transformed the place into our very own Bite Factory Canteen. We're still in the process of putting things into order and waiting for the business to pick up ...and we know we're getting there.....

This is truly our new Baby because Benjie and I are spending more time and effort into this project but we know its worth it because at the end of the day, we know all the fruits of these endeavor will benefit the whole family especially our precious princess, Julia.

Another Quiet Sunday

Yup... i'm up and about around 9am this morning, excited to get up so i can have my cup of coffee and some treats before i can pour out my thoughts....

Its been a stressful week.... work was the same, tons of calls to be answered. what was sad about the past work week is its our last time to be together with my teammates under the helm of our dear TM .... starting tomorrow i'll be reporting to someone else. That's one of the sad realities of working in a call center industry. You are reshuffled from time to time just like chess pieces controlled by just one hand (in our case its the Operations Manager) and you have no choice but to follow. As they would put it, "trabaho lang, walang personalan"...... The good thing is our account is relatively a small group so no matter what team you get assigned to, i will always see my former teammates.

One thing you can't get away though is office politics. No matter where you go, you'll always have to deal with it. Its just sad that you are trying to work and others dont give as much but they get away with it and worse, get the credit. So one thing i've learned when i was promoted, just go with the flow and just show them what you've got because at the end of the end, that's all that matters. It doesnt matter if they're more senior, bottomline is people will see what you're really made of and that's want counts. No Office Politics can stop that....

Tomorrow is a start of a new week..... Honestly, its not something to look forward to but at least there's something to keep me busy, sane and grounded. And the best thing about going to work is the thought the day will end soon and you'll be heading home to be with the people you love.

GETTING THRU THE STORM

Two weeks ago Benjie got the worst treatment from his work. When he was about to finish his work for the day, the Manager's Assistant/Magnified Alalay Paul approached him and gave him a memo suspending him for 30 days ("preventive suspension" as they termed it) for "Malicious and Slanderous Text Messages" sent to his boss' husband informing him that his wife (who happens to be Benjie's boss for the last 8 years and a half) is having an extra marital affair. According to them, said messages came from Benjie's prepaid number that he was using. They confirmed this when a staff borrowed Benjie's phone to text their Big Boss. To make the story short, he was accused of something Benjie never did and will never do not even in his wildest dreams. He even reasoned out to the said Assistant that he is not stupid to send malicious messages and still use the said sim card.


When Benjie told me this the following day I literally blew my top especially when I saw him in tears..... yes, tears of pain and anger roll down his cheeks . Imagine after more than 8 years of working with them, this is what you get. For quite sometime now management of 22nd st has been treating theif staff badly. No overtime pays, no benefits and most often than not their paychecks are released late a day or two but never did Benjie complained and instead took everything in stride. But this accusation was the last straw to any decent employee could take.


We wasted no time and made phone calls looking for friends who can help us out. Luckily, a family friend (One of my brother's brad) gladly accepted the case and wasted no time in answering said memo, assuring us that we are in safe hands and that we will not give up a good battle since we are on the winning side, and two weeks into the said "case" it seems that things are going our way after we've confirmed with the cellphone company details and dates of activation of the prepaid sim he is using, we can now somehow breath a little. its still a long way to go but as our dear lawyer Rene would say... we will give them a good fight and make them pay back.

The best thing that happened during this stormy two weeks is we became closer and we started going to the adoration chapel... actually more than anyone, its Benjie who goes to the Adoration Chapel to pray (considering that he is not a catholic). He would deligently go to church every afternoon or evening to spend some time and pray. Julia and I would sometimes go with him to say a special prayer of thanks and request for strength that we may overcome this obstacle.

With Faith, hope, love and friends around us, we are getting thru this storm and we are looking forward to the day we will emerge as winners in this battle and eventually Benjie's name and reputation will be cleared and be vindicated.

Sundays.... Ohh Sundays

For the past few months i would wake up early and report to Work Sunday mornings. At first i hated it bec while everybody else sleeps late, i'm at the office with my headset, talking to aussies and all ..


But lo and behold, after a year and a half, i finally got promoted and got the weekends off. Now i get to enjoy staying up late Sat night, watching tv and chatting with friends over the internet. But most importantly, i get to enjoy the sunday mornings with my coffee, my 80's music and my laptop, updating my blog. This is " my time for myself".... time for me to write, recharge and relax. I dont mind if it means just for an hour or two because any minute now julia will wake up and will be all over me (happy to see that her mommy's home when she wakes up and this is something i enjoy as well during weekends). Sunday afternoon is another plus when we get to go out as a family, an activiity/event that Benjie and I would like to instill so that Julia would have a taste of a family day during weekends.


So no matter how toxic and hectic the work week is, i have my Sundays to look forward to ..

Our First Summer Outing

Last May 14 was a very special day for the whole family as we drove to malolos, bulacan for our first summer outing. we had a great time and it was really a treasure to see our little Julia enjoying the pool. Unfortunately, a few hours later she started to get cranky because it was time for her afternoon nap. There was nothing we can do except pack our bags and head home. That also explains why we only had a few pix to share

But all up it was worth the trip.... now we're looking forward and planning our next adventure and hopefully this time we'll get to spend the night over so we'll have more time, more pix and of course, more fun .

Hormonal Change

A lot of people are talking about it... that crazy time of the month where your hormones are doing all those crazy stuff that takes you to a roller coaster ride of emotions... At first i didnt take it seriously because i never had any problems in that area but ever since i gave birth things started to change. Not only do i experience cramps during the "time of the month" but now i have mood swings.



It could also be sign of old age when you start to worry about the littlest thing in the world. You're so tied up with all the problems you tend to forget to smile and how to have fun. As a result you suddenly feel the stress eating up your body , taking forms in different aches, pains and illness you never had before.



Moral of the story..... Have Faith and Have Fun.... Problems will come your way no matter what... but if you have Faith that everything will be okay and learn to have Fun and enjoy Life you have all you need to conquer and control that Hormonal Change Episode.

Barney ... Marney !!!

Yup, that's Julia's favorite name in the world right now... i dont know what it is with Barney, but it seems all the kids are addicted to this purple dinosaur.... she can watch barney the moment she wakes up till midnight over and over again. There was a time her yaya had to hide all the vcds so that we can watch regular programming. She is so into this BArney thing that we adults have memorized all the songs as well that I sometimes find myself humming the melody in the middle of my shift...

I know in a year or two she'll outgrow BArney.. but for the meantime i let her enjoy every minuet of it....

TimeZone

Last Tuesday we had a grand time in Timezone, Trinoma. This is a first for the whole family... First time we went to Trinoma and strolled around the area, and the first time to hang out in Timezone...

Again, more than anything , it was our little Princess Julia who enjoyed the gimik, she loved it so much we're planning to visit the place next week.

Seq 1: Interior.... Work Area/Study... Night

Yup... i'm back writing the familiar sluglines.... God is really good coz after almost four years i suddenly found myself in familiar territories, trying my hand in writing once again. I feel lucky because i am given another chance to do what i love to do most... Scriptwriting. And the people i'm working with are really nice bec they let me continue my regular job and do my writing on the side. I'm really excited with this new chapter/endeavor but at the same time i'm nervous because its been a long, long time. It feels like i'm the neophyte writer trying my luck. I hope and pray i still have what it takes to see my name on OBB and experience the same high when i see and hear my lines in the boob tube. So in the meantime, i'm signing off so i can start my treatment due this weekend......

fade to ...


CBB

DISCOVERY NIGHT

I had a wonderful 35th Birthday Celebration when Benjie, Julia and I stayed overnight in Discovery Suites courtesy of Sitel ( I won a raffle in one of the referral programs). Although it may seem a grand way to celebrate, the truth of the matter is, we had a very quiet evening and enjoyed every minute as we watch our little princess enjoy the new environment. She was literally and figuratively all over the place inspecting every corner..... too bad we didn't take too many pix .

Benjie enjoyed watching his little one so much he is now saving up money so we can have another night in the said hotel.

Julia's Second Bday

Last Friday was a special day for the whole family as we celebrate our Princess' Second Birthday. We were looking forward to this special day and had everything planned out weeks before, we were all set to see santa claus and experience snow but traffic ruined our nite we missed santa and the elves in eastwood, we ended up filling our hungry stomachs in something fishy and spent time taking pictures ...

although the night didn't turn out the way we originally planned out, we still had a great time...Nothing beats seeing our little princess running around the free space and shouting her lungs out .

all up it was a night of simple celebration... full of love and laughter for our little one.

HOLIDAY STRESS

Two weeks ago, i got a big scare from the doctor.... i went to see an EENT due to several mouth sores.... at first i thought it wasn't a big deal, i'm used to having mouth sores bec i used to wear braces however, this time i had 10 all over my mouth, so when i saw the doctor, he too was alarmed and gave me antibiotics and stuff... here's the thing, if in case after the medication, the sores haven't completely healed or if there's no development i would have to go through several tests to check what's wrong because according to him, mouth sores are sometimes symptoms that there's a major problem in my immune system... to make the story short, worse scenario could be a symptom of cancer of something as heavy as that.... you could just imagine how I felt when i heard those words from the doctor. The first thing that entered my mind was my little Julia.... right then and there i told myself i cant get sick bec i have a little girl who's waiting for me at home, a little princess who loves to be cuddled and tickled before going to sleep, a little girl who kisses you from time to time out of the blue.... who follows or should i say ran after you if she catches you leaving the house without her....

For almost a week, i was literally on my toes, hoping and praying that these said mouth sores are just caused by stressing over the holidays... I swear, now more than ever, i've learned to value my health... now i make it a point to sleep at least 5 or 6 hrs a day, drink vitamins and guess what i have decided to trade my hot cup of coffee to a cold glass of non-fat milk every night

Good thing the nouth sores are now gone... and that all these were caused by stressing over the holidays and the financial stuff.

One lesson I've learned is that i should take it easy and not worry too much abt the financial aspect of life bec at the end of the day, what really matters is that you're in good health and have time with the people you love.

And of course, not to stress too much over the holidays... because Holidays are meant to be enjoyed !!!!

STARBUCKS BABY !!!!

For the first, Julia got to taste the magic of starbucks..... and obviously she enjoyed every minute of it... Indeed she's now a CERTIFIED STARBUCKS BABY !

Like Mother...Like Daughter....

My little princess is starting to follow her mom's footsteps... typing a word or two... hmmm looks like we have another writer in the family ...

How to eat homemade peanut butter

This is Julia's favorite past time, eating home made peanut butter straight from the bottle...hmmmm yum, yum !!!!!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I love Sunday afternoons when i have the house by myself bec everybody else is sleeping... hehehe... it gives me enough time to relax, surf the net and write. Lets just say that this is my time for myself.... if others find joy in spending hours in the parlor, i on the other savor the moments in front of my laptop with my coffee. this is what i call the simple joys in life. In an hour or two, my princess will be up and running again... that too is another source of joy for me but in the meantime, let me enjoy the sound of my keyboard under my fingers as i finish up this entry...

A Hospital Experience

Last week i was geared up for our first out of town trip which i have planned months before ( my vl was filed as early as june). Unfortunately, the night before we were to leave, my princess was down with fever and we had to cancel the trip. What seemed to be a harmless fever shoot up to 42 degrees the next day and we suddenly found ourselves in the emergency room of St Luke's Hospital. What was scheduled as a vacation turned out to be a couple of nights stay in the said expensive hospital (thank God for health cards) and all our baons were consumed in the hospital, making it look a picnic for the whole family. I will never forget the look on Julia's face when she was shaking/having chills due to high fever, and when the interns were were inserting the IV on her left hand, i was literally sobbing in tears. If only i could spare her from all the pain she went through that ordeal. And we were relieved when the lab tests showed negative for dengue, instead apparently she took something that made her tummy bad, thus explaining the acute gastrointiritis diagnosis. After almost 2 days, the fever was gone and she was almost back to normal, sorting through our baon and playing with the cellphone.

I know all families will have to go through this experience one way or the other, but i do hope this will be the last one for ours. Although i have to admit that made our family stronger, I wouldn't want to go through that ordeal ever again.

BUDGETING .... AN EXTRA CHALLENGE

i was never good with money.... maybe because i've always had just enough during my younger years that's why budgeting was never my cup of tea. But now that i have a family, budgeting our household have always been an extra challenge for me... well i can draft a budget that would seem realistic and fair but implementating the said budget is another story or should i say the greatest challenge. I admire people who are able to follow and implement their budget to a T !.... i'm hopind someday i can do the same.

The good thing about this budgeting is you always get to the do it every payday... so when you don't get it the first time, there's always the next payday to work on and hopefully after some hit and miss, i would finally get it right !