Maling akala

I hope this buzz about the forthcoming reunion of the Eraserheads is not just a "maling akala" as their song goes. My husband and I already registered online to get tickets (apparently this was the only way to get tickets to the "free concert) but we have yet to receive a reply from this site.

If this is a form of viral marketing, ang galing ng nakaisip! It couldn't have come at a better time. Fans have been clamoring for a reunion right after they disbanded...I cant wait.

Yaya to the rescue

Im back though I was never really away (excluding perhaps the three-day "vacation" I took with my sister in Hong Kong last June 26).
For the past two weeks, wala ako yaya which is why I didnt have time to update this blog. Thankfully I have my new yaya, sinundo namin sia yesterday dun sa agency kung san kami parati kumukuha ng yaya.
I've lost count of my yayas who have come and gone. The last one, who left us like a thief (walang paalam!), was apparently pissed after Alamat threw her cellphone in the toilet bowl. Mahilig kasi si alamat magtapon ng kung ano sa toilet. It reminds me of the macacks in India, tipong nang-aagaw ng pagkain tas biglang tatakbo.
I already warned my new yaya about this bad habit of Alamat. Wag mag-cellphone or else. Sana tumagal. Im getting tired of signing up a new yaya every so often. On top of that, mahal ng placement fee sa agency. Our savings are starting to dry up. Need a job fast.
Now I have to catch up on a lot of things...dami tatapusin. Hopefully, this month I'll have a new job and more projects.

Wanna sleep for 1 million years

Im soo tired, very very tired. I just want to sleep but I cant. Got to finish some things, transcribe my intreview, email articles, pack my things, help my son do his homework, atbp... ika nga ni Madam Ethel.

Ulan...

The rain is pounding furiously outside. My immediate thought was: Buti na lang im jobless, I dont have to worry about getting home, getting stuck in traffic, being stranded in the LRT with unfortunate people like me who cant afford to buy a car. (No, not with the ridiculous oil price surge). I dont need to buy an umbrella from the vendors at the Manila City Hall (they should be selling umbrellas like hotcakes now) nor do I need to bring extra clothes just in case I got stranded in the office.
At least there's a good side to being jobless. You get to enjoy rain, hear it, smell it, feel it and own it while it lasts. It's one of those few things that I really love for what it is. It makes me nostalgic. When we were kids (back in Pampanga), we'd always watch the rain by the window. We'd make paper boats and toss it outside then watch it sink.
My brothers would make motorized boats from rubber slippers attached with a "machine" they dislodged from their toy cars.
Rainy days were also a time to gather up in front of the TV while we munched on sugarcane bought from the neighbor. When she was still alive, my mother always bought crickets during rainy days and prepared it adobo style for a hearty lunch. Dinner was composed of live crablets (talangka) blanched in boiling water and eaten with vinegar on the side.
We loved rain as kids because we get to swim at the basement of the house as soon as the water starts seeping in and rise up to our waists. It was always like this during rainy days thus I always made sure that the basement was clean, free of cockroaches and other insects.
Rain also reminds me of Singapore. For some weird reasons, it was always pouring when Im in this city whatever time of year. Many times I was tempted to bathe in the rain but I was too embarassed to do so. Baka bawal? As they say, it's a "fine" city (pun intended).
It has stopped raining outside. And im still jobless.

mood swings

I've been in a nauseating mood swing lately. One day am just contented being a good wife and a mother, the next day I am swallowed by my insecurities that always end up having something to do with being friggin' jobless. This is already wearing and tearing me down. I hate the feeling. I dont want to be depressed anymore or see myself stucked in a muddy rut that I cant get out of.
Sometimes I remind myself why I resigned in the first place: to be with the kids, to be able to cook lunch and dinner, go to the palengke (my favorite place), design accessories, clean our room, watch tv, anything that won't tie me to the office everyday.
It's exhausting doing the same thing for eight years. Parang wala ng bago sa ginagawa mo. That was also another reason why I left my writing job. I felt that everything was already clockwork. The excitement has waned.
Now here I am, pondering about the missed opportunities, the many "what ifs" while I roll the vacuum cable into a neat coil. I miss writing. I miss my friends in that office way before there exists the PRETENDERS. I even miss my former boss' scolding and her shrill voice while she summons the lady guard to carry her things. She was mean, yes, but she had the heart of a mother...always the protective mother to her brood.
I and my colleagues used to joke about her wild temper and how tech-UNsavvy she was. But then the time came when she had to put down the pen. After all, she was not getting any younger although she remained to have the most retentive memory among us. We wept when she left us. I remember I cant even look straight to her eyes because I didnt want her to see my own fear, like a baby taking her first steps.
I heard that they have a new office there now. A stylish one replete with flat screens, two secretaries to answer pesky PRs, and a spanking clean space. Nonetheless, I still prefer our old cubicle, the rickety chairs and computers, the electric fan that wont turn on, the layout board that doubles as our dining table, the dirty floors full of press releases and spilled food. Most of all, I miss the people I worked with back then. At least a few of them who have become my closest friends. They say that you only get to keep five true friends in your lifetime. I guess I found some of them in that office. And if only for that reason, I dont regret working in that office, however despicable the people and environment have become now.

Belated Father's Day

I may not be blessed with a flourishing career but God is fair and wise because he blessed me instead with two healthy boys and a husband who works day and night to give us a comfortable life. I wanted to re-publish an article I wrote last year, sort of a tribute to my husband for our Father's Day special when I still worked for that office.
That article was perhaps the most taxing and challenging writing assignment I had in my entire career. Not that I didn't have anything good to say about Argel. In fact, there were tons I wanted to say to him but every time I attempted to start a sentence, there was always a new idea creeping in from nowhere, things that he did for me in the past that would alter my flow of thought and essentially change the flow of the article.
In short, it took me days to write that story. It was brain-draining to be honest. For the first time, I was lost for words and when the story finally got published, readers from as far as Davao whom I didnt even know emailed me with positive feedback. These were young dads, too, who said that they can relate to my story.
Anyway, I wanted to re-post that article here but decided against it. I will instead share the activities we had to celebrate Father's Day yesterday.
Breakfast consisted of omelet that I made with flat leaf parsley and parmesan, toasts, cheese hotdogs and coffee.
With no concrete plans for the day, we took the kids to the garage at naligo kami lahat dun never mind if the kapitbahay thought it ridiculous.
Lunch was at the QC Park only because I still had GCs (remnants from my previous job) to this Filipino restaurant. Wa;a rin naman kaming pera for a buffet lunch at Spiral.
My eldest, Riv, brought his skateboard kaso umulan kaya di makausap pauwi. Nagtampo. (Kanino sa ulan? Aba di ko kasalan yun ah!)
I was so tired that I went straight to our big bed and switched on to National Geographic. Sarap ng ulan especially when you're cuddled under the cold sheets.
Di ko alam, nag-skateboard pala sa labas ng bahay si Argel and Riv. That's Argel. Kahit pagod he always has time for the kids and of course for me (pero siempre yung sakin pag tulog na mga bata..hehe). He'd rather play with us than go out with friends. Kung may lakad sia, gusto nia parati ako kasama.
God is so good. I am really so blessed to have him, and to have a second shot at love.
Yun lang pow.

It's Friday 13th...so be very afraid!

Friday the 13th pala ngayon...I am supposed to be in Batanes now with my partners in our consultancy firm to do some research and legwork. Fortunately, it was moved to June 21 to 24 (kung hindi kami ma-stranded dun.)
Heard that when going to Batanes, you always have to arm yourself with extra clothes since the weather in this isolated island is very erratic pede ka ma-stranded for days. Hopping from one island to another in Batanes is ONLY accessible by plane since, according to stories, the current is so strong even cargo ships cant pass through.
Thinking about it now, Im just happy to stay home and just do the usual chores. But Im really looking forward to go there. Saw pictures and read stories about Batanes in the past pero siempre iba ang first-hand encounter.

Mood: excited