bkk....

I'm on my third work trip of the year.. this time to Bangkok. I've never been, and I hope it's as good as people make it out to be :p

The only trouble is I've missed my MBA class for the second time so far, because of work trips.. Tsk tsk... Hope this is the last one...

updates!

Haven't updated this blog for the longest time. Been sooooo busy with:

1. MBA: Even if I only have 1 class this sem (in an effort to manage my time better given #2 item below), my economics class is super challenging! As in, it's the toughest class I've had so far in my fledging career as an MBA student, that it's almost like taking a full load.. Hay..

2. Teaching: I started teaching about three weeks ago, and so far, I'm proud to say that it's been going well. Partly because I've had the chance to really sit down and plan my lectures ahead of time. My problem now is that the next few weeks is gonna be quite hectic for me, so I don't know how my next few classes will go. Wish me luck. Hay, and oh, I almost forgot to mention that... it's true what they say about nobody ever becoming rich from teaching :p Hehehe... So, if you're in it for the money, don't even bother, man...

3. Work work work: For some reason, just when my school work started and my teaching load commenced, my work load also started intensifying. Totally unexpectedly! My bosses just started paying intense attention at my business and started demanding more and more of my time and efforts... gosh! :p Though it's a good thing, really, as Dennis keeps reminding me, that at least they keep on appreciating my worth in the organization, it's also incredibly tiring. Plus the fact that I have a work trip this week, which I wanted to avoid and was desperately hoping will be cancelled, in light of #4 below... But, oh well, it's pushing through. So, hello, Bangkok, here I come....

4. Kaye's wedding! Yay! : Kaye's wedding is coming up in 6 days. MY GOSH! It seems only yesterday when we were saying Kaye's wedding was still 1 year and a half away and she has all the time in the world to get it all together... and now, ilang tulog na lang, it's here! Guia is picking up my dress for me since I'll be abroad when it's ready... My plane from BKK arrives on Friday afternoon, which gives me just enough time to fit a nail spa appointment in before a family thing in the evening, and before I'm supposed to take my beauty rest for the early wakeup call on Saturday morning. I'm so excited! :) Beyond excited, actually :p

Boy, time really flies when you're having fun.. or when you're really busy :p hehehe. Before I know it, one of my bestest friends in the planet will be married and get swept off her feet for her honeymoon... then, it's Darling Beau's 29th birthday, then it'll be finals season (for both MBA and my teaching classes.... OH MAN!) and then before I can get a wink in, it'll be my birthday, then Christmas, then 2008 will be over, then 2009 will be here and it'll be my best friend's wedding by May. Woah, time, please stop for a bit! You're going way too fast for me :p

i can't wait!!!!!

Go to www.powerbooks.com.ph to make an online reservation :)

new slippies! :)

Yay! I love it! :D

i can't wait!

http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/

dress in the making...

So, we had our second fitting yesterday for our bridesmaids' dress, to be worn to the First FILC wedding.. I'm so excited, you can totally see how the dress will more or less look... it's so beautiful! I love it! Can't wait to see the finished product :)

wife fund

So, for some strange reason, my mom sat me down tonight to give me a talk about saving more and spending less, as I'm approaching marrying age, and therefore, I need to prioritize increasing my assets... and no, bags and clothes are not "fixed assets" :p

She told me that, while it is true that this is the one time in my life (now that I'm not married yet) where I can spend my money in whatever way I want, without regard for what anyone else thinks, it is also the one time in my life where I can (and should) save my money as much as I can. Once the husband and the kids enter the picture, I will find myself spending at a rate that's so much less controllable than it is now. While I can think of this time in my life as a carefree time where I should enjoy my money, she says it's wiser to think of it as the time in my life where I can accumulate as much wealth.. (aka the wife fund)... as I can, because I will never be able to save as much as I hypothetically can right now. Now that, in her words, kargo ko lang ang sarili ko.

Well, in light of my previous post, that's going to be challenging.

But she's right. I have approached this single life thing all wrong. Instead of appropriating my money in "life-enjoying" manners, I should be saving substantially so as to cushion myself for married life, where costs will inevitably balloon, given the ff reasons:
- I currently do not pay for utilities like electricity and water, which when I get married, would not be the case anymore
- I also currently do not pay for maids, groceries, etc. Again, such won't be applicable in married life
- Should darling beau not able to buy me a home and I refuse to live with his folks, we'll need to rent our first home.. (Though thank God I managed to have a car already for us...)
- Baby = haaaaa?!?!?!?????

There you go. So, now, my wallet will be on a strict diet.

Or at least I'll try...

Good thing darling beau and I managed to land teaching gigs recently. Hopefully they pay a decent amount and hopefully they are not just one-offs, so the money generated can go towards the new save-money plan...

:p

at the rate i'm going, i'll have no savings when i turn middle-aged...

'nuf said..

turn your trash into treasure...

happy 3rd anniversary!

So, I was in Cebu last April 28, which marked the third anniversary of my relationship with Attorney. Good thing he's so understanding, and he didn't give me a hard time about it. We just celebrated on April 26th to make up for the lost time together.

As agreed, we presented each other with our less-than-two-thousand-bucks gifts. I gave him a black leather Fino wallet to replace the dillapidated one he's using, and he gave me---



He gave me the entire trilogy of Twilight, which amounts to roughly 2k! Sakto! Hehehe. So, admittedly, using a criteria of judging by the degree by which the gift reflects the recipient and the happiness level it is expected to bring to the recipient, he is the runaway winner.

However, seeing as how I was such a sore loser, we decided the final decision is a draw and that we split our anniv dinner date. Hahaha! I love this guy! He makes me pag-bigyan even if I don't deserve it. Hahahaha!

Happy Anniversary!

little surprises

I was pleasantly surprised last Saturday when the former dean of my college course, who now serves as Communications Director of the school, invited me to join the faculty as a part-time professor. He offered me to teach 1 block on the subject of Marketing Management. Coolness! I was flattered and surprised, so all I could initially say in response was "Sure!" Then I followed it with a standard line "as long as it's on a Saturday, preferably afternoon", to which he gladly responded, "of course!" He said it's for first sem, so it should start in June, when I'm well on the way through my 2nd sem in my MBA course. My gosh. This year is going to be one busy year!

I'm excited. I've been thinking of the possibility of teaching for quite some time, and I'm happy it will be at my alma mater, and it's about a subject matter so close to my heart and to my everyday job / life. Plus, the added income would be very much welcome, though money is definitely not my main motivation. I am just really excited to teach. :) Hopefully, everything goes well.

Apart from that, this weekend was full of other little surprises, like my darling beau's mom gifting me with really nice pasalubongs from her cruise trip, and my grand-tita who's fresh from overseas just met Dennis for the 1st time, and despite my earlier estimations, she really liked him! As in, two thumbs up si Attorney! Naks! :)

Happy, happy, happy... :)

jetting off...

to Cebu tomorrow... Actually, in about 6 hours nalang, since my flight is at 4am tomorrow :p First business trip of the year... :)

WWE and boys

As soon as we step into the restaurant yesterday to have dinner with my family, my brothers immediately signaled to darling beau to sit next to them. They looked so excited, I found myself intrigued to know what's up. Turns out WWE Wrestlemania is being shown live in Glorietta tomorrow night, and they were inviting Dennis to join them in watching.. Shelling out P320 per person to watch a bunch of sweaty, over-muscled men jump on each other while wearing neon colored tights with paint on their faces.

My darling beau, on the other hand, the ever-so-graceful and dignified attorney, didn't waste a single breath before he agreed whole-heartedly and asked what time he had to be in Glorietta, since he had a full day packed with hearings. Then the three boys proceeded to spend the good first quarter of the dinner chatting and debating over wrestling news and trivia. Hay, boys and wrestling....

Though I have to admit a big part of me was kilig to see how my brothers have embraced Dennis as practically their new older brother. I love it! :)

a good partner

I feel so bad for my friend, who married a good man who is turning out to be not as good a husband. Not that he's abusive or anything like that. He's the perfect gentleman, giving her everything she needs materially and allowing her to relish in the returns of her materially fulfilling job. He indulges her whims and lets her do whatever she likes. At first, I thought things got better when they got married. After all, you're supposed to imbibe those very vows you spoke at the altar, when you promised to give all of yourself to another. Turns out a good wedding doesn't always make a good marriage.

I worry for her. Worry that she walks her path separately from her husband's, which is precisely what marriage is not supposed to be about. I worry that, as much as he does genuinely love her, he isn't capable of giving her what she truly, desperately wants-- a true partner. Someone who's totally devoted to you, someone who actually hurts more than you do whenever the world hurts you, someone who's your biggest fan and your staunchest ally, someone who doesn't only support your dreams but owns them as his own as well, someone who lives and breathes you, someone who's dedicated to live his life to make yours easier, someone who is with you 100%, truly, madly, deeply, someone who will marry you over and over and over...

Because if you don't have that, you don't have a marriage. You don't have a partner. All you have is a ring on your hand and the memory of a grand party. All you have is a roommate, a housemate.. All you have is a sounding board, not a soul mate. All you have is a companion, not a kindred spirit. All you have is a life you settled for, not the life you dreamed about... Happiness shouldn't be something you have to convince yourself you have.

I don't know how to help her..

HK money meltdown

The HK trip proved very costly for me... very costly... hahaha! But I love my purchases. Beautiful beautiful beautiful :)

In fairness to this company, despite all its flaws, it has allowed me to afford all the things I want. So in fairness... pwede na rin... hahahaha!

HK, baby!

Off to HK tomorrow... Can't wait! Need a vacation... BIGTIME!

.. The only thing that bums me out about this is that I'll be leaving Dennis behind. I really can't wait til the day I get to bring him with me everytime I go abroad...

Other than that, I'm excited :) See yah!

i love friendly competition

Attorney's and my 3rd year anniversary is coming up in about a month, and to make gift-giving a little more interesting, we decided to have a little contest. Whoever gives the best gift under 2,000 bucks wins! The loser treats the winner to anniversary dinner at our annual haunt-- Lolo Dad's... :)

Not only have we managed to give the occasion an extra exciting punch, we've also saved each other lots of money by opting to cap the value of our gifts this year. I love it! Total win-win situation :p

Ready, set, lovers, go! :)

a numbed life

Through various discussions today, I realized that there really are some deeply unhappy, deeply unsatisfied people in the world-- people who go through life settling for diluted versions of happiness often found through overdrinking, abuse of substances, materialism and superficial conversations full of air, air and more air. These are people who, whenever they talk about their "happy" lives, attempt to convince themselves more than the ones they're actually speaking with-- convince themselves that the path they have chosen is one they have actively selected and designed for themselves, instead of the empty, pathetic excuse of a life where injuries and insecurities are bandaged haphazardly by alcohol, drugs, money and fluffy talk. They think they have people fooled but really, the fakeness is so, ironically, real. They fail to realize that the relationships they forge are very fake and superficial, because they are not offering their true selves in the relationships and instead keep up this pretense of always showing a happy, content, and often carelessly carefree face. No one in the world has a perfect life. I don't know why these people seem to think they can get away with projecting that they're an exception to that rule. Don't they know that the greatest equalizer in this world is that no one's life is absolutely, completely perfect? It's okay to have flaws, it's okay not to have or be certain things, it's okay to just be yourself.

More than disturbing, it's actually really sad. It's so sad to see people with so much potential and promise fall into a vicious cycle of pretentiousness, just to fit in, just to put on an act and just to feel temporarily better about themselves. Aren't they scared that one day, they look in the mirror and cannot recognize themselves anymore? Aren't they frightened that, at the end of the day, when it truly, truly counts, they do not have people in their lives to depend on? Aren't they terrified that, when stripped of all their lies and deceit, the people they choose to surround themselves with will leave them like a bag of garbage? It's so sad.

Life doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be real.

the best thing with fighting with the one you love...

is making up after.

:-)

twilight!

Most of my Feb 25 holiday was spent in bed, devouring this book--


I love it, I love it, I love it! Once I was knee-deep in the story, I couldn't let the book go without knowing how it ends. Only to find out that the book is part of a trilogy! I have to get my hands on the 2nd book and know what happens in this uncanny, unlikely yet totally believable love story!!