Tired. Good Tired,.

4 days including the weekend and we already call it the long weekend, but it is not as long as you thought it is. You see, it just zoomed by. And I already miss it.

July and August have been very good months for me, and I am considering 2011 as a year of blessings for me and my family, more so for me personally. The 4 days of no work, and nothing to think of, seemed so short a time for me and my family. So at a friend's invitation, last Monday, we headed to the beach with some friends. We were there from 8 till 3 in the afternoon, but I swear, it was a superb weekend. We left all troubles at home, thought nothing but food, bonded with kids and friends, and we counted nothing but the blessings that came our way.

It was a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday activities, and it was then that i enjoyed the sea breeze and slept at the grass with my mat spread on it. What glorious day.

But it's September now, and I can only wish for more relaxing days. But then again, I have so much in my hands now, and more coming. But I thank God for all of these, it makes me tired, but it makes me good tired.

How did you you spend your long weekend?

Insomniac or What?

It’s been two nights already. I sleep at 10, and woke up just in time for the husband to sleep at 12. I can no longer go back to sleep, I just had to write, so this post, as you should know is written exactly 1:07 AM in our clock. It’s a good thing it’s the long weekend, so I could just sleep whole day.

I do not know what is the matter with me. My eyes are tired but my mind just cannot stop thinking. I am afraid it will soon be overheat with too much thinking and brain drain. The past days has been very glorious days, so I think the excitement about my being hired as regular in the government office has already wound down. I am not as excited anymore, but yes, admittedly, I am nervous of what the future will be. I will be assigned in a different location, 45 minutes ride away from home and being assigned there will entail a lot of sacrifices for my kids.

I will have to sacrifice being the proud mom who will pin their ribbons of excellence as I can no longer do so, unless I take a leave from the office (which I certainly cannot do yet since I am new). I will have to sacrifice joining them in their school activities like Culminations of Linggo ng Wika. I will have to sacrifice watching them perform dances, songs and other things. The husband will be missing me. Hayyyy.

But I am excited too, I will be taking my oath of office this coming Sept. 6th at Kidapawan City, a place I have never been to, and this will mean the beginning of new and bigger responsibilities. I am excited and thinking about going back to law school, or taking up Masters in Public Administration. I am excited in keeping a good enough savings for a new vehicle that my husband can use in sending me off to the bus station. I am excited about a lot of things…

But this is just not the reason for my being awake this past 2 AM, and just like yesterday, I am still writing at his very unholy hour. I am not in any way, thinking about all these things, my mind is blank now, but sleep is not yet around.

Tell me, am I just thinking too much or am I being visited by insomnia?

Rain is here, and the pitter patter of the rain will lull me to sleep, hopefully. I think I need a sleep mask.

When it Rains, It Pours

My prayers have been answered, and I am very grateful to the Lord for keeping HIS promises to me, that He will never leave me, and He will grant all that I desire for as long as I trust in HIM.

The year 2010 has been a year of misfortunes for me, I resigned from work due to a weary environment with my previous employer, it was the year when everything seemed without a direction. Sure, I had blessings crossing my way, but I have always wanted a job that will provide me security of tenure, good pay, and an unstressful environment where I could help many people by way of service. And with my copyreading job, it has not been materialized.

I have been hopeful, and I remember posting what I felt during that time, times when I felt I could not get through the tunnel.

And now my friends, 2011 seems like the beginning of a new adventure for me. I told you I was aiming for a regular post in the government. All of my good friends know how much I have devoted my time giving my best shot in performing my job while hoping for the new job to be the regular one.

What more can I ask for? I passed the Civil Service Professional Career Exams and now, the good news!

Last Tuesday, I arrived at the office entrance and I was greeted by a handshake from the boss who said that the regional director called him up to tell him that I got hired! Remember that post when I said I will be taking the exam and the interview made a shot at a high BP? LOL! It paid off guys, it did! Anytime soon, I will be officially joining the roster of regular government employees and I am very thankful to my LORD and SAVIOR because all of these I asked from HIM, He answered. Just waiting for the memorandum order, and I'm good to go!

I actually feel guilty, many times I have asked why He has not yet answered my desires, I felt shaky and disoriented and I actually felt tired of waiting for something wonderful to happen. But yes, HE answers prayers in HIS own perfect timing. And this is HIS timing working wonderfully in my life now.

To God be all glory, honor and power and praise.

To all those who wished me luck and said a prayer for me, and for all those who believed in me and those who wanted the best for me, my heartfelt gratitude.

All things work together for good! We only have to trust!

Today, Remember This

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.”

-Dalai Lama-

Updates on my No Spend Month Challenge

Last month, I challenged myself to a NO Spend month starting July 19, and yesterday, it ended. I want to congratulate myself for at least not getting tempted at even the small things that look cute or smells good or something I think is really sexy on me. I practiced frugality, really, and even if my pocket wanted to burst with eagerness to buy a new blouse to be used for my latest interview, I did not shell out a dime.

It was hard knowing I could not eat on fine dining restaurants, and I could not drop by the mall to buy stuffs I want even if there was this 10-day sale going on at Robinson's Place. I was very disciplined and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to save, so I did.

Guess what? I spent less, maybe because my salary was actually delayed for a month and I only got to receive it just this 17th, and so when my challenge ended on the 19th, I bought myself a new white blouse which, still practicing frugality, was only 50% off the regular price of P800, and it was really a nice white blouse I have always wanted.

I learned to go directly home and not dropping by the mall for some bite. The husband and I learned to buy bread and bring home so the kids could also enjoy it. I got visitors last week but I was able to prepare good food for lunch good for 6 persons which only cost me P400 for the following dishes: sinigang na hipon, pork liempo, and seashells (imbao or halaan). Yay!

I learned not to be tempted with ice cream, and my favorite Cornetto, nah! How i missed Cornetto, and I only dropped by the mall for groceries.

Just when I needed to save money at the first week of my No Spend challenge, I was precribed antibiotics by my doctor, and 2 kinds, ugh. But all these things went well, I bought all the meds, and regained strength right after. No need for additional meds. Bawal magkasakit.

I guess I won in the challenge. What I got was a savings of P2990, really, and after having that saved amount, I immediately deposited it in our meager bank savings.

See, it helps to save! And it helps a lot if your partner is supportive. If there's one thing I learned about this No Spend Challenge, it is that you can save for the emergency fund just by limiting what you shell out. And guess what, I can count by my fingers how many times we bought Coke.

This No Spend Challenge will then, remain!

Hypertension Alert

Last Thursday, after I had my interview in Koronadal City, I placed an appointment with my eye doctor at 10am for the reason that my eyes seems to be blurry at times for what cause I do not understand. I proceeded to the clinic an hour after I delivered my most gruesome answers to the interview.

It was only a short walk from the DOLE regional office so I had to just lazily bring my steps towards the clinic. When I was assisted, the clinic assistant took my BP and I was surprised at how high it was. 160/120. I just smiled and told her maybe I should rest because I just walked and it was a HOT day and that I was actually just grilled because of the interview and that may be the reason for the high BP.

The assistant told me to just take my time and rest and she will have to check on me after a few minutes. It took her 20 to get back to me and took my BP again, this time, not a slight slide back, still 160/120. I saw the doctor after that and the doctor eventually, after all the eye tests, told me that I can still read with my two eyes and still has 20/20 vision, but the thing with my eyes which makes it a bit blurry at times may be because of the high BP which is of course, not normal at all.

She gave me a tablet to take and told me to be back at 1:30 in the afternoon for another test. The lunch break with sisters seemed a lot refreshing and relaxing and I took the medicine and I went back in the afternoon with all hopes that my BP will be back to normal, but lo and behold, It went down. Yes, it did. But only to a slight slide, 150/110.

The eye doctor asked me to see a dietician that very same hour, and then we had to read through less-salt diet and I should not stress myself too much because, as the dietician said, there are quite too many young deaths lately because of stress.

I felt bad, because I am a happy person and I work hard to get to my dreams. I am a person who do not allow stress to swallow me, but yes, I can say, the past weeks has been crazy and maybe, the doctor and dietician were right, I am stressed and that's causing me my high BP. I am a young professional now, with a maintenance for hypertension. Ugh. I feel very well, and in the pink of health, but this time around, i will surely miss this:

Dad's home-cooked lechon!

Say No

Sometimes, we are facing too many problems that the best word we can utter amidst these problems is NO.

We can say NO, to second-hand smoke, to negativity-emitting people. We can say NO to meats which we know can make us fat, we can say NO to Coke. We can say NO to debts, and we can improve our lives by saying NO to the many negative things we think can damage us.

We can say NO to a boss who seems to focus to only one person's performance, to somebody who thinks you are invisible, and to people whom you think are users.

We can say NO to negative issues, we can do better than entertaining them. We can fix our lives by saying NO to stress, to depression, to ice cream, and even to negative thoughts. we can say NO to chocolates, to rice, to many things undeserving of our attention.

We can say NO to many things. Who knows, saying NO is the one word that can save you.

Right?

Online Booking from Robinson's Movieworld

I was very excited with watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was the last installment of the series, and the second part of JK Rowling's last book, so imagine my delight when checking online, I saw this new set-up with Robinson's Movieworld's online booking. Very innovative step from Robinson's Movieworld, one thing we need in order to avoid the long queue in the cinema, and directly go inside the movie house to enjoy it.

And what's more, you can also order snacks! Yay! Truth be told, my husband and I love to watch movies, and we bring the kids with us when there are nice movies apt for them to watch or a rewarding movie can de-stress us all after a good week has gone by. We normally have Saturday as our movie day. I am really glad that we have Robinson's Movieworld, spacious legroom and comfortable seats, plus this:


You get to be directed to the schedule of the movies by which you will have to choose what movie and time you desire to watch.


Book your seat and a confirmation page will be seen giving you your seat number. After that, you can navigate the whole page and order for what you will munch when inside the movie house.


Confirming the details of your purchase is easy-peasy. You will have to choose what credit card you will pay the booking for, and a confirmation will appear.


That's it. Just print out the confirmation and everything is done. Voila!

I admire Robinson's Movieworld for innovating this booking set-up. It lessens the stress of queuing up just to get to pay the ticket, and lessens the time you will have to wait for the screening time of the movie of your choice. At least now, your seat will be ready and you can arrive at Movieworld exactly by the time your movie starts.

Good job for Robinson's Movieworld, this will really bring General Santos to becoming a globally competitive city. This time, pwede ka nang humingi ng pang-sine sa mommy mo even if she is abroad, hehe. Tell her to add snacks for you! Cool treat, right?

My 2 Cents on Corporal Punishment

We already have the Anti- Child Abuse Law under RA 7610. I do not understand why this new one of Anti-Corporal Punishment for Children should get into the picture.

I have not read any material regarding this yet, but I totally am not into it. A friend of mine posted this on her FB and I totally agree:

"When a growing child repeatedly misbehaves, there's no room for peace-talks and diplomatic arrangements... A corporal punishment is more applicable than anything else."

It's not as if you are going to correct the mistake by killing the child or maiming him/her, or even slapping on the face, or using the belt by hitting them because that may already constitute child abuse. What happens if your child talks back at you, and throws something out at you because of tantrum attacks which so many kids are most capable of doing? You are just going to give the child a dose of her own medicine, right? And after that, explain why you have given the spank. Rather than talking sweetly to your child, I think it best that you apply a little pinch, or spank. Badmouthing to the child is a no-no but you can at least express your feelings by imposing a little anger at the wrong the child did.


This may not be the case in several countries, but I think the debate should stop right now. Parents surely know how they should discipline their children, and making them feel so LOVED by not touching them with a slight degree of pain even when they are wrong is somewhat disengaging, to me as a parent, and I guess to many of you who are and will soon be parents too.

I don't know, but "Spare the rod and spoil the child", was it King Solomon who said that? And it's what I believe.