And The Countdown Begins. 85, 84, 83...

Today's October 1. Ambilis ng araw! 85 more days before Christmas. It's the waiting and preparing for Christmas that's really fun, and not Christmas at all, at least for me. For the past 6 Decembers, palagi na lang akong malungkot. Pag malapit na ang Pasko, I start to have this feeling again na gusto ko na talagang mag-resign. O kundi naman, winiwish ko na sana sa bangko na lang din ako nag-wo-work like my close friends Jona and Elley. O kahit anong trabaho na walang pasok pag legal at special holidays at pag sinabi ng presidente ng Filifins. Kasi every December 'di ba, there's this almost-a-week-long vacation from work dahil sa mga sunod-sunod na holidays. Kaya naman, pag December, uso ang lahat ng klase ng reunion (family, high school, atbp.), mga gatherings at of course, mga parteys! Most of the time, absent ako sa mga ganyan. Aheytchit!

Here in Baguio, I can already feel the Christmas vibe. Couple of times that I visited the mall this week that I heard Christmas songs playing. There are early Christmas promos in some stores, ads on TV and radio and Christmas decors in some places. Almost everywhere, I can see hints that Christmas is just around the corner. (Wag na magtanong kung saang corner ha?!)

And when we say Christmas, there also come the words family, togetherness, gifts, parties, and gifts, inaanaks, Aguinaldo, and gifts. Haist! I always want to be home every Christmas. My family has a home here in Baguio, that's for sho'. So I guess, I should say, I always want my family to be home every Christmas. And when I say home, I mean, Nueva Ecija or Pangasinan. Pero mas masaya sa Nueva Ecija kasi mas marami kami dun. At dun talaga ako. If I ask Elmer, for sho', Pangasinan pipiliin nun. Siya taga-dun e. Pero isa lang ng mama niya dun. Hindi masaya. But as he always says, "Yun na nga. Mag-isa lang niya dun, kaya mas dapat dun tayo mag-Pasko." Paano naman ang mga kamag-anak ko sa Nueva Ecija? Ma-mi-miss nila ako? (Siya kayang tunay?! Hmmm..)

Every year, I get to choose only one. Opo, isa lang sa dalawang mahalagang holidays ng taon. One holiday to be off work. Christmas or New Year. At di ko mapagtanto kung bakit ang mga kasama ko sa trabaho ay mga gaya-gaya! Gusto din nila ng New Year off. Parang nanalo sa lotto sa office pag natapat ka sa New Year off. Parang raffle draw kasi ang pag-decide. Hmp, kaloka!

I remember, nung 2010, Christmas off ako. As we all know, Christmas day and New Year's day always fall on the same day. Kung Thursday ang Pasko 2010, for sho', Thursday din ang New Year's Day 2011, yung ganun? So wala akong pasok ng December 24 at 25. The following week after that ginawa nilang December 31 AT January 2 ang off ko. Well, dahil tinamad ako at sa kagustuhan kong makasama ang pamilya ko, nagparamdam na ako sa boss na hindi na ako papasok ng January 1. Deadma siya at panay ang paalala na pasok sa banga ng suspension pag absent during critical work days. Pero mabait talaga si Lord at muli kong naramdaman, Ate Charo, na mahal Niya ako at ang aking pamilya. Ang pinakapuhunan ko sa industriya ng call center, ang aking malamig na boh-sehs, ang sumalba sa aking holidays. Minalat ako! Syempre secure agad ako ng aking medical certificate. Nakalimutan ko na ang tawag sa sakit. Basta may -itis sa dulo. Happy-happy ang Christmas 2010 at New Year 2011 ko.

And another good thing about Christmas ay ang kabi-kabilang mga Christmas parties. Photos below were something that I took last year in one of the Crhistmas parties that I attended. This was with Team Espinueva that I was assisting before.

Who gave me those horns?! ^_^

With my friend and choco mousse master Renj

Below are some photos naman that I took on December 25, 2009. This was the actual evening of Christmas. Elmer and I had dinner with Nikki outside. Baby pa lang si Calli dito. Five months. Elmer is not a fan of going out with a baby with us. He claims he's protecting the baby from possible sakit na makukuha niya outside. If I know, ayaw niya lang magbuhat, 'no!

Nikki was only 5 years old here

Elegant place pero sa SM lang naman 'to.

Bigla kong naisip, bakit ba itong sinulat ko? Ooh, I remember, because I was going through my photos in Facebook and saw some of the photos taken these past 2 Christmases which reminded me na malapit na nga na naman ang Pasko. Haist! Ambilis talaga ng araw. Siyang tunay!

And out.

Ciao! ♥

 

Sighs Of Relief And Frustration

Power's back up. I lewv it. All phones: batteries fully charged. Check. Laptop: battery fully charged. Check. Digicam: battery fully charged. Check. Ayus! May TV na. Tuloy-tuloy na din ang tubig. Perfect! Sun started to shine yesterday. Back to normal. *Sigh*

Weekend na, but I don't get excited with weekends. Elmer and I have to work on weekends while our daughters have to stay at home. No classes for Nikki of course. Monday is again my rest day but I don't think I will get to rest kasi uuwi si Manang Pearl, my kids' yaya, sa Pangasinan on Sunday. Once a month she gets to see her family in Pangasinan. So ako lahat ang gagawa sa bahay sa Monday at Tuesday. Just thinking of it, napapagod na ako. *Sigh*

Gusto ko ng bonding time with my family on Sunday after my shift. Lunch lang at movie/s, pero sa bahay lang. Ano kaya lulutuin nino? *Sigh*

Hunt-mode muna for recipes online.

Ciao! ♥

Typhoon Pedring: The Aftermath

I think Typhoon Pedring has already moved away from Baguio, if not the Philippines. Yesterday, there were only little drizzles, not too strong winds, clear skies. Better than Tuesday's weather. When I left the house at 3:15 AM, everything was black. Brownout kasi. Andilim! But the sky was bright. Not bright na bright talaga ha kasi wala pa naman araw. Heller, 3:15 AM? Madaling araw? Okay, I confess. I have poor vocabulary. Pero try natin ito, auroral? Thanks to dictionary.com's thesaurus.
Going back. So I think today is gonna be a fine day. Maybe not too much sun yet but there will be sun. I hope. I can't describe how much I hate rains. Not really a fan. I also don't understand Elmer's love of rains. Most of the time, tinatamad siyang lumabas ng bahay pag okay ang panahon. At excited siyang, wait for it, maglakad-lakad (?!) sa Session kapag umuulan at lalo na pag bumabagyo. His reason: Konti lang ang tao sa Session pag umuulan. Pag okay ang panahon, lahat ng tao raw ay nakakalat sa Session. Okay, may point siya. Pero ang point ko naman, bakit kasi siya pupunta sa Session umuulan man o umaaraw e wala naman siya gagawin dun. Ano, rampa lang? Basta, yun ang trip niya.

Kahabaan ng Session Road taken last summer

But still, we still went out yesterday afternoon because we had to settle our water bill. Past due na yun. Kasi ang aming lovely landlady na si Mommy Espie, nawala pala ang aming water bill statement. Hindi niya sinabi agad at sinabi lang nung tapos na ang due date. Hello 10% surcharge! Bakit daw ako nagmamadali magbayad ng bill sabi ni Elmer, na para bang hindi niya ramdam ang sense of urgency. Our faucets ran dry on Tuesday but that was maybe because of the typhoon. Don't get the connection? Ako din! Hahaha! Then I thought, what do I know, this is Baguio. Feeling ko, hindi dumating ang tubig nung Tuesday kasi hindi pa kami nakabayad ng bill. Kaya I felt the need yesterday to pay the bill. At ang galing, dumating ang tubig kagabi. O di ba?! I always get worried when we do not have water supply in the house. Brownout na nga, wala pang tubig? I will always choose water over electricity if I really need to choose between the two. Pero syempre naman 'di ba, mas okay kung parehong meron sila.

And still, brownout pa din today when I left the house. Cellphones and laptop already ran low on battery. Buti na lang nakapag-charge ako ng cellphone dito sa office kahapon. Yes, dito ko sa office sinusulat ito ngayon. I am hoping, really badly, na sana magka-kuryente na today. Please Lord, have mercy on us! Gusto ko na makapanood ng TV. I don't know how much damage Typhoon Pedring has caused the country. For sure there's damage but I hope not too much. Thank you Lord, my family here in Baguio is safe and so is my family in Nueva Ecija.

I hope all of your families are okay too.

Ciao! ♥

 

I Should Have Listened

Just a few weeks ago, our account (or is it our company? Whatever!) started to implement dress codes. I mean, dress codes are here since I don't remember when but these new dress codes require us to wear business casual attire every Monday and Tuesday shift (so that's Tuesday and Wednesday for me). Since I'm off work every Monday and Tuesday, I only need to wear business casual attire every Tuesday shift. 

The weather on Monday was still okay. Sunshine in the morning. Grey skies after noon. Not unsual here in Baguio. I was already planning to go out on Monday to buy some clothes to wear for today but I got lazy (I wrote something, explaining this, that I should have posted on that day but I didn't have the chance to post but I'll do it later).

I Promise, Don't I, Really?!

I had known about this blog site (thanks to a friend) early this year and not been able to view it again until after a couple of weeks ago. For the past few days, I had been reading recent posts and even the old ones posted way back in 2008, 2009 and 2010. It's really entertaining for me to read her posts. Just like me, she also has two daughters. Although, hers are already in their late teens and mine are only 7 and 2. I enjoy reading her posts about how they are in their house as a family, what she is like as a mother to her daughters and as a wife to her husband. I think she is a cool mom, just like me. She is a good cook, or should I say, she cooks good. Whatever! I envy her because she could afford to give her career up to be hands-on with her daughters. Her family has since been a one-income family. She was a lawyer and her husband is a civil engineer. At this point, mine cannot survive in a one-income status. Or maybe it can but we have to sacrifice a some things where some might fall under the almost-a-necessity category.
'Nuff with the comparison. The real reason why I am again starting to make new post is because I am inspired by her. Her blog became like a diary of her everyday life. I also want something like that. So, I promise (fingers crossed) to post new entry everyday (even just a short one). Kahit non-sense.