Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Randomly

I finally had my haircut today! I've been dying to get one but I never had a chance to go to a salon. So my hair just kept growing longer and longer. I was inches away to my dream hairstyle - Lindsay Lohan's. But highlights, color and almost everyday blow drying made my hair dry and brittle. So had to give up on my dream of having a hair like hers. Nope, I am not weird. I know she's not really the epitome of a good person but her style isn't too bad... I used to despise my thick and wavy hair. But for some reason I like it now. I think it suits me better than fighting what nature has given me. Gone are the days of rebonding or ironing my hair 'til it's fried. Well, honestly it's because the "big" city of Spooner or Rice Lake hasn't heard of a thing called rebond. So it's either I sink or swim. I chose the latter. My wavy hair grew on me and now I am loving it.

I really don't know where i'm going with this entry... I just feel like typing. Hubby is busy watching his baseball game. It's his last hurrah for the season, so I am letting him enjoy it. He did the dishes tonite though, so that's a little consolation for me being ignored for the most part of the night. I'm really sad the Gilmore Girls is over. It's my favorite show on Tuesdays. Now I am lost and bored not doing anything. Well, not really... I am on youtube watching videos of how to style the hair and different make-up tricks. I kinda like pursebuzz and reiberry. Easy and simple styles/tricks. Maybe tomorrow I will try that doll-like eyes make-up hehehe... Usually I don't have time for that. Waking up early in the morning is the hardest thing for me to do. Love sleeping too much. Sometimes, when I am running late, I just put my wet hair up on a bun that way I don't have to brush it. Lazy huh? I make sure it looks neat though. ;-)

Hey! Dancing with the Stars is on! Forgot about this show. Don't know who I'm rooting for yet. But I have always liked the show. Rick usually shows me a move or two after the show which makes the evening more fun. Last week I found an ad in the paper for a ballroom dancing class. Have to force Rick to take the class with me. It should be fun! Or should I say funny? Just picture us dancing!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Annoying

Have you ever worked with people who are slowpokes? Well, it seems like I am a magnet for those type of workers. Both jobs I have to deal with them. It’s both annoying and frustrating!

A guy I work with is currently bothering me. He writes slow, walks slow, I think just about everything he does is slow! Can’t read or write cursive. It’s a problem coz one of our sales people can't write in print. His handwriting is like that of a pre-schooler. Can’t seem to grasp the process necessary to finish a job. Despite his being slow... he still makes a lot of mistakes! Mistakes which is costing the company money. I was told he's the "golden boy" coz no matter what he does, he does not get in trouble with management. Where is the justice here?! Oh well, that's life I guess... At my other job, I have to deal with chatterboxes! They gab and gab and nothing gets done. I work the night shift so had to finish wherever they left off and usually.. that's a long list!

I am not trying to be mean, it's just sometimes I wish the company would do something when an employee is not being productive. There is no such thing as bonuses at both jobs. You do your job and somebody elses just to get things done and yet you still get paid the same. And oh yeah, the lazy one gets paid the same too no matter what. As long as they show up they are considered working! Sad huh? These are the days when I wish I have my own business! I even came up with a business idea last night only to find out it's already being done, at $4 a week! Ha! And here I thought it was a brilliant money making idea!

Like I mentioned before, I do get along with everybody. It's because I don't complain. So forgive me if I complain here. It's my way of venting. Don't worry, Rick get's to hear it first hand when I come home. Poor him... but he loves me so he has to listen!

I thank YOU for reading. :-)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A Nice One

Summer is officially over. The air is getting nippy and leaves are all over the yard and the streets... Fall is here. I love the fall weather. It's not too cold and not too warm either. Just perfect! Not too happy about raking the leaves though. But I guess it comes with the territory. So I just have to deal with it. Might hire somebody to do that this year.

Was up at 4am this morning. Made breakfast and went to work early. It's cloudy and windy. We're suppose to get rain today. I love a rainy day as well. It's perfect for cuddles and being lazy. :) On my way to work, I can't help but admire the beautiful colors of the trees gently swaying at every gust of wind. The color of the leaves changes with the season. Green, yellow, orange and red. As I drove by gazing at the view, I can't help but compare the trees to a person or life in general. Spring, the beginning of life. Summer, the playful youth in us, enjoying life to the fullest. Fall, ripened by nature, life is more beautiful both mind and body, ready for the winter of life. I am not quite in the fall of my life yet, sort of in the middle. So, I have a lot of things to look forward to. It's moments like this that reminds me how beautiful life is. I have been feeling down lately and to start my day with such a wonderful thought lifts up my spirit. A little reminder to be grateful and know that things will be okay.

Someone is watching over me...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Whachamacallit?

I have been in the country for more than four years. English is now my main language. I get confused whenever I talk to my family and then Rick or a co-worker tries to butt-in. I talk to them in bisaya! Of course I still know my native tongue and still very fluent at that. I don't think that will ever change. Although, my tagalog is getting weaker by the hour. I am mostly lost for words and prefer English if possible. But that doesn't stop me from talking to my tagalog friends or relatives. I just find it hard. That's all.

Four years and I still find English a very complex language. Everyday I learn something new. I used to have a hard time pronouncing the T in words (they seem to not say it like it should be). Accent is still hard. Where do I go up and down in saying the words? My biggest struggle is family names! How I hate answering the phone and taking orders at work. I make sure I get their phone number right that way a sales rep can call them back. I struggle with words that are somehow similar in meaning but different in use. Like I use scared instead of worried. These are some of the little things that embarrass me when they repeat my sentence with the right word or pronunciation. It offends me when they do that. It makes me feel stupid. But I know they are just trying to help. Nobody ever laughs at me when I make a mistake. Which is good. But still... it's embarrassing.

I do get a lot of compliments though. They never have a problem understanding me. It's still a little frustrating at times when trying to express myself. But I am getting better at it. New found American friends helped me a lot! Confidence is really the key to better express yourself in another language. Thanks to my very supportive husband, I am confident in facing people and meeting new friends. Somehow I know deep inside he's proud of me whenever a new friend would say - Wow! You really speak well!

Practice makes perfect! ;-)

Sunday, September 14, 2008

My Weekend

I spent my Saturday mostly packing up my balikbayan box. It has been sitting in our guest room for months now. Finally, it's on its way to the Philippines. Yippee! I'm excited for them. Not everybody will be pleased... but, at least I tried. I tend to buy more girly stuff, therefore making my brothers jealous. It's hard to shop for men! Specially teenagers! My apologies...

We went to the twin cities for the weekend. Spent a couple of days with my mother-in-law. She lives by herself and doesn't go out much. So, we took her with us when we did our errands. First stop, drop-off the balikbayan box! She loved the Filipino Store. She said she could spend hours there browsing the aisles and check out different food items. I told her most of the items there needs to be cooked. I don't cook so I was not interested in buying any of them. Bought a bunch of chichiriya instead and a couple goodies for my MIL to try. I wish I know more Filipino dishes other than my ever-famous adobo. Would love to cook for my new family. But sad to say, I don't... So, my apologies... again.

After hours (it was only minutes, but it sure felt like hours!) of being stuck in traffic, we finally made it to Kenny's, my brother-in-law. We visited with them for a few hours, catch up on things and whatnot. Alex's (my nephew) band was rehearsing while we were there, so we had the honor to listen to their music. They supposedly had a paying gig that night. Cool huh! And he's only 16! Anyway, after we got done with our errands, we treated ourselves to a lovely supper at Ruby Tuesday's. That place never fails to impress me with their food! It's always delicious! I forgot to take a picture of my food. Sorry...

Did you notice how I kept apologizing? That's how my mother-in-law was the entire time we were with her. She apologizes for everything! For walking slow, repeating herself, not hearing, eating slow and simply for being old. She is 90. Of course she's like that. We are always patient with her. And I am always respectful. But, there really is no reason to say sorry for being old. She earned the respect and understanding. She deserves the attention and the nice dinner that we insisted on paying. With a smile, I tell her all that and she would just laugh. We love her and I hope someday Rick and I will be blessed with a family who will care for us like we care for her...

The golden rule: "Do unto others what you want others do unto you."

Friday, September 05, 2008

Am I In Trouble?

A couple weekends ago I got really bored. Did everything I could around the house (well, of course not the important part - ironing!) just to keep me busy and not jump off a cliff! Eventually I ran out of stuff to do and so I surfed the net, went to my favorite karaoke site and sang to my hearts delight. I got tired of singing after a while. Then I remembered one of my favorite computer games - Red Alert Counterstrike! It's been eons ago since I last played the game and I remember I was quite fond of it. Luckily one of my brothers was online and so I asked him if it's available to play online. He doesn't think so and suggested that I just download the game. So I did and waited until it gets done. While waiting, I saw one of my friends went online. We started talking and she was bored too. We ended up playing Literati and she was kicking my butt! Finally downloading's done! I was so excited to play the game but unfortunately, it does not work! I guess our anti-virus detected something, so it didn't download properly. Bummer! I ended up uninstalling the game and shopped at Ebay instead. The game is so old Best Buy doesn't carry it anymore. Had to settle for a used one!

Yesterday, Rick got an email from our ISP saying that an illegal download has been done by our account and we have violated the infringement law or something like that... The email went on and on about penalties and fines etc. Got me scared! I apologized profusely to Rick. I felt really bad. Omigosh! What if I get sent to jail? I reasoned to Rick that the game didn't work and I ended up buying the cd anyway! But still, I did try to download and that was the bad part! He got worried too, so he called the company and explained the whole thing. They just want us delete the program from our computer and not to try to "steal" any programs online anymore. Whew! What a relief! No more downloading for me or Rick! Not even songs! I have learned my lesson and promise to be a good citizen from now on... Not fun getting an email like that!

Nope! I am not in trouble! Thank God!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Life Is Difficult

Life is difficult. That was the sermon at church yesterday. I listened intently because the priest's first sentence got my attention. How can he open the sermon with such negativity? But it worked! He made me listen. I have been feeling sorry for myself that morning, I always do when I see little children and there was a lot of them at church yesterday. Why can't I have one? I always ask myself. But as the sermon went on and on... I came to the realization about the bigger problem that's out there like sickness and poverty. Not having children does not make my life difficult. God has blessed me in some other way and by not having children of my own, I became a blessing to others.

There will always be things that I would never know in this lifetime. Labor pains and a mother's love. I don't wish for the first one, but I will always wonder about the latter. Whenever my co-worker complain about her kids, the words that come out of my mouth is always irrelevant. She agrees, but will never do it. Mothers have the patience and faith in their kids as big as the universe. And I admire them for that. I took advantage of my own mother too and she let's me get away with things... The bond between a mother and child is so intense - and I will never understand that.

Things happen for a reason. God has a wonderful plan for me. I believe that. My faith in Him is what keeps me going. Life may be difficult but knowing that I am not alone and God is on my side, life will be good. Life is good! The priest ended the sermon by saying God is bigger than all our difficulties - trust in Him, go to Him for comfort and know He is there with you. I left church feeling better about myself. All the screaming babies became irritating after a while. Thank God I don't have one!

Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."