farewell, lei

*from left to right: bernice, lei, adel, me and dini*

i realized that i don't post entries with pictures lately, so i was contemplating on which story i could post... i never thought and expected that this would be it...

she was lei to others, lani to some, lakambini to all of us. leilani zabella never fails to make us smile with her simple quirks and her happy disposition is infectious.

she was tall, morena, has long shiny hair and a bright smile. she belonged to another section, but we instantly clicked when we first met as freshmen from siena qc. she's so down to earth... even if she belongs to the upper class, she won't mind having an average person as a friend. our birthdays are 2 days apart, it usually falls on our school fair during which we would pay the announcement booth to greet each other on air.

after high school, we drifted apart... i never heard much from her until we were graduating in college. thanks to friendster, we got connected once again. and from there, we got back to our yearly tradition of greeting each other on our birthdays. and when we got a chance last september to see each other in LA, we were both thrilled. we joined the other girls for dinner and were able to catch up.

today, my friend hya informed me that lei is gone... it didn't sink in because i was busy at work. during lunch time i went back to our photos in multiply. and i can't help but feel the loss so deep in my heart. she has so many dreams, she has so many things to accomplish, she has yet to get wed. she was 30years old... i love you lei. you will definitely be missed.

*life is so short... shorter for others. that's why we should cherish life and love. we should try our hardest to express our love towards people who matter in our lives.*

i have conquered

last night i was sleepless. i'm both excited and agitated. it's the first time i'm joining a marathon, and dadi was suppose to join me. but becoz he has to work, i would have to be strong on my own.

this morning at 7:20am, i joined the 10km singapore passion run (competitive). i felt sad being alone amidst all those who were anticipating the start of the race. when the horn sounded, everyone started running... i went from brisk walking to jogging on my own pace. i told myself that i won't be pressured by those people passing by. as isa put it, just chill.. don't rush, no pressure, enjoy it.

by 4km, i was beginning to feel exhausted and i was blaming dadi for convincing me to signup for the 10km, when i could've been going back already if i had registered to the 5km. there was a fork ahead, and i was thinking if i should go back and quit or if i should push myself to try some more. the latter won. after reaching 7km, i checked my timer and found out that i have been jogging *and walking* for 1hour and 7minutes already. the blazing sun made me jog and walk faster.

at 8km, i started to get worried. i thought i may have missed the path where i'm supposed to go round back. and then i saw the mark and felt relieved. finally, i will be on the other side of the road, the path to the finish line.. hoooraayy!!! i was aiming for 2hours to finish the whole stretch... i did it in 1hour and 48minutes. :)

spontaneous thoughts

i'm writing this blog entry while plotting our menu for the week and listing down my grocery list while telling nixon to finish his lunch, while asking noah to sit still and watch tv and stop throwing things to his brother. o diba multitasking haha!

creating a 'diverse' menu for the week is a real challenge for me. it always has to have at least 2-3 kinds of veggie dishes and 2 varieties of soup dishes. fish once a week is also a must have. this requirement is for the kids. they enjoy veggies and fishes more than pork or beef. its because of the 'chewable properties' of veggies over meat. except for the case of adobo which is their favorite that i happily indulge them with chicken and pork. our dear noahby loves chicken a lot. however, chicken is to be avoided in a day that dadi will eat in or bring his baon to work. we both abstain from chicken because we get allergies.

so now i should get back to my grocery list and multitask again afterwards (ie. pay bills, go over nixon's homework, put noah to nap, blog *hihi*). the joys and pains of motherhood. don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining.. in fact, i'm enjoying myself a lot.

breather

i'm so relieved to be informed that my irritating pm is on leave from today until thursday then i'm on leave on friday for nixon's parent-teacher meeting. whew! it's like having a room for one week to breathe! yiippppeeee!!!

i'm so looking forward also to another 'toy'... hopefully, we can be united by end of this month :D

happy face

it feels so nice to be able to wake up early again, like the normal average working person does almost 5days a week. and yesterday morning (saturday 9am), i was able to walk in the nearby mcdonalds and buy myself a big breakfast with rak *yiippeee!!!*. it's been a while since i last had that sausage mcmuffin with egg and coffee. :)

today, rak and i watched star trek. beam me up scottie! it was awesome! no dull moments, even if i'm not really a follower. great acting sylar *haha!*.

scripted

this is my first vent for my current workload.

my team mate is on sick leave, an IR was raised this morning. i tried to know what happened, and realized it was my team mate's load. i asked for assistance from my pm, he blurted out all nonsense saying why you don't know this, the change is so simple blah blah blah. i told him, i'm not aware of the issue's history, i don't have the specs. i can't access lotus notes as i don't have my login id yet. so he told me what to do, and i did and he forwarded the email addresses of people to cc. so i did.

he then commented that i shouldn't write this way and that in the resolution/root cause part. he told me to apologize and he composed a sentence to write down instead. then the changes he asked me to do in the program was incomplete, we received another email. he asked me to apologize again for putting in the incorrect version.

wtf!? why can't he just take over the issue and answer those emails? how can i reply correctly and how can i defend myself when i don't even know the story. this pm of mine is trying to discredit my knowledge and likes to pass responsibilities when he should be the one in charge. *wwwuuuuuusssssaaaaaaaaaahhhh!*

pronounciation

tagalog version muna tong blog ko para iwas gulo. mabuti ng nasa safe mode muna ang usaping ito.

lagi kong tinitingnan ang homework ni nixon pagkauwi ko sa bahay pagtapos ng opisina. inaalam ko kung tama mga sagot, at tinitingnan ko rin ang mga result ng quiz nya kung meron man. kanina pinapirmahan nya sa kin ang spelling notebook nya. eto ang pangungusap na nakasulat: The people wear afraid of the scary monster. (minsan sentence ang spelling nila, binibigkas ng guro ang pangungusap tapos isusulat nila.)

tinanong ko si nixon bakit ganun spelling nya samantalang alam naman nya na ang dapat na isinulat nya ay 'were' imbes na 'wear'. tinanong ko sya kung alam nya ibig sabihin ng 'wear', oo daw, pagsuot ng damit. sabi ko, o eh bakit eto sinulat mo eh alam mo naman di bagay dun sa pangungusap? ang sagot nya sa akin, mommy ang pagkakabigkas nya ay wear, hinde were kya un ang sinulat ko. paliwanag ko, anak, iba kasi magbigkas ng english ang mga tao dito kaya wag mo susundin palagi. alam mo naman ung tama, kaya un ang sundin mo. ang follow-up question nya, edi hinde pala laging tama ang mga guro?

haysusmaryosep! kasi naman, kakaiba magpronounce ng english mga tao dito. pano nga ba?

yesterday's mini conversation

her: if i have stayed, we could all be there by now.

him: yeah, your right. lets try to do it again, this time i promise, no more stunts.

her: yeah right. as if you could make me believe you at this point in time. you have to earn it back.

him: i'm sorry.

mixed nuts

righting a mistake, makes the i'm sorry a redemption.

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losing it, gaining it.. lost it for another... i hope it's all worth it for you.

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torn. the good... internet is up. facebook, gmail and yahoo mail can be accessed *yay!*. the bad... work from home, prod support, 24/7, chengdu china team members *ulk!*.

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wolverine... star trek... angels and demons... revolutionary road... oh man! this is so tough to have for a marathon. *crosses fingers and toes*

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oh! i almost forgot, it's mothers day this coming sunday. Happy mom's day to all you mothers out there! love u mader dear! :)

unfamiliar grounds

i'm accustomed to taking risks and facing difficulties and fears. i have this strong conviction of myself, that whatever decision i make, i will be responsible for the consequences. during my grade school days, i had a big crush on this high school guy. one day i just decided to tell him that i like him and i admire his volleyball skills. that day, i knew that i'm that kind of person who would not just keep quiet and wait for things to unfold on its own. before i graduated high school, i had the audacity to tell my history teacher that i like him a lot. when i was a freshman in college, i greatly admired my trigonometry professor. i gave him a parker pen.. i had a feeling he knew my reasons. and when i was already working, i was bold enough to tell my then-best-friend-now-husband, that i was in love with him.

gone were the days when i would sit still and shy away from arguments and confrontations... i was always ready to give my opinions, sometimes, even without tact. not until recently, when a very traumatic experience made a head-on collision with my life, our lives. my whole being was itching to confront the devil and let all my grief, anger and pain burst out. but for the first time, i kept my distance and didn't bother to get any answers or to explain myself. i just stopped and burried myself in my cave. i focused all my energy on my kids and to reading. it became my zen.

it was tough, almost all the time i would cry. i felt so alone, but i was very thankful to those who would drop a message or two asking how my day was and how i am coping. my family oftentimes call and text me encouraging words. some came to visit, and i'm thankful to be blessed with friendly souls. it was a surprise to know that those who you don't often see were the first ones to sympathize. again, i'm forever grateful. :)