Random Blogging.

It's 3:30 in the afternoon on a Friday and surprisingly, I'm not that swamped with work like the past few days. Today, I am totally aware of the time -- which meant that I actually ate on time. When I got back to the office, not so much happening. I've a lot of things to write, yes, but nothing to stress about. It's actually rare that I get to be so...un-busy. Hehehehe.

So ok, here I am blogging. Looking over my shoulder from time to time, cautious that someone might see me logged in my Blogger account. Haha! I look at my to-do list for the day and five out of five things I list down I'll do have been highlighted, which means I have finally done the task. Wow! Seriously, I don't get to experience this often since I started working. Oh well, might as well enjoy the "free" time.

All right. We're about to end the second month of the year, and believe it or not, things are already going so much better than what I had planned it to be. I guess the realization just hit me when I got back from my trips to wherever. Haha! Two months in, and already I've made a lot of new friends, been to nine destinations already and have gone out with friends for four times. I'm loving it!

Work, as always, has been super hectic, of course. Lots of schedules, lots of interviews, lots of things to do. They say, it's all about time management. Well, as a dear friend once said, "It's not time management. It's the art of eliminating tasks." Thanks to him, I think I've gotten the hang of eliminating tasks. Hehehehe...

Now what? Well, ok...this may seem a little over-the-top, but in 53 days, I am celebrating my 24th birthday! Crazy, right? I admit it. But hey...I'm just really excited about turning a year older. There's something about turning 24 that makes me really ecstatic to celebrate. Like last year, I will be preparing a mini buffet for my officemates. Hehe. I already have a menu in mind but let me keep it to myself. I don't want to spoil the fun for my officemates.

When I turned 23 last year, I told everyone that it's the best -- and I do mean the best -- celebration so far! And I have this feeling that this year's going to be even better than the last. This early on, my mom has been telling me of her birthday wish for me. For some, you might know what that wish is already. For those who don't, just wait till it's my birthday. Then I'll tell you all about it. Hahahaha!

Let me take this time to express my gratitude to the blessings that have happened to me for the past two months. Some of the wonderful blessings I have received are:

1. Getting the DVD special collector's edition of one of my all time favorite movies, Forrest Gump ("Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.") -- I swear, this has got to be the most expensive gift I've gotten from anyone outside the family
2. Celebrating Mam Delza's and Ms. Mons' birthdays at Cafe La Carmela with the LEP and InFlight family (Yeah, it was definitely a blast!)
3. Pepper Lunch date with Jan and Det (The monthly bonding moments commence...when's our next date?) -- Who's next? Jan? Where to? Hehehe...
4. Bonding sessions with Alla and Euki (Let's get together as much as possible, all right? Hehehehe... you know I miss you terribly!) -- When's our next date, girls? Haha!
5. Lakbay Norte (This is one of the biggest highlights of my first two months in 2010! The best experience, so far!) -- I've gained new friends and I can't wait to see them soon. When's our next night out?
6. Getting free Starbucks drinks for two separate weeks (Oh I just love the iced soy caramel macchiatto!) -- Just before I went to participate in the Lakbay Norte media tour and just as I am about to go to another business trip, I am getting my favorite customized drink! Oh how wonderful it is to be a regular in Starbucks!

Yes, yes, yes! I am definitely one happy person. Hahahaha! Despite not celebrating Valentine's day (because I opted to celebrate Chinese New Year with the family), everything's great!

All right, it's time to go back to work.

Ciao!

Yesterday was all about me.

Indeed, it was! I have finally acknowledged the realization that I've been pushing myself to the limit the past few weeks, and while it helped me that I was preoccupied with work, it was time to give myself a break and just have fun! And fun, I did get.

At 10:00 in the morning, I told my parents that I would be going out. I swear, I still get surprised by their response whenever I tell them I'm going out on weekends. When I told Mama that I'm going to hang out by myself, she told me, "Buti naman. Lagi ka na lang tutok sa trabaho mo." Thanks, Mama. I know you'd rather I go out with my friends, but I'm very happy you're glad to see me get out on my own and have some fun. Hehehe.

So after having an early lunch (11:30AM to be more precise), I washed up, took a shower, got dressed and headed to the salon. I've been planning since my birthday to get a hair treatment -- and that's exactly what I got when I went to my stylist and had an uber long hair treatment. Karina, owner of Regine's Salon, made sure that my hair would be so much more manageable than what I had. Yes, my locks are once again revitalized! 4 hours of sitting on the chair was sooooo worth it! I love my hair! I remember one of the staff saying, "Miss Marge, you're looking more and more Chinese with your hair like that." Thanks for the compliment! But Karina said the funniest thing ever: "Marge, if this doesn't get you a boyfriend, I don't know what will." Hahahaha! Thank you, Karina, for making me feel I'm the prettiest girl there is!

How do I look now? Well, see for yourself.

All right. Done with the salon. I could have just gone to Greenbelt and hung out in my usual place -- Starbucks. But I opted to get into a cab and go to Bonifacio High Street. It was already 4:30PM at that time when I got there. Didn't really do much there. Went in a couple of stores, checked out some stuff. But in the end, I went to my favorite place (Starbucks, where else?), brought out my book of the day (Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich), plugged in my earphones for some music, and ordered a dark cherry mocha frappuccino (current sticker count: 3 out of 17).

Here's the funny part. I was waiting for the barista to give me back my sticker but he ran out of it so they had to get a new roll. So while I was waiting for my promo card and my drink, the barista took the order of the guy next to me. When the barista asked if the guy wanted to avail a promo card, the guy politely declined. But what he said next was flattering. "You can just give my sticker to this lovely lady." I think I blushed at that. He was really nice. Thanks to him, I now have 4 stickers. Haha!

I stayed there until it was 7:00 in the evening, I think. I didn't even bother to buy any food. Hehe. But anyway, I finished the book so I went to take another stroll around Bonifacio High Street. I would have loved to take pictures but I didn't exactly have a camera with me and I didn't really want to use my iPhone as a camera at that time. So after strolling around for another hour, I got in a cab and went home.

I had an amazing "me-time"! Yes, I'm a very happy person (once again). Hehehe...

I want to go bowling!

I do. I really, really do. And if you're one of those who have been following my blog, bowling is not just bowling for me. Maybe it's the emo-ness kicking in again. Probably because it's that time of the month for yours truly. But I guess I'm just at that point where I want to tell the world, "Yes, I'm out bowling with ---."

*Sigh* I look back at the past week and I realized how much of work I've put in. And I'm not just talking about work in the office. Everyone knows that as soon as I'd get home, I'd turn on my PC, log in the internet and continue the work I wasn't able to finish in the office. Once again, I have managed to make my work a 24-hour habit.

Although I was able to get some "breaks," thanks to my dinner invites with friends -- I would still want to have that one day I am looking forward to because that's the day I'm going bowling with someone in particular. Is it really too much to ask?

A friend told me that I may be too blind to see who's interested, or that I am being a very choosy person when it comes to guys. Be that as it may, let me just point out that the dating phase is not just something I'd like to do for the sake of dating. I date because I like the guy. I date because I'd like to see if it goes somewhere. If somewhere along the way, it doesn't work out, then I say it's not working out. Harsh much? Maybe. But at least I can say I didn't lead the guy on.

Ok. Back to the point. It gets to me sometimes when all I do is work. It's not that I don't want to make time to just take a break. But the thing is, when I'm not working, I look for something to work on -- like an article that's due the next week, or research that I want to continue, stuff like that. I know it annoys my parents, especially my mom, when they see me do nothing else but my work. And it's not just with me. They're also hounding on my two brothers to not be so career-centered. While they love the fact that we're doing well in our respective careers, they're also worried that we might be so focused on our work that we're not giving ourselves time to take a break and enjoy some relaxation. So yeah, they are practically pushing us to go out and have fun. (Funny how when we were young, they wouldn't let us go out a lot -- and now, they are encouraging us to be out there.)

I don't say this much. In fact, I don't think I've really ever said it. So there -- I want to go out! I want to be out on a date again! I miss dating and I miss having fun on a date with someone.

Seriously, I want to go bowling! I do hope I get to bowl -- soon.


Till my next blog,

When Working Becomes a 24-Hour Habit

I should have blogged about this last week but I had a lot of work to do and it is only now that I had the time to log into my blog and publish this entry. Spoiler: that is exactly why I'm publishing blogging now.

I had one of the most unlikely conversations with my parents last weekend.

Since I got back from my out of town trip, I have been doing nothing but work. I've been on a workaholic mode for quite some time, I barely had time to go out with my barkada and just hang out with them. Whether I'm in the office or I'm at home, I work. It's sad, I know. And this triggered the unexpected "heart-to-heart" talk with my parents.

They've noticed how I've become so busy. So during our lunch out on a Sunday, Mama has told me that I should relax every now and then -- just so I could take my mind off work. Tempting as that sounds, I just couldn't leave my work hanging. I could see the look of chagrin on their faces. It's not that I didn't want to relax but with work piling up every day, I find it hard to take a step back and rest up a bit.

Around this time, my parents have told me stories of relatives who are in their 40s and are still single. Let's not discuss about that. But I would like to share with you the oh-so-memorable things that my dear mother told me.

"Morale of the story, Marge: Mag-asawa ka. Hay naku! Minsan, iniisip ko, sana may boyfriend ka ngayon para minsan man lang, nailalayo ka sa trabaho mo. Lagi ka na lang nakaharap sa laptop mo, puro na lang trabaho inaatupag mo."

It was positively hilarious! Although I do think my mom could have put it in a more subtle way. I knew what she meant. She just wants me to loosen up a bit. To go out and have fun. I've realized that I have been working for almost the whole day, everyday. Yes, I've made my work a 24-hour habit. From the time I wake up until before I go to sleep, I think about work. So when an opportunity to hang out with friends presents itself, I take it.

Just like yesterday. I went out with friends for dinner and dessert. When I told Papa about it, he said, "Buti naman naisipan mo lumabas kasama sila. O mag-ingat ha."

It's nice to see that my parents are happy that I'm going out. If anything, I think they're encouraging me to constantly do this. Haha! Not everyday, probably once a week.

So here's to making my life more eventful. One step at a time. I think by this time, I'll cut down my working hours to 20 hours a day. Hehehe.

Until then.